In light of my running failure I threw myself headlong into my book challenge.
Okay. Maybe that is a lie. I did some reading. That is probably more accurate. I did manage to polish off Against a Crimson Sky which was fairly good. It is a bit of a romance/drama type book set in Napoleonic era Poland. Err. Not Poland since at that point it had ceased to exist. The book essentially follows a family as the husband, and later the sons, join Napoleon's army in hopes of rebuilding an independent Poland.
Once I finished that I started reading The Raw Shark Texts which is interesting so far. I can't really say what it is about as I'm still fairly confused. Something about a thought-fish (which is really a shark) seeking out someone's identity and then destroying their memory. Sounds strange, I know. A book review said something like "the bastard love child of Jaws, the Matrix, and the da Vinci Code" so I picked it up at the Vernon library book sale for $0.50 as I figured I couldn't lose!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
The end?
Well today's run was a massive fail. In fact, it may be the end of my running career. I've had some pain in the foot I broke in a rock climbing accident just under two years ago the last few times I have run. Today I had a 5K run scheduled and I decided I would run the UVic Chip Trail again - only 4K - to give my foot a rest since it was pretty sore last night. It felt good all day, but almost as soon as I started running it was seriously painful.
At first I thought my shoes were tied too tight. So I stopped, loosened them, and yes, it was better, but maybe the damage was already done. I ended up walking probably between half and three quarters of the route.
Well, the route I did. I may have got slightly lost. I ran the trail in the other direction than normal and somewhere I took a wrong turn and ended up wandering around totally lost. Finally I found my way back to my office, packed up, and headed home with only a slight limp (ugh).
I think I'm definitely staying away from running for the next little while. Since I have registered for a 10K at the end of September I think I will start running slowly and less distance when I get back from vacation at the end of August.
I hate quitting, but everything within me tells me to take a break because a talus injury is not something to screw around with.
Sigh.
At first I thought my shoes were tied too tight. So I stopped, loosened them, and yes, it was better, but maybe the damage was already done. I ended up walking probably between half and three quarters of the route.
Well, the route I did. I may have got slightly lost. I ran the trail in the other direction than normal and somewhere I took a wrong turn and ended up wandering around totally lost. Finally I found my way back to my office, packed up, and headed home with only a slight limp (ugh).
I think I'm definitely staying away from running for the next little while. Since I have registered for a 10K at the end of September I think I will start running slowly and less distance when I get back from vacation at the end of August.
I hate quitting, but everything within me tells me to take a break because a talus injury is not something to screw around with.
Sigh.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Back at it
Today I got right back into running with a double lap of the UVic Alumni Chip Trail (the link is roughly the route I did) for a distance of 8K and a time of 58 minutes. Yes indeed, I have an actual time because I ran with my phone.
Why did I do this?
When I did the 10K at Elk/Beaver Lake I wasn't sure how busy the route would be and in an effort to not risk a 10K loop of a lake I'd never been to with no ability to contact the outside world, I discovered my phone fits in the zippered pocket of my running shorts. Way to go, Lululemon!
So today I decided to give myself an accurate time. 58 minutes exactly it was. Not super fast, and definitely slower than my 10K race time, but faster than my Elk Lake pace. I was just slightly slower than my first running effort of this half marathon training when I completed the 8K distance about half a song sooner.
What's up with that?
I think part of it might be that the first running effort was at Beacon Hill Park where there were a) other people and b) paved trails. At UVic it is much more a solo running venture. I'm not trying to "keep up" or "compete" with any unsuspecting runners and I am suspicious that running on gravel actually takes more effort. Less rebound and maybe a shorter stride? Or something. That's my excuse anyway.
Why did I do this?
When I did the 10K at Elk/Beaver Lake I wasn't sure how busy the route would be and in an effort to not risk a 10K loop of a lake I'd never been to with no ability to contact the outside world, I discovered my phone fits in the zippered pocket of my running shorts. Way to go, Lululemon!
