I Swear, I Do Run!

In order to prove that I'm really a runner and I do more than just sleep and have cracked out dreams, I've decided I should probably catch y'all up regarding some actual physical activity "achievements" made this week. Here goes:

Monday was to be a "stretch & strength" day according to my temporarily-downsized training schedule . I headed to the gym and spent about ten minutes warming up on the stationary bike. I then lifted a whole lotta weights while trying not to drown--and that's hard to do, my friends! Ha, I guess a water main must have broken or something, because the ceiling was leaking EVERYWHERE on the floor the weights are on! The floor was seriously just a thick layer of wet towels and overflowing buckets. I'll spare you the boringly specific details of how many reps I did of what (mostly because I'm not smart enough to know what all of the machines/exercises are called), but suffice it to say that I still can't lift my arms above my head, and my legs are essentially dead (whoops--that probably won't help my "exhausted legs" situation much!). Oh, and I didn't drown, so that's good too.

By Tuesday, the gym was all dried up. I had a 3-mile "easy run" on the schedule, and completed said run on the dreadmill (have I mentioned how much I absolutely hate straight treadmill running? Hills/speed/tempo are one thing, but straight running? FORGET IT.) My hate for what I was doing combined with exhaustion from working until 10:00 p.m. and THEN attempting my run made for a slow-a$$ pace. But it WAS an easy run. So I'm not very worried. In the end, my three miles averaged out to a 9:50/mile pace. I had every intention of doing some core training as well, but um . . . the gym was closing (and obviously core training is the type of thing that can ONLY be done in the gym--ha). Plus, I was thinking that I probably needed to go home and eat/sleep (who doesn't love scarfing down food at midnight and then going right to bed, only to wake right up and do it all over again? WOOHOO! LOVE my job!).

So there you have it. On the schedule for tonight is a 30-min. tempo run and the core training I blew off last night . . . that is, if I ever get to leave work! But let's be optimistic here, people!

Hope y'all had a great Hump Day!

Recap: Week One of Half Marathon Training; Also Known As, "What the Eff is Wrong With Me?!"

Hello, loyal readers (all two of you)! As promised, here is a recap of my first full week back in training. It started off pretty well, I have to admit . . . the end part of the week, though? Yeah. Not so good. Here goes:

Monday: 3-mile "easy run" at 9:40/mile pace; strength training-arms.

Tuesday: Hills. The schedule read 6 x hills, but I decided to get creative . . . and by creative, I mean, I copied a Grete Waitz treadmill plan I found on the internet. 1 mile warm-up; then (at around a 10:20 pace--or about 45 seconds slower than my (old) 10k pace) 1 minute at 2% grade, 1 minute at 4% grade, 1 minute at 6% grade, 3 minutes recovery at 0% grade (repeated 3x); 1 mile cool down. In retrospect, this seemed far too easy . . . I was worried about freaking my legs out too early on, but now I'm thinking I really should have pushed the time, considering my "10k pace" came from a year ago when I was a lot slower than I am now. If I attempt this plan again, I'll probably go for between a 9:45/mile and 10:00/mile pace.

Wednesday: 3-mile "easy run" at 9:38/mile pace.

Thursday: 40-minute tempo run was on the schedule, but I ended up working until almost 10 p.m. and was feeling a bit run down anyway. Thus, I ordered it a rest day.

Friday: Actual rest day.

Saturday: 3-mile "easy run" at about a 9:40/mile pace. On a side note, it was a seriously gorgeous day here in NYC! I got to wear shorts and short sleeves! Woohoo! I had been planning to do my long run of 90 minutes, given the gorgeous weather predicted, but was feeling seriously sluggish during my run and decided to swap Sat. and Sun. as a result.

Sunday: Okay, so here's where things went seriously wrong. Wilson and I set out for our respective long runs--he was going to run the first 4 miles with me, since that's what was on his beginner schedule--then I would continue on until I hit 90 minutes. Well, my legs had other plans. They were just ABSOLUTELY dead. I tried to run through it, but it was seriously crazy. I felt like I was back at mile 24 of the marathon! I started questioning myself and whether I was getting back into training too soon after my marathon. Um, well I guess that's probably a little bit true. In the end, I decided that if I at least finished the 4 with Wilson, I'd be keeping up with his schedule; so we both called it quits after running 4 miles at around a 10:10 pace. To punish myself for sucking (ha), I added to some core training to the mix back at home.

