Running is supposed to be fun!

As I sit here sulking about all the runs I had to sit out this last week, I am trying to convince myself not to take this so seriously. I mean, seriously, who would have thought that I would ever be sad about skipping a 10 mile run? Teresa one year ago certainly wouldn't have lost any sleep over it (though to be fair, Teresa one year ago was hugely pregnant and rockin some pretty sweet cankles). 

Now, instead of resting my cankles, I've been busy this week resting regular sized ankles that hurt like crazy.  Truly, I have a variety of aches and/or pains below my right knee.  Some minor shin pain, some minor calf muscle pain, and some moderate ankle pain.  I'm not really sure what is all going on down there, but I messed something up somehow.  I tried to run twice earlier in the week and came away with about a mile from each run.  I had hoped my ailments would be ailing me less this morning so I could do my long run, but to no avail.

At the suggestion of one of my friends, I am trying the homeopathic route to speed along the healing process.  I am not typically a believer in homeopathic remedies, but at this point, I'm willing to give it a shot... it makes me feel like I am actively doing something rather than this very passive "resting."  We picked up some Arnica Montana (not to be confused with Hannah Montana, which is what I keep thinking of when I say it).  There are different types and strengths of this remedy.  We got the "30C" pellets and the topical ointment.  I've only used it once today, so I can't say whether or not it's helpful yet (will keep you posted!).

But, onto the FUN!  In addition to the half marathon that I'm running in October (if my ankle doesn't explode in the meantime), there are a couple of really fun events I am planning on running in the month of October!

First up, on October 15, is the Filthy 5k.  I've heard that this run is a blast!  Beyond Running, a local running store, organizes this event.  It is a muddy trail run, where the point is to run, get dirty, and have a great time!  It seems like it's pretty non-competitive, though there are prizes I believe for those who finish in the top (I never have to concern myself with those details- lol).  I'm talking a lot of my friends into doing this run!

The other run I plan on doing is the Grey Ghost Run, which is a 5k event held in conjunction with the Anoka Halloween events (Anoka, MN is my hometown and is also the Halloween Capital of the World...don't believe me? read HERE).  The Grey Ghost is held just before the Grande Day Parade and is run along the parade route.  Obviously, being this is a Halloween event, runners dress in costume!  Usually I HATE costumes, but I will make an exception this time. 

So as I am fretting about my injured ankle and whether or not I will be able to run the half marathon, I have a couple of easy fun runs to look forward to after the half.  I didn't start running to add to my stress... I started to lose my fat pregnancy ass have fun! 

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!  Run a mile or two (or ten) on my behalf!

Technology is craaaaaazy

If you were wondering what my 10 mile run is going to look like on Saturday, you can view it above... in super warp speed (if only I could run it that fast too!)

frick.

Now I am in definite pain!

Major shin splints, some knee soreness, and ankle pain. 

I kept my oath to myself and knew when to call it quits tonight.  Supposed to do an easy 3 miles, but ended up with 1.16.

I still hate cutting runs short.  But I did it.  Supposed to do 4 miles of speedwork on Wednesday, but I may have to make some adjustments on that run.  We will see!

Monday was kind of a bust!  Off to find some ibuprofen!

That not so fresh feeling

Woah woah WOAH- blog title is referring to my legs!  My aching, stiff legs.

3 weeks of training behind me, 5 weeks in front of me. 
12 training runs and 53 miles complete.  And up until Friday I had run each training run as prescribed.  This weekend had called for a 10 mile long run... and to be honest, I was not looking forward to it.  I decided to get it out of the way on Friday afternoon because I knew I had a busy day ahead of me on Saturday.  In retrospect, that probably wasn't the best idea.  I was starting to have a little soreness after my 5 mile tempo run on Wednesday, then did my 2 mile "easy" run at a faster pace than the training plan called for... trying for 10 miles on Friday afternoon was too much.

Mentally I checked out of the run around mile 2 and couldn't get my head back in it.  Shin and ankle pains started popping up somewhere around 5 miles, and I called it quits at 8. 

It just ended up being one of those days where running was not fun.  Oh, and I failed to mention that this attempted 10 mile was taking place on the treadmill, which didn't help my motivation.  Time to move training outside, especially now that the weather is starting to feel a little more fall-like.

Today I feel a little hobbled.  I'm having some high ankle pain in my right ankle and really need to make sure I give it the care and rest that it needs.  I had plenty of severe pain during training for the last half marathon and want to avoid that this time (obviously).

