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Sunday, March 22, 2009

Weekend Roud-up

Let's see . . . where did I leave off? Thursday? Maybe? Yes, I do believe it was Thursday. My (adjusted) schedule called for a cross-training day on Thursday; thus, I completed 45 minutes on the rowing machine, covering 7,655 meters in that time (resistance: level 6 of 10); then I tackled 15 minutes of medicine ball core work. Now, the workout in and of itself isn't really that impressive . . . but what was HUGE was the fact that my maimed arm allowed me to complete that much of an arm-based workout. The last time I took on the rowing machine, I was only able to complete 15 minutes before my pain/discomfort level grew high enough that I was forced to quit. Hooray for a full 45 minutes of rowing!

Moving on . . . Friday called for 7 miles with 5 of them at marathon pace. Now, going into this run, I really thought that it would be "easy." I was all like, "puh-lease! Give me a real challenge! Enough of these sissy workouts!" Um, note to self . . . be careful what you wish for! I don't know what was wrong with me, but I seriously struggled through the entire thing and just BARELY got through it. But I did it. And as horrible a run as it was, I was elated that I fought my way through the (many) rough spots and got 'er done.

My splits for the run looked like this:

Mile-1 (easy): 9:49
Mile-2 (MP): 8:57
Mile-3 (MP): 9:02
Mile-4 (MP): 9:02
Mile-5 (MP): 9:02
Mile-6 (MP): 8:57
Mile-7 (easy): 9:49

Oh, and I should mention this for Chris. As if I wasn't suffering enough on this run, one of the gym employees came over and started wiping down the front of my treadmill while I was still on it!! I was so stunned, I didn't even know how to react! Why do these gym employees not get that a) that is seriously annoying/kind of dangerous, and b) it is counterproductive! I'm just going to sweat all over it again after you finish wiping it down! In fact, if I could have willed myself to sweat more, I would have (don't think I didn't try)! Ah well. It's not like I pay $95 a month to use their facilities without disturbance or anything! Oh wait . . .

Saturday, I ended up working from 10 a.m. until 6:15 p.m., essentially babysitting contract attorneys who were doing a document review in our office. This was frustrating, seeing as how the first-year who was supposed to be doing it told me I needed to cover for her because she was attending an "unlimited bloody Mary and mimosa brunch" for her friend's birthday. Oh, so you get paid $165,000 a year to overindulge in mimosas on the weekends, eh? I mean, c'mon . . . at least LIE if your excuse is that weak! These "millennials" are REALLY freaking me out, y'all! At least I made some extra OT, I guess.

Anyway, around 4:00 p.m., I spoke to Wilson and he reminded me that we had a Rangers game to attend at 7:00 p.m. Oops--I had totally forgotten about it! Suddenly, I realized my "long run eve" food options were going to be VERY limited. We got to the game and I was, of course, STARVING. I grabbed a Blue Moon (just one, I promise!) and some waffle fries to split with Wilson, figuring it would hold me over until I could make myself some pasta back at home. But, you guys . . . my stomach was HOWLING in hunger. I made it to the second intermission before I gave up and made Wilson grab me a hot dog. Weak, I know. I figured I'd still be hungry enough to eat a little pasta once we got home, considering marathon training has turned me into a human vacuum cleaner . . . but, of course, we got home and I realized that, for the first time ever, I was NOT AT ALL hungry. Uh oh . . . lack of proper fueling and/or hydration, much?

I went to sleep after watching some hoops, and woke up around 8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning feeling rather ravenous. I grabbed myself a granola bar, thinking it would be enough to get me up and out the door, but it just wasn't the case. I was still hungry. So I grabbed another cup of coffee and made some steel cut oats (with raisins!) for Wilson and I. I figured I'd let my breakfast digest while picking out some new podcasts, and then take off on my long run by 11:00 a.m. Well, it didn't take long for my stomach to let me know it was NOT down with that plan. I suppose it must have been the stadium food I'd consumed the night before, but my stomach was seriously so messed up, I just knew running at that point was NOT a good idea.

I caught up on some blog reading, watched some more hoops and finally decided to take some tums and nap for a bit. I, of course, assumed I'd wake up and my digestive problems would have magically fixed themselves (riiiight). Unfortunately, that's not so much what happened. I half-slept for about 45 minutes and woke up to find that my gut was still totally, completely pissed off. I decided I had no choice but to get out there and give it a shot. I just prayed I wouldn't lose anything out of either end in the process (TMI, I know)!

