It won't always be easy

Today's run was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo lame. Yes. That many Os.

The good:Overall speed was acceptable (11:24 pace overall). We finished. I did not puke or anything else. I got out and ran even though I seriously didn't want to or feel like it.

The bad:
So much burping. Eww. My initial pace was a slow, pitiful crawl. Everything hurt and my legs felt like lead. I repeatedly wanted to quit and/or curl up in a ball and cry. Also, it felt really really hot (it was not that hot, maybe like 90F). Humidity was about 60%.

The ugly:
About 10 minutes in as we were getting ready to start the first speed interval, I accidentally yelled at Matt. I didn't feel angry at him before or after it happened, so we were both taken by surprise. It was basically one of those instances where I had to repeat myself because Matt couldn't hear me, and I let my tone get out of control.

With that run and all its emotional baggage behind me, I want to step back and evaluate some stuff.
Somehow, miraculously, this crazy plan is working. I've never done anything like this in my life. It is hard and unnatural. But folks, I just ran 5 3/4 miles on Saturday. I. Did. That. It's unbelievable.
It's been over a three and a half years since the first time I ran a mile. I've done a lot of things wrong from that day until now. Even my incredibly sweet, encouraging, inhumanely optimistic husband had doubts when we started this training plan. But it's working. I am experiencing little to no joint pain/inflammation on my runs and I have avoided injuring myself in a major way (so far).

So, let's take a look at what I'm doing differently THIS TIME.

New Sam	Old Sam
Has a set routine*	Did whatever, whenever.
Tailors strength training for running**	See above.
Has a running plan	See above.
Has a support system (that’s you folks & Matt)	Ran solo.
Varies running environments	Ran on a treadmill. Every time.
Has a concrete goal	Dreamed about stuff and things.
Listens to her body and rests when necessary	Rigidly adhered to unrealistic benchmarks.

^aka "got injured a lot"

*Routine:
5 minutes (minimum) of walking and dynamic stretches before every run
5 minutes (minimum) cool down walk and static stretches after every run
Cool shower post-stretch
Chocolate milk post-run recovery drink
Ice as necessary

**Strength training:
Exercises include things like planks, side planks, side squats, one leg chair squats, lunges, four part crunches, the sun salutation routine, regular squats, chair dips, pilates push-ups, calf lifts, resistance band leg lifts (side, front, back). I also stretch my hips, plantar fascia, and hamstrings regularly during the day when I remember/make myself do it.

What are your secrets to success?

Something clever, and a new record

To wrap up last week's runs:

We had this speedy-q run on Friday (Wednesday and Thursday got delayed due to some kind of illness that manifested on Monday). It was a 30 minute run in which we covered just over 3 miles (9:58 pace, awesome awesome). It's pretty evident that occasional intervals of speedwork help me keep a good pace throughout the entire run. Sometimes, my legs just need a wake-up reminder. This was probably the best paced run we have ever had.

On Saturday, we ran a new record distance of 5.71 miles. The training plan target was 6.5. We ran for 75 minutes (a 15 minute increase from our last record long run). Mentally, I was in a much better place this time.  I also got through the whole run without ANY join pain (some mild fatigue in the left hip) and only minimal tummy cramping. One note, though: do NOT run south on Robertson Ave past 5th street. It is extremely dark, there are no sidewalks, and it has a surprising amount of oncoming traffic. Old Jacksonville Hwy, however, has some great sidewalks - really wide and flat. It was sooooo nice to get away from hills for a while.


And another week in the books means another notch on the thermometer:

I think it's about time to cross something of the Wish List. First down will probably be the Camelbak Annadel Hydration Pack from REI. As our long runs get longer, a small gatorade bottle isn't going to cut it anymore. Also, I'd really like to have a pocket for holding keys/phone/etc. Especially the phone. As we venture further and further from the house (or anyone's house), I'm getting a bit squeamish about not having one on me.

Monday's run, another adventure

For this run, I don't have much to say beyond what I wrote on my Dailymile account:

"Well, we made it at really great pace (10:42)... but just before the 2 mile pace, we got caught in a HUGE lightning storm. We got totally soaked, and had to stumble home early. I could not see anything because of the rain on my glasses. Matt had to hold on to my arm to get me home (I ended up taking off my glasses because I could see better without them. I have 20/200 vision)

To make matters worse, running up College St I became suddenly aware of impending intestinal DOOM coupled with sudden weakness. Second run in a row this happened. Got home, dealt with crisis, took a shower, passed out. Experienced lots of sickness/issues the next day. Apparently, I got a bug from my husband. Still dealing with it, and probably have to delay today's run.

But, at least we had a good pace and no real joint issues! (Just a little nagging in my hip)"

So, there's that. Also, the temperature was in the low 80s so it was really nice. That humidity is something else, though. It feels like breathing pea soup. We did some mild speedwork until the Impending Intestinal Doom hit, at which point I abruptly stopped running.

This week's training plan:
Monday - 30 minute run  24 minute run
Wednesday - 30 minute run 36 minute run (to make up for Monday's lost time)
Saturday - 6.5 miles (Plan to run/walk 85 ish minutes, approximately 6.5 miles worth of 13:00 pace. Run 10 minutes, walk 3 minutes)

Two runs, one day (have we gone mad?)

Today, I experienced two "firsts" in my running journey...

1. We ran twice today, after our second run of the week was repeatedly delayed.
2. I had my first experience with Impending Intestinal Doom.

Our two runs were nothing spectacular, but we got them in.

