I learned a fun new word this week:
Fart.
I know what you’re thinking:
Dude, that word is the core of your humor. What are you talking about?
True. Farts are the source of my sophisticated (for a 7th grader) wisecracks. But I’m not talking about those. I’m referring to the Swedish definition:
Fart: speed.
That’s correct ladies and gentlemen, Fart == speed in the Swedish language.
If you ever go to Sweden and find yourself being pulled over for going too fast, you can tell the officer:
I didn’t fart.
And this works the other way here in America. Say you’re at a dinner party and you let one rip. Someone will be like:
Wow, it stinks in here. Dave was that you?
You can be like:
No man, I didn’t fart. I was just sitting here.
They won’t know you’re referring to the Swedish definition, so it will be OK.
Don’t say that you never learn anything useful here on 1500 Days.
No Fart
My running continues to progress. I’m running longer and longer distances. However, I still have no fart. I’m slow and beginning to think that running the half-marathon in under 2 hours is an impossible goal. Perhaps under 2:20 is more reasonable?
I can run 9-minute miles for shorter distances and this pace would be doable for a 5k or even a 10k. Probably not a half-marathon though.
Maybe I’m counting myself out too early? I still have almost two months to train and 10 pounds to shed.
Update: Week #5
This week, I completed my longest run yet at 7.5 miles. I hope to knock out a 10 miler before the month is over.
Maybe I made a breakthrough too. On the 7.5 mile run day, I felt terrible at the start. I was lethargic and considered throwing in the towel. However, after about 3 miles, something kicked in and it got a lot easier. I hadn’t had anything to eat yet, so maybe this is how long it took for my body to start burning fat? Dunno.
This Week In Running
- Runs: 3
- Miles: 14.5
- Longest run: 7.5
This Year In Running
- Runs: 23
- Miles per run: 3.54
- Miles: 81.44 (goal is > 150)
- Days until half marathon: 50
2018 Activity (walking included)
- Total steps: 579,906
- Total miles: 275.77
Weight, Heart, Beer
- Weight: 158.6 (goal is < 150)
- Low resting heart rate for the week: 63 (goal is < 60)
- Beers consumed this week: 4
- Beers consumed this year: 28
- Beer ratio: 2.91 : 1 (2.91 miles ran per beer). Goal is > 3 : 1
One more thing: I’ve been invited to speak at Chautauqua this October! I couldn’t be more thrilled for this opportunity. Read my post about it here and get your ticket here. This is going to be awesome.
Haha- I remember in high school when our XC coach made us run “Fartleks” (Swedish for “speedplay”… high school for “we are too immature to say that without laughing”). Let’s just say our coach quickly renamed the workout “interval training”. Good luck with the training! I’m starting my journey to my first full marathon this year and I’m already wondering what possessed me to sign up for such a task 😉
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“I’m already wondering what possessed me to sign up for such a task.”
I ask myself the same thing every friggin’ day.
He kept his beer ratio under 3! Good man, you can do this. 🙂
Haha! I’ve had 0 this week and will be dry tonight, so that ratio just may creep over 3 next week!
In Germany highway exits are “Ausfahrt”. It’s like a sophisticated fart…
Dude, you can beat 2 hours in a half. I too thought that was achievable in my early 30’s. My first half marathon I did 2:08 and felt like death. But I kept at it. Eventually I beat my goal and have been bringing it down ever since.
Doing speedwork is important – super short runs at much faster speed. And do full-on sprint sessions too if you can fit them in.
Thanks for the encouragement! So, this week, I started doing intervals where I do just what you said; alternating spring laps. But, maybe I need to make it shorter than a lap?
Yes, keep them to maybe 20 – 30 seconds at most right now. Just enough to get your HR up and the legs feeling a different pace, but not long enough to worry about injury. Happy Training!
Cool. I did that today actually on the gym track: So, 11 laps around the rectangular track is a mile. On the long parts of the rectangle, I sprinted. The short parts gave me just enough time to recover a little. It felt great!
