yes ladies and gentlemen, I am determined to succeed this time. (This time of what, I don't actually know.) But all I know is I MUST SUCCEED!
I ran 2.8 miles or so yesterday, with the final .8 done in intervals - one minute at about 8mph, then 30 seconds or so at 5mph and another 30 at 4mph. I did that six times. The 2.8 is the mileage for the running - I guess I got up to about 3.5 or so total, with the walk/jogs included. Even just the two miles was hard! I feel like there's something wrong with me. :P Really I think it's just laziness, and the afore-mentioned caloric deficiency; I'll just have to live with it for a while I guess. Oh, I also did the first two miles working on speed a little: the first 1/2 mile was at my usual pace of 6mph, then I did .5-1.5 at 7 mph and the final 1/2 back down at 6. So I suppose that probably helped too. :P
Today I finally did 3 miles nonstop again! The last time I did that was last Thursday, and I was *trying* to go for five, but I ran out of time (and I had a, um, potty break emergency). Oh, no wait! I'm totally lying! Out of guilt and shame after bungling it on Saturday at the race I went and ran four miles straight on the treadmill that afternoon. Self-flagellation hurrah! (Seriously though: it was not punishment, it was redemption, just to remind myself that I could. It felt great. I wanted to keep going but my knees were saying "Um, you ARE aware that you've run more htan 7 miles today right? STOP IT!")
So, point being: I did my three miles today, nothing fancy, no elevation and it was all straight 6mph the whole time. It was STILL really hard. :( Not really really really hard, but I had the laziness "I want to stoooopppp" kick in pretty early. Sigh. Yesterday and today I went on to use the elliptical once my run was done. Tomorrow I have a longer run, 4 miles plus some intervals, so I won't need to use the cursed elliptical machine. I have come to loathe that thing.
Push-ups update: MONDAY WAS HARD. I was supposed to do 80 push-ups, man! **80**! I did 70, filling the actual requirements until I got to the "max", which was "Minimum 20". HAHAHAHA. I did ten and THAT is an accomplishment. Today I was supposed to do 100 (why is that extra zero there? ...Oh, right) and I managed 85, which I must say is FREAKING FABULOUS. I'm still planning on repeating this week next week, hopefully I'll find the time on Monday between the baking, cleaning, and general hostessing. (It's Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, dontcha know.) I am also doing small sets of push-ups on my "off" days, which I suppose I'm not recommended to do, but I think it's okay. I'm only doing about ten and I'm paying REALLY CRAZY attention to form, which I think is just enough to kinda "boost" my endurance for the next day. Also trying to work crunches back into my daily routine, instead of just "that thing that I do when I am following a DVD that tells me to do them". I have pretty good ab strength that is just wasting away underneath the drapes of stretched-out skin - don't tell me you guys don't like that imagery because we all know every body is beautiful :P - but at least *I* know they're there.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Monday, October 6, 2008
Nursing my wounds
Well, I've been licking my scratches and feeling sorry for myself a little bit since this weekend, when I ran a 5k on Saturday and did - what I felt at the time to be true, anyway - incredibly poorly.
Fact is that I did *not* do incredibly poorly and I have to keep reminding myself of that. I did under 30 minutes and that's just fine. I feel like an out-of-shape schlub because at my last 5K I did just about 28:00, and at the 8K I did a couple of weeks ago I ran in 47 minutes, including two stops. This one - this puny little 3.1 miler - I finished in 28:45 (or 28:36, according to the results on the website - whatever, nine seconds I DO NOT DISPUTE) and had to walk for a significant section of it around mile 1.5 and 2.5. I took this very hard mostly because I have been having that happen a lot lately - I've had stamina trouble this past couple of weeks and it bothers me quite a bit. Not being able to finish 5 miles without stopping I can understand. Not managing three? Sadness. ;_;
Well, I've thought long and hard and I think here are some reasons, some of which are under my control and some of which are not:
1) I was pacing myself after a coworker who was also running the race and as a result I ran the first mile WAY too fast. Seriously, I did it in 8:15, which would be dandy if I were running a one-mile race. it's much too fast for the first third of a race though.
