Blogger hates me. It always deletes my paragraphs. I go back and edit them at least 10 times putting spaces in between and, inevitably, it doesn't work. I apologize in advance because this is one of my pet peeves when I read other people's blogs.
Sorry.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Long Run #2 Update
-Go confidently in the direction of your dreams...Henry David Thoreau
My training schedule calls for running every other day, so that puts my long runs on a Sunday one week and then a Saturday and continues to alternate. At first I thought this would be problematic since Tony works on Saturday mornings and I would therefore always have to run in the afternoon on those days or adjust the schedule. I am hesitant to adjust the schedule because I really like the idea of running every other day. It gives my body just enough time to recover and I believe I am avoiding injury as a result (I'm crossing my fingers).
Today was phenomenal. The afternoon run worked out perfect and alleviated some of the GI issues I had experienced last week and on previous runs. I was able to sleep a little longer (7:15...I know, the life of a mom of young children), enjoyed some coffee, and had 5 mini muffins. I was able to get ready at my leisure and this left me plenty of time to use the bathroom, etc. I also had plenty of fluids prior to the run, probably 32 oz. of water at least and had some more of my ghetto pasta around 11am because I figured that would be enough time to digest before running.
When Tony returned from work, I started getting ready to go. I fed Tyler so both of us would be content during the run and I was able to make it out the door by about 1pm. I added a little Gatorade to my water bottle and set out for my first of two routes I planned.
My training schedule calls for running every other day, so that puts my long runs on a Sunday one week and then a Saturday and continues to alternate. At first I thought this would be problematic since Tony works on Saturday mornings and I would therefore always have to run in the afternoon on those days or adjust the schedule. I am hesitant to adjust the schedule because I really like the idea of running every other day. It gives my body just enough time to recover and I believe I am avoiding injury as a result (I'm crossing my fingers).
Today was phenomenal. The afternoon run worked out perfect and alleviated some of the GI issues I had experienced last week and on previous runs. I was able to sleep a little longer (7:15...I know, the life of a mom of young children), enjoyed some coffee, and had 5 mini muffins. I was able to get ready at my leisure and this left me plenty of time to use the bathroom, etc. I also had plenty of fluids prior to the run, probably 32 oz. of water at least and had some more of my ghetto pasta around 11am because I figured that would be enough time to digest before running.
Stretching before my run...a must for me since I have ITband issues.
I love my smart wool socks!
When Tony returned from work, I started getting ready to go. I fed Tyler so both of us would be content during the run and I was able to make it out the door by about 1pm. I added a little Gatorade to my water bottle and set out for my first of two routes I planned.
My hydration for the run...the first water bottle I carried (mostly water with a splash of Gatorade), the 2nd and 3rd positioned near the door for refilling when I stopped by the house (the 3rd was straight Gatorade).
The temperature was a little warmer today, 26 degrees when I left the house, so I was dressed lighter than last week and it worked out perfect. Decked out, once again, in my yellow, devil-horned hat, I got myself pumped with Lady Gaga and did an out and back. Quite frankly I was running around like I was the coolest thing since sliced bread. I had a bit of a bounce in my stride and sang along to the tunes I shuffled through...note...Tony's selection is even worse than I originally thought, elevator music as well as the soothing tunes we use to put our children to bed were on the MP3 player.
I made the quick stop back at my house to refuel with the Gatorade, refill my water bottle, and I even took a bite of a protein bar that was surprisingly delicious--much better than Clif bars I've had in the past.
The second part of the run was just as pleasant. I do have a bone to pick with Champaign--plow your streets, not just the major ones! Fortunately I purposely selected a route that I thought would be plowed (I went around the community college near our house and the streets are cleared very nicely as well as the walking paths for the students).
I made it back from my 9 miles in around 1:40 which included my stop at the house and 2 stop lights that I had to wait at. I feel I should still factor those added times in because I intend to stop if I need to during the race.
Post run I felt much better than I did last week. I noticed being a little sleepy so I did squeeze in a 30 minute nap and found my muscles a little tight when I got out of bed, but things seem to be feeling good right now.
It is hard to speculate what made this run work out so well for me. I am wondering if it has to do with the afternoon running time as opposed to the morning. I also stayed better hydrated this time around--I drank two of the water bottles during the run, which is significantly more than my 2/3 I drank last week for a further run. The conditions were slightly better considering only a small amount of ice formed in my water bottle this week as opposed to the complete freeze last week (which is basically why I didn't drink as much during my run last week).
Sorry for the blow by blow, but I have multiple purposes for this blog. One is to keep family and friends informed, one is to document my journey, and another is to help me keep record of what works and what doesn't work so I am the most prepared I can be...I hope you can bare with me!
