9 Aug – Medium Run – 5miles

I did the loops on this run. I’m writing this three days after the event so things aren’t that clear now. But I remember that the soundtrack was interesting. I was listening to Elizabeth Cotten play her finger-picking guitar. The alternating bass-line was especially helpful on round three, though it may have caused me to run a little too quickly meaning that I was a little winded on round four. I’ve realized that when I’m tired it’s easier to take smaller quicker steps to keep up the movement but not feel as if I’m straining on each stride. So I did this in round four, especially on the uphill portions.

7 Aug – Medium Run – 5 miles

The medium runs are now longer in this final stage of the training schedule.  I woke up at about 6.30 but felt quite fatigued from going to bed late last night after watching the musical “Wicked”.  I really wasn’t too motivated to run this morning and I’m glad that Edna decided to run as well, as that meant that there were no excuses.

Instead of running the Hawk Island route, we did big loops around the neighborhood.  Each loop was 1.2 miles so we did four loops and ran a .3 mile stretch at the end.  The disadvantage, for me, of running loops is that it’s really boring.  After a difficult first round, I managed to be sufficiently distracted by the Pat Humphries album that I was listening to to complete a second round.  I think the first two loops were like a recovery run after the 9 mile on Tuesday, so they were quite painful.

The last two loops were much easier.  I actually was quite amazed at how easy the last loop was.  I definitely could have gone faster on the final round or run another loop, but I decided not to in order to preserve my legs and not mess up the incremental nature of the running schedule.

I think this loop running is good discipline for the mind, even though I hate it, and I’ll probably do the same route when I do the 5 mile run next.  I’ll need that mental discipline to keep going despite the boredom when I run the longer distances anyhow!  And I think the mental discipline is handy when I need to write a thesis chapter and just can’t bring myself to plodding along on it.

Practical note: I should get a cap cause the sweat pouring into my eyes makes running difficult.  And I should pay Hawk Island a non-running visit just to get some pictures of my route. Maybe I’ll go tomorrow.

5 Aug Tues – Long Run – 9 miles

So, because of Obama fever, my running plans got shifted around.

The long run today.  I woke up at about 6.15 and was ready to go quite immediately.  Unlike the 8 mile run, there was no humming and hawing.  Edna decided to go with me, so that was encouraging as well.  I made sure that I had the ipod – I don’t think I could do 9 miles without music.

The plan was to run the Hawk Isle route twice.  Going out of the house and doing the first mile, I found the pace a little too brisk for my liking.  Edna was setting the pace and I wasn’t sure if she was committed to do the 9 miles.  The quick pace eased up as we got to Cavanagh road and the first lap around the park was nice.  It was before seven and the sun was not peaking through the bank of clouds yet, so the lake was really mirror like.  I was listening to American  Folk Christmas Songs by the Seegers, and it made for nice listening.  Going around the park I decided to turn off the ipod and enjoy the sounds of the early morning.  That was a good decision as it added some variety to the run.

The other people that were running in the park just reminded me how slow I go.  They were essentially striding all the way.  I can’t imagine how people can build up that much stamina and strength to run at that pace.  Anyway, the route back out on Cavanagh and then into the park again was nice.  I think I caught what essentially was a second wind doing this.

Leaving the park after the second loop was when my legs started to hurt.  They felt like lead and I had to quicken my steps into a shuffle to keep going.  The uphill portion of Cavanagh was tricky as well.  Even though coming back into Beau Jardin was a welcome relief, the additional round around the estate to make the distance was quite taxing, especially for the first half a mile.  The final half was easy because the end was in sight.

I think that I’m getting really close to the goal of running 13 miles.  After all, it’s just one more 4.5 loop, really.  But I think I need to work on pacing myself properly especially if I’m going to be running alone.  The alternating moments of music and silence are quite good but the hurting legs could point to a lack of conditioning with regards to my legs.  Maybe I’m just not cut out for longer distances?

2 Aug Medium Run – 4.5

I ran today, on my birthday, with Edna, who’d just gotten back from Singapore. Nothing like a 4.5 mile run to get over jet-lag, I suppose. I went out today without any music on as I was showing Edna the Hawk Island route. We spoke at each other during the run, so I guess the pace was quite comfortable.

I realized that Edna runs with a lot more steps that I do. So she seems to shuffle as she runs where I plod. Another that I noticed was that the park was rather busy on Saturday morning. We passed a large group of runners who were all wearing “Playmakers” T-shirts. I guess it was either a group run or clinic, though a large number of the participants were walking. Another thing – Saturday morning had a lot more women than the other days of the week where the joggers are generally men. I wonder about this.

Anyway, running with Edna was fun. It was certainly distracting and at no point during the workout did I find my thoughts zoning in on the pain. My body hurts a little from serving too hard during tennis on Friday, but generally, I’m looking forward to the 9 mile run next week.

31 July Medium Run – 4.5 Miles

Having rested one day and only playing tennis yesterday, I was quite psyched for this run. I woke up at about 6.30, said goodbye to the doughster, and was out of the apartment quite quickly. I started out running listening to Billy Bragg and Wilco’s “Mermaid Avenue”, and found myself really enchanted by the song “California Stars”. The album, of course, is Bragg’s re-working of Woody Guthrie’s lyrics that Guthrie never got to put to music and for the first leg of the run I was thinking a lot about Guthrie and his impact on the entire notion of music as political action, and what he’d think about the mess we’re in today.

Anyway, once I started down Cavanagh Road, my thoughts turned to a rather more practical problem. I tried to work out how Edna’s flight could leave later today (Thurs 6pm) and only arrive on Saturday at 3pm. I kept rolling the dates and days of the week around in my head but couldn’t get around it. I will admit that it was quite silly of me not to realize immediately that she probably would be coming in tomorrow – Friday – instead of Saturday, but this occupied a lot of my thinking.

I will say that I managed to “think” of the route in about four parts and this mental map helped. So going around Dover’s Crossing is part one, running down Cavanagh Road to Hawk Island Park is two, running around the lake in Hawk Island is three, and running back up Cavanagh Road is four. It also helps because the stages aren’t exactly uniform in distance and they’re not like I’m just running circles.

The park run was pleasant. I passed quite a few joggers / runners. There was the speedy Japanese guy who was exiting as I entered, the black guy with the Army T-shirt, the plodder (like me) in a bright green T-shirt, and a a girl who was the friendliest of the lot. As for the walkers, I met the same Indian couple who were the only people there when I ran on Saturday, and the couple that I’d met during the 8 mile run. I guess it’s nice to see familiar faces and say hi when you’re running.

Running back was quite easy as well, through I did slow down once I exited the park. As I turned back into Dunckel and got ready to go into Beau Jardin I saw the girl who always runs with MSU Soccer t-shirts. Maybe she’s part of the team. She was striding quite fast and I managed to use her pace to register a strong finish.