First off, can I just say how happy I am that I know honestly think of a 5-miler as a mid-length run? Like "I could go longer, but this will suffice"?
That being said, after doing 15 miles in 2 days, I wasn't sure how to do this run. And I think I did it wrong. Probably by running at all. Especially by running in "minimalist" shoes. I did my Tuesday recovery run in regular shoes, with the extra support. Now, I know that studies have shown people instinctively hit the ground harder in shoes with more cushioning, and step lighter in shoes with less, but I didn't want to overdo the minimalist running, so I had the padding. I might have needed it today, as well.
Originally, this was supposed to be a 4 miler, with the Thursday Meetup group. However, due to a forgotten Inter-Americas 2011 planning session, I couldn't make that run. So I hit Whitewater early, and decided to do some laps around the whitewater section, semi-interval-ish. There's about a half mile of gravel around the water, so I just ran on that, up and back, up and back. Recovery walks in between, but I probably did it wrong. I did do .34 miles at a 6:53/mile pace, but slowed after that, and started to notice a pain in my left shin. Stopped after 3, and went on the trails, slowly considerably, just enjoying the silence, jogging occasionally, pushing up hills, etc. 5.77 for the day. 11:29 pace.
But I still have pain in my shin, and I'm worried about shin splints. Or just over-doing it. The 12 miles might have been too much, too early. Sure, I'm doing a 13 miler on Jan. 23, but maybe I should have stopped at 10? I'll take tomorrow off, and see how it is Saturday, since I don't really need another long run this week, I might do a medium, and I'm also thinking about doing some barefoot work at a nearby soccer field. Or that could be Sunday, before the hash, since I won't be FRB even if I try. 6-7 miles Saturday, maybe half a mile Sunday barefoot, then hash and hope it isn't too much. It isn't too too much, I don't think I'll risk injuring myself more, but it could be a good amount to see how my legs are actually feeling.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Recovery Run
While my Garmin tells me I did 11.6 miles at a 12:00 pace yesterday, SportTracks tells me it was 12.21, at 11:29 pace. Either way, it was the most consecutive miles I had done in . . . . . . . ummmmmm, 3.5 years? On November 25th, we ran 13 miles for Joel's birthday, but that was 5 miles, 10 minute break, 5 miles, 3 hour break, 3 miles, and all roads, all flat. Before that, I had done at least 11 in August, 5 in the Marine Mud Challenge, then 6 or so on the hash that afternoon, once again, there was a break. Before that, it was probably my half-marathons in 2006. Those were both sub 10:00's, one flat, one hilly, but doing 11:30 for 12 miles felt pretty good, especially considering the severity of the trails. And I was consciously taking it slow, to get the distance in.
Anyways, decided to follow that up with the weekly Tuesday run at the Whitewater Center. Temperature was below 30, and with only 3 miles of running, my legs never really warmed up. Part of that was probably the fatigue from yesterday, definitely makes a difference, but I still managed 11:00/mi, and didn't injure myself. Eyes wouldn't stop tearing up from the cold, should have worn glasses to shield them.
So I'm up to 15 miles in 2 days of running this week. Taking Wednesday off, probably running on Thursday, not sure on Friday, then a mid run on Saturday, possibly barefoot running before the hash on Sunday.
Anyways, decided to follow that up with the weekly Tuesday run at the Whitewater Center. Temperature was below 30, and with only 3 miles of running, my legs never really warmed up. Part of that was probably the fatigue from yesterday, definitely makes a difference, but I still managed 11:00/mi, and didn't injure myself. Eyes wouldn't stop tearing up from the cold, should have worn glasses to shield them.
So I'm up to 15 miles in 2 days of running this week. Taking Wednesday off, probably running on Thursday, not sure on Friday, then a mid run on Saturday, possibly barefoot running before the hash on Sunday.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Memorial Run
While I was running today, I missed a call from my mom, telling me that my dad's dad had passed away. He had been in a nursing home for a while, and was fading away, not from any disease, but simply because his 90th birthday was last August. And so my short training run changed. I did some quick math, deciding to somehow get in 2 hours and 15 minutes, or 135 minutes, which would be 90 seconds for each of his 90 years. Figured that would involve most of the trails at the Whitewater Center, ended up doing everything except for the Figure-8 trail, and did Goat Hill twice, both for some hill work and to see the alternate route down it. 2 hours and 20 minutes, so technically 93 seconds per year, and 11.6 miles according to the Garmin, probably closer to 12.5 in reality.
