Come on, Lungs!

Umm.. I have a confession to make. I know why I'm so bad at running (as opposed to running/hiking, which I can do all day). For a long time I have been an on & off - mostly on - smoker. For the last couple of days (2d16hr40min) I have not smoked. I've been wearing my patch, which I hate - it itches. I also have a back up of lozenges, just in case there's need for a booster. I just came back from a run. It was terrible. I could breathe less than normal.

I know my lungs need to adjust, and cells all throughout my body are figuring out what to do with all this extra oxygen they've found themselves with, but it's very demoralizing!! I walked quite a bit on exactly the same route I did on Saturday, because I couldn't catch my breath. It's also warm out, and I haven't eaten all day (yes, yes, bad, I know). I usually do better on unfueled (bonk) runs, but I also usually run in the morning so intake wasn't as long ago (dinner). I made myself go the full three (!! ssh) miles, when I could have easily turned for home on several occasions. I was also sure to run the last half mile to end on a somewhat good note; I don't want to feel so disheartened that I'm not wanting to go out again, because we all know that isn't going to help.

Physiologically, it's going to take time to adjust. My chest felt congested, my throat both aches and burns, and even ten minutes after getting home my breathing wasn't quite right. Tomorrow is my first scheduled speed work (I use the term loosely here), so maybe that will help clear things out a bit.

But yay for quitting! This time it will stick.

Motivation?

Mine has been lacking. I was really determined that this year I would complete Lake Sonoma. It wasn't going to be fast, or pretty, and probably not very fun all the time, but I wanted it. Apparently I didn't want it enough to get up half an hour earlier to register in time (the race sold out and had a full wait list within 37 minutes). Even though I picked out a back up race, I have had no desire to train, or run just because. I kept making excuses for myself - I feel like I'm coming down with something, I really shouldn't push that ankle, I don't have time, ...tomorrow... Well tomorrow kept happening and still no running. What's wrong with me?

I just wasn't excited about my plan B race. It wasn't what I was working so hard to do. So I've decided to scale back for a while, and work on my speed over shorter distances. It's been so easy for me to not push myself; in ultras, and even many shorter trail races, it's perfectly acceptable and often recommended to do some walking. And I realised that in the last year, unless my run is shorter than two miles, I take walking breaks. Really? I'm training for a 50 miler and can't run a 5k? Pitiful.

So that's what I'm going to do. There's a couple upcoming 5ks locally: Feb 16th in Willits and March 15th in Fort Bragg. I'm going to sign up for both to keep me pushing. That way I have to train, because otherwise I know I can blag my way through a single race and get a terrible time. But I set one of my goals this year to run a sub-27:00 5k. Eeek! For me, that's fast! So I had better train.

"It's not the will to win that matters—everyone has that. It's the will to prepare to win that matters."

"The will to win is worthless if you do not have the will to prepare."

"By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail."

This morning, even though it was raining (kind of, pretty drizzly by halfway but enough to be puddle jumping), I laced up and headed out to run three miles and see where I was compared to where I want to be. Not fast, but each mile was a little faster than the last, and for an easy run the pace wasn't too shabby. With some consistent miles, some interval work, and not skipping my tempos, it might even be doable. I found the website for our 'local' running club (based about an hour away), with some semi-regular races throughout the year so I have a few tries to get it right. I would be happy with ~28:00 for these upcoming races.

Happy Running Feet

I still have a few ideas for plan-B 50s, as that is also a 2014 goal, and LS will be there next year (by lottery now though). Around March/April I will look more closely and pick something out.

"Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn't matter whether you are a lion or a gazelle; when the sun comes up, you'd better be running."