A beautiful day should, by itself, be more than enough motivation for me to go out and run. I've been doing this awhile now. I enjoy it enough to keep doing it. But actually getting out the door has always been a problem for me. I know I should run. I know I have to run to prepare for my upcoming races. I JUST DON'T WANT TOO!!!!!
Right now, I'm having the debate I always have:
Devil: You're not meeting anyone to run. It's not like you're letting anyone down.
Angel: It's good for you, and, if you really want company, the Pacer's Running Group is at 7pm!
Devil: That group always runs faster than you. You're the little pig that got left behind.
Angel: That's not true. Someone always stays with you --
Devil: Yeah, you ruin another person's run!
Angel: You give someone else an excuse to run slowly.
Devil: There's ice cream in the freezer! Yummy, chocolaty ice cream.
Angel: All the more reason to run!
Devil: Hasn't your ankle been hurting?
You get the picture. So will I run? I guess we'll all find out in about 30 minutes.
May 10, 2011
May 8, 2011
Japan Day Run
Today was a perfect day for a run in Central Park: sunny, cool, good positive energy. Although, I wasn't feeling so hot, to be honest. My mom made my these Korean buns for breakfast and I couldn't say, "No, I'm about to head on a run." I ate and an hour later I could feel the buns slowly expand in my stomach as the race progressed. But despite that, I still managed to PR! Four miles in 37:40.
I even did one mile in under 9 minutes. I actually feel like I've earned my pink bib. It was worth the very short visit home (which, sadly, I spent sleeping since I was transitioning back to days).
On a serious note, NYRR has done a Japan Day run for a couple of years now, at least that I've noticed. This year they collected on-site donations to support earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. That's not all. They are doing a virtual Run/Walk to Benefit Japan. Between 1 May and 22 May, you have to run or walk four miles and just submit your result using a Garmin/Nike+/mapmyrun/etc. I signed up and am hoping to best the race pace I did today, but I doubt it will happen. Still, it will be fun to compare my Central Park 4-miler to the Mall 4-miler.
There was one funny thing of note. As I was driving over the GW bridge into NYC, there were hundreds of cyclists on the other side of the bridge heading into NJ! It was the starting (and end) point for the Gran Fondo New York Bike Race -- just a little 100 mile bike ride. At least I'm not that crazy!
I even did one mile in under 9 minutes. I actually feel like I've earned my pink bib. It was worth the very short visit home (which, sadly, I spent sleeping since I was transitioning back to days).
On a serious note, NYRR has done a Japan Day run for a couple of years now, at least that I've noticed. This year they collected on-site donations to support earthquake and tsunami relief efforts. That's not all. They are doing a virtual Run/Walk to Benefit Japan. Between 1 May and 22 May, you have to run or walk four miles and just submit your result using a Garmin/Nike+/mapmyrun/etc. I signed up and am hoping to best the race pace I did today, but I doubt it will happen. Still, it will be fun to compare my Central Park 4-miler to the Mall 4-miler.
There was one funny thing of note. As I was driving over the GW bridge into NYC, there were hundreds of cyclists on the other side of the bridge heading into NJ! It was the starting (and end) point for the Gran Fondo New York Bike Race -- just a little 100 mile bike ride. At least I'm not that crazy!
May 4, 2011
Volunteering at the ACLI Capital Challenge
This rainy and cold morning I woke up at 5:15am, got my running clothes on and looked for a cab. Then I remembered, I'm in DC and finding a cab would be difficult. Still, I waited for five minutes and then ran to Haines Point. I was going to be a parking volunteer at the ACLI Capital Challenge. It's a fun race idea. It's a three mile race for teams representing Legislative, Executive and Judicial Branches of the federal government and the media.
It was a nice run down to the start, about 3 miles. But I was assigned to the parking lot that people forgot. I basically stood around in the cold rain for an hour and a half to direct 6 or 7 cars to park. Still, someone had to do it, right? But instead of heading to the start of the race and watching the runners finish, I decided to run home. I was cold, wet and tired.
It was a nice run down to the start, about 3 miles. But I was assigned to the parking lot that people forgot. I basically stood around in the cold rain for an hour and a half to direct 6 or 7 cars to park. Still, someone had to do it, right? But instead of heading to the start of the race and watching the runners finish, I decided to run home. I was cold, wet and tired.
May 2, 2011
A Run to Clear the Mind
It was a busy weekend at work so I didn't really run. When I woke up this afternoon, I remedied that with a quick afternoon run. I thought I'd only do 3 miles, but turns out I stretched it to 4 in about 45 minutes. It was fun and helped clear my mind. I was trying to figure what to do regarding my future housing: to buy or not to buy, that is (or was) the question. On my run, it occurred to me that I wouldn't mind if I lost out on the apartment. It's a sign that I should not buy. I just feel bad because my realtor, K, has done a lot of work with me. But I think I've come to a good place with my decision.
