running: the dawn

So, Mr. Dawn and I had a fabulous Thanksgiving!  We went to Tennessee to visit friends and family, I was able to stick to my training plan for a full week (and over a holiday no less…), we did some good bargain shopping, and even spent one night in a beautiful cabin in the woods.  Glorious.

Thanksgiving morning I had made plans to run an 8k.  My first 8k ever!  I actually had to find a converter online to figure out that 8k is approximately 5 miles (4.97 to be exact).  Since I needed to do some Lactate Threshold miles anyway I thought–why not run with a whole bunch of strangers rather than try to run fast all by myself?  Well, it got a little more complicated when, on Wednesday, I didn’t quite start my run early enough to get in all 11 miles before dark.  In fact, my planned 11 miles turned into 3.  Three miles does not count as a mid-week mid-distance run.

My plan for race day had to change.  In stead of: warm up, running the race, nice short cool down.  I needed to get in 11 miles.  If I’m being totally honest… my plan was to run 6 before the race, since it didn’t start until 9, but that pretty much fell apart as soon as I hit snooze.  My revised plan was to run the race then go to a near by bike path and finish my mileage.  Because of this I advised Mr. Dawn to not join me.  Asking him to wait through the race would have been one thing…but then to have him wait another hour?  That is not the right way to spend Thanksgiving.

I headed to the race solo.  I’m pretty sure this was my first time at a race where I didn’t come with anyone or know anyone there.  I’m going to call that growth.  Growth…and commitment to my sport.  Sure.  That’s what it is.  Right?  Not just craziness?  A way to spend $25 on a $5 tee shirt?  No.  Couldn’t be.

Anyway, we lined up at the start.  I was surprised with how many people actually signed up for the 8k (there was 1 mile and 3 mile options as well).  They actually formed quasi “waves” by stretching out ropes randomly through the crowd.  I found myself at the back of wave 2.

The race itself is somewhat foggy.  My first mile was my fastest.  Which is weird for me.  In all my training runs I get faster as I warm up.  Consistently.  And in most distance except the marathon I usually pull a negative split.  It was fun for the first two miles to finally explore what it feels like to push myself to run faster than “comfortable”.  It’s been a LONG LONG time since I’ve done anything close to resembling speed work.  I’ve forgotten that exploding/collapsing feeling in my lungs and the overwhelming desire to stop and walk.

Then right before the half way mark my ipod died.  I was NOT excited about that.  I have a really hard time running fast.  I don’t enjoy it at all.  So I always listen to music when I want to zone out and push myself.  Lets just say that without music I did lose a little of my spirit.  My pace started to slow and I didn’t have anything to drown out the sound of my labored breathing.  It was pitiful.

My finishing time is kind of on par with all my other “PR’s”… with a slower pace than what I have done in a marathon.  Seriously.  I finished in 42:43, which is an 8:36 pace.  My pace at Grand Rapids last year around this time?  8:24.  Awesome.  I love that I can’t run 5 miles as fast as I have run 26.2.  Apparently I need a nice long warm up before I can kick it into high gear .

The end of the race was nice.  There were two significant hills in the last half mile, so that was fun.  There was all kinds of good food at the end though!  Bagels, water, poweraid, bananas, oranges….it felt like the finishing chute of a marathon (not that I’m complaining…)!

Sadly, since it was just me, I took zero pictures.  I know.  Its sad.  They did give out nice red long sleeve shirts.  Which I love…even though they’re cotton and not tech!  Maybe I’ll get it together and take a pic…but that doesn’t sound like me…

Welp…I’m in the car blogging from my phone. How technologically advanced of me right? Well, I’ve decided that its time for me to get serious about training. In fact I made that decision last Sunday when I headed out for what would be my first long run in 6 months.

I’ve made several running friends since moving to our new community. In fact I’ve convinced 2 people to sign up for the marathon I’m running in February! However, since I have been struggling with motivation, I have been considering switching from the full to the half. Last weekend I was sharing my discouragement with my running buddies and they both (together and seperately) refused to let me wriggle my way out of my commitment. Like loudy. Persuasively.

Internally I decided that unless I could run 10 miles on Sunday, I would have to give up my hopes of running a full marathon. Then, Saturday night I spent some time working on my training schedule and saw that I had originally planned on running 13 that week. Then I decided that I might as well give it a go …and if I couldn’t run 13, I’d be happy with 10.

I set my garmin for 13 and started out. It was a brutal run. Slow. Ugly. It was 80 degrees and sunny. I carried water and some gels that weren’t Gu’s. My stomach wasn’t happy. My legs weren’t happy. But, I made it. 13 miles on sheer determination. It has been a long time since I’ve been able to “will” myself to run. I feel like I’ve been sitting around waiting to feel like running and I’ve forgotten that I have the choice.

Since my run last Sunday I have felt a switch come on (finally). I feel ready to tackle my training, not just suffer through it. I’m ready to find ways to balance my new life with my desire to run. I’m ready to face my lost fitness and slowly build it back up. In that spirit, here are this weeks workouts:

Sunday–13 miles
Monday–5 miles
Tuesday–rest/travel
Wednesday–3
Thursday–11 miles (5 at a race)
Friday–rest

Total Mileage: 32 miles

Tomorrow I am running 15. Should be nice and painful. Good times!

Seriously.  Every time I disappear from my blog, I vow that I will not let another unplanned hiatus keep me from posting.  And yet, here I am again.  6 weeks down the road from my last post.  Sigh.  What can you do?  Time to dust myself off and keep moving forward.

Just to keep us all on the same page, here are the highlights:

• I started my new job.
• I started traveling weekly with my new job (like immediately, day 2 I was on the road).
• I LOVE my new job.  I’m pretty sure that I say to Mr. Dawn almost every day how much I love my job.  I’m not sure this is a good idea, since he doesn’t have the same feelings towards me being gone so much.
• We found a house, made an offer, and started packing up.
• We closed on our house!  Homeownership?  Does that mean that I’m an adult now?
• We moved the same day we closed.  Oh, and I worked that day too.  Thankfully we have amazing friends that helped Mr. Dawn load and unload the truck.  All I did to help was go out to eat with them as a thank you.
• Unpacking is almost as painful as packing.  And I am starting to feel like an expert on both.
• I have run a negligible amount.  I do a decent job of running while I’m on the road, but slack off pretty hard core while I’m at home.