I suck at training alone

So, one of the reasons Jenni and I started this blog was to encourage each other to keep running from a distance because we were so good at encouraging each other when we were together. We have both been way too busy to blog lately, so this method seems to be failing. Also, I am failing at sticking to my training schedule. I had a friend in town, then it snowed, etc., etc. I can always seem to find an excuse. I haven't done a "long" training run in a while. All of my recent runs over the past month or so have been between 2-3 miles. According to my training program for the Austin Half Marathon, I should have run 10 miles today. Ha! So, it appears that I am very behind. I did run today (and two other times this week) and all three of these runs have been quite good. I feel invigorated and happy to be back running regularly. Today I planned to do 7 miles and wasn't sure if I would succeed since it has been so long since I have cracked 3 miles. But, I did it! And it felt good!

The snow is mostly gone right now, and it isn't supposed to snow again all week, so I am going to try to get in as many runs as possible before I have to retire to the treadmill for the better part of the winter. I have never really used a treadmill to train with because I find them BORING, but my dad reassures me that if there is a TV to watch or something, I will be find cranking out 10 miles on a treadmill. We will see.

Today was cold (-1 Celsius) and there were some ice patches when I was in the trails. This resulted in me doing weird tippy-toe hoping movements every so often, and if anyone was watching me, they would have thought I was crazy. I ran around the Waterfowl park for part of it and it looked really cool all frozen with the sun shining off of it. I will try to get a picture some time soon.

For now, I am going to do my best to get back on track, training-wise. I am going to do another 6 or 7 miles on tuesday, and then try for 8 next weekend. I still have almost 3 months until the race, so I am not too worried...yet.

P.S. Jenni - you need to write about the Warrior Dash!

Distance: 7 miles on pavement and trails
Number of stars: 4
Lessons learned: I suck at training alone
Song that rocked my run: The entire "All Day" album from GirlTalk 

The good, the bad, the unpretty: a confessional post.

1.) I checked outside at 10:30am and it wasn't that hot; I was terribly mistaken; 3 minutes into my run I was sweating so much that it was dripping down my face into my eyes and mouth.

2.) I went to bed early last night so that I could get up early and run; I went to bed early last night after drinking beers with friends from 4-8pm; Not only did I not run early, but I ran dehydrated.

3.) I ran 5 miles; I only continued the last mile because I was one mile from home; I kept the timer and gps running the entire time.

4.) I wore my Ragnar technical t-shirt and it made me happy; I should have worn a tank top; In one of the back neighborhoods I took my shirt off to wipe up all the sweat dripping off my face and then put it back on.

5.) Mueller park is beautiful to run in; I walked most of the "running" minutes in Mueller park; Two little kids and an old man passed me up.

6.) I was running with 24 oz of cytomax and water; I drank it all before mile 3; I was spitting like a maniac after mile 3.

7.) I went running despite my arms being very sore from boot camp; I hold my arms very high snd stiff when I run; My arms might be even more sore now!

8.) There were lots of friendly people out and about; Except for the few who were unfriendly; And that one guy who was holding a chain saw that was switched on and wasn't looking around the sidewalk he was on.

9.) I ran 5 miles (did I already say that); I'm running 6.5 in a week; Two of my friends are counting on me to not suck at it.

10.) I hit all my marks during the first mile and a half; I missed every one after that; The misses were much more significant than the hits.

Distance: 5.02 miles

Time: 65:02:29

Mad props to: The neighbors who were shamelessly watering their yard during water restrictions; Because I ran through the sprinklers; both ways!

Song that rocked my run: Womanizer, by Britney Spears.

aw, what the hell - I said it was confessional. Womanizer, by Britney Spears totally rocked my run (and does most runs). I run best when I'm angry, and I can easily find 5 minutes of Womanizer moments to power me through thanks to Brit and her song!!

