Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I Swear I Will Never Miss Another Workout

Treadmill Warmup
Time: 22:20 min.
Distance: 1.75 mi.
Pace: 12:46 m/mi
Time of Day: 6:15 a.m.

I did a 30-sec sprint during my warm up for strength training today.

I have missed a couple of strength training sessions but I wasn't too worried about the new routine Kelly left for me at the gym. But, boy was I wrong. I managed to get through the routine, but man, it kicked my butt. I will definitely be at the gym again on Friday and I'm thinking about going again Sunday and then run on the treadmill for my easy 3 miles.

It's going to be hot the next few days. A heat advisory has been issued from noon Wednesday until Saturday evening. My training schedule calls for 6 miles tomorrow and 8 on Saturday. I might be able to do the 6 miles early tomorrow, but I'm afraid by Saturday the humidity will be too much for me to run outside. As much as I don't like to do long runs on the treadmill, I think that's where I'll be come Saturday morning.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Cooler Temps are so Cool!

Time: 39:34
Distance: 3.24 mi.
Pace: 12:13 m/mi
Time of Day: 6:34 a.m.
Weather: 61°F.

Easy run today according to the training schedule. The temperatures in the 60's are definitely working in my favor. It is supposed to heat up by Thursday, near 100° again. Yuck!

I had a migraine yesterday and didn't get to work out with Kelly. I'll strength train tomorrow, run Thursday, and strength train on Friday, Monday will be my rest day this week.

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Good Sunday Run

Time: 53:00 min.
Distance: 4.14 mi.
Pace: 12:47 m/mi
Time of Day: 10:30 a.m.
Weather: 72°F.

Another really great run. I chose a trail I haven't run in a long time. It is a loop and flat as a pancake. I figured that after yesterday's long run I needed an "easy" route. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was clear and oh so blue. There was just the slightest breeze. I know the east coast is suffering with Hurricane Irene, but gosh, it is gorgeous here.

Tomorrow I have to 'fess up to Kelly that I haven't done any strength training since last Monday. (It was an awful week for me.) I am doing the 100 push-up app on my iPhone. Kelly incorporates push ups in my workout occasionally. I'm still doing "girl" push ups, knees on the ground, but I can do 25 of them. I'm so thrilled I can do any kind of push up that I downloaded this app to keep me working on them.

A Fabulous Run!

Time: 1:29:44
Distance: 7.0 mi.
Pace: 12:49 m/mi
Time of Day: 6:57 a.m.
Weather: 65°F.

Today's run was awesome! The weather was great. Oh how I love even slightly cooler weather. I am just not a hot weather runner. But today, the temperature was in the 60's, the sky was bright blue, a light wind. Absolutely perfect conditions for a run. And run I did. I was scheduled for 6 miles but I felt great and decided to try a variation on my neighborhood 6-mile route. I didn't realize that little detour would add an extra mile to the route. But it was a great variation and I ran the complete route. I don't ever remember running longer than I was scheduled to. This was an accomplishment in a couple of ways.

First, I can physically run more distance than I thought I could. Second, I can run longer & further than I thought I could. I am a very emotional (Is that the right way to say it?) runner. The Coach frequently reminds me to "get out of my head and just run". So to run farther than the training schedule says is a big deal for me. I have to remember how great today's run felt and use it as a springboard for better running.

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Resting Indoors

It is hot, hot, hot again today. The temperature right now is hovering around 100-101° with the heat index above 105°. Good thing today is my scheduled rest/day off.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

I Got Lost on the Road of Life

Time: 45:07 min.
Distance: 3.76 mi.
Pace: 12:01 m/mi
Time of Day: 6:19 a.m.
Weather: 76°F. humid

I've been running. Honest I have. It's just that a combination of unrelated factors have hindered my blogging here.

First, The Son got engaged and married so I have been caught in the wedding crazies since April. Then, Google did some kind of update-thingy and I couldn't figure out how to access my blog. Anytime I tried to sign on I got a message that said I wasn't "authorized" to "access" this area. Hmmm? But today I was determined and, why, just look at what a little determination will do.

So, back to running…

I'm training for the St. Louis Rock & Roll half-marathon in October. I'm pretty excited. I've made changes in my overall fitness training which are having a huge impact on my running.

First, I am working out at the gym 1 day a week with a personal trainer, Kelly. She's pretty awesome and I love working out with her even when I can't lift my arms the next day. I started with Kelly to improve my appearance for the wedding, but it has been such a positive impact on more than just my fitness level that I'm keeping up with it. It's expensive so it is a sacrifice in other areas, but even The Love thinks it is worthwhile. The biggest area the strength training has impacted is my upper body strength. Even though Kelly works my legs till they quiver, the improvement in my upper body has had a significant impact on my running. I am more upright which helps my breathing, improves my form, and I hunch over less when I get tired. It's awesome! (BTW, I can now do 23 push ups and I just started body weight pull-ups. Oh yeah!)

Also, Kelly has taught me the importance of stretching after I work out. Both with her and on my own and also when I run. That has really helped my recovery after my runs.

Second, I incorporate short sprints in my warm up runs at the gym. I seriously don't understand how 2 30-second sprints 2x a week improves my speed, but it does. My shorter runs are almost 60 sec. faster than last winter. My long runs are still over 13 min/mile, but I am still adding miles at this point and am not worried about the speed.

Third, I went to a podiatrist about all the foot pain I had. My feet reached a point of hurting almost all the time. I bought new running shoes when my old pair had only 250 miles on them because I thought that was the problem. But the aches and pains continued. So I broke down, sucked it up and made an appointment. My last visit to the podiatrist was in 2002. And, you know those whitish-yellow orthotics he gave me back then? Well, who knew they were designed to be temporary, lasting only 6-12 months, not 10 years. The official diagnosis is plantar facsiatis. Oh joy. :-(

So the podiatrist gave me the following instructions:
  • No going barefoot at all—not even to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
  • Get a pair of Crocs to use as house slippers.
  • Give up the floppy flip-flops. (Boo-hoo. I love my flip-flops all summer long!)
  • Wear only shoes with an arch in them, or
  • Use the "new" temporary orthotic insert until I get permanent inserts, or
  • Wear shoes with a 2" heel or higher.
  • Do 4 specific stretches before I run.
The immediate good news was that I had to go buy a couple new pairs of shoes to get me through the rest of the summer. The doctor also gave me some anti-inflammatory medicine to help heal the current inflammation. Now I'm taking some kind of mega-strength Advil-type medicine. I go back in 3 weeks to get my feet cast for the permanent inserts.

So all of this sounds old lady-like and ugly-shoe-like and no-more-cute-shoes-like. But it really isn't. I found some cute Crocs to use as my house slippers. Who knew there were like 50-million different styles of Crocs. And, I found a nice pair of Merrell sandals to finish out the summer. And, the absolute most important thing is that my feet don't hurt! At all! Anymore! Oh my gosh-it's a miracle! Well, OK, not really a miracle, but darn close. I love my podiatrist!

So now I am running pain free. My feet dont' hurt and with the stretching I do, my hips feel better. D*** life is good these days!