I am not a morning runner

I've been juggling my schedule all around to stick to my training program. If I had my choice I would run in the late afternoon all of the time. However, between ghastly weather (hot, humid, and thunderstorms), picking up kids from summer camp, travel, birthday parties and various other random things, I've had to take my workouts when I can get them. Yesterday I did my 7 mile run at 8:30am. On the plus side it was still relatively cool outside, much of the run was in the shade, and I was done with my exercise for the day before 10am. The bad part is that I am not a morning runner. To be more accurate, I'm not a morning person period. It was a very slow run - far slower than it should have been, even for being a long run. And to top it all off, there was major construction being done on one of the roads I use. It's part of a loop so when I realized that the "road closed" sign was serious (the entire road plus both sidewalks were being dug up by no less than 3 large bulldozers) I thought "No problem, I'll just reverse my loop and do as much as I can before I'm forced to turn around". Well, being that my brain wasn't working so well since a) I wasn't awake yet and b) most of the oxygen was being shuttled to my muscles rather than my brain there was a flaw in this plan that I didn't realize until too late. You see, this loop includes a rather sizable hill, a hill that I have no particular love for. With my adjusted route I ended up doing the stupid hill twice. {insert image of Karen pounding head on desk here} Unfortunately I don't see how I can avoid running in the morning, especially for the long ones. I guess the best I can hope for is that the construction finishes up soon.

I haven't got time for the pain (an ode to Carly Simon)

Sometime last week I woke up with what appeared to be a horribly pinched nerve in my right shoulder. It was pretty bad. It hurt to move my arm, shoulder, even my head to some degree. I tried stretching, rubbing, ibuprofen with little result. I figured I would just wait it out and it did get a little better each day. Sometimes it would feel a bit better after my run; I guess it loosened up due to all the bouncing up and down. Then yesterday morning I was awakened at 5am with the pain back in full force. I went and got a massage and went to bed not optimistic for today. I was pleasantly surprised when I slept quite well (something that's proven difficult these past few days) and woke up with the pain knocked down by several orders of magnitude. Unfortunately, as the day has worn on the pain is once again ramping up. I'll be heading out for my run soon so perhaps that will help. At the very least the pain in my shoulder should distract me from any twinges I might feel in my legs, right? I don't have time for this crap.

Day 1

Today was my first official day of training for the 2009 Philadelphia marathon.  I'd been feeling a bit nervous as I had slacked off on my mileage these past few months.  I spent some extra time on the pavement this past week just to prove to myself that 5-6 miles runs weren't going to be a serious problem so that helped.  Today it was a simple 40 minute run and, despite the fact that I had eaten too much pizza too late in the day, it went just fine.  I'm hopeful that these first few weeks won't be too taxing and that the familiarity of the routine will be there before too long.  It's 20 weeks until the race but I know that time will go by all to quickly and before you know it my long runs will be 16-18 miles.

A longer run

Today I had the luxury of having nothing on my schedule so after sleeping in until the very late hour of 7am (I know, try not to be jealous) and eating a small breakfast I decided that today was the day for a longer run.  I've been trying to increase my mileage for the past few weeks when I do my campus runs, only to be slammed with the heat and humidity.  Today it wasn't so hot, it wasn't so humid, and I was out there before 9am.  Plus there was a bit of a breeze.  All in all an excellent day for a longer run.  I set my goal for 5 miles.  Nothing huge but certainly more than I'd done in awhile.  I also did my hilly route which I hadn't done in months.  In the end I did 6 miles at a reasonable pace.  I was very happy with that if for no other reason than to prove to myself that I can still run more than 3-4 miles at a shot.  My official training starts in a little over a week and then my long runs are going to be increasing rather quickly so I needed this bit of confidence.

The other very cool thing about today is that my big sis ran her first half marathon!  Yea Sis!  :)  I wish I could have been at the finish line in person but I was watching her progress on the web and cheering for her virtually.  I haven't gotten the full report from her yet but she finished standing up (always a plus in my book) and is talking about doing it again next year so it couldn't have been too bad.  I think insanity must run in the family.

The giant sucking sound

While the job market is far from robust these days, the sucking sound people in the West Chester area are hearing these days isn't related to the economy.  It's the sound of the energy being drained from of my body by the heat + humidity as I run around campus.  I literally feel like Gumby by the time I hit the 2 mile mark.  It's not fun.  I don't like anything that makes my running 'not fun'.  And it's only going to get worse.  Grrrr.  Every day I say to myself "I'm going to run three laps today.  I've been doing two for far too long now.  I need to go longer."  Then I get out there and I'm lucky to finish the two before I feel like I'm going to throw up.  Of course, I could get up and run early in the morning before it gets hot but then it's usually more humid.  I could wait until later in the evening but it doesn't cool off a whole heck of a lot until after the sun goes down.  I could quit running until October.  Nah.  I suppose I should just put my big girl panties on and deal with it.  But that doesn't mean I can't complain, right?  I mean, I am a woman.

Cloudy with a chance of scattered thoughts

For a long time now running has been a way for me to clear my head, get my thoughts in order, meditate on life, etc.  Recently I seem to have lost my center.  I can think of many possible causes.  The weather has become brutally humid, so much so that what used to be a pleasant run around campus is now a far more physically draining swim.  There's also the fact that without a regimented teaching schedule I feel a bit adrift.  Not that I don't have lots and lots of work that requires my attention; it's simply that there is no set schedule for getting it done, no daily routine.  If we add in the rather large life changes facing me (including going up for tenure this fall) we have a plethora of things on which to blame my inability to find my happy place.  Regardless, I feel as though I've suddenly become ADHD.  During my runs I find my mind hops from one topic to another never settling on any one long enough to get through a complete thought, let alone finding resolution.  It's starting to really annoy me.  I suppose I should take solace in the fact that I'm logging the miles and getting my exercise, regardless of what is (or isn't) going through my head.

Groove thang

I've now got several more runs under my belt.  I continue to run without any goals and it is very nice.  I head out with a vague idea of how far I'd like to go or how long I'll be out but there's nothing set in stone and I just relax and enjoy myself.  There's been some stiffness as I get back into the groove of running several times a week following 2 weeks off but my pace is slowly increasing without my putting any conscious effort into it.  It's really, really nice.  I've got 4 and half weeks of this carefree running and then I have to start getting serious again.  I know by then I'll be ready to knuckle down.  For now I'm just hoping the weather continues to cooperate.