Stairz

Stair climbers.  I thought this sounded like a good idea.  I ran/walked up 10 flights and back down 4 times in 25 minutes.  It took me longer than I thought it would, but what a great cardio workout.

Well, That was a poor decision.  My calves have been hurting for the past 3 days.  I wake up at night whenever I move my legs because it hurts so badly.  I used to run stadiums in college and it wasn’t that bad.  Am I getting old??? 

I’m getting nervous about the hills in San Francisco.  We did 12 miles in the hills in Clermont the other week and I felt miserable… 12 miles… nowhere close to 26.  After the soreness I experienced from Tuesday, I haven’t worked out all week.  (I’ve also had a fever the past two days, so that’s the other reason).

This Saturday we’re running 15 miles.  I hope it goes as well as last week’s 13, or better.  Every week I tell myself I’m going to get my running in every day, but it’s really tough.  I get home from work, I’m tired or I have errands to run or I want to hang out with friends.  I think week day runs are tougher than the long runs on Saturday.

Just like every week, it’s Friday, I’m nervous about tomorrow and I wish was headed to happy hour, but I know I’ll feel good after I finish tomorrow.

44 days left to marathon time.

Mile 13 - I'll come back for 12

I never know what I do right, but this Saturday I felt really good during our run and I was able to complete all 13 miles running!!  Friday, I had a Publix sub for lunch, ate a salad with chicken for dinner and some whole wheat pasta with soup right before bed.  I also took some melatonin to help me sleep (I always have trouble getting a good night sleep) and felt Great when I woke up a 5 in the morning.  I think having a good night’s sleep must have made a pretty big difference. 

We met at a new location this week, 6:30am.  Off we go on our 13 mile trek! 

When we started off, I was a little discouraged that Michelle and Kate were so far in front of me.  No matter how I feel, I try stick to my comfortable 11:30 pace, but it often leaves me far behind my other teammates.  Running alone, I find it is very easy to become negative – concentrating on the things that hurt, on how I’d like to be sleeping, on the fact that I’m a slow runner, that I’d like to stop to walk and just self-defeating thoughts in general… especially in the beginning, when I know I have another 13 miles ahead of me.  About a mile into the run, a former TNT coach, Richard, came and ran with me.  I was very thankful and encouraged by his company.  At this point, I have my pace down well enough to where I don’t get out of breath, so keeping up a conversation is pretty easy.  Richard gave me a lot of pointers on how to train and correct form to use while running. 

At mile 3, everyone stopped at the water station and I was able to catch Michelle and Kate.  We all ran together for a while, but they were both listening to headphones, so when two other runners came by and started talking to me, I took off running with them.  It helped me to pick up my pace, running with two strangers.  The guy loves running and does marathons on a regular basis all over the country and the woman competes in triathlons.  Needless to say, I did not want to slow them down and pushed myself to keep a faster pace.  I really enjoy the running community.  Being able to meet two random people and just start talking about running and races, how you train, what you use, etc. is really great.  People who run also seem to be really friendly, for the most part.  They told me a couple of good marathon training books to read as well, but I have to remember the authors name.  Eventually, I had to tell the couple I needed to slow down and it was nice meeting them.

Poor Kate is getting a head cold and wasn’t feeling well and Michelle has been having serious knee pain, so before I knew it they were pretty far behind me.  I felt bad for leaving them, but then I realized we all push for our very best each week – sometimes they leave me behind and other times I leave them, though I hope at the actual race we all cross the finish line together.

My goal while running was to make it to the 8 mile point without walking.  At this distance in our training (and each week since mile 10), it is not the cardio that hurts anymore, it’s our legs and feet.  Everyone is feeling it – Michelle’s knee, Kate’s calves, my feet, and several other people on our team are experiencing similar pain.  Through the middle part of my run, it felt like someone was gabbing a long nail right through my foot where my 2nd biggest toe meets the bottom of my foot.  I kept telling myself, “just keep running, I just have to make it to mile 8 and then I’ll walk some”.  Finally, I made it to the station!!  Whew, no walking.  To try to help the pain in my foot (and the developing blisters), I took my shoes and socks off and put them back on.

