I am back...as in...writing again after a little over a week of training has past. Overall, the past week and a half has been fairly productive for me...roughly 50-55 miles. I would consider this a lot of mileage. Some people may not agree, but I think there is one thing that can be agreed upon and that...brings me to a classic scenario from when I worked at City Sports in Boston which I do miss. Anyway, OFTEN, people would step onto the shoe floor, and as the shoe person, I would ask them "What kind of training are you doing?" and said person would say "Well...I run A LOT," and they would look at me with big eyes as if they were personally shocked by the amount of mileage they were doing. I would then ask roughly how many miles a week they were running so I could help guide them in the shoe selection process. These people would then say something like "like 15 miles." I hate to be a running snob...but...if you are running merely fifteen miles a week you should probably step away form the $150 dollar shoe section because you simply don't need that amount of EVO foam or whatever underneath your foot. Try Sears (get it?). But props to anyone who runs at all just putting that out there,but don't overspend on shoes ladies and gents.
Anyway, back to what I was talking about...I have upped my mileage. All of this mileage has been pretty good, pretty attainable aside from one thing which brings me to the topic of: workouts. The term "in-shape" is deceiving. Would I consider myself in shape right now? Yes. Would I consider it the best shape of my life? No. This becomes apparent when I go to do a workout. When I say workout I mean shorter, faster intervals...not a cute tempo run. For instance, today we did a series of 1000 meter repeats. While most of my teammates, who have been at this a while, were ahead of me and going what I would consider very quick. I was told to do my 1000's at roughly a little under six min. pace. I was thinking "this should be easy. Wrong." I was pretty confident through the first 100 meters when the wind is blowing through my hair...but then that turn...thats when things took a turn (hah). That's when the lactic acid starts flowing in and I am wondering if I always feel this from workout out or if this is new? I then think...well what if like a vain pops out of my leg? Could that happen? Then dehydration sets in and I have a headache and I am sure that I will pass out before I finish my next rep. But you wanna know what the hardest part is for me? Cooling down. Once I finish reps, or a race, I do not want to cool down. I know you are supposed to and stuff but I do not want to. I can literally hardly move...how am I supposed to keep going? Then there is the classic pesky side stitch that creeps in making it so you aren't just running slower but a little lop sided. All in all, I still cool down...just as I did today. I also made it through my workout without passing out or having a vain pop out. This is a true runners blog in that people who don't run might be horrified by this, but I love it.
As promised: What is the deal with running skirts? Look, I am not trying to offend anyone because if you get out there and run, good for you...but a skirt? I have made an effort to understand, but I can't. For instance, I once read a book where a woman who is anti-running skirt puts one on and has a change of heart. She claimed it made her feel sexy and free...but I am not buying it. If anything that makes me beg the argument of should women be trying to look sexy when running? Hmm...feminize that readers. If anyone wants to share any insight please do because I'd love to hear it. Really. All I know is I will not be rushing out to buy one any time soon. It'll have to wait with my running pumps and running push up bra...
That's all for now folks. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Hello bloggers, readers, fellow humankind...
So this is my seconds...third...maybe fourth attempt at blogging if you count my xanga which I only wish I could still pull excerpts from. Anyway, this blog holds a new concept about a journey. A journey through many many miles. This post signifies my start with a new team in a new (old) location. A journey to possible...greatness? That we will have to see about. My goal with each post will be to talk about my progress in each week and also a (running) topic of my choosing. Let's begin shall we?
This week I began running with a development group...not a club. Therefore, the objective is indeed to develop. This is something that I hope to do. his means that each week I have specific objectives (miles, workouts). I made a discovery this week that I had not given much thought in the past, but now I must admit...confess. I am terrible at pacing my runs...unless I am on a track. Most of the time I try not to wear a watch running at all because most of my runs are out and back and I am very OCD about either matching my out time or negative splitting. Wearing a watch became necessary this week when my Coach began telling me what pace to run my miles at. Oh...new concept. I thought about this and I was like but wait...in College I was always on pace for track workouts, good job Meredith. But not really good job Meredith because I was running with a pack and once again, never wore a watch. This reminded me of all the times I started out a 5k like it was a 400 meter dash only to struggle later. It also reminded me of the one time I raced using a watch and strategically paced my miles and landed a pr...hmm. That's weird. (Mind you...this is one year after I collapsed at this same race through the finish and a man from the stands said "What's that? Road kill?). Anyway, so in logging my runs and miles this week I couldn't help but realize that I was not any good at that. For instance when told to run miles at 7:25 pace...its not good to come through at like...6:50. And how? I asked myself...i don't know. I mean sure, not every run is flat and sometimes they are downhill...but how does this happen? Needs work that's for sure. The good news is that as the week went on this improved...somewhat. So that is a summary of week one for you aside from a close encounter with a skunk, but don't worry I made it.
