02/21/2010 - 02/27/2010
Gah, I'm not exactly sure what went wrong, but the horribleness seems to be off to an early lead this week. First the lack of a proper long run, then the unintentional day off, then the horrible workout/horrible re-spraining of the ankle. GAHHHHHH...
Sunday 02/21: 7.1 miles, 59:26 (8:22 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
The cop-out long run. Didn't sleep well and felt really lousy and stomach-achey through the morning. Finally dragged my unhappy self out to the Arroyo in the final hours of daylight. Felt lousy until the turnaround point, then a little better. I guess given how the day started out, its probably a win to have done a run at all.
Monday 02/22: Off, woke up and my stomach hurt so I slept in until it was too late to do a run. Nuts...
Tuesday 02/23: ~5.3 miles, 5 laps North Field, 2 x mile with 1 lap jog recovery, 5 laps North Field
Horrible, horrible workout. Felt congested and lousy when I woke up, and was already huffing on my warm up. Not a good sign... but per not having enough time to drive back to the Arroyo and not really wanting to run 45 minutes on the North Field (I have a low tolerance for runs that don't go anywhere) I was committed to the work out. Well... maybe not as committed as I could have been. Was supposed to be 3 x mile... but bailed after two sub-standard miles in (7:02/7:10) feeling substantially worse than last week's tempo or the previous week's workout with Susan... isn't training supposed to make you FASTER? To add insult to injury (or rather, injury to insult in this case), I horribly sprained my newly healed R ankle during the last lap of my cooldown.... gahhhhhhh. So sad and unamused.
Wednesday 02/24: 7.1 miles, 57:16 (8:04 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
6 am run awesomeness with Dennis in the Arroyo. Actually felt really good. I like the early morning hours, very peaceful and calm. A moderate but comfortable pace, I guess I have energy left over from running SO SLOWLY yesterday. I really wish I knew what made the bad days come and go. Let's see if I can get up this early again tomorrow.
Thursday 02/25: 7.1 miles, 1:01:32 (8:40 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Decided to cash in my recovery jog today instead of yesterday. I think the jog on the way out, run on the way back works well for me in this regard. (33:29/28:03) probably could have put some more effort into the jog part, but oh well, sort of tired and groggy--felt a lot better on the run back. Day 2 of getting up at 5:45, but did an involuntary snooze until 6am so everything was 15 minutes late today.
Friday 02/26: 7.1 miles, 58:13 (8:12 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Day 3 of 6 am run. Same route with Dennis, felt pretty good, but not quite as good as Wednesday, so we went a little bit slower, but it actually turned out better than I thought it would. I guess I'm kind of in a rut with this route (4th time this week)... but to be fair, a 7 mile rut is much better than a 5 mile rut!
Saturday 02/27: 5.3 miles, 45:52 (8:39 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Fail on waking up early. Did some light jogging during one of the breaks in the rain. Arroyo was extra muddy for some reason, footing difficult, almost did a faceplant at various points. Felt okay otherwise, just taking it easy in preparation for attempting a decent long run tomorrow. Really hungry today for some reason.
Week Total: 39 miles, not bad considering lack of long run.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Veritable Assortment of Strange Runs
02/14/2010 - 02/20/2010
In the absence of structured training, I find myself being more open to running opportunistically with whomever or whenever there happens to be an opening. Which is a novelty in and of itself for someone who is normally so constrained by the forces of OCD. Unfortunately, 8 days worth of work got crammed into 4 days of the workweek due to President's day, so opportunistically is really the only way I could fit a decent number of runs into this week. I daresay I did pretty well, but the sleep deprivation was pretty intense by the end of the week.
Sunday 02/14: 7.1 miles, 1:01:35 (8:40 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Happy Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year! Though personally the day was slanted towards the latter due to the fact that my significant other is out of the country and Nathan Lau and Dennis and I cooked a Chinese New Year feast. I didn't manage to wake up a reasonable hour, which meant that I had to wedge a run in during the hottest part of the day prior to picking up a whole Peking duck. Legs kind of felt thrashed, R hamstring kind of bugging me still, went really slow... but overall felt better than other tired, sub-optimally warm runs I've been on in recent memory though.
Monday 02/15: 9.8 miles, 1:16:44 (7:50 min/mile) Whole Arroyo
Nice morning run with Chief, Ryan and Cameron. Well, actually, I arrived late and had to ball it down to Garfield to catch up with them (2.5 miles, 17:42 = tempo run for grossly out of shape me?). Felt sort of wiped out from the early effort, but managed to stick with the group the rest of the way, despite a strong temptation to bail out early onto California. It's actually really nice to have company to pull you along when you're struggling. Strangely felt better once we came out of the trails on the way back. Felt the R hamstring at certain points, but not too bad.
Tuesday 02/16: 5.3 miles, 44:00 (8:18 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gah, back to work... but managed to get a good start by waking up moderately on time to squeeze in a run. I expected to feel kind of horrible from yesterday, but it was not bad at all! Maybe the new year's mochi/cake thingy that we made is magic.
Wednesday 02/17: 5.3 miles, ??? (??? min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
The funny thing is, I was so tired when I got home from work yesterday, that I went to bed without taking off my watch... but somehow in the commotion to get up in the morning, I TOOK IT OFF... and therefore this run is untimed. I guess that is okay, because it psychologically made it easier for me to take today's run really relaxed. My R hamstring still kind of feels funny, and I think it could really use an very easy day.
Thursday 02/18: ~5 miles, 5 laps North Field + 2 mile tempo on the track + 5 laps North Field
I woke up early but I really needed the extra time because my google earth mapping project is still sub-par. Came home at 9:30 pm and decided I could still wedge in a short workout before starting my next presentation. Abridged warm up felt really good, I considered just ditching the tempo and running easy for 45 minutes, but after 4 laps I got bored of running on the NF so I decided to stick with the original plan. 2 mile tempo in 13:53 (6:59/6:54) running really consistent lap splits. The first mile is a little bit slower because some stupid Fleming people had parked their backpacks and their butts in lane 1. Felt good and in control, like under threshold pace. It's actually fairly relaxing to run just one... usually 2 mile tempos come in sets of 3. Unclear if there are any training benefits from today, just wanted to run a different pace than usual, cooled down still feeling good and less stressed than before.
Friday 02/19: Off, shots. Too exhausted after work to do an evening run.
Saturday 02/20: ~5.5 miles, Random Track with Matt and Dennis
Arrghhh... somehow I let Dennis convince me that Matt's slow pace is reasonably close to my normal pace, which as it turns out is not true. Additionally I'm feeling the post-shots hangover pretty badly today. The system just doesn't feel good. I wonder if this will go away, as I've never noticed the effect until very recently. Ran ~3 miles in lane 2 or 3 with Matt and Dennis then 10 laps of the SF just to be sure I ran more than 5 miles. I'm pretty sure Matt mis-counted a lap though because my watch read 18:15 at the supposed 7.5th lap and it took about 7:45 to cover the last 4 laps. Anyways, I suppose it really doesn't matter... the bottom line is that I felt really godawful running a pedestrian pace of between 7:30 and 8 minute miles. Better luck tomorrow.
Week Total: 38 miles... hey, improvement! Only one off day this week.
In the absence of structured training, I find myself being more open to running opportunistically with whomever or whenever there happens to be an opening. Which is a novelty in and of itself for someone who is normally so constrained by the forces of OCD. Unfortunately, 8 days worth of work got crammed into 4 days of the workweek due to President's day, so opportunistically is really the only way I could fit a decent number of runs into this week. I daresay I did pretty well, but the sleep deprivation was pretty intense by the end of the week.
Sunday 02/14: 7.1 miles, 1:01:35 (8:40 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Happy Valentine's Day/Chinese New Year! Though personally the day was slanted towards the latter due to the fact that my significant other is out of the country and Nathan Lau and Dennis and I cooked a Chinese New Year feast. I didn't manage to wake up a reasonable hour, which meant that I had to wedge a run in during the hottest part of the day prior to picking up a whole Peking duck. Legs kind of felt thrashed, R hamstring kind of bugging me still, went really slow... but overall felt better than other tired, sub-optimally warm runs I've been on in recent memory though.
Monday 02/15: 9.8 miles, 1:16:44 (7:50 min/mile) Whole Arroyo
Nice morning run with Chief, Ryan and Cameron. Well, actually, I arrived late and had to ball it down to Garfield to catch up with them (2.5 miles, 17:42 = tempo run for grossly out of shape me?). Felt sort of wiped out from the early effort, but managed to stick with the group the rest of the way, despite a strong temptation to bail out early onto California. It's actually really nice to have company to pull you along when you're struggling. Strangely felt better once we came out of the trails on the way back. Felt the R hamstring at certain points, but not too bad.
Tuesday 02/16: 5.3 miles, 44:00 (8:18 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gah, back to work... but managed to get a good start by waking up moderately on time to squeeze in a run. I expected to feel kind of horrible from yesterday, but it was not bad at all! Maybe the new year's mochi/cake thingy that we made is magic.
Wednesday 02/17: 5.3 miles, ??? (??? min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
The funny thing is, I was so tired when I got home from work yesterday, that I went to bed without taking off my watch... but somehow in the commotion to get up in the morning, I TOOK IT OFF... and therefore this run is untimed. I guess that is okay, because it psychologically made it easier for me to take today's run really relaxed. My R hamstring still kind of feels funny, and I think it could really use an very easy day.
