Time to revise

Clearly I do not have the base for a FIRST-style training plan. I've been off running for a week and my left foot still feels like there's something wrong with it - the bones at the base of my toes hurt, especially when they're turned or squeezed in any way, and my ankle is sore as well. So, I think it's time to revise my training plan. I like FIRST because it allows me to do both running and yoga with a day off a week, and because it incorporates some speed work to help me get faster. But I suspect that just running longer will help me run faster right now, so maybe I don't need it. I'm thinking of using a Hal Higdon plan as the basis for my own. Thoughts? Is three days a week enough? Should I incorporate a fourth running day and give up having one day a week off, counting yoga as recovery from running and running as recovery from yoga?

Philippa is an incredibly hands-on teacher. She spends the whole morning running (literally!) from person to person, making small adjustments here and big ones there, walking through asanas with people. This morning she pushed and prodded my down-dog - heels toward floor, hips up and back, full palms down, elbows turning out, shoulders extended but not hyperextended. Then she helped me add utkatasana and virabratasana. Meanwhile she's placing people's arms behind their backs for baddha pamasana and helping someone else with headstand. There was also this one guy who I've never seen before who came in and started by hanging like a monkey from the inversion ropes in the back. I'm not sure what that was about, but eventually (thank goodness!) he started on his regular practice.

The thing I find amazing about Mysore is that the teacher can know both where we are in the sequence - as in, how far along in our practice we are - and where we are in our practice - as in, how much of the sequence we do - for the 30-odd people she sees every morning. She knows what we're working on and what we need help with, for a bunch of people at different levels who begin at different times, don't all come every day, have vastly different bodies. It never ceases to impress me.

Couch to 5k, week 3 begins

It's 6:30 pm. First day of Couch to 5k Week 3 (I skipped the last day of week 2 in order to keep semi-on-track with respect to the calender, I'm annoyingly anal that way) was 12 hours ago. I'm finally finding time to blog.

Anyway. Today was meant to be 2x[90s jog/90s walk/3min jog/3 min walk] but that only adds up to 18 minutes. So I made it 3x that plus one extra 90s jog/90s walk at the end for 30 minutes. Somehow I wound up being kind of slow. Actually, a lot of slow (2.39 miles, 12:34 pace, ugh). Which had been striking me as weird until I realised that I am back to even times of walking and running as opposed to less time walking than running as I was last week. Maybe I'll mix it up even further later this week.

I enjoy running first thing in the morning. For one thing, it's the way to ensure I get it done (see: 6:30 pm and still at work, taking a quick break to blog). For another, I generally feel happier all day and am much less likely to eat a tuna melt for lunch. BUT. I'm not really that awake at that time of the morning, and neither is anyone else, so people waiting at bus stops tend to wander all over the pavement (sidewalk) annoyingly in front of me. PEOPLE, the pavement is not yours to control, even at 6:30 in the morning. Please look behind you before stepping backwards, lest you push a runner into the street in front of a bus.

3 more days till Juneathon. Can I get credit for a few extra days if I exercise every day this week?

I signed up for the Silver Strand half marathon with my dad (DAD, DID YOU SIGN UP YET? I'M GOING TO BE MAD IF I FLY TO CALIFORNIA AND YOU DIDN'T ENTER THIS THING!) and am 90% sure I'm going to do the Aviemore half in the Scottish highlands in October beforehand so I can do Silver Strand at whatever pace makes my dad happy. Am I insane to think about a highlands half marathon in October? The route purports to be downhill (though I should probably plan on a fair amount of hill training this summer). Am I going to freeze? Anyone ever done this one? Or want to join me?

Saturday nights and Sunday mornings

Yesterday was a scheduled run day but I stupidly let the wife talk me into breakfast before I went running...and then there was no running. Instead we went to the Guinness Premiership final (Leicester 10 London Irish 9) and drank too many beers (pints 6) but miraculously I was awake at 9 today anyway and went for a (very stiff) run in the pathetic Couch to 5K version 2 thing I'm doing, finishing week 1 of this and 100 pushups/200 situps, only 2 weeks after starting. But it's time to get going, otherwise JogBlog and everyone else will laugh at me when I can't run the 3.5 miles of the Crisis Square Mile run at the beginning of June and I'll feel silly for having asked if anyone wants to donate to help end homelessness. And now I'm going to take my annoying morning-person-self to the grocery so I can make ricotta pancakes and also spinach lasagne (I seem to have ricotta on the brain today).

