Change of Pace

Upon awakening this morning I found the ground covered in ice. Now we had anticipated this and the contingency plan called for us each to take turns on the treadmill. Didn't happen. Instead I napped on the couch until it was time to go to work. Throughout the day I thought about running and more often excuses not to run tonight. Conveniently I found 2 errands to run, but still there was enough time. Besides if I didn't get some miles in today I wouldn't have made my goal for the week. It had stopped raining on my way home from Whole Foods so I thought about taking Mia out with me as Joe was still at work. A careful review of the roads changed that plan. The sidewalks were still covered in a grey slush like mixture that would soak my shoes and running on the road was out given the large puddles that cars were hitting full speed ahead. Could life get any worse?? An after work run (terrible), shitty weather (even worse) and now the only option was the TREADMILL. God I hate the treadmill. Got home and made up my mind. I had 30 minutes before I had to turn the chicken, so the dogs got some peanut butter bones and down I headed to the dismal basement. When I turned on the TV there was a commercial so I turned on the i-pod while I warmed up. After a while I felt myself really pounding this run out. Clearly, I was running out some frustration. Not a bad thing, so I cranked up the volume and the speed and knocked it out. I envisioned the mile race in Bermuda next week and tried to imagine the energy I will feel when I speed across that finish line before Joe. I envisioned myself at the Providence Marathon coming in under 5 hours and feeling better than I had at the Breakers. Most importantly I was not in my basement on a shitty day. At the end of the 30 mins I made it back upstairs to turn the chicken and get the rest of dinner ready. I felt light on my feet, relieved from the days stressors. Normally a morning runner, this type of energy late in the day is somewhat foreign. I enjoyed the run and the escape it gave me but will enjoy pounding the pavement tomorrow at my regular time with my regular crew.

Cold Morning

26 degrees. That's what Frank from channel 10 told me before I left the house this morning. We got out there and it was cold but at first didn't feel that bad. Heading up Charles St. to Mineral Spring things started to settle it. It was cold. On Mineral Spring my eyes started to burn. Mind you this was all before we were 1 mile into the 7 miles we set out to do. I turned my ankle a little while later and as I walked it off there was a sense between us that we could turn around and head home. Some nice expresso would make us both forget about how terrible it was. The trick with moment like this is that we can't vocalize it to each other. Without a word we picked up the pace and started down the road. This was a new route following Mineral Spring into Pawtucket and turning onto Lonsdale to North Main. The biggest excitement of the 7 miles was being a witness to a car accident. Some dummy pulled out onto Mineral Spring (not looking) and slammed into the person coming towards us. There were a few seconds of excitement and then those involved in the accident took off in separate directions. Heading down Lonsdale we ran past the Hope Artist Lofts and saw a sign about a winter farmers market on Saturday's. If I can walk after the 14 miles we are scheduled to run on Sat, I plan to check it out. Heading down North Main was brutal. I could see Charlesgate well before we reached it. It was here that we ran past the only other runner we saw that day. There was no awkward runner's wave, heads down plowing forward, cursing the frigid air. Finally down Randall Square towards Charles, getting close now. Running past a bus stop we drew some odd looks from those waiting for the bus. I would stare as well, it was too cold to be outside by choice. Once we it Borelli's bakery I knew we would finish a half mile to go and wouldn't you know "Eye of the Tiger" started to blare out of my i-pod. Perfect Timing. It was a cold run but we finished and are that much further along in our training. Getting ready for work, Kelly Bates informed me that although it was 26 degrees the wind made it feel like 19. I just spent 70 minutes outside in what feels like 19 degrees by choice. Who says running isn't an addiction?

The start of a new training log

Who knew how thrilling it would be to enter my first run into my training log of 2009. Too bad it took me until the 3rd to do so, excuses, excuses. We did 13 miles today. Started at the Edge Bakery. I took off with a faster woman from our running club. As I felt my calves burning I knew I couldn't keep the pace for the entire run but I wanted to see how far it would last. Unfortunately once we turned onto the Blvd we were running into the wind and once hitting Alfred Stone it was covered in snow. I held the quicker pace for 5 miles or so. At that point Joe was happy to chat with a different runner and took my place as I felt behind. We had to alter our route slightly due to the road conditions. After dropping off a compadrie at the Edge again we headed down Elmgrove and picked up our familiar morning route. At this point Joe and I were on our own and tired. At 9.5 we ducked into a restaurant entrance sucked down our Gu, whined a little about the cold and the snow and took off again. At this point we were too far in to turn around. Down on Hope St the wind picked up and was now at our backs. At one point I thought it was going to lift me off the ground (good thing it was blowing from behind). Gano was our last hill and it felt like we were climbing Everest. FiNALLY the last stretch down Angell St. We were both surprised that we finished it just seemed to go on FOREVER!! A challenge for our first one of the year is appropriate given the goals we have for our running this year. Bring it on!

