Monday, July 29, 2013

Taperrrrrr

Wow, it's been awhile! Thursday's run was a quick run in the afternoon between Job 1 and Job 2. Pushed the pace because I wanted it to be done and over with! Plus, my iPod died about 1.5 miles in.
Despite being a rushed run, it was still beautiful.
 
Very sunny :)
 Last Friday I tried to get my final longish run in before the music festival I went to on Saturday. I headed out early afternoon without water and sorely misjudged the heat. By around mile 2 I was feeling it, and by mile 4 I needed to stop at one of the lock stations and grab some water. When I started again though I had a pretty severe pain in my lower abdomen which meant mile 5 was a walk/run, and by mile 6 I couldn't run anymore because I felt sick. I walked the final mile home and tried to eat something and shower but still just felt terrible.
I wish this last longer run had gone better :-/ I showed up to job number two, still feeling ill. The greeter at the door told me I looked green and called over the manager. He let me go home, thankfully.
This morning's run was a regular route and I experienced some shin tightness. I plan on doing more physical therapy than usual to get the aches gone before the half. I think I'll be okay, though. It's not an intense hurt, just enough where I notice it and it makes me wary.
If I can just make it through the rest of this week, I plan on rewarding myself with an entire week off of running. These are all the workouts I've done since the end of April. I love seeing all my progress, and that one un-highlighted week is making it not seem so tough. After all I've crossed off that is all I have left!!

I don't mean for it to sound like I'm not excited for my trip. I definitely am. Just with how busy I've been this summer, my knee injury, (and okay, I'm really going to miss my fiance for a week), I am getting a little worn down. This vacation is probably just what I need; some time away to regroup without any regular responsibilities like work or house chores. Right now though, I'm feeling anxious and nervous about the flight, sad about leaving Brian, and a little burnt out from running (DARE I SAY IT!!)
I will try to keep the posts rolling, but life is getting pretty hectic! And school starts in just 4 short weeks, so it's about to get a lot more hectic.

Safe and happy running!

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

Hey Bro, It Was Too Easy

Yesterday I did an elliptical workout. Five minute warm up with two minutes forward and two minutes backwards and a 5 minute cool down, totaling 40 minutes.
As I was stretching, I overheard some meatheads on the treadmills. They were jogging along, and here is what one of them said: "I started out at 5.5, which is like a 10 minute mile. Then I moved up to 6, which is like a 9 minute mile. That was really easy too so I put it on almost 8, which is like a 6 minute mile." Nice try, Meathead, nice try... It made me chuckle to myself and shake my head.
Today's run was a speed workout on the track. While running I felt sluggish all over and sore/tight in my left hip and shin. When I got home to stretch, I realized that my whole body was sore from Monday's weights and yesterday's elliptical. It was such a delayed onset that my body wasn't awake enough to realize it was sore until after my run! I stretched a bit afterwards and plan to stretch some more later today.
I have weights planned later today and have a feeling I will be even more sore tomorrow. It's okay, it's a good sore!

What form of exercise always leaves you hurting the next day?
What's the funniest thing you've witnessed in the gym lately?

Safe and happy running!

Monday, July 22, 2013

It's the Final Long Run!

Saturday I did not want to get out of bed. At all. But I slithered from the sheets at about 6 am, donned my running gear and set out at 6:30 to do the longest run of my life, to date. And I'm so glad I oozed out of bed.
The weather finally decided to cooperate and was hanging out around 70 degrees with cloud coverage and some sprinkles here and there. My only issue was the humidity. I wish I had brought a handheld waterbottle with me because I was sweating quite good and would have liked to replenish.
I saw a few other runners also out, especially around mile 7. I don't remember the runners, but I can describe in detail what their water bottles looked like :) at 8.35 miles I was back at my apartment for a quick water stop and then headed out to finish on one of my regular routes.
This is how I felt as I closed in on my doorstep. Finishing 11.5 miles is a huge accomplishment for me. It's the farthest I've ever gone, and it greatly increased my confidence of finishing my upcoming half marathon :) However I don't feel as though I've trained on trails enough, seeing how the Beulah Half is a trail half... I feel as though I should expect this:
And perhaps I'll be pleasantly surprised and the trail will really look like this:
Either way, I decided to wake up a little extra early this morning and drive to a nearby wilderness trail to crunch some dirt, instead of pounding more pavement.
This run was incredible. It felt amazing to do and even though the average moving pace was 10:15/mi, the effort was definitely there. I found myself driving home to shower and wishing I had the morning off so I could just get in a few more miles of the beautiful forest. :) I didn't feel like I had gotten to run enough.

