OH GOD THE PAIN

9.94 is close enough to 10 to call it 10, right?

Yes. Yes it is.

I printed off the route the group did last week, but the map was pretty small and didn't show street names, so I wrote all the street names at the bottom.

Too bad I forgot a couple of the streets. Oops!

Erin and I had to improvise some today on account of me not knowing exactly where we were going a bunch of the time. I don't even know what we did. We just ran around a lot in the general vicinity of the course from last week. And miraculously we wound up running within 0.06 miles of our target.

OK, this is what I will say...ten miles hurts. It doesn't matter how many weekly runs you do or how far your last long run was...the first time you hit ten miles in a training program, there is PAIN involved. 18,598 steps = feet hurting. 1:54:18 = mind hurting. 858 calories = stomach...well, not hurting, but hungry.

I will now go find lots and lots of food to eat and maybe go to bed for an hour or so (only the first part of this sentence is true).

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!!!

Farewell Audubon

Off topic: Has anyone else noticed that now that Michael Jackson is dead, Beatles songs are showing up in even MORE commercials?

Yeah. Ugh.

So. There was a break in the rain today! And I did run! But God was it not fun. I was damn near dead a mile and a half in and that was only halfway to my goal.

I made it a full 3 miles in 34:10; a little slower than yesterday, but my main concern is that I did three complete loops without keeling over. I timed it perfectly, too. It started raining approximately two minutes after I got back into my car.

The time changes this weekend and with that will come a change in my after-work running schedule. I won't have enough daylight anymore to run around the track where I've been running (there are no lights to run there after dark). I'll have to drive out to Bartlett, which is a 20-25 minute drive one way. And the track there is only 9/10s of a mile, which makes it a bit more difficult to decide in advance how far to go. It's no longer 3 miles or 4. It's 2.7 or 3.6 or 4.5...

So changes are coming!

But for now I just need to concentrate on resting up for the next two days. Saturday is almost here. TEN MILES. Eek.

And I'm BACK IN THE GAME.

Four miles. Four long, arduous, clunky, agonizing, heavy miles. But FOUR MILES. Whew!

I ran them in 45:03, keeping a fairly steady 11:15 (or so) pace. Which, um, hello? When did I get so awesome?! And I thought I was going slowly! Not bad for eight days off. (Though I would suspect that getting out of bed tomorrow morning will be more difficult than usual.)

AND my feet are starting to hurt at the end of my runs. Five miles is about my limit for running without any sort of physical discomfort (I think I've mentioned that before) but I'm thinking this foot pain might be an indicator that I need new shoes. I just got shoes in April and generally only need a new pair every nine months. But I'm running more than usual so perhaps this pair is wearing out more quickly???

If it's not raining tomorrow (which it's supposed to be), then I will try for a 3-miler. We'll see how the feet are feeling then. In the meantime, I have some Miller High Life in the fridge and yesterday's Colbert Report to watch.

And OH YES. I just entered the triple digits on the mile counter. About damned time!

I am dressed and ready to go!

But I ain't going anywhere because it's raining. I thought I might be able to slip in a couple of miles in between showers but I apparently missed my window of opportunity. :(

The last time I ran was last Wednesday, meaning this is the longest I have gone without running since I've started training. When I run tomorrow, it will have been eight days! That's long enough that I've lost some conditioning and I'm sort of terrified that I'll be horrible all over again!!

The training group this week is falling back and only doing 5 miles on Saturday. Instead of running with them, Erin and I are going to forge ahead on our own and do the 10 mile run we missed last week. I'll have to see how tomorrow's run goes before deciding if I want to fit in one or two runs this week before I attempt a full 10 miles.

I did do a lot of walking this weekend...that's totally got to count for something. And I think clubbing until 3 am definitely qualifies as cross-training...

At least I'm going to keep telling myself that. Otherwise, I'd have to acknowledge how pathetically far I fell off the wagon this week. And, um, I'd rather not do that.

A Love-Running-LESS Day

In a very calculated move, I got my flu shot yesterday (seasonal; I'm too old for swine just yet). I usually get mildly ill from flu shots so I decided to get one on a day when I wasn't planning to run. So what happened? I felt great yesterday, but I didn't run anyway. And then I woke up this morning feeling sick. OF COURSE.

I was feeling mostly alright by this afternoon but you know...some days I just hate running. I hate it! I don't want to do it and I wonder why I put myself through this. I don't know what triggered my feelings today, but man did I not want to run.

