Hmmmm

Yesterday was the first fun run of the BLS season.  Overall I rate my personal status review as positive - for the most part I was able to run comfortably and finished under the 30 minute mark.   But I did skip the big, long hill at the start of the run -- I think their route is not well designed to a big hill just as the run starts and tire people out, and kill their pace times.   And for the other hills I did walk the uphills - which I'm fine with, especially at this early start to the season.  As always, I wish I was faster.

One area for improvement is my running clothing - I need to look into a running jacket that wicks the sweat but still helps to keep me warm on these early season (or late season) runs.  I expect most of these jackets will be more expensive than I want to pay - so I'll be keeping my eye out for coupon and discounts.  I also have high personal standards for jackets (and bags) features.  I want a jacket with multiple pockets with zippers and an inside security pocket.  I'd like it to have a hood that can be rolled up into the collar.  I want it to have some reflective piping or other night safety features. 

Good Day

It has been a good and productive day today!  I haven't accomplished this much in a single day in a long time. Felt the need to post it just to help me remember it and use it to motivate me on that tougher days.

I also created a few systems and/or checkpoints so that this productivity can continue.  It is always easier to keep something going than to start it from scratch.

Update: I probably should have pointed out that Zeus was at the Doggy Office.  As I thought about why I was so productive a light bulb went off and duh, Zeus was gone for the day - there was no need to keep him entertained, take him on short bathroom walks, etc.    

Stanford University's Weeping Angle

I saw this image of Stanford University's Weeping Angle and it is the best image to represent my feelings last week .   This statue really spoke to me.  

As an update,  I do feel much better this week

Still waiting

I tend to hate this point..."To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did" When God takes something from your grasp. He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence. "The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you."  Just 27 Words,  'God our Father , walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family in your name, Amen.'  This prayer is so powerful


It's been a year, and I still don't understand why God would need to take my cat to make me 'open my hands to something better'.  I'm still waiting

WWWW

Trying to keep my focus and remember What Would Wally Want!!  I know he would understand I'm hurting as I come up on the anniversary and that I may fall to bad habits to comfort me.  Remembering that he would want the best for me will help me make the right choices. 

Running Challenge

I regularly use the Nick GPS+ app on my iphone to track my running.   Love the app.  It was something like $1.99 or $2.99 and well worth the price.

It has a feature called Challenge Me.  I tried it for the first time yesterday and had so-so results.  Part of the issue is me/my security (as forced by my company since the phone has my corporate emails on it) and part was the app.   The challenge I accepted was to run 30 seconds faster mile pace than my previous run.  The good great news is that I accomplished that! I ran 32 seconds faster per mile!  This really is great news because I tend not to push myself enough - and really with some valid justification because at this point I still need to develop the base of miles and increase my distance before I get too concerned with speeds plus I'm still having that Planter Faciitis issue with my right foot.   Going fast the first part but then being forced to walk the rest of the distance would be a failure to me.   So while I'm thrilled I accomplished this challenge, I can't afford to focus on this and make speed my goal... at least not yet, speed is a goal of the running season but I have to get to the point where its appropriate to focus on it.

The downside is the app responded as if I did not reach the goal.  The history clearly shows the distance, pace, total time, and calories burned for each run and you can see I am 32 seconds faster pace between Saturday's and Monday's run.  The app gives statuses as you run along, and a couple of the status messages indicated I had "doing great and only 4 more miles to go!".  4 more miles?  where did that come from? I was challenging myself against the pace of a 1 1/2 run and planning to do the same distance - something was off in that challenge.

And then I have the extra hassle that my phone has a 9 character password with both letters and numbers and it kicks into requiring it again for these runs.  Honestly trying to run and type in the password so you can access the app and finish really, really cuts into your speed and affects your overall pace.   So it's very possible that I not only met the goal but smashed it - but probably not because I had that same password issue with the previous run so Saturday's pace was already affected by that same delay.    The other impact was I had a really hard time getting started on Monday morning and the morning dog walk took extra long so I had to delay the run to later in the day.  I had then adjusted and planned for a noontime run but it was raining then.  So I finally made it out early evening.  You do what you have to do, but I know I run better in the morning!  Even though I do, I need to get used to the evening runs since all the BLS fun runs are at 6:30 pm.

I have 3 weeks remaining to get myself set for that first fun run.  I want to primarily focus on being able to cover the distance comfortably.  I often skip the first hill on that fun run so the distance is a little shorter for my route, and I don't have to be up to speed for the full distance for another five weeks -- plenty of time as long I stay dedicated to my training.

2012 Summer Running Season Goals

Had another successful run this morning.  Still short and many would not see the success I see, but like beauty, success is in the eye of the beholder.  I had three runs this week; just like I planned.  None of the runs were more than 1 1/2 miles and all of the outings were less than 30 minutes.  A lot would claim that was 'nothing' but to me each outing was longer and farther, and consistent pace even with basically doubling the mileage each run.  This is the first week back at it since about last Spring - yes there were a few running efforts last summer but they were few and far between. 

I'm not upset about this slow start because it has shown great progress and it is very similar to how I started out running.   Back when I lived on Lake Harriett in Minneapolis I started by running from my apartment to the Band Shell, then a few outings later made it a loop - running to the band shell and back. This continued for weeks as I increased the distance to my turn around point: the band shell, end of band shell's parking lot, first dock, second dock, rose garden, and finally the canoe rental storage  By the time my turn around point was the canoe rental storage it was more than half way so the combined there and back was more than all the way around the lake - but it took me weeks before I was ready to run that full lake circumference!  And the first time I ran all the way around the lake I felt like Rocky when he runs up the Philadelphia steps.

I'm pleased with my restart and its time to make some goals for the season.

First goal is to be ready for the BLS Fun Runs.....what does ready mean?  it means being able to run feeling comfortable and confident for the 3 miles.  Okay...so what does comfortable and confident mean?  it means feeling good with running/jogging the full distance without need any walking breaks (with exception for a couple of the hills), it also means being able to finish the distance in under 35 minutes  The BLS like to claim that there is more than enough to go around, but in reality there is not enough bottles of water or the special food (ie, ham roll run, etc) for all the slower runners.  The faster people take more than one so there is often not enough left to go around.  My goal is to be fast enough to make those BLS fun runs be my dinner.   My starting pace is slow enough to affect getting things at the fun runs, so my immediate goal is to shave 2 minutes off my starting pace in time for the April fun runs.  Overall summer pace goal is to be a 9+ minute miler by the last of the fun runs.

Second summer goal is compete a long distance race.  I have the Ice Age Half Marathon in May, but my expectation is that I will hike that more than I will run it; although this year I would like to add some running to the course.   I'm open to counting this as any run of at least a 10K.   There are a couple 10 miler races in Chicago that look interesting, and there is always the BLS Cudahy Classic 10 miler.  Or another half marathon could be a good fit in September or October.   I'd even consider a full marathon if the time limit was long enough to have me walk parts of it.   Ultimate running goals include a full marathon but I'm not sure this is the year for it because once again I'm starting my spring running over almost from scratch.  The full marathon may have to wait for a year that I'm RAW (Running All Winter).

Third running goal is to run with Zeus.  This will take time and practice to get us to a mutual pace - he is a sprinter and I can go longer (but slower) distances than he can sprint.  He also has to learn to run and not stop at every interesting leaf or mailbox!

Right now these are my personal plans for the running season.  Simple and doable, but still challenging.   I promise to give an update at the end of each month through October.  Let's see how I do.  Good luck to all your running goals for the season!