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
Showing posts with label excuses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label excuses. Show all posts
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Sooooo....
I did not do my run again today. I think I have a mental block that prevents me from wanting to engage in runs over 4 miles. Today I was determined not to let my excuses get the best of me. I laid out my running clothes before I went to bed nice and early last night. I woke up at 7 to tend to the fuzzy one (the dog), but I was so sleepy, so I convinced her to nap with me in the guest room before we went out for her morning stroll. That lasted all of 10 minutes until she saw someone who had the audacity to WALK PAST OUR HOUSE. There was no convincing her to rest after that atrocity. So, I went downstairs, ate my half a powerbar and drank my 8 oz of water and took her outside. We spent about 5 minutes in the back field so she could do her business, and then we went on a 20 minute walk. Great warm up for running, I thought to myself. I like to wait at least 45 minutes to let my powerbar digest, so I decided to rest on the couch for about 15 mins before I went to my run. Two hours later, I woke up. Whoops!
When I woke up, it had started raining, which I took as a sign from the universe that I really should go running. I suited up and headed out. I was hungry, and felt off, and 7 minutes into my run, my iPod died. I took that as a sign from the universe that I really shouldn't go running. So, I turned around and headed home because I suck. I did do my pilates tape when I got home. That counts, right?
When I woke up, it had started raining, which I took as a sign from the universe that I really should go running. I suited up and headed out. I was hungry, and felt off, and 7 minutes into my run, my iPod died. I took that as a sign from the universe that I really shouldn't go running. So, I turned around and headed home because I suck. I did do my pilates tape when I got home. That counts, right?
Friday, July 23, 2010
Need encouragement
It is almost 10 pm in my world, and I have planned to to a seven mile run tomorrow morning. I am already making excuses. This does not bode well. Help!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
A rainy, smelly run
Today I awoke with a slight hangover from the homemade wine my neighbour gifted me two nights ago. I had one glass the first night, and then the rest of the bottle last night. Oops. My number 1 rule is no running on a hangover because that would be terrible. It was, however, raining today, and we all know how much I love running in the rain. I vowed to go for a run at some point because I wasn't going to waste a perfectly good rainy day just cuz I was a little hungover. So, I grabbed a big cup o' water and began drinking to ease me out of my hangover state and into a running state. At about 5:30 pm, I decided the time was right. It was still raining, although only lightly, and it had been a safe 3 hours since I last ate. As I headed out, I noticed that the wind was blowing in the opposite direction than it usually does. Usually the wind comes off of the Bay of Fundy, but today it was coming off of the land towards the bay, and boy did it smell like manure! At first I thought I had stepped in something, but after checking my shoes, I figured it must just be the manure smell wafting off the farms. Yum!
About halfway through my run, it started to rain really heavily, which was fun. But because I could smell manure so strongly, it kinda felt like I was eating manure flavored rain drops as they kept dripping in my mouth. I remedied this by closing my mouth and only opening it a smidge to breath out. Overall, a good run, though.
Distance: A bit less than 3 miles on pavement
Lessons learned: I still like running in the rain - even when the rain tastes like manure
Song that rocked my run: Several Girl Talk mashups
About halfway through my run, it started to rain really heavily, which was fun. But because I could smell manure so strongly, it kinda felt like I was eating manure flavored rain drops as they kept dripping in my mouth. I remedied this by closing my mouth and only opening it a smidge to breath out. Overall, a good run, though.
Distance: A bit less than 3 miles on pavement
Lessons learned: I still like running in the rain - even when the rain tastes like manure
Song that rocked my run: Several Girl Talk mashups
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Terrible, horrible, no good, very bad run
So, I finally cranked out my 6 mile run that was a week overdue, and let me tell you, it was the worst. I hated almost every second of it. But, I did it, and I am happy that I did.
I am also happy that I overcame the excuse monster. The excuse monster was definitely on my back this morning. First of all, I started late because I was trying to figure something out on a new computer program, and I accidentally wasted 45 minutes. Then I couldn't find my inhaler, then I couldn't find my watch. And then when I stepped outside at 9:30 am it was really freaking hot. And humid. Two of my least favorite things. Even with all of these prime excuses - I decided not to go 3 separate times - I went out and ran my stupid 6 miles. I never did find my watch, so I had to make due with the timer on my iPod. I have been running 10/1 intervals, but that makes it hard to do math without an interval timer, so I switched to 9/1 intervals. After just one interval, however, I made the executive decision to change to 5/1 intervals, which soon became 4/1 intervals because the math was easier and because the run was terrible.
I spent the whole run bargaining with myself, "If I can make it one more interval, I will just quit and walk the rest of the way." Fortunately, I had walking because it takes too long, so after each 1 minute walking interval, I convinced myself to run again if only to get the damn 6 miles over with already. I don't think I have had such an unpleasant run in over a year. I can't even explain what was so bad about it. I just wasn't in the mood or something. Now that it is over, however, I can say that I am happy I went. And even happier that I overcame my excuses to go.