Thursday 02/18: ~5 miles, 5 laps North Field + 2 mile tempo on the track + 5 laps North Field
I woke up early but I really needed the extra time because my google earth mapping project is still sub-par. Came home at 9:30 pm and decided I could still wedge in a short workout before starting my next presentation. Abridged warm up felt really good, I considered just ditching the tempo and running easy for 45 minutes, but after 4 laps I got bored of running on the NF so I decided to stick with the original plan. 2 mile tempo in 13:53 (6:59/6:54) running really consistent lap splits. The first mile is a little bit slower because some stupid Fleming people had parked their backpacks and their butts in lane 1. Felt good and in control, like under threshold pace. It's actually fairly relaxing to run just one... usually 2 mile tempos come in sets of 3. Unclear if there are any training benefits from today, just wanted to run a different pace than usual, cooled down still feeling good and less stressed than before.
Friday 02/19: Off, shots. Too exhausted after work to do an evening run.
Saturday 02/20: ~5.5 miles, Random Track with Matt and Dennis
Arrghhh... somehow I let Dennis convince me that Matt's slow pace is reasonably close to my normal pace, which as it turns out is not true. Additionally I'm feeling the post-shots hangover pretty badly today. The system just doesn't feel good. I wonder if this will go away, as I've never noticed the effect until very recently. Ran ~3 miles in lane 2 or 3 with Matt and Dennis then 10 laps of the SF just to be sure I ran more than 5 miles. I'm pretty sure Matt mis-counted a lap though because my watch read 18:15 at the supposed 7.5th lap and it took about 7:45 to cover the last 4 laps. Anyways, I suppose it really doesn't matter... the bottom line is that I felt really godawful running a pedestrian pace of between 7:30 and 8 minute miles. Better luck tomorrow.
Week Total: 38 miles... hey, improvement! Only one off day this week.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Must....keep.... running....!
02/07/2010 - 02/13/2010
It was definitely easier to rely on the OCD aspect of running every day. Now without this goal that is independent of being fast, it's a lot harder to motivate myself to train properly. I remember that getting from grossly out of shape to kind of having some basic fitness is much easier than going from there to competitive race shape. To be completely honest, getting to competitive race shape took me ~1-2 years from the day that I started running. Having been away from that for a few years now, I feel like I've reverted back to square one. There's something really demoralizing about knowing there's such a long road ahead. Nevertheless, the alternative would be permanent retirement, so I guess I just have to suck it up and keep running.
Sunday 02/07: ~10 miles, 1:27:27 (unclear pace/distance) Fire roads in Hesperia w/CMS team and alumni
Had to drive an hour and almost ran out of gas but well worth it for this awesome run! Basically an unlimited supply of muddy fireroads across undulating terrain, so that nowhere was ever very flat. There was one or two significant climbs, but everything else was basically rolling. 40 degrees out and mildly at altitude (4,000 ft) but felt great! Maybe I'm well trained from suffering through Colorado... passed all of the women and kept pace with Jennifer Tave on the way back. I hate miles... why don't they have the Alumni 5 mile hill climb?
Monday 02/08: 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Holy crap, sore and tired. I guess it was a big (~20 mile) weekend for me, way more than I've run in recent years. Trying to keep the momentum going for regular training runs to happen though, so I forced myself to do this jog. The bridge underpass is flooded near the horse stables too, which means that you kind of have to trundle through the hovel under the bridge.
Tuesday 02/09: 5.3 miles, 46:17 (8:44 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gah, not improving (my legs nor the level of the puddle under the bridge). Another morning, another jog. Felt a little bit better, but pace is still not so acceptable.
Wednesday 02/10: Off, okay I've succumbed to the inertia... gah.
Thursday 02/11: 5.3 miles, 44:38 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
On the way from my car to the trail, somehow I managed to lose my footing and wrenched my R hamstring in an effort to not fall on my face. It kind of hurt through the first half of the run, but I kept thinking it would loosen up if I kept going. Still kind of felt lousy at the end but stretched it out really good, think it will be okay.
Friday 02/12: Off, ugh... no shots but lots of work. Maybe this is a good thing for my hamstring.
Saturday 02/13: 8.8 miles, Workout with Susan (mile, 2 x Oak Groves, mile)
Figured I should mix things up a little bit, seeing as that speed is especially deficient right now. Started off with a mile at the track, Susan paced it at 6:40, which actually felt pretty easy, definitely loads and loads better than last Saturday. Then we ran down to Oak Grove and did two loops (1200m) in 5:08, 5:16. Felt pretty toasted after that, and kind of blew up on the last mile in 7:10, sad! Cool down to Susan's place and back. Actually didn't feel too wiped out, now I just have to build some speed endurance.
Week Total: 34.7 miles, hmmm... really need to fix this two days off a week thing
It was definitely easier to rely on the OCD aspect of running every day. Now without this goal that is independent of being fast, it's a lot harder to motivate myself to train properly. I remember that getting from grossly out of shape to kind of having some basic fitness is much easier than going from there to competitive race shape. To be completely honest, getting to competitive race shape took me ~1-2 years from the day that I started running. Having been away from that for a few years now, I feel like I've reverted back to square one. There's something really demoralizing about knowing there's such a long road ahead. Nevertheless, the alternative would be permanent retirement, so I guess I just have to suck it up and keep running.
Sunday 02/07: ~10 miles, 1:27:27 (unclear pace/distance) Fire roads in Hesperia w/CMS team and alumni
Had to drive an hour and almost ran out of gas but well worth it for this awesome run! Basically an unlimited supply of muddy fireroads across undulating terrain, so that nowhere was ever very flat. There was one or two significant climbs, but everything else was basically rolling. 40 degrees out and mildly at altitude (4,000 ft) but felt great! Maybe I'm well trained from suffering through Colorado... passed all of the women and kept pace with Jennifer Tave on the way back. I hate miles... why don't they have the Alumni 5 mile hill climb?
Monday 02/08: 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Holy crap, sore and tired. I guess it was a big (~20 mile) weekend for me, way more than I've run in recent years. Trying to keep the momentum going for regular training runs to happen though, so I forced myself to do this jog. The bridge underpass is flooded near the horse stables too, which means that you kind of have to trundle through the hovel under the bridge.
Tuesday 02/09: 5.3 miles, 46:17 (8:44 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gah, not improving (my legs nor the level of the puddle under the bridge). Another morning, another jog. Felt a little bit better, but pace is still not so acceptable.
Wednesday 02/10: Off, okay I've succumbed to the inertia... gah.
Thursday 02/11: 5.3 miles, 44:38 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
On the way from my car to the trail, somehow I managed to lose my footing and wrenched my R hamstring in an effort to not fall on my face. It kind of hurt through the first half of the run, but I kept thinking it would loosen up if I kept going. Still kind of felt lousy at the end but stretched it out really good, think it will be okay.
Friday 02/12: Off, ugh... no shots but lots of work. Maybe this is a good thing for my hamstring.
Saturday 02/13: 8.8 miles, Workout with Susan (mile, 2 x Oak Groves, mile)
Figured I should mix things up a little bit, seeing as that speed is especially deficient right now. Started off with a mile at the track, Susan paced it at 6:40, which actually felt pretty easy, definitely loads and loads better than last Saturday. Then we ran down to Oak Grove and did two loops (1200m) in 5:08, 5:16. Felt pretty toasted after that, and kind of blew up on the last mile in 7:10, sad! Cool down to Susan's place and back. Actually didn't feel too wiped out, now I just have to build some speed endurance.
Week Total: 34.7 miles, hmmm... really need to fix this two days off a week thing
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Worst. Mile. Ever.
01/31/2010 - 02/06/2010
There's a certain level of fitness that you take for granted... or that you used to take for granted, and know that you shouldn't anymore, but its oh so hard to accept how far from that you really are. A few years ago, I ran a mile at the track after having completed a very tough and long workout. It was not pretty (6:10) and I was not pleased at the time, but I figured, well this is as bad as it gets.
As it turns out... that is not true... (see Saturday's entry).
Sunday 01/31: 7.1 miles, 58:21 (8:13 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Feeling good today, wanted to pick it up a little bit after yesterday. Amazing how far a little rest will go. I want to say this indicates an improved level of fitness, but I'm pretty sure my legs are just really well rested after some very low mileage weeks. A nice run either way.
Monday 02/01: Off, gah... motivational problems continue. This is a bad move too, because CMS Alumni meet is on Saturday and I will be expected to make an appearance.
Tuesday 02/02: 5.3 miles, 43:27 (8:12 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Woke up feeling hungry and frustrated with myself. Took it out a by going out a little fast on this run, but dialed it back and felt alright. I'm just sick of being slow, but my schedule and my motivation are so erratic these days, it just hasn't come together to form very much improvement.
Wednesday 02/03: 7.1 miles, 59:44 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Ran nice and easy on the way out and then picked it up on the way home (31:59/27:45). Feeling pretty good. Just need to get the mileage back up, now that it looks like my foot is going to be alright.
Thursday 02/04: 5.3 miles, 42:28 (8:01 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Moderate effort, felt okay, glad that my Arroyo pace (which seems consistently 20-30 sec/mile slower than my pavement paces) is coming down. Just need to keep the sprained ankles under control. Maybe I'm a little spacey in the morning, but there are plenty of errant rocks these days after the rains.
Friday 02/05: Off, shots. I'm going every two weeks now, but for some reason this has the effect of making them more unpleasant. I feel tired and congested afterwards.
Saturday 02/06: 8.4 miles, 1:08:56 (8:12 min/mile) Patrician from the apartment (short)
I had this awesome plan to wake up early, run Patrician, hang out, recover, have a nice lunch and then head out to Claremont and run the Alumni Mile...
...and it didn't work out that way at all. I woke up early and it was raining and I had a headache, so I slept in until 11:30 am. Then I woke up in a panic and headed out to run Patrician, but about half a mile in I was already feeling crappy. I managed to get through the hills okay, but was completely dead heading back into Old Town, so I cut back early on Orange Grove and went straight back to the apartment instead of running through Caltech which is the customary route.
