Thursday, March 29, 2007

This week is a mess!

This week is the last week of school before spring break. Now many of you are probably thinking to yourself "Spring break, man, I wish I got a spring break!" Well I'd be happy to trade you for whatever it is you will be doing next week. I coach for my school's women's rowing program, so we are headed to beautiful Oak Ridge, Tennessee. I'm no fan of Tennessee, but it is warmer than here, so that part isn't so bad. What is bad is that I will be coaching three practices a day, doing the team's video editing work for another couple hours a day, trying to fit runs in, studying for an exam, and writing two lengthy research papers - that isn't a break!

The lead-up to this "break" hasn't been good either as this week has been packed with school work and work work for me. I missed my run yesterday and know that I will miss tomorrow's run, so I've been shifting the workouts around to avoid losing too much mileadge. Hopefully I'll survive the next ten days, and then will get back into a more regular routine, although that seems unlikely given that we will be into our race season and traveling a lot.

I need a sugar-momma to pay for my schooling so that I don't have to do this work thing! Hell, even a sugar-daddy would be acceptable if the benefits were right!

Monday, March 26, 2007

I hate this

Yesterday my friend B expressed his doubts that I really hate running giving the training that I am doing. I tried my best to reassure him that I did, but I'm not sure that he bought it. I wish he had been there for my 20 miler today. It was pure misery.

I don't enjoy any of my runs, even the short ones. At best they are unpleasant. Somewhere around eight miles they transfer to miserable, and over twelve or so they are into the unbearable zone. Every step after mile twelve is misery, and it is hard to keep the feet turning over.

Today's run started a little fast, but that's not why it was so bad. It was primarily bad because the first twelvish miles were into the wind, and slightly up hill. That was a bad way to start off. Then it was compounded by some pretty severe dehydration. It was around 80 today which is well warmer than we are used to up north here, and I was a bit dehydrated when the run started, but I didn't think too bad. I drank 32 ounces of Gatorade Endurance Formula during the run, which wasn't enough. By the end of the run I was about five pounds below my normal weight, while still wearing sweat-soaked shorts and a shirt! Not good. Not good at all.

Every step of every one of these runs has me questioning the wisdom of doing this race, and as of right now the only thing keeping me going is knowing how much shit I will get from all of you, my dear readers, if I don't do it. If I do the race I will likely never run another day again after that!

I hate running.

Aches & pains...

You may have noticed that one of my runs came up a bit short last week and that that I missed a good length run the next day - I'm hurting a bit! I have really tight Achilles tendons, and my left one has been particularly tender the past week or so. I've also been having a bit of unknown pain in my right ankle region, something that I attribute to running off-road some last week. So I thought a bit of rest was in order, especially with today's 20 miler in the works. It is beautiful out and is supposed to be around 70 by the time I hit the road this afternoon, so it is at least a nice day for a run. We'll see how the body actually responds to going that far....

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Shorts!


Apparently when I was a shorty my mom put me in a pair of shorts when spring rolled around and I totally freaked out because "my knees were sticking out!" Today when I put shorts on for the run I nearly freaked out again, but this time because the temperature was over 60! I still wound up being overdressed with a long sleeve shirt on, but man was it nice to be in shorts.

Highs are 50 or above for every day in the current 10-day forecast, so I think we are finally getting into spring up here in the tundra. And you know what they say a young man's mind turns to when spring rolls around: papers, projects, running too far, and too much stress, that's what! Wait, I don't think that is the saying. Maybe it doesn't work because I am no longer a young man....

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The Shamrock Shuffle

Today was the first 10k I've ever raced: The Shamrock Shuffle in Madison. It was a beautiful morning for it, if a little chilly at 25* at race time. I didn't have a decent run yesterday (8 miles), so I was a bit nervous about the race today, but it went pretty well. I finished in 39:41 according to my watch, which is around a 6:24 average per mile. Not bad for my first running race in over a decade! A few online pace calculators predict around a 3:06 marathon based on that which I would be pretty happy with.

