I think this was the first week during training that we were able to run all of our scheduled runs outside! I certainly did not miss the treadmill, that's for sure!
Tuesday's run of 4 miles was fast, and did not feel good at all for me. We finished in 33:09. My piriformis had been bothering me quite a bit before we started running and my shoulders were pretty tight from lifting the day before, so I'm sure that was most of my problem. On Thursday we ran 5 miles in 44:15 that felt great and I was happy with our pace! It's always nice to feel good and run faster when you can, but I think it's almost better when you know you can run slower when you want and know that you are capable of running faster when you feel good! It's all a part of the mental side of running in my opinion.
Saturday was Jeremy and I's first 10 mile run since we tapered for the Gobbler Grind half marathon in November. I woke up on Saturday feeling really excited that we were running our first 10 mile run for our full marathon training! My family had our weekly Saturday breakfast at my parents house, in which I brought over two hard boiled eggs and a thin toasted bagel with peanut butter while the family got to enjoy my mom's famous biscuits and gravy... needless to say I was jealous!
The weather for Saturday was in 50's and the rain held off, but unfortunately, it was still very windy. In the time I have been a runner, I have never used the Powerbar gels or GU's for energy during my runs. I found some new Powerbar "gummy" type chews and bought a few bags for us to try out. The run started out pretty miserable for both of us.. For me, I had a side stitch almost the entire 10 miles that I could not kick for very long. It was miserable breathing... and Jeremy said he wasn't feeling the best either.
Around mile 5 we decided to try a few of the strawberry-banana chews and they were surprisingly really good! At first it was hard to chew them and breathe at the same time with the awesome side stitch I had going, but I worked it out. I chased the chews with a little bit of Cytomax and I think it helped...unfortunately it didn't help with the side stitch though. We ended up finishing our 10 mile run in a respectable 1:29:44, which averaged out to be a 8:58 pace. Pretty good time for feeling terrible and with our face towards the wind for most of the time!
For the past few weeks I have been swimming on Sunday mornings after my long runs and have found that it has helped tremendously with stretching out my body - especially my legs. I swam about 1200 meters on Sunday, with 500m being continuous, Something I have not done in 12 years since I swam in high school. It felt great to get the muscles stretched out and made for a much better day for recovery.
Something that I've learned as a runner is, no matter how good you are with your running nutrition pre and post run, your fluid intake, and your stretching, you will always have those certain days that you cannot pin point the reason you are not running your best. For me, it all just comes down to that day and how I feel after I push the "start" button on my Garmin watch!
Quote of the Week...
Running Pictures!
I decided to write an additional posting this week, because I have been talking to a few of my friends who have asked me for some running advice on what they should do first when starting to train for their first 5k. The advice that I always give first mirrors the advice that I received when I first started running, and that was go get a good pair of running shoes!
When I first started running, my friend Ryan told me to get professionally fitted for a good pair of running shoes, and although they were more expensive than most tennis shoes, it was the best investment that I made! I went to Gary Gribbles Running Sports, a local running store with multiple locations here in Kansas City and got fitted. They were very thorough with me and let me try on many different pairs that felt best for my flatter than flat (did I mention flat?)feet. The best shoe for me was the Adidas Supernova series which gave me enough support and width, but not too much support! Also, I found out after my first half marathon that it's best to go up at least a 1/2 size in your running shoes than your normal shoes. For me, I usually wear a 8 1/2 shoe, but I ended going up a full size to a 9 1/2 for my running shoes. My first pair of running shoes felt great for my shorter runs, but after finishing my first half marathon, the ONLY thing on my body that ached afterwards were my toenails! My feet swell the more miles I run, so going up a full size was the best feeling ever! I was able to keep my toenails in open-toed shoe condition thanks to going up a full size! :)
Since I have flat feet, I go through running shoes a lot faster than most runners. With the miles that I run every week, I average a new pair of shoes about every three months. Believe me, after you've been running for a while, you will know when it's time for a new pair... it will start to feel like you can feel the pavement through your shoes!!
I am super proud and excited for my friends who have made running their first 5k their 2010 new year's resolution! You have to start somewhere, and it's like I tell people, if I can do it, anyone can!
The picture in my post is a picture of my shoes (mine are the yellow and white pair in the middle).