After I showered and stretched, I realized that I was not going to have time to get anything to eat, so I shoveled down one package of shot bloks and drove straight to Claremont. On my way I'm pretty sure I'm barely going to make the 2:25 start time for the mile, but I luck out with an opportune parking spot right next to the track! I sprint from the car to the starting line and had barely caught my breath before we were off.
The mile was pretty miserable, despite the fact that my competitors were also fat, out of shape alumni. My splits went something like this... 83, 106, 105, 105 = 6:39 for last place in pouring rain, though to my credit, there was someone like 5 meters up, so it wasn't quite as horrible.... and Brandi ran the last 3 laps with me, which was nice. Then we did some ridiculous alumni relays which resulted in me running some 400's and 200's with crappy handoffs, but it was all in good fun. Nice to see some folks from a few years back :)
Week Total: ~35 miles including the stuff from the meet. Oooof, I've got some work to do to be presentable for Hood to Coast.
There's a certain level of fitness that you take for granted... or that you used to take for granted, and know that you shouldn't anymore, but its oh so hard to accept how far from that you really are. A few years ago, I ran a mile at the track after having completed a very tough and long workout. It was not pretty (6:10) and I was not pleased at the time, but I figured, well this is as bad as it gets.
As it turns out... that is not true... (see Saturday's entry).
Sunday 01/31: 7.1 miles, 58:21 (8:13 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Feeling good today, wanted to pick it up a little bit after yesterday. Amazing how far a little rest will go. I want to say this indicates an improved level of fitness, but I'm pretty sure my legs are just really well rested after some very low mileage weeks. A nice run either way.
Monday 02/01: Off, gah... motivational problems continue. This is a bad move too, because CMS Alumni meet is on Saturday and I will be expected to make an appearance.
Tuesday 02/02: 5.3 miles, 43:27 (8:12 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Woke up feeling hungry and frustrated with myself. Took it out a by going out a little fast on this run, but dialed it back and felt alright. I'm just sick of being slow, but my schedule and my motivation are so erratic these days, it just hasn't come together to form very much improvement.
Wednesday 02/03: 7.1 miles, 59:44 (8:25 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Ran nice and easy on the way out and then picked it up on the way home (31:59/27:45). Feeling pretty good. Just need to get the mileage back up, now that it looks like my foot is going to be alright.
Thursday 02/04: 5.3 miles, 42:28 (8:01 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Moderate effort, felt okay, glad that my Arroyo pace (which seems consistently 20-30 sec/mile slower than my pavement paces) is coming down. Just need to keep the sprained ankles under control. Maybe I'm a little spacey in the morning, but there are plenty of errant rocks these days after the rains.
Friday 02/05: Off, shots. I'm going every two weeks now, but for some reason this has the effect of making them more unpleasant. I feel tired and congested afterwards.
Saturday 02/06: 8.4 miles, 1:08:56 (8:12 min/mile) Patrician from the apartment (short)
I had this awesome plan to wake up early, run Patrician, hang out, recover, have a nice lunch and then head out to Claremont and run the Alumni Mile...
...and it didn't work out that way at all. I woke up early and it was raining and I had a headache, so I slept in until 11:30 am. Then I woke up in a panic and headed out to run Patrician, but about half a mile in I was already feeling crappy. I managed to get through the hills okay, but was completely dead heading back into Old Town, so I cut back early on Orange Grove and went straight back to the apartment instead of running through Caltech which is the customary route.
After I showered and stretched, I realized that I was not going to have time to get anything to eat, so I shoveled down one package of shot bloks and drove straight to Claremont. On my way I'm pretty sure I'm barely going to make the 2:25 start time for the mile, but I luck out with an opportune parking spot right next to the track! I sprint from the car to the starting line and had barely caught my breath before we were off.
The mile was pretty miserable, despite the fact that my competitors were also fat, out of shape alumni. My splits went something like this... 83, 106, 105, 105 = 6:39 for last place in pouring rain, though to my credit, there was someone like 5 meters up, so it wasn't quite as horrible.... and Brandi ran the last 3 laps with me, which was nice. Then we did some ridiculous alumni relays which resulted in me running some 400's and 200's with crappy handoffs, but it was all in good fun. Nice to see some folks from a few years back :)
Week Total: ~35 miles including the stuff from the meet. Oooof, I've got some work to do to be presentable for Hood to Coast.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Inertia prevents take-off
01/24/2010 - 01/30/2010
After last week, I thought maybe it wouldn't be as hard as I thought to clip back into some sort of rhythm of regular running... not so. I still kind of feel deflated and discouraged for the most part, accentuated by a heavy dose of existential ennui relating to my life outside of running. Bah, humbug.
Sunday 01/24: XC Skiing with Peter (~3 hours)
Took advantage of this lull in running motivation to enjoy some other activities. Though, I must say the weather tried its best to make this as un-enjoyable as possible. It was like 15 degrees and overcast, with snow falling intermittently. The other issue is that this place is at 9,000 feet, which pretty much makes exertion harder at all levels. Nonetheless, I was determined to enjoy myself. Did some drills with Peter until I felt more confident on the skate skis to venture farther out onto the trails. Did some nice loops, but with a lot of breaks to catch my breath. It was much more difficult than I remembered.
Monday 01/25: Off, travel. Also insanely sore in all of these strange places.
Tuesday - Wednesday (01/26 - 01/27): Off. No excuse... just useless blobbiness. Meh.
Thursday 01/28: 5.3 miles, 44:09 (8:20 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Remembered that somehow I signed myself up to run Patrician on Saturday, so I figured it would be in my best interests to run a little bit before then, just to make sure my legs still work. Felt fine, but somehow ended up being irate anyways because I figured this should have been faster due to all of the extra rest. Maybe I'm just losing fitness now :(
Friday 01/29: Off, shots. No motivation to do an evening run.
Saturday 01/30: 10 miles, 1:27:47 (8:47 min/mile) Patrician
Fun run with Kamalah (!) who's in town this weekend, Michelle, Susan, Stephanie and Ryan (Keeley, not The Brain). Super super easy except for the Patrician Hills part, where I picked it up a little in a moderately unsuccessful attempt to stay with Susan. Re-grouped at the sketchy hose water, with a short double back to collect Kamalah and we were on our way again. The hills were definitely a shock to the system, but I came out of it alright. Felt like I had energy to burn on the way back to Tech and wanted to tempo it, but dialed it back since no one else seemed amenable to the idea. Nice breakfast at Corner Bakery afterwards!
Week Total: 15.3 miles... mmmm, not so decent... though I feel slightly more motivated to start training again, I think I'm okay on the flats, but sad that I'm so weak on hills now :(
After last week, I thought maybe it wouldn't be as hard as I thought to clip back into some sort of rhythm of regular running... not so. I still kind of feel deflated and discouraged for the most part, accentuated by a heavy dose of existential ennui relating to my life outside of running. Bah, humbug.
Sunday 01/24: XC Skiing with Peter (~3 hours)
Took advantage of this lull in running motivation to enjoy some other activities. Though, I must say the weather tried its best to make this as un-enjoyable as possible. It was like 15 degrees and overcast, with snow falling intermittently. The other issue is that this place is at 9,000 feet, which pretty much makes exertion harder at all levels. Nonetheless, I was determined to enjoy myself. Did some drills with Peter until I felt more confident on the skate skis to venture farther out onto the trails. Did some nice loops, but with a lot of breaks to catch my breath. It was much more difficult than I remembered.
Monday 01/25: Off, travel. Also insanely sore in all of these strange places.
Tuesday - Wednesday (01/26 - 01/27): Off. No excuse... just useless blobbiness. Meh.
Thursday 01/28: 5.3 miles, 44:09 (8:20 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Remembered that somehow I signed myself up to run Patrician on Saturday, so I figured it would be in my best interests to run a little bit before then, just to make sure my legs still work. Felt fine, but somehow ended up being irate anyways because I figured this should have been faster due to all of the extra rest. Maybe I'm just losing fitness now :(
Friday 01/29: Off, shots. No motivation to do an evening run.
Saturday 01/30: 10 miles, 1:27:47 (8:47 min/mile) Patrician
Fun run with Kamalah (!) who's in town this weekend, Michelle, Susan, Stephanie and Ryan (Keeley, not The Brain). Super super easy except for the Patrician Hills part, where I picked it up a little in a moderately unsuccessful attempt to stay with Susan. Re-grouped at the sketchy hose water, with a short double back to collect Kamalah and we were on our way again. The hills were definitely a shock to the system, but I came out of it alright. Felt like I had energy to burn on the way back to Tech and wanted to tempo it, but dialed it back since no one else seemed amenable to the idea. Nice breakfast at Corner Bakery afterwards!
Week Total: 15.3 miles... mmmm, not so decent... though I feel slightly more motivated to start training again, I think I'm okay on the flats, but sad that I'm so weak on hills now :(
Thursday, February 18, 2010
The rain washes everything away
01/17/2010 - 01/23/2010
This is the week where, against all odds, L foot does not revert back to its injured state. This is also the week where, against all odds, I enjoy running in the torrential downpours. There's something serene and calming yet stormy and alive about this rain. I typically hate the drizzly California light rains, but these downpours--love it.
I also decided that my foot troubles are likely the result of a slight defect in my mechanics. As my L foot (aka the Runty One) is shorter than my left, it doesn't hit the ground in the same way that the R foot does. I've been landing a little bit pigeon toed in an effort to swing it over the extra bit to make it symmetrical with the other one, but as a result the little toes were kind of getting crushed (as evidenced by a lot of new blisters) and I think the third joint bore a lot of the force. I've been making an effort to land in a way that distributes the impact more equally across all toes, and its been fine so far. Fingers crossed.
Sunday 01/17: 5.3 miles, 45:15 (8:32 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Kind of weirded out by the nausea, so took it easy. Foot felt okay, the swelling hasn't returned, so hopefully that's a good indication. Nevertheless, I still felt dizzy and nauseous upon finishing. Haven't felt well in general last week, so maybe I'm sick at a low level.
