Running In Place

Not that you asked but I put some new stuff on my mp3.

* Bittersweet Symphony - The Verve
* Tear Me Down - from Hedwig and the Angry Inch
* Stand Up - Trapt
* Marathon - Rush
* Out Tonight - from the Rent soundtrack
* Rock n Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution - AC/DC
* Someday - Flipsyde
(The above 2 are totally due to my susceptibility to commercials. AC/DC being referenced in yet another Nike commercial that sends shivers up my spine, and Flypside from the amazingly hip Winter Olympics commercials.)
* Pump It - Black Eyed Peas (ok, that was on before but I can’t bear to take it off - it helps me run fast and be all flygirl at the same time)
* Hanging Around This Town - Counting Crows (yeah, it’s the Four Kings theme song but I don’t watch that shit, I swear!)
* Pretty Vegas - INXS (as in new INXS)
* Feeling That Way - Journey (ok, feeling a little nostolgic)
* The Girl Can’t Help It - Journey
* No Sleep 2 Nite - I don’t even know who sings it, it’s from the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants soundtrack that’s the benefit of having pre-teen neices.
* Play That Funky Music - Wild Cherry

Then, of course, there’s a couple episodes of Phedippidations and an episode of Get Your Geek On!, some or all of which are awaiting my ears on the weekend long run.
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I know I’m probably the last person to see this but man I think it’s freakin hilarious!
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So. This week I took the gloves off. And I am BLISSED OUT! For the past few weeks since I got my feet back under me, I’ve been running for time and running for comfort - and that’s cool because, after my little hiatus, the last thing I would want is to sustain some injury because I was hellbent on trying to pick up where I left off. So it’s been building - 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes - nice easy pace, soft & flat towpath. All good. But a few days ago it dawned on me: I have a hilly 5K in 2 weeks. And it’s a race! And it’s hilly, as in fairly so! I know I’m not going to beat my 5K PR(ish) but I’d like to at least make a good effort and not flame out because I’m ill-prepared. And THEN, 3 weeks later, I’ve got the 10 mile Heart Run (that’s right, I linked to my donation page, subtle huh?). All this is to say that, like a lightning bolt it hit me: I’ve gotta get my a$$ in gear! < - and yes, my butt is worth paying for, hence the dollar signs.

First was my first tempo run in awhile. But, hmmm, what’s my pace? Dunno. Certainly, my race paces for September and October are not my race paces now so I wasn’t sure what to use as a reasonable, sustainable target. My recent easy running has been between 12 - 13 min/miles so I thought it might be good to start with something like 10:30 - 11:00 and see how that went - and just for 2 miles, because I was just so unsure of what I was capable of and didn’t want to blow my wad.
Here’s how it went:
Mile 1 - 9:37
Mile 2 - 9:59
Yeah, there’s definately some WAHOO! in there, I didn’t think I could do that right now. But really, at the end of the second mile I could not have gone further at even near that pace and I was just about ready to say goodbye to the fruit snacks I had eaten earlier, so in terms of what I was shooting for, it was a bit much. But you know, there were a couple of times in the run that I acknowledged it and tried to slow down but just…didn’t. By the last quarter mile I was hanging on for dear life but I pushed through. And remembered what I needed to remember about racing, or running long, or running in general - but mostly about racing: you’ve got to overcome that shit that makes you want to quit right here and now and, at the time, it pretty much sucks, but in the end. Damn! Oh, I need to relearn pacing myself too, for sure. But I’m glad I remembered what it felt like to hurt in order to finish, and that’s just what I needed. However, my next tempo will be a little more restrained as I will not be liking to court any injury nonsense.

But that wasn’t all, I’m here to tell you!
Today, I ran up a few hills, which I haven’t done at all since the half M . I have said this in the past, and in truth I tell you, I flippin’ love hills! I shouldn’t because they make that left psoas bursitis scream immediately after but I can’t help it. Honestly, I think I might be one of those people built for endurance rather than speed - well, I mean, clearly I’m not built for speed but what I’m saying is, that all of the pain and struggle that trying to run faster brings is pain and struggle, the discomfort of running up hills is somehow converted into a greater sense of power and determination that is….I don’t know, exalting is the word that comes to mind. So my hill repeats were hard - and awesome! And at the beginning of the week I was dreading Caz but now I’m psyched!
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One more thing. It turns out I might well be spending a few days in Portland, OR in May so, if it can be finagled how supercool is it going to be to meet up with VJ and, hopefully, take a drive up the road to Seattle and hang about with Riona and Sarah! Anyone else close by?? My time there will be relatively short but when am I going to be across the continent again? I want to squeeze every RBF minute out of it that I possibly can!