we're running up that hill

I just realized I only have 18 weeks to train for this marathon. Crap.

hey!  i got into the nike women’s marathon!  so i need to get my ass into gear by OCTOBER.  wtf.  can i do this?  it’s ambitious, to say the least, since the longest mileage i’ve done in the past few months is 6…  i’m about to get serious, i suppose. 

just wanted to share that these sugoi knickers are my favorite running pants ever. i have a pair that i have abused for over a year now, sweating in multiple times weekly, and they are still in solid shape!  i just bought a new pair in anticipation of my new marathon focus.  wahoo!

also, though i haven’t been on top of updates here, i sure do talk about running on facebook… and i’m so happy that a couple of my IRL friends, Sara and Jill, have also taken up with running!  how exciting!

xo jill

Welcome back!

Ok, lady, in response to your update, here is my own:

I also took a very long running break. I think my last run of 2011 was in mid-November. Then it was too much travel for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and some life craziness in between. So I made it a New Year’s resolution to re-commit to running, and to try to be more structured about it.

I started 2011 so gung-ho about being a runner and making it a part of my life, and I had big ambitions about a marathon someday, and I wanted to really push myself to run farther each time, or faster each time. When I had injuries this past year, I really killed myself about it, getting worked up in my head about the time I was missing, and how irresponsible it was to let an injury happen. And I had the same ankle issue twice, I’m certain, because I pushed myself too hard to get back into the swing of things. The thing is, when I started to run last January, I was thinking that I wanted to be a person who could run 3-4 miles a day, maybe not each day, but regularly enough. And although I became that person at some point last spring, it stopped being enough, and I regret doing that to myself. 

My goals for 2012 are a little simpler. I want to make some changes in the way that I run. I like running at night (sometimes even quite late) and I do those runs on the treadmill, because I’m a scaredy-cat. I want to do more of my runs outside, and I want to be able to run in the morning. I have a general goal of being more productive and getting up early on days I don’t have to. This sounds like a silly goal, maybe, but it is a big deal for me and has actually seemed kind of impossible even though I’ve been trying each day so far this year. I am hoping that eventually the two goals can merge. I can be like the runners I admire (like your lovely self!) who wake up early and run at the start of the day. I also have begun running with no pressure. My last outside run, I didn’t use an app, didn’t look at a clock. I have no idea exactly how far I ran or what my pace was. It was just fun, just for me. I want more of that.

I haven’t done a big playlist shake-up in a while. It may be about time. I’ll keep you posted.

oh, hi.

well, it’s been a while, eh?  since this running blog sorta began in the spirit of 2011 new year’s resolutions, here i am, checking back in.  i ran approximately a whopping 454 miles last year, which was up 100% from the previous year.  yeah, i feel pretty good about that!  but eventually, blogging about my runs felt a little boring, a little redundant, even, by the end of the year, because i wasn’t training for anything specific anymore, and because i think i have simply become a runner.  yup, it just became something i do, no big thang - guaranteed i will be out there, sneaks and headphones on, several times a week.  so what is there to say? 

well, a few details: i sorta took the month of december off (unfortunately) due to a seemingly-never-ending cold that turned into a sinus infection that turned into a constant cough.  i am back in the game now, though i feel like i need to rebuild some of my endurance.  despite the time off, and the lack of endurance, just yesterday i ran my fastest 3 miles yet - a not-very-impressive 9:38 min/mile.  but that’s hot for my slow-poke self, so i’m excited!

i think i can largely attribute this energy to my newly rediscovered resolve to train for a marathon this year.  i still haven’t decided when or where, but i’d like to make it happen.  i am thinking i’d like to run it before i want to have another kid… and have to start from scratch again with my body.  ugh.

the rest of the credit goes to my new playlist, which i quickly made from some brand-new downloads that i grabbed off itunes right before my run.  god bless the smartphone… the songs are pretty much a bunch of super-obvious, kinda-older pop hits, but it was perfect in the moment and exactly what i needed, so it kept me going.  here’s what i had on there (on shuffle, so i don’t recall the order):

• power / kanye west
• a-punk / vampire weekend
• touch the sky / kanye west and lupe fiasco (this is my old jam.)
• we are young / fun featuring janelle monáe
• toxic / britney spears
• till the world ends / britney spears
• (if you’re wondering if i want you to) i want you to / weezer
• on to the next one / jay-z (this is my NEW jam!)
• single ladies /  beyoncé
• on the floor / jennifer lopez

so, in the spirit of re-motivating to meet that lofty marathon goal, i’m back (for now.)  here’s to 2012!

