8/27/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 21 miles

I actually did:  21.78 miles*


*27.925 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage system, getting 4.5 miles for running uphill for 9 miles, 1 mile for soaking through 4 layers, .125 miles for running in the dark (technically only part of the run was in the dark, but still), and 0.5 miles for running more than 10 miles.

Days to go until the marathon: 29

Miles to go until 1000: 587.56


Can I get a "woot woot" for surviving today's run?  It surprisingly wasn't even that bad.  I think there are a couple of reasons for this:
1) I changed up my route a bit; usually, I end running on bike trails, and usually the end of my runs suck.  I think this is most likely because they are the end of long runs, and it is usually hot by the time I'm done.  But I started to think that maybe it is because I'm running on trails that aren't often interrupted by streets, driveways, etc.  Nice most of the time, but I think at the end of a run when I'm mentally fatigued, it's nice to say, "just run fast to the next driveway", and then be able to do it.  But on the trails, the next intersection is often half a mile away, so it seems forever.  So today I started out on the trails, and ended on the city streets that are normally the beginning. 
2) I was super worried about running out of water on this run, so I asked a friend whose house is approximately 2/3 of the way through my route if I could stop and refill my water bottles.  So I did, but I also chatted with her for about 15 minutes and therefore got a little rest.


Most likely, the reason this run didn't suck was the rest I got at my friend's house, and that may not bode well for the marathon as I probably won't stop to chat with anyone during it.  But nevertheless, I felt good about the run, and at the end, I even felt -- dare I say it -- that I could've run another 4.5 miles.  


Hopefully this means I am ready for the marathon.  It's less than a month away, and all my long runs are now actually kind of short (10, 8, 6 miles) as I taper.  


So again, can I get a "woot woot"?

8/23/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 35 minute run

 

I actually did:  42:32 minutes/3.98 miles

Days to go until the marathon: 33

Miles to go until 1000:612.84

On today's run, I spent a lot of time thinking about the way I smell.  Not the way I smell all the time, but the way I smell when I'm running.  This is not something I have ever considered before, but on my long run on Sunday (which was "only" 10 miles -- which is a phrase I would've thought was ridiculous to say when I started running again last March -- but was wonderful and again made me wonder why I thought running 26 miles in a row was a good idea when running a reasonable distance like 13 is so pleasant.  Although my friend Tryna, a marathon veteran, said to me that 10 miles only felt easy because I am ready for my 21 miles this coming weekend, so we'll see), I passed another runner.  And he stank.  To be fair, he smelled like sweat.  And he was running, and it was sunny and probably 70 or so degrees, so he had very good reasons for smelling like sweat.  I have written before about the fact that I usually feel a camaraderie towards other runners, but my initial reaction was "gross, he stinks".  I immediately felt ashamed, and then felt camaraderie towards him, probably a little too much camaraderie, as I was over-compensating for my initial bad thoughts.  I didn't think much about it until this morning, when I passed another runner (who, as far as I could tell, did not stink), and I immediately felt self conscious.  Did I stink?  Probably.  It wasn't super hot, as it was before 5 am, but I was nearing the end of my run when I passed him and definitely was sweating.  And I don't usually wear antiperspirant when I run, because I kind of figure what's the point.  I'm going to sweat regardless of it, and I'm going to shower afterwards before I go to work, so why waste it.  But maybe it's not a waste if I make myself less offensive to other runners, if only for the second or so we are within smelling distance.

8/14/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 13 miles

I actually did:   13.53*

*18.53 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 3.25 miles for running uphill for a total of 6.5 miles, 1 mile for sweating through underwear, pants, sports bra and shirt, 0.25 miles for 80+ degree weather, and 0.5 miles for traveling more than 10 miles. 

 

Days to go until the marathon: 42

Miles to go until 1000: 648.97

I know, I've been a slacker.  Not just with posting, but with running too.  It is no secret that I have been struggling to keep my running mojo going while training for this marathon.  I think it is also no secret that I've had pain in my hips (mostly the left recently, but it has been on the right too).  Well, I had a great 18.8 mile run a couple of weeks ago.  The first 13.5 miles of the run felt AMAZING.  I felt fast, and great.  13.5 to 15 were a little harder.  15 to 17 really sucked.  17 to home was better again.  Overall my pace was 11:25, which honestly would shock me if I am able to run the marathon at that fast a pace.  So I thought maybe my mojo was coming back.  Then I left the next day for vacation and did a couple of runs while on vacation.  But then I didn't run at all for the 2 weeks after I got back from vacation.  Part of this was lack of motivation, part of it was wanting to see if my hip pain would go away, part of it was because I had (have, as it's not over yet) 18 days in a row of work without a day off as soon as I got back from vacation.  And part of it was because someone had posted on Run Like a Mother's facebook page that the best way to get your running groove back is to take some time off.  So I did.

