TPoD Long Run #1 – We came, we got kicked off the track, we ran anyway

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March 1, 2014 by Amy B

I thought I should blog about this morning’s long run while the pain was still fresh.

This was a run I’d just planned on bagging. Super cold here and well, sub-zero windchill didn’t sound very inviting for 90 minutes of running.

Thankfully, Team /var/run teammate Nancy set the wheels in motion for a plan for us to meet at the SDC for an indoor track run.

I slept through my first alarm, which is why you should always set two, which I did.

Not many people out this early on a Saturday morning

After a chilly drive down to Houghton, we were kicked out of the indoor track for a (supposedly pre-ordained by varsity sports gods) football workout. I will refrain from ranting about neglecting to put events on the public schedule.

Apologies to Josh for the weird picture, but I felt I needed to post proof that Nancy was here.

This meant treadmilling it for at least an hour until the room would reportedly be free.

I’m not sure how I made it. I dug deep for every running motivation mantra I had. Foremost, I remembered that no one is making me do this, dummy.

Wow, nice picture. Ego permanently deflated.

After the treadmill wasn’t really jiving with my Garmin/footpod, I decided to stick with Garmin based on effort. We followed the 60 min on the treadmills with 30 min on the track, which was almost as painful as the first 2/3 of the workout. “Near Race Pace” sounds completely harmless on paper (or a Google Spreadsheet) but in reality, after a frustrating (and probably too fast) six miles, a bathroom break and walk downstairs, when I started running again, my body did the What gives? Weren’t we done? thing.

Looking at Garmin data afterward, I can see that yes, those first miles were too fast. The slow one was probably when I accidentally ripped the safety cord off the treadmill and stopped to retrieve towels for sweaty running mates. Oh, and somewhere early on I had to change the channel, because it was bad enough I was on a treadmill. Having to watch Faux News was going to make me homicidal.

I don’t know if this really goes along with our Training Plan of Doom pace-wise (this is a slightly modified Hal Higdon Advanced workout for Half Marathon Training), but I feel pretty good about it overall, considering the circumstances and that I haven’t run this far in a really, really long time – October 19, 2013 to be exact (oh my god). My HR was high for what I’d usually have it be for a long run, but is half marathon training different than full? I don’t know. I’m sure it doesn’t help that I have run every minimally for the past three weeks.

With all the times I had to jump off the treadmill, I’m not sure if this time means anything, but it SHOULD be total moving time.

Came home, ate half a pasty and made a post-run latte. Don’t feel completely wrecked, which is good, right?

 Today’s run reinforced that I need to fight this damn weather and get out for more of the runs right now. I feel like I should feel better on these than I do. And somewhere along the way I need to keep up with the bike rides (for this ridiculous 100 mile thing in May) and not lose my sanity in the process.

Kind of related: Work is offering a free personal trainer session in March; I’m going to the orientation meeting on Tuesday. Not sure how I feel about the PT thing, but I am pretty psyched about the free admission to the fitness facility for six weeks. Plenty of chances to get booted off the track!