Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Running Lately

If I am anything, I am a determined, consistent runner. I run my 20 to 30 miles a week regardless of whether I have a race on tap. I regularly meet the running group for long runs on the weekend just to keep up my endurance. I rarely bitch or moan, and I'm usually game for whatever pace or distance my friends want to go at whatever time they wish.

However, the last few weeks ... maybe even months ... I have felt anything but. Rather, I have felt behind, out of shape and nagged by the sense that I'm just not doing enough.

The numbers


13.1: In miles, the farthest I've ran since the Carmel Half on April 16. However, it's a bit deceiving because I logged that distance at the shit show of an Indy Mini.

7.3: In miles, the farthest I've ran since the Indy Mini. I managed that on May 28.

90: Miles I ran in May, a good 20 or so below where I typically am at this time of year.

40.9: Miles for June, about 10 below the minimum where I'd like to be

15,504: Times I've beaten myself up about the situation

20: The number of days I have to get my shit together – aka the number of days until marathon training begins

But rather than completely bemoan the fact that I'm living up to unnecessary, arbitrary expectations and create some plan of action to meet them, I have decided that I'm going to shut the hell up about it. It is what it is what it is, and I have legitimate reasons for why things have been the way they have been.

And in the spirit of that, here are some highlights from recent runs:

3 x 1000: My speedwork for last week. The goal was to run these at current 5K pace, which is 7:59, but I gave myself a range of 7:45-8:00. More important than nailing the pace, though, was to be consistent and stay strong through the finish. AKA: Don't run like an asshole and don't let ego trump the workout. I really worked on holding back the first interval and pushing in the third, and I am happy to say that my times for those were 4:54, 4:56 and 4:55 or paces of 7:38, 7:39 and 7:39. I did need a legit heart-to-heart with myself during the third but I got it together and feel proud of the run.

Hills from hell: We made an unplanned trip to Cincinnati this weekend to tend to some family affairs, and I had to scrap my running plans. Thankfully, I still managed to get away for 5 miles on Sunday morning. I made a wrong turn, if you can even call it that, coming out of my grandma's neighborhood and I made a snap decision to explore a new route. Big mistake. HUGE. Oh, sweet lawd. If the hills I normally run around her house weren't bad enough, I found more. According to Garmin Connect, I gained 348 feet of elevation (a normal northeast Indiana run is 30-50 feet). It was cray-cray. And even though I was on the road, I called trail hill a couple times and walked. However, I was really surprised to see that I managed to keep a decent pace (9:20).

6 x 400: A couple weeks, I had these on tap – again with the goal of running them at current 5K pace. I didn't do that, opting to run like nobody's business. While it was this run that prompted me to approach the 3 x 1000 with control, I did log an interval at 6:54 pace. Unheard of!

2 comments:

  1. That seems like a really good base going in to a marathon... do you feel like you aren't doing enough because of where you were last year (you reference that in your "90" number) or some plan? Or what other people are doing? It looks like a lot to me, especially with your teaching schedule!

    I know that feeling of being frustrated you can't do what you want - that was my May. It was shit and made me feel like shit. I hope you get where you want to be soon!

    And nice even splits on the 1000s!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks! I usually like to be over 100 miles a month although I might be in the 90-range in the winter.

    I think I'm antsy, too, because I want to feel solid in the 8-10 range going into marathon training. I don't doubt that I could do it at a reasonable pace. It would just be nice to do it!

    ReplyDelete