Incremental changes

If there's one thing I've learned in the last 6.5 months, it's that you can't just switch up your lifestyle wholesale and expect it to stick. After a certain number of years you've got too much inertia built up to push yourself immediately onto another path. You've got to make small changes and give them a little time to stick before you start making other changes. In time, all of your little changes will add up into major ones. It worked for me when I changed my eating habits and it has worked for me in running.

On Saturday, I hit the gym for what was supposed to be three miles. We went early, which turned out to be a good thing. I had a banana before going, but probably not long enough for it to actually give me any energy. On the way over I was thinking I was going to take it easy and run slower than normal, probably 30 seconds to a minute longer per mile. That lasted until I actually got on the 'mill and started moving. I was able to handle 5.5mph for all of about two minutes before I decided that it was going to get boring fast, so I changed the plan.

Changing the plan is a big thing for me. I don't like to change plans once I've started. If I have a plan, I expect the plan to be followed, and I'll usually put up a fight if someone tries to change it. However, if I decide to change the plan, then I guess I'm good with it. It's probably got something to do with being in control of my own destiny or some other BS like that.

Since I wasn't going to go slow, I went the opposite direction and decided to do some fast. New plan: quarter mile intervals. After a half mile warm-up at 6mph, I bumped the speed up to 7mph for a quarter mile. I made it, but I wasn't happy with it. So what did I do? I changed the plan again. Instead of quarter mile intervals, I went to tenth of a mile intervals. Much more pleasant. So from the end of my first mile to the 2.5 mile mark I ran a tenth of a mile at 6mph and a tenth at 7.5mph. Towards the end of my intervals I ended up going up to 8mph. Wow, running that fast was fun, and there were noticeable changes to my stride and what my arms were doing. When I was on the fast leg, sweat was flying everywhere. I'm going to be doing that again on Tuesday and if it goes well again it will become the pattern for my short runs. Yikes! I just looked at the training plan. It's going to get scary starting the middle to end of September.

Today I did my Tour of Seattle run, and it was such a fantastic day for an outdoor run. The sky was overcast and there were even a few drops of rain every once in a while. It was a cool enough day that most people stayed inside, although there were still plenty enough people to get in my way in every locale. Just before I got to the park some other guy joined me at the crosswalk. We didn't race, but I did pace him for a mile and a half or so. I'm not sure if he was going faster than my normal pace or the same. I suspect that it was pretty close to my normal 6mph, but either way I never let him get more than 10 feet from me. Sadly, all good things must come to an end. I reached my turnaround point in the park and he continued along the trail. So long unwitting running partner.

The way back was nothing special. At the turnaround I walked for maybe 30 seconds. It was my only bit of walking the entire run, although there were some periods of stopping thanks to lights and traffic. If a light is red but I can see that it's safe to cross, I'll use my best judgment to decide if I should go anyway. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.

Once I left the park and hit the waterfront, I started running into more people. Still, there were less there than the last time I did this route. Hey! That was two weeks ago. I skipped last week to recover from the 4th of July festivities.

At one point I saw a little girl doing the pee-pee dance up ahead. Her daddy grabbed her hand and they took off running to the spot most likely to have a public restroom. There used to be one right out on the sidewalk, but it became a haven for drug users and prostitutes, so the city closed it and sold it off last year. Side comment: Really? Prostitution in the public bathroom? That's just gross. Back to the narrative. Daddy and daughter took off running, so I picked up the pace and followed after. They didn't have to go far. The kid saw me running before they took off, and she kept looking back to see where I was. They made pretty good time. Daddy also noticed me keeping up with them, and when they stopped to go in I said "thanks for the motivation." Even over my music I heard him laugh.

I left my motivators behind and started up Madison. Ugh, those hills haven't gotten any better. Actually, I think they've gotten steeper and longer. How the hell does that happen? There is one good thing about doing these hills. I can use running them on this route as an excuse not to do real hill workouts. I don't know if it will totally prepare me for any hills on the marathon - I've seen the route on walkjogrun.net and there are some ridiculous elevation changes - but I think these hills will take care of hill workouts. Of course, my route will change as my runs get longer, but surely there will be some hills wherever I go. I don't live in a place that's exactly flat anymore. I'm absolutely positive there was something else good about these hills, but for the life of me I can't remember what it was right now. It will probably come to me later.

My run ends at the Westlake shopping center where I stop to grab myself a smoothie. Gotta get those carbs, yanno. So, on a whim I went into the candy store. This is where I got my reason for this post's title, indirectly. I was hot and sweaty and in running clothes. The cashier asked me if I'd just run a marathon, which is kind of funny. I said "No, I just finished a six mile run." I meant it like "I have recently completed a run of six miles." She took it as "I only ran six miles." At that point I realized it really was "only" six miles. I had another mile or two in me today. At this time last year, three miles seemed like forever.

I think the iPod has gone back to his lying ways. Whatever. He keeps me entertained and even if he's lying I can still see if I'm slowing down and roughly where. And he keeps track of how long in terms of time my runs go.