Sunday, November 9, 2008

Saturday LSD Run: TEN miles

My first run in the double digits sucked. The first few miles it felt like I was running on air and it was so lovely out at 6 AM. There was a fog in the air and it was actually pretty warm. And then at about mile 7 it started to feel like a huge struggle. I could barely move my legs by mile 9, but I kept running. I'm sure it looked like I was hardly moving. My pace was horrendous. I had to stop by my house to eat a banana and refill my water as the park has had no water in their water fountains for a week now. Grr. I also had to stop for cars and things, but still.... I'm looking at over a 3 hour half marathon if this is how I'm going to run it, and that is disappointing. I don't know what's wrong with me. Maybe the hills are just really hard on me, as it is SUPER hilly on the route I usually run on. It really wipes me out. I was posting much better times back in the summer when I could only run 3 miles tops. It was on the flat corkscrew track in the 90+ temperature, but still. I should be getting better. Sure, I now know I can hobble/run for almost 3 hours, but it's still upsetting. I don't just want to do things - I want to do them RIGHT. I suppose that's why I get so frustrated sometimes with my weight loss journey.

Now that I can run ten miles I can run a half marathon, but there aren't any half marathons within 50 miles for the next two months and the race schedule for next year isn't up yet. Boo.

I'm sure if I went back onto the track I'd be seeing 10 minute miles again, but the point is to train myself hard so that any race route thrown at me can be conquered. Still, ascending and descending all these hills really blows for my time and my confidence. I might as well be walking with the times I post...

It's strange. For a while I was keeping up right alongside my much slimmer friend who has been running longer than I have. I felt good about myself. Now she is wayyyyy ahead of me and no matter what I do I can't keep up for more than half an hour. I get much slower after I can no longer see her. I want to know why I was so much faster before and now I can hardly run?

This is frustrating. If I am running well, I am not losing weight. If I am running poorly, I am losing weight. Why can't I have them both?

4 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

Girl you are way too hard on yourself. But i suppose you already know that. To have the will power and mental strenth to stay and keep your feet moving forward for 10 miles is extrordinary! Not in my wildest dreams! I did my little 5k yesterday and i thought the hills were gonna kill me! But i did it! My time was 35:20. I usually log in the 40's when i run that same course on my own. Its an out and back course and the way out is almost all down hill so your tempted to go all out but you have to save yourself for the all uphill back. It took me 17: min and change to get to the turn around. And almost the exact same back so i managed to hold it together. The three woman who placed in my age group did it right at the 30 min mark. So thats my goal! Next time i run that in a race i'm gonna be in for medal contention!Met some nice people though. Runners are such friendly people. I think anyway.
Theres definately something going on there with your weightloss. I think thats a good question for RunnnersWorld . com and the running doc there. I'd love to know the answer too. I wish i had an anwer for you. I have heard it said that when you run long and slow you burn your fat stores so maybe thats why you see results when you run slow. This last week i had the oppoturnity to run at 6,700 feet! I'll blog about it soon! One step at a time girl!!! JInx

Unknown said...

Way to go Sars! What struck me in your entry was not that you had a difficult & frustrating run today, but that you kept at it & finished it anyway. Your drive & determination will get you where you want to go you don't have to worry about anything else. That marathon is going to be tough but by these difficult days, you are training yourself mentally & physically to face the challenges & feel the frustrations but keep on putting one foot in front of the other. Perserverance, that is you, my friend. :)

Nat said...

Exercising outside is going to SUCK this winter! But we'll both be doing it :P I'm not going to have a gym membership over the break and I'll be doing the same, exercising early in the morning and some days its going to get below zero. brr

Heather said...

Dear Sars,

Stop writing my blog entries!!! K, thanks.

Seriously though. I have been where you are (and still am!). I wish I had run a 3 hour half instead of not running one at all.

Despite what people would like us to think, some excercise is counter productive to losing weight? Why? Because you are revving yourself up and making yourself hungry. Damn annoying! It can be done for sure. But it is a pain in the ass!

I have been struggling with that exact problem for about a year. Grrrr!!!

Keep it up. I do hope you find a race. What about a 10K if you can't find a half?

Heather