SLUMP

How did this happen so quickly. I've hit a slump in my training. Maybe, it's from taking last weekend off. I was out of town visiting a friend for her birthday, and I had all intentions of waking up and getting out for some mileage, but when I was woken up around 5:30AM by what sounded like coyotes. I made a quick decision against heading out the door at my mentally planned time of 6:30/7:00 before my friends woke up. Maybe it's due to the stiffness in my hip from twisting the wrong way in the shower the other day, and I'm afraid to cause real damage by running on it. Or maybe it's due to anxiety of having stomach issues the last 2 times I've headed out for longer mileage. I'm not sure what it is, but it's here, and I want it to go away. I also, know I have no reason to complain. A week and a half ago, my good friend D almost lost her nephew T to complications surrounding his fight against cancer. T is an amazing 8 year old, who has been battling cancer for the last 4 years. T has gone through more in his 8 years then any adult I know. And you know what?! The kid doesn't complain. He constantly has a smile on his face, and is always looking at the bright side of things. He's an amazing inspiration. He's actually the reason, I am considering getting outside my comfort zone, and will train for a Triathalon after I finish training for Nike. I will of course do it with Team in Training, and raise money in honor of T and his incredible battle with cancer. Well, back on track.. I pushed myself out the door today, and drove 20 miles north to run by the beach with a running group I signed up with via the internet. Granted, my alarm didn't go off this morning, I was feeling crappy, and didn't want to go. But I was woken up at 6:30, and I got myself dressed, and prepped to run 9-10 miles depending on how my body was feeling. Well, of course since I woke up late, I missed meeting up with the group. But I found a great parking spot, turned on my Garmin, and started out. I was so happy to hear the waves crashing next to me, and seeing the flat ground ahead of me. So I walked a bit to losen up the hip, and attempted to run. I felt defeated running since my hip was stiil tight and it hurt to run. So I decided to walk a bit longer and see what happened. The hip felt fine so I ran, yeah that didn't work either. So I cut my run down to a 4 mile walk (some power walking was involved as well). I kept telling myself, it's fine, and that I got out there and that's really all that matters. And in the long run, if I have to do the half on October 17th, then I'll do the half. It's not the end of the world. Now that it's out in the open, I'm done complaining and will be moving on, and will take advice from T and keep on smiling and doing what I can to help him.

Sub 12

Seems like I only post once a week, my goal was supposed to blog more often, but it's just not going to happen. I think my long runs are more interesting then my day to day runs or cross training. I'm still keeping track in my journal, so I know what's happened when I get to blog. So onto this week, missed out on my sweat and sculpt, and the weather was a bit on the drizzlie side, so I didn't run outside, I did think about finding a treadmill to run on, but was unlucky on that side. Tuesday, was a slow day, and ended up walking for over a mile. My legs were feeling super heavy that day. Wednesday sweat and sculpt, and had a killer workout and got my motivation back, unfortunately, it was gone by Thursday night. Friday was a typical rest day, and enjoyed every moment of it. Today was 8 miles. It was scheduled as a step back week, however, I'm going out of town next weekend, and know full well that I wouldn't get 8 miles in. I'll be lucky if I get 3 miles done. The run this morning was a lot more uneventful from last weekend. Thankfully! I even ran an entire mile w/o any walk breaks, and according to my Garmin, I hit a sub 12 min mile!! WAHOOO!!! I'm very excited, I now know I can do it!

Issues on runs

Twice in one week, pretty impressive for me. But I had to share about my 6 mile run this morning.First I was pretty impressed with my overall time of the run. Granted the first mile and a half felt like it took me forever. Granted, I did a lot more walking then I had anticipated, but I kept at it, and finally reached the 2 mile mark and things seemed to go faster. Then mile 2.5 happened, and my stomach started talking to me. And not in the good way. I figured it had something to do with needing some extra energy, so I took 4 sports beans, and downed some water. Energy wise it definately helped, but stomach wise not so much. Needless to say, I was dreading that I was running in a residential area with absolutely no privacy, or fast food places to run into. Thankfully, I ended up finding a bit of a hill, w/ some privacy and helped my stomach out. It was a bit embarassing, and annoying, but I know I'm not the first person this has happened to, and I'm not the last. From that point on, I didn't keep with a specific ratio. I ran for as long as my legs and lungs felt good, and then walked when I needed to. I'm sure that helped my overall time. I'm still not where I would like to be pace wise, but I'm making more goals for myself, and once I've figured them all out, I'll share them. Have you ever had an embarassing moment during your run?

