Went for a run

Sunday I decided to go for a run. It had been a week since I ran. A week that included a lovely stomach/intestinal bug that made me so sick. But, it was now two weeks until Shamrock race weekend and three until The Love Run weekend. The training schedule stated 9-10 miles, but I knew that wasn't happening.

I left the house telling the hubby I didn't know how far I was going or how long, but probably not long. I parked the car and realized I forgot Garmin. Yea... I had my Nano, but I can't get it calibrated so I didn't bother with it other than for music. I did put it on the run setting, but other than that hit go and off I went.

The neighborhood I run in has three streets that are about half a mile long one way. I ran in and just went. No idea how far I was going to go, just see how the body felt. I was going pretty well. I decided to run each street up and back. I figured that would get me about four miles.

When I got that far, I felt pretty well so decided to run two streets more. Why not? I felt good and could stop anytime I wanted. At four miles I ran further than I thought I would. After those two streets, I ran the main street then back to the car.

I had no idea how far I went but I knew I ran for 1:56:45. Way longer than the 20-30 minutes I figured I'd run. The run felt stress-free. No distance requirements. No time requirements. I could stop whenever I wanted. I could run as long as I felt good. It was liberating!

I can home and plugged the run into Map My Run. Why not? Let's see how far 1:56:45 got me. Shockingly, I ran 8.15 miles. Wha????

Here's why I'm shocked by this. Last Saturday I ran 7.5 miles in 2:02:--. Ummm... I ran a half mile faster this week after being sick for a week. I'm under 15 minute miles for the first time in ages on a longer run {I run faster for 1-2 miles, but slow up as I go along.}.

Apparently, the lack of direction for this run worked. I won't PR my races this month. I won't come close, but I feel much closer better about running them. This run did a lot for my mental state than any run I've had to date. I may just enjoy my four races this month.

How has your training gone? Are you prepping for races this spring? Which races are you running?

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I won the lottery

On February 1st I entered the Blue Cross Broad Street Run 10 Miler lottery. The race is scheduled for May 3, 2015 in Philadelphia. It's a 10 mile run straight down Broad Street. It is exactly two weeks prior to the Wild Half Half Marathon I'm running in Wildwood, which makes it the perfect last long run race.

So, today the acceptance emails went out. 85% of the people who entered the lottery got in {there are 30,000 people who run it}. My email came this morning. Low and behold I was accepted.

I'm pretty surprised to be honest. I'm such a slow runner and the time I submitted was awful. But, I guess they let in so many slow runners too.

I better get my butt back to running {more to come on this}. I have three half marathons and a ten miler in the next few months.

Are you running the Broad Street Run?
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Weekday Training Runs

For the past year, maybe more, I've been awful at getting in my weekday training runs. I scheduled them for Monday and Wednesday for 30 minutes. Then on the weekend would be my long run. But, I would only get one run in during the week...if I was lucky.

This year I switched up when I do my weekday training runs; I scheduled them for Monday and Tuesday. These are my days off during the week from work. My reasoning being I'm off all day, I can run in daylight, and not worry about running behind schedule for getting ready for work.

I went out Monday around 4:00 p.m. for a 2 mile run. I decided that right now I'm running about 2 miles in 30:00. I like the idea of just going out for a certain number of miles and seeing if I can get it faster.

I have a 2 mile run perfectly mapped out with 1 mile out and 1 mile back. It wasn't as cold as it's been around here, but I was all geared up.

I picked up this jacket over the weekend at T.J.Maxx for $24.99. This run was my first time taking it for a spin. Let me tell you, it's awesome! I'm debating going back for a second one. LOL! It's Avalanche, if you're interested and I'm getting nothing from either T.J. Maxx or Avalanche for saying that.

The last time I ran 2 miles only, it took me 29:30. On my long run Saturday, it took me about 32:--. I really hoped I could break 29:30 honestly. It's been so long since I've been consistent in my training that I know I'm in for a long way back.

Woot! Hello! I'll take it! That made me exceedingly happy. LOL! I know my 2 mile time isn't as fast as most people's, but right now that time is thrilling! I admit, I knew I could beat 29:30 at 1.5 miles and I booked it as much as I could. Who knew I would beat it by that much?

I apparently overdressed because by the end of my run I was hot! So, I had to strip a bit... {get your mind out of the gutter! I run near a middle and high school!}.

Then I actually went out for my run on Tuesday! Went back out at the same time {4:00 p.m.}, but this day the sun was shining bright! Needed the sunglasses for this run.

Yes, I'm wearing the same jacket. It's so comfy and warm! I believe it is my new go-to running jacket. I'm totally in love with it!

The run on Tuesday was 10 degrees colder than Monday's run. Though I remembered gloves Tuesday, I should have had something around my neck and should have doubled up on pants. Those were the two parts of me that were sooo...cold....

