12 June 2008

Mid Week Rundown

Mile 26.19 of my first BQ! Ahh, what a moment :)
(It kinda looks as if I'm about to do a cartwheel. Hey, now that I think of it...that wouldn't be a bad way to celebrate a BQ...)

Here's a recap of the week thus far...
Monday
I've been trying to get more running done in the mornings, but the addiction to the snooze button is something I've struggled with for many years. Then it hit me. I need to leave myself with no other option but to get up and run.
  • One way to do this would be to have a running partner who I would feel terrible letting down. Unfortunately, I don't have many friends. And the ones I do have don't run nearly as fast as me and therefore are very, very bad running partners. I mean, how selfish of them to expect me to wait around for them!
  • I could also make a routine of taking Parsenn on a morning run. Unfortunately, he prefers to sleep. A lot. In fact, I still believe he's recovering from his 5K PR last week.

  • Aha! Inevitably, at some point every day I need to drive someplace. That requires a car. Moving on this idea, last night I drove my car to a parking lot about 6 miles away. I then locked it up and began running away from it, in the direction of home. I took the long way home and ran about 9 miles in a little over an hour.

Tuesday

Alarm goes off at 5 am. I press "snooze" with ferocity. You see, when really tired I sometimes believe inanimate objects have feelings, and by hittnig "snooze" with much anger, the alarm clock will have hurt feelings and give me an extra couple minutes to sleep.


No such luck. Eight minutes later, when the alarm goes off, I try a more gentler approach--Just a loving tap of "snooze."

Same outcome. Eight minutes later, I concede and I'm up. I'm out the door a by 5:30, telling myself I'm an idiot for parking my car 6 miles away. And my legs are tired from yesterday's run. While not as hot or humid as this weekend, it's still a lot warmer than it has been all year, and the 9 miler yesterday took more out of me than I thought. Nonetheless, I finally arrive at my car sweating profusely once again and slide in (literally--leather seats) to come home. Finally, some morning miles!

My legs have a very dull ache at the moment and I love it. Getting the miles done in the morning open up my afternoon, which is great for Tuesdays because I have office hours until about 6:30. Perhaps I'll put in some Parsenn Pace miles after work, but I'm not obligated to.

Thursday
Wednesday got really busy at work, so I didn't get a run in. By early Thursday I had the itch, so I scratched it with a trail run out on the Ice Age Trail. I put in 7.5 miles in an hour and finished it off with a little barefoot running in the wet grass. Absolutely splendid.
I am a huge proponent of more minimal footwear and barefoot training for runners, and I think it warrants an entire post, but I'll take the time now to highly encourage all of you to take your shoes off after your next run and walk around in a park barefoot. You'll be amazed at the level at which it'll help your recovery time!

11 comments:

keith said...

amen to minimal shoes!

Triseverance said...

Awsome photo, seriously a lifetime memory captured.
And quite a Novel idea. This would work perfectly for me for work if I were not into work by 6:15 and or this place had a shower.

Nitmos said...

I wish I appeared so energetic at the end of a marathon. You must eat your Wheaties! Alas, no chin drizzle evident in the photo. What gives?

Aron said...

LOL love that you parked your car far away so you would get up! i have that same struggle with the snooze, especially lately.

looking forward to the post on no shoes - i had no idea about that.

Marcy said...

Dude it looks like you're flying! That pic is a keeper!

And yes I do know what you're talking about with Diddy's song (can I even it that?) I know every annoying thing that man does. I hate Diddy like you hate (or should I say used to :P) Lance LMAO!

Marcy said...

Sorry I meant "CALL it that" Oy!

Ax said...

That is definitely a great picture, and I was thinking the same thing about the cartwheel. Maybe that can be your finish in Boston. I remember doing some barefoot running on the football field during high school track and cross country, but I don't think I've done it since then. I'm definitely interested in what you have to say about barefoot running.

Bill Carter said...

Aren't you just the problem solver.. I actually chocked on my cereal this morning when I started reading your blog because for some reason no one wants to run with me either. I feel your pain.

Best of luck Nic and what is our countdown to Boston??

Runnin-From-The-Law said...

I love my morning runs. M - Th were 4:30 a.m. runs this week. F - I slept in til 5:00 a.m. and then ran. :-) So nice to get them out of the way in case life interferes during the day.

Tri+Umph said...

That finisher's photo is the best I've seen; you're on top of the world.

I don't believe you, though. I think you DID do a cartwheel and just won't admit it.

Jess said...

That pic is priceless! It DOES look as though you're going to launch into a cartwheel or maybe even a front flip!