I have found I am a huge baby. Yup, a full-fledged, 26 year old infant. At least when it comes to running. Three weeks ago it was "I can't believe I have to run 5 miles!"...this week it was...."7 miles - Hal Higdon you are out of your mind!"....
Alas, Saturday came just like it always does, and with it, the promise for my mileage to dominate me, or for me to take charge.
I have to admit, I was tired on Saturday. Though I hydrated, and spent Fri night at the house, working on a presentation, I stayed up late (12:30), and got up around 7am. So, I wasn't exactly sleep deprived, but I wasn't well rested either. I had to present a two hour program for a high school leadership series here in the area. I have done this program for 4 years, so it has definitely become a part of my life. However, the idea of standing on my feet for 2 hours running a workshop, then getting home and running 7 miles, didn't exactly seem, well, appealing.
Like I said, I am a baby.
The workshop went quickly, and I found myself suiting up in my running shoes and such before I knew it. (Bodyglide all over my feet, band-aids covering my little toes). The only question was, how many layers? It was 58 at the time, but breezy, and it was my first long run outside. I was running around a park that had a shady half, and I worried about getting a chill. So, I layered 2 long-sleeved tech shirts, my running tights, and a vest. Bad. Idea.
By the time I was on mile 3.5, I was sweating profusely. As in, you know those old men who run shirtless and get sweaty in a gross, non-sexy way? I was sweatier than them....ugh. Dislike!
Since it was my genius idea to wear said vest, it was my punishment that I had to ball up the polartech nightmare and carry it, clutched in my fist, for the last 2.5 miles.
I'm not going to lie - I was not a happy camper. I had to walk two hills, my heart rate was getting too high, and I was wishing I had my hydration belt with me. Alas, when I saw the last turn before the end of my run, I got really excited, and just kept going. I only ran 6.6, and then another .3 for a cooldown, but hey, that's 6.9 miles. That is exactly 5.9 miles more than I could run two months ago. Wahoo!
After my run - all my tensions went away. I think the biggest thing about running is you have to get over the mileage. Seeing 7 miles on your google calendar is scary for someone who hasn't run that far in over a decade. But at the end of the day, if you tackle it like 2 x 3.5 mile runs, it isn't as frightening as one might think.
This is getting wordy - so I'll just leave you with one last tidbit. The park I run in has a stretch that borders a highway. I drive this highway to work every single day, and I see the runners on the trail. I always think to myself "Wow, those gals had to run a good distance just to get halfway around the park - and they are still going!" I was just amazed that they were out there, running, and they had to keep running if they ever wanted to get back to their cars. Well, this past Saturday, as I was hot and clutching slash hating my vest in hand, I looked out to my left, and saw the highway. I realized I was one of those runners.
It has been a few years since I felt like anything was possible. This past Saturday was a welcome reminder that we control our own destiny.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Runner's qualms....
So - let's go to last weekend. I had a 6 miler planned, and I did everything to prepare. I didn't go out on Friday, I hydrated, did not eat a fatty meal. Saturday am I had my now usual snack of peanut butter, banana, and a piece of toast. I stretched, had a small cup of coffee, and was out the door. So far, so good, right?
Wrong.
Mile 2.5 hit - and with it, came a lingering sensation of a forming blister on my right foot. That's right, a blister on my instep...and it wasn't getting better. In fact, it was getting worse. I thought I might stop and remedy the situation, but I just didn't want to stop running. Truthfully, for me, the only way to remedy a blister is to sanitize a needle and do a small surgery to relieve the swelling. I wouldn't want to keep running once I put my shoe back on, so I didn't take it off.
Big. Mistake.
By mile 5 my foot was throbbing, and it was all I could think of. I had downloaded all sorts of interesting podcasts, and non of them could keep my mind off the dull, persistent pain at the end of my right leg. I could feel my form start to compensate for the pain - my right arm swinging across my body, my stride shortening.
I pushed through the last mile, did a 4 minute cool down, and then proceeded to head over to the mats to stretch and remove my shoe. Much to my own dismay, I didn't just find a blister, I found much worse. First, a giant blister covered the majority of the arch of my right foot. Swollen and begging for a needle to relieve the pressure, it wasn't going anywhere any time soon. The next thing I noticed was both of my pink toes were bloody. Sorry if this is too graphic - but yes, they were bloody. I thought my toenails had fallen off, but the toes were fine. I couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from that had turned my shoes into a crime scene.