Just call me old fashioned

I really need a new computer. The computer I'm using right now is old (it's from 2003) and it's slower than molasses, and just needs to be put out of it's misery. Unfortunately, life situations being as they are, a new computer is not in my new future. But thankfully, when I decided to do this marathon, I bought myself a pretty journal (on sale) and have been keeping track of my training that way. I've been doing pretty well. I've even increased my ratio to a 2:1, which also means my pace has increased. I'm still slow (as molasses) but I'm pretty proud of my 12 min a mile pace. My ultimate goal is to get down to a normal 10 min a mile pace. I'm pretty confident that I'll be able to do it. I just need to stay consistent. I've been finding that my Tuesday runs are some of my slowest runs, but it's because of my cross training that I do on Mondays. My weight training class has really been kicking my butt. Trainer L, has been focusing on legs a lot lately, and although I feel my pace is slower on Tuesdays. I'm feeling like I can go further on Saturdays. So I'm thinking it's all good. Well, that's the update I've got for ya. Do you have a specific goal for running, (besides finishing a race) increase speed. goal longer distances? etc... Hope the training is going well!

consistency pays off

Holiday weeks always seem busy and trying to stick with my training plan during these weeks, are tough. So although I didn't get in as many runs as I had planned, I still had a few good runs. Before I started my blog, I bought myself a journal and planned on only using that to keep a personal record of my training. In this journal, I wrote myself a few goals to keep me going. One of them, was not to beat myself up over not being perfect while I train. Life is going to happen, and I can plan the best I can to make adjustments in my training, there's still going to be times I can't run, or stick with my plan. So this week was a good example of how that happened, and I must remember that I survived. I've also realized that missing a run or two isn't that bad, as long as I'm consistent. My plan was to stay at my current pace for a week, however, I've noticed that my pace has already gotten faster. I still have a bit more work to get to my ideal pace, but if I stay consistent, I'll get there before I know it!

Slow and Steady

Well, like I thought, the weekend wasn't exactly jammed packed with training. But it wasn't a total bust. I did get some extra miles in on Saturday. I spent the day with the family at a Scottish Festival. It was fun, and there was plenty of walking involved. Sunday, I needed to rest. I had woken up early enough to get a run in on Sunday, and even Monday, but my mind wouldn't let my body get out of bed. That did change today. I got out for my 30 mins,and kept a steady pace the whole time. I'm pretty proud of that. I've actual shaved a few mins off my pace from the first week I've run. It's keeping my motivation going. Slow and steady wins the race!! Even if I'm the only one racing! =)

No Pain!

Finally had energy/time to sit down to write tonight. I'm so glad to be back to training. I had started my pre training the last week of April. My pre-training was to help get me into a routine and the habit of getting a minimum of 5 days of activity a week. I knew it really wouldn't be that hard, considering I already had 2 days of what I consider cross training down. So it was just adding those extra 3 days. I had been on a roll for a good 2 weeks, then I went out of town to visit a friend for a long weekend, and then I got sick. I had a horrible cough, and no voice. I also felt like crap, and had no energy to get out the door. But that changed on Monday. Monday and Wednesday nights, I participate in a weight training class here in town. For an 2 hours a week, I meet up with my friends, and we use our own weight, plus free weights to work our bodies. It's an amazing class and I'm so glad I found it. So after being out for a week, Monday night felt amazing. Tuesday, I was feeling a little sore (the good kind of sore) and took it easy w/ an hour walk around the neighborhood w/ my mom. It felt good to get out and be moving, but I really wanted to go faster. But that wasn't the idea of the walk. Wednesday, class again. This time "Trainer L", wasn't so nice. It was brutal! She really worked us hard, pyramid push ups, mountain climbers, etc. It was painful and sweaty, but felt so good. Thursday, ran for the first time in 2 weeks. It was amazing. I have an issue w/ shin splints, and there was no pain at all. I had planned on being out there for 2 miles, but I was feeling so great, I changed my mind and decided on going 3. This was going to be my long mileage for the week, so I figured I could get it out of the way today, and do shorter runs tomorrow and Saturday. Especially since this is going to be a jammed packed weekend of celebrating my parents anniversary. It feels good to know that I got it out of the way and not have to worry about when to fit it in. Well, off to shower and relax before bed. Have a great night. Most likely be back on Tuesday night w/ a recap of the weekend mileage!