Monday 01/18: 5.3 miles, 44:31 (8:24 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
I wasn't going to run today, to be cautious, and also due to general malaise... but it was so beautiful after the rains, I decided to hit the Arroyo. Felt amazing, air was fresh, arroyo was ROARING... almost did a faceplant due to the newly eroded trail surface but overall it was an awesome run. Felt much better afterwards than before, no nausea.
Tuesday 01/19: 5.3 miles, 44:43 (8:26 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Inspired by yesterday to run in the foggy morning in a light rain. Felt a little tired, but better towards the end. Still struggling with all of the new rocks. Sprained both ankles, gahhh... the R one actually is in pretty bad shape. Also, crazy blisters! Not sure why.
Wednesday 01/20: 5.3 miles, 43:31 (8:13 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Raining pretty hard. Loving it, feeling good, felt like I was cruising despite the bad footing. Only a slight tweak today on the R ankle. Got to get that under control... at least the ankle sprains are taking my mind off of wondering if my L metatarsal is going to blow up again.
Thursday 01/21: 5.3 miles, 43:05 (8:08 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
A calm morning, didn't get a lot of sleep, but the run was restorative and felt good. Also notably, I finally managed to get through the entire loop without re-spraining an ankle. I guess running 5 miles is restful, because the faster paces are coming a lot easier.
Friday 01/22: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. Since I'm not running every day anymore I didn't have to do a night run when I got there :) ... or maybe :( ... I'm not fully reconciled with how running and I are going to relate going forwards. It seemed prudent to give the L foot a day off though, despite the fact that it's been going strong so far.
Saturday 01/23: 5.2 miles, 44:01 (8:28 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Oooof, this one felt bad, cardiovascularly... like having a plastic bag over your head. Felt crappy, I guess it's been a while since I've been at altitude.
Week Total: 31.7 miles, totally decent post injury re-building
This is the week where, against all odds, L foot does not revert back to its injured state. This is also the week where, against all odds, I enjoy running in the torrential downpours. There's something serene and calming yet stormy and alive about this rain. I typically hate the drizzly California light rains, but these downpours--love it.
I also decided that my foot troubles are likely the result of a slight defect in my mechanics. As my L foot (aka the Runty One) is shorter than my left, it doesn't hit the ground in the same way that the R foot does. I've been landing a little bit pigeon toed in an effort to swing it over the extra bit to make it symmetrical with the other one, but as a result the little toes were kind of getting crushed (as evidenced by a lot of new blisters) and I think the third joint bore a lot of the force. I've been making an effort to land in a way that distributes the impact more equally across all toes, and its been fine so far. Fingers crossed.
Sunday 01/17: 5.3 miles, 45:15 (8:32 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Kind of weirded out by the nausea, so took it easy. Foot felt okay, the swelling hasn't returned, so hopefully that's a good indication. Nevertheless, I still felt dizzy and nauseous upon finishing. Haven't felt well in general last week, so maybe I'm sick at a low level.
Monday 01/18: 5.3 miles, 44:31 (8:24 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
I wasn't going to run today, to be cautious, and also due to general malaise... but it was so beautiful after the rains, I decided to hit the Arroyo. Felt amazing, air was fresh, arroyo was ROARING... almost did a faceplant due to the newly eroded trail surface but overall it was an awesome run. Felt much better afterwards than before, no nausea.
Tuesday 01/19: 5.3 miles, 44:43 (8:26 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Inspired by yesterday to run in the foggy morning in a light rain. Felt a little tired, but better towards the end. Still struggling with all of the new rocks. Sprained both ankles, gahhh... the R one actually is in pretty bad shape. Also, crazy blisters! Not sure why.
Wednesday 01/20: 5.3 miles, 43:31 (8:13 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Raining pretty hard. Loving it, feeling good, felt like I was cruising despite the bad footing. Only a slight tweak today on the R ankle. Got to get that under control... at least the ankle sprains are taking my mind off of wondering if my L metatarsal is going to blow up again.
Thursday 01/21: 5.3 miles, 43:05 (8:08 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
A calm morning, didn't get a lot of sleep, but the run was restorative and felt good. Also notably, I finally managed to get through the entire loop without re-spraining an ankle. I guess running 5 miles is restful, because the faster paces are coming a lot easier.
Friday 01/22: Off, shots. Travel to Denver. Since I'm not running every day anymore I didn't have to do a night run when I got there :) ... or maybe :( ... I'm not fully reconciled with how running and I are going to relate going forwards. It seemed prudent to give the L foot a day off though, despite the fact that it's been going strong so far.
Saturday 01/23: 5.2 miles, 44:01 (8:28 min/mile) 2 x Washington Park Loops
Oooof, this one felt bad, cardiovascularly... like having a plastic bag over your head. Felt crappy, I guess it's been a while since I've been at altitude.
Week Total: 31.7 miles, totally decent post injury re-building
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
It's Complicated...
01/10/2010 - 01/16/2010
I think I may have just gone from "in a relationship" to "it's complicated" with running... The thing is, I have no idea what the injury is, so it's hard to say for sure. It's not you, its me. Really.
Time will tell, but the theories are swirling, the most obvious issue is a metatarsal stress fracture. Though Morton's neuroma is actually a close second based on symptoms. The numbness and tingling especially creep me out. Least likely, but most desirably, it could just be that I irritated the extensor tendon--my foot felt a little strange starting after I biked a little in Napa, so maybe the cycling shoe irritated it.
The facts: I can not bear weight on the outer edge of my left foot. Area around the third metatarsal is visibly swollen and tender to the touch. Rapid motion or pressure on the bone causes a dull ache.
Sunday 01/10: 3 miles, 27:33 (9:11 min/mile) Arroyo 3 mile Loop
KB's post stress fracture jog with Susan. Nice and easy, L foot is liking the soft ground and the slower pace better, but I can still feel it with every step. It's just not getting better. Felt an unhappy combination of angry and sad. Lolled around afterwards feeling sorry for myself.
Monday - Friday (01/11 - 01/15): Completely Off. Sad. Feels weird not to run, but I can't really focus on the nuances of no longer running every day because I'm really stressed out about the injury. After conducting some tests, I decided there's actually a fair chance it's not a stress fracture (axial compression = no pain --> good sign!).
Monday and Tuesday I went heavy on the strengthening exercises, until I realized that despite a reduction in pain/weird feeling, the swelling just wasn't going down. Opted for complete rest Wednesday through Friday and on Thursday, I finally saw a reduction in swelling. Friday it was basically back to normal.
Saturday 01/16: 5.3 miles, 43:56 (8:17 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Okay, so running immediately after the swelling subsided sounds kind of rash, but here's the rationale: If it's a stress fracture, it will immediately re-inflame, in which case I can start my 6 weeks off right away and not waste time cycling through resting and trying to come back multiple times. If it's NOT a stress fracture, it's probably basically okay and can be controlled with judicious PT and some slight adjustments to my stride.
Run was okay, felt a little bit forced and choppy, but foot didn't bother me. Weird thing is, the moment that I stopped running, I was clobbered by a wave of nausea and light headedness. So much so that I had to sit down and almost thought I was going to barf. Took a while to feel better. I don't think I've lost THAT much fitness in 5 days... maybe I'm getting sick.
Week Total: 8.3 miles... ehhh, at least it wasn't 0?
I think I may have just gone from "in a relationship" to "it's complicated" with running... The thing is, I have no idea what the injury is, so it's hard to say for sure. It's not you, its me. Really.
Time will tell, but the theories are swirling, the most obvious issue is a metatarsal stress fracture. Though Morton's neuroma is actually a close second based on symptoms. The numbness and tingling especially creep me out. Least likely, but most desirably, it could just be that I irritated the extensor tendon--my foot felt a little strange starting after I biked a little in Napa, so maybe the cycling shoe irritated it.
The facts: I can not bear weight on the outer edge of my left foot. Area around the third metatarsal is visibly swollen and tender to the touch. Rapid motion or pressure on the bone causes a dull ache.
Sunday 01/10: 3 miles, 27:33 (9:11 min/mile) Arroyo 3 mile Loop
KB's post stress fracture jog with Susan. Nice and easy, L foot is liking the soft ground and the slower pace better, but I can still feel it with every step. It's just not getting better. Felt an unhappy combination of angry and sad. Lolled around afterwards feeling sorry for myself.
Monday - Friday (01/11 - 01/15): Completely Off. Sad. Feels weird not to run, but I can't really focus on the nuances of no longer running every day because I'm really stressed out about the injury. After conducting some tests, I decided there's actually a fair chance it's not a stress fracture (axial compression = no pain --> good sign!).
Monday and Tuesday I went heavy on the strengthening exercises, until I realized that despite a reduction in pain/weird feeling, the swelling just wasn't going down. Opted for complete rest Wednesday through Friday and on Thursday, I finally saw a reduction in swelling. Friday it was basically back to normal.
Saturday 01/16: 5.3 miles, 43:56 (8:17 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Okay, so running immediately after the swelling subsided sounds kind of rash, but here's the rationale: If it's a stress fracture, it will immediately re-inflame, in which case I can start my 6 weeks off right away and not waste time cycling through resting and trying to come back multiple times. If it's NOT a stress fracture, it's probably basically okay and can be controlled with judicious PT and some slight adjustments to my stride.
Run was okay, felt a little bit forced and choppy, but foot didn't bother me. Weird thing is, the moment that I stopped running, I was clobbered by a wave of nausea and light headedness. So much so that I had to sit down and almost thought I was going to barf. Took a while to feel better. I don't think I've lost THAT much fitness in 5 days... maybe I'm getting sick.
