Edit for clarification: I lie. I am registered for the 4 Mile Hill Challenge trail run tomorrow. It will kick my butt. I know because I ran it last year. It will be freezing (by California standards, of course). Still, for inexplicable reasons, I pray to the gods I don’t believe in to be healthy enough tomorrow to run the thing. It has an Aztec ringing a bell at the start line! It has 3.5 out of 4 miles of incline. It has something like 1500 ft of elevation gain. It’s brutal fun! Last year, they gave us popsicles and massages at the finish line. Yes, I am easily distracted. Look, sparkly stuff!

Either way, going back to my point, now that I am no longer registered for any races I want to register for every half marathon I see. After all, I made a promise that I am going to work hard on my finishing strong strategy, consistent training and running the last miles fast against discomfort. Oh! And some details like working hard on the last sections of my papers, my thesis and get the freaking phd at some point, but that’s irrelevant in our conversation. What’s relevant is that I can’t do all these things unless I actually train and run a race. And I want to run them all!

The Safari Park half Marathon: That was a love at first sight. I want to do it so badly! But… it’s so expensive, and trail (and we all know I can’t run trail) and hilly and I have to arrange transportation to and accommodation in San Diego. However, do tell me in all seriousness: have you ever seen a cooler medal?

The OC half marathon: Beautiful course, beautiful people. Still, very crowded and still expensive.

The Pasadena half marathon: Since R’n'R Pasadena, I am convinced that this area is lucky for me and it will allow me to PR and run like the wind. It’s close, no accommodation needed, and slightly cheaper. Still, nowhere even close to cheap.

The Fontana Days half marathon: How better does it get than an half marathon with an elevation drop of 2,125 ft and a $40 registration fee? It might or might not be cheating but this is as close to a guaranteed PR as you can get. But it’s so far…

So, people, please! I beg of you. Stage an intervention or fund my obsession or just do something! Alternatively, just share an opinion about if I should run one of these races and which.

Are we there yet? No idea where this was...

Freedom! I think Braveheart was less intense than this at the battle of Stirling..

Happy!

Last miles... Kind of dying over here!

Finally done!

I hadn't even stopped running when a photographer snatched this photo of me.

Official medal photo. I still prefer the unofficial...

I have quit hoping to look good in my race photos a long time ago, but this was seriously disappointing. Well, trying to be consistent with yesterday’s post, I will try to use this as motivation. Right? Right! I do know that when the voices in my head start answering back, I have a serious problem…

He said: “I don’t doubt the amount of work and effort you put in the experiments and results generation (phew!), but I think that you put relatively less effort in the results understanding and analysis. It’s that last mile that will make or break it“.

And then it hit me. He might be right! That last mile(s), when you are so totally beat, when you are (or should be) carried by sheer adrenaline and motivation, when your entire body hurts, it’s then that you have to push a little harder, dig a little deeper and finish strong!

Note to self: I am pretty sure that this is a song I shouldn’t know, or at least a song that I should remember where I remember it from. But I don’t! I blame it all on TheraFlu overdose!

Just like the little engineer I am, I went to validate my assumption by checking whether this statement makes sense to other aspects of my life, like running. You totally saw that coming, right?

Well, it turns out that ever since my decline in running and incline in body fat started, the first ten miles of my half marathons are at the same pace give or take. What makes the difference in finish time, is that last 5K. During the last 3 events I ran, my pace shoot up from a 10:30-11:00 min/mile to a 13:00 min/mile. Which is, simply put… walking! When I found it too hard to run, I just walked until I finished and got my medal. On the other hand, last Sunday on R’n'R Pasadena, when except for the medal I was also targeting a free running hat if I beat my R’n'R LA time, I (wo)manned up during the last 5K and finished 4-5 minutes faster than the last races. Surprisingly enough, I ran my first 10 miles at a slower pace than all these 3 races. Granted, we are talking about a difference of a minute or two, but still… I ended up finishing 4-5 minutes faster than all of these races! So, what was the difference? These last three miles. This last bit of effort when you are just so tired and beat. And it is what made the difference between yet another medal and a free running hat. Or (hopefully next time) between yet another mediocre race and a PR.

