Heart-Pig Training: Week 4

Week 4 of training is over. I have felt stronger. My weight seems up, which is strange. Maybe I'm gaining muscle? I hope so.

Planned: 14 miles
Sunday – off
Monday – bike / lift
Tuesday – 3 miles / broomball
Wednesday – bike / broomball
Thursday – 3m iles / lift
Friday – 2 miles
Saturday – 6 miles

Actual: 11.5 miles + broomball madness
Sunday – off
Monday – Spinning at AMIG. Didn't lift :(
Tuesday – ran 3 miles / broomball
Wednesday – More spinning at AMIG...and tired tired legs / broomball
Thursday – REST. Wow was I tired by this point.
Friday – 2.5 miles from the house.
Saturday – ran 6 miles at Sharon Woods to get some hills in.

6 Hilly Miles at Sharon Woods

Saturday we made a plan for me to be able to leave and run without the worries of leaving Harley-dog and her anxiety behind. It was great.

I worked all morning. At a good stopping point, I got dressed and drove to Sharon Woods for a couple hilly laps. It's about a 2.5 mile loop, so I figured I could do that, then a bit more and finish up no problem.

View from a flatter part of the trail. Across the pond is another side of the trail.

I started a "backwards" direction so I'd end up with the shorter loop option for that extra mile. Sharon Woods is hilly, but they are quick hills. It was interesting warming up on them. First mile was 11:06, but I didn't care. That was fine.

I began to get into a rhythm, just moving along, letting my legs stay loose on the downhills and just being steady on the uphills. I was listening to another Invisibilia podcast which really had my attention. So I was super relaxed and didn't even hear my breathing. But it was probably loud, going by how everyone moved over when I came up on them :)

Around 2.5 I turned around and headed the other way, facing the hills from a different direction. I'm not really sure if one way is easier or not. It just really feels rolling.

When I got to about 4.5, my podcast was over. I thought maybe I'd just tune into my body more for the last bit, but I was worried I'd psych myself out. The run was going so well, I didn't want my stupid mind getting in the way. So I quickly stopped to cue up the one song on my phone: "Survival" by Muse. I don't know what it is about that song, but I really really love it. I like how it builds, and it is about racing...so maybe that's why.

I hit repeat and took got moving. Unfortunately, the beat of the song is slightly slower than my foot pace. But it got me up some hills pretty nicely. I couldn't believe how quick my legs were moving.

Last mile was 9:36.

Woohooo!!!!! After 5 hills miles, I just chucked off a 9:36 pace...and it felt easy??

I think I have some serious evaluation to do with music, my pace, and how they all work together. Because I don't know what happened there, but I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have been able to do that without music. I just beat myself up way too much when all I have is my own mind to keep me company.

Splits:
11:01, 10:40, 10:48, 10:34, 10:39, 9:36.  Average was 10:33 for 6 hilly miles. I'm happy with that.

10 miles on the trail!

10 miles complete!

It went well. The first 2.5 were with K. She hadn't run in a while and we had to walk the last half mile. She had had a pretty rough week and was telling me all about it. So then I kind of got more of a break than planned, but it was ok. Goal was just to be out there for 10.

After K and I parted ways, I hooked up my phone and earphones and cued up the podcast I had downloaded: Invisibilia. It's a newer one and has been getting good reviews. I was listening to the one titled "Fear." It was incredibly interesting! This is the first time I've ever listened to anything on a long run let alone a pod cast. I liked it a lot. And this might just be what has to get me through these long runs (sadly).

I did see Casey out there :)  I was at about 2 left to go and saw him coming my way on the trail! So he ran with me a bit, and I got to push the final 2 like I wanted to. It was awesome. He then went on his way to do 8 more and finished his 10 with really excellent times!

After I came home, I crashed pretty hard. I wasn't hungry, but I ate a raw bar that had honey in it, in an attempt to have some sugar on the back end so I wouldn't feel light. I didn't feel hypoglycemic, but I was just so tired. I ended up napping, and then when I did get up, I felt fantastic and continued to feel fantastic the entire night. Next day soreness? Not much to speak of. Monday soreness gone. So I do think my tissues are recovering better, as the people who talk about high fat low carb diets claim. I just still need to figure out this light headedness that is plaguing me. More broth? More calories of a certain kind? Maybe up to 50 carbs is what I need? Not sure yet.