2) The course had a buttload of hills and I haven't been keeping up in training with hills - I've been sticking mainly with the treadmill the past couple of weeks. I ran the apartment perimeter again yesterday, almost but not quite three times around, then did a hill course on the treadmill. From here on out Sundays are hill days, the end.
3) I've been dieting and this is the first time, I believe, that I've gone into a race with a deliberate week-long caloric deficiency. I guess I can't expect to perform my best when I've been watching calories as harshly as I have. Not that I've been doing 1,000 calorie days or anything like that, but it's just probably best not to try to train for *real* running while trying to lose weight: you either run to lose weight, or you run to race, and the two are different.
So, even the ones I can't really control (like the course) I can at least try to work up on next time. Le sigh. I checked my coworker's time and she only finished a minute ahead of me, after all; and she said she had to stop too and the course was really tough, and that she was running with her son (his first race) and she had to let him go ahead, and he finished a minute ahead of HER. I felt a little better after that but I can't shake this feeling of being disappointed in myself, even though I know I shouldn't. My next 5K will be better. We're all allowed less-than-stellar performances sometimes.
Oh, in unrelated news, I have finally - for the first time! - finished week 2 of the 100 push-ups challenge! My exhaustion test was 26, which is a nice bit up from 19 (where I was two weeks ago). I started week three today but it's HARD; I could only do half of the "max" number listed for the final set (20! YOW!). I think I'm probably going to do the week and then repeat it before going on to week 4. Still though! Progress :)
Fact is that I did *not* do incredibly poorly and I have to keep reminding myself of that. I did under 30 minutes and that's just fine. I feel like an out-of-shape schlub because at my last 5K I did just about 28:00, and at the 8K I did a couple of weeks ago I ran in 47 minutes, including two stops. This one - this puny little 3.1 miler - I finished in 28:45 (or 28:36, according to the results on the website - whatever, nine seconds I DO NOT DISPUTE) and had to walk for a significant section of it around mile 1.5 and 2.5. I took this very hard mostly because I have been having that happen a lot lately - I've had stamina trouble this past couple of weeks and it bothers me quite a bit. Not being able to finish 5 miles without stopping I can understand. Not managing three? Sadness. ;_;
Well, I've thought long and hard and I think here are some reasons, some of which are under my control and some of which are not:
1) I was pacing myself after a coworker who was also running the race and as a result I ran the first mile WAY too fast. Seriously, I did it in 8:15, which would be dandy if I were running a one-mile race. it's much too fast for the first third of a race though.
2) The course had a buttload of hills and I haven't been keeping up in training with hills - I've been sticking mainly with the treadmill the past couple of weeks. I ran the apartment perimeter again yesterday, almost but not quite three times around, then did a hill course on the treadmill. From here on out Sundays are hill days, the end.
3) I've been dieting and this is the first time, I believe, that I've gone into a race with a deliberate week-long caloric deficiency. I guess I can't expect to perform my best when I've been watching calories as harshly as I have. Not that I've been doing 1,000 calorie days or anything like that, but it's just probably best not to try to train for *real* running while trying to lose weight: you either run to lose weight, or you run to race, and the two are different.
So, even the ones I can't really control (like the course) I can at least try to work up on next time. Le sigh. I checked my coworker's time and she only finished a minute ahead of me, after all; and she said she had to stop too and the course was really tough, and that she was running with her son (his first race) and she had to let him go ahead, and he finished a minute ahead of HER. I felt a little better after that but I can't shake this feeling of being disappointed in myself, even though I know I shouldn't. My next 5K will be better. We're all allowed less-than-stellar performances sometimes.
Oh, in unrelated news, I have finally - for the first time! - finished week 2 of the 100 push-ups challenge! My exhaustion test was 26, which is a nice bit up from 19 (where I was two weeks ago). I started week three today but it's HARD; I could only do half of the "max" number listed for the final set (20! YOW!). I think I'm probably going to do the week and then repeat it before going on to week 4. Still though! Progress :)
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