Miles last week: 50!! (just sayin')
Miles this week: 32/50
How can something as standard as distance be so subjective?
Every run is different- you have good days and bad days. Slow or fast, tired or strong. Miles can fly by or drag on endlessly. Why? How can the same line of street seem to extend and expand as if fault-lines were spreading apart right beneath my sneakers, birthing new concrete as I run. And other times scenery passes by faster than I can register. I just don't get it.
I've finally started using MapMyRun to keep my miles straight. Most of the cumulative distances of routes are passed down by word of my on the XC Club Team. Considering the exaggeration (and egos) of some of the runners, I decided I wanted a second, more qualitative opinion. As I clicked from point to point on the digital map, outlining my route in a connect-the-dots fashion, I was surprise to see how long a really mile is. Did you know the furthest-most reaches of campus, when lassoed into one ovular track, are just barely beyond 3 miles? Sad, huh?
So at the corner of Shortlidge and College, when my running buddy Liz pointed toward Burrows and said ".8 miles," I was incredulous. It took only four minutes to jog to Atherton. I don’t run no four minutes miles. So I ran beyond her suggestion, just in case.
I worry sometimes- I feel that miles and their sensory-based times are directly related to how you feel. And like I said- some days your legs are just unpredictable. What can I do to make sure my miles- all 27 or so- fly by? And how do I prepare myself for the moment I know will inevitably come, that part in the race when both I and my distance start to slow down?
Done!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Need for Speed
Miles: 35/40+
I've been focusing on distance. I’ve done a ten and a half, a nine and a half, and a nine mile run this week. Then a five and a half mile short run. Each one at a decent pace. I want to up my endurance, going home for a long 15 mile run this Saturday. I need to train every part of me, I’ve realized. I don't want my mind to be scared when my body begins to ache, as I know it will. My legs buckle and my insides bubble. I've felt it before. I anticipate it again.
I've been putting off speed work. I loathe it, sprints and intervals in all there forms. Yet today I got some worked in anyway.
I have never run, showered and biked as fast as I did to get to Eisenhower on time today for Jane Goodall's speech. It’s amazing how fast you can go when you’ve got something good waiting at the end,
After eight miles with one of my best XC friends, I wanted to round off my run closer to ten. With my roundtable discussion with Dame Goodall in less than an hour away, I forwent dinner and tacked on the University loop. I booked it up University drive and back down Shortlidge. And the thing is, for all my avoidance of speed work, I've found I'm not an unhealthy as I thought it was. Not as slow. I'm much stronger, in body and mind, than I had thought. Hands numb and legs pumping, tired and rushing back to my dorm... I felt good.
I've been so scared I won't be ready for this marathon- that I haven't done enough- but today, with the clock ticking and Dame Goodall waiting, mind triumphed over matter. I felt happy to run, though my body was tired. A rare combination for me, and a small but worthy victory against the doubt that shadows my steps.
I've been focusing on distance. I’ve done a ten and a half, a nine and a half, and a nine mile run this week. Then a five and a half mile short run. Each one at a decent pace. I want to up my endurance, going home for a long 15 mile run this Saturday. I need to train every part of me, I’ve realized. I don't want my mind to be scared when my body begins to ache, as I know it will. My legs buckle and my insides bubble. I've felt it before. I anticipate it again.
I've been putting off speed work. I loathe it, sprints and intervals in all there forms. Yet today I got some worked in anyway.
I have never run, showered and biked as fast as I did to get to Eisenhower on time today for Jane Goodall's speech. It’s amazing how fast you can go when you’ve got something good waiting at the end,
After eight miles with one of my best XC friends, I wanted to round off my run closer to ten. With my roundtable discussion with Dame Goodall in less than an hour away, I forwent dinner and tacked on the University loop. I booked it up University drive and back down Shortlidge. And the thing is, for all my avoidance of speed work, I've found I'm not an unhealthy as I thought it was. Not as slow. I'm much stronger, in body and mind, than I had thought. Hands numb and legs pumping, tired and rushing back to my dorm... I felt good.
I've been so scared I won't be ready for this marathon- that I haven't done enough- but today, with the clock ticking and Dame Goodall waiting, mind triumphed over matter. I felt happy to run, though my body was tired. A rare combination for me, and a small but worthy victory against the doubt that shadows my steps.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
A [Spring] Break in the Routine
Miles over break: ~12 (frowny face here; less than half my usual)
Meals: Mostly PB and J's, maybe a banana on a good afternoon.
Service: Incredible (more than a million times my usual)
For Jesus to become more, I must become less. (John 3:30).