I grabbed my handheld water bottle, stuffed the attached pocket with sports beans . . . and off I went. The weather was awesome--mid-50s and partly sunny. It really felt like Spring, which of course meant the sidewalks were overflowing with people. Now, in case you've forgotten, I don't actually LIKE people. But still, my spirits were high and my stomach seemed to be cooperating. Life was good.

The first 5 miles flew by without a hitch. Just as I hit the 5-mile point, I decided to slow for a sports bean/water break. While I was chewing, I randomly decided to try the water fountain where I'd stopped . . . and, miracle of all miracles, it WORKED! The park fountains had been turned back on!! This was good news indeed. I decided to ditch my handheld bottle under a tree and continued on my merry way, ready to take on two 2-mile inner loops of the park. I started to fatigue a bit again just before mile-9, but told myself I just had to make it back to the area I'd ditched my handheld at, and then I could grab some more sports beans.

I dragged myself along, and FINALLY spotted the tree I needed. I slowed to grab my bottle . . . but it wasn't where I'd left it. WTF? Where the heck did I leave it? I could have SWORN it was right next to that tree right there. But no. My bottle was gone. And gone along with it were my remaining sports beans. I just couldn't believe it. Who would do such a thing?! I spent a good five minutes searching the vicinity, really wanting to believe that my handheld bottle hadn't been swiped . . . and that I was just forgetting where I had left it. But alas, I finally had to give up and carry on without my bottle or beans.

Luckily, I was so pissed off that someone had stolen my bottle, I didn't even NEED the sports beans. My adrenaline level sky-rocketed, and it was more than enough to carry me through the last 3 miles of the run. Okay, now seriously, who the hell does that? I'll tell you who . . . the punk ass kids loitering in the park, whose parents couldn't care less about where they are and/or what they're doing/who they're disturbing! The one thing I am seriously grateful for is that I didn't have my keys zipped into the pocket on my bottle. I almost always throw my keys in there, and for some reason, I held onto my keys yesterday. I can only imagine what type of ruckus would have ensued had I not been able to get back into my building after finishing up the run! I was NOT a happy camper!

At any rate, here are the numbers from my run:

12.01 miles in 1:53:42

Mile-1: 9:31
Mile-2: 9:23
Mile-3: 9:29
Mile-4: 9:32
Mile-5: 9:37
Mile-6: 9:39
Mile-7: 9:39
Mile-8: 9:25
Mile-9: 9:34
Mile-10: 9:29
Mile-11: 8:55 (where did that come from?!)
Mile-12: 9:28
Last .01: 5:40 pace ("allegedly," but uh yeah . . . probably not so much)

I'm actually very impressed with how even my splits were (even if they were a bit too fast), with the exception of mile-11. That never happens!

By the time I got home yesterday, I was BEYOND drained and exhausted, but I grabbed Wilson and we took a walk along the Brooklyn Promenade so that I could cool my legs down a bit. It was so lovely in the sun! When we got back home, I celebrated making it through my run by taking a long, hot shower and then indulging in some chips and guacamole while watching basketball. It was blissful!

Hope you all had fabulous weekends!

9 comments:

Spike said...

excellent long run, sorry some kids swiped your stuff. I'm always wondering if the H2O bottles I drop off before my long runs will be there during my run, or if someone will take them.

Aron said...

that really sucks someone stole your stuff :(

great job on the runs anyways!!!

Anonymous said...

Holy cr.p. That is one action-packed weekend with some great runs!

Great work.

The Laminator said...

Thanks for the play-by-play. Very enjoyable read. It totally sucks that someone took your water bottle and beans. Losers. You did great on your long run though. Very consistent pacing. Great job.

Marathonman101108 said...

Interesting weekend...too bad about the water bottle. I always run with mine, even though my kids remind me what a "tool" I look like wearing my runner's belt with the water bottles. Plus I'm paranoid that if I stash a bottle someone will "sabotage" it! Glad your long run went well. I'm soooo jealous. Speaking of a hockey game, my son and I may go see the Rangers game this Saturday.

Rachel said...

Good job on the long run. Makes me wish I had one planned soon. Sucks about your water bottle!!

Running and living said...

Awesome long run, and training! Rowing machine is a killer, but oh such good training. I, too, often leave things (jacket, water belt) behind trees on the bike path where I normally run, but so far noone stole anything. I can imagine the frustration you felt when you could not find your stuff! Keep up the great training. Ana-Maria

Lisa said...

Nice job on your runs. Bummer about your bottle. I don't stash things very often for that reason... the whole time I am gone, I worry about it.

It looks like you are training to run under 4 hours. I would love to see what your training plan looks like. Where did you get it?

good job on your pacing throughout your runs.

sRod said...

Nice work!