Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Training from Thursday, May 24:
Running 30 mins
Pace: I forget, but something between 10:30 and 11:00 mins/mile
Training today:
Running 30 mins
Avg pace: 9:59 mins/mile
Distance: 3.03 miles
So far this vacation, I've managed to miss only 1 workout, and that is because DC is a friggin' sauna. Thankfully I was able to work out in a gym last Thursday, but you can see that my pace still wasn't all that great. Now I'm in New York where it's cooled down a bit do that I can run in the morning, and what a difference!
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Today's training: Running 30 mins
Distance: 2.35 miles
Average pace: 12:48
Greetings from Washington DC! I have actually succeeded in actually working out while on vacation, which I'm very proud of. Not so proud of my performance, which was even slower than usual. I attribute that to the three H's of doom: heat, humidity, and hills. Ugh.
Oh well though, the important thing was that I got out there and did it.
Distance: 2.35 miles
Average pace: 12:48
Greetings from Washington DC! I have actually succeeded in actually working out while on vacation, which I'm very proud of. Not so proud of my performance, which was even slower than usual. I attribute that to the three H's of doom: heat, humidity, and hills. Ugh.
Oh well though, the important thing was that I got out there and did it.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Today's training:
100 squats
50 knee pushups
This ab workout
Holy mother is it humid outside. I'm surprised my hair has only gone to twice its normal volume. Today's strength training wasn't particularly strenuous, but I was still sweating like a pig by the time I was done just because of the damn humidity. I can't wait until I get to DC tomorrow where I'm sure it's going to be even worse.
Speaking of which, yes, I'm going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks, in DC and New York visiting friends and family. Hopefully I'll find the time to keep up my training to a certain extent. At least the jetlag will work in my favor and I might be able to squeeze in some early morning workouts.
100 squats
50 knee pushups
This ab workout
Holy mother is it humid outside. I'm surprised my hair has only gone to twice its normal volume. Today's strength training wasn't particularly strenuous, but I was still sweating like a pig by the time I was done just because of the damn humidity. I can't wait until I get to DC tomorrow where I'm sure it's going to be even worse.
Speaking of which, yes, I'm going to be on vacation for the next couple of weeks, in DC and New York visiting friends and family. Hopefully I'll find the time to keep up my training to a certain extent. At least the jetlag will work in my favor and I might be able to squeeze in some early morning workouts.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Today's training:
Run/walking 6.52 miles
Average pace: 12'19"
Total time: 1h20'
Ok, today I totally earned my Slow Runner moniker. I'm never fast in the morning anyway, but this was ridiculous. For the first 4 miles, I was struggling a lot, but managing to keep a relatively quick average pace (~11'30"/mile) while alternating 3 minutes of running and 1 minutes of walking. Then I was so tired that I switched to 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking and kept at that for a little while. Then I got to the point where I just didn't want to move my legs fast anymore, so I walked for about a 3/4 mile before going back to 2 minutes running, 1 walking for the last mile.
It was seriously exhausting, and disheartening. Six-and-a-half miles is barely a quarter of what I'll have to do for the marathon and it was HARD. I've run more than this before, without walk breaks even. Why is it so difficult now? I guess part of it is the heat. I managed to get myself up and out of bed by 10 to start running, but the heat was already getting pretty bad. I guess I'll just have to get used to waking up early in the summer months. That shouldn't be so hard considering the ungodly hour the sun's coming up at these days.
The other thing I was reminded of was my first 5-mile run when I was preparing for the half-marathon last year. That was another seriously hard run, I think again because of the heat and also because my body was having to get used to longer runs. Maybe this is just that same problem again.
No matter, for my next long run, I'm definitely going to start right away with taking walk breaks every 2 minutes instead of 3. That's what Jeff Galloway says I should be doing anyway at my snail's pace.
Run/walking 6.52 miles
Average pace: 12'19"
Total time: 1h20'
Ok, today I totally earned my Slow Runner moniker. I'm never fast in the morning anyway, but this was ridiculous. For the first 4 miles, I was struggling a lot, but managing to keep a relatively quick average pace (~11'30"/mile) while alternating 3 minutes of running and 1 minutes of walking. Then I was so tired that I switched to 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking and kept at that for a little while. Then I got to the point where I just didn't want to move my legs fast anymore, so I walked for about a 3/4 mile before going back to 2 minutes running, 1 walking for the last mile.
