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Jun. 19th, 2012 06:37 pmOne week of biking to work and I am DEFINITELY in better shape. I did not bike today, because I have the car again, and wanted the hour of sleep, so I worked out at the office gym on my lunch hour. I am toying with the idea of running longer races soon. Like...way longer.
My initial goal had been to build up to a 10K by the end of summer. Totally reasonable goal, except that I've totally plateaued at 5K. These short races aren't really getting easier for me...or maybe they are, and I'm just pushing myself harder in turn. Perhaps that's it. I wonder if I have the discipline to slow down and pace myself for a longer run. My ego is like "you can totally run a 9-minute mile, so all your miles should be 9-minute miles!" And my rational brain is like "shut up you vain bitch, back when you started running, remember how happy you were just to be able to fucking do it? Get over yourself already. 9 minutes isn't that fast anyway. So who cares if it takes you 10? You can do more!" And then my wimpy brain is like "but if I run faster, it's over faster..."
Anyway, Max invited me to run his next half marathon with him. It's one thing to see friends post about their running successes on Facebook and the like -- I have lots of friends who run and I'm totally used to seeing that sort of thing, and while there's always been a part of me that wished I could do that stuff, it's never really been a strong motivator. "Yeah, it'd be cool...but that's not what I do. I have other goals. Moving on." But with Max it's different. I've watched Max go from 0-13.1 in a short time. Seeing someone start from your level (or perhaps lower) and so far exceed your own accomplishments...now THAT motivates me. There's no part of me that's saying "Damn, I can't let Max be better than me!" That's not it. It's that Max makes me feel really lazy, because I witnessed him put in the effort that I would need to put in for myself. I also watched him enjoy the shit out of it. So that makes me want to do it. The race he wants me to run with him is on 9/22. That's 13.5 weeks from now. Doable, but I'd have to get pretty committed pretty quickly, and for four of those weeks, I'll be traveling. I'm not sure I'm THAT motivated yet. But it did really plant a seed. I don't think I'm going to do the September half marathon, but I'm not ruling it out completely. I do think I want to run a half soon. Before I'm 30? Probably a good goal. But it's not like it's impressive to have athletic accomplishments BEFORE you're 30. Maybe my goal should be "age like a fucking boss." But 30 is still a good mile-marker, so I'm gonna put it out there right now. Half marathon before I'm 30. (I think if I dig deep enough, there's a post in this blog somewhere where I said I'd run a half-marathon before I turn 27, or maybe it was 28. That shit didn't happen...but I MEAN it this time!!)
The forecast for tomorrow is basically perfect, so I think I will ride my bike to work, and possibly all the way home, too. Though I do like having the option of taking the train home from the halfway point of the ride. (Also an option on the way out, but not one I really entertain.)
Oh, and the whole biking and running thing...the first time I tried to run after my intense biking was on Saturday, and that was a total flop. I was afraid that biking had had no positive effect on my running, and that I would just have to work independently on each, which was kind of a bummer. But I think I just didn't give myself enough of a chance. I hadn't slept much and was running early in the morning and wasn't really in the right frame of mind...today on my lunch break, I got on the treadmill as sort of a litmus test for kicking up my distance training. My thought was "I'll see how long I can go before I start feeling like I really want to quit...and then I'll see if I can push past it and go at least 2 miles." Truth be told, I always want to quit somewhere in the first mile. But I ran 3.3 miles. After a half hour, I had to hit the showers so I wouldn't be late back to my desk, but I feel really good about how comfortable today's run was. It was a solid pace and I definitely had more in me. I think on Friday, I'll try another run just to see what my body feels like doing. Just the treadmill for now, so I don't have to worry about being far away from home if and when my body tells me my run is over. Thursday I have a session with my trainer.
I really like feeling this strong and capable. I still feel like a bit of a pretender posing as an athlete, but I'm feeling more and more confident with each workout. I have another 5K on 6/30, and I've decided that this will be my last 5K for now. The next race I enter will be at least an 8K, possibly 10. Dunno when that will be, or when I'll be ready, but it's time to aim higher.
