Yesterday Ben and I completed our long run for the week. It was the first time a run filled my mind with doubt as to my eventual ability to complete 26.2 miles in the Idaho Falls M.A.D. Marathon. About two weeks ago I posted about running 12 miles on that particular day. I completely fell apart during that run and only ended up completing 10 miles. Our next long run was 9.5 miles. Yesterday we decided we needed to make up some miles for the two weeks we were short. We ran 13.5 miles. It is the furthest I have ever run and it really hurt! I can’t imagine going double that distance and that’s probably not a good thing! I feel like a complete baby! People do this all of the time so it should not be this hard, right? I feel like I just have to settle in to the fact that I am just going to be in pain for the next 7 weeks or so. I wonder if this is normal.
I am a super quirky runner. I have all of these little strange habits I’ve developed over the years while running. When I first started running I ran without music. This was mostly due to the lack of decent technology and the fact that I could not afford whatever the best options were at the time (i.e… portable CD players that did not skip). So I developed this weird habit of counting my steps. Depending on my stride I would count anywhere from 1600 to 2000 steps per mile. At times I fall back into this when a run becomes really difficult but now I mainly count my songs. This has become such an integral part of my routine that I cannot imagine running without music now. I even run with extra headphones in case the ones I am wearing die. I am considering running with an extra iPod shuffle! I love my shuffle! Yesterday I only had 36 songs in my playlist, I needed 41. That was annoying, but we ran an extra mile that we were not planning on. I figure on roughly 3 songs per mile for my super slow pace. It usually works out over the length of a long run even though the song lengths differ. So for this crazy marathon I will have roughly 80 songs in my playlist! I think I might share it here on my blog when the race gets closer. But since I ran out of songs yesterday I decided to add some more today. I got to 53 songs then I got bored of putting this particular playlist together. This playlist should for sure get me through our next long run.
I wanted to post my playlist because I love looking at other people’s playlists. It’s like a secret subliminal bonding experience to share a playlist even with people you don’t know. Anyway, here is mine (at least for the next week).
What’s your favorite workout song?
Do you have any quirky running habits?
I hate running, but the times I did have to run I had to listen to music or I just wouldn’t run….and i count songs, too. When I was running a lot (when I was still in my 20’s) I only listened to 80’s music. Duran Duran, Gene loves Jezebel, etc. Now if I listen to music when i exercise I mostly listen to my pole dance playlists….
I am amazed at people who don’t listen to music when they work out! I think I need your pole dance playlists:)
This should tie you over the next coupla years:
http://k1chyd.adress.eksjo.com/steps-per-minute.htm
Wow thanks! Quick question. Why is 1609 quite an appealing number for a runner?
1609 – The number of meters in a mile, the most classic of all distances.
Going for 3218 now it seems…
This silly American thinks of a mile in 5280 feet. But you are correct and I feel a little silly. Thank you for getting back to me. Maybe now you will have to go for 5280!