Do you have a run that was so good you can't get it out of your head?
What's the farthest your legs have ever carried you?

Safe and happy running!

Friday, July 19, 2013

Countdowns

Just an easy 4 today. I had to get it in nice and early because today holds another 13 hour work day with both jobs. So far this week I've had 4 days from 8:30am-10:00pm working and one day from 8:30am-3:30pm. I'm beat and SOOOOO ready for the weekend!!
My splits for today's run. Tomorrow (or Sunday) holds an 11-miler. I'm definitely not looking forward to it in this crazy heat wave. I'm planning on getting up extremely early to do it to try and beat the heat. If anyone would like to join me, let me know. :)
I'm also trying to figure out what exactly I should pack for my Colorado half marathon trip. I embark on my journey in 11 days, so I figure now's a good time to commence the list-making. I also need to start figuring out the real clothes and running clothes that I want to take so that I don't wear them before and have them dirty when it's time to go.
And while I'm counting down... There are 5 weeks, I repeat, FIVE WEEKS until I start graduate school. *Gulp* I'm trying to play the avoidance card and not think about it until it gets here... It keeps creeping into the shadows of my mind, though. Just lurking...

What are you counting down towards?

Safe and happy running!

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Survival Mode, Engage!

I set out this morning for an easy 4 miles that my brain and body really didn't want to do. Upon returning to my apartment, I find that both the fiance and roommate have left for the day and I pray that the door is unlocked. It isn't.
So off I go again to where my fiance parks the trucks for work (thankfully it's close to home). Once I arrive, I see they've left for the day already. I plod over to the Byrne Dairy and use their phone to call my fiance who swears he didn't lock me out (um, okay... :p). While in Byrne Dairy, I got a lot of strange looks. I guess they're not used to a sweaty girl in running clothes hanging out before 7am... Any-who, he called our landlord, who called his wife, who came to let me in. And I still made it to work on time :p
I find it quite comical. As I turned the doorknob and realized I was locked out, I went into a mini panic. Our weather has been continuing it's hot and humid streak (temperatures have been in the high 90s or so), and I thought, "what if I'm locked out all day!?" As I trotted over to see if I could catch the fiance before work, my mind had ninja rolled into survival mode.
I found I was already plotting where I could get water and shade for the day, what I could do to avoid sunburn and dehydration, and how I might protect myself in the event someone tried to kidnap or attack me.
My worries were short lived though, because it only took about 5 minutes until the door was unlocked and I was back inside. But for those five minutes and extra mile and a half I felt like I was in the Hunger Games :p

Have you ever locked yourself out? How'd that go for you?
Ever been in public after a run? What was everyone's reaction?
Do you often feel like a ninja survivalist?

Safe and happy running!

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Boilermaker 2013

It is over! I have successfully completed my second Boilermaker 15k Road Race :)
The Day Before:
 As any girl will tell you, nails are an important part of an outfit. A running outfit is no different! Thus, I introduce my Boilermaker 2013 nails, tailored to match my racing getup :)
 As I was readying myself to hit the hay before the big race, there arose such a clatter! I sprang to the porch to see what was the matter. Nothing was the matter :) The flashes and booms were simply pre-race fireworks that I was fortunate enough to be able to see from my apartment deck.

Morning Of:
 In the wee hours of the morning, I filled in my hopeful race times. Little did I know they'd completely sweat off during the hot race. (okay I did know but I was hoping it wouldn't)
 I got dropped off at the finish line by my lovely fiance, mother, and her beau. After a quick pre-race snapshot I got shuttled to the starting line where I waited about an hour to line up and listen for the gun. During this time I hydrated a bit more, stretched, waited 20 minutes in line for one final porta-potty pit stop, and then myself and the other 13,999 runners were rounded up and scrunched into the starting corrals.

