2014 Running in Review
Last year was my year of running. After running during the summer of 2009 to help (successfully) lose stubborn baby weight, I decided to do the same in 2013 when I had another round of stubborn baby weight that wouldn't come off. Mostly due to the fact that I wasn't very active, unless eating is considered active. So in March I slowly started running again. With a crazy goal of running the Leesburg 20k that August. It didn't happen. It was too much too soon, especially for a non-athletic person like myself, and I ended up with a hip that hurt so bad I barely wanted to move. So I backed off for a while, sat out the 20k (didn't even manage to run the 5k they offer the same day). And in October of 2013 I started running again. One mile at a time. With no goal other than to put on my shoes and go. In December I crazily threw my name into the Cherry Blossom 10 mile lottery, thinking I'd get skipped over the first year I entered, which was fine, since I was in no shape to run 10 miles, but then maybe the following year I'd have a better chance of being picked. Instead, I received an entry.
And so in 2014 the training began, but this time, I wanted to be smart about it and avoid injury and bad pain. I increased my runs by no more than half a mile every 2 weeks, added some strength training, and did more speed work (my running nemesis). And slowly was able to run farther and farther without bothering my hip. In April, I ran the 10 mile Cherry Blossom race. My first time hitting double digits. I finished 10 minutes faster than my goal (I think largely due to race day adrenaline and a very flat course). It felt great (other than the sore legs), so I signed up for a half marathon at the end of May. Only 3.1 more miles than I had just run, so how hard could it be? A week after the 10 miler I had a minor surgery, but after 4 days of a very easy and pain free recovery I started running again. That first run was TOUGH, apparently the IV sedatives stay in your system longer than you realize, so even though I wasn't hurting at all I had about zero energy. During the month of May I doubled my mileage goal, over 100 miles for the month, the last of which were the half marathon. Which was a great run, even if I did feel like it was never going to end during miles 9-11.
I knew enough to know that I wasn't ready for a marathon even though that seems like the next logical step after a half marathon. I'm not even sure I want to run a marathon, except for the fact that I like running longer rather than faster. But at this point in my life, I know I dont have time for the training I would need to do in order to run it well. And I've decided that's when I'll know I'm ready for a marathon. When I can run it well. Whatever finish time that means isn't important, I just want to know that I can do my best.
Over the summer I decided to work on my 5k finish time. I felt (and still feel) kind of embarrassed by how slowly I run. I am capable of running a mile in under 9 minutes, but sustaining a pace like that for any length of time feels nearly impossible. But I decided to push myself and see if I could finish a 5k in under 30 minutes. For me, it wasn't an easy task. But I did it in July, with a finish time of 28:56. It felt like my internal organs were exploding one at a time while I ran. It was AWFUL and PAINFUL and MISERABLE. I'm so glad I achieved that goal because I never want to run that hard again. Ever.
At this point I was in a pretty good routine. Running three times a week... a speed routine of about 3 miles, a challenging pace run of about 6 miles, and a long, slow distance run of between 10-13 miles on the weekend. Once I even made it up to 14 miles. But only once. At this point I was also officially addicted to running. I started doing it to lose baby weight, but now I do it for so many other reasons that finding the motivation and the time to make it happen is a huge priority. I do it for physical health, emotional health, my own quiet and alone time, to prove to myself that I can do things I didn't believe I could, I do it to feel good, centered, strong, calm, and joy. If I miss a run, you do not want to be around me. I do miss runs, because life happens, and I have to remind myself that it's okay, sometimes other things are more important (like when Aaron was sick and we wound up in the hospital for the night... it's okay to not run then). And strangely enough there are now two things that are pretty much guaranteed to make me cry due to crazy emotions... music (duh) and inspirational running stuff. Like visualizing crossing a finish line (letting alone actually crossing one), reading about other people's amazing accomplishments, even just those silly inspirational quotes can do it. And I have a whole notebook being filled with those.
