beep you, malaise

Distance: 5.98 miles
Time: 55:44
Pace: 9:20/mile
Temperature: 72 degrees
Time of Day: 4:00 p.m.

The sun is back and so are my happy spirits. I made a last minute decision to go further down Concord Ave than I usually go (instead of investigating the "butt hill"). I turned left on Walden St because it seemed familiar from my walk to Danehy fields last week. However, once it turned into Reservoir St I realized that Cambridge geography could not possibly be that simple. I asked a kind passerby at the corner of Reservoir St and Huron Ave what the quickest way to the river was, and she directed me right to the intersection of Brattle and Mt. Auburn. Sweetness! The lieutenant of the toes is doing a little better.

At the risk of sounding too cutesy (and with rainbows!)...

Quick three-miler this morning, first since I've been back. I have been out of town (driving through the Catskills, Poughkeepsie, and Ithaca, accompanied by nearly perfect weather and rainbows as apologies when the weather wasn’t quite ideal). There was nothing remarkable about this run: it was my normal route (down Belvoir to Fairmount, east to Green, then back up Green to Baintree, across Belvoir and then home), the weather was pleasant, my joints felt good, and I was generally happy to be out moving again after a few days stuck in a car. A few nights ago, I was talking with a good friend who asked in passing about my running. I talked about mileage and goals and said mostly that I was happy that it was making me feel strong. He said simply, “You always were strong, Wendy; the running just made you realize it.” So today when I ran, I ran with the knowledge that I was already strong, and it made me veritably fly across the concrete, humming “Melt With You,” by Modern English (158 BPM).

the lieutenant of the toes

has fallen off. Rather, the toenail on the ring toe of my right foot has fallen off. With it has gone the malaise...I think. The sun is out, I have a new green quilt, and am feeling more comfortable about school (just crossing my fingers that I'll get a schedule finalized by the end of the week). Today I will try to explore the hills in the Porter Square neighborhood. My friend Sarah had an Olympics party recently, and I accidentally walked up a huge hill to get to her house. She and her roommates apparently all have amazing butt muscles from traipsing up that hill every day--time to fire up the ipod and see if the "butt hill" could be a new place for hill repeats!

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!)