I am now officially a month into marathon training, and everything is still going great so far! I have been feeling healthy and not too many aches and pains with the piriformis, so that always makes for a good week!
This week I had some travel for work to Las Vegas, but luckily the travel did not impact my normal workout routine. When I got out to Vegas on Monday, I did my normal bicep/tricep weight routine and 45 minutes on the stair climber in the Rio's gym. On Tuesday morning, as I walked off the elevator into the casino at the Rio, I couldn't help but giggle, as I knew that most of the people in the casino that were there at 6:45 am that morning, probably had not even made it to bed yet! I have been to Vegas many times, but never as a runner, so running for the first time outside in Vegas was pretty exciting for me! I met my friend Mark at the entrance of the Rio and off we went! It was a beautiful morning, sunny, and a temp of about 40 degrees with little wind- great running weather! We finished our 4 miles in 33:10, which was an 8:18 mile pace. While we were walking back to the hotel, Mark confessed that he normally does not run that fast, but knew that if he did not keep up, then he would never hear the end of it from me! :) I was really glad he ran with me, it made for a great rest of the day in Vegas!
I arrived back in KC late Wednesday night, and the temps were a balmy 12 degrees...NICE! So, of course Thursday's short run was on the treadmill at the gym. UGH! This week, Jeremy and I's long run was 9 miles, and although the weather was about 37 degrees with a lot of wind, it was a fantastic run! We ran 9 miles in 1:17:52, which was an 8:39 minute mile pace, my fastest 9 miles ever! I was pretty excited that that pace felt great and I wasn't over-exerted after we were done.
It looks like for next week, we are supposed to get a break in the weather hopefully, and we should have some 50 degree weather for our long run! I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!
I guess since this is going to be the longest winter ever, I might as well stop complaining about having to run on the treadmill for the first part of marathon training...
As much as I hate running on the treadmill, I am thinking that by running slower on the treadmill for our shorter runs, it has helped improve our pace for when we do get to run outside. Two out of our three runs were on the treadmill this week. We had a little break in the weather on Thursday, so instead of running our long run on Saturday, we decided to take advantage of the weather and run the long run early...and boy did we run! I don't think Jeremy and I ever thought we would be getting our PR's for some of our longer runs during marathon training, but on Thursday we ran 48:46 for 6 miles. Maintaining a pace of 8:08 per mile. It was a fantastic run and pretty exciting to see the time and distance on our Garmin watches, as we both knew we were running a great pace, and still feeling good!
Cytomax has been our hydration staple of choice. Since taking the Cytomax during and after our runs, I can definitely tell a difference in how I feel during and post run for recovery. I am super excited that Cytomax is the "official" course drink for the marathon in San Diego!
This next week, I have some travel for work in Las Vegas. I am pretty excited to get out of this frozen tundra for a few days and enjoy some 60 degree weather! I am hoping to be able to run 4 miles outside on Tuesday in Vegas...keeping my fingers crossed! Next week we rev up the miles for our long run to 9. I just saw a weather forecast and it looks to be decent. When I say decent these days, I am just excited to see mid-thirty degree weather with the sun shining...how sad is that? Hopefully the weather will cooperate, because although I think there has been some benefits to running on the treadmill, there is no way I am going to run 9 miles on that torture chamber!
Another week down in marathon training, and 16 more to go!
I booked the airline and hotel accommodations this week for San Diego, and my kids are so excited to see the beach again! So excited in fact that the day after I booked our travel arrangements, I came home to my son already packing his suitcase for San Diego! When I asked him what he had packed, he rolled his suitcase in full of toys! :) When I asked him about packing his clothes, he told me that he would be packing all of his clothes in my suitcase! I couldn't help but laugh!
The running this week was great. My piriformis hasn't been bothering me and my legs have been feeling really fresh! With only one running day on the treadmill, it always makes for a good week! Jeremy and I had ran our normal two 4-mile runs, and then on Saturday, we increased the mileage to 7 miles. When we were preparing for our marathon training, we had decided to keep our base long run at 6 miles for the last 3 1/2 months, and I'm so glad we did! Although the weather was a bit windy and cold and the sidewalks and streets still had some snow cover, we actually ran our fastest 7 miles since we started running together. Our time was 59:33, and remarkably, it was a run in which we felt so good that it was hard to believe we were running so fast! Those are the kinds of runs that keep me excited and motivated to be a runner...it's what it's all about!
