well, every 4th week we had planned on making an easy week and this one is it. thursday i ran 6 and sunday was 13.
the time off really helped my speed. last weekend i didnt have much speed going on, but a ton of miles. the opposite was true this weekend. the 6 was pretty uneventful, i got dropped off 6 miles from home and ran back. yeah!
the thirteen had three interesting things. all three i should remember for a long time. i got all prepped for the run as usual. advil, bandages, body glide, knee brace, clothes. i didnt go with the 5 hour energy drink this time. i am going to save it for runs over 13 or when i am totally feeling dragged out.
so the run started later in the day - i knew i was going to finish in the dark. set out my 3 water breaks on a course that was out and back for 13 miles. the run started well, but i had just drank a full bottle of gatorade and at the first water stop at mile 2 i had to pee... so there are some nice bushes there and that solved that. but! there were also mosquitoes there. it was about 70 degrees and overcast and the little buggers where all over in the bushes. so i did the running hopping pee thing. glad nobody was around for that. but i got out alive, maybe 3 bites and i drank some water and off running again.
my knee brace itched. which it never does. figured i had a bit of dirt or something in there. i ignored it and ran on to the next water stop at mile 4. ( i put the waters at 2,4,6 miles and then run out to about 7 miles and come back giving me drinks every 2 miles ) at mile for everything was going well. i was really fresh still and picked up the pace. ran a bit faster. sooner or later i end up paying for that, but i felt pretty good so i kept going. the knee still itched so i adjusted the brace and didnt find anything in it. trot trot trot into the sun set. for once there was no wind too, how nice. :-) until mile 5. there was a storm through in the last few days and the roads flooded. they were still flooded and you had to run do the middle line of a two lane road with speed limits at 55 mph. so you are pretty paranoid about getting whacked by a car. but, the really bad part was the water. it had sat there for a few days... and spawned about 1.7 trillion mosquitoes! well, i think there might have been more, but only 1.7 trillion could get up enough energy to attack me. it was INSANE. more extreme than the canada adventure races or the michigan swamp tour races. i had water at mile 6 but i didnt stop, they were so thick. they could land on your legs and at this time i was freakin moving. did 3 of my fastest ever miles. and they followed me out and back to the 5 mile mark again. then poof gone. i didnt drink on the way back either obviously. just left the full bottle sitting there for the pickup later that night. so that was number one event. the mosquito clouds.
the run from 5 back to 0 was a some of the most relaxing running in a long time. was going fast but not very hard to do. breathing was very moderate but i was moving pretty quick. the sun set behind me and the wind and mosquitoes stayed away. my knee went from itchy to burning, but at that point i didnt care any more. number two event happened when i got home. i checked the time and it was the fastest ever half marathon for my by over 5 minutes. so i have a new personal best - but since i didnt time it exactly i would have to say it was between 2:14 and 2:18 which is at least 5 minutes faster than ever before. and not very hard either. nice to know i have taken over 30 minutes off our spring 1/2 marathon. resa also seemed faster than me the last time - 2 weeks ago we ran together. ( she is in ohio another 4 days then comes down here for a month ) so big time improvement. just took a week of low activity for it to show up. really happy about this.
the third memorable event was the knee brace. wtf? it was rubbing my whole upper leg area the whole time. and all the skin is torn off. its a freaking mess. i couldnt sleep last night i have bloody sticky goo all over my leg - about the size of my hand is totally messed up. it hurts just sitting here. bending my legs hurts... every thing about it stings. now i have to get on my knees and do tile work. :-/
i threw the thing in the wash as always, i will have to get it out and figure out what happened. my first guess right now is that the elastic is dead and it gained an inch in size and rather than being tight and unmoving on my knee it is now loose and rubbing. if so - out it goes. i have two, and probably wont be able to run with one again for a few weeks.
kinda weird all around. but... whatever! :-)
Monday, December 14, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
you internet goofballs can keep your damn poop fairy!
well, still tired from the longish weekend. heck. long. i think there was a time about... oh, 12 months ago when 30 miles in a month would have been pretty good miles. now its a weekend.
we certainly are getting our distance up if not much on speed. but speed comes with the next phase of training which starts after the january run.
today i spent about 10 hours laying tile in our house here on the gulf. and it was pretty hard on my sore legs. spent the whole time kneeling over tiles and hardybacker. at the end of the day i was faced with the option of running. most of the day i was planning on doing the run, but as the hours wore on and it got harder to stand let alone walk i was leaning on putting it off. wasnt sure i could run at all.
so i went up stairs to the "reading room" and sat there for a bit. OH MY GOD! the poop fairy came out of the internet and pulverized me. i am betting very few people out there have lost about 40% of their body weight in one 2 minute period and lived. i nearly didnt.
after this i decided to go running. as the house was now a biological disaster area.
so i ran 3. and it was pretty tough as i was still gassed from tiles and miles. but done. after all, if you think you can, or you think you can't, either way you are probably right.
and. i shall utter not the P*** F**** words again, lest she be summoned and i be destroyed.