It was seriously exhausting, and disheartening. Six-and-a-half miles is barely a quarter of what I'll have to do for the marathon and it was HARD. I've run more than this before, without walk breaks even. Why is it so difficult now? I guess part of it is the heat. I managed to get myself up and out of bed by 10 to start running, but the heat was already getting pretty bad. I guess I'll just have to get used to waking up early in the summer months. That shouldn't be so hard considering the ungodly hour the sun's coming up at these days.
The other thing I was reminded of was my first 5-mile run when I was preparing for the half-marathon last year. That was another seriously hard run, I think again because of the heat and also because my body was having to get used to longer runs. Maybe this is just that same problem again.
No matter, for my next long run, I'm definitely going to start right away with taking walk breaks every 2 minutes instead of 3. That's what Jeff Galloway says I should be doing anyway at my snail's pace.
Friday, May 18, 2012
Today's training:
Run/walking for 30 minutes (treadmill)
Average pace: 10:46/mile
Distance: 2.79 miles
My legs were feeling a lot better today, but it was a struggle to keep up my pace. After yesterday's bike ride and generally staying up too late all week, I was pretty damn tired today. Tomorrow is a day off both from work and training, so I'm hoping I'll be able to recuperate in time for Sunday's long run of 6.5 miles.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Spring bike ride
Today's training:
Cycling (20 miles)
Went for a great bike ride yesterday. You couldn't have asked for better weather, and the hills have just gone this lush green, a true harbinger of summer. Cycling is definitely tougher for my hamstrings and glutes than the usual slow running I do, especially when there are hills (we stayed by the river, but there were still a few places with a bit of an incline).
Cycling (20 miles)
Went for a great bike ride yesterday. You couldn't have asked for better weather, and the hills have just gone this lush green, a true harbinger of summer. Cycling is definitely tougher for my hamstrings and glutes than the usual slow running I do, especially when there are hills (we stayed by the river, but there were still a few places with a bit of an incline).
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Today's training:
Run/walking for 30 minutes (treadmill)
Average pace: 10:46/mile
Distance: 2.79 miles
The side of my lower leg felt all right during the run, but now I'm starting to feel something in my Achilles tendon on the same leg. This might be sympathy pain for my friend P who just snapped his last week (I'm cringing just thinking about it). Oh God, I really, really don't want anything to happen to my Achilles tendon. Like, really. P said the sound it made was almost worse than the pain. Almost.
I'm going to wrap my arms around myself and rock back and forth for awhile now.
Run/walking for 30 minutes (treadmill)
Average pace: 10:46/mile
Distance: 2.79 miles
The side of my lower leg felt all right during the run, but now I'm starting to feel something in my Achilles tendon on the same leg. This might be sympathy pain for my friend P who just snapped his last week (I'm cringing just thinking about it). Oh God, I really, really don't want anything to happen to my Achilles tendon. Like, really. P said the sound it made was almost worse than the pain. Almost.
I'm going to wrap my arms around myself and rock back and forth for awhile now.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Swimming
Today's training: Swimming 1000m
Swimming is hard. I still haven't figured out the whole "breathing" thing. I don't think you can really count the pitiful gasps I make between strokes as full-fledged breaths. It would, like, be an insult to the entire respiratory process or something. Things got better once I managed to get into a rhythm, but man was I beat after I got through those thousand meters. Including my many breaks, the whole thing took me about 45 minutes.
I went with my friend A who got yelled at for getting scratched by some lady doing the backstroke who said "You have to watch out for me! I HAVE A NECK INJURY!". I guess pool rage is a thing now.
Speaking of necks, along with breathing, one of my biggest challenges today was keeping my neck in line with my body while doing the crawl. It's really tempting to keep your head elevated because it seems like it'll help you get your head out of the water to breathe, but I can personally confirm that this is counterproductive. Not only does it make you less hydrodynamic*, it really hurts the crap out of your neck. Maybe I should go and condescendingly explain that to screeching backstroke lady if I see her again.
In other news, my lower right leg seems to be feeling better, so I think I should be ready to try another run tomorrow.
_________________________________________________________________________________
*I thought I might have been making up that word, but it turns out to be real. Score!
Swimming is hard. I still haven't figured out the whole "breathing" thing. I don't think you can really count the pitiful gasps I make between strokes as full-fledged breaths. It would, like, be an insult to the entire respiratory process or something. Things got better once I managed to get into a rhythm, but man was I beat after I got through those thousand meters. Including my many breaks, the whole thing took me about 45 minutes.
