I extended my route today by another half a kilometer or so, but to my dismay, I actually measured my distance today and it turns out I was overestimating my distance thus far by half a kilometer. Bummer. On the other hand, I've increased my overall distance this week by a kilometer and came out of it alive and kicking, so I guess I'm doing ok, plus I did the whole distance in 17:27, so although my distance is increasing significantly, my time is not. Should I be pacing myself better?
My legs were actually quite sore all day because of the shoes I wore yesterday, but surprisingly it didn't affect my run hardly at all.
The iPod really helps a lot, but I haven't had the time to load it up with fun songs yet, so it's not helping me quite as much as it should. I'll put together a proper playlist this weekend. I wonder what happened to my file of the Alias theme song. That's always an ass kicker...
Friday, January 12, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Marry me, apple!
In the first few runs, I constantly had to talk to myself to give myself encouragement. "Just a couple of minutes and the hard part is over", or "After the roundabout it's all downhill", etc. But not today! Today? I sang! With my brand new Apple iPod shuffle. This thing is TWEE. It weighs nothing, clips on to your running clothes, and the earbuds mostly stay in.
The run? Same route as Monday, about 2.5km, in 17:34. I also had to stop at the roundabout to tie my shoe lace, which had apparently been undone for most of the run. In the "Stupid is on the Run" segment of this entry, let me tell you how I dressed for this run. I came home wearing jeans and a fleece pullover that I normally run in. I hadn't been wearing the pullover all day, just after I came home from work earlier in day, so after I came in later in the evening, I changed my jeans to running pants and went out for the run. I came back feeling warmer than usual, but just figured I worked hard. Or maybe I forgot that I was wearing A SWEATER under the pullover. D'oh!
The run? Same route as Monday, about 2.5km, in 17:34. I also had to stop at the roundabout to tie my shoe lace, which had apparently been undone for most of the run. In the "Stupid is on the Run" segment of this entry, let me tell you how I dressed for this run. I came home wearing jeans and a fleece pullover that I normally run in. I hadn't been wearing the pullover all day, just after I came home from work earlier in day, so after I came in later in the evening, I changed my jeans to running pants and went out for the run. I came back feeling warmer than usual, but just figured I worked hard. Or maybe I forgot that I was wearing A SWEATER under the pullover. D'oh!
Monday, January 8, 2007
A half marathon, you say?
Didn't run yesterday, since I got in fairly late and wanted to rest for a day. Went out late today (at 11:00pm) and tacked on another half a km or so to the usual route, so that's about 2.5km. Only walked about 20 steps across the turnabout. Felt pretty good except that I ran without a hat and the cold makes me ears hurt, which in turn makes my head hurt.
The run today lasted 17:09, so it seems that I'm picking up speed, and wanting to die much less with every run, as it happens.
Tomorrow my brother Totem arrives back home from a trip to Canada, and will be bringing me a pedometer, so that I can know for sure how far I'm actually running. So far I've been guessing according to M's timing. I'll be totally annoyed when I learn that it's far less than the 2km I thought it was...
Now chatting with M and the Madrilenos, and they're throwing about mad ideas like running a half marathon sometime soon. A quick search indicates a half marathon in Nice, France on April 29th. Too soon, you say? Yeah, me too, but I'm going to aim for that. EEP!
I suppose if I increase my distance by a half a km each week, I should be up to 5k speed within a month, which is my immediate race goal, so I suppose a half marathon isn't ENTIRELY out of the question at the end of April. EEP!!!
The run today lasted 17:09, so it seems that I'm picking up speed, and wanting to die much less with every run, as it happens.
Tomorrow my brother Totem arrives back home from a trip to Canada, and will be bringing me a pedometer, so that I can know for sure how far I'm actually running. So far I've been guessing according to M's timing. I'll be totally annoyed when I learn that it's far less than the 2km I thought it was...
Now chatting with M and the Madrilenos, and they're throwing about mad ideas like running a half marathon sometime soon. A quick search indicates a half marathon in Nice, France on April 29th. Too soon, you say? Yeah, me too, but I'm going to aim for that. EEP!
I suppose if I increase my distance by a half a km each week, I should be up to 5k speed within a month, which is my immediate race goal, so I suppose a half marathon isn't ENTIRELY out of the question at the end of April. EEP!!!
Saturday, January 6, 2007
And it begins
For many years now I've been telling myself I should start running. I'm fairly certain that just about all couch potatoes run (heh - how punny of me) that little mantra through their heads at one point or another, so I'm hardly in bad company in that respect.
I also put "start running" and "participate in a race" on my 101 things list, and well, again with the punny, one could argue that I'm running out of time, with only about 8 months left to complete my remaining tasks.
