And I'm still alive!
I meant to post yesterday on my first truly long run but I was fairly sore afterwards, a consequence of my cramping calves and a sore hip flexor, so I booked a massage and then passed out a few hours later. In between, I just couldn't face having to park my bum in the hard kitchen chair to write something.
But look at yesterday's mileage! 6.67 miles! At one time! Chip was still off somewhere, not helping me out, but Lance Armstrong came on when I was done and told me that that was longest mile yet. Well, no shit Lance, I (and my aching legs) already knew that but I appreciate that you were there for me.
I ran the Springwater Corridor trail again, starting at the Sellwood Bridge and heading into downtown Cilleyland and there were TONS of people out. Apparently all this getting up early and running has been a bad influence on me; I was up at 7:00 a.m. on a Saturday, fer cryin out loud, and out the door shortly after 8:00. It was COLD and the day before the Portland Marathon but still, TONS of people. I saw lots of past marathon shirts on the runners too.
My long run was to be for ninety minutes. Up until a couple of days ago, that seemed incredibly long and was kind of freaking me out. Then I signed up for Eugene Thursday evening and as I started my run on Saturday it occurred to me that ninety minutes was nothing; I was going to be doing the Eugene Marathon. I had to walk a couple of times because of my calves and I planned for a half mile cooldown period off the clock, but on the whole my pace was pretty good. I started out much too fast and had to keep checking it until I was where I wanted to be, but it held fairly steady once I got there.
I've seen a few mentions of folks calculating their various paces based on a shorter distance, so today I found one and plugged in my best 5K time. It tells me I should be able to complete a marathon in 6:29:57. Considering I barely trained before that to get that 5K pace and that I'm slowly getting faster, I know I can do this marathon in seven hours.
I've been gathering mental images to keep me going as I run. Last weekend I was channel surfing and came across the 2007 Ironman world championship; last night I came across the 2008 Ironman. Watching these people.... You know, if people who decide to do a marathon are crazy, the Ironman people are psychotic. The conditions are brutal, simply brutal. I doubt I will ever even do a regular triathalon; I'm a poor swimmer (like five feet winds me plus I have this thing about sharks which can be in freshwater rivers so don't laugh at me about that) and I'm convinced I will wipe out on a bike. But I know for absolutely 100% certain that I will never ever ever EVER do an Ironman, much less the one in Hawaii. The people who do impress the hell out of me. There are people in their 70s who do this; one woman has completed something like 17 Ironmans. Others do it with prosthetic limbs (one or BOTH limbs), or without legs at all; there was a guy in 2008 who did the marathon in a special wheelchair. When I get tired and want to stop -- lately, if I want to walk when I know I can keep going -- these are the images that come to me.
Sunday is my rest day. I have no religious affiliation about it, just want one weekend day to be able to be lazy and Sundays have always been my choice for that. I was up fairly early (stupid week day training schedule) but haven't done all that much. Now that I've established my training routine, I want to also focus on my diet and nutrition. Today I cleaned out the fridge and the pantry, pulled some recipes to cook up for the week and made a grocery list. Now I just need to get off the computer, into a shower, and off to the store. Generally speaking, I make most things I eat, including the lunches I pack to work, but in the past few weeks I've done more fast food or just food out, particularly for dinner. I've got to put together some guidelines and goals so that I know what I want to be doing each day. Tonight I'm going to make chicken tetrazzini, ideally with a salad on the side.
Okay, I'm off to clean up and get to the store. Stay strong!
Cheers,
the CilleyGirl
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