another run, another lesson

Today was the fifth run of the week, closing the first week of base training. I cut my 4-mile time down from 45 minutes to 41 minutes (from 11:15/mile to 10:15/mile). If I can cut 4 minutes off every week, I'll be in a good place to start the real marathon training.

At the end of the run today, I felt like I could have run a few more miles, which tells me that I should have been running faster. I know one thing that slowed me down today was that the bike path appeared to be a bit slick. It snowed a couple inches on Thursday, and then rained today, so there were blotches of white all over. With the temperature hovering barely above freezing, I couldn't tell if it was ice or slush. Turns out it was mostly slush.

After my run, I began to wonder why exactly I slow down so much when I think it might be slippery. Will I really be less likely to fall, or sustain injury, if I'm running slower? I'm not sure if that's true. Running is going to be more dangerous than walking, no matter the speed. I should have more faith in my balance.

Today was also the first time this year I listened to music during my run. As a musician, this may come as a surprise. Really, it's just because I don't have good running headphones. The ear buds that came with my iPhone constantly fall out of my tiny ears. I ordered these headphones, based on good reviews from other small-eared folks, but I'm still awaiting delivery. During today's run, I pulled a hat on over the iPhone buds. It sort of worked, but I spent a lot of time pushing the music back into my ears.

Another lesson re-learned: I really need to make playlists before the run. Putting my entire song catalogue on shuffle, not liking a song mid-run, then removing a glove, pulling the iPhone out of my pocket, unlocking it, getting to the iPod app, and hitting skip until something good comes up = super awkward and time-killing.

Not that I'm trying to make excuses for my time. This is all part of the process, just like building the muscles, improving oxygen intake, etc. All these little details are part of training, it seems.

Next week (which starts tomorrow), I would like to focus more on increasing my speed. This week mostly felt like I was just trying to survive the run. During the last two runs, I haven't felt fatigue or any muscle aches, it's mainly my gasping for air that is keeping me from accelerating. Maybe next time I'll see how my heart rate is doing. I feel like I have a hard time telling when I starting too fast, or if it's the normal mild, yet constant, discomfort that comes with running, that I just have to get used to.

Perhaps most importantly, this run was the first this week where I did not experience any stomach issues - no cramps, no nausea, nothing. This is important and I need to make note of this. I had breakfast around 10:30am. I had 1 cup of black coffee, and kashi golden goodness cereal with almond milk and blueberries. In between 11 and 1, I drank a pint glass of water. The run started a little after 1, maybe 1:15. I noticed that I was slightly hungry when we started, which initially concerned me, like it might make me light headed, but that turned out to be a good thing. I think that's what I should aim for from now on - slightly hungry.