Topic: People who refuse to smile or acknowledge when on trails.
This is something I feel strongly about. As a runner, I feel I can fairly say that I understand that not every day is an awesome day for running. I mean I enjoy running and most of the time I look forward to it, but there are certain days when I don't really feel like going to a busy trail and seeing a bunch of random people I may or may not know. On these days I usually go to a more desolate trail. BUT regardless of where I am running, I ALWAYS acknowledge the people I pass on the trail, especially runners. There are two categories of avoiders. 1) People who see you, but pretend they don't. 2) People who make it clear that they see you but make no acknowledgement of your presence. I don't get it. First, to people who pretend they don't see me...you see me, I know you do. This trail is less than three feet across. I hope you feel at least a little bad that I just smiled at you or said hello and you did nothing. Second, to people who make eye contact with you and do not acknowledge you...why? I know you see me. I know because you are looking at me. In fact, a lot of times these people look angry. But the thing is...I didn't make you come out here...I didn't make you step out onto this trail so don't be mad at me about it. I just wanna be like "hey, we are in this together," but apparently they don't feel this shared bond. It's really too bad. THEN there are the people who you kind of know, but they pretend they don't know you. I'm like HELLO i was in second grade with your daughter and you recognize me (this is not an actual example)! Anyway, I bring this up because the past week I have experienced this quite a bit,but you know what? I won't let the haters steal my shine. Further, I have noticed that the "true" runners always seem to smile. Take that definition as you will.
Until next time.
Next week: running skirts.
So this is my seconds...third...maybe fourth attempt at blogging if you count my xanga which I only wish I could still pull excerpts from. Anyway, this blog holds a new concept about a journey. A journey through many many miles. This post signifies my start with a new team in a new (old) location. A journey to possible...greatness? That we will have to see about. My goal with each post will be to talk about my progress in each week and also a (running) topic of my choosing. Let's begin shall we?
This week I began running with a development group...not a club. Therefore, the objective is indeed to develop. This is something that I hope to do. his means that each week I have specific objectives (miles, workouts). I made a discovery this week that I had not given much thought in the past, but now I must admit...confess. I am terrible at pacing my runs...unless I am on a track. Most of the time I try not to wear a watch running at all because most of my runs are out and back and I am very OCD about either matching my out time or negative splitting. Wearing a watch became necessary this week when my Coach began telling me what pace to run my miles at. Oh...new concept. I thought about this and I was like but wait...in College I was always on pace for track workouts, good job Meredith. But not really good job Meredith because I was running with a pack and once again, never wore a watch. This reminded me of all the times I started out a 5k like it was a 400 meter dash only to struggle later. It also reminded me of the one time I raced using a watch and strategically paced my miles and landed a pr...hmm. That's weird. (Mind you...this is one year after I collapsed at this same race through the finish and a man from the stands said "What's that? Road kill?). Anyway, so in logging my runs and miles this week I couldn't help but realize that I was not any good at that. For instance when told to run miles at 7:25 pace...its not good to come through at like...6:50. And how? I asked myself...i don't know. I mean sure, not every run is flat and sometimes they are downhill...but how does this happen? Needs work that's for sure. The good news is that as the week went on this improved...somewhat. So that is a summary of week one for you aside from a close encounter with a skunk, but don't worry I made it.
Topic: People who refuse to smile or acknowledge when on trails.
This is something I feel strongly about. As a runner, I feel I can fairly say that I understand that not every day is an awesome day for running. I mean I enjoy running and most of the time I look forward to it, but there are certain days when I don't really feel like going to a busy trail and seeing a bunch of random people I may or may not know. On these days I usually go to a more desolate trail. BUT regardless of where I am running, I ALWAYS acknowledge the people I pass on the trail, especially runners. There are two categories of avoiders. 1) People who see you, but pretend they don't. 2) People who make it clear that they see you but make no acknowledgement of your presence. I don't get it. First, to people who pretend they don't see me...you see me, I know you do. This trail is less than three feet across. I hope you feel at least a little bad that I just smiled at you or said hello and you did nothing. Second, to people who make eye contact with you and do not acknowledge you...why? I know you see me. I know because you are looking at me. In fact, a lot of times these people look angry. But the thing is...I didn't make you come out here...I didn't make you step out onto this trail so don't be mad at me about it. I just wanna be like "hey, we are in this together," but apparently they don't feel this shared bond. It's really too bad. THEN there are the people who you kind of know, but they pretend they don't know you. I'm like HELLO i was in second grade with your daughter and you recognize me (this is not an actual example)! Anyway, I bring this up because the past week I have experienced this quite a bit,but you know what? I won't let the haters steal my shine. Further, I have noticed that the "true" runners always seem to smile. Take that definition as you will.
Until next time.
Next week: running skirts.
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