OK, maybe not epic. But still, pretty awful. This is one of those races where I should have stayed home, and in fact knew I should have stayed home, but ran anyway. This is the downside to running for a team. You feel compelled to try and score points even if you're not feeling great. Even though I did finish the race, I probably would have been less depressed after if I had simply stepped out during the race. My mile splits are a pretty accurate reflection of my mental state during the race.
Mile 1: Feels a little fast. I knew I would do this, even though I just wanted to cruise it without worrying about time, here I am trying to race. This is ridiculous, I've been running 30-40 mpw for the past month, I'm not ready to race a 10k....5:13
Mile 2: OK, trying to run 5:20s now, just hold this, should be good. Feel like quitting already, but just hang in there through 4 miles and you can hold it to the end...5:34, fuck.
Mile 3: Feeling really bad now, should probably just quit. I had a good season up till now, no point in getting a bad time. Still...have to score for the team...OK just try to go sub 34, hold 5:27 to the end...5:34, fuck.
Mile 4: Found a group of guys to maybe hang with, I'm definitely not working the hardest here, maybe that's good....OK, no wait, they're pulling away. Funny. I know I can hang with them but I just don't care. I'm going to hate myself after this...5:41
Mile 5: This race is over, I should have dropped out before I started, but now it's too late. I don't know how to walk back to the finish from here, might as well follow everyone else...5:45
Mile 6: Finally almost done. I can't wait to get back to Berkeley and take a nap. I'm so done here...5:38
The end, 34:31.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Monday, May 18, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
Impatient
Normally, I tend to have two very distinct running modes: training and clowning. I'm either checking letsrun and flotrack 4 times a day or not paying attention to anything running related at all. If I haven't run the last 30 days in a row, I probably won't run more than 4 times a week. Cycles are good. However, things didn't quite work out this season.
These past few weeks have been an ass-blend of running, hobbling, aquajogging (without the belt of course), and quitting. I've had to take a few days off for back problems, shin pains, groin/hip issues, etc. This had all been occurring when I was definitely in good shape and finally getting ready to confront the issue of actually manning up and racing. Just trying to decide whether I could run/should run/survive the run every day simply became to stressful to deal with and decided to end things just 3 weeks before this 10k that I've been so excited about. I wouldn't really even call things an ending after taking a day off, then reaching the culmination of almost 4 months of solid training with a 3 mile jog.
Ok, that's the bitching and pity-grubbing part of the post. For me this has kind of been a good experience. It's important to know exactly what your body can handle. In high school and college I could just take a few weeks off, then do a 12 mile run, take a week off, do 800s on the track, take a week off, then race, and never get hurt. But now I know exactly where in my training I need to be smart and not let pride take over. Even though I didn't race and didn't do anything terribly impressive this cycle, it's been the most enjoyable since running with the club in Berkeley. Having a couple people to run/do workouts with had me excited for running, rather than dreading my run until 2 in the morning and then trudging through 10 miles on the track because I have to.
This weekend I'm going home and my brother will talk trash to me until I break him on a run, so I'm looking forward to that being a positive start to my training again. While Nathan has his set goals and schedule for obtaining results via strict discipline (which I'm sure he will handle and it will pay off for him, as his running has been skyrocketing this past year), I think that I will take a different approach this summer. I need to find my control via moderation. Taking a day off once a month isn't going to kill me, but neither is going a little too hard the day before a workout because I'm feeling good and want to hammer. So, I'm looking forward to a great summer of fun, quality mileage; I've got to try to get back to those raw pleasures of running that Lindsay is searching for, Tye-style: shirtless, sunglasses, cruising with some friends, making fun of joggers, eating donuts on the run, and of course, exploring new trails (and by trails I mean traffic-filled roads).
These past few weeks have been an ass-blend of running, hobbling, aquajogging (without the belt of course), and quitting. I've had to take a few days off for back problems, shin pains, groin/hip issues, etc. This had all been occurring when I was definitely in good shape and finally getting ready to confront the issue of actually manning up and racing. Just trying to decide whether I could run/should run/survive the run every day simply became to stressful to deal with and decided to end things just 3 weeks before this 10k that I've been so excited about. I wouldn't really even call things an ending after taking a day off, then reaching the culmination of almost 4 months of solid training with a 3 mile jog.
