Hitting the hills

to mix things up a bit, today I did a "hill" workout on the treadmill. basically, I experimented with the gradient, raising & lowering the incline and speed to match my comfort level. I had no idea that treadmills could be so steep!!! the maximum gradient goes up to 15.0 (what is that measuring anyway, degrees??). At that incline, I could only jog along at a 12-min/mi pace... it was so steep!!! I did this for about a minute, then gradually lowered the incline until it was down to 10 (degrees??), then when I caught my breath I jumped right back up to 15, lasted there for about a minute, then had to gradually lower again, and repeated this process 3 times over 20 minutes. this is great practice though. it definitely gets your HR way up. I can't wait to do it again!

"hills are speedwork in disguise"... I will never forget these words of some famous runner (of course the famous runner is so famous I forget his/her name, but that's beside the point) the important part is the sage advice. you have to put in a lot of extra effort to go up a hill at any given speed. so when you get accustomed to exerting more effort and working harder, and put that same amount of effort on flat ground, you will go even farther. it's a basic physics principle. something about work and distance, but of course I forget the exact formula... after all, that was 7 years ago...

on another completely un-related note, I have a cramp in my right forefoot, which is incredibly annoying.

Impromptu 10K

post-boxing class today I hopped on the treadmill at the gym with absolutely no plan in mind. I figured I would run at least 3 miles, or however far I could get in a half hour, maybe 4 miles... or heck maybe even go for 5. the most I would possibly do is 6... and even that was really a stretch, based on the fact that it was extremely late at night, and I was tired, lazy, sore, and my ipod battery died. (I even thought ahead and brought my ipod so I wouldn't have to be bored with the typical treadmill drudgery. But, of course, since I haven't touched my ipod since summer ended, and I haven't charged it in equally as long, no amount of wishful thinking, prayer, or will power was going to get that thing to turn on.) So I was left with 4 choices: deal with it & do a short run, push through and go all out no matter what, sing to myself & listen to the music over the gym's stereo system, or just don't run at all. Obviously choice #4 was not a legitimate option by any stretch of the imagination. So I went with a hybrid of options #2 & #3... and I ended up running an entire 10K!!!! It was incredibly hard, and I struggled & pushed myself the whole way there. By mile 4.9, I was wondering how I would ever make even one more step, when one of the guys from my boxing class walked by, waved & said "you're doing GREAT!" That was just awesome. It gave me the motivation I needed to persevere through and complete an entire 10K. woah.

So, impromptu 10K. completed in 49:48. not too shabby at all. My pace translated into sub-8-minute miles!!! and the last 1.5 miles were even slightly faster!

there really aren't many benefits to running on a treadmill. It's boring, the scenery never changes, it's boring, you don't get the excitement, changing terrain, or fresh air that can only be found in the great outdoors, and did I mention it's BORING!? although there is one thing I really like about it: you can track your progress by setting the pace for your run, and setting the pace on a treadmill helps your body learn to identify what running at a certain pace feels like and helps you maintain a certain pace when you are exhausted, and otherwise would have already given up or at least slowed down.

I can't wait until my next 10K race. I'm really excited to see what my time will be. I'm registered for the Ben Franklin Bridge Challenge in early November, about 3 weeks before the marathon. So far, that's the only race I have scheduled between now & Nov 23.

Random Run

After boxing class today, I randomly decided to run on the treadmill, since I was already at the gym... ended up doing a quick 3 miles in 25 minutes. That's a pretty disappointing time considering I used to run 5K's in less time than that. I guess you could call it speedwork. I basically did intervals adjusting the pace from 8:30 down to 6:20 min/miles at the end. It was so hard! I was pretty sore during the run & I'm extremely sore now.

