Training in the cold

Generally, I prefer cold weather running over hot, but the cold and dark of mostly night time training is killing my motivation. Having laid a decent mileage base, I am just starting the speedwork phase of my schedule which means back to the track on Tuesday nights. Maybe that will perk me up a bit. The track workouts mostly entail trying to avoid getting trampled by the much younger guys who show up to do the same thing, only faster. Much faster.

This month's Running Times has a page devoted to the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon which is what L and I are training for this summer. It is a HILLY course, worrisome when you hail from the Low Country. I sense some painful hill work in the future.

I have another 5K race coming up at the end of this month, so it will be good to see if I can trim a few seconds off my finish time. Keep plugging away on the treadmill, Laurel, stay warm and get fit!

Winners all!

Mom, Steph, and Me with our handmade plaques. While Steph and I were significantly slower than the Nance, we still posted a respectable time in the Resolution Run, especially for not having trained for a 5k, and, in my case, not having run much at all. (What was our time, Steph, just under 27:00?) Since other women our age are actually really fast and won the overall awards, Steph and I placed in our agegroup. The lesson here? Mediocrity pays off.

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On that note, I haven't done so well keeping up with my running since I've been back in DC. I blame the weather (11 degrees on my walk to work yesterday, and that's not counting windchill) and the excitement over the inauguration.

Mom got me a subscription to Runner's World AND Running Times for Christmas, so hopefully that will inspire me to get going in the new year. I saw some people running outside from my 7th story view while on the treadmill at the Y, and they looked very, very cold. Nonetheless, they made me feel very very wimpy.

One final note: I have got to get around to calibrating my nike+ iPod thingamajigger. While it's nice to think that I'm running 8:30 miles on my easy runs and covering twice as much ground as the treadmill tells me I am, I shouldn't live under that delusion for too long.

The New Year

Laurel and I and her friend Stephanie and Steph's Dad, Chris, all did the 5K run at Hampton Park on the Saturday following New Year's. Running conditions were perfect, and the venue of Hampton Park, Citadel grounds and Joe Riley Stadium was flat and scenic. I ran a 24:46 which, although not stellar, was a good effort for the first race of the year and good enough to win my age group. There were awards all around, actually, as L and Steph took 3rd and 2nd in their age group and Chris ran off with 2nd in his. We won discount coupons at a sporting goods store and I also won two passes to an upcoming antiques show. The latter will be given away to a friend who has an appreciation for that stuff. The wooden plaques we won were a bit makeshift--no, make that cheesy--I'm hoping Laurel can post the picture of the two of us displaying them. They fed us red rice, beans and collard greens, a traditional Southern meal. While a nice touch, its appeal still mystifies me after all these years of living here, however.

Training secrets

Dammit L, quit divulging my training secrets!! This is all supposed to seem effortless, and um, easy. Let's preserve the illusion at least!

(The wires go through the holes, Sweetie, with the Ipod in the pocket.....)

....just kidding, I love you! Mom

We're on vacation (well, some of us...)

Re: mom's claim that over the holidays she'll "run whenever she feels like it without following a particular schedule": bullshit. I've heard all about her schedule to run the bridge, do an easy run, run 9, 10, or 12 miles this weekend, and generally run 6 days per week allowing herself only one day of rest!

My strategy is somewhat different: get really sick just in time for Christmas so I don't have to tag along on the difficult bridge run : ) No, I kid, I kid. I was really looking forward to running here in Charleston while on my vacation, since it is safe to go out no matter the hour, since there's no risk of being run over by diplomats or politicos, and since it's almost 80 degrees, there's no smog, and I'm not in the middle of a frigid city. But alas, my body thinks otherwise. Oh well, Merry Christmas!

Running less, shopping more

While L spins like crazy getting fit, I have reduced my mileage about 20% these past two weeks, giving my arthritic knees a break. That allowed me to do some Christmas shopping. Laurel received a "Care package" of some old and new cold weather running clothes, a not so subtle hint to do some running this winter in DC. I'm told she was puzzling over the Ipod holes in the high tech Nike jacket I sent...

Although I worked up until Christmas eve, I now have off until Jan 5th, which makes it much easier to get my runs in. The weather has been nuts--some days hot and near 80, some cold and dreary. Very confusing to my cardiovascular system. I've signed L and I up for the Resolution Run next weekend. Although it is supposedly a certified race with chip timing, which qualifies it as a "real race," its label as a "fun run" tells me that other niceties such as reporting and verifying the results per USAT&F standards cannot be expected.

Good friends of mine in NC, Ron and Kathy, emailed that they did the Napa to Sonoma Half two years ago--I'm eager to hear what they have to say about the race and things to do in that area. I'll see them at a Radiology meeting in Hawaii in March. Now for a long morning run.....

On track

After Month One (November) of my "Phase One: Increase General Fitness" plan ended up being a FAIL (I think I ran an average of twice a week), Week One of Month Two (December) was a WIN!

Mon: Spinning. 60 minutes of heart-racing, sweat-drenching cycling at the YMCA...I'm still trying to find the best instructor--so far there is only one I like, and instead of shopping around (and ending up with narcissistic spinning junkies who play house music and yell at you about when you can and cannot drink your water), I should probably stick with him.
Tues: "Body Bar" with Marsha, again at the Y. A weight training class involving "body bars" (like the large barbells that you load up with different weights, except all the weight is in the bar, and there are varying sizes/weights). My upper-body strength is laughable.
Wed: Rest--very sore from weight workout! Especially in the hamstrings.
Thurs: Indoor run on the treadmill. Whenever I run on a treadmill, I get shin splints. When I run outside, I do not: Discuss.
Fri: Wine.
Sat: Run AND Wine. (Kind of a like a 2-a-day. Definitely not at the same time, though.) Ran outdoors mid-day, down to the Washington Monument and back. Saw the inaugural stand under construction in front of the back of the white house (sometimes I wish I had a camera with me on runs...do they make such a thing? Runner-friendly cameras?)It was about 30 degrees. I froze my ass off. Literally: my butt was numb when I got back to the apartment.

Hoping Week Two is just as successful!