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!

Piriformis Syndrome

In layman's terms piriformis syndrome is (a) pain in the butt. 

After not running for 4 days and treating my sore "hamstring" with heat and ibuprofen I was feeling better. That is until I ran a whole bunch of errands and spent a lot of time sitting in my car. The all-too-familiar pain returned with a vengeance. I did some online research and I think I have piriformis syndrome. Because I don't have, and have not had, any lower back pain, I don't think it is actually the sciatic nerve that is the problem. 

I did some online research and came up with lots of information on how to treat this problem. It is going to require lots of stretching and then strengthening of the hip area. I also found some great info in my book, Running Well. 

I am very frustrated right now. First I had the summer heat to deal with and now this. I just want to run! 

Time To Push The Restart Button

Saturday, 08/21/10
Distance: 2.75 mi.
Time: 36.22 min.
Pace: 13:13 (m/mi)
Time of day: 7:50 a.m.
Weather: 70°F, cloudy, rainy, humid


My goal was to run 4 mi. today but I didn't. I managed to get in the 2.75 miles before I just gave up and walked home. Between the lack of consistent running and the humidity and the polish chipping on my toe nails and the scratch on my arm--well I just gave up. But I did some thinking as I power walked home. And I decided I would go back and start again. I would print off the first training schedule Coach Jeni provided me and rebuild my base and quit worrying about performance. 

Another Day, Another Run

Distance: 2.78 mi.
Time: 33:44 min.
Pace: 12:08 m/mi.
Time of Day: 6:15 a.m.
Weather: 74°F Humid, yellow air day


Thursday's scheduled run was postponed till Friday. The heat index Thursday at 5:30 a.m. was already 87°F. Too hot for me to run in, especially since the weather guy was predicting cooler temps on Friday. For once he was correct.


I am reading a new book on running, Running Well.This book was highlighted in a weekly email from Borders and since I have this chronic sore left hamstring, I thought I would get this book. It focuses mainly on the mechanics of running and how to prevent injuries. I'm only on chapter 3, but so far I am finding it helpful. 


I used the warm-up sequence the authors offer. I'll give it a few more tries to see if it is more beneficial than the series of stretches I usually do. More importantly I used their stretching routine for after running. I think it was much better than what I usually do, which is the same stretches I use to warm up. All in all, I think the book is going to be a helpful resource in my library of running books, now totaling 3. 

Me and Wii

Rest Day


Since I don't have a gym membership any more I have to do strength training, etc. at home. My fabuloso kids gave The Love a Wii for his birthday earlier this year. We have played around on it so I am looking to it for fitness workouts on my non-running days. 


The strength training section focuses on the lower body, but the Yoga and balancing sections are great. Also, I did the beginner running activity and was smoking! 


I also have a plethora (inside joke) of fitness videos I can utilize for general body toning and upper body workouts. So I think I'm set.

Caught Up At Last

This is a recap of today's workout, actually posted today!

So the whole car repair issue has played a little havoc with my training schedule this week. I ran yesterday and strength trained today.

Another change is in the offing with regard to strength training. The Love and I have agreed to cancel our gym membership. The Love has started walking (and even running a little) on the school track nearby. He hasn't been to the gym in several weeks. If everything is perfect I go the gym 2 days a week. We feel that right now we can put that money to better use. We've been members of our gym for 10+ years. I feel a little sad about ending our membership, but come winter we can always join again. In the meantime, we will have saved some money which is a good thing.

I have some free weights at home. That won't be a problem. I can do lunges and squats in place of leg extensions and leg curls. That won't be a problem. I actually will do more ab/core work at home because I hate doing those exercises at the gym. The issue becomes how do I get in the warm up miles? Do they matter in the overall training schedule? Feel free to chime in here, Coach Jeni!

Catching Up Part 1

I am way behind and it will take several posts to catch up. So here goes.

I ran the Go! St. Louis half marathon and feel pretty good about my performance. Coach Jeni suggested I go easy the following 2 weeks and I havem mostly.

1st Run Post Race
Distance: 4.3 mi
Time: 51:24 min.
Pace: 11:57 min/mi.
Time of Day: 6:30 a.m.
Temp: 48°F. It was a beautiful morning to run.

In looking at my pace, I didn't exactly take it easy with this run and I paid for it the next day. I was noticeably sore.

I didn't run again until Saturday due to business travel.

Saturday's run 04/17/10
Distance: 4.14 mi.
Time: 54:19 min.
Pace: 13:07 min./mi.
Time of day: 7:30 a.m.
Temperature: 42° F. A crispy, chilly Chicago morning.

