"Long" Run
Mike's blog yesterday had an entry referring to Groundhog Day (the movie) where he said that for many runners their training cycles are like waking up to the same day again and again and again. I clicked on this immediately. I think that's why so much of my January just felt blah and why I now have 5k on the brain. This would have been the fourth or fifth winter where I would just be going out in cold mornings with the aim to put in miles. I love running, but this gets old.
So it was with some amusement that I ran my "long" run this morning. GP called for 10 miles at conversational pace. To assure that I would have the opportunity for conversation, I made arrangements with Deirdre for us to head west. On this morning, heading west meant heading into a fierce wind, and we spent much of the first four or so miles complaining about the wind in our faces - talking about other hard runs, about drafting off of others (being petite and female, she has much better success at this tactic than I), and other wind related stuff. Then we passed by the Lansdowne Sycamore (it sends its regards) and that was a literal turning point. It was the northernmost and westernmost point on the loop, and so the wind was at our backs for the rest of the way. We headed back through Yeadon and into West Philly, where our pace picked up and we felt like greyhounds until we realized that the wind was now pushing us. Thus the back five went considerably faster than the front five.
So that was my long run for the week. Old habits die hard, however. It feels like there is something missing, like I'm cheating, or slacking or something. Part of me wants to wake to Feb 2 again. 57 miles for the week. Seems to fall short when the goal for so long has been to hit the 80s and beyond. But shaking things up means leaving that comfort zone. Its funny to refer to running endless miles in the bitter cold as a comfort zone, but it is. And I am now leaving it. That is why I have a coach, so I can just follow direction and save my thoughts for filling up this blog.
I read over my last couple of entries and this one continues in that spirit, where I am digesting a different way to train. Its what I was looking for, but its not always easy when you actually get what you want. I'm sure there will be more of this. In the meantime, I'm waking up to February 4.
10 miles in 74:41 on this loop.
So it was with some amusement that I ran my "long" run this morning. GP called for 10 miles at conversational pace. To assure that I would have the opportunity for conversation, I made arrangements with Deirdre for us to head west. On this morning, heading west meant heading into a fierce wind, and we spent much of the first four or so miles complaining about the wind in our faces - talking about other hard runs, about drafting off of others (being petite and female, she has much better success at this tactic than I), and other wind related stuff. Then we passed by the Lansdowne Sycamore (it sends its regards) and that was a literal turning point. It was the northernmost and westernmost point on the loop, and so the wind was at our backs for the rest of the way. We headed back through Yeadon and into West Philly, where our pace picked up and we felt like greyhounds until we realized that the wind was now pushing us. Thus the back five went considerably faster than the front five.
So that was my long run for the week. Old habits die hard, however. It feels like there is something missing, like I'm cheating, or slacking or something. Part of me wants to wake to Feb 2 again. 57 miles for the week. Seems to fall short when the goal for so long has been to hit the 80s and beyond. But shaking things up means leaving that comfort zone. Its funny to refer to running endless miles in the bitter cold as a comfort zone, but it is. And I am now leaving it. That is why I have a coach, so I can just follow direction and save my thoughts for filling up this blog.
I read over my last couple of entries and this one continues in that spirit, where I am digesting a different way to train. Its what I was looking for, but its not always easy when you actually get what you want. I'm sure there will be more of this. In the meantime, I'm waking up to February 4.
10 miles in 74:41 on this loop.
posted by seebo | 2:41 PM
1 Comments:
Whew! That's a long run. I can't even drive that far.
I'm going to savor these rare weeks when I run more miles than the iron Seebo.
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