Apr 29, 2011
Running Home
My running buddy T will run into work from her home in Bethesda. Every once in awhile I'll join her for most of the running, usually cutting away when we reach my street. So this morning, I got up at 5:45 am (did not turn on any royal wedding news) and eventually made my way via metro to Medical Center. From there we ran.
It's a nice running route, when I think about it. It's hilly for the first 2 miles, but after that it's flat or downhill. In total the run for me was 8.56 miles over the course of 1:30:34, but according to my Garmin, I was moving for 1:28:53. I guess I didn't stop my watch at a couple of lights. And this morning was a beautiful day for a long run. It was cool, with a slight breeze, and sunny. I think I'm tired enough to take a "nap" before I head into work later this evening.
Still, I've got to work on my speed.
As a post-run treat, I finally opened my jar of Speculoos Spread from Wafels & Dinges. It's yummy on a hot, fresh waffle. But it's was almost as good on toast. But, frankly, I think the spread would be great straight out of the jar!
It's a nice running route, when I think about it. It's hilly for the first 2 miles, but after that it's flat or downhill. In total the run for me was 8.56 miles over the course of 1:30:34, but according to my Garmin, I was moving for 1:28:53. I guess I didn't stop my watch at a couple of lights. And this morning was a beautiful day for a long run. It was cool, with a slight breeze, and sunny. I think I'm tired enough to take a "nap" before I head into work later this evening.
Still, I've got to work on my speed.
As a post-run treat, I finally opened my jar of Speculoos Spread from Wafels & Dinges. It's yummy on a hot, fresh waffle. But it's was almost as good on toast. But, frankly, I think the spread would be great straight out of the jar!
Apr 28, 2011
Running in the Rain
Yesterday's run was short, but at least we ran. There was a tornado watch in effect and threatening clouds on the horizon, but T and I ran. It didn't start raining until we headed back. It wasn't a downpour, in fact, I'd call it a sprinkle. By then the raindrops were refreshing. The Mall wasn't completely deserted either. There were other runners and tourists on the paths, just less than usual. T and I didn't run in any snowstorms this year, so the tornado watch is this year's "We're Bada$$ Runners" award winner! (Although, it's also tied for the "You're Crazy" award and "Good Excuse to Hang Up the Sneakers and Head for the Bar" award.
Apr 23, 2011
Run, Run, Walk
At 8am this morning, I went to meet up with the Marathon Training group. I wasn't going to do the entire run, but I wanted to see if a) people showed up, b) if the person organizing showed up, and c) how fast the group was going to run. A nice group of about six people were there, the woman leading the run was there, and they run faster than me. I was able to stick with them from the store to the White House, but then I began to lag.
So this is my dilemna, do I want to run with people who are that much faster than me? In the long-run I will get faster, but it's getting to that point that I would find frustrating. I don't like the idea of holding back a faster runner, but I don't want to burn myself out trying to keep up with a faster pace group. While I don't mind being the last runner during the fun runs, I think I would find it incrediblly frustrating being the slowest runner in the training group. I don't want to spend the next 3 months feeling the need to catch up.
I broke away from the run because I was doing the Stop the Silence 8k in downtown DC with MLJ and P. It was a good run for me, fairly fast. P ran with me and I think he was running slowly to stay with me. The only frustrating thing with this run is that the course was in part, shaped like the teeth of a saw. We'd run down these short blocks off of Pennslyvania and then U-turn back to Pennslyvania Ave. On the way back, the finish line was taunting me everytime we popped back out from the tooth section.
After the run, I met up with D, who was doing a training walk. So we walked together. It was an active morning. I think it's time for a nap!
So this is my dilemna, do I want to run with people who are that much faster than me? In the long-run I will get faster, but it's getting to that point that I would find frustrating. I don't like the idea of holding back a faster runner, but I don't want to burn myself out trying to keep up with a faster pace group. While I don't mind being the last runner during the fun runs, I think I would find it incrediblly frustrating being the slowest runner in the training group. I don't want to spend the next 3 months feeling the need to catch up.
I broke away from the run because I was doing the Stop the Silence 8k in downtown DC with MLJ and P. It was a good run for me, fairly fast. P ran with me and I think he was running slowly to stay with me. The only frustrating thing with this run is that the course was in part, shaped like the teeth of a saw. We'd run down these short blocks off of Pennslyvania and then U-turn back to Pennslyvania Ave. On the way back, the finish line was taunting me everytime we popped back out from the tooth section.
After the run, I met up with D, who was doing a training walk. So we walked together. It was an active morning. I think it's time for a nap!
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