Miscellaneous

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This week I planned to front load a 1000 meter interval workout and my long run, take Wednesday off, run easy with strides Thursday and Friday, and race the Crazy Legs Classic on Saturday, and then to take an easy day on Friday. Crazy Legs is a huge 8k with lots of great competition and I was hoping to get good insight into my current fitness. As my 1k repeats went great on Monday I was feeling very optimistic.

Of course God laughs when one plans anything (esp running) and my plan abruptly changed late Thursday night as I came down with a horrible stomach virus that made me wish for death numerous times between bedtime and sunrise. I only seem to get stomach viruses every few years right before races. Friday was not a whole lot better as the most I managed all day was to get out of bed to clean and disinfect my laundry basket. It is hard to be sick when you are Mom and esp when Daddy is away but my own Mom did come to take my littlest one to the farm as he had the day off from school.

I decided quite wisely to cancel my race plans on Saturday and hoped to at least get in my other quality workout for the week on Sunday. My appetite and strength failed to return however and today I set out on my warm up to the track worried that it was too soon for a hard workout. I decided to attempt a tempo run but to back off if it felt icky at all. The temperature had risen from 50 to low 70s degrees since Thursday so I was a little worried about being under hydrated in temps although mild not what I an acclimatized too.

Once I got to the track I noticed a young man training for a Special Olympics Track meet. He told me he came early to practice to enjoy the weather. He also asked for help in training for the 3200. I had a tempo run planned so I thought for a moment and suggested that I run in lane 8 and that he run in lane one but that he should just run every other lap with me. I was hoping to do 5 or 6 miles but only ended up doing 2 as I decided that my body needed one more day as the 2nd mile did not feel right. This was most likely just the right amount of running though for my new friend before his regular practice and he did very well and impressed me with his work ethic.

My appetite finally came back several hours post run so I know that I will be ready to do this tempo on Monday. I only ended up with 36 miles for the week but that was not bad for only 4 days of running. My half marathon is only 3 weeks away and I am not too worried about missing a few days. One low week due to sickness is not so detrimental to training when one has 4 months of good mileage stacked up already this year. The next two weeks I will work hard, then taper one week, and hopefully be in peak condition for Green Bay. That is the plan anyway….

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

This is an uncomfortable post for me to write. But sometimes uncomfortable things should be talked about.

I live in a small town where very people run. I am known by strangers as, "The girl who runs." I am used to people asking me in the grocery store how far I run each day and that is something that I am sure you all encounter.

A few things though the last few months have started to trouble me. I have always felt safe running. My only worries for my own personal safety have only been about traffic or falling. Like I stated before people often use my running as a way to start a conversation or introduce them self to me. Usually those conversations are quite normal. But lately some of these conversations have been strange. Like people say things that they really should not. Like things that make me think that they might have a somewhat unhealthy interest in my running. I am not a person that is easily offended and as a long time regular of the dive bars in this town I have heard about everything and am quite used to the more suggestive comments that people sometimes make. Most of those comments are actually pretty normal considering the people that they come from. I have some friends in low places. Those type of comments or cat calls no matter how crude are not what I am writing about here.

People sometimes slip up and say more than they mean too. Sometimes this is just a small slip like instead of saying that they see me run they tell me that they watch me run. But then there was the lady in the van that stopped me one day and told me how worried she was about me as she she had been monitoring my weight and my running for years. She repeatedly asked me to get in the van with her. Perhaps she wanted to abduct me and fatten me up -JK. She was an odd one but harmless but the incident did cue me in to the fact that people that I did not know were taking more of a notice of my hobby than I was comfortable with. I think every runner struggles with feeling a little bit self conscious at times but as the years go by we would like to think that we just blend in.

I do a lot of my speed work at the HS track as there are very few safe places to run fast around here. Sometimes there are people there as the infield is used for various practices that do not involve the track. I go ahead and do my workout and just make sure that I stay out of the way and do not run down any small children. One night at a social function a man asked me if I run at the track to show off my body to the dads and the boys. This was the most offensive thing that anyone had ever said to me in my entire life. One other man recently asked me if I think about him when he drives by me. But he stated it in a way that indicated that he thought I ran to attract his attention. Both of these men are from the Dad practice group at the track and are of a profile (married, mid forties, ex jock, and giving off a certain vibe) that way back when I got boobs I decided should be avoided.

Obviously, I sense a lack of respect for female athletes behind these comments. I know that many people perceive women who train to be competitive with all having eating disorders but the whole running to attract male attention really threw me for a loop. That to me is an unhinged rationalization that reminds me of those stories of juries acquitting rapists because the victim was wearing a mini skirt. These comments also lead me to believe that perhaps I am watched more than I ever thought. Part of this is that commentary in general on my running has been increasing in frequency to the point that my friends notice and tell me how weird it is that so many people bring it up. I still feel safe in my little town but I got to admit this totally creeps me out.

