run lola run

Taking it back to lj, folks. Read me at chickenmoon.livejournal.com

Maybe this is why that Thursday run was bad. 

Looks like evening runs for me this week. We'll see how that goes. I like to get it done early, give myself virtually no time to think my way out of it. 

And that starving all the time feeling is back.  I remember it from last spring. When we're hitting upwards of twenty miles, I imagine I'll be able to eat anything I damn please. Right now I'm trying to choose intelligently. Truly I don't know what that should be.  I figure, extra protien. 

My water consumption is ridiculous. I should build my route around the public restrooms hidden around the lake.  As usual, I envy men.  What I wouldn't give to piss on trees. 

And my final announcement is this: I have clean socks for tonight's jaunt. Sing halelujah. 

Did all four solo runs this week.  The fourth run- on Thursday- was just slow and painful.  Usually things loosen up for me pretty quickly but Thursday was sucky all the way through.  My breath was fine, no side stitches this week.  In a pleasant turn of events, my head was pretty tranquil and not interested in psyching me out of forward motion.  What I want is for my legs to be stronger. Right this minute.  I have long legs and it would be nice to be able to use that to my advantage. 

Running a marathon has always been on the list of things to do before I die. The short list. 

Last week I got an email from the fitness group that taught me how to run last spring.  Checking in, saying hello and encourgaging 10K participants to think about doing their 26 week marathon training program. 

The spring program had been surprisingly great.  I signed up for it because it sounded hard and might motivate me to quit smoking.  I was pretty sure I hated running but we ramped up slowly, starting with running for just one minute at a time.  By the end of the 12 weeks, I could handle a five mile run and I'd somehow come to love it.  And, ridiculously, was usually smoking soon after every run.  Usually I made myself at least take my running shoes off first, but sometimes I didn't.  I'd sit there with a cigarette in my hand (my darling! never will we part!) and stare at my laces, wishing that either good or evil would just go ahead and win out.  It would be helpful if I could, in fact, pick a lifestyle. 

Unlike the smoking, after the training ended my running lapsed for a bit.  This summer I started back again the easy way.  Indoors.  On a treadmill.  Frustratingly slow, again, back to just a minutes at a time.  Then I quit smoking a month ago (ta-da!! for real time etc etc) and quickly jumped up to three miles.  

So, marathon. Is this the year? I want to say that I ran a marathon when I was thirty.   Thirty-one doesn't sound the same. After that, pretty much any time before 40 sounds the same to me. Still good and hard and a worthy struggle and all, but it seems like there would be about a decade to get around to it. 

Then I decided that was stupid.  If my life can accomodate the training schedule, fuck it, do it now. 

So this morning I showed up to the qualifying run and placed in the 10 minute mile group. Paid my training fee, met the coaches, got the training schedule for week one. Monday- Friday we do short little runs on our own, 3-4 of them.  On Saturdays we run together.  Today's run was 2 miles.  We'll add a mile to the Saturday run every week for the duration of the program.  Finishing is the only goal. Rest assured, our coach said, no one here will even come close to be winning this thing.  

I just realized I never did ask about the race date.