Friday, January 14, 2011
Weekly Update
The week went well for me. It seemed to be a light week, only a run on Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday I put in 4 miles on the treadmill and Thursday I did 5. I averaged just under a 10 minute pace for both finishing in just under 4o minutes on Tuesday and just under 50 minutes on Thursday.
This should not have come as a surprise to me, but I struggled with my music on Thursday. Neither Tony or I are greatly into music, so we have never had an iPod or really gotten into iTunes (nor would I even know how to use either if given the opportunity). Tony did invest in a small MP3 player (at least I think that is what it is) at some point during one of his marathon trainings. Since we don't have quite the selection, he uploaded Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews, Beck, some Sarah McLaughlin (yes, Tony loves Sarah McLaughlin) and, wait for it, Christmas music.
As a result, I asked my sister to help us out in this department. She was nice enough to put together some songs she thought I might like and gave it as a Xmas present. We finally got them uploaded to the device and I tested it out on Thursday. Needless to say, there is no sort of rhyme or reason to the order, so I spent nearly 10 minutes just trying to find a song I actually liked because I had to get through the first 200+ that Tony had for him. I'm sure there is an easier way to do this, but as of now, we can't figure out how to create a playlist on the device that we have.
Tomorrow I have my long run, which should be 9 miles. I am excited to get out there and see how I feel. I had an interesting dinner to load up for tomorrow. We typically do our grocery shopping on the weekend so right now it is slim pickings for dinner. I am getting better at planning meals out for the whole week, but assumed we had some pasta for tonight and you know what happens when you assume...you end up with ghetto pasta concoction of broken lasagna noodles, elbow macaroni, and tri-colored rotini. I hope it does the trick for tomorrow! I am not sure how the food will directly affect me because my run won't occur until the afternoon due to Tony's work schedule. I can only hope this will work!
This should not have come as a surprise to me, but I struggled with my music on Thursday. Neither Tony or I are greatly into music, so we have never had an iPod or really gotten into iTunes (nor would I even know how to use either if given the opportunity). Tony did invest in a small MP3 player (at least I think that is what it is) at some point during one of his marathon trainings. Since we don't have quite the selection, he uploaded Matchbox Twenty, Dave Matthews, Beck, some Sarah McLaughlin (yes, Tony loves Sarah McLaughlin) and, wait for it, Christmas music.
As a result, I asked my sister to help us out in this department. She was nice enough to put together some songs she thought I might like and gave it as a Xmas present. We finally got them uploaded to the device and I tested it out on Thursday. Needless to say, there is no sort of rhyme or reason to the order, so I spent nearly 10 minutes just trying to find a song I actually liked because I had to get through the first 200+ that Tony had for him. I'm sure there is an easier way to do this, but as of now, we can't figure out how to create a playlist on the device that we have.
Tomorrow I have my long run, which should be 9 miles. I am excited to get out there and see how I feel. I had an interesting dinner to load up for tomorrow. We typically do our grocery shopping on the weekend so right now it is slim pickings for dinner. I am getting better at planning meals out for the whole week, but assumed we had some pasta for tonight and you know what happens when you assume...you end up with ghetto pasta concoction of broken lasagna noodles, elbow macaroni, and tri-colored rotini. I hope it does the trick for tomorrow! I am not sure how the food will directly affect me because my run won't occur until the afternoon due to Tony's work schedule. I can only hope this will work!
Monday, January 10, 2011
A New Appreciation for Yoga
I tried out Yoga tonight at the gym in hopes to help stretch my body after the long run yesterday. I think I accomplished that goal. I can definitely feel the benefits of doing yoga after a long run and hope to do it again. I don't think I would choose to solely rely on Yoga for a means of working out, but my body feels great--probably just as good as it did after my massage I got after Xmas.
The class went a little longer than I had thought--I kept glancing at the clock and asking myself, "Is this class longer than 60 minutes? Shouldn't we be doing some sort of relaxation to cool down?" The instructor did comment afterwards that he kept us a little long...probably 80 minutes, but my body was thankful.
I'm no expert at any of the balancing poses, but I think I'll keep trying.
The class went a little longer than I had thought--I kept glancing at the clock and asking myself, "Is this class longer than 60 minutes? Shouldn't we be doing some sort of relaxation to cool down?" The instructor did comment afterwards that he kept us a little long...probably 80 minutes, but my body was thankful.
I'm no expert at any of the balancing poses, but I think I'll keep trying.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
First Official Long Run
Today I completed my first long run for the marathon training program. I was a little nervous coming into the weekend because my long run last week was only 6 miles. Between October and December of 2010 my goal was to build up to 10 miles so that I would be ready for this long run if I decided to go the marathon route. I had successfully worked up to 9 miles, but then got sick on and off throughout December and didn't put in many miles.
