Back into the Groove

Yay! Spring has sprung!

Or so it seemed today in my little corner of the universe.

It had been a lousy week, running wise. Okay, I did manage to increase my speed.But only got three runs, and eight miles in total,  before sickness struck on Thursday. A maybe migraine/stomach ulcer type of thing  going on. Not bad enough to merit shelling out fifty bucks to the doc, but enough to send me to bed a 6pm on Thursday and it dragged into Friday and Saturday too.

But this morning, by 7 am, the skies was getting bright, and, when I put my nose out, I swear I could detect a little heat. Whey, hey! Long slow run called for, and long slow run it would be.

Threw on my marathon t shirt. It`s a long sleeved affair and perfect for today. Wind chill factor heading south but this was a very familiar route. Main road,lots of traffic and all that, but it would take me straight to another town, if I cared to run that far. I`d fond memories there of the ghosts of LSRs past as that was my pre-marathon LST stomping ground.

But I`m back at the drawing board again. Starting gingerly with my first post marathon LSR. Didn`t want a return of the foot injuries and didn`t want to kill my wavering athletic enthusiasms. Looonnng and sloooowww it would be.

This is worse than recounting my dreams or telling you, in fine detail, just how wonderful my children are….

But anyway, if you`re interested, see here for the Garmin connect lowdown on today`s run.

Details

Timing

Time:	1:46:21
Moving Time:	1:44:35
Elapsed Time:	1:47:48

Avg Speed:	5.1 mph
Avg Moving Speed:	5.2 mph
Max Speed:	36.6 mph

Avg Pace:	11:49 min/mi
Avg Moving Pace:	11:37 min/mi
Best Pace:	1:38 min/mi

Speed

Pace

Elevation

Elevation Gain:	178 ft
Elevation Loss:	179 ft
Min Elevation:	17 ft
Max Elevation:	134 ft

Laps10

View Splits

Split Split Hours:Minutes:Seconds Time Miles Distance Minutes per Mile Avg Pace Summary 1:46:20.8 9.00 11:49 1 11:03.5 1.00 11:03 2 11:52.2 1.00 11:52 3 11:55.3 1.00 11:55 4 12:49.7 1.00 12:50 5 11:38.6 1.00 11:39 6 11:57.9 1.00 11:58 7 11:53.4 1.00 11:53 8 12:19.1 1.00 12:19 9 10:50.5 1.00 10:51 10 :00.9 0.00

And if all that is too boring-and I`m yawning myself-all you really need to know is that I ran nine miles and at a pretty pathetic pace.

Was damned happy my feet bore up. It`s the furthest I`ve gone since they crashed at the marathon in October. Left foot-the one that was the slowest to recover-did complain a tad but I`m fine now, and expect to be in the morning.

But the main effect is in my mood. I just so ENJOYED every second of today. Loved the air, the growth, the traffic. Love that Spring has SPRUNG! And that I got to stretch out in a nice, slow, meditative jog through the whole lot of it. Oh, that felt so good.

Ok, nine done already! Only eleven more to go this week.

Oh, and the swimming continues. Got swimming twice this week. But at least they were both good stretches of 1,000-1,400 metres.

Yeah, on the running front, I kinda feel I`m back in the groove after today. Know what I mean?

 

 

Sloth

I so completely identified with fairweather`s recent entry that I was tempted to reblog it. But that would be the lazy way out and it`s because I`m too tempted to take the lazy way out that I am in this fix in the first place.

Raheny Five Mile race was on last Sunday and I missed it. Can`t blame laziness for my missing it. After all, I heard the Sirens call in the form of an overnight stay with my sister and our daughters in a five star hotel complete with afternoon tea, dinner, prosecco, cosmopolitans…Well, what else could a girl do?

That meant I`d no incentive to really work in January. Nothing to taunt me into improving on last year`s five miles in forty five minutes run. And I`m almost happy about that!

That`s where the laziness kicks in.

Also, see above pic. That`s what my Garmin forerunner looks like. I`ve had it since last August. And finally got around to working it last night. Now that`s fatal mix of laziness and technological ineptitude.

I`m still struggling with the techie bits too.

But we`ve got to muddle on past our weaknesses somehow.

Last Sunday, despite a bucket load of food and drink, I waddled down to the pool and swam 880 metres.And on Monday, I ran four miles.

Did nothing beyond half a mile with my garmin last night. Struggling with the damn thing clipped my running time down to nothing.

