Sunday, October 31, 2010

First International Run

I spent the day traveling from Utah to Ontario. I was at the airport PLENTY early, in the air for a few hours, had just enough time to changes planes in Minneapolis, and then had to drive from Toronto to Burlington on a freeway that I feel isn’t well marked, and in a car with no keys. I know that I’m old-fashioned; the Prius just freaks me out! There isn’t even a real gear shift!
I ate some yogurt and grapes before leaving home, had a glass of OJ and some pretzels on the first plane and some water and two cookies on the second plane. Once I finally found my hotel (drove past it a few times), I just wanted to get a run in. I wasn’t terribly hungry, yet.
Knowing that I blew it for a 100 mile month, I wanted to get 75 completed which meant that I would have to run 6 miles. It was dark when I arrived, and given the fact that I couldn’t find the hotel (which is tall and obvious) I figured that running on a possibly poorly lit path in an unfamiliar town next to a big lake wasn’t a very good idea. I resorted to the hotel treadmill.
I haven’t run on a treadmill for three years. It was WEIRD. I chose an interval workout and watched the start of World Series game 4. About 20 minutes into the run I started to get hungry. I had a bit of water and noticed that I was a bit light headed. At about 3.5 miles, I whacked the emergency stop button by mistake. I was really hungry and getting woozier. I think that it was wise to only run a few more minutes for a total of 4 miles. I just had visions of me falling off the ‘mill and hitting the wall behind me.
I ran across the street to get something to eat and I was feeling more and more loopy. I almost inhaled a bag of chips while the guy at The Pita Pit made my gyro. Back to the room to eat, shower, and wash my running clothes. I’m feeling much better now.
Stats: 4 miles in approx 44 minutes for 11mpm pace

Friday, October 29, 2010

I couldn't do it

I was by myself again today while Carol continues to rest her hip. We had a goal to run all the way up that nasty hill at 8th South before the end of October. I couldn't do it. The goal was to run non-stop from 9th to 13th East, and I couldn't do it. I had to walk for about 30 steps at 1120 East. My quads were on fire, and I probably could have crawled faster than I was running. I'm disappointed. I will do it before the end of this year - preferably before the snow falls making that hill one giant ice patch.
Stats: 7.2 miles in 1:16:59 for a 10:42mpm pace

Thursday, October 28, 2010

love running in the cold

Carol has a twinge, so I ran by myself today. I did the Sugarhouse(x1) route, and it was a good/quiet run. It was very dark, and I forgot my pepper spray again. I've got to remember to take that; it does no good sitting in my bag at my desk. I am already loving the cold weather. I really like running when it is below 40*. I shed my fleece at mile two.
Stats: 5.5 miles in 57:20 for a 10:26mpm pace

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Brrrr.......

Carol and I ran a nice leisurely loop around SoSaLa chatting the entire time. It's good to talk through work questions and challenges during these runs. We joked about how questionable our time would be, but had a bunch of excuses for the slow pace: haven't run for 4 days and easing back into it, nursing a sore hip/toe/achilles, and getting our lungs used to the cold (37*). Imagine our surprise when we found our pace to be sub-11!
Stats: 5.25 miles in 56:43 for a 10:49mpm pace

Thursday, October 21, 2010

cramming miles and homework - again

Carol and I ran the old Liberty loop today. With it being so much darker in the mornings, we are going to avoid sidewalks unless well lit. So, it's back to the roads and wood chip path. I would describe today's druation on the wood chip as "sloggy;" it just didn't feel great or fast. I think it will take a while to get used to that again. Carol had an early meeting, so she peeled off when we returned to the building while I ran another 1.4 miles of incredibly UNscenic SoSaLa (State to 17th to Main to 21st to State). Boring, but I really need to cram in every possible mile if I'm going to hit 100 for the month. I'm about 49 away from that goal and only ten days left in the month. If I run five miles EVERY DAY, I will barely make it. What the hell have I been doing all month? It hasn't been running, and it hasn't been homework.....
Stats: 5.9 miles in 1:02:13 for a 10:33mpm pace

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

IM conversation right after our run

Carol [7:24 AM]:
What did you get for time?
Kaye [7:25 AM]:
are you thinking what I'm thinking?
Carol [7:25 AM]:
we rock?
Kaye [7:25 AM]:
like - we have no idea how fast we really are?
or we rock?
or we kick some serious ass!
Carol [7:26 AM]:
that's us!
Kaye [7:26 AM]:
what the heck! I didn't think 10:26 pace AT ALL!
I'm shocked
Carol [7:26 AM]:
I am too.
Kaye [7:26 AM]:
I put in 5.64 miles at 58:48 (compromise between our two times) for a 10;26 pace
holy cow
Carol [7:26 AM]:
this is awesome!

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

I never thought....