So today I decided to give myself an accurate time. 58 minutes exactly it was. Not super fast, and definitely slower than my 10K race time, but faster than my Elk Lake pace. I was just slightly slower than my first running effort of this half marathon training when I completed the 8K distance about half a song sooner.
What's up with that?
I think part of it might be that the first running effort was at Beacon Hill Park where there were a) other people and b) paved trails. At UVic it is much more a solo running venture. I'm not trying to "keep up" or "compete" with any unsuspecting runners and I am suspicious that running on gravel actually takes more effort. Less rebound and maybe a shorter stride? Or something. That's my excuse anyway.
Thanks for that...
So this summer I'm working at UVic as a Research Assistant. My job is to create an Education Heritage Museum - online. Pretty cool stuff.
Currently I'm burning CDs of 700MB each full of pictures and scans of artifacts. Needless to say, I've got some downtime. My early 2000s era work eMac is great, but not great at doing more than one thing at once.
So I've been reading half marathon blogs. And "Jason's Half Marathon Training Blog" recounts seeing this highly inspirational poster on the edge of the course during his run:
Currently I'm burning CDs of 700MB each full of pictures and scans of artifacts. Needless to say, I've got some downtime. My early 2000s era work eMac is great, but not great at doing more than one thing at once.
So I've been reading half marathon blogs. And "Jason's Half Marathon Training Blog" recounts seeing this highly inspirational poster on the edge of the course during his run:
“Remember: the pain you feel now may be temporary…
…but your time on the Internet lasts F O R E V E R!”
Thanks for that, helpful person. I'm not sure how the blog entry ends because I haven't read that far. I just thought this particular note was funny. And sad. And a bit true. Oh technology...
Monday, August 1, 2011
Week One Done
Well, then end of training week one is complete. I confess, I have been better at running than blogging. I skipped my 8K run on Thursday because my legs were SO sore but I got back into it on Friday, running the 5K chip trail at UVic with my friend Lindsey. The trail turned out to only be 4K, but it was good nonetheless.
Saturday was a rest day (which was delightful) then on Sunday I had my scheduled 10K - eek. I decided I was going to run the 10K trail that goes around Elk and Beaver Lakes.
The trail was gravel and maybe it took more effort to run on than pavement, but the run definitely didn't feel good. My overall time was somewhere around an hour and fifteen minutes which is quite a bit slower than my 10K race time of an hour and seven minutes. Right from the start I knew it was going to be a hard run, but I chose to finish the distance and not worry so much about the time. There will be plenty of opportunities to run 10K and improve my time.
After the run I spent most of the day relaxing on the couch. At about the 9.5K mark my right ankle started hurting a bit. This is really the first time I've had any pain in my broken-foot foot in quite awhile. In October 2009 I fell rock climbing and broke my right talus, then had next-day surgery and spent the next three months doing a combination of wheel chair and crutches.
After a full day of rest it is feeling much better and I'm hoping I'm back to normal for tomorrow when I have 8K on the plate.
Here's to a successful week two!
Saturday was a rest day (which was delightful) then on Sunday I had my scheduled 10K - eek. I decided I was going to run the 10K trail that goes around Elk and Beaver Lakes.
The trail was gravel and maybe it took more effort to run on than pavement, but the run definitely didn't feel good. My overall time was somewhere around an hour and fifteen minutes which is quite a bit slower than my 10K race time of an hour and seven minutes. Right from the start I knew it was going to be a hard run, but I chose to finish the distance and not worry so much about the time. There will be plenty of opportunities to run 10K and improve my time.
After the run I spent most of the day relaxing on the couch. At about the 9.5K mark my right ankle started hurting a bit. This is really the first time I've had any pain in my broken-foot foot in quite awhile. In October 2009 I fell rock climbing and broke my right talus, then had next-day surgery and spent the next three months doing a combination of wheel chair and crutches.
After a full day of rest it is feeling much better and I'm hoping I'm back to normal for tomorrow when I have 8K on the plate.
Here's to a successful week two!
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