it was raining.

i had the day off. so of course i slept in, then sat around cooking, eating, watching tv and surfing the web for like, 6 hours. finally, i got dressed to go for a run in the rain, decided that it's like, miserable, and sat back down at the computer hoping to get inspired. of course the best inspiration to run on a rainy day is the last stanza of sorley's poem, which is what finally got me going. i memorized the lines ("the rain is on our lips/ we do not run for prize/ but for the storm the wind whips/ and the wave howls to the skies/ the winds arise and strike it/ and scatter it like said/ we run becuause we like it/ across the broad bright land"), then ran out the door before i could stop myself. i did my blundell run in long intervals.
km min
0-2 11:00
2-4 9:50 (20:50)
4-5 6:10 (27:00)
5-7 9:25 (36:25)
7-8 6:05 (42:30)
8-10 9:30 (minus 45s at a red light)
total time: 52 min

it gave me time to think. i'm angry at myself for being so lazy the past few weeks. i generally consider myself pretty hardcore. i'm a keener. i like physical things. i LIKE runnig in the rain. so why do i get into these moods where i feel like i cant? i need to relight my own fire here.

so tonight i'm going to the boy's house. tomorrow i plan to turn his basement into a personal gym. and then tuesday i'll finish my room, and put up some pictures and make a big wall calendar with a training schedule. maybe ill actually set some short term goals and write them down.

settling in

so i did do that 8 miler, finally, on thursday morning before work (that's 6:30am). i don't even remember how it felt or anything - that 's the benefit of running first thing in the morning - you can just put it out of your mind. i did it in about 1:21, with an even pace the whole way. so i still don't feel as though i'm getting way behind in preparing for the half, just a little bit (keep missing all the short fast strength-building runs, which means my time will suck, but i wont die).

i'm like, a huge procrastinator. i guess one of the good things about training for a long run is that you can't prepare overnight for it, you have to start nice and early. i just got my grades back for last term, so that's been on my mind (as in, if i hadn't written that paper the morning it was due, i could have got a better mark and therefore a better gpa etc.) Also, i still haven't finished unpacking and it's sort of stressing me out that i can't find things but in order to get organized it's goign to require a major overhaul of my room (it's not easy to fit a whole condo's worth of things into my bedroom). i'm thinking about moving furniture around even. but thats too much work for me to just do it, i have to sit around and think about it for a few weeks first. i dont know why it takes so much effort for me to just do things lately. hopefully training for this run will help reform my attitude a little bit. i really need to prove it to myself.

muffiny morning

even though i had the whole day off, i slept in until noon, then read, baked and ate muffins for 6 hours (okay mostly read) and now i'm watching 24. at some point i'm going to go for that 8 miler i missed yesterday....at some point. i clearly need more motivation these days. something is missing.

i run faster than cows

so i got a little bit lazy earlier this week, and skipped a bunch of runs. there was some windy rainy weather involved and all my motivation just dissapeared. also my shifts at work have been from 10-630 which makes fitting in a run terrible - either waking up really really early, or running in the evening with the mosquitos. sigh. I did get back out there though.

Yesterday's Run: we'll call this route, which is a staple, "Blundell". it's 5 miles, and on my fastest days i can do it in 42min, on my slowest it's around 1 hour. everything else is based around it.

yesterday it was the evening, it was me and the bugs, and i forgot my watch but i do know that it was about 50min or so. and a negative split.

Today's Run:I did my Blundell run, but cut it a little short, down to 4miles. took 42:30min altogether, split time was 22:15. beautiful hot sunny day. noticed a sign as i got onto to the dyke saying "Attention: Standing Pools of Water..." which must have a been about all the mosquitos. hopefully it continues to say that they will be spraying the ditches. i will try to get a closer read tomorrow.

Also, there are lots of baby cows. my blundell run takes me past a beef farm. there are about 2 dozen cows, including lots of little fluffy babies. they were running in the same direction i was, but i passed them. i run faster than cows.

there is now a plan

okay so first things first, i decided against the big shiny mall store and am going with the neighbourhood location, which isn't in a mall, but is much closer and has a higher-up position available. this will save a few hours in my day, which i guess in the end is worth it.

as for running, well now that i'm home and i've had a few days to jog and figure things out, i have a plan. there is really not so much time to work up to the distance i need, let alone the time goal. so this is fairly aggressive. we'll see how it goes and sort of play it by ear.

x = cross train, either strength or some other cardio, like cycling or rollarblading. the goal is to equal at least 60min 6 days a week.
5/6 milers = tempo runs
3/4 milers = speed or hills
> 7 miles = long slow distance

Day	Distance Goal
May 2	6
May 3	x
May 4	4
May 5	6
May 6	7
May 8	3x
May 9	6
May 10	4x
May 11	x
May 12	3
May 13	8
May 15	4x
May 16	6
May 17	4x
May 18	x
May 19	3
May 20	9
May 22	4x
May 23	6
May 24	4x
May 25	5x
May 26	x
May 27	10
May 29	3x
May 30	6
May 31	4x
June 1	5x
June 2	3x
June 3	11
June 5	4x
June 6	6
June 7	4x
June 8	6
June 9	3x
June 10	12
June 12	4x
June 13	6
June 14	4x
June 15	5x
June 16	3x
June 17	13
June 19	3x
June 20	4
June 22	3x
June 24	Race Day

um yeah. i'll make that a little clearer when i have the time.

i did the 6 miler, 30 min rollarblade, and 4miler no problem, no problem scheduling either. looking forward to the rest of them!