the gas face

Meg (the Artist Formerly known as Amanda) and I contracted to meet up this morning at 7am to go out for our long run of the week (14 miles). I dutifully set my alarm for 7.30.

I think you can see where this is going.

We are, in Britain, apparently getting a wave of cold Continental air washing over this miserable island that I call home. I hate the Continent.

(remember - you can't spell 'incontinent' without the word Continent. may they all soil themselves for this frozen gift to us)

By now, you ought to have a very clear idea of how this run went.

Within ten minutes of Meg's arrival, we had already talked ourselves out of the 14 miles, in favour of doing a six mile run. After much procrastination, we settled on a four mile route.

At this point, I almost gave up on going out altogether. (thanks Meg, for dragging me out).

I don't understand why a four mile run should give me so much trouble, but they do. This is the second time I've gassed (as in 'run out of') on a short run. Part of it is that I only warm up after about three miles, and on a shortie like today, the run's practically over. I can live with that feeble rationalization.

On the positive side, I've been working on my form - which means I'm not necessarily running faster (I need to concentrate to break all my bad habits like slouching a bit, and not driving my arms - not to mention all my bad mental habits/blocks) - but I am running better. My shoulders, neck, and especially my lower back were relaxed and felt nice and comfortable.

Worryingly, however, my right Achilles tendon is a bit inflamed. I know, I know, stretch/rest/ice/elevate...I'm doing all that (really I am). Hopefully this is just a case of breaking myself in, and not breaking myself up.

ALSO...my new shoes are coming today! In all their orange glory!

Can't wait to break these puppies in!

Surely, with these I will no longer suffer from the Gas Face, and smoothly stride past all the trouser-wetting in(Continent)als on April 5th...or I'll snap a tendon. Could go either way.

Sunday looms.

a twelve mile shuffle

After a long weekend of doing nothing (literally), I hauled myself out for the long run we were meant to do on Saturday this monday night. It was a very good run for me, mainly because of my new piece of gear.

I think the People At Apple knew what they were doing when they named this product.

I got a new (well, refurbished one) from the People At Apple, because it seemed perfect for me. It holds a thousand songs, but it won't let me waste time actually choosing one. Just a mindless flow of music, forever and ever.

I tried it out last night and I loved it. Especially when we hit 6miles on our out-and-back, and Gord Downie from Big Sugar kicked in with the opening lyrics of 'Ride Like Hell'.

(Sometimes i wonder, if i'll ever get back home.)

you tell 'em Gord.

We kept a 9.10 pace for the first 6, which is pretty fast for me. Slower on the way back in, but hey - i'm only training right now, right? Am i right?

But it wasn't till I was a mile from home that it struck me why they called this little mp3 player 'the shuffle'. Cuz that's the only word for the stride i was keeping. A weak, sweet-lord-i-am-beat kind of beat.

this friday, 14 miles. when will it end? why must every run be the longest run EVER? I'm looking forward to the tapering off period. '12 miles? easy.' i'll say. but not for many weeks to come.

so much for the routine

i did NOTHING today. i even ate a meal in a restaurant. so much for being in training.

tomorrow morning, i do my 7 miles (edit to previous post - it's 2 easy, 1 hard, 2 medium, 2 easy...if anyone is paying attention, that is).

a bit late in coming...

This whole thing is a bit late in coming, really. it's long been past due that i kicked my butt into shape. i suppose when aman died last year, a few things came into focus for me - which is why i've decided to run a marathon this year. (note: this is the last time that I'll mention my brother here - but it is one of my main motivators in this journey)



So: I basically got off the couch two weeks ago (January 10th), and ran 9 miles all at once. and i'm here to tell you, it was AWFUL. i was overdressed, tense, and made a bunch of small changes to my usual routine that all added up to a very cranky runner. at the final mile, I told my running partner Amanda, 'I can't actually run any slower than I am right now.' but i DID finish it, and in the process made a huge leap in confidence. we did a couple of short runs later in the week, but that 9mile run was the real point at which i really started.

five days later (January 15th), I sailed through an 11 mile run that actually went over 12.5 (we got a bit lost).

now, we're (purportedly) on a routine, but getting Amanda and Rachel (my other training partner) together at the same time on a given day is proving troublesome. on top of scheduling conflicts, add injuries, transportation woes, and fluctuations in motivation, and a beautifully planned week can be undone in an instant.

case in point: this week, we went out for a six mile run (tempo/threshold pace) and Amanda and I were having such a bad time, we turned around in three. we averaged 9:18/mile overall, but it was far short of the mileage I wanted. so I went out with Kaley and a friend the next morning and i figure we did about 4 miles. so, on top of that 7, we'll be doing another seven tomorrow morning (2 easy, 1 hard, 2 medium, 1 easy), and on friday or saturday we'll knock out a 12-13 mile run (which I am going to run at a fairly easy pace - I'm feeling a bit run down this week. I need to eat more food and drink water far more than i thought.)

so - a 27+ mile week, not including a session or two of tennis/circuit training (more on how much I hate circuit training to follow in upcoming weeks). but the point is not to be counting miles - it's to have fun.

but, then again it can't be wrong to have fun counting...can it? or am I being a bit OCD about this? at this early stage, i'm really enjoying watching my mileage increase from week to week - so, I suppose i'll just keep the tally going.

i'll most likely end up posting to this blog twice a week: the day after the Long Run, and the day after the speedwork/7mile split thing. those are the major points in the week, and i'll fill in the blanks then...

okay? all up to date, then?

let's go.