Saving Pace

Down with the Sickness

Winter break! 

What a lovely time to get distracted and off track! I was pretty confident I could stay on my schedule over break and packed accordingly. Unfortunately, I got incredibly sick and had to take a couple days off.

But no worries. I’m almost healthy again.

I did my cross training last weekend and swam for 30 minutes, which is actually a lot more challenging than what you might expect. Unless you’re one of the two 90 year old men that were swimming in the lanes next to me.

Oh, I’m sorry, did I say swimming? I meant lapping me. Multiplemultiplemultiple times over. 

I started this because I was under the impression that now was the best time in a person’s life to be easily whipped into shape. But as all of these elders keep showing me up!

Regardless. I’ve been taking it easy. But I’m still running. I ran three miles last night with my little sister, actually. Who is twice the athlete I will ever be. But I digress.

Happy holidays, everyone! 

Finals (Day 15)

Finals are consuming me.

Two more tomorrow then I can finally drive the 8 hours home.

Wednesday is still a running day. So I’m not really looking forward to the 500 mile drive followed by the 5 mile run. But hey. It’s got to happen, right?

This entry is short and not-so-sweet because it is way past my exam week bedtime.

So sweet dreams, tumblr. Catch ya later.

When You’re 41. (Day 9)

I ran my scheduled 5 miles the other day on a treadmill (terribly boring thing to do for more than 3 or 4 miles, might I add) next to this older man who was SPRINTING for 40 whole minutes. At one point, I looked over at him and asked him how he could possibly stay motivated. I was looking for some grand, extremely wise, unbelievably helpful hint that I was apparently unaware of.

All he said was, “When you’re 41, you know if you stop you won’t start running again.”

Thanks, guy. Not really helpful to me at all. But he had a good attitude and I admired him, even though I was/am completely inferior to him. I just told myself “He’s not training for a marathon. You are. You rule. You’re totally allowed to not sprint 5 miles. You can even walk for a little if you want.”

That last bit there is the worst part to get over.

I’m at the point now where I know I can keep going when I’m running but it would be kind of neat to not run.

I need tips on mid-run motivation, please.

When it Rains, it Pours. (Day 7)

I ran 6 and a half miles on the treadmill today. Which was surprisingly easy. So to mix things up a bit, I decided to gather my things, walk home, and finish the 8 mile run outside in the beautiful 65 degree weather.
Naturally, the one time I decide not to finish my workout right when I start it, it starts raining cats and dogs. So while I walked home I plotted my next move.

My biggest obstacle to overcome in this whole thing is motivation. I need to keep myself motivated to finish the workouts and finish this whole thing in general. So when I saw it was raining, needless to say I was a little concerned that I would talk myself out of it.

That’s where Google comes in. I googled “running in the rain” just to find anything to motivate me to go back out there. And I found a whole article on the matter with tips and other motivational sayings to give me that push.

So I finished my run. Got drenched. Whatever.

My favorite running-in-the-rain tip? Do it. Then “congratulate yourself on being tougher than the elements.” 

Hell yeah.

The Funny Thing About Lactic Acid is… (Day 3 and 4)

Back in middle school and high school, I ran track as a sprinter. And I’m not going to lie, I was pretty awesome.

But I’ve never been a long-distance runner. Or even a middle distance runner. However, at the end of my sprint workouts, I would usually do a cool down work out with one of my distance runner friends and then afterward we would “get rid of lactic acid” by putting our legs up in the air for a good amount of time.

I had never heard of such a thing and had no idea what caused it, or how pretending my feet were walking on the clouds was going to help prevent it.

BUT THEN

Wednesday, while I was running my scheduled 5 mile run, during the last mile I got sudden sharp cramps in my calves that would leave as quickly as they came causing me to look ridiculous to whoever noticed the girl tripping over herself on a treadmill.

Apparently.

That was lactic acid at its finest.

The funny thing about lactic acid is… it’s not real? I tried to find more information on it that was in laymen’s terms and all I found was that it is a urban legend for runner such as myself.

So. Condensed version of this whole blog entry= Got crazy cramps in my legs. No clue where they came from. (But I’m still going to blame lactic acid.)

Early Birds (Day 2)

http://www.mapmyrun.com/profile/5899124/
^ If you’re a runner and you’re not using this website, you are missing out! That’s my profile specifically. I haven’t used it in a month or so, but I figured it’d be a nice way to keep up with my improvement over the next 5 months.

DAY 2..
A little harder than day 1, which was a rest day.
Unfortunately for me, Tuesdays and Thursdays I go to class from 8am-445pm then to work from 5pm-930pm.
With little time to run, I decided the best thing to do would be to go to the gym right when it opens - 6am.

Fortunately for me, my boyfriend (www.nicholasryanpichnic.tumblr.com) came with me which forced me to actually go through with it. What a guy, right?

I ran at a relaxed pace for about 3 miles. Met my quota for my day. Then walked the half mile back home from the gym.

For those of you who are curious what my training schedule is like, let me break it down for you:

Mondays: Rest day
Tuesdays: Short runs (3-5 miles)
Wednesdays: Kind of long runs (5-8 miles)
Thursdays: Same as Tuesdays
Fridays: Rest day
Saturdays: Long runs (8-20 miles)
Sundays: Cross-training

Cross-training had me a little worried at first because swimming was the first thing that came to mind and going to a small college means no pool.
Luckily we have free access to a super nice pool at a nearby university and we also have a really amazing rock climbing wall so I should be set!

3 miles down, 16 more to go (this week).

The Pre-Post Post. (Day -1)

I am training to run my very first marathon. That is- I am training to run 26 miles.

I jumped right into it there for those of you who don’t feel like reading a lengthy paragraph or two of me rambling on about how I decided to do it and all of the feelings and whatnot that come along with it.

So.

How I got here.

Philosophy class, two semesters ago, my philosophy professor was discussing some thought-provoking point that I am sure I was listening to at the time, when she briefly forgot the exact distance of a marathon. Confident one of her twenty students in the room would know, she asked us. Not a peep. Furious, she began to yell at us, angry that we hadn’t taken life by its horns. Or something along those lines.

It might seem silly- but she got to me.

I am twenty. This is the time in my life where it should be the easiest to be in not good, but amazing shape. But instead of pushing myself in that area of life, I was just kind of coasting. I found myself relying on my naturally fast metabolism and occasional jog to help keep my body in the place I wanted it.

So here I am, a year later. About to embark on a a very long journey to a very long run.