I decided I wasn't going to push this run like I did on Monday. Just 2 simple miles. Nothing fancy. Same course, same me. Nothing too crazy. Plus, the sidewalks were much better than they had been Saturday and Monday.

In the end, I was really consistent with Monday's run. Kinda surprised because I know I didn't push as hard in the last half mile Tuesday as I did Monday.

Fourteen seconds slower than Monday. I'd say that's pretty consistent, especially since I busted my butt Monday for that time and felt Tuesday I was just running normal. This is a mental boost. Good to see I can hit these times consistently. Maybe by next month I can hit the 27:00s?

Since it was 10 degrees colder Tuesday, the hood did not come down!

Plus, look at that sky! So pretty! The color is great. So nice compared to the fogginess from Monday!

How has your training been going so far? Is it cold where you are? Have you found gear that lets you run in sub-freezing temperatures?

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8 Mile...7 Mile Run

All last week I fought back pain. I talked about it in my Friday post and had been dreading my 8 mile run for Saturday. Not for my normal reasons of having to run 8 miles, but because I was scared my back would go crazy and leave me crying on the side of the road cursing myself for trying to run {I'll end your curiosity now...I didn't end up crying on the side of the road cursing myself}.

I went out  a bit later than I wanted. I had hoped to get out about 9:00 - 9:30 a.m., but I didn't actually get out until 10:15 a.m. Eh. It was cold no matter when I was going to go out, so really what did it matter?

What fun running temps! LOL! I'll be honest, I kinda feel like a badass going out in temperatures like this. I had so many layers on though {wear all the clothes!} - two pairs of pants, knee high socks, a cami, short sleeve shirt, long sleeve cold weather shirt, two jackets, a hat, gloves, and over the ears headphones that cover the entire ear. Running in the winter is my favorite time to run. I much prefer running when it's cold because it keeps me from getting too overheated.

I started out with my fingers in so much pain. It wasn't until I was 1.5 miles in that my fingers felt normal. I ran slow. But, because of the back issues I decided to just go slow and see what happens. I ran in the boring neighborhood that I hate having to run long distances in, but it's only a mile from my car at the furthest if my back kicked in.

Happily I felt good for almost the entire run. I was slower than I would have liked. Not 100% sure if it was due to being careful about my back, all the ice/snow that people hadn't cleared from their sidewalks I had to walk through, or I'm just this slow. I'm hoping it's 1 & 2.

I had some technology issues at mile 4 that I had to stop to fix. Stupid technology. Then off to finish my 8 mile run. Until about 6.75 miles in. I started to have left leg pain as I ran, which turned into a limping run. Since the pain was on the same side as the back pain, I got to mile 7 and called it a run. I am sure I could have gutted out another mile, but I didn't want to make whatever the injury was worse. So, I walked at least a quarter mile back to my car in temperatures that are not conducive to walking. LOL!

So, I finished my shortened run. Not happy with the time, but at least in less pain overall than I thought. I didn't think I'd get two miles in, so seven was pretty nice.

Did you get out this weekend? What it a cold run?



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Saturday Long Run...Finally!

There are 20 days until The Love Run Half Marathon. I have run a grand total of 5 miles for my longest run to date for it. It's been exceedingly frustrating. Every time I went out for a long run, my ankle/calf where I slammed 37.5 pounds on it last month hurt. I didn't know what I did and was afraid I did something to the Achilles. I did not want a ruptured Achilles.

Today, I went out for 7.5 miles. I needed a good long run before the 30th to feel confident I won't be swept off the course. I also needed to know I could run that distance without my ankle/calf hurting.

I went with my intervals of half mile run/1 minute walk. Some weeks I've done 4 minute run/1 minute walk, but I went longer today. I got to half a mile, felt good. I got to one mile, felt good. I got to 1.5 miles, felt good. From here on out is when I have to start worrying. It always kicked in after 1.5 miles, closer to 2. I got to two miles, felt good. 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4 miles. All pain-free! Woohoo!

I was so happy that I could run that far without any pain. I ran around town until 7 miles, half a mile shorter than I scheduled, but my hips were starting to bother me. I decided to cut it short to rest the hips. The last time I ran 7+ miles was Nov. 11th when I ran the National Veterans Day 11k Run. I'm ok with cutting this one a tiny bit short.

As a funny aside to today's run, it was the very first time on a training run of any length that I had to stop for a bathroom break. I've been running for 5+ years and this is the first time I had to seek out a bathroom so I could continue running. Thank you Sheetz for having a clean bathroom I could use!

How did your long run go today? Anyone else have warmer temperatures?


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Sunday's long run...sorta

For some reason I've been digging my Sunday run rather than my Saturday run this time around. Last week hubby and I went out on Sunday for our runs and I felt pretty good about it. This week, my hip killed me Thursday and Friday, so when I woke up pain-free Saturday, I decided to let rest it one more day.

