This morning at 4 AM, rain was pouring from the lightning-lit skies. I rolled over and snuggled back under the covers. No run for me.
Normally that's not such a Big Hairy Deal, but I'm counting down days to my Bix race, and missing runs is kind of unacceptable at this point in the game. I told Gary I would try again tomorrow, though I admitted if the storms were back, that would mean I'd have to find a treadmill tomorrow.
I HATE TREADMILLS. The thought of pounding out 5 or 6 miles on one just makes me want to go hide in a corner. I am definitely an outdoors runner. So, when I saw on the weather report that tomorrow looks like scattered thunderstorms all day and all evening...I took matters into my own hands.
I planned a bedtime run.
The part of me that is always counting up my badass points liked the idea very much. The rest of me went straight to pissing and moaning. RUN at BEDTIME?! But I was TIRED! It had been a full day! I didn't WANT to! This is the conversation I had in my head while driving home (after a very full day) around 9 PM. In the end, Karen Who Wants to Finish the Bix Well beat Karen Who Wanted to Just Sleep.
It was a crappy run.
It was 84 degrees out. Too hot to run.
We still have plumbing issues at our house, and my lazy butt didn't go to the laundromat over the weekend, so I had no comfy running clothes. I had to choose between reasonably cool with a pocket for the phone, or comfy but horrendously hot or pocketless. I went with the pockets. Those pants were WAY tight at the waist, with unforgiving material. Meant I had a big jelly roll hanging over the waist, wiggling and jiggling and cutting off my breath and giving me a side ache. NOT COOL.
It was way dark, between streetlights. Dark enough that I had a constant concern about tripping and falling. And the headlights of cars were absolutely blinding me, some of the time (I run against traffic).
I had shared a sub sandwich with my mom for supper at something like 7:30, and could still FEEL it there in my belly, threatening to spew out if I provoked it too much.
And then there was the matter of making others worry. I knew for sure Gary was worrying (though as usual he had been only wonderful and understanding, when I told him my plans), and it seemed altogether possible that my friends with whom I live might be worrying, too about me running around after dark. Really...how long do I want to make people worry?
So I surrendered to reason. Ran as hard as I could make myself run under all those conditions, but just for 2 short miles. Then home to the shower, to let people know I was safely in, and to take off those darn tight pants.
I'm still counting it a victory. A night run is something I hadn't done before. I challenged myself. I didn't just make excuses and give up. THAT is a victory!
Monday, July 8, 2013
Sunday, July 7, 2013
out hill climbing again, this time on Wilma
Deliciously slow but challengingly hilly bike ride today. The fun of Map My Run is it picks out things and gives rewards. I am now "Queen of the Hill" for 2 of the hills I rode today, and the app also made note of 2 of the other more challenging spots.
My victory today is that no hill defeated me. In fairness, I did not try the 17th Street Rock Island hill on the way home, as I had done enough hills by then that I knew it would defeat me. But I still climbed another killer hill in its place.
My victory today is that no hill defeated me. In fairness, I did not try the 17th Street Rock Island hill on the way home, as I had done enough hills by then that I knew it would defeat me. But I still climbed another killer hill in its place.
Saturday, July 6, 2013
fastest run EVER!!!!
I didn't run yesterday. We are having some plumbing problems at my house, and showering wasn't an option before work, so running was out of the question.
I can't be skipping runs, this close to the race. So this morning I got up and out there to make up for that missed one. This is more or less against my personal policy, as I don't run on weekends. Weekends are for bike riding! But I decided to make this one exception, for the sake of my upcoming Bix race.
I wanted to run the fastest 5 or 6 miles I have ever run. So I drove down to the bike path, where there are no sidewalks, no curbs, no potholes, no traffic. When I got there, I found the "coaching" function on my Map My Run app and told it I wanted to maintain a 16 minute mile pace. Actually I wanted to run a little faster than that, but I didn't want to overwhelm myself. And I figured, as long as she tells me when I'm lagging to slower than 16 minutes, it will all work out.
I just ran the fastest 6 miles I have ever run. This makes me feel like the QUEEN OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!
And: I gotta wonder, if those people strapped an extra 50 pounds to their butt (like I carry around every minute of my life) and maybe added some nice prosthetics to their thighs to ensure they rub together, like mine do, almost all the way down to the knees, with every step they take...what would their pace be THEN? I think I'm not doing too badly at all, with what I've got at this time.
Here's how I really know I gave all: I got home, got in the shower, and tried to pass out. Seriously. Got dizzy and then dizzier. Got black spots in my vision. Had my hearing go all distant and fuzzy like it does right before a faint. I was hustling to get out of the shower and onto my bed, before I could fall and hurt my head and then die of embarrassment when someone found me like that.
But no worries. I've been resting, drinking water, eating breakfast, and I'm now ready to get on with the rest of my day.
