Sunday, March 21, 2010

running non-stop, literally & figuratively

i've been quiet for the last two weeks, i know. i've been trying to keep my head on straight and run and work and find moments of oh you know, just living, which have been harder and harder to come by.

i am very happy this week though that i went back to making time for running even if it is in the morning. i am a totally stress case these days, a temperament that does not suit me well and i shudder to think what mental state i would be in without the running. running in the morning really helps set a certain tone for the day, a little clear head space before work madness sets in.

since we were last here, i had one bad week of running. i ran on monday and then with travel and the torrential raining i didn't run for the remainder of the week. this made me feel pretty shitty both physically and emotionally. i pulled myself out of my pity party and jumped back in on monday morning early...6:15am early. maybe this is not THAT early for you early birds but for me, it's damn early. and with the spring forward it was dark.

since i hadn't run my 7 miles that weekend i decided to increase my short runs to help make up for it. so monday and thursday i ran almost 4 and a half miles each day (vs the typical short run 3 or 30 minutes). i had to work late wednesday and so unfortunately had to miss practice. we're starting hill training which is great training because it makes you very strong...although i am a bit afraid of the hills given last season's injury.

since the weather has turned nice, on friday i rode to and from work for the first time from this apartment. was a tad stressful - the ride through downtown brooklyn - but once i was on the brooklyn bridge it was worth it. beautiful morning, not too crowded and infinitely better than being packed into a subway like a can of sardines. its a little over 6 miles each way so adding that to my routine a few times a week i think will be great cross-training. (side note: i will NEVER take the brooklyn bridge home as weaving through the tourists not looking where they are going and wandering into the bike lane made me crazy!)

finally, practice yesterday was going to run to the connection to the cause event that happens each season. i was not going to be able to attend so i ran in the park on my own. the crew had to run 90 minutes (i almost said 90 miles, ha!) and if they got to the event great, if not they would subway it the rest of the way.

since i had only run 6 the weekend before, i wasn't sure if i should go for 8, but figured if i had been with the team i'd run by time, so i'd just do that anyway and see how many miles that resulted in. it was almost HOT out at moments but then others the gorgeous spring breeze would kick in. i ran to the park, two loops and then back to my apt, zig zagging about until the 90 minutes was done. lo and behold i had run 8.2 miles and felt very good about it.

today i think we have an EZ 30 minutes on the schedule and i'll hit that a bit later as today is a brunching day! enjoy the rest of this lovely spring weekend and i'll see you in the park.

miles run since last post: 20 miles
season mileage to date:61.1
up next:3 miles EZ

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