Saturday, September 11, 2010

A Salute to "the Purist!"

Today I had a 5.5 mile run to complete my goal of 50 miles this week.  Around 2.5 or 3 miles into the run, I was running toward a rain shower quickly moving up the road in my direction.  I welcomed the rain, but I feared the damage to my Ipod.  I tried to protect it as much as possible.  This meant running without my tunes.  I tried not to be deterred.  Ok, the purist say they enjoy the sounds.... I listen to my breathing....I do not appreciate this noise.  Don't get my wrong, yes, I am very thankful for every breath that I take, but hearing the in out, in out, in out of my breathing is not calming, comforting, or enjoyable.  I notice the birds singing....nice for about a half second.  I hear the splash of my feet hitting the soggy pavement.  Splat, splat, splat, splat - again I am not amused.  I think my landing is too hard.    I also hear cars passing and splashing water, I hear window a/c units, I hear a generator running on a boat that is parked in the bayou, I hear dogs barking,  I hear the rain.  Quickly I turn from noticing all the sounds to wondering????? How do the "purist" find this so great?  I can NOT figure it out!  Thankfully, after about a 1.5 miles, I no longer need to try to figure it out.  The rain has passed and with the very light sprinkle, I am safe to put my Ipod back on.  Once again, I am thankful, really thankful for my hearing.  Thankful to hear my tunes.  It's through my tunes that I find my joy in running.  
I salute "the purist" who can find enjoyment in running with the sounds of nature, because I am NOT amused.

I had a great week of training.  As mentioned, I started the week with the Labor Day 5k, I also ran again Monday pm on the treadmill to start the week with 10 miles.
The rest of the week went as follows:

Tues. Sept. 7th - 9.5 miles with Tracie behind Anatomies in The Trace subdivision. 8:58 pace for the run with some breaks.
Wed. - walk 30 min, core work, stretch
Thurs - 11 miles am with Terri (she ran 13), Vicki (she ran 6), Dawn - ran 8. I averaged around 10:00 pace.
Fri.- 14 miles - @ Canebrake - 2 miles at 9:38 pace, 12 miles with/ behind Tracie & Michelle. I averaged 9:10 for the 12 miles. Happy with that pace after the 11 on Thurs. Glad to have T. & M. out front. It helped me to push, and maintain my pace. This was a tough run. I started at 6:40 am, and it was HOT and HUMID. (ice bath after this one)
Sat. - 5.5 miles - easy - 10:00 avg. 8 X 15 second sprints near the end of the run.
Ending the week with 50 miles, 1 yoga class @ Spiers Fitness, a little core work, a few weights, some stretching, some push-ups - finding it hard to fit all the "extras" in like I want to, but I am happy with this weeks training. Last 50+ mile wk was at the end of March.
Tues., Thurs. and Fri - I was tired.  I think I had an adjustment week.   The good news is...today I felt good on the run, I ran slow, but no longer tired.  Now I have Sunday off, (off from running - Sunday will be a walk day).  Also, next week is a "step back" week in my training.  It's actually my last week prior to my official start of my 12 wk program for the Rocket City Marathon.  I am excited about the rest week, but I am VERY excited to finally get started with my training program.   (90 days until the Rocket City Marathon, Huntsville, AL)

11 comments:

Running and living said...

Your training is going so well.
I, too, admire those who run without music. It is very hard, but I think it allows one to race faster by beeing in tune to the messages the body sends. This is something I am planning on working on this winter!

abbi said...

I don't know how the purists do it either. I can silence is nice every once in awhile but usually it just drives me nuts because I can't zone out. Great job on your week!

misszippy said...

I love to go sans music, so thank you for the salute! Try again and you'll see how good it can be!

Tina @GottaRunNow said...

Ha, ha! I like music and I like listening to raindrops, too! You left a great comment on my blog. I can see how running a marathon as a training run would help you mentally, if you made it to the finish and all. ; )

Julie said...

Oh my goodness Ginny, you have busted out the miles this week! You are also doing some killer cross training too! You are running so much more than I am...just a little jealous here:) I know that if I would run more my times would be better. Hopefully next year will be better for me.

Keep up the great work...12 weeks until your marathon....I would say you already have a fantastic start!

Jennifer said...

Ha, great post Ginny! And even better the runs are looking sweet! It will be exciting to hear about your training and even more fun when we finally get to the start line! I will admit I am a purist convert. Started innocently enough as I was going out so early and needed to have my ears to listen in the dark, but now I can't seem to put on those earphones. The iPod just doesn't do it for me anymore.

HappyTrails said...

Nice running Ginny - hope the cooler fall temps start to help out! Too funny about the tunes - we run 99% of our runs tune-free, so it is probably just what you become accustomed to doing!!!

Lindsay said...

i guess i am a purist... haha. i'm too lazy to load songs onto my ipod so, yeah. i don't know, just never thought much of it. i have run with music before (like at the gym) and it does help put an extra pep in my stride.

Iron Mike said...

I'm saving the tunes for the day I need them. Hoping it's far in the future!
Glad this week is a step-back week. Take that extra time and buy a waterproof case for your iPOD.
Listening to a few A/C units should be motivation enough to shop for that case.

Jill said...

I fully understand the tune thing, I sometime feel I can't even run a half mile w/o mine! I think my breathing is less labored if I can just zone into the sounds and not think about the task at hand. Your running is really going well this round...what a joy it's been to follow you through your injury over the past year and excelling to the fabulous runner you are!!

Unknown said...

You are darling, I love your thoughts on the purist versus the survivor, oops, I guess that's the way I feel! On some of these runs, surviving with the ipod is primary!! BIrds? Trickling streams? I'll save those lovely things for a hike with my hubby. Missed you, GInny. You are such a sweet spirited person and I'm happy to hear about your mileage, awesome!!