Week Total: 8.3 miles... ehhh, at least it wasn't 0?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
64 and out (Part the Third)
Installment #3 (Contains Weeks 7 - 9)
Day 44 (12/20/2009): 9.3 miles, 1:20:47 (8:41 min/mile) Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter
Wanted to enjoy some sunshine before I head back to the frigid East Coast for the holidays, so did this somewhat longer run. I felt a little less than fresh today, so just went easy and focused on keeping my upper body relaxed. A little slow, but totally felt good. A nice run.
Day 45 (12/21/2009): 6.8 miles, 1:02:57 (9:15 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
Out of the sunshine and into the snow storm. Literally the day after a massive snowfall, nothing is plowed, but no excuses here. Ran in the streets until the River Path after which I went tromping through the unplowed snow. Parts of it were kind of okay and packed down, while other parts you just sank in up to your knees. Felt like I was doing calisthenics a lot of the time, but on the upside the snow is the ultimate soft surface, no complaints there. Phew, a little exhausting but I made it!
Day 46 (12/22/2009): 7.3 miles, 1:05:37 (8:59 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to Western Ave.
Tried to escape the unplowed River Path by taking a longer route to get to a more populated segment. Noooo luck, this part was also unplowed. Running in the snow is hard, but spirits are still high, there's something very internally calming about being out there in the 20 degree weather tromping through snow white landscapes.
Day 47 (12/23/2009): 11.5 miles, 1:38:51 (8:36 min/mile) JFK Street to Harvard Bridge
Finally hit the jackpot of moderately plowed street! Or maybe we runners have spent the past two days packing down the snow to a neat trail like consistency... At any rate, I was so very elated to see such a nice running surface that I ended up going much farther than I had intended. It was especially cold today, I was feeling a bit chilly under my 4 layers, but overall it was pretty awesome! This is my longest run so far both time and distance, but I was so blissed out it went by pretty quick.
Day 48 (12/24/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:20 (8:45 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Today I wondered why I never want to start my runs, even though I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one here so far. The cold doesn't even bother me at all... but every morning I still go through the same routine, where I dawdle eating breakfast, and have to convince myself to step out the front door. Today I got some extra encouragement to get out there, as the mail man arrived as I was dawdling by the front door, and so I couldn't NOT run after I told him I was about to head out. It was a nice run, took it easy.
Day 49 (12/25/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:07:48 (8:48 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
Merry Christmas Everyone!!! It was even warm enough to wear my lighter red jacket. I actually felt kind of tired today, like I was dragging my feet a little bit... but received some encouragement from a nice family that I ran past twice.
Day 50 (12/26/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Smallest River Loop
Bah, its a little warmer, but drizzly and overcast.... not cool. I definitely prefer the crisp piercing cold under bright sunny skies. Fortunately, I've already run 49.5 (!) miles so far this week, so I treated myself to a short jaunt, probably through the last of the deep snow since the drizzle was starting to reduce it to mush. Felt kind of lousy but not too horrible.
Week 7 Musings: This was really an unexpectedly awesome week of running. For starters, I ran almost 55 miles, for the first time in YEARS. The snow was challenging, but overall not a terrible thing... and its presence shielded me from a lot of pounding on the pavement here. I think it also psychologically gave me the mental allowance of slower paces, so every run I did was truly comfortable and fun. In addition, while I didn't always want to get started, there was never a question of whether or not I would run... it felt much more normal and stable than 10 days ago, when there were genuine moments of doubt, where I just wanted to call the whole thing off.
Day 51 (12/27/2009): 6.9 miles, 57:58 (8:24 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Feeling better today, but rather overdressed. It was ridiculously warm, which had the unpleasant side effect of exposing quite a bit of mud on the previously frozen trail section. Almost lost a shoe there, but was overall pleased with the run. An hour stroll on the golf course with Dad afterwards.
Day 52 (12/28/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:05:49 (8:33 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
I'm actually missing the snow a little bit. The pavement is showing through now, and it doesn't quite have that nice soft trail-like feel anymore. Felt not so great in the beginning but better towards the end. Picked it up a bit once it started raining in the last 5 minutes or so.
Day 53 (12/29/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:17 (8:44 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Wow, wind makes cold disproportionately miserable! I chose the Pond loop because I thought it would be more insulated from the wind than the River path... but not so... I've never seen the pond surface so choppy. It was pretty brutal, especially returning home facing a headwind heading uphill.
Day 54 (12/30/2009): 6.5 miles, 51:33 (7:56 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino
2 days, 2 hours of sleep and 3 flights later, I am NOT a happy camper... NOT AT ALL. Night run back in Pasadena did not improve my mood, as I was supposed to be driving up to the Bay today. Thought I was cruising off of my hatred of connecting flights and Chicago O'Hare Airport, but came back and realized that I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was and that made me even more irate.
Day 55 (12/31/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:54 (8:35 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
I'm still exhausted from my traveling ordeals, but I got up to run in the morning and felt a little bit less downtrodden afterwards. Felt alright, a bit tired but cleared up towards the end. Drove up to the Bay today instead, feeling extremely well traveled in the past few days.
Day 56 (01/01/2010): ~5.5 miles, 45:56 (~8:20 min/mile) Random Golden Gate Park
Happy New Year Everyone!!! Celebrated a traditional Korean New Year with Randie, including stuffing my face with delicious kimchee first thing in the morning. I felt really full and a little queasy as I drove back to Piedmont to meet up with KB to go on her inaugural New Years run. Good times with tour guide Ian Shapiro along trails and paths in Golden Gate Park. Dan Feldman showed up too, it was drizzly but super fun. I felt like we were cruising, and I managed to keep the kimchee in my stomach, so all in all a good time. (FYI, I do not like overestimating mileage, so I have said 5.5 miles though its very possible we were going faster)
Day 57 (01/02/2009): 7 miles, 58:55 (8:25 min/mile) Napa cabin to golf course
Joined by KB on the bike, feeling great. Maybe it's because I got my first good night of sleep in 5 days. Napa is really pretty, but the concrete yesterday and today is bothering my ankles a little bit. I love new terrain, and not knowing what's coming up.
Week 8 Musings: Traveling has been exhausting this week, but overall I'm feeling positive on the running. Me being who I am, I should have known that it would be easier for me to increase mileage rather than pace. I'm feeling good about being able to run longer than 5 miles per day consistently now. I'm looking forwards to doing some more structured training when I get home in a few days.
Day 58 (01/03/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:01:33 (8:40 min/mile) Similar route to yesterday
Did a sweet little bike ride with KB (~25 miles) along absolutely gorgeous roads, then a very similar route to yesterday, except I was just too curious and went to the end of the mysterious dirt road. Saw some neat little trails into the hills but they were fenced off :(. Running kind of felt stilted and awful after cycling, but gradually I got back into the swing of things and finished off feeling not bad. Sprained my ankle on the way home though... arghhh.
Day 59 (01/04/2009): 6 miles, 51:00 (8:34 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Got home late from the Bay yesterday and felt kind of deathly today. Work feels like an extra bummer after a long period of freedom. Couldn't wake up early so went on this night run. I took it real easy but was sort of appalled about how slow it was. Things just didn't feel right today, my stomach hurt and both of my feet were bothering me in weird ways (numbness, tingling, burts of sharp pain).
Day 60 (01/05/2009): 6.2 miles, 49:12 (7:56 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
Another bad morning and another night run. Malaise continues, but I felt like this run was sort of cathartic. Felt really good starting on the grassy median on Huntington, and picked it up on the hill. I was trying to convince myself that my L foot didn't hurt... and it seemed like the speed helped.
Day 61 (01/06/2009): 6 miles, 49:28 (8:19 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
I'm in a rut... haven't been able to get up in the morning once this week, and work is really getting me down psychologically. Forced myself to run semi-decently today but my L foot is still bothering me, its a combination of weird tingly numbness and a dull ache... in the back of my mind its either a stress fracture or a neuroma, but I just don't want to deal with it yet.
Day 62 (01/07/2009): 8.9 miles, 1:11:37 (8:03 min/mile) Random Pasadena (shortened)
I wanted to do the same route that I did a couple weeks back at night that was so zen and peaceful. I'm desperately trying to settle my mind and my body but its not working. This is the day that I knew it was over... even though I wouldn't stop running for a few more days. The run started out feeling great, I was cruising at a good clip until somewhere along the way my stomach started to hurt horribly and then my R quad started cramping up. It took my R quad seizing up painfully for me to finally realize that I've been favoring my left leg all week. Limped back early up Marengo in significant pain. L foot is not okay... the dull ache is deepening and it's visibly swollen in the proximity of the metatarsal joint.
Day 63 (01/08/2009): 6 miles, 47:50 (8:02 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Last night run after allergy shots. The pavement is really irritating my foot, but I feel like I ran 8 minute miles out of force of habit. I can definitely tell that my gait is altered now, and my right quad still feels bad to remind me of it. I'm still vaguely hoping that I can run on the trails over the weekend and my foot will improve without having to take a day off... but we'll see.
Day 64 (01/09/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:08 (8:42 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Back on the trails, which helped a little bit, but I could still feel my L foot ache a tiny bit with every step. It's less painful and feels more like its just swollen and numb. The rest of me feels lousy too, R quad is still angry at me, which essentially means that both of my sides are out of order. Not looking good.
Week 9 Musings: I'm going to try running tomorrow with KB and Susan, and if that's still bad, I think this is it. The swelling just won't go down in the L foot, and I can feel the dull ache deepen when I do my calf stretches, which I know from my previous stress fracture is a REALLY BAD SIGN. I'm pissed though because I feel like I'm finally within a stone's throw of getting back into shape. 8 minute miles is starting to feel easy, and I did some relatively good runs even limping on one leg. I'm also a bit uneasy not knowing exactly what the problem is, but I know that I need to be mature about healing it, even if it means a premature end to my running streak.
