The darkness of autumn mornings is making my training a challenge. I cannot bring myself to go out running alone more than a half hour prior to daybreak. I leave my apartment at 6:15, 15 minutes before first light, and return just before 7:00. That gives me just enough time to run to the lake, do the 3 mile loop, run back up to my place, stretch and have a recovery shake before I need to start getting ready for work. The distance I should be running is 5 miles, but there simply isn’t enough time in the morning for me to run that far before work… unless of course I can suddenly become twice as fast.
Speaking of becoming faster, I’ve started to incorporate some speed work. It happened by accident really. There was an older woman in front of me, who was just jogging slightly slower than me. I passed her and then got tired of hearing her footsteps behind me so I sped up. I thought she was going faster to keep up with me, but about a quarter mile later (after realizing that I was working far too hard to sustain that pace much longer) I looked back and realized it was a completely different person altogether. I chuckled a little to myself. I slowed and watched her pass, out of breath. Once I caught my breath, I wanted to try it again. This time, without the pressure of someone behind me, I felt free to just let it out and go twice as hard. It was great! I wasn’t sprinting, but my legs were happy and my body felt completely natural in the longer stride – save for the burning in my lungs. When I slowed after about a hundred meters, I found it very difficult to catch my breath again. I was afraid that I might have to walk to recover but mentally refused to let that happen. I probably could have finished the loop much faster if I’d taken that walk break, but I’m trying to build better cardiovascular fitness. Just like when I go out dancing and one of my favorite songs come on, I have to push through to the end of it no matter how much energy I blew in my initial frenzied excitement.
The Wildcat Canyon trail ride really helped to put things in perspective. My thighs burned so bad while climbing those hills that I think it may have increased my threshold for pain. I suffered so much that day. The fact that my companion barely broke a sweat was just irritating. After that experience I swore that I would incorporate hills into my daily commute, but I have yet to act on that thought. I’m considering hitting a hilly route home (more than just considering actually).
Today is day three of wearing the Five Finger shoe. Like many, Born to Run influenced me to give them a try. After noticing some runners wearing them as they whiz past me on my morning runs, I finally caved. I haven’t run in them yet because my toes are not very happy with them yet. My pinky toes are particularly upset with the shoes. The knuckles of those toes are very tender. The inside edges of my big toes are a bit sore as well. It’s weird to walk around with fabric between your toes all damn day. What is even stranger is that my toes are all developing a dislike for my regular shoes now. I might become one of those people who wear sandals all year long. Goddamn hippies.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
the worlds keeps turning
Today was my second 6-mile morning run. It was very good. I improved my time by ten minutes, even including my stop at the grocery store for soymilk on the way back to my apartment. I was so shocked to read 7:11AM on the clock. I almost burst into song. I don’t think my neighbors would have appreciated it.
I made myself a recovery shake with some Clif Shot Vanilla Recovery powder, soymilk, ice cubes and a blender when I returned home. It was absolutely delicious! I also had that ‘this is exactly what my body wants right now’ feeling. There’s nothing quite like giving your body exactly what it needs. Although I have been running an average of an hour deficit in my sleep every night for the past week, I feel particularly strong today. It just occurred to me a little while ago that the recovery shake may have been the determining factor there. I’ve been told hundreds of times to consume protein within twenty minutes of a workout (up to an hour after the workout), especially one as taxing as this morning’s, but you know how it is – life gets in the way of us doing what we know is right. That doesn’t make it okay. I need to make sure that I take proper care of myself so I don’t get injured this time, like I did last year when I was training for the very same event. I think I hurt myself in 2006 while training for the Nike too. Annoying. It takes so stinkin’ long to recover from a knee or ankle injury that I don’t EVER want to go through that again. I’d gladly take an unscheduled rest day instead of hurting myself.
Speaking of unscheduled rest days, I had one yesterday. Stevil’s mom passed away on Sunday. Her body was discovered in her apartment on Monday, so Hula Girl and I went to go keep him company on Tuesday (after she got his text, which I hadn’t even realized existed until she was on her way to pick me up). He just needed some support. I am personally not very good at doing the whole emotional support thing. What I am good at is figuring out what needs to be done in stressful situations. Therefore, Tuesday was quite possibly the best day for me to be with him. Iris’ back window was busted out at the end of the night. I was lucky.
I had to bum a carpool ride to work the next morning since my bike was still at the office. When I got reayd to ride home yesterday, I discovered a tack in my front tire. I removed it, thinking that I could just replace the tube with the spare I keep in my bag. Well, I had emptied my bag in the Tuesday madness and forget to replace my bike supplies Wednesday morning. I had a nice unexpected walk to and from the train stations in the warm summer evening. I would have enjoyed it even more if it weren’t for me carrying the flat tire and a messenger bag full of groceries and then getting home a few minutes before 9PM. It’s difficult to rush yourself to sleep. I think I fell asleep around 11 – 11:30 and then was up before dawn at 5:30 AM for my morning run. I’m freakin’ exhausted.
One of the trainers fixed my flat after our company meeting this morning and another relocated my taillight so I can now store my toolkit under the seat. I said, “What would I do without all these helpful people?”
J-Racer commented, “It’s not you I would worry about.” We then went into a brief conversation about spoiled people. He said, “If you depend too much on other people to give you what you want, you’re setting yourself for the possibility of being disappointed.”