The first was a 30 minute run around 10:30 am at Rose Rudman, in 95 degrees with a heat index of 104 (it was SUPPOSED to be 85 degrees... thanks weather forecast). It was really hot and humid, like breathing pea soup. We tried to keep track of the distance, but somehow got on the wrong trail or something. Still haven't figured that out. We estimated the pace about 13:30, since that's our usual M.O. for hot runs. One good thing I noticed is that my mental game is getting a lot better. I normally request time updates every ten minutes. This time, I was able to hold out well past that. Matt let me know when we looped back around to where we started

The second was a 30 minute run around 9:30 pm in the Azalea District. We covered 2.37 miles, with an average pace of around 12:30. The best part of this run is that the splits were within 10 seconds of each other; this is even more impressive if you've ever run north on S. Chilton street, which is basically a series of giant neverending hills. Seriously.

We lost a lot of time after the first hill when I had some issues trying to get a drink of gatorade (basically stumbled all over the place trying to drink it, then choked on it). We also lost a bit of time around the 2 mile mark when I had an "OH CRAP" moment... and I mean that in the worst way. Fortunately, I was only a few blocks from my mom's house so I knew I could stop there if I had an emergency. Even more fortunately, I did not have an emergency. :) I think the culprit may have been the cabbage/bacon/feta rolls I made earlier today. I picked up the pace significantly for the last .37 miles, which saved our pace a little.

On the injury front, my hips seem to be doing well-ish. They feel generally sore like I've been working them, but not painful or too weak. My shin started bothering me again after the first run, which has me a little worried about the possibility of a stress fracture. I was able to run on it without any pain during the second run, but I iced the snot out of it anyway.

So with that, we've wrapped up another week... happy days! I'll update the thermometer soon, but Blogger seems to be having issues with HTML right now. For a manual update, this makes the 8th week of completed training (9 total, one was a hiatus week), so I've "raised" $80 for myself! :)

Checking in, nothing crazy

Well, our running schedule is still a bit wonky from last week.

This week's schedule is:

Monday Tuesday: 30 minutes
Wednesday Friday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 2.5 miles

We did get in a really good, solid 30 minute run on Tuesday (temperature was like 80 degrees, phenomenal). We kept up a pace of about 10:50, with a great attitude throughout. After 10 minutes of warm-up, we alternated between Matt's pace (1:00 minute, a bit speedier) and my pace (3:00 minutes, slow and steady). With each round, Matt got slightly faster, culminating in a really good clip on the last fast stretch.

I'm really looking forward to the 2.5 mile run this coming Saturday. Last weekend's long run was a 5 mile (ish).

The training plan I'm on has periodic tapers to prevent injury and allow my joints to rest. I also think there's a psychological benefit to it.

In any case, we're supposed to run 30 minutes tonight. It's pretty warm again, so we'll probably wait until after 8:00. Hopefully, I'll have good results to share.

Oh yeah! Almost forgot... I keep meaning to talk about the new running clothes I got. After picking up a technical tee from the East Texas Striders, I was converted. Up until that day, I'd been running in whatever clothes I had lying around (mostly cotton t-shirts, thick cotton workout capris, etc). HUGE mistake.

So, I've picked up another technical shirt (BCG from Academy), some basketball style shorts, some "compression" pants (maybe a bit too cheap to be really effective). I love them so much. I also bought a breathable hat, so I can keep the sun of my face/scalp without smothering.

UPDATE:
Uggggh... we just stepped out for our 2nd run of the week and found a GIANT LIGHTNING STORM waiting for us. It's converging from the east. I feel really upset. Should've checked the weather (I really should get in the habit of that anyway), because then I would've known to leave earlier. This is our normal time during the week (about 9:00pm).

Our gym closes at 5:00pm on Fridays, so we don't have an alternative planned. I feel really really wound up and antsy now.

The current plan is to run twice tomorrow (wahhhh), once in the morning and once in the evening. Sigh.

New Milestone: Longest Run Ever

As of last night, I've set a new personal record for myself: longest distance/time ever run. Technically, it was more of a run/walk but I'll take it.

The previous "record", set just over two years ago, was about 45 minutes long. It was a memorable run because I pulled my infamous hip flexor muscle (the injury that has defined my running failures ever since). I followed up that injury (which immediately left me limping) by running a 5k that weekend and walking around San Antonio for three days the next week. Note to reader: don't do that. I could hardly walk at the end, and the muscle STILL plagues me today.

Last night's run, however, went significantly better. We ran/walked for over 60 minutes (not including warm up and cool down), at an average per mile pace of about 13:00. I tapped previously unknown resources to finish the last mile. My hip was definitely nagging me, but not painful. I stretched extensively post run and took a cool shower. Today, I'm trying to stretch it lots and give it a bit of a rest.

We covered, in total, about 4.6 miles. The splits, as far as I can figure, looked like this:

• Mile 1: (just under) 10:00min/mi.
• Mile 2: 12:30min/mi
• Mile 3: 14:50min/mi (lots and lots of hills here)
• Miles 4/5: average of 11:20

So, that's pretty spectacular. We definitely went out a little fast, which probably set us up for the big lull at Mile 3. I'm proud of our strong finish, however. I'm even MORE proud that I can walk today.

(The run itself got delayed from Saturday to Sunday because I spent all Saturday on my feet working at an antique blacksmith forge... needless to say, I was SUPER BEAT and had no interested in running 5 miles in that condition)

This puts another week in the books, which means we've raised the thermometer again: