Tag: Personal

Today I made the commitment to run the Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon on June 4. While I sort of already committed in my head, I wanted to do another long run (today was 15.2 miles) to reassure myself that I could do it. I was about to sign up online when it looks like there is a $4.95 processing fee to do so. I’ve requested an entry by mail or fax (they’re here in San Diego, so I shouldn’t have a problem making the deadline. (I have a major problem paying fees to make someone else’s life easier if I can help it; hopefully they won’t charge me the fee registering by mail). I’ll keep training so that I can tackle the remaining 11 miles. Today’s long run was similar to my other long runs, but a little slower mainly because I didn’t have to stop for traffic lights and didn’t rest; also, it was 3 miles longer than I’ve ever run. It’s still in line with trying to be at a 9 minute mile.

In my readings about running a marathon, there is a lot of talk about being well hydrated which makes a lot of sense. I’ve always had problems remaining well hydrated as I just don’t like to drink water all that much. So, I’ve started getting myself to drink a lot of water. I bought a 2 liter container at Wal-Mart ($2.77), fill it up everyday and pretty much drink the entire 2 liters throughout the day. That’s a half gallon of water! In addition, what I’ve read says to eat pretzels or something else salty to retain water and replenish the sodium lost in exercising. As I don’t have high blood pressure, I’ve been doing this and must say that it’s getting much easier to consume large amounts of water. Now as long as I don’t have to run to the bathroom every 30 minutes, I’ll be fine.

Now that I’m running regularly, I am checking the weather a few times a day to see the forecast. I don’t like running in the rain and am not all that fond of the cold. I lived in Portland, OR for a year and ran there sometimes; it was miserable. So, I keep crossing my fingers that it doesn’t rain when I have to run. This just happens to be the time of year that it rains in San Diego, so it is kind of hit or miss at least for a few more weeks, I hope. I’ve run on a treadmill at the gym, but frankly that sucks. It’s boring, there are smelly people around, there is no wind blowing on my face and the TVs show something that I don’t care about. Yesterday I was quite lucky in that the forecast called for rain, but it cleared up around 9 am and stayed clear until about 7 pm when it poured for a little bit. I’m spoiled to live in San Diego.

I went on another run today following the same course I did 2 weeks ago, but 2 miles longer. The course, around a bay and along the ocean is a decent run as there is only 1 stoplight which lets me keep running (I encounter it both ways) and pretty much I can go whatever distance I want without looping back until I’m done half way. Today took me within a block of my parents’ place, but I didn’t stop in as I wanted to keep running. Maybe next time I’ll have to use their place as a refueling stop. The Forerunner again told me all I needed to know and kept me going at the pace I’m targeting (right now about a 9 minute mile). I actually beat my pace the last time I did this run which shows that I’m improving. Now I hope that I can make the distance.

When I go for my training runs, I feel like an experiment and loaded down with gear. You’d think I’d just grab my shoes and run, but no. First I strap on my heart rate monitor (it’s quite cold putting it on as I put water on it to get a better reading), put on my Garmin Forerunner 305 on my wrist, put my iPod Nano on my arm using the armband holder, put my headphones in my ears, put on my RoadID wrist strap (I thought it was a good idea to carry some type of identification heaven forbid something happened to me), and my sunglasses. It’s a routine to get ready for a quick run!