Today was my longest run since I began training. The furthest I made when training for a full marathon in July was 10 miles. I hit that mileage last Saturday. Today was the next step – an 11 miler. Usually I would think that an extra mile would not be that big of a deal, but I guess with what all I have on my plate right now, it was a bit more of an undertaking for me.
In the past few weeks I have been taking on higher mileage runs in my training. I am happy to say that I am having continued success and have successfully avoided re-injuring my foot. The 10 mile marker was the true litmus test in my running journey. This was the distance that sidelined my training in July, and subsequent goal of my first full marathon event at the Dallas White Rock Marathon.
I have been cautiously running the higher distances, and even opted to tape my foot for the 10 mile run. My goal in doing so was to complete the run, and avoid putting too much stress on my navicular bone. The navicular sling tape job worked very well!
Last week I celebrated my 42nd Birthday. Some women and men for that matter fear aging. Not me. I can sit back and feel great about being this age. I look at it this way; I am wiser than I was at 24, I am stronger emotionally than I was at 24, I am healthier than I was at 24, and I am much more physically fit than I was at 24.
On the actual day of my birthday I went out and decided to do a celebratory run; .1 miles for each year. I only had an hour for lunch, so I would not have been able to do something epic. I did have an epic idea, but I lacked the time to complete it; 42 min swim, 42 mile bike ride, 4.2 mile run.
I settled for the 4.2 mile run.
This week was my lighter training week. Since I upped my Saturday long run day to eight miles, instead of seven, I was able to cut back in order to run the Komen 5K. In the past when I have participated in this event, I have just walked it. I always admired the runners, but was too timid and out of shape to attempt running a 5K. I always thought though that one day I would like to try, but it was always “next year”.
This year was a different story. On my weekday training runs, I was running at least 3 miles a day; a hair shorter than a 5K. After months of training like this, I knew I could finally run in a 5K event. The Komen Race for the Cure was the perfect chance to get a real 5K under my belt. My company had a team of people walking this, and my partner in crime, Christie’s company was also walking it. This was her first 5K ever. She looked forward to it as much as I did.
So help me, I think about blogging most every day, but everything seems to leap forward and prevent me from sitting down and focusing on writing something. I’m still training, and doing very well actually. I won’t try to post every single map of my training runs over the past weeks, but I will post the latest long run map, because honestly it rocked.
Saturday I set out to do a 7-miler. On the weekend I do one long run, usually a mile more than the previous weekend’s run. Last Saturday I did just over 6 miles, so naturally I needed to up it to a 7-miler – capiche?
I set forth on my little running adventure. The night before I mapped it out, and sent the navigation notes to my iPhone, so I could quickly check them, so as to avoid getting lost. As the running routes increase in distance, so does my chance of running in unfamiliar territory. I can no longer circle the neighborhood, because at this distance it would get boring and dizzy. This new route had me getting to the Houston street bridge, but not crossing into downtown.
Yeah, I crossed it; but only 80% of the way.
It was fun to run over the river – well the dried up version of a river that we have here in Dallas. I had ridden over this bridge MANY MANY times on my bike, but running it was more fun. I could take the time to see the marshy area below, and the cranes that were flying around.
I got right to the point that it enters the downtown area, and turned back. I know how I am about getting caught up in the running adventure, and I didn’t want to risk over doing the mileage so much that I re-visit the foot injury that I just finally healed from.
Oh yeah the foot issue – I ran this without the need of taping and wrapping the arch. How about that? Ha!
Distance 8.16 mi, Duration 1:39:24, Pace 12:15 min/mile, Speed 4.9 mph.
This week begins week 5 of my training. I have cut back the mileage a little, so I can give my body a recovery week, but also so I can run the Komen Race for the Cure 5K on Saturday. I’ve ran 5K upwards of four times a week since March, but I have never ran an actual 5K Event. I’ve always admired the runners at the Komen 5K, but I have always just walked it. Each time I participated, I thought to myself, “Next year I’m gonna run this”, but I never did – until NOW.
This is going to be a blast!
First week went very well. Although there were some hot and uncomfortable days that I had to train on, I made it through the discomfort. Sunday I ran 4 miles, and in doing so, I went somewhat off the beaten path. I do that sometimes to shake the monotony of running the same familiar routes. It allowed me to tune out my brain, and take in the sights.
I discovered some huge houses and nice hideaways. The elevation was not extreme at all, which gave me a more relaxing longer run. Sadly I encountered way too many stray dogs. I hate that these poor creatures are on the street. They left me alone for the most part, and a couple were more afraid of me, than a threat. People really need to be mindful of their animals, and to spay and neuter them. I hope that in my future training runs, I don’t have to encounter so many lost little souls.
Speaking of strays, we rescued another one on Friday. This sweet girl was wondering around our neighborhood for over a week with an unfixed male. She was extremely friendly, and even sat for a couple of photos, so I could get the word out about her. The male was not as social, and was too skittish and aloof. We were not able to catch him.
When we got home from work on Friday evening, the lost girl was laying in a yard three houses down. When she caught eye of us, she bolted full speed to our place. I made the decision to give her a home. She adores everyone in the house! The other dogs are happy with her and love her too. She makes a great playmate to our puppy, and they wrestle for hours.
We had our vet check her out, and she is in perfect health. She just needs to be fixed, and that will be done within the next few weeks. Puppy-boy is first.
So running aside, please spay and neuter your pets. Also please consider a shelter dog; rescues make the BEST companions!
Anyway here was my Sunday run
Week one of Half-Marathon training is upon me! Day one… a rest day. I can dig that!
I put in a little over 4 miles on Saturday morning, and my legs were noticeably heavy. Not quite sure what the exact problem was, but I am thinking it was due to lack of proper hydration and supplementation; a wagon that I have fallen off of as of late. I am a preacher of drinking water. Drink at least your 8 cups (64 oz) of water a day, and more than that during the summertime. The injury got me off my game with training and with the above theory; I have just not been cognitive of my water intake. My food intake, yes I have been mindful of, but hydration has been forgotten. Bad me!
I made it through the run, but did have to walk almost a mile at the end. Walking breaks are fine, but when it is something that you have to take suddenly, due to performance issues, you have got to look at the “why”.
Today I am looking at training schedules. It was easy with the marathon training because I had a couple of books that were dedicated to the topic. However with a Half Marathon it is a little more tricky to find solid tried and true advice. It’s out there, but you have to weed through the web to get it. I believe I am settled on one of Hal Higdon’s. I may just be overly cautious due to the fact that I am coming back from an injury. I’m going to take this slow. REPEAT. I am going to take this slow.
For now, here is an inspirational quote –
“I don’t love broccoli, and I don’t love the treadmill, but I love the way I feel when I’m healthy and strong. It empowers me in all facets of my life. So remember, that although something may not be fun in the moment, remind yourself of the ultimate reward, and allow that to motivate you through the tough times. ”
—Jillian Michaels