Splits:
10:31, 10:30, 10:35, 10:37, 10:33, 10:58, 11:09, 11:09, 10:33, 10:33

See how those last two got back down to 10:30?  :D

Cycling and broomball and REST

Wednesday I took a cycling class at AMIG. Eeeeeeee! Again, that will just be a different post I think. Later that evening was broomball. I was so extremely tired. It has been a rough week with Harley, and leaving twice in one day didn't make things any easier. I made it downtown, went through the motions, and thankfully got pumped up ok for the game.

The game was great. We won again 3-0 with Greg scoring two goals. Previous night's game was 4-0. Our teams are shut-outs this week!

Thursday was a REST DAY. Oh my I needed it. I was just so fatigued. I've been trying to remember to drink broth every day to keep my sodium levels up. Low carb thing...lots of salt leaving my body, not retained in my kidneys anymore. Plus I have pretty low blood pressure. I've been dizzy getting up every time, and I need to figure that out.

Today I was back to the gym. I decided I will never run on Sunday in the winter after Saturday's long run. Sorry, nope. I hate winter too much and don't want to burn up all my "I can make it on the treadmill" cards. So instead of Friday being off now, I'm taking Sunday off. I'll float that off day whenever I need it. My schedule may change a lot given the spinning stuff coming up, so I need to be flexible. And I need my weekend day to lounge.

So I went to the Y for a 2 mile run. I walked a half mile to cool down. I was going to lift, but it was super crowded. The run felt ok. It was sluggish at first, which is how all my runs started this week. But breathing seemed ok. I sweated a LOT.

So, now tomorrow is ..... 10. I'm nervous, as usual. But again, just going to try it and see how things go. I just need to try to cover the distance. Time on my feet for this one.

Heart-Pig Training: Week 2

Week 2 of training is over, and 8 miles is in the bank successfully. Woohoo!

Planned: 16 miles
Sunday – 2 miles easy
Monday – bike / lift
Tuesday – 3 miles / broomball
Wednesday – bike / broomball
Thursday – 3 / lift
Friday – rest
Saturday – 8 miles

Actual: 11 miles + broomball madness
Sunday – broomball makeup game. This threw everything off due to soreness.
Monday – rest
Tuesday – biked 18 / broomball
Wednesday – broomball
Thursday – 3 miles
Friday – rest
Saturday – ran 8 miles outside! It was kinda rough (see previous post) for mental/Harley reasons, but I did it and feel good now. Success!


I need to figure out what Sundays are going to be. I just can't see getting out again on Sunday for 2 miles since I hate the winter weather so much. Plus, I think I need a day of doing nothing for the weekend. Maybe Friday because an easy day.

Good start! Also, Casey got his 8 in so a good start for both of us so far.

8 miles in the bag

Saturday was a long run day, and also a rather nice day weather-wise. Greg went to Fuel and I geared up for 8 miles. This would be my first attempt at some truly long distance without any carbs.

For breakfast I had a coconut milk - peanut butter - cocoa powder smoothie that I sweetened with some stevia. It was tasty, but I was nervous putting what felt like a lot of liquid in my belly right before running. I stretched some and tried to calm Harley-dog down while waiting for my own stomach to settle.

The plan was to leave Harley outside since it was so nice. No stressful kitchen. However, I didn't get out of the house without her seeing me, and she didn't like that. So I nervously ran around the neighborhood for a couple of miles listening to her bark. It was sad. I was determined to not stop and let this derail my run. But I wondered about how stressed she was, or how much she was annoying neighbors. I decided she'd calm down, and even though I didn't hear it for sure, I ran away from the barking, planning to re-evaluate the situation after a few more miles.

So my planned route changed. I just headed down Montgomery road, not knowing where I'd go. Just plodding along, thinking about Harley. I wondered if it was stressing me out, making me tense on a run I was already nervous about. However, I think it was a different stress and one which over-powered my running nerves...which may have ended up being a good thing.

