Posts tagged running

• I have struggled with my training this week. It has been really hard for me to want to wake up early and go run. I guess my body is needing the extra sleep for whatever reason.
• With the summer we have been having I have really enjoyed the treadmill. My body just does not do well running in the heat. It just shuts down. But I have gotten really sick of running inside. 
• So once it cooled down enough, I attempted to take my runs outside this week. What do you know I really enjoyed them. :)
• Oh, I am running a quarter marathon in the morning befitting the Red Cross
• I ran this same exact race last year. It was really hard and miserable but the race organizers did a good job so I am going to give it another shot and you get a medal :]
• The reason it was so hard was because I did not pace myself well and it was super hot. The weather is supposed to be much better in the morning so I am hoping for better results.
• Last year I ran 6.6 miles in 1 hour and 24 minutes. I would just like to beat that which I should be able to do. But you just never know what your body will decide on race day!

I have a busy busy last week. As I mentioned before we were thinking about putting our house on the market. Well, it is now on the market and this past week we had a whirlwind of cleaning. I am really excited about this new chapter in our lives. I am hoping it sells fast but not too fast we need time to prepare. Our goal is to move closer to the city. My husband commutes an hour each way and I commute 30 minutes each day. It is in the same direction. Then we usually go into the city on Saturday and Sunday so it makes sense for us to move closer.

I also got some new running gear! I got some compression socks.

They were a Groupon deal. So I paid $30 and got them. This weekend my body is very thankful for them. I believe they have really helped me out. I am a believer in compression!

I also got some new running shoes!

These are the New Balance 860V2. They feel wonderful and I cannot take them out for their first run this week.

Then on Saturday I went for a 14 mile run. Before this run I had never run further than 13.1 miles. I slowed my pace down quite a bit. It really worked for me. I felt pretty strong the whole run. I ran the 14 miles in 2.5 hrs. So my average pace was 10.42 :) Although in two weeks I have to run 17 miles and that is starting to freak me out. But I will just take it one day at a time.

Where oh where does the weekend go? I had a wonderful weekend but it looks like it is coming to an end :[ 

I was able to get three more miles in yesterday. It was a great run and just what I needed after the Friday’s run. Then I went to a Yoga class once again it was something my body was happy with. I am still a little sore from the weekends running but I had my first Epsom Salt Bath on Friday. Then I had a another one today and I am felling much better. I am about to pull out the ole’ foam roller. 

This week is an easy week in my marathon training plan. I kinda like those:] Here is the plan for the upcoming week.

Monday: 3 miles

Tuesday: BodyPump

Wednesday: 3 miles

Thursday: BodyPump

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 4 miles…maybe BodyFlow

Sunday: Yoga…maybe a walk.

What does your upcoming week like??

So yesterday I sent out to do 12 miles. Since it was a long run I was hoping to hit the trail by seven. Between traffic and a couple of other things that did not happen. I got there at eight and it was already starting to get warm. No Good.

But I headed out anyway. Hoping I was prepared enough for this run. Unfortunately I was not. I started out way to fast (story of my life). I failed to remember that it was a long run and it was hot. Both reasons to take my pace down. During miles 1-4 I fell apart. I did not think I would be able to finish the run out. There were a lot of places that I had to take a break from running and catch my breath.

I usually do walk/run ratios of 3 to 1 and it works pretty well for me. But yesterday was a different story. That is what I started out with then I slowed them down to 2 to 1. Eventually I had to slow them down to 1 to 1. I was not happy with myself or the weather at that point but I did not want to given up or faint. So I did what was best for me.

Once I slowed down to 1 to 1. Then the run went so much better. I actually starting enjoying the run and the beautiful day. I wish I could have pulled my head out of my butt and realized my pace problem earlier. Sadly because of the time I had to stop and the fact that I was late getting there I was running out of time. So I only got 9 miles. So happy to be done. :]

It is not ideal but I am happy with the fact that I got that much in and I did not give up. Not all runs can be perfect and that is okay. I just need to learn from it and move on. Lesson of the day when people say slow down because of the heat listen!!!

My splits 10:13, 11:06, 10:58,11:51, 12:02, 11:55, 11:25, 12:04 and 11:19. On a good note my last mile was one of my faster runs.

Time to get another 3 miles in and BodyFlow. My body needs it!

My week of training was not very exciting but I kept on task. I feel pretty good about what I was able to accomplish.

Monday. I decided to take it as a rest day. I had ran 10 miles the day before and my legs needed that rest.

Tuesday. I went out for three miles. It was a good run. My average pace was 9:54 which is pretty good for me.

Wednesday. It was national running day. So I celebrated my running of course! I set out for another three mile run. My legs were pretty tired but I pushed myself and I was able to keep an average pace of 9:45.

Thursday. I went to BodyPump. It is a really good class but it is soooo early. 5 am. It is definitely taking my body time to get used to walking up that early.

Friday. My family came up that night to get ready for the big race the next day. So I took it as a rest day. There is something that I really like to about having Friday be my rest day. It starts the weekend on the right foot. :]

Saturday. Go Commando 5k. We ran an adventure 5k which I talked all about in my previous post. We ran/walked 3.1 with 15 obstacles in 50-45 minutes.

Sunday. I went for a run at the treadmill. It was super hot out and I did not feel like suffering outside. I really like going to the gym on Sunday. It is dead there and I have the whole gym to myself. Once I got there I realized I had forgotten my Garmin :( But I decided to go with it. So I do not really know how far I went but I am guessing three miles because I went for thirty minutes and that is my normal pace.

All in all a week of training I can be proud of :]

As I said before I ran this race with my sister-in-law, Kristine, my mom and my sister Jennifer. We are were all super excited about this race.  Before we knew it the time had come to head out the door.

