Another week, another milestone - this time, running two consecutive days without hip problems.
After last Sunday's run, I followed my usual schedule and cross-trained on Monday, then ran again on Tuesday. Originally the plan was to combine track and treadmill, but instead I decided to do a tempo run. I was kind of tired, we had dinner late on Monday so my stomach wasn't at its best, and that just seemed like a better idea. Total time was 59:33, total distance was 12.1 km - darn good for a not-feeling-great day when it all felt like hard work.
Wednesday night was my second ART session, and again the benefits were obvious immediately. It didn't hurt nearly as much, but what little "awareness" there was in my hip went away, and the surrounding muscles were much less disturbed. A little stiff, but not painful. Per the therapist's instructions, I did ice it and put heat on it before bed, and also took an anti-inflammatory. Then I ran 10 km on Thursday at an "easy" pace, and on Friday ran 5.1 km easy and then did 5.3 km on the treadmill (hills). A good workout.
Of course, I am tired, tired, tired of running inside. Each night before we're due to run, DH and I review the forecast, it's always yucky, and we always agree that we'll assess things in the morning. Thursday I actually wasn't too sorry to be inside, just in case my hip had any problems. Friday, we planned to go outside "no matter what". Well, the "what" referred to temperature and wind conditions. When it turned out to be snowing, that pretty much decided things.
Today would have been a good day to be outside, but no way I was doing my weekend long run after two consecutive days. Maybe it would be okay, but being cautious has worked for me so far and I'm not eager to gamble at this point. Tomorrow, the scheduled long run day, the forecast is for rain mixed with snow. Enough, already! It is half way through April. The bulbs are coming up. The lilacs are budding. There is new grass in our yard. It is time for warmer temperatures, and no snow!!!
So - changing topics - my marathon plans are about to take a dramatic change in direction, because I'm planning to move them up about 5 months. What? Explanation:
I have been running for a long time, and at this point have a very solid base. Yes, I don't do enough hill training and hate bad weather. But week after week, I put in the miles. Three weeks ago I did the 30 km Around the Bay, faster than expected, and recovered quickly. There are marathon training programs that have 30 km as the longest run. And that made me start thinking about the National Capital Marathon, which is at the end of May. Six weeks or so from now. Time to do at least one more 30 km or 30+ km run, and possibly two of them.
The key for doing the marathon would be to take the energy involved in doing the ATB at a 5:00/km pace and put it into doing more km at a slower pace. Well, that would be one of the keys. The other would be getting more practice drinking and getting calories while running. In retrospect, having talked to others, my ATB finish would have been stronger if I'd given my legs some energy instead of relying on just a couple of water stops.
In short, I think that I'm strong enough to do it. But why do it now? Why not wait until September? Well, that's part of the "grand plan", which is: I want to do Boston. And that's not an unrealistic goal. As unreal as that may sound.
My Boston qualifying time is 4:00 hours, which is an average pace of about 5:40/km. That's significantly slower than my normal running pace, and presumably I'd run at least part of the race at something closer to 5:00/km. Precluding a total breakdown, 4:00 hours is in sight. Sub 4:00 hours is in sight. Boston in 2008 isn't the moon.
But I don't want to kid myself that it's easy, either. The marathon is a big distance, even after doing 30 km. If I'm counting on doing sub 4:00 in September to qualify for Boston, and I have a bad day or it's a bigger distance than expected, that's it. I've bet the farm and lost, so to speak. So there is a real temptation to do the marathon in Ottawa, to get the experience, but with no expectations. Yes, it would be wonderful to do it in 4:00. But I don't have to. This can be a learning experience and preparation for the marathon that "counts".
Which is not to say that it can't be its very own marathon experience. By default, it would be, since I've never done one. But I love the idea of doing a marathon "just because", and being relaxed about the outcome. Not having anything truly riding on it. Not feeling like I let myself down if x or y doesn't happen. My first half marathon was such a rush - I couldn't believe I'd done it, that I'd done it in under 1:45, and so on. My first marathon could be the same way. Just to have done it, to be able to say, "Yes - I ran a marathon". Something I've been thinking about since my first half marathon, and something I have every reason to believe is within my reach.
