More training recaps!

I may have to start setting reminders about posting so that I don't forget all the little random thoughts I have!

Monday 8/25 - Four miles.  It was in the high 90s with 100% humidity so I chose to take this one inside at my gym.  I go home for lunch every single day and grabbed everything I would need....except for my running shoes.  I ended up doing 4 miles at a decent pace for me (13:15/mile) on a treadmill in the totally wrong shoes.  My feet hated me!

Wednesday 8/27 - Hill sprints for one mile.  Pretty sure I did not do a full mile.  I had a volleyball game at 7:15 that kind of messed up everything and ended up doing these in front of my gym, where there is a huge hill that's just a monster to climb.  I only ran about 1/4 of the way up the hill because it goes on FOREVER.

Saturday 8/30 - Seven miles.  The weather was slightly cooler than it had been on previous long runs but it was still toasty.  My calves did their usual "hahahaha, you think you're gonna move faster than a snail?!" for the first two miles.  Once I got the kinks worked out and finally got moving, this went better.  Still in the slow poke range but it was officially the farthest I have ever run while training.

Monday 9/1 - 3.5 miles in some really hazy, humid weather.  I decided to try a new route since I had the day off and drove up north about half an hour to start at Olentangy Parklands (plus I could swing by Road Runner on my way back home!).  I used to ride my bike on this trail as a kid and LOVED IT because it was super close to my house.  As an adult, on Labor Day, I was laboring!  Those little bitty hills that take you ten steps to go up?  NO FUN.  But hey I got some salted caramel GU afterwards.

Wednesday 9/3 - Hills for five miles. Again, volleyball game kind of got in the way.  Game was at 9:15.  I have to run Friday AND Saturday this week.  Sooooo I chose to go to Antrim Park (2.75 miles south of Olentangy Parklands) before volleyball.  I was supposed to do one mile easy, two miles uphill, and two miles downhill.  I live in Columbus where such hills don't really exist so I just did five miles that was a nice mixture of up and down.  My legs are feeling it today!  Mostly successful run, but again, those first two miles were nearly the death of me.

I need to figure out what the heck is up with my calves for those first two miles.  EVERY SINGLE RUN starts off like that.  It slows me down immensely.  I end up walking probably 75% of those first couple miles and it just saddens me.  Once the tightness is gone, it's great!  I gain speed and feel good and rarely add walk breaks!  It's just depressing to be SO EXCITED to run and then almost immediately be saying "What have I gotten myself into?!"  I've tried dynamic stretches, compression sleeves (which tend to make it worse sadly), and strengthening exercises while at work but it's not helping.  Next on my list of tricks to try is The Stick.  I got mine a week ago and I'm smitten.  Hoping that helps.  Taking a Good Form Running clinic at FrontRunner in Upper Arlington after work today so also think that may help.  I'll definitely be asking the awesome employees there for any tips and tricks.

Tuesday training recap

I really shouldn't do these on a Tuesday but well I was a bum this weekend when I wasn't busy!

I'll start with last Monday 8/18 and see what all I remember!

Monday 8/18 - Ran 3 miles.  I honestly can't remember if anything exciting happened or even where the heck I did this training run.  I just remember doing it because it was on the calendar.

Tuesday 8/19 - I had a date!  With a boy!  So no running or gym on this day :)

Wednesday 8/20 - Ran 3 miles again, per my training program.  Normal hot and humid August weather made a comeback on this day so I knew I'd be going a bit slower than normal.  Only mile 2 was to be at tempo.  I had an early volleyball game and planned on going straight to the trail once we were finished but got caught up chatting with a friend.  Finally made it to the trail around 8pm.  Every time I started to walk away from my car, I'd realize I forgot to do something (i.e lock the car, take my phone out of its case so it would fit in the new arm band, left the water bottle behind).  FINALLY got going and was all pumped to run on a new part of this trail, since I'd never gone further than this one little curve.  I figured it out be a little more interesting, maybe have some more curves tossed in with some new scenery and boy oh boy was I WRONG.  I turned the corner and glanced ahead....one long, straight shot.  That's when I realized that DUH it's called Rails to Trails for a reason!  Oh well.  Pushed through this run and came back when it was getting really dark and the bugs were so happy to have me for dinner!  Pace was around 13:30.

Thursday 8/21 and Friday 8/22 - These were both supposed to be gym days.  I did not go to the gym.

Saturday 8/23 - The calendar on my phone said "Run 6.2 miles at one to two minutes slower than race pace."  I went to bed feeling pretty good about that.  I may be a slow poke but I can handle a few extra walk breaks since the weather is so icky.  It was hot and humid.  VERY hot and humid even when I was up early.  Reminded me of Maryland weather.  And all I could think was "I have to run a 10k in this?!"  I was up at 6:30am, ate my chocolate chip bagel, then spent a good five or ten minutes squeezing into my CW-X Stabilyx 3/4 tights.  Felt like a sausage the entire time I was running.  The first mile was BAD.  The humidity was disgusting, and there was some kind of 5k the local high school was doing, so I kept getting passed by these little middle and high schoolers in their short shorts and tiny tank tops.  Second mile was a bit better, especially once I got past the turnaround point for the high school 5k and didn't have those annoying little chatterboxes around me.  Third mile when my GU kicked in, wooooo I was having fun!  Four was lackluster and I felt like I hit the wall towards the end of it.  Took another GU at mile five and felt a little better.  Then Macklemore's "Can't Stop" came on and I was back on for the rest of mile five and all of mile six.  I still had a few more walk breaks than I would have liked buuuut it was gross out.  I really didn't want to die from the heat!  Thankfully the sun didn't really make an appearance.  I completely soaked through my hat.  Literally, the hat was dripping pink droplets all over me as I drove home!  Felt pretty good afterwards though, despite the heat.  Average pace was 13:44 (a little more than two minutes slower than race pace but still a win because it was soooo grooooooossssssss).

A quick note about the CW-X tights.  If you have any kind of knee pain when running, BUY THESE PANTS.  Seriously, I cannot sing their praises enough! 

I bought a pair at Road Runner after the half marathon last October but never wore them.  After my Saturday long runs put me out of commission for the remainder of the day for two weeks in a row, I decided it was time to give these things a try.  I messed up my left knee in high school doing color guard, tearing my meniscus and partially tearing my ACL.  My insurance was crap and didn't cover the number of visits to PT after surgery that I needed.  I wasn't exactly the most responsible high school student, so I didn't follow through on my promises to keep doing the exercises on my own at home.  Fast forward 13 years and here I am with a weak knee and knee pain after runs longer than 4 miles.  I'm always fine by mid-morning on Sunday thanks to the use of my heating pad, ice machine, and puppy therapy (aka having the dog lay on my legs/knees) but I was still dreading Saturdays thinking about the runs getting longer.  I was also wondering if I'd really be able to go to work the day after the race in October.  I felt great after my 10k this past Saturday.  I had just a very slight twinge in my left knee the rest of the day and a little bit on Sunday but it wasn't anything that would hold me back from doing things with my friends.  Felt kind of the way it feels when the weather is changing and the pressure makes my knee ache.  Nothing crazy or unbearable at all.

This means that I'm actually looking forward to seven miles this coming Saturday!  This will be the longest I've ever actually run as part of a training plan (told you I'm not half-assing this training).  Son of a biscuit, I think the running bug finally bit me for real!