Shockingly, I even went on a 2 mile walk a couple of hours after my horrible run. Not sure what inspired that, but it was quite pleasant.
Distance: 6-ish miles on pavement and trails
Lessons learned: I can overcome my excuses.
Song that rocked my run: NONE. Nothing about this run rocked.
I am also happy that I overcame the excuse monster. The excuse monster was definitely on my back this morning. First of all, I started late because I was trying to figure something out on a new computer program, and I accidentally wasted 45 minutes. Then I couldn't find my inhaler, then I couldn't find my watch. And then when I stepped outside at 9:30 am it was really freaking hot. And humid. Two of my least favorite things. Even with all of these prime excuses - I decided not to go 3 separate times - I went out and ran my stupid 6 miles. I never did find my watch, so I had to make due with the timer on my iPod. I have been running 10/1 intervals, but that makes it hard to do math without an interval timer, so I switched to 9/1 intervals. After just one interval, however, I made the executive decision to change to 5/1 intervals, which soon became 4/1 intervals because the math was easier and because the run was terrible.
I spent the whole run bargaining with myself, "If I can make it one more interval, I will just quit and walk the rest of the way." Fortunately, I had walking because it takes too long, so after each 1 minute walking interval, I convinced myself to run again if only to get the damn 6 miles over with already. I don't think I have had such an unpleasant run in over a year. I can't even explain what was so bad about it. I just wasn't in the mood or something. Now that it is over, however, I can say that I am happy I went. And even happier that I overcame my excuses to go.
Shockingly, I even went on a 2 mile walk a couple of hours after my horrible run. Not sure what inspired that, but it was quite pleasant.
Distance: 6-ish miles on pavement and trails
Lessons learned: I can overcome my excuses.
Song that rocked my run: NONE. Nothing about this run rocked.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Oh, excuses, silly little things
I would like to say that I am getting better with the excuses. And I think I can say that. I am still making them, but they are less frequent and less convincing. On Monday I did not go to the beach as planned. It was raining, and I would have had to stand in the rain post-run to wait for D to get out of a meeting and then drive home all wet for 40 minutes. This sounded like a bad idea. So I didn't run on Monday. On Tuesday, I felt the whole, "I don't have time to run because I need to go to work" feeling, so I compromised. Instead of doing my 6 miles, I just did 3 and decided to postpone my long run until the weekend. So now I am a week behind. Hopefully being behind on my training plan will light a fire under my ass and keep me more motivated.
I was talking to a friend last night who is an avid runner, and we were discussing his fairly severe addiction to running. The thought of potentially not being able to run for a few weeks because of an injury made him rather distressed. I was almost jealous. I mean, I call myself a runaholic (at least on this blog), but I don't feel his intense desire to run. I feel like that makes my runaholism even more hardcore though. I mean, I am not that good at it, half the time I don't even like doing it or don't want to do it, but yet I keep doing it. (Maybe that should be our new tag line. "Running: We aren't good at it, we don't really like it, but we keep doing it.") That sounds like an addiction to me. That being said, I do long for running. I crave it when I am not doing it regularly. So why, then, do I make so many damn excuses not to do it. Hmmm, maybe I should become a psychologist so I can study this sort of ridiculous human behavior.
Back to my run on Tuesday, though. It was actually really good. I ran at the Waterfowl Park and although it was humid as hell, I still felt good while running. No wanting to die at all! I finally saw some fowl at the Waterfowl Park, but it was more scary than enjoyable. I was running along the trail when I came across a gaggle of about 12 Canadian geese that were blocking the path. As I approached them, I made lots of noise, clapping, yelling, and stomping my feet, but they just stared at me. When I got within about 10 feet of them, I realized that they weren't going anywhere, and I certainly was not going to run through the middle of a gaggle of geese. I have heard that Canadian geese can be vicious (or is that swans?) So, I just turned around and started running the other way. When I circled back around to that part of the trail about 30 minutes later, they were still there! In the exact same formation! Fortunately there is a bridge that crosses over through the middle of the park, so I was able to avoid them without having to run all the way back the way I came. Although if I had run back the way I came, I probably would have ended up running that 6 miles I was supposed to run. I guess the geese were trying to tell me something. Oh well.
