Sometimes you get to run

... and then sometimes your body says NOPE NOT TODAY.

A quick catch up from Tuesday:

2.94 mi
26:31 time
9:01 pace

and then today - not great.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/753267711

2 mi
19:00
9:30 pace

I was trying to make this a speed intervals workout but my right shin had other plans, to which my right foot agreed with. It was a weird kind of shock upon striking ground in my pace, which makes me believe my stride was all off.

The only good news is the one mile I did with speed was a good one - 7:42. That might be a PR for a while until I figure out why I, all of a sudden, suck at running.

Monday

Another day, another grind

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/750020353

3.02 mi

27:30

9:06 pace

5k is coming up this weekend, should be fun!

River Run

I'm not sure how accurate this map is (I think I ran farther), but I'm not too worried about it. I pushed pretty hard for having 2 days off.

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/747596807

2.84 mi
28:05
9:53 pace

3 day catch up

I have been running. You just wouldn't know it if you were keeping up with my blog. Which I'm sure you were.

Monday
2.5 mi
22:25
8:58 pace

Tuesday
4.5 mi
41:47
9:17 pace

Wednesday
Speed work with Jim
3/4 warm up
Three 1-mile intervals:

• 1st mile - 7:52
• 2nd mile - 8:27
• 3rd mile - 8:17

1 mile cool down

I've never logged 10+ miles in a 3 day span. This is absurd.

first saturday run

http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/739320217

2.94 mi
24:20
8:16 pace

Like what? 8:16? wowser. I would have gone another 3/4 miles but my calves were still a bit sore from the route I took on Wednesday. It was such great weather to get out and run, I'm really glad I got up and did it. This weekend has no real plans involved except football Sunday, so I had no excuse to not run.

I think it is also time to get some new running footwear. I think my cross-trainers are good for relatively short distances, but they aren't the best after 30 minutes of running.

Quick post today:

2.5 Mi
2 min workout after every .75 mi
35 min?

I wanted to get some strength work in today, so I did come sit ups, planks, and push ups in between laps. I'm really feeling it from yesterday's run; my calves are on fire!

Playing catch-up

Been a tough week for running, but I'm keeping up with it.

Monday:
2.94 mi
27:39
9:24 pace

Wednesday:
http://www.mapmyrun.com/workout/736191129
3.73 mi
35:20
9:28 pace

Today's run was pretty awful until I started pushing myself. About 10 minutes before the end, I tightened up my form, and then changed my landing; instead of landing on my entire foot, I was running on the balls of my feet. It felt like I was leaping over buildings, giving me a complete new control over my stride. I could have run for another 20 minutes easy, but it was dark out so I played it safe. Bringing a head lamp next time so that I can keep going,

Lauren told me to post this video. so I did.

Great run today. I'm in Boston overnight so I had to run in Southie which I enjoyed immensely. The new atmosphere helped especially because I forgot my iPod.

3.2 miles
I don't know how long

It is official - my left foot is slightly longer than my right. The more you know.

Wednesday with Jim, rd 2

I'm a day late, but because by the time I got in last night, it was already Thursday. So this is Wednesday's post.

Jim pushed me hard. I was expecting 1, 2, 3, 4 rotation in our speed workout but he decided I was ready for the 2, 3, 4, 5 rotation. I did not think I was ready. Then we started running.

2 laps, warm up

2 laps, speed - 4:00

breather

3 laps, speed - 6:20

breather

4 laps, speed - 8:36

breather

5 laps, speed - 11:01

breather

2 lap cool down

an 8:36 mile, after almost 2 miles of running. Granted, there was a bit of walking to recover, but I felt like I exceeded my abilities (or at least the knowledge of what I thought my abilities were). 

I woke up today with IT Band soreness. I'm not surprised, since I was really making use of the last 100s to put a lot of length into my stride. I took today off. More stretching and strengthening to ensure.

Tomorrow I pick it back up again, probably to do another 2.5 or 3.

I went hard today, big rewards ensued

2.5 miles

23:19

9:20 / mile

Starting with the stats because BOOM I pushed hard today. I had opportunities to stop and I was like nope, I'm going to make this run. Looking forward to another Wednesday with Jim tomorrow, but today I end with victory. I suppose this means I need to start making longer runs. I mean after all, race day is 6+ miles, so there's that.