I managed to run the Leesburg 20k this August! Redemption for my Did Not Start last year. It felt great, and... also... boring. It was an out and back course on the W&OD, which I enjoy running on (it's an essential part of my weekend run), but it got kind of repetitive after a while. And I usually run on the dirt trail next to the paved trail which weaves along the trail and goes up and down some little but steep hills, but for the race I stayed on the "official" course, which just wasn't as exciting.
After the 20k I pulled back on miles because I found I was exhausted ALL THE TIME. I also started doing some P90X to help with other areas of fitness, but the time commitment for that was just too much so I haven't really been able to incorporate as much as I would like. I'm lucky if I manage 1 or 2 videos a week, let alone a video every day. I still need to figure out some kind of cross training/strength training that I can actually stick with because when I've been consistent with it, I do notice a big improvement. Something to figure out in 2015...
So since August I haven't done any races. But I still run. I went back to lesser miles for a while, thinking I'd try to get a 10k in under an hour. I didn't quite make it (by a mere 48 seconds!), but that just gives me something to work on this year. I hope I got my sustainable pace to be a little faster, more like 10:30 miles instead of 11:30 miles, but when I compared my December 2014 running log to my December 2013 running log I didnt actually see much improvement in speed. Distance, yes, but not so much speed. I mean, I can run a single mile faster, but my sustainable pace and my longer runs are still pretty similar, speed-wise. It was a little discouraging, but at the same time I'm trying to accept that that's just how I'm going to run. And maybe it means I should just stick to some longer runs and not worry about the fact that I'll never finish a race in the top of my age group. So now I'm back to getting longer distances a part of my weekly routine. I ended the year with a 10 mile run in the rain and it felt really, really good. In fact, my last mile was the hardest (thank you hills) and the fastest, at 10:05. I kind of didn't want to stop, but it was getting dark and I was soaked, so it made sense to stop. Next week I'll just be able to go that much farther.
So here are some basic stats for my 2014 running year:
Fastest mile: 8:25, admittedly on the treadmill. So far I've only ever managed to run 1 mile in under 9 minutes outside and that was way back in April. Speed is so much easier for me on the treadmill where I can force myself to keep a pace.
5k best: 28:56
10k best: 1:00:48
10 mile best: 1:44:45
Half Marathon: 2:23:21
Farthest Distance: 14 miles
Total Miles Run in 2014: 718.1!
Total Miles run in 2015: 0 (so far)
And so in 2014 the training began, but this time, I wanted to be smart about it and avoid injury and bad pain. I increased my runs by no more than half a mile every 2 weeks, added some strength training, and did more speed work (my running nemesis). And slowly was able to run farther and farther without bothering my hip. In April, I ran the 10 mile Cherry Blossom race. My first time hitting double digits. I finished 10 minutes faster than my goal (I think largely due to race day adrenaline and a very flat course). It felt great (other than the sore legs), so I signed up for a half marathon at the end of May. Only 3.1 more miles than I had just run, so how hard could it be? A week after the 10 miler I had a minor surgery, but after 4 days of a very easy and pain free recovery I started running again. That first run was TOUGH, apparently the IV sedatives stay in your system longer than you realize, so even though I wasn't hurting at all I had about zero energy. During the month of May I doubled my mileage goal, over 100 miles for the month, the last of which were the half marathon. Which was a great run, even if I did feel like it was never going to end during miles 9-11.
I knew enough to know that I wasn't ready for a marathon even though that seems like the next logical step after a half marathon. I'm not even sure I want to run a marathon, except for the fact that I like running longer rather than faster. But at this point in my life, I know I dont have time for the training I would need to do in order to run it well. And I've decided that's when I'll know I'm ready for a marathon. When I can run it well. Whatever finish time that means isn't important, I just want to know that I can do my best.
