June 23, 2008

I did a morning run!

So I’ve been really slacking on the morning workouts ever since… well, ever since the marathon. I took the week before it off almost completely, which was a big mistake. When I was running it, I felt out of shape like I hadn’t worked out for a week… which I hadn’t. And then I took the week after off, because I was sore and also felt that I deserved a little break. Unfortunately, it is really hard to force yourself to get up at 5:30 AM to work out. It took me a while to get into that habit, and once broken, it was almost impossible to get back into it. I kept promising myself I’d work out that night instead, but that rarely happened.

I haven’t been running (except for a quick bit on the treadmill) since last weekend when I did my long run. And I wasn’t even sore after that – there was no excuse! I planned to go this weekend, but got extremely lazy on Saturday, and when I vowed to do it on Sunday, it rained, thwarting my plans. (I didn’t even have a treadmill to force myself to jump on). So this morning, I dragged myself out of bed and hit the Charles River.

I did the first 1.5 miles on the Cambridge side of the river at about an 8:30 pace, and then I hit the Harvard Bridge and headed over to the Boston side of the river. Even though I’ve seen many people running across the bridge just like me, it would seem that the river actually divides two camps of runners. On the Cambridge side are people who are slower than me, and on the Boston side are the people who are faster than me. I had been all excited on the Cambridge side to be passing lots of people – I felt like a “real” runner (just kidding; I know speed is not what defines it. Stay tuned Thursday when I share my conclusions after much pondering). On the Boston side, I just felt like someone who had no business even being out there, as I was passed by shirtless studs and itty bitty girls in sports bras, and of course 98234908243 people wearing Boston Marathon jackets. I couldn’t even pretend they were charity runners who hadn’t qualified, because they were going by at Kenyan speeds with intense looks on their faces that showed me that they were taking this very seriously and yet this was an easy run for them and look how fast they could go if they actually tried.

Finished my 4.1 miles in 37:25 (9:04 pace), which is right about the pace I was going to try to hit for the marathon this weekend. Ha – that is not happening. Granted, it was kind of warm (70 F), and the humidity was kind of high (76%), but I started my official weather watch this morning (you know, where you have a race coming up so you bookmark the 10 day forecast at the race location and check it every 2 seconds and freak out) and there is a high of 85. At least it’s not going to rain, which it was supposed to when I checked yesterday.

The problem is that the race has pacers for 4:00 and for 4:45… but nothing in between. They do, however, have pacers for 3:15, 3:30, and 3:45. I would have thought 4:15 and 4:30 would be pretty popular, as that’s middle of the pack, so I’m thinking they’re probably getting a lot of people trying to BQ. My problem is I’d like to aim for 4:15, but there’s no pace group for that. So I think I might go with the 4:00 group and try to stay with them until at least the halfway point? Maybe longer? I can push myself a lot farther with a group, but I’m just worried that dropping a whole minute off my pace from my last marathon is going to be a bit too intense.

Oh – I checked out the hotel gym on my way in from my run, and it’s pretty decent. Two treadmills, two ellipticals, and a bike – all with individual televisions. Plus, some decent weights. Hallelujah! I’ll hit that up tonight. On the downside, the pool is really small and it’s probably like 500 laps to a mile. I may try that at some point, but we’ll see.

Have a great day everyone!

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9 thoughts on “I did a morning run!”

  1. You are a running Rock-Stahhhhh!!!!
    Seriously. You are a runner, no matter how you slice it. Seems like you got good scenery in Beantown. Nothing like here in staid quiet Fort Worth.

  2. omgosh i am soooo going through this. i quit doing my morning workouts and now i just havent been able to wake up. the first day is the hardest so way to go getting up!!! maybe this week i will get there 🙂

  3. I was finally able to run a bit last night for the first time since the marathon. It was a miracle! And I woke up this am and my knee didn’t hurt. THings are looking up.

    And hotel gyms…suck. Finding a good one is like a god send. I hate when they just put one broken bike or treadmill and compliment it with a “100 things in one” weight lifting apparatus that never works. And somehow are allowed to qualify that as a “fitness center.” Ha!

  4. Is it sad that one of my running goals is to be one of those confident people running in a sports bra? LOL.

    You really are a rock star mate – regardless of what side of the river you trot on.

  5. good you finally dragged yourself out:) I love running in Boston!!. I totally agree -once you get out of the habit of waking up at 5 a.m. to get a workout in, it is easy to skip those early sessions -ugh!!! Wouldn’t worry about the break after the marathon though -it’ll keep you from getting injured.

  6. Nicely done! Even though your job is so demanding, I like how you still find time to run/lift/cook, etc. I hope you don’t mind, but I referenced one of your posts in my blog.

  7. Then there’s the international hotels with the multi-lap-to-the-mile rooftop circuits. You don’t want to go too wide on the bends if you want to stay on the roof. Itty bitty pools might be safer and you can get plenty of tumble turn practice.

  8. I’ve been so on/off with morning vs. evening…4 years ago, I was a morning runner for awhile but then the peeps I usually ran with kinda drifted apart running-schedule wise (e.g., moved out of the city, different work schedules, triathlon training.) I wasn’t able to get back into the morning mode until 2006 NYCM training-it was tough to get back into the habit but I was so crazed at work I had no choice!! It is sorta nice being a morning runner in the warm months though 🙂

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