I was fortunate to run with Coach Jeni this morning. It was a teaching run. Coach Jeni explained to me that when she tells me I'm "walking" what she means is that I never have just one foot on the ground. I am in actuality power walking, keeping both feet on the ground and just walking very fast. I call it shuffling and I intend to end it. We also worked on my breathing. I breathe way too shallow. We talked about using visualization to "see" my lungs filling with air and then blowing it out. When I focus on my breathing I do o.k. It's when my thoughts are wandering around that I slip back into a shallow breathing pattern.

Coach Jeni thinks she is hard on my. But I told her that I look to her, depend on her to help me become a better runner.

I Reached My Goal!!!!

2010 Go! St. Louis Half Marathon
Time: 2:58:56 official time
Distance: 13.1 mi.
Pace: 13:29 min/mi
Time of Day: 7 a.m.
Temperature: 50s-60s, bright sunshine, occasional slight breeze

How does this thing work?

"Do you want to walk or run across the 12 mile mark?" Those were the words Coach Jeni barked at me as I came upon the 12-mile mark. I was walking up the last 50 ft. of the 2nd to last hill on the course. I was spent. Quite honestly, at that point I just wanted to lay down and rest. But I knew I couldn't. I knew I would hate myself later. I knew the 12-mile flag was just a teeny-tiny bit over the crest of the hill, so I reached way down deep and scooped up some reserve and picked up my feet and ran across that 12-mile marker and finished the racing running.

I wish I could say that I got this huge surge of energy and sprinted the last mile, finishing strong, racing across the finish line. But I can't. I did run the entire race except those 50 ft. at mile 12. I met my goal of running the entire race. I met my goal of finishing running. I met my goal of finishing in under 3 hours. But I was out of gas and running on fumes for the last mile and half.

I was unprepared for how sick I would feel after I quit running. I gulped down a bottle of water, stretched with The Son and promptly had to sit down on the curb to keep from throwing up. I felt bad for probably the next hour or more. I laid my head in The Son's lap on the ride home just so I didn't have to sit up. The other overwhelming feeling I had was to get my shoes off. Oh my goodness, my feet hurt!

Heading into the Finish Line!

I was sore. I was stiff. I was so tired. I was so very tired. Did I mention I was tired? It took several hours for me to feel good about what I had accomplished. As we sat around the kitchen table eating delicious grilled hamburgers Coach Jeni, The Son and I shared tidbits of the race with The Love and The Son's Girlfriend. They, in turn, told us of their adventures in watching the race. We had a great time and I quickly realized that not only did I reach my personal goals, but I had a wonderful experience to think back on and revel in the memories made.

So here are my thoughts on the race itself. The whole reason for arriving an hour early to the race is to stand in line at the Porta-Potties. Hmm. Why not just go right before leaving home and arrive closer to race time?

I didn't have trouble in the race until mile 9. In fact, I think I was running strong and pacing well until that point. But being the mental runner I am, when I realized that at mile 9 the course turned away from downtown St. Louis for a couple miles before heading to the finish line, I really got discouraged. Plus, for some weird reason my music stopped playing and I didn't have that distraction. Here are my splits and it obvious that I really struggled through miles 9 and 10 and just wasn't able to completely recover.
Mile  Avg Pace

1        12:25

  Here Comes Mile 8!

2        12:58                                         
3        13:32

4        12:42

5        13:04
6        12:46
7        13:15
8        13:35
9        14:05
10      14:04
11      13:25
12      13:51
13      14:13



So even though I struggled and had some trouble, there were a lot of positives:

• I didn't have to stop to go the bathroom. Even though I drank one bottle of water in the first 6 miles, in addition to at least 2 cups of water at every water station (every 2 miles up to mile 8 & every 1 mile after that) I think I sweated it all out.
• The blister area on my right foot didn't bother me and my fears of having to stop because of blister problems did not materialize.
• I didn't walk. O.K. I did walk 50 ft. right at the top of the 2nd to last hill. But I also walked through each water station. I count that as having run the entire race and so do Coach Jeni & The Son.
• I actually passed some runners—and I passed a lot of walkers. I wasn't the last person to finish the race, I wasn't even the last runner.
• In real terms, this was only my 4th long run. And my longest run before this race was 11 miles. I increased my distance by almost 20% to run the race.

Late in the evening after a 45-minute nap, I took a short walk to help keep my legs from tightening and getting stiff. I slept pretty darn good Sunday night!

So what's ahead? I will take a walk today with The Love and back to running on Tuesday.

Here are my immediate thoughts for long-range goals.