My first run back was actually yesterday, I had signed up for a 5k.  I am a bit of a race snob, and usually don't think 5ks are worth the entrance fee, but this is for a good cause (building a dog park in our town, which really needs one), and I thought maybe it would be helpful to run a race I can do relatively fast.  My plan had been to run to the start of it, so that I'd get 14 or so miles in for the day and be done with my long run for the weekend.  But of course I was on call, and my pager went off, and I had a patient in labor.  I ended up still doing the 5k -- all the while wondering if it were the stupidest thing in the world, because what better way to ensure the patient delivered quickly while I was in the middle of the race -- but not the pre-run.  That was ok, I did my long run today (more on that in a bit).

I started out the 5k fast.  Too fast, in fact.  I very quickly felt exhausted and couldn't believe I'd gotten so out of shape with just 2 weeks of non-running (during which time, I should add, I did bike commute to work several times so it wasn't like I was a slug).  Then I looked down at my Garmin and discovered I was running a 7 minute mile.  Well no wonder!  Whenever I hear of people running 6-7 minute miles, I often think to myself, "I wonder if I could run that fast for just one mile?"  I now know that I can't.  My limit at a 7 minute mile is apparently 0.25 miles.  So I slowed down and the rest of the race felt good.  It was a very small race (I think there were less than 50 people running it), and for a long time I thought I was the very last one (but later discovered there were a couple people behind me, and I did pass 2 people near the end).  So I kind of felt bad about myself because of that, although I overall ran a 9:35 mile for the race, so I tried to convince myself that I shouldn't feel badly that I was the slowest one out there, because I still ran fast for me.

For the record, my patient delivered at around 8 pm that night, so I did not miss it, nor did I cause a faster labor by my absence from the hospital.

Which brings us to today's run.  I've been reading a couple other running blogs from time to time recently, and one of them talked about how you should have a negative split (i.e. the second half of the race is faster than the first half), and that for every minute you are under pace in the first half of the race, you lose 2 minutes in the second half because of exhaustion.  So I tried to do today's run with a negative split, which I don't think works for me.  It was really hard to go at my slow "goal" pace in the beginning (arbitrarily set at 11 min/mile, since my actual goal marathon pace is anything faster than standing still), and I ended up at the same slow pace at the end.  Maybe that's the point, and I guess I was more consistent in my pace, but it felt overall like I was slower (and my pace was objectively slower than the great 18.8 mile run I mentioned earlier), and not necessarily less tired.  So I don't know about this whole negative split thing, although I am willing to try it on one more long run before I go back to just running without thinking about pace except to say "oh, I'm going fast right now" or "wow, I'm going slow right now".

I also tried to make this run more interesting than usual.  Usually, I run straight down the major street near my house (Colton), to the next major cross street (17th), and then I turn and head up that to the next major street (Poly), etc.  But today I decided I would shake things up a bit by running up and down the side streets in between Colton and Poly.  It did make things more interesting, and certainly added a lot of hills to my run, and I think I liked it overall.  But it also felt like I wasn't really going anywhere because at one point I realized I had run 2 miles, but was only like .75 miles away from my house.  This actually turned out to be a good thing, however, because at that 2 mile mark, I realized I didn't lock my front door.  So I ran home, only to discover that I had, in fact, locked it.  I then repeated the up and down side streets from the beginning.  I don't think that's what it meant when people talk about doing hill repeats, but that's ok.

Overall I enjoyed the runs this weekend.  My hip did start to hurt, but wasn't unbearable.  I know I need to add strength training to my regimen, and I keep meaning to . . . maybe this week . . ., and I think that will help with the pain I'm having.  But, I do feel like I'm going to be able to run (or should I say finish, as there will definitely be some walking involved) this marathon which I can't say I for sure did a few weeks ago.

7/10/11

Training schedule says I will do: 14 miles


I actually did:   15.03 miles*

*19.78 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting 3 miles for running uphill for a total of 6 miles, 1 miles for sweating through underwear, pants, sports bra and shirt, 0.25 miles for 80+ degree weather, and 0.5 miles for traveling more than 10 miles. 
 
