today's run.

I'm going to start this off by saying my intention isn't to blog each run. Sometimes I don't have much to say about it at all and it'd be pointless. I might do a weekly recap sometimes just so you all know what I'm up to. But I figured I'd address a comment left on last week's running post.

First, my post-run drink is a mashed banana mixed with chocolate milk powder, vanilla creamer, and filled with lemon-lime soda. It tastes pretty good.

Oh, and today's run was 4 miles. It wasn't anything pretty, though pacing wasn't too bad. I was considering not running today but after preparing a recipe for a product review (which you'll see tomorrow), I figured I might as well just do it. This is just my third week back so I'm keeping things simple. Hopefully a 9:30 minute per mile pace will quit feeling like crap and go back to being easy like it used to soon.

The question I was asked was, "Do you have any upcoming races?" My primary objective for racing is to become a better racer, to be competitive, and to push myself out of my comfort zone in the hopes of finishing in the top group of runners. The last one is a long-term goal. So when I look for races to run, I'm thinking about all those things, plus how I'll plan my training around them to race to my full potential. Since it costs money to enter races (and many races, as generous as they are with race packs and giveaways, are taking advantage of making money, but that's another topic), I try and carefully pick the races I want to race in as well as things like the course, scenery, etc. I don't always pick easy races because how good can you become if you're always taking the easy route? Literally. It's also the post race food, too.

So that's what I, personally, set out to do with races. If I had unlimited money, I probably would enter some races just for the sake of running them, but only if it wasn't painful. Right now, I'm just out of shape and any race I enter, be it to race competitively or just to have fun, wouldn't end up feeling very good either way. I think everyone has a different reason for entering races and while it's good to hear why other runners race, at the end of the day it's a very personal matter and you gotta do what feels right for yourself.

Now that I've said all that, feel free to tell me why you race or just like to run. =)

2x2

Both yesterday and today I ran 2 miles. Yesterday's was slower and felt rather nasty, though the sun was out and felt pretty good. Today's run was faster and felt rather nasty, and the sun was not out, plus it was windy and cold.

On both runs I focused on taking smaller, for fluid turnovers without overstriding. My left hip feels a little tender but I'm not sure if it's because of the ab stuff I did prior to running, or that I didn't really warm up before running, though yoga will take care of it tomorrow.

Back to today, it was 49° and windy when I walked out the door. A brief glance of things to come, things that I'm not too happy about since I dislike running in frigid temperatures. Much of it is because I don't have a good winter running jacket nor gloves that block the wind out. SO MANY RUNS were disgusting last winter just because I couldn't feel my fingers afterward because the wind chill was terrible, and when your fingers start to regain feeling it's so damn nasty that all small children should leave your presence. I saw some cool jackets on Nike's site that I looked at awhile ago, though I'm still looking at what else is out there so if you have any recommendations let me know. Same for the gloves, too. I'm good on the hats and stuff because I knit, so my head stays warm (because apparently you lose a lot of heat from the brain area).

Another thing I find myself doing in colder temperatures is running with an iPod. I'm weird. Usually I get into a "song of the day" mode where I listen to the same song on repeat for the entire day, and this ultimately means running with just one song uploaded to the iPod. I actually like it because it gets me into a rhythm better than constantly being aware of song changes. As long as the tempo of the song is good, I'm good. And the reason why this helps me out in the cold is because the last thing I want to be doing is staying outside for longer than a moment. It's a necessary evil to stay in running shape during the winter in time for race training the next year. No, I don't have access to a treadmill. Even if I did I'd prefer to suffer outside, anyway.

So with Saturday's 4-miler i'll top out at 12 miles for the week. Good starting point, as this is still the second week of running, and I'll definitely keep those 4 miles slower.

4 miles

Things have been unusually quiet around here on the running front because I haven't been running. Part of the reason was because I probably was a bit burned out, and coupled with the heat and humidity the summer was pretty much dead after the couple of races I ran. So basically a month of no running went by and now I'm restarting in time for the winter. My goal basically is to slowly work up to 25-30 miles by late December/early January and stick with it to February, when I'll incorporate training for half marathons.

Right now, I'm working running consistently and focusing on overall fitness. I'm going about 3-4 times a week and doing ab work before runs, then do some yoga at least 2 days a week on days I don't run.

Today's 4 miles went by alright, though the loss of fitness and speed is obviously present. However, I didn't regress as much as I thought in the month of doing absolutely nothing so it shouldn't take me longer than three weeks before I feel comfortable running. I was able to maintain about a 9:30 pace the first three miles, speeding up to an 8:30 the last mile. The weather was great and cool, skies on the overcast side. I focused on a forefoot strike and taking smaller, quicker steps, something I've found is most beneficial to my running. I do need to work on actually making sure to run slower, though, as it's always been my tendency to run faster than necessary.

So far so good for my second week.