• Work on endurance and stamina. I don't ever want to feel like quitting at mile 12 again!
• Increase upper body strength. I could tell that as I ran out of energy I slumped which, in turn, affected my breathing.
• Work on speed. I don't anticipate being a speed devil. I don't want to train that hard, but I would like to see better times.

I had a wonderful experience! I want to thank Coach Jeni and The Son for their training expertise and support. Thanks to The Love for his unending support. Thanks to The Love, The Son's Girlfriend and The Chef for cheering me on during the race. And thanks to all the other spectators and their cheers of encouragemnent.

My Cheer Poster

The Rewards!

Post Race Duds!

See you in June at the North Shore half marathon!

Random Thoughts on Running

Now that's it has been 24 hours since I did my longest run ever and I didn't do any workout today because my legs were so darn sore, I thought I would put down some random thoughts I have had about running.

I can still hardly believe that I ran 11 miles. I first talked to The Coach about wanting to run the Go! St. Louis half-marathon Nov. 12th or 13th. I started training the following Monday, Nov. 16th. That is just a little over 4 months ago. When I stop and think about it, I am amazed at what I have accomplished in the time since that first walk/run on a cold, rainy, dark morning.

I tend to downplay my accomplishments but honestly, I've accomplished a lot. It has taken determination. And I could not have done this without the support of The Love, The Coach, and The Son. The Love has worked his schedule around my running; he never blinked an eye when I took off during the day to run. When I needed something, he made sure I got it. In addition, his belief in me that I could do this has brought me to tears more than once. The Coach has been fabulous. In addition to developing a comprehensive training program, she, too, has supported me with confidence. More than once, she has picked up my flagging spirits and re-energized me. She answered every question I asked, even when it was probably inconvenient for her. She has truly been the back bone of my training. The Son, while playing a smaller role, has nevertheless been instrumental in helping me on the LSRs every weekend. He has quite a talent for keeping my pace steady and encouraging me on the final miles. I honestly didn't think I would be able to run the last 2 miles yesterday without him. But as I became tired I tried to tell myself what I thought he would be telling me if he had been running along side.

So with all this support and love around me I was quite surprised last Saturday at my sewing event for the negative reaction I received from other women about my goal. I ate lunch with a group of women that I know only slightly, through my monthly ASG Neighborhood Group meetings. As we talked about health and middle age the subject of exercise came up and I mentioned that I was training to run a half-marathon. Much to my surprised the women responded with only negative comments. "You shouldn't run because it makes every thing droop." "My doctor told me never to run. The constant pounding wouldn't do anything good for my body." "You're going to get arthritis in your knees and then you'll be sorry." Whoa! I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

I certianly don't expect people to fawn over me when I talk about running and my goal. But, several other people who know I run (and now that I think about it, they are all men,) have responded to me with comments like, "Wow. That's awesome." "Wow. A half-marathon, huh. That's a really long way." "That's great. Good luck." Stuff like that. I am really blown away by how negative these women were. I don't know what was going on with them, but I hope I learned that when someone tells you about a goal in their life, give them some positive feedback. What they are doing is important to them and they deserve all the support and encouragement they can get. Who cares if their goal doesn't appeal to you. The fact that she is moving forward in a positive manner is awesome!

OK. That's the end of my rant. I just had to get it off my chest.

I rested today. I am surprised by how stiff and sore my legs are. Probably due in large part to the half-hearted stretching I did after the 11 miles I ran. (Isn't it so cool that I ran 11 miles?) Tomorrow is a 6-mile run. While I think it would be easy to talk about how it's only half of what I just ran so it will be easy, I don't think so. Six miles is still a distance for me to go. But I am totally up for it. Should I take my grocery list with me as I run to the grocery store and back?

A New Trail

2.00 mi. in 25:52 min.
Temp.: 44°F, WC 36°F
Time of Day: 10:45 a.m.

I had the pleasure of running with my son on Sunday. We ran at a park near his home. It was good training to a) run with a partner, and b) run a trail with other traffic. Running with Scott increased my pace a bit. He was very conscientious of how fast we were running, but I told him I was pushing myself, but not too hard. It helped me realize that I can (and maybe should) pick up my pace a bit. Scott also suggested we run together every Sunday. I like that idea.

The Correct Way To Put On Your Socks

4.11 mi. in 55:53 min.
Time of day: 7 a.m.
Temp: 44°F, WC 36°F
To Christopher and back!

When John Wooden became the basketball coach at UCLA, one of the first things he did was take the members of the team into the locker room and began instructing them on the correct way to put on their socks. When the players began scoffing at this instruction, so the story goes, Coach Wooden told them that their feet were their lifeline to the game. If the socks weren't on their feet correctly, it would cause discomfort which could affect their ability to play. If they got a blister because the sock rubbed, they would be out of the game. So Coach Wooden spent time teaching these young men the importance of putting on their socks correctly. Driving home the point that small things can make a difference.