I thought about turning into the neighborhood behind Dunkin' Donuts but then decided I just kind of wanted to run away from the problem. People could deal with her barking. We never leave her out barking, but I wanted to get my damn run in. She may not have even been barking the whole time. From my experience working from home, the rational side of me agreed she most likely had calmed down by now.

So I got to 4 miles and turned around. This was easy, I'd just do the same little steps through my neighborhood on the way back and all would be good. After turning around, I suddenly panicked about Harley: maybe she really freaked out and started digging under the fence. I haven't looked back behind the wood pile recently – what if there is a big hole started back there? What if she started chewing the deck? I was a mess.

There was nothing to do except move on. I tried to remain smooth and keep my posture in check. As soon as I got into my neighborhood, it was getting hard. There was about a mile to go. I also turned my ears to listen for barking. Instead of retracing my steps, I just decided to go directly past the house to see if there was a hole under the fence or what. As I got closer, silence. And no hole. Sigh. I freaked myself out for nothing, of course. After that relief washed over me, it's like everything else shut down. My pace had been slowing, but now everything felt really really hard. I just decided to not worry about it. This last mile was going to be my "cool down." I plodded along into the next neighborhood, turned around at a random house, then plodded back...to the sounds of a barking Harley. Hold on, girl, I'm almost there.

I hit 8 and then was pretty thankful to walk. I got to the house and let in Harley, who ran around the living room some. I also think Dex was stressed. I left him inside (he's a delicate flower who probably would have been shaking outside) but I think he knew Harley was stressed. It's funny how much he reacts to her stress.

So... not sure I can manage Saturday morning runs with Greg gone in the future. Not with Harley the way she is right now and the weather not being super nice where she spends more time outside. Maybe it's a schedule shift. Maybe I just play it by ear. I don't know.

Other than that, the run was good. I felt pretty steady and strong for most of the time, holding my pace back so it would be as even as possible by the end when I'd get tired.

Splits:
10:43, 10:40, 10:56, 10:41, 10:39, 11:00, 11:11, 11:11.

Breathing was good. I only drank a couple sips of water on the run. Recovery was pretty good. Had a chicken breast with provolone, avocado, bacon and lettuce with a side salad (dressing on the side). Then played games all afternoon, snacking on cheese and salami. Had the top of a piece of pizza for dinner, and an amber ale.

Today, I'm only slightly sore and my knees don't hurt at all which is awesome. Could be the new shoes? Could be the benefits of a low carb high fat diet which seems to have anti-inflammatory properties?

Looks like Casey did his 8 today. He did awesome at a 10:15 pace on a very hill route!!  I'm super happy for him and inspired. I'm glad he did so well. I wish I could catch him!

So, so far so good. That was a lot of "so's". I'm inspired and encouraged by my first run with such a drastic change in my eating. I'm looking forward to figuring more out as more miles happen, getting stronger, and hopefully improving!

Heart-Pig Training: Week 1

This is a familiar format. I believe I broke my training weeks up when we trained for the Columbus marathon, recapping my planned workouts against what I/we actually did. I enjoyed looking back on it, and it is also very helpful. Might as well continue the tradition this time for whatever races I end up doing here.

So, week1. There was a partial week of New Year's in there. As I've mentioned, I ran New Year's Eve. New Year's Day was crazy awesome lazy. But on to actual week 1, when training starts.

Planned: 11 miles
Sunday – rest
Monday – bike
Tuesday – 2 miles / broomball
Wednesday – bike / broomball
Thursday – 3 / lift
Friday – rest
Saturday – 6 miles

Actual: 8 miles
Sunday – 3 miles
Monday – biked 8, but felt horrible. Cut the ride short at 35 minutes.
Tuesday – 2 miles with K. Breathing was really hard. Then at the broomball game, I felt like I was going to pass out.
Wednesday – sick. Fever, chills, achy (though some of that was broomball), heart was racing. Thankfully, broomball was cancelled due to the low temperatures.
Thursday – still sick.
Friday – better, so did some stretching and leg exercises.
Saturday – ran 6 miles on the treadmill at the Y. It was 7º when I was supposed to run, and I just didn't want to mess with it. Plus, I didn't know how I'd feel after being sick and trying to run the farthest I've ran in forever. It actually went really well! I took it easy, breathing was cake, and somehow I made it over an hour on the 'mill.