And I`m reading Danny Dreyer`s “Chi Running”. That book makes complete sense to me. I`ve a lifetime of yoga and meditation in my bones and learned in my long runs last year that really listening to my body and relaxing in my runs was vital for me to continuing. Danny promotes all this and a whole lot more.

I`m only at the start of the book and already can see how improving my posture when I run can help me run so much more easily. And when I run easily-like on Monday night-I can enjoy it more which means I want to do it more often.

The other thing I struggle with too  though is the damned weather and time. With work and the kids it really is hard to whip an hour out of my day just to run.And if it`s pelting rain, which it invariably is, I tend to wait til the rain stops. Which it doesn`t, quite often.

Okay, plan is: Wear my  Garmin to track my runs. Keep reading Chi Running.Sign up for a couple of races.Relax, enjoy.

Anyway, four miles done this week. Gotta get my ass out there today. Wish me luck!

 

River Run

 

Does running along the beach or river bank have extra health benefits? Wouldn`t be surprised if it did. I`m happy in either place. But I particularly like my riverside runs. Love the dirt trail underfoot, love the many moods of the tidal river, love that it`s generally quiet. Love that it takes me right into the heart of the town through the squalls of seagulls and teeming traffic. Then I get to loop back again into the quiet of country life.

That`s where I was this morning. Its becoming my Sunday routine. Six miles of undiluted pleasure. Talk radio is usually quite entertaining at this time too, so I`ll generally throw on the headphones and alternate between listening to the weird ways of the world, while enjoying the scene around me.

The photo I snapped today doesn`t do it justice. But there`ll be improvements on that one in 2013 as I`ll certainly have lots of opportunities to capture better shots.Maybe even as soon as next week. Because it is, I am told, the start of Janathon Hadn`t known about janathon until lost jogger pointed it out.Yes, I desperately need the extra motivation. After three run free days, my thighs were screaming at me this afternoon. Evidently, the river run had reawakened some dormant muscles. A sure sign of a slacker.

The Janathon participants are expected to exercise and blog about it every day. A nice challenge, that. I need to get my bike out, as cycling to work is definitely on the agenda in 2013. And I also need to improve my swimming to cover another New Year`s Resolution. But running will be king. So I`m aiming to run five times a week, with three swims and one cycle.

Yes, I get very ambitious about my exercise regime when I`m sitting on my tod!

But anyway, I`m happy enough with today. It`s got the week off to a good start.

You`ll Never Walk Again

                                 

                                                                                                 Yep, I`m here!

What`s the point of being fit if you don`t use it to experience something different in your life,right?

Hmmm, yeah.

I could`ve done my first park run today. Could have repeated the 10 km run I`d great fun with last year. But I`d spotted a Meet up walking club and figured, yep, I`ll try a walk with them, just to see what it`s all about.

Running`s not as social. I`m often too busy breathing to talk. And I used to like walking, before I started running. If they walk quickly enough, for far enough, well, I won`t really need to run today then, will I?

Beautiful day in Dublin. Sun gleaming in a clear blue sky. And enough chill to make you move fast. Our group of thirty assembled near the beach. With Meet Up, it can be a different group every time and usually there`s a huge diversity of age and race in the groups I`ve been to anyway. This was a nice blend of delightful people. 

The tide was out too and it looked like we`d have a clear run, sorry, walk for our planned 8km trip. But, dammit, it was all downhill after that.

Yep, it was sociable. Enjoyed all the conversation. And the scenery was delightful. It included views of two very hardy souls diving into the waves.

But, gosh, I almost wished I could be with them. I found the walk itself just very frustrating.

It was a stroll. I actually found myself, at one point, excusing myself from one lovely lady and telling her sorry! I just have to move on. Boy, I just so wanted to run. And,much though I like to talk, I realised the bliss we have in running is that we can take in the entire scene without the need to focus on someone else. I`d rather see waves and clear blue skies than chat Helga from Helsinki.

Couldn`t believe, when we got half way-4km-that the group were actually going to stop for lunch. Lunch! I`d barely walked off the morning`s cup of coffee. Meh!

A couple of others baled out too, at that point, so I took my opportunity to leave with them. Thankfully, we took a brisker pace on the return trip. And, no, I couldn`t even indulge in the pleasure of running then either, as I was dressed for walking. Too many damned layers. And gloves.

The whole thing took two hours. Two hours! It reminded me why I got running in the first place. It really is a very efficient way to get fit.

Lesson learned. Cue music:-“You`ll Never Walk Again” Now, I`ve gotta kick ass tomorrow and do a really decent run. Wouldn`t mind but there`s damned rain forecast. But at least I can console myself with the thought that, yep, I can run!