Keeping on schedule

I have been surprising myself by actually sticking to the schedule as set out by Austin Fit. I did a few short 25 minute runs on the weekdays and then did the scheduled 5 miles on Saturday. I took a new route on Saturday, down one of the trails in my neighbourhood (can I spell like a Canadian here?). At first I was a little nervous because the beginning of the trail was really narrow and surrounded on both sides by trees. I almost turned back, but I kept on trucking and within a couple of minutes, it opened up to a wider trail with farms on both sides. I definitely felt safer, that was until I came within 2 feet of a cow. She was standing right at the edge of the trail. Behind a fence, but RIGHT THERE! I say that I love cows, and I collect pictures and figurines of them, but whenever I have been anywhere near a real cow I am terrified! This cow was HUGE. As were all of its nearby friends. Added to the cow terror was the fact that I was running head on into the strongest wind I have ever experienced on a run. I felt like I was in a wind tunnel. I think that added at least a half a mile to my journey since the wind kept pushing me back. It was hard, too!

While running, I was contemplating about the fact that most of my runs lately have felt un-good. I just can't seem to get into the groove where I forget about time and just wanna keep running. Or at least to a point where I am not looking at my watch every 45 seconds. I miss that. I want that. What I really need is Jenni to tell me stories while I run. That always makes my runs go nicely. Maybe in addition to the blog, Jenni needs to do a podcast that I can listen to while I run. Or maybe I should just find a really interesting podcast to listen to while I run. Hmmm. Will have to look into that.

Another promise :)

I have been the queen of coming up with reasons why I just cannot run these days. Either it's too hot, or too cold, or my allergies are too bad, or I drank too much beer last night, and the list goes on.

My plan when I first moved here was to follow the half marathon training program that I did last year, through Austin Fit, even though I didn't have a half marathon to run at the end of it. I was actually hoping to get down to San Antonio to run the Rock n Roll half marathon in November, but instead, my best friend in the whole wide world is coming to visit me in New Brunswick, which is WAY better. Also, Jenni will not be able to run it this year either. (That reminds me, Jenni, we should plan to meet somewhere else to do a R n R half marathon. Dallas? Nashville? Vegas? Or maybe I can just come to Austin for another half.) Anyway, my point is, that I was planning on following a training program, and I am not really doing that very well. I keep getting emails from the Austin Fit coordinator telling my what my long runs should be each week, and I consistently ignore them. Well, not anymore. I have made public my commitment to run the 13K Terry Fox Run in September by emailing all of my family members and posting it on Facebook. Now is the time to get back into training mode.

According to Austin Fit, this weekend was supposed to be 4 miles plus drills. I did not do that. In fact I did very little all weekend, except walk a lot. Today is a moderately cold, rainy day, and my best runs usually happen in these conditions. So, today, I shall do my 4 miles plus drills. As Jenni may remember, I hate drills with a passion, probably even more than she hates the treadmill, but dammit, I will do them! I have a long driveway that is perfect for hopping, skipping, and jumping all over. I am also putting the Austin Fit schedule into my google calendar so that it is there every day looking me in the face. I can't say that I will do everything on the schedule, but I will commit to doing the long runs every week, and most of the short runs.

Here goes nothing.....

welcome to Texas Summer

The other day LD asked if I'd run, and when I said no she said she was just asking to make me feel guilty - for which I'm grateful. I need some accountability. Sadly, though, I had very few plans to actually run this week, so I don't feel like a failure. I just feel - lazy.

Let me introduce you to my friend Texas Summer, who is here in full force. It's hot. All day. Every day. Yesterday and today the forecast has been for Thunderstorms. Mid week the forecast was for partly sunny days. In reality, the whole week has been beautifully sunny, big bright blue skies, puffy white clouds, and temperatures near 100 already.

What this means for running though, is disastrous. If you want to be outside (which I do!) you must get going and be done before 9am for sure. Even 8:30 is sometimes too hot. And the humidity, it's much worse in the morning. If it cooled down in the evening, night would be the best time to run - but it doesn't. This makes scheduling a run pretty tricky. Getting up and out around 6:30 is my usual plan, but some weeks when there is a lot going on, this is just impossible. This was one of those weeks. There was a lot going on, and running never made it on to my schedule.

Without LD here to suffer through these runs with me, I envision a few more trips to the treadmill this summer. Perhaps I can do some speed work there.