Last "long run"

Saturday I did my last "long" run before the San Diego Rock N Roll half this coming Sunday, June 3.  I was on my own for the first half of my workout, as The Husband decided to do a longer trail run instead.  I did pretty well keeping my normal pace and intervals going (my Garmin 110 doesn't have the built-in interval timer, so I look at my watch A LOT when not running with The Husband, who has our intervals set on his 305).

I spent the second half of my 5 miler walking with a teammate, who will also be my room mate in San Diego.  I noticed afterward that my back was pretty stiff, and the bottom of my two smallest toes on the right foot were a bit sore, but not blistered.  I noticed these ailments following the Cowtown half in February as well, and I think it has to do with walking more than running during a workout.  Strange!

This week I'm just hoping to get in 2 short runs, probably 2 and 3 miles.  I also want to ride my bike, but we'll see about that.  I've decided to nix the weight lifting routine until after I return from my race, because I want my legs (and the rest of me!) to be fresh and not experience lingering soreness during my travels and race.

10 miles - DONE!

Finally, I got my ten-miler in.  I went into the run knowing that I had to get the miles in no matter what happened.  I made sure and ate something beforehand.  I wore shorts I knew wouldn't ride up.  I used Body Glide on my armpit where my sports bra likes to rub.

And, it went really well!  We took a slightly different course than usual, which was kind of nice.  Around mile 7 we got totally drenched by a sudden (though not unexpected) downpour, which left me squishing in my shoes for the last 3 miles.  It was the perfect temperature for running in the rain, though, so it was kind of nice!

I didn't have any foot pain during my run, which was pretty exciting!  I only took one longer-than-usual walk break, and stopped to walk for ~30 seconds a few times in the middle of a run interval, but that's pretty much par for the course when I do 10+ miles, so I'm OK with it.  Our overall pace was about 14:45/mile, which is about 40 seconds slower per mile than my last few long runs.

I'm feeling pretty confident that I'll do OK in San Diego.  I will probably be running alone (The Husband isn't coming, and I don't have another running partner on the team), which will be a first.  I'm hoping I can stay motivated and pace myself OK!  I should probably have practiced running alone more, though.

I'm planning on doing a couple of short runs this week, and then probably do 8 or so on Saturday. :)

Trail run + long run!

This week I managed to run two whole times, aren't you proud of me? ;)  On Wednesday afternoon, The Husband came home and we decided to go on our first-ever trail run.  There are some cool trails out behind the dog park here in town, so we laced up our shoes, sprayed on our sunscreen and bug spray, and hit the trail.

Trail running is a lot different from road running, let me tell you.  The constant ups and downs, concentrating on each footfall to ensure you don't trip and fall, and the rocky, bumpy terrain are more physically and mentally exhausting than running on a regular paved surface.  We only went about 2 miles, but we really enjoyed it!  We saw several other runners out on the trail as well.

Saturday morning we went to Grapevine as usual.  I decided to make this a cutback week and schedule 6 miles.  It was about 45 degrees when we started, which felt pretty good, except my hands were aching from the cold.  Once we got warmed up and into the sun it wasn't so bad, though.

One thing we've really been enjoying on our runs the past few weeks is the scent of honeysuckle.  It seems like it's everywhere this spring, and it makes me smile and breathe deeply every time we pass the vines.  The Husband and I have also been listening to a Pandora station of 90s music during our long runs, which has been pretty entertaining.  For instance, I learned on Saturday that "Waterfalls" by TLC is the perfect tempo for my usual running pace.  Who knew?!  Don't worry, we're being safe - no headphones, just playing through the speaker on The Husband's smartphone.  Hope we're not annoying everyone else on the trails!

Anyway, Saturday's 6 miler was awesome!  I think I'm about due for a crappy long run, but I'm really hoping I get a break during my 10 miler this coming Saturday.

Long Run - 4/14/12

Saturday we headed out to Grapevine for a long run with our TNT family. I decided to go for 8 miles. Pre-run fuel was a kolache/sausage roll (jalapeno cheese, to be exact!), not exactly the healthiest or most traditional option, but whatever.

We had a really great run, no foot pain or calf tightness for me! The weather was pretty great, too, not too hot or humid. We stuck to our intervals (5 run/2 walk) pretty much the entire time, and when I started to lag or tried to stop running early, The Husband did a great job of encouraging me to continue on, which I really appreciated.

We finished in about 1:57 (this included a long-ish bathroom break which I forgot to stop the watch for), so our overall pace according to the watch was about 14 minutes/mile. Not too bad for a long run!

We're planning on a short run this evening (either on the road or trying out some trails), and probably another tomorrow evening. Saturday will be either 6 or 10 miles, I haven't decided yet.

Saturday Long Run - 3/31/12

This weekend's long run was AWESOME! My friend Bio (from Bio Experiments with Running) was in town, so she and The Husband joined me on a 6 mile run. The temperature and breeze were perfect, especially considering it was about 95% humidity during the entire run.

I had no foot pain at all during the run, which was fantastic! We did 6.2 miles in 1:30:54 for an average pace of 14:40 minutes/mile. Not the fastest I've ever run, but it was perfect for me. My foot was a little sore yesterday and this morning, but seems to be recovering pretty well from the run.

I have an easy 2 miles on the schedule for tonight, and a podiatrist appointment to get fitted for my custom orthotics on Wednesday afternoon. I need to add in more stretching throughout the day to aid in my recovery, but overall I'm really happy with my progress.

