Last Thursday’s 10 mile run was much like the story of my running to date. It started off nice enough, though my legs were tired. On most mornings I wake up think ‘how am I going to run tonight?’, but by the time I have to run… they are OK. Last night… not so OK. The weather was nice though… 50 and not raining (dark of course), and I started out at a nice clip. Sweet I thought… maybe I was just running slow because the weather was always around 35 and raining.
About the 5 mile mark my legs started to burn and I got that shaky week feeling that my body was running low on energy. Figures… since I had to skip a proper dinner the previous two days in order to run. The second 5 miles were into the wind and about the time I turned around, it started raining. Just a drizzle at first, but the fine misty kind that can cover you whole body in minutes… and render my glasses useless.
The rain continued to come down… and the mist turned into small drops… that turned into bigger drops… that turned into a downpour. At one point my glasses were so covered with water and the glare from oncoming cars was so bad I ran into a tree branch that was sticking over the sidewalk. While I didn’t poke my eye out… the jarring reaction my body made in response, was even worse than the branch. I don’t remember what swear word I invented… but it was something creative.
My cloths started soaking up the rain and I became heavier and my pace slowed to sloth-like. Because it was so dark and my view was so limited, it was like the rest of the world didn’t exist. Just me, the 5 feet of my path I could see, and the rain and wind. After stepping into a few water puddles soaking my feet… but sad state was complete, and the only thing that would improve my situation was finishing the next 3 miles.
It was there in the dark downpour, highlighted by the headlights where the passing drivers where probably wondering… ‘what the!’ or ‘idiot!’ that I too pondered just what I was doing out there… just where I was going. I seem to be running slower than I was at this time last year, despite having two marathons under my belt since then. My beautiful (inside and out) pregnant wife was at home without my help. Perhaps it is time to do some re-evaluating. As much as I’d like time to stand still until I finish my running… it does not, and if there is one thing marathon training requires a lot of… is time.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
The Streak is Broken
After over 5 straight weeks without missing a run… I missed 3 in one week. (Including the long run) OUCH! I actually was prepared for the long run… I dressed and drove to my running spot… but a quick calculation of the time and I realized there was no way I could finish my 2.5 hour run in time to meet a friend for the Blazer game. I gave up and headed home. The other two runs? I have no excuse for them. =) Just lost my mental grove I think.
This week I am back on track through. Good thing too… 46 miles on the schedule. Hopefully the weather will be a little more cooperative. Last winter the weather seemed pretty darn conducive to running… but no so this year. There have been a lot of nasty days. It was raining again last night so I hit the gym for my 9 miler.
My boss at work commented that if I don’t qualify for Boston… all my running would be a waste. I don’t think of it that way… but it did get me to pondering… specifically just why am I running? I don’t really have a textbook answer at this point. While qualifying for Boston is not out of the realm of possibilities for me… it would be extremely difficult at this point. I am not running fast at all now. This is in part because they weather has been so nasty… I feel I am just trying to hang on, and I suppose the other part must be lack of effort. All I can say in that regards is that it was certainly easier to run faster when I was running less miles.
On my long run Sunday I planned on 2 loops… one 8 miles and one 7. My GPS watch battery was dead when I headed out… but I already mapped my route (or so I though). The problem was… the route I mapped had a road that didn’t actually connect to another road. I was faced with heading back… or continuing on roaming the countryside until I could find a road that did connect. Well… my 8 mile loop turned into a 13 mile loop by the time I got back to the car. That is just too long for me to run without fuel or water. I bagged it at 13 miles. It was kind of fun exploring a new route where I didn’t really know where I was going.
I am really looking forward to some nicer weather and not running in the dark though.
This week I am back on track through. Good thing too… 46 miles on the schedule. Hopefully the weather will be a little more cooperative. Last winter the weather seemed pretty darn conducive to running… but no so this year. There have been a lot of nasty days. It was raining again last night so I hit the gym for my 9 miler.
My boss at work commented that if I don’t qualify for Boston… all my running would be a waste. I don’t think of it that way… but it did get me to pondering… specifically just why am I running? I don’t really have a textbook answer at this point. While qualifying for Boston is not out of the realm of possibilities for me… it would be extremely difficult at this point. I am not running fast at all now. This is in part because they weather has been so nasty… I feel I am just trying to hang on, and I suppose the other part must be lack of effort. All I can say in that regards is that it was certainly easier to run faster when I was running less miles.
On my long run Sunday I planned on 2 loops… one 8 miles and one 7. My GPS watch battery was dead when I headed out… but I already mapped my route (or so I though). The problem was… the route I mapped had a road that didn’t actually connect to another road. I was faced with heading back… or continuing on roaming the countryside until I could find a road that did connect. Well… my 8 mile loop turned into a 13 mile loop by the time I got back to the car. That is just too long for me to run without fuel or water. I bagged it at 13 miles. It was kind of fun exploring a new route where I didn’t really know where I was going.
I am really looking forward to some nicer weather and not running in the dark though.
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