Still feeling like a rock star.
HAPPY SATURDAY, ALL!!!
I can't be skipping runs, this close to the race. So this morning I got up and out there to make up for that missed one. This is more or less against my personal policy, as I don't run on weekends. Weekends are for bike riding! But I decided to make this one exception, for the sake of my upcoming Bix race.
I wanted to run the fastest 5 or 6 miles I have ever run. So I drove down to the bike path, where there are no sidewalks, no curbs, no potholes, no traffic. When I got there, I found the "coaching" function on my Map My Run app and told it I wanted to maintain a 16 minute mile pace. Actually I wanted to run a little faster than that, but I didn't want to overwhelm myself. And I figured, as long as she tells me when I'm lagging to slower than 16 minutes, it will all work out.
I just ran the fastest 6 miles I have ever run. This makes me feel like the QUEEN OF THE KNOWN UNIVERSE!
- Mile 2, I did in 13:19. Truth: I YELLED ALOUD when she called out that split time to me, and I ran with a big stupid smile on my face for maybe 200 yards (unlike my usual running face, which generally communicates either "I am zoned out" or "I am dying.") I ran faster than that in high school - I think I ran mostly 12 minute miles and once ran in 10 something - but I was also something like 75 pounds lighter then than I am now. That is for sure my fastest run in adulthood.
- Miles 1, 3, 4, and 5 were all 15 something. This pleases me greatly. Especially mile 5, because by that point I was dying. My hips hurt. I just felt like I COULD NOT DO THIS. You're wondering why, since I run 5 miles all the time now? Probably a combination of the faster pace for the entire race..and the simple fact that I started out when the sun was already up. It was blasted HOT out there.
- Mile 6 was exactly 17 minutes, and I'm not gonna apologize for that. I had literally given everything I had to give. Had pushed and pushed and pushed some more, and I just flat did not have anything faster to offer.
And: I gotta wonder, if those people strapped an extra 50 pounds to their butt (like I carry around every minute of my life) and maybe added some nice prosthetics to their thighs to ensure they rub together, like mine do, almost all the way down to the knees, with every step they take...what would their pace be THEN? I think I'm not doing too badly at all, with what I've got at this time.
Here's how I really know I gave all: I got home, got in the shower, and tried to pass out. Seriously. Got dizzy and then dizzier. Got black spots in my vision. Had my hearing go all distant and fuzzy like it does right before a faint. I was hustling to get out of the shower and onto my bed, before I could fall and hurt my head and then die of embarrassment when someone found me like that.
But no worries. I've been resting, drinking water, eating breakfast, and I'm now ready to get on with the rest of my day.
Still feeling like a rock star.
HAPPY SATURDAY, ALL!!!
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
measured vs. unmeasured
I've been using the "Map My Run" app on my iPhone for a few months now. I use it every time I run, and some of the time when I bike. The original reason I wanted it was to measure the length of my runs and rides, without having to come home and Google map it.
I have found that it's really nice for other things as well. It tells me how many calories I burned. It tells me what the "gain" was - as in, how many feet did I climb on all those hills. It tracks for my record best times.
On the bike, it makes me ride faster. The minutes per mile gets called out at each mile marker, and those come quickly enough that I am constantly mindful of them. Each mile, I am working to ride faster than the previous ones. That's good, when I'm riding for training reasons...but I have found that I leave the app turned off a lot for my rides, because I just want to ride for the joy and not always be racing the clock.
I have been very consistent with using the app when running. But for the past two runs, I had accidentally turned the sound way down/basically off. Both mornings I didn't notice until I was already running. I don't stop, once I start. And I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't fix it en route. So both mornings, I just had to run around for as long as felt approximately right to me, and then stop. Both mornings, I ran 5ish miles - not as long as I wanted to go, but long enough that I wasn't tempted to somehow talk myself into taking off running again to complete it.
It has been a nice break, these last two runs, not being able to hear the app. I didn't realize how much I tend to run with my ears tuned, alert, listening hard for the report of my "split time." These last 2 mornings, I have kept my chin up more, and not spent so much time watching my feet on the pavement. I have looked around at the view more. I have had more fun deciding what my route might be. Basically, it boils down to this: when the app is on, I'm counting down to the question of, "How soon can I quit running?" When I can't hear the app, I'm left to just enjoy the run and not focus on how much longer it might be.
I wrote the other day that we need accountability, and I still thing that's true. Just like the app helps me ride my bike faster, accountability can make us more aware and more willing to try hard. But on the other hand, perhaps sometimes we need to stop measuring our pace in life. Sometimes we need to just let go and be in the moment, soaking it up and not counting how many more steps to the next stopping spot, nor studying our every movement to make sure it is correct.
I suppose it's all about balance, eh?
I have found that it's really nice for other things as well. It tells me how many calories I burned. It tells me what the "gain" was - as in, how many feet did I climb on all those hills. It tracks for my record best times.