Saturday Long Run - 3/17/12

FYI: Saturday is our normal long-run day. I wake up super early (around 5:15AM), drive ~45 minutes to the area where our Team in Training group meets, and we start running around 7AM. I love running with a group - although I don't run "with" anyone besides The Husband usually, it's great to meet with like-minded people and run for a common goal.

Anyway, Saturday the full marathon folks were scheduled to do 12 miles. I, of course, am injured, so I've just been doing what I can. Saturday I decided I'd do at least 4 and see how it went, since it was only my second time running in the orthotics. The first 2 miles still felt terrible - my feet were fatigued/achy-feeling like I had run 13 miles already. This sensation stuck with me (at varying levels of intensity) for about 2 miles, and then - *poof!* - it stopped! I guess it's just a warm-up thing, because the next two miles went by with no aching, burning feeling AND I wasn't experiencing any arch or calf pain. It was great! I still decided to stop after 4 miles, although I think I could have gone longer. I don't want to push too much too soon while breaking in the orthotics.

Since I'm a bit behind in my training plan I think I may shoot for the half marathon (and a PR!) in Anchorage. I can set my sights on a full for December or February, I think, and get in solid training for that. The only trick will be keeping up my base mileage over the summer - it's SO HOT here in Texas that each run is an epic battle of the will just to get out the door.

This week I'm planning to run tonight (2-3 miles or so?) and 2x while I'm visiting my mom in Las Vegas. My flight leaves early tomorrow morning, so I may not post again until I return on Saturday.

1/2 Marathon Recap + Foot Pain Woes

So, we did it! We ran the Cowtown half marathon on Feb. 26. The weather was *perfect* for a race - around 50*, partly cloudy, and breezy (transitioning into gusty winds toward the end of the race). As you can tell from my blog, our training was not up to the usual standard, so we ended up walking the second half of the race due to my foot pain and the Husband's IT band discomfort. We finished in about 3:28, so definitely not our best time, but we had fun.

After the race I took the week off from running, but I did ride my bike on Thursday afternoon and Sunday morning!

Sunday evening we headed out for my scheduled 8-mile long run. Again, we had great weather for our run. We ran a different route than normal, which was fun. But my foot started feeling "off" around 1.25 miles, and got worse from there, escalating to a 3 or 4 on the pain scale intermittently. We rounded it out at 5.5 miles, and I immediately iced my foot. Haven't been running again yet, but we'll head out for 3 miles tonight and see how it goes.

I've scheduled an appointment with the podiatrist for tomorrow afternoon. I've never been to a foot doc before, so I'm hoping for a good experience, a diagnosis, and a fast recovery! I definitely recommend seeing a doctor sooner rather than later when you think you have an injury. Best-case scenario, it's a wasted copay, and worst-case, you have to take some time off. But it will be less time than if you wait too long to see the doctor! I realized when filling out my new patient paperwork that I've been having this foot pain on and off since mid-January, so it's definitely time to get it looked at. Wish me luck!

Long Run Saturday

Saturday we had our first Team in Training run at our usual location in Grapevine, TX. It was raining, so we skipped the nutrition clinic we were supposed to have and got right down to running. We had four miles on the schedule, so off I went into the rain. The temperature was around 45* I think, with a light but steady rain.

I have only run in the rain one other time, and it was at least 80* that time (and the rain was a lot heavier), so this was a different experience for me. I had a really, really great run! I enjoyed the rain, running in nature (as opposed to in town, as most of my weekday runs are), and running by myself for the first two miles. I forgot my watch, so I don't know what my time was, but everything just flowed. It was awesome!

The 5AM workouts haven't been happening this week yet. I think we'll do a quick 2 miler tonight, and then resume AM workouts on Thursday. Sunday we're running the Cowtown half marathon in Fort Worth - we're woefully underprepared, but we've done several half-marys in the past, so I know we'll be fine, just slow.

"Long" Run - 1/22/12

So, yesterday was supposed to be a "long run" day. My running partner (aka Husband) and I procrastinated badly, and so ended up doing our long run at about 8PM. We started out with the intention of doing at least 7 miles, but the weather made other plans for us.

We headed out to the local "rail trail", which is a long, paved trail that runs alongside our local commuter train tracks. We parked at one of the train stations (where there were exactly zero other cars), and started off down the trail. The trail is not really lit along the way, so it was pretty dark for the most part. We brought a small flashlight so we could keep an eye out for wildlife (i.e. skunks) that might cause problems for us.

The first mile I was in a horrible mood (because I didn't want to be running). After the 1-mile mark my mood started to lift, and we continued to take advantage of the strong tailwind that had been pushing us. My lower legs and feet were burning (I think I pushed too much during our long run last weekend), so we decided to turn around at the 2-mile mark just so we could be closer to the car if we needed to cut it short.

Miles 3 and 4 were killer. We were facing 20-30mph gusts with constant wind in between, which made it feel at least twice as hard as any other 2 miles we've run in the past. We decided to stop when we got back to the car (at four miles) because the wind was just exhausting. I still need to check my Garmin to see what my average heart rate was... but it didn't feel that high for the most part. It was really just my legs/feet that were holding me back, which is a total 180* from where I was 2 years ago. Yay for cardio endurance!

Run Stats:
3.94 Total Miles
57:02 Total Time
14:29 Average Pace

Tonight we're scheduled to do an easy 2-miler, so check back tomorrow to hear a bit about that!