I ran a measly 7.52 miles last week. I blame the holiday and all the traveling, even though I did manage to throw a race in there one day.
The miles felt pretty good though, and maybe I shouldn't be too hard on myself. Right now I should be focused on base building, and not racking up the miles. Last thing I want right now is to have an overuse injury.
But speaking of injuries, I went to an orthopedist yesterday to get an old nagging shoulder injury checked out. In October of 2007 I was doing a max-out weightlifting regimen, where I maxed out so much on an overhead press that something in my shoulder popped. I haven't been able to really lift since then, and the shoulder has hurt ever since. But, since I finally hit my insurance deductible last month, I finally went to get it checked out. I'm going for an MR arthrogram tomorrow morning, and that will determine whether I need surgery or not. The doc thinks I may have wrecked the cartilage (aka the labrum) that lines the ball and socket of the shoulder. So lucky me. If it should turn out that I do need the surgery, I need to get it done before the end of the year so that my insurance will cover it.
So that's that. 7.52 miles last week. 7.8 the week before.7.8 the week before that. Monthly total for November: 23.12
That's actually not that bad, considering I only did 14.68 in October.
I'm setting a goal of 40 miles for December. I'll adjust that depending on whether I have this surgery or not. But for now, thats the goal.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Manchester Road Race
Yesterday I ran the Manchester Road Race - a 5 mile race that is listed as one of the 25 largest road races in the country. With 12,020 racers (yes, thats 20 more than TWELVE THOUSAND PEOPLE), it is a bigger race than the majority of marathons in this country.
I ended up feeling amazing, and I was really, really happy with my performance. This was the first race ever, in my entire life, that I ran negative splits. I even had enough left in the tank to really open up once I hit the last turn. There was a point around mile 4 that I thought I was going to puke, but luckily that went away.
As for the race itself, it was both the best and worst race I've ever run. First, the negatives:
1. There were no water stations. I wish I had known this beforehand, because I would have worn by fuel belt.
2. I got there way too late. Next year I want to be lined up no later than 9:15 so that I'm not going to be at the very, very back of the pack.
3. THE HILL. I swear, that was a long, gradual, painful uphill that lasted from .75 miles to 2.25 miles. Then there was a massive downhill (elevation loss of 250 feet) in a little more than .25 miles.
The positives:
1. Without a doubt, it was the best race atmosphere I've ever experienced. There were people lined alongside the road for the entire race. There were impromptu family bands alongside the entire course. There were 2 or 3 pipe and drum corps, several independent bagpipers, country bands, rock bands, people running in costume (I ran next to Spongebob for the last two miles). Really freakin' cool.
2. It's a great family race. I saw a bunch of running parents with their little kids. It's also a stroller-friendly race.
3. It is open to runners and walkers of all abilities. The winner ran the course in 21 minutes and change. The last runner crossed the line an hour and 41 minutes after the gun went off.
4. It is definitely a race that the entire town looks forward to every year. You can tell in the preparation, and with how many people show up. I've never seen tailgating at a road race before - I saw it for the first time here. A group of my friends had two beer coolers along the race for 'hydration'.
It's a race I will definitely do again next year, taking into consideration all the things I learned this year (arrive earlier, bring water, etc). It is definitely not a race you can run for time, unless you're a seeded runner at the very front of the pack. But if you're looking for a race to run for fun, for a great pre-Thanksgiving binge calorie burn, to have a great time with 12,000 other runners, this is the race to run.
Wednesday night I spent at my friends place in Connectict, where I drank eleven beers and didn't go to sleep until about 2:30. Thursday morning I woke up hungover and with aching joints. It was cold and rainy and dreary, and I had left all my arthritis meds back in Brooklyn. I really thought that I was going to pull out after two miles and just call it a day. We left my friends house around 9:15, and the race started at 10AM. Note for future: Leave a lot earlier.
We spent thirty minutes trying to find parking, and I had to practically spring the half mile from my car to the parking lot. I didn't have pins for my race number, and I had gotten separated from my friend while parking, so I was basically up shits creek without a paddle. Luckily I ran into another friend, and she gave me two of her pins.
