A Race Shirt I Guarantee No One Else in the World Has

Friday I went for a run in the evening and wanted to be warm.  I had just found a shirt I had been storing for years and had just washed the other day for the first time, so I thought I would wear it.  It was a nostalgic moment for me because it was a shirt that had some history...

In 2007, I had just become the President of the Dallas Running Club and it was also the first year that I was the Co-Race Director of the DRC Half Marathon with Paula Robertson, my very good friend who I work with on the non-profit Heels and Hills now.  Sublimation was a trend going on with shirts at the time, you take a panel of a shirt and they take white fabric and basically dye both the foreground image and the background shirt color INTO the fabric.  I worked with a vendor early in the year to give it a try and I just wasn't 100% in love with the production sample we ended up having created.  The sublimated logo was just a little less crisp than you want the image to be and the yellow of the shirt wasn't the greatest match to the yellow in the race logo.  Still, I kept that production sample, because it was a good shirt.

So last night, 2 years and a few months after the fact, I wore the shirt for the first time.  And it was kinda cool to be out running around in what truly was a one-of-a-kind!

Pic of me after the run in my "special" shirt

A Year to Being a Hardcore Runner - A Test of Will, of Drive, and I'm Winning

The thought has been spilling around in my brain after Mark O. and I had a discussion where I was putting myself down a little about my own running in being complimentary about someone else's.  I said I wasn't a hardcore runner or a real runner like "so-and-so".  He immediately V8-smacked me in the forehead mentally by asking me why I thought that.  And I couldn't really answer.  Obviously, I still have confidence issues in my running.

I hate running in the heat.  I hate running in the rain.  I hate running in the cold.  I hate running in the really cold.  I hate running really hard until your lungs hurt and you think you might fall over.  But I've had almost a year now of doing just that consistently.  And my husband points out I kinda revel in celebrating the runs that I just described I hate.  So why?

Because I HAVE turned into a hardcore runner.  I've transformed in the last year.  This is a test, this is all a test....of my will, of my drive, and I AM WINNING.  And those harder runs or harder elements allow me to keep reproving it to myself. 

Question for a future blog entry someday: do I need to keep proving it to myself?  and if so, why? and is that okay?

From dictionary.com:
hard-core [hahrd-kawr, -kohr] –adjective unswervingly committed; uncompromising; dedicated

From urbandictionary.com:
hardcore - Intense. Relentless.

I may not be fast.  I may not do the number of miles many runners do.  I may play little games to keep myself motivated.  I surround myself with like-minded folks to help me be supported in pursuit of my goals.  But I'm hardcore, and I'm finally ready to admit it to myself.  The hardest piece of that puzzle is that being hardcore has nothing to do with whether or not I run a 7 minute pace, or run 7 days a week, or run 9 miles around White Rock Lake every Saturday... what a mental breakthrough.

After a 3 mile run last night in 22 degree weather, I followed it with a 3 mile run this morning in 16 degree weather (5 degree windchill).  I obsess about my race calendar and my running goals to keep that momentum.  I annoy everyone in my virtual life with Facebook status updates of my latest running exploits because they keep me accountable.  I have become way more dedicated and committed to maintaining and improving my running base in the last 12 months.  Intense? Relentless? Dedicated? Unswervingly Committed?  Yep, hardcore it is then. :-)

So if you aren't hardcore about your running and you want to be, why aren't you?  And if you want to be, how are you going to get there?  Because if a caterpillar like me, the one quoted as saying "I don't like to sweat" and who has joked about half marathons that I'm "just there for the food" (yay, quarter-bagel), can turn into a hardcore running butterfly, I know you can.

Motivation Found During Arctic Blast

With all the hype about an arctic blast coming to Texas (Thursday through Saturday), I was getting nervous about my weekly mileage.  Jan. 1 I had just set the goal to hit 500 miles by June 30.  I did not want to feel behind one week in!  I only run outside - 457 miles run in 2009, ALL outside.  So I was in danger of three days of not running!

So, in search of motivation for myself and the others freaking out about running (whether outside or on the oh-so-aptly-named "dreadmill"), I put out feelers to see if anyone would be interested in a virtual race with two results divisions: outside and inside.  I'd gather the times people sent me from Thursday through Saturday (the days of sub-freezing temperatures) and post the results, so anyone could use it as motivation to get out there.  I actually got a decent little bit of interest!

So the Arctic Blast Virtual Almost 5K was born.  I used Heels and Hills website to post the "rules" (if a non-race "race" can have rules, that is!) and will use it for the results.  Here's the info, in case anyone else wants to participate...

I have to say that without this, I never would have run tonight.  And right now I'm still motivated to run tomorrow morning and on Saturday!  And I wondered today if anyone would participate.  If they didn't, that's okay, I knew it would give me the motivation I needed.  And I thought that if it provided the same motivation to even just one other person, it was SO worth it.  But I've actually received many emails, messages, and posts today of people's times, so that's pretty cool.