“You’re setting yourself up for inevitable disappointment.” I corrected him. It’s true. You are the only person you can truly count on, and we humans occasionally fail ourselves as well. It’s not a big deal. There’s no need to emotionally attach ourselves so strongly to any particular outcome. I’d rather spend my life enjoying it moment to moment than to be constantly pissed off about something that didn’t go my way or worried about what is going to happen in the future.
What I am emotionally attached to right at this moment is going home and getting in bed early, universe willing.
I made myself a recovery shake with some Clif Shot Vanilla Recovery powder, soymilk, ice cubes and a blender when I returned home. It was absolutely delicious! I also had that ‘this is exactly what my body wants right now’ feeling. There’s nothing quite like giving your body exactly what it needs. Although I have been running an average of an hour deficit in my sleep every night for the past week, I feel particularly strong today. It just occurred to me a little while ago that the recovery shake may have been the determining factor there. I’ve been told hundreds of times to consume protein within twenty minutes of a workout (up to an hour after the workout), especially one as taxing as this morning’s, but you know how it is – life gets in the way of us doing what we know is right. That doesn’t make it okay. I need to make sure that I take proper care of myself so I don’t get injured this time, like I did last year when I was training for the very same event. I think I hurt myself in 2006 while training for the Nike too. Annoying. It takes so stinkin’ long to recover from a knee or ankle injury that I don’t EVER want to go through that again. I’d gladly take an unscheduled rest day instead of hurting myself.
Speaking of unscheduled rest days, I had one yesterday. Stevil’s mom passed away on Sunday. Her body was discovered in her apartment on Monday, so Hula Girl and I went to go keep him company on Tuesday (after she got his text, which I hadn’t even realized existed until she was on her way to pick me up). He just needed some support. I am personally not very good at doing the whole emotional support thing. What I am good at is figuring out what needs to be done in stressful situations. Therefore, Tuesday was quite possibly the best day for me to be with him. Iris’ back window was busted out at the end of the night. I was lucky.
I had to bum a carpool ride to work the next morning since my bike was still at the office. When I got reayd to ride home yesterday, I discovered a tack in my front tire. I removed it, thinking that I could just replace the tube with the spare I keep in my bag. Well, I had emptied my bag in the Tuesday madness and forget to replace my bike supplies Wednesday morning. I had a nice unexpected walk to and from the train stations in the warm summer evening. I would have enjoyed it even more if it weren’t for me carrying the flat tire and a messenger bag full of groceries and then getting home a few minutes before 9PM. It’s difficult to rush yourself to sleep. I think I fell asleep around 11 – 11:30 and then was up before dawn at 5:30 AM for my morning run. I’m freakin’ exhausted.
One of the trainers fixed my flat after our company meeting this morning and another relocated my taillight so I can now store my toolkit under the seat. I said, “What would I do without all these helpful people?”
J-Racer commented, “It’s not you I would worry about.” We then went into a brief conversation about spoiled people. He said, “If you depend too much on other people to give you what you want, you’re setting yourself for the possibility of being disappointed.”
“You’re setting yourself up for inevitable disappointment.” I corrected him. It’s true. You are the only person you can truly count on, and we humans occasionally fail ourselves as well. It’s not a big deal. There’s no need to emotionally attach ourselves so strongly to any particular outcome. I’d rather spend my life enjoying it moment to moment than to be constantly pissed off about something that didn’t go my way or worried about what is going to happen in the future.
What I am emotionally attached to right at this moment is going home and getting in bed early, universe willing.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Feed the Hungry
I was hoping for some action in my love life before mom goes home to the Philippines to build her retirement home and I move back into the old house here. When that happens, I probably won't have any energy for dating during the first month or so (maybe longer). My bike commute mileage will more than double to 17 miles each way and I'll have a bunch of home improvement projects to complete before the place is presentable for entertaining.
If anything exciting were to happen, I am not even certain who it would be with. I'm not in the mood to play the game with anyone lately because of the training. I just added the 2nd lap to my 3x weekly morning runs, bringing it to just over 6 miles. Unfortunately it slowed my average speed down to 13 minutes per mile, but I'll get faster over the next few weeks. The post-run upset stomach has returned, but that should clear up soon too... I hope.
I'm now entering my eighth month of abstinence and I am truly OVER IT. My body is sending out all these signals, but I have no idea where to direct them. I'd like to suppress the desires and control the physical cues, which is normally relatively easy for me to do. Lately, though, I feel like there's a "Vacancy" sign on my forehead. I've been receiving some brazen propositions. Some of them from the past weekend's party were rather uncouth. Upon waking the next morning, I recounted the previous evening's occurrences in my head and laughed out loud. I am convinced that there must be something I am doing differently. I have yet to determine whether I can use this to my advantage or if I'm just a passenger on this ride.
The temporary suspension of partying looms closely before me. I won't be able to stay up late anymore after another week or so of this training. Even now my eyes are burning and eyelids heavy at just 10:30 PM. In the morning I must get out of the house before dawn to do my new longer run and still get to work at a reasonable hour. Oh yeah, and my bike tire had a flat so I left the frame at work. I've got to find some other non-car method of getting to the office tomorrow...
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