This Day




Maybe I should add some hygenic people food to my diet.


Today was a run day. If all I did was post in this space on every day I ran, I'd write a lot more than I do. I could just say, today I ran. 


Today I ran. I left the house about 5:45 am and did what I've come to call the EMX run, that is, the Elaine Merrill Express run. (Be it known that any context in which I pair me and the concept of speed is highly suspect. Which is to say, usually the pairing is done with gentle or not-so-gentle irony.)



It's an expressway, an out-and-back along Ninth Street, because it's long and straight and gives me the opportunity to shake off a bit of the rust and go a little faster than usual. Today I did 3 x 3 minutes at approximately my 10K pace and then 2 x 6 minutes just a hair slower than that. All this with the intention of running the LMJS Fourth Sunday Run 5K this weekend without beating myself into the ground. 


I might or might not have learned my lesson last month when I did the Marin 10K. After not racing at all and not even running fast at all since October, somehow I convinced myself that I could run all out for 6.2 miles and not feel any very lasting effects. Hmm. I was lucky that I didn't injure myself, but I did pay with two full weeks of debilitating fatigue. I couldn't figure out why I was so tired. Bad diet? Old age? Phase of the moon? How about, running as hard as I could for an hour after six months of swimming once a week and going out now and then for some gentle run-walking?



So. The fatigue has receded, and I'm interested in gently ramping up a bit. Sensibly. Cruising an expressway more like a turtle than a terror. Even stopping along the way to see some captivating sights and take a picture or three. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Trying to Make Lemonade

Image
What am I meant to learn from the challenges being thrown at me these days? That I am strong. That I am loved. That life goes on and can be good. My favorite nephew congratulated me for making lemonade when I'd been handed lemons--not sure his belief about me is justified, but I deeply appreciate the notion. Plus, I have an actual lemon tree in front of the house, so I've been practicing my tangy-beverage making. My ribs have healed up well. I'd say I'm at about 95%. I'm glad my minor medical matter is clearing up so I can turn my energy to a more major one: Z is scheduled for big-time surgery on March 31. He is calm; I am calm. Aaaaaaack! Oops, I meant of course I'm serene. The procedure he faces, which involves patching up some crucial circulatory parts, is a common one, and the success rate is high. But still. Send good vibes our way, if you'd be so kind. In other matters, I did run 10 miles Saturday. The run itself went well--I went down to the Bay Trai
Read more

By the Numbers

Image
10.62 -- Number of miles run (per MapMyRun) 16 -- Number of Miniwheat biscuits consumed for pre-run breakfast 3 -- Number of red lights waited for 159 -- Number of days since hip injury 5.5 -- Number of backyards along trail being eaten alive by morning glories 2 -- Number of couples arguing as they walked along 1 -- Number of chocolate Clif Shots slurped on run 12 -- Number of dogs being walked 4 -- Number of songs playing in my head at various times 10 -- Number on a scale of 1 to 10 representing my happiness over being healed
Read more

Where's Elizabeth West?

Image
Elizabeth will be back someday, perhaps as the author of a best-selling novel. As part of a New Year's campaign to be more accountable, I've decided to abandon my nom de guerre for the purposes of this blog. Yep, Elaine is me--now you have the Full Monty . To borrow from Stephen Colbert , may this be the beginning of many posts of truthiness. As your reward for reading this post, here is the special gift of an image I captured today from one of my favorite webcams . Note that in the image the time is 9:13 am. I believe I've posted a Chita image previously (maybe a couple of years ago?) but I wanted to do it again. Chita is in Siberia. Chita is always cold and usually dark. Its citizens, who carry on their daily lives as if they are living someplace reasonable, are for me the embodiment of courage, so I love watching them lurch around as the camera updates the scene every eight seconds. As you enjoy our current chilly weather, just realize that if a Chita native came here t
Read more