I am not a runner

I am not and will probably never be a runner. Very rarely do I get that "high" from running. Sure, I feel accomplished afterwards (after I am able to catch my breath and stop sweating) but I never seem to enjoy the act of running. I never look at my running shoes and wonder where they can take me today. Instead I look at them and say to myself "this is going to suck".

Last night my schedule called for a 5k Time Trial to check my VDOT score. I started the Ironteam season with a score of 29. In February I retested and I went up to a 34. Last night I expected to at least keep my current score which means I would have run the 5k in 27 minutes. I ended up finishing closer to 29 minutes. So 2 minutes shouldn't be that big of deal, but now my VDOT has dropped to 32. I guess it shouldn't matter - afterall it's just a number. But I feel discouraged. I want to be faster and at this point in the season I should be. It's disappointing.

It's funny. I guess everyone wants to be faster. Nate was saying that he wishes he was faster (his VDOT is like 50 something) - and yet I would give anything just to be able to keep up with him. It would be nice to actually run together and have me not feel like I'm holding him back or that my lungs are going to explode because I'm trying to keep his pace.

Tonight's schedule calls for an 8 mile run. Obviously I'm not looking forward it.

New Tattoo

Sick

It's July ... and I caught a cold. Something doesn't seem right here. Saturday morning I woke up with a sore throat and the feeling like I could throw up at any second. A feeling that lasted all day and carried into the night. Sunday less nausea but a worse sore throat. Today I just feel overall blah. I must look it too because while in a meeting with my boss this morning he said I looked miserable and told me to go home.

So needless to say I didn't get in any of my planned workouts this weekend which is more than a little irritating. I got to watch the Ironteam complete a 100 mile ride from hell (Tour of the East Bay Alps). I had done this ride last year and was in no way jealous of them on Saturday. I was perfectly content riding in the car and cheering them on from there; offering support when needed. But I was actually looking forward to running 16 miles on Sunday. I had a couple really good runs during the week and was hoping I would have a great long run - maybe even get a decent time.

Hoping this cold runs its course quickly. Off to nap.

Finding Motivation

I REALLY didn't want to run last night. After an hour of weight training and core workouts I was ready for dinner, wine, TV and bed. Nate was supposed to run too but said he was lacking motivation as well. It was his idea to run together (which we never do because he's twice as fast as I am). He said he could run at his IM Marathon pace of 9 min/miles and I could run at my 5k pace of 8:55 (my scheduled track workout was supposed to be 7x800's at 5k pace anyway). We ended up running the first mile in about 8:45 then walked for a minute and continued that pattern for about 4 miles. It was at that time I was done. I told Nate to continue ahead. I felt like I was holding him back but he stayed with me. I was able to run 1/2 miles with a minute or so walk in between. My lungs were hurting, my side was cramping, my legs didn't want to move. I started complaining about everything. "Running is stupid", "Ironman is stupid", "wind is stupid". I think Nate found this amusing ... apparently I can be quite cute when I'm tired and grumpy.

Towards the end of the run I felt like seeing how fast I could go. I topped out at 6:15 min/miles but it probably lasted maybe 30 seconds. Still ... I realized maybe I wasn't as tired as I thought if I could still sprint a little.

Ended up doing 6.35 miles in 1:02. Not bad with all my walk breaks during the second half. I was tired but felt good for sticking with it.

Thanks Nate for staying with me. You were my motivation to keep going :)

The Time Has Come

... to start training again. I don't have any excuses anymore. My marathon is less than 3 months away. Ironteam season starts again in 4 months. My only other time commitment during the week is work. My only excuse is laziness. It's time.

As always when I restart this blog it's with the idea that it will keep me honest in my training. Let's hope that holds true this time.

Tonight's training calls for a track run. Stay tuned.

Thank You

In talking with Nate and jokingly asking him if I should write a blog just for him ... I realized that I should.

He has been there for me this entire week - helping me get over the loss of my dog. He is always there for me whether it's a bad day at work or just in general - he always knows how to cheer me up. He is helping me get my life back on track in so many ways and I just don't know how to thank him enough. So I'm putting it here: Thank you Nate.

Thank you for being a part of my life. You make me incredibly happy.

Love,
Me