Even though I was sick, I think this is a great start to the training. I'm in a good amount of pain now because our make up broomball game was Sunday and I had to play the entire game. But I think after this week, I'll get to feel the rewards of the crazy conditioning broomball gets you in.

My knee joints hurt ever so slightly Sunday. I fell on them during the game, and no damage was done. I'm feeling stronger and it's pretty great.

Schedule made.

Making schedules is kind of what I do when I don't know what else to do. Sometimes it's unnecessary, but at least today's schedule rampage was something I did need to figure out.

The Pig is in 18 weeks. The Heart Mini Half is in 10. The most miles I have been running is 5. I am crazy.

But I'm just kind of in an "I don't care" kind of mood. I'll just see what happens. If I can't handle the schedules, I'll bump it down and go for speed. 

I think I'm all in on this one. Solo hand. So I'm going to have to dig deep. 

Weekend Things

This weekend's eating was ok. I was a bit more mindful of it at least. At home, things were good. Friday night we had Mexican which was tons of calories I'm sure. Saturday morning I had eggs, then we had Chipotle, then there was a lot of walking around downtown for Bockfest. I think I had three, maybe four beers. We ate at a pretty delicious Belgian restaurant: chicken, a waffle, and salad.

Sunday morning, I got up around 7:30 and headed to the grocery. Casey and I were going to run 10 miles, and I needed something to eat other than eggs. I had a bagel with cream cheese. Bagels are so filling! Seems to be a good pre-long run breakfast for me.

The run was really rough. I went back and forth between feeling like I had a lot of energy and like I had little energy. We got through the 10 though. I was really struggling during certain parts. But Casey helped greatly to pul me along.

Our splits (determined by my pace of course) were as follows:
1 - 10:06
2 - 10:32
3 - 11:03
4 - 10:57
5 - 10:59
6 - 10:52
7 - 11:15
8 - 10:57
9 - 11:13
10 - 11:42 (ug!)

So, not a stellar performance, but comparing to the two 8s we've ran, I suppose it wasn't far off.

What is WAY different however, is how I felt afterwords. I felt terrible. We had some Ovaltine then I took a shower. I could have stayed in the shower for 15 more minutes to warm up. I was chilled to the bone, which is common for me after a cold long run. But then I just didn't feel good. After eating, I slept for 2 hours, which finally made me feel better. It just really wiped me out!

Very glad we finished the 10!!! :) On a good training track for sure.

8 Miles - the Same Route

Sunday Casey and I ran 8 miles, the same route as last week. Only this time I think it went a little better. We shaved some time off of the pace and I think I felt better overall. I still couldn't breathe on the hills. But Casey kept me pushing.

We were on a 10:30 overall pace until the hills on the way back. I slowly watched that goal slip away. It made me feel pretty crummy, but in the end, I still was happy that I didn't do any worse than the previous week.


Our splits were as follows:
1 - 10:09
2 - 10:44
3 - 10:10
4 - 10:18
5 - 11:07
6 - 10:55
7 - 10:53
8 - 11:16


My allergies are a mess. I'm so tired of it. I've been taking Allegra for almost 3 solid weeks now? at least 2 solid weeks, and nothing has changed. I was optimistic it would. This morning I was so worn out from them, I felt like I was sick. That typically only happens when it's the height of ragweed season. I guess I'll ask the allergist for something more. I am most bothered by the fact that I think it's effecting my breathing and running ability. My throat felt so tight when I was running on the hilly parts Sunday. That just can't be normal.

This weekend we're supposed to run 10. It's sooooo great being this consistent!!!!

8 Miles from Sun to Dusk

Sunday sun and brisk air; what a perfect day for 8 miles!

The day started as lazy one. I didn't really feel like running, and wasn't sure if Casey's ankle was going to cooperate for a run. However, it worked out that we went, and I'm so glad we did. 