I blame the fact that I flake all my races and my run/walk of the last miles to the fact that I don’t like the feel of discomfort. But… who does? It’s just the fact that the end result overcomes this last minutes (hours, weeks, months) of pain. I just need to find that motivation to push when it is most needed, because at the end of the day it’s going to be what makes it or breaks it. And I promise that I will apply it to my training and my next race, as well as to the last stretch of my phd.

How good are you at that last mile? Does my advisor make sense to you too or is it the flu medicine talking?

But let’s take things from the beginning. I went to Rose Bowl, where the race started and finished, before the sun was even up. And it was freezing! It was so ridiculously cold! I was literally shivering for a good thirty minutes. I did not give my jacket to the gear check until the very last minute. Fortunately, we were off soon and I got warmed up in a bit.

The weather was chill for the majority of the race and the sun didn’t become bright until the last part of the race. At that point it was relatively warm, but I didn’t mind a bit, because I always prefer slightly warm weather. All and all, the weather was perfect for running!

You know what else was almost perfect for running? The course! It was seriously a very beautiful course. It turns out that Pasadena is a gorgeous area. Trees, shade, a lot of green, beautiful houses, bridges, street lamps, old town Pasadena was awesome as usual with the shops and the antique look. All was really beautiful!

The “almost” part in the “almost perfect course” comes from the fact that the course was really hilly. The first (really long, really steep) hill came at the first mile. Seriously, who puts a humongous hill at the first mile? It was really disheartening. When I had to walk up that hill, I was almost certain that I was not going to make my goal of beating my R’n'R LA time. After that monster hill, the course was mainly rolling hills, ups and downs, ups and downs, a fact that made it manageable and interesting. The best part is that after the last turn-around point at mile 9.5, the course was mainly downhill. There were some hills, but nothing compared to the ones that I had already run until that point. And this allowed me to make my goal!

Moreover, despite the fact that this was an inaugural event, it was almost perfectly organized. There were a lot of water stops, gatorade, even GUs. There were many volunteers and all of them were really helpful and nice. There were also tons of porta potties at the start/finish line and during the course. I was lucky enough not to have to stop during the race, but as far as I could see, the lines were moving fast.

At the finish line, there was a live concert of a Ray Sugar person, who supposedly was a big name in the 90s. I had no idea. Some runner friends I met at the finish line informed me of the fact. Also, by that time the sun was up, the grass was warm and soft and the rest was welcome after 13.1 miles. By the way, those runner friends also ran huge PRs and got themselves free running hats for beating their times of R’n'R LA. Congratulations guys!

Edited to correct: There was a Sugar Ray band, whose lead singer is called Mark. Mike informed me of the fact and now I feel stupid on top of ridiculously slow. I will blame everything on the fact that my hearing declines after 13.1 miles…

The only reason important enough to make me get up again was brunch. We went to the Pain Quotidien in downtown Pasadena, where I had an amazing vegetarian quiche with leech, mushrooms and I have no idea what else. It tasted wonderful though! What didn’t taste wonderful was the latte. Seriously now, when you ask for a double-shot latte what do you expect to get? Two shots of espresso in the same quantity of milk, right? Wrong! These people got me a bowl worth of milk with a whiff of coffee. Me no like! But I was too tired to complain.

Usually, right after a half marathon I am not starving. The hunger sets in some hours later. Now, an order of sushi, udon soup, side of edamame and half a bucket of ice cream (vanilla roasted almonds, I strongly suggest it) later, I feel good again.

Final time: 2:27:47 for an average pace of 11:17 min/mile. I beat my LA time (2:32:13) now I am waiting for my hard-earned running hat to arrive at the mail.

I hope you had a nice Sunday, running or not!

So, don’t ask me if I am in love, if I am celebrating and what I will do tonight. Most probably I will find a gym with a heavy bag and beat the crap out of it. The alternative is to beat the crap out of a living creature and I avoid doing that to the best of my abilities.

Also, don’t ask me if I feel this way because I am single this year. I have a long streak of past boyfriends to verify that every year, on this day, I stay at home as far away from sappy songs, ridiculous rom coms (that I hate with a passion) and pink prix-fixe menus as I can.

And since we are at it, no “I normally don’t care about Valentine’s day but I was thinking about all these people who are going to have company and nice dinners tonight” is not an invitation. And certainly not an invitation I would ever accept.