My running streak ended the next day after I realized that my foot still hurt after 3 miles. 64 days it is, 9 weeks and 1 day, I ran 40+ miles each of those 9 weeks, which should, if nothing else give me a solid base to work off of, should my injury clear up in a vaguely timely manner.
Day 44 (12/20/2009): 9.3 miles, 1:20:47 (8:41 min/mile) Stables to Rose Bowl Perimeter
Wanted to enjoy some sunshine before I head back to the frigid East Coast for the holidays, so did this somewhat longer run. I felt a little less than fresh today, so just went easy and focused on keeping my upper body relaxed. A little slow, but totally felt good. A nice run.
Day 45 (12/21/2009): 6.8 miles, 1:02:57 (9:15 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
Out of the sunshine and into the snow storm. Literally the day after a massive snowfall, nothing is plowed, but no excuses here. Ran in the streets until the River Path after which I went tromping through the unplowed snow. Parts of it were kind of okay and packed down, while other parts you just sank in up to your knees. Felt like I was doing calisthenics a lot of the time, but on the upside the snow is the ultimate soft surface, no complaints there. Phew, a little exhausting but I made it!
Day 46 (12/22/2009): 7.3 miles, 1:05:37 (8:59 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to Western Ave.
Tried to escape the unplowed River Path by taking a longer route to get to a more populated segment. Noooo luck, this part was also unplowed. Running in the snow is hard, but spirits are still high, there's something very internally calming about being out there in the 20 degree weather tromping through snow white landscapes.
Day 47 (12/23/2009): 11.5 miles, 1:38:51 (8:36 min/mile) JFK Street to Harvard Bridge
Finally hit the jackpot of moderately plowed street! Or maybe we runners have spent the past two days packing down the snow to a neat trail like consistency... At any rate, I was so very elated to see such a nice running surface that I ended up going much farther than I had intended. It was especially cold today, I was feeling a bit chilly under my 4 layers, but overall it was pretty awesome! This is my longest run so far both time and distance, but I was so blissed out it went by pretty quick.
Day 48 (12/24/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:20 (8:45 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Today I wondered why I never want to start my runs, even though I've thoroughly enjoyed every single one here so far. The cold doesn't even bother me at all... but every morning I still go through the same routine, where I dawdle eating breakfast, and have to convince myself to step out the front door. Today I got some extra encouragement to get out there, as the mail man arrived as I was dawdling by the front door, and so I couldn't NOT run after I told him I was about to head out. It was a nice run, took it easy.
Day 49 (12/25/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:07:48 (8:48 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
Merry Christmas Everyone!!! It was even warm enough to wear my lighter red jacket. I actually felt kind of tired today, like I was dragging my feet a little bit... but received some encouragement from a nice family that I ran past twice.
Day 50 (12/26/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:35 (8:59 min/mile) Smallest River Loop
Bah, its a little warmer, but drizzly and overcast.... not cool. I definitely prefer the crisp piercing cold under bright sunny skies. Fortunately, I've already run 49.5 (!) miles so far this week, so I treated myself to a short jaunt, probably through the last of the deep snow since the drizzle was starting to reduce it to mush. Felt kind of lousy but not too horrible.
Week 7 Musings: This was really an unexpectedly awesome week of running. For starters, I ran almost 55 miles, for the first time in YEARS. The snow was challenging, but overall not a terrible thing... and its presence shielded me from a lot of pounding on the pavement here. I think it also psychologically gave me the mental allowance of slower paces, so every run I did was truly comfortable and fun. In addition, while I didn't always want to get started, there was never a question of whether or not I would run... it felt much more normal and stable than 10 days ago, when there were genuine moments of doubt, where I just wanted to call the whole thing off.
Day 51 (12/27/2009): 6.9 miles, 57:58 (8:24 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Feeling better today, but rather overdressed. It was ridiculously warm, which had the unpleasant side effect of exposing quite a bit of mud on the previously frozen trail section. Almost lost a shoe there, but was overall pleased with the run. An hour stroll on the golf course with Dad afterwards.
Day 52 (12/28/2009): 7.7 miles, 1:05:49 (8:33 min/mile) Eliot Bridge to River Street
I'm actually missing the snow a little bit. The pavement is showing through now, and it doesn't quite have that nice soft trail-like feel anymore. Felt not so great in the beginning but better towards the end. Picked it up a bit once it started raining in the last 5 minutes or so.
Day 53 (12/29/2009): 6.9 miles, 1:00:17 (8:44 min/mile) Fresh Pond Loop from house
Wow, wind makes cold disproportionately miserable! I chose the Pond loop because I thought it would be more insulated from the wind than the River path... but not so... I've never seen the pond surface so choppy. It was pretty brutal, especially returning home facing a headwind heading uphill.
Day 54 (12/30/2009): 6.5 miles, 51:33 (7:56 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/San Marino
2 days, 2 hours of sleep and 3 flights later, I am NOT a happy camper... NOT AT ALL. Night run back in Pasadena did not improve my mood, as I was supposed to be driving up to the Bay today. Thought I was cruising off of my hatred of connecting flights and Chicago O'Hare Airport, but came back and realized that I wasn't going as fast as I thought I was and that made me even more irate.
Day 55 (12/31/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:00:54 (8:35 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
I'm still exhausted from my traveling ordeals, but I got up to run in the morning and felt a little bit less downtrodden afterwards. Felt alright, a bit tired but cleared up towards the end. Drove up to the Bay today instead, feeling extremely well traveled in the past few days.
Day 56 (01/01/2010): ~5.5 miles, 45:56 (~8:20 min/mile) Random Golden Gate Park
Happy New Year Everyone!!! Celebrated a traditional Korean New Year with Randie, including stuffing my face with delicious kimchee first thing in the morning. I felt really full and a little queasy as I drove back to Piedmont to meet up with KB to go on her inaugural New Years run. Good times with tour guide Ian Shapiro along trails and paths in Golden Gate Park. Dan Feldman showed up too, it was drizzly but super fun. I felt like we were cruising, and I managed to keep the kimchee in my stomach, so all in all a good time. (FYI, I do not like overestimating mileage, so I have said 5.5 miles though its very possible we were going faster)
Day 57 (01/02/2009): 7 miles, 58:55 (8:25 min/mile) Napa cabin to golf course
Joined by KB on the bike, feeling great. Maybe it's because I got my first good night of sleep in 5 days. Napa is really pretty, but the concrete yesterday and today is bothering my ankles a little bit. I love new terrain, and not knowing what's coming up.
Week 8 Musings: Traveling has been exhausting this week, but overall I'm feeling positive on the running. Me being who I am, I should have known that it would be easier for me to increase mileage rather than pace. I'm feeling good about being able to run longer than 5 miles per day consistently now. I'm looking forwards to doing some more structured training when I get home in a few days.
Day 58 (01/03/2009): 7.1 miles, 1:01:33 (8:40 min/mile) Similar route to yesterday
Did a sweet little bike ride with KB (~25 miles) along absolutely gorgeous roads, then a very similar route to yesterday, except I was just too curious and went to the end of the mysterious dirt road. Saw some neat little trails into the hills but they were fenced off :(. Running kind of felt stilted and awful after cycling, but gradually I got back into the swing of things and finished off feeling not bad. Sprained my ankle on the way home though... arghhh.
Day 59 (01/04/2009): 6 miles, 51:00 (8:34 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Got home late from the Bay yesterday and felt kind of deathly today. Work feels like an extra bummer after a long period of freedom. Couldn't wake up early so went on this night run. I took it real easy but was sort of appalled about how slow it was. Things just didn't feel right today, my stomach hurt and both of my feet were bothering me in weird ways (numbness, tingling, burts of sharp pain).
Day 60 (01/05/2009): 6.2 miles, 49:12 (7:56 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
Another bad morning and another night run. Malaise continues, but I felt like this run was sort of cathartic. Felt really good starting on the grassy median on Huntington, and picked it up on the hill. I was trying to convince myself that my L foot didn't hurt... and it seemed like the speed helped.
Day 61 (01/06/2009): 6 miles, 49:28 (8:19 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
I'm in a rut... haven't been able to get up in the morning once this week, and work is really getting me down psychologically. Forced myself to run semi-decently today but my L foot is still bothering me, its a combination of weird tingly numbness and a dull ache... in the back of my mind its either a stress fracture or a neuroma, but I just don't want to deal with it yet.
Day 62 (01/07/2009): 8.9 miles, 1:11:37 (8:03 min/mile) Random Pasadena (shortened)
I wanted to do the same route that I did a couple weeks back at night that was so zen and peaceful. I'm desperately trying to settle my mind and my body but its not working. This is the day that I knew it was over... even though I wouldn't stop running for a few more days. The run started out feeling great, I was cruising at a good clip until somewhere along the way my stomach started to hurt horribly and then my R quad started cramping up. It took my R quad seizing up painfully for me to finally realize that I've been favoring my left leg all week. Limped back early up Marengo in significant pain. L foot is not okay... the dull ache is deepening and it's visibly swollen in the proximity of the metatarsal joint.
Day 63 (01/08/2009): 6 miles, 47:50 (8:02 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Last night run after allergy shots. The pavement is really irritating my foot, but I feel like I ran 8 minute miles out of force of habit. I can definitely tell that my gait is altered now, and my right quad still feels bad to remind me of it. I'm still vaguely hoping that I can run on the trails over the weekend and my foot will improve without having to take a day off... but we'll see.
Day 64 (01/09/2009): 5.3 miles, 46:08 (8:42 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Back on the trails, which helped a little bit, but I could still feel my L foot ache a tiny bit with every step. It's less painful and feels more like its just swollen and numb. The rest of me feels lousy too, R quad is still angry at me, which essentially means that both of my sides are out of order. Not looking good.
