Yesterday I ran. For one hour and 16 minutes I ran, up the Sylvan hill and back down again to the zoo, then up the trail and past the zoo I ran. With snow falling hard enough that I had to run looking at the ground just so I could see. I'm sure a few people thought I had actually lost my mind. Actually, I think I did, and I went out looking for it. What normally would take me thirty minutes to do took me a much longer and more tiring forty, and so a run that should have been twelve miles was more like ten. Or even nine. By the time I made it back up the Sylvan hill to go home, my footprints from my trek out were gone. In places mine were the only tracks you could see, and only after I had passed that way. In front of me was all fresh.
And so today, when it barely snowed, what did I do?
I slipped four times just walking to the store with my family, since the snow is now either six inches deep or compacted and slick. So I decided to heed the ridiculous experience of the previous day and the treacherous footing today and didn't run.
What can I say, I don't have YakTrax. Sue me.
Sunday, 12/21- Long run 1:16:27 (Should have been ~12 miles, more like 10)
Monday, 12/22-REST
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
THAT'S what I call SNOW
Could've done the workout yesterday when there was wet pavement in places. Did I do that? No...much more fun to save the hills for when there's two inches of snow on the ground. Much more fun...
And its still coming down, at least three inches since this morning, maybe more. Long run tomorrow will be exceeding interesting, if it happens at all. All I know is that hill workout was WAY harder than last week, and I wasn't even getting as far up the hill. Oh, the joys of being insane...
Saturday, 12/20- Hill workout:
10 min warmup
10x30 sec w/walk/jog back down
2x60 sec w/walk/jog back down
10 min cooldown
in the SNOW!
And its still coming down, at least three inches since this morning, maybe more. Long run tomorrow will be exceeding interesting, if it happens at all. All I know is that hill workout was WAY harder than last week, and I wasn't even getting as far up the hill. Oh, the joys of being insane...
Saturday, 12/20- Hill workout:
10 min warmup
10x30 sec w/walk/jog back down
2x60 sec w/walk/jog back down
10 min cooldown
in the SNOW!
Friday, December 19, 2008
What a difference a day makes
Of course I felt like crap the day after a workout...felt worlds better today. Actually was close to being one of those pleasant runs where your mind sort of comfortably drifts and you just sort of chug along...a tad too cold and still a bit too tired to say it was a really enjoyable run. But hey, if it were easy, everyone would do it. (Terrible cliche...) Oh, rare thing though, actually ran out in front of some cars ready to pull out of a strip mall parking lot when they had the green. Haven't done THAT in a while. I saw a green for the turn lane my direction and so just kept on going, then something caught my attention, I looked left at the lights, and realized I was in front of three cars who had the right of way. Thankfully, no one moved, and oddly no one honked either. I didn't look in the windows to see if anyone was giving me the bird. All's well that ends well I guess...(honestly, another one? Really? Is that necessary? No probably not, but do you have anything better to say?) Is he talking to himself?
What?
Sorry, don't have anything more entertaining to say. You'll have to bear with me until I figure out a more engaging way to deal with this thing (and honestly, how bored are YOU that you're reading this? Its a blog about running. You know what that is? One foot in front of the other...for miles.)
Friday, 12/19- 1:00:34 easy (Sunset loop)
What?
Sorry, don't have anything more entertaining to say. You'll have to bear with me until I figure out a more engaging way to deal with this thing (and honestly, how bored are YOU that you're reading this? Its a blog about running. You know what that is? One foot in front of the other...for miles.)
Friday, 12/19- 1:00:34 easy (Sunset loop)
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Don'tcha love the weather?
The prediction was that yesterday would be kind of sucky, and today would be supremely sucky. Heeding the forecasters, what did I do? Switch today's 4 mile tempo to yesterday, and did an hour easy today. And that of course means that yesterday's workout was run in varying rain, frozen rain, and snow on semi-frozen ground, sliding a little just about every step, while today's run was in pleasant sunshine, moderate(ish) temperatures, and a lot of wet pavement. Such is life...
Wednesday, 12/17: 15 min warmup
4 mile tempo (Nike x2) in 22 min
15 min cooldown
Thursday, 12/18: 1 hour easy (beat up)
Wednesday, 12/17: 15 min warmup
4 mile tempo (Nike x2) in 22 min
15 min cooldown
Thursday, 12/18: 1 hour easy (beat up)
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Another snow run...with a Jesus-folk sighting
#1: I shouldn't be up this late.
