Hills for breakfast, hold the gnats

Objective: Endurance, mental strength, negative splits.

Weather: High 40's F, breezy at times (Bf. 2-4), wall-to-wall rain until mile 18, showers and sunbreaks after that. 

I wish I could tell you that my new Asics Storm Shelter Jacket kept me dry today, but no jacket made of anything more breathable than tarp would have done that.  I think I was pretty dry for about 90 minutes and then it started to get saturated and the water came through.  I would not try racing in it unless the temps were at least 10 degrees colder with rain, but I was pretty comfortable for most of this long, slow run.  

I don't usually run with an iPod. In fact, it's quite rare for me these days.  But today was my first real weather-challenged long run of the season, and I really wanted to have a positive experience so I did plug in to my tunes. Almost right away, I heard Jo Dee Messina's "Bring on the Rain" and knew I had made a good choice.  "...cause tomorrow's another day / and I'm thirsty anyway,/ so bring on the rain."  I loved hearing songs like "Heat Wave" while the rain tapped its rhythm on my head,  and some Hawaiian music that I took from my DD's Lilo & Stitch CD, reminding me of warm places.  I struggled up a hill to "Give Me One Moment in Time" and flew down a hill with the theme to Chariots of Fire.   But mostly, it helped keep my mind off the rain and how soaking wet I was.  I almost lost my will to finish the workout once, when I stopped in the bathroom around mile 14 and felt just how thoroughly wet my clothing was.  It took a great deal of self-talk and Garth Brooks' "Standing Outside the Fire"  to get back on track after that, but once running again I was ok.

I had a bit of a mental breakthrough today, regarding my goals for the next few long runs and my upcoming marathon in December.  You may have noticed I'm changing the heading for my blog: positive thoughts, negative splits. That comes from a story I read once, though I cannot recall where. I have never run a negative split marathon, and up until today I had never run a negative split long run (over 18 miles).  I think it might be the only principle that might truly keep me from going out to fast and fading in the end.  The first part of the strategy is to work on what Dale was talking about after his marathon: keeping your courage up and practicing the self-encouragement that keeps the pace up at the end when you are tired.  The second part, at least for me, is going to be telling myself I will be happy with any finish time at all providing I try to get a negative split.  That would mean I have to really assess how I feel by mile 4 or 5 to judge what pace will work for negative splits on that day.  Like today, I had to really hold back, even swallow my pride and walk parts of the steepest hills in the first half to save my legs for later.  It worked though.  I feel like I'm on to something. 

Objective: recovery

Weather: 47F, light wind (Bf. 2), some light rain

20 min. core and weights

Oh, that first mile.  It was harder than yesterday's last mile.  Still, it was great to get out and move, as always.  

How is everyone liking the time change?  I dislike DLS time very much and am glad to get back on the "true" time.  But my inner clock yelled "bedtime!" at 8:30 last night and I was so tired from the morning workout that I just gave in.  DD loves to play mommy and tucked me in. 

Objective: General aerobic w/ negative splits

Weather: 40F, heavy rain.

It's time to abandon false hopes. This new jacket is not in any way "waterproof." It is a very comfortable, good looking, overpriced wind breaker.  I no longer have the tags, but I do have my receipt and I think I will call up Footzone this morning and ask them if they will give me my money back.  As soon as it dries out.   Then I will call Super Jock N Jill in  Seattle, where I trust the staff completely, and ask if there is any jacket on the market for running that is truly waterproof.  It will be worth two hours of round trip driving if they've got one. Otherwise I shall have to make peace with my big, non-breathable, loud swishing bicycle jacket. 

So, random positive thoughts about today's run:  I did achieve a nice negative split. I saw a beautiful, large buck on Carmichael who ran with me on the opposite side of the street for about 2 blocks. (More accurately, I ran, he trotted; he didn't like my presence but would not veer off into the green belt for the longest time.) My legs felt great today.  I left the house on time for once.  I feel like a superhero for running today.  I can honestly say that getting wet is not hard (to handle I mean); hard is rebuilding strength after letting one's mileage slip over the winter.

Objective: Easy & slow, finishing with 8 x 10 sec. hill sprints.

Weather: Dry! :) 38 to 40 F, calm, mostly cloudy.

15 min. core & weights

I felt pretty tired today. It's no wonder, since I was on my feet most of the day yesterday. Here is an interesting question: do runners with desk jobs recover from their workouts faster than people who are on their feet all day?

One reward for all that running in the cold rain has appeared in the east: the first real dusting of fresh snow on the Cascades. Mt. Si looks gorgeous with its newly white peak. I would like to post a photo of it, but it looks like I cannot upload it from my computer; it has to come from a url, like flickr?  

Before:

After:

Here is a paradox.  It is often so difficult to "live in the moment" with regard to happy circumstances, peaceful feelings, etc. But when one is in the middle of a distressful experience, no other moment exists.  It will rain forever. I'll never finish this chore. I will be a slow runner for the rest of my life.  Where is the button to switch those two mindsets?

Objective: Leave house. Keep hat on head.