Richard was just leaving the station, so instead of walking as planned, I starting running with him.  Slow and steady, 5 miles to go.  Again, in the run, my foot started hurting very badly.  This time, it felt like I was walking on a bed of needles with my right foot.  Richard told me to use the ‘jiggle effect” to help myself run through the pain.  You go from head to toe and think about every part of your body that jiggles as you run, taking time to concentrate on that feeling and movement.  Over and over I went from head to toe and it really helped take the concentration off my pain.  He also told me I’m keeping a consistent 11:30 pace, which I’m happy about – at least I’m consistent throughout the run.  We caught up with Richards wife, who is doing her first full marathon.  It is so sweet that they train together and encourage each other.  She was very nice and told me some of the things she does to help with her training.  I think this coming week, I’m going to add stair climbers to my short runs.  After running/walking several 1 minute/3 minute intervals with them, I decided to keep running.  I used the “jiggle effect” to keep my mind focused off the pain in my foot… until the last mile.  Heading into mile 13, it felt like something snapped in the outer arch of my foot, almost like when you roll your ankle type of snap.  It’s a very weird pain, I’ve never felt anything like that.  In my head I was saying, “shut up stupid foot, I made it 12 miles, I’m not going to let you ruin this for me in the last mile”.  I don’t know how I looked, it must have been pretty bad, but I don’t care – at mile 12.5 I was still running, with a limp in my step and holding back tears from the pain and frustration.  I think this must be the ‘wall’ people talk about… where I just wanted to quit, my body hurt, I was hungry and frustrated by my weakness, I wanted to cry, but I kept pushing through – determined I was going to make it that remaining ½ mile so I could say I ran an entire 13 miles.  The jiggle effect didn’t work so well at this point, but I refused to make it 12.5 miles running just to walk ½ mile to the finish.  I pushed through, I kept going and I’m glad I did.  AND I finished in 2:27!  That’s faster than I did 12 miles last week!

This blog is getting really long, but it’s covering at least 3 hours of running, which feels almost like an eternity while you’re out there doing it.  I’ve even cut out a lot of the pointers Richard, the other 2 runners, and Richard’s wife gave me lol.  After our run, we went home, Kate and I made delicious omelets, toast and turkey bacon (which tastes Heavenly after running), took ice baths (separately lol) and then I took a nap, not wanting to replay last week’s mistake of skipping the nap.  Today is Tuesday and my right foot is still in a little pain.  I think we all need more guidance on how to help our bodies recover from long runs.  I’m getting ready to go run stair climbers, I hope my feet will be ok.  Oh, I’m buying new shoes tonight too.

Mile 11

Last week, we ran 11 miles.  I like the run we did.  It’s on a trail, back through the woods through most of it.  I learned this week that hot sauce on Friday night is Not my friend.  The first 4 miles or so, my stomach hurt so badly.  For the first time, Michelle had to leave me in the dust because I kept walking.  I thought I was going to be ill and had visions of lying down in a pool of water that lined the trail.  Alas, I did not.  I caught Michelle at the 4 mile water station.  We ran together for about a mile before she took off again and I struggled to the top of a hill and back down.  When she disappeared out of sight, I decided “this cannot be!  I will not be left behind!”  I started doing intervals.  I’d run really fast (for me), when I got to a point where I could hardly breath, I’d pick a landmark and run through that spot.  I would walk until my breathing returned to regular and do the interval again.  I caught up with Michelle pretty quick and really enjoyed the surprised look on her face when she glanced back and I was right there!  She tried doing intervals with me, but it wasn’t really her thing.  Michelle stopped to talk with someone, so I kept on my way.  I kept doing intervals until about mile 9.  Eventually, I saw Kate and got excited to catch her.  Kate is so much faster than Michelle and I, it drives me crazy that I can never catch her.  Unfortunately, I had to stop and walk around mile 10 because my blisters were hurting again.  Oh well, maybe next week.

There are parts during the run that I really enjoy and parts I hate.  This week, the first 4 miles were brutal, I was hating life, hating running and not happy with myself for signing up for this.  Around mile 5, I started feeling good.  I was enjoying nature, enjoying the time to be alone to myself, and enjoying pushing myself hard during the intervals.  I felt pretty good and was enjoying the peacefulness of my run until about mile 9 and I stopped to walk around 10 because I was in pain.  However, I always find that little bit of energy I need to push through and run the last ½ mile or so.  It’s interesting how you can go through so many feelings in 2 hours, but I would really like the ‘enjoying myself’ part to last longer.  The days when it does are so great.

This week was super busy at work.  Most days I was there over 10 hours.  Running after a 10 hour work day is so tough and I skipped most of my week day runs.  We were supposed to be doing 6 miles Mon/Wed and 3 miles Tues/Thurs.  I think I made it to practice Wednesday but it was not fun.  I just don’t think I can keep up the long miles during the week.  I’m going to try to do 2-3 miles every day this coming week and step up the intensity.  I think it’s better to do some running rather than none.

I made omelets with turkey bacon and toast for Kate and I when we got home. Yummy!  We both still passed out afterwards and spent the rest of the day lying around the house, eventually making it to the movies but came right home after and went back to bed.  I’m going to try eating healthier this week and see how I feel while running.  I still need to go to the store about my blisters.

