the malaise

Distance: 3.5 miles
Time: 35:15
Pace: 10:05/mile
Time of Day: 10:30 a.m.
Temperature: 66 degrees

Today I have the running malaise. I didn't run on Friday because of an ultimate frisbee tournament on Saturday, and I didn't run on Sunday because I felt like I got hit by a bus when I woke up. I felt the same way I did on one of my first runs in Cambridge--mentally discouraged and slow in spite of the cool weather and the fact that I've been running regularly all summer. Back in June 2007, a 2.5 mile bridge loop felt like a big deal; now that's barely a warmup on one of my long runs. I'm hoping that both the rain and this malaise go away soon.

track workout

Today I went to the Cambridge Running Club track workout for the first time in ages. It felt good to be back!

The workout:

Everyone:
15-25:00 warm-up; drills; 4x100 meter strides

A1 4x2000@ 10k pace; recovery is 50-90% of the time it took to do the previous interval
A2 3x2000 @ 10k pace; recovery is the same as above

I got there late because of traffic so I skipped the warmup, drills and strides. My usual running partner was not there so I decided to go for 9:00 mile pace on the A2 workout.

My results:

1) 2:08.53, 2:05.83, 2:05.80, 2:07.50, 1:57.71, total = 10:25.98, pace = 8:20.8

2) 2:09.11, 2:02.11, 2:01.74, 1:57.50, 1:51.94, total = 10:02.86, pace = 8:02.3

3) 2:00.27, 1:57.34, 1:56.12, 1:55.58, 1:46.69, total = 9:36, average = 7:40.8

I am proud of myself--I did a lot better than 9:00 mile pace today! I think I got in 5K pace mode by mistake though. I'm looking forward to next week.

short run today

Distance: 4.64 miles
Time: 40:11
Pace: 8:40/mile
Temperature: 63 degrees
Time of Day: 7:00 p.m.

As I walked back to my apartment after a stomach cramp 40 minutes into my run, I looked up at the gray sky and thought, "the weather's finally starting to turn again." I'd felt this way in May when I ran the Boston Run to Remember--back then, the hints of sun that hit my shoulders felt like a sweet contrast to the chilly wind of late winter/early spring. My tan is starting to fade and the days during which I curse the "hot Mexican sun" for making my Propel turn warm after a mile are now few and far between. Sigh...guess it's time to retire the Champion sports bras and bring out the shirts...I almost miss D.C. heat and humidity.

Wendy 2, deer 0

I arguably ran eight miles this morning…closer to ran six and walked here and there to a little over eight miles covered. Ostensibly, the walking bits were where/when I wanted to take in the scenery along the towpath (map at left courtesy of orcno.com), but I’ve also felt kind of sluggish lately (although when I got back to the car and checked the time, I realized I must have been running faster than I thought). I’m not sleeping well, and have resorted to sleeping pills on more than one occasion. Then again, if I were running more, I think I’d be sleeping better…

It was the first time I’ve run the towpath alone. I saw slugs (out in full force, maybe 50 of them here and there), two matching caterpillars, a heron, a few sparrow-type birds, and had a showdown with a deer. This happened the last time I ran the path, too. Deer are a little scary up close; they look like they could kick you to next week, particularly if they seem to be guarding a fawn. These park deer seem to be fairly used to people on the path and this one merely stared back at me as I slowed my approach, then shuffled off to the side to let me pass. Unfortunately I didn’t see any eaglets, though the park website says it's out and we can make noise on the path again.

I’m frustrated that my endurance seems to have taken a beating, though I didn’t feel that tired when it was over. I think I need to work on slowing myself down, and running steadily (though I keep reading that interspersing bouts of walking in a long run can improve endurance over time, better than running alone). By now, a few hours after showering and lunching, I feel strong. If only I could have felt this capable while actually RUNNING.

And guess which four-mile “interval” run I didn’t do yesterday? Yep, THAT one. I think I ran early enough this morning to allow myself to make it up tomorrow afternoon, even if I follow it up with an easy five-miler on Friday morning. Weekend off!

Standout track of the day: “M 79,” Vampire Weekend (BPM unknown, but it’s not for pace, it's for joy!)

By way of introduction...

Thank you, Kristina, for inviting me along! I hope that by writing a little about my running, I can keep from boring my non-running friends, as well as be inspired by (or an inspiration to) you and James and anyone who reads this blog.

As for today, I did a run/walk for three miles around my neighborhood. I hadn’t intended to walk at all, and wanted to go a full five, but the humidity was oppressive come mid-afternoon. Now, normally I would have run around 7:00 this morning. Lately, though, without NEEDING to get up for anything, I’ve become a big fan of the snooze button. I probably should have just run on my treadmill to stay in the air-conditioning, but I wanted to be outside. And for the most part, it felt really good: light on my feet, quick pace, joints and form solid.

