I had a great Christmas with the family. We did a lot of low key stuff, and since it's been a few weeks since the last post, instead of nitpicking some details, I just won't give any.
I'm kind of in one of those possible-pivotal periods. It seems poignant with the New Year just around the corner. There's a lot that is going amazingly well, but a lot that I want to change to help make my life simpler and happier. At some point I may drop some of the online social networking sites. I see too much that makes me just go "why the fuck do I care?" And then, even when I put stuff on there, I go "why the fuck would anyone else care?" It's a great way to communicate with others.
I'm just not sure what I prefer: less person-to-person interactions, or more person-to-person albeit via a virtual, shallow medium. I guess it depends on whether it's an actual trade off. My goal and method depend on the assumption that decreasing your online presence increases your real life presence. I'm not convinced this is the case. Real life takes real effort. But perhaps it can free up the energy and drive to pursue that real life presence. The same may go for this blog. Either it will go away, or I'll need to find a more specific purpose and focus, probably by weaning away the personal blogging and just focus, say, on the running.
If it does get some focus, or just simply stays as-is, I really want to talk about this book I got for Christmas called "The Story of the Human Body." However, I rather do it comprehensively once I'm done reading it.
Soundtrack:
"Telescope Eyes" by Eisley
"Congratulations" by Eisley
Sunday, December 29, 2013
Saturday, December 14, 2013
It's Beginning to Look at Lot Like...
It seemed like Thanksgiving was only yesterday. It REALLY wasn't too long ago. I remember hearing some news about retailers complaining. Want us to push Christmas back a few days?
It's been a cold, wet few days. Last Saturday's run was wet and so was this one's. I don't mind. It's worse at work. Early in the week was in the 40s but wet and raining and it was not fun. I felt better later in the week when the day started in the 20s, but at least the sun was out.
I SO stalling on writing out my training plan. As I think about it, I don't think I need to make differences to my typical mileage patterns/weekly cycles. I may still keep either the Build-Build-Quality-Recover or Build-Build-Recover. However, I think this time I need to get more particular in the individual weekday workouts and through in some focused workouts. iRunFar.com has a good blog series about the types of workouts ultra runners can focus on: from their endurance long runs, to speed and sprint work. While I enjoy a relax, no stress training schedule, I think incorporating these can be valuable to chasing a PR at Umstead. In order to use them, I need to make sure to do more than just write in "speed work" or "sprint work" but specifically etch out the intervals, repeats, rest, etc.. I think doing so will take some stress of later down the road. And honestly, if the workout is good and hard, the anticipation will actually lead to a better workout.
I will declare myself official recovered. The past two weeks I've had some really good runs. I haven't done much building work. Long lingering fatigue isn't really there. My rest days (er... when I just erg for a 10k) actually make me feel restful the next day. When I go out for my runs, I feel fresh and can really hit some good paces that don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels.
The key is not to abuse this rest just yet. I'll cut back on my mileage next week. And without a Fat Ass 50k or Holiday Lake to think about, there's no need to rush into the 30 or 35 milers I was doing as early as January.
BTW. Trader Joe's around the holiday is terrible for trying to eat right. Alas... Pfeffernusse cookies, Candy Cane Joe Joe's, or Gingerbread is too good to pass up.
Soundtrack:
"Pompeii" by Bastille
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
It's been a cold, wet few days. Last Saturday's run was wet and so was this one's. I don't mind. It's worse at work. Early in the week was in the 40s but wet and raining and it was not fun. I felt better later in the week when the day started in the 20s, but at least the sun was out.
I SO stalling on writing out my training plan. As I think about it, I don't think I need to make differences to my typical mileage patterns/weekly cycles. I may still keep either the Build-Build-Quality-Recover or Build-Build-Recover. However, I think this time I need to get more particular in the individual weekday workouts and through in some focused workouts. iRunFar.com has a good blog series about the types of workouts ultra runners can focus on: from their endurance long runs, to speed and sprint work. While I enjoy a relax, no stress training schedule, I think incorporating these can be valuable to chasing a PR at Umstead. In order to use them, I need to make sure to do more than just write in "speed work" or "sprint work" but specifically etch out the intervals, repeats, rest, etc.. I think doing so will take some stress of later down the road. And honestly, if the workout is good and hard, the anticipation will actually lead to a better workout.
I will declare myself official recovered. The past two weeks I've had some really good runs. I haven't done much building work. Long lingering fatigue isn't really there. My rest days (er... when I just erg for a 10k) actually make me feel restful the next day. When I go out for my runs, I feel fresh and can really hit some good paces that don't feel like I'm spinning my wheels.
The key is not to abuse this rest just yet. I'll cut back on my mileage next week. And without a Fat Ass 50k or Holiday Lake to think about, there's no need to rush into the 30 or 35 milers I was doing as early as January.
BTW. Trader Joe's around the holiday is terrible for trying to eat right. Alas... Pfeffernusse cookies, Candy Cane Joe Joe's, or Gingerbread is too good to pass up.