The race itself felt pretty decent. It was a bit hillier course than most of my runs, so that was a bit of a shock to the system. I need to work on my pacing a little bit more - my miles varied from 6:02 (mile 2) to 6:26 (mile 4). My time would have put me in the top fifteen or so last year, but they had a much larger crowd this year so I think I was around 27 with one woman (a good looking one no less) about 50 feet ahead of me for the entire race. They started a 5k on the same course about 10 minutes after us which turned out to be a bit of a bad idea as the 10k runners then had to weave through the slower 5k runners for the last mile into the finish. Not much else to complain about though. I'm definitely pretty happy with the race and feel better about my training for Sunburst!

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Chasing Leperchauns!

For my workout this Saturday I will be racing in the Shamrock Shuffle 10k a few blocks from my home. This will be the fist running race I have done in over a decade. My training plan doesn't call for racing any 10k's for a few more weeks, but this one is right here, and I'm supposed to run eight miles that day anyway, so it should be perfect with the warm up and cool down thrown in. I'm really not sure what I can do for the race as I haven't been doing any speed training with that sort of distance, but going under 40' would be nice - I think that is around a 6:30 pace.

On another note, my wonderful espresso machine arrived back from some warranty work today after a ten week absence. I am very excited to get her fired up again and restore a proper caffeine balance to my life!

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Things are getting better... kind of

Every time I have a long run in the training plan it is a new record for the farthest I have ever run. This week it was 18 miles, and it was clear to me why I hadn't run this far before: it is not fun! Getting through the run was probably the hardest thing I've ever done physically, although it wasn't all bad. Unlike my two previous long runs, there was no intense pain anywhere, just a dull ache through the knees, hips, and hip flexors, which is to be expected I suppose. And unlike my previous long runs, the streets and sidewalks were mostly free of snow and ice, so my time was significantly better than the time before. Running in the warmer weather was also really nice, although it made me want to be on my bike instead of running.

My opinion of my FuelBelt changed with this last run, and I now strongly dislike it. As with nearly all of my clothing, I fall right between sizes small and medium; I have a medium FuelBelt which fit really well with the slightly bulker winter clothes, but moves around way too much with the thinner clothes now. I'm thinking I may have to get a small and sell the medium unit, because it was annoying as all get out to have the belt constantly bouncing and moving around for 18 miles.

Overall the training is going ok, although I feel like it could be a bit better. I'm holding off on any real goal setting until a month or so before the race so that I have a better sense of how my training is progressing and ensuring that I am still injury free. I have a few goals in mind though....

Saturday, March 10, 2007

Oh happy day!

Today is shaping up to be just a fantastic day. First of all, it is bright and sunny and warm (45!) outside! The run felt great, no gloves or anything. The only downside is because of the massive melt off going on, a lot of the sidewalks are flooded, and I ran through some slush that was deeper than my shoes. I wasn't too happy about that, but I'll take it over the cold that we've had!

Second, I think I'm finally almost over this sickness that has been plaguing me! I am still a bit congested, and the ears still feel a bit full, but all in all I'm feeling a good bit better.

I can't wait for things to get even warmer over the next few days and to melt off the last of this snow - spring is in the air!

Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Little things...

I got in to see the doc the other day, and naturally he couldn't find anything wrong with me. Rather than do a CT scan on my sinuses to see what the hell is going on in there, he prescribed another round of antibiotics (Z-Pac) and a nasal spray to try to clear things out. It better work!

I was back in for my next round of allergy shots after my systemic reaction last week, and they set me waaaaay back in the dosing. Rather than the three injections I got at 0.25cc each last time, I got only one this time, and only at 0.10cc. Next week we will step back up to two of the allergens, then hopefully back to all three. It is going to take me forever to get through these things, but if they result in any reduction in my allergies and overall stuffiness, they will be worth it.

Warm weather is on the way! Although the low tonight will be in the single digits, the Weather Channel is promising temps in the 40s by the weekend and maybe a trip into the 50s next week. I can't wait, although all this snow melting off will make things pretty sloppy for a while.


Sunday, March 4, 2007

Still sick....

I've been sick for about six weeks here, and I'm pretty tired of it. It is nothing major, just this congestion in my head and sinuses that won't go away. Every morning I wake up with my head and ears feeling all full, and I'm still coughing quite a bit from congestion irritating my throat. I've already done a ten day course of antibiotics which appeared to do nothing, but I'm going to head back in to the doctor this week and see if we can come up with something. I'm sick of being sick....