It was a good run. Gave me time to reflect on his passing, and my memories of him. I've now lost all 4 of my grandparents, so if I ever have kids, they won't get to meet them. Also realized that it's up to my brother and I to carry on the Vance name, since the rest of our cousins are either female or have a different last name. I know it's hardly logical, but he was one of 9 children, he and my grandma had 6 kids, 9 grandchildren from those 6 kids, and at least 11 great-grandchildren, from only 4 of the grandchildren. I'm also sad that he never got to meet Stephanie and Maya, they would have really liked him. It's definitely tough losing another grandparent when I am out of state. My mother's father died when I was a kid, still playing baseball, so I was probably 11 or so. Her mother died when I was in South Carolina. My father's mother died on December 26, 2007, and I couldn't make the funeral because I had to go back to Georgia for work. And now I'll miss another funeral, because I literally can't afford to go up there.
I've decided to run at least 4 marathons this year, one for each of them, and I'd like to wear a t-shirt with a picture of each grandparent on there. A little extra motivation when it gets tough. Probably should also do that for the ultra(s), because those will definitely have some tough spots. First marathon is 2 months away, need to keep training.
It was a good run. Gave me time to reflect on his passing, and my memories of him. I've now lost all 4 of my grandparents, so if I ever have kids, they won't get to meet them. Also realized that it's up to my brother and I to carry on the Vance name, since the rest of our cousins are either female or have a different last name. I know it's hardly logical, but he was one of 9 children, he and my grandma had 6 kids, 9 grandchildren from those 6 kids, and at least 11 great-grandchildren, from only 4 of the grandchildren. I'm also sad that he never got to meet Stephanie and Maya, they would have really liked him. It's definitely tough losing another grandparent when I am out of state. My mother's father died when I was a kid, still playing baseball, so I was probably 11 or so. Her mother died when I was in South Carolina. My father's mother died on December 26, 2007, and I couldn't make the funeral because I had to go back to Georgia for work. And now I'll miss another funeral, because I literally can't afford to go up there.
I've decided to run at least 4 marathons this year, one for each of them, and I'd like to wear a t-shirt with a picture of each grandparent on there. A little extra motivation when it gets tough. Probably should also do that for the ultra(s), because those will definitely have some tough spots. First marathon is 2 months away, need to keep training.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Starting the New Year right
The local Meetup group had a trail run scheduled for January 1, which I was looking forward to. Originally it was supposed to be held at Whitewater, but the rain 2 nights before had it closed, so instead we went to McDowell Nature Preserve. I had hiked there before, but never really thought about running there. For one, there's only 7 miles there. Also, they're all hiking trails. No mountain biking. This meant a lot of slick areas, because walking and running require different levels of trail. But still, it was right by my house, so I made the trek over. Hard to beat a 20 minute round trip to trail running.
11 hardy souls showed up, temperature was around 38, not much in the way of wind. Trails were somewhat muddy, mainly an issue around the sharp turns/eroded trails. It was supposed to be 6 miles, but multiple Garmins said our route was 4.75, so I'd guess it was around 5 or so. We then stood around talking for a while, discussing races and nutrition and such, discovered a guy I had hashed with before was on the same high school xc team as Geoff Roes, ultra-geeked-out for a while.
Eventually most of the people started to leave, but 4 of us decided to run some more. I, for one, did not want my first run of the year to be a paltry 5 miles. So instead, my first run of the year was 8.15. Debated doing another 1.85 or so to get to 10 to start '10, but a quiet evening sounded better.
11 hardy souls showed up, temperature was around 38, not much in the way of wind. Trails were somewhat muddy, mainly an issue around the sharp turns/eroded trails. It was supposed to be 6 miles, but multiple Garmins said our route was 4.75, so I'd guess it was around 5 or so. We then stood around talking for a while, discussing races and nutrition and such, discovered a guy I had hashed with before was on the same high school xc team as Geoff Roes, ultra-geeked-out for a while.
Eventually most of the people started to leave, but 4 of us decided to run some more. I, for one, did not want my first run of the year to be a paltry 5 miles. So instead, my first run of the year was 8.15. Debated doing another 1.85 or so to get to 10 to start '10, but a quiet evening sounded better.
Bringing in the New Year
I've started 2010 with a goal to run more. Both in terms of weekly/monthly/yearly distance (at least 1000 miles, going for 1500), and race distance, as I'd like to complete several marathons and at least 1 ultra. Let's see how that goes.