Mile 10

Now that we're getting into longer miles, I feel like each week is different.  I never really had a problem with getting muscle soreness, didn't worry about what I was eating during the week or about how I would get in touch with someone in case of emergency.  It's all different now that we've passed the 10 mile marker.

            Two weeks ago, my boyfriend and I ran with the Jacksonville team, 10 miles.  We ran almost the entire time and I’m very proud he was able to do it with me, since he’s not been training with us.  We met the team at 6am, but didn’t start running until almost 7, which was a bit frustrating.  The weather was hot and humid and my glasses fogged up a lot.  The glasses are going to be a problem I’m afraid. 

            On Friday night, we went to a wedding rehearsal and ate at the grooms parents beautiful home.  Although Delicious, it wasn’t the healthiest food, but I still felt pretty good running on Saturday.  The Jacksonville team has 3 members and they were pretty quick.  It was a little intimidating, but it was nice to meet them all, since we’ll be in California together. 

This was the first week I got pretty bad blisters on my feet.  Towards the end of the run, I had to walk and even that was painful for my feet.  I think I need to go to a shoe store this week, because blisters are not cool.  My legs were sore for the first time after running as well.  The friend we were staying with gave me the weirdest looks as I lay on her floor with my feet up on the wall!  Strange, but it works J

After our run, we went to the wedding at 2pm.  Wearing heals was tough!  It was open bar, but we were so tired neither of us drank much and we were thrilled to be crawling into bed at the end of the night!

 

Here’s us after our 10 mile run!

It’s been a while since I posted.  I guess I got to a point where every week seemed pretty much the same and I didn’t want to keep blogging, “Agh, it’s Friday, I hate Friday’s now because I can’t go out, have to go to bed early so I can wake up early tomorrow morning”, “Agh, it’s another day during the week when I have to go run”, “Agh, it’s Saturday, I’m awake early, I’m grouchy and I don’t want to run… oh we just finished our run and I feel so proud of myself!!”.  Haha, that’s been pretty much how the past month has been.  I feel like Perseverance is when you don’t necessarily want to do something, but you push through anyways.  That’s what we have – on the good days, bad days, rainy ones, hot, the three of us push through, one step closer to the goal and I’m proud of us for that each week. 

Every time I run, I feel so differently.  Some days I feel awesome, others I feel horrible and like I’m dragging the entire time.  I haven’t been able to figure out what makes the difference yet.  I think food plays a big part, but I haven’t been able to figure out exactly what to eat each week to feel 100%.  I did learn an important lesson last week:  even if you make a healthy Friday dinner, putting hot sauce on everything is a Very Poor Decision!  Ugh, that did not feel good the next morning!!  I’m glad I have Michelle and Kate doing this with me though.  When one of us isn’t feeling so hot, the others encourage her.   

It’s become harder to do things on Saturdays now.  When we get home from running, we stretch and then climb into bed for hours of wonderful sleep (yes, I know that’s not the healthiest thing to do after a long run).  The rest of the day is spent in a half stupor as we struggle to move around the apartment.  I’ve been reading some things online about how to take care of ourselves better so recovery is easier after the run.  A lot of it involves eating more and better after we finish.  Apparently, you’re supposed to eat a 4 to 1 ration of protein to carbs within 45 minutes of finishing.  So Good-Bye to those delicious, most amazing things I’ve ever tasted Bagels and Cream Cheese after our runs.  The past two weeks we made yummy omelets after our run and I do find I feel a bit better.  More importantly, I’m losing weight now rather than gaining it.  I’ve gained almost 10 pounds since we started running and No, it has Not been muscle weight. I suppose all the pizza and wings I’ve been having hasn’t helped that. 

While the miles have gotten a lot longer and the running is tough, I’m able to get through it each week.  The part that stresses me the most is the fundraising.  As of today, I’m at 69% of my goal.  We have 1 month to raise the remaining amount before it is charged to my credit card.  Kate, Michelle and I have several events we’re working on, but we didn’t make much from the bowl-a-thon, so I’m worried it won’t be enough.  I’m trying to keep positive on this part, money is only money, right?

Update on the 6 mile run

Over a month later, I just wanted to comment that I had an awesome run that Saturday. I ran the whole time, I kept a good pace, and most importantly, I felt great. The place we went wrong was the mimosas at the team picnic afterwards. Michelle, her boyfriend, me, my boyfriend, Kate and Steve finished almost 5 bottles of champaign. I got a headache later in the day and could barely get out of bed (so did Kate). Wow, Poor Decision.

Apparently, alcohol after running is a no-no. Oops, guess we learned the hard way. We had a very fun morning though.