Ok, that's the bitching and pity-grubbing part of the post. For me this has kind of been a good experience. It's important to know exactly what your body can handle. In high school and college I could just take a few weeks off, then do a 12 mile run, take a week off, do 800s on the track, take a week off, then race, and never get hurt. But now I know exactly where in my training I need to be smart and not let pride take over. Even though I didn't race and didn't do anything terribly impressive this cycle, it's been the most enjoyable since running with the club in Berkeley. Having a couple people to run/do workouts with had me excited for running, rather than dreading my run until 2 in the morning and then trudging through 10 miles on the track because I have to.
This weekend I'm going home and my brother will talk trash to me until I break him on a run, so I'm looking forward to that being a positive start to my training again. While Nathan has his set goals and schedule for obtaining results via strict discipline (which I'm sure he will handle and it will pay off for him, as his running has been skyrocketing this past year), I think that I will take a different approach this summer. I need to find my control via moderation. Taking a day off once a month isn't going to kill me, but neither is going a little too hard the day before a workout because I'm feeling good and want to hammer. So, I'm looking forward to a great summer of fun, quality mileage; I've got to try to get back to those raw pleasures of running that Lindsay is searching for, Tye-style: shirtless, sunglasses, cruising with some friends, making fun of joggers, eating donuts on the run, and of course, exploring new trails (and by trails I mean traffic-filled roads).
Monday, May 11, 2009
Changes
Lately I've been feeling that my life is lacking a lot of structure. I know some people like this kind of lifestyle, but whenever I find myself with unstructured time and no goals my productivity plummets. I wake up late, get to work late, leave early, run erratically, eat inconsistently, etc. This cycle quickly develops a remarkable inertia and breaking out of it can require drastic measures.
As a teenager I discovered a system of establishing goals for myself as a means to enact big lifestyle changes. In early high school I set a goal of hiking to the top of Aspen Highlands mountain and skiing down the bowl (the steepest in bounds terrain in North America) as motivation for riding my bike for an hour every morning and starting to lift weights. Two years later I used the goal of hiking Half Dome in Yosemite as a motivator. In college I decided I wanted to become a good swimmer and used this as a motivator to wake up at 5:45 am every weekday morning for a year so I could be the first one in the swimming pool. Four years ago I discovered running as a goal itself, two years ago I decided to learn how to climb to spite my fear of heights and bad shoulder, and this past year I discovered what it really meant to set racing goals and to train for them.
Now with the racing season essentially over I find myself listless. In order to establish some structure it's time for some long term goals and a relatively big lifestyle change. My goal right now is to go low to sub 15 in the 5k in a year. This will require some serious discipline. I will need to get my mileage up to 70-80 mpw, not drop out of grad school, maintain some sort of social life, and keep up some other hobbies like juggling and music. I decided to spend the evening planning out a reasonable schedule that will allow some flexibility for unforeseen events. I'm including a couple other resolutions that are in line with the new schedule and posting it out in the public so everybody can keep me honest.
1) Starting this week I will work on getting my schedule into the following form on weekdays:
Wake up at 6 am
Depending on the day of the week I will either do core work, a pool run, or play music(~30 minutes)
Eat a moderate breakfast, pack two medium sized snacks for the day
Get to work by 8-8:30 am
Eat lunch in the 12-1 pm range
Main run/workout at 5:30 pm
Home by 8-8:30 pm
Cook dinner
Stretch or Juggle
Shower
Bed by 10 pm
2) I am going to try and limit my eating out meals to lunch. The aforementioned snacks will be for before lunch (~10 am) and pre-run (~3 pm) to hold me over until lunch and dinner, respectively. This will require me to stay on top of my grocery shopping.
3) I will learn how to juggle five balls by the end of summer (>100 catches).
4) (related to 3) I will attend at least one meeting of the juggling club this summer and meet a cute girl.
There is nothing specific in these items to running a fast 5k. The changes are as much about cultivating the mental discipline required to run and train for the 5k as they are about actually training for it. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and any modifications I need to make to my schedule.
As a teenager I discovered a system of establishing goals for myself as a means to enact big lifestyle changes. In early high school I set a goal of hiking to the top of Aspen Highlands mountain and skiing down the bowl (the steepest in bounds terrain in North America) as motivation for riding my bike for an hour every morning and starting to lift weights. Two years later I used the goal of hiking Half Dome in Yosemite as a motivator. In college I decided I wanted to become a good swimmer and used this as a motivator to wake up at 5:45 am every weekday morning for a year so I could be the first one in the swimming pool. Four years ago I discovered running as a goal itself, two years ago I decided to learn how to climb to spite my fear of heights and bad shoulder, and this past year I discovered what it really meant to set racing goals and to train for them.
