a half is still a lot of work.

How does one write about running a half marathon, anyway? It's pretty much the same motion, over and over again, for a long time. But I will try.

On Saturday I ran the Urban Wildland half marathon in Richfield. The course is very nice, as it goes around lakes and through nature reserves and is flat most of the way. They also strive to be a green race by being waste free. And they had good stuff - the shirt feels great, and I got yet another reusable tote bag. (Seriously, five envirosax and another six bags that I've gotten from classes/races/catalogs/transit initiatives. Enough! Though, I do like this one, and it comes with the double superiority of being eco-friendly and running a half marathon.)

On to the actual race...this was the first one I ran where I was really alone. Usually I have a running companion, or at the very least finish line companions whom I can't keep up with. (I did get my parents to come to the finish line, so I guess that's something.) And although I had made ambitious time goals long ago, I knew I probably wouldn't reach them given my laid back training. It definitely wasn't my best race, in terms of how I felt or my time. The interlude between each mile marker always felt much slower than my actual pace, and at some point around mile 7 my legs turned to jello and never really came back. And somehow I still finished with a reasonable time - 2:05:30 (9:35 pace). I definitely didn't reach my goal (under two hours), but it's not in the horrible range either. (These are all relative to me, of course.)

So there's that. My quads are still killing me, and I'm hoping to bike a lot more this week instead of running.

Long ago, back in the winter of my discontent, I foolishly made some resolutions. [Summary: Run a half marathon in under 2 hours, bike more.] It's easy to make warm weather exercise resolutions when it's too cold to do anything outside and you're horribly out of shape. Now, six months later, I'm wondering what the hell I was thinking. Today I could barely run 3 miles and I'm trying to run 13.1 at a 9 minute pace as early as August? I can try for the half, but the time goal is clearly not going to happen.

So my one quantifiable goal is out (for now), that leads to the next one: biking! Well, I did acquire a working bike - here it is!



Isn't it pretty? It's sitting in Minnehaha Park on a beautiful Sunday. It's about seven miles to get there from my place, though the route is pretty much perfect. [Although complicated today by Grand Old Day.] Even though seven miles on a bike really isn't that far, I felt so out of shape after the run that I really thought I would die. But it went quite well, even on the way home (which is more uphill). And it made that Heath Blizzard totally warranted.

Now I only need to figure out a few things: install these bike lights, get some panniers, and figure out how to arrive at my destination without being a pile of sweat.

the side effects of winter: part 1, the gym.

The winter this year has turned me into a total baby. I can't stand the cold, and I don't have enough layers to keep me warm wherever to go. The cold weather has even driven me to a horrible thing: joining the gym.

The thing is, I'm a runner. I step out the door and go. It's free (save the cost of apparel and shoes) and fast and it works. And I could run the same route four times a week and not get bored because there's always different people and different cars and different light. But this just doesn't happen in the cold, when it gets dark at 4:30, when there are unplowed sidewalks all over the place. So, reluctantly...to the gym I went.

There is the good and the bad. The bad is mostly that I'm moving but I'm not going anywhere, that the scenery never changes, and that I have to pay for all of this. Something seems wrong with that. The good is that it's not cold, I can sort of read the New Yorker on the elliptical (which is also better for my knees), and can catch conversations like this:

(scene: locker room, where the girls swim team had just finished practice)

Girl 1 (presumably Nina): Someone left the shower on!
Girl 2: Nina I can hear you!
[Nina returns from showers]
Girl 2: Did you turn the shower off?
Nina: Uhhhh....[turns around to amend the situation]
Girl 2: (in a sing-song voice) Nina, turn the shower off because that wastes water which causes global warming which makes the glaciers melt!

(Cute, but I think I'll try to avoid the locker room around that time from now on.)

home stretch.

On running:
The marathon is now only 18 days away. Eeek. We finished our last long run, 20 miles, on Saturday. We ran (and ran and ran and ran) and reminisced about how far we've come. Remember that awful 12 mile run way back in July? I'll spare you from going into the super cheesy bit about how proud I am of myself and yadda yadda. As crazy as it sounds, getting up early on Saturdays to run a for few hours has become pretty normal and almost addicting. That said, I'm really happy to be getting a slight break from it. Only 10-12 miles this weekend! Woo!

On reading:
I signed up for a MPR membership way back in June, partly because I had been meaning to for a while, but mostly because I wanted a subscription to The New Yorker. And FINALLY, it's here...just when I have no time to read it. Never mind that I'd go to the library specifically to page through it over the summer....but it's still lovely to have around. I'm also working on No One Belongs Here More Than You (Miranda July). It's good before bed stuff.

Other:
Fall is almost here, so I guess that means it's the perfect time to get a cold. So. Awesome.

half the distance, twice the fun! maybe.

One of my more hardcore running friends (aka my crazy running friend) invited me to do a half marathon last Tuesday. As I considered it, I thought, when did I become crazy? When did running a half marathon on a whim become a normal idea?

