A couple pretty good runs recently. Last Thursday I did a solid tempo run. 20 minutes of 45 at tempo pace, which is 9:46/mile. It turned out to average closer to 9:30/mile, which was awesome. Yesterday, I cruised home on the bus from NYC in the early morning, went to work and finished up some tasks, went to the gym and KILLED it with some amazing high intensity weight training, and then went home and got in my scheduled 8-miler. Very productive day! Needless to say, that wiped me out to the point that I fell asleep during the nail-biting Celtics game. I woke up at the very end, confused and disoriented, only because I could hear half of Southie freaking out and cheering. Have I mentioned how much I love my neighborhood?

My legs feel surprisingly good. They're sore, but in a satisfying way instead of a limpy, pained, broken way. I took this afternoon off from the gym (don't want two back-to-back days of to-failure squat jumps, even I'm not that masochistic) but will try to get in 4.5 miles tonight, plus perhaps some yoga. The IT band pain is starting to subside a bit, which is kind of odd but very welcome. Trying to be more aware of my body alignment has made me realize I pronate on my left side, bigtime. My knee kind of rolls in. I'm sending back my new Nike LunarTrainers (love them, but my left foot needs more support) and getting the Zoom Elites, I think.
Starting to get really excited about this upcoming racing/training season. Just signed up for Falmouth again!

Made it through 12 miles today down by the Charles River. Actually, it was probably closer to 14; I was annoyed with myself for taking so many walk breaks that I got off the T at South Station and did a light tempo run the 2 miles to Murphy's Law. The sub-10 minute mile pace shredded my stomach, for some strange reason.
I am slow. I am still just as slow as I was when I started running, and it annoys me. I am still absolutely wasted from today, and from Saturday's weight workout (I finally gathered up the gumption to go into the Big Boy weight room, only to discover, that like many college gyms, it has no squat rack, just a leg press and a punch of bench pressing stuff. It's always arms day at college gyms) and just took a two hour nap. Lame.
Some strange foreign man stopped me near the end of my run to ask me if it was going to rain today. There were already drops intermittently falling from the sky, so I'd wager yes. But he was carrying a large umbrella and I was wearing a flimsy white t-shirt. Who do you think knows more about the weather forecast, strange foreign man, hmmm?

Oddly, my leg stops really hurting too much after a couple miles. For some reason, I have a feeling this might not be a good thing. Last week I bought The Stick, and have been using it with some success, but my left IT band is now sore to the touch from all the pressure.

Thanks, Lance.

I've been hearing a lot of those "Congratulations, that was your longest workout yet!" celebrity encouragements from my iPod for the last couple weeks because, well, every Sunday has been my longest run yet. Today it was Lance Armstrong congratulating me, last week it was Joan Benoit Samuelsen. Fun.
I ran 10 miles today, my last long run before next Sunday's half marathon. It was a perfect, sunny, breezy day. Across the bridge and downtown, through the Common, down and around the Back Bay Fens, and back home. I followed that with a 10 minute soak in a bathtub full of cold water and bags of ice, while wearing a bathing suit, stocking cap, knee socks and a fleece jacket. And cursing liberally to myself through clenched teeth. After a giant bowl of pasta and a short nap, my body still feels like it has given up on me. It's not a nice feeling to be pushing through a run like this thinking that you won't be able to finish it and certainly won't be able to finish the half marathon without stopping. It's defeatist and I am exhausted and have to edit and rewrite a paper tonight. I don't want to end up just doing it tomorrow at work because I know that just perpetuates bad habits.

I read up on ball-of-foot pain on CoolRunning.com and at the internet's suggestion, cut some pads out of a foam insole and taped them behind the balls of my feet. The right one was perfectly placed and made a world of difference, while the left one could have used some adjustment. I think I'm going to try and MacGuyver them up a little bit more. Having perfect feet for dancing and perfect feet for running are two very different things.

The strategy for this coming week is to eat well and take care of myself. First order of business - eat breakfast. I don't eat enough good things in general, because I have a very light appetite. Combined with a killer sweet tooth and high metabolism, that means most of my caloric intake is comprised of skittles, cupcakes, and pumpkin spice lattes. Because those things are delicious and make me happy. However, they don't make my body happy. First order of business - eat breakfast. As much as the idea of eating in the morning makes me queasy, I've got to teach myself to do it. Next up, more vegetables, lean protein, whole grains. I can do that for a week. And maybe if I can do it for a week, I can do it for another one!