Days to go until the marathon: 77


Miles to go until 1000: 700.05

I was pretty nervous about this run because I didn't really run at all during the week, plus I didn't leave for it until after 9 am and it was pretty warm and sunny.  And about 0.25 into the run I realized I had forgotten to take my prophylactic ibuprofen.  But all things said, it was a decent run.  Yes, I got hot (and sunburned), and yes, I was in some pain over the last half of it (which I think was related to the heat as much as anything), but this was the farthest distance I have ever run which felt like a good accomplishment.  I walked when I needed to (about 3 miles total, I'd guess) which is ok with me.  I will be fine even if I walk half the marathon.  So I feel like I'm back on track after my doubts of late.

Oh, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers played during this run! :)

7/4/201

Training schedule says I will do: 11 miles

I actually did:   10.66 miles*
 
*14.16 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting an 2.5 miles for running uphill for a total of 5 miles, 0.5 miles for sweating through sports bra and shirt, and 0.5 miles for traveling more than 10 miles. 
 
Days to go until the marathon: 84

Miles to go until 1000: 721.08

I felt pretty good about this run, until I got home and discovered I had been supposed to run 11 miles, not 10 like I thought . . . grr . . . this is especially frustrating BECAUSE I felt so good, I easily could've done 11.  Oh well.

Despite the fact that I clearly can't read, this was a good run.  I don't know if it was the new shoes, the fact that I started at about 5 am before it got hot, the fact that I didn't work all day first, the fact that I drank gatorade the whole time, or some combination of the above, but it was a WAY better run than last week.  I still had some pain, but I also think that a lot of that is mental (duh, you are probably saying), because all it took was some motivating tunes to make me forget I was hurting.


Happy 4th of July!!

6/26/2011

Training schedule says I will do: 15.5 miles

I actually did:   13.79 miles*
 
*18.915 miles using Aubree's Bonus Mileage System, getting an extra 1.5 miles for working all weekend before running (not actually in the bonus system, but Aubree-approved), 2.5 miles for running uphill for a total of 5 miles, 0.5 miles for sweating through sports bra and shirt, 0.125 miles for darkness, and 0.5 miles for traveling more than 10 miles.  That's a lot of bonus miles!
 
Days to go until the marathon: 91

Miles to go until 1000: 739.6

Ok, this run kind of sucked.  To be specific, the first 9 miles were fine.  The rest sucked.  This weekend was a little crazy in that I was working at the hospital.  I worked 12 hours each on Saturday and Sunday, and started my run after getting home from work Sunday night.  So, I was fairly tired from working but determined to do my long run this weekend because I didn't get it in last weekend due to a patient in labor.  The first 9 miles were fine, and then it all went downhill.  Every inch of my lower half started to hurt, including my calves which completely cramped up (which was new for me).  By the time I got near home, it was clear that I had miscalculated my distance and would not be doing 15.5 miles, but it was 10:15 (by which time I am usually in bed), dark, and I was hungry and in pain.  So I just went home.

This run was fairly discouraging because it was so hard, and I once again started to doubt whether I could run a full marathon.  But since then I have thought about it, and talked to friends, and here are the lessons I have learned:

1.  Don't run more than 9 miles after working a 12-hour day.  This one really should've been obvious to me.
2.  Don't wait until 2 hours into a run to start drinking Gatorade.  Again, probably should've been obvious.
3.  Don't run at dinner time in the summer, unless you have recently eaten.  The smell of others' barbecues will make you hungry.
4.  Perhaps even the kick-ass music on my ipod is not enough to keep me distracted and interested on such long runs.  (I have since downloaded podcasts of Wait, Wait Don't Tell Me for my next long run.)
5.  Maybe it is time for new running shoes.  (I ended up getting new shoes 2 days later.)

I am determined not to give up on running this stupid marathon and I am hoping my new shoes will propel me through the next long ru

Update

You may have noticed that my posts are fewer and getting posted all at once recently; I have been swamped at work and not much free time at home, so posting has been harder.  So, I think I'm not going to try to post for every run anymore and just do it when I can.  Since I think there is exactly one person who reads this on a regular basis, I don't think anyone will be too sad, but I just wanted to make the announcement.  I promise if I have any earth-shattering thoughts I will post them.  Until then, happy running!