When I say “design a new blog” I really mean it. I realized that Wordpress and every other blogging software out there is designed for journal-like entries (duh). And that’s great if you’re writing an online journal. But a training blog doesn’t necessarily work the same way. I doubt people come here and pore over my explanations of past runs. I bet they look at the most recent entry, possibly look at the race links, and then go somewhere else. And that’s…okay. (Frankly, I’m not really sure why anyone would be interested in any of this, but I’m grateful to those who are.)

So after much thought and sketching and graphic-making and throwing away and starting over — I’m basically right where I started. I have a useless blog and an idea for a better one. Awesome.

At first all I was going to do was revamp the look. But now I’m trying to write custom PHP code. And that’s a lot trickier when you know PHP about as well as Swahili. Not only that, but I’m trying to use already existing code for things I know already exist. This is both cool and painful because you have to figure out what that code does and which parts are appropriate for your applications and which are going to bite you later. I’m getting better. However, I didn’t really have anywhere to go but up so…

Anyway, at some point down the line, there will be newness here. It will be interesting if not downright spectacular. Most likely, no one will even notice there’s a difference or that they’re witnessing a new way of thinking about training blogs on the web. So much to look forward to after all this hard work! In the meantime, I’m still running. And coding. And designing. And throwing computers out windows.

Web design is fun!

I started this run a little late in the day. It was not easy. The graph, though, has a nice order to it. I would post it, but I’m much too tired to take a screenshot.

1. I did a long run with EW on Saturday morning.
2. It was hot at 8am. Like, supa-hot.
3. Around 4.5mi I decided to improvise in order to make our route the requisite 12mi.
4. I got us lost.
5. We ran an extra 1.5 to 3mi just trying to make our way back to familiar territory.
6. By the time we made it back to said territory, I had to walk. I told EW to go ahead.
7. We finally made it back to Griffith Park. I ran/walked, ingesting much water on the way.
8. I had given EW the keys to the car. Thankfully, by the time he was driving, I was only .5mi away.
9. I took an hour-long nap after getting home.
10. I did not run Sunday or Monday. And I’m not running today. EW is fffffffast.

That is all.

I can’t think of anything to write outside of “ouch”. But that sums up all my runs lately. Still, it feels so much better to have a focussed plan, no matter how much it hurts.

My headphones, the ones designed for working out, are dying. I am now a firm believer in buying $10 headphones and accepting the fact that they’ll have to be replaced instead of buying $50 headphones and praying that you get your money’s worth. They sound good (or “sounded” good), but what’s the point if the lifespan is shorter than my crappy cheap ones? Sennheiser jerks.

Every time I look at this running plan, my eyes bug out. While it only lists three runs per week, none of those runs are easy. Rather, they’re brutal — every one. This weekend is supposed to be 9mi @ 7:41. What?! I think I’m going to be running with EW this weekend and he’s gearing up for San Diego so I think we may be going longer (and hopefully slower). But next week is the exact same run. There is no escape.

I guess it’s no fun if there’s not a challenge. Sheesh.

So it’s been a while since I’ve run intervals. Hey! They hurt! A lot!

The hardest thing is that, while the distance goes down, the speed goes up. And the worst intersection of speed an distance is somewhere around 600m. By the time I was done, I felt like a rag doll flopping around with little to no control over my own limbs.

On a side note, today is the first day of my new eating plan. I’ve been back at running for about two and a half months now and I’ve still got some fat issues. I’m thin, but that just makes any extra stuff look that much more pronounced. So I’m making some changes. Updates forthcoming.

[Update:] I was offered a brownie in the morning and a giant piece of chocolate birthday cake in the afternoon. What was I supposed to do? Not eat them? I don’t want to be rude…

Also, HTML tables are tough. It’s been a while. It took me an hour to figure out how to do that thing at the top of the entry. And to think there was a time when tables were what you used to design websites. Amazing how absolutely none of that information stayed in my brain. Huh.

I finally chose a training program. But I don’t think it’s going to be a marathon. I think it’s going to be a half. The more I think about how difficult a marathon is in a fairly flat environment, the more I worry about San Francisco which is decidedly not. Also, most of my training is going to take place in the afternoon in the summer and the fewer 20 mile runs I have in those conditions, the better.

I forgot to post my last several runs. I’ve been tinkering with the code from a Wordpress plug-in to see if I can create one that will make posting runs that much easier. So far, I’ve just proven that my brain still has problems bending itself around the logic required to write code. However, I have succeeded in creating an admin page that saves your preferences. Now I just need to wrestle with actually retrieving the run data and making a new entry out of it. Piece of cake, I’m sure. I was hoping that I’d figure it out in time to, y’know, use it. Clearly, my ambition outweighs my smarts. Bummer.

Anyway, here’s a list that exists for no other reason than to make me feel like I got something done:

4/10/2008
Planned: 5mi @ 8:00
Actual: 5.57mi @ 7:57
Average Heart Rate: 158bpm

4/12/2008 Planned: 3mi @ 8:00
Actual: 3.14mi @ 7:54
Average Heart Rate: 153bpm

4/14/2008
Planned: 5mi @ 8:00
Actual: 4.84mi @ 7:40
Average Heart Rate: 162bpm

4/16/2008
Planned: 5mi @ 8:00
Actual: 5.47mi @ 8:08
Average Heart Rate: 162bpm

4/19/2008
Planned: 3mi @ 8:00
Actual: 3.17 @ 7:58
Average Heart Rate: 149bpm

I’m still on Jury Duty and these runs are very therapeutic.

Anyway, I was doing fine until I saw a guy in the distance and decided I needed to catch him. Stupid.

This would have a been a pretty average run, say, four months ago. Nothing spectacular. Just a little endurance training. But it’s a whole other ball of wax (what does that even mean?) when it’s the longest run you’ve done in recent memory.

I’d like to say that the pace was the result of my willful effort, but it had more to do with the pain in my legs. And the cramp I got three quarters in.

In other news, I’ve begun work on a new site design. I just realized that I really don’t like my current one. The design itself is nearly finished. The code, however, has not even started. And that’s where the fun begins.

I wrestled over the title. But it’s true. There is pain, and it’s happening in my nether-region.

Let me just get this out of the way: the problem is short shorts, okay? No funny business.

Short shorts, while comfortable for most of the run, become less so when they rub against your inner thigh leaving in their wake a friction-based rash. I kicked the last mile in, not because I was feeling good (I wasn’t) or because I felt like I needed the extra challenge (I don’t), but because I was near tears and wanted to get the dang run over with. The stinging continued for the next hour and I’m sure I looked comical walking in giant steps in an attempt to keep my new injuries from getting any worse.

The worst thing is that I actually have a product that’s supposed to protect from this, and it was in the car while I was running. I just forgot to put it on — like I always do. I can’t remember the name. “Glide”-something-or-other.

Anyway, aside from the nether-drama, this wasn’t a fantastic run. It was fast, yes. And it was a respectable distance. But I’m not trying to go fast. In fact, I set out to go slow. So here we are again. I have theories why this is happening, but I’ve written too much already. It’s time to shower…carefully.

This one felt great. I tried really hard to use my core to keep things efficient and I think it worked for the most part.

The only bummer was that about a half a mile from the finish, I had to stop and give a Middle Eastern trucker some directions. His English was a little broken and his accent was so thick I had a hard time understanding the simplest of sentences. But we got through it.

Unfortunately, I think I pressed the wrong buttons on my watch and so the last bit of the run looks funky. Whatever. It was so nice in every other respect: cool, consistent, challenging. If it wasn’t supposed to rain today, I’d totally try to get out there again. Maybe tomorrow.