Hurt again :(

Well - I have a few problems now.
I think I know why too -- when I was training for the 5k I had planned on taking about 3 weeks easy before marathon training -- but I felt so great at the time, nailing most of my speed works outs etc. I decided not to... BIG mistake. I should have known when I was starting to get tired and struggle with the workouts to take a few days off and rest... but I didn't. and now.... here I am.

Last week I didn't make it through my week. I ran 7.5 Monday - it hurt. Knees, Shin, ankle.... Tuesday I made it 4m on a DREADmill it was horrible - HATED IT. Wednesday night in the heat I made it 7.5 at a walk - run. I couldn't make it more than 4 miles with out breaking down. it just hurt too much, Deb was with me and was nice enough to stay with me.

I decided it was not worth it. This Marathon is not worth ruining my summer for. So, I decided to take a week off - off from everything. The workouts in general, definitely running & eating healthy, all the things I had been forcing myself to do.

So Thursday I slept skipping my 9 mile run, then I had pizza for dinner and stayed up late with a friend (I did walk Matilda)
Friday I slept in, I went hiking and biking with Debi but that was for fun not for the work out, then I ate junk food and closed the bar down with a friend staying up till 2am.

I relished my Saturday morning not having to get up early to run my 20 mile run - it was great. I didn't miss running one bit - my knee and shin still hurt. I went to garage sales made eggs and toast for breakfast & went for a 15ish mile bike ride to run some water out to jer who had to run 17 miles. I didn't envy him and had fun biking with him for a while - took some pictures of some georgious flowers along the way. I mowed the grass, walked Tilda... then I stayed up late watching a movie with neighbors and grilling out. Popcorn with the movie of course!

Sunday I was a little junk fooded out so I just had oat meal for breakfast I think..... Didn't do much Sunday, just walked Matilda and went for a bike ride, drank wine and watched a movie before bed - knee and shin still hurt.

Monday I slept in, I was starting to get use to it, it was great. I didn't have to worry about my protein content so I ate things I normally wouldn't for breakfast, was early to work because I didn't have to clean up from a run... Monday I was supposed to run 10 miles. I ate  pretty much what ever I wanted. I went for a bike ride and hiking with Debi and Tilda, it felt like Tuesday but it was Monday. I stayed up till 10 reading... so relaxing to know all I had to do was go to work in the morning....

then Tuesday I  slept in again.... Went biking a few miles, walked Tilda after work went roller blading with Pris. banalced on my balance thing and stretched.... Finished my 8th or 9th book of the year.

Yesterday I slept in even though I was thinking about getting up early... that didn't happen I didn't sleep well...I did feel sad I missed the sun rise... then on lunch break I went to star bucks and went ahead and ordered coffee AND an apple fritter, it was worth every each and every one of it's 420 glorious calories. I enjoyed every bite.  I have been working on a bag of dove chocolates and a bag of cookies at home, i'll actually be glad when they are gone because i'm getting a little carried away with them - YUM. For dinner I had mashed potatoes mixed with beans and some fresh beans from my garden. I took tills for a walk and went for a 8 mile bike ride with my new bike. I want to ride it ever day, it's fun and SO much more comfortable than my old one. My old one feels like a piece of junk now. Some day I want to get a REALLY nice bike, right now new this one would cost around 450, but I got it used. It's a diamond back - i'm going to get racing handle bars for it and a water bottle holder once pay day comes. I also bought a camera to carry with me, its adventure proof. I like to buy stuff when i'm sad - it makes me feel better, and I do feel better from all my rest and indulgences. I think i'm ready to go back, and I did this morning.

Slowly, but I did. I ran 5.3 miles with boot camp at a 9:45 pace. SO SLOW I know, but I read that when you come back from an injury that's what you have to do, so that's what i'm going to do. and I like it. going slow is NICE. I think I will keep going slow, it's more fun right now. I'll be fast again someday, but not till i'm 100% again which i'm guessing will not be till after the marathon that is, if my coming back slow this week works and I continue to run somewhat pain free. My new plan is:

Run 3 days a week.
Once I can I will start doing tempo runs and some speed work, but not till i feel better.
I want to run with boot camp and Debi and Jer when ever possible -  it's more fun.
I want it to be fun - why should I do it if I hate it? life is too short for that.
I don't want this to ruine my summer - so I wont' let it!
I will NOT make all my desisions based on running
I will indulge in yummy food that may not be too healthy because I like them and they make me happy
I will do other things besides running anytime I want to reguardless to the fact that they may get me hurt and hinder running.
I will stay up late sometimes!
I will like running or I will not run - maybe not every run, but in general
If I really hurt I will stop
If i'm really tired I will sleep more and run later
I will listen to my body
Running will not be my life
This summer will be fun - I think I just had the best week of the whole summer last week when I wasn't running - I don't want to go back to the way things were, but I am ready to run again - I think I can make it work.
Live and learn, right?

