Category: Running

Running break

I took a couple of days off of running on Monday and Tuesday this week. I just felt like I was over doing the running. I was horribly tired on Sunday. I know I had just run a very strong race and Sunday is also my busiest day of the week, but that is when I always run races and the busyness never gets any easier. I was just run down.

I did not even get out of bed on Monday to call my running partner and tell him I was not going to be able to make it. I left instructions for my wife to call him as I planned to sleep in. I rested Monday and had no desire at all to run.

Tuesday I thought about doing a very easy run, but just did not feel motivated.

Today, Wednesday, I met my running partner and he started into his regular diatribe about how he feels like he is not improving. He took a few weeks off while I was away on my trip to the US and he thinks that now he is not doing as well as he was before. (We have this conversation just about every time we run). I try to convince him we are running 20 to 30 seconds per mile faster now than we were before. He refuses to believe that running slower will also mean he can run further and longer. Because Ryan Hall runs marathons at 4:45-5:00 per mile, my running friend feels like he is being lazy if he does not do 6:00 per mile himself. As much as I try to convince him that he is not going to be able to compete with Ryan Hall when he has only been running less than 6 months, he just does not hear it.

But, miracle of miracles, he decided to keep a slower pace and run with me today instead of ahead of me. We ran at a 9:18 pace instead of the 8:40 he wants to run. When we had been going at it for 29 minutes he asked me how far we had run. I told him the time and that I thought we had run about 3.2 miles. He was surprised that we had run that long and far. It is one of the longest runs we have done in the last several weeks. And we weren’t even worn out. Surprise! Running a bit slower really is helpful.

Did he learn anything? I don’t think so. He will take this experience today and probably feel guilty that we ran so slow. I say this because he then pushed the pace up to a normal speed for the next 7 minutes to finish the run.

Why don’t I just let him run at his pace and I run mine? Often I do. We start together and by the time we are done I am many blocks behind him.

We are going to run a race together in 2 weeks. It will be his first race. I am going to go for an 8:00 pace and try to kill him at the end.

Thursday is normally my long run day or speed work day. I run alone on that day. But tomorrow will be another day off for me. I still need a bit of a break.

My first cross country race

This morning I ran an 8K cross country race (5 miles). It was my first time to run a race in which we did multiple laps and my first XC.Dirty Sauconys

My poor shoes will probably never be white again.

We did 4 big laps with a final lap around a dirt track at the end. We ran around a park that is very hilly. There are two major downhills and two major uphills on each loop. Though I have run at this park before, it was never for a race, therefore the pace up the hills never mattered. On the final lap today I speed walked the two uphills. I did not seem to lose any ground on the guy just in front of me. I think it was a good strategy.

Terrain consisted of the dirt/gravel track as well as dirt roads and walking paths. Rocks were a factor for part of the race. There was a short section where we ran on grass. Each of the up/down hill sections were asphalt. About half of the paths were shaded and the other half was in full sun. Temperatures were a nice cool 73 degrees.

I ran the race in 42:36. That is a pace of 8:10 per mile. The race was 8.4 Km in length.

I got up at 5:30 this morning. That was 30 minutes before I needed to get up. I had been laying in bed awake since 5:00 and could not go back to sleep. That is what races do to me.

I was there early enough to get bib number 11 in the men’s category. There was a men’s division and a ladies’ division. First 25 places in each got a medal. There were 99 men who ran and I did not get a medal. Not sure what my placing was, but I was lapped by several of the front runners.

With getting up so early and running quite well, I had trouble staying awake in Sunday School class this morning. Oops.

Maybe you can help me troubleshoot my run

I had a rough run this morning. It could have something to do with one or all of the following reasons. I thought I would put this out here and see if anyone has any suggestions.

I ran 4 days in a row last week. To finish off the running frenzy I ran a race on Saturday. I also recorded my longest single week of running since I started running just over 2 years ago with 32.2 miles. Normally I run 18 to 22 miles in a week.

It could also have to do with the fact that I have been doing some great running lately. Anything less than a great run seems tough when you are coming off of a running high like I have had.

However, I think the biggest possible culprit might have to do with what I ate last night. Normally we have supper, if we eat much at all, by 5 or 6 in the evening. After church another family invited us to eat dinner with them at the mall food court. This meant that we had a choice of many different restaurants. I decided what I wanted and headed over to the taco joint to grab some tacos. The rest of the group decided on pizza.

I sat down and ate my 3 tacos and 1 gringa and was happily satisfied. Then the pizza arrived. A piece here and there and before I realized it, I had eaten 3 pieces. Enough for another meal. This all taking place around 9:00, 3 hours after we normally eat supper.

Our daughter needed something to eat, so we decided on a bag of fries. There was a hamburger place near where we sat. My wife ordered a small fry from them. It was enough to feed everyone at the table. I helped myself to more than my share.

I had at least 3 meals last night.

Is it any wonder why my run seemed almost impossible this morning?

Almost a 6 Km race

Wednesday I learned that there was to be a 6 Km race this morning. The paperwork said that it was an approximate distance. Actual distance ended up being 5.74 Km, or 3.56 miles.

I ran it in 29:48. That is a pace of 8:23 per mile.

I had fun. One of our church people told me about the race since it was her company that was sponsoring it. She and her daughter were at the race as well. The daughter took 3rd in her age group. Yes, there were only 3. She was not the very last person to finish, but the last person was only a few steps behind her. Since she knew she would take 3rd place just by finishing, she stuck it out and finished.

I took 5th place in my division. There were 8 of us. I am not sure what the overall number of runners was.

I ended up this running week with 32.2 miles. That is my longest number of miles in a single week. Like last week, I ran 4 days in a row. That was not planned, but when I learned of the race it was too late to avoid the multiple running days. I will take tomorrow off.