On the bike, it makes me ride faster. The minutes per mile gets called out at each mile marker, and those come quickly enough that I am constantly mindful of them. Each mile, I am working to ride faster than the previous ones. That's good, when I'm riding for training reasons...but I have found that I leave the app turned off a lot for my rides, because I just want to ride for the joy and not always be racing the clock.
I have been very consistent with using the app when running. But for the past two runs, I had accidentally turned the sound way down/basically off. Both mornings I didn't notice until I was already running. I don't stop, once I start. And I wasn't wearing my glasses, so I couldn't fix it en route. So both mornings, I just had to run around for as long as felt approximately right to me, and then stop. Both mornings, I ran 5ish miles - not as long as I wanted to go, but long enough that I wasn't tempted to somehow talk myself into taking off running again to complete it.
It has been a nice break, these last two runs, not being able to hear the app. I didn't realize how much I tend to run with my ears tuned, alert, listening hard for the report of my "split time." These last 2 mornings, I have kept my chin up more, and not spent so much time watching my feet on the pavement. I have looked around at the view more. I have had more fun deciding what my route might be. Basically, it boils down to this: when the app is on, I'm counting down to the question of, "How soon can I quit running?" When I can't hear the app, I'm left to just enjoy the run and not focus on how much longer it might be.
I wrote the other day that we need accountability, and I still thing that's true. Just like the app helps me ride my bike faster, accountability can make us more aware and more willing to try hard. But on the other hand, perhaps sometimes we need to stop measuring our pace in life. Sometimes we need to just let go and be in the moment, soaking it up and not counting how many more steps to the next stopping spot, nor studying our every movement to make sure it is correct.
I suppose it's all about balance, eh?
hello, i eat hills for breakfast
Helloooooooooooooooooo world! I am awake, alive, and wound for sound. Why? Because I ran the Augustana hill twice, and then went and found another hill to run after that! Bix day, I am coming for you, and I will not be defeated! RAWR!!! (If you hit that link, DO go down to the bottom, where it shows the elevations part of my run. Best. Run. EVER!)
Also, on a fun note, I followed the unfriendly runner girl who never returns my "good morning" (in her defense, I can't see...maybe she's got earphones in and can't hear me...reminder to self, stop taking offense on purpose!) after the second lap of the Augie hill. I ended up crossing the college campus, which took me across the most wonderful bridge, suspended way up high across a wooded valley with water underneath. I've not been on the Augie campus enough in the past to discover that bridge. It was BEAUTIFUL and I intend to visit it regularly. I'm so grateful for having been healed of my phobia of heights...it would have been hard, running across, before that.
7 more runs before the Bix. I'm pondering what is best to do next. I wonder if Friday I might pick an all-flat zone and try to get the 5 or 6 fastest miles I've ever run in. I'd welcome your ideas (as long as you won't get your feelings hurt if I end up not following yours!)
Also, on a fun note, I followed the unfriendly runner girl who never returns my "good morning" (in her defense, I can't see...maybe she's got earphones in and can't hear me...reminder to self, stop taking offense on purpose!) after the second lap of the Augie hill. I ended up crossing the college campus, which took me across the most wonderful bridge, suspended way up high across a wooded valley with water underneath. I've not been on the Augie campus enough in the past to discover that bridge. It was BEAUTIFUL and I intend to visit it regularly. I'm so grateful for having been healed of my phobia of heights...it would have been hard, running across, before that.
7 more runs before the Bix. I'm pondering what is best to do next. I wonder if Friday I might pick an all-flat zone and try to get the 5 or 6 fastest miles I've ever run in. I'd welcome your ideas (as long as you won't get your feelings hurt if I end up not following yours!)
Monday, July 1, 2013
bix training mode
My Bix run is in 26 days. If you've somehow missed this detail: my goal this year is to run every single step of the 7 miles up and down hills that comprise the Bix.
The general rule for running is that you don't run during the week of your race. Cross training is fine, but no running. So that means I have 3 weeks of running left before the race (and I plan to ride my bike the week before). TO ME, that feels like: time to get intense with the practice runs.
I've been picking up distance. But it's a long, flat run from my house to any big hills. So as I was falling asleep last night, I decided my strategy, for July: I will drive my car to a hilly area, so that my runs can be focused on incline. That's how I managed 2 runs up Brady Street hill. My plan had been to run Brady and some other, lesser-but-still-substantial hill, like Main Street.
But I had done some serious resting over the weekend. Other than the Critical Mass ride on Friday night and a little walk with Gary Saturday night (2ish miles, I think), I mostly sat around talking to people all weekend. The result? I woke up this morning (on a MONDAY morning, even) without that old familiar so-tired-my-stomach-hurts feeling. I woke up before the alarm. I woke up ready to run, without having to push my butt out of bed for it.