Got up today to run. Hip hurt. Ugh. What the heck?? I didn't let it stop me. I did my stretches and added in some new ones. Nothing more that I can do but stretch and hope for the best.

I went out to the same area I ran last Sunday for 4 miles. As soon as I started running I had pain. Pain in the outside of my left calf/ankle. WTF??? I had one tiny little twinge in my hip, but it lasted seconds and then nothing. Instead, ankle/calf pain for 25 minutes.

I lasted 25 minutes (Garmin was dead [though I didn't know that until I got there. Ugh] so I used my Nano run app for time). Yes, 25 minutes out of 60. So disappointing. But, I decided to call it a day because I have never had pain in that area and it didn't go away. I'm still in the early going for The Love Run training and I don't want to make something worse.

Came home and iced the area. I'm hoping it helps and that I can try again tomorrow.

Higgy the cat helping ice my calf/ankle.

What do you do if something starts to hurt during a run? Do you gut it out or call it a day? Does how close to your goal race is make a difference in your approach?

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Got my run in at least

Yesterday I headed to the gym to take the drop-in TRX class. I haven't done TRX since last summer and I was really looking forward to it. The Y now offers a drop-in class Tuesdays at noon and since I don't work on Tuesdays, I thought it was the perfect time to add it back in.

I got there about ten of twelve and entered the parking lot. Then drove around for 10 minutes looking for a space. My gym has a small parking lot, but this is the first time I could not get a space. I got so frustrated I left. I came home. It was noon and I was missing the class I went for anyway.

After arriving home, I told hubby I was going for a run, want to come? He agreed, so we headed off for a 2 mile run each. It was a tad bit chilly at 12*. Eep! We headed off on our own runs and the sidewalks were about the same as Mt. Wolf. Eh. It's a bad winter, whacha gonna do?

And you know what? I rocked my run! A nice negative split from first mile to second and I cut one minute and 18 seconds off my two mile time from last Monday! Oh hello! I was pretty happy with that. I know I won't see this type of improvement every week, but damn it felt good today!

So, even though I didn't get my TRX class in today (must find a way to get parking space next week!), I did get in an awesome run.

Have you been running outside in the cold? How do you stay warm?

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Ugh

Last night I headed out for a 30 minute or 3 mile run. I wasn't sure which it would end up being. I had hoped for 3 miles since it's not all that long.

Sadly, that's not what happened. I worked Wednesday afternoon, like usual, and didn't drink much. I was really dehydrated. My tummy had been bugging me a bit today. Nothing too serious, but enough to know it was there. Both of these things did not make my run very fun.

I then had to deal with pain in my left Achilles. I get this randomly. I can run weeks in a row with no issue. Then I'll have a run and just cannot shake it out. I stopped multiple times on tonight's run, but could not get it to stop hurting. I decided 30 minutes would be the goal. Even if I had to walk the last 10 minutes.

I was able to run most of the last 5 minutes. I got 2.11 miles in 30 minutes, which is slow ever for me. But, I spent a good amount of the last 10 minutes walking, stretching, and not feeling good.

On the positive side, seriously there is one, I got out there for an after-work run. I can't remember the last time I did that. I spent my entire afternoon and car ride home saying, "you are going for a run tonight." It took me saying that and hubby coming downstairs saying he was going for a run for me to get off my duff and run. But, I'm glad I did.

I can't run again until Sunday. I thought I could squeeze the run in before the wedding we have Saturday afternoon, but I thought the wedding was around 4:00. Nope, 1:30 p.m. Makes a bit of a difference. So, my 5 miles this Saturday will be run on Sunday instead. Eh. No biggie. I just won't be able to run the 2 mile run scheduled for Sunday. I'll skip that and just go with what Monday says.

Ever have a bad run? Were you able to find anything good about it?

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Creature of habit

Pre-run photo. Please forgive the funny face. The sun was brutal!

I am a creature of habit. I think most runners are. We eat the same things before long runs/races. We do the same things on race morning to prepare. We have the same routine to prepare for a run. Once we find something that works, we keep it up.

Today, I was scheduled for 8 miles as my last run before Zooma Annapolis next Sat. (June 1). I had it played out in my head - where I would run, which direction I would go in. how far out before turning back. As I came to the cross street where my parking lot is, I was stopped. There was a 5k going on and I was being redirected. I couldn't park in my lot. I couldn't start my run at it's normal spot.

I was re-directed away from the race, so I parked my car in the next town over where I was planning on going. But, I had no idea what to do with myself. I had never done this before. I always run to Mt. Wolf, not start there.

And here is why I say I'm a creature of habit. I had to figure out an 8 mile run on the fly. Yea...it didn't work. I managed to find 2 miles, then turned around for 2 more bringing me up to 4. Yea! Just 4 more to go. But, now I had no idea how to get those 4 more miles. I tried. I managed one more mile before becoming so frustrated with the run, my time, and my hamstring that I stopped. I went back to the car. I came home.

