Conversation while I was studying at a friend’s house last night
Me: Yay another 100% on my quiz.
Friend: See? You’re pretty good at this electromagnetism stuff.
Me: It must be because I’m so attractive.
Okay so that was funnier in the moment I guess.
Something that wasn’t so funny in the moment but later (like a split second later)? I think I forgot to mention this but when I went out with my friends last time (which was sooooo effing long ago. Damn you MCAT!) we went to a dive bar in the town next to us and who walks in? Yeah my dad. It actually wasn’t as bad or as awkward as you’d imagine. I think because I’m…(gulp) 23 years old and just, you know, graduated college my dad kind of expects that I go out. But I won’t lie: seeing him walk through the door made my heart drop for a minute. I suppose I should have known to expect it when 1) the town you’re going to is where your dad lives and 2) the bar is owned by your dad’s friend. Don’t know why I was reminded of that today but there’s a nice random story for you.
Moving along…
It was interesting reading your reactions to my…well I’m not going to call it coaching because I realized that I don’t want it to be like that. Kristin summed it up best: “an older, kick-butt runner gal cheering me on and asking how my training was going.” I’m sure the mom was doing a bit of helicoptering when she initially talked to me so I’m going to call (or possibly be called) later this week and chat with the girl. Many of you said to keep it low pressure and I was thinking a run or two a week, no more than 3 miles. This way there’s no real commitment on either of our ends. Even if I was willing to do more than just be a role model I just can’t devote any time to stuff other than studying. So thanks for all the advice and feedback 🙂
You know how I mentioned that I wanted to do a 20 miler, but split up over 3 runs? Well I was honest with you that once I put an idea out there I will follow through. And I figured what better day than Wednesday? I knew that Thursday it couldn’t happen because of my class, Friday I wanted to get a weight session in which would cram those miles into 2 runs and if I waited until the weekend then I’d get pretty antsy and it would be all I would think about until then.
Therefore I bounded out of bed on Wednesday morning (after staying up far too late — but finishing! — The Lost Symbol) ready to tackle round 1 of the day.
0815 run: Sluggish. Ugh. I knew that my legs were just working out the morning kinks and that no matter what an 0800 run is going to suck for the first mile or so. Even armed with that knowledge it’s not very nice mentally to know that run 1 of 3 and the first miles out of 20 are going to be lethargic. Still I was only going to run 5.3 due to this fact but I perked up a bit and extended it to 7. I figured that putting more miles in the morning would be easier by the time run 3 came along and it was the end of the day. The weather likely helped in this decision: it got chilly last night so I was running in ~60* so tacking on the extra 1.7 felt comfortable.
Run 1:
- 0815
- 7 miles
- 62:39 minutes
- 8:57 pace
1200 run: My noon runs are always my favorites buttttt they always tend to get procrastinated on, at least the timing for when I leave the house as I’m usually knee deep in MCAT work. But after 3 or 4 hours of studying I need the break. I don’t really have much to say about this run except that, like most of my runs as of late, I negative split-ed it. It was taken as more of a progression run and I always feel great toward the end of these runs. I could just keep going and going. Of course my study materials keep calling my name so I can’t but I want to. It’s always a Last Mile Party a la Jess.
The initial plan for this run was 7-8 but around mile 6 I figured, like I did with the first run, that since I was feeling good I could extend it to 9 and make my life a little easier mentally when I headed out for run 3. I’m really happy with the decision as I really was feeling good and ran the last mile really close to 8 pace.
I even got to wear my snazzy sunglasses (sorry for no picture) that make me feel like an elite runner. Couple that with “fancier” shorts (read: not basketball ones) and I really feel special. I don’t always wear the shades because…well let’s just say I’m vain enough to worry about tan lines. So I’d rather suffer and squint. Oops.
Run 2:
- 1200
- 9 miles
- 78:59 minutes
- 8:47 pace
1700 run: I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this before but my house is at the bottom of a hill. Legit bottom too. So every run starts with uphill. Not even 10 feet of flat to go before going up. Normally not a problem buttttt not exactly what I wanted after putting in 16 miles on the day. Sure going straight down at the end of a run is AWESOME but to start? Yeah not so much.
It was drizzling a bit when I left my house and I was really hoping for the rain to hold off. I get kind of pissy sometimes in the rain. Of course sometimes I really love it but I had the feeling this wouldn’t be one of them. Luckily actual rain never materialized. I don’t really have any straight-up even 4 routes so I chose my 4.2 route (an out-and-back) and then was feeling good so I tacked on some side streets to make it 5. The first half was pretty easy and net downhill but going up a particular hill was a bit rough on the way back. But whatever, besides that blip I was feeling good. And it was a really great feeling to come blazing down that hill after putting in a grand total of 21 miles.
Run 3:
- 1700
- 5 miles
- 43:53 minutes
- 8:46 pace
I love how my last run of the day was also the fastest (albeit by 1 second per mile). I think that my legs were warmed up and rarin’ to go. Of course the time of day probably played a role. I know that I run the fastest (or maybe the easiest effort for the same pace is the best way to put it?) between 1500-1800. I just like running earlier. Guess that’s just a trade-off. Stupid circadian rhythms 🙂
Total for day:
- 21 miles
- 3 hours 5 minutes 31 seconds
- 8:50 pace
I definitely don’t feel like I ran 21 miles (both yesterday and this morning). I think the breaks between each one were enough to get food in me and put up my legs (while I studied ugh) and keep my legs from being beat up and totally depleted. I really only felt it at the very beginning of a new run and I don’t know how much of it was tiredness from the previous one or just inertia holding me back.
Today will be easier. Yes I’m going to run. But only a single. Partly because I’m assuming the “damage” to my tissues is the same overall regardless of how well I recovered in between runs and partly because I don’t have time to run more. And because if I run more then my food bill will likely exceed the national debt.
Just a note about food (I know this is a really long post. Sorry!): I really should have paid better attention to eating enough throughout the day. I never went hungry and totally ate enough to fuel my running, but after dinner I realized that, for the amount I ran, I definitely didn’t eat enough and, consequently, tried to at least make up for some of it so I’m not a ravenous beast today. Let’s just say that the stomach really isn’t all that expandable. And luckily I have ample ginger ale 🙂