Easy Does It

2 mi. in 12:20 min. at 0% incline, top speed 5.1 mph.

Just an easy run after my 5 mile run on Saturday.

Coach Jeni called to talk about my upcoming race. Some things to remember for the week before a race:

• Hydrate
• Sleep well as many nights as I can. Probably Friday night won't be a restful night due to excitement. Remember sleep is cumulative, so sleep well early in the week.
• Watch what I eat all week to avoid digestive upsets.

Wintry weather is in the forecast for the rest of the week. Looks like I'll be running on the treadmill as prep for the race on Saturday.

Five Miles Down

5.07 mi. in 1:15:00.
Temp: 33°F, WC 23°F and wind from the north at 13 mph
Time of day: 8 a.m.

I ran 5 miles this morning! That is 5 miles! That is 1 mile more than 4. And I feel great! Next weekend's Frosty Five is definitely doable.

I was pretty excited about today's run even before I headed out. I was pumped up that I would get to add some distance to my runs. The-Love-of-My-Life was concerned about me running since it sleeted and snowed some overnight. But the roads were only wet and so I headed out early.

I started slowly, not wanting to get tired and not be able to finish. It worked. Although my pace was slower I ran strong and never felt like I needed to walk. I am so excited and happy about my run today I was grinning from ear to ear all day.

I received my new iPhone armband. It worked great and I believe it will be comfortable on bare skin.

Blah

Friday's Stats
1 mi. in 13:03 min. as a warm up for strength training.

Kudos to me for pushing through a bad case of the blahs, sleet & snow, and late afternoons to get to the gym at 4 p.m. and work out.

Mixin' It Up

3.0 mi. in 38:18 min.
Time of day: 2 p.m.
Temp: 35°F, WC 31°F, cloudy

So much for the insight yesterday that I need to get out later in the day and absorb some life enriching sunshine. The weather forecast for today is cloudy with a winter storm on the way. Snow & ice tomorrow. I did swap Thursday's and Friday's workouts. I ran today and, if I can't get to the gym tomorrow, I will be able to do most of my strength training at home.

As I was running today I was thinking about struggling these last 10 days or so. I reminded myself that I usually experience some difficulties right before having a breakthrough. I learned this in therapy the last few years. Over and over I would experience difficulties, feel like giving up, get depressed and wham! I would have a break through that would catapult me forward. I do not progress at a steady, linear, upward motion. I move forward in leaps and bounds. So applying this self-knowledge I figure I will get my stride back, better than ever, sometime soon.

Rest, Rest, Rest

Rest Day, Yoga this evening.

This week is better than last week. But I think I have hit a slump where it would be easy to quit if I wasn't already signed up for 2 races. I feel like I am running a lot but not making progress. It seems like I have been running the same 3 or 4 miles for a really long time. In fact, that isn't the case. I have only run 4 miles 3 times. Maybe it is all the 3 mile runs that seem endless.

Last week was a step-back week so every run was 3 miles, no additional miles. Jeni explained to me that every few weeks a step-back week is scheduled to allow my body to adjust to the additional distance that I run. I understand that. But, I've been running 3 miles for almost a month now. And a lot of it has been on the treadmill. Hmm, that probably adds to the feeling of running but going nowhere.

As I look at my training schedule I see that I will be adding miles for the next 2 weeks. I sure hope it doesn't snow anymore! And I realized last night there are only 10 days until my first official race. So I have several things to look forward to. And there's no way I'm going to quit. I really enjoy running too much to stop. I guess I'm impatient for more distance and better weather.

Maybe that's it! I'm suffering a mild case of cabin fever. Whew! That makes me feel better. It's not the distance thing at all, but the weather keeping me inside most of the time that is weighing on my mind. Can I modify my daily schedule so I can run late morning or early afternoon? That way I would catch more sunshine. I'll have to work on this.

Icy Hot

4.0 mi. in 52:45 min. 33°F, no WC
Time of day: 7 a.m.

I successfully ran my 4 miles today even with a sore hamstring. After discussing the situation with Coach Jeni yesterday we came to the following conclusion. Running Saturday at a 3.5% incline irritated my hamstring, then Sunday running a hilly route on snow and ice further inflamed and irritated it. Treatment was ice yesterday afternoon and evening, 10 min. on/30 min. off, and ibuprofen.

We also discussed stretching and whether to stretch my hamstrings before running. I am in the camp that stretching cold muscles is more harmful than not, so I always stretch at the end of my runs. However, this morning I did do some mild stretching before heading out.

My leg didn't hurt when during the run, but I felt it. I have had heat on my leg most of today and it's feeling pretty good. Tomorrow is a rest day and Thursday is strength training again. So the hamstring should have time to do some healing.

On Sunday my son was telling me about the running app he downloaded to his iPhone. It was basically like my Runmeter app, but he had voice updates on how far we'd run, the pace, the time, etc. It was pretty cool. So I checked out my Runmeter app and discovered it did the same thing. I set it up this morning and every 1/4 mile this voice came on and updated my progress. Very cool! Thanks, Scott!

Also this morning I tried a different energy source. I took along a bag of energy "jelly beans". I liked these a lot better than the GU but the package is difficult to tear open while running and then they have a zip lock that you have to pry open. I will buy these again but put them in a different kind of bag to carry with me.

And one last thing. I ordered an arm band for my iPhone from Overstock.com. Soon I won't have to hold my iPhone any more.

A Pain in the Butt

.5 mi. in 7:07 minutes, no incline (warm up for strength training)
Time of day: 6 a.m.

Uh oh. Oops. I think I did a no-no. I have a pain at the top of my left hamstring radiating into my backside. I didn't even notice anything was wrong until I hit the treadmill. I almost rolled off the back the pain surprised me so much. I slowed way down to 4.2 mph thinking it was stiff and would work out. Nope. I was able to limp to half a mile and then I got off. I was able to walk o.k. and I completed my entire strength training routine. I think this warrants a call to The Coach.