Oh that hamstring comment? Yea. My right hamstring, right behind my knee hurt randomly throughout my run. It's the same hamstring I pulled back in 2010 after I ran the Baltimore Marathon Relay. It's the leg that my herniated disc effects. I have one week until Zooma Annapolis (have I mentioned this?) and I will not mess around.

So, today's run was not what I wanted. It was slower than I hoped. It was a bit more painful than I anticipated. It was frustrating. What I'm hoping is that it gets the bad run out of the way. This got the kinks out and come next Saturday while I'm running around Annapolis, I will have a great run! It will show today what a good run is.

But it sure does suck on the day of the crappy run....
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8 mile run

Saturday, I ran 8 miles on the York County Rail Trail. It was a rough start. I woke up later than I anticipated and normally that would mean I would put it off. But, I decided to go out anyway. 8 miles needed to be run and it needed to be done on schedule. Why, I don't know and I'll come back to this later.

So, I got myself up and got out of the house. I decided to try my Cytomax Cool Citrus I received in my Zooma training package.

I only had one in my package

I knew it was going to be a hot run (compared to last month's), so I had to have my water with me and since I had samples of items from Zooma and Stride Box, why not try them out? 

I arrived at the Rail Trail in York about 11:00 a.m. This is way later than I wanted to start out, but darn it! I wanted to get my run in! I helped someone whose first time at the trail wasn't sure of the path, then headed out. I have to say, the sections of the trail in York itself are really pretty.

I am not always a fan of the out and back. I like winding routes because it tricks me into thinking I've gone further than I have. LOL! But, the Rail Trail is out and back, so the goal was 4 down, 4 back. I got through the city and finally started hitting the part of the trail that's a bit more in the country...you could say...

That is a rooster and chickens on the rail road tracks. Seriously. The rooster kept crowing as I ran past. And they had no fear of people! I passed within a foot or two of them and they didn't even blink!

There were lots of people on the trail yesterday, but not so many that I felt crowded. That was nice. This may sound silly, but I worry about being along on the trail since it's surrounded by trees. But, yesterday was the perfect mix of people without being too crowded.

I hit the turnaround point at 52:09. A little slower than I would have liked, but I felt good. But, the return trip wasn't as strong. My quads were hurting the whole time. I honestly wanted to stop. I had no desire to keep going. I wanted to get to my car at mile 6 and just stop. Of course, with an out and back, you can't do that. So, I knew I had to keep going. Sadly, I slowed down. 

My Garmin had goal times for 8 miles that would give me a PR at Zooma. I kept looking at it, hoping to be within the range. I have two goals, a sub-2:50:00 and one that just squeaks me by at 2:51:14. Sadly, I missed both of those by about 4 minutes. I could say that I had to stop several times on the run for traffic and that if I hadn't I would have made it, but eh. I have no idea how long I stopped at each street so I can't honestly justify that. Sure, I know I lost some time, but I'm not going to say it all got eaten up by traffic. 

I got back to my car and hubby and I met at our normal post-run spot, Dunkin Donuts. I had a yummy blueberry iced coffee and 

I made a resolution at the beginning of the year that I can only have apple fritters on runs longer than 6 miles. LOL! The other donut is a toasted coconut, which my DD rarely has. Yum!

I mentioned earlier that I would come back to that Saturday run thing. I realized something on my run yesterday that if I want to succeed in a PR on June 1 I need to do. I have to adjust my running schedule. We are entering the busy season at work now and with that means I am on my feet all day. Friday, I was exhausted when I came home. My legs were pained and I could barely walk back to my car (I park half a mile away from my office every day). The last couple of weeks have been like this. Last Saturday during my 5 mile run my legs were tired the whole run and my time was awful. I was surprised yesterday at how well then held up the first half of my run. Then on the second half, my quads hurt the entire way. Hence why I wanted to quit. 

So, this means my long runs need to change. I have to move them to Sunday, which I do not want to do. I like running my long runs on Saturday morning. I like in a sense getting them over with for the weekend and knowing I can enjoy my Saturday and Sunday without worrying about feeling well for my run. But, my legs are too tired on Saturday after working three days on my feet. I think they need to rest for a day, even if I go to the gym and use the bike or something. I only have three more weekend runs before Zooma, it won't be too bad. Really. It won't be. 

The other thing about the run is I used Ctyomax for the first time. The Zooma course has 9 water stations in 13.1 miles (which is awesome!), so I decided to take water on my run every two miles. I have to say, I was impressed with the Cytomax. It had a nice taste - not too sweet, not syrupy, no aftertaste. The Cool Citrus flavor was refreshing, especially at the two mile mark when I still had ice in my water bottle. I think that would be the only thing I would say about it is that it tastes best when cold. But, that's not anything more than many a drink. I know I will be taking some of the Cytomax during the course to help. It's the first sports drink I've had on a run that I've liked. Hopefully it will be cold on the course!

