Archive for July, 2004
Tired Tired Tired
I haven’t gotten out of bed at 4 in days. But then, I haven’t gone to bed around 9 in days. I need to fix this.
5 Bad Miles
I was really tired tonight before getting on the treadmill at the gym. I’d missed my morning trail run, so I was doing this as pennance. I felt low energy, but jumped into the run just the same. At around 2.4, I felt like stopping. I even started thinking things like, “no one will know.” Duh.
I slogged through. I walked a little more often than my typical 9:1 frame. I ran at 5MPH a few times, where I am now at a minimum at 6MPH. But I pushed and pushed. I wasn’t in pain. I was breathing heavy and my engines were running a lot hotter than normal, but whatever. I was still okay. So, I kept going.
Kat, of course, reminds me that I haven’t slept much in several days due to 3rd shift work. She reminds me that I just endured a closing for our new place today (aka: sign here and suffer forever). She reminds me that I moved two carloads of stuff from one place to the other.
Oh yeah. That.
So, another 3 or 4 tomorrow morning for vindication. I MUST get to a trail. I’m sick of the gym.
Whoa
Have you tried that running through water stuff? Like in a pool? Whoa.
Strengthening
I worked hard at the gym today at lunch. I used heavy weights with few repetitions, which is the new black of the weightlifting set. Evidently, lots of reps with low weight is out again. Alas. It was nice to move around lots of iron. After all, I still can’t do decent pullups to save myself. That’s a goal of mine. That and some really great flexibility.
When I lift hard, muscles usually come quickly, so I’ll see how it goes, only lifting hard once a week and lifting light twice more. I also gave my legs quite the beating. And let’s not forget those core muscles. Man, I work those guys to their rubbery ends.
Tomorrow’s another 3 miles. I think I’ll run at Maudslay. Sunday, one of the race organizers for my trail marathon in November said he’d come run the course with me. I’ll do one loop, which’ll be a half-marathon distance on its own. A little bit over my 9 miles on schedule, but I keep saying I feel like I’ve got more in me. Time to prove it. Besides, then I’ll know the exact course of the marathon.
All my races are trail races for the rest of this year. I canceled the one remaining street 5k. Oh, and one beach race, but that’s the same to me.
Slacking A Bit
I’m down to single workouts right now, mostly due to all the other stuff filling up my life. We’re moving in a week or less. I’ve got a software deployment at work. Blah blah.
But isn’t it funny that I’m feeling a little guilty about not doing two workouts a day and only getting in one? Weirdo.
Eminem’s Movie
I ran 8 miles today in Willowdale State Forest. It was a really great trail run, and I enjoyed the hell out of the terrain. There was this MF-ing huge hill that I ran/walked up, this total monster, and when I got to the top, I only kind of griped when it didn’t exactly continue on a trail. Instead, it landed on a golf course. Why? Not sure. So, I doubled back, found the trail I should’ve taken, and ran down the side of the same hill. Only to accidentally almost go all the way back up the same hill again, thinking the whole time, “wow, this forest has some steep inclines.”
I scared 3 whitetail deer. Then, they scared me. I was running along, and I startled them when they were only about 25 yards away from me. Instead of leaping away from me, they took their first few leaps TOWARDS me. I kind of scream/shouted in surprise, and that got them turned around. Later, I ticked off two red tailed hawks. The first one really shouted at me. The second one just took off, and I didn’t even know he was there until I saw something huge over my left shoulder. That was neat.
The run was great. I really felt full of energy, and I was happy with myself for running 8 miles (the longest I’ve run to date). I felt like I had a lot left in me, especially in the cardio department.
Added bonus? This is the trail and forest where I’ll be running my marathon in November, so this is also an acclimatization effort. Roar.
Bodysurfing, 2 Miles, & Swimming
This afternoon, we hit the ocean, and got in a little bit of bodysurfing in between steering my two year old away from other people’s sandcastles. (Godzilla!) Then, tonight, I headed off to the gym, ran 2 miles on the hamster, and then jumped into the pool for some fast laps. Man, nothing beats my butt like swimming hard. But I loved everything today.
What a grand day. Missing my trails, though. Sunday’s long run will be in a forest.
Grrrr
Dear Chris Brogan —
If you go to bed at 10:45PM, don’t be so surprised when you sleep through the alarms at 4AM.
Now, go out and run anyway.
–Chris Brogan…
4 Miles of Fury!
Man, I ran my skull off this morning. I was a little late to go trail running, so I sped over to the gym and jumped on the hamster machines. But POW! I ran like furious this morning and banged out those four miles. If I were feeling uber-ambitious, I might’ve bumped it up to 6 miles, but hey whateva… I’ve got more time in the day today, so I can get a few more miles at lunch if I want them.
How are you?
Accidental 5 Miles
I ran up to Woodsom Farm today to attack the hills some more. Hmm, attack. I went there to flow up and down the hills, to move my body across a beautiful landscape, to really show what part of nature I come from. I did the first hill with great zeal. I ran around the perimiter of the farm. Checking my watch, I realized I was nearing the end of my 3 miles slated for the day, but the two hill circuit, which is actually like 4 when I do it, was really calling to me. So I ran it.
I figured out a power word that made me feel happy the entire latter part of the run:
Fun!
And man, I took that first hill a little slow, but on the downside, I sprinted for fear of slipping and falling in the rainsoaked grass. I fastwalked the second ascent, then ran the ridgeline, trying to keep my heart out of my throat. On the final descent, I overshot the trail a little, but didn’t fall. And then it was just a run home from there, but nice, because I ran alongside the same hills I’d just streamed across.
By the time I hit my door (with a 2 minute cooldown), I’d managed 5 miles. Whoops.
