Sunday, December 27, 2009

it's the little things

merry (belated) christmas! i hope you all had an enjoyable, relaxing holiday with friends and family. once i got home to my mom's never-ending baking, i had no trouble making up for lost calories from earlier this week. entire tin of cookies in one sitting? no problem.

initially i thought i'd get in all this running during these two weeks of vacation but it turns out i'm doing a much better job of being lazy. i've still gotten in a few runs, including a solid (spontaneous) progression run on christmas day. my long run for the week ended up being shorter than planned, but i hung in for 11 miles instead of quitting at 1 or 2 like i so badly wanted to.

friday (12/25) afternoon run: 6.15 miles, 50:45 (avg pace 8:15)
(8:54, 8:41, 8:23, 8:18, 7:52, 7:09 - see, progression! i don't achieve this often.)

even though i wait for a particular movement before heading out on a run, there are many days where my bowels seem to hold out for revenge. lucky me, this morning was no exception. i wasn't brave enough to pop into one of the 19 churches i ran by and detoured for a grocery store instead. it was probably the only food store without a well-marked "restrooms" sign and i frantically hustled around all the edge-aisles of the store. i eventually found it though, thankfully, and once again i was reminded what a great invention the bathroom was.

sunday (12/27) am run: 11.10 miles, 1:41:36 (avg pace 9:09), 33-47*

thank you, running, for making me appreciate the porcelain throne even more. you always make water the most awesomest thing ever too.

week in review (12/21 - 12/27):
total miles: 32.55
time spent running: ~ 4 hours 47 minutes
avg hr: unknown
avg pace: 8:50/mile
off days: 3 (sleeping has gotten better, not glorious, but better)

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

two g's

i surprised myself this morning when i entered today's 11-miler into my dorky spreadsheets (yes, plural. i love my spreadsheets). i just crested 2000 miles for the year! woo hoo. i didn't set a mileage goal for the year because i'm already hard-headed enough -- i don't need the extra goal forcing me to run when i don't feel well or in the event i get injured (which thankfully didn't happen in '09!). so yeah, i don't do a yearly mileage goal but of course i want to continue beating each previous year :o)

2005 - 735.94 (logged march thru december)
2006 - 623.43 (didn't log mileage may thru september; gasp i know!)
2007 - 1335.95
2008 - 1618.95
2009 - 2000.01 (with 8 days to go!)

i'm like walmart with all those .94 and .95 endings.

wednesday (12/23) am run: 11 miles, 1:34:48 (avg pace 8:37), 32-47*
i kind of attempted a couple "threshold" miles but they were slower than threshold pace. with mile 1 clocking in at 9:48 i was just glad my legs could still pick up the pace somewhat. with the sleeping/eating troubles i'm just going to take this week easy.

and just for the record --
week in review (12/14 - 12/20):
total miles: 14.75
time spent running: ~ 2 hours 03 minutes
avg hr: 153
avg pace: 8:34/mile
off days: 5 (yep, 5) some people sleep 8 hours/night. i get 8 hours/week.