I know that I have 3 races that I need to write up recaps for but I just haven't had a chance to get it done yet. Hopefully I will find a minute to do it soon. I finished my 4th half marathon just a week ago and I need to talk about it, the 10K I did the week before and I still need to hash out everything that happened at Tower of Terror. I know I have talked a little about what the race was like but I haven't really gone through a true recap of it for you(and me).
I haven't been running quite as regularly because races mean a little break from training but I am hoping to do the Runner's World Holiday Run Streak and run everyday from Thanksgiving until New Year's Day to help me get back in the groove and to keep me going as I prepare for my next few races. I had big plans of two half marathons in December but the first one has been scratched from the schedule. For one reason, I don't need to spend the race fee for another, my husband will be on the other side of the world and I don't feel like being the last finisher at a small local half with no one there for me at the end. So instead I will do the free Holiday 5K that is on post the same day.
I'll try to get all of my race recaps done before then.
Monday, November 25, 2013
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Stronger
Did I really just do that?!?
I just ran for 30 minutes straight.
As most of you know, I always do run/walk intervals for my long runs and races(and basically every time I run.) I also haven't ran in a few weeks(since right after the Tower of Terror 10 miler) so I decided to go for a quick run tonight. I haven't been feeling well so I wasn't planning on doing too much. I have been very pleased with my new method of running for 10 minutes straight then walking 4-5 minutes at the beginning of a run to help warm up quicker and have a better run. Because I have done this with all of my runs lately, I knew I could run 10 minutes even though it has been about a month since I have done long intervals. I want to get back into doing longer intervals on my short runs to help my shorter intervals during races and long runs. So tonight, I set the intervals on my Garmin to 10 minutes running, 4 minutes walking.
We headed over to the PT track near our neighborhood to avoid the cloud of cigarette smoke I would have to run through if I stayed in the neighborhood. The track is a 0.4 mile loop so 5 laps makes 2 miles. As I was running my first 10 minutes, I started to think about how it would be close to a full mile so I might as well run the extra half lap to do a mile straight. As I approached the end of the mile I thought, "Why not just do 3 laps?" As I closed in on the end of three laps, I decided to try to run two miles straight. When I told Mac I was hoping to do two miles, he responded that he thought I was trying to test myself and see if I could run for 30 minutes straight. I had thought about it but I thought there was no way I could do it. I decided to see how I felt at the end of two miles and decide then.
I hadn't done an interval longer than 12 minutes since May which was the last(and first) time I ran 30 minutes straight. I had been working back up to longer intervals before Tower of Terror but I stopped after 12 minutes because life got in the way and I was frustrated that the Garmin won't let you set an interval longer than 10 minutes. So I was using the watch for GPS and my phone for intervals on any run with an interval longer than 10 minutes.
When I started running tonight, I knew I could do a mile without walking. As I ran, I felt like I could do two miles but I wasn't sure about a full 30 minutes. As I finished up the second mile, I saw that I was just over 24 minutes. If I wanted to run 30 minutes, I had to find 6 more minutes in me somewhere. Like I said earlier, I haven't been feeling well this week thanks to sinus pressure and pain. It hadn't bothered me too bad during the run but I was starting to feel a slight headache. With five minutes to go, I finally thought that maybe I could really do it. It was going to take a lot but if I kept pushing, I could make it through. At the 26 minute mark, I was starting to really feel it in my legs. I had not slowed down much in the last half of the run and I was afraid that if I eased up then, I would stop. Three minutes left, I knew I could do it, I just had to focus on one foot in front of the other. Two minutes to go, it hit me that I was actually going to finish the 30 minutes. With only one minute left, I turned the corner and set my sights on the other end of the stretch. I knew I should be able to cover it in a minute. Just as I was trying to find the power to keep pushing, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson came on Pandora.
For any of you that ran the 2012 Princess, you know that this was the mile 7 song. That day was the first time I had really listened to it and though the verses may not have much to do with running, the chorus is the perfect anthem to help you push through. As she sang, "footsteps even lighter" I fought back a few tears and picked up my pace. I only had 30 seconds left to reach a goal that at the beginning on the night felt impossible. As she sang, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I started to cry and I stopped my Garmin because I had done it. I ran for 30 minutes straight. I looked down and saw that I had gone just over 2.5 miles. I was ecstatic and a little over come with emotion.
Part of me felt like I could have kept going. That maybe I could have done 3 miles, but part of me was spent. I walked a little while and then ran the last quarter of a mile to our house. When I got to our front door, I knew 3 miles was a challenge for another day. I felt good but I also felt tired. I came in, uploaded my run and fixed the map because it always has me running across a roof or two at some point. When everything was right, I had ran 2.56 miles in 30 minutes. I had an average pace of 11:43minute/mile. I decided to look up the last time I ran 30 minutes in May. I ran just over two miles with an average pace of 14:43minute/mile. I took 3 minutes off of my pace. That is HUGE for that short of a period of time.
