Miles 264.5-271.5: Long Distance Sunday

Yesterday morning James and I got up early; judging from my squinty eyes, you would think a little too early.

(Yes, I am shamelessly showing off my new watch like a freshly engaged schoolgirl. But James was also newly outfitted with his CamelBak. Running geeks, much?)

We dropped off our car at David and Glenna's house and we all headed to Raleigh to run in Umstead Park, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite spots. Why must you be 60 miles away when gas is $3.50/gallon?

With a prescription for 8 miles at an easy pace, the men headed off to run their hearts out on the Company Mill Trail while I took Glenna on a slightly less punishing route.

Slightly, being the key word.

Our average pace ended up being around 14:30, mainly owing to the final mile, which we walked. In actuality, our true average was closer to 13:30/mile. And running through the hilly (nearly 1000 feet in elevation gain - 200% more than pancake flat Goldsboro) woods in 86° weather while steam rose from the pineneedled path beneath our feet at that pace ain't too shabby for a long distance run.

And really, Sunday's run wasn't really about speed for me; it was about getting to run in a beautiful park with a good friend. A good friend who less than a year ago probably couldn't have walked the hilly seven miles we ran yesterday.

And while our husbands are equally fleet-footed, yesterday we dominated. We may have run slow, but we ran 7 miles; James and David ran balls-to-the-wall for 5.2 miles.

Miles 264.5-271.5: further proof that Sunday long-distance runs are always the best.

Miles 260.5-264.5: Friday Freedom Run Redux

The (Sub)Plan has resurrected and revamped Friday Freedom Runs: according to the schedule, I will always be running on Fridays and the runs will always be easy runs (10:00-10:30/mile pace) of short distance (3-4 miles).

Very apropos.

The weather gods even decided to smile on me, granting a pocket of dappled sunshine in which to run outside. I put my watch and shoes and eschewed music. And I'm glad I did. As you can see, I had a hard enough time going slow without music pumped into my ears.

My goal was to run a 10:00/mile pace; while my average hit it almost on the nose, you can see from the graph that my speed was anything but consistent. My splits were 9:38, 10:09, 10:16, and 10:26, but I ran anywhere from 8:00-12:00/mile in each of those miles.

If I want to break 2 hours at Chicago, I must run just under 9:00/mile for each of the 13.1 miles. Practicing consistency and getting to the place where I can deliver this pace with as little variation as possible seems to be key in accomplishing this goal.

Miles 260.5-264.5: learning that sometimes the slowest are both the hardest and the most important.

By the way, check out Paper Bird. Or, just listen to their song below. 

Miles 255.5-260.5: First Tempo Run

In weather related news, we are now on our second evening of rain. Even my Gmail account reflects the deluge of storms.

Today's schedule called for a 5-mile tempo run, with 3 of the miles at 8:54/mile pace.

The first time I read this schedule, I stared at the word tempo. The word recalls memories of third grade band practices where our wiry bearded music teacher beat a drumstick against a cowbell to keep time.

Tempo. Run. WTF?

After Googling "tempo run," I read the first returned result, a 1999 Running Times Magazine article. Insights gained: a tempo run aims to increase lactate threshold by forcing you to sustain a "comfortably hard" pace for 20 minutes, bookended by 15 minutes of warm up and cool down.

Second returned result, a 2007 Runner's World How-To added this physiological nugget: "During tempo runs, lactate and hydrogen ions--by-products of metabolism--are released into the muscles [...]. The ions make the muscles acidic, eventually leading to fatigue. The better trained you become, the higher you push your "threshold," meaning your muscles become better at using these byproducts. The result is less-acidic muscles (that is, muscles that haven't reached their new "threshold"), so they keep on contracting, letting you run farther and faster."

Until today, I had never attempted an actual tempo run. I had always feared that I would not be able to maintain the required pace consistently, that I would either run too fast or too slow and then compensate as the time ticked down to make up for being either grossly winded or too far behind pace.  And since (even despite recent successful encounters) my relationship with the treadmill is tenuous at best, the idea of running, as the schedule suggests, a mile to warm up, three miles at roughly 6.8 mph, and another mile to cool down all on a conveyor belt seemed ludicrous. Ludicrous, even though the treadmill would obviously force me to run at the designated speed for the training run.

I presumed my new watch would allow even me, a newbie to the tempo run, to exercise control over my pace and accomplish the goal of pushing the LT envelope without having to trod on the machine. Because of said storm, however, the treadmill won out over the watch.

Despite my nerves, it was a startling success.

I ran the first mile at a 10 minute pace, the next three at 8:35-8:50 minute pace, and the final mile back a 10 minute pace.

Miles 255.5-260.5: Erin 1, Treadmill 0.

Cross-Training Days: Stuck in a Storm

As I type, we are in a white-out storm, complete with awesome thunder, lightning and glorious, glorious rain that Eastern NC so desperately needs. However, there is zero sunlight coming through my windows, so today I come to you straight from my bathroom (the one room I don't have compact fluorescent bulbs in the sockets) post-gym:



As The (Sub)Plan dictates, today was a scheduled Rest/Cross-Training day. I've been riding the endorphin wave for six days now and I don't intend on stopping until I don't feel I can exercise safely. I arrived at the gym just as the storm was rolling in and watched through the window as lightning lit up the sky.

