Sunday
Training week #2, NaNoWriMo and animal updates, and racing short distances to build speed and confidence.
November continues to be a busy month, but all in ways that are exciting. Nick and I have a few big life plans/projects that we’re working on, but I won’t be revealing those for a few months (if you think this means kids, let me kindly direct you to our 24 animals.)
Here’s what I can tell you:
NaNoWriMo
I made it through the first week of National Novel Writing Month (which I talked about here) and am now on day 12. That means that each day, whether before sunrise, after sunset, or somewhere in between, I’ve written 1,667 words. I’m currently sitting at 18,333 words which puts me at 37% of the way toward the 50,000 word mark and the first draft of a novel. I tried NaNoWriMo once a few years ago, and made it one day. This year has been entirely different and I have some theories as to why that’s the case:
It’s much easier to tackle a challenge together, and having an accountability partner (Nick) has made a massive difference for both of us. It’s easy to check in with each other and you can become “buddies” with fellow participating writers which, at the end of the day, means it’s difficult to hide your word count. We don’t always write at the same time, but we have leaned on each other to flush out our individual novel ideas.
It’s like a training plan. The NaNoWriMo dashboard provides a graph that charts your progress throughout the month and while the platforms aren’t strikingly similar, I am reminded of Strava’s weekly progress tracker. After years of training and measuring volume through Strava, I’m accustomed to breaking up my weeks and months into runs per day, and I’ve been able to wrap my head around completing a novel by the end of the month by thinking about the day-to-day of writing. Similar to running, I am not always in the mood to go and train, but once I start, it’s rarely ever as challenging as I expect; the same has gone for writing daily, too. Initially it can be difficult to focus, but if it’s on the schedule and I have set aside the time, then it’s more likely to get done.
I’ve let go of a lot of self-judgement I used to hold about my writing. I’ve also let go of the idea that the novel has to be or become something. This has been especially powerful as I tackle a new genre—mystery—and write for the sheer joy of creativity, rather than a possible end goal, like getting published.
Momentum. The more I get into the groove of writing every day, the easier it becomes as my life adapts to adding it in.
There are still several weeks to go, so I’m not giving myself any pats on the back yet, but I am feeling good about where I’ve gotten so far.
Training
Since my mileage has increased in preparation for HURT and NaNoWriMo has been added to the month, life right now feels fairly disciplined in terms of time, whether that’s training, work, animal care, home responsibilities, or writing. I feel like fall is a nice time to find a good rhythm and so training, too, has been really enjoyable lately.
Monday: This began as an easy run but quickly became a tempo; occasionally when running with Nick, we’ll both begin to push the pace and pretty soon we’re racing to the top of a hard climb. This ended up being a 6 mile climb with the last two miles at 6:04 GAP pace, which definitely qualifies as a full-on workout for me. We cruised the 6 miles back for a 12 mile day.
Tuesday: Normally my workouts fall on Tuesday, but I skipped the workout this week since Monday’s run was at a challenging effort. I ran an easy 10 miles in the morning on chunky trails and then ran an easy 4 miles with Cashew and Jack, two of our dogs, in the afternoon. I also got in a strength workout, which made for a hefty day.
Wednesday: Not every long run feels so refreshing and free, so when it happens, I thoroughly enjoy it. Easy 16.5 miles through a beautiful trail system near Pismo Beach. I traded high fives with a few of the mountain bikers who were also looping the park.
Thursday: At the moment 10 miles is my shortest run of the week, which I’m still getting used to. Nick and I ran Perfumo Canyon and chatted the entire way through. Nick is currently in grad school studying sport and performance psychology and we have a lot of fun discussing some of the topics that are brought up in his classes. I love conversations that include nuance and we both tend to have ideas that are often unpopular, so having interesting conversations while we click out miles is a blast for us both. I completed another strength workout in the afternoon—still working on increasing the number of pull-ups I can do.
Friday: My long run day! Nick was tapering for a race so he joined me on bike while I ran West Cuesta to the top of Tassajara Peak and back, making for a smooth 21 miles with about 3,500 feet of vert.
Saturday: It’s been a while since I ran out at Montana de Oro which is a great location for both running and biking. Easy 12 miles to cap off another great week!
Sunday: Rest day. I’ve spent it watching Nick race and catching up on chores (along with some breaks to walk the dogs and Casper.)
Total: 85 miles, 12,000 feet of vert.
Race Shorter Races
Earlier today, Nick ran City to the Sea Half Marathon, which runs from downtown San Luis Obispo to the finish at Dinosaur Caves Park in Pismo Beach. I wanted to sign up, too, but I decided it would be a poor decision to race at the end of a big week, on my rest day at that, and potentially dig myself into a hole in terms of both recovery and training. However, it was just as fun watching Nick run the race and PR with a 1:22 finish!
I’d like to put this more into practice myself next year, but I love the idea of jumping into local 10Ks and half marathons as a way to improve speed and increase confidence that you can run fast, even in the context of a trail ultra.
Animals
Last weekend, we brought three senior rats into our lives. We adopted them from a couple that was moving and couldn’t bring them to their new home; they were planning on euthanizing them if they couldn’t find new owners before their move. We kept two of their names (Winston and Zeus) but had to change poor Nightmare’s, because who wants to be called Nightmare? His new name is Edgar (Allen Poe), a nod to our other rat, Rumi. Nick brought them to the vet on Wednesday and we are currently treating Edgar’s respiratory infection. All three are in good health otherwise and seem to have adjusted well to their new home.
It’s time for me to write the rest of my words for the day. I hope you have a peaceful Sunday evening.