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January 02, 2005
Cruddy New Years' Long Run; 2005 Goals
Yesterday was a perfect day for being outdoors, and I was antsy to get out on the trail to do my 20-mile long run. Alas, I had to wait patiently because R. had to pack all his biking gear. He was planning on running for 1:30, then mountain biking until I finished my run. We finally made it to Burke Lake Park around 10. It wasn't too crowded, but a steady stream of families were pulling in to walk their dogs, go fishing/boating, and play frisbee golf. Immediately when we started running, I felt like I had no energy whatsoever. It seemed that I was crawling, and I began cursing our non-carb load New Years Eve dinner (it was so fun, delicious and artistic, though) and the one alcoholic drink I had, a mojito (good stuff, if you're not really into hardcore drinks). I stopped to take off my tshirt, at which time R. continued, and I said I would catch up. And once I started again, I couldn't catch up! This was especially frustrating because R. is considerably slower than I am, and for the life of me, I was killing myself in an attempt to motor my way back up to him. When we finished the first five-mile loop, we both complained of our lack of energy but celebrated our (surprise!) 8 minute pace. Geez, an 8 minute pace never feels that hard on my recovery days. My second lap also was around the same pace, and then from there, it fell apart. In my third and fourth laps, I had to run-walk because I had nothing to give. My legs felt fine, nothing hurt, blood sugar was okay because I was Gu-ing and drinking XLR8, but there was simply no gas in the tank. I ended up finishing in 3 hours, feeling pathetic but not defeated. In retrospect, I would have called it a day early and made another attempt today, but it seemed a better idea to get the run over with at the time. I also wanted to tack on 2-3 extra miles at the end, but that will have to wait for the next one. I'm a bit discouraged because my past two 20-milers have been poor efforts - bum quad and now, low energy. I certainly hope that my next 20 goes better or I shouldn't even waste my time with Austin. Aargh! (Be positive, be positive, be positive....)
With that off my chest, now I will look on the brighter side. I've had awful long runs in past training cycles, to redeem myself with a decent marathon or half marathon time, so I won't give up the fight. And I will go into Austin with a relaxed, no pressure mindstate. I have to - my highest mileage week will be just above 50, and I'm certainly not in PR (3:18) shape. My plan is to revisit that in the fall. That said, I've thought about some of my goals in 2005:
1. Spend money less frivously. Since planning our wedding last year and even afterward, I continued to spend money like it was going out of style. A good "save your money, plan for the future" talk with a good, co-worker friend put some fiscal responsibility back into me, and I've decided to put my spending spree on lock down. I will buy things on sale and look for bargains. It's going to kill me because I hate shopping in stores that are picked over. It doesn't help that I'm a size 0-.
2. Finish graduate school. I need to check with my advisor, but so long as some of my credits didn't drop off from being activated in the military (thus, prolonging the length of my program), I should only have three classes to include my thesis.
3. Decide if I will retire in the Marine Corps Reserve. My 7-year anniversary is in March, and by the time I can resign my Presidential commission in 2009, I'll be at the 11-year mark...which means, only 9 more years to retirement. Before I get to that point, though, I need to take appropriate steps to complete my professional military education (more school!), get promoted, and take care of my Marines and Sailors so that they can get promoted. On the other hand, do I want to risk the possibility of more deployments to the Middle East?
4. Be not a slave to my training/exercise regimen. This one's going to be really hard. I absolutely love to train and race; I forego happy hours and social functions to get a run or whatever physical activity in. And when I can't do it, oh boy, watch out - the horns come out! Seriously though, I have family and friends who want to spend time with me and vice versa, and I have two careers in which I want to do and be the best. And I want to make more of a difference in the bigger scope of society/the world. There's no way I can juggle it all and be a well-dispositioned person, so I commit to doing what I can training-wise without neglecting the other areas and goals of my life.
There are others, but that's what has come to mind the past couple days. And I don't like to say "Resolution" because people tend to break those. The difference is that goals can be adjusted and fine tuned and even if I stray off track, I can always get back with the program. I'm sure there will be other goals and ones that I dream of (like breaking 3:10), so I'll keep try, try, trying with the firm belief that everything will fall into place.
Now, off for an easy 45 minute run....
Posted by Leilani at January 2, 2005 09:42 AM
Comments
Sorry about your cummy long run, but as I know you know (and all runners know) it's impossible to get through a whole marathon training cycle without a least a couple (really) bad runs! It's the overall training that counts, and you've been working very hard. I know you'll do great! Keep at it!
PS - sounds like some great 2005 goals. Here's hoping you achieve all of them and more! :)
Posted by: Beth at January 2, 2005 01:21 PM
No way you can skip Freescale. Do your best with your training and then show up on race day prepared to give the race everything you've got. You NEVER know what's going to happen on race day; you might as well give yourself the opportunity to do something great. Even if it doesn't work out and you don't pr, why let the training go to waste? Hang in there; like Beth said, it's not marathon training without at least one crappy long run!
Posted by: jenandmats at January 2, 2005 03:27 PM
Major props for even finishing the run! I cannot even begin to count all of the times I have cut a long run short (it's a lot!). Do not let a few not so great long runs discourage you. Before I ran the Chicago Marathon in 2002, I ran a 5K in 21:00 - at the moment, I almost threw in the towel and quit running altogether! I was pretty down, but I put it behind me and kept going - and PR'd by 9 minutes in the marathon. Hang in there!
By the way, I love your resolutions!
Posted by: bridget at January 2, 2005 06:46 PM
Great job for sticking with the long run. It sounds really hard and discouraging but the good news is that you finished the 20 miles and you were on your feet for three hours which will help you in the marathon. It is hard to predict which day you will feel good in a long run. I am curious why you felt so fatigued? Did you have enough to eat on New Years? Do you eat before your long runs? I usually eat a bar or something small like that so I don't get too tired. I have had lots of long runs in which I have felt the same way and then suprised myself in an upcoming race. Do not be dicouraged. You are more fit than you think! You will be ready for your upcoming races. Good Luck in your 2005 goals!
Posted by: Mary at January 3, 2005 01:41 PM
Not bailing on your long run says so much more about you than skipping out and doing it on a day when you feel better. Having those long runs when you don't feel great makes you so much stronger for race day. One of my resolutions should also be not being a slave to training...
Blondie
Posted by: Blondie at January 3, 2005 08:48 PM