I don't have very much experience constructing my own weight regiment, but I figure if I do rep sets on each of the machines supplied at my local Gold's Gym I can build a muscle base which will allow me to move on to some more serious free weight routines. (Any suggestions, readers, I'm all ears!) One of the lessons I learned in (kinda sorta) training for my previous half-marathons is that a little bit of weight training would have gone a long way. And like I said yesterday, I'm planning to do this training right.

And because it's the middle of summer, I have what I call "itchy" feet - I'm wanting to travel, to roam; particularly, I'm feeling the pull to the mountains, so I really enjoyed this post of the day from Trail Running Magazine. Enjoy!


Adam Campbell Chilcotins run from ARC'TERYX on Vimeo.

Miles 251.5-255.5: Steaming and smoking

Sadly this is not a post about cuisine; I'm afraid the only thing cooking today was me. Nevertheless, I'm excited because today was the first day of The (Sub)Plan: Break 2:00 or Bust on September 11 in Chicago!

James has successfully used this plan to run faster and faster times. It's been on our refrigerator for over a year and I'm totally stoked because for the first time, I'm at a place where I feel mentally pumped and physically able to follow this plan and succeed.

With five races under my belt, knowledge of my weaknesses (both physical and mental), and a desire stronger than ever to see my first number be a "1" I feel strong and ready to tackle this goal.

The next ten weeks will certainly not be without their challenges.The heat will discourage me; shin splits will be a constant threat; weekend parties filled with drinking will tempt me from my schedule.

Because of these fears and more, it means a tremendous amount to me that for today's run - the first of this (Sub)Plan - James ran by my side. The wind had changed direction again, blowing in more smoke from the fires; at 6:30 it was still steamy and running shirtless only showcased just how much I sweat. Thanks to a day of consistent hydrating, however, I ran splits of 9:27, 9:52, 9:46, and 9:39. He has ambitious goals for Chicago as well, but starting off together leaves me feeling supported in a whole new way.

My main focus with this plan is to force myself to do the speed drills and slow long distance runs consistently. I have a feeling if I can nail those, I'll be golden.

Miles 247.5-251.5: Nike+ SportWatch Review

The smoke is still hanging around the NC flatlands, herding me inside today for another day of cross-training, but yesterday I was was able to sneak in a quick 4-miler with James before we hosted a Fourth of July pool-party. Prepping for and participating in said party prevented a more timely recap of this run. But I promised a more in-depth look at the Nike+ Sportwatch, and here it is.

I received a lot of positive feedback and inquiries when I posted on Facebook that I had purchased this watch. While responding to some of the comments, I realized a great way to describe the Nike+ Sportwatch:

Taking into account both the operation of the watch as well as the online platform, Nike is sleek and simple (and focused on "pretty" design) while Garmin is no-frills and anal retentive about details.

You may remember me mention James griping about acquainting himself with his watch. For nearly a month, I saw his head bent over the User Guide, as he discovered how to adjust the sensitivity of the touch-bezel and successfully start and end a training run. (Should have known that there was a learning curve on the gadget when I saw our local Fleet Feet post a two-hour event titled "Learning to Use Your Forerunner.")

Not so much with the Nike+ Sportwatch. Go to website, download software, plug and play. There are only three buttons on the watch and even without looking at the book, I figured out within five minutes what each one does. Green button to start and end run, black buttons to scroll through available real-time stats of instant pace, average pace, time elapsed, distance elapsed, and calories burned.

As I have also posted though, Garmin's online platform creates logs like this:

Where Nike offers this:

Nike will also show me the run's elevation changes and map, but I have to click on the "Route" button you see at the top.

Truthfully, I prefer the GarminConnect website layout; depending on my mood, the Nike+ website design (which I began using with the Sportband a few months ago) can be mildly irritating to downright insulting. (Really? Clicking on emoticons to describe my run?) But in the end, no-brainer three button design wins out for me.

Cross-Training Days: Reflections on Yoga

Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden, Charlotte, North Carolina

My interest in yoga sprung equally from jealousy and curiosity.

I was newly 21 and I had been dating my coworker for a few months. My coworker and his ex-girlfriend still lived together because they had broken up shortly after moving in with each other and neither had enough money to live on their own.

It was awkward, but I had worked with my new boyfriend for several years and I trusted him. That, and he (and I) rarely saw her because of differing work schedules and her new boyfriend.

However, one night when we were at his apartment, watching Deadwood and eating take-out Chinese, she returned to the apartment, carrying her yoga mat under her arm, faintly perspiring, smelling of incense, and glowing.

I mean, she was radiant.

In less than a second, I - who until this point, had been blissfully naive and secure in my new relationship - felt threatened by the clear beauty shining from her eyes. There was power alive in this woman, a raw human energy that, my reasoning went, if I was attracted to, how could he not be?

The jealousy quickly abated, but a raging curiosity soon followed.


What did it feel like? Could I do it well? Would I find a way to calm my all too busy mind? Could I create that glow? Did I have the discipline to maintain it?

Still a poor student, I asked my mom to buy me a yoga DVD for that Christmas. The rest, as they say, is history.

My practice is less than perfect and has seen better years, but I am infinitely grateful for the gifts and tools it has provided me. I said previously that yoga is the yin to my running yang - two halves of the whole. Two practices that are about breath, motion, and place.

South Beach, northern Washington coast

Two practices that can be enhanced by accessories and props (e.g. watches, special clothing, eye-pillows) or stripped to their simplest state and done anywhere, at any time.

I like to think that both running and yoga have given me the ability to harness what I was so startled to see in her eyes and her carriage that night. Life's light can get so buried in our souls; I like believing that I've found a way to let it bring color to my cheeks, to glow.