Running is HARD!

08/30/2009 - 09/05/2009 (Week 1)

For some reason, I thought that having trained on the bike for a few months would make this easier. It's not. The soreness is crazy, and fatigue is starting to become a factor. It kind of feels like 5 years ago, when I first started running.

I'm trying to keep the discouragement at bay, and even though it's been hard, I found some solace in a book that my new boss gave me at work: What I talk about when I talk about Running. Unlike most of the running literature I've read so far, this book is written by and about a non-elite runner. Hearing someone's perspective who is more like me, and how much running means to him was really the sort of inspiration that I needed.

One thing I've taken to heart after reading this book, is that you should run every day so that you still want to run again tomorrow. I've never thought about it that way. My style is to run as much as you possibly can, and then some. I guess that's never going to be conducive to consistency, and thinking back, I have gone through periods where even if my body hasn't broken down yet, running wasn't fun anymore--it had started to stress me out, more than make me happy.

Given that my foot situation is what it is, I'm really going to think hard about this before tacking on the extra miles.


Sunday: 2.6 miles, 22:53 one lap of Washington Park in Denver (8:48 min/mile)

I am tired today, but thanking my lucky stars that the catastrophic soreness has not returned. I'm kind of disappointed that this was so slow and so hard, but I'm glad that I did something, instead of taking the day completely off. ~2 hour bike ride with Peter afterwards. Man, this was hard too. My hamstrings started cramping whenever there was a hill.

Monday: Off, travel. So hot back at home... I didn't get any sleep.

Tuesday: 3 miles, ??? in the Arroyo (??? min/mile)

After a miserable night of tossing and turning in the oppressive heat and smoke, I forgot to bring my watch on this run. I am really sad about this, because this run felt great! Well, great is relative, but it felt faster and easier than any of the other runs so far, and I didn't feel tired at the end.

Wednesday: 3 miles, 26:12 in the Arroyo (8:44 min/mile)

I was excited after yesterday, but this one wasn't very good. Maybe the third consecutive night of not getting any sleep is taking its toll. Felt harder and worse in addition to being slower. I'm going to blame the heat and the smoke rather than my extreme lack of fitness.

Thursday: 4.2 miles, 35:04 Glenarm to Hillcrest (8:21 min/mile)

Not sure if it was a clearer day, or if the pavement is more forgiving than the trails, but I'm finally on the right side of 8:30 pace. This run felt pretty good, I decided to get a little extra sleep while it was cool in the morning, and run at night after work. Breathing is still harder than I'd like it to be, but otherwise it was pleasant. Still had energy left at the end. Good times.

Friday: Off, shots. It is just not getting any cooler... but Dennis' parents are here, so we have somehow figured out the AC situation.

Saturday: 5.3 miles, 47:16 Monterrey to Third Bridge Loop (8:55 min/mile)

Bad times in the heat. Slept in rather catastrophically, and started at around 11 am. It was 85 when I started and close to 90 by the end. There is not as much shade in the Arroyo as one might think. Didn't feel tired, but felt really dehydrated and overheated, despite having a bottle of cold water before, and after. Yikes. This was not a pleasant experience... but my streak of not running any 9 minute miles survives another day, though just BARELY.


Week Total: 18.1 miles, next week will be better!