The bright side of a Moon
Since I passed on running in the pouring-down-rain in the Bridge to Bridge 5K, and I still wanted to do at least one race this month, I signed up for the Running with Wolves 5K on Saturday.
It’s supposed to be a hilly course so it should be challenging. I ran up Terwilliger Blvd. yesterday (Duninway Park to the Charthouse and back down) in preparation. Yay.
OK, so I’m thinking that I want to be slightly more structured in how I run. I’ve got goals, dammit. I want to increase my mileage and get faster. I’d also like to trim a few pounds. But I don’t want to push myself so hard I hurt myself.
Runner’s World often talks about some rules of thumb to guide increases in mileage and speed. They suggest not increasing miles per week more than 10-12%; likewise, increasing speed more than 1-3% per week is a bad idea. And since I’m not an “elite” runner, I’d like to build in some plateaus every couple of weeks just to be extra safe.
Since I’m basically a 10:00 pace guy, and I ran 12-15 miles per week for the past couple of weeks, I’ll use those numbers as the starting point. Running the numbers, then, by the end of 12 weeks, with 4 of them being plateaus, I should be able to safely be an 8:30 pace, running 25 miles per week.
That’s assuming that I’m biomechanically able to do that, of course.
I picture the 8:30/25mpw Brian as being somehow slimmer and sexier. Or maybe that’s just a good motivating image. Not that I’m not already pretty damn sexy.
So, to that end, I’m going to include hill intervals once per week, and some basic speed intervals once per week. And I’m going to increase my long run every other week by 10%. I’ll use my 5K time as the speed benchmark. Well, I’ll use my time on the Figure eight loop around the Esplanade as the benchmark. I’ll alternate weeks for the speed and distance plateaus.
This week my benchmarks are:
Then, next week I should be at:
Ran the 5K Shamrock Run today. I arrived a bit late and had to settle for the back of the pack.
I heard the announcer say that there were 10,001 participants, the first time they had broken that number in the 20 years or so that they’ve been having this particular race. I wonder if they only mentioned that because a) Adidas is the major sponsor of the Shamrock Run, and b) Nike’s Run Hit Wonder, a one-year-old race, limited themselves to 10,000 participants and sold out? Naaaah… couldn’t be competition there.
But since there were thousands of people running today, and I’m not, y’know, an elite runner in the first place, I didn’t stress too much. I had a good time, and the long hill from SE Burnside up Broadway to (practically) Salem almost did me in. I did, in fact, beat the beer. Or, I should say, the guy in the giant full-body Guinness costume. Or, I should say, at least one of them (there were two this year). Yay! I beat the beer!
When the official results are posted, I’ll update my trophy page for the 2005 season. But, remember, it took me at least two minutes and twenty-six seconds just to reach the start line… there were so many people!
Next up: the Bridge to Bridge on April 3rd. I’m going to try to convince other members of Team Saponified to run the 10K with me…
Last night, I was on the phone with a friend for at least an hour after getting off work. I sat there in Tom McCall Waterfront Park, chatting away… meanwhile, apparently there was a volcano nearby doing its ash-and-steam thing.
I honestly didn’t notice Mt. St. Helens being obscured under a cloud on an otherwise beautiful spring evening until I went for my run along the waterfront. As I ran west across the Hawthorne Bridge, I noticed several different camera crews from local stations shooting footage of the mountain. Isn’t it great that I can go running on a day when nature is erupting? I love living in the Pacific Northwest.
I did a bit longer loop than normal; I did a figure-eight, crossing over the Morrison Bridge twice, which gives me about 3.5 miles total. I’ll run again Thursday night, then probably won’t run for the rest of the week until Sunday, which is the Shamrock Run. Might hit the gym on Friday or Saturday for some weights. Might not. Just playing it by ear now.
Ran again this morning. Just over 2 miles. Didn’t keep track of my time, wanted a nice easy run to close out the week. And I got it. Yay.
Next week I’m going to do my longer run earlier in the week, then hit the gym with no actual running Thursday and possibly Saturday, to get ready for the Shamrock Run.
I can’t remember if I talked about this on the blog already but I’m not training for a good time in the Shamrock Run 5K. It’s a bit silly to do that since there’s so many people that enter that race, I’d just be fighting the crowds. It’ll take me 5 minutes just to cross the starting line, so what’s the point? I’m just going to go and have a good time, and then focus on a good time in the next race in April, which I believe is the Bridge-to-Bridge. I might even try the 10K on the B2B… maaaaaaybe.
