Saturday, January 21, 2012

Half Marathon Training [week 3]

This week had some ups and downs, but overall, I felt like it was a strong week. I had the day off Monday, so I got to run in the morning. This is always a nice weekday treat! However, the school in my town did not have the day off, which meant that my usually clear mile or so through the school parking lots and frontage road were not an option because I didn't want to dodge school buses and teenage drivers. The snow we'd gotten earlier in the weekend had time to melt a little and refreeze, making for slippery running conditions--not to mention that many of the sidewalks weren't clear. Including the sidewalk in front of the police station and town hall, which was so piled with snow that I had to walk into the busy street. That was kind of a pain, but I still finished three miles in 33 minutes. Not bad considering the conditions! Tuesday was my best 5k time yet! I finished in 29:45, shaving 14 seconds off my previous best time. The funny thing was my RunMeter app wasn't working correctly and didn't announce my pace or time, so I had no idea what my time was until I finished. I kind of like it that way, because I focused on how I felt instead of what the computer was telling me. Unfortunately, I need the app to tell me distance, so it's not an option to turn that off all of the time. I kind of screwed up on Thursday and underestimated how very cold it would be. Instead of packing my Mizuno gear, I just packed regular tights and a zip up hoodie. It was cold! Single digits cold, so I ran on the treadmill. Fortunately I was only scheduled to run two miles, but I was still pouty because I'd been looking forward to a quick, easy two miles outside. Thanks, winter. You're a dumb jerk. It took me 21 minutes and I managed to hit the emergency stop button twice. Did I mention how much I dislike the treadmill? In case I didn't mention how much I dislike the treadmill, let me reiterate. Today I was scheduled to run six miles. Because we were on a mini-vacation at a waterpark (a post is coming on that very soon), my only option was to do a treadmill run in the morning. I thought I could do it. I really, really thought I could power through my treadmill dislike and do it, but I could not. I managed to run three miles in a slow 36 minutes (during which I punctuated with tweets about how much I hate the treadmill), but I honestly felt like I'd died and was in some level of hell where I was required to run the treadmill for all of eternity (I'm pretty sure Dante would've mentioned that if treadmills were around in his time). It was awful. I turned on the TV, I listened to music, and nothing worked. It was so miserable. I stopped at three miles and got on the elliptical for 3.25 miles. I know it's not the same as a six mile run, but I'm confident that I could've ran six miles if I would've been outside. Instead of in what was so obviously hell. After my run, we went back to the waterpark where I climbed up the stairs to the top of the big slide with Luke approximately eight million times, so I'm confident that I got a good workout regardless. I really need to learn to power through my treadmill dislike. I'm trying, but mental blocks are my worst enemy. I also did a Tough Mudder workout on Wednesday. I should've done one on Friday, but after four hours in the car and three hours chasing the boys around the waterpark, I was beat! Again, I'm assuming all the stair climbing counted as conditioning. According to my Daily Mile, I've logged 104 miles since December 1st! Not bad at all--I can thank the mild December for most of that. Now that we have a taste of winter, I'm definitely ready for spring. Here's hoping I'm able to run outside this whole week...

7 comments:

Kim said...

You are amazing. Today I did my 5k and had to get another 3 miles in. My hips were hurting a bit, so I decided to just do 2 miles more. It was COLD (45 and windy!) doing those 2 miles and I thought of you and what a WUSS I have become and how you run in the snow and ice and coooold and here I am complaining about needing to wear a jacket (usually I don't).
Anyway, you are great - such an inspiration!

Catey said...

I can't do the dreadmill either. Slogging through the miles on that thing just kill me! I do it when I'm really desperate, but let's just say today I picked 8 miles outside in rain turning to snow/hail and wind instead of trying to log mileage inside. Hate it that much. And I run slower on it which bugs me too.
But on the upside-you are rockin'! :)

The Many Thoughts of a Reader said...

I think I am the only freak of nature who likes the treadmill. Though, I got irritated yesterday when I hit the emergency stop button twice as well.

Unknown said...

104 miles?!?! AMAZING. YOU? are a ROCK STAR!!!

You crack me up about the treadmill because that is where I do a lot of my training.

Just goes to show everyone is different with their running style/preferences. Hope you can run outside more since that is what YOU prefer. :)

Bari said...

You are kicking ass and taking names!

Foursons said...

You definitely got your workout in! You are doing so great. I haven't started my 10K training yet. Soon...

Corrina said...

I love reading about your training!