Distance: 3.5 miles - mostly trails
Lessons learned: I really need a GPS watch to accurately track my run distances
Song that rocked my run: Rag and Bone by The White Stripes
I was talking to a friend last night who is an avid runner, and we were discussing his fairly severe addiction to running. The thought of potentially not being able to run for a few weeks because of an injury made him rather distressed. I was almost jealous. I mean, I call myself a runaholic (at least on this blog), but I don't feel his intense desire to run. I feel like that makes my runaholism even more hardcore though. I mean, I am not that good at it, half the time I don't even like doing it or don't want to do it, but yet I keep doing it. (Maybe that should be our new tag line. "Running: We aren't good at it, we don't really like it, but we keep doing it.") That sounds like an addiction to me. That being said, I do long for running. I crave it when I am not doing it regularly. So why, then, do I make so many damn excuses not to do it. Hmmm, maybe I should become a psychologist so I can study this sort of ridiculous human behavior.
Back to my run on Tuesday, though. It was actually really good. I ran at the Waterfowl Park and although it was humid as hell, I still felt good while running. No wanting to die at all! I finally saw some fowl at the Waterfowl Park, but it was more scary than enjoyable. I was running along the trail when I came across a gaggle of about 12 Canadian geese that were blocking the path. As I approached them, I made lots of noise, clapping, yelling, and stomping my feet, but they just stared at me. When I got within about 10 feet of them, I realized that they weren't going anywhere, and I certainly was not going to run through the middle of a gaggle of geese. I have heard that Canadian geese can be vicious (or is that swans?) So, I just turned around and started running the other way. When I circled back around to that part of the trail about 30 minutes later, they were still there! In the exact same formation! Fortunately there is a bridge that crosses over through the middle of the park, so I was able to avoid them without having to run all the way back the way I came. Although if I had run back the way I came, I probably would have ended up running that 6 miles I was supposed to run. I guess the geese were trying to tell me something. Oh well.
Distance: 3.5 miles - mostly trails
Lessons learned: I really need a GPS watch to accurately track my run distances
Song that rocked my run: Rag and Bone by The White Stripes
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Excuses, excuses
I am the queen of excuses, let me tell you. I have gotten worse about the excuses as the years go by. When I first began to run, I would pretty much run whenever and wherever. I did establish a routine for my longer runs, but for shorter runs, I just kinda did whatever.
Here is my routine for long runs:
Day before: Drink lots of water, don't eat anything greasy, no alcohol, lots of sleep
Day of: Half a power bar before the run with water, nothing else in my stomach, start early (8 am at the latest).
For my shorter runs, I would usually run after school or before work if I was working nights. Keeping in mind that I lived in Vancouver back then, so most of the time it was raining or cloudy and heat was not usually a problem. Moving to Texas made things a bit more difficult since I HATE THE HEAT. I especially hate running in the heat. In Texas, for 9 months out of the year, I was only physically capable of running before 8 am. So I became a little more rigid in the timing of my runs. If I wasn't up and out before 8, it was highly unlikely that I could convince myself to run. In addition to my heat restrictions, when I started training for the half marathon, I became afraid of longer distances. Like I would try to think of any reason I could to avoid those long runs (over 7 miles). Thankfully, I had both my running group and Jenni to be accountable to, so I usually was able to get out there and do it. I remember specifically, my first 10 mile run - also known as the BEST. RUN. EVER.- when it was thundering and raining. Before the run began, the run leader said we would not go if there was any lightning during our warm up. And boy did I ever wish for some lightning. In the end though, I went and it was awesome. I have many examples like this where I was trying to make excuses not to run, but once I started (or at least once I was finished) was so happy that I had gone through with it. You would think I would be able to use these past experiences to encourage myself to run when I don't want to. That is not the case.
Now that I am on my own over here in NB, I am finding that I make more and more excuses not to run, regardless of the length of the run. They include the following.
I drank a beer last night.
I had two glasses of wine last night.
I slept in and don't have time because I really should be doing some unspecified work.
I didn't drink enough water yesterday.
I ate too many chips yesterday, and feel gross.
I am hungry.
It is too hot.
I do not feel well for some unspecified reason.
I can't run two days in a row.
I have also convinced myself that I MUST run first thing in the morning. If something is off in the morning and I don't run first thing, I assume that I cannot go until the next day.
It is getting ridiculous.
Today I slept in until 11! That never happens. Of course when I woke up, I immediately knew that my 6 mile run was not going to happen, especially with this heat wave we are having. Then I talked to Jenni and she was going to run in Texas at 9 am, which is crazy, so I figured that I could at least go for a short run. I was really hungry, but Jenni convinced me that I could just eat AFTER my short run. I got all ready to go, walked out the door and then D suggested we go grocery shopping because he was starving. I decided that since we were both hungry, it made sense not to run, so I went back in, changed, and left for grocery shopping.
In the meantime, Jenni was out having a tough run, and reassuring herself that at least I was suffering too. When I got home and confessed to Jenni that I had not run, I felt like a total loser. I mean, there is no reason why D couldn't have waited 45 minutes for me to have a 30 minute run and a 15 minute shower. If I had suggested it, he would have totally agreed. I was just making excuses.