If I am going to do this running thing for years to come, I have to put my ego aside (the voice in my head that tells me to ignore my pain just because I don't want to look like I'm slacking) and listen to my body.  This will be tough.  I have a LOOOONNNGG history of doing what my brain tells me to do, even if it means abusing my body.  Sometimes I pretend like I'm a superhuman.  Alright fine... here comes the confession:  I'm just a regular old human being.  Drat.  I have learned that I DO need things like:  sleep, water, vitamins, relaxation.  Double drat.

I was able to get out of the house for some child-free, husband-free time on Friday night and spend some time at Barnes & Noble.  Ahhh.... it was lovely!  My favorite thing to do when I have alone time is hang out in the cafe, drinking coffee, eating some sort of pastry, and browsing through stacks of books and magazines!  I happened to come across a copy of a book I had heard about a number of times but kept forgetting to look in to it.  It's called "Chi Running"  I'm really looking forward to learning about this.  I'm only a few pages in, but it is supposed to help with improving running form in order to run more balanced, decrease injury, and hopefully run faster.  I hope to actually finish this book (history also shows that I start a LOT of books, but don't tend to finish them.  Once I finish I'll post some sort of review on it and let you all know if it is helpful! 

Week 4 of training begins tomorrow.... 20 miles this week, which will be more than I've ever done in a week.  hoping my tired legs will survive, but also hoping to remember to back off if I don't feel like my body can handle it! 

Hope everybody has a great start to the week tomorrow! 

I run....because it makes late night pizza A-OK!

Holy cow!  Where has time gone?  Funny how going back to work full time puts a considerable dent in blog opportunities.

My last post was the first day of training for my next half marathon.  Since August 1st I've run 24 miles.  Last week I posted 17 miles, which surprisingly was the most miles I've ever done in one week.  Even during my peak week of training for the last half I only put in 16.  I think it's because I was so sore and injured by the end that I was forced to skip a couple of runs here and there.

It's amazing how great 17 miles can feel when my body is still fresh and un-injured! 

Oh, scratch that.... I do have ONE injury of note.... a pretty tragic skinjury in the boob region.  My own fault really as I was fully aware that my beloved Moving Comfort Juno sports bra had become too big (YAY!), but I'd put off buying a new one ($52 is a lot of $$$ for a bra).  Anyway, after my 8 mile run rubbed off a considerable portion of my skin, I decided it was definitely time for a replacement.

and WOO HOO for me because I totally found my Moving Comfort Juno on Amazon for $31.00!  I've NEVER seen them for less than retail, so this was very exciting for me.  Gave it a test run tonight and it was perfect.  *breathing a sigh of relief* :)

I'm having a lot of fun with training so far.  I feel like I know what to expect this time around, and because of that I am able to play around with my pace a little more and go into my runs with the knowledge that I *can* indeed survive 8, 9, 10, 11 miles.  And I know how to prepare myself before a long run.  Getting motivation and time to put in the mileage still may be a struggle some days, but so far it's been good.

There was a brief moment tonight when I considered skipping my 4 mile speed run... but then my wonderful hubby offered to bring home some pizza for me.... and since there is no WAY I'd skip pizza, I figured I best not skip the run.  Win/Win!

Back to training!!

Ahhh structure and routine, how I have missed you!

Today was my first day back at work AND my first day of my training schedule for my next half marathon.  No better way to start an exciting day than be completely sleep deprived!  My lack of routine this Summer totally whacked out my sleep schedule, so it was well after midnight when I finally fell asleep last night.  That would have been okay I suppose, but I had set my alarm for 445am to get up and do my run before work.  And THAT would have even been okay- I can function fairly well on 4 1/2 hours of sleep....

Cue obnoxious thunderstorm at 330am.  Normally I am a huge fan of storms, but I was a little irritated when it woke me this morning.  Though admittedly, it was a pretty fantastic storm- the sky was all strobe-lighty.

Anyway, after laying in bed reading Facebook and seeing that half of the city was awake, laying in bed, posting updates about how they couldn't sleep through the storm, I decided to give up on falling asleep around 4am.

Strong cup of coffee consumed and excitedly got ready for my run!  I need to remind myself of this feeling of excitement when I am undoubtedly bitching about running about 8 weeks from now.

Training plan called for a 2 mile easy run at a 13:33 pace.  I couldn't resist bumping my speed a little bit, so I did 2 miles at 12:47 pace. 

