First Negative Splits of the New Year

I dragged the crapradoodle along the 3.4 mile out (22:30) and back (17:30) this afternoon. This is one of the few workouts where I actually get to employ the Jackson Principle (run uphill first), because we live at the top of a hill. We have to run the crest (is that a real word related to hills?) and head up the next hill over which is at least a little bit taller.

So that's part of the reason the out was so much slower. Another part was the crapradoodle living up to her name.

Another part was bumping into a friend who also had a dog on a leash (well, we use a ratchet strap, but you get the picture). So, while our dogs barked and growled and stood on their hind legs, my buddy and I stood around yelling, what? what? what's that? how you doing? what? how's the thing? great! great? great? great! what? I said, what? and the dogs kept barking and slavering, what? are . . .? no, go head, no you, no, what? beer? see you Friday. Okay, take care. So, in case any body's wondering, I have plans now for the weekend.

The run was rainy, but not as cold as 11 January could be. I am still terribly sore form Monday's Mile Repeats, and I am still trying to figure how to sneak in a two-hour run tomorrow, but that's the past and the future, those two wily moments just outside of my control.

Friday: 7.5
Saturday: 3.4
Sunday: ------
Monday: 8.4
Tuesday: 3.4
Wednesday: 3.4

Previous: 30.7

Year To Date: 37.5 miles.

Running Days: 7
Days off: 4

Tallying is the best. I get to use my abacus

Multitasking, Disappointment, and the Future of Running

Maintenance Loop (3.4 miles) pulled along by crapradoodle (35:25). I'm sore from yesterday's run, but it was good to get and cycle some of this caffeine out of my system.

Couple quick good things: my oldest offspring needed me to pick a phone charger up from his dorm to give to my # 2 offspring (sorry about the designation, Sam -- them's the brakes). His place is only about a tenth of a mile out of my run, so I made his dorm a stop on my way. I'm not always a fan of multitasking, but when I can eliminate a drive (even a short one) or do someone a favor (even a little one), while I'm out for a run (especially a maintenance one), it makes me feel good.

Second thing: we (big offspring and I) crossed our signals, and I couldn't find him at his dorm, so I had to deal with that minor disappointment. I have to admit, when that didn't pan out, there was some kind of impulse inside of me, saying, "Screw it. Just walk home." But I finished the loop, and feel better for it.

Otherwise it was a pretty uneventful run.

I have, however, been worrying myself about Thursday's run. Tuesday and Thursdays are my teaching days this quarter. This means I get up at six and prep, teach, conference, grade until five, then pick up the littlest offspring, help around the house, and pic, up spouse at 7:30. Thursday is scheduled to be the 10-day long run. I've been worrying about fitting in a 10-mile run, especially when I should be eating dinner. It's this sort of thing, though, that runners simply have to figure out, I suppose.

Well. I'll keep you posted.

First Mile Repeats of 2012

I ran about 21:00 minutes to the rec center, so I could run mile repeats on the treadmill. It was too cold and dark, I felt, to run on the bike trail. Worried about injury, I ran to the rec center (21:00 minutes) in order to run three one-mile repeats.

Small diet tip today for anybody paying attention: Think ahead at lunch time. When you go back for your third plateful at the Indian buffet, maybe only fill it halfway. I didn't think ahead about it, and now we're all paying the price.

At the gym, I ran a 9.3 mph pace which put me real close to a (6:30) mile. I ran slowly until 10:00 minutes. Ran another (6:30) mile, slowly until 20:00, (6:30) mile, 30 seconds at (5 minute/mile pace), then slowly until I got 4.0 miles total. I know it's a treadmill, so it's something like cheating, but that's the pace I'm shooting for on a 5K. If I can maintain that pace, I'll hit 20:00 even.

I've been avoiding making goals explicitly, but a 20 minute 5K has been on my mind for, well, fifteen years, since the last time I got in under twenty. Of course, shortly after then, I took up smoking cigarettes and acting melancholy, so the dream kind of faded. Well, I'm healthier now, though still occasionally glum, and I suppose 20 minutes, as Cool Hand Luke once said, "It just seemed like a nice round number."*

I ran 22:30 on the way home, including (4:07) up Lancaster.