Jenni suggested that I just go for a run then. Well, of course, I couldn't go for a run then! It hadn't been 3 hours since I had last ate! There are rules!
But then I thought about it. I hadn't really eaten much, and it wasn't like I needed to run 6 miles, so why didn't I just go. I could always just quit if I got a cramp or got dizzy and nauseous (which is what usually happens if I don't wait 3 hours after eating to run). What a brilliant idea! I could just start, and if it sucked, I could stop. Thank you Jenni! Why had I never thought of that before?
So, I went out and did my run only 2 hours after eating lunch. And guess what? I survived! Even better, I liked it! I am going to try to remember this the next time I start making excuses.
I still didn't do my planned 6 mile run, but now I am thinking I will go do it on the trails at the beach on Monday since D has to go to Shediac for a meeting in the morning. What a brilliant idea!!
Distance: approx 2 miles on trails.
Lessons learned: I can just stop running if I feel shitty.
Song that rocked my run: Don't Stop by Brazillian Girls
Here is my routine for long runs:
Day before: Drink lots of water, don't eat anything greasy, no alcohol, lots of sleep
Day of: Half a power bar before the run with water, nothing else in my stomach, start early (8 am at the latest).
For my shorter runs, I would usually run after school or before work if I was working nights. Keeping in mind that I lived in Vancouver back then, so most of the time it was raining or cloudy and heat was not usually a problem. Moving to Texas made things a bit more difficult since I HATE THE HEAT. I especially hate running in the heat. In Texas, for 9 months out of the year, I was only physically capable of running before 8 am. So I became a little more rigid in the timing of my runs. If I wasn't up and out before 8, it was highly unlikely that I could convince myself to run. In addition to my heat restrictions, when I started training for the half marathon, I became afraid of longer distances. Like I would try to think of any reason I could to avoid those long runs (over 7 miles). Thankfully, I had both my running group and Jenni to be accountable to, so I usually was able to get out there and do it. I remember specifically, my first 10 mile run - also known as the BEST. RUN. EVER.- when it was thundering and raining. Before the run began, the run leader said we would not go if there was any lightning during our warm up. And boy did I ever wish for some lightning. In the end though, I went and it was awesome. I have many examples like this where I was trying to make excuses not to run, but once I started (or at least once I was finished) was so happy that I had gone through with it. You would think I would be able to use these past experiences to encourage myself to run when I don't want to. That is not the case.
Now that I am on my own over here in NB, I am finding that I make more and more excuses not to run, regardless of the length of the run. They include the following.
I drank a beer last night.
I had two glasses of wine last night.
I slept in and don't have time because I really should be doing some unspecified work.
I didn't drink enough water yesterday.
I ate too many chips yesterday, and feel gross.
I am hungry.
It is too hot.
I do not feel well for some unspecified reason.
I can't run two days in a row.
I have also convinced myself that I MUST run first thing in the morning. If something is off in the morning and I don't run first thing, I assume that I cannot go until the next day.
It is getting ridiculous.
Today I slept in until 11! That never happens. Of course when I woke up, I immediately knew that my 6 mile run was not going to happen, especially with this heat wave we are having. Then I talked to Jenni and she was going to run in Texas at 9 am, which is crazy, so I figured that I could at least go for a short run. I was really hungry, but Jenni convinced me that I could just eat AFTER my short run. I got all ready to go, walked out the door and then D suggested we go grocery shopping because he was starving. I decided that since we were both hungry, it made sense not to run, so I went back in, changed, and left for grocery shopping.
In the meantime, Jenni was out having a tough run, and reassuring herself that at least I was suffering too. When I got home and confessed to Jenni that I had not run, I felt like a total loser. I mean, there is no reason why D couldn't have waited 45 minutes for me to have a 30 minute run and a 15 minute shower. If I had suggested it, he would have totally agreed. I was just making excuses.
Jenni suggested that I just go for a run then. Well, of course, I couldn't go for a run then! It hadn't been 3 hours since I had last ate! There are rules!
But then I thought about it. I hadn't really eaten much, and it wasn't like I needed to run 6 miles, so why didn't I just go. I could always just quit if I got a cramp or got dizzy and nauseous (which is what usually happens if I don't wait 3 hours after eating to run). What a brilliant idea! I could just start, and if it sucked, I could stop. Thank you Jenni! Why had I never thought of that before?
So, I went out and did my run only 2 hours after eating lunch. And guess what? I survived! Even better, I liked it! I am going to try to remember this the next time I start making excuses.
I still didn't do my planned 6 mile run, but now I am thinking I will go do it on the trails at the beach on Monday since D has to go to Shediac for a meeting in the morning. What a brilliant idea!!
Distance: approx 2 miles on trails.
Lessons learned: I can just stop running if I feel shitty.
Song that rocked my run: Don't Stop by Brazillian Girls
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