#2: I shouldn't be looking at a computer screen this late (messes up your circadian rhythm).
#3: Running around the duck pond over varying snow, ice, snowy ice, icy snow, and some dry pavement just for good measure, and realizing the pond may actually be frozen over enough to walk on, is very unusual for these parts.
#4: Doing that same run and coming across two of those friendly fellows in white shirts and ties with the "I live for Jesus" nametags who you really just want to deck on sight was just a bit over the top.
#5: Its been a good thing going through all my shit here at the house, and discovering all the stuff that I kept from my running days in high school. A lot of it reminds me why I do it, and how to do it better.
#6: Time for bed. Don't try this at home. If there's one thing we could all use more of, its sleep. So go get yours. (If you're lucky, with someone else. But don't forget the sleep part, you lucky dog you.)
Tuesday 12/15: 57:09 easy (snow/ice/subfreezing; duck pond x4)
Scheduled: 3x mile @ 4:52 w/3 min rest btw
jog 5 min
2 miles in 10 min
1 min rest
400 FAST
Scheduled run not done because I couldn't get to the course. Footing was also unsure everywhere. And its only getting better as the week goes on.
#2: I shouldn't be looking at a computer screen this late (messes up your circadian rhythm).
#3: Running around the duck pond over varying snow, ice, snowy ice, icy snow, and some dry pavement just for good measure, and realizing the pond may actually be frozen over enough to walk on, is very unusual for these parts.
#4: Doing that same run and coming across two of those friendly fellows in white shirts and ties with the "I live for Jesus" nametags who you really just want to deck on sight was just a bit over the top.
#5: Its been a good thing going through all my shit here at the house, and discovering all the stuff that I kept from my running days in high school. A lot of it reminds me why I do it, and how to do it better.
#6: Time for bed. Don't try this at home. If there's one thing we could all use more of, its sleep. So go get yours. (If you're lucky, with someone else. But don't forget the sleep part, you lucky dog you.)
Tuesday 12/15: 57:09 easy (snow/ice/subfreezing; duck pond x4)
Scheduled: 3x mile @ 4:52 w/3 min rest btw
jog 5 min
2 miles in 10 min
1 min rest
400 FAST
Scheduled run not done because I couldn't get to the course. Footing was also unsure everywhere. And its only getting better as the week goes on.
Monday, December 15, 2008
THIS is why I'm a bad blogger. Right now, I probably could care less about posting to this thing, but not by much. Nevertheless, the idea is to post, so posting I am. I'm in a sour mood, so forgive the lack of what are supposedly entertaining anecdotes.
Accordingly, we'll keep it strictly business so that you wouldn't know I was in a sour mood unless I hadn't just told you. Was back down in the great state of Texas over the weekend (which ironically is where I have done the majority of my running, not up here in Oregon. Its always weird to realize that). Thursday was shorter than it should have been, I think because it was just simpler given the fact that we were flying that day. Ran to Nike and did one lap (oh wait, you don't know what that means. The Nike World HQ Campus is a touch over two miles from my house. The bark chip path that goes around it is about the same distance. So twice around Nike is about 9 miles and an hour, once around Nike is about 7 miles and forty-five minutes. Thursday was the latter). Friday was down in Texas, and ended up being a small bitch of a run. The idea was to run out from the hotel in College Station and possibly circumnavigate the Texas A&M campus (can you guess why I was there? Guess its hard to not bring a few personal items in to this blog...). Well, one of the nice things (read: annoying things) about the roads around there is that often regular farm roads, usually labeled something like "FM 2818," take on names when they pass through someplace like College Station. So "FM 2818" is simultaneously called "Harvey Mitchell Rd" in town. But if you don't know that, or more specifically if you don't know the number of the road you're looking for when the in-town name isn't present on some street signs, it become easy to run right by that left turn you were planning on making. Suffice to say what should have been a relatively nice run around campus turned into a run along a 4 lane highway with no shoulder, cars going by at 65 mph, and rough and clumpy grass underfoot. Fantastic for the lungs, nerves, and ankles, let me tell you. Did run the full hour though...
Saturday was a "hill" workout in Houston. This was kind of amusing: the workout called for some 60 sec hill repeats. Not sure where best to do that, I called up my old coach and asked where to go. Thing is, there's no hills in Houston; best he could do was a 45 sec hill. Of course, it barely counted as a hill, more like a shallow incline towards the top. Hope it accomplished what it was meant to accomplish.