A New Year and still running

It amazes me how committed to running Joe and I have become. To think that prior to joining the running club I had never gone more than 3 miles and even then needed to stop and walk. Here we are a year and a half later, completed one marathon and training for the next. I don't know why we have caught the running bug, I don't even really like running that much. It's painful and time consuming but the rush is addicting. Last Wednesday we ran 4 miles on the road and then hit the track for a tough indoor workout. After I felt like a million bucks, there was nothing that was going to bother me for the rest of the day. It's funny because growing up I was never a sports fanatic, but I am hard core about the running, reading the sports pages to catch the times at the latest race or meet, following the running blogs and websites.

Back to what this site was meant for and that's to talk about actual running not my new found habit. We got the training log from Bob on Wed for the Providence Marathon and I'm more than a little intimidating. We will peak our mileage at 55 miles per week and keep it there for a few months. This week I'm trying to get in 41 miles and that's proving difficult, I can't imagine 55 miles. On top of that we have long runs weekly with 6 runs being 18+. It's time to run all over the state again!! Then there are the training runs, ranging from tempo runs of 9+ miles to repeat miles and halves as well as indoor work. I knew it would be tough training with him, but am I ready for this? I have no choice!

Today we were scheduled to run 10 with 5 being at the Hangover Classic. Lucky for me there were wind chills of -10, which cancelled all outdoor activities from my perspective (that and I was nursing a hangover that had us both out of commission for most of the day). That means the great debate is on...do I run 10 before work then 13 on Sat and take Sun off or run 7 tomorrow and 7 on Sunday...I'll let you know how it plays out!

First is the worst, second is the best....

As I sit here not going for my morning run because everything was covered in ice when I went outside this morning, I started to check out info on the Cox Providence Marathon in May.  Below is the course.  I can't believe we are going to do this again, I haven't forgotten how terrible the Breakers was.  Not only am I training differently this time around I will do some other things differently.  List is below:

1.  Take the Monday after off

2.  All laundry will be done, folded and put away

3.  New sheets on the bed the morning of the race

4.  Food shopping done before the marathon and prepared meals in the fridge

5.  Massage scheduled Tuesday after race

6.  Beer waiting for me at end

7.  Movies in DVD player upstairs

8.  Benadryl dogs so they will sleep during recovery (alright this is too much but I'll have to do something so they will sleep the whole time, maybe potty train them so they don't have to go outside)

So below is the link, note that most of the race is NOT in Providence.  I'm not real happy about how much of it is on the bike path, but it should be flatter than the Breakers was.  It is exciting that we'll be running over the "new" 195, although that's later in the race so I'm guessing I won't care at all where we are running.  Here's to training!!

Back in the Saddle

Ran my first 10k today, 56:41!!  Not too shabby.  We got sucked out with the crowd and had an 8:23 first mile, after that we settled in and did well from there.  Our 5k time was 26:40 and I would take that as well, almost makes me mad that we haven't done 5k in so long!!  The next step in our running tour was a meeting with the coach.  What did we discuss you ask..marathon training!!  I know, it hasn't been even 2 months since the Breakers but I'm ready to run another.  I don't know why, because I haven't forgotten how terrible the first marathon felt.  Here we sit 22 weeks until the Cox Marathon in Providence.  It's funny because after reviewing our training for the Breakers and talking to Bob I realize that we had NO right to be out on that course.  We did 5 runs over 10 miles and only 3 over 15 miles.  It surprising that we survived it.  This time around I would like to be able to complete the course without limping though the last 10k.  We are starting the training tomorrow, starting with 35 miles per week topping out at 50-60 miles per week.  If we are successful I will have run 2 marathons before finishing grad school!!  I'll keep you posted and if anyone wants to join with us, the more the merrier!!

Insanity

I'm wondering if I have lost my mind.  Today at work I suddenly had the desire to run the full Cox Marathon this May.  Ummm...WHY!?!?  It's not like I have forgotten the pain the Breakers caused.  Unfortunately this thought has not left me and it's looking like we will start training for it.  There are about 5 months for us to get ready, way more time then we actually put into training for the Breakers.  Training updates to be posted in the near future, please pray for my calves (they didn't like this last time around)....