I lined up at the very back of the starting pack, and it took me 8 minutes to cross the start line. My first mile was wicked slow, because I was at the very back and was weaving in and out of walkers and families and the 13/mm runners. I had wanted to finish this race in under 55 minutes, and I was kind of dejected after I realized that probably wasn't going to happen.
The second mile was all. up. hill. It was painful. The third mile, all the elevation loss was in about a quarter mile. The rest of the race had a net elevation loss, so life was good.
As you can see, once I got out of the crush of humanity after mile 2, I was running negative splits for the rest of the race which actually made me pretty happy. I had taken a GU about ten minutes before the race, and between that and my slow first mile, the arthritic joint creaks had pretty much subsided. After mile 2.5 I was feeling really, really good.
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I ended up feeling amazing, and I was really, really happy with my performance. This was the first race ever, in my entire life, that I ran negative splits. I even had enough left in the tank to really open up once I hit the last turn. There was a point around mile 4 that I thought I was going to puke, but luckily that went away.
As for the race itself, it was both the best and worst race I've ever run. First, the negatives:
1. There were no water stations. I wish I had known this beforehand, because I would have worn by fuel belt.
2. I got there way too late. Next year I want to be lined up no later than 9:15 so that I'm not going to be at the very, very back of the pack.
3. THE HILL. I swear, that was a long, gradual, painful uphill that lasted from .75 miles to 2.25 miles. Then there was a massive downhill (elevation loss of 250 feet) in a little more than .25 miles.
The positives:
1. Without a doubt, it was the best race atmosphere I've ever experienced. There were people lined alongside the road for the entire race. There were impromptu family bands alongside the entire course. There were 2 or 3 pipe and drum corps, several independent bagpipers, country bands, rock bands, people running in costume (I ran next to Spongebob for the last two miles). Really freakin' cool.
2. It's a great family race. I saw a bunch of running parents with their little kids. It's also a stroller-friendly race.
3. It is open to runners and walkers of all abilities. The winner ran the course in 21 minutes and change. The last runner crossed the line an hour and 41 minutes after the gun went off.
4. It is definitely a race that the entire town looks forward to every year. You can tell in the preparation, and with how many people show up. I've never seen tailgating at a road race before - I saw it for the first time here. A group of my friends had two beer coolers along the race for 'hydration'.
It's a race I will definitely do again next year, taking into consideration all the things I learned this year (arrive earlier, bring water, etc). It is definitely not a race you can run for time, unless you're a seeded runner at the very front of the pack. But if you're looking for a race to run for fun, for a great pre-Thanksgiving binge calorie burn, to have a great time with 12,000 other runners, this is the race to run.
Friday, November 20, 2009
It's Friday, and I've been on a pretty decent track so far this week.
Monday: 2.84 miles, 10:13 pace
Tuesday: 3.26 miles, 10:21 pace (this also gave me my second fast 5K time ever, at 31:10).
Thursday: 1.69 miles, 10:46 pace (hills around my park. Shorter but far more intense run).
Which brings my weekly total so far to 7.8.
I'm aiming for 5 tomorrow, then another 3 on Sunday, bringing my weekly total to 15.8. Not bad for a weeks effort, if you ask me.
My garmin comes tomorrow, so it should be interesting to see if my Nike+ pace holds up. If it does, I'll be pretty darn happy. If it doesn't...Well, I'm not the speed demon I thought I was. But regardless of what happens, I'm running again and that's what matters.
Monday: 2.84 miles, 10:13 pace
Tuesday: 3.26 miles, 10:21 pace (this also gave me my second fast 5K time ever, at 31:10).
Thursday: 1.69 miles, 10:46 pace (hills around my park. Shorter but far more intense run).
Which brings my weekly total so far to 7.8.
I'm aiming for 5 tomorrow, then another 3 on Sunday, bringing my weekly total to 15.8. Not bad for a weeks effort, if you ask me.
My garmin comes tomorrow, so it should be interesting to see if my Nike+ pace holds up. If it does, I'll be pretty darn happy. If it doesn't...Well, I'm not the speed demon I thought I was. But regardless of what happens, I'm running again and that's what matters.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
I am sick of feeling like I'm 80 years old.