we certainly are getting our distance up if not much on speed. but speed comes with the next phase of training which starts after the january run.
today i spent about 10 hours laying tile in our house here on the gulf. and it was pretty hard on my sore legs. spent the whole time kneeling over tiles and hardybacker. at the end of the day i was faced with the option of running. most of the day i was planning on doing the run, but as the hours wore on and it got harder to stand let alone walk i was leaning on putting it off. wasnt sure i could run at all.
so i went up stairs to the "reading room" and sat there for a bit. OH MY GOD! the poop fairy came out of the internet and pulverized me. i am betting very few people out there have lost about 40% of their body weight in one 2 minute period and lived. i nearly didnt.
after this i decided to go running. as the house was now a biological disaster area.
so i ran 3. and it was pretty tough as i was still gassed from tiles and miles. but done. after all, if you think you can, or you think you can't, either way you are probably right.
and. i shall utter not the P*** F**** words again, lest she be summoned and i be destroyed.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
and part 2
ouch. tricky one. i think i didnt eat enough last night and i pretty much had a very hard run.
did run 18 but felt like a lot more. the difference is i think that i can now go into the negative areas longer before i fail completely. so i spent most of the second half of the run ( into a very strong headwind ) running and walking and running.
well, done, and off to bed!
did run 18 but felt like a lot more. the difference is i think that i can now go into the negative areas longer before i fail completely. so i spent most of the second half of the run ( into a very strong headwind ) running and walking and running.
well, done, and off to bed!
another long weekend - part 1
well the easy part is done, the ten on saturday.
ran the old shoes and they felt great. so i now know that i have two sets i can count on. ( somehow this makes me think of resa... hmm... ) well. anyway nice to know i can swap back and forth.
so... about the 10 yesterday. again i ran on the sidewalk between the golf course and town. its 5 miles long so a ten round trip. i put water at about 1.25 miles from each end. so about 2.5 between water breaks. running out i went into the sun and the wind. the wind you know about, it was a bit breezy and comes in small gusts so you are always guessing when you have to lean a bit. kinda annoying. :-) but the sun for me is worse. it was getting later in the day and the sun was right in front of me. the trees are what make it tricky. the path is between a lot of trees and the sun comes in and out of them the whole way so its like those horror house places with the flash strobe bulb and people seem to jump around weird. so i spent most of the time looking down as i ran. didn't see any glass or dog poop on the trail either.
i get my drinks and run along. the first 2 miles again are the hardest. this is getting kinda weird - and i am going to try to pay special attention to starting a bit slow from now on - its not fun to be out of breath about 300 yards from the start. and then 2 hours later running faster and not be breathing hard. really strange. so that's today's plan. but today... 18 or so should be lots of fun. and gads who knows what i will get.
so anyway i run all the way to the end and its in a bit of an open spot and now the sun is my friend as it is just sitting there and i am taking a break and eating a chocolate cliff bar.
ah. was all in all a good if not great first half. i am really looking forward to running back with the wind and the sun pushing me along. so i start back. the first water is gone! and after my big chocolate goopy sticky bar i was really hoping to wash it down. 3 kids are playing with the bottle splashing gatorade all over the trail. great. thought about asking them where my drink went but they would have just stared or lied to me. so i ran on. what point i guess. never see them again anyway, just kids of renters. ah, well, so now i am in not such a good mood. next an old lady is walking her dog towards me at about mile 7. i work up some happy and smile and wave to her. but she ignores me, probably i am one of those jogging molesters that you hear about. so i shrug and plod on thinking for sure my other bottle is going to be gone now too. probably the kids will steal a car and race ahead and empty that on the trail too. and i almost step in the ladies dog's shit. big pile of dog shit and pee right in the middle of the sidewalk. wtf? the area runs through woods. and she has the dog dump right in the middle. big pile of steaming crap. and i was the one annoying her by waving about 3 minutes earlier. sometimes i hate people. so i almost walk from there. just kinda lost my happy run thing. but i get mad and run because she couldnt. so ha. run to the first water stop - and its there. finally i get to swallow the big chunk of chocolate goop in my throat! :-)
after this i have only a bit more than a mile to go and i run on, usually the last mile is hard, regardless of the distance, sorta like the first. i hate 3 mile runs its all first and last miles! but i am running, coming into town and pretty happy and two teenagers run past me all laughing. ah, well, things are better. but they are all happy because they found a bunch of glass and smashed it all over the sidewalk for about half a mile. glass in piles all over. i smile anyway. whatever.
just got back from staging my water for an 18 mile run... should be a lot more boring, which today is just fine!
ran the old shoes and they felt great. so i now know that i have two sets i can count on. ( somehow this makes me think of resa... hmm... ) well. anyway nice to know i can swap back and forth.
so... about the 10 yesterday. again i ran on the sidewalk between the golf course and town. its 5 miles long so a ten round trip. i put water at about 1.25 miles from each end. so about 2.5 between water breaks. running out i went into the sun and the wind. the wind you know about, it was a bit breezy and comes in small gusts so you are always guessing when you have to lean a bit. kinda annoying. :-) but the sun for me is worse. it was getting later in the day and the sun was right in front of me. the trees are what make it tricky. the path is between a lot of trees and the sun comes in and out of them the whole way so its like those horror house places with the flash strobe bulb and people seem to jump around weird. so i spent most of the time looking down as i ran. didn't see any glass or dog poop on the trail either.