Hipper than thou

There is no denying at this point that there is something very wrong with my body. The pain has settled in my right hip, the same pain that I felt last week after not preparing for or stretching after the Tufts Health Plan 10k for Women. It had loosened up after this weekend's hike, but after last night's strugglicious 9 miles, it is back and worse than ever. I don't know what to do. I even did a short yoga routine with plenty of hip openers last night in the kitchen post-run. I can barely walk. The half marathon is in two weeks. I just want to ignore this until it's over and then figure out the next step, whether it be a massage or PT or foam rollering or ANYTHING BUT STOPPING.
The main issue for me is that I don't think I'm going to be able to finish the race. I pushed through the last three miles last night by sheer force of will, singing along to "All These Things That I've Done" through clenched teeth. My cardiovascular fitness is awesome, it's just that by mile 7 or so my legs stop working. My feet don't want to pick up off the ground, pains shoot through my knees, my feet ache, my arches fall. I don't want to entertain the idea that I may not be "built like a runner". My tiny, delicate, high arched feet might be causing these problems, but I don't know. I don't know how to fix it. I'm sick of buying new shoes every month or so, but my beautiful new Asics Nimbus 9s just aren't cutting it - my feet are swimming around in the 7.5 size, though the 7s squished my toes. Maybe I need narrow shoes. I don't know.
I'm witnessing and appreciating the affects a 9 mile run has on my mind and general sense of well-being and I don't want to lose that just because my body is being a party pooper.

The run itself was pretty fantastic. That loop around Pleasure Bay is mighty convenient, because it's about 2-3 miles but feels like nothing. It's so beautiful, even at night, and if I need to squeeze in an emergency long run, I can just loop around it twice and continue down the shore. I didn't stop once, and got up to what I'd probably estimate was a sub-9 minute mile several times. I still can't get over how beautiful Southie is at night. Looking at the city in the distance is kind of like a memory summary of my entire three years here, and then I see exactly how far I've come and how much further I have yet to go. I'm excited.

Oops

Yesterday I accidentally ran almost 9 miles. Having a destination in mind makes it all the more fun for me. My friend S who is getting married next weekend needed some help putting together placetags and programs, and like all brides-to-be, I'm sure she relished the thought of some hands-on help from a sweaty, stinky running pal. Soooo, off I went to Davis Square with my carefully mapped 7.1 mile route.

My schedule said 7, and I was nervous because that would be the longest distance I'd run in training (not counting the Falmouth Road Race). My legs felt like lead and it was pouring rain, but I slogged along through Southie, through downtown, through the North End, through Beacon Hill, over the bridge into Cambridge, up over the ever-sketch McGrath Hwy bridge, and when I got under said bridge and felt too much like I was going to end up in the opening scene of an episode of CSI, I hightailed it down Somerville Ave and got lost. I just kept pathetically chugging down Mass Ave until I started to feel like maybe I was about to end up in Medford, and that was Not Good. It was a tough run, but I was not expecting to see 9.2 miles when I looked at my iPod. Luckily, I called S and she directed me down a side street and I only had to backtrack a bit. I stopped by the corner store to get a delicious Gatorade G2, only to find they had a debit card minumum and I had no cash. I must have looked so crushed, drowned-ratty, and bedraggled, because the cashier gave it to me for free and said I should just get him "next time". Of course I'll be taking the T out to Davis again to give him his 1.25, because that kind of awesomeness is rare these days. And it was a DELICIOUS beverage.

Tonight I WILL do my Stretch & Strengthen, even if that's just a couple downward dogs and some pushups.

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

Yesterday marked the first of my fall running adventure expeditions. I'm always pretty excited for football season, not because I'm a huge football fan, but because I always go to my brother's house and watch the Patriots while drinking craft brews and eating pizza. It's always a good time, and even though we're have now entered the Matt Cassel Zone, there's still beer and pizza and my brother & friends.
When I started training for this half thing, I devised the brilliant plan to take the T out to a certain pre-decided stop and run the rest of the way to his house, and then watch the game. It's the perfect Sunday plan!

I have to say, I was in absolutely no mood to run yesterday. But I threw on all my "fancy running gear" (which is what my brother calls spandex) and set off. I'd mapped out a 6-mile route that started at Coolidge Corner in Brookline and ended up at Pat's house in Newton Upper Falls. Since I'd only really been running the same Southie loop, this was a nice change of scenery. The weather wasn't great, it was disgustingly humid but also really windy and occasionally rainy. I'd worn a light jacket, which made things even stickier, but I didn't want to get caught in the rain or a sudden change in temperature. I struggled up Beacon Street and past the Chestnut Hill Reservoir, but once I got around the Reservoir and started getting into new territory, things started looking up. Especially after the big hill right after the Reservoir. It was mostly flat or downhill after that, and I got into my groove, listening to the latest podcast of "This American Life". By the time I got past the 4 mile mark, I was breezing along and enjoying the unique scenery of Newton. By the time I got to 6, it turns out I'd overrun my destination and ended up trying to crawl through some overgrown vines and muddy puddles near the route 9 bridge. I had to backtrack and treated myself to a tasty grape gatorade G2 and a couple of bananas.
And Lance Armstrong came on my iPod and congratulated me on my longest workout yet :)
6.04 miles
56:28
9:20/mile
(though it was probably inflated by that liar Nike+, I'm pretty proud of myself.)