I learned first hand this morning about the socks. I had to stop twice to pull up one of my socks. Obviously I didn't put it on correctly. The second time fixed the situation, but I thought about Coach Wooden this morning while I ran. I don't know a lot about the man, but I do know that he taught his players to pay attention to the small details, like putting on your socks correctly. I realize when I pay attention to my form, keep my shoulders down, upright back, hands pointed straight ahead with elbows bent, place my feet properly as they hit the ground, running becomes less work and more pleasure.

Good form helped me run a new distance today, 4.11 miles. But more than the miles it was the turn around point I ran to. A point I had previously psyched myself out of running to. A point that really was not that much farther than I had previously run. Good form kept me going strong the entire run. Thanks, Coach Wooden.

I'd also like to say thanks to my coach, Jeni, and The Love Of My Life, and my other children for their support and encouragement as I make this journey. I'm having a great time. I appreciate every word of encouragement from each of you. Thank you all.

Sunday, Monday

Sunday Stats:
2.0 mi. in 27:37 min. Short/easy run
Time of day: 1 p.m.
Temp: 40°F, WC 34°F

Monday Stats:
1.0 mi in 13:27 min. 0% incline Warm up for strength training
Time of day: 6:30 a.m.

Sunday's run was a needed short, easy run. I was pretty worn out after Saturdays 3.8 mile run. I could tell I was tired so I didn't push it, just a slower, easier pace. I noticed at one point I was even shuffling my feet slightly. So I paid special attention to my form after that. I don't think the shuffling was because I was really, really tired. I think I just lapsed into bad form.

It was beautiful outside. The sun was shining. I was overdressed in my cool Nike pants, a long-sleeved shirt, jacket, gloves & headband. I think when the WC or temperature is over 35°, I need to switch to regular weight running pants.

This morning (Monday) I experienced an unusual lack of motivation. I could have stretched back out on the bed and skipped the gym. But I didn't. I pushed myself out the door and had a good workout. I am up to 3 sets of each strength training exercise (15-12-10 reps). The weights are still light, in the 10-15 lb. range mostly. But I do not want to get stiff so I am not pushing myself on weight. One thing new I did today is rest longer between sets. I figured out how to use the timers in my GymBuddy app. I set the first one for 30 seconds and when I finished a set I started it. So I rested a full 30 seconds between each set which I have not done before. I think it helped me perform better with the slightly longer rest between sets.

Tomorrow is my first official 4 mile run. Oh yeah!

Homemade

Strength Training

OK. Enough already. I've about had it with the -10°F wind chills. And 6" of snow to boot, er, shovel.

I didn't make it to the gym so tonight I scrounged around and collected enough old free weights to work through my strength training routine, except for the 2 leg exercises. I need to do some research and find out what I can sub for leg extensions and leg curls.

Obviously I didn't get in the 1 mile warm up run, but I am very happy I figured out how to do the strength training at home.

Back At It

2.5 mi. in 42 min. 1% incline

It was very cold this morning and I have several meetings scheduled today so I ran on the treadmill at the gym this morning. Unfortunately I accidentally hit the reset button about halfway through my run so my distance & time is an estimate—albeit very close.

So after a really wiped out yesterday I woke up feeling so much better this morning. I am proud of myself that I got up and ran this morning. In my old workout days I would have used the excuse of still "resting" and taken the remainder of the week off. Then come Monday I would have said, "oh well" and given up. But I was eager to run this morning. I have to say that the 2 apps I am using, Running Log and Runmeter, really help in the motivation area. "Seeing" my run on the graphs in Runmeter and my totals in Running Log are so cool!

I finally received the book I ordered way back in November, Beginning Runner's Handbook - The Proven 13-week Walk/Run Program. It is very basic. If I hadn't had DD1 to help me get started, this book would have been ideal. It follows the same basic philosophy she uses of walking and adding run time a little at a time until you can run 30 minutes continuously. The book has you run 3 days a week, but I like running 5 or 6 days and then taking a day off. I need the daily routine.

It was ironic that I received the book on Tuesday, the same day I did too much. The second chapter of the book is about how your body adapts s-l-o-w-l-y to running. And, how you may feel o.k. aerobically but your muscles and bones are still adapting to the exercise. I think that is exactly what occurred with me Tuesday. I didn't necessarily feel winded while I was running, but I definitely think my muscles and bones were not ready for that intense of a workout.

I'm obviously still reading the book and look forward to discussing it more.