November 19th, 2009 05:51pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Last Saturday’s run felt pretty rough. I’d thought about pushing myself a little harder, you know, so that I could maybe acquit myself better in a 5K. But right from the start it didn’t feel good at all — heavy legs, heavy breathing, heavy sweat — and besides, the Turkey Trot is super-close, and I’ve been too lazy to go sign up. Or, for that matter, to run since Saturday.
Today I got on my case. C’mon, get out there and do it. All you’ve done since Saturday is 30 minutes of Pilates and graze your way through the week. It’ll be just like relaxing inside, except there’ll be fresh air and sweatpants instead of endless cups of coffee and flannel lounge pants.
I thought for sure it would be miserable, but maybe the best way for me to ensure a good run is to predict an awful one. Only a day after I told my editors not to count on my blogging, let alone running, for a while, I fell back in love.
The weather’s supposed to stay in the 50s for a while longer. Mike DeDoncker’s sent his two cents worth on making some new running buddies to fight the call of the pajamas. And, seeing as neither spending money on a gym nor spending all winter on the couch are goals of mine, looks like I’m not ready to quit just yet.
Turkey Trot probably won’t happen. Probably. I’m thinking of saving up for the Rockford half registration …
November 12th, 2009 11:40pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
Even though I haven’t delivered on my five-mile promise to myself this week (and it’ll be Friday in 20 minutes), I’m feeling pretty good about my running so far.
It’s been crazy windy and I’ve been frantically catching up on NaNoWriMo after slacking for four days, but I could comfortably make this a three-run week (i.e., without getting up before 9 a.m. to fit the rest of my life in). Seeing how sometimes I hate running and usually am only mediocre at it, that’s a great, if arbitrary, guideline for me to use when answering the question “Am I a runner?”
The past two runs, Tuesday’s and today’s, I’ve liked. Even as I went up the hill along Perryville that leads down to Mulford Road, I just felt really powerful. (Having pounded out 6K words today probably didn’t hurt, either.)
And I also told my half-marathon buddy that I liked running, and he repeated my words like I was crazy, then told me he hated it (this is the same guy who was already scheming triathlons before we’d hit the second mile of our half). So I guess that makes me a runner. Despite how much better I like biking and its effects on me, I think I’m OK with it, too.
November 7th, 2009 08:19pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
3.57 miles, 40 minutes
A three-quarters-length T-shirt and yoga pants were bad ideas.
I should’ve enjoyed today’s run. It was 60-plus degrees in November! Too bad I had to go and overdress and waste it … man, did I come back sweaty. The serious joggers and bikers I saw must’ve been chuckling at me, all cool and breezy in their shorts.
Hope this weather holds over the rest of the weekend into Tuesday, ’cause I won’t have time to squeeze in a run until then.
November 6th, 2009 12:48am
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
3.57 miles, 38 minutes
I’ve rediscovered my love for running!
Otherwise it was a totally unnoteworthy run. No special time, no special speed, just a special feeling. And the ability to breathe fairly normally all the way through it.
Instead of napping or writing, I pushed myself outside and actually forgot I was running, even with the wind gusting all over again. Boy, I can’t wait for this 60-degree weekend!
November 2nd, 2009 03:08pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
5.1 miles, 55 minutes
Not too long ago I was distressed at this exact finish. Today, I’m turning cartwheels.
If you were outside today, you don’t need me to observe that it was a teeeeeeny bit gusty. And from my summers of biking and running out in the country, I feel justified in pointing to how farmland can intensify windy conditions.
I spent a lot of time today while heading north along Perryville telling myself that though it was tough, it would be better once I turned around. At the time, I was lying to myself; I’ve spent too many bike trips/jogs realizing that it had been a cross-wind defeating me and hence the entire trip would be a struggle.
It wasn’t a lie today. Not even the hills that a running co-worker commented on were bad going south. And so I achieved the very lame goal I’d set for myself during the first half: just don’t take longer than an hour.
In fact, I even notched a negative split: It took me close to 30 to get to Harlem and only 25 to get back.
That warrants a day off for my blisters tomorrow. Unless the weather’s unseasonably nice again, that is.
November 1st, 2009 10:35am
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
3.57 miles, 35 minutes
I discovered today which resident of our apartment was the clever one and which one was for ornamental use only.
I exaggerate — Roomie and I are both smart and good-looking, but apparently I’m not both at the same time!
Today I grabbed a ratty old pair of sneakers on my way out of the door, thinking that comfy beaters would also be comfy runners. WRONG. With about a mile left to go, my soles started to murmur, and then by the time I got to my street, they were complaining loudly.
When I took off my shoes in preparation for a pre-Woodfield Mall shower, I discovered two angry blisters. Let me reiterate: before heading to the Woodfield Mall. Smart.
