Saturday, February 19, 2011

In the market for a new hairdryer

I need one that will dry my hair within a minute when I point it at my head.

Kidding. Sort of. I am interested in finding a more powerful, faster hairdryer. Although the one I have seemed good when I got it, it seems to take so long to dry my hair these days. There's got to be something better. I have a super-expensive one in my Amazon shopping cart, but I need to reread the reviews of why it's so fabulous before I fork over the big bucks.

Yesterday I had to go to work with slightly damp hair because I just didn't have enough time to dry it all the way. (Made for a nice look the rest of the day. Not.) Of course I know it's my own fault for staying out running (or at the Y) till the last possible moment (and beyond), after which I MUST stop at Starbucks on the way home and I MUST eat a full breakfast before it go to work. All of this leads to bad hair, no makeup (obviously), and being two to ten (ouch) minutes late to work.

So obviously a faster hairdryer is a necessity. As is better weather so I can force myself to get up earlier. (Of course that would probably mean I run an extra mile or two, rather than allowing extra time to get to work!)

Yesterday (Friday) I ran 10.31 miles with 8.25 at marathon goal pace effort. (Of course, I only had enough time for 8-9 miles....) My average pace including the two warm-up miles (10:52 and 10:13 for those) was 9:33. Pace splits were 9:33, .25 mile at 9:22, 9:23, 9:28, 9:26, 9:30, 9:26, 9:02, and 8:40.

My ideal goal marathon pace would be a little faster than that, but I am happy right now with the 9:30 or so pace. If I can pick it up over the next two months, great, but I would be pleased to be able to sustain this pace as well. (Now, for a half marathon I'd better get back to sub-9 OR ELSE!)

I did my so-called "speed" workout on Wednesday after work. Granted, my average pace was slower than yesterday's, but it was a different type of run, 'kay?

I was lazy on Wednesday morning and the weather was bad. So I allowed myself to stay in bed (and was NOT late to work that day) and postponed my run to either afternoon or Thursday. Fortunately I was able to man up on Wednesday afternoon and got it done.

I didn't get home till after 5:00, or out till about 5:30, so it was already dusk and getting darker. The bummer of this (other than my not liking to run in the dark) was that I could not see my Garmin unless I stopped under a street light. Kind of hard to monitor my pace under those conditions. I would have to run by feel and find out later how I did!

I wanted to do what I call a progressive tempo run. It's a wimpish version of a tempo run because instead of holding a hard pace for a longer period, I start slow and progressively increase the pace throughout. I wanted to start at 10:30 and speed up by about 30 seconds every two miles for eight miles (possibly with a bonus mile at the end).

Here is how I did. Keep in mind I had almost no opportunity to see what my pace was as I was running.

Miles 1-2: 10:43, 10:27
Miles 3-4: 10:08, 10:07
Miles 5-6: 9:42, 9:35
Miles 7-8: 9:02, 9:05
Mile 9: 8:19 (woohoo!)
Plus .53 mile at 9:22 pace. Average pace for 9.53 mile - 9:40. I was especially pleased at how consistent my 10 and 9-minute miles were!

I am really happy with running these days. I am back to the mental place where lay in bed at night and imagine myself running. Yes, I fantasize about running. What, is that weird?
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