Faster!

Yeah, so, I totally meant to post sooner. As in two or three days ago. But time slipped through my fingers as usual... and I didn't.

But today I kind of had to. I am making progress! It seems like it's been so long since I've moved any direction but backward in my running. Today I had an amazing run... It was a 1k, 1mile, and 5k pr for the year (yes, I know, the year is young... but honestly it's the fastest i've gone for probably 6 months) and it was a full minute faster on average than my runs have been as of late. I am very happy.

I have started doing strength training and core training and I did speedwork for the first time in ages. I have also started paying attention to the position of my body as I run... form, ease, where stress tends to settle, whether or not my arms are moving, etc.

I hope that if I continue doing as I am, I will reach my goals (finally!) and become the best runner that I possibly can.

Sick...

I haven't been able to ruin for daaaaaaays because I'm sick. ... it sucks.  I am miserable and my nose is getting more miles in than I every have in such a short period of time.

Ugh...

It is past midnight. ..I have to be up at 5 or 530... doing a double ruin tomorrow-3 morning and 3 afternoon-and my legs feel trashed and I can't sleep because is up in the Lovington and the light is shining in my bedroom. ..I have a really hard time sleeping when it isn't arty lazy 80% dark. .. I am going to be grumpy and tired tomorrow. .. that is all :P

5 miles run and done today... felt good because I got myself out on a new route - which, innitially, I wasn't going to do... but it also didn't feel good because I was slower than usual. I know, I know - i'm obsessed with going faster.

I'm committed to putting in the work, though, to make myself that way. I'm increasing my long runs and trying to incorporate a hard run in at least once a week... hard run as in focusing on form and pushing myself rather than simply letting myself zone out completely.

Certainly, it is nice, sometimes, to zone out and just go with the flow and rythm of the run, but if I am going to improve, I have to pay attention to the machine that is my body and how it feels and what it is doing, to improve the form and function of the biological machine, as it were...

Good news- the route I chose was one that I believed to have no hills. Turns out that it has two appreciable hills... I haven't run hills in so long it felt strange! Not painful per se - actually felt a little easier than usual - almost like I was floating? I enjoyed it though.

I am looking forward to more hills in the future. I am also looking forward to getting faster. I am just... unsure of how to proceed. Today I felt so tired, like I really couldn't go any faster, however I was going slower than normal. I have taken 3 (unintentional) days off since my last run so I should be well rested... but it occurs to me now that, in the past, I've done worse with more days off in a week... as in 1 or 2 rest days is optimal... so next week I guess I shall experiment with fewer rest days.

Breakdown:
5.14 miles/1:34:49

1: 17:00
2: 17:50
3: 19:19
4: 20:24
5: 20:14

Average pace of 18:49...

Run happy!

And Let's Give It Another Go!

Once again, it's been a long time. But, once again, I've gotten to a point where I need to talk (write) about running. I have no ill will toward the people around me, but none of them run so it's hard for them to understand my obsession... which is understandable!

As of this year, I have improved in some ways dramatically, and in others I feel I have fallen short and kind of gotten off track. I have found a way past the mental barriers that I felt, for the longest time, forced me to stop when I was running long... and, for a few months there, when I was running short. I "had" to stop and walk every mile for at least a block or two because I couldn't push past that block. But I knew that if I pushed past it once, I could do it again and again, and if I never let that victory go - never let that mentality creep in again - I would be set. I did just that; I made up my mind and simply ran without stopping. I only focused on running without stopping. Not speed. I wanted distance.

Now I'm to the point, once more, where 3 miles seems like a much too short run, 4 miles seem just right, 5 is a bit of an adventure, and 6 is my long run. I'm doing about 15 mpw, and I'm really enjoying it. I'm upping it to 20 in February and in March, hopefully more.

The part that I feel like I've gotten off track with is effort in other areas - primarily speed. I can run for ages but I'm embarrassingly slow. It's running form and a pace that's only slightly faster than my normal walk. I'm not happy about it. I know that I'm probably never going to be a super fast runner. I tend to do well with distance however - I don't get injured, I enjoy it, and I can increase distance quickly and easily. But I want to be able to finish a marathon in under 6.5 hours!

The route that I have been primarily running for the past year - close to two years, actually - is a relatively flat 1 mile loop around my neighborhood. Not only are my distances getting such that this is an impractical loop, but since it's so flat, I have no hills to challenge me. I do so much better with hills. I hate them, but I love them because I can feel myself getting stronger, and it's a wonderful feeling.

I am changing up my route for a longer out-and-back, which is, admittedly, flat, however I plan on using it on my long runs where I am adding distance and on days where I'm simply doing active recovery. I have another route planned that has two or three (four or five, if I choose) hills in it, going one way. It's another out-and-back, sort of... more like a to-and-from. At any rate, I'm hoping that training on a more difficult route, plus adding form drills and speed workouts, will help me improve. I am also trying to increase my core workouts per week and I'm going to do more strength training.