Ah - until I looked at the outside of my 4th toes....(what are those called by the way - ring toes??) Get this - my toenails had cut. into. my other toe. Yup, my littlest of little piggies had waged a war with my 4th toes - cutting gashes into the sides of each toe. I must have been clenching my feet to compensate for the blister, and I thus created havoc in my sneakers.
So, here I am. The sad state, shoeless, on a yoga mat in the gym. Wondering how the heck I am going to walk myself back to the locker room, get dressed, and drive myself back to the house. I managed to do it, but by the time I got inside, it was about all I could do to take a shower and lay down on the bed.
What is the verdict of this overly gory story? Well for one, band-aids. The next lesson? Two words:; body. glide. Yup. This lovely little tube-o-joy prevents rubbage wherever you do not want it. I have used it liberally on all parts of my feet and no blisters since! Wahhoooo!!!!
Other new developments. I am reading "The Truth About Food" and have become keenly aware of how I feel after eating certain foods. I have started trying to cut back on my processed foods as much as possible, as well as eating a meat-free meal (either lunch or dinner) each day. I have particularly noticed how eating beef the night before a run makes me feel sluggish.... beginning to think the saturated fat might play a role.
More on that later.
Wrong.
Mile 2.5 hit - and with it, came a lingering sensation of a forming blister on my right foot. That's right, a blister on my instep...and it wasn't getting better. In fact, it was getting worse. I thought I might stop and remedy the situation, but I just didn't want to stop running. Truthfully, for me, the only way to remedy a blister is to sanitize a needle and do a small surgery to relieve the swelling. I wouldn't want to keep running once I put my shoe back on, so I didn't take it off.
Big. Mistake.
By mile 5 my foot was throbbing, and it was all I could think of. I had downloaded all sorts of interesting podcasts, and non of them could keep my mind off the dull, persistent pain at the end of my right leg. I could feel my form start to compensate for the pain - my right arm swinging across my body, my stride shortening.
I pushed through the last mile, did a 4 minute cool down, and then proceeded to head over to the mats to stretch and remove my shoe. Much to my own dismay, I didn't just find a blister, I found much worse. First, a giant blister covered the majority of the arch of my right foot. Swollen and begging for a needle to relieve the pressure, it wasn't going anywhere any time soon. The next thing I noticed was both of my pink toes were bloody. Sorry if this is too graphic - but yes, they were bloody. I thought my toenails had fallen off, but the toes were fine. I couldn't figure out where the blood was coming from that had turned my shoes into a crime scene.
Ah - until I looked at the outside of my 4th toes....(what are those called by the way - ring toes??) Get this - my toenails had cut. into. my other toe. Yup, my littlest of little piggies had waged a war with my 4th toes - cutting gashes into the sides of each toe. I must have been clenching my feet to compensate for the blister, and I thus created havoc in my sneakers.
So, here I am. The sad state, shoeless, on a yoga mat in the gym. Wondering how the heck I am going to walk myself back to the locker room, get dressed, and drive myself back to the house. I managed to do it, but by the time I got inside, it was about all I could do to take a shower and lay down on the bed.
What is the verdict of this overly gory story? Well for one, band-aids. The next lesson? Two words:; body. glide. Yup. This lovely little tube-o-joy prevents rubbage wherever you do not want it. I have used it liberally on all parts of my feet and no blisters since! Wahhoooo!!!!
Other new developments. I am reading "The Truth About Food" and have become keenly aware of how I feel after eating certain foods. I have started trying to cut back on my processed foods as much as possible, as well as eating a meat-free meal (either lunch or dinner) each day. I have particularly noticed how eating beef the night before a run makes me feel sluggish.... beginning to think the saturated fat might play a role.
More on that later.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Another 5 miles...this time, not so pretty...
Okay, so, rule of thumb. Night before a long-ish run, do not eat majorly fatty foods. Don't split them, and think you are still fine, just plain don't eat them. Don't do it. Hubby and I split a lovely grass fed burger and fries at a restaurant nearby, and I think our digestive systems used our 8 hours of sleep to punish us come 9am. Running+fatty meal night before= not happy tummy. I'll just put it that way.
Alas, a 5 miler was planned, and the calendar doesn't give much room for rescheduling, so I headed out. It wasn't Valentine's weekend, there wasn't any grand Saturday planned, just me, my shoes, and a run. A little less glamourous this go-around, right?