I expected a long run on Sunday, but in fact it was an easy run, so I did 45 minutes weaving back and forth along the streets in the neighborhood by my aunt's house. It was probably 65 degrees, relatively high humidity, breezy and sunny when I did that. Quite the contrast to the 30 degrees, sunny and windy I ran in today, especially with snow and ice underfoot. Not sure how the workout tomorrow is gonna work...
Thursday 12/11: 45:13 easy (Nike once)
Friday 12/12: 59:44 easy (highway)
Saturday 12/13: Hill workout
10 min warmup
Scheduled 2x60 sec hill, actual 3x45 sec hill
6x30 sec hill
Scheduled 2x60 sec hill, actual 3x45 sec hill
all with jog back down for recovery
10 min cooldown (@ bayou)
Sunday 12/14: 44:23 easy (heights)
Monday 12/15: Scheduled 1 hr w/5 min pickup, actual 49:21 easy (snow/ice/subfreezing; duck pond x3)
Accordingly, we'll keep it strictly business so that you wouldn't know I was in a sour mood unless I hadn't just told you. Was back down in the great state of Texas over the weekend (which ironically is where I have done the majority of my running, not up here in Oregon. Its always weird to realize that). Thursday was shorter than it should have been, I think because it was just simpler given the fact that we were flying that day. Ran to Nike and did one lap (oh wait, you don't know what that means. The Nike World HQ Campus is a touch over two miles from my house. The bark chip path that goes around it is about the same distance. So twice around Nike is about 9 miles and an hour, once around Nike is about 7 miles and forty-five minutes. Thursday was the latter). Friday was down in Texas, and ended up being a small bitch of a run. The idea was to run out from the hotel in College Station and possibly circumnavigate the Texas A&M campus (can you guess why I was there? Guess its hard to not bring a few personal items in to this blog...). Well, one of the nice things (read: annoying things) about the roads around there is that often regular farm roads, usually labeled something like "FM 2818," take on names when they pass through someplace like College Station. So "FM 2818" is simultaneously called "Harvey Mitchell Rd" in town. But if you don't know that, or more specifically if you don't know the number of the road you're looking for when the in-town name isn't present on some street signs, it become easy to run right by that left turn you were planning on making. Suffice to say what should have been a relatively nice run around campus turned into a run along a 4 lane highway with no shoulder, cars going by at 65 mph, and rough and clumpy grass underfoot. Fantastic for the lungs, nerves, and ankles, let me tell you. Did run the full hour though...
Saturday was a "hill" workout in Houston. This was kind of amusing: the workout called for some 60 sec hill repeats. Not sure where best to do that, I called up my old coach and asked where to go. Thing is, there's no hills in Houston; best he could do was a 45 sec hill. Of course, it barely counted as a hill, more like a shallow incline towards the top. Hope it accomplished what it was meant to accomplish.
I expected a long run on Sunday, but in fact it was an easy run, so I did 45 minutes weaving back and forth along the streets in the neighborhood by my aunt's house. It was probably 65 degrees, relatively high humidity, breezy and sunny when I did that. Quite the contrast to the 30 degrees, sunny and windy I ran in today, especially with snow and ice underfoot. Not sure how the workout tomorrow is gonna work...
Thursday 12/11: 45:13 easy (Nike once)
Friday 12/12: 59:44 easy (highway)
Saturday 12/13: Hill workout
10 min warmup
Scheduled 2x60 sec hill, actual 3x45 sec hill
6x30 sec hill
Scheduled 2x60 sec hill, actual 3x45 sec hill
all with jog back down for recovery
10 min cooldown (@ bayou)
Sunday 12/14: 44:23 easy (heights)
Monday 12/15: Scheduled 1 hr w/5 min pickup, actual 49:21 easy (snow/ice/subfreezing; duck pond x3)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
A peculiar kind of masochism
It occurred to me somewhere in the middle of today's workout that running is a peculiar kind of masochism. Say you're in pain and there's no way to escape it. You cope as best you can, by ignoring it, distracting yourself from it, or whatever. But you cope, because there's nothing you can do.
