Saturday, April 10, 2010

Might as well hold myself accountable

So I registered yesterday for the Blue Ridge half marathon in 2 weeks.  I figure if I tell the world via internet, I'll be accountable  to actually run it.  Actually, it wouldn't be a big deal and I wouldn't be sweating it so much, if it weren't that my training hasn't been very adequate.  Oh, and there's also the small detail of elevation.  A total climb of 1359 feet, with total elevation change of 2713 feet.  For better or worse, though, I'm in.  I paid a whopping $90 for the race (why a half marathon is so expensive is beyond me - even if I did register late).  I have a lot of "Iwishes".  I wish I'd run more long runs.  I wish I'd run more medium runs.  I wish I'd run more hills.  I wish I weighed less.  I wish I'd visited the track at least once in the past 6 months.  But I'm doing what I can to maximize the last bit of training for the race.  So today I got out early for an eleven mile run.  I started with a mile warmup and then tackled the hills.  If you notice from the elevation profile, the hilly parts are within the first 5 miles.  So I did 5 long hill repeats.  Up half a mile, down half a mile.  Up half a mile, down half a mile.  And so on.  This effectively tired.me.out.  Just what I needed though.  It's opening day of turkey hunting season, and although I'm pretty sure I strongly resembled a big clumsy turkey doing these hill repeats, no one took a shot at me.  Then I finished the last 5 miles on mostly flat, with a few small rolling hills tossing in.  During the 9th mile my legs were so tired that I got attacked by a branch on the inside/back of my right knee.

I think this was probably a very good workout to do 2 weeks out from the race.  It definitely wore me out.  But I feel a lot more prepared than I did this time yesterday :-)  My muscles were crying for protein, so as soon as I walked in the door I whipped up my favorite shake (1 scoop chocolate whey protein powder, 6 ice cubes, 1/2 frozen banana, big spoonful of peanut butter, 1/2 cup milk).  Our blender stinks.  I would give my right pinky finger for a Vitamix, but I don't think pinkies are bringing several hundred bucks on the black market these days.
Reid confiscated his own beverage from big brother.
Busted.

I guess a little water won't hurt him.
My current running shoes have about 450 miles on them.
While I will run in them until they retire at 500, I don't want to go into such a rigorous half marathon with old shoes.  They are losing their cushion, and it would be asking for an injury.
So I picked these up yesterday.
Behold the beauty of a pair of new Asics Gel Nimbus:

Too bad you can't scratch n sniff.
Because new running shoes smell so good.
The smell of promise.
Of miles to come.

8 comments:

Hayley said...

That looks- and sounds- painful!

Good luck :) New shoes, of any kind, are always a good thing!

Mama Goose said...

Ooooh the smell of new running shoes...

Mary said...

I really admire you for running and being motivated! Good luck with everything.

That shake sounds really good by the way!

TwinMomMichelle said...

My current shoes are Asics. My first pair. I'll probably never buy another brand again.

Steve Surratt said...

Good work! Ouch, that branch got you a good one. Hum, reminds me of that Jellyfish nastiness you had a few years back. That was icky.

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Steve, the jellyfish fiasco was waaaaay worse! I still have a pic onmy cell phone of that mess!

Jeremi said...

I think this is sooooo cool!! I have always admired RUNNERS. You are inspiring . . .

warren said...

Yup, you're crazy! 450 miles on a pair of shoes? And most of it running...crazy!

Well, just kidding...sort of...I am no runner

Wow...random here today...sorry!