I think I was a little dehydrated, because all throughout the run I kept having this feeling that I needed a sip of water. I had to stop briefly several times to get a sip, and splash my face. The whole run just felt laborious and gross. I hit mile 4 and was finally happy to have only a mile left, woo hoo! Finished up my run feeling okay, but still bummed the 5 miles took me 55 minutes.
This week the mileage creeps up a little more. 4 miler for today, which I am going to try to do as 1 mi easy pace (5.0mph), 1 mi pickup pace (5.3 with incline), 1 mi flat and fast (6.0), and 1 mi back up hill (5.2 with incline). Let's see how this goes. I tried doing mile repeats last week - but felt like dying. Seeing as I have a huge amount of studying to do for next Tuesday's exam, I cannot afford to be nauseous and dizzy post-run.
So - today? I hydrate! Oh - and eating small meals throughout the day.....
Alas, a 5 miler was planned, and the calendar doesn't give much room for rescheduling, so I headed out. It wasn't Valentine's weekend, there wasn't any grand Saturday planned, just me, my shoes, and a run. A little less glamourous this go-around, right?
I think I was a little dehydrated, because all throughout the run I kept having this feeling that I needed a sip of water. I had to stop briefly several times to get a sip, and splash my face. The whole run just felt laborious and gross. I hit mile 4 and was finally happy to have only a mile left, woo hoo! Finished up my run feeling okay, but still bummed the 5 miles took me 55 minutes.
This week the mileage creeps up a little more. 4 miler for today, which I am going to try to do as 1 mi easy pace (5.0mph), 1 mi pickup pace (5.3 with incline), 1 mi flat and fast (6.0), and 1 mi back up hill (5.2 with incline). Let's see how this goes. I tried doing mile repeats last week - but felt like dying. Seeing as I have a huge amount of studying to do for next Tuesday's exam, I cannot afford to be nauseous and dizzy post-run.
So - today? I hydrate! Oh - and eating small meals throughout the day.....
Monday, February 15, 2010
5 miles...the count starts to creep up....
Being that this last weekend was Valentine's weekend, my hubby had Saturday all planned out for us. I thought we were somehow magically NOT tackling our long runs, but alas, that was scheduled in. This week's run was 5 miles, and to be honest, it scared me more than the 4 miler from last weekend. Something about the number and how it is starting to creep up. I know a half marathon is 13.1 miles, I realize 5 miles is a little under 40 percent of the total mileage I will run in 7 weeks (run and hide right now)....but for some reason, 5 miles just seemed daunting.
I woke up 2 hours before my run, made coffee, had a light breakfast of 1 piece of sprouted grain bread, 1 T almond butter, and a half of a banana. I squeezed a little honey on there because, hey, it's honey, it's sweet, and it's deliciousness in a bottle. Followed that all up with a huge glass of water, must. stay. hydrated....
I ran slow (10.5 min mile pace) - at this point I am still nervous and wanted to get my mileage under my belt, rather than focus on my mile pace. The first 3 miles felt a little rough, but I was trying to focus on my breathing and form, keeping my heart rate down. Anyone out there train with a HR monitor? I used to hate them, but now it makes training so much simpler. It is also nice to compare what the monitor says to my actual perceived exertion. Sometimes I can push myself a little more, or back down accordingly.
So - I took my towel off after 44 minutes and saw I had......1 mile go!!! Wahoo! I felt pretty nice, so I cranked up my speed to a 9 min mile, and polished it off! It was lovely, the best Valentine's gift ever! Happy V-Day to my cardiovascular system!!!
I did feel a little shaky after my cool-down, so I supplemented with a banana and a light lunch. I also was a lucky lady this past weekend, as my hubby treated me to a post-run massage. Positive reinforcement! Run 5 miles, get to eat a yummy lunch, and get a massage = one happy lady. : )
The mileage this week starts to creep up across the board. Today is 4 miles, which I will try to do as 2x2 mile runs at a slightly faster pace, a 10 min break in between. My sched is as follows:
Tuesday: 45 min cross train
Wed: 4 miles
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 45-60 min cross train
Sat: 5 miles
Sun: yoga
I have a distinct feeling that once I get through the 6 miler on the calendar for 2/27, I will feel much, much better about the April Half Marathon....we'll see!
Until then - off to hydrate and prep for this pm's run!
I woke up 2 hours before my run, made coffee, had a light breakfast of 1 piece of sprouted grain bread, 1 T almond butter, and a half of a banana. I squeezed a little honey on there because, hey, it's honey, it's sweet, and it's deliciousness in a bottle. Followed that all up with a huge glass of water, must. stay. hydrated....