I am working on tweaking my plan a little bit.  My training plan for the last half marathon was pretty straightforward as I was only training to finish, not training for a specific time goal.  My last training plan didn't tell me what pace to keep, it just dictated the number of miles.  It was nice and simple.


This time around I am hopeful to finish the half in 2 hrs 35 min, which would mean I have to keep a 11:45 pace (5.1 mph).  So now it gets all complicated... speedwork, tempo runs, running everything at a specific pace... it's all quite messy.

I made up a "personalized" training plan on runnersworld.com, but I'm kind of questioning the training they are having me do to reach my goal of 2:35.  It has me running 4 days a week.  2 easy runs, one tempo or speed run, and one long run.  The only time I am ever required to run the 11:45 pace is during the tempo and speed runs.  It makes me nervous to have my long run pace be SO different from my race day goal.  I know that that is how many training plans are, but it just makes me nervous to run the half marathon having never done a long run at my goal pace.

My first half marathon I completed in 3:05, which is a 14:12 pace (approx 4.2 mph).  So I'm wondering if an 11:45 pace is too lofty a goal for this next half?  My training is only 10 weeks long this time, so I don't know if I am aiming too high.  Or maybe I could do even better than 11:45 if I tweaked my training runs.... Aaack- this is where it gets all complicated and overwhelming!  AND it calls for me to run 8 miles already this weekend!  This training schedule is very heavy on the long run mileage.

 So for now I have a schedule, but I may adjust as the weeks go on depending on how my runs go.  I am going to aim to do my runs at a slightly faster pace than the schedule requires because I want my long run pace to better match my race day pace. 

I am going to attempt to attach my training schedule and if anyone wants to add their input, that would be great!  Happy Monday everyone! :)

August 2011

◄ Jul 2011	~ August 2011 ~					Sep 2011 ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
	1 Easy 2 miles @ 13:33	2	3 Tempo 5 mi inc warm, 3 mi @ 11:54, cool	4 Easy 2 mi @ 13:30	5	6 Long 8 mi @ 13:30
7	8 Easy 3 mi @ 13:30	9	10 Speedwork 4 mi.  inc warm, 2x1600 in 11:11 w/ 800 jogs cool	11 Easy 2 mi @ 13:27	12	13 Long 9 mi @ 13:27
14	15 Easy 2 mi @ 13:24	16	17 Tempo 5 mi. inc warm, 3 mi @ 11:45, cool	18 Easy 2 mi @ 13:24	19	20 Long 10 mi @ 13:24
21	22 Easy 3 mi @ 13:21	23	24 Speedwork 4 mi inc warm, 2x1600 @ 11:02 w/ 800 jogs, cool	25 Easy 3 mi @ 13:21	26	27 Long 10 mi @ 13:21
28	29 Easy 4 mi @13:18	30	31 Easy 4 mi @13:18	Notes:

September 2011

◄ Aug 2011	~ September 2011 ~					Oct 2011 ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
				1 Easy 4 mi @13:18	2	3 Easy 4 mi @13:18
4	5 Easy 3 mi @ 13:18	6	7 Tempo 5 mi, inc warm, 3 mi @ 11:39, cool	8 Easy 3 mi @ 13:18	9	10 Long 10 mi @ 13:18
11	12 Easy 3 mi @ 13:15	13	14 Tempo 6 mi inc warm, 4 mi @ 11:42, cool	15 Easy 2 mi @ 13:15	16	17 Long 11 mi @ 13:15
18	19 Easy 3 mi @ 13:12	20	21 Speedwork 6 mi inc warm, 3x1600 in 10:54 w/ 800 jogs, cool	22 Easy 3 mi @ 13:12	23	24 Long 11 mi @ 13:12
25	26 Easy 3 mi @ 13:09	27	28 Tempo 6 mi inc warm, 4 mi @ 11:36, cool	29 Easy 3 mi @ 13:09	30	Notes:

October 2011

◄ Sep 2011	~ October 2011 ~					Nov 2011 ►
Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
						1 Long 12 mi @ 13:09
2	3 Easy 2 mi @ 13:06	4	5 Easy 2 mi @ 13:06	6	7	8 Race day! 13.1 mi @ 11:45 Time: 2:34
9	10	11	12	13	14	15
16	17	18	19	20	21	22
23	24	25	26	27	28	29
30	31	Notes: