Speedwork Revisited

Maybe I'll flesh this out a bit, but in case I don't...

mile warm up
1/2 mile dynamic stretching
six strides

4x400 with ~90 seconds rest

1:35
1:38
1:38
1:33

A Month

I’ll attribute this entry to a cup of crappy afternoon coffee and the calming lull of snowflakes dancing about at the window.

Perhaps I lack the ability to give myself credit where credit is due. Or I needed to take the notion of running away literally. More likely: that in the frantic scatterings of my mind, I accessed a tucked-away cache of former capacity/character/commitment in regards to placing one foot in front of the other. And repeating. “I did it at 16, and I was as much an idiot then as I am today. Why can’t I do it now?”

2012 was disastrous.  I’ll stick to running at this point in regards to what that means. Re-aggravating an injury, ill prepared and indifference marked my meager race schedule from spring to fall. Motivation was nowhere to be seen. At one point back in the spring, I was running with a bit of frequency but wasn’t happy about it.

I recall going out on Easter morning with the plan of either 8 or 9 miles for a long run (which was totally doable at that point, wasn’t over doing it); I felt like a mental midget for the first mile and couldn’t shake the feeling of dread and disinterest, so I returned to my abode and just sat in a carpeted room. It wasn’t fun or felt like something that was…me. So I shoved it out of sight, out of mind as it were.

Fast-forward to December. Take it as you will: grasping at straws, re-opening a toolbox, back to the drawing board. My core identifiers felt totally adrift, some completely gone. I decided to revisit something that felt like from a totally different era.  

I got considerably faster in my teenage years when I started supplementing a growing sense of adolescent frailty with running; flushing sad thoughts away on gravel trails and hill repeats, building up confidence with improved outcome and race results. And maybe this time (like so many others) I will burn out, as that has been my thing in my wisdom less 20s.  

But I’ve stuck to it for four weeks straight, lacing up when I’m feeling sad and lonely. I signed up for the “most challenging ½ course in Northern Illinois” on March 17, following Hal Higdon’s program (due to sheer habit), only altering the one day of speed work to longer efforts, as 400 repeats aren’t going to help me as much at this point. Pleased in an odd way that I’ve only missed one run so far, and such was due to a faulty furnace that I felt took priority over three miles that day.

I am simultaneously feeling fitter and oh so out of shape on a daily basis. The weather has been kind on my joints (looking at my ankles in particular) and the recent “cold” comes without blustery winds, so it really isn’t that bad (even if it feels like negative whatever out). 

I run early in the morning and later in the day, feeling guilty if I even momentarily consider not sticking to my schedule. I only risk minimal accident by drivers who feel stopping at intersections or stop signs is merely suggested --perhaps it’s a River Forest bylaw.  I like the quietness out among the suburban masses, as I don’t tend to pass many other runners (or dog walkers/stroller pushers, for that matter). I am actually looking forward to going to some forest preserves as my long runs reach the point of needing more space. I have a number of loops down to a science with minimal stopping points and would like to keep that going for longer efforts down the road.

So that’s what I’ve got thus far. Might add in some light weight work or Insanity as my arms could use it. Next check in will hopefully be sprinkled with a bit more speed and a lighter gait.

Happy New Year

For the foreseeable future, I will be shying away from any sort of daily log input or running update here. I'll keep using dailymile for a simplistic running log as I like how easily I can access it on my phone, but I'll be taking the majority of my running-based exploits off the digital grid.

I'm attempting to break the cycle of running/hurt/less running/no running/running/hurt and I feel that when the slightest thing goes off, feels fairly shameful to write about it, even to a non-existent audience.

More so, I'm at a point that if I do get hurt, there isn't much I can do about it. If I get to a point in 2013 where I'm staying healthy and getting fit enough to partake in races, I'll start writing here again. 'Til then.

3.51 Miles

3.51 Miles
Watch Location Still Unknown

If anything can be determined from my piss poor training over the summertime, it is that I deeply dislike warm weather running. I've never been good in it, seeing as I never seem to adjust to the humidity even at my most consistant running efforts. When every run feels so lumpy and heavy physically and mentally, athletic morale takes a beating and goals/plans get derailed.

That being said, today was awesome. Stepping out the door, weather.com said it felt like 19 degrees. Yup. I am a lover of layering, very happy for that real cold stuff that I will gripe about in non-running terms (my feet will not regain a normal temperature until about...May).

There is something wonderful about that first time during the colder months when you can really feel the chill in your lungs, coating internal things with each inhalation. I got that today, in tights and dryfit things that need to be a bit more dusted off after emerging from clothing hibernation.

I almost feel settled. Well, as much as possible. Still boxes everywhere, but hopefully with a purpose (is there a specific grace period for when its no longer acceptable to have such about after moving in?). Looking forward to the first snow run and by virtue of having a fireplace (this is exciting), sitting by it after a cold effort outdoors. And as I type that, the weekend forecast is back in the 50s. Of course.

3.38 Miles

3.38 Miles
Watch Location Unknown

Bought a pair of 3/4 length tights on sale this weekend and decided to break them in. Worked well for pants without a drawstring at the waist. It didn't end up drizzling (as it had in the 15 minutes prior to me heading out) as I thought it may so I was a bit overdressed, oh well.

It's odd, seeing as I used to run the same route a few years back when I was renting a place a mere few blocks from my abode. Felt new and different, especially as the views said fall but the air and the smell of a mini rain said spring.

My lungs hurt. Days of particleboard fibers and paint mist horrendously coating things within must be horrible. Everything else felt pretty good; even the back of my heels stayed happy for the most part.

Things are a bit more settled, hopefully even more so in the coming weeks. I'd like to regain fitness, so I shall.