Do you do your long runs on Saturday or Sunday? Have you tried Cytomax?

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Training has started!

Today was the first training run for Zooma Annapolis. I was going to run three miles as my first post-Shamrock/first training run. Then I remembered I wanted to do the March Get Out & Run virtual run, so I upped it to a 5k. Why not?

Above is my time. I'll be honest, I was just hoping for a sub-40 today. My legs were still a bit wobbly yesterday,  so I didn't think my run would be fast. It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful. I was doing pretty good until the last 1.1 miles. I had a good pace, but my legs decided 2 miles would have been a better choice and it really took effort to get that last 1.1 miles in, especially since it's all uphill.

But, I did. And I shall receive this for my efforts.

I'm liking these monthly runs/medals. They honestly help me get my butt out there and run my miles. Looking forward to signing up for the April race. Though my April race schedule is pretty packed:

April 6: Movie Madness 5k

April 13: Lager Jogger 5k

April 20: Sole of the City 10k

Guess the last weekend of the month will be Get Out & Run 5k. LOL!

Are you training for a race? What helps motivate you to get out there?

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5 Mile Run

Yesterday, I headed out to run 5 miles. I didn't know how it would go. I haven't run in several weeks and my knee is not 100% better. But, I knew I had to get out there and do something. Even a couple of miles would be better than nothing. I had to see where I stood.

So, off I went. No pain in the knee. I was slow, much slower than usual. I was ok with that. I decided before going out that I wasn't concerned with time. I didn't want to get caught up in that. I just needed to get the miles in.

I did ok. I ran through a cemetery for the first time. It was interesting. I had a hard time not stopping and looking at the tomb stones. I wanted to see the years to see how far they go back. I saw a birth date on one of the tomb stones that went back to 1813. Wow. A good number of the stones were made of limestone, which has started to deteriorate due to the weather. Those I would have had to stop to read.

I ran through the neighborhood I normally run through on this run. There is one house who has a die-hard Baltimore Ravens (NFL) fan. I've seen him putting out little yards signs on Sunday game day before, but wow. He went all out for the play-off game yesterday!

What you don't see in the picture is the banner hanging from the garage, the Ravens fans parking only sign, the mailbox cover with a Ravens theme. I was impressed. He really went all out to tell people he loves the Ravens. Guess his house was happy last night! LOL!

The only issue I had during my run was I had a bit of pain during mile four. I know it was from my scraped knee, but it wasn't enough to stop me from finishing my run. I will say the mental aspect of mile four was more of an issue than the pain of the knee. I wanted to stop at mile four. I wanted to say it was enough. I wanted to just head back to the car and say I'm good. Instead, I went for the last mile. I decided I wouldn't been happy with myself later if I didn't do the run I set out to run.

So, I got my five miles in at 1:12:41. Much slower than last time I ran five miles (like 7 minutes slower.). Ugh. But, time wasn't the focus, unlike last time when it was. I'll take it. My next long run is 9 miles. I had a goal of 2:00:00 for it, but I think I'll be happy with completing it. Sometimes you have to acknowledge you have more work to do and cut yourself some slack while you're getting there.

Last long run before AC

The last long run before the race. It was today. I got up and got ready. The temps were gorgeous! By the time I got to the parking lot it was 43 degrees. I had a light long sleeve jacket on, but by mile 2 it was off. Beautiful weather!

I headed from Manchester into Mount Wolf because it is the only route I know besides the Rail Trail that will give the mileage I was looking for - 8-9 miles. I wasn't sure which it would be, so I gave myself the range.

I had a nice run if not slower than my training runs for Shamrock in March. I ran the hills and wandered around Mount Wolf. I like running there because there are always people out doing stuff - walking the dog, mowing the grass, decorating for the holidays, doing repairs. Always lots of things to watch as you run by.

Had a nice visit with two adorable chocolate labs while out and about. They were sweet. Headed back towards Manchester shortly after saying hello and felt ok. I'll be honest, I walked about half of Maple Street. It's just so darn hilly! I know I can run it, I've done it before, but I just didn't feel like it today.

Got 8 miles in total and felt fine afterwards. Had I been better at mileage I could have gone 9, but I just didn't have the heart to run past my car. It was calling to me. LOL!

So, that's it. Last long run before next Sunday's 13.1 miles. Going to aim for two 30 minute runs this week and hit the gym twice. Should be good. I won't PR AC, but I'll cross that finish line!

8 mile

Well...as you can tell I haven't been all that up on the whole exercise thing.  I've been slacking.  Really slacking.  I ran 4 miles on Monday, August 13th at the Y before fencing.  And then... nothing.  I haven't done anything since.  We hit Las Vegas for 5 days, then came home exhausted.  My left leg also hurt when we came home, so I said I would give myself til this past Saturday to get my leg back to normal.

