Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
I’m training for the Long Beach marathon. It’s my first one. I know, or at least from what I’ve seen, that tumblr is generally used by really creative ppl, like my sister, and that it’s for posting awesome photography and cool links and whatnot. I tried to do that for a little bit but then FAILed. So, instead, I’m resurrecting my tumblr by using it to capture my training adventures to the Long Beach marathon (hopefully I’m still alive by then!) I won’t get offended if you unfollow me - mostly this is just so that I can record my progress and see how I’m doing. I started to write it down in a journal but found that my handwriting resembles that of a 7-year-old now … when did that happen? Gonna back track a tiny bit since I wanna capture some of last week.
Week 6, Friday.
Got new running shoes from Road Runner - weee! It’s pretty neat because they use all this technology to determine the best shoe for you. They had me step on this pad to see where I put the most pressure on my feet and what kind of arches I have (normal) and then they video taped my stride while I was running on a treadmill to see if I overpronated (or something). Basically I came home with Nike Zoom Vomeros - I know, I know, Aasics and New Balances and Brooks are the “best” running shoes and going in, I think I was set on any of those and not Nike. But when I tried on all the different shoes, the Nikes ones really felt the best for my feet. They immediately felt super comfortable and soft. I got insoles by Superfeet to prevent my arches from dropping further. So I feel like I have shoes that are specially designed for me. As a bonus, they have the nike+ thing, which I use, so I didn’t have to buy a little pocket for the chip or do the ghetto velcro thing (not that there’s anything wrong with that). Also a bonus, they’re silver and PINK! (not that that matters … okay, it matters a little bit. okay, a lot!)
Week 6, Saturday. 9:30 am, 4.51 miles
Route: my apartment to Fairview Park and back
Took my new shoesies out for a spin. I’m following trying to follow Hal Higdon’s marathon training guide for novices. I like it, but I’m super behind on the long runs on the weekends. For example, last weekend I was supposed to do 10(!) miles on Saturday, and this coming Saturday I’m supposed to do 12. eeks. I’m going to vegas this weekend soooo … I highly doubt I’ll be able to squeeze in 12 miles between vegas debauchery. I’ll try to make it up this week by putting in more miles.
But I digress - so on Saturday I woke up kinda late and started running around 9:30 .. maybe 10. Bad idea. It got so hot. I ran way slower than usual. Note to self: Must start running by 8AM at the latest on the weekends.
Also, my feet started to hurt toward the end. I felt like my legs and my lungs could run more but my feet didn’t. I’m not sure if it’s the shoes or if it’s just the distance that my feet need to get used to. I’ll just give it a little more time.
Week 7, Monday. 6:50 PM, 5.88 miles
Route: Back Bay - from Santiago to Bay View Park and back
This afternoon’s run felt soooo delicious. I was dreading running a little bit because my run on Saturday was not fun, but I’m so glad I went out today. Since I ran at dusk, it was much cooler and I found that that affects my pace a LOT. I was able to push harder and faster and at the end, I even felt like I could run a little more. So, me and running are back together again. We had a little rocky patch but we got through it and now we’re good.