Resolved

It's well past time to make NY Resolutions, and I don't really believe in them anyway as they usually last about 2 minutes before I give up on them and/or forget about them. But, here are some goals that I have for myself:
1. Wake up at 6 at least 5, and preferably 7, days per week. Not unrelated to:
2. Exercise in some form every day.
3. Write every day, whether it's blog (check for today!) or work on my fiction writing.

These goals are in place to help me maintain sanity. Joe's Goals (see badge in sidebar) keeps me honest. Each item is worth 1 point. When I get to 50, I get something good. New running gear, maybe? Something spiffy for my bike? Book? Your suggestions?

So, let's check in on today: woke up at 6, but went right back to sleep. No points.
Exercise: see above, though I brought my running gear so I can go after work; just have to decide if I want to do a patented Jog Blog Running Commute or just a quick jaunt near my office and come back for my things. But I have to get going if I'm going to run (and not shuffle) the Reading Half with everyone...
Writing: see blog post. 1 point. 45 left to go...

Unexpectedly disappointed

So, I didn't get into the London Marathon. Given how shit my (lack of) running has been lately, and some possible plans for next spring, I didn't think I would care. I'd decided that if I got in, I'd run it, but if I didn't I wasn't going to go for a charity place. And I'm sticking with that plan. But.

When I got home tonight and saw the package in front of the door, I felt sad. I entered the ballot and said that if I didn't get in I'd donate my entry fee to the official charity, and in return I was promised a fleece if I didn't get in. So seeing the package there meant I hadn't gotten in. And I was unexpectedly sad.

So, now I've got to decide what to do next...because I'm feeling ready to start running again, maybe.

Half-ass training

Only 2 posts ago I went on and on about the 10ks I planned to run this summer, and how I was going to do FIRST-like training for them, and blah blah blah. I'm going to do the same here about my new half-marathon plan, which should have me running a 2 1/2 hour half marathon in October - that's an 11:15 pace, people! I totally know I can do it.

I did have to make a little modification, because I should have started training last week, so I had to cut the second-to-last key runs (skipping a run of 12 miles, plus a 5x 1k and a 6 miler with 3 at short tempo pace) but I think it will be ok. I probably should cut one more week in recognition of my holiday plans but I think what I'll do instead is just recognize that something will get cut and go forward as if I've done those runs anyway.

Allergy season isn't exactly the best time to start up again, but at least I'm not dealing with the heat wave the rest of you are.

My next run

Bill raises a good point - the way to get over the post marathon dithering is to have the next one lined up. So I picked one. It's about 3 weeks from now, so my training certainly won't make me peak, but the price is right (free!), the location is right (in London), and it's a distance I can feel confident in (anywhere between 1.25 and 10k, completely up to you on the day).

I'm planning for 10k, on the first 3 weeks of the FIRST 10k program. Any London bloggers want to meet up for this event?

After that, I may do the Heathside 10k or the Great Capital 10k. I've applied for a charity place for Run to the Beat half marathon in October.

Here's to getting back on the roads.

Running errands

My last 3 runs have been of the "I'll run to X that I have to do anyway" variety. It's been a great motivator for me. From the trip to the ATM, to the camping store on my long run well over a week ago, to my attempt to buy new knitting needles today that provided the impetus for me to get off my cozy couch and out into the hail/snow/rain/cold, these have been good ways to ensure I run even when I might not exactly want to. Which is good - because the marathon is now 5 weeks away, and the last month has been less than ideal in the training department. But 5 weeks is long enough to make a difference (I hope) but short enough to make me focus, so I'm re-dedicating myself to the training: 3 weeks of hard training and 2 weeks to taper. I think the 16 week training program was too long for me, and although I'm already thinking about the next couple of races I want to run, I think I'm planning to do a shorter program. I'm planning a 10k with my office in early July, so my tentative plan is to take a month after the marathon to recover, run when I feel like it, etc, then take 8 weeks to get myself ready to run a <1 hour 10k - from a 11-12 min/mile base, I think this is feasible, right?

Today's run featured quite a bit of the mantra, and a lot of time thinking about why I run, who I run for, etc, and a small bit of running "with" all my blogger friends. I had quite a long conversation with Marathon Dude Bill, in particular.

Apologies that I haven't kept up with everyone lately - I've felt guilty about my lack of running and that's translated into guilt about reading about running. But I'm back on the roads, and online.