We actually had to park and then take the shuttle to the race location. This meant more time for pictures.

It was a hot 85 degree, humid day. I said once and I will say it again. I do not like running in the heat. We got to the starting line. It seemed like another reason for a picture:] Then it was time to go.

This race itself had 15 obstacles. Team Ortho does a good at making sure they are challenging but are able to completed by most people. This course is super hilly. I give mad props to anyone that runs this whole thing!

We ended up walking a majority of it. My sister has major foot problems. Anytime she tries to run. She has foot pain for weeks. But she is a trooper and can walk faster that some people can run. So we managed to finish the course in 45-50 minutes which I do not think is bad considering all the obstacles. 

Then we finished. A whole lot muddier than we were last year!

At the end of the race they had this foam dome thing. It was neat to mess around in. But the foam got so huge we were covered in it. It was past our head. It was kinda of freaky because we could not see. But we finally made it out of there. We got hosed off. The mud did not want to come off and we were covered. The water was super cold! I ran in and out of the water for 10 minutes trying to get clean and I still found mud in places I did not know existed. :]

Then is was time for the best part of racing. The post race meal :] We headed to a local mexician joint and stuffed our faces on chips and salsa.

All in all we had an amazing time. It is something we will never forget :]

I have to take a minute to thank my Dad. He was a trooper and was our personal photographer! I am sure I will have a post with the professional pics once I can get my hands on them!

I am running a 5k adventure race in the morning. It is the Go Commando 5k. I am running it with my mom, sister and sister-in-law. I am pretty excited. I ran it last year with my sister-in-law and mom. We had a blast. I am looking forward to having my sister with. She has never ran a race so it should be interesting. We have our custom shirts and we are ready to go. I love running with people I am close with. This is a rare thing for me so I plan to enjoy it to the fullest. It may be slower that I am used to going. But it will be worth it. :))

Everyone is coming over tonight and I am making spaghetti. You need to Carb Load for a 5k? right?? ;] I think so.

Hopefully someone will get some good pictures and I can come back with a good recap for you guys. 

Thank-you for everyone for the shoe recommendations! It really helped me out on what I am “supposed” to be doing. I am going to pay attention to how my body feels and if I experience any abnormal pain. I will definitely go in. There is a specialist around these parts that most of my running friends have gone to and they love. I think I am going to make an appointment to see her.

To the recap.

Monday: It was memorial weekend. And I wanted to enjoy the weekend with my family which I did. I did not but pressure on myself. So I decided to take it as a rest day.

Tuesday: I was back at it. I took it out for a three mile run. I had an average pace of 9:56.

Wednesday: I went to BodyPump. Good workout. The instructor came up with her own workout thingy. I think she wanted to cause us pain. ;] I was sore until Friday.

Thursday: I had some extra time during the day. So I thought I would take it for four miles. I felt really good during this one. I did 4 miles in 41 minutes with an average pace of 10.07. I must say I am a firm believer that I have the best runs when I only run three days a week.

Friday and Saturday: I took rest days. My sister was up. So I wanted to spend time with her. We went to Jamie Grace concert on Friday after I was done with work. The on Saturday we went shopping with all the working we did that is a workout it itself. We also had our first Trader Joe’s experience. It was a pretty nifty store.

Sunday: 10.5 miles was on tap. But I had to run before church. So I only got 10 in.  My last long run was on Mothers Day. It was rough too. So going in I had some major self doubt as to how it would go.

I hit up the treadmill. I knew I needed something motivating to watch. So I decided to watch the “Spirit of the Marathon.” Absolutely love that movie! I was on the verge of tears quite often during the run. That is going to be me. I am going to be a marathoner! I still cant comprehend that.

The run itself was great. I felt like I could go a lot longer. Although, around mile 7 my left foot started to hurt. But I just kept working through it. I just felt so good ticking of the miles. I believe the movie pushed me to a runners high.  

My splits: 

Hopefully you can read that!

All in all it was a pretty good week. I did not workout as much as I normally do but I am okay with that. Somethings it is good just to enjoy life :]

As I mentioned in my last post. I was going to run the Autism 5k. I was really looking forward to the race. The race started at 9am. The race was about 50 minutes away from my house. I figured if I left at 7am that would give me more than enough time to get there, get registered and what not. I left the house feeling good. 

I was driving along and heard on the radio that there was construction this weekend on 94 the interstate that I needed. But I was not too worried I felt like I had enough time and I had my trusty Garmin to help a girl out. Well, my “trusty” Garmin instead of finding a new route for me just kept on trying to route me back to 94 even though it was closed. Ugh. I was not happy. Before I knew it I had been driving around the city for over ab hour. It was so frustrating because I knew I was less than 10 minutes from Lake Calhoun I could almost smell it :]

Around 8:50 I knew I was not going to make it to the race. So I found the nearest McDonald’s got some wireless. Looked it up on my iPad and it showed me exactly how to get there in less than 15 minutes. Why oh why was this so hard.

I wanted to just turn around and forget. I wanted to give up on the run and run on Sunday instead. But I did not I finally got there at 9:20am.

I may not have raced but I ran. By the time I started running it was hot. It was 80 degrees. I was feeling good and I started running way to fast. I am not used to the heat and I did not have hydration during the run. 

My splits were 9:20, 9:40 and 10:37 with an average of 9:56.  Not a PR but I am really just proud of myself that I did not give up on myself. I will do better next time. This almost racing stuff makes me really want to go race. :]

A quick shout out to Courtenay @ www.autopilotlegs.com. She rocked her first Half Marathon yesterday!