We've been training since September. We have been pretty good about taking things slow, wearing the right shoes, following the training schedule, etc. Well, sometimes, when you begin running REALLY long distances, your body just says "no".
Today my body said, "no". I woke up this morning and was a little sore from last night's run which is pretty typical. I went into work and noticed that the soreness wasn't going away - specifically in my right hip. It just continued to ache all day. I closed my office door, laid on the floor, and stretched out my hip. When I got home, I described the pain to Mike and he made a bit of a diagnosis based on his past experience in physical therapy and training. In short, the tendon from my outer hip to my knee is pissed at me. This might have been triggered because we have started lifting and doing leg presses. But, in general, my muscles have developed faster than my tendons. And now, my tendon is letting me know.
So, Mike went for our Thursday 3 miler by himself (in the pouring rain - coincidence?) and I stayed home and made dinner. I spent the duration of Jeopardy on the floor stretching. I now have a heating pad on my hip. Two days of rest should be good. Fingers crossed I will be ready for a 12 mile (birthday) run on Saturday :)
And yes, mom, I am taking my vitamins :)
Thursday, February 11, 2010
A Great Run
Some days I take my first step and it just feels good. No warm up is necessary. I am at a perfect pace. The run just feels natural. Wednesday was one of those days.
We ran a new route - a six miler. We ran along a trail that took us under the freeway and into a golf course neighborhood. Being that the neighborhood is easily accessible by trail and not-so-much by road, we had never driven by it, thus never really seen it before. What a great place! The homes were beautiful, the yards were immaculate, yet none of it was overdone. It was just pretty.
By the time we got home, I was in a great mood. Work has been pretty unbelievably lame lately, and I am so grateful for the joy that running (and a great running partner) brings into my life :)
We ran a new route - a six miler. We ran along a trail that took us under the freeway and into a golf course neighborhood. Being that the neighborhood is easily accessible by trail and not-so-much by road, we had never driven by it, thus never really seen it before. What a great place! The homes were beautiful, the yards were immaculate, yet none of it was overdone. It was just pretty.
By the time we got home, I was in a great mood. Work has been pretty unbelievably lame lately, and I am so grateful for the joy that running (and a great running partner) brings into my life :)
Sun Run
Tuesday's run was done in a t-shirt and shorts. It was in the upper 50s and sunny. We ran pretty fast and it felt great.
On our way back, we saw a very odd sight - a unicyclist. Running along the sidewalk, we see a very tall figure coming towards us. As he got closer, we could see that it was an older man on a GIANT unicycle. The wheel must have been 4' in diameter and he was sitting very high in full bike gear and a helmet.
As they say, "keep Portland weird".
On our way back, we saw a very odd sight - a unicyclist. Running along the sidewalk, we see a very tall figure coming towards us. As he got closer, we could see that it was an older man on a GIANT unicycle. The wheel must have been 4' in diameter and he was sitting very high in full bike gear and a helmet.
As they say, "keep Portland weird".
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Hills
Running hills is not something I enjoy. When I encounter them on our weekly runs, I try to defeat them, using my arms, pushing through my legs, focusing on leaning forward. Then, after 30 seconds to a minute, I am done with the hill and can recover. It works pretty well.
Then there are hills like the one today. We met the running group in Portland and had 7 miles slated for the day. The plan was to follow the route for the Shamrock Run coming up in March. Now, I had heard it was uphill, but I had not seen the elevation profile. I was ready to attack those hills. We started out, ran through downtown which all seemed to be slightly uphill - totally manageable. And then we hit the HILL. I immediately started slowing down and falling back from the group. Mike slowed down with me and encouraged me to keep one foot in front of the other. I haven't wanted to walk that bad in a long time. We finally made it to the turn around at 3.5 miles. I was beat, but the pace group was still in sight. Overall, we climbed 450 feet. Mike told me that our average pace at the turn around was 10:55. I was pretty impressed with that.
The way down was glorious. It was a beautiful day and we could see all of Portland. I worked for that view and you had better believe that I enjoyed it :) My legs were DONE by the time we made it back to the car, but I felt pretty accomplished.
We will probably run that hill again as a workout before the race. Then, when race day comes, I will be ready!
Then there are hills like the one today. We met the running group in Portland and had 7 miles slated for the day. The plan was to follow the route for the Shamrock Run coming up in March. Now, I had heard it was uphill, but I had not seen the elevation profile. I was ready to attack those hills. We started out, ran through downtown which all seemed to be slightly uphill - totally manageable. And then we hit the HILL. I immediately started slowing down and falling back from the group. Mike slowed down with me and encouraged me to keep one foot in front of the other. I haven't wanted to walk that bad in a long time. We finally made it to the turn around at 3.5 miles. I was beat, but the pace group was still in sight. Overall, we climbed 450 feet. Mike told me that our average pace at the turn around was 10:55. I was pretty impressed with that.
