Just call me the every-day marathon runner

If I had a dollar for every time one of the parents at school said to me, "That is so great that you run every day" or "I can't believe you run all the time," I would have a lot of dollars. Each time, I have to tell them that I run only twice a week (and sometimes not even that), which surprises most of them.

On a very good week, I will run and walk twice each, but that so rarely happens. The more likely scenario is I leave my car two or three times a week to walk or run, and if someone saw me exiting my car, they would not necessarily know which of those activities I am doing since I don't start running until I am out of the lot and down the driveway. Of course, I do run by probably a dozen or more cars of parents once I actually start running.

I also think it is funny that one of my friends is impressed because I "run marathons"; to her anything over a mile is pretty much a long-distance run, thus counting as a marathon in her eyes. And a woman at lunch today could not believe I manage to run four or five miles at times.

But back to this week, during which I ran about 4.5 miles on Monday and about 4 miles today, which was followed by eight minutes of running around the outside of the gym, including 20 steps (I counted). Hopefully, I can get an "official" step workout in, but my guess is I am done running for the week. On a positive note, I think I cut a minute of my time from Monday to today. On an indifferent note, I noticed that for some odd reason since the temps have turned cooler, I rarely exhale in a "blowing" sort of way. I pretty much pant.
No matter, I feel pretty good about my last few runs.

Finally two runs in a week

I finally got my butt in gear and ran on Monday and again today. Monday's run was another short one, just over two miles at a decent pace overall. I did manage to pick it up a bit while running through a nearby park on my way back. I appreciated the change of scenery, and my knees and feet appreciated the softer ground. I ended the run by doing three laps around the outside of the school gym, which included running up a bunch of steps (20? 30?), down and around the sidewalk, and along the driveway. It was nice to end the run with that.

Today I had more time, so I ran for over 40 minutes, which was about four miles. I took this run about 25 minutes after eating a not-so-small lunch, so it was a bit more leisurely, at least in the beginning. I felt good overall, though kind of chilly for at least the first mile. The temps were probably in the lower 50s, but sunny, so I ran in a long-sleeved t-shirt. After the first mile, I was glad I did not have another layer. At the end of my run, I decided to walk to the local coffee shop, which is about 15 to 20 minutes round trip.

I most likely will not get a third run in this week; I am happy to have accomplished what I did. But I am going to try to swim and get a 15 to 20 minute walk in.

A better run

Today, after yet another week between runs, I managed to complete my usual two miles in 18 minutes. Best. Time. Ever.

The first mile I completed in 9:46; it has been nice to keep the tougher mile below 10 minutes the past few times. I ran my best second mile, at 8:14. Definitely better than my crappy, stress-induced second mile from last week.

After the two miles, I managed to jog up the hill that is pretty much parallel to the killer first-mile hill, no easy task after having had a pretty good run. Next, I ran back and forth in the flat upper lot a few times, stopped only by the smoke drifting out of the cars of a mail carrier car and a cable guy. I guess that lot must be a good place to take a smoke break. I ended with three runs up and down the 66 (or however many) steps.

All in all, it was a pretty good workout, although I really should be getting a second run in most weeks; I can't even call myself a runner anymore, for the love of Pete. I have been swimming some at least once a week as well as walking or running around with my kid to try to keep in shape, but this blog is not called "Doing Various Exercise Around the Burgh"!

Stressed out + running = good and bad

I ran yesterday, for the first time in over a week. This layoff was due mostly to a family medical situation that forced me to be on the phone for hours a day with various people as well as required a few trips to the hospital. So despite my feeling stressed out and tired, I figured it would do me some good to run.

Oddly enough, before I knew it, I was finished running up the killer hill. For the first time in pretty much ever, it did not feel too terribly taxing, but, of course, it was no walk in the park either. As I was running, I was thinking I had a good chance to finish that first mile in under 10 minutes again, so I pushed myself as much as I could. As I came near the top of the hill at the end of mile 1, my stopwatch hit 9:43. In full disclosure, I turned around just before I reached the peak, but that was still probably my best time to date.

Unfortunately, I paid for that during my second mile back, which is mostly downhill. More often than not, I try to run down the last steep hill, to keep that second mile time around 8:30 or so. Yesterday, it was all I could do to jog the last couple tenths of a mile. I ended up finishing that mile in about 8:50, which is the worst second mile I have had for quite some time. I was also not able to run up the driveway of the school and run around the upper lot to get in at least another half mile, as I typically do when I have finished my two miles.