This song makes me run so. effing. fast. I haven’t analyzed the bpm (obviously) but it’s something I should think about because I feel like this has the perfect bpm for me. This pushed me into runner’s high like 8 minutes into a run. I’m at the point where I’m considering putting it on my playlist twice.

Jill, I just realized I don’t even know what’s going on in your running life anymore. Running 9.5 miles for fun? Are you training for something new? You’re, like, on fire. Tell me everything. Especially your endurance secrets.

Phoebe

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Ok, It’s 4:15 and I just took the shuttle over to Disneyland to get to the start line for my first half-marathon! There’s so much fun energy here right now, i so wish I were you were here with me. Anyway, wish me luck - here goes nothin’!

Do you watch Parks and Rec? I don’t, but I really should. My friend (who is also a runner, and speaking of that, was really interested in some of the stuff we’re doing so I’ll probably invite her along on an adventure one of these days) was telling me that Rob Lowe is hilarious on it, and that his character is a nutjob who wants to run to the moon.

Then we both agreed that while that’s supposed to be crazy, it is actually kind of awesome. Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s possible for me. It would seriously be like 10 miles a day for 60 years. No thanks. BUT. It made me think about what a funny distance goal would be. Running around the world? Across the country? I am starting to get really nerdy about it and imagining things like making a piece of wall art that keeps track of my distances and marks when I hit big milestones.

hey phoebe - i’ve been a little MIA on my mileage progress updates… but i thought i should check in since my 1/2 marathon at disneyland is a mere 2 weeks away!!!  ahh!  this weekend for my long run i ran 9, the weekend before i ran only 5 (i was super busy, but managed to eke out a solid 5 in the evening before it got dark), the week before that i ran TWELVE, and the week before that i ran 10.  once i hit 12, i felt like 13.1 would be completely doable, though i definitely wish i had hit that maybe this weekend or last, since i am “tapering” now and i wish my taper period were a bit shorter.  that’s why i did 9 yesterday, actually. 

10 was painful, but mostly because i was totally unprepared nutritionally and didn’t have anything to ingest while i was on the road.  very stupid.  12 seemed like a breeze, comparatively.  and dropping down to 5 again felt so easy, i decided that maybe i needed to up my tues/thursday runs a bit - all this time i have stuck to the schedule of tues 3/thurs 3/ friday long, but i think that since my endurance has grown, i am ready to start running longer on some of those weekdays. so this past week i did 5 on tuesday, and ran a really fast (for me) 3 on thursday.  32 minutes on sand is probably my fastest 3 miles yet…. which is so NOT fast, but whatever. it’s fast for me!

all this mileage talk made me think about your revelation from a few posts back - you know, you are probably running at least the same weekly mileage as i am, maybe more!  i think that is AMAZING - though don’t you ever feel burnt out?  even though i love the solitude of running and often wish i were doing it daily, just to escape, i know my almost 33-year-old legs need that day of rest.  you are clearly in another league, you spring chicken, you…