Soundtrack:
"Pompeii" by Bastille
"Everything" by The Classic Crime
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Leo and Cary
I had a great trip in San Jose with my family. The flight from Raleigh to San Jose (via Denver) was meh. I felt bad most of the trip and we didn't change plans in Denver so there was little scenery change for near eight hours. Adjusting to West Coast time was iffy that first day. But Lura took David and I to a Mexican grocery store where ate some tacos. Most of that first evening was pretty laid back, with Lida and her boyfriend arriving and then eating some really good pizza.
Thanksgiving I took an easy run with my sister's beautiful dog, Raleigh. A very good running partner. Most of the day was spent getting the diner ready, with a bird that took a bit longer than usual. By the time everything was ready, we were ALL ready too. Turkey, sweet potato casserole, kale, pumpkin pie, pecan chocolate bars. YUM.
Friday was a relaxed day in San Francisco. My dad wanted to run across of the Golden Gate Bridge and I had no problem with that! We were looking forward to going to this beautiful park called Muir Woods. But it's so popular, there was a shuttle bus to get there, and that had probably a 45 min line. We were all starving, so we found a seafood place in nearby Sausalito. Good, but nothing out-of-this-world.
Saturday and Sunday were mainly uneventful, those I got to run in Almadean Quicksilver Park. Loads of fun for me of course. San Jose is in the valley, so my runs til then were pancake flat. However, getting out of the valley and on to these mountains was fantastic. A mining community in a previous life, there were lots of steep, rolling hills. The trails were pretty well-groomed. Overall I would compare the technicality to Crabtree MTB trails, and the steepness to Uwharrie. Whereas I had planned 3 hrs, figuring about 20 miles, I only got in ~15. Sunday, the whole family went, with some hiking, and me running again. That in of itself was unique: going later in the day at ~11:00, which was almost 2:00 for me.
Overall I loved. A lot of times I'm less than excited to be engrossed in family time; I love them, but I just like to be doing my own thing. But, I always end up glad, and grateful to be with them. As an epilogue, my older sister's two Manchester Terriers are now residing with my brother and I. They'll be with us for about two more weeks, and then may be again later in 2014.
I still haven't planned out my training for Umstead in April. Both the Carrboro Fat Ass 50k and the Holiday Lake 50k are on Saturdays when my EMT class meets. So at the moment I don't have any longer tune-up races planned. And I just don't know what I'm wanting; definitely low key; not sure about the distance. I did sign up for a short trail race in January; the Little River Trail Run at 10 miles. Last year I skipped it because I wanted to stay focused on Umstead. But I'm thinking I can tack on some earlier miles, and use the race to work on some speed: something I may need, even for a 100.
Not much running to talk about here until I get some plan written down. Though I'm running like it's a build week, I'm not too anal about hitting speeds or distances.
Soundtrack:
"All of the Memories" by The Classic Crime
"Pompeii" by Bastille
Thanksgiving I took an easy run with my sister's beautiful dog, Raleigh. A very good running partner. Most of the day was spent getting the diner ready, with a bird that took a bit longer than usual. By the time everything was ready, we were ALL ready too. Turkey, sweet potato casserole, kale, pumpkin pie, pecan chocolate bars. YUM.
Friday was a relaxed day in San Francisco. My dad wanted to run across of the Golden Gate Bridge and I had no problem with that! We were looking forward to going to this beautiful park called Muir Woods. But it's so popular, there was a shuttle bus to get there, and that had probably a 45 min line. We were all starving, so we found a seafood place in nearby Sausalito. Good, but nothing out-of-this-world.
Saturday and Sunday were mainly uneventful, those I got to run in Almadean Quicksilver Park. Loads of fun for me of course. San Jose is in the valley, so my runs til then were pancake flat. However, getting out of the valley and on to these mountains was fantastic. A mining community in a previous life, there were lots of steep, rolling hills. The trails were pretty well-groomed. Overall I would compare the technicality to Crabtree MTB trails, and the steepness to Uwharrie. Whereas I had planned 3 hrs, figuring about 20 miles, I only got in ~15. Sunday, the whole family went, with some hiking, and me running again. That in of itself was unique: going later in the day at ~11:00, which was almost 2:00 for me.
Overall I loved. A lot of times I'm less than excited to be engrossed in family time; I love them, but I just like to be doing my own thing. But, I always end up glad, and grateful to be with them. As an epilogue, my older sister's two Manchester Terriers are now residing with my brother and I. They'll be with us for about two more weeks, and then may be again later in 2014.
I still haven't planned out my training for Umstead in April. Both the Carrboro Fat Ass 50k and the Holiday Lake 50k are on Saturdays when my EMT class meets. So at the moment I don't have any longer tune-up races planned. And I just don't know what I'm wanting; definitely low key; not sure about the distance. I did sign up for a short trail race in January; the Little River Trail Run at 10 miles. Last year I skipped it because I wanted to stay focused on Umstead. But I'm thinking I can tack on some earlier miles, and use the race to work on some speed: something I may need, even for a 100.
Not much running to talk about here until I get some plan written down. Though I'm running like it's a build week, I'm not too anal about hitting speeds or distances.
Soundtrack:
"All of the Memories" by The Classic Crime
"Pompeii" by Bastille
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