But I kept going. I did 5 miles (!) in 58:16. It's the first time I've run 5 miles after work and the first time I've run 5 laps in my park (4 is as much as I've ever done on either count). I was dragging by the end of the third mile so to mix things up I ran the last two laps in reverse. The course is harder that way; the uphills are stretched out longer and the downhills not as steep. It was difficult. I'm tired. The first of the reunion people are coming in tomorrow so this might be the last time I run this week.

I think I'll be OK with that.

Back at it already.

Because I'll be missing this Saturday's long run, I need to run more during the work week than I usually do. Tonight I did four miles in 45:45. That kicks me over the 90-mile mark and as I was running this evening, I thought about how things have changed in the past two months or so.

And now I'll tell you about those things, via an enumerated list:

1. My lungs have caught up with me. Two miles, four miles, eight miles, whatever, as long as I keep a steady pace, I'm never out of breath.

2. I can run even when I don't feel great. I didn't sleep all that well last night and I was sneezing all day (ugh, fall allergies) and yet still I ran 4 miles today with no problems. And after a full day of work, no less.

3. My appetite has leveled off. When I first started training I was hungry all the time. I would just eat and eat and eat...but I don't get painfully hungry with no warning anymore. My body seems to have gotten used to me burning those extra calories.

4. The cross training has helped my posture. Stomach crunches are a life saver in stopping me from hunching over at the end of a run (and when sitting in front of a computer!).

5. I can stay up (a little) later and get up (a little) earlier. Weird, huh? I'm more awake when I'm awake (if that makes sense).

6. I generally feel better and have more energy. I also generally have nicer-looking legs.

So there you have it! Living proof that exercise does have health benefits. Now if I can just get my knees to adapt like the rest of me has...

Hello Cold Weather

Ah, the first "cold run" of the season.

According to the thermometer on my porch, it was 46 when I left the house this morning, though considering the thermometer's proximity to the house, I'd say it was at least 2 - 3 degrees colder than that. Not freezing by any stretch, but cold enough that I wasn't sure what to wear...long pants or shorts, one layer on top or two... I went with shorts and two layers on top. And gloves. And man it was COLD when we first started out, but I'm trying to brace myself for the very real possibility that it could be 20 degrees colder (or more) between now and the race.

But I was fine once we got going. Perfect, actually. Eight point five miles in 1:38:34. It was a surprisingly easy run.

I'll be missing next week, though, because that's the reunion. It'll be the first 10 mile run...of all weeks to miss! It's a good thing today's run went well or else I'd be freaking out about now.

The worst part about running in the cold isn't the run itself (which is usually great once you get going) but the aftermath. Once I cool down, I can never warm back up. Right now I'm sitting her in multiple layers and wool socks drinking a cup of hot tea. And I'm FREEZING. All that complaining about the heat and now it's time to start complaining about the cold already...

Check out the determination I showed this week, with my 3 running days and all.

Look at me go! THREE running days this week. Possible reasons for my motivation are:

a) The realization that I have a mere six weeks until the half-marathon! Thus, I need to get my act together.
b) The realization that my 5-year college reunion is next fucking week! Thus, I need to get my act together.
c) The realization that I ate so much rich food last weekend! Thus, I need to get my act together.
d) All of the above.

Obviously the answer is d. It may not *seem* as if I've fallen off the wagon, but from the standpoint of essentially having taken all of last week off, I feel like I'm behind. This week's Saturday run will be 8 miles, and considering it'll have been three weeks since I've run that far, I'm a little nervous. I shouldn't be. But I am. Consistent short runs during the week help with my confidence, though...and I still have some pent-up frustration over work that is producing in me a desire burn off energy when I get home.

Today I stopped at 2 miles, primarily because I have (depressingly consistently) injured myself every time I've upped my mileage this year. It wasn't that long ago that I was running 2 miles twice a week. I slowly built up to 3 miles twice a week and now I'm graduating to 3 miles twice a week and 2 miles once a week. My knees don't like change and I have to appease them by introducing them to new situations gradually.

My two miles today were not without adventure. I left early, around 5:45, to make sure I would be done before it got dark. But as I was leaving the parking lot, I was stopped by a guy whose battery was dead. No big deal; I pulled up my car, popped the hood, he got out his cables and...I have a small car. So he didn't get a full charge right away. So we talked. He told me about how his girlfriend is pressuring him into marrying him, I told him about my impending 5-year reunion, etc, whatever, blah. Still no charge. So we talked some more. About what we majored in in college, about running, about the current nationwide unemployment rate of 9.8%. Still no charge.

