Mid Week Running & Oscar Noms

I had a feeling today would be a snow day so I ran my Thursday run yesterday.  Which means I broke my rule about not running two days in a row.  I've suffered from Achilles tendonitis for about a year and a half now so I try to be extra cautious, especially after speed days.  But now I'm actually happy I ran yesterday because I'm currently lying in bed with a really bad headache/sore throat that I hope won't turn into anything too serious.  But to be extra safe, I'm planning to do my long run on the treadmill again this weekend. However, next weekend I'm getting outside no matter what- RACE DAY- Super Sunday 10K!

Tuesday I woke up super early to get to the gym.  After Monday's commuter fiasco I was pretty happy with only a 15 minute delay.  I got to the gym, jumped on my treadmill and got cranking.  The workout was 3X1Mile with 1 Minute rest at 10K pace.  My goals every time I do speed is to get progressively faster with each interval.

Workout:

1 mile at 6.0mph, 1.0 incline

1 mile at 8:21 (7.1-7.2mph)

1 minute rest (I ended up just jumping on the sides of the treadmill and drinking water for a minute)

1 mile at 8:09 (7.3-7.4mph)

1 minute rest

1 mile at 7:39 

(I started at 8.0mph and went up every 400 meters- I felt good on this, apparently I had a lot left!)

then I walked a quarter mile and jogged .75 until I hit 5 miles

5 miles/45:45/8:58 pace

I felt awesome on this run!  I love running intervals.  Ten miles was painful on the treadmill Sunday but felt great on Tuesday. 

Wednesday I woke up early again and got to the treadmill.  I just wanted to run at a fairly easy pace for 6 miles and slowly get faster.  I ended up running a 10K in 55:37 (8:57 pace).

I'm running a 10K next weekend.  I'm not exactly sure what my goal is- I would love to hold an 8:30 pace but not entirely sure thats possible, but we'll see!

On a non-running note, I want to talk about the Oscar Nominations for Best Picture.

I've seen Inception, Black Swan, The Social Network, and The Fighter.  I want to see 127 Hours and The King's Speech.  I loved all the movies I saw except Black Swan.  Social Network had a great story.  The Fighter had a wonderful story and passionate, amazing acting. (Christian Bale is the best actor of our generation, Melissa Leo was extremely impressive and Amy Adams nailed the part as a girl from Lowell). Inception took you into a new world, made you think and left the end up to your interpretation.  I guess you could say the same about Black Swan but in my opinion, it just wasn't interesting enough. I've read countless reviews on Black Swan.  I am seriously fascinated with this movie, and more, why it has so much buzz.

To quote a review on Screen Rant: "In terms of technique, Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan is arguably a masterpiece. The way Aronofsky manipulates sight, sound and editing to create this story of ambition and madness, shows that he is truly one those increasingly-rare directors who is worthy of the title “filmmaker,” as oppossed to “glorified video game and/or music video maker." So why am I not yet ready to tout Black Swan as “the film of the year?” Because for all its technical marvel -- and wonderful performances -- the movie falls short of its primary goal: conveying a moving and/or interesting story."
And that's exactly how I felt about Black Swan- the story, screenwriting, and acting were not developed enough.  And in my opinion, Natalie Portman was not the star of the movie- the director of the ballet, Thomas (Vincent Cassell) was and I think he is the one who got snubbed with the Oscars noms.

I used to love Darren Aronofsky (I even wrote a report on Requiem in college) but I'm not sure my POV on films is the same anymore.  I used to care more about cinematography, editing, and effects then I did about the actual film/story.  I'm older now and what is most important to me about a film is the story. Screen Rant wrote this and I wholeheartedly agree
"a clear visual metaphor is established: to this character (Nina- Natalie Portman) there is no outside world, only the world as it exists in her mind. This would be an intriguing approach if Nina was a more intriguing character. However, sadly, this was not the case. I will say that Portman delivers an impassioned performance in this film, in the sense that she wholeheartedly attacks the role in much the same way that her character is asked to attack a set of pirouettes at one point. Yet Nina is not what I would call a complex or interesting character -- in fact, I dare say she is one-note: crazy" He goes on to say that in this film Nina's character goes from "crazy  to crazier." 

So I guess you could say I just didn't like the story.  However, The Fighter and Social Network were fascinating stories that captivated me the entire time. People also talk about how The Town got snubbed.  I liked the action of The Town but it failed on two major points in my opinion: acting and believability.  Blake Lively was the worst casting I've ever seen for a trashy, drugged out Charlestown girl.  And the relationship between Ben and the banker was so unrealistic and the ending just pissed me off.  Am I alone?

I love films that make you think, that have tremendous acting, that are relate-able and have interesting stories. But I'm not going to tell you I'm a total film snob.  After all, I did watch Valentine's Day this morning (and actually enjoyed it)! And I may be currently watching Adventures in Babysitting as I type...hehe.

What film do you think should win Film of the Year at the Oscars?  

And did you run Speed this week?  What was the workout?