During:

The race was extremely hot and I wound up walking quite a bit during miles 8 and 9. The heat and humidity got to a lot of runners, as you can probably tell by everyone's face in the above picture. Many people dropped like flies and I had the pleasure of avoiding projectile vomiting from one girl on a stretcher shortly after crossing the finish line. Yeah, hot doesn't begin to describe it. (BTW: I'm center in the blue, waving to my supportive homies, hehe). This is me coming into the finish line!
And there I go crossing the finish line! The blue spec with the gnarly knee brace (which severely added to the heat!) After the race I handed my brace to my mother, warning her it was pretty nasty and sweaty. She shrugged saying that I'm her child and she'd hold it for me. About five minutes later she was asking to put it in the bag we carried, because, let's face it: it was so sweaty it was ready to be wrung out!! :p
My official race time was 1:43:19. Not the 1:27:00-1:29:00 I was hoping for. But in that heat, along with my knee issues and the tail end of my cold that developed into a hacking cough, I am really happy I finished with no major issues. I also think I may have over-hydrated. I had to pee the whole second half of the race and my stomach felt a tad sloshy. Those ice chips just felt so good though!

After:
My fiance and I at the finish line after everyone had cleared out.
The largest post-race party around! This is my fiance, myself, and my moms boyfriend and was taken after everything had died down. (aka after about an hour spent waiting in the massage tent line). The ground kept getting stickier and more littered the closer we got to the party. All the volunteers do a wonderful job handing out post-race goodies and mid-race water though. And then picking everything up. Always thank your volunteers!
And finally, my first post-race run. Yesterday I did an easy 30 minute spin on the bike to loosen my legs a bit. Today I did an easy run to keep the blood flowing. Not really concerned with pace on this run or on the next couple runs I'll do. I'm just aiming to keep my legs in motion and my mileage up until my half marathon in 17 days, 19 hours, and 33 minutes... not like I'm counting or anything! (I have a widget on my phone that does it for me :p ) The weather this morning was finally in a more bearable temperature and it felt nice. Once my legs loosened up, the run wasn't too bad. My knee is threatening to hurt again so I really need to force myself to keep up on my physical therapy!

Safe and happy running!

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Bunny Count Calculations

This morning's run was my last before the Boilermaker. The rest of today and the next two days will focus on rest, hydration, and stretching/foam rolling. My cold is better but I really hope I can kick it completely by Sunday. My knee is also feeling a bit better, but not in prime condition for racing :p
I took this run easy and focused on just being able to breathe. It's terrible in the morning with my throat and stuffiness. My pace was all over the place. Sometimes I'd look down and be going 10:00/mi, sometimes 9:20/mi, and even 11:00/mi once! I hope plenty of rest will make for a good race. I've been slugging orange juice like it's my job! I also saw 6 rabbits on this run. That's a new record for the bunny count!
This morning while I was running I couldn't stop thinking about my upcoming race. I'm going to calculate some paces so I can know if I'll be on track or not.
My goal is to bring it in at under 1:30:00. So if I put 1:29:00 into a pace calculator for a 15K, I get a 9:32/mi average pace. If I put in 1:27:00 in I get 9:20/mi for a pace. So that is where my goal is. While my watch gives me a time for every mile, those paces are the average pace. With all the hills in the 15K, some miles will have to be faster and others can be slower. So I plan on writing down different time markers on my arm for different distances.
1mi- 9:32
2mi- 19:05
3mi- 28:38
5K- 29:39
4mi- 38:11
5mi- 47:44
6mi- 57:15
10K- 59:19
7mi- 1:06:50
8mi- 1:16:23
9mi- 1:25:56
15K- 1:29:00

Not sure which I'll write yet. I might put each of the miles, or I may do the different K distances. They have notifications set up at each K distance, but if I am zoned out I'd like to have the miles to keep in check. Plus, if I'm going too slow, just knowing at each K would probably have allowed for too much damage to catch back up on. Yup, definitely leaning towards writing the miles.

Do you have specific things you like to look for on your runs?
Do you write down your hopeful times for races?

Safe and happy running!