i am still sucking at cross-training, though - which is how i should be spending my “rest days” and which i really think would make the difference on my long runs.  i know i need to work on my core strength… nothin’ to it but to do it, i suppose.  this is especially in the back of my brain because i struck up a conversation with another runner this sunday, on the back half of my 9 miles.  she was wearing a race tshirt that said “i ran the golden gate bridge!”, and i wanted to ask her about it since i have been thinking about signing up for a marathon in the spring.  (i have been thinking about closer destinations since i’m desperately sorry to say that sweden is looking to be realistically out of my budget.  ugh.  the reality of being a stay-at-home-mom!  budgets!)  anyway, we talked about that race (it’s actually a half, in october) and tons of other things - including, but not limited to: pilates and yoga for cross training (she recommends pilates platinum); the crazy-eyed guy that runs with two slices of bread in his hand; the wacky speedwalker lady who only wears bikini bottoms with her tshirt; working in the film industry (she’s an art director); and self image.  we actually ran together chatting for like 3 miles, and it turns out we even have a mutual friend in common! so bizarre, what are the odds that i would strike up a conversation with a perfect stranger and possibly end up with a new running buddy??

love this.  nike always has the best ad people…

pirkko:

[There’s no such thing as bad weather. Only soft people.]

- Bill Bowerman 

phoebe, check this out - this woman is a champion, a phenom, she’s beyond words.  i’m getting more and more interested in trail running - and just came across this woman who ran the Appalachian Trail this summer, setting a new record by a DAY and besting any man or woman, ever, averaging 47 miles a day! 

so, clearly i’m not going to be running anywhere near 47 miles in  a day anytime soon, but i do like the idea of trails.  i finally got some new shoes - more on those later - and they are indeed trail runners.

jenniferpharrdavis:

After 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes Jen has finally finished the 2,181 mile trail. She reached the end at 3:26 p.m. today. Hard to express how proud of her we are.  Pics and more stories from the trail to come soon.

A Change of Scenery

So, I figured out what it takes to get me up and running first thing in the morning, without fail:

Put me on a dirt road surrounded by trees…. Why didn’t I think of this before? I had great, successful runs in Vermont. I guess the beach will have to be an okay substitute.

I have been listening to this song quite a bit. I think it’s my ideal bpm… although I am the first to admit that I need to look into what that actually means a little bit more. I thought I’d leave you with the video instead of just the track since he is such a babe. You’re welcome.

I wanted to weigh in a little bit on eating/fueling. This is actually a huge issue for me. I have hypoglycemia, so it is just not an option for me to wake up and hit the bricks without ingesting something. I actually think that issue has been part of why I prefer to run in the evening, because that way I don’t have to worry about eating/waiting after eating. But then, you know, it’s a goal of mine to move my running time to first thing after I wake up. And my solution this past week has been coffee. So simple, but I didn’t think about it before this past week. If I have a coffee with some sugar and cream, I feel fine until the end of my run, but I don’t have to actually take in a breakfast and wait for it to settle. It’s been working well for me.

As for mid-run fueling, I haven’t gotten into it yet because I’m not a superstar running 9 miles like you. Yet. But I did actually impulse-buy some Shot Bloks, because hey! I like gummies! I did read, and it stuck with me, that some elite runners carry plain boiled potatoes, but I don’t know if those would fit in my fanny-pack. It warmed my soda-loving heart to learn that Tour de France riders often knock back cans of Coke mid-ride. I think this will definitely be trial and error.

And, I wanted to add a little revelation that I had. Getting back into things after a little foot strain, I thought back to my original goals when I started running. What I realized is that my initial idea had been to run 3-4 miles as my regular runs, and then maybe do one longer run a week. And then I realized that I can do that! I don’t need to be mad at myself for not training for something and adding distance. I can just settle into what I want to be my regular running routine. So that’s what I’ve done this week. 5 runs, between 3 and 4 miles at a time. It feels pretty good.

And also, sheesh, how far we’ve come!

xo, Phoebe 

thanks for the tip!  i really like the looks of this new line because they seem to have a whole range of styles that fall under the minimalist/natural running options.  i’ve been looking for an inbetweener shoe - not quite minimal, but not totally loaded, either.  i don’t like the nike free - nikes never seem to work for my feet - and i’m not really in love with my new balance minimus road shoes.  (i actually almost never wear them, because i worry that they are the reason i hurt my foot a few months back…)  So brooks might just be the answer!