Week 9 Musings: I'm going to try running tomorrow with KB and Susan, and if that's still bad, I think this is it. The swelling just won't go down in the L foot, and I can feel the dull ache deepen when I do my calf stretches, which I know from my previous stress fracture is a REALLY BAD SIGN. I'm pissed though because I feel like I'm finally within a stone's throw of getting back into shape. 8 minute miles is starting to feel easy, and I did some relatively good runs even limping on one leg. I'm also a bit uneasy not knowing exactly what the problem is, but I know that I need to be mature about healing it, even if it means a premature end to my running streak.
My running streak ended the next day after I realized that my foot still hurt after 3 miles. 64 days it is, 9 weeks and 1 day, I ran 40+ miles each of those 9 weeks, which should, if nothing else give me a solid base to work off of, should my injury clear up in a vaguely timely manner.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
64 and out (Part the Second)
Installment #2 (Contains Weeks 4 - 6)
Day 23 (11/29/2009): 6.8 miles, 58:06 (8:33 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
Lousy and tired continues. Vaguely feeling like how I did on my last day in Colorado. I think part of it is related to a build up of allergies (my family has a long haired cat), towards the end of the week, I just start to feel not so good as a whole. R arch seems mostly healed up now though.
Day 24 (11/30/2009): 6 miles, 46:46 (7:52 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Red eye back to Boston, followed by work, followed by a really nice night run. The red eye was actually surprisingly much more pleasant than from Denver, because you actually get 5 consolidated hours of sleep, even if its crappy airplane sleep. I didn't feel so deathly at work, and felt positively exuberant on my run. Started out easy but naturally picked it up, feeling great! Yay my first sub-8 min/mile run--aerobic fitness feels like its maybe actually within reach now. Also of note: fancied that I saw Chief and Anton running the opposite way on California, but it was dark and I have poor voice recognition.
Day 25 (12/01/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:01 (8:52 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Yikes, I guess I'm feeling that red eye today. Feeling beat, so went super easy... thought I was hoping it would have been a little faster. Sore legs and felt a twinge in the L hipflexor again, gotta keep on top of those PT exercises...
Day 26 (12/02/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:33 (8:36 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
I guess I needed another day to recover. Still feeling lousy, though this time I was bothered to pick it up a little bit at the expense of breathing a little harder than I would have liked. L foot a bit tweaked out, but I've learned that this is fairly easily fixed by taping the metatarsals together for a few days. I would worry about this more, but it always seems to clear itself up pretty quickly.
Day 27 (12/03/2009): 7.1 miles, 59:02 (8:19 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Finally, a solid day. Cruising at a nice steady pace, feeling pretty good. I'm excited to finally get this run under an hour--I hadn't been seeing improvement over 7 miles really until now, so hopefully that indicates my endurance is improving. R foot was unhappy this time in the beginning, but I've identified the cause of why my feet have been complaining a lot this week: my shoes are getting past the 350 mile mark, and both have significant holes on the outer edges, from which rocks enter and my little toes sometimes protrude.
Day 28 (12/04/2009): 6 miles, 49:54 (8:23 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Super easy in the PM (allergy shots in the morning), proactively avoiding fatigue, since that seems to be an issue for me recently. This was one of those runs where I secretly hoped the pace would be faster than it was, despite the extremely mellow effort. Was disappointed on that account, but did confirm another Chief/Anton sighting. I think Anton secretly likes running more than he may care to admit.
Day 29 (12/05/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:28 (8:23 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Some easy days does a body good. Felt alright, but apparently a little unbalanced today--almost ate it twice. Gah, ran out of time to buy new shoes!
Week 4 Musings: What does this all mean? This week has seen a few minor breakthroughs, good pace/effort ratios on Monday and Saturday, a solid 7 miler on Thursday... but also a fair share of painful slogs. Say 8:30 pace is where I started, I'm having more variance on that than in weeks past. Does that mean I'm becoming more fit, more fatigued... or both? This is going to be a long process, isn't it...
Day 30 (12/06/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:19 (8:33 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
New shoes arrive! They're hot pink! I don't think I'm really fast enough to pull off this look... but here goes. Got a late start, which meant that I ran into some horses in the Arroyo, which is always really annoying bc you have to slow down/stop and hope that you don't get kicked. Also sprained L ankle, gah. Not really feeling it today...
Day 31 (12/07/2009): 6 miles, 46:21 (7:47 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Mmmm, you can really feel the difference new shoes make on the pavement. I'm not liking this new trend of sleeping in on Mondays and running in the evening, but this was a pretty good run. A moderate effort yielded my second sub-8 min/mile run. Improvement is good!
Day 32 (12/08/2009): 6 miles, 48:23 (8:04 min/mile) 2 x Arroyo 3 mile Loop
Terrain a little rough due to the rains yesterday, and got up a little bit late, so there were a lot of dog walkers, but I felt inspired to push it a little bit. Wasn't expecting much due to the 12 hour recovery, but felt pretty good. Effort was definitely higher than yesterday, but it felt controlled, and the second lap came in under 24 minutes, so I was hitting a decent pace by the end.
Day 33 (12/09/2009): 7.8 miles, 1:08:21 (8:46 min/mile) California around RB trail perimeter
Gah, I knew a bad day was coming... having some GI tract issues. Ran in the early afternoon after going to the doctor. It was uncomfortably warm, and I was feeling uncomfortably weak. As I was slogging as quickly as I could to get home on the last little stretch in the Arroyo, a large dog jumped on me, causing me to fall pretty hard. I was already unamused at that point, so I unleashed a tirade on the owner, who didn't appear to speak much English and looked terrified. I felt bad afterwards, but not while my knee and hip hurt while trudging even more unhappily the rest of the way back.
Day 34 (12/10/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:57 (8:29 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Still feeling a little bit low on energy, but no where near as horrible as yesterday. Picked it up a little bit on the second half, was a somewhat decent run. Nothing more to report.
Day 35 (12/11/2009): 6.7 miles, 54:16 (8:06 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Chester
I really didn't want to run today. Felt tired, physically and mentally, so I dragged myself out the door promising myself I'd just do the shortest circuit, but when I got to Allen where I usually turn around, I realized that I felt calm and re-energized. Continued on to the end of Orlando and came around on Chester. Felt really zen and blissed out the rest of the way back. I must have picked up the pace significantly when I started feeling better, because I was surprised to see the pace at the end.
Day 36 (12/12/2009): 6.2 miles, 51:05 (8:14 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
There was a break in the rain just long enough for me to squeeze this run in. Somehow I really didn't want to run nonetheless. I sat in my car in the parking lot for a while even after the rain started to let up. Went out too hard and felt lousy and tired the majority of the way. Coming uphill on Oak Knoll was especially crappy feeling. I also felt irate because I've done this run so many times, there's just too much data. I can't believe I used to finish this in 46-48 minutes.
Week 5 Musings: I kind of feel this emotional funk coming on.... like running every day is this unstable equilibrium, and I'm just not really in control of what's going on. Part of it too is the unclear trajectory. I guess this week contained 3 good runs, and a few horrible runs. Sort of like last week. If you stand on your head and look just right, maybe there's some improvement? But its still sort of nebulous. Still, I'm over 35 days in now, and it's much better that my head's a little broken than my body. There's still some aches and pains, but I feel like I've got it under control.
Day 37 (12/13/2009): 6 miles, 49:06 (8:15 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Ski date with Peter, Will and Ruby. The timing just didn't work out for me to run before, so I had to run after we got back. Ooof. Got home with no broken bones and my 1.5 ACLs still intact, but quads were a little thrashed. The motion of running felt a little bit unnatural, but honestly this run didn't feel as bad as I expected and the pace was decent all things considered.
Day 38 (12/14/2009): 6.2 miles, 49:55 (8:03 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
Gah, another morning slept through... but this turned out to be a surprisingly good run. Quads and calves still angry at me from the skiing, but I started out real easy and they loosened up nicely. Started feeling actually very good on the grassy part and picked it up on the hill at the end. Much, much better than two days ago!
Day 39 (12/15/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:24 (8:57 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Maybe all exercise hits you two days afterwards, because today was downright miserable. I felt a little bit foggy from lack of sleep, and just generally weak in the legs. It was really all I could do to stumble through this run and narrowly avoid running my first 9 minute mile since this experiment started.
Day 40 (12/16/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:45 (8:38 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gahhhhh, still feeling weak and tired. To add to the disgruntlement, I got tripped by ANOTHER dog in the Arroyo. I guess this is what happens when I don't get up early enough. But seriously, curb your friggin dog people!!!
Day 41 (12/17/2009): 10.2 miles, 1:27:15 (8:33 min/mile) Random Pasadena
A truly inspired, calm, relaxing, awesome run at night that started out with a bad day and a desire to just run for a really long time. I didn't really have a plan for this run, but just went where-ever I felt like, and it was great. Started out pretty easy but felt better and picked it up towards the end. Relaxed and easy, despite the fact that this is my longest run in a pretty long time.
Day 42 (12/18/2009): 6 miles, 50:20 (8:28 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
R glut a little bit tight and sore, so went easy, but wasn't intending to go quite so slow. Felt a little bit irate when I got home, but since I did an out of the ordinary run yesterday, I'll let this slide.
Day 43 (12/19/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:01 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
R glut better but still a little sore, gave it another day to just take it easy. Focused on really keeping my shoulders relaxed and breathing calm and realized that this helps a LOT when one is tired. Kind of felt like I discovered something completely new... I guess I'm kind of a tense person to begin with.
Week 6 Musings: When I look back on this, there were some pretty (mentally) tough weeks in there, but I really think the turning point for me was that 10 mile run on Thursday. This is when the emotional funk started to dissipate, and the whole "running every day" thing really snapped together for me. I always thought that it would happen when my body was ready, that one day I'd comfortably start churning out 7:30 miles, and then it would all come together, but it was more of a mental shift more than anything else. That was the day that "running" truly felt like it integrated into my daily life, in a primal way like eating and sleeping.