I had a thought about pain today while running. I don't think I experienced less pain because I've been doing it longer. Today, I think I experienced as much as I normally would. I think instead, I just pushed through it. That was pretty cool. I'll try that again tomorrow.

Time crunch after 2 days off

When you add a new event to your daily schedule, there are days where it is super tough to fit that new event in. I think it is also SUPER important that you do everything possible to make sure you make it happen when it is hard to do so. I'm calling today a big victory because I did just that. I almost didn't have time, but I was able to squeeze in a run. it was a bit shortened, but nonetheless, I got time in on the track. After work I stopped over at the track in Framingham, where I ran with Jim last week, to get some steps in:

2 miles

20:04

10:02/mile

I took 2 days off unintentionally, and I think I paid for it today. Good news is I got through these 2 miles by running the whole the time (no walking), but I could feel the slow down after lap 6. I think if I'm going to improve my time, I need to drop some weight. Something to think about.

I think I'm starting to like this.

Doing wicked good

Today had a tight time budget, could be why I had a successful run! I have been wearing my old running shoes which had a bit of weight to them, but I made the switch back to my crosstrainers, which are incredibly light. With my new running style, it felt good.

BTW, I took yesterday off. I think it was good for me, to digest the teachings from Jim.

2.5 mi
25:02
nearly a 10:00 mile

And I only stopped to walk twice, which felt uber good. I'm hoping I can capitalize on this over the weekend.

Short post today, I'm on the road so not as much time for humor or wit. I'll leave you with a joke:

American politics.

Jim put on a clinic tonight

I tend to ignore some very important things when starting out on a new skill or goal:

1. I don't know everything, even when I think I do

2. Mentors are invaluable

My good friend Jim Kenealy, whom I have had the pleasure of sharing risers with in Vocal Revolution, has been a runner for a time of which I do not know the exact amount, but it is a longer time than I. He's already got a marathon under his belt, and he's pulling for the Boston in the near future. Needless to say, he took me to school tonight and I couldn't have been more grateful. He showed me some small technical changes that I can make to keep from 'braking' in my stride, he kept my time honest, and knew when to crack the reigns. 

We went to a standard track, might have been a high school?

Stretching ensued

2 laps, light jog

Then the speed training came out. Times are to the best of my memory:

1 lap  - 1:44

2 laps - 4:14?

3 laps - 7:07

4 laps - 9:33

Walked a lap, then a light jog lap, and we wrapped up. About 3 miles in total.

Yep. After a good jaunt of running, I was able to pull a sub 10 minute mile. I chalk that up to a good teacher and even better mentor. I'm not one for learning curves; you tell me I need to change something, and I will waste no time doing it the wrong way again. Tonight was an incredible push forward, early in the game. Looking forward to more.

I'm doing a 10k

Thanks for reading! You probably found this from my Facebook page, or you've spent enough time on the internet that this was all that's left. Congrats. I think.

I did something I've never done before - forced myself into a goal. Literally, I didn't want to do it. I just knew it would be worth it. I signed up for a 10K road race on November 2nd and come hell or high blood pressure, I'm going to run this race. This blog will allow you to follow my exercise progress and do many other things: See how terribly out of shape I am, allow you to call me out when I skip a day, provide good conversation over beers with your friends about the number of ways that I will fail, or maybe just cheer me on.

I've been getting out there over the last 10 days without much structure, just getting my brain psyched up about the pain my body will endure for the next 2 months. However, Labor Day weekend brought the 10 week.... shit nope, 9 week mark until race day. Well, that's an unfortunate miscalculation.

So, lets get down to brass tacks:
9/2
2.5 mile run
28:45
11:30/mile
(1st mile, 10:00ish)

I haven't been able to get up to running a 2.5 non-stop. I think it's because of 2 reasons: (1) I could stand to drop some extra weight around the digestive system, and (2) I don't have enough songs on my playlist that tell me to just effing run. Right now, I wait for AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill to make its appearance on my iPod before I feel the motivation of Robert Downey Jr jumping from a plane and landing on the expo stage in Iron Man 2 to keep the pace. Yeah, this is the exact thing that goes through my head. Can't argue with what works.

So, I need songs that will kick my ass when I'm losing steam. Open to submissions!

JC