"There's only one hard and fast rule in running: sometimes you have to run one hard and fast."








Monday, April 4, 2011

3 short observations

1) If you have to fix a flat tire, it will be raining. The spare will be under piles of things you haven't thought about for months. And the spare will be underinflated.

2) If a woman asks, "Does this make me look fat?" do not expect to get a laugh by saying, "I can't tell. You're blocking the sun."

3) This new training plan of mine is a killer, but in a good way. Tuesday was 16 miles of hills done hard and felt good. Thursday was another 16 with a few short sprints for the fun of it (top speed of 3:24 was the best in many years). Saturday was 18 with 9 done at marathon effort - if not quite marathon pace - and felt surprisingly good. Sunday was 22 miles and it felt like a very very slow continuation of Saturday's run. 72 miles in 4 runs! This week will see whether I'm improving or if that one week drained me dry.

8 comments:

SteveQ said...

Wow. Either I've left everyone speechless, or people are just waiting for the "I'm injured" post to see who wins the pool.

Glaven Q. Heisenberg said...

The Phils have two starting lefties: Lee and Hamels.

Blanton was 9-6 last year. He's a not-bad-verging-on-good pitcher when healthy. He started out last year unhealthy and had a bad start of the season but was much better at the end and the only reason Ian forgave him is he (Blanton) won the only game we went to last year, beating the SF Giants 8-2. Ian holds grudges. Roy Oswalt lost his first game with the Phils after we got him mid-season (he was parachuted in to pitch his first game the day of the trade and got bombed by the Nats) and then proceeded to go something like 10-0 for us for the rest of the season with a 1.74 ERA. Ian forgave him for losing that first game after, roughly, his 6th straight win for us. Until then, Ian wanted us to get rid of Oswalt.

This start that the Phils are off to now is the first time they've begun a season with a home series sweep since 1899. (Plus, the Astros swept them in late August last year IN PHILADELPHIA, 4 games in a row! I thought they'd had it at that point. Then they proceeded to win 20 out of their next 22 or something phenomenal like that.)

This is not the kind of start they usually get off to.

So I wouldn't worry too much about the Twins' start or their aces' ERAs at this point. That's pretty much guaranteed to change.

I just hope the rain stops here so tonight's game isn't rained out.

RBR said...

You said 'waiting room' on G's blog, por que? (I know you LOVE when I break into Spanish)

*concerned face*

RBR said...

Also, could G's comment be ANY more boring?

Just saying...

RBR said...

Now, being a fuller figured girl I should not admit this lest I lose my 'Sassy fat girl' card, but I thought it was funny.

Of course I would have knocked your teeth out for saying it..

Wait, that is psycho not sassy. Damn I always get those too confused.

Colin said...

I spent the last day trying to resist, but I guess I'll dive in ...

3 short observations:

1) You like to run fast

2) By starting fast, your longer runs often seem to turn into "death marches"

3) 100 miles is a lot longer than 20 miles.

I'm no expert (especially on ultras!) but it seems to me that you've got to train yourself to start at a sustainable pace. For instance, completely reversing your weekend seems like it would have been a better training stimulus (i.e. instead of 18 miles with the first 9 at marathon effort on Saturday then 22 miles slow on Sunday, why not try 22 miles relaxed on Saturday, followed by 18 miles with the last 9 at marathon effort on Sunday?)

That said, I'm glad you've managed to stay injury-free and motivated ... as you say, 72 miles in 4 runs certainly is impressive!

Unknown said...

Wow--nice work, that #2 was LOL funny!

SteveQ said...

@RBR: auto repair shop waiting room. Nothing to worry about.

@Colin: Right now, I'm trying to get ready to do the Superior 25K, which will require me to run hard early (the first miles are ridiculously hilly). I'm also trying to have fun (yes, I like to run fast); if it feels like a slog/death march, what's the point? It would make more sense to work at running long at a sustainable pace, but there just isn't such a thing for me for that race, so I'm trying to build up some overall strength; trying to run fast at the end of the second run of a back-to-back is something I've tried - I just can't do it.