So unfortunately I have not been posting as frequently as I had hoped for. I guess my New Year’s Resolution for 2011 should be to make sure I regularly post on this blog.
We had another team run Saturday December 18th. Our guest speaker for the day was the owner of Marathon Sports, who gave a talk on proper running attire, including shoes and footwear. I think back to my first training run with the team last year when I owned one pair of running tights and two long sleeved shirts. Now I have accumulated several pieces of “cold weather” running gear which has made a huge difference in these long winter outdoor runs. I am pretty lucky that I tend to be able to get away with fewer layers since I warm up pretty fast. Usually I can get away with running tights, one short sleeved sweat wicking layer, and a running jacket. When it is raining or snowing, I will put on a waterproof jacket, usually one I picked up at the Reach the Beach Relay in 2009.
We talked a lot about the new minimalist shoe running trend that morning. I’ve tried the Vibram FF shoes, and occasionally do some short or cool down runs in these. They are definitely an adjustment from my heavily supportive Asics Gel Kayanos, which I’ve been wearing for about a year now, but I think they are really great for forcing you to focus on your running form. I have a habit of heel striking due to the supportiveness of my sneakers. I am also interesting in trying out the Newtons or Nike Frees to see how I would feel in a minimalist sneaker. I am hoping to get to Marathon Sports this week to try some on.
In terms of running that day, we did a 6 miler on the first section of the Newton Hills. The second half was very challenging as it took us from the Newton Fire Station to the bottom of Heartbreak Hill. However, despite the fact that I still need to put a lot of work into hill training over the coming months, I am definitely feeling better on these hilly runs, and am able to maintain a similar pacing whether on flats on on the hills. Although I must say, I definitely enjoy the downhill portions of these runs too!
Fast forward a week, and we had no team training run due to the Christmas holiday. I decided to get my 8 miler in on Christmas Eve morning. I had a really great run along the Charles. My favorite Charles River loop is running from either JFK or Weeks Footbridge to the Museum of Science. It is about 0.4 miles from my apartment to the river, and either 8.2 or 8.6 miles around depending on whether I stop at Weeks or JFK. The course is very flat and offers great views of the city and the river. I also like that I only hit intersections a few times thoughout the course of the run so I rarely have to stop for traffic. I incorporated 3 one minute walking breaks during this run and really pushed the last mile and ended up at an 8:15 pace for the full 8 miles. I think this is the fastest I’ve ever clocked 8 miles outdoors, so I was very pleased with this run.
This past week leading up to our run on New Year’s Day was actually a pretty tough week for me. I definitely didn’t feel as good as I usually do in my morning runs and dealt with various issues, like very tight quads, some hip discomfort, fatigue, nausea, etc. It was likely due to my having some time off and changing my schedule so that I was not getting my normal amount of sleep each night or eating as well as I try to do. It was definitely a lesson for me in how important it is to make sure that I am putting as much effort into the non-running aspects of running as I do into running. I had a very tough 8-miler on the Newton Hills yesterday morning due to getting very little sleep on NYE and not having the healthiest of dinners the day before. The last half of the run was a major struggle, and I have to thank my running buddy Josh for staying with me as we significantly slowed our pace and took some walking breaks. It reminded me of how easy it can be to focus on the negative during these “bad runs,” and how important it will be for me mentally to keep a positive attitude through training and racing this year. This mental preparation or “toughness” as Coach Rick calls it is going to have to be something I consciously work on during all of my training runs this year.
So today I am taking a day off to stretch, ice, foam roll, and eat well to prepare for the upcoming week of training!
Also, on a fundraising related note, I have raised $1566 as of this morning! I know I have a long way to go to reach my goal, but am going to be planning a fundraising event in January or February.
And I will end with this quotation from Jacqueline Gareau, the 1980 Boston Marathon women’s champion:
“The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy…It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed.”
lindseyrunsbostonpart2 