After some "it's ok if we slow down" pace coaxing from Greg and Casey, I decided if it really was alright by them, then yes I really didn't want to run at a pace where I struggled to breathe for over an hour. Greg only did 1.5 miles with us. He wasn't up for the distance that day. Casey and I continued along, up and down some rolling hills. My legs cramped early, but worked it out by around 3. 

We crossed a busy road into another neighborhood that ended up having quite a few rollers! I hadn't even thought about hills. I knew we weren't going to take the very hilly route, but didn't anticipate having to deal with hills. Most of the way out was a net downhill. My watch later showed our quickest paces in 3 and 4 miles, and during them I chatted easily about work as we wound through the neighborhood. It was awesome being able to chat and enjoy the run. Coming back was more difficult :) Casey reminded me of some spinning terms/mental games and helped me to push myself through. I would have stopped if I had been alone. Before we crossed back over the busy road, I took a breather and coughed a bit. My throat only tightened up towards the end of the hilly stint, so that was good.

On the way back, I was spared with some more slight downhills, but even the slight uphills got me. Our last miles were over 11s, but the net pace ended up being 10:45.


Our splits (determined by my pace of course) were as follows:
1 - 10:20
2 - 10:44
3 - 10:18
4 - 10:00 (downhill)
5 - 11:17
6 - 11:03
7 - 11:11
8 - 11:12

The last two and half miles I froze my ass off. I have never been cold while running before. I clearly just didn't have enough layers on my arms for the amount that the wind picked up. The thought of a hot shower certainly was motivating!

I'm really happy with how I did. And I'm so thankful to not have been out there struggling by myself. I feel like I'm improving. Today I'm sore in muscles, but not in joints or IT band. The broomball game on Saturday was an added setback to my muscles, but I think the run helped overall. Tonight I will stretch and lift. Tomorrow is spinning!

Heart mini is over...and 2.5 hours of bike fitting fun

What a very fun weekend. Hanging out with friends all weekend is definitely my favorite thing to do. Then throw in a race and it's pretty much perfect.

We had some rain for the Mini, but it wasn't ever a downpour, so that was nice. And this just means that the weather for the Pig will have to be great!

Everyone did so great. Greg and Casey ran their asses off. And so did Jess. And Daryl did great and blew his training run paces out of the water! As for me, I am sooo happy that my knee issue went away and I was able to finish. I was worried my mystery knee pain would bring me to a halt. However, my knees held up, even on that very challenging, hilly course. That was great and a relief. My lack of training/fitness leaves me nothing to be proud of though.

When I scheduled my bike fitting at the Trek store to be the Monday after the race, I didn't know how perfect the timing would be. It was a nice shift. I loaded my bike in the car (it was POURING, plus I just cleaned and lubed my bike, plus my roof rack seems to be a little loose) and headed down to the Trek store to meet Nick. First he put my bike up on their level trainer which is by some mirrors. Then we went over some questions about how often I ride, what kind of riding I do, injuries, etc etc. After that I laid down on a mat and he did some PT-type flexibility/range of motion measurements. He laughed at the flexibility part because I went way further than most people so he knew that wouldn't be an issue during the fitting. Then I stood up and he just looked at my posture and how I stand. He noted my right shoulder might be a little lower than my left. Also, my shoulders are 38" wide, and my bars are 40". I guess they should be 38" but he said it's not a huge deal. It was a bit awkward standing in my bike shorts as some guy walked around me with the single purpose of looking at my body and how it is put together, lol. After all of the measuring, he put the stem adjuster on my bike and I hopped on.

First was pedaling and seat height. I'm a toe down pedaler, which is bad. He taught me about how my feet should be level and how since I point my toes down, that might be part of some of the knee pain I get from biking because I'm over extending. He adjusted seat height and seat front-back adjustments. Once that was all good, we worked on the front. The goal was to get my back flat and reach good. After many many many adjustments, it was pretty much accomplished. He rotated my bars and adjusted my shifters and the angles of everything. The process was me pedaling, Nick standing back and watching, and then him making very small adjustments to things. Then it would happen again and he'd evaluate how I'd look. Over and over and over again. I also gave feedback to how I felt. Sometimes the adjustments were so slight I didn't feel them. He also adjusted my cleats on my shoes. I had no idea they adjusted! One was turned out some and the other wasn't straight either. I could really feel that difference when I got back on the bike. That might also effect my knees. Hopefully, the adjustment prevents my foot numbness issue I have. The pressure point might have been too far back rather than on the bony part.

