Not cool, Runner 4

As you could probably could tell from my post about my dad yesterday, I've been in kind of a sobby mood recently. It's a combination of the holiday season, and the fact that I'm generally an extremely optimistic, upbeat person, but sometimes tears just build up. If I don't have a legit reason to cry, I get a leaky face. No one likes a leaky face.

So I got home from work last night determined to either kick my run's ass, or cry out my (basically nonexistent) sorrows on said run. (Ever cried on a run? It's one of the most cathartic things if you can really get it going, but it's difficult...endorphins + sadness don't work well together.)

I fired up 'Zombies, Run' and headed out to do my Week 1, Workout 2 training run. The story now is that I'm safe in the township now, and the doctor is training me to be a 'runner', i.e. go out into the zombie lands to retrieve things for the humans. They mentioned at the beginning that I might have a surprise or some company during the run, but after about 10 minutes I forgot all about it. 

I ran the route with the big hill behind my house, taking a couple of extra side streets to get some more distance. It is pitch black out there with no streetlights, so I was wearing a headlamp. It was also freezing out, so my breath came out as fog, lingering in the air in front of me (also where my headlamp was aimed) and making for an extremely spooky atmosphere.

So I'm in the last 10 minute "free form run", where you can do whatever you like, and getting all into my Taylor Swift tunes (don't you dare judge me) when all of a sudden in my left ear I heard a zombie sound. Just as I was saying "oh god no" and picking up speed, the 'zombie' yelled, 'BOO!' then started giggling. It was just Runner 4, playing a little prank on me.

NOT FUNNY

Once my heart resumed normal beating and I finished planning Runner 4's slow death in my mind, I ran (wee wee wee wee) allllllllll the way home. 

Here's the summary (I laughed when he told me to pick up sports bras for the girls).

Moving Right Along

After Saturday's 'getting chased by imaginary zombies' run, I was appropriately sore on Sunday. You know when your quads are so sore that your legs do a sort of mini-collapse and bend backwards when you walk rather than being able to support you? Yeah, I was that.

However, I was still feeling good about getting back on the exercise wagon. I went for brunch with a friend (Jewish deli...no bagel? Impossible...I had half of one). We then decided to go to the movies to see Silver Linings Playbook (quite good, mainly because I want to hump Bradley Cooper's leg). 

I got home at around 5:30, feeling bloated from popcorn and salt and kind of wanting to go to bed. BUT I DIDN'T. I put sweatpants and sneakers on, and did a fast walk up and down the 6 floors of my building, doing jumping jacks at each set of stairs. It took 30 minutes exactly, and I was so glad I did it.

Yesterday was supposed to be a run day, and as luck would have it the Patriots were on Monday Night Football. I mishmashed my plans of running and cooking dinner at home with going to a friend's house for sushi, and ended up going to her house, running in her neighborhood (which happens to be my old neighborhood and one of my favorite running places), and picking up sushi on the way back to her place. 

The run this time was less scary...I (Runner 5) am in the township now, which is safe. I worked with 'the doctor' on training in the township (see training plan below: the 'run for 15 seconds' thing was frustrating, but probably the best way to start). I liked the way it was set up (a little different than C25K), because by the time you get to the 'free form run' at the end you're all warmed up and wanting to move:

I'll tell you this: the spicy tuna and spicy scallop maki, beer, and football combo at the end was about 200 more satisfying after having worked for it. 

Zombies, Run!

Relevant background information:

When I am chased, I have neither a fight nor a flight response. I simply sit down, essentially presenting myself as bait. I believe it was my brother who summarized it so eloquently: 'So, you basically have no survival skills at all?'

I'm not proud of this fact (nor amused when people try to test the theory), so I decided to work on it. I downloaded the Zombies, Run! app on my phone, the 5K program. I've been sidelined from making any progress due to the toe situation for a few weeks, but by this morning I was itching to get out into the fresh air and get back on track.

At first it was a disaster. I woke up at 7am wide awake and ready to rock and roll, but then thought that since I had 4 shots of tequila last night I MUST be hungover (I wasn't) and therefore should return to bed for a bit. 'A bit' turned into four hours. Whatever, I'm more than rested now. I got up, took a quick shower, chugged some V8 and water and put on my running clothes. Toe felt good in the sneakers. Phone had just enough charge to get me through the run. But then I couldn't find my headphones, my new iPhone holder strap-on thingie was too big and awkward, and I couldn't get my house key off the ring. I spent 20 minutes looking for the headphones to no avail, then just said screw it and grabbed the buds that came with my iPod (which I hate). I also said screw it to the iPhone holder and shoved the phone in my bra instead. Got my ass out the door. SUCCESS.

It's damp and slightly rainy and chilly today--my favorite running weather! I started up the app, which incorporates a story into your run in between songs from your own phone, and headed out. The story is essentially that you are in a helicopter, heading to a human town in a zombie-infested post apocalyptic land or something to that effect. The helicopter crashes, and people from the human town are speaking to you over the radio. They guide you back to base, letting you know when to speed up because zombies are chasing you (they tell you not to turn around and to run as fast as you can, all while zombie sounds are fading in and out--CREEPY.) I had my Garmin on, along with the heart rate monitor, so it was kind of funny to see my heart rate spike throughout the run when the voices came on.

The chart above is my elevation (in green) overlayed with my heart rate (in red). I basically walked/ran up a giant hill and then turned around and ran back down. The amusing part is that the heart rate elevation at the end where the elevation is decreasing is sort of because I was running rather than walking, but  mainly due to the fact that I was running FAST because that was the part where the zombie was right behind me. I got all panicky and I would have loved to watch myself, silently chanting 'ohshit ohshit' while I ran home. At least I didn't sit down, right?