Running is different. While it may not be proper to call it pain, its certainly significant discomfort, but unlike pain being inflicted on you by someone else, it is significant discomfort of your own making. Moreover, when you are inflicting it on yourself with the goal of hitting a certain time, coping isn't really an option; if you cope, you slow down, and the whole exercise becomes pointless. So that's my peculiar masochism: dealing with significant discomfort in such a way as to render the fact that I inflict it on myself as useful. "Pain is weakness leaving the body" as the stupid army saying goes. Which means I'm a pretty fucked up guy.
I believe I noted at the very beginning of my last post--almost a year ago--that I never have been a good blogger, precisely because I can never seem to get into the habit of posting consistently. When I last wrote I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to keep running. I got out of the habit of writing here because there wasn't anything to write about for a while. My foot is actually still kind of messed up, it hurts often when I walk, but oddly only extremely rarely when I run. So run I did. However, I still have yet to officially PR since junior year, which means that while I did mean to write here before now, and while I did compete in quite a few races last spring, none of them were significant enough to me to start writing again. Honestly can't tell you why I'm writing now, but here we are...
This was supposed to be some sort of narrative about life as a runner. Well, I'm no longer in Houston, for the moment more or less isolated in my training, doing all my runs alone, and my new coach lives in another city. Its an odd and lonely place to be. Maybe its interesting enough to some of you out there to keep up with; if so, you're welcome along for the ride. Honestly this resurgence of interest on my part may not last much more than a week, but we'll see...I think at times its as much an exercise for myself to reflect on what exactly it is that I'm doing when I lace up my shoes every day. I was good for my age in high school, but ever since I have never seemed able to get past being on the cusp of being what I suppose can be considered an "elite" runner. It is in no small part due to a surprisingly large lack of confidence. But as my coach told me today, can't dwell on the past, all that shit's behind you. Just worry about today. And ain't that always one of the cliches they throw at us as we grow up, carpe diem, seize the day...
Well, hopefully if I keep this up I'll be a little more focused, insightful, and interesting to read anyway.
Wednesday: 3x2 miles around 10 min with 5 minutes between
10 minute warm-up
~2 miles in 10:01
5 min jog
~2 miles in 9:58
5 min jog
~2 miles in 9:56
10 minute cool-down
Running is different. While it may not be proper to call it pain, its certainly significant discomfort, but unlike pain being inflicted on you by someone else, it is significant discomfort of your own making. Moreover, when you are inflicting it on yourself with the goal of hitting a certain time, coping isn't really an option; if you cope, you slow down, and the whole exercise becomes pointless. So that's my peculiar masochism: dealing with significant discomfort in such a way as to render the fact that I inflict it on myself as useful. "Pain is weakness leaving the body" as the stupid army saying goes. Which means I'm a pretty fucked up guy.
I believe I noted at the very beginning of my last post--almost a year ago--that I never have been a good blogger, precisely because I can never seem to get into the habit of posting consistently. When I last wrote I wasn't even sure I was going to be able to keep running. I got out of the habit of writing here because there wasn't anything to write about for a while. My foot is actually still kind of messed up, it hurts often when I walk, but oddly only extremely rarely when I run. So run I did. However, I still have yet to officially PR since junior year, which means that while I did mean to write here before now, and while I did compete in quite a few races last spring, none of them were significant enough to me to start writing again. Honestly can't tell you why I'm writing now, but here we are...
This was supposed to be some sort of narrative about life as a runner. Well, I'm no longer in Houston, for the moment more or less isolated in my training, doing all my runs alone, and my new coach lives in another city. Its an odd and lonely place to be. Maybe its interesting enough to some of you out there to keep up with; if so, you're welcome along for the ride. Honestly this resurgence of interest on my part may not last much more than a week, but we'll see...I think at times its as much an exercise for myself to reflect on what exactly it is that I'm doing when I lace up my shoes every day. I was good for my age in high school, but ever since I have never seemed able to get past being on the cusp of being what I suppose can be considered an "elite" runner. It is in no small part due to a surprisingly large lack of confidence. But as my coach told me today, can't dwell on the past, all that shit's behind you. Just worry about today. And ain't that always one of the cliches they throw at us as we grow up, carpe diem, seize the day...
Well, hopefully if I keep this up I'll be a little more focused, insightful, and interesting to read anyway.
Wednesday: 3x2 miles around 10 min with 5 minutes between
10 minute warm-up
~2 miles in 10:01
5 min jog
~2 miles in 9:58
5 min jog
~2 miles in 9:56
10 minute cool-down
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