So, 2.5 hours later, after he got everything exactly how he wanted, I got off the bike and he wrote all of the measurements down. He'll email them. I need a new front stem in order to get the angle and length that was decided upon. He's going to have to do some digging for the part because my bike is "old" and they just aren't made like mine is anymore. Ha! It really isn't that old...bikes must be like computers. I am looking forward to going out on a ride and seeing how I feel!

A Letter

Dear Knee and IT Band,
Hi, how are you? Well, I know how you are, actually. You are loud complainers, both of you.

Anyway, just wanted to say hi and ask for you to feel good tomorrow during the Heart Mini. Knee, please don't blow up. You are feeling better today! That's good! I'll take it easy on you tomorrow. IT Band, I'll roll you some more today. Stay loose, dude. Stay loose.

Please cooperate so I can have a fun 9.3 mile run with all of my friends, and not feel more left out than I already do.

Thanks,
Steph

Knee Woes

For whatever reason, my left knee has decided to stage a huge protest. After yesterday afternoon's run, I noticed it was tight and hurt. Then when I got down on the foam roller, I could barely do my right side because I couldn't use my left leg to help propel me. I still chalked it up to just being oddly sore. All night it hurt and woke me up. And this morning it was no better. I can't put weight on it to get up or sit down, and it hurts to bend it.

I guess I'll see what happens. I wouldn't be able to run on it right now, but maybe by Sunday it will be better. I'm really really hoping. I  feel sucky right now.

HMTD31: Run in the Rain

1. I'm sick sick sick of working at the flavor house. April 11th can not come soon enough.

2. I want a vacation. On that vacation I would like to get up with the sun and spend my time walking around outside, sitting and staring, and going for leisurely runs in beautiful land.

3.0 miles is what I did in 29:44. I should be happy.

HMTD29: Spinning

I spun for an hour last night after I got home and played with the dogs for a bit. It went well. I'm not sure if my cyclometer is set right now that it's on the back wheel. I will have to check on the trail with the mile markers when I get out there some day. Or ride to the end of the street, which I know is a half mile. It's still at least a gauge of effort comparatively. I did some intervals and while doing them I tried to keep my speed above a certain mph for a half mile. It got harder to do that as the intervals went on, so that is good.

HMTD28: 4 miles

This morning I ran 4 miles. There really isn't anything too special about the run. It was a pleasant cold temperature. I felt pretty good. Had some hard times breathing. Things are growing, if anyone is wondering. My lungs were full of it and I was hacking for about 2 hours after the run.

I went down Montgomery Road and then into the neighborhood that is behind the old Shell station. I haven't been back there in a while. There are some really cool homes and some really awful homes – quite a mix. It's pretty entertaining to look at.

First, coming into the neighborhood, there is a house on the left whose owners must LOVE black and white. The driveway going to the attached garage is a checkerboard of black and white tiles. The driveway to the detached garage in the back is painted white. There are a bunch of yard knick-knacks that are all painted black and white, such as a little fake well. The entire house is trimmed in black and white, and brick is white. The mailbox is too. It's pretty crazy. I don't even think I've seen all of it while I run past. It's kind of like trying to look at a house with too many lawn ornaments: you simply can't take it all in.

There is an absolutely gorgeous dark wood siding house that is tall and new with a 3-car garage. It had to be a case where they tore down the previous home and built this one. I love love the color of the wood. I imagine it's a lot of maintenance, but it looks so welcoming and cozy (even though it's a large house).

On the back stretch of road is a house that looks like it's trying to be in Florida. It's peach, and there are facade walls in the front to make kind of a court yard. It reminds me of a small scale house that could be seen from our apartment in Florida. There is also a humongous water feature off to the right. It's so big and odd looking – as tall as the house!

