Should've brought a Sherpa

The hills are alive with the sound of whining. Perhaps I was hallucinating, but I could've sworn I saw the family VonTrapp fleeing the Nazis over the weekend. I did all of my running in Cincinnati while visiting to participate in my sister's wedding. (Congratulations Sarah and Mike!) While there, I had a startling revelation. Columbus is REALLY flat. I ran three miles on Saturday morning and the entire run was either uphill or downhill, there was no flat at all. I was really surprised at my inability to run at a regular pace on the hills. I knew it was going to be tough but I didn't think I'd need a Sherpa and bottled oxygen. I thought I'd be able to leg it out. I was wrong.

After my three mile fail, I adjusted my intended route for Sunday's fourteen mile trek. Now, I'm not trying to make excuses but I had a few things working against me:

1. Hills - even though my Sunday route wasn't as steep as my Saturday route, the whole thing still rolled
2. Late start - I didn't get to bed until 2:00am so I didn't start until almost 9:00. I was already fighting the sun and the rising heat
3. Exhaustion - I was busy all day on Saturday
4. State of mind - I really didn't want to be out doing the run to begin with so I was having trouble talking myself into any additional exertion.

Long story short, I had the worst pace for a long run that I've ever done. I walked more than I ran and added an hour to my normal time for that distance. I was really dissapointed with my performance. Laela even informed me that she was thinking about getting in the car to go look for me because it took me so long.

To see just how crappy this run was, here are some comparable distances with times and paces. (Yesterday's car wreck of a run in red)

Date Distance Time Pace

23-Nov-08 17.1 mi 3:29'16" 12'14"

11-Jan-09 16.07 mi 3:09'31" 11'47"

3-Oct-08 15.23 mi 2:57'39" 11'39"

3-Aug-08 15.12 mi 2:54'07" 11'31"

9-Aug-08 14.37 mi 2:46'19" 11'34"

15-Dec-08 14.09 mi 2:38'15" 11'14"

9-Nov-08 14.06 mi 2:39'24" 11'20"

19-Oct-08 14.05 mi 2:39'27" 11'20"

26-Jul-08 14.04 mi 2:45'42" 11'48"

28-Jun-09 14.01 mi 3:22'32" 14'27"

Nike+ can suck it!

Following with this week's theme: Nike+ can suck it!

Last night, I missed my first run of this training schedule. Boo. I went to edit my schedule so I could make it up later in the week and Nike was doing "system upgrades"; therefore, couldn't log in to the Nike+ website site and modify my schedule. Due to the fact that you can't edit training days that have already passed, I'll perpetually be six miles behind on my display even if I make it up later (it doesn't count miles that are over your goal). For the most part I like the Nike+ training system but there are a couple of quirks with their training programs that I find irritating. It's a stupid thing for me to be all butt hurt about, but there it is.

Thanks for nothing Nike.

Jym Ganahl can suck it!

I don't know where that 75% chance of thunderstorms was, because it was a gorgeous Saturday morning for a run. I ran 2.6 miles to Antrim Park. My friend Kristi and met up there and ran another 7.7 miles.

I most likely could have run better overall if I hadn't got all amped up on the second mile of my run to the park. The song "Jump in the Fire" by the Night Marchers started playing on my iPod and I got so juiced up I felt like Mark McGwire. So, I didn't have as good of a pace as last week long run, but I was still under 11 minutes per mile over the course of the whole thing. I find that to be an acceptable pace considering the humidity this morning and since it's still this early in the marathon training.

I'm really looking forward to my three miles with Laela tomorrow!

Mental Fatigue

I am ready for a rest day. The last two runs have absolutely sucked and I've had zero motivation and even less desire to do them. I'm REALLY hoping that the rest of the summer won't be like this and that a day of rest will recharge the batteries.

Gnu

I went to Fleet Feet yesterday and got a new pair of running shoes courtesy of my girls! The store was swamped and I didn't receive the level of service that I usually get; however, I already knew what I wanted so it wasn't an issue. I got a pair of Asics GT-2140's. It is the same pair of shoes I had before my last pair (which were Brooks).

New shoes coupled with some new (to me) music ("See You In Magic" by the Night Marchers) made for an exhilarating Monday morning two mile run. Most importantly, no hamstring tightness. w00t!

Four Hundred Fifty Six

I am now officially 456 months old. Where does the time go? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was 252 months. Time sure does fly. I started off my 38th year by running 13.9 miles this morning, only this time I tried something new. I ran the final eight with my friend Kristi. That's only the second time I've run with a partner and the longest distance. It was actually quite pleasant. I thought that I was going to pressure myself to run faster than my normal long run pace, but I didn't. Running with someone drew my attention away from how arduous the run was becoming and I also didn't hit my normal 8 mile wall.

My overall pace was 10'39"! That's only 5 seconds slower than my time at the Spirit of Columbus Half Marathon last year and with significantly less effort! What a great way to start 38.

First Half of the Year

No, it's not the first half of the year because it is June.  It's the first half marathon distance that I've done this year.  I'm a little wiped out.  I'm sure it'll get easier as the summer goes on but the last four miles today were tough.  I ended up walking a little more than I wanted to, but that's okay there's no place to go but up.  At least I kept my pace under 12:00"/mile.  I guess that's something to hang my hat on.

I went from my house down Bethel to 315, went through the cut in the fence, across the Broadmeadows bridge and over to High St.  From there I went south to North Broadway and back to the trail.  I went back through the cut in the fence and went home.  I was greeted with Waffles and sausage when I walked through the door.  Stoked!  Thanks Laela!

5:46PM edit:  I forgot how much the Sunday morning looong run saps me of energy.  I'm a complete waste for the rest of the day. Boo.

Chairman of the Bored

I found myself with four hours to kill today. I was extremely bored but didn't feel like running so I instead knocked out 20 miles a bicycle. I had a nice relaxing time and made it home before the girls got there from the library.

Late Night

Had a super busy Wednesday night because I went to the 8th grade graduation for my kid's school so I almost missed my run.  I felt like it was going to be more of a hassle to change the schedule that to pound out a quick two miles.  So I left the house at 11:00 and I did my required two miles in 18'25"! Maybe there's something to this later running.  Let's see how quickly I can fall asleep.