Archive | July, 2011

Day 21: A Good, Long Run

31 Jul


Today was long run day, and since I have been worrying about being under-trained, I was nervous that I would break down at mile five of my intended nine miles.  I have also been having some problems with my asthma, but instead of going with the sure to fail treatment plan of “Ignore It!” I called my doctor BEFORE I went into full blown post run attack, and he tweaked my medication schedule. Rather than admitting defeat based on having a chronic, incurable condition, yet one that has excellent management options, I took the increased meds and ran with full, calm breath.  I also hydrated and fueled up properly (man, I love my friends… such great cooks, what a beautiful, delicious Saturday night meal) and even had some wine and chocolate and ice cream and popcorn etc., etc.  Finally, I squelched the normally powerful Voice of Laziness and got out there for some mileage.

I expected to go into thought mode, but this was a much more physically present run.  Apparently I needed to be making connections to body signals more than emotions, and I embraced that fully.  My last race in December was a let down for me because I was denying the body connections even though all the signals were there.  I was not training hard enough so normal soreness was giving way to bad soreness; constant coughing was dismissed as weakness not a scary asthma attack; bad weather was an easy scapegoat to avoid another run.  As a result, I overdid it on race day, and came up badly injured.

Unlike last fall, for the past week and today for sure, I did everything right and even had drinks and snacks waiting for me in the car when I finished.  It seems obvious and almost trite to be reporting that I drank water (omg no way!) after running nearly 10 miles, but once again, running puts into stark reality the importance of self-care, the learning curve of which I have been on the steep side.  Had I rushed to the trail and left the drinks behind, I would have missed the emotional high of finishing well and instead started blaming myself for being so stupid as to just get out the door.  It’s pretty exhilarating to accept your own best help.  Now I have something left for everyone else.

Tomorrow, an update on this documentary I saw tonight.  Excellent.

Day 27: Four On The Floor, Six Miles Destroyed!

25 Jul

Blew through six miles with the help of my current power song, “Animal Rights.” Get it on your iPod now if you want to make things go harder better faster stronger. Stick around until 1:01 and be prepared to start shaking your ass.

My cool down song was also apropos. Enjoy the delightful Jakob Dylan, accompanied by Neko Case (!), Kelly Hogan and Paul Rigby, “Nothing But The Whole Wide World.” Song starts at beginning of the video.

BIG day tomorrow. Time to prepare. G’night!

Day 33: Oreos and Milk and Ryan Adams

19 Jul

Today was one of those days that clicked along happily, no sharp points or draggy lows. I love days like today.

On my run (a mellow, untimed 5.6 miles) I went into the happy zone too, accompanied by Rocco and the magic iPod, some perfect weather, and a bit of self-generated mojo based on reframing any possible excuses to not run. Go me! My thoughts were kind of like this:

I love running.
I love the way I feel right this second, strong and powerful.
I love Tom Petty. Grateful for so many songs, but especially, “Wildflowers.” And the entire album, but especially “Wildflowers” because it is my personal anthem.
I love watching Rocco run. I miss that Duke cannot anymore.
I love the smell of the magnolia trees on the path.
I love that my braided pony tail is drenched with sweat all the way through.
I love catching the hot dads checking me out.
I love Oreos and milk, today’s pre-run snack.
And I so love that this little Ryan Adams video is what started my morning with that dash of perfection. Click it and watch it and love and warm fuzzies will beam out of you because that is the only response that fits.

Sweet dreams.

Day 34: Long-ish Run, Feeling Better-ish

17 Jul

After using up all my adrenaline watching the Women’s World Cup Final (Team USA lost in a nail-biter to Japan on penalty kicks), I had to use my intended long run for comfort instead of celebration.    And long runs are not necessarily comforting, especially since it is the first “real” one of this training schedule I have concocted.    I had two fantastic 4.75 mile runs with Rocco earlier in the week, and I have actually done a stretch here and there as opposed to my usual zilcho, so I was actually looking forward to doing seven miles.

Here is what “happened,” with explanations and disclaimers after the pic.

Look for the little grey dots for the "pauses" and that's where I made up the .26!

Although the GPS does not lie, it also does not record when I pause the program, and so when I factor back in the paused distances, I did actually run an additional quarter mile, so my total was 6.0 miles.  Whew.  That means only a mile short of the day’s goal, and that is okay with me.  Also, when I paused, I was fumbling around trying to figure out my route, because after mile three I decided to change it up and run toward a path I’ve never been on and so, had to stop for directions so to speak.  That added several minutes on to my split times, so I am thinking I was more like 10:30 per minute.  (I had a slight hangover to contend with too, damn you tequila, yet so delicious.)

On the asthma front, I am no longer in denial of needing the daily medication and have noticed my breath stays calmer longer throughout a run.  Fitness will still help me, so mileage is on the rise until the week before to get stronger.

The two earlier runs this week resulted in a creative breakthrough  too.  Am excitedly drafting a new project and will share soon!

AFC Half Day 46: Running Metaphors Collide

6 Jul

Get your ass in gear sugarleg!

With less than seven weeks to go to the AFC Half, I am well aware that I am under-trained at this point, yet my stubborn resistance to get my workouts higher on my priority list is all vintage procrastination.  I really do place much of the blame this time on the Boredom Factor,  but even that just gets to be a really lame excuse when there is a goal to be attained.  At least now that I let myself admit how much the work situation has affected me, I can move past it.  And there is no better way to do that than to run.

In a moment of to-do list drafting I came upon a wonderful Lewis Carroll quote from Through The Looking-Glass.  It is from the Red Queen to Alice as they are playing chess.  I will not go further into English teacher context shrouded quote explication mode, but since it is important to me to know something about the context of a quote before applying it to my life, I can affirm that my small amount of research allowed me to keep this one around for enjoyment and inspiration.  It goes like this:

Now, here you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place.  If you want to get somewhere else, you must at least run twice as fast as that!

I feel totally validated by the notion that when we are stuck, we are also running.  But it is running in place, running in fear of change, in that hamster wheel that just keeps spinning, but going nowhere.   I liken this to my Boredom Factor and that I got stuck because I got lulled into being complacent through a false sense of security.  Obviously I am dealing with some business-related factors that I must wait out, but big picture, this is not the right place for me to be working or perhaps even living.  So, guess what?  Time to run FASTER, twice as fast in fact!  I need to meet or exceed my time goal in the half-marathon in August and I need to way exceed even my greatest imagination of the perfect job that aligns my talent and skill.  It is out there, and I am coming to get it, and soon.  For all the naysayers and the haste makes wasters out there, yes, I agree with you on rushing-is-bad theory, but that’s not what I am doing.  This increase in speed is actually an increase in awareness AND action, and that is what I have been lacking.

Here is a hamster who speeds himself up fast enough to get flipped out of his wheel.  Don’t go and over-think it my human friends, yes, he goes back for more, because he is a hamster with a brain the size of pea.  But see that speeding it up definitely does work to gain some perspective.  (Also, how great is this video?)

AFC Half Day 47: Remember To Stretch

5 Jul

Another shot from the January photo shoot with Anne and a good reminder:

and breathe in, breathe out...

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