Hopefully things will be back to normal soon. But for now, I can at least be glad I got a short run in this week.

Sucking wind (or Why I should not let so much time lapse between runs)

I last ran on Saturday the 9th, in the Race for Pace, clocking in around 27 minutes AND beating a sixth grader on the cross-country team, in case you forgot!

The weather was crappy several days last week, and the one day that it was nice, I was just not feeling it, so I walked for about 20 minutes instead. Today, however, I knew I had slacked off long enough, so I set out for my usual run.

Of course the beginning hill was awful. I was panting like a dog in the summer and cursing myself for letting nine days go by since I last ran. But I soldiered on, and even forced myself to pick up some speed as I started the final uphill near the end of the first mile. I was not about to let the half dozen guys paving the road think that I was out of shape!

I finished the first mile in just under 10 minutes, so I can't be disappointed. The second mile I ended up in about 8:15, so also a pretty good pace. I ran at a more leisurely pace for most of the third mile, speeding up for the last two minutes of my run.

All in all, despite my feeling out of shape at the beginning, I have to call it a good run. I managed to get in about three miles, in about 28 minutes. But the important thing is I actually ran.

On a funny note, as I was waiting in my car after school (about 15 minutes after I had finished my run), one of the teachers asked me if I had gone tanning, as my face looked "different." Yeah, no hiding when I exercise; even if I have stopped sweating, the red face remains for quite some time. :-)

Race for Pace

I ran in the Race for Pace this morning. I decided since this was, in all likelihood, going to be my last race of the year, I should "leave nothing on the field" as Hines Ward says. So from the get-go, particularly since the beginning has a slight downhill, I started off at a pretty nice pace. Within the first minute and a half or two, I ran up to one of the seventh graders that I sub. I think he runs (or at least ran) cross-country, and I did notice he started the race at the front of the pack, something that "good" runners tend to do. When I reached him, I asked what his pace was, thinking if it was around 9 minutes, maybe I could run with him. He told me he had no idea, and I realized that I was slowing down a little to talk to him, so I left him in the dust, never to see him again until after the race.

So how was the race? The course has some up and down hills, nothing as steep as what I normally run, as well as some flat sections. I did my best to pick up speed any time I went down a hill, which helped with my timing. The unfortunate thing was there was no one shouting out times or mile markers, at least not when I ran by, so I had no idea how far I had run at any point during the race.

During the last just over 1/2 mile (or thereabouts), a woman behind was saying to her running buddy that they needed to pick up the pace going up this last hill. Personally, I was really struggling, having given it pretty much my all so far, but when I heard her say, "We run 10-minute miles normally; we run 9-minute miles for races," it seemed as if she was talking to me. So I decided to push it as much as I could, which was not easy. I also looked at my cell phone stopwatch at that point and was both surprised and excited to see I had been running for just over 21 minutes. Even though there was a good crowd at this race, I started to believe I could finish it way under 30 minutes and maybe even place.

I gave it pretty much all I had as turned the corner into the long driveway to the school, and I crossed the finish line at what I remembered as 26 minutes. Unfortunately, as I later discovered, I actually crossed the time clock at 27 minutes; no idea why I remembered it as 26.

I ended up finishing in 5th place in my age group out of 15 and 138/300, at a time of 27:01. For comparison's sake, when I ran this race in 2002, I finished 1st in my age group out of 8 and 75/195 at a time of 26:20. I am pretty happy considering I am eight years older than when I last ran this race, I had to run with an extra 100-plus people, and I ran only once this week, on Monday, and no times last week thanks to being sick.

Do you hear that sound? It is I, giving myself a high five and a pat on the back.

Oh, I got there!

Thanks to a late start, I had barely over 20 minutes to get in my run on Monday. So while doing my two-minute warm-up walk, I debated if I should try running the two miles, since that would not leave me much time after to stretch. Once I started running up the killer hill, however, I decided to really push myself, figuring if I was ever going to do that first, tough mile in under 10 minutes, this would be a good time to try.

I was panting pretty hard during this mile (though to be fair, the long, black yoga pants I wore on this warm sunny afternoon did not help), hard enough that I was thinking I had a pretty good chance of reaching the top of the hill before the stopwatch (i.e., my phone)  reached 10 minutes. As I hit the top of the hill, I thought I pressed the "lap" button on my stopwatch. But when I looked at it as I started down the hill, I realized I must not have. So even though the time read 9:55, I might have actually finished that first mile in about 9:53 or maybe even 9:50.

Woo-hoo!

But I don't plan on doing that too often...