I found this on my building’s entrance this morning. No, I didn’t put it there. But yes, this is another reason I like engineers.

On a more positive note, I hope your day is going great and that you have a beautiful Tuesday that you get to spend with all your favorite people!

Now, join people for coffee? Yes. Go for dinner? Yes. Go out for drinks? A thousand times yes. Do anything otherwise inactive, fun and relatively unhealthy? Yes, please. Get my butt out there for my long run? Inexplicably… no. I don’t know how you people do it! And get excited for it on top of everything else. I guess I will never be a legit runner. Oh, well…

For the last three weeks, I have been following a training plan. It is an 8-week 10K training plan with the ambitious goal of me running a sub-1 10K race. I am kind of proud of myself, because this time, unlike so many others, I have been able to stick to the plan. Easy runs, tempo runs, speed sessions, strength training, even cross training! I have been doing them all rather diligently. And yet… I noticed today that I have run all my long/”long” runs on Mondays and not on Sundays as the plan prescribed.

Thus, today, I made the revolutionary decision. I will move my long runs on Mondays!

Who says that long runs are necessarily done on the weekends? I understand that this is the most viable solution for working people who cannot take extended periods of time from their working days in order for long training runs. But you know what? I am not most people! For better or worse, I am still at school and one of the perks (sometimes) is that I don’t have a set schedule. Nobody will care if I go to the office at 10 instead of 9 in the morning. On top of that, my “long” runs for the 10K training plans are all shorter than 10 miles, which means that they don’t require more than 1:30 hours, a period that I can take relatively easily off, if I am to come back and stay a little later at the office that night. I might as well exploit this entire eternal grad student situation while I still have this option.

I have been pretty consistent with the training this time, and if the track workout and the recent runs are any sort of an indication, it might work this time. And if my moving the long runs on Mondays helps me to keep this consistency, I am all for it. Extra bonus, I will have my weekends completely free, for whatever endeavor I might take that time.

To uphold my decision, today I ran my long run: 6 miles in 1:02:00 for an average pace of 10:20 min/mile. I had every good intention of running the thing outside, but it was so windy that I got too cold and moved to the gym. I am such a whiny spoiled Californian runner!

How do you feel about long runs? When do you usually run them?

But then, you have interval sessions. You just run hard for two-three minutes at most and then walk, and then run again, and then walk again. You get to play with speed. You get to play with distance. It doesn’t get boring. It doesn’t get old. It’s fun! So fun, that it makes time pass quickly even on a treadmill. Without a TV! It’s a miracle! And the best part? It’s a heck of a workout! You finish the session all sweaty and tired and you feel as if you have accomplished something major. Personally, I find even a 3-mile interval workout more challenging than a 10-mile long slow run.

Arguably, the best place to do an interval speed session is the track. It’s flat, the terrain is soft and relatively easy on the knees, and the distance is well-defined. No garmin, no GPS needed. Even the most number-obsessed runner needs only a timer.

The other day, I went to the school track for a speed session. The training plan said 8×400 at 5K pace. But for various reasons, not the least of which is the fact that I cannot run by feel, I ended up running my intervals at a 8:05-8:25 min/mile. What? You don’t believe me?

The splits: 8×400: 8:21, 8:10, 8:20, 8:23, 8:15, 8:25, 8:21, 8:05. The runkeeper log: here

Can we take a minute here to say that I was ridiculously excited and happy with my splits? An 8:20 min/mile pace is translated as a 7.2 mph on the treadmill. And I never run that fast intervals on the treadmill. The way the training plan is set, I get to add more intervals with every sessions, and then I get to combine more intervals for a longer duration. And somehow, some day, I might actually get to run 9 minute miles for extended periods of time. Yes, that is a warm-up pace for most, but it would mean so much to me to gain some speed!

Of course, by that time, that 5-year old kid who was lapping me at the track is going to be running 3-minute miles or something and get medals at the track and field championships. Really! I somehow bumped into the children (really young and little, height up to here children I mean) track team and these kids are so fast! And the coaches were pushing them so hard and yelling at them. No wonder where all the medals in the 100 and 200 meters races go…

So, how do you like long runs? What do you do to make them less boring and more appealing? Yay or nay on track workouts?

