Zoning in on Pace and Motivation (Week 8 Updates)

We meet again, minions! Can’t believe it’s been two months since I embarked on this exciting journey!! The week has been fantastic all around from work to running to even traveling! That’s right, I’m thinking about flying across the Atlantic to Dubai to relax and connect with relatives I have not seen in about 7 years now. I’m stocked!! Work has been nothing but perfect; happy boss + not-so-needy patients = happy me! And running, oh boy, has not been as much of a struggle as it had been in prior weeks. I’m not going to say that I have been running 6 min-miles but still. My goal is to finish the race!

Who would not want to trade cold and snow to sun and warmth? I’m visiting Burj Khalifa!

Let’s start by following-up on last week’s goals:

• I was not able to log the 23 miles set in the protocol *sad face*. Saturday run was supposed to be 13 miles except the trail was not marked where I needed to turn. So I just stopped at mile 6ish and returned to “base.” I contemplated the possibility of going to 6.5 miles if I had a GPS watch or something with similar capability (my phone’s battery would die when I turn on GPS for some odd reason). Somewhat a good excuse, no?
• I have been stretching pretty good lately! Except Saturday because I returned to Columbus Running Company’s store so I did not stretch as long as I wanted.
• I incorporated more conditioning exercises like sideway and backward running when possible. I did it maybe once this week. Also, I did two cardio sessions on Monday: 4-mile easy run + spin class. It was absolutely great! I felt rejuvenated and hungry. So hungry.
• I broke my Monday and Wednesday runs into pieces to shake things up a bit. I did some warm-up running, some sprinting, and back to slow running. It helped. I felt like I was more in control of my breath. Also, I did not walk!! Those times when I’m tired or leg hurts a bit I just reserved to light jogging in lieu of walking.
• I’m still trying to phase out music from my runs, just because.

One thing I have been struggling with the past week was staying motivated. I just feel like my mind gives up faster and quicker than my body. That’s a problem because physiologically speaking I could be running, but my mind tells me that no I need to slow down or even stop. So to circumvent this I stayed conscious of it. Whenever I “feel” tired, I think: “no I’m not tired. That’s just my mind giving up. Body is not going to cave. Keep going.” And I go. I push. I make those strides, and my body happily goes with it. I still need to find some ways to keep my mind off running to log in those long miles…to be continued!

This rings home. Sometimes on my long runs I find myself asking why I’m doing this. And then I remember how satisfied and fulfilled I feel after the run. It’s necessary to log those long miles and not to skip hell workouts!

Oh, oh, oh. I got myself some new running toys J! I cannot wait to put Garmin Forerunner 15 and Asics Nimbus 16 to run!!! I will let you how they feel next week but for now I can say this much…I will run out of excuses as far as logging those miles.

Garmin Forerunner 15 (www.garmin.com)

Asics Nimbus 16 (www.runningshoesguru.com)

Week 8 Running Stats:

Monday 3/2 4 miles (+ strides)= 43:13m, pace= 10:48 min/mile

• Good run on a treadmill! I was not trying to go fast. I actually forgot about pacing and focused mainly on form and preventing leg pain. I succeeded at that for I went ahead after the run and did a spin class with my favorite gym instructor.

Wednesday 3/4 6 miles= 1:04:07h, pace= 10:41 min/mile

• As good as the Monday’s run! Like Monday, I rarely walked if ever. I set the speed to 4.0-4.5 to lower my heart rate and rest. Instead of briskly walking at this speed, I jog lightly for ~0.25 miles before running again.

Saturday 3/7 12 miles= 1:55:27h, pace= 9:37 min/mile

• I started out slow to prevent crashing or cramping in the first miles. I did not walk until probably mile 4? There were two water stations set up at mile 2 and 4 and I stopped at both. I did stop my timer the first round but let it run the second round on my way back. Overall, it was a very good run. I tried running with another CRC member. Still cannot decide if I like running with someone or not. We’ll see maybe next week.

Next week is going to be rough- 26 miles to log. Between the new shoes and the watch (oh and day light saving) I’m excited to give it a try. Now I can actually run outside that the brisk, dark winter is passed to let the warm, bright Spring break in. Until next week, runners.

That’s right!!! The one and only, Arnold, as he left the Arnold Classic events today. He looked a tad old 😀

Fuss Over Section 4 Overruling?

So, I’m genuinely confused about the fuss over Section 4 overruling by the Supreme Court. I’d like to know how would this piece of legislation disproportionately disfranchise some? I’m well aware that there are clear as the sun cases where people are still fighting for their right to vote (which can be addressed on the state level, I suppose); but in the grand scheme of things I feel like we are segregating, tailoring laws to address challenges faced in the last century and abused today by politicians.

The important question, I think, is will the repercussions be as dramatic as those portrayed in the media? While I understand why we may be hesitant and distrustful of talking about race, identity, and privilege, but I think we need to be more comfortable addressing these questions and thinking about them critically.

Regardless, I did my homework about the topic and I concluded the following:

1) The legislation was introduced in 1965 for obvious reasons and was one of great many achievements brought by the civil rights movement;
2) The law – Sec. 4 and 5 specifically – does not reflect contemporary data and trends. Our demographics, etc. have considerably changed;
3) It is imperative that republicans and Tea Party-ers predominately support the legislation (and argue for smaller government intervention), while Democrats are divided between actively opposing it vs. remaining quite;
4) I still do not understand what prompted this law to be re-examined after it was ratified by the House, the Senate, the President, and ultimately the people. Maybe the recent election? Polarization of the political system?

Comments are free! I’m always eager to learn something new.