My initial goal had been to build up to a 10K by the end of summer. Totally reasonable goal, except that I've totally plateaued at 5K. These short races aren't really getting easier for me...or maybe they are, and I'm just pushing myself harder in turn. Perhaps that's it. I wonder if I have the discipline to slow down and pace myself for a longer run. My ego is like "you can totally run a 9-minute mile, so all your miles should be 9-minute miles!" And my rational brain is like "shut up you vain bitch, back when you started running, remember how happy you were just to be able to fucking do it? Get over yourself already. 9 minutes isn't that fast anyway. So who cares if it takes you 10? You can do more!" And then my wimpy brain is like "but if I run faster, it's over faster..."
Anyway, Max invited me to run his next half marathon with him. It's one thing to see friends post about their running successes on Facebook and the like -- I have lots of friends who run and I'm totally used to seeing that sort of thing, and while there's always been a part of me that wished I could do that stuff, it's never really been a strong motivator. "Yeah, it'd be cool...but that's not what I do. I have other goals. Moving on." But with Max it's different. I've watched Max go from 0-13.1 in a short time. Seeing someone start from your level (or perhaps lower) and so far exceed your own accomplishments...now THAT motivates me. There's no part of me that's saying "Damn, I can't let Max be better than me!" That's not it. It's that Max makes me feel really lazy, because I witnessed him put in the effort that I would need to put in for myself. I also watched him enjoy the shit out of it. So that makes me want to do it. The race he wants me to run with him is on 9/22. That's 13.5 weeks from now. Doable, but I'd have to get pretty committed pretty quickly, and for four of those weeks, I'll be traveling. I'm not sure I'm THAT motivated yet. But it did really plant a seed. I don't think I'm going to do the September half marathon, but I'm not ruling it out completely. I do think I want to run a half soon. Before I'm 30? Probably a good goal. But it's not like it's impressive to have athletic accomplishments BEFORE you're 30. Maybe my goal should be "age like a fucking boss." But 30 is still a good mile-marker, so I'm gonna put it out there right now. Half marathon before I'm 30. (I think if I dig deep enough, there's a post in this blog somewhere where I said I'd run a half-marathon before I turn 27, or maybe it was 28. That shit didn't happen...but I MEAN it this time!!)
The forecast for tomorrow is basically perfect, so I think I will ride my bike to work, and possibly all the way home, too. Though I do like having the option of taking the train home from the halfway point of the ride. (Also an option on the way out, but not one I really entertain.)
Oh, and the whole biking and running thing...the first time I tried to run after my intense biking was on Saturday, and that was a total flop. I was afraid that biking had had no positive effect on my running, and that I would just have to work independently on each, which was kind of a bummer. But I think I just didn't give myself enough of a chance. I hadn't slept much and was running early in the morning and wasn't really in the right frame of mind...today on my lunch break, I got on the treadmill as sort of a litmus test for kicking up my distance training. My thought was "I'll see how long I can go before I start feeling like I really want to quit...and then I'll see if I can push past it and go at least 2 miles." Truth be told, I always want to quit somewhere in the first mile. But I ran 3.3 miles. After a half hour, I had to hit the showers so I wouldn't be late back to my desk, but I feel really good about how comfortable today's run was. It was a solid pace and I definitely had more in me. I think on Friday, I'll try another run just to see what my body feels like doing. Just the treadmill for now, so I don't have to worry about being far away from home if and when my body tells me my run is over. Thursday I have a session with my trainer.
I really like feeling this strong and capable. I still feel like a bit of a pretender posing as an athlete, but I'm feeling more and more confident with each workout. I have another 5K on 6/30, and I've decided that this will be my last 5K for now. The next race I enter will be at least an 8K, possibly 10. Dunno when that will be, or when I'll be ready, but it's time to aim higher.
