Posts Tagged ‘RnR Half’

It’s so hard to believe that July is 2/3 of the way over. I feel like every post I’m playing catchup, like I don’t have time to write more specifically about workouts. It’s not ideal, but I’m not complaining about it either. That being said, here’s to playing catchup and having some random thoughts.

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After Friday’s miserably hot day, Saturday was really nice. But with an afternoon trip planned to see the Washington Nationals with a group of Lynchburg College alumni, and the need to get things cleaned up that morning since my house was dogless and babyless for the first time ever, I put my long run off for another day.

By the time I finally got to my long run - 6.4 miles and more than 17 for the week - it was Sunday evening. It capped off a crazy-busy, but fun-filled weekend.

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As I just stated I ran more than 17 miles last week — 17.3 to be exact. This is the fourth straight weekly increase. My goal to make it five weeks in a row this week, scale back for a week and then have another strong four weeks before having a taper week for the race. Talk about time flying by … breaking down training like that makes the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half seem extremely close.

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I’ve come to really hate the gym in the summertime. It stinks to go when it’s light outside and be done when it’s still light. In the winter, it’s not so bad. When it’s dark, it’s dark … and it’s easy to just go inside and have a good workout. With some rainy weather today I ventured over to the gym and immediately felt like doing nothing. I did get in 5 miles on the bike and 2 miles on the elliptical machine, but it felt so … I don’t know … kinda worthless.

So I’ve already vowed to run outside tomorrow even if it is raining. The weather forecast for this area shows that we’re stuck in a few days of on and off rain and storms.

When things are going well, I find there’s not much to say. So take my relative silence this month as a sign that things are going well. Here are some updates on how things are going:

* I feel that I’m on a good pace with my running and the distance I’m doing right now. This week’s long run was 6 miles. With the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half 8 weeks away, I’ll be at a good place at the end of August to have a couple of double-digit long runs before the race. I actually would like to be at about 8 miles right now, but that’s how last month’s illness impacted things.

* Since being sick, I’ve had three straight weeks of steady increases with my overall mileage — 13.6, 15.2 and 16.3.

* Somewhere along the way, cross training once again became unimportant. I changed that this week with a nice cross training day at the gym with 2 miles on an elliptical machine and 4 miles on the bike. Today I went to the gym since it was so hot and ran 2 miles and biked 3. I know how important cross training is — I just haven’t been doing much of it lately.

* I forgot to mention I bought new shoes a couple of weeks ago. After a year in the Brooks GTS 8 series, I switched back to Asics — the 2140 line. To put it simply, I can thank the shoes for helping turn things around lately. These shoes are great — they might be the most comfortable pair I’ve ever worn. That doesn’t mean I’m abandoning Brooks though — I’ll stick to Asics though for at least the next couple of pairs of shoes to get me through the end of the year.

* Remember that injury in which I went to the doctor? Remember how all this stuff was supposed to happen? PT, gait analysis, a shot? Well, none of that happened. After doing exercises and stretches I was instructed to do, all seemed to get a lot better. And after I cut back with running in May, everything felt a lot better. I wouldn’t say I’m 100 percent, but I’ve learned how to manage my problem. I stretch more; I wear my boot at night if my foot hurts; I do a lot of self massaging of my foot. The most important thing is my foot doesn’t hurt when I run.

To get over whatever my problem is, I have to just keep going. Perhaps I’m not completely over my sickness … and it seems everyone else around me has something wrong with them. Plus the mold count in Richmond is still super high. Who knows if any of those things are contributing to this.