Those are the ones that stand out to me now. It's just funny to me how unique so many of the houses are from one another. And it kept me entertained looking around and thinking about them. That neighborhood's loop is about 1 mile. So tacked on to the 1.5 to the Shell station, it was a perfect 4 miles when all done.

I saw today in my facebook feed that the Heart Mini is 13 days away. Huh.

HMTD27: 3.8 miles...after a long week

Well, it's Saturday, and I hadn't done anything since last Saturday. As mentioned briefly in the previous post, I pulled my lower back while working on my bike. It ended up being really bad and left me unable to do anything for a week. And what a long week it was. I hate that I missed a week of training, especially after two very good and promising weeks. Oh well, challenges are good.

The turning point in my back getting better was finally going to the doctor and getting pain meds and a muscle relaxer. It would have probably gotten better faster if I could have just taken a day off completely and slept on the drug. But I took it every night, and with each pill, it got better. Once again, I am reminded how fortunate I am to live without chronic pain.

So, today my back just feels like it's sore from shoveling or yard work, so I ran 3.8 miles. I didn't expect my run to go well at all. Not only was I not biking or running last week, but I was barely moving. I couldn't walk upright and did as much activity as one does while having the flu. However, I managed to run easily at a 10:20 - 10:30 pace and got it down to 10:12 by the end. About half way through the run I stopped to stretch, and then got a wonderful rejuvenation which caused me to pick up the pace on the way back very nicely.

I am really happy to be feeling almost 100% again. It's been a very discouraging week.

HMTD26: Lifting and sore

I'm sore today from the 8 yesterday. Most notably my right ankle feels like I twisted it. I'm sure it's just a strain. Perhaps my next 8 miles shouldn't be mostly on sidewalks like this one seemed to be. I am happy to have the option, but I am already sick of running from the house. Next weekend, as long as it's not pouring down rain, I'm going to Rowe Woods or Miami Whitewater. Boom, decided.

This morning I lifted. Later today I want to clean my bike, specifically the chain. I need to get some de-greaser and go to town on it with some rags and an old toothbrush. I also want to change my tires front to back. I have a really expensive tire on the back, and since the trainer is so bad on tires, I should change it with the front one (original that came on the bike). Plus, it would give me excellent practice for changing flats and try some new tricks I learned from the Trek Ladies Night rep. The Monday night cycle spin class has been canceled. I was the only one doing it. Oh well, I was only able to go twice anyway. After work is hard. Now I will ride Monday morning.

HMTD25: 8 miles

A chilly but not too bad of a day for a long run. I ran out to Montgomery road and headed south on the sidewalk. I got to Landen Park and followed the paved trail that goes around the border of the park. I think it's 1.5 miles long total. When I got to the back of the park, there was a family getting out of cars about to do a run together: parents and a couple of kids and another adult (friend or relative I guess). Everyone was happy and smiling and ready to go. It was very cool to see. For some reason it made me  think of a time when I ran with a neighbor girl. I was in high school and had been running. There was a family we knew in the house next to the creek on my road - the Spicers. Their daughter Kristen was starting to run, and they wanted me to run with her. She and her dad had been running together, but he couldn't keep up with her anymore. So she and I ran together around the tree nursery fields in the evenings. It was scheduled for a little while. She was probably 10 or 12 at this point? When she got into Junior High and High School, she became a running star. :)  I don't remember what she ran, but remember her name in the paper a lot, breaking records and winning. I completely forgot about that memory until today when I saw the family. I think the dad reminded me of her dad and how he wanted her to do well.

Anyway, after running around the park, I headed north and passed Townsley continuing on Montgomery until the sidewalk ended. Then I turned around and headed home. I stretched at 6 point something (the turnaround) because my IT band started feeling tight.

It was a pretty lonely/boring run, but at least I felt good! Waaaaay different than the 6 last weekend, thankfully. I held a 10:15 pace for the first 4 miles and that was easy. Then I slowed down a little on some hills and had to concentrate to keep the pace. Overall pace was 10:20. The last half mile was rough – I sped up a little. I really wanted to be done.