Friday: 7.5
Saturday: 3.4
Sunday: ------
Monday: 8.4
Previous: 22.3

Year To Date: 30.7 miles.
Running Days: 5
Days off: 4

*Yes, I really did compare myself to Cool Hand Luke. Let's all take a deep breath, and step away from the blog before somebody gets hurt. More specifically, before someone hurts me.

Lancaster II, maintenance, Steelers

Another three-day post. I have to admit, I'd prefer to update everyday, but some days it seems I have to choose between writing a post and going for a run -- most of those days, I feel like the run is the better option.

So I took off Thursday with an ankle pain. It was a tough decision mainly because I couldn't figure out the pain -- for instance, I would never have gone to my high school coach and said, "I don't know; it just hurts" where my ankle is concerned -- but I took the day off, and I've had no problem with it since. Maybe high school two-a-day Jackson could learn something from overweight, adult Jackson who, so far this year has run the same number of days that he has taken off . . . a conundrum.

*     *     *
Friday, on the other hand, I ran my .4 mile hill repeats. I started off with a mile and a half warm up. In past hill repeats, I've felt myself trying to skip everything preliminary and jump right into the heart of the run. This has often lead me to burn out after three or four repeats. Times: (3:04), (3:11), (3:12), (3:03), (3:03), (2:57), (2:58), (2:59). Average: (3:03). Mean: (3:05) +/-8.

These are my times from December 19, the last time I ran this workout: Times: (2:59), (3:09), (3:11), (3:00), (3:10), (3:00), (3:06), (2:57). Average: (3:02). Mean (3:05) +/-6.

Not quite as good as the last time I ran it in any way, except I like the consistency of the final three repeats. I don't know what happened on the second two repeats: I was extremely tired for today's run. Not physically, nearly so much as there were moments when I am certain, I could have stopped in the middle of my run down the hill and take a nap by the side of the road.

Perhaps I should have had a cup of coffee right before my run. When I was a high school athlete, I would have viewed caffeine as a performance-enhancing drug. These days, when I'm out of gas, I have no objection to it. While I would like to, ultimately, cut back on my daily consumption of caffeine, taking some before a run, I have often found gives me the boost, sometimes the desire, to get a good workout, rather than a slow, slogging, hateful push. When I was first experimenting with caffeine on my runs, I tried soda a couple times . . . that lead to an awesome second mile. When the sugar wore off, all bets wore off with it.

*     *     *
Saturday, I left the crapradoodle at home and had a very nice maintenance run. I ran my 3.4 mile loop backwards (counterclockwise, that is, not looking over my shoulder). I ran 27:32, which is considerably faster than my regular maintenance loop. I don't know why, entirely, except with the dog, I do often stop for one of us to crap (I'm not pointing fingers). And I was feeling pretty good physically today, such that maybe I pushed harder than I would like.

Running the loop this way allows me to run my Lancaster Hill repeat once at my maintenance speed. I'd never timed it at this pace, but today I ran it in (3:52). I don't know if that's a good relative speed considering my repeats or a bad one. Just thought it might be interesting. The jury's still out on the issue.

A number of things came up yesterday, including the Steelers' 29-23 overtime loss to the Denver Broncos (I'm rarely a sports fan, per se, but I do enjoy watching the Steelers' playoff games), and I did not get out for a run. I've been strongly wanting to get this 10-day loop solid, but I've been struggling -- mostly with finding time. Given the time of year, I know, I should be working towards building a base for some more serious training in the spring and summer.

That being said, I should certainly get out there this afternoon for a tempo run.

Running Tally:

Friday: 7.5
Saturday: 3.4
Previous: 11.4

Year To Date: 22.3 miles.
Running Days: 4
Days off:4

This would make a beautiful chart of some sort!

To Run or Not to Run . . .

At some point during the day, my ankle started aching. It felt as though I had sprained it recently, but I can't think of a moment when I might have turned it or twisted it or even bumped it up against something.

So the question I faced when I got home a bit gimpy was: am I hurt or am I injured?

If I'm injured, obviously, I shouldn't run. If I'm hurt, traditionally, I push through it.

