Monday, January 28, 2013

Exciting News and a Music Complex

Workout: 5 miles, 10:16 average

Before I get into today's run, I received a bit of exciting news today - I got accepted into one of the schools I applied to! I wasn't expecting to hear from anywhere for another few weeks, so this was a complete shock. Isn't unexpected good news the best?! So much better than expected good news. And to think I almost deleted the email without reading it because I assumed it was spam... I'm too cautious to give any details (because OoOoOoObviously the admissions committee is going to stumble across this tiny corner of the internet and be outraged that I'm excited to have been accepted to their program), but the best part of the acceptance was the confidence boost it gave me. Going into this process, I refused to accept the idea that I might actually be a pretty decent candidate, and so convinced myself it was very possible I wouldn't be accepted anywhere. Turns out that's not the case! Sorry, don't mean to be a braggart, I'm just excited. And now to take me down a couple notches we can talk about what a mediocre runner I am!

I packed a LOT of running gear with me before class.

Outdoor clothes on the right

I was pretty sure I was going to end up running inside, but I didn't know whether my beloved ice rink slash track would be open since I hadn't been in a while, so I brought some back-up clothes for running outside. Given that it's' still pretty chilly 'round these parts, my "back-up clothes" took up a ridiculous amount of space. Like, all the space.

After class I confirmed that the ice rink was open and did an easy 5 miles. Or at least, pace easy, not mentally easy. In fact, mentally tough. I accidentally forgot my headphones, and although I'm cool running outside sans music, I have a very difficult time facing indoor running without it. My phone was loaded with music, of course, but I was too embarrassed to have the rink attendant (yeah, there was a rink attendant there today. I don't know why he was there either) know that I listen to crap top 40 pop while running.

For years and years I had a really bizarre complex about music and WOULD NOT let even my closest friends know what I listened to. Of course, my reluctance to share it with them made them try their hardest to figure it out and they obviously did (via many sneaky peaks at my iTunes library), but it wasn't until recently that I've even been able to acknowledge that I listen to some of the music I listen to. What I'm trying to say is, I ran around this ice rink 47 1/2 times without music. That kind of blew.

My legs felt great, though! I was very pleased with how well they have recovered from Saturday's 10 miles. I am beginning to think the whole shin pain debacle may be behind me although I'll pretend I don't so I don't jinx myself.

I have decided in the name of science (and, okay, the desire to take it easy) to run tomorrow's scheduled 3 miles at a 12:22 pace. You read that right. 12:22. That's what I believe to be Hansons' recommended easy easy run pace (not to be confused with plain old easy run pace) for my marathon goal time, which I guess is somewhere around 4:15?  Should I choose to use their plan, I imagine I will be spending a lot of time at this pace, in order to allow for the higher mileage. Better get used to it.

My Questions:
  • My life got pretty exciting today - have you had any exciting life events occur today (or recently)?
  • Ever been embarrassed by your music tastes?
  • Ever run at a pace a good two+ minutes slower than your usual easy run pace? How'd it go?! I'm pumped.

8 comments:

  1. Isn't is crazy how slow your easy miles are actually supposed to be at? At first it was hard to get used to - it feels kinda like a slow slog - but after hard runs, it definitely starts to feel nice and your body appreciates it.

    CONGRATS on the acceptance!!!!

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    1. Thanks! It's no National Geographic Society but I was still pretty pumped!

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  2. Congrats on your acceptance-- what great news for you!

    And yes, I'm constantly embarrassed by my musical choices. Some days it's like the playlist from "Total Request Live" (hello Britney Spears and N*Sync), I just need Carson Daly to introduce the songs for me! ;-)

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    1. Oh, TRL, how I miss thee. My after school routine in high school ALWAYS included that show. I'm not sure how I ever got over it (oh wait, yes I do-I realized that over the course of an hour I only got to listen to portions of ten songs, PLUS I had to put up with that creep Carson).

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  3. Congrats on the great news! How exciting for you :)

    Also I can relate to this post in so many ways - my taste in music is something that I keep very closely guarded, there are very few people who know all my favourites, some of which are extremely embarassing. I hate this idea that you can only like one certain type of music and that by straying outside of that genre you are somehow betraying it. I think it's great to love all different sorts of music, becuase you need it for all different moods!

    And I have only just recently discovered that in order to run a new longer distance, I really have to drop my pace right back to a ridiculously slow level - I'm talking 8min/km kind of pace in order to complete it. I used to just try ot run every run as fast as i could and then wonder why I wasn't improving and was always getting injured. Now it all makes sense! So I am definitely a fan of the slow easy run :)

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    1. You have NO idea how happy it makes me to hear that there are others out there who don't like sharing their music with other people! "What's your favorite band" is probably my most feared question, both because I don't really have one (which for some reason no one believes) and because I don't want to talk about my music tastes at all! I also like many different kinds of music which, like you said, makes some people think I'm not a very good music fan at all.

      After today's slower-than-usual run, I'm with you on the awesomeness that is running slower! I think the only way I'm going to be able to significantly increase my mileage is by running those miles much slower than usual. It's definitely the way to go!

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  4. 1. I used to be a closet-ed music listener myself. Then, I had a boyfriend who teased me about my music choices, which I felt compelled to defend and then, strangely enough, I just stopped caring what anyone else thought. [Not the most effective way to go about breaking this habit, but hey - it worked for me. The relationship was toast, though.]

    2. I do. not. miss. that enormous bag of running gear. I lived in upstate NY for 6-7 years, and now am in the tropics. While running here has some challenges, my running gear takes up about 3 cubic inches, year round.

    3. Congrats!

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    1. I've definitely got better about the music thing as I've gotten older, but it's more of a recent thing. The way I see it is, judging someone because of their music is dumb.

      The enormous bag of running gear is annoying, but it was SO much worse when I lived in New York and had to haul stuff like that on the subway with me! I'm still not entirely sure how I survived (wait, yeah I do-I got out of there!).

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