DH said if I did the marathon, he'd do the half. And so, after running it past a few people on the Running Room forum, after talking it through with DH again, after really thinking about it - I took the plunge and registered tonight. Mostly because there's a cap on the number of racers, and six weeks away it was already over 75% full, according to the web site. I figure the worst that happens is I'm out the $90 it cost to register. Not the end of the world, and registering now buys some peace of mind. And some mental commitment, I think. Tomorrow's long run will have a different feel now that I'm running with a marathon in mind, six weeks out. It will also be a lot longer than originally planned when there was only the half marathon at the end of this month as an immediate training goal.
Yikes - what have I done? What am I thinking? It's a little overwhelming. At the same time, there is this excited feeling in the pit of my stomach and I'm anxious to just go for it.
Wonder what my running buddy is going to say when I tell him...! He has always been encouraging and I'm sure will be so now. Especially if I have a good run tomorrow.
And a good run tomorrow involves running s-l-o-w-l-y. No watching the clock to see if I'm doing 5:00/km. That's not realistic for the marathon - I will burn out too quickly - and it's not realistic for tomorrow. Someone on the RR forum had a tip for making sure you don't start too fast - no mouth breathing for the first bit - and I'm going to remember to try it. And a good run tomorrow also involves drinking more water and consuming some calories. I bought some "energy beans" and will start on them around the 12 km mark. If that doesn't work, tomorrow and the next few weeks are the time to learn what does work.
Oh - in the interests of no pressure I am not going to tell a lot of people that I'm doing the Ottawa marathon. My running buddy and his wife. Some other people at the gym. Our friend who also did ATB. DH's parents, since we're planning to stay there that weekend. But not my family. Not the people I work with. If it goes poorly, the people who know will understand. No one else has to know.
OMG - I can't quite believe what I've decided to do.
After last Sunday's run, I followed my usual schedule and cross-trained on Monday, then ran again on Tuesday. Originally the plan was to combine track and treadmill, but instead I decided to do a tempo run. I was kind of tired, we had dinner late on Monday so my stomach wasn't at its best, and that just seemed like a better idea. Total time was 59:33, total distance was 12.1 km - darn good for a not-feeling-great day when it all felt like hard work.
Wednesday night was my second ART session, and again the benefits were obvious immediately. It didn't hurt nearly as much, but what little "awareness" there was in my hip went away, and the surrounding muscles were much less disturbed. A little stiff, but not painful. Per the therapist's instructions, I did ice it and put heat on it before bed, and also took an anti-inflammatory. Then I ran 10 km on Thursday at an "easy" pace, and on Friday ran 5.1 km easy and then did 5.3 km on the treadmill (hills). A good workout.
Of course, I am tired, tired, tired of running inside. Each night before we're due to run, DH and I review the forecast, it's always yucky, and we always agree that we'll assess things in the morning. Thursday I actually wasn't too sorry to be inside, just in case my hip had any problems. Friday, we planned to go outside "no matter what". Well, the "what" referred to temperature and wind conditions. When it turned out to be snowing, that pretty much decided things.
Today would have been a good day to be outside, but no way I was doing my weekend long run after two consecutive days. Maybe it would be okay, but being cautious has worked for me so far and I'm not eager to gamble at this point. Tomorrow, the scheduled long run day, the forecast is for rain mixed with snow. Enough, already! It is half way through April. The bulbs are coming up. The lilacs are budding. There is new grass in our yard. It is time for warmer temperatures, and no snow!!!
So - changing topics - my marathon plans are about to take a dramatic change in direction, because I'm planning to move them up about 5 months. What? Explanation:
I have been running for a long time, and at this point have a very solid base. Yes, I don't do enough hill training and hate bad weather. But week after week, I put in the miles. Three weeks ago I did the 30 km Around the Bay, faster than expected, and recovered quickly. There are marathon training programs that have 30 km as the longest run. And that made me start thinking about the National Capital Marathon, which is at the end of May. Six weeks or so from now. Time to do at least one more 30 km or 30+ km run, and possibly two of them.
