Saturday, August 13, 2011

Post 1, Week Whatever

Yeah, okay, so it's another blog. I know. No need to tell me that I start stuff and never continue with them. I've also never started a marathon plan I was serious about but after about 2 months of mileage building, I'm thinking, "Um, maybe I am sort of serious this time?". When I ordered two running books off Chapters.com and decided to invest in a hydration belt and reflective arm bands, I knew it was on. That, and the fact that for the first time in the 8 years I've been running, I actually prefer running outdoors to on a treadmill.

I'm going to try to update as often as I can but I make no promises to update every workout. I know I'm dedicated enough to keep up with my log that I keep in my workout bag, so I feel no need to regurgitate the details of every run to the internet world. Plus I don't want to broadcast my shiteous days.

So basically, I've always used running for fitness but as I kept reading Runner's World, I was like, "What's this whole miles-per-week thing?". I mean, I know I run, and these people don't look super fit and they're doing 20 mpw so I've got to be doing something close to that. Yeah, no. I did maybe.. 9? At most? Maybe more, maybe less. Not consistently though. Granted, I rowed, I biked, and I ellipticized. So despite the fact that I would go to the gym or work out in general 5-6 days/week, I just didn't run as much as I thought I did. Definitely not enough to qualify myself as a runner.

I really wanted to improve my running, and after seriously thinking about it, I decided that I was going to aim for a half marathon in May, 2011. I haven't decided yet, but I'm thinking either the NJ Marathon in Long Branch, NJ on May 4, or the Ottawa Half Marathon, which is the last weekend of May. We'll see how it goes. If my tendon injuries hold up and I'm feeling good, I may challenge myself with a full marathon in October or November, but let's just take it a step at a time here! The marathon may need to wait until 2013.

The reason this race is such a big deal to me is that I've done a half marathon before. My time was so bad that it's actually a fairly average time for a FULL marathon. My idea of training was going for a 3k run the night before on a bum peroneal tendon and a hope and a prayer. The fact that I finished is shocking enough, but I was so embarrassed to be beaten by several septuagenarians and actually got to the water and gel stations after they'd run out (of the stock of 30,000 that they started with, naturally). I have been petrified of races ever since. The prospect of a 2K race this May, yes, a 2K, was too much for me to handle. I run 3+ miles regularly, and the 2K scared the crap out of me. I'm already an anxious person, and I'm already a perfectionist, so the fear of repeating that failure over and over has just been too much. I want to beat that fear.

Another reason that I want to do this race is that I draw a lot of parallels between running and my life. I've been very successful in the small number of years I've been on Earth, whether at school or work or personally. I appreciate my success to the full extent however, I feel like I've gotten to a point where everything is just ALMOST good. I've put myself through a lot of hurt, a lot of pain, and a lot of pressure to get to where I am, and now that my future looks bright, I feel like I'm at that last push of a sprint, where you see the seconds on the clock dwindle down to zero and you're like, "Do I bail? Or do I push?".. I always push. I just feel that training for this race will help me push myself in my running goals, and in my life goals.

The best thing so far about training has been the alone time with my thoughts. I've had to face some hard questions that I avoid when I'm not running. I usually distract myself with The Bachelor. The fact that I've been listening a lot to my Christian music playlist while running has really helped me. The music can be so uplifting, whether or not you're a believer, and it's made me realize that you just can't go through life always thinking the worst. I've learned from a young age to think the worst of situation, places, and people, and running is starting to free me from that. I get a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach thinking about how hard it will be to turn around and trust people and situations again, but I also know that forgiveness is the key. I'm looking forward to saying it and meaning it.

My last, and very vain, reason for running is that it makes me look hot. I have a few weddings in the future to attend and I have some very short dresses that I will be wearing. 'Nuff said.

Alright, so enough with the "why I run" spiel. Tonight I did a 5-mile run as my long run. It's not the longest run I've done in recent memory, but it's the longest I've done outside and done as a specific "long run". I ran from my house (Fallowfield/Woodroffe area), down Woodroffe to the railway tracks, where I got on the NCC path. It's a lot longer than I expected to be and it got dark quickly under the canopy of trees. I'm glad that, for the most part, it was an open trail surrounded by cornfields. It was very serene running along there and I plan to take my significant other through a run there the next time he's in town. I continued onto Merivale Rd (where the path ends), headed south on Merivale to Fallowfield, then back west on Fallowfield to the Woodroffe/Fallowfield junction, and then back home. Good run. I vow next week to start timing things but since I don't have a digital watch, I stayed away this time.

My Thoughts from Tonight
  • There are snakes in the fields outside of Barrhaven. And they hang out on the trail.
  • Running after 8:30 pm isn't an option anymore unless I'm on a well-lit sidewalk.
  • Drivers are complete idiots. I'm running along a wide shoulder, keeping far away from the road, and I'm getting high-beamed constantly. It's like "Oh look, a runner, let's blind them!"... assholes.
  • Everything by Lifehouse is still my favourite running song.
  • 4 hours is the perfect time between eating pasta and running.
  • It was super cool running in the "hole" between the storms to the south and to the north. Lightning was lighting up the sky on my last stretch along Fallowfield, yet it was so calm and clear where I was. I loved it.
  • Tonight's run officially graduated me to 13 miles per week. I'm proud.
Happy trails,
Anne

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