Sarah and I went out at 7:15 pm. 

Weather Conditions:
Temperature: 23 degrees
Windchill: 16 degrees
Wind: 5 mph from NNW
Wind Gust: 14 mph

Bundled up, we completed 3 miles at an easy 11:59 pace.  Here's me, just in from my run...

 Here's hoping I find that same motivation tomorrow!

Two Lessons Learned Today

1) Put on chapstick before runs in freezing temps with wind.
2) EAT before a run.

#2 should be obvious, but on this rare morning that I ran (typically night runner), I didn't eat anything before because I'm not normally good about eating a breakfast.  Need to not do that again!

2 miles done - first one fast, second one ssllloooowwww...  Time to energize with some food. 

I Just Don't Even Want to Be Here

I didn't really want to run today.  I'd had my highest running mileage week after the past week, including 8 miles two days ago.  And, as we all learn through training, sometimes the second day after a run leaves you more sore than the immediate day after the run.

So I was not in the mood to run but had committed to training partner Sarah to run, plus needed a few miles to keep my mileage up generally.  A half hour before the run I looked up the weather (39 degrees, brrr) and put on my running tights and other gear.  15 minutes before the run, she texted me that she had to cancel.  Aw, man!

I spent the next half hour grumbling to my husband comments the likes of "I don't even want to run today, but I'm already dressed, I really ought to go".  Finally decided to go but drove one neighborhood over for a change of scenery on a small stretch of trail I rarely run.  I got out of the car and still didn't want to be there. 

Although I was sore and probably should have taken it a easy, I went ahead and did some speedwork but low mileage.  I did 2 miles only with speedwork at half-mile repeats with 1 1/2 minutes recovery inbetween.  (and I promise lots of stretching and ice the rest of the day!!!)

The best part was seeing the splits for the three segments of half-mile speedwork - I didn't look at the Garmin except to occasionally glance at current pace to make sure I wasn't slowing down and just ran hard.  Splits for the three half-miles ended up being all within.5 seconds for a half-mile!  Woo hoo! 

I tend to judge a run's difficulty by three components: legs (how sore, tight, tired), heart (cardio intensity), and lungs (difficulty talking on the run, gasping for breath, etc.).  This one surprised me that my legs and heart actually felt pretty good, but in terms of my respiratory strength, still gotta get stronger there.  Someday a 9:30 mile will be mine!  And then hopefully with enough training, someday a 9:30 pace half marathon will also be mine. :-)

Results:
First half-mile: 9:26 pace
1 1/2 min. walk: 17:11 pace
Second half-mile: 9:28 pace
1 1/2 min. walk: 15:02 pace
Third half-mile: 9:36 pace
2 minute walk: 18:43 pace
Easy jog back to car for 0.23 miles: 11:54 pace

Total: 2 miles at a 10:53 pace

Tired Dead Legs But a Milestone Nonetheless

Today's 8.3 mile run - it wasn't easy, it wasn't fun, but it WAS - it existed - which is a new thing for me in the whole scheme of things.


Let me explain. The past week's workouts went like this...

• Saturday, Dec. 26 - 5 miles - half marathon goal pace with hard fast mile long kick at the end at 1 1/2 min/mi faster than rest of pace
• Sunday, Dec. 27 - 5 miles - half marathon goal pace with hard fast 1/2 mile kick at the end at a pace about 2 min faster per mi than typical pace
• Wednesday, Dec. 30 - 7 miles - half marathon goal pace - PRed my 10K time, great splits, felt super strong.

So I was already at 17 miles in the week, which is a lot for me, and fairly hard, fast runs for me.. I could have not run today or run just a couple miles. But instead I set out on this run with Sarah with the goal to do between 7 and 10 miles. A few miles in we settled on 8 because Sarah had somewhere she needed to be at a certain time.

About 4 miles in, I just started to drag. Me, who enjoys my rest days and typically keeps low weekly mileage, suddenly understood what tired, dead, overused legs feel like!

We ran/walked and towards the very end, we just plain walked. But that was fine. I still got the miles in. So 8.3 miles done. Total mileage for this last week was 25.3 miles.

To put this in perspective, this week's mileage was... more than my March 2009 MONTH's mileage, about equal to my May 2009 MONTH's mileage, and about half of my total December 2009 MONTHLY mileage. A great start to 2010!

Total Time: 1:48:39
Splits:
Mile 1 - 11:16
Mile 2 - 11:23
Mile 3 - 11:32
Mile 4 - 11:30
Mile 5 - 11:52
Mile 6 - 13:17
Mile 7 - 13:06
Mile 8 - 18:40
Last 0.3 mi - 19:56