The key for doing the marathon would be to take the energy involved in doing the ATB at a 5:00/km pace and put it into doing more km at a slower pace. Well, that would be one of the keys. The other would be getting more practice drinking and getting calories while running. In retrospect, having talked to others, my ATB finish would have been stronger if I'd given my legs some energy instead of relying on just a couple of water stops.
In short, I think that I'm strong enough to do it. But why do it now? Why not wait until September? Well, that's part of the "grand plan", which is: I want to do Boston. And that's not an unrealistic goal. As unreal as that may sound.
My Boston qualifying time is 4:00 hours, which is an average pace of about 5:40/km. That's significantly slower than my normal running pace, and presumably I'd run at least part of the race at something closer to 5:00/km. Precluding a total breakdown, 4:00 hours is in sight. Sub 4:00 hours is in sight. Boston in 2008 isn't the moon.
But I don't want to kid myself that it's easy, either. The marathon is a big distance, even after doing 30 km. If I'm counting on doing sub 4:00 in September to qualify for Boston, and I have a bad day or it's a bigger distance than expected, that's it. I've bet the farm and lost, so to speak. So there is a real temptation to do the marathon in Ottawa, to get the experience, but with no expectations. Yes, it would be wonderful to do it in 4:00. But I don't have to. This can be a learning experience and preparation for the marathon that "counts".
Which is not to say that it can't be its very own marathon experience. By default, it would be, since I've never done one. But I love the idea of doing a marathon "just because", and being relaxed about the outcome. Not having anything truly riding on it. Not feeling like I let myself down if x or y doesn't happen. My first half marathon was such a rush - I couldn't believe I'd done it, that I'd done it in under 1:45, and so on. My first marathon could be the same way. Just to have done it, to be able to say, "Yes - I ran a marathon". Something I've been thinking about since my first half marathon, and something I have every reason to believe is within my reach.
DH said if I did the marathon, he'd do the half. And so, after running it past a few people on the Running Room forum, after talking it through with DH again, after really thinking about it - I took the plunge and registered tonight. Mostly because there's a cap on the number of racers, and six weeks away it was already over 75% full, according to the web site. I figure the worst that happens is I'm out the $90 it cost to register. Not the end of the world, and registering now buys some peace of mind. And some mental commitment, I think. Tomorrow's long run will have a different feel now that I'm running with a marathon in mind, six weeks out. It will also be a lot longer than originally planned when there was only the half marathon at the end of this month as an immediate training goal.
Yikes - what have I done? What am I thinking? It's a little overwhelming. At the same time, there is this excited feeling in the pit of my stomach and I'm anxious to just go for it.
Wonder what my running buddy is going to say when I tell him...! He has always been encouraging and I'm sure will be so now. Especially if I have a good run tomorrow.
And a good run tomorrow involves running s-l-o-w-l-y. No watching the clock to see if I'm doing 5:00/km. That's not realistic for the marathon - I will burn out too quickly - and it's not realistic for tomorrow. Someone on the RR forum had a tip for making sure you don't start too fast - no mouth breathing for the first bit - and I'm going to remember to try it. And a good run tomorrow also involves drinking more water and consuming some calories. I bought some "energy beans" and will start on them around the 12 km mark. If that doesn't work, tomorrow and the next few weeks are the time to learn what does work.
Oh - in the interests of no pressure I am not going to tell a lot of people that I'm doing the Ottawa marathon. My running buddy and his wife. Some other people at the gym. Our friend who also did ATB. DH's parents, since we're planning to stay there that weekend. But not my family. Not the people I work with. If it goes poorly, the people who know will understand. No one else has to know.
OMG - I can't quite believe what I've decided to do.
posted by Jogger Barbie | 9:09 PM
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