I got to test out my running mix, which I’ve been rebuilding since I got a new computer last week. Using beaTunes, I analyzed my library to ascertain each song’s BPM, aiming to add only those from the high 140s-160 to my running mix. It’s an imprecise science, but I now have a little red shuffle loaded with ten hours of run-worthy music that’s mostly of the right speed (“Hey Ya!” hits the BPM sweet spot and clocks in at 159, which should have me running something around a 9-minute mile, depending on stride. I tend not to time myself beyond checking the clock when I leave and come back. As long as I have an idea of where I’m at, speed-wise, I feel comfortable just logging the miles and building up endurance). Standout track of the day: “Always Something There to Remind Me,” Naked Eyes (149 BPM).

The rest of the week will go ideally a bit like this: four to five miles of play-list “intervals” tomorrow (i.e., I set the treadmill pace to whatever speed gets my feet pounding in time to whatever song pops up, so I only have to keep up any pace for about three minutes), a pre-dawn eight-miler on the towpath on Wednesday, yoga and relaxation on Thursday, and five-miler through my neighborhood early on Friday. Weekend will be off as I will be out of town (though I’m not flying, so I should have the extra cargo space to take my shoes, just in case…).

Okay, and so you know where I’m headed long-term, my goals for the next few months are thus: bump my mileage up from around 20 to around 30 miles a week (this may be optimistic) and get my half-marathon time to two hours or under (I did the Cleveland half in May in 2:13) for a as-yet-to-be-determined half-marathon in October. Suggestions, anyone?

shaking up the playlist

I am pondering a Harvard stadium run (provided that no teams are practicing there) tomorrow...and a more vicious playlist to inspire the breaking of more running goals and generally being a fierce panda.

Debuting this 3 hour playlist on the iPod tomorrow. I'm trying to get psyched for 18-20 mile runs now!

1. "Sorry" - Madonna
2. "The Hand That Feeds" - Nine Inch Nails
3. "Enter Sandman" - Metallica
4. "Come As You Are" - Nirvana
5. "Voodoo People" - The Prodigy
6. "You Shook Me All Night Long" - AC/DC
7. "Dani California" - Red Hot Chili Peppers
8. "Hot For Teacher" - Van Halen
9. "Seven Nation Army" - White Stripes
10. "Bring Me To Life" - Evanescence
11. "Sexual" - Amber
12. "Evenflow" - Pearl Jam
13. "Banquet" - Bloc Party
14. "Smells Like Teen Spirit" - Nirvana
15. "We Will Rock You" - Queen
16. "The Bad Touch" - Bloodhoung Gang
17. "Comfort Eagle" - Cake
18. "Rock and Roll" - Led Zeppelin
19. "Girls" - Beastie Boys
20. "Cherub Rock" - Smashing Pumpkins
21. "You Oughta Know" - Alanis Morrissette
22. "Beware Of The Boys" - Panjabi MC feat. Jay-Z
23. "Basket Case" - Green Day
24. "American Girl" - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
25. "Intergalactic" - Beastie Boys
26. "Somnambulist" - BT
27. "Laid" - James
28. "Remember The Name" - Fort Minor
29. "The Way You Wear Your Head" - Nada Surf
30. "Don't Stop The Music" - Rihanna
31. "Dancing With Myself" - Billy Idol
32. "You Really Got Me" - Van Halen
33. "Hella Good" - No Doubt
34. "Get It Together" - Beastie Boys
35. "Only" - Nine Inch Nails
36. "Shut Up and Drive" - Rihanna
37. "Crazy" - Gnarls Barkley
38. "Get By" - Talib Kweli
39. "Used To Love U" - John Legend
40. "Lucifer" - Jay-Z
41. "Superstar" - Jamelia
42. "Breathe" - The Prodigy
43. "Self-Esteem" - Offspring
44. "U + Ur Hand" - Pink
45. "Tambourine" - Eve
46. "Don't Stop Believin'" - Journey
47. "fhqwhgads" - Strong Bad

I am also getting the following on Amazon once I'm employed again:
"Take California" - The Propellerheads
"Eye of the Tiger" - Survivor
"Superhero" - Jane's Addiction
"Here I Go Again" - Whitesnake
"I'm Shipping Up to Boston" - Dropkick Murphys
"Pour Some Sugar on Me" - Def Leppard
"Rebel Yell" - Billy Idol
"I Kissed a Girl" - Katy Perry

Thanks to Sahan for providing me with Rocky and girl-on-girl songs.

long run today

Distance: 14.66 miles
Time: 2:35:56
Pace: 10:39/mile
Temperature: 76 degrees
Time of Day: 7:17 a.m.

I tried to make it to 15.5 miles today but only got to 2:35. The humidity was worse than on my last long run and I took a bottle of water instead of Propel. I thought that eating a lot of pasta might have canceled out my lack of sleep, but it did not. I'll try for 15.5 miles again next week.