But the question branches into a number of other questions, starting with: if I am hurt, might I become injured if I run on it, or might running on it strengthen it, loosen it up? If there is any chance of injury, should I risk it to maintain, or should I wait until tomorrow to run my more intense hill workout? Am I simply looking for an excuse to take an unplanned day off? If I take an unplanned day off, what's to stop me from taking my more intense run off tomorrow? Am I an awful runner and a regrettable human being? Should I just stop running altogether and focus on my television watching?

Ultimately, I'm choosing to err (I think) on the side of caution. I'm giving myself the day off today, even though that means I've run fewer days than I've taken off so far this year, which shames me at least a little.

Additional variables that I took into consideration were these: it's dark; it's cold; there are small patches of nearly invisible ice in the world tonight; the sidewalks are uneven; drivers are awful; one dog barking on such an evening might cause me to stumble.

I guess the ultimate test of my dedication would be if we owned a treadmill -- then what would I do? But we don't, and I simply did not have time to make it to the gym tonight. So your guess is as good as mine . . .

Year to Date Tally: see yesterday's post.

First Maintenance This Year . . .

Yesterday was an elegantly designed day off: the day after a long run is my favorite day to take off running, though I did do a strong bit of walking, particularly up and down the several flights of stairs between my office and my classes -- very exciting. Ah, classes, yes: yesterday was also a great day to take of because it was the first day of classes, which meant, basically, a 14-hour day of prepping, teaching, and post-teaching beauracracy.

Today, though, I pulled the crapradoodle around the 3.4 mile loop, mostly in the dark, always in the very cold. It was a mostly uneventful dog, except for the irish setter that chased us into the streets -- a gentle breed, true, but tie up your dogs, folks; they're scary.

Strangely enough, this little run made me very sore. I feel a little spent. I'm not sure whether it's because I ran long Monday or because I took a day off or maybe it's just this cold weather -- hopefully it goes away soon.

Meanwhile, thought I'd keep a tally for the year to the best of my ability . . . we'll see what this ability adds up to:

I'm calling Monday 8 miles
Today: 3.4.

Year To Date: 11.4 miles.
Running Days: 2
Days off: 2

Ha! Tallies are fun!

Moderation on a Long Run

Here's another three-day post to catch us all up to speed on my mid-life running adventures. I took yesterday off from running. It was a planned day off, though it really should have been my tenth-day long run. I chose, instead, to spend some time with any kid who walked away from a computer for a few minutes, to tidy up the house a bit, to cook some sauerkraut, to nap on the couch -- it was a good day to rest.

The day before, New Year's Eve, as it happened, I let the crapradoodle drag me around my 3.4 mile maintenance loop (38:04) slow, slow, slowly. I was tired from a long year. That speed was just about all I could manage, all I wanted to manage, but that's fine for a maintenance run, I suppose. One of the biggest mistakes I've made too many times is feeling a desperate need to push too hard on my maintenance runs, leaving me pooped for my more intense runs that then are unfulfilling. I consider it a success in no uncertain terms that, as I approach middle age, I'm starting to recognize my limitations.

Or maybe I'm just wimpy. I accept that possibility as well.

Today, I met a friend for a brisk walk / run. He's trying to get back into running, and I had my long run slated for today, so I ran over to his house (20:00), ran and walked with him (30:00), and ran a winding way home (55:00) -- I don't know what the mileage is, nor do I particularly care. It was nice to be out (even if the weather was the worst so far this season), and it was nice to spend some time with my friend.

There was a moment after the walk / run that I considered bailing on the rest of my own workout, thinking that I could get home in twenty minutes and have more time for my other responsibilities of the day, and this was compelling. I think I could have still felt good about myself -- on the other hand, this would have meant that my long run for this week would have been little more than a maintenance run. I put the other stuff out of my mind and ran for as long as I could (I did, after all, have to give a kid a ride).

Still, I can't help but recognize in myself my tendencies to extremes -- if I can go for a run, I want it to be an insanely difficult run. If I can't go for a run, I want to eat six pieces of cheesecake and drink too much wine. One of the greatest challenges of my running (as well as writing, sleeping, working life) has been finding and maintaining moderation.

Post Script: Thanks, Z and M, for the cheesecake last night. My half of it was delicious.