Oh, and lose more weight. Started 2010 at 195, goal is below 180, assuming that weight still lets me run well
Oh, and lose more weight. Started 2010 at 195, goal is below 180, assuming that weight still lets me run well
Monday, December 28, 2009
Saturday, 12/26
Waaaaaay too much food was consumed from Wednesday to Friday, so Saturday was another long run. And as much as I wanted to run trails, the several inches of rain we got on Thursday night and Friday morning meant that wasn't going to happen. I talked Stephanie into running on the nearby Greenway, which to her dismay was flooded at one point, and apparently not everyone enjoys wading through mid-calf water when it's 45 degrees. However, in my NB 790's, I just kept moving, and my shoes drained quickly. One problem I couldn't avoid was a general feeling of "blah", along with mild asthma. Planned to cut the run short to 4.8 miles, but at the spot we needed to turn, I felt like going further, while Stephanie was having stomach issues, so she headed home. I picked up the pace at this point (we had gone 3.51 miles in 35:26, 10:06 pace), which was easy since this part was downhill or flat for most of the way back.
When I got to the Greenway exit by Stephanie's house, my Garmin had only registered 5.6 miles, not the 6.8 or so that it should have shown to make it a 7 mile run. I was still feeling good, so I decided to just keep going and make my own path home. This also meant I ran through the flooded section again, expressing derision for all those who turned around by splashing joyfully through it. When I got back to the house, I had done 7.26 miles, in 69 minutes. 10K was just under 60 minutes, and I averaged a 9:06/mile over the last 3.75.
Really felt good about this, since I chose to keep going rather than surrender to the desire to veg on the couch. And then chose to go another 1.8 miles, when I could have once again gone back to veg. And my legs still feel good, 2 days later, so hopefully my legs didn't mind 21 miles in only 3 runs this week. I know I need to start getting an actual long run in each week, it's mainly just an issue of time and location. I wanted to do 10 or more at Whitewater on Thursday, but didn't have the time. And with the wet conditions recently, when I have had the time, it's been closed. It's tough to work up the motivation to run long on the roads without company, while I have no problem running long on trails by myself. Greenways are somewhat in between, but if the recent weather trends keep up, I'll have to spend more time on them, and just learn to deal.
When I got to the Greenway exit by Stephanie's house, my Garmin had only registered 5.6 miles, not the 6.8 or so that it should have shown to make it a 7 mile run. I was still feeling good, so I decided to just keep going and make my own path home. This also meant I ran through the flooded section again, expressing derision for all those who turned around by splashing joyfully through it. When I got back to the house, I had done 7.26 miles, in 69 minutes. 10K was just under 60 minutes, and I averaged a 9:06/mile over the last 3.75.
Really felt good about this, since I chose to keep going rather than surrender to the desire to veg on the couch. And then chose to go another 1.8 miles, when I could have once again gone back to veg. And my legs still feel good, 2 days later, so hopefully my legs didn't mind 21 miles in only 3 runs this week. I know I need to start getting an actual long run in each week, it's mainly just an issue of time and location. I wanted to do 10 or more at Whitewater on Thursday, but didn't have the time. And with the wet conditions recently, when I have had the time, it's been closed. It's tough to work up the motivation to run long on the roads without company, while I have no problem running long on trails by myself. Greenways are somewhat in between, but if the recent weather trends keep up, I'll have to spend more time on them, and just learn to deal.
Thursday, 12/24
Apparently the Whitewater Center decided to tease me by finally opening on Wednesday, when I was scheduled to spend the next few days with Stephanie's family, doing Christmas/birthday things. Luckily, I managed to snag a few hours on Thursday, and got out to the USNWC for possibly the last run of the year there, with the bad weather scheduled for that night. As much as I wanted to put in a full 2 hours on the trails, I needed to get home to shower and dress for dinner at her Nana's, so I did 81 minutes and 7.4 miles. Felt pretty good throughout, packed extra layers to practice strapping them on my hydration pack and carrying extra weight. Apparently I should start wearing a bell when I'm running, as I once again scared someone on trail, simply by saying "on your left" as I was approaching. 10:57 pace was intentional, wanted to take it easy, walked one hill just to get a feel for that part of the course, planning on doing the 13 miler here in a few weeks. Also, burning a thousand calories is a good way to get ready for Christmas feasting.
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