8.0 miles
8:30 pm
1 hour 8 min.
Low 70's, consistently drizzling
I got back into training pace tonight with a decent-speed 8 miles. It was another great evening for running: cool and dry. I expect they'll continue like this for a while. Summer is drawing up for Fall and you feel it most in the evenings.
It drizzled throughout the entire time, which conveniently kept me hydrated; or rather it kept me from sweating too much and becomming dehydrated. And it wasn't one of those rains that kicks you into gear like you're amping up for the big game, it was a constant drizzle. As opposed to a driving rain, it was a jogging drizzle, if you will (and you will). It kept people largely off the streets and lakeshore, so the lakeshore path was almost entirely empty, which is exactly how I like it.
I felt really good after the run and continued feeling good all night at work. I feel like I'm over my little break. Next run is for distance.
18 miles, here I come.
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Saturday, August 27, 2011
A few weeks off was a bad idea...
4.0 mi.
35 minutes
Upper 70s
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After my hiatus from training for a marathon only a little over a month from race date, and subsequent training restart a few days ago, the muscle stiffness had set in pretty deep. Once you've been running for about 3-5 hours a week for a few months, the muscles get used to the abuse. I was amazed at how quickly that went away. Two days after what seemed like an easy-ish 6 miles, it felt suddenly like I had run a tough 15 with no stretching.
It pained me to think of running, but that's life as an idiot who signed up for a marathon.
I recently rewatched a thriller from 1978 with Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and the guy from Jaws, called "Marathon Man." I originally saw the last part of it when I had mono in high school and watched anything and everthing on TV. I wanted to see if it would be as interesting to someone who didn't have mono, but was running a marathon. Turns out it has surprisingly little to do with running except that Dustin Hoffman runs away from the bad guys, and it's not really interesting unless you're too tired to change the channel. But there's an early scene where Dustin's trying to get a girl and chases after her (running) and tells her he twisted his ankle but isn't limping because "when you race for 26 miles you don't give into pain." I took inspiration from this asinine movie, and I ran. So I thank Dustin Hoffman today.
Here's the trailer, and in case you were wondering: yes, I do run shirtless and in pajama pants. It helps me draw more inspiration from the character. And I think on race day, I'll imagine I'm running from a safety-crazed torturing Nazi dentist Laurence Olivier.
35 minutes
Upper 70s
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After my hiatus from training for a marathon only a little over a month from race date, and subsequent training restart a few days ago, the muscle stiffness had set in pretty deep. Once you've been running for about 3-5 hours a week for a few months, the muscles get used to the abuse. I was amazed at how quickly that went away. Two days after what seemed like an easy-ish 6 miles, it felt suddenly like I had run a tough 15 with no stretching.
It pained me to think of running, but that's life as an idiot who signed up for a marathon.
I recently rewatched a thriller from 1978 with Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, and the guy from Jaws, called "Marathon Man." I originally saw the last part of it when I had mono in high school and watched anything and everthing on TV. I wanted to see if it would be as interesting to someone who didn't have mono, but was running a marathon. Turns out it has surprisingly little to do with running except that Dustin Hoffman runs away from the bad guys, and it's not really interesting unless you're too tired to change the channel. But there's an early scene where Dustin's trying to get a girl and chases after her (running) and tells her he twisted his ankle but isn't limping because "when you race for 26 miles you don't give into pain." I took inspiration from this asinine movie, and I ran. So I thank Dustin Hoffman today.
Here's the trailer, and in case you were wondering: yes, I do run shirtless and in pajama pants. It helps me draw more inspiration from the character. And I think on race day, I'll imagine I'm running from a safety-crazed torturing Nazi dentist Laurence Olivier.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Back from hiatus...
5.8 mi.
8:30pm
45 min., low 70s
So I took a couple days off, whaduvit?
After my last big run a few weeks ago, I was finally finished with school for the summer. I was tired and didn't want to push it after having emphatically crossed the halfway mark in my distances. So I said to myself a few days after that I'd give it another day's rest before running again. Then I registered for school and started a week's worth of blowing cash on Truman College and their cronies. That made me feel mostly like throwing up and punching things, not running. Then I finished up an 8 day work week and crashed for the weekend, after which school started. This brings us up to today's run. I just finished up my first few days of classes and now that my schedule is tight again, I feel I'm able to cram in some running.
I've always been more or less useless when not busy. Whether its the product of TV, the government, terrorists, an overactive lazy gland, or just a true appreciation of pondering and experiencing nothing whatsoever, I do not know. But the more open my schedule gets, the less I am capable of. This helps to explain the deficits in my early college career (i.e. coming off a lifelong daily soccer routine, activities-ensconsed high school, and summer jobs to an environment with no work and just a few classes periodically througout the week with teachers who barely care if you're there or not--but I digress).
But the opposite seems to also be true: the busier I become, often, the more efficient I become, provided I have the appropriate support tactics from Nicki, which include a lot of understanding, love, and--crucially--making sure I eat more that just Cheetos and Redbull.
So I've started school again and made a copious schedule of events in my life, which includes running. It's on the schedule, so I'll feel obligated to do it. Plus, the more hectic things get, the better it feels to zone out and take a long walk. The only difference is that the walk is really long, and you're not walking, and you sweat a lot. I'm actually looking forward to these big distances coming up.
So I took the run that was in my schedule that I had made a few days before. "8:30p9:30p 6 miles," I wrote. And so it was. All hail the mighty schedule!
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8:30pm
45 min., low 70s
So I took a couple days off, whaduvit?
After my last big run a few weeks ago, I was finally finished with school for the summer. I was tired and didn't want to push it after having emphatically crossed the halfway mark in my distances. So I said to myself a few days after that I'd give it another day's rest before running again. Then I registered for school and started a week's worth of blowing cash on Truman College and their cronies. That made me feel mostly like throwing up and punching things, not running. Then I finished up an 8 day work week and crashed for the weekend, after which school started. This brings us up to today's run. I just finished up my first few days of classes and now that my schedule is tight again, I feel I'm able to cram in some running.
I've always been more or less useless when not busy. Whether its the product of TV, the government, terrorists, an overactive lazy gland, or just a true appreciation of pondering and experiencing nothing whatsoever, I do not know. But the more open my schedule gets, the less I am capable of. This helps to explain the deficits in my early college career (i.e. coming off a lifelong daily soccer routine, activities-ensconsed high school, and summer jobs to an environment with no work and just a few classes periodically througout the week with teachers who barely care if you're there or not--but I digress).
But the opposite seems to also be true: the busier I become, often, the more efficient I become, provided I have the appropriate support tactics from Nicki, which include a lot of understanding, love, and--crucially--making sure I eat more that just Cheetos and Redbull.
So I've started school again and made a copious schedule of events in my life, which includes running. It's on the schedule, so I'll feel obligated to do it. Plus, the more hectic things get, the better it feels to zone out and take a long walk. The only difference is that the walk is really long, and you're not walking, and you sweat a lot. I'm actually looking forward to these big distances coming up.
So I took the run that was in my schedule that I had made a few days before. "8:30p9:30p 6 miles," I wrote. And so it was. All hail the mighty schedule!
View Larger Map
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