Training Day 24! (light day)

Today, my leg was feeling so much better! Exciting, right?
...so I went running. haha.

Today was six miles. I did walk a lot more than I wanted to, BUT, I did it understanding that I needed to take it semi-easy on myself because of my hip pain yesterday.

I stretched last night before bed, this morning when I got up, and then before I went for my run. I really feel like that helped out a lot. I've also been taking ibuprofen in order to reduce any possible inflammation. (thanks to Katherine, whose dad is a pharmacist)

I ended up with a 14:40-something pace, which isn't awful. Granted, it isn't my best time and it isn't any sort of race goal pace, but it isn't an absolutely terrible pace, either. It was also really hot out. I'd say that I did okay, considering. My major fear was that I was going to be out of commission for a while, but that didn't really happen.

Tomorrow, I'm taking a rest day. Yay for me. I have a short 6 hour shift at work & then going to see Seth's Encore! performance. It's going to be fun times for sure.

(in other news, this morning I registered for the Wine & Dine half marathon in November. This year, I will have participated in all but TWO of Disney's races.. well race weekends. How intense am I?!)

I'm also thinking about my nutrition more now. I feel like I need to fuel my body properly and stop eating like a complete moron all of the time. It's something I'm going to start to research. I still have some pounds to lose, but that isn't the goal. I want my body to respond the way that it needs to respond to running. I've seen a lot of improvement in myself in the past year and I know that I want to continue along that path.

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 382.24 miles/201 days
To go: 617.76 miles/165 days

Chicago Training Days 22 and 23

It's time for an update! Yay!

Yesterday, the rain was horrible and I knew I wasn't going to get my 7 miles in that I had planned. So I pulled a short run from later in the week and decided to switch it up a little. (is that even allowed when you're supposed to be following a plan??!)

So anyways, I did three miles yesterday that were intended for later in the week. I got rained on the whole time and took advantage of it by wearing long sleeves. (Okay, so the sleeves probably weren't neccessary, but how can you go wrong with a Goofy Challenge shirt. haha. I did get a little bit warm.) I ended up with about a 14 minute pace, which wasn't my best, but at the same time, isn't awful. I felt pretty good the entire time. It has been nice to have some rainy weather, so that I can keep going and it isn't quite as hot.

Today was the 7 miler. I don't know why I was dreading it, but I was. I put it off almost all day. I was going to go in the morning. Before I knew it, it was 11 and I figured it was too hot. Then I was going to go at 2:30-3ish so that I'd be back by the time Katherine got home from work and we could have some fun adventures. Then, before I knew it, it was 4:15 and almost time for her to head home from work. In that case, I figured that I would stick close to home and then see if she wanted to come with me later. My pace was horrendous for the first two miles that I did alone. There's something extremely lame about running around an apartment complex for multiple laps. Maybe I need a larger apartment complex. haha.

When Katherine got home, she changed out of her work clothes and we headed out to the running trail.

I realize that when I say running trail, it sort of sounds like I do a lot of trail running. The trail that I use isn't really a trail. It's an asphalt path. Just to clear that up. haha.

I felt fantastic until I was a little past mile 3 and a half. My left hip/upper leg started cramping up like crazy. I stopped to stretch several times. Each time, it felt a lot better, but then got worse again. I didn't really have a choice but to finish out the run, because of the out-and-back nature of the route that I use. I did a LOT of walking on the way back home. So much that I got really frustrated with myself. Ugh. I'm worried that I'm seriously hurt.

My pace ended up in the 16-minute range. Awful. Almost embarassingly so.

Tomorrow, I might actually have to skip a run for the first time on this training cycle. I'm praying that I'll wake up feeling fabulous and completely able to finish out what I need to do. The likelihood of that is slim, but there's always hope, right? The idea of being behind on my training really freaks me out and I'm not sure why, considering that I've never followed a real training plan before. Hmm...

Here are a few pictures from today's run. They're from my Blackberry, so they aren't as lovely as the ones that I took with my new camera the other day.

 My first stretching moment.

 Katherine saw a bunny in the cloud and decided to be like the bunny. Do you see it?

This picture is AWFUL quality, but there was for sure an alligator swimming along in the river next to the path. I've never seen an alligator outside of the zoo before, so this was crazy. (Wait! There's a 3 legged alligator who lives in the Magic Kingdom.) Can you see him?

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days

So far: 375.94 miles/200 days

To go: 624.06 miles/166 days

Finishing Week 4 of Training!!

I just got home from this week's long run! Woo! It was ten miles, so a little shorter than last week, but went okay. But hey, let's backtrack!

Friday was a 6 miler. It was ROUGH. I feel like my legs were pretty tight and that I really just struggled to get through it. I ended up with a just over 13 minute pace, which I guess isn't awful. I was disappointed, because I did so well on the 6 miler I had done earlier in the week that I thought I could continue on at that pace. Unfortunately that didn't work out on Friday. It was definitely hotter on Friday, too. I did persevere and finish, though. I didn't really want to during some of the run, buuut... I did it. I finished at just over 6 miles at a 13-something pace. Not terrible.. but not incredible either. Oh well.