i get my drinks and run along. the first 2 miles again are the hardest. this is getting kinda weird - and i am going to try to pay special attention to starting a bit slow from now on - its not fun to be out of breath about 300 yards from the start. and then 2 hours later running faster and not be breathing hard. really strange. so that's today's plan. but today... 18 or so should be lots of fun. and gads who knows what i will get.
so anyway i run all the way to the end and its in a bit of an open spot and now the sun is my friend as it is just sitting there and i am taking a break and eating a chocolate cliff bar.
ah. was all in all a good if not great first half. i am really looking forward to running back with the wind and the sun pushing me along. so i start back. the first water is gone! and after my big chocolate goopy sticky bar i was really hoping to wash it down. 3 kids are playing with the bottle splashing gatorade all over the trail. great. thought about asking them where my drink went but they would have just stared or lied to me. so i ran on. what point i guess. never see them again anyway, just kids of renters. ah, well, so now i am in not such a good mood. next an old lady is walking her dog towards me at about mile 7. i work up some happy and smile and wave to her. but she ignores me, probably i am one of those jogging molesters that you hear about. so i shrug and plod on thinking for sure my other bottle is going to be gone now too. probably the kids will steal a car and race ahead and empty that on the trail too. and i almost step in the ladies dog's shit. big pile of dog shit and pee right in the middle of the sidewalk. wtf? the area runs through woods. and she has the dog dump right in the middle. big pile of steaming crap. and i was the one annoying her by waving about 3 minutes earlier. sometimes i hate people. so i almost walk from there. just kinda lost my happy run thing. but i get mad and run because she couldnt. so ha. run to the first water stop - and its there. finally i get to swallow the big chunk of chocolate goop in my throat! :-)
after this i have only a bit more than a mile to go and i run on, usually the last mile is hard, regardless of the distance, sorta like the first. i hate 3 mile runs its all first and last miles! but i am running, coming into town and pretty happy and two teenagers run past me all laughing. ah, well, things are better. but they are all happy because they found a bunch of glass and smashed it all over the sidewalk for about half a mile. glass in piles all over. i smile anyway. whatever.
just got back from staging my water for an 18 mile run... should be a lot more boring, which today is just fine!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
ten the hard way
still tired from the monster week last week. but there i was sitting there... looking at my new shoes. and they are looking back at me. WOOF! lets gooooo woof woof!
so i strap em on and run 10. gads i was dead for the first 3 miles. resa's mother dropped me off in town so i was stuck - i had to do the run. or i might not have. i was really sore for the first half hour, but it didnt so much as go away as just faded into that long run pain thats normal. so after about 3 miles i felt normal if not good and then i hit the gas a bit and ran a pretty fast next 6 miles. the last mile was as always a brain thing. is it done? is it?? isit isit?? isitiististiitisis??!?!? done??? but finally it was. :-)
the thing that really picked me up during the run was the blue angels. they are here in the gulf doing a show and they take VIPs up for a ride about 30 times a day. two planes just do circles over the town and the house. and i was running between them. so every 20 minutes or so i here the thunder noise and then the WHOOOSH as they go by right over head. they fly pretty low and make a ton of noise doing it too. so that was a good adrenaline boost.
and speaking of boosts - i didnt try the 5 hour energy this time. i think i will save it for half marathons and longer. also i was lax about taping my foot and of course paid for that with a blister. right foot is a disaster right now. the ankle is sore - as it has been for the last 3 months. the blister on my toe on that foot is still there, the nail is still black and now the ball of my foot is really sore there too. the left foot is at 100%. weird.
so i strap em on and run 10. gads i was dead for the first 3 miles. resa's mother dropped me off in town so i was stuck - i had to do the run. or i might not have. i was really sore for the first half hour, but it didnt so much as go away as just faded into that long run pain thats normal. so after about 3 miles i felt normal if not good and then i hit the gas a bit and ran a pretty fast next 6 miles. the last mile was as always a brain thing. is it done? is it?? isit isit?? isitiististiitisis??!?!? done??? but finally it was. :-)
the thing that really picked me up during the run was the blue angels. they are here in the gulf doing a show and they take VIPs up for a ride about 30 times a day. two planes just do circles over the town and the house. and i was running between them. so every 20 minutes or so i here the thunder noise and then the WHOOOSH as they go by right over head. they fly pretty low and make a ton of noise doing it too. so that was a good adrenaline boost.
and speaking of boosts - i didnt try the 5 hour energy this time. i think i will save it for half marathons and longer. also i was lax about taping my foot and of course paid for that with a blister. right foot is a disaster right now. the ankle is sore - as it has been for the last 3 months. the blister on my toe on that foot is still there, the nail is still black and now the ball of my foot is really sore there too. the left foot is at 100%. weird.
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