Sick, Tired & Sore

Running through geese

After the first 18 at I&M Canal

As if my training was not going bad enough.... I made it through my first 18 mile run. It was tough. The last 3 miles just about

I&M Canal view of the river

Death Run in 90 degree heat

killed me, if it wern't for Deb, I would have walked. But we made it, all 18. Then I got sick. Now I am SOOOO tired, I can't even run. I tried, twice, and failed, making it about 7.5 miles between the 2 attempts which is only 1.5 mile short of the days goal, so thats not too shabby I suppose. I just don't know when i'll be better. My aches and pains have moved all over the place again. One thing gets better, something else starts hurting worse.  So many factors go into this whole training thing - nutrition, social life, stress, work, home life, family life, personal wellness - it all plays a role. This marathon thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be
Photo credit give to Debi Ostrander Haas
.

Running through runners knee is not so fun

So, I guess I might kind of have runners knee. it hurts. I don't like it. Other things hurt too - seems like everything in my lower legs hurt. My quad that I pulled in soft ball seems pretty much fine now though, so apparently my body is capable of healing although it seems to be choosy as to what it actually heals. I thought I was going to just run through the pain and strengthen the things that need to be strengthened to fix these problems and just sort of heal as I go type of thing... However, yesterday as I practically limped  the first mile of my 9 mile run I decided I was getting a little tired of pain. Especially when I wanted to run after my dog and play with her and I couldn't even do that because it hurt too much.... I don't want to ruin my summer because i'm in pain all the time and don't want to go for walks with Matilda, or do ride horses with Pris because of my knee. I'm tired of limping. I need to heal. This week is my "easy" week. I think  I will cross and strength train for 2 of my running days (Wednesday and Thursday) and then run on Saturday. It sucks though. I just want to feel better and run and continue with my training, but I just don't think running through it is working - at all. So that's my plan. hopefully I will do it and feel better and start slowly back up to regular training, hopefully it wont be too hard to get back to the schedule. I'm not happy about this, but I think it must be done. My new cushion shoes should be in soon, I"m thinking about getting custom orthodontics...  Not sure if I need them though. Last week I got all my runs in. One of the 8's turned into a 6 because it was hot and after the speed workout that I shouldn't have done the day before I was really hurting. The long run was supposed to be 16 but very sadly it was only 15.3 somehow I missed a loop that I should have gone on. it was really hot though, not fun. i was so sweaty. it was 75 degrees with around 80 percent humidity at 5am. Crazy.

Thursday 7th - so far I have stuck to my plan. Tuesday I biked 34 miles, yesterday I did the elipitcal for 45 minutes, then arm work out then biked 10 miles. Today i'm going to bike 12 miles and do the elipitical tonight for 45 minutes. probably add some weighted squats and my knee work out. I want to run :( Saturday can't come soon enough, I just hope I will be healed by then!

Tuesday the 12th - So I stuck with my plan - I worked out about 2 hours a day to make up for not running - I have been bike riding on my lunch break and if I work hard I can get 13 miles in (tops so far) then I did the elicpital 2 days (for the run days I skiped) and did other strength work outs.  It was a lot of work, but it payed off. I ran 9 on Saturday morning and felt pretty good, it was hard because 4 days with no running will do that to a runner, but I made it and my knee didn't hurt at all. Yesterday I did 9 again and it was super humid. My ankles are starting to hurt now though :( its annoying. always something. also the sides of my knee hurts, but not like before at all.... I still need to get my core stronger but I think i'm on the road to recovery! I have 2 8 mile runs this week and then Saturday is a 18 miler although we may cut it to 16ish. I'm glad I stuck with my plan, it was hard, but defiantly worth it. I still hurt a little when I get up but not even close to how it was before.

