Monday, August 30, 2010

bright ideas

sometimes i get these brilliant ideas that seem fun, until it's actually time to do them. like once i talked my best friend into getting up at 2am to drive to the beach to watch the sunrise*, or the few times i talked her into running a marathon without sufficiently training, or most recently - this past friday afternoon when we decided to meet up with her bootcamp class at 4am on saturday morning for a long run. her bootcamp class that meets a good 30-40 minutes away from my house...

good morning to me!

needless to say when i went to bed around 12:30 and woke up at 3, i wasn't quite thinking that this idea was that fun anymore. i made it to the meetup spot and we were off on the run. about two miles in i needed a pit stop, the only thing open at that hour is waffle house... yeah. we overheard some cops discuss setting up a perimeter and scoping out a place before they took off with their siren wailing (we're assuming a drug bust of sorts).

about a mile after the waffle house stop, we regrouped and played touch football (this was a bootcamp class after all). it was 4:45am and dark, so that was interesting. no one got whacked in the face with the ball but we did all leave with wet socks and shoes, which is always good when you still have 13 miles or so to go. we ran by a bar that was still open (most bars here close at 2am) and drunkards were stumbling out, pointing their keys in the air to find their car. why yes, we'd love to run on the road with you behind the wheel. we had a stop for snacks/water at a (manmade) waterfall, and didn't follow the directions properly around mile 13 so we ran our own route back to tack on some extra miles.

quick stop for bananas, oranges and grapes
my brain wasn't operating well enough at 3am to remember to grab gu's

in the end, a long, slow 17-miles done. slower than i would have liked, but the last time i ran double digits was 5/29 (12 miles), a solid three months ago, i'm sure i haven't lost any stamina since then right?

saturday (8/28) am run: 17 miles (2:56:12), avg pace (10:21), avg/max hr (149/173)
there were two walk breaks in there; at least i got my "easy" heart rate back under control

7/17: 8 miles
8/22: 8.15 miles
8/28: 17 miles

this is totally normal long-run progression, right?

*the sunrise trip (2007)

34 comments:

  1. I see you have adopted my training plan. Lol. Yes, no endurance is lost at all in 3 months.. ;)

    very impressive that you could churn out 17 miles!!!

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  2. Gahhh that's nuts! Soooo early. I think I need to take a nap just thinking about doing that on like three hours of sleep.

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  3. omg... you have got to be kidding. i'm cringeing (cringing?) just thinking about this. at least it was an entertaining long run! and memorable i'm sure. that is some serious determination you've got. for getting out of bed first of all and then everything after that second of all. AH! hahah. congrats tho!!!! now get some sleep!

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  4. Once you are a long distance runner, you always are a long distance runner. Welcome back and great run. I am sure your body is more than happy now. Thanks for the GU brew idea a while ago. I now mix it with 500 mils and use that to hydrate b4 me long runs and take in some carbs. I hate solid foods in the morning. Maybe fruit, like your bananas and such, but nothing too solid. Lovely picture. Bootcamp?

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  5. Those ideas all look good on paper. I had a few of those last year - driving to races at 4 in the morning and 23 degrees outside.

    Glad I did them but it was tough doing them.

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  6. Funny how those things somehow sound better in theory...but, you did 17 miles...probably felt pretty good afterwards, well at list mentally!

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  7. What are you training for? If you can get up and ru na 17 miler at the drop of a hat, you can just stay in bed until race day!

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  8. 8, 8.5, 17? Crazy, girl. I can't believe how early you woke up to double your long run mileage. I'm seriously impressed!

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  9. You are crazy! But it actually sounded like fun. And way to go getting your mileage back up.

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  10. Respect!

    BTW... I signed up for Croft yesterday, but I going to give a pass on iRecycle. No turning back now! ;-)

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  11. The waterfall picture is just stunning ... I'm not sure how endured the 3am alarm clock after only 3 hours of sleep but in the end, it was the perfect run, huh?? Both mentally and physically. I think it was just what the dr ordered :).

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  12. Still sounds like a good run! I love waterfalls!!

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  13. Only you would be able to pull 17 miles out of her butt like that! LOL! You rock chica!

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  14. You are truly awesome! Early morning pit stops can be interesting. I had to stop at a gas station one day when I was running at 4:30 AM... there were a couple of really filthy people sitting in the gas station playing the slot machines. Weird...

    I name my alarms... but they're all like "Monday Runday" and such. I have one small request. Rename your 4 AM alarm, okay? Make it "You should be running young lady!" or something like that. Don't insult yourself first thing in the morning! :-)

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  15. LMAO at those comments on your alarms. That's early... EVEN for me.

    Way to go on a long run! Woot!!

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  16. This is amazing. I love everything about this ridiculous, ill-conceived, 3 am wakeup, sleep-deprived, crazy-long-run-mileage-leap adventure. You rock. Fun to read!

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  17. EARLY! My goodness...I don't even know if my legs would work at that hour! :)

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  18. Hahaha I would never agree to a 4 AM bootcamp. Nice 17 miler!

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  19. Yes Lindsay you're crazy! so early in the morning... But not insane! I like the pictures and congratulations for your day-run.

    Greetings from Spain

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  20. LOL 17 after 8s - only you Lindsay :) but thats why we love you! i always question my bright ideas as well, they always seem good until its time to execute them. nice job!

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  21. Girl - that's C R A Z Y. I fb a friend this week to see when she is running these days - uh her response 4:45 am. Ok - I'm out! I'm lazy in the am. But it's always fun if I can drag my butt out of bed.

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  22. I so don't know what to do about my long runs and getting ready for the marathon or not. I may need to follow your progression! Nice pictures.

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  23. Wow. That's really all I can say. Wow.

    OK, and nice work. Now I feel tired...

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  24. sounds like an adventure...not sure i'd go for 2 1/2 hrs sleep though...nice job on the run...

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  25. wow. THAT IS EARLY.

    I'm getting tired just thinking about running all those miles that early.

    What you should do is a beer run in the middle of winter. How it works...is you and a bunch of friends divide into teams(about three people each) and you map out a bunch of bars and consume a pitcher at each one, and then run to the next bar (make sure to include a few steep hills too)...till you hit about 12 miles total.

    And whichever team finishes first...wins!

    Sound like fun?

    Not that I've ever done that before or anything. :)

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  26. Ok, I'm thinking the lables on your Iphone alarm clock are hilarious....

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  27. 17 miles after only 3 hours sleep?? Damn woman!
    Congrats on a successful loooooong one!

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  28. I like the idea of getting up early to watch the sunrise or listen to bird call. Going for a run at 3am ?! You are totally mad but I love your spirit of adventure. What next how you going to surpass that!

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  29. Gotta love the comments on the alarms.

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  30. ok, the view looks awesome, but girl, what were you thinking? getting up that early and going to bed that late?!

    sorry i've been MIA.

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  31. Hey - at least you're running (Btw - thanks for all the positive comments. They *do* help.)

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  32. WOW! GO you boot camp maniac! Love the alarm comments :)

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