After the run we had talked about how we both agreed that by incorporating more hydration (Cytomax) during our runs and doing more cross training and weight lifting on the off days, it had helped us become stronger runners! While I thought at one time we had found our "comfortable pace" for the marathon, I now feel that we really haven't found that yet... I truly thought that we would be averaging 9-9 1/2 minute miles for the duration of our training, but I think we'll just have to see how we feel from week to week on the longer runs in a few months.
The winter is seeming to be endless with yet another snow storm on it's way this week. I am just hoping that we can run outside as much as possible. I am still thinking warm thoughts and am ready to feel the beautiful San Diego sun!
The first week of marathon training...mission accomplished! It wasn't pretty, but the miles were put in and now, only 17 more weeks to go! While 17 weeks seems so far away, I know it's going to go by so fast. Of course, living in the mid-west, it can be 90 degrees in February one day and then negative temps the next.. this week we had another round of snow and cold weather come in, so two of our runs were on the treadmill. Believe me, I am one that will usually face the rain and cold weather just to avoid the dreaded treadmill..but with temps below 32 with snow and ice on the ground, just aren't safe running conditions for outside. It's not worth slipping and breaking or straining something.
This week our 4 mile run on Tuesday was pretty fast (about 33 minutes)and felt pretty good..until after. My piriformis started acting up again but luckily I had an appointment to see my Chiropractor the next day, in which she really worked me over! Yikes! While the treatment that day was pretty painful, I felt good as new the next day, so it was totally worth it! I always feel so much better after my appointments!
Since training for my first marathon wasn't enough to keep me busy, I decided to sign up for my first triathlon at the end of July at Smithville Lake! I am super excited to try out the whole triathlon experience. This triathlon is for women only and it's what I would consider a "mini-tri." It's 500m swim, 10 mile bike, and a 3.1 (5k) run. I think it will be a good first timer event!
http://www.winforkctri.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=77&Itemid=8
Being's that it was Superbowl week, I felt it was appropriate to incorporate it somehow into my post. While running is obviously an individual sport and it means something different to each runner. All the dedication and training that you put in to prepare for your event is ultimately your "regular season." It's the hard work that you put into the regular season that will pay off in your runner's "Superbowl." While I haven't felt what it's like to cross the finish line in a full marathon yet, just knowing how emotional and ecstatic I was after my 4 half marathon finishes,I think it will be a feeling of accomplishment that will be indescribable. I can't wait to share the moment with the people I care the most about and who will be waiting for me at the finish line.
This last week of running before marathon training starts was actually the best week of running I have ever had. I've been feeling great physically,and have been cautious about my pre and post running nutrition.
About four months ago I started having some severe pain in my right hamstring and up through my buttocks area. After doing a lot of research, I was able to find out that I was suffering from "Piriformis Syndrome." Basically I was having numbness and tingling in my buttocks and then down my leg through my hamstring area. This neuromuscular disorder occurs when the piriformis muscle in the buttocks compresses on the sciatic nerve. The pain was getting worse when I would sit for long periods of time, and would burn when I ran. So I started seeing a Chiropractor for treatment, which helped tremendously! I was continuing to run my normal running routine, and just slowing down my pace. I was so happy that I was able to continue running without too much discomfort. I was a little discouraged that I couldn't run as fast as I was prior to getting the disorder, but as long as I could continue to put in my miles, that's all that mattered to me.
My normal workout routine is usually 3 days of running, with 1 day being a "long run" and the other 4 days incorporating weight training and cross training such as swimming and riding the bike at the gym. Tuesday was a great run. My running partner, Jeremy and I ran 4 miles in approx 34:05. On Thursday, we had to hit the dreaded treadmill because of the weather, and ran another 4. On Saturday we were able to avoid the treadmill and hit the pavement for a nice 6 mile run. This run was the fastest 6 miles we had ever ran. I'm not sure what it was...if it was the bright sun, the cool air, the citrus flavored Cytomax, my new play-list, or just knowing that this would be our last long run before our marathon training started, but we ended up finishing in 49:46, which is a 8:19 minute mile pace. I was super excited. After months of not feeling well physically because of the piriformis issue, and to finally start running faster than I have before was the ultimate rush and made for an awesome weekend!