To make a long story short, I decided to go for it. I woke at 4:30 am yesterday to meet people at 5:30 to drive to Rochester together. They were all seasoned runners, and I was the newbie. I ran the race pretty much by myself, and really had no idea what I should expect for a finish time. That said, I was pretty happy when I crossed the line at 2:02:something (official times are still not online! Boo!).

Oh yeah, and then I ran the Milk Run 5k at the State Fair today. But after 13.1 miles, 3.1 is a cakewalk. Fine fine, a cakerun in which my legs felt verrrry tight.

So yes, on my last weekend before going back to work, I woke up at 4:30 on a Saturday, 6:30 on a Saturday, and willingly ran two races. Insane.

In other news, I hurt.

don't understand about the weather outside.

This weekend was rainy, cold, and felt oddly like fall. It was a fitting finish to my already depressing week, so I decided to relish in it.

On Saturday I went to the farmer's market, and was faced with the decision: drive, bike, or walk? Driving is lazy, biking is fast but offers no rain protection, and walking would be potentially miserable but at least I'd have an umbrella. I headed out on foot, wearing sandals on my poor blistered feet. It wasn't even raining that hard, but my umbrella was like a shield - I could cry under that thing and no one would be the wiser. For the record, I didn't. (Not that there's many people walking around downtown on a rainy Saturday to notice, anyway.) Instead of crying, I ended up singing with my headphones on the way home. Not quite happy, jumping, singing in the rain, but rather sad and lonely on the streets singing in the rain. And yet, after all of this - the cold feet, the lonely walk, the sagging jeans - I was much happier than earlier in the morning. I thought rain was supposed to be sad?

Then on Sunday my friend and I set out to run. The good news is that it was nice and cool. The bad news is that there was a slight drizzle, and when you have a slight drizzle for 16 miles, well, things get wet. EVERYTHING gets wet. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, just cold. And wet. Did I mention wet? I think my shirts weighed three pounds when I took them off. But at least we could say, "We are now officially hardcore." Oh yeah.

So that's my weather weekend. Is it seriously going to be like this all week? I'm about at my limit here.

skirts! for running!

So, I was emailing a friend about running this weekend and one of the google links on the side was about running skirts. I thought, "skirts? While running??" but was also very intrigued. And this is how I ended up at RunningSkirts.com. Some thoughts that went through my head as I explored:

• "Girly-girl" style? Ah, HELL NO.
• There's a whole side-tab designated for PINK SKIRTS? Oh god.
• Well, okay, let's check out the design.
• Kind of pricey, but HEY! THEY COME WITH POCKETS!
  
• Hmm...skirts in action...oh man, cute girls in cute skirts RUNNING. I must have one.

And thus was the process of my semi-brainwashing. But really it makes sense. I like running. I like skirts. Put them together? RUNNING SKIRTS! Sort of genius.

(It's kind of sad though, that I don't buy anything except food, drinks, and running gear as of late.)

Oh god, now I'm looking at another site and it's so ridiculous. They're telling me to embrace my gorgeous self....by wearing a running skirt. This ends now!

on training, ii.

Today was a 13 mile run. I went with friends who were going 11, so I parked a mile away from the meeting point to get my extra two miles in.

The run today was just...hard. It was hot. I wouldn't say I've gotten an ample amount of sleep in the past few days. I started out fine, being a cheerleader to my friends and trying to end any negative talk. But in the second half of the run, I was the negative nilly. My breathing was heavy. I started to whimper like a sad puppy at stoplights. A whiny voice in my head said, "I don't wanna run a whole marathon! I don't want to even run half!"

Somewhere a bit later, the breathing got easier but it was like my legs couldn't move. By this point we were going pretty slow. We passed a family on the sidewalk, who were of course taking up the whole thing with their strollers and what not. The guy had the nerve to say, "Come on, you can go faster than that!" It took a lot of strength not to say, "Shut up." Instead I just said, "11 miles," the tone implying, "Hey bunghole, talk to me when you've done the same." My friend smartly muttered "Fuck you" under her breath.

And after all of this, I somehow pulled it around on my last lone mile. It was slow, but not awful. The good news: next week, my long run is only ten miles. (haha. haha. What have I gotten myself into? I don't know either.)

on training.

I am in the midst of marathon training, which is only 99 days away! Yikes. Today I ran about 10.3 miles. Now, I have friends who have run multiple marathons who would just nod as I tell them this. I also have friends who would say something like, "WHAT? You are crazy. How do you do that?"

So, a primer. How to run 10 miles.

First you tell yourself that you are going to run 10 miles. Then you do it. While you do it, leave your ipod at home (headphones hurt for that long, and it's bad for your ears). Don't even bring a watch! Do bring a water bottle. Go slow, and walk frequently. Write blog entries in your head, or have conversations with cute boys you will meet in coffee shops, bars, etc. When you get to the Mississippi River, smile. It's blue and the leaves are green and everything looks a little more amazing when you just ran 5 miles to see it. Then turn around and think about how awesome you are. When you're done, stretch a lot. Look at the clock and laugh at how pathetically long you've been gone. Then eat a lot, and take a nap if you have time.

Yeah, fine, there is some training involved before you can get to this point, and my legs are kind of dying right now, but that's how you do it.