(Shout out to Kath though. I sat down and called her and asked her to say encouraging things in the middle of my run. She came out and met me to keep me company on the run back home.)

Today, I had 10 miles! First, I worked this morning, which made me more tired than I anticipated. I got home and got changed to run without being too mopey about it. (I'm actually starting to get excited about this running thing, which is SO cool. and unexpected.) Kath went with me! We usually go out and back on a path near our apartment, but this time we decided to keep going when we got to the end of the path. We went around and back on the sidewalks rather than the path, which was fun. Sometimes, it's exhausting going out and then turning back. It was fun to change it up!

We had a great pace (about 14:30 for the first 7 miles) Then we slowed to a walk. My left hip was starting to bother me a little. It almost felt like it was tight and that it needed stretched out. I stopped and stretched a handful of times, but it only would get better for like fifteen minutes and then tighten up again. I'm a little worried about it, but tomorrow is a rest day and then on Tuesday, I'll just see how it feels when it's time to run again. I'll make a decision on Tuesday about whether I should run or not. Fortunately, this week at work should be pretty easy. I don't have stocking shifts and the shifts that I do have are pretty short. I won't be straining my muscles, that's for sure.

I'm really sore right now. It's weird how achy my muscles get after a long run. I'm really not accustomed to it, considering how awful I have been at following through with training for races. This is the first race that I've actually trained properly for. Crazy.

And with that... Week four of training is now complete. Oh SNAP!

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 361.44 miles/197 days
To go: 638.56 miles/169 days

(almost in the 400s! Wooo)

Exciting Run!! (Chicago Training Days 16 and 17)

I'm so excited about my run today!!! (I'm also not sure I have ever actually written that in a blog post before.) Bear with me, though, because I have two training runs to write about.

Let's start with yesterday, because, chronologically, Tuesday comes before Wednesday. I do kind of enjoy being chronological from time to time.

Yesterday was a 4 mile "easy" run. I really struggled with it for some reason. I think that my muscles were pretty tight from work. I probably should have stretched before I went out to run. Actually, I generally should stretch more than I do.

Anyhow, yesterday was a really tough four miler. My pace ended up being close to 15 minutes per mile, which was awful, because it was such a short run. I walked almost the same amount as I ran. I'm a little disappointed in myself, but I am glad that I got the mileage in. I know that I took so much time off of running for several months, which is much of why it is so difficult to get myself back to where I was before. (Although where I was before really wasn't so impressive either.)

I guess that it wasn't terrible and I didn't only walk the entire time. I switched it up a little. I'm going to try adding some stretching into my routing.

--

Today was a 6 miler. I went into it with a little bit of a pessimistic attitutde. I thought that I would probably be too slow and actually spent several hours putting running off this morning. (the threat of thunderstorms did not help push me out the door.) Eventually, after I ran out of excuses (and bad television to watch. ha.), I got dressed for my run and went outside.

My first mile was just over twelve minutes which was decent. I can (and usually do) run my first mile in a little over ten minutes and then continuously slow my pace for the rest of the run. I decided to try to push it a little bit more than usual today. When I checked my average pace again, when I was at about two miles, I was at about a 12:20 pace, so I had cut some time off. That wasn't too bad, so I kept pushing it. At three miles, I had slown down a little and was at a 12:58 pace. That's when I decided that I'd finish in under 13 minutes.

I don't believe that I've ever run a training race longer than 3 miles in under a 13 pace. Even my fastest half marathon is at just OVER a 13 minute pace. I just checked and the only 10k race that I've done was a 12:08 pace. I think that's the only time I've actually run a decent distance at that pace.

Anyways, I finished in a 12:55 pace. I slowed down a lot during the last mile. I tried really hard to continue pushing it, but just had to slow down. I am definitely a little disappointed in that, because, at 5 miles, I was at 12:45.

However, I'm really excited that I finished in the time that I did! I feel like I'm starting to finally improve in ways that I was beginning to give up on.

The only major change that I need to make is that I  need to crosstrain and that I need to start lifting weights more. I haven't lifted in a long time. ...and I miss it. Just a thought...

Goal: 1000 miles/366 days
So far: 341.24 miles/193 days
To go: 658.76 miles/173 days

too tired.

I'm exhausted.

Unfortunately, my workout for today has not been anything extravagant. I've just done some stretching. If you can count work as exercise, I did a lot of walking and plenty of lifting. I did some stairs. haha. However, I have been gone for 14 or so hours and I'm exhausted. I have studying to do and sleep to get so I can start it all over tomorrow. I am fortunate to have a job, though, and I'm very lucky that my body works enough to allow me to move all day long.

Also, although I feel like today was a cop out of a workout... by just stretching my aching muscles, that's okay, because yoga is important to so many people. Sometimes, I do need to slow down and look at things through a different light. I am trying.