Business exhaustion + run exhaustion = redemption

Wheel of redemption

Today's run (treadmill): 3.1 miles

I thought that leaving my job might profoundly change my life. Actually, it has, but not exactly in the way that I expected. I'd imagined myself taking leisurely runs on the trail each morning, followed by a variety of activities that I've put off for years. Despite those expectations, my running schedule hasn't really changed. Highly anticipated activities, like returning to playing my classical guitar, have been put on hold. I may not be getting up at 3:30 AM anymore, but I'm working harder than ever.

Much of my attention has been diverted to a consulting practice that I recently started. Creating a business requires many steps, ranging from setting up legal and business resources, to selling services to clients. So far it's been energizing, but all the meetings, calls and proposals can wear you out. That became evident this morning when some work I was doing distracted me past my scheduled run time. After forcing myself to stop, I realized staring at web code for hours had given me a pounding headache. Instead of a run I felt like I needed a nap.

We were up late last night, but I'd found it impossible to sleep past 6:00 AM. I'd planned to go to Stillwell for a trail run. Soon enough, I started self-negotiating to shorter distances on local roads. The wind was blowing hard outside, further eroding my motivation to do my run. I started thinking about forgoing my workout altogether.

In the meantime, my wife who was similarly tired from our late night, had completed her workout and taken a shower. She said it made her feel better, although she felt her run was harder than usual. Inspired by her, I made my way to the guestroom to face the treadmill. I made no pretense that I'd make it a speedy run. This workout was far more about maintaining commitment than improving fitness and conditioning.

I started by running a pace that was 15% slower than usual, and stuck with it until the display showed one mile. From there, I began to increase the treadmill speed every couple of minutes. By the time I'd reached two miles, it was feeling like five. The experience of watching the readout slowly tick toward three miles was torturous, especially since I'd increased my speed to a relatively brisk pace by then.

Considering the short duration, I haven't had many runs that felt as hard. I was thrilled to kick down the speed after 3.1 miles for cool-down. Although I was wiped out, I was also energized, and my headache was gone. This workout felt like redemption and I was very pleased that I didn't skip my workout. On the downside, I realized that I'd failed to transfer my Fitbit to my running shorts so I didn't capture all those steps and distance. I may have lost all that data but I gained back some self esteem. 

SNAP'd out of the gully

Surprisingly good energy snack

Today's run (street): 5.2 miles

Unlike blogger friends A.S.E., Petite Pacer and A Running Chick, who regularly do long distance training runs, I've seemed to settle into the 3 to 4 mile gully. This time last year I was gearing up for the LI Half Marathon and regularly running 8 to 12 mile weekend runs. With no half to prepare for in May, and a recent bout of pain around my hip, I've lost some critical base conditioning. I went out today determined to cover at least five miles and I managed to do that.

Non-runners think that a long distance run would be hard, because they perceive the challenge as not "having enough wind." Runners know that the toughest part of a long run is battling both tedium and muscle fatigue. Let's face it, much of running is voluntarily suffering and while we've all found "the zone" at one point, most runs are teeth gritting experiences. Nature's way of getting us to keep doing it involves the release of endorphins at the end. This make us forget how much we hate running.

I headed over to the local business park by way of a loop through the neighborhood. I'd forgotten to turn left into the middle school that has a passage to my planned destination. I ended up doubling back a bit, and taking the penalty of running up an unplanned span of inclined road. In the scheme of things, that mistake probably made it easier to achieve today's distance goal.

Before I left on my run, I tried a half portion of SNAP infusion "super candy" that was given to me by my friend KWL. I went out later than I expected and was feeling pangs of hunger as I prepared. This was due to only having a small breakfast hours earlier. SNAP contains a combination of antioxidants, electrolytes and carbs and the whole package (I had just half) is only 110 calories. I expected it to taste good, but this was legitimately great. Good enough to compete with real candy.

It didn't occur to me until I'd reached the first half mile that my effortless running may have been enabled by the supplement. Despite forceful winds chilling the already cold air, I felt great, engaged and ready to cover more miles. I didn't work out yesterday (though I covered a lot of ground on foot) so perhaps that break from running helped me today. But the positive experience I had with SNAP made me want to try it again.

I covered the business park and an adjacent neighborhood before turning back towards home. I enjoyed the run, but maybe I'm just brainwashed by the endorphin effect. I'll blame my middling performance on the combination of head-on winds and the hilly route around he park. No matter, I finally broke 5 miles for the first time since early March. Compared to the others, it's still not impressive distance, but it did push me out of my gully.

No race next week : (

I had no opportunity to run today, but I did cover enough territory on foot to reach my daily distance goals. I know this because my Fitbit has a full charge and it dutifully recorded my every move. I'm planning to go for a few extra miles tomorrow instead of doing speed work. Here's why:

This would have been my fifth straight year running it

I'm sad that this race (that my family enjoys so much) is being postponed. I hope it's due to something bureaucratic and not a personal issue affecting the race organizer's family. So no race to train for at the moment. Maybe it's a good opportunity to return to the Bethpage trail this weekend.

Battery failure, goodbye data

Today's workout (elliptical): 26 minutes

I was able to sneak in an elliptical workout this morning. I didn't do a full 30 minutes because of my schedule. I figured that all the city walking I'd planned to do would constitute a full workout. I just checked my Fitbit to see how much ground I'd covered, but it had shut down due to having a low charge. I wouldn't mind, except the device doesn't warn you when the battery is low. Neither does it provide you any way of checking the level while in use. I'd write more today, except the battery on my phone has dropped below 10%, so I need to conserve. Technology tools can provide great data, but this dependency on batteries can be annoying.

Spring run in winter weather

This morning it felt like this

Today's run (street): 3.4 miles

I'm pressed for time this week and I'm concerned that I won't even have time to do my scheduled workouts tomorrow and on Friday. Today had its scheduling challenges, so I made sure that I got outside for a run before being consumed with the business of the day.

Yesterday felt a lot like spring, but this morning felt just like winter. I didn't want to deal with the cold, so I added enough layers to be comfortable from the start. The sun was bright, and the air was dry and crisp. I couldn't bring myself to follow my usual neighborhood loop that, after hundreds of runs, has become extremely tedious. Instead, I charted a new route that was different enough to distract me a little.

Pounding the pavement didn't provoke any soreness or pain from my hip and I was grateful for that. Although I had dressed to battle the cold, the extra layers I'd worn were making me sweat. I found myself appreciating the freezing winds that hit from certain directions - nature's air conditioning.

I wish I could say that the cold helped me to run faster today, but that wasn't the case. I knew I wasn't making my targeted pace and all I could think about was how woefully unprepared I am for my upcoming 5K. The possibility of missing my next two workouts can't help that situation. Then again, two day's rest might be the perfect setup for some good speed work this weekend.