And then I slept late on Saturday morning.  By the time I got up, it was too late to get in an 8 mile run.  No biggie.  I can run it on Sunday.  And then I didn't.  Slept too late.  I was wondering what was up with my motivation.  I've been having this issue for weeks.

Today, I woke up at 9:20 a.m.  Not the best time wise for a run, but I kinda had to get it in.  I spent about an hour getting ready and finally hit the pavement about 11:00 a.m.  At 75 degrees.  It was not a fun run.  I did pretty well until about mile 6.  I did have all sorts of weird pains in the left leg throughout the run - some stiffness in my calf, a bit in the Achilles, and at mile 4.5 hip pain.  Yea, I'm not surprised.  All pain that I've had in the past because I haven't been exercising. 

The worst part of the run was the last mile.  I realized I would have been ok had the last mile would have been flat.  Sadly, it's not.  It's very hilly.  Very, very hilly.  I ended up walking way more than I would have liked.  I was disappointed, but I got in the 8 miles I was scheduled for this past weekend.

The positive is I got my 8 mile run in.  I feel a bit better about the half marathon on Oct. 21st.  I would not meet my goal time as of now, but I would cross the finish line.  I have about 2 months to go, so as long as I get on track, I should be ok.

Tonight?  Signed up for another set of 10 30 minute training sessions.  Tonight is the first of these 10.  I have a feeling I am going to hurt tomorrow.

Last Long Run

Well, training for the Philadelphia Half Marathon is winding down.  Today was my last long run before the race.  Two weeks from Sunday I'll be at the starting line ready to rock. 

Today's long run was 12.5 miles.  And there were good things, there were bad things, and there were pictures.  I was going to get up early and head down to the Rail Trail so I didn't keep hubby waiting after his long run.  But, I didn't.  I'm not a morning person.  When I did get up, I realized I didn't download the music I planned on for the Nano.  I'm so tired of what's on there right now and wanted to add The Janedeer Girls and Lady Antebellum to the Nano, but didn't.  So, I decided to try this morning.  Good thing #1: bought, downloaded, and got both on Nano before leaving house.  Yea!

Good thing #2: Before heading out, I checked Weather.com and it said the temperature was 27*.  Not bad.  I prefer cold weather for running.  But, cold weather, which I am only just know remembering means Bad thing #1: my car has frost on the windows.

Ugh.  So, I clean off the windows and get going...Bad thing #2: until the tire light on my car turns on.  I didn't know that's what the symbol meant until I found it in my manual.  It basically said not to drive it fast or take curves sharply.  I had two choices: skip the run or change location.  I decided to change location and Good thing #3: headed to my normal short run neighborhood.  Which had me worried because how in the world was I going to get 12.5 miles in there???

I parked the car, stretched a bit, and got started.

Don't let this slight downhill fool you.  This course was anything but downhill.  I chose this direction to put the development I normally run in at the end.  I decided to run up the street, make a left, and head into the next town over Mt. Wolf.  The issue is that Mt. Wolf is very hilly.  Very hilly.

This is the main street into Mt. Wolf.  I ran up this street and then up and down every street with a street sign.  I started on the right side of the street, then switched to the left side to lessen the times I had to run across this main street.  Before heading out of Mt. Wolf, I got just over 7 miles.  Good thing #4: I was feeling good.  I was actually surprised at how well I was feeling.  I was overconfident.

Why?  Because I chose to do this

What you can't see from this photo is that around that curve it continues upwards.  Bad thing #3: It's an awful, awful hill that I should never have attempted.  I should have turned around and gone back the way I had come.  But no.  Overconfident in the 7 miles through Mt. Wolf made me think I could do this hill.  Nope.  Bad thing #4: It took me 16 minutes to go a 1/2 mile.  Yes, 16 minutes.  That's how hard this hill is. 

Sadly, Bad thing #5: it was the end of the good run.  I struggled from this hill onto mile 12.5.  But, I kept going.  Two of my friends were scheduled to run the inaugural Savannah Rock 'n' Roll Marathon this weekend.  Sadly, they are both injured and are unable to do so.  I dedicated today's run to them and there was NO WAY I wouldn't complete this run.  Even if I had to crawl to 12.5 I was going to get there!

Good thing #5: And I did.  Slowly.  Tiredly.  But I got there.

Not the time I anticipated.  Stupid hills.  But, I did get the miles in.  And now, I have a four night runs and one 5 mile run to go before the Philadelphia Half Marathon.  It's almost here.

The really negative part of my run happened afterwards.  I came home and Very bad thing #6: have been sick all day.  My stomach has felt sick for hours.  I have never had this happen before.  And I heartly hope it never happens again.  I've read a few things that could have caused it and I'm going to work on those for the coming week.  Instead of celebrating my 12.5 mile run and hubby's 20 mile run, I laid on the couch feeling sorry for myself and in pain.  Hopefully the half marathon doesn't end this way...

A little off kilter

So, my normal long runs usually happen on Saturday.  When I started running a few years ago, the only day of the week I ran was Saturday, then when I started adding mileage, it would be Saturday morning.  And I've just continued that.  I'm sure I'm not alone in having my long runs on Saturday mornings.  I'm sure there are lots of people (maybe even the majority) who do this.  I do know it's strange for me to do a long run on either Friday or Sunday.  I've done them occasionally on a Sunday and it just feels...weird.  And not running Saturday morning, when running on Sunday, is weird too.

But, this week I switched up my long run from Saturday to Friday.  Why?

I'm in the Harrisburg area, which is currently receiving 6"-10" of snow.  Yup.  I can attest to this.  There's a lot of snow happening out there.  It's really quite odd.  Snow in October?  Really?  I just checked and there's not average snowfall for October in the Harrisburg area.  Surprise, surprise.  LOL!

So, this is why I switched my run from Saturday to Friday.  I changed the mileage because I'm a wuss and was afraid of running on the Rail Trail on a weekday.  It's awful out in the middle of nowhere and without other runners/bikers out there with me, I really was nervous about being attacked.  Let's just say I was be cautious.  Yea, cautious.

Stay tuned.  I'll probably add some snow photos later in the day.  What's a post about an epic October snow storm without photos?

** Who knew the graphic above would change?  LOL!  When I posted this initially, it showed the Harrisburg area due for 6"-10" of snow.  I swear!**

Health and Running

I've been thinking a lot lately about weight and being healthy.  This comes because over the weekend the hubby took a photo of my at the York Fair with my pumpkin funnel cake.  I love funnel cake.  It's one of my favorite foods, but I limit myself to one a year.  It's not all that healthy, in case you didn't know.  ;-)  This year I skipped my baseball funnel cake in lieu of having one at the Fair, since it was made of pumpkin and covered in icing.  To.Die.For.

The issue with the weekend's funnel cake was that it happened during a day of complete abandonment.  I ate crap all day.  Soft pretzel at the York Revolution, a slice of pizza and pumpkin funnel cake at the Fair, and chips and salsa at home.  Just crap food all day.  Not at all one should be eating when they are trying to lose weight and make better food choices.

Then on Wednesday we attended the first York Revolution play-off game.  We ate dinner before going to the game (not only to control calories, but costs.).  We took our season ticket holder cups with us and asked for diet soda when we got to the counter.  The girl looked at us and said you don't need to be drinking diet soda.  I thought that an odd comment.  I said hubby sure didn't, but I do.  She looked at me and said I didn't either.  Which made me start thinking a bit about how I am really seem by others versus how I see myself.  And apparently, I see myself in a totally different light than the camera (see above) or nice concession stand people serving me soda.

So, I went to the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) to see if they have official weight ranges.  I wanted to see where I stood in relationship for where I should be based on height.  In order to do so, I had to enter my height and weight for them to calculate my BMI (body mass index).  When I entered it, it stated I am overweight, which I knew.  But, it listed the weight range I should be in to be healthy. When I saw what it was, I was shocked that I am only 14 pounds above where I should be.  How could that be?  14 pounds isn't that much.  It's almost to the point of being 10 pounds overweight.  That amount that every woman in the known universe states she is.  "Oh you look fabulous!"  "Really?  I need to lose 10 pounds."  It's crazy to me to think that I am this close to being "normal."  I've been stressing out how much I weight, how overweight I am, how I'll never lose that amount of weight.  But, what I'm realizing is that to be healthy and to be normal, it's 14 pounds.  Sure, I can go below that and still be healthy, but I'm not really that far away from the healthy mark.  I'm much closer than I ever thought I would be.  It's a light bulb moment.  It's a moment of it's possible.  It's not some distant dream, but a realistic reality.  I could even reach it by Thanksgiving.  Whoa.  Crazy!

And the running?  Well, I have a 9.5 mile run tomorrow. My longest run since February and the Half Marathon.  Scary stuff that.  Especially since it's been raining like crazy here lately.  Rained off and on today.  And if I'm reading Weather.com correctly, 60% chance of rain come the a.m.  Ugh.  I was going to run at the Rail Trail, but I'm thinking with all the dirt and gravel it might not be the best surface.  So, I'm thinking either around here (boring) or maybe in Harrisburg.  It might be raining, but neither location is a dirt path. 

I really am nervous about this 9.5 miles.  The Rail Trail would have allowed me to break up the run into four 2.5 mile segments.  It made it seem easier to think of that way.  But, without the Rail Trail, I'm kinda dreading this run.  I know I can do a 5 mile out and back course, it's just finding a place that let's me do that.  My normal run area is not an out and back, it's lots of streets and turns.  Going to Harrisburg lets me run on Front Street and possibly City Island, which at least would be different.  I just have to get through this run.  After hurting my hamstring two weeks ago and turning an 8 mile run into a 6.5 mile run, I need the confidence of running this 9.5 miles.  Wish me luck!  I need all of it I can get!

First

Sometimes firsts are great - first steps, first kiss, first car.  You name it, there's a first for just about everything.  And today was a first for me.  I hit the road for my last workout of the week, a three mile run.  I haven't done a three mile run in....um....well...maybe two months?  It's been a long time.  Probably a little too long.  But, next Saturday, hubby and I are hitting Pimilco and running the Preakness 5k.  I had to get out there and get a 3 mile run in.

So, off I went into my neighborhood with the side walks (my street and surrounding streets do not have sidewalks.  We barely had shoulders on the roads where I live).  I got started and had a much better half mile and one mile time than my last two runs.  I was thrilled! 

But, as I was trying to add some mileage in (because I messed up where I needed to go to get in 3 miles and had to make it up on the fly), I turned up a side street.  It's not the best side street because it's got a lovely hill.  Bah!  The bane of my running/biking existence.  Anyway...as I have been trying to run upright rather than always looking down, I was concentrating on that (oh and maybe Garmin...) when my foot hit a bump in the sidewalk and down I went.  Oh so fun.  Scraped up the palms of bath hands, tiny little scrape on the left knee, but the right hand side didn't make out as well.  Nice gash on the right elbow (which did bleed) and a much more major scrape on the right knee and scratches down the right calf.  It was disconcerting. 

Don't get me wrong, I've fallen tons of times.  I have no sense of real balance and I'm a bit of a klutz.  If I don't have a scrape or bruise on me somewhere, it would be odd.  And oddly enough, I have a tendency not to notice them.  At one point, it took blood before I noticed being injured.  Now, I don't even notice that.  But, I'll tell you.  I noticed this.  LOL!  I'll be fine.  It's nothing major.  My post-run shower isn't going to be fun (I'm kinda dreading it), but in the end, I'll get myself together and go for a training run on Monday. 

I just wanted to share my first.  ;-)

Brooks Adrenalize GTS 11

Last weekend I retired my running shoes that got me through The Princess Half Marathon and many other races and training runs.  It was time.  A little sad, but a necessity.  I hit Charm City Run in Maryland to replace them and as most runners can attest to, I just got the newest version of my previous shoes - Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11. 

They are mighty spiffy.  Most of my previous versions of these shoes have been a blue color, but these are a reddish color.  For some reason I feel more serious in these than my older shoes.   Not sure why really.  Strange.  But, there it is.

So, today was my first run in them.  I haven't used them on my two bike rides this week because I really wanted my first use of them to be a run.  No idea why, but I felt they should go out for a run before anything else. 

When I tried them on in the store, the thing I noticed about them immediately is how cushiony they are.  Now, it could be because my old shoes were pretty old, but I tend to think it's more that these shoes are a bit more cushy.  Apparently, the new version has a wider stability area along the entire bottom of the shoe rather than just at the heel and toes.  I really like this improvement because honestly, I didn't think once about my feet while out on my run.

Hit up the old neighborhood I used to train for the half this morning.  And wow.  Not running in about a month sure kills you.  LOL!  I also think I have started running a bit faster than I used to, which also drains you faster.  It's a good thing, but... Today was a 2-3 mile run, just to ease back into things and yea, I could tell about a quarter mile in that it would be a 2 mile run.  LOL!  It was humid and I'm so not used to that.  It felt strange, very cool, but very humid.  Guess Mother Nature was having a time deciding what she wanted this morning!

So, I got in my first 2 mile duathlon training run this morning in my new and improved Brooks Adrenalize GTS 11 sneakers.  The first of many Saturday runs to prepare me for the Keystone Warrior Memorial Duathlon in June!

Last Run

Had my last run before the half on Sunday.  It amazes me people who do not clean off their sidewalks.  Makes for a treacherous run, that's for sure!  And I thought about that as I ran.  The next time I'm running (Sunday), it will be 60+ and sunny.  A far cry from the 29 and sunny I had today.

I am still a little freaked out about Sunday, but the planning and packing right now has me somewhat calm.  But, as I was wandering the side streets running, I kept thinking how early I'll be up to run.  And for a night owl, this doesn't bode well for a good night's sleep.  Trying to decide how early to go to bed so I might get a few hours of sleep before getting my butt on the bus.  Have to be in the corral area at 5:00 a.m., even though I don't start until after 6:00 a.m.  Ugh.

If nothing else, it will be nice to get out of the freezing temperatures of the Mid-Atlantic.  The temps for this weekend:

Friday - H: 85 ~ L: 60
Saturday - H: 84 ~ L: 60
Sunday - H: 85 ~ L: 62

That low of 62 is sure going to kill when I'm used to a low of 22!