Over the summer I decided to work on my 5k finish time. I felt (and still feel) kind of embarrassed by how slowly I run. I am capable of running a mile in under 9 minutes, but sustaining a pace like that for any length of time feels nearly impossible. But I decided to push myself and see if I could finish a 5k in under 30 minutes. For me, it wasn't an easy task. But I did it in July, with a finish time of 28:56. It felt like my internal organs were exploding one at a time while I ran. It was AWFUL and PAINFUL and MISERABLE. I'm so glad I achieved that goal because I never want to run that hard again. Ever.
At this point I was in a pretty good routine. Running three times a week... a speed routine of about 3 miles, a challenging pace run of about 6 miles, and a long, slow distance run of between 10-13 miles on the weekend. Once I even made it up to 14 miles. But only once. At this point I was also officially addicted to running. I started doing it to lose baby weight, but now I do it for so many other reasons that finding the motivation and the time to make it happen is a huge priority. I do it for physical health, emotional health, my own quiet and alone time, to prove to myself that I can do things I didn't believe I could, I do it to feel good, centered, strong, calm, and joy. If I miss a run, you do not want to be around me. I do miss runs, because life happens, and I have to remind myself that it's okay, sometimes other things are more important (like when Aaron was sick and we wound up in the hospital for the night... it's okay to not run then). And strangely enough there are now two things that are pretty much guaranteed to make me cry due to crazy emotions... music (duh) and inspirational running stuff. Like visualizing crossing a finish line (letting alone actually crossing one), reading about other people's amazing accomplishments, even just those silly inspirational quotes can do it. And I have a whole notebook being filled with those.
I managed to run the Leesburg 20k this August! Redemption for my Did Not Start last year. It felt great, and... also... boring. It was an out and back course on the W&OD, which I enjoy running on (it's an essential part of my weekend run), but it got kind of repetitive after a while. And I usually run on the dirt trail next to the paved trail which weaves along the trail and goes up and down some little but steep hills, but for the race I stayed on the "official" course, which just wasn't as exciting.
After the 20k I pulled back on miles because I found I was exhausted ALL THE TIME. I also started doing some P90X to help with other areas of fitness, but the time commitment for that was just too much so I haven't really been able to incorporate as much as I would like. I'm lucky if I manage 1 or 2 videos a week, let alone a video every day. I still need to figure out some kind of cross training/strength training that I can actually stick with because when I've been consistent with it, I do notice a big improvement. Something to figure out in 2015...
So since August I haven't done any races. But I still run. I went back to lesser miles for a while, thinking I'd try to get a 10k in under an hour. I didn't quite make it (by a mere 48 seconds!), but that just gives me something to work on this year. I hope I got my sustainable pace to be a little faster, more like 10:30 miles instead of 11:30 miles, but when I compared my December 2014 running log to my December 2013 running log I didnt actually see much improvement in speed. Distance, yes, but not so much speed. I mean, I can run a single mile faster, but my sustainable pace and my longer runs are still pretty similar, speed-wise. It was a little discouraging, but at the same time I'm trying to accept that that's just how I'm going to run. And maybe it means I should just stick to some longer runs and not worry about the fact that I'll never finish a race in the top of my age group. So now I'm back to getting longer distances a part of my weekly routine. I ended the year with a 10 mile run in the rain and it felt really, really good. In fact, my last mile was the hardest (thank you hills) and the fastest, at 10:05. I kind of didn't want to stop, but it was getting dark and I was soaked, so it made sense to stop. Next week I'll just be able to go that much farther.
So here are some basic stats for my 2014 running year:
Fastest mile: 8:25, admittedly on the treadmill. So far I've only ever managed to run 1 mile in under 9 minutes outside and that was way back in April. Speed is so much easier for me on the treadmill where I can force myself to keep a pace.
5k best: 28:56
10k best: 1:00:48
10 mile best: 1:44:45
Half Marathon: 2:23:21
Farthest Distance: 14 miles
Total Miles Run in 2014: 718.1!
Total Miles run in 2015: 0 (so far)
Comments