By this time it was getting dark, so he called a friend of his and the friend agreed to come out with his large SUV-like vehicle (i.e. vehicle with a large battery) and I went off to run.

But it was DARK by then and I don't run in the park after dark because there's a sketch factor. And yet I really wanted to get my two miles in so I thought, 'hell, why not?' and I ran anyway.

And I learned many things! I learned that there are a (very) few people who only come to the park to run after dark! And I learned that the kid who always walks along slowly, staring at the ground with his baseball cap low over his eyes, keeps on walking even after the sun goes down! The park really wasn't scary at all after dark. It was just hard to see where I was going.

I actually started running before the mile marker because I was trying to maximize on the little amount of light that was left...so I'd say I ran about 2.2 miles this evening. I did it in 23:32 and it was fantastic. There's this thing about running in the dark (which I experience in early morning runs far, FAR more often than evening runs) where your sense of depth perception is off and running, for whatever inexplicable reason, feels easier because of it.

When I was done, the guy's car was up and running again but he'd hung around to make sure that I hadn't been murdered or something on my run (this is Memphis we're talking about) and also that I was able to start my car after trying for a good 25 minutes to give him a charge.

So yes, in many ways it was an unusual run tonight. But not in a bad way.

More on Saturday!

Today in Dismal Weather News

Well at least it's not raining. It's just cloudy and chilly. Cool enough that I've had to forsake wearing sandals to work and retreat to my winter footwear, amongst which is a pair of tan Mary Jane-ish shoes that I bought 4 years ago on clearance for $9. They're a size and a half too big (the sizes were limited, with the clearance and all) and they look like something I slapped together in my living room using a glue gun and some left-over armchair upholstery.

And MY GOD the compliments I get on those shoes. "Those shoes are so CUTE!" and "Oh, Becky, I LOVE those shoes!" and "WHERE did you get those?" I am not making this up. They are complete shit and they don't even fit my feet and yet the rest of the world fawns over them with genuine adoration. Much like Harry Connick, Jr. and the flavor of licorice, my shoes hold an appeal to others that I just do not understand.

But with reactions like that, I have, year after year, opted out of spending any money to replace them. So today, after hibernating through the summer, they were back on my feet.

The one problem with my shoes is that they don't work with bare feet and, likewise, socks won't cut it. I have to wear (oh God why am I admitting this in public?) knee-high hose. And sure, a casual observer may look at my outfit and pass right over my under-shoe apparel (blinded, no doubt, by the beauty of the shoes themselves), but I know what's there and by the end of the day there is nothing I want to do more than get home and take those damned hose off.

Why am I telling you this? Because we must take into consideration the fact that wearing hose for a 9-hour (soon to be 7.5-hour) work day leaves really unattractive elastic marks around the knee area. As someone who leaves the work place to run in shorts in a busy public park, these marks are something I aim to avoid at all costs. And why would I care about elastic marks when I don't care about wearing the exact same pair of nine-fucking-dollar crap shoes to work four years in a row?

I have no idea.

But I do. So what I did last year, and what I did again today, was to take my hose and fold them down around my ankle an hour or so before I was due to leave work, giving my upper-calf/knee area time to breathe.

THESE are the sorts of important daily tasks that I am faced with as a runner! And you thought it was just muscle injuries and fatigue and sore feet and dehydration and aching limbs and fighting nausea after running for hours on end... Oh no, no, no. It's also elastic marks.

Today, I ran elastic mark-free. And (for the first time in what seems like forever) it was a good run! I even cracked the 35:00 barrier at 34:49 for 3 miles. And boy I tore that last mile UP. I was flying down the homestretch. I was feeling pretty damned good when I touched the mile marker the final time.

And then I came home and proceeded to drop my BRAND NEW PHONE on the driveway creating a nice large gash across the screen.

Oh, well, I guess. You can't win them all.

Rain delay.

AS PREDICTED, it rained (is raining) today. It started this morning and it hasn't yet stopped! I was actually kind of excited about the prospect of running two...maybe even THREE...days in a row this week, but the weather has chosen not to cooperate. Therefore here I sit, having not run, and having only the prospect of stomach crunches awaiting me.

A short blog, yes, but there's little to say. I'll (hopefully) be back tomorrow with a running report...but there's rain in the forecast for the next two days. Who even KNOWS what will happen in my day-to-day life anymore?! Each day as it comes... :)