Breaking the 10 minute barrier... and a little conversation.

Tonight I made plans to run 10 (or something) with David. I got stuck in traffic on 465 (stupid cop pulled someone over at 5 pm... Genius!) and ended up getting to the Monon really late. My plan was to run 4 miles south and meet him there. To do that and only be 10 minutes late, I had to book it. As in I made it in 34:36. Dang. I knew I had it in me. Turns out when I run faster, my knees hurt less. Who knew.

Anyway, met up with David and had an insightful discussion about relationships for the 4 miles back and plus two more. Conclusions:

If you haven't seen The Last Kiss... You should. It's nothing like the trailer. It's almost too realistic though. Consider yourself warned.



"What you feel only matters to you. It's what you do to the people you love that counts."

Touche.

Distance: ~10 miles

Skip a few...

Okay, I ran 9 last week and didn't blog about it. Oops.

I took Friday off and planned on running 14 before going to Purdue for Homecoming. Yeah, that didn't happen. Instead I went to this class at the gym called Total Conditioning (mostly because it was raining). There was a lot of legwork that I got to skip. I'm pretty sure the instructor thought I was a total slacker, but oh well. I did my arm stuff afterwards and put in some time on the eliptical (didn't fall off this time, yaaay!) and swore that I would run 14 miles on Sunday.

So, I actually ran 5. But it was a good 5. My legs/feet/calves are so sore, I figure the downtime can't hurt. Plus, I'm going to Chicago to do 20 on Friday with Ade. All of this before going to the Purdue/ND game. Where I will tailgate and drink beer (holla!). Possibly a reply of this weekend at Purdue:

I decided today that I kick ass. I don't know where that came from, but I'm tired of beating myself up for no being able to stick with the schedule. I'm doing the best I can, damnit. I have a house with a lawn that needs mowing, a job, and a dad and grandma whose birthdays were this weekend. And all of that is more important than killing myself for this marathon. It's going to hurt like a mug whether I kill myself to get 14 in today or not. Cheers.

That's right...

...it's been a week. My knee was killing me after 16, so I rested and did cross-training, which actually proved to be a little dangerous since I fell off the eliptical machine at the gym. Yes, I'm that coordinated.

I decided to start back full force with 18 miles today. Actually, I ran a bit last night in hopes of avoiding the shock of running on my lazy butt..... So, how did it go you ask? Better than expected.

After 5 miles, my right knee cap felt like it was going to fall off. This made me mad, so I basically started sprinting as to avoid screaming the F word down the Monon. People in Carmel don't like the f-bomb.

Anyway, I kept pushin' on, even though I was pretty sure I was going to pass out, and the pain spread. This was actually a good thing. Both of my legs hurting constantly was a lot more tolerable than my one knee hurting each time I pounded the pavement. With about 2.5 left, my left knee started in and hasn't quit hurting yet.

This is really becoming a test of wills... Ade and I are basically angry every time we run because it's so tedious and frustrating. I mean, she essentially drove from Chicago just to run today. And I'm going up there in two weeks to run 20. I'm learning that when you do this, it has to be all you do because it's so physically demanding and takes up all of your time. And, of course, everyone wants to hang out on the weekend, but that's nearly impossible since I have to go to bed at like 9 on Friday night and then Saturday night I'm nauseous and can hardly walk (which makes me really popular at parties).

I can honestly say, at least right now, that the only good thing I'm getting out of this is mandatory time with Ade. [It's a little bittersweet though, cuz it makes me realize how much I really miss her.] My weight has actually gone up since I'm trying to build muscles in order to avoid injury. I'm more stressed out because of the time crunch and the pain...and running used to be my stress reliever.

All this and I can still say "I'll keep running."

Distance: 18 miles
Time: 3:17:12
Song I listened to 3 times in a row: Shake -- Ying Yang Twins ft. Pitbull (That's right, bitches!)

"And we're walking..."

I knew today's long run was going to be bad. I ran 2.5 before I decided that it wasn't worth wrecking my knee.

I'm a pretty stubborn person, so it was hard for me to just walk 10 miles today instead of running 12. While I walking though, I had some time for introspection and enjoying nature. It was a beautiful day. A few of the Indy Runners were out, I think. It seemed like there were far fewer than normal.

The bonue was that I wasn't completely wiped when I got home. I actually exerted energy cleaning out and washing my car and scrubbing the bathroom clean. It really needed it, so that's a very good thing. On to 18 next weekend. I may need some more downtime, though. And new shoes. Eek.

Distance: 10 miles
Time: 2:15:16

Note to those considering running a marathon...

First be sure that you have access to the following:

1. Chef
2. Maid
3. Lawnboy
4. Personal Shopper
5. Personal Assistant
6. Therapist

Otherwise you will starve, live in a dirty house with an out of control lawn, where old clothes, run out of everything you need in your house and have all your friends hate you because you're always whining about how tired you are.

Yeah, that about sums up my situation right now. But, hey, I got to watch Oprah on the treadmill today. Yay Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. If only we were all so perfect.

I skipped Wednesday's 8 miles 'cuz my knee hurt and my grass was out of control.

Distance: 3 miles (should have been 5, but who cares at this point)

Again

Apparently my knee pain on Saturday was a little more serious than I initially thought. Running 4 tonight wasn't possible. I did about half of it... I'm so freaked about hurting my knee again. I'm trying to take it easy, but it's very frustrating. I'm having flashbacks to my first Mini.

I keep thinking "Well, next time I do this, I'll worry about my time." But I don't think I can ever do this again. It's way too time consuming. So here's to this time, I guess...

Distance: 4 miles

Not-so-sweet 16

Where to begin...... I was actually really excited about my run today. I'd mapped out a route on mapmyrun.com and was really looking forward to getting a pedestrian view of the area. And the first half of the run was pretty good. Then my knee started hurting. Badly. Apparently 116th street is a lot more hilly than I realized. The flat parts were really flat, too. So I had a good ten minutes to prepare for the huge hill that I would soon face. The upward part took my breath away, the downward part made me envision the bones in my right knee slamming together. Very pleasant.

I guess, all in all, it wasn't that bad though. The temperature was perfect since summer decided to bail a little early. I returned home and took part in what has become my new ritual: lying on the floor on a towel and passing out. Something about the floor is really great. It's hard and I feel like I'm really making an effort to lie down. Like I cannot possible collapse any further into the earth. Yes, this is stupid, but so is running 16 miles, chubies.

Okay, plus I just remapped how far I actually ran and it was more like 17.25. Nice.

Distance: ~ 16.5 miles
Time: ~2:50:00