Thursday the 14th - I"m still running. it hurts. Blisters, shin splints, sore knees (surprisingly that's not my main problem anymore)  I need to go to dicks and get some low arch shoe inserts - my new Sauconay cushion shoes need some more support - I also think I need to order size 9 shoes not 9.5, the 2 pairs that are 9.5's have given me blisters on the bottom of my feet (on the arch, or what little arch I have) So that's annoying because those shoes have a lot of miles left on them. I ran 6 with boot camp this morning, it was a really awesome morning, the coolest it's been in FOREVER. I need 9 though, so I am going to do a split and run 4 or 5 tonight. I think next week i'm going to try to add tuesdays back in and see what happens. Maybe i'm just being a wuss. I need to toughen up.

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.

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!

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.

Running in the front of the pack

I ran the Run through the jungle race Saturday May 14th -- the race I've been training for. My training schedule worked up to my hardest week 48 miles. 2 weeks ago I ran a 14miler long run as part of the week, my half marathon time would have been 1 hour and 48 minutes, and that was not at race pace -- it was also with 13mph winds. I felt pretty good about the training schedule, I followed it pretty much completely except for burning out on some of the speed work outs. I think i'm sick of the track, I want to do some hills or maybe just do speed without worrying about time, just running hard. For the race I didn't run it as fast as I thought I would or could however, it was hot right in the middle of the race, the sun came out and heated everything up, then it was ready to rain, started to right after I finished... So, the humidity was at it's peak. My legs felt great the whole time, I was running along at a 6:30 pace for the first mile, feeling pretty good, but then I just got really out of breath. Had to be the humidity. I had also forgotten how many hills were on the course, as well as it being mostly gravel with big pot holes. The last mile was slow too because it had steps, loose gravel, turns and was between 2 cages with 2 tigers fighting over who got to chase witch runner.

I kept looking behind me towards the end as my pace was dropping to see if any girls were behind me because I knew I was number one girl the whole race -- I didn't see any and was relieved that I didn't have to go any faster. I wish that their had been because I think I could have pushed harder. the next day my legs weren't even sore. I did get first place female runner and brought home the troughy, so that was exiting. I was about a minute ahead of the second place woman and Debi was right behind her, I guess she got passed right around end of the race. It was SOOOO cool being in the front of the pack. I want more of that feeling. I was the only girl up their with all the guys with big calf muscles... It was also fun beating all the guys that were behind me... I feel like I could have pushed harder, gone faster, but I just get discouraged when I can't breath, and humidity is my least favorite running condition. Just the same.... Regardless of how hard I could have pushed or how much faster I could have run, I still got first place overall female! I want to do it again.

I really need to continue to work on my diet plan, I need to add more fruit and rice and potatoes to my diet. I've been having salads for lunches, maybe add some juice and a slice of bread with hummis. dieting days will be over soon and I will need to up my calories for high mileage training -- no more fasting on mondays when that starts. I want to line up a few more races -- i'm thinking of a 20 mile race in Sept. I think, a half in Batavia in August, a 5k in june. I'd like to get some trail running in and do a 10 miler trail race -- I think it will make training more exiting and interesting.
I"m also finishing up my training schedule. I think I'm going to incorporate the one I developed with the help of several other schedules, but combine some of the runs (2 6's into a 12) so that I have more days off and can focus on strength training those days and recovery.It just makes more scene to run more long runs and have more rest days since I am training for a marathon after all. It'll probably be 9+ mile runs on Monday 8+ mile runs on Tuesdays Wednesdays off/YMCA weight and ab routine, Thursdays speed work outs, Friday off, Saturday long runs 14+ -- the miles will be about the same as the other schedule, just higher millage, leaving room to do night runs if I want on days that have rest day as the next day & room to be more flexible. SO, that's the plan. this week I ran 6 yesterday, 8 today, but it was rough because I fasted dinner to dinner on Monday, so even though I had a big dinner Monday night I was still hungry at mile 4. then tomorrow I think i'll do 1m warm, go to track, 2m fast, some lounges and squats etc. then 1mfast then run 1m home cool off. then Thursday do a 6, Friday 5 or 6 and Saturday or Friday night if I want to flip flop them, do 13 or 14 -- I don't really know why I want to keep my miles so high, I should really rest.... But i'm a runner, not a rester.... I guess that's why.