I ran slow (10.5 min mile pace) - at this point I am still nervous and wanted to get my mileage under my belt, rather than focus on my mile pace. The first 3 miles felt a little rough, but I was trying to focus on my breathing and form, keeping my heart rate down. Anyone out there train with a HR monitor? I used to hate them, but now it makes training so much simpler. It is also nice to compare what the monitor says to my actual perceived exertion. Sometimes I can push myself a little more, or back down accordingly.
So - I took my towel off after 44 minutes and saw I had......1 mile go!!! Wahoo! I felt pretty nice, so I cranked up my speed to a 9 min mile, and polished it off! It was lovely, the best Valentine's gift ever! Happy V-Day to my cardiovascular system!!!
I did feel a little shaky after my cool-down, so I supplemented with a banana and a light lunch. I also was a lucky lady this past weekend, as my hubby treated me to a post-run massage. Positive reinforcement! Run 5 miles, get to eat a yummy lunch, and get a massage = one happy lady. : )
The mileage this week starts to creep up across the board. Today is 4 miles, which I will try to do as 2x2 mile runs at a slightly faster pace, a 10 min break in between. My sched is as follows:
Tuesday: 45 min cross train
Wed: 4 miles
Thurs: Rest
Fri: 45-60 min cross train
Sat: 5 miles
Sun: yoga
I have a distinct feeling that once I get through the 6 miler on the calendar for 2/27, I will feel much, much better about the April Half Marathon....we'll see!
Until then - off to hydrate and prep for this pm's run!
Monday, February 8, 2010
4mi baby!
Saturday is my official long run day. While most runners don't consider 4mi to be a lengthy run, for this chicka, it was quite a feat to tackle. I was kind of dreading it all day. I had the procrastination bug in the worst. way. ever. I cleaned the condo, did grocery shopping, made lunch, all but run. Finally 5pm rolled around and my hubby was headed to the gym, so we carpooled. Having him on the treadmill next to me really kept me accountable and motivated. I found that if I could just get to the 2.5/3 mi range, I could feel really motivated to finish that last mile. Normally I cover the time and mileage with a towel so I don't fixate, but as I approached my mileage I wanted to see!!!!!
It took me 45 minutes, but I did it! Insert gleeful cheering here!
After which, I stretched, then promptly showered the stank that is running off of me. And ate pizza. Glorious, glorious, organic-fair-trade-locally-grown pizza. www.restaurantpi.com *Nom nom nom* : )
It took me 45 minutes, but I did it! Insert gleeful cheering here!
After which, I stretched, then promptly showered the stank that is running off of me. And ate pizza. Glorious, glorious, organic-fair-trade-locally-grown pizza. www.restaurantpi.com *Nom nom nom* : )
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Half Marathon training is under way!
I have been diligently trying to get back on the running horse that I fell off of, oh, almost a decade ago. Years of cross country in high school taught me to have a love/hate relationship with running, and so I ran (figuratively) far from it once college hit.
My husband recently talked me into running a half marathon this spring, and I took the bait. The first hurdle? Getting myself back in shape to run the basic training run, a 5k.
This past Monday, I did just that! Hooray! I ran 3.1 and stopped for a brief 4 min walk to ease a cramp. I am still getting the hang of eating before a run, and think I had too much too soon in my tummy....a lesson I will adjust for in the coming weeks!
So - for all who don't think it to be possible. Get out there and go for a jog or a walk - you never know what you are capable of until you try!
My husband recently talked me into running a half marathon this spring, and I took the bait. The first hurdle? Getting myself back in shape to run the basic training run, a 5k.
This past Monday, I did just that! Hooray! I ran 3.1 and stopped for a brief 4 min walk to ease a cramp. I am still getting the hang of eating before a run, and think I had too much too soon in my tummy....a lesson I will adjust for in the coming weeks!
So - for all who don't think it to be possible. Get out there and go for a jog or a walk - you never know what you are capable of until you try!
Just an update....
As I was plowing through my 5k on the treadmill the other day, a skinny skinny gal got on the elliptical in front of me. While I was sweating bullets and running, she lightly exercised for 15 minutes while on her cell phone. I couldn't help but be a little offended that I was in much better shape than her, yet would never look like her...I found this site today - and became a huge fan of ending the "Fat Talk" - take a look.
www.endfattalk.org
www.endfattalk.org
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