become a runner

This morning I ran 16 miles with the San Francisco Marathon Training Program. Our pacer mentioned that she and a few other pacers are going to become certified coaches. I just checked the Road Runners Club of American and am considering becoming certified myself. The class is only 2 days and $250.

This reminds me of The 4 Hour Work Week chapter on how easy it is to become an expert. I don’t know what I’d do with the running coach certification. But, at some point it might come in handy.

Invest in some new jogging pants!

Jeez! I guess I gotta take it one run at a time. This last run I hated! I swear I’ll do it early tomorrow though…I swear!

Last night I tried running instead of my regular walking ritual and it actually wasn’t that bad. It felt really good to sweat profusely! Time to do some more tonight once the rain lets up. Ah, heck! I won’t melt. Initially I’d like to be able to get myself up in the morning and start my day off with such. I just gotta get used to getting up early!

Running is not the right exercise goal for me. I have to force myself into the motion, and apart from the standard “exercise” endorphins, I don’t experience any joy in the activity. While the running community is full of really cool people, this particular activity isn’t for me.

Let’s just say that exercise has never been my thing. In saying that, I would like to clarify that I hate exercising. Vehemently. I have always lived a sedentary lifestyle, which was what I saw modeled by my parents. After their divorce, my mom began exercising and is now a freak about it, but I have failed to follow in her footsteps. I’ve never really “struggled” with my weight, so I guess I assumed exercise was not necessary. However, now that I am getting to be in my thirties (I keep using this excuse, don’t I?) I am seeing that it is becoming harder and harder to keep the pounds off without some form of activity. Running seems logical, and for the most part, I do enjoy it when I have worked up to it. It is simple, unlike those complicated aerobics that women typically participate in. Although it does not sound like a huge feat to become a runner, for me it is big because it is a change of my lifestyle. Therefore, this is one of my life goals.

On January 24, 2009 I began training with the San Francisco Marathon Training team. The first eight weeks of training was focused on being prepared for the Emerald Across the Bay 12K run on March 15, 2209.

The following Saturday, March 21, 2009 we begin the training for the marathon. Or in my case the half marathon. The first eight weeks of the half marathon training program has us running only 3-7 miles each Saturday. Since Bay to Breakers is longer than 7 miles, I plan to follow the first nine weeks of the beginning marathon schedule. That plan has 6-9 mile runs each Saturday.

After Bay to Breakers, I’ll switch down to the half marathon schedule. By then, the half marathon group will be running 9-13 miles each Saturday. That should have me well-prepared for the San Francisco Half Marathon. But, I won’t be burnt out and will be able to increase my mileage at the end of the year as I train for the Silicon Valley Marathon.

So in the immediate future, my workouts will be as follows. On Tuesdays, I’ll do a track work out. On Thursdays I’ll run 30-50 minutes around Lake Merritt. And, on Saturdays, I’ll run 6-9 miles. Other days will either be rest days or cross training days.

How did I not know about this place? It’s just acres and acres of trails, in the woods, in meadows, by the river…amazing. AND, it’s basically Dog Country. We were able to run trails all Saturday morning with the dogs off-leash the entire time, with no fear of hikers coming along and lecturing about how “Your dogs really should be on a leash” in that wonderfully righteous way they have. The furbs were in heaven. There were even people on horseback! It’s like a huge animal playground.

Anyway, this is an especially excellent find for me, as I am finding trail running immensely more tolerable than road-running, for the privacy as much as anything. I still struggle with my form, though I have lost much of the metronome action thanks to input from Jack, Ryan, and YouTube. I find I still want to hunch down into sprint position, and find the more-erect posture of just, like, jogging to be counterintuitive. Running trails removes the feeling of being watched, so I can concentrate less on feeling foolish and more on getting it right. Plus, the uneven terrain means that I am constantly adapting my form, so I can avoid overthinking (a problem I first noticed when skiing).

The downside is that I’ve been fighting off a cold since we got back, and after Saturday’s run, my body sort of threw in the towel, like, “Really? Are you kidding with this?” and I’ve been sick ever since. Still, it’s just a cold. and we’ll definitely be exploring the delta much more, especially as the days (THANK GOD) get longer.

It’s official. I’ve registered for the Silicon Valley Marathon on 10-26-09. After two years of running and several half marathons, I’ve decided to take on the challenge of running 26.2 miles.

I was giving some thought to Couch to 5K, which is what I was using as a program to improve my running game, such as it is, and most of the thought revolved around how much I hate it. Then I was YouTubing some videos about proper running form to address my metronome issue, and one of the folks in the video was giving the whole “Correct running technique will blah blah improve safety blah blah improve performance blah blah increase your speed...” and I perked up a little at that, because, hey, I like to go fast.

And then I was reading someone blogging about how she’s improved her mile by like a minute, and I thought, “I don’t even know how fast I run a mile.” And it hit me: I don’t want to do Couch to 5K—I don’t want to run for a minute and then walk for a minute; I want to know how fast I’m going and then go faster than that.

It actually speaks to why I don’t hold running in much esteem to begin with: there’s no winning. You’re just bouncing along, like la la la, I’m in the zone, I’m breaking through the wall, I’m like totally on a transcendent plane, la la la. It’s just not aggressive enough for me. So, lightbulb moment, I realized that all I need to do is get my butt on a track, figure out how fast I run a mile, and then run it faster every day. I’ve been way overcomplicating it.

Later I can add distance in alignment with your average sprint triathlon, but for now, the kick I need is making this a competitive endeavor. I just can’t to it otherwise.