So now I'm left with the question of where to go from here. Do I drop to Hal's Intermediate schedule? Do I try to stick with the Advanced Schedule and just take it easy until I recover a little more? Do I forget the half-marathon altogether and run the 10K at Sunburst? UGH. I don't know. I really don't want to have to drop down to Intermediate, but I'm thinking that if I do, maybe I can just transition back into the Advanced Schedule when I start feeling stronger again. Thoughts?

Alright, and one more thing I've been needing to get off my chest. Since I finally have the forum to do so, I figure, why not?

This is a public service announcement for all of the a-holes in Prospect Park who feel the need to a) walk six abreast along the park drive, forcing me to pass their slow asses in a mess of bike and automobile traffic, b) dart across the street right in front of me when there is nobody behind me for MILES, c) pay no attention whatsoever to their devil children riding their crappy bikes all crazily in the direction of my shins, and d) pass me so closely that I can actually feel their breath on my neck when, once again, there is nobody within 500 yards of us: Um, yeah. Please die immediately. Thank you.

Enjoy what's left of your weekend, kids!
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RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY: For some reason, I really love the Reese's Easter Eggs. I would never buy the plain old peanut butter cups, but the eggs? That's a different story! Yum! I guess peanut butter filled chocolate tastes waaaay better when shaped like an egg!

Superfluous Goals

So with my first marathon behind me, people have begun asking the most predictable of all questions, "What's up next, Irish Cream?" Alright . . . so, maybe that's not entirely true. In fact, it’s a complete and total lie. I just wanted to make it sound like people are actually interested in my training goals! In reality, people haven't at all been questioning me about my plans for the future. Where are you, people? I've been waiting here, all excited to give you an enthusiastic response . . . but no, you have to go and keep the magic question to yourselves! In all fairness, I’m pretty sure many of the folks I know think running a marathon earns you some kind of golden ticket that excuses you from exercise for the remainder of your life. It's as though you can test out of your lifetime fitness requirements just by completing that one race.

Yesterday, brimming with excitement about the imminent start of my next great training plan, I decided to test the waters with a co-worker. If people weren't going to ask, I was simply going to begin volunteering the information to them. Co-worker's and my conversation went something like this:

Co-worker: "Wow, I just seriously don't feel like doing work today."
Irish Cream (way too animatedly): "Well guess what?! I'm running a half-marathon in May!"
Co-worker (baffled): "What?! Again?! Didn’t you just run a marathon?!"
Irish Cream: "Well, yeah. But this one's a HALF-marathon."
Co-worker: “So how long is a HALF-marathon?”
Irish Cream: “Just 13.1 miles”
Co-worker: “JUST 13.1 miles. Wow. When do you have to start training for it?”
Irish Cream: “Actually, I start today!”
Co-worker: “ARE YOU NUTS? Don’t you want some time to just . . . relax? I mean, you just ran A MARATHON!”
Irish Cream: “Yeah, well, no. Not really. I actually am kind of excited to get back into training mode.”
Co-worker: “What?! You are seriously scary.”

So there you have it. I am currently in training for the Half-Marathon at the Sunburst Races in South Bend/Notre Dame, Indiana. My college girlfriends (“the BP girls”) and I have all agreed to run in one of the races (they have everything from a 5k fun walk to a full marathon) . . . and it should be a blast. I really think it will be a special race for me, not only because my girls will be there, but also because it marks my one-year anniversary of getting into road races (I trained for and ran the 10k there last year).

Oh wow. I just realized I never really got into the background story of “why I run.” Ha, most people seem to start their running blogs with one of these stories, but seeing as how I started my own blog with a marathon race report, y’all don’t know my full story! Well, that’s another tale for another day.

On the sched for today? 6 x hills. Yes, hills. Have I mentioned that I’m training for this thing using an Advanced training plan? Cuz I am. Have I ever run a half-marathon before? Definitely not. Am I doing this with the hopes that I'll finish the race in under 2 hours? You betcha. Should be a good time, kids! Oh, and have I mentioned yet that I already know what's up next AFTER the half-marathon? Yeah, cuz I do. I'm starting to scare myself.

Until next time, happy running everybody!

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RANDOM THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Pineapples are delicious. But I really don't get the name.