For all the time I spend thinking about running, lifting, and well- me me me, it was good to step back and get some perspective this past week. Not jogging sunny Floridian beaches or some Bahaman sea-side highway. I had a tougher type of training. Lots to clean, young girls to mentor, crack and heroin addicts to share God's love with at 1 am under the SEPTA railway. We gave them food, clothes, and the option to move into a safe house and off the streets. It was sobering, it was bold. It made me stop thinking about myself- for once. I served God more, and really tried hard to serve my own needs less.
And He really took my anxiety about running away, and on Tuesday, blessed me with the opportunity to run (and I mean run!) around the city. Eight miles. One hour. From Fishtown to Center City, to the Historical district, down by Penn's Landing and back again. It was quite a tour, and reminded me of why I love running so much. From new sights, new places, the feeling of stretching out my legs and sprinting off into an adventure.
And now back at State College, I worry of losing the same feeling excitement in both my faith and my running life. How can you keep running the same miles and routes fresh, day in and day out? How can I keep this from becoming work again?
Meals: Mostly PB and J's, maybe a banana on a good afternoon.
Service: Incredible (more than a million times my usual)
For Jesus to become more, I must become less. (John 3:30).
For all the time I spend thinking about running, lifting, and well- me me me, it was good to step back and get some perspective this past week. Not jogging sunny Floridian beaches or some Bahaman sea-side highway. I had a tougher type of training. Lots to clean, young girls to mentor, crack and heroin addicts to share God's love with at 1 am under the SEPTA railway. We gave them food, clothes, and the option to move into a safe house and off the streets. It was sobering, it was bold. It made me stop thinking about myself- for once. I served God more, and really tried hard to serve my own needs less.
And He really took my anxiety about running away, and on Tuesday, blessed me with the opportunity to run (and I mean run!) around the city. Eight miles. One hour. From Fishtown to Center City, to the Historical district, down by Penn's Landing and back again. It was quite a tour, and reminded me of why I love running so much. From new sights, new places, the feeling of stretching out my legs and sprinting off into an adventure.
And now back at State College, I worry of losing the same feeling excitement in both my faith and my running life. How can you keep running the same miles and routes fresh, day in and day out? How can I keep this from becoming work again?
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Chasing Pavements
Miles this week: ~25/35
Good stuff.
But good enough? I’m never sure.
Spring break is coming up. I'd love to say I'm running on the sandy beaches of Florida, or along the windy roads of the Californian coast. But no- to Philadelphia I go.
I'm going on a nine day mission trip with ACF- my church group here on campus. I praise the Lord for this opportunity to serve. Yet, I’m still uncertain. I'm going to work hard and pray hard, but can I still run hard? I've never really run urban areas before. My race is in a city. This could be good.
"Some days you just won't have time," my youth group leader Jackie says. "We'll be working sun up to sun down."
Gulp.
"But if you can find someone to run with you, and the time, go ahead."
So now my running fate hangs on the willingness of others. Another gulp. Yet one week off won't ruin my body. But it could ruin my confidence. I'm not having trouble running anymore. If anything I have to restrain myself. A day off leaves me tapping my nails in anxiety, eyeing every spandex clad girl that huffs by. This has made me more motivated, though. I got in nine and eight mile runs this week and felt great after. But can I relax this for a week without flipping out? I sometime get so looped into letting my image of myself crash if I don't run. Can I put this aside for nine days if God asks me to, and serve?
I honestly can't tell you.
Good stuff.
But good enough? I’m never sure.
Spring break is coming up. I'd love to say I'm running on the sandy beaches of Florida, or along the windy roads of the Californian coast. But no- to Philadelphia I go.
I'm going on a nine day mission trip with ACF- my church group here on campus. I praise the Lord for this opportunity to serve. Yet, I’m still uncertain. I'm going to work hard and pray hard, but can I still run hard? I've never really run urban areas before. My race is in a city. This could be good.
"Some days you just won't have time," my youth group leader Jackie says. "We'll be working sun up to sun down."
Gulp.
"But if you can find someone to run with you, and the time, go ahead."
So now my running fate hangs on the willingness of others. Another gulp. Yet one week off won't ruin my body. But it could ruin my confidence. I'm not having trouble running anymore. If anything I have to restrain myself. A day off leaves me tapping my nails in anxiety, eyeing every spandex clad girl that huffs by. This has made me more motivated, though. I got in nine and eight mile runs this week and felt great after. But can I relax this for a week without flipping out? I sometime get so looped into letting my image of myself crash if I don't run. Can I put this aside for nine days if God asks me to, and serve?
I honestly can't tell you.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)