Day 167: All the Way Around!

On day 167, I finally ran all the way around 3-mile, winding, hilly Chastain Park, no stopping!

This in and of itself sounds pretty good compared to my last attempt at running around this park, but what makes it better is that I had taken a four-hour red eye flight from Portland to Atlanta that morning, slept for about two of those hours, got into Atlanta at 6:00 AM, WENT TO WORK, and came home and ran the best I ever have.

Oh, and that I hadn't run in the four-ish days I had been in Portland, and had turned my bloodstream into beer and doughnut superhighway. 

(NOTE: This is also impressive behavior post-overnight flight if you remember after my San Diego red eye, that I slept from 11:00 AM to 5:30 PM.)

But yes, the run was simply fantastic. I got up the winding hill no problem, as if I had blown the hill up in my mind to be way more of what it ever was. The long straightaway that I almost puked on last time was just a breeze, and I rounded the corner, ready for the next hilly climb with plenty of juice left in the tank. When I got to my car, I even thought that I should just keep running because I felt so good. I didn't keep going because all the race training guides say to take it easy the week of the race, but now, 6 days in retrospect, I wish I had seen how far I was capable of.

I'll see on my next run :)

Day 155: Almost DOES Count

Usain Bolt is faster than me. 

Day 155 was a Thursday and a running day. It was also one of these unseasonably, beautifully warm days that have generously followed Snowmageddon 2011, making me want to run outside. We have a great little park nearby (Chastain) that's ~3 miles around and perfect for practicing a 10K. A mostly manageable course with  couple of hard hills, lots of interesting scenery, tons of other runners, etc.

Running on the treadmill in sporadic bursts for 4 miles does NOT mean that I can run all three miles around this park, however. As I discussed with Katie from Running Down a Dream, a 5 mile treadmill run is about equivalent to a 3 mile real run. I haven't gotten up to five miles on the treadmill, but I was REALLY wanting to add "Ran all the way around Chastain Park" to my New Things for the day.

Sadly, it just wasn't meant to be.

I got a mile around no problem, and then up the first half of "The Winding Hill" like a champ, and then got halfway up the second half before thinking I would verifiably stop breathing, keel over, die, and never wake up. So I stopped--and I failed.

I walked maybe another tenth of a mile before starting to run again, down this .8 mile straightaway which I was actually excited about. The last time I ran around Chastain, I had this straightaway like a charm. I was really tired and I pushed really hard to get to the stop sign at the end of the path, but I did it with gusto and was proud of myself.

This time around, my internal dialogue was like "Yeah, I got this. Piece of cake road. This is all down hill from here. Look at me! Woo!"

New day, new run.

I ran all the way, but I was starting to get really, really tired towards the end, but I was pushing through. "Maybe I didn't realize how tired I was getting last time...Gee wilikers this is hard...just keep running kid, you did this before!"

I got to the stop sign, slowed down, and without warning, I started gagging uncontrollably.

WHO AM I??? AM I THAT OUT OF SHAPE?

I felt like one of those kids on MTV's "I Used to Be Fat" who invariably pukes their guts out on their first workout!

So I didn't make it all the way around Chastain Park, although I did make it farther than I had before. Almost doesn't count after all.

Day 153: Sprinting

So, as many of you know, I'm training for a 10K. "Training" is actually a loose term, because mostly it involves me going to the treadmill to run for as long as I can before I get bored (~20 minutes), feeling bad about quitting before I really needed to, pretending I care again, and running for another 10-15 minutes to appease myself. By that time, I've hit about 3.5ish miles and I say to myself "I'm quitting while I still feel good. I'll hit 4 tomorrow, and then 5 the next day." And then in my brain, 6 miles of running seems a completely attainable goal! I'm only 3 days away...even though I've only ever run half of the goal distance.

Another thing to know--I run about as pathetically slowly as one can run to keep moving forward. It's 5.5 mph on the treadmill (an 11 minute mile, that a really tall guy could walk in the same amount of time), and I'm pretty convinced that's about my pace when I run outside too.

I blame this all on the fact that I NEVER ran growing up and I'm pretty sure I don't know how. Running for me is extremely awkward and a sort of joggy-hoppy-walky concoction of motion--none of this "Finding my Stride" stuff. I just never learned how to do it growing up in sports (I was a ballet dancer), and from the fact that there is no legitimate reason that humans ever have to run anymore, I just don't know how.

I digress.

Anyway. Day 153's thing emerged on the treadmill, when I was going through my normal routine. I ran 2 miles, crapped out and walked for five minutes, ran another 1.5 miles, crapped out and walked for a second, and then...instead of walking away and wishing I'd make it to 4 tomorrow, I turned that puppy up to 6 mph and I did, what was for me, a SPRINT to round out my 4 miles. My "sprint" only lasted a half a mile, but I was sweaty and fulfilled and I felt like I had pushed myself and "trained" for the very first time.

Day 127: Road Runner

On Day 127, I began training for the Chattahoochee Road Runner's 10K, which I am using to get a qualifying spot for the Peachtree Road Race 10K, from which I will springboard into the Thanksgiving Day Half-Marathon 2011. If nothing goes horribly wrong.

If you read my goals post, you would see that I had planned to run a half-marathon before my birthday this year, but I'm a girlfriend, blogger extraordinaire, entrepreneur-in-the-making, yogi, and 9-5 office drone. Cut me a couple months slack.

Why am I doing this? I'm not sure exactly. I just feel like I need to be celebrating what my young body can do. If I ever run a marathon, I will do it only once, and only to say I did it. And, my gorgeous, ambitious, novice runner friend Katie Bahran is just killing it up in New York with her running goals and I'm jealous.

My workout was pretty easy, but I hadn't run since attempting the Peachtree last year. Mark some how smuggled me into Gym of Buckhead (uh...she forgot her keys...uh..she's under my name...uh...she's a guest looking to join the gym! (last excuse worked). I got on the treadmill and walked a half mile, ran a whole mile, walked another half, ran another whole mile, and walked another half mile. I could have run for another mile, except for the fact that Mark had been ripping up the treadmill on full speed during this time and was ready to peace out (rightfully so).

So yes, Day 1 of training was nothing to write home about, but I've started yet another "thing" (heaven help me!) and I'm sticking to it.

You can sleep when you die, right?