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

I am excited for tomorrow morning as I get to track four friends racing Boston. This definitely brightens up what has been a very gray couple of weeks. All of them are prepared to run great races and I will be so happy to watch them do so from my computer screen. Plus I think that either Shalane or Kara will come through in a big way. Hopefully there will be lots of me cheering like a freak all morning.

Last week was a very good week of running with an excellent tempo run of 6 miles @ 6:32, a 5×1000 workout, and a 15 mile long run to total up to 60 miles for the week. I was feeling really good about the direction my fitness was going and excited enough to sign up for Crazy Legs for the first time ever. In the past I have not ran this race due to the lack of seeding for those who have not ran the race the previous year. This year it appears that they will seed the newbies so I can only hope I will not start behind a wall of walkers.

This week was a crappy week of running. It was a cutback week so I aqua jogged with a friend on Monday, ran easy the next 2 days, took Thursday off, ran a crappy tempo run on Friday, ran on the TM on Saturday, and was blown around like a kite today for a total of 41 miles (plus an hour of aqua jogging) This endless stretch of cold damp weather really makes me a bit depressed and achy. The tempo run was crappy as I just was missing a gear and could not run fast as I averaged 6:57 for 6 miles. I think the effort did feel much more like an aerobic threshold rather than a Lactate threshold. I was not hurting in any way but just could not speed up. I did think about lengthening it out from 6 to 8 miles but the cold drizzle just was not convincing me that I wanted to be outside any longer than the cool down home. I have not yet mastered dressing for cold rain/30 something degree weather. My outside layer is always soaked with rain and my inner layer is always soaked with sweat.

Today I am trying to keep down the negative thoughts that occur after a week of poor running. It is hard to be excited about an upcoming race after a workout fail. One bad workout does tricks on my head and even leads me to wonder if all the good workouts this year have been flukes. I also think that this cutback week just did not do what it should have for me. This may be because I always choose a certain week of the month for a cutback or because each day had the crappiest combination of weather possible. Give me a dry 20 degrees any day over 30s and rain. I read on a blog today about taking two consecutive days in a row off instead of a cutback week. I kind of like that idea so you will have to all weigh in and tell me what you think.

This next week is gonna be better though as I WILL get my groove back and my poor sister is now 41 weeks pregnant so that means that I will be visiting a new baby boy this week.

This article was originally posted by Charlene at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Yes, I have been drinking tonight and that has spurred my desire to start a running blog. I would never do this out in the blogosphere as I just don’t think I have thick enough skin to take some of the negativity or drama that I sometimes see targeted at some of the bloggers I follow. I really don’t want any of that in my life. As for the blog I just plan to post my weekly mileage and any random thoughts that I have about running or life in general. I am always trying to improve at both.

About my running; As of today I have 696 miles logged for 2013. Some were fast, many were slow, and a few 1k intervals were really fast. Way too many miles were on the treadmill due to the splendid ice accumulating conditions we had this year. I have a half marathon in May and I feel really good about where I am at right now in my training.

As for me; I am selectively compulsive and tend to take things to extremes but only about certain things like running, being on time, my shoes always being just right for my outfit, and clothes, shoes, and hair in general. Oddly though, I do not feel the same way about my running clothes and will wear them til they fall apart. I even raced a goal half marathon in a 5 year old dingy tech shirt with paint on the sleeve. When it comes to running it is all about the running and not at all about all those extra things that stylish runners need.

For a compulsive person though I do have a messy house. I just was not programmed to be tidy as much as I was programmed to get the miles in every day or shop for just the right pair of heels. A friend of mine told me that she cannot get out to exercise as she cannot bear to leave the house if there is a dirty dish in the sink. Entire kitchen can be trashed and I just see it as one more reason to leave for a run. You can always clean a kitchen to perfection even if the dishes were piled up by the sink for a week but your own body is not so forgiving if you do not work out. Not that I let my dishes pile up for a week. I learned long ago that the best cure for an untidy house is fewer possessions so I only have about a one day supply of dishes. And that last sentence is most likely the best advice I will ever offer on this blog.

My hobbies besides running are looking at red cowboy boots on E-Bay and trying to make sure that my kids grow up to be adults that are not annoying. Not that I am never ever annoying but you always hope for better for your children.

This article was originally posted by Ed at the original HillRunner.com Blogs.

Just wanted to put it out there that this year while inconsistant is leaps and bounds over last year at this point.

Last year 1/1 through 4/3 I had only run 22 times for 83.83 miles and I still had a pretty good racing year.

This year 1/1 through 4/3 I have run 40 times for 258.63 miles.

I know I should have had nearly 500 miles so far but I have plenty of time before my goal races to step it up and work extra hard. Looking forward to the five races I have planned for the year.