Unfortunately, I would have to stop the experiment before I reached any sort of a physical breakthrough, but the next few weeks of running were some of the most interesting, satisfying and zen training that I've ever done in my life.
Day 23 (11/29/2009): 6.8 miles, 58:06 (8:33 min/mile) Second Smallest River Loop
Lousy and tired continues. Vaguely feeling like how I did on my last day in Colorado. I think part of it is related to a build up of allergies (my family has a long haired cat), towards the end of the week, I just start to feel not so good as a whole. R arch seems mostly healed up now though.
Day 24 (11/30/2009): 6 miles, 46:46 (7:52 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Red eye back to Boston, followed by work, followed by a really nice night run. The red eye was actually surprisingly much more pleasant than from Denver, because you actually get 5 consolidated hours of sleep, even if its crappy airplane sleep. I didn't feel so deathly at work, and felt positively exuberant on my run. Started out easy but naturally picked it up, feeling great! Yay my first sub-8 min/mile run--aerobic fitness feels like its maybe actually within reach now. Also of note: fancied that I saw Chief and Anton running the opposite way on California, but it was dark and I have poor voice recognition.
Day 25 (12/01/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:01 (8:52 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Yikes, I guess I'm feeling that red eye today. Feeling beat, so went super easy... thought I was hoping it would have been a little faster. Sore legs and felt a twinge in the L hipflexor again, gotta keep on top of those PT exercises...
Day 26 (12/02/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:33 (8:36 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
I guess I needed another day to recover. Still feeling lousy, though this time I was bothered to pick it up a little bit at the expense of breathing a little harder than I would have liked. L foot a bit tweaked out, but I've learned that this is fairly easily fixed by taping the metatarsals together for a few days. I would worry about this more, but it always seems to clear itself up pretty quickly.
Day 27 (12/03/2009): 7.1 miles, 59:02 (8:19 min/mile) Monterrey to Rose Bowl
Finally, a solid day. Cruising at a nice steady pace, feeling pretty good. I'm excited to finally get this run under an hour--I hadn't been seeing improvement over 7 miles really until now, so hopefully that indicates my endurance is improving. R foot was unhappy this time in the beginning, but I've identified the cause of why my feet have been complaining a lot this week: my shoes are getting past the 350 mile mark, and both have significant holes on the outer edges, from which rocks enter and my little toes sometimes protrude.
Day 28 (12/04/2009): 6 miles, 49:54 (8:23 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Super easy in the PM (allergy shots in the morning), proactively avoiding fatigue, since that seems to be an issue for me recently. This was one of those runs where I secretly hoped the pace would be faster than it was, despite the extremely mellow effort. Was disappointed on that account, but did confirm another Chief/Anton sighting. I think Anton secretly likes running more than he may care to admit.
Day 29 (12/05/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:28 (8:23 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Some easy days does a body good. Felt alright, but apparently a little unbalanced today--almost ate it twice. Gah, ran out of time to buy new shoes!
Week 4 Musings: What does this all mean? This week has seen a few minor breakthroughs, good pace/effort ratios on Monday and Saturday, a solid 7 miler on Thursday... but also a fair share of painful slogs. Say 8:30 pace is where I started, I'm having more variance on that than in weeks past. Does that mean I'm becoming more fit, more fatigued... or both? This is going to be a long process, isn't it...
Day 30 (12/06/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:19 (8:33 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
New shoes arrive! They're hot pink! I don't think I'm really fast enough to pull off this look... but here goes. Got a late start, which meant that I ran into some horses in the Arroyo, which is always really annoying bc you have to slow down/stop and hope that you don't get kicked. Also sprained L ankle, gah. Not really feeling it today...
Day 31 (12/07/2009): 6 miles, 46:21 (7:47 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Mmmm, you can really feel the difference new shoes make on the pavement. I'm not liking this new trend of sleeping in on Mondays and running in the evening, but this was a pretty good run. A moderate effort yielded my second sub-8 min/mile run. Improvement is good!
Day 32 (12/08/2009): 6 miles, 48:23 (8:04 min/mile) 2 x Arroyo 3 mile Loop
Terrain a little rough due to the rains yesterday, and got up a little bit late, so there were a lot of dog walkers, but I felt inspired to push it a little bit. Wasn't expecting much due to the 12 hour recovery, but felt pretty good. Effort was definitely higher than yesterday, but it felt controlled, and the second lap came in under 24 minutes, so I was hitting a decent pace by the end.
Day 33 (12/09/2009): 7.8 miles, 1:08:21 (8:46 min/mile) California around RB trail perimeter
Gah, I knew a bad day was coming... having some GI tract issues. Ran in the early afternoon after going to the doctor. It was uncomfortably warm, and I was feeling uncomfortably weak. As I was slogging as quickly as I could to get home on the last little stretch in the Arroyo, a large dog jumped on me, causing me to fall pretty hard. I was already unamused at that point, so I unleashed a tirade on the owner, who didn't appear to speak much English and looked terrified. I felt bad afterwards, but not while my knee and hip hurt while trudging even more unhappily the rest of the way back.
Day 34 (12/10/2009): 5.3 miles, 44:57 (8:29 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Still feeling a little bit low on energy, but no where near as horrible as yesterday. Picked it up a little bit on the second half, was a somewhat decent run. Nothing more to report.
Day 35 (12/11/2009): 6.7 miles, 54:16 (8:06 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Chester
I really didn't want to run today. Felt tired, physically and mentally, so I dragged myself out the door promising myself I'd just do the shortest circuit, but when I got to Allen where I usually turn around, I realized that I felt calm and re-energized. Continued on to the end of Orlando and came around on Chester. Felt really zen and blissed out the rest of the way back. I must have picked up the pace significantly when I started feeling better, because I was surprised to see the pace at the end.
Day 36 (12/12/2009): 6.2 miles, 51:05 (8:14 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
There was a break in the rain just long enough for me to squeeze this run in. Somehow I really didn't want to run nonetheless. I sat in my car in the parking lot for a while even after the rain started to let up. Went out too hard and felt lousy and tired the majority of the way. Coming uphill on Oak Knoll was especially crappy feeling. I also felt irate because I've done this run so many times, there's just too much data. I can't believe I used to finish this in 46-48 minutes.
Week 5 Musings: I kind of feel this emotional funk coming on.... like running every day is this unstable equilibrium, and I'm just not really in control of what's going on. Part of it too is the unclear trajectory. I guess this week contained 3 good runs, and a few horrible runs. Sort of like last week. If you stand on your head and look just right, maybe there's some improvement? But its still sort of nebulous. Still, I'm over 35 days in now, and it's much better that my head's a little broken than my body. There's still some aches and pains, but I feel like I've got it under control.
Day 37 (12/13/2009): 6 miles, 49:06 (8:15 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
Ski date with Peter, Will and Ruby. The timing just didn't work out for me to run before, so I had to run after we got back. Ooof. Got home with no broken bones and my 1.5 ACLs still intact, but quads were a little thrashed. The motion of running felt a little bit unnatural, but honestly this run didn't feel as bad as I expected and the pace was decent all things considered.
Day 38 (12/14/2009): 6.2 miles, 49:55 (8:03 min/mile) Huntington/Oak Knoll
Gah, another morning slept through... but this turned out to be a surprisingly good run. Quads and calves still angry at me from the skiing, but I started out real easy and they loosened up nicely. Started feeling actually very good on the grassy part and picked it up on the hill at the end. Much, much better than two days ago!
Day 39 (12/15/2009): 5.3 miles, 47:24 (8:57 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Maybe all exercise hits you two days afterwards, because today was downright miserable. I felt a little bit foggy from lack of sleep, and just generally weak in the legs. It was really all I could do to stumble through this run and narrowly avoid running my first 9 minute mile since this experiment started.
Day 40 (12/16/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:45 (8:38 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
Gahhhhh, still feeling weak and tired. To add to the disgruntlement, I got tripped by ANOTHER dog in the Arroyo. I guess this is what happens when I don't get up early enough. But seriously, curb your friggin dog people!!!
Day 41 (12/17/2009): 10.2 miles, 1:27:15 (8:33 min/mile) Random Pasadena
A truly inspired, calm, relaxing, awesome run at night that started out with a bad day and a desire to just run for a really long time. I didn't really have a plan for this run, but just went where-ever I felt like, and it was great. Started out pretty easy but felt better and picked it up towards the end. Relaxed and easy, despite the fact that this is my longest run in a pretty long time.
Day 42 (12/18/2009): 6 miles, 50:20 (8:28 min/mile) Hillcrest/Orlando/Allen
R glut a little bit tight and sore, so went easy, but wasn't intending to go quite so slow. Felt a little bit irate when I got home, but since I did an out of the ordinary run yesterday, I'll let this slide.
Day 43 (12/19/2009): 5.3 miles, 45:01 (8:30 min/mile) Monterrey to Third Bridge
R glut better but still a little sore, gave it another day to just take it easy. Focused on really keeping my shoulders relaxed and breathing calm and realized that this helps a LOT when one is tired. Kind of felt like I discovered something completely new... I guess I'm kind of a tense person to begin with.
Week 6 Musings: When I look back on this, there were some pretty (mentally) tough weeks in there, but I really think the turning point for me was that 10 mile run on Thursday. This is when the emotional funk started to dissipate, and the whole "running every day" thing really snapped together for me. I always thought that it would happen when my body was ready, that one day I'd comfortably start churning out 7:30 miles, and then it would all come together, but it was more of a mental shift more than anything else. That was the day that "running" truly felt like it integrated into my daily life, in a primal way like eating and sleeping.
Unfortunately, I would have to stop the experiment before I reached any sort of a physical breakthrough, but the next few weeks of running were some of the most interesting, satisfying and zen training that I've ever done in my life.
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