It felt good to go running tonight. For a lot of reasons.
It felt good to be running at all — my last run was last Saturday.
It felt good to be running in my neighborhood again.
It felt good to be running on asphalt, grass, trail instead of a treadmill.
It felt good to power up the hills.
It felt good to coast along the top of the bluff and see the city lights.
It felt good to have wind and trees around me.
It felt good to have the silver full moon shining down on me as I ran.
It felt good to be able to do the full 3.5+ mile loop without collapsing.
But best of all it felt good to have music in my ears to help motivate me.
Yay, iPod shuffle!
I named it “ShuffleSexy”.
Music and running are a great combination.
Quick lunchtime update:
I know, the silence this week has been deafening. Been working on a couple of longer posts, one for here (musings about the illusion of mind and body being separate; maybe a bit dry but it’s a topic on my mindbody lately, especially considering the strange dreams I’ve been having) and one for the political blog (a review of “All The President’s Men” that’s turning into a fairly long critique).
So, hang in there and I’ll be back. I’ve also been slowly working on the site re-design but I don’t want to jinx myself by announcing anything yet.
Also the constant sleep interrupted by nightmares kinda take a toll.
I’m going running tonight and will more than likely post about that, too. Funny: I keep reading in Runner’s World about how beginners shouldn’t start “speed work” until they’ve been doing “tempo runs” for a while. For instance, a recent article says that a runner should be comfortable running for 45 minutes at a stretch before beginning speed work.
I thought I understood what “tempo running” was — I thought it was mixed fast and slow running. Makes some sense, right? “Tempo” is a synonym of “rhythm”…
But this week I decided to actually go looking for a definition; and it turns out that a “tempo run” is just sustained running at around what I would run in a race, sandwiched between shorter, easier, warm-up runs. That’s, um, what I’ve already been doing, although I haven’t been pushing myself for more than 30 minutes at a time. That’s a bit difficult (but not impossible) because there’s time limits on the treadmills and it’s been too freakin’ cold to go running much outside lately. At any rate, I’m going to to try (availability of treadmills being the primary factor) tonight to do a 35-minute “tempo run”.
Ran today. Wanted to run outside, on the Three Parks run, which is around 3.5 miles, but it was raining.
So I went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. 3.5 miles, 34:12 total time, for a 9:46 pace. My longest and probably fastest run of the year so far. Yay, me.
I’m glad. Really. I’m going to be very ready for the Shamrock Run 5K this year.
In other running news, I asked Caleb what he thought of my toe, and Caleb’s response was “I don’t know.” Neither one of us is sure that I’m actually losing a toenail, but we’re reasonably sure that whatever it is has been caused by running. Maybe I should post a picture? Since I just paid over $200 for an office visit that did not get applied to my deductible, I don’t exactly want to go back in just to have to pay through the nose for a toe.
Yeah! I’m losing a toenail!
They said this would happen when I started running. But… they said it would happen when I ran a marathon or something.
Maybe my shoes are too tight. Or… I dunno. Something.
Running update:
I ran. I ran so far away.
I ran at least 3 miles, three times this week. I ran at around a 10:00 pace, not great, but there you have it. I’m trying not to keep track of pace and just run in whatever my “aerobic zone” is, or keep time with the music (I’m loving the running with music and will be happy when my iPod Shuffle shows up and I can run outside with a soundtrack), but when I’m running on a treadmill it’s hard not to keep track since there’s a damned timer right there in front of me. Did I say “dammit” already?
I’m working on distance more than pace right now. Although this month’s Runner’s World talks about incorporating speedwork once per week. Maybe I’ll do that.
As a side note, there are so many great ideas in Runner’s World each and every month, and each and every month I read the articles and think, “Yeah, I should do that.” And then I think about it, and maybe try it a couple of times, but before I know it next month’s issue arrives, with a completely different new idea, and the cycle starts anew. So hard to just stick to one idea for a while.
It’d be cool if I could have “side notes” actually appear over there on the side. Y’know, considering how often I use the phrase “side note” (A search turned up four posts where I’ve used it on this blog but I’d swear there were more). Maybe I’ll implement “side notes” in Lunar Obverse 2.0. Which I am still working on, I promise.