I went with my friend A who got yelled at for getting scratched by some lady doing the backstroke who said "You have to watch out for me! I HAVE A NECK INJURY!". I guess pool rage is a thing now.
Speaking of necks, along with breathing, one of my biggest challenges today was keeping my neck in line with my body while doing the crawl. It's really tempting to keep your head elevated because it seems like it'll help you get your head out of the water to breathe, but I can personally confirm that this is counterproductive. Not only does it make you less hydrodynamic*, it really hurts the crap out of your neck. Maybe I should go and condescendingly explain that to screeching backstroke lady if I see her again.
In other news, my lower right leg seems to be feeling better, so I think I should be ready to try another run tomorrow.
_________________________________________________________________________________
*I thought I might have been making up that word, but it turns out to be real. Score!
Monday, May 14, 2012
The current state of things.
Here's the rundown of things as they stand right now:
Most recent run: Friday May 11, 2012
Time: 30 mins
Distance: 2.87 miles
Pace: 10:32 per mile
Current magic mile time: 9:27
Issues: Pulled peroneus brevis muscle in right leg (self-diagnosed).
Strength training today:
40 knee pushups
80 squats
This ab workout
Most recent run: Friday May 11, 2012
Time: 30 mins
Distance: 2.87 miles
Pace: 10:32 per mile
Current magic mile time: 9:27
Issues: Pulled peroneus brevis muscle in right leg (self-diagnosed).
Strength training today:
40 knee pushups
80 squats
This ab workout
In which I am most definitely a tortoise and not even a little bit of a hare
Aesop said that slow and steady wins the race, but I beg to differ. The constant, plodding pace I had in my first half-marathon last year yielded me an 832nd place finish. As I'm sure you know, 832nd place is not exactly what you call a "win", and while I'm proud of myself for finishing at all, my time of 2:40:20 isn't really something to cheer about. This year, I'm training for a full marathon and if I can sustain my current training pace, I'll be lucky to finish in under five and a half hours. Judging by the published marathon results of a few local races, I'm setting myself up to come in dead last in my age group if not overall.
Look, I usually view my slowness with good humor, but the very real prospect of coming in dead last in one of these races kind of scares the crap out of me. I'm vain and competitive enough to view a last place finish as a personal humiliation (even though I don't think poorly of other last-place finishers because it's a marathon FFS and just getting to the end is pretty awesome). I figure, therefore, that it's good for me to aim to not just improve my endurance, but also my speed, at least by a little bit.
The problem is that my zeal has already laid me up with an injury. My 30-minute run on Friday was one of my best, with an average speed of 10:32/mile. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble hopping up a curb and managed to pull the muscles on the outside of my lower leg (the peroneus muscles) during that lightning fast, gazelle-like sprint through the sleepy morning streets and will probably be out of commission for the rest of the week. This sucks because the weather happens to be unbelievably beautiful and not too hot at the moment, i.e. perfect for trying to run fast.
To make up for not being able to run, I'm going to try and do a bit of swimming or other cross-training (did I mention that I'm a horrible swimmer, too?). Plus I should probably do a bit of strength training to help me with my posture and stamina. This blog is going to serve as my training log. I hope to visit it often. Maybe other people will join me for the (slow, sweaty) ride.
Look, I usually view my slowness with good humor, but the very real prospect of coming in dead last in one of these races kind of scares the crap out of me. I'm vain and competitive enough to view a last place finish as a personal humiliation (even though I don't think poorly of other last-place finishers because it's a marathon FFS and just getting to the end is pretty awesome). I figure, therefore, that it's good for me to aim to not just improve my endurance, but also my speed, at least by a little bit.
The problem is that my zeal has already laid me up with an injury. My 30-minute run on Friday was one of my best, with an average speed of 10:32/mile. Unfortunately, I had a bit of trouble hopping up a curb and managed to pull the muscles on the outside of my lower leg (the peroneus muscles) during that lightning fast, gazelle-like sprint through the sleepy morning streets and will probably be out of commission for the rest of the week. This sucks because the weather happens to be unbelievably beautiful and not too hot at the moment, i.e. perfect for trying to run fast.
To make up for not being able to run, I'm going to try and do a bit of swimming or other cross-training (did I mention that I'm a horrible swimmer, too?). Plus I should probably do a bit of strength training to help me with my posture and stamina. This blog is going to serve as my training log. I hope to visit it often. Maybe other people will join me for the (slow, sweaty) ride.
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