Yes! I was trying to remember “Ausfahrt” from the highway signs in Germany.
All my farts are very sophisticated. Just ask my wife.
I have always thought that the first time at a distance, the goal should be to finish. That said, my “secret” goal for my first half marathon was the same as yours. I recommend a fantastic training book called “Run Less, Run Faster”. Of course I can’t remember the author at the moment. When I followed the training program the first time, it cut 20 minutes off my marathon time. Good luck! Reading about your training is motivating!
I just looked up that book! It actually seems similar to what I’m doing now with 3 runs per week, all different.
“I have always thought that the first time at a distance, the goal should be to finish.”
I know, right? Prior to a couple of months ago, the longest run of my life was 3 miles…
I’m curious why your 1st half marathon has to be completed in a certain time? Or is this just Carl the Complainer coming out in blog form?
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!!! Carl the Complainer !!!
OK, I do like to whine sometimes. OK, maybe all the time. Slap me!
I have to have a goal and I have to push myself. Come on 2 hours! Want to join me Even? I’ll buy you a beer afterward.
I have other goals not related to a half marathon, but thank you for the offer. I ran a half marathon once, happy I completed the race, not so happy that I would run a half marathon again any time soon.
Goals are good, hope you reach them! Also based on my half marathon experience, you get some adrenaline and run it a little faster than you would have thought, don’t of course factor that in;) Also hit the bathroom up a few times before the race, yes A FEW times, haha. Good luck sir!
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Are you running the same speed for every workout? I’m guessing not now that you’ve learned about fartleks 🙂 Also, your long runs will be remarkable slower paced than the rest of your runs (as well as what you’ll finally do in a race). For example, I ran around 12-13 min miles in training for my first half 10 years ago, but ran the race under 11 min miles when I completed it. I know, not super fast, but in the end what I had wanted to achieve. A lot of training plans will have you run 2-3 minutes slower per mile than you hope to in the race for your long runs. Hope that helps! Keep up the great work!
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This totally helps! I was pretty worried about my pace in the actual run, so it’s good to hear it’s OK to be a little slow now. I also hope the lower altitude (Colorado -> Portland) and adrenaline give me a boost.
Are you going to do a post about favorite goos? I think it’s so funny when people talk about eating the goo on their runs for fuel.
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I’ve never tried a running goo. Maybe I should for the longer ones?
I am thrilled to know one word in Swedish… the only other thing I knew was that you can rub your bum on the Swedish.
7.5 miles???? You’re cruising! And yeah, I think officially hit what is affectionately known as the runners high. Life sucks, then all the sudden it gets easier and fun. Until you hit the wall then it’s miserable. Keep it up!
Maybe we should have gone further while we were there. But there was beer to be had!!
Fart on to Victory!!!
After consistent training for a couple of months or so, the most important detail I have found for running long distances is your carb intake the days before the run. I make homemade pizza every week and eat left over pizza for usually 3 days. My longest runs are always achieved the days following the pizza gorge. I had a 13.1 mile run on Feb. 1st on the treadmill in 1:40:15 after a day off and eating pizza. Then yesterday I had a 11 mile run in 1:24:17 after a couple of days of eating my homemade pizza. When I run I always go as far as I can, Some days it’s 1 mile if I’m sore or have no energy, but others can be unbelievable. I’m 52, pizza is the answer, that and you have to be a little crazy.
Wait, pizza is the key? You’re officially hired as my coach!
I wouldn’t count yourself out yet on that 2 hours half – 2 months is a long time to train.
I think running’s best kept secret is that it takes a few miles before you really loosen up and it starts to feel good. I think most people start out to fast and quit after a few miles, but if you can make it past the 3-4 mile mark, nothing beats that feeling of just settling in for the long haul.
Good luck!
^ This.
Couldn’t have said it better.
Wooooo, there is hope! I did sprints today and it felt great!