So when I got up Brady Street hill and then back down, via another side street...I was bouncing, still. Ready to take it on again. I was kind of laughing as I did. Kind of impressed. (Lest you think I'm trying to create an impression that I'm something I'm not - full truth - I was running nearly 18-minute miles, when doing that hill - I'm only a rock star as compared to MYSELF, not as compared to the general running community. But that's okay. I'm still impressed!)
But, funny thing: I had turned my phone down, last night, while listening to a podcast and not wanting to disturb my friends. I hadn't remembered to turn it back up. So, I heard the MapMyRun app on my iPhone announce the end of mile one..very, very quietly. I pulled it out of my pocket, but with no glasses on, I managed to turn it only DOWN, not up. So I had no little coach voice telling me my split times and such for the entire rest of my time out there. I just had to run around and run around until I thought it had maybe been long enough.
Which is why I finished at under 5 miles. I was concerned about not being late for work, so I ran back to my car...and that was when I discovered it had been a short run.
Another bonus: my feet didn't hurt after. I assume that was partly the rest over the weekend, and partly the shorter run. All I know is, usually on run days, my feet hurt like heck all the way until bedtime. Sometimes a couple of Aleve will send the worst of the pain away. But it's pretty stubborn pain - it doesn't leave without fight. But today...my feet didn't hurt AT ALL. Not even in the shower, after I got in from the run. CRAZY STUFF!
Tomorrow is an off-day for the run.
Wednesday, I'm considering trying to run Augie hill twice. While it is shorter than Brady Street hill, I concluded today that it is definitely steeper. I suspect running it twice might make me puke.
We'll see if I work up the nerve to try it!
Two more runs this week - three runs for each of the next 2 weeks. That makes 8 runs before the Bix.
Gotta make 'em count.
The general rule for running is that you don't run during the week of your race. Cross training is fine, but no running. So that means I have 3 weeks of running left before the race (and I plan to ride my bike the week before). TO ME, that feels like: time to get intense with the practice runs.
I've been picking up distance. But it's a long, flat run from my house to any big hills. So as I was falling asleep last night, I decided my strategy, for July: I will drive my car to a hilly area, so that my runs can be focused on incline. That's how I managed 2 runs up Brady Street hill. My plan had been to run Brady and some other, lesser-but-still-substantial hill, like Main Street.
But I had done some serious resting over the weekend. Other than the Critical Mass ride on Friday night and a little walk with Gary Saturday night (2ish miles, I think), I mostly sat around talking to people all weekend. The result? I woke up this morning (on a MONDAY morning, even) without that old familiar so-tired-my-stomach-hurts feeling. I woke up before the alarm. I woke up ready to run, without having to push my butt out of bed for it.
So when I got up Brady Street hill and then back down, via another side street...I was bouncing, still. Ready to take it on again. I was kind of laughing as I did. Kind of impressed. (Lest you think I'm trying to create an impression that I'm something I'm not - full truth - I was running nearly 18-minute miles, when doing that hill - I'm only a rock star as compared to MYSELF, not as compared to the general running community. But that's okay. I'm still impressed!)
But, funny thing: I had turned my phone down, last night, while listening to a podcast and not wanting to disturb my friends. I hadn't remembered to turn it back up. So, I heard the MapMyRun app on my iPhone announce the end of mile one..very, very quietly. I pulled it out of my pocket, but with no glasses on, I managed to turn it only DOWN, not up. So I had no little coach voice telling me my split times and such for the entire rest of my time out there. I just had to run around and run around until I thought it had maybe been long enough.
Which is why I finished at under 5 miles. I was concerned about not being late for work, so I ran back to my car...and that was when I discovered it had been a short run.
Another bonus: my feet didn't hurt after. I assume that was partly the rest over the weekend, and partly the shorter run. All I know is, usually on run days, my feet hurt like heck all the way until bedtime. Sometimes a couple of Aleve will send the worst of the pain away. But it's pretty stubborn pain - it doesn't leave without fight. But today...my feet didn't hurt AT ALL. Not even in the shower, after I got in from the run. CRAZY STUFF!
Tomorrow is an off-day for the run.
Wednesday, I'm considering trying to run Augie hill twice. While it is shorter than Brady Street hill, I concluded today that it is definitely steeper. I suspect running it twice might make me puke.
We'll see if I work up the nerve to try it!
Two more runs this week - three runs for each of the next 2 weeks. That makes 8 runs before the Bix.
Gotta make 'em count.
queen of the hill
Dear Life,
I just ran up Brady Street hill, TWICE IN THE SAME MORNING, on a Monday, even.
Whatever you throw at me today, life, I already won.
The end.
I just ran up Brady Street hill, TWICE IN THE SAME MORNING, on a Monday, even.
Whatever you throw at me today, life, I already won.
The end.
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