Thursday, June 23, 2011

Humbled....I limp to the Dr.

So, marathon training.... it's going to be fun, easy, exiting, no problem, 26.2 miles....not even that far....I WILL make it to the marathon and I WILL be under 4 hours. Training for the 5k with my 40+ miles a week I felt great, I got to the point where I was hardly ever sore. I ran up hills 10 times in a row, no problems... I was starting to feel rather invincible. I was depending on "I" too much....

Then I started to train for a marathon. My miles haven't even been past 45 yet and i'm dieing. falling apart. Legs, knees, ankles, heel. you name it, it hurts. I wake up and hobble down the stairs, limp through my morning run, head for the ice... My legs throb all day through work, I conciser walking to the close bathroom instead of the one I usually go to. No longer do I feel like going for a lunch break walk.... Running just hurts and is not fun, I feel slow and tired....Humbled and battered. I am not invincible, running is not always fun & defiantly not easy, training for a marathon is not going to be easy, 26.2 miles is very far even in a car. I will try to run a marathon. I will try to finish in under 4 hours. But I'm going to need some more help. I can't do it alone. I need a we to depend on, not just a I.

God: Please help me run this marathon, not for me, not so that I have something to boast about, but for me to be better because of it. for me to be stronger, more confidant. for me to learn to stick with something and stay strong even when I'm ready to break down, for me to keep going when I'm tired, for me to know when to stop before I break, for me to learn how to get help from others when I need it, and for me to learn to listen to the advice of others who have more experience than I.

Humbled... today I am going to see a doctor. I need help to get through this. I don't know when to stop to rest and heal, or even why I am breaking. If Dr. Vicky Swenson tells me I need to rest for a week, I will. I also want to run with people more -- I want more of a support system. Yes, sometimes running with others is annoying, they are late, or I am late and feel bad because I am, they run too slow, they run too fast, they disagree about a rout, they drink all my water, they have to stop at the out house.... but somehow the good out weights the bad. I must remember this and not get annoyed about the bad....

Anyway, me and my new attitude are going to wait to run till tonight and that's only depending on how I feel and what the Dr. says. I am feeling better today... Maybe I just need new shoes... That dosen't seem right though because I have 3 pairs that have under 200 miles on them....
I only have a 8 mile speed work out (Might just run regular) and a 14 mile weekend run left. Hopefully we'll figure something out today as to why i'm hurting so much.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Let the summer of running begin!

Here is my schedule

So my marathon training started today. I went for my first 9 mile easy run. it was a nice run too -- very enjoyable with a Beautiful sun rise. I don't know what some of those weeks will be like - lots of miles & I might actually change the last 20 mile run to a 22 to 23 mile run, not sure. I'm exited to start - not really looking forward to speed work, but thats ok. HERE WE GO!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Oh the heat

Well, it is June and even though it is supposed to be spring, it sure feels like summer! I have had several tough runs because of the heat and humidity. This morning Debi and I started out to do a 7.5 mile run at 4:15, it was around 80 degrees already and probably 90% Humidity! yuck. I got SO sweaty I could have rung out my clothes. I felt as if I had jumped into water and gotten out and started to run, although my shoes weren't wet which was nice. I have learned that you just have to slow down when it's crazy hot and humid out - the air quality is not the same, it's hard to breath and sweat does not evaporate as it would on a less humid day. I also read that we don't keep as cool when it's humid because of that - all the sweat that stays on our bodies fakes us out into thinking that we are cooler than we really are, and over heating can happen much easier. I also learned not to wear anything but spandex sweat whisking shorts, anything else just gets clingy and gross. That's what i've learned so far about heat and humidity - oh, and bring extra water for the longer runs & wear lots of sun screen when the sun is out.

Last week I got 45 miles in, this week i'm going to cut back - Marathon training starts the 12th - I'm still working on my schedule - think i'm going to go with 4 to 5 days a week running. 1 speed work out one long run and 2 - 3 some what longers runs (starting at 7-9 miles and elevating to 10-12 mile runs)
that's what i'm thinking -- that is the runners world program for i phone that came up with that -- everythign else seems too easy, the Hal Higgens would be a huge step down to start with even on the advance program - maybe I don't need to train that hard to finish, but I don't want to just finish, I want to finish strong and push my limits. Let the summer of running begin.