Weather: Strong winds (Beaufort 6-8) and heavy rain.

15 min. core & weights

What a wild ride!  I feel just a teensy bit guilty that I blew off my original objectives of running 9 miles with 5 @ MP, but this is exactly the kind of morning when I would have blown off the whole run last winter.  The sound of the wind, occasionally shaking the very house, kept me from sleeping soundly, so I woke up cranky and belligerent.  Then I lost lots of time repeatedly changing my mind about what to wear (probably subconscious procrastination).  Once I did get out, it was all I could do to just see where I was going and keep my hat on.  The first quarter mile was into the wind on Laurel, then I came back the other direction on Chanticleer and whoosh! Just be sure to pick up your feet and get ready to fly.  It was kind of fun. :)

And in the ongoing search for better winter attire... You'll see in my bio that I had a little jogging phase in the 80's, from which survived my one and only pair of running tights.  I have no idea why I've kept them; until this morning they have not seen daylight since the Reagan Administration.  For one thing, they are an embarrassingly bright shade of blue that only the 80's could have produced. Moreover, I have long felt that running tights are just too immodest, at least for me.  But after Tuesday's experience in the heavy rain, and a subsequent phone conversation about wet weather running with the experts at Super Jock n Jill, I was convinced that I must try tights in the rain.  They worked great.  (Sigh.)  So much for modesty.  But I will be purchasing a pair in black.   I also donned my cycling jacket (instead of the Asics jacket), so I was mostly dry on top and wet but comfortable on the legs.  The cylcing jacket is bulky, noisy and a bit too warm sometimes, but it does the job for the worst wind and rain.

Objective: easy, finishing with 5 strides

Weather: 50sF, steady rain and light wind (Bf. 2-3)

20 min core & weights

The rain was not as heavy as yesterday, but plenty of it. I wore the new tights and scarcely noticed getting wet legs until I came in.  With the higher temperature, the challenge was the upper body. If I had been doing any kind of speedwork my cycling jacket would have been too hot.  It has nice vents -- if you are on a bike. For running, they are not positioned very well. 

Today's run felt great. I got a good night's sleep -- what a difference that makes!   I did not want to come in at 5 miles, but I must do my long run on Saturday this weekend (traveling Sunday) so this was a compromise between taking a rest day and having my normal Friday mileage.

I received "Spirit of the Marathon" from Netflix yesterday, and watched about 30 minutes of it before I had to take myself off to bed. So far, I am enjoying most of it. The part where Deena Kastor almost breaks her foot bone sent chills up my spine.  I experienced my usual annoyance at the recommendation of 20 mile max long runs.  Maybe some of you can straighten me out on this issue.  I have never stopped at twenty miles, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about.  But the 20 mile max rule is so universal and I just don't see how it can work for people.  Here are 12:00 minute pace runners who are going to have over an hour more running when they get to the 20 mile marker.  I did my first marathons using Galloway method, on which I ran up to 27 miles for one race.  I'm not saying that's what everyone should do. It never made me faster, but I always knew I could cover the distance.  I currently try to go up to 23 or 24 miles.  I also notice how many people train up to 20 miles - once! One twenty mile run.  It just sounds like a 26.2 mile recipe for crashing to me.  I do hope I haven't offended anyone, and I welcome instructive comments and other points of view. :)

Another little eyebrow-raiser in the movie was a moment when a coach is talking to the runners in a training group who are about to do a long run.  Maybe I need my ears cleaned, but I think she told them to take "6-8 ounces of water every 15 minutes."  Really? The word "hyponatremia" comes to mind.  Also, "honey-bucket."

Favorite moments from the movie so far:  watching the elites run. Oh so beautiful.  Most of them are so graceful.  They make it look so easy. 

Objective: Endurance w/ neg. splits and MP miles: 5 @ MP+2 min, 6 @ MP+1 min., 6 @ MP, finish w/ easy c.d. mile.  4 weeks to marathon.

Weather: Low 50s F, some wind, some sun, heavy rain mi 8-12

I am quite pleased with this workout. It was very tough but also fun.  Unfortunately, I fell off my pace during the last 1.5 miles of the MP section.  It could have been the cumulative result of a long, hard week of running, but I think it's more likely that I am too optimistic regarding my goal pace. I'll continue to use that pace for MP running but I will probably add 15 seconds to it on race day.

By a fluke of scheduling (long run at each end of the week) I have unintentionally achieved a weekly mileage PR.  It's nice to see it there but in  my paper log, which begins the week on Monday, my mileage is quite low this week.  It's really a glass half empty, half full kind of situation.  I'm going to go with the full glass. :)  Next week will be low any way you look at it, since I'll be away and I'm not sure how much running I can get in. Hopefully I'll be able to get internet access to blog while I'm gone. If not, I'll fill in the days when I get back. 

Foul weather apparel report: Today was tricky. Not exactly cold, but with the promise of rain and wind I wanted to be ready for it all. This combination worked well: Smartwool socks, NIke tights, thin wool thermal top, nylon vest, gortex hat, Smartwool gloves (on and off).