Monthly Archives: April 2008
The good, the bad and the ugly of April
17 days of rain totaling more than 8 inches. That sums up Richmond in April. It was very unmotivating at times … every weekend featured rain, so even if I really wanted to go out and run or bike, the weather wasn’t cooperating.
So, let me try and recap this month. First the good. The good really has to be the Ukrop’s Monument Avenue 10k early in the month. While my time wasn’t what I would normally want, I was pleased with it and running for a great cause. I also walked more than 30 miles this month. The only other good to come out of this month was lifting weights six times during the month, all of those sessions coming after April 14.
Now to the bad and the ugly - I’ll let you figure out what’s “bad” and what’s “ugly.” Since I’ve basically been getting over an injury, I logged just a little more than 30 miles running. Keep in mind 6.2 miles of that was in one day. My longest run besides the race was only 3 miles. I only biked about 10 miles. When I had the time to bike - mostly on the weekends - it seemed like it was raining.
So, all in all, April has been awful. I’ll see in a couple of weeks if it’s a good thing that I rested up. I’m eager to get back to consistency with running and with everything else and May will be a good test. I had hoped April would be that month, but with a hurt foot and miserable spring weather, it was a little tough to think positively. Now it’s time to move on to bigger and better things …
RAIN!!!
While I was hoping and planning to make April a month of rest and transition, all this rain has got to go. Richmond already has 7 inches of rain this month and it’s raining on and off again today. In the end, I think it’s a good thing to get my foot rested up. If I happened to be training for something right now, I’d probably get out and run in it. After a while, though, it gets old.
In non-running news, it was 10 years ago today that one of the greatest CD’s in my lifetime came out — “Before These Crowded Streets” by the Dave Matthews Band. While fans may debate what’s happened since this, there is no doubt in my mind that BTCS is DMB’s greatest release. Ten years later, it’s still just as good as the first day I heard it.
3 short miles
It’s been a while since I’ve done 3 miles without really thinking about it. Today it happened. Surprisingly, it was all in less than a 9-minute mile pace. For one of those just see-what-happens runs, I’ll take it. I probably could’ve gone farther and been fine, but the biggest thing is that my foot didn’t hurt at all.
I’m now focusing on doing another similar run soon and then hitting double digits for the week … and then maybe doing another 5k sometime soon to see where I’m at. Meanwhile, lifting weights seems to be going well. In just a short time, my bench press has increased by two holes on my home gym, so I’m pleased with that.
Overall, I’m just ready for April to be over with. I’m ready for May and a fresh start …
Take It and Run Thursday: 13 words, or less
This week’s “Take It and Run Thursday” theme over at Runners Lounge is to give advice in 13 words or less. Well, the best advice I’ve ever received and the best advice I can really give is this:
Be smart. Listen to your body. It’s always right.
Slowly, but surely
So within the past few days, I’ve had two runs of more than two miles with no pain. Right now, though, I feel like my confidence is missing. It’s like I’m thinking about it too much with each step. I’m overly worried about hurting myself rather than concentrating on enjoying the run. My plan over the next couple of weeks or is to run every other day and mix in biking and weight lifting. I’ll slowly build my mileage up as I see fit, with the goal of getting back to 15 to 20 miles a week toward the end of June. Running on back-to-back days isn’t something I really want to get back into for a little while.
My two-plus miles today were in the 9-minute mile range, so I’ve very happy with that. With the general thinking that training runs are 60 to 90 seconds slower per mile versus races, I’m right where I need to be when I’m ready to do another race.
Right now, I need to get my running confidence back and just continue to stay focused on getting into good, overall shape. And I need to be content that I’ve managed two decent runs without any pain.
Boston
I’ve been reading a lot today about Boston and the marathon. I’ve only been to Boston once in my life. It was two falls ago — a gorgeious time to be there. My wife and I did one of the hop-on hop-off trolley tours — a great way to see that city. I’ve also been a longtime Boston Celtics fan. My mom can back me up on that one. I’m not on any kind of bandwagon just because of this year’s NBA season. I grew up a big Larry Bird fan. From Celtics hats to a Bird poster to a Bird comic book, I loved the Cs, and always liked hearing about Boston. (I’ve never been a Patriots fan, though…)
As far as ever running the Boston Marathon, that’s a dream that’ll likely just stay a dream. For those who are working on that goal right now for Boston ’09, I wish you the best in your running goals this year.
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