Unless she’s a faithful blog follower, Roomie doesn’t know how I almost ruined our big Schaumburg trip. But she does know, thanks to car ride conversation, that it never occurred to me until now that I’d never thought of wearing a zip-up sweat shirt during chilly runs. You know, so that when I was freezing at first, I could bundle up, and then as I gradually warmed up I could unzip the sweat shirt and eventually tie it around my waist. Unlayer without stopping.
How embarrassing … talk about having your roots showing!
Maybe I’ll just have to hang my hat on being the tough roomie, the one who can push herself out the door for an early-Sunday-morning jog in November.
October 27th, 2009 01:49pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
3.57 miles, less than 35 minutes
And I didn’t let it get away, in spite of my intense post-vacation laziness.
Part of my dread of today’s run, though, was not just standard lethargy, but fear of rust and the rest. I hadn’t run since Wednesday, nor had I exercised at all since Friday, unless you count wandering around a zoo or a mall exercise. Usually, that’s a recipe for side stitches, lead legs and hatefulness. (Sometimes my thoughts while I run are not appropriate for a family blog.)
To my great surprise, though, this turned out to be a “wow, I like running” run, not a “can I call someone who’ll drive over and rescue me?” run. It didn’t even take me my usual 10 minutes to loosen up; I felt like my stride had the right length and the right ease. The wind was hardly a factor, even. Now I’m doubly glad the weather is predicted to hold up, because I realized I don’t hate running after all.
End result: a pace of about 9:30 or 9:45 per mile. Not the best I’ve ever done, but certainly a pleasant surprise and on the better side of the spectrum. If I’m really going to do another race, maybe it’s time to crank up the intensity and see about topping that.
October 21st, 2009 05:40pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
5.1 miles, 55 minutes
Today would be a great run, I thought. I had lighter clothes on (shorts in October!) and a renewed focus on lengthening my strides so I didn’t become a plodding workhorse.
Still, when I reached the point where I could turn back and cheat myself out of a five-mile run, I had to think hard. Don’t do it. You can do 3.5 miles any day.
However, two important conclusions were reached. It’s not the rest or the cold that’s been weighing me down … it’s the wind. Sure, my legs might feel a little less heavy if I used them more often. But today, when I turned around 25 minutes into the run, cheered at the prospect of doing a 50-minute five-miler, I found myself wondering irritatedly why the wind still seemed to be in my face. Lightbulb moment.
Unfortunately, fall weather is not likely to go away for another several months. Maybe I’ll try a few forest preserve jogs here and there.
Obviously from that statement the plan is to keep running, but thanks to Runner’s World magazine and reader Doug, I’ve got additional motivation besides fitness: a Turkey Trot. Just like during a run, over the course (ha!) of my vaguely defined “stay active” routine, I need a finish line for those jogs.
October 19th, 2009 02:35pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
(No run — bike ride)
I like riding my bike far more than I have ever or will ever like running. In general, I find it far easier and more fun to bike up all the hills I gripe about running up. (Mount Shirland is the one exception.)
But having moved out of the country, I’m incredibly grateful to have picked up running as an alternate form of exercise. For one thing, there’s less jolting when you jog across any sort of uneven pavement than when you bike over it.
The primary reason for my gratitude, though, is how much simpler it feels to be a runner in the suburbs than a biker. If I don’t go seven miles on my bike, I don’t see the point … but as long as I go three miles on a jog, it’s a legitimate workout. Today I biked from Riverside to Harlem and back, and decided to meander around a couple of (very, very flat) subdivisions to bump up my mileage.
Perfect for a re-emerging runner: hills if I want them, level ground if I don’t. Close proximity to paths where I feel safe so I can’t sloth my way out of running. Retail establishments scattered along the way in case of emergency.
Looks like I’ll still be heading out to the Stone Bridge Trail as long as the weather holds up – but this time with my bike.
October 18th, 2009 12:13pm
Sadye Scott-Hainchek
3.57 miles, about 35 minutes
I knew perfectly well last night when I decided to have a glass of wine and watch some “Arrested Development” that the wakeup process would be slow and arduous. Sure enough, my mild interest in breaking the 3.57-mile barrier had dissipated by this morning. (My headache, however, hadn’t.)
And I kept paying for that single reasonable glass, too. Maybe I should’ve eaten some toast before the run, because I sure felt queasy, beginning right around the time I’d become acclimated to the weather. I even had to pause to catch my breath and blow my nose, something I was proud of not doing in the two previous runs.
I used to know better. All summer as I trained, my interest in having a glass of wine before bed fell on its own, because I’d either been awake since too early and was exhausted or because I was about to get up too early and didn’t want to waste precious time.
Now I know. Next time I plan on an early-morning run, I’ll abstain.
What astounded me today, though, as I gasped for breath around the two-mile marker was how six miles once was easy and how 13 miles, while miserable at the end, was doable. My muscle memory might not be so sharp, but my real memory is – at one point I could do it, and I’d like to get back to running peaceful six-milers.
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