Run Forrest, Run

An update on the run-to-work thing. After lamenting in my last post that running 2x in 12 hours might be too much for the body to bear, I had a re-think and remembered that another possible reason for extra-stiff legs might have been the heavy leg workout I had done at the gym prior to Run #1. Well, duh.

So I tried again, this time going easy on the squats whilst at le gymnasium. Real easy. Two runs, back to back, and... no leg pain. Yay. That means no getting on the subway once a week to get to/from work.

The downside of course is that I have no (real) excuse to not run. Like yesterday for instance. I brought my gear to work so I could run home but the weather was awful at 5 o'clock. Rainy, windy, and just not nice. I had almost talked myself out of running home (like cycling would have been much better) when I decided f**k it. Just run.

And that's the moral of the story, sports fans. Just run. Nike got it right - you have to just bite the bullet and go, no matter what. I slogged it home in the rain and by the time I got there I didn't feel too bad. In fact I felt pretty good, and quite chuffed wi' meself for toughing it out.

Another unforesen benefit of all this running, besides the general feeling of smug superiority mentioned in an earlier post, is that the more I run, the easier it gets! Who knew? I wonder if any of those triathlon training books I have at home mention this startling effect. I should check.

Excuses Excuses

If nothing else at this time of year, I've at least come up with a comprehensive list of excuses for avoiding going out for a run. Feel free to make use of these yourself if ever you have the need.

1. it's too cold
2. i just ate
3. I'm about to eat
4. My running clothes are in the wash
5. It's too slippery out
6. I am le tired.
7. it's too windy
8. It's snowing too hard
9. It's getting dark
10. My legs hurt
11. My back hurts
12. I just took a shower
13. I have to [insert Christmas-related task here]
14. It's 7 months to the Ironman, skipping this one run won't hurt.

And so on.

Actually it's not that bad, but I'm feeling bad because I did skip my weekend run this past weekend. Stupid stuff got in the way and then once I had some free time in the afternoon I just wimped out. I have been doing the midweek run-to-work routine as previously noted, although I am now finding that running twice within 12-13 hours is not a good idea. My legs are sore after the second run and they seem to stay that way for a couple of days, which is not good. I may get used to the workload eventually but then again it may just be a dumb thing to do, so I'm going to adjust the run-to-work routine in order to space out those 2 runs. Sadly, it looks like I may have to take the subway to work twice a week in order to make this work. Ugh.