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July 05, 2005

I got my feet on the ground and I don't go to sleep to dream

Update on the running progress, because there is Big News: this morning I went twice around Prospect Park, plus a little more to bring it up to, are you ready now? Are you really ready? SEVEN MILES! I ran seven miles, w00t! Slow as all hell, but without stopping, which was cool. The time will improve. (Actual time, 87 minutes, for anyone keeping track. A long time to be on my feet.)

This means I will definitely finish the half-marathon in under three hours, and the marathon in under six, because my times have been steadily decreasing. I know those predicted times sound awful, but they'll get shorter as I get more data (and more miles in my legs). I'd be pretty happy with a five-hour marathon, and I think that's doable by November 6th.

The running itself is getting pretty zen as the distances get longer. I'd heard that might happen, but it's kind of freaky. Not bad-freaky, good-freaky. Interesting; meditative. I seem to have given up the iPod, and I don't remember making a conscious decision to do so. It's not like I rejected the idea of running with music; it's just that one day I had a good run without music (my earphones were broken) and I didn't go back to it.

If I'm weirding anybody out with this ultra-calm, zen runnergirl talk ("It's just me and the road and the trees, man, mile after mile.") you can click on over to Francis's blog, where I've done a guest turn being all screamy and fussy. He's in Los Angeles this week, and we thought his regular readers would feel bereft without a good rant to help them through the week. I'll prolly post over there again this week, but it definitely won't be a rant; it's a little exhausting to work up such a head of steam!

Posted by Rose at July 5, 2005 10:46 PM

Comments

OMG! That's amazing!! You're inspiring me to try again.

Posted by: Miriam at July 7, 2005 06:01 PM

wow! that's fantastic!

Posted by: gotcha at July 8, 2005 01:49 AM

7 miles - fantastic - hope this means your shins are feeling better!! By the way, I just found out that I'm running the marathon this year too (the only lottery I've ever won) so I'll be doing a bit of running myself in the near future.

Posted by: Beth from spinning class a few months ago at July 8, 2005 09:42 AM

Hey, no negative self-talk about supposedly "awful" times - you're doing fantastic! Your race is the reward for doing the training.

Posted by: Nancy Toby at July 9, 2005 10:11 PM

Woohoo, congrats! Sounds like your training is going really well. Doing any races in the coming weeks?

Posted by: Diana at July 12, 2005 01:41 PM

Wheeee! Congrats on the longer runs! We're so on the same track. Isn't it funny, it's similar to the zen feeling I get when knitting something like socks - all that repetitive motion.

Posted by: Riona at July 14, 2005 08:53 PM

Hey! I decided to stop lurking for a few minutes for two running-related things. First off, CONGRATULATIONS! I will listen to absolutely none of this "slow as all hell," "the time will improve" bullshit. Seven miles without walking is a definite accomplishment, one that I hope to achieve someday- I'm currently doing a grand total of about three blocks without stopping to catch my breath. Hey, anything's better than nothing, right?

Which brings me to my second reason for commenting: I've been doing some jogging in the mornings lately, and having the shin splints problem. What stretches do you do to help this? I looked some up on the web, but they aren't helping. Any advice would be much appreciated- please comment on my LJ or e-mail me (jedusor at sbcglobal dot net). Thanks, and keep up the good work!

Posted by: Julia at July 15, 2005 06:29 PM

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