Author: Antin

  • 19.3 review

    Day 90 – March Update

    19.3 is not a race. It is just a recap and a reflection of the past 30+ days. My last report was on day 60. [1]

    I have been skipping days so it is not exactly 30 days since. It is almost two months since my last report. I almost was going to put it off until day 100.  Maybe in the future I will do a report every 100 / 50 days or so.

    Trying to get back into training mode since the last major race was hard. I have been running but not consistently and they were not structured. Finally the last few weeks, I am a bit more consistent that they looked more a real training. I put up like 30-40 miles weekly but I am still struggling.

    There are many reasons why I haven’t been training as I should. I got to know a friend better and was having a lot of happy hours with her. It was my church time too, but my schedule got rearranged during the weekend. I spent more time at ‘church’ than before. Luckily time with the lady doesn’t spread to my work days yet. I think a lot of her though and kind of distracted me from my running. I didn’t specifically write about them. Readers can read between the lines. 

    Though that wasn’t the buck of it. It deserves a whole posting in itself. It is hard to see things at ‘ground zero’. There were just too many things going on in my personal life. Who doesn’t? Motivation to run was quite low. My initial motivation to run was from my former girlfriend, because she runs, I run. Now I think of her less and less, so I  kind of searching for a replacement of what can  get me out of the door. They say I run, because I like it… It is hard to find what to like about it when I’m at the door and don’t want to step outside. I don’t run for fuzzy feeling.

     Plus the weather and everything seemed to be ‘against me’ when I was ready to hit the pavement. Don’t things in life kind of do that to everyone? When you really want to do something and the whole world is against you? Sky’s falling. That’s life. It is swimming upstream all the way.

    I did several small/mini races and they are not too much to brag about. But they were fun to do. I was so close to beating my records on couple of them and was pleased.

     I am not on track with my new year resolutions and no idea how to fit it. It went well for couple weeks and that was all. I wasn’t regret making them as some would. It just mean I have to get back on the saddle. But things are looking to turn around.

    My running schedule for 2019 (racing) is set [2] and mostly paid for. I recently registered for the MCM. I wasn’t sure though if a couple hotels reservations (for races) made were paid  in advance or I will have to pay when I arrive. They are spread out over the year, so they won’t hit my pocket too hard. 

    Budgeting! I haven’t really set a budget. This year though I added up all the cost of running related for the whole year, so I kind of know how much. I won’t share it because it was shocking to my running buddies and it would be shocking to you guys. All my races are budget buster.

    I hiked a few times and wrote about those. It has been exciting! My dearest friend (one and only who does this kind of things with me) and I haven’t done much last year, and the first quarter kind of put us back into the regular pattern. We try to hike/backpack twice a month. Weather and other issues prevented some of trips but overall we headed out the trail more frequently than before. 

    Of course our goal is to get ready for a trip to Chile at end of the year. She has planned the whole thing already. This trip though kind of derails my biggest goal of running a 50 miler in November. I wrote about going to Chile vs running the 50 miler. I made my goals and she does her and we or I at least ended up in a rock and a hard place. 

    I am thinking of switching one of my ultra races (Iron Mountain) to a 50 miler, but it means getting my body ready by end of August instead of November. Still trying to figure if I will be ready. I can have until June to decide.

    Until next time then. My next report will probably be around June around Day 150 or 175.

    [1] https://antin.blog/2019/01/12/review-19-02/#more-407

    [2] https://antin.blog/races-to-run/

  • Much Colder

    Day 89

    Runner high
    Sunday Reston 10 Miler, 3/3/19

    A pic for fan service. I was cruising. I think it was at mile 5 or so into the race.

    Tonight I was undecided whether to run or not and in the end I did run. It was much cold than other runs I had before. Garmin and rest of the forecasters were wrong. It was not 37. It was more like 28 (-4C).  I brought 4 layers of clothing with me. I ran because I will take Friday off and so I can’t afford to have Monday and Wednesday off as well, so run it was.

    I put in around 8 miles. I walked probably more than running. It was just a day after the race and I was still sore.

    Garmin statistics and google map.

    While running, I was debating within me whether to sign up for a 10K next Sunday, just a day after the DC Rock n Roll. Normally, it shouldn’t be a problem. However, this coming Sunday, I will have a hike and a possible dinner, meaning I will miss worship. I haven’t signed up for the 10k yet.

  • Day 88 

    Shoes. I might have written on this before. 

    It felt so good yesterday when I ran on a kinda new pair of shoes. I forgot how how good they feel. I could pound the pavement as hard as I want  and my feet didn’t feel a thing.  (more…)

  • Day 87 Race

    I did a 10 miler race on Sunday morning. I only did this just once a year. 10 miler is almost like 13.1, a half marathon. This was the longest run/race-wise I had since December. It is a good preparation for next week.  (more…)

  • Volunteer

    Day 86

    It was a lazy day and a very happy one. How so? 

    I started the day going to a free 5K run at the warf downtown DC. It was a race to celebrate Black Women History Month. Unlike the New Year race, this race was untimed. It was also started late. 15 minutes late. I rarely have been to a race thst started  late.

    (more…)

  • Elevating Your Run Experience

    Remind me one day when I am no longer enjoy running why I run in the first place :). Here is an excellent blog that running is not all about me.

    https://trailrunning100.com/2019/03/01/elevating-your-run-experience/

    Trena's avatarTrail Running 100

    New Year’s resolutions are not my thing.  I’ve made them over the years, but like most people, they are long forgotten after two weeks.  Resolutions like losing weight, lead to failure when there’s no specific plan to go along with the goal.  Instead of making a specific plan as to how I might change my diet or set up an exercise program to meet those goals, they’ve all ended miserably.  So I’ve long since given up on making resolutions.

    At the beginning of the year, I was listening to an Ultra Stories podcast with Sherpa John Lacroix and found myself incredibly challenged.  It wasn’t about setting a resolution, but taking a whole new look at the year 2019 from a totally different perspective.  I’m a runner, and more specifically an ultra distance runner.  Over the last five years, most of my goals have focused on races I’d like to run…

    View original post 1,074 more words

  • Run on tired legs

    Day 84

    Wednesday, normally is my night off from running, but since I took my rest on Monday, (did 1 mile on the treadmill on Monday)  I was obligated to go out and put in my miles.  (more…)

  • MCM 50K

    I am doing it. Today I was able to register for the MCM 50K Ultra. They accepted 1700 runners.  (more…)

  • Change of plan 

    Day 82

    I might have mentioned before that my friend who I go hiking with many times is planning a backpacking trip in Chile at the end of this year and I am tagging along.  (more…)