I never thought I would do a tempo run through Sugarhouse Park, but guess what?!?!?!
OK, first I should probably say that I consider a "tempo" run anything under a 10mpm pace. I'm sure that this will change in the future - at least I really hope that it will because it means that I will be getting faster! My location splits this morning were 10:30 (work --> 7th East), 10:00 (7th East --> 13th East), 16:45 (13th East --> lap around park --> 13th East), 8:15 (13th East --> 7th East) and 9:00 (7th East --> work). It was a hard run. I had to keep reminding myself to push, and I really had to work to maintain a consistent pace. But, it paid off! Carol and I are going to focus on speed this winter. I wonder if I can shave 15 seconds off of my average pace before the end of the year?
Stats: 5.5 miles in 54:27 for a 9:54mpm pace

Friday, October 15, 2010

disorienting

We ran the Liberty loop in reverse today. There was nothing remarkable about it. It was a bit disorienting to see the familiar landmarks from the other direction. Or maybe it's because I'm still recovering from a Meniere's episode, and those always make me feel disoriented. I'm about over it, though - thank goodness! I hate that feeling of trying to catch up to your own head. Seriously, the episodes themselves are horrible, but the recovery is very strange. It's like walking one or two paces behind yourself; your brain and you body don't seem to be in the same place, and perception (like depth perception) is way off.
Stats: 5.05 miles in 54:39 for a 10:50mpm pace

Thursday, October 14, 2010

I fail if I don't try

I had an interesting run today. I was by myself, and nothing remarkable happened, but I did do a lot of thinking. I finished the first mile in sub-11 time. Then, I ran up to Sugarhouse and didn't bother to look at my watch until I got to the south hill of the park. I decided to time myself hoping to beat the 50-second time that i clocked on my last run through the park. However, I don't remember where I started clocking last time. That is my excuse for this ascent being 5 seconds slower. I reached the half way point of the run in 29:31 and knew that if I worked hard, I could finish the route in less than an hour. This is where my thinking began. I don't know why, but something popped into my head, and I couldn't get it out. A couple of weeks ago, we had a training here at work, and the take-away from it was "what would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" My answer was "everything!" I would be an astronaut, be the president, play the guitar, be a ballerina, own a horse ranch, volunteer on a regular basis, and read all of the classics. I would also lose weight. Then, it hit me. I'm not really trying. (Duh, obvious! This was NOT the revelation, by the way.) The thing that stuck in my head for the next 2 1/2 miles was this: I fail if I don't try. This mantra coincidentally fits perfectly every eight steps - that's probably why it kept circling around in my brain. From 13th to 9th, I was blessed with green lights and perfect traffic, and I tried to run it pretty fast. Even 9th to 7th felt relatively fast. I hit a light at 7th and had time to reassess my goal. My watch read 46-something. By the time I crossed the street, it was 47 on the dot. I thought that I would see if I could get a 10-minute mile. I didn't look at my watch again until State Street. When I did, I about fell down. AN 8 MINUTE MILE. My watch said 55. 5-friggin-5!!!!!!!!!! Holy shit. Maybe I should really try more often!
Stats: 5.5 miles in 56:15 for a 10:14mpm pace

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

I've been lazy...

This was my first run after a four day break. No good reason for the break - just general laziness (which is NEVER good). I've also been on a feeding frenzy (also never good for me). Carol and I ran a modified Liberty loop. the first mile seemed to be a good pace, but was exceedingly slow. We spent the next four miles trying to make up for it. We managed to finish in good time, but we really pushed it for the last half of the run.
Stats: 5.15 miles in 54:56 for a 10:40mpm pace

Thursday, October 7, 2010

consistency is the key

Carol and I had a nice run this morning. It was just a big loop, but we maintained a very consistent pace.
Stats: 6.08 miles in 1:04:36 for 10:38mpm.

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

After a looooonnnngggg night...

I was up at 5am yesterday. I worked a bit from home. Then, Peanut woke up, Mommy Bub, and the Meatball. We played, we "ran" (see yesterday's pathetic post), we baked cookies, and then I went to work. I worked from 5pm until 2:30am. I was up for 21.5 hours. It was (not) thrilling. Carol and I crashed on somebody's office floor and got up again at 5am, changed our clothes, and headed out for a decent run. We ran the Liberty route with a very important potty stop in the middle. It felt good after yesterday's suck-fest. It has given me the adrenaline to work until about 9am when I'm sure that I'll need a little nap. I'm FOR SURE taking a nap during lunch, and possibly on the ride home. All I really care about is the fact that today's run was nice, and I felt strong.
Stats: 5.02 miles in 55.14 for a 11:01mpm pace (in the rain, humidity, and weird fog...)

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Wouldn't even call it a run if I hadn't been pushing the boys!

There is nothing I love more than pushing 100-ish pounds of little boys/jog stroller up a mile long incline into the wind. We ended the run early because it was crappy weather, and when we stopped to play in the middle of the run, both boys got really, really wet. (It had rained last night, and they went right through a big puddle at the bottom of a slide. Oops! Mommy needs to move her butt much faster!)
Stats: 2.59 miles (shortest distance I've run in years) in 29:45 for a 11:30mpm pace (fastest pace I've ever run while pushing the boys!)

Monday, October 4, 2010

I really need new shoes

I ran by myself again this morning after three days off. Yes, I was supposed to run over the weekend, but since I have realized that short of an unexpected bonus or death of a really rich relative (of which, I have none) I will not be running another marathon this calendar year, I got all bummed out and just decided to feel sorry for myself instead. So, for the first two miles this morning, my legs were like lead and every footstrike reminded me how badly I need a new pair of shoes. (Current pair has 586 miles on them. A far cry from the 300 recommended by shoe stores....) After that, the run was pretty good even though it was essentially a boring tour of SSL.
Stats: 4.64 miles in 48:29 for a 10:27mpm pace