Month: April 2010

Well, while today’s run in light rain seemed per my Garmin to be a bit on the slow side in the beginning, I ended up with a 9-second faster pace than a couple days ago, meaning I broke 7:30s without much in the way of conditioning. Specifically, my pace today over 5.39 miles was 7:26s. In the second half of the run, I did get a little more challenging of myself, asking to see if I could go just a little bit faster. It’s a difference that seemed to make a difference.

It’s important to note my feeling, the temperature, and the weather. 52 degrees with light rain was not unpleasant or even cold, though it sounds as if it would be. I was still comfortable shirtless and it did feel good. However, while it didn’t feel cold, for running my body didn’t feel as warm as for the last run, so I was wondering in the beginning if the temperature was downgrading my performance. In the end, it didn’t appear to.

As for injuries, none to report, though in my left kneecap, on the outside, I felt “something.” It was like a twinge but with no pain. I was trying to equate the feeling and it was maybe like having something pulling at a hair on the leg but, again, no pain–you just notice it. I don’t recall feeling it in the second half of my run.

Afterwards, I went home to do submissions and check my phone, then went to the gym for abs, back, arms, and even some legwork. It feels good to be back at the gym, even if I don’t do much.

Let’s see how this week shapes up trainingwise. I’m still only doing 5.4-milers. And I’m having a protein smoothie as I type this.

Wow is for weather! Nary a cloud invaded this bright day with a touch of warm and plenty of challenge! This was my first run since Monday, the ceremonial beginning of marathon pre-training, and I had thought I’d run much more this week than I did. This was mostly because of an extraordinary work week which involved 2 pre-6am calltimes, both of which invoked cab fare because of bad subway service, and both of which went for a ton of hours. I had thought yesterday I’d squeeze in a run before my 2:30pm calltime but I realized I’d misjudged when I should run — casting calls start arriving around a particular time, and if I want to book work, I had best be near my phone. I quickly decided not to run Friday morning so that I didn’t miss a casting call, but one never came so it was almost all for naught.

But that’s more description of the past week than description of today. Today’s run was rougher than I’d hoped, but faster than I’d expected. For half the run I was trumped by a pretty speedy girl (whose body belied some nice training), which was humbling and made me a little competitive but not so competitive that I’d be able to sustain dominance over her. For most of the first half of my run, I was about 70 feet behind her though we traded the lead in the first mile. My “laps” (miles) were a lot faster on the whole: 7:35s, which is quite an improvement over the 7:49s and 8:00s I did in the last week. No real understanding why the improved speed, since I didn’t really have the comfort to battle Great Hill, or set out to do 8.273 as I’d originally intended. While I’m near the end of my first bottle of Redline Ultra Hardcore, I didn’t use it today, nor do I expect to use it pre-run anymore for fear of yakking.

I was a little dehydrated for this run, though I’m trying to get more water into my system during the week. It’s a tough balance: I want to drink more water, but being on set, you don’t know how accessible the bathrooms are given the somewhat unpredictable nature of filming. (For a background into what I do, look at Stand-In Central, a website I created about standing in on TV and film.) That tends to mean I avoid drinking water much.

After the run I headed to the gym to do abs, arms, and a little bit of calves. Nothing too tough or impressive, but that’s the nature of my pre-training right now anyway. I don’t want to get overzealous or burn myself out.