Is this about feet or not?
Since the last two posts have been about non-running-related subjects, I'm posting an update on my Anteater Ironman.
This week went fairly badly in terms of mileage. I ran 6.6 miles, but haven't done any biking or swimming. I just gave blood this morning, so I'm not likely to do much of anything the rest of today.
It was, however, a great week in other respects--I had two days of rock climbing and was satisfyingly sore on Friday, after having successfully scaled several 5.7 routes without "rainbowing"--using holds not on the planned route. Since I have very limited experience rock climbing, it was satisfying to achieve a small challenge, and yet to be able to see how much more there is to try.
Yoga went reasonably well, and sailing yesterday was fun, if cold toward the end. It was so clear after the rain that the mountains were bright white against the blue sky, even when seen from the harbor. Then, more rain moved in.
Even my runs, though short, were both good. I didn't have a lot of time on Friday morning, so it felt like an extra accomplishment to scoot out the door just in time to do three miles before showering and heading to work. It was all the better that, wearing my GPS, I seemed to be going very slowly--every time I checked it, my pace was quite slow, around 11 minutes per mile. I kept trying to speed up, but then slowing down again. But, since I hadn't been running much this week and was sore from climbing, I wrote it off as a shake-out run. Then, I got home and actually looked at my route and time on the computer--somehow, the average pace was really 9:09 per mile. What a pleasant surprise!
Then, yesterday, I went for a short run in the evening, realizing that it would be better not to schedule a run for post-blood donation. The rain had stopped, and it was cool, but not too cold. I went back and forth, literally, between my room and the living room several times, trying to decide whether to run indoors on a treadmill or outside. Mainly I didn't want to be hit by a car or raped and killed. But, running on a treadmill wasn't a very inspirational idea, either. So, I picked up my things to go to the rec center, only to hide them near my house and go running anyway, because the evening was so beautiful and peaceful after the rain. My route took me up into a nearby canyon, with some undeveloped land near the road--lovely and rather secluded, which did make me think more about the getting raped and killed stuff, but also the only route I could think of where I could stay off the road the entire way, and had relatively few road crossings, too. The pond I ran past was chock-full of frogs, who were making a ridiculously loud din in the quiet night, and the well-lit sidewalk had a steady sprinkling of snails creeping across it, rather pretty in their own right, although making the run a little more of a slalom than normal, as I zig-zagged and sidestepped in attempt to avoid that horrible crunch of a shell that occasionally happens around here if you aren't careful. I did catch one with my toe and heard a noise that let me know he probably wasn't okay, even though I didn't step on him so much as kick him. The consolation is that a nighttime run through an unpaved field may well have had many more snail casualties.
So, at the end of one week, I still have 16.6 miles to run, 109.5 miles to bike, and 1.9 miles to swim. Better pick up the pace!
This week went fairly badly in terms of mileage. I ran 6.6 miles, but haven't done any biking or swimming. I just gave blood this morning, so I'm not likely to do much of anything the rest of today.
It was, however, a great week in other respects--I had two days of rock climbing and was satisfyingly sore on Friday, after having successfully scaled several 5.7 routes without "rainbowing"--using holds not on the planned route. Since I have very limited experience rock climbing, it was satisfying to achieve a small challenge, and yet to be able to see how much more there is to try.
Yoga went reasonably well, and sailing yesterday was fun, if cold toward the end. It was so clear after the rain that the mountains were bright white against the blue sky, even when seen from the harbor. Then, more rain moved in.
Even my runs, though short, were both good. I didn't have a lot of time on Friday morning, so it felt like an extra accomplishment to scoot out the door just in time to do three miles before showering and heading to work. It was all the better that, wearing my GPS, I seemed to be going very slowly--every time I checked it, my pace was quite slow, around 11 minutes per mile. I kept trying to speed up, but then slowing down again. But, since I hadn't been running much this week and was sore from climbing, I wrote it off as a shake-out run. Then, I got home and actually looked at my route and time on the computer--somehow, the average pace was really 9:09 per mile. What a pleasant surprise!
Then, yesterday, I went for a short run in the evening, realizing that it would be better not to schedule a run for post-blood donation. The rain had stopped, and it was cool, but not too cold. I went back and forth, literally, between my room and the living room several times, trying to decide whether to run indoors on a treadmill or outside. Mainly I didn't want to be hit by a car or raped and killed. But, running on a treadmill wasn't a very inspirational idea, either. So, I picked up my things to go to the rec center, only to hide them near my house and go running anyway, because the evening was so beautiful and peaceful after the rain. My route took me up into a nearby canyon, with some undeveloped land near the road--lovely and rather secluded, which did make me think more about the getting raped and killed stuff, but also the only route I could think of where I could stay off the road the entire way, and had relatively few road crossings, too. The pond I ran past was chock-full of frogs, who were making a ridiculously loud din in the quiet night, and the well-lit sidewalk had a steady sprinkling of snails creeping across it, rather pretty in their own right, although making the run a little more of a slalom than normal, as I zig-zagged and sidestepped in attempt to avoid that horrible crunch of a shell that occasionally happens around here if you aren't careful. I did catch one with my toe and heard a noise that let me know he probably wasn't okay, even though I didn't step on him so much as kick him. The consolation is that a nighttime run through an unpaved field may well have had many more snail casualties.
So, at the end of one week, I still have 16.6 miles to run, 109.5 miles to bike, and 1.9 miles to swim. Better pick up the pace!
Labels: triathlon
posted by R at 3:32 pm
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