Week #2 Update

training was derailed once again this week. The week started so well on Monday with an 8-miler on the treadmill at the gym after work... that's right folks, I ran 8 miles on the TREADMILL... what a drag. I'm going to have to get used to it though, given the crazy work schedule and the fact that I really don't like running when it's dark outside... and I can't drag myself out of bed early enough to run in the mornings, so it looks like my options are treadmill or bust. Either way, it was an amazing workout, I zoned out and ran a pretty easy pace, around 8:30 for the first 6 miles. I had only planned to run 6, but pushed myself to keep going. I really struggled through those last 2 miles, alternating between going all-out (around 6:30 miles) and short rest/recovery walks, I completed the entire 8 in under 1 hour 10 mins. Sweet! So proud of myself. I felt fantastic, was completely exhausted in a good way, grabbed a smoothie, then drove home & went right to bed.

Tuesday I was lucky enough to get out of work at lunch time and do a quick 3.5 miles around Stamford.

Then things got crazy at work. I had my runs all scheduled, just like last week, but I ended up having to sacrifice on Wed-Friday. The search I am working on is falling apart pretty quickly, so I had to spend pretty much all day scraping up new candidates, and despite all my efforts, ended up with absolutely nothing to show for it. The absolute last thing I could possibly do was leave the office to spend an hour of my day running. It was awful. By the time I got home each day, it was dark out and I didn't have the energy left to do anything.

To top things off, after Monday's run, I developed 2 gigantic blisters on my left foot, one right on the inside of my arch, and one directly on the ball of my foot, between by big toe and my second toe. Whenever I attempt to pop blisters, I always get carried away and end up cutting them off entirely. That's exactly what I did this time... exposing about 2 inches of raw skin... it hurt so bad I had to wear flip-flops. Chances are high that I probably couldn't have gone running even if I had the time.

This absolutely can not happen again.

A good place to start: The Beginning

it begins...

I woke up today absolutely determined to go for a run. There was no question that I would go. I packed my bag and was mentally prepared to go out at exactly 12:00 noon. I was 100% resolved. Then, it rained. I'm not talking like a light misty rain either, this was the kind of torrential downpour where you look out the window and can't even see through the raindrops, it's just a sheet of water. You pity the poor fool who gets stuck outside and swept away in the inevitable massive flood that ensues. It was unbelievably disappointing.

But I was determined to go.

There was no way I was running outside, so I snuck in the NYSC across the street and did a short interval treadmill workout. YAY!!! I was so psyched that I went, and now I'm all charged to keep going. As soon as I finished, I was on such a high and remembered exactly why I love running in the first place.

So today unofficially marks the beginning of my "training". I put that in quotation marks because to be perfectly honest with you I'm not following a set training plan. There are a few reasons for this. First, I don't think I can stick to a pre-set program that someone else lays out for me, and if I tried and missed a day or two, I'd be so upset and disappointed in myself, so I'd rather not set the expectations that high. Secondly, I'm determined to make this work in my own way, on my own time, There are very few things I get to do anymore where I call the shots and I am in control, so I want to design my own training program. Besides, I want this to be fun, and I need to be able to comfortably fit in all the miles without sacrificing too much. The plan is to fit in the running around my lifestyle, not to re-arrange my life around my running. Ideally, I want to find some sort of blend, where running just becomes part of my life. Experienced runners may read this and sadly shake their heads, thinking that I'm doomed for disaster, but I'm determined and hard-headed enough to make it work. Finally, I don't really know what I'm doing. Sure, I know a lot more about running than most people out there... after all, I did high school cross country, I've done countless 5K's and 10K's since then, and I've been a casual runner on & off for the past 10 years. I get a lot of good tips and ideas from reading Runner's World, Running Times, and Marathon & Beyond. I also have a network of family, friends, and coworkers who've recently completed marathons and have loads of first-hand advice. After all, they've been there before. I'm armed with all this knowledge, but when it all comes down to it, this is a completely new experience, unlike anything I've ever done before, and I have no idea how it's going to turn out. I like that uncertainty - it's kind of exciting.

So I'm just going to run with it and see how it goes.