Archive for June, 2004
Fast!
2 Miles on the treadmill at Gold’s, and I had a first. I was faster than the treadmill. I got it up to 8 MPH, but I felt like I had *tons* more to give. It was a NordicTrak one, and I honestly only picked it because it had a video screen for watching tunes. But man! Faster than a treadmill? Not usually, man. Whoa.
And then a nice 12 laps (is a lap down and back?) in the pool. Very decent cardio and cross training.
Yeah! I feel pumped.
Morning, Y’all.
“Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some of us are not.” - Dr. George Sheehan
I’m off to do some poolwork, and either 2 miles now, or 2 miles at lunch, or both. Still feeling great with my double-to-triple training days. I’m not overdoing anything, near as I can tell. I’m listening very closely to my body.
Well, except for the voice telling me strongly, “Go back to BED!”
Chiropractor and Massage Therapy
The back cracker seems to be doing well for me. I’ve set him onto my ITB and … uh… whatever that muscle that starts with a P is along the same area. That’s feeling better after just this one visit. He and the massage therapist ganged up on me and did some nifty things. She’s still scraping the hell out of me with that big curved butter knife, trying to loosen up all the fibrotic areas around my adductors. I keep enduring the pain she causes because it goes away fast, and because I imagine this is helping keep my legs in better condition.
Between these guys and my regular massage therapist, I’m in fairly good shape, structure and musculature wise. Broke? Oh yeah. Going to have to curtail these visits in not too long a while. But at least the first two folks are covered by a co-pay.
4 Miles Indoors
No swell trail reports today. I ran at another Gold’s Gym, this time in Methuen. The place is beautiful. It’s giant, filled with every state-of-the-art amenity, and a decent little track that rings several areas inside the gym from the second floor. I got to run past the pool, the basketball court, the women’s workout area, some elliptical machines, and a step class. I shared the track with another runner and a half dozen walkers at different points. One of the walkers reminded me of Marshall, because he was so fast. I barely lapped him more than twice while he was out on the track.
But I did another four miles, and I feel strong, and I feel great about my efforts. I’ll get out to the trails again tomorrow, but when I woke up to a downpour, I just couldn’t give it that extra notch of effort to get out there in the soup for a midweek training run.
Playing Pool
Man, swimming can kick your sphincter, if you really give it your all. I went to the gym this morning for some cross training and strength work, and I did a bunch of speed drills in the pool. I worked out for just under 40 minutes, but I feel more beat up than any 5 mile run.
This Sunday is another 5K, and most likely, it’ll be the last 5K I do in a while. I’m just bored of the distance. That said, if there’s a really fun one with a great community around it, or if there’s a good trail 5K somewhere not too far, I’d consider it.
Yeah. Resolve! (whatever)
5 Miles
I ran at Maudslay State Park, getting back in touch with all those big pines and the Merrimack River. I ran through the fields, past some outdoor art exhibit, and through nearly every large trail the park had to offer. After all, I had to find a way to squeeze 5 miles out of it and still keep it fun.
Boy, I didn’t want to run this morning, or at least that’s what I said while getting dressed. I had all kinds of negatives piling up on me all the way up to getting out there on the path. But after about six minutes, maybe eight, I felt resigned to do what I’d set out to do.
In several ways, I love this more.
You’re probably practicing your hills, doing tempos, increasing your stride or your pace. Me? I’m beating mental toughness into my psyche. It’s not there naturally. My default is to surrender. So, what I’m doing the most while out on the trail is convincing myself that I’m much more powerful than I am willing to exert.
Today, I hit the same horrible stretch of hill twice on purpose. On the second run up the hill, I kept telling myself, “This is your dessert. You’re eating this up because you’ve already run 50 minutes. This is your reward.” And then the weirdest thing happened. For the first time in my life –ever– I said to myself, “I’m tough.” Yep, I said that. I shocked myself so much that I forgot the dessert mantra and still attacked the hill.
This comes after yesterday’s race, where I learned another little mantra. “This is temporary. You’ll recover.”
So yeah, who knew? I’m tough. Write it down, boyos.
Testing Myself
It’s funny to get up at 4AM after having a later-than-normal night out with friends, and mixing these:
Mojitos!
But it’s 4:44, and I’m ready to go run my 5 miles now. *cough*
Race Report
I ran the Appleton 5K in Ipswich, Mass today. It was foggy out, but that only made the farm’s many fields seem greener. There were horses running in their pastures, teasing us with their major stamina. Different than the races I’ve run so far, this one had a Family Fun Day mixed in, so there was a bouncy castle, a clown, face paints, hot dogs, and …
When the gun went off, we ran a little bit of road, but then hooked a quick right up a farm trail. It was a fairly fast group at the head of the pack, and I started dead last. I moved past 20 people and then found my perfect spot. Running past cows was funny, because they crowded the fence and followed, thinking that maybe I’d feed them (?). I found a guy running about my pace, who seemed nice, and we ran together.
Imagine my surprise at the second mile when the girl said, “17 minutes.” We both said, “What?” He did some quick math and told me we were doing 8 and 1/2s. I said, “no way.” But my heart rate monitor seemed to agree. So when we saw the next official a while off in the distance, the guy I was running with asked where the water station was. The official said, “500 yards, at the finish.” So we both picked up the pace a bit, partly excited, but definitely confused. Things seemed to be much faster/shorter than we were expecting.
He said to me as we got within sight of the finish, “How much you got?” I said, “What?” “How much you got?” “Oh, I’ll boot it up.” We ran like the flash. We kicked into the closest approximation of a sprint I’ve ever done. I was screaming into the finish, but neither of us believed the clock. It said 28:59 when my foot hit the white line. What? That’s six minutes off the 5K I did at the end of May.
Turned out, the race was really only 2.8 miles. There was a mistake on the path measurement somewhere. So hey whatever. I still was kicking sphincter. And it was a *great* run. Kat and my daughter were a great cheering section, and Katrina looked ready to cry, she was so happy with the results. Me? I felt like keeling over for 60 seconds, but recovered right afterwards.
Here’s two snaps:
That’s me and the guy I ran with, crossing the line.
Here’s my daughter, feeding me, and lending me her stroller.
What a great day!
5K Tomorrow
Okay, I’m reading RUNNING THROUGH THE WALL, the one about all the ultramarathonners, and I’ve got to admit a slight sense of, “so what?” about my 5K tomorrow. I know. I know. It’s all about where you are, and not looking to where you’re going. But yeah. I’ve run 2 5Ks and a 3.5 Mile run already, and I think except for the 4th of July one, I’m all done.
10’s next. 1/2’s after. Then we’ll really get messy.
Just the same, it promises to be a beautiful 5K.
3.5 More Miles & Strength
Quickie post. I did 3.5 more miles on the treadmill today because I slept in this morning (rare). It was hard, hot, sweaty. I didn’t want to do it, not from the start. I had to cajole myself through every four minutes of running.
Good side: lots of mental toughness training.
Tonight, went to the gym up the street and worked strength for a while. Did some dumbell presses, some bent over rows, some torso and abdomen work, some stretching, and then a heap o’ legs and back. Man, I still can’t do ONE chinup, but I’m getting closer.