2015 here I come! I am also going to start marathon training in March. It will not only be my first marathon, but that particular marathon's inaugural run. I'm super excited!

In other aspects of my life, I'm trying also to keep my life a little more balanced and well rounded. I'm making time to do my other hobbies - writing, drawing, reading, languages - as well as making sure I have at least a little time to clean up my apartment.  It's challenging, but I want to have a well rounded life... and not just a well rounded one, one that I enjoy. I don't really believe that a person has to give up things they love for the sake of living "normal". Everyone who has ever been great has the same number of hours in a day as we do, so I don't see why I have to give up anything.

Today is a rest day. I already feel like I want to run, but I know it's an ill-advised idea. I'm still sore from yesterday's long run and I still have to work at 1, where I will be on my feet for some hours. Tomorrow I am going to try out one of the new routes, probably the flat one, and do speed training (sprints or fartlek).

Run well :)

Wow it's been a while!

And my stop and go running habit continues!its the same old story -school, finding a job, and spending time with people you love somehow eats up all the time....but that's ok! This weekend I ran a 5k for the first time in a long time, as far as official races and as far as the 3.1 mile distance in training. I got 3rd place in my age group. I am not sure there were many more than three females in my age group, but all the same its the first time I've won something from a race besides getting a participation medal. So, once again, I am pledging myself to run more frequently and consistently. Also, more reasonably, and not setting huge goals that I have no reasonable time to complete.

Obesity in America...

Body image. Those two words alone are enough to make your eyes roll and your head hurt. In western society,  specifically America, it seems that we have two standards; first, that if you're female, you need to be extra-super-thin and if you're male you need to be the bulked up perfect "V" shape; and second, that you are just fine the way you are no matter your gender, weight, or background. The second one sounds really normal and sane, doesn't it? Yes, at first glance. Heck, even the first one can sound perfectly fine to some people. The problem? Let me put it this way: how many situations, in reality, are so black and white as this? Is it really, starkly "Thin is good, fat is bad" or "You are whatever you are"? No. It isn't. Nothing is ever black and white, and this assumption – that one of these two extremes are right, is what is slowly killing Americans today. Now, most people are highly aware of anorexia, bulimia, and such eating disorders that cause extreme thinness. I do not mean to belittle those problems whatsoever, but it is another problem that needs more attention. It seems like there is a trend developing in America where people are accepting obesity as part of a person that doesn't need to be changed, rather than a deadly problem that needs to be addressed.

Now, those are some pretty strong words I've used, but let me explain. A person is not what they look like – in fact, that is the main emphasis of what Americans have been saying in this trend I speak of. A person isn't what they look like on the outside; it isn't what size pants they wear, or whether or not they can run ten miles at a stretch. A person is who they are inside, in their heart and mind. A person is not the fat they wear, or the diseases they might have because of that fat.

Excess fat on a person's body is deadly. It can cause heart disease, stroke, and diabetes – some of the culprits in the CDC's top ten killers list for the past few years. Obesity in America has risen exponentially in the past few years. Those that say genetics is to blame would have to deal with the statistics in that this has happened much too quickly for that, and the obesity rates correlate too strongly with things such as increased fast food consumption and decreased availability of fresh fruits and vegetables, not to mention a decrease in exercise of any form, an increase in time spent in front of digital media, and an increase in time spent in tiny cubicles hunched over computer keyboards eight hours a day. 

Please understand that I am not saying that people who are at an unhealthy weight should be bullied and pushed and prodded into exercise and better eating. Some might think this is a solution, but I do not. I believe that the main problem with our society in this regard is that we have become so focused on accepting people no matter what their shape that we forget that they are mortal, and their shape has everything to do with how long and how well they live.

I love people, just people in general. It doesn't matter to me what a person looks like as far as me liking them goes. Every time I meet someone new, I am fascinated because I get to look at the world through a new point of view – theirs. But I also don't want to think about how, if the person is obese or at an unhealthy weight, they are going to very most likely have a poorer quality of life when they get older, and most likely a life complicated by debilitating disease. In fact, perhaps the people already are suffering from the affects of an overabundance of fat on the body. I want everyone to live a long and high quality life, to be the beautiful people that they are, and to be able to accomplish their dreams and goals without disease rearing its ugly head when it could be readily avoided.

Please don't misunderstand – I do not say that I want people to be stick-thin. That's just as bad. I am merely saying that, in America – and the world – we are dealing with an obesity epidemic that our society would love to ignore. But American society can't ignore it; it's making itself sick. As Americans, let's do what we can to make sure that everyone in America lives long, healthy, vibrant lives. Not by making it a social pariah to be at an unhealthy weight, but by making it socially acceptable to not eat fast food every day, removing the stigma that salads are "diet food", that broccoli is gross, and exercise is no fun.