I just registered for the Vancouver International (half) Marathon! I can't believe I'm actually going through with this!!! I must be crazy!!!Training is becoming more challenging because (a) now that I have a job, I have a lot less time* for things like running and (b) my long runs are becoming, well, really long. I do my long runs on Sundays (or sometimes Tuesdays, if Saturday nights turn into a gong show). When my long runs got up to 12 k, I thought I was going to die. Then Danielle pointed out that I should be following the 10 and 1 plan (run for 10 minutes, walk for 1, repeat)... so I tried that the next week, when I had to run 14 k, and I felt sooo much better! The only problem was that I absolutely abhor looking at my watch when I run. It just totally stresses me out worrying about if I've run my 10 minutes or not. And it was Danielle to the rescue again! She suggested making a running playlist for my iPod that has 10 minutes of music, followed by 1 minute of something to walk to. So I put together a playlist of running music**, with 1 minute intervals of classical music for walking to... and it soooo rocked! Last week's long run was 16 k and after the 1 hour and 55 minutes that it took me, I didn't feel like I wanted to die (which I did after a mere 12 k of running straight) and I didn't have to get all stressed out looking at my watch... I could just relax and enjoy the beautiful sunset***.
Speaking of which, I should get out there and go for a run right now. Just a little 6 k today... no biggie. I can even return my overdue library book on the way. Hooray for multitasking! Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone. I'll give you a discussion topic to keep you busy in my absence: What songs should I add to my running playlist?
Oh ya, and just for the record, here's the route of the half marathon:
Ya, I must be crazy.*yup, still haven't figured out how people with jobs get anything done.
**my playlist is heavy on the Groove Coverage, which is the best running music EVER!
***the giant holes in the ground where they are building the Canada Line were less enjoyable to look at.
3 comments:
You're pretty freakin' cool for running that half marathon. I've just started running again this month. If you need to go for a shortish (5 - 7k) run while we're in Calgary, I can be your running pal. Any longer than that and the only thing I'm good for is mixing drinks for your return.
Sweet! I will take you up on both those offers - as I will need to do both some short (6K) runs where you can be my running pal and some longer (8, 9 and 18K) runs where you can be my post-run bartender.
We can use mapmyrun.com to map out our runs in Calgary... because I know that your sense of direction is as good as mine, so unless Sarah is there to tell us where to go, we will most definitely get lost without a well-planned run.
Saweet!
gmaps (http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/) is also a really useful mapping tool.
Can't wait for May 6th!
Post a Comment