Monday, June 7, 2010

lucky number seven

the weekend
very exciting - full of painting (a lot of which should have been done 4 years ago when i bought the house. i would start painting a room and then get tired and quit.... so yeah, still not done). getting closer though!

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

something extra

running has felt weird ever since recovering from vertigo back in march. i used to cruise through easy and long runs at an 8:30-9:00/mile pace. lately it seems i'm slowing down, as i've seen a few too many 9:20-9:30 splits and my avg heartrate is higher than the norm too. i've been sleeping 8-9 hours a night now that i'm back in sc and my body/legs feel even more tired than usual. i know it's possible that i need to readjust to a less intense schedule and the extra rest (averaged 5-6 hrs sleep in ky).

it's getting warmer of course, which takes some getting used to, and i was spoiled by pretty flat terrain in kentucky so i have some rolling hills to get used to again. a little disheartening to think i once powered up these hills at a 7:30-7:45/mile pace, and now am a solid 2-minutes slower with death chasing me down. :)

left - sc; right - ky
not the worst hills ever but still, gonna have to readjust!

i'm a little frustrated by it all - no one wants to feel "off" for weeks on end, but i know things will eventually "click" again.

it takes something extra to be a runner. to willingly subjugate ones self to daily punishment for seemingly no reward. that honest defiance of today's "i want my results now" mentality is what sets us apart.

there is no magic pill.

as runners, we know we won't be better tomorrow from what we do today (in fact, tomorrow, we'll probably be worse than we are today). tomorrow is not the goal. the goal is weeks from now, months from now, years from now. the acceptance of deferred gratification is what sets us apart and makes us unique. (the fact that the overwhelming majority of us do it without ever being paid a penny just makes us weird)

[quote from ultra brad]

happy national running day!

wednesday 6/2 am run: 8.4 miles, 1:18:00 (9:17 avg pace)
avg/max hr (169/186), 76* (85% humidity)

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

goin' to carolina

hello south carolina! it's nice to be home. it's especially nice to be home for more than 1.5 days!

the end of kentucky...
friday morning i got up for one last super early morning run. i haven't had the nausea/vertigo in awhile so i've eased back into morning runs over the past couple of weeks. i definitely prefer them over evening runs because i'm lazy after work and it's getting hot out there. i got in my second quality workout of the week with a short threshold run. my goal pace is currently 7:17-7:25, but i knew i probably wouldn't hit it. i need a few tries to get used to the effort level for threshold pace.

friday was my last day of work out on the jobsite/in kentucky and what do you know, it rains. they called for a "rain out" at noon! i ended up hanging around a little longer visiting with some work buddies one last time. technically since we work in an "office" (trailer) we're not really rained out but it's a holiday weekend (and the boss is out of town) so everyone peaced out early. i went home to stare at all the stuff i needed to pack and later went out for dinner with my apartment neighbor at eddie montgomery's. i wish we had hung out more often - turns out she is filipino too! she was relocated here from los angeles - slight culture difference.

saturday i got up for one last long run on the bluegrass pike. i could've left town friday but i hadn't had a chance to run on the pike in awhile and i wanted one last run. it's a great road for running - scenic, no traffic and you can easily get in up to 18 miles if you want. i went 12 miles, and definitely felt a little emotional as i crossed the bridge over the railroad tracks back into town for the last time. after the run i loaded up the car and met up with some co-workers for lunch before pulling out of town. for the first time in a long time i didn't get moody on the drive home. i am sure this is because i knew i would not be having to make the drive anymore :) i met up with krystyn at a starbucks in knoxville for a quick visit while i was passing through town.

settling in back home...
sunday i started trying to clean and organize the house. what a nightmare. living without a lot of stuff for the past year made me realize how much i can (and should) get rid of. some of my tasty finds were a half-eaten can of chocolate icing and a mostly-full bag of starbucks coffee. i'm still mourning those losses. i also found a bag of 2-year old m&m's that i ate anyway. since i had been diligent logging miles all week, i didn't feel guilty taking the day off from working out. i should've done yoga or something, but oh well. my parents came over with some welcome-home banana pudding, my favorite.

monday was not a very exciting memorial day. i got up early to run and it was thunder storming, back to bed for me. it was still t-storming later in the morning, but i did finally get out for a short run around 2-ish. hot, muggy and humid. yum. happy belated memorial day america!

may 2010
total mileage: 143.55
time spent running: 20:16:04
days off: 7 (hopefully i'll quit slacking now that i'm not traveling as much)
abs/yoga: 12 ab workouts/4 yoga sessions
avg resting hr: 60
avg max hr: 180.16
avg temp: 69.52* (don't let that fool you, it was ~65* with 95% humidity)
pushups: 951

hmm no more kentucky... what will i talk about now??