I was mindful of what I ate last night, although pasta was not on our menu. We had a chicken burrito typed meal that I made. I did not overload and actually resisted any dessert. I also hydrated quite well yesterday. I went to bed early last night, but was woken quite a few times by Tyler. I also dreamed about running, but unfortunately in my dream I woke up late and was late for the group run.
When I woke up this morning, I made an english muffin and unpleasantly saw that it was a whopping 2 degrees. Thankfully I had set out 2 pairs of pants, 2 long sleeve shirts, my jacket, 2 pairs of gloves, and my new running hat, the devil horns.
Despite the fact that I got up with enough time and had everything prepared, I was running around like a crazy lady and didn't get out the door until 7:43. I drove to the designated parking lot which happens to be right next to the school I teach at, so it was quite convenient. There were at least 20 other crazies in the cold so I was glad to see I was not the only one.
After signing in, they started lining us up by pace. I was convinced I would be the only slow poke. Fortunately this was not the case. I didn't want to run with the 10 min pace group because I knew I was supposed to slow my pace down on the long runs. So I positioned myself just behind them and ran the first 4 miles with Del and Sue Ellyn. They made great company, but I picked it up a little bit after the aid station and made it with the 10 min group by about mile 6. I ran the last 4 miles with Bonnie, the 70 year old, who has run 46 marathons. I let her do the talking and really laughed at myself that I was struggling to keep up with this woman and she made a point to slow down to stay with me!
Overall, it was a good run. I felt great, even though my knees and hips started to really bother me the last 2 miles. I didn't wait around long afterwards and made it home in time to use the bathroom. Unfortunately for the 10 minutes that followed my bathroom stop, I felt HORRIBLE. I thought I was going to pass out, throw up, etc. I knew I was somewhat dehydrated since my water bottle froze at the top and I couldn't drink from it the last 4 miles. I wasn't hungry, but knew I was supposed to eat some within the first 30 minutes after the run (man, I've been reading too much). I also had a hard time of drinking my hot chocolate Tony had prepared for me that I had so looked forward to. Thankfully, I forced myself to eat a piece of bread and drink and feel pretty good now.
I'm still a little cold, even after a very hot shower, but I feel pretty good. Much better than I have after my long runs in November. I hope this is a good sign. Tomorrow I hope to try out yoga at the gym to start loosening my body up. We shall see how that goes!
Not sure how long it took me to finish, I accidentally messed my watch up at some point. I know I was probably somewhere between 10 and 11 minute miles.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Brrrrr...
I had a busy day today and knew I would not be looking forward to my 6 miler today. I wasn't able to get out until after 7pm and by that time it had been dark for a few hours, temperatures had dropped even lower (not too bad, 25ish), and I was less motivated than ever.
I didn't have an actual route and was a little bit fearful after hearing a safety talk by the police officer at the kick-off meeting, so I did 3 completely random out and backs for around 2 miles. I did drop Ellie off and stopped inside after each to drink some water and go to the bathroom. As a result, it took me awhile, but I truly felt great, which is important. My hip has still been bothering me quite a bit so I did extra stretches afterwards and even used my roller.
Yesterday I made sure to start some sort of core workout routine and I added some random stretching as well as hip strenghtening excercises that I just made up as I went.
I didn't have an actual route and was a little bit fearful after hearing a safety talk by the police officer at the kick-off meeting, so I did 3 completely random out and backs for around 2 miles. I did drop Ellie off and stopped inside after each to drink some water and go to the bathroom. As a result, it took me awhile, but I truly felt great, which is important. My hip has still been bothering me quite a bit so I did extra stretches afterwards and even used my roller.
Yesterday I made sure to start some sort of core workout routine and I added some random stretching as well as hip strenghtening excercises that I just made up as I went.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Day 1
--"The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start" John J. Bingham
I had my first official training run yesterday after the kickoff meeting. I ran a whopping 3.25 on the treadmill. I gradually increased my speed from a 10:30/mile to a 9:05/mile with an average speed of 10:00/mile. I felt pretty good, but didn't get a good stretch in because it was getting late and I wanted to get home to bed. I can feel it in my hip today, so I stretched quite a bit tonight.
A 5-6 mile run is on my plate for tomorrow.
I had my first official training run yesterday after the kickoff meeting. I ran a whopping 3.25 on the treadmill. I gradually increased my speed from a 10:30/mile to a 9:05/mile with an average speed of 10:00/mile. I felt pretty good, but didn't get a good stretch in because it was getting late and I wanted to get home to bed. I can feel it in my hip today, so I stretched quite a bit tonight.
A 5-6 mile run is on my plate for tomorrow.
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