Wish list funds

With the run from Saturday in the books, we bumped the thermometer up to $120. After the run, I purchased a $65 CamelBak which knocks the total down to $55.

The new thermometer is here:

9(ish) mile run and the adventures of Stick and Box

Saturday's run was a new "longest ever". Our goal was 9.5 miles. In the 132 minutes allotted, we covered 8.78 miles. This was an increase of about 2.25 miles over our last "longest ever run".

We actually experimented with Jeff Galloway's proposed run/walk ratios this run (he recommends a pace of 3 min run, 1 min walk where we had been doing 10:3 or 8:5). I really liked it, because I felt like my legs held out a lot longer. Matt didn't enjoy it as much, because the constant time checking prevented him from "zoning out". We basically broke it up into 32 rounds of 3:1, with an extra 1 minute walk break after 8 rounds.

Our overall pace was about 15 minutes per mile. I don't want to get hung up on time, though. The distance itself was a victory. Temps were 86 with a heat index of 90, humidity of 57%. That's pretty ridiculous for 9:00pm.

During the run, I had some moderate hip discomfort in my left hip. I took periodic breaks to stretch out my ITB and pop the tendons back into place, which seemed to help. Surprisingly, I had no problems with my right shin; so, the periodic ache I'm having there is probably not a stress fracture. When we got home, I went through my normal routine of static stretching followed by a cool shower. I then decided on a whim to take an impromptu ice bath. We didn't have much ice, so it was pretty weak. I can understand the appeal though.

For fuel/hydration, we brought a good ol' 12 oz gatorade and a package of Clif Shot Bloks (they're like giant square gummies). The Clif Bloks worked great. They're really easy to eat while running, they don't leave a horrible aftertaste, and I definitely felt the effects. No glycogen issues on this run. We scheduled a Shot Blok approximately every 45 minutes (one at 12th round, and one at 24th). I may experiment with some other gooey fuel in the future, but I thought these worked awesome.

I ended up buying this CamelBak Aurora Hydration Pack (70 fl oz), which is different than the one on my wishlist. The one I bought is $65, compared to $50, but it has more pockets, more colors, and a greater water capacity (which I hope will make it more useful if I ever decide to transition to even longer distances). I don't know when it will arrive, but hopefully soon.

Also, the adventures of Stick and Box.... while we were running down Old Jacksonville Hwy during the first leg of the run, we came across a big cardboard box with a long gnarly stick leaning against it. We decided that Stick and Box were the main characters in a buddy comedy. Box is the staid, reserved, slightly overweight pencil pusher (to be played by Nick Offerman) while Stick is the spontaneous, fun-loving new guy who likes to shake things up (to be played by Seth Green). We decided that their love interest (which threatens to tear them apart) is Puddles, a refreshing but unreliable woman played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. We made them a theme song (although we didn't really get past "Stick and Box, Stick and Box, one is a stick, and the other's a box"). This took up a large chunk of our run.

Catching up, and a new record

I've been pretty silent on here for a few weeks, but rest assured that we haven't given up. I got a bit bogged down by the blogging process.

Here's what you've missed, in the meantime:

• Wednesday, July 18 run - a 30 minute run that got cut short due to hip pain; kept up a decent pace though.
• Vacation in Miami - in which we endeavored to run, but failed (Saturday July 21, Monday July 23, and post-vacation recovery on Wednesday July 25)
• Saturday, July 28 run - 8 mile target, just under 6.5 run (making this the new longest run ever). Run/walk of 10min/3min was adjusted to 8min/5min to deal with hip pain, headache, and tummy ache. Ended up stopping 5 minutes earlier than planned because I completely depleted my glycogen stores and just couldn't run any farther. It was a surreal experience which taught me that: 
• a) I need to have a plan for fueling on runs longer than 1 hour
• b) I am infinitely tougher than I used to be; seriously, this was the most out-of-body miserable experience I have ever put myself through
• c) My husband makes an incredible long-distance runner; he isn't affected by this stuff at all
• d) Old Jacksonville Hwy inside the loop has great sidewalks
• e) It's time to buy that CamelBak
• f) I still hate the heat, and probably always will, but it doesn't have to keep me from running
• Tuesday, July 31 run - a 30 minute run fraught with whining and puttering and grunting. I learned that:
• a) Some runs are just really hard for no reason.
• b) My attitude problems aren't gone, but they are getting better (and Matt allows me enough grace to make up for it)
• c) I need to be mindful of my tendency to fall into a slow-pace rut
• d) Accordingly, it's time to kick it up a notch
• e) I still let my emotional environment dictate my physical output
• f) Sometimes my feelings are wrong.

With the Saturday run, we wrapped up what I consider another week towards our bribe-thermometer (lost a week while in Miami).

It's been really tough here lately. I know lots of people experience seasons of discouragement in their training, so I'm not alone. I've been struggling physically and mentally for the last few runs. What have you done to get through periods like this?

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.