I am disgusted with how my body has deteriorated since I graduated from college.
I am tired of being in pain all of the time.
There's not much I can do about the first and last of those points. But the second one I actually have some control over. And I hope that by doing something about the second, the pain and inflammation of the other two will decrease.
Since I last posted back in March, I've been dealing with some pretty severe arthritis. And I'm 24 years old. It's completely derailed my training, knocked my racing season on it's back, and pretty much turned me into a couch potato. It's the worst in my fingers and toes, but I also have touches of it in my knees, hips and back. There are some mornings that it's unbelievably painful to get out of bed. There are some mornings where I can barely walk. I can't wear dress shoes to work anymore because my toes swell so much. And if I can barely walk, you can be damn sure there is no running going on. On top of all that, I've had runners knee for the past two years. Ironically, that always feels better if I DO run. But, obviously, working out has been all but impossible as of late.
But something needs to change. I am absolutely disgusted with myself. And when I think back to two years ago, when I was just beginning to contemplate running a marathon, and field hockey season was just finishing and I was running a sub-8 mile, and I actually had muscles and not just amorphous blobs of whatever...
Thats changing, and it's changing right now.
Next week I'm running a Thanksgiving Day race, a five-miler. December 8 starts my half-marathon training. February 28 is my next half marathon. If that goes well, I may consider doing a full at the end of spring. I may have convinced my mom to do her first half-marathon, on March 10, which I would pace her for. If I can maintain my half-marathon fitness, I want to aim for a half-Ironman next September or October. I want to get in at least three sprint tris and two Olympic distance ones. I want to get back on my bike.
It's going to hurt. And my joints are going to hate me. But I can't live like this, letting the pain dictate my life.
I'm stronger than that.
I am disgusted with how my body has deteriorated since I graduated from college.
I am tired of being in pain all of the time.
There's not much I can do about the first and last of those points. But the second one I actually have some control over. And I hope that by doing something about the second, the pain and inflammation of the other two will decrease.
Since I last posted back in March, I've been dealing with some pretty severe arthritis. And I'm 24 years old. It's completely derailed my training, knocked my racing season on it's back, and pretty much turned me into a couch potato. It's the worst in my fingers and toes, but I also have touches of it in my knees, hips and back. There are some mornings that it's unbelievably painful to get out of bed. There are some mornings where I can barely walk. I can't wear dress shoes to work anymore because my toes swell so much. And if I can barely walk, you can be damn sure there is no running going on. On top of all that, I've had runners knee for the past two years. Ironically, that always feels better if I DO run. But, obviously, working out has been all but impossible as of late.
But something needs to change. I am absolutely disgusted with myself. And when I think back to two years ago, when I was just beginning to contemplate running a marathon, and field hockey season was just finishing and I was running a sub-8 mile, and I actually had muscles and not just amorphous blobs of whatever...
Thats changing, and it's changing right now.
Next week I'm running a Thanksgiving Day race, a five-miler. December 8 starts my half-marathon training. February 28 is my next half marathon. If that goes well, I may consider doing a full at the end of spring. I may have convinced my mom to do her first half-marathon, on March 10, which I would pace her for. If I can maintain my half-marathon fitness, I want to aim for a half-Ironman next September or October. I want to get in at least three sprint tris and two Olympic distance ones. I want to get back on my bike.
It's going to hurt. And my joints are going to hate me. But I can't live like this, letting the pain dictate my life.
I'm stronger than that.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Does anyone else smell Spring in the air?
It brings me back to last summer, when I was first learning how to cycle competitively and bought my first bike and fell in love, twice, for the first time (one with cycling, one with a woman). Both of those loves lasted, but only one is reciprocated today.
I can't wait for the days of warm sunshine and short sleeved jerseys and the awesome tan lines from the spectacular spandex shorts and jersey...Of getting on the bike and just going and going and going with no regard for weather or sunlight (lack thereof, actually), with the wind blowing in your face and the sweat flying off your body, and your quads straining to get up the hill, only to crest it and plummet 30 miles an hour down the other side...For getting up at dark o'clock to get to a race two hours away and set up the transition area in the dark, waiting to get your numbers Sharpie'd onto your arm and leg...
Race season is starting soon, and I can't adequately express how excited I am. Excited doesn't seem like the appropriate word though. I am...Hopeful! I am...Happy! I am...Fired up! I am...Charged! I am...filled with the possibility of new beginnings, anxiously awaiting the progress I want to see throughout the season, proud, nervous, a mite skitterish. But most of all...I am excitedly ecstatic.
And I still don't think thats a true representation of how I'm feeling. But perhaps this just can't be put into words. Suffice it to say...
Welcome home, Spring. Let's do this!
It brings me back to last summer, when I was first learning how to cycle competitively and bought my first bike and fell in love, twice, for the first time (one with cycling, one with a woman). Both of those loves lasted, but only one is reciprocated today.
I can't wait for the days of warm sunshine and short sleeved jerseys and the awesome tan lines from the spectacular spandex shorts and jersey...Of getting on the bike and just going and going and going with no regard for weather or sunlight (lack thereof, actually), with the wind blowing in your face and the sweat flying off your body, and your quads straining to get up the hill, only to crest it and plummet 30 miles an hour down the other side...For getting up at dark o'clock to get to a race two hours away and set up the transition area in the dark, waiting to get your numbers Sharpie'd onto your arm and leg...
Race season is starting soon, and I can't adequately express how excited I am. Excited doesn't seem like the appropriate word though. I am...Hopeful! I am...Happy! I am...Fired up! I am...Charged! I am...filled with the possibility of new beginnings, anxiously awaiting the progress I want to see throughout the season, proud, nervous, a mite skitterish. But most of all...I am excitedly ecstatic.
And I still don't think thats a true representation of how I'm feeling. But perhaps this just can't be put into words. Suffice it to say...
Welcome home, Spring. Let's do this!
Monday, March 9, 2009
Epic Training Fail
Ok. So. Here's the news.
I am postponing my race to sometime in August/early September.
Why, you ask? Numerous reasons, the first, foremost, and importantest being that I misunderestimated how difficult it would be to train in the middle of winter.
Well, no, I didn't misunderestimate. I started training for a marathon in early February two years ago. But what I didn't realize is that, while it's possible to run in the snow and ice, biking in said conditions is very difficult. Ergo, my cycling has been woefully lacking. Further, you know whats really hard to do in the winter? Open water swims. I need to be able to practice sighting, and swimming in large groups, and getting punched and kicked and various other forms of beating up that occurs in the swim portion. Which I wouldn't have much time to do if I can't get into the water until mid-May (and even THEN the water is frickin' freezing), and my race in mid-June. Plus, I don't have a wetsuit.
So. Fail on my part.
In addition. I went to the specialty bike shop that I get all my equipment from/repairs done at yesterday. I wanted to get a shorter stem for my bike, because I felt far too stretched out and wasn't comfortable AT ALL when I was riding my drops. Lo and behold, the reason I'm uncomfortable is because MY BIKE DOESN'T FIT ME PROPERLY. Thank you, Trek of Brooklyn, for fitting for a bike that is too large for me, and therefore convincing me to spend almost $2,000 on a bike that I now have to sell because IT DOESN'T FIT ME PROPERLY. So, another reason I'm postponing my race - I need to replace my bike with one that fits me properly, lest I spend too many hours and miles training and end up injuring myself (too extended on a bike can lead to knee, hip, back, and/or sciatica problems).
Luckily, I've only put about 60 miles on it (which is evidenced by the computer that I have, complete with odometer), and it's still in brand-spanking new condition. I can probably get about $1,700 for it on craigslist or E-Bay. And then buy the Cervelo that I tried out yesterday at the specialty bike shop that was actually in my size. It felt pretty damn good.
Anyone interested in a bike?
So that's that. I'm kind of disappointed, but I'm sure it's for the best. It'll give me some more time to get open water swims and long rides in with my tri club, and more options for practice races.
I am postponing my race to sometime in August/early September.
Why, you ask? Numerous reasons, the first, foremost, and importantest being that I misunderestimated how difficult it would be to train in the middle of winter.
Well, no, I didn't misunderestimate. I started training for a marathon in early February two years ago. But what I didn't realize is that, while it's possible to run in the snow and ice, biking in said conditions is very difficult. Ergo, my cycling has been woefully lacking. Further, you know whats really hard to do in the winter? Open water swims. I need to be able to practice sighting, and swimming in large groups, and getting punched and kicked and various other forms of beating up that occurs in the swim portion. Which I wouldn't have much time to do if I can't get into the water until mid-May (and even THEN the water is frickin' freezing), and my race in mid-June. Plus, I don't have a wetsuit.
So. Fail on my part.
In addition. I went to the specialty bike shop that I get all my equipment from/repairs done at yesterday. I wanted to get a shorter stem for my bike, because I felt far too stretched out and wasn't comfortable AT ALL when I was riding my drops. Lo and behold, the reason I'm uncomfortable is because MY BIKE DOESN'T FIT ME PROPERLY. Thank you, Trek of Brooklyn, for fitting for a bike that is too large for me, and therefore convincing me to spend almost $2,000 on a bike that I now have to sell because IT DOESN'T FIT ME PROPERLY. So, another reason I'm postponing my race - I need to replace my bike with one that fits me properly, lest I spend too many hours and miles training and end up injuring myself (too extended on a bike can lead to knee, hip, back, and/or sciatica problems).
Luckily, I've only put about 60 miles on it (which is evidenced by the computer that I have, complete with odometer), and it's still in brand-spanking new condition. I can probably get about $1,700 for it on craigslist or E-Bay. And then buy the Cervelo that I tried out yesterday at the specialty bike shop that was actually in my size. It felt pretty damn good.
Anyone interested in a bike?
So that's that. I'm kind of disappointed, but I'm sure it's for the best. It'll give me some more time to get open water swims and long rides in with my tri club, and more options for practice races.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Sometimes I like to disappear.
But then I come back. Usually.
Anyway. I'm feeling better. I'm back on schedule. I went to my girlie doctor, and she said that my bloaty/crampiness wasn't because of anything girlie-part related, so she thinks it's more of a GI issue than anything. She told me to go for an abdominal ultrasound, but I put that off. The ultrasound she gave me was traumatic enough, thank you very much. And apparently I don't have a left ovary. But thats ok - I believe this is going to make me more aerodynamic on my bike, much like Lance Armstrong and his singular testicle.
But things have calmed down, and I'm attributing the ickiness to a change in diet - now that my body has had a few weeks to acclimate to a natural/organic diet, I'm feeling a lot better.
My training has been going very well. I had my first group run with my tri group on Tuesday, and while I was most definitely the slowest person there, I actually ran one of my fastest times ever. So much for a 40 minute run at RPE 3. Turned into a 35 minute run at RPE holy-crap-i'm-gonna-die.
I'm definitely feeling stronger in the pool, too, which is awesome. And I like how my shoulders and upper back are really firming up and getting stronger and more toned. It's exciting :-)
This weekend I'm snowboarding in Vermont, which I'm really looking forward to.
Anyway. I'm feeling better. I'm back on schedule. I went to my girlie doctor, and she said that my bloaty/crampiness wasn't because of anything girlie-part related, so she thinks it's more of a GI issue than anything. She told me to go for an abdominal ultrasound, but I put that off. The ultrasound she gave me was traumatic enough, thank you very much. And apparently I don't have a left ovary. But thats ok - I believe this is going to make me more aerodynamic on my bike, much like Lance Armstrong and his singular testicle.
But things have calmed down, and I'm attributing the ickiness to a change in diet - now that my body has had a few weeks to acclimate to a natural/organic diet, I'm feeling a lot better.
My training has been going very well. I had my first group run with my tri group on Tuesday, and while I was most definitely the slowest person there, I actually ran one of my fastest times ever. So much for a 40 minute run at RPE 3. Turned into a 35 minute run at RPE holy-crap-i'm-gonna-die.
I'm definitely feeling stronger in the pool, too, which is awesome. And I like how my shoulders and upper back are really firming up and getting stronger and more toned. It's exciting :-)
This weekend I'm snowboarding in Vermont, which I'm really looking forward to.
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