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Coping with Humidity and Concerts

First off...
THIS IS HOW I FEEL! Is this crazy mugginess ever going to stop?!? I'm really, really over it.

This mornings run I tried pushing the pace because I haven't run in a couple of days and I missed that heart-pumping, sweaty, deep breathing feeling. Definitely got the sweat part. And the effort was up there but my regular little 5K loop was slow for me.
Mehh, I'll take what I can get right now. I just want my knee to hold out for the next couple of months. I think upping the amount of PT I'm doing is definitely helping, just not as quickly as I'd like.
Work was crazy last night. It would be dead and then all of a sudden there would be spurts of customers all buying running gear. :) I got to chat a lot about the upcoming 15K, and it helped get me a little more excited than I've been. Still trying to deal with the fact that I might not get a PR. Deep breaths. I think that's something that a lot of runners struggle with. We have that strong internal drive to be the best we possibly can and to push through everything because it makes us feel invincible. So when we can't go as hard or fast or far as we'd like it's a difficult pill to swallow. That mindset is probably what started my injury in the first place! That and overuse from upping mileage too quickly.

Not only was work dragging, but while I was stuck in there (which really wasn't terrible, I like it at Dick's Sporting Goods) my fiance and roommate got to go the the Sublime concert. I AM STILL SO JEALOUS! They had an amazing time and I'd have much rather been with them.

Do you let running overtake your life? Do you miss other fun things to do training runs or races? How does your family deal with the amount of time you devote to fitness?
Also, feel free to tell me your story of when you really wanted a good race and it just didn't happen. (And  how you got through it, lived to see another day, and everything turned out okay, lol)

Safe and happy running!

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Who Gets a Cold in Summer!?!

Well, hello there blog followers! I understand it's been awhile, and I apologize for that. Even with the week or so that's passed, I've only done 3 runs. I'm on my taper for the Boilermaker 15K, and with only 4 days left I'm trying to save my legs to have a decent race.
So since I mentioned in the comments of last post that I'd never done a tempo run, I decided to do one. The very next day. I'm pleasantly surprised with how well this run went. It was an easy .5 warm up at around 9:20 pace and then I picked it up to about 8:00 for the next mile and a half. Finished with a .5 mile cool down. :)
Then came the 4th of July with its crazy heat. I went by effort and not by pace. I didn't even look at my watch, only listening for the beeps that marked miles. (Okay, I did glance down to see the mileage to know when to turn around, but that's it, I swear!) So excited when I saw this pace. This is about where I was pre-injury. I must say my hard work is starting to show in my pace. And then it seemed to get even hotter.
And since it's taper week, my long run consisted of 5.5 miles. I combined two of my regular routes (a 2.5 and a 3) that were both a little longer and added an extra quarter mile on. The heat and humidity was excruciating. The first loop went well. I stopped back to my apartment and guzzled some water and then headed back out to finish the run. The second loop... didn't go as well. Every five minutes it seemed to get hotter and more humid. By the end I was so thankful to be home and out of the sun! I checked the weather and the "real-feel" on my phone said that even though it was mid-high 80s, the humidity made it feel like it was 97 degrees. No wonder I felt dehydrated and slow.

As I mentioned, the Boilermaker is only 4 days away! It is nearly upon us and the Beulah Half Marathon is fast approaching as well. Time to start mentally preparing for my flight and making lists of what to pack so I don't forget anything.
I'm not nearly as excited for the Boilermaker this year as I was last year. I am discouraged because my knee has been acting up in this hot/humid weather. I've had to do my physical therapy exercises more often. Because of the weather and my knee I am not as fast as I would like to be. Also, my lovely fiance gave me his cold! Who gets a cold in summer?! Honestly... So I can't breathe through my nose and feel like my head is underwater. At least it's a head cold though. For those that don't know, the rule of thumb with sickness and running is: Above the neck, good to go (scratchy throat, headache, stuffy nose, sinus stuff); Below the neck, rest a bit (body aches, cough, fever, etc). So I'm still good to run, but man when you are tired and plugged up like this, it is difficult to find motivation! Rest day today and then an easy 3 tomorrow and an easy 4 the next day. Then two days of hydrating and stretching and race time!

Safe and happy running!