Applied Murphy’s Law 101:

My car broke down yesterday. Again. I had to reschedule my office hours to get it to the mechanic’s. Again. Seriously, I think that by now, my students think of the “my car broke down” excuse the same way teachers think of the “my dog ate my homework” excuse. Nobody believes it. I had to reschedule office hours twice last semester and once already this one. This piece of crap for a car is falling apart day by day. I just hope it holds at least till graduation because I can’t possibly buy a new one before I find a real job and I can’t possible survive in LA without a car.

Of course, there was some problem with the breaks and something had to be replaced and the bill would be 200$. I swear there is some sort of a prix-fixe to get your car to the mechanic. The moment you make the desperate decision to get your car there, you should be ready to part with at least $200.

And naturally, the only day that rains in LA is the day that you don’t have a car. So you need to go everywhere on foot. LA. Rain. On foot. The joint probability should be converging to zero. Yet, Murphy’s law.

Have I mentioned that on top of everything else, there would be an inspection of my house by the manager or the owner or something along the lines? By the way, what is this business and why is it happening? And of course that was the day that I spilled my coffee on the bed covers and the floor, the carpeted floor if I may add, and I ended up doing laundry and frantically trying to clean coffee from the carpet first thing in the morning.

And then, I came to school and the office lights are off. In case I have mentioned it less that fifteen hundred times by now, I work in a windowless closet office. Thank god for TA offices?

Probably I should be pissed. But seriously. It’s just so much that I just find it hilarious. And I can’t stop laughing at myself, by myself all day long. My office mates are convinced by now that I am totally crazy. It’s ok, I agree with them!

I feel slightly embarrassed because my school is supposed to have a really good college football team. Whenever I tell people what school I study in, the first thing they ask me is how the team is going, what the coach is doing and what I think. Even in my visa interview in Athens, the clerk asked my what the team’s mascot is and what I thought about the last game. Truth? I didn’t think anything and I had no idea who the game was against or who won.

Greek proverb: “the old wolf doesn’t change his mind”. American proverb: “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks”. Melie’s interpretation: “you can’t bring me to care for new sports at this age”.

It’s not that I don’t like american football. After someone took some time to explain the basics and was able to understand what’s going on and when I am supposed to cheer, it was pretty fun. And the players are kind of good-looking, which is always a plus. It’s just that… I don’t care enough to follow. And I am not rooting for any teams. What’s the fun in watching a game if you are not rooting for one of the two parties?

I don’t know and I can’t say that I care enough. Especially not when there so many sports to follow. Especially not when there is football! Especially not when Champions League and Copa Europa are resuming next week!

This entire rant was to say that: No, I didn’t watch the Super Bowl. No I have no idea who won and what this means. No, I didn’t watch the commercials or the Madonna performance at some point during the game. And no, I don’t feel bad that I don’t know any of these things. Do you know who won the Champions League last year? Who is the last world champion?

Sometimes I feel lucky that the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances come from countries that recognize that real football is supposed to be played with your feet

So, how did you spend the Super Bowl weekend? Were you watching the game? Happy or not with the outcome?

I am now supposed to:
- say 11 random things about myself
- answer 11 questions the person before me has asked
- somehow devise 11 questions of mine to ask the people I tagged
- tag 11 people to participate in the internet thingy

Seriously Rena? I have written finals that were easier than this!

I am at a loss here, especially after having written so many of these posts. But because I am always amazed and grateful and really really happy that someone might think of me for such a game, let alone be interested in hearing random things about myself or reading my post, I will never ignore such an invitation. Even if this means that I bore you to death. You can always skip the post, right?

1. I can’t stand the cold. I wish I could live in the Caribbean.

2. The most pointless argument is “You are from the North. You shouldn’t be cold. You should have been used to it by now”.

3. I have a ridiculously short attention span. I get bored easily and fall asleep even more easily. Chess, poker, not to mention the return to the Shire in Lord of the Rings.Seriously, was it really necessary to marry off every single one of the characters?

4. But if I get engulfed in something, I lose track of time and space. And of hearing. It often happens when I code. I forget to drink, I forget to eat and I suddenly realize it’s been 5 hours. Or that my office-mate was trying to talk to me for the last 5 minutes.