Luckily the goal is being helped by the fact that I've been in a relationship with a marathoner for the past 7 months, and the fact that I (perhaps stupidly), replied with a "Sure, uh-huh" when he suggested that we run the NYC marathon in November.
I went through a phase in August in which I ran about 2km every other day for a couple of weeks (in ridiculously grossly hot weather - August in Israel, anyone?), followed by a month long vacation in Toronto in which I ran a sum total of once (on my first day there), which pretty much put an end to my running streak.
In October I went to Palma de Mallorca to meet up with my boyfriend (he lives in Munich) and to cheer him along for the TUI Marathon. He ran a rather slow (for him) race of 3:45 and change. I lounged in the sun waiting about for 3:45 and change and came out of it sick as a dog while he didn't seem much worse for the wear.
Right after Christmas he came for a visit and we planned on going to the running store to have my stride analyzed and buy new shoes. I picked up the new shoes this past Tuesday and we went for a 2km run, along the same path we ran back in August. I barely got through it, had to stop to walk a few times and wanted very much to die.
The following day we went up north to stay at a swank cottage. The place where we stayed is very small, with a perimeter road of about 1km. We ran it once, at which point I retired, and M continued for another round. He didn't want to exhaust himself or anything, what with the Tiberias Marathon being the following morning (the purpose of our trip).
So, the next day it was up early and out for a lovely drive towards the Sea of Galilee, followed by a light breakfast. We arrived at the starting point, and M took off along with 853 other marathoners. He came in at 3:30:36, and I became more and more motivated to get my ass in gear.
And thus, ass firmly in gear, I dropped him off at the airport yesterday (where he ended up being stuck for 6 hours because of stupid Lufthansa - Yay for being stuck in an airport in the holy land on a Friday, with no open shops!), came home, got on my running gear and went out (in the rain!) for the usual 2km route.
I'm not actually sure that the route is 2km, but that is what M estimates it to be. It is for the most part either straight or up hill and yesterday I finished it in 16:26 without stopping at all. Today I ran it again (in the rain!) and even though I was feeling much worse and was sure I was going much slower, finished it in 15:09, having slowed to a walk crossing the street at the top of the hill.
So, yay, IT begins. Next step is to get a pedometer (on its way to me, actually) and to try to run a little bit further. I hope to be able to participate in a 5k race sometime in February.
I also put "start running" and "participate in a race" on my 101 things list, and well, again with the punny, one could argue that I'm running out of time, with only about 8 months left to complete my remaining tasks.
Luckily the goal is being helped by the fact that I've been in a relationship with a marathoner for the past 7 months, and the fact that I (perhaps stupidly), replied with a "Sure, uh-huh" when he suggested that we run the NYC marathon in November.
I went through a phase in August in which I ran about 2km every other day for a couple of weeks (in ridiculously grossly hot weather - August in Israel, anyone?), followed by a month long vacation in Toronto in which I ran a sum total of once (on my first day there), which pretty much put an end to my running streak.
In October I went to Palma de Mallorca to meet up with my boyfriend (he lives in Munich) and to cheer him along for the TUI Marathon. He ran a rather slow (for him) race of 3:45 and change. I lounged in the sun waiting about for 3:45 and change and came out of it sick as a dog while he didn't seem much worse for the wear.
Right after Christmas he came for a visit and we planned on going to the running store to have my stride analyzed and buy new shoes. I picked up the new shoes this past Tuesday and we went for a 2km run, along the same path we ran back in August. I barely got through it, had to stop to walk a few times and wanted very much to die.
The following day we went up north to stay at a swank cottage. The place where we stayed is very small, with a perimeter road of about 1km. We ran it once, at which point I retired, and M continued for another round. He didn't want to exhaust himself or anything, what with the Tiberias Marathon being the following morning (the purpose of our trip).
So, the next day it was up early and out for a lovely drive towards the Sea of Galilee, followed by a light breakfast. We arrived at the starting point, and M took off along with 853 other marathoners. He came in at 3:30:36, and I became more and more motivated to get my ass in gear.
And thus, ass firmly in gear, I dropped him off at the airport yesterday (where he ended up being stuck for 6 hours because of stupid Lufthansa - Yay for being stuck in an airport in the holy land on a Friday, with no open shops!), came home, got on my running gear and went out (in the rain!) for the usual 2km route.
I'm not actually sure that the route is 2km, but that is what M estimates it to be. It is for the most part either straight or up hill and yesterday I finished it in 16:26 without stopping at all. Today I ran it again (in the rain!) and even though I was feeling much worse and was sure I was going much slower, finished it in 15:09, having slowed to a walk crossing the street at the top of the hill.
So, yay, IT begins. Next step is to get a pedometer (on its way to me, actually) and to try to run a little bit further. I hope to be able to participate in a 5k race sometime in February.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)