I just have to get out there and eventually something will turn around. This weekend I ran 7 miles in two days — while that’s great in some circles, I was hoping my long run for the week would be about that. I’m not completely behind with my training. I still have a solid two months left to get ready for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half. But will I be running for the sake of running, or will I run to try to get better? I’m not shooting for a PR with the warmer September weather, but I am hoping for a better race than last year. That shouldn’t be hard to do, but I have to get moving …

… and said they wanted their music back. But dammit! You can’t have it. Instead, you have try and find it on Labor Day weekend at Virginia Beach for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1a76FeV2-Dw]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5qD72NCJSkk]

So yes, Black Crowes will headline the “American Music Festival” weekend. Sometime along the way, we’ll also be graced with this drastic opposite music that gives me flashbacks to middle and high school:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTYB5zyHAg]

And, lastly, this, which pre-dates me but transcends time:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uvr3dmptvg]

Three days removed from my highest fever since my second post on this blog more than two years ago, I feel all beat up. It’s like somebody punched me, tied me up to the back of a car, drove a mile and then unleashed a dozen wild dogs on me. OK … it’s not that bad (it’s still bad though), but I do feel like I’ve been in a bubble all week. Things have moved in slow motion, or not at all.

When I wrote the other day, my illness was peaking. Shortly after that post, I got the worst chills of my life. Then I was hot. Then I was cold. Then I took some medicine to knock me out and I went to bed. The next morning I felt a bit better, but my fever was still more than 100. But after another morning nap, things started turning around for me. By the afternoon I finally got my temperature under 100 and ever since then things have slowly gotten better. Not great … just better.

I finally made it back to work yesterday for a partial day, although I did work from home some on Monday and Tuesday, so I never really got backed up with anything. And today I finally had a normal day … but I sort of still feel like I’m in a bubble. It’s like the rest of the world is moving around me, but I’m not quite up to speed.

So this all leads me to this worthless week of training. So far I’ve got a whole 1.5-mile walk in with my dog. And that’s all I’ll do until tomorrow evening, and even then I probably won’t do too much. It’s a lost week - there’s no doubt about that. But I have to get back up and just do whatever my body feels comfortable with over the next few days. If it only wants to run 2 miles on Saturday, then fine. If I can go 5 miles, then great. These next few days will probably be a good chance to do some cross training instead of the pounding with running.

I won’t beat myself up too much and I won’t try to play catchup. I still have a little bit of time on my side, so I’m not worried about it too much. I just feel fortunate that I’m pretty much over this illness and that it didn’t last any longer than it did.

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On a side note, I saw on Facebook yesterday that the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon is announcing the concert next week. There’s already a rumor of who it is, but I’ll keep my opinion to myself right now. After last year’s horrendous B52′s mess, I’m waiting to spend money to buy a ticket for my wife to get into the show.

With today’s 5-mile run, my June running miles have already eclipsed my May total. While I still feel like I’m doing some sort of catching up, it’s a great feeling to kick off my Rock ‘n’ Roll Half training like this. This week has been tough with the heat and a sick son, but I’ve pulled it off. And I’m feeling good tonight, so I may put in a couple more miles tomorrow morning with my dog.

A co-worker of mine (and former/maybe future blogger at Wishful Shrinking) were discussing the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon today. This will be her first half marathon and my 7th. Yet the similarities are similar. Despite my best efforts, I’m starting off at square one, which can be seen from my 2.5-mile run today, and a goal of only 12-14 miles for the week. This has led me to doing a lot of thinking about training and how a specific date changes everything.

I did this earlier this year with the Shamrock Half — and yes, training is like flipping a switch. Today I wanted to take a mid-afternoon break. So I ventured to Sheetz … and I wanted a Coke Zero so bad I could taste it. But instead I got Vitamin Water. Carbonated drinks are just bad, and I don’t know why I drink them sometimes. While I probably drink less in a week than some people do in a day, I really don’t like them — they just become a stupid habit. (By the way, the kiwi-strawberry Vitamin Water was actually quite tasty.)