Now with the racing season essentially over I find myself listless. In order to establish some structure it's time for some long term goals and a relatively big lifestyle change. My goal right now is to go low to sub 15 in the 5k in a year. This will require some serious discipline. I will need to get my mileage up to 70-80 mpw, not drop out of grad school, maintain some sort of social life, and keep up some other hobbies like juggling and music. I decided to spend the evening planning out a reasonable schedule that will allow some flexibility for unforeseen events. I'm including a couple other resolutions that are in line with the new schedule and posting it out in the public so everybody can keep me honest.
1) Starting this week I will work on getting my schedule into the following form on weekdays:
Wake up at 6 am
Depending on the day of the week I will either do core work, a pool run, or play music(~30 minutes)
Eat a moderate breakfast, pack two medium sized snacks for the day
Get to work by 8-8:30 am
Eat lunch in the 12-1 pm range
Main run/workout at 5:30 pm
Home by 8-8:30 pm
Cook dinner
Stretch or Juggle
Shower
Bed by 10 pm
2) I am going to try and limit my eating out meals to lunch. The aforementioned snacks will be for before lunch (~10 am) and pre-run (~3 pm) to hold me over until lunch and dinner, respectively. This will require me to stay on top of my grocery shopping.
3) I will learn how to juggle five balls by the end of summer (>100 catches).
4) (related to 3) I will attend at least one meeting of the juggling club this summer and meet a cute girl.
There is nothing specific in these items to running a fast 5k. The changes are as much about cultivating the mental discipline required to run and train for the 5k as they are about actually training for it. I'll keep everyone posted on my progress and any modifications I need to make to my schedule.
Friday, May 8, 2009
The Good Old Days...
As Nathan just posted, this has been a pretty epic racing year for a lot of us. For me, I think it was a combination of Carl's coaching, getting on iron supplements, and not being a student anymore. But whatever it was, I definitely feel like my running really turned around. It was especially satisfying to see my old high school coach Liz at the finish line of my half-marathon PR at Kaiser (1:26:55). Back when she was coaching me, I was doing cross country 5Ks around 30:00.
But even when I was slow, I loved running. Growing up in Marin, with the rolling single-track trails of China Camp just minutes from my front door, I almost never had to run on the road. And in high school cross country, pretty much every day was another romp around the legendary and beautiful Mount Tam. In college I discovered Envirosports trail races and I even managed to snag a couple of the coveted rubber chickens.
But after Carl got our group into a more racing-oriented training plan, I started to get to know the pleasures of going fast. Bounding along a forested dirt trail is still as pleasant as ever, but it's a totally tame kind of joy compared to the nauseating glee of pounding out some 800s on the track or willing yourself to kick at the end of a disgustingly painful 5k. The past year has been all about speed.
But then last week I went on a run that had me nostalgic for the old days of classic running club. I took Allison and Christina up to Tilden to do a loop I hadn't done in probably three or four years. It turned out to be a jarring, muddy, steep, and fairly ridiculous run. I was feeling pretty gleeful but it was clear that Christina and Allison were not, due to my (unintentional) false advertising of the run as a nice single-track with rolling hills, because that's what I remembered. Guess I had different standards for what constituted "rolling" back then.
In any event, I felt really guilty, especially since Christina is coming off an injury and Allison was racing that weekend. So I told them to wait for me on the road while I ran the last 15 minutes to the car and retrieved them.
It's pretty fun to feel fast sometimes, but there's something really innocent and pure about those kind of hilly hidden muddy foresty exploratory runs, right? It's been a great season, but after injury got in the way of racing for the past couple of months, I'm looking forward to a few weeks this summer off the track and up in Tilden, finding new trails.
But even when I was slow, I loved running. Growing up in Marin, with the rolling single-track trails of China Camp just minutes from my front door, I almost never had to run on the road. And in high school cross country, pretty much every day was another romp around the legendary and beautiful Mount Tam. In college I discovered Envirosports trail races and I even managed to snag a couple of the coveted rubber chickens.
But after Carl got our group into a more racing-oriented training plan, I started to get to know the pleasures of going fast. Bounding along a forested dirt trail is still as pleasant as ever, but it's a totally tame kind of joy compared to the nauseating glee of pounding out some 800s on the track or willing yourself to kick at the end of a disgustingly painful 5k. The past year has been all about speed.
But then last week I went on a run that had me nostalgic for the old days of classic running club. I took Allison and Christina up to Tilden to do a loop I hadn't done in probably three or four years. It turned out to be a jarring, muddy, steep, and fairly ridiculous run. I was feeling pretty gleeful but it was clear that Christina and Allison were not, due to my (unintentional) false advertising of the run as a nice single-track with rolling hills, because that's what I remembered. Guess I had different standards for what constituted "rolling" back then.