The way down was glorious. It was a beautiful day and we could see all of Portland. I worked for that view and you had better believe that I enjoyed it :) My legs were DONE by the time we made it back to the car, but I felt pretty accomplished.
We will probably run that hill again as a workout before the race. Then, when race day comes, I will be ready!
Running in the rain
Living in Portland, you would think that we have to run in the rain a lot. Actually, we almost never run in the rain. We run on wet pavement a lot, but very rarely does the rain actually catch us while we're running. And when it does catch us, it is normally a very light drizzle.
Both Wednesday and Thursday runs were in the "rain" this week. I don't have a good running rain shell and I HATE wearing my rain coat when running because I get so hot and the sound of the swishing drives me nuts. Therefore, I normally get a little wet. However, when you can see raindrops bouncing off your fists as you swing your arms or hit your face as you run into the wind, you feel pretty badass :)
Both Wednesday and Thursday runs were in the "rain" this week. I don't have a good running rain shell and I HATE wearing my rain coat when running because I get so hot and the sound of the swishing drives me nuts. Therefore, I normally get a little wet. However, when you can see raindrops bouncing off your fists as you swing your arms or hit your face as you run into the wind, you feel pretty badass :)
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Wipe out
No, I didn't fall.
Our 5 mile run is one of my favorites. It seems really easy - like it is all downhill. I think it has to do with where the uphills are located and how steep they are that makes them hard to notice and easy to forget. However, this Wednesday, the 5 miler seemed harder than normal. My excuse: Lost. I was up until 11pm watching the 3 hour season premiere of Lost the night before so I only got 7 hours of sleep. I was tired.
We finished the run and I felt great. We came inside and I started feeling cold and nauseous. I drank some water and ate some dried fruit and nuts then went to take a shower. I warmed up and came back downstairs to sit on the couch. I did not feel good. Luckily Mike had made white rice and grilled chicken for dinner - perfect for an upset stomach. I ate what I could and pretty much passed out at 9.
Here's what I learned from this little experience: I need sleep and I need to work on eating right (I didn't really eat lunch Wednesday). Running 15+ miles a week requires that I take care of myself, apparently :)
Our 5 mile run is one of my favorites. It seems really easy - like it is all downhill. I think it has to do with where the uphills are located and how steep they are that makes them hard to notice and easy to forget. However, this Wednesday, the 5 miler seemed harder than normal. My excuse: Lost. I was up until 11pm watching the 3 hour season premiere of Lost the night before so I only got 7 hours of sleep. I was tired.
We finished the run and I felt great. We came inside and I started feeling cold and nauseous. I drank some water and ate some dried fruit and nuts then went to take a shower. I warmed up and came back downstairs to sit on the couch. I did not feel good. Luckily Mike had made white rice and grilled chicken for dinner - perfect for an upset stomach. I ate what I could and pretty much passed out at 9.
Here's what I learned from this little experience: I need sleep and I need to work on eating right (I didn't really eat lunch Wednesday). Running 15+ miles a week requires that I take care of myself, apparently :)
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Cheater!
If you have looked at Hal Higdon's training plan that I am using, you will see that after Tuesday and Thursday runs it says "+ strength". You will also notice that there is a day of cross training on the weekend. Well, I must confess, I have been cheating. I haven't done strength training at all and on the weekends, I might take Penny for a long walk or scrub my bathtub and call that cross training.
Tuesday's 3 miler made me realize that I need to stop cheating. I took me nearly 2 miles to warm up. If you figure I run Saturday morning, "cross train" on Sunday, and then rest on Monday, by Tuesday evening I am way out of it. At that point, I have essentially had 4 days of rest. So, after yesterday's run, we went into the gym and did some minimal, but at least it was something, strength training. Now I need to figure out how to trick myself into doing cross training on Sundays...
Tuesday's 3 miler made me realize that I need to stop cheating. I took me nearly 2 miles to warm up. If you figure I run Saturday morning, "cross train" on Sunday, and then rest on Monday, by Tuesday evening I am way out of it. At that point, I have essentially had 4 days of rest. So, after yesterday's run, we went into the gym and did some minimal, but at least it was something, strength training. Now I need to figure out how to trick myself into doing cross training on Sundays...
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