Training isn’t just about the running or the cross training or what food/drink I put in my body — it’s a mind game. I am fully confident in my abilities to run a good 13.1 miles again and to lose the 10 pounds I keep wanting to lose … but I have to win my mind back. A choice in a convienent store goes a long way — if I can break the habit of grabbing a Coke at 2 p.m., I can break the habit of not wanting to run more than 3 miles. I know I’ve been getting over injuries, but lately I think my mind has held me back. I keep saying that I’m running this race as long as I don’t get hurt … while this is very true, I just need to stop thinking about being hurt and just run. If I’m hurt I’ll stop. Otherwise, why am I letting my mind get to me?

A year ago at this time, running was not fun. I ran all summer and didn’t like it. I took that break last fall and then fell back in love with it this winter. And now that I’ve kinda sorta taken a break in the past couple of months, I’m ready to love running again. Tonight we held hands for the first time in a while … maybe I’ll sneak in a kiss next time.

When June 1 hits, I have 14 weeks to the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon. By May 31, I will have a plan in place to train for this race. While this may sound like a normal thing to do, I haven’t had a written down plan for a race in two years. Seriously. What’s wrong with me? Did I think I was too good to have training plans? Sure, I had certain mileage goals in my head, but they weren’t written down.

Fourteen weeks is a good amount of time to get to where I need to be. And it gives me time to make adjustments as necessary. But not too many — remember last year when I hurt my tailbone? Worst non-running injury ever.

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Things this week are going OK. I’m so glad I took last week off. I’ve ran a little bit — meaning less than two miles — and gotten in a treadmill workout and a short bike ride. Not much, but it’s better than nothing. I’m just ready to move on from this …

I’ve got a good thing going so far this year. Now’s the time to not screw it up! Usually April tends to be a bad month for me. Sure I need some rest right now, but after a couple of more days I’m ready to get back on the road, on the bike and on the elliptical machine to keep going.

As for “what’s next,” I’m sticking to my original plan of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in September to be my next “big” race. Actually my “original” plan was to do the Charlottesville 10 Miler this coming weekend, but there’s no way I’m doing three races in a row. My legs are worn out.

I’ll probably do a handful of community races this spring and summer, and maybe head to Lynchburg for a race, but I want to stay focused on the big picture. Beyond R ‘n’ R, I would like to do a half marathon again this fall — but let me take this one race at a time approach. Things are going well, but last year lingers on my mind.

For April, I want to ease up on my running miles just a bit and focus on some cross training. Somewhere around 60 running miles is fine with me. I’ll probably take the same approach for May. Ideally, right now, I want to have a long run once a week of 6-8 miles and then build on that this summer. The best-laid plans are meant to be broken, so we’ll see what happens …

The other day I discussed my non-race goals. But you didn’t possibly think that I wouldn’t have my mind on races did you? Now that I’ve been running and working out for almost four months without a race in mind, it is time to turn some focus onto races for 2009. After such an up and mostly down year this year with running, I’m ready for some changes next year.

If you have looked closely at my blog this week, you’ll notice a new counter — it’s there for a reason. I’ve said many times on here that I would not run the Shamrock Half Marathon again next year. After two years of doing that race, I wanted to do something different in the spring. While I still have the duathlon on my mind, I still want to do a “big” running race early in the year. So that’s why I’ve decided to run the Charlottesville Ten Miler in April. While it’s still a long distance, it’s not a half marathon — I’m still determined to stay away from half marathons until the second half of the year.

This will be just my second 10 miler. The first was in 2006 when I did the Virginia Ten Miler in Lynchburg — the race that got me hooked on longer distances (and one that I’m thinking about doing again). As of right now, I’m not setting specific goals — I just know that this is what I want to do for the spring.

After that, I’m still planning to do the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half in Virginia Beach on Labor Day weekend again. And then I still am not making any plans beyond that. I will not budge on that thinking. It helps keep me focused on things one race at a time, no matter how cliche that sounds.

In between my two big planned events, I’ll likely run a few shorter races — more than this year — to keep me content. Too much of this year was spent being disappointed, so I’m determined to kind of go with the flow next year and see what happens. I would love new PRs, but I’m not going to stress myself out about it.