In any event, I felt really guilty, especially since Christina is coming off an injury and Allison was racing that weekend. So I told them to wait for me on the road while I ran the last 15 minutes to the car and retrieved them.
It's pretty fun to feel fast sometimes, but there's something really innocent and pure about those kind of hilly hidden muddy foresty exploratory runs, right? It's been a great season, but after injury got in the way of racing for the past couple of months, I'm looking forward to a few weeks this summer off the track and up in Tilden, finding new trails.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Still Working
This racing season seems to finally be winding down so I decided to take some time and look back over what I did. This moment of reflection was prompted by a pretty terrible attempt at a workout on Tuesday. It's true I'm coming back off of a 3-4 week injury and also probably blew my load on a 66 minute, 11 mile run out at Lafayette two days before, but looking back it seems likely my body just needs a break from all this racing and working out. I never built up a high mileage base necessary to sustain a high intensity over the course of 3-4 months. Here's a recap:
Week of Jan. 25-2 mile time trial in 9:58 (remember when I had trouble breaking 5 minutes in the 1600, Tye?)
Week of Feb. 15-1500 in 4:17 followed by a 3200 in 9:49
Week of Feb. 22-1500 in 4:12.8
Week of Mar. 1- 5k in 15:42.6
Week of Mar. 15-12k in 41:04
Then I got injured, didn't run for 3 weeks, but worked out really hard in the pool for...
Week of April 26-hilly 5k in 16:50
Looking back I have to describe this season as really epic. I finally got a taste of what it's like to train hard and race some consistent PRs, and now have some pretty big goals for the upcoming years (sub 15 anybody?). I took the past two days off after that discouraging workout in the hopes of rejuvenating a little. Today while waiting for the BART I was feeling really antsy, can't-stand-still-need-to-move, so I'm hoping I still have a little left for this Memorial Day 10k.
Week of Jan. 25-2 mile time trial in 9:58 (remember when I had trouble breaking 5 minutes in the 1600, Tye?)
Week of Feb. 15-1500 in 4:17 followed by a 3200 in 9:49
Week of Feb. 22-1500 in 4:12.8
Week of Mar. 1- 5k in 15:42.6
Week of Mar. 15-12k in 41:04
Then I got injured, didn't run for 3 weeks, but worked out really hard in the pool for...
Week of April 26-hilly 5k in 16:50
Looking back I have to describe this season as really epic. I finally got a taste of what it's like to train hard and race some consistent PRs, and now have some pretty big goals for the upcoming years (sub 15 anybody?). I took the past two days off after that discouraging workout in the hopes of rejuvenating a little. Today while waiting for the BART I was feeling really antsy, can't-stand-still-need-to-move, so I'm hoping I still have a little left for this Memorial Day 10k.
Awesome!
Hey fellow RunSTARS(?) I'm really looking forward to hearing about all of your runs, races, post-workout dinners, etc. It's nice to keep up with what everyone has been doing. I know many of you are racing this 10K in Marin, maybe everyone should post their goals. I'm shooting for under 32 minutes. I hit an 80 mile week earlier this season and was feeling really fit, but then I started having some minor pains and things and really had to cut back, so we'll see how it goes. The past week was mainly in the pool, so that's been actually a really nice experience. Aquajogging is still way fun (Nathan can relate).
I have two 'training partners' down here, but it's definitely not a running club. One of the guys is an ex-collegiate runner who runs one day a week (a track workout). Another guy is a marathoner who's always excited about doing workouts, so it's still exciting to have people to run with, even though we have to modify things a bit to make the workouts good for everyone. I don't have any action shots of me running recently, but I'll try to work on that. Does anyone have any hot new singlets/racing shorts for the race? I think I might be due for a new kit too.
Also, props to Lindsay for setting up the blog and Nathan for getting the idea rolling.
I have two 'training partners' down here, but it's definitely not a running club. One of the guys is an ex-collegiate runner who runs one day a week (a track workout). Another guy is a marathoner who's always excited about doing workouts, so it's still exciting to have people to run with, even though we have to modify things a bit to make the workouts good for everyone. I don't have any action shots of me running recently, but I'll try to work on that. Does anyone have any hot new singlets/racing shorts for the race? I think I might be due for a new kit too.
Also, props to Lindsay for setting up the blog and Nathan for getting the idea rolling.
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