5. I am left handed. Yet, I golf, or more specifically I have golfed once in my life, and shoot with my right hand. And use the mouse. And the scissors. Ok, I quit. I can use my right hand for everything else except for writing and tennis. I suck at tennis either way, so I never face this problem either way.

6. When I was young, I used to be member of a traditional dancing studio. I credit it for traveling to many parts of Europe to participate in festivals. Too bad I have burned all the incriminating evidence. The traditional dresses were pretty fun.

7. I hate the color purple. It reminds me of funerals. Yet I love black.

8. I have never had my hair dyed blond. I am certain that I will look totally horrible but I kind of want to try it, even for 10 minutes.

9. I have a little lentigo on my eyelid. My grandfather and his siblings had the exact same one. I am the only person in the family that inherited the mark. I love it dearly just for this reason.

10. I want to get adopted by a cat. Preferably a black one.

11. I am really bad at finding random and even remotely interesting things about myself.

Rena’s questions:
1. What did you do for fun in your childhood?
I read.

2. What’s your hobby other than running?
Reading. Notice a pattern here?

3. What’s your most embarrassing workout related moment?
I am seriously torn between falling on the bridge during the R’n'R LA half marathon, spraining my ankle and cursing in Greek, choking on my own water during the Surf City half marathon or falling during my run the moment I set my foot on Greek soil this year. As you can see, I prefer to have a lot of audience in my embarrassing moments!

4. Would you rather run a 50 miler or do an ironman?
C – None of the above? Well, if I really really have to choose between the two, I would prefer the 50-miler, just because I am sure I would have drowned in the swimming part of the Ironman and my butt would be tremendously hurt to ride 100 something miles.

5. Which celebrity would you run with? (I pick Daniel Craig of course)
A very slow one.

6. What’s your favorite movie of last year? (AKA I’d like movie recommendations)
Ugh! I am notoriously bad at this. I almost never go to the cinema and since I canceled my Netflix subscription I don’t watch too many films either. I can seriously not think of one 2011 film for the life of me.

7. What’s your fashion must have?
Jeans of course! And a leather jacket and boots. I can wear these things every day… Oh wait! I do! Oh well…

8. What’s the one material thing that you can’t live without?
My phone.

9. What’s one of your life goals? (I totally wanna learn to do a back flip)
Stop being a student, aka graduate, before I die of old age.

10. Which childhood place holds most memories?
My grandparents’ house.

11. Where in the world would you go if you can go anywhere?
For a visit? I am torn between Machu Picchu in Peru, Cuba and Dublin. Now, if the question is to go and stay there, I really wish I could go to a small Greek island and stay there forever. And never have to work or go to the office ever again.

Let me see? Can I come up with 11 questions?
1. Why do you run if nobody is chasing you?
2. You receive a random gift from a stranger. It’s a nice gift. What’s your first thought?
3. Do you assume the best or the worst of other people?
4. If your significant other ever cheated on you, would you want to know?
5. What is the one thing you would ever be able to forgive?
6. Live fast, die young and live a pretty corpse behind? Or the opposite?
7. What is your favorite kind of music? And is it the same kind of music you use as a soundtrack for your workouts?
8. PC or Mac? And why nobody uses Linux? It’s pretty user friendly, I swear!
9. The road to hell is full of good intentions. Does it really make any difference if you really didn’t mean to?
10. τὸ δὶς ἐξαμαρτεῖν οὐκ ἀνδρὸς σοφοῦ. (Tò dìs examarteîn ouk andròs sophoû. “To commit the same sin twice [is] not [a sign] of a wise man.”) Do you give second chances? How many until it’s just too much?
11. Speed or tempo runs?

And can I find 11 people to tag?
- Kace at Then Change It. Just in case you ever run out of post ideas
- Laura at Rather the Couch
- Kate at What Kate is Cooking
- Katy at The Singing Runner

- Julie at Adventure is out there
- Mike at The Running Daddy
- Lisa at Mom to Marathon
- Laurie, who is too busy playing in the snow to post lately, at The Brick Wall
- Peace Be Me
- Becca at Becca Said
- Phillip. You didn’t think I would forget you, did you?

This is the longest post ever… I would be surprised if you managed to reach this point. But if you did, please answer one of the questions. Whichever grabs your eye!