First real run back.

Today Kath and I went for a run. It was really awesome to finally get back out there and get moving. My lungs still feel a little tight and congested, but that's life, I guess. 

My body remembered how to run and I felt like I was getting into a groove, but the rest of me was fighting it. I'm way too accustomed to not pushing it as much as I need to. I need to try to get some sort of speed training in.

Unfortunately, I found that my new running shoes aren't that great for me. They have been cutting into my ankles. I guess I could wear higher socks, because they're not terrible shoes, but I went to Track Shack and got some new Nike Lunarglides. These ones are different colors than my recently retired ones, so they seem like they're new! As much as I'd like to experiment with different types of shoes, I've gone through three (the new ones will be my fourth) pairs of Lunarglides and never had a problem. 

I think that I'm going to use the Saucony shoes that I bought in Chicago for gym shoes... which brings me to my next topic... I've gotten back into personal training. I started working out with Mark in April 2010. We worked out together until sometime in January of this year. Now he has started his own training business and I'm back at working out with him. It'll be good to have some guidance at weight training, because I'm terrible at it. He's also helping me to get my nutrition on point, which is a major thing that I need to focus on. Major. We worked on shoulders and arms today, so I may be feeling a little rough in the morning. I've lost so much of my progress that I made working out with him in the first place.

So yeah. Tomorrow I'm going to get up early(ish) and try to run 7 miles.. then I have lots of homework to work on and softball in the evening. I'm not too many days away from Goofy!

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days

So far: 682.29 miles/289 days

To go: 317.71 miles/77 days

Long Run Day and Retiring My Shoes (ending week six)

Today was long run day! My favorite day of the week (or not so much). The plan was to get up early so that I wouldn't have to run alone, but I ended up at work three hours late last night and didn't get home until after two in the morning. I knew I wouldn't be able to get up early for a run. Disappointing. So I had to run when it was already pretty hot out. ..On top of that, I ended up running alone.

I felt really awesome for the first mile. When I knew I was at the first mile marker, I was actually surprised with how little struggle I was going through. I felt like I could definitely finish out the last thirteen miles. haha. I actually didn't really struggle too much until I got about halfway through. I still had a really awesome pace until the tenth mile. After that, I really started to slow down. I actually almost slowed down one minute per mile. It was a little bit frustrating, but that's whatever.

At about mile ten, I started to feel like I was hitting the wall. I had run completely out of energy gels at that point and was just ready to give up. Actually, I REALLY wanted to give up. That only lasted for a mile or so and I was back on track. I felt really good ending the run, too.

I've never actually run 14 miles outside of a race before. Crazy.
It was good though.

In other news, today was the official last day of running with my current shoes. I'm getting some new ones on Tuesday before my four miler. I'm excited, but sad. These shoes have given me lots and lots of miles and many races in the past few months. It is also beyond time to get new shoes. My feet are a little achy.

So the shoes are going into retirement. I wish I knew what to do with old running shoes. I could donate them, but I feel kind of attached to them after all of this time. It's tough to let go. Haha. I sound ridiculous.

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 431.41 miles/211 days
To go: 568.59 miles/155 days