It's crazy how much stronger I have become in the last year. I keep having new experiences all the time. I have had to buy new jeans a few times this year because I have dropped a size. Even though the scale is still around the same place, I have continued to see my body change. I look forward to opportunities to get dressed up and show off the progress I have made. I am realizing that even though I haven't stuck to my eating plan as closely as I should the last few weeks, I'm still doing OK. As I start getting back into a regular running schedule, I know the food will start to fall back into place as I begin to fuel my body for these runs. I'm excited about the prospect of shopping for a ball gown for the next military ball we have in December. I am finally realizing wholeheartedly that I can do this and that I am doing this and that I will succeed. No, the time line may not have been what I wanted or hoped but it is all coming together and I feel like I am unstoppable.
I think it is also kind of fitting that this is my 200th post. Seems like a pretty good line up of milestones.
I just ran for 30 minutes straight.
As most of you know, I always do run/walk intervals for my long runs and races(and basically every time I run.) I also haven't ran in a few weeks(since right after the Tower of Terror 10 miler) so I decided to go for a quick run tonight. I haven't been feeling well so I wasn't planning on doing too much. I have been very pleased with my new method of running for 10 minutes straight then walking 4-5 minutes at the beginning of a run to help warm up quicker and have a better run. Because I have done this with all of my runs lately, I knew I could run 10 minutes even though it has been about a month since I have done long intervals. I want to get back into doing longer intervals on my short runs to help my shorter intervals during races and long runs. So tonight, I set the intervals on my Garmin to 10 minutes running, 4 minutes walking.
We headed over to the PT track near our neighborhood to avoid the cloud of cigarette smoke I would have to run through if I stayed in the neighborhood. The track is a 0.4 mile loop so 5 laps makes 2 miles. As I was running my first 10 minutes, I started to think about how it would be close to a full mile so I might as well run the extra half lap to do a mile straight. As I approached the end of the mile I thought, "Why not just do 3 laps?" As I closed in on the end of three laps, I decided to try to run two miles straight. When I told Mac I was hoping to do two miles, he responded that he thought I was trying to test myself and see if I could run for 30 minutes straight. I had thought about it but I thought there was no way I could do it. I decided to see how I felt at the end of two miles and decide then.
I hadn't done an interval longer than 12 minutes since May which was the last(and first) time I ran 30 minutes straight. I had been working back up to longer intervals before Tower of Terror but I stopped after 12 minutes because life got in the way and I was frustrated that the Garmin won't let you set an interval longer than 10 minutes. So I was using the watch for GPS and my phone for intervals on any run with an interval longer than 10 minutes.
When I started running tonight, I knew I could do a mile without walking. As I ran, I felt like I could do two miles but I wasn't sure about a full 30 minutes. As I finished up the second mile, I saw that I was just over 24 minutes. If I wanted to run 30 minutes, I had to find 6 more minutes in me somewhere. Like I said earlier, I haven't been feeling well this week thanks to sinus pressure and pain. It hadn't bothered me too bad during the run but I was starting to feel a slight headache. With five minutes to go, I finally thought that maybe I could really do it. It was going to take a lot but if I kept pushing, I could make it through. At the 26 minute mark, I was starting to really feel it in my legs. I had not slowed down much in the last half of the run and I was afraid that if I eased up then, I would stop. Three minutes left, I knew I could do it, I just had to focus on one foot in front of the other. Two minutes to go, it hit me that I was actually going to finish the 30 minutes. With only one minute left, I turned the corner and set my sights on the other end of the stretch. I knew I should be able to cover it in a minute. Just as I was trying to find the power to keep pushing, "Stronger" by Kelly Clarkson came on Pandora.
For any of you that ran the 2012 Princess, you know that this was the mile 7 song. That day was the first time I had really listened to it and though the verses may not have much to do with running, the chorus is the perfect anthem to help you push through. As she sang, "footsteps even lighter" I fought back a few tears and picked up my pace. I only had 30 seconds left to reach a goal that at the beginning on the night felt impossible. As she sang, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," I started to cry and I stopped my Garmin because I had done it. I ran for 30 minutes straight. I looked down and saw that I had gone just over 2.5 miles. I was ecstatic and a little over come with emotion.
Part of me felt like I could have kept going. That maybe I could have done 3 miles, but part of me was spent. I walked a little while and then ran the last quarter of a mile to our house. When I got to our front door, I knew 3 miles was a challenge for another day. I felt good but I also felt tired. I came in, uploaded my run and fixed the map because it always has me running across a roof or two at some point. When everything was right, I had ran 2.56 miles in 30 minutes. I had an average pace of 11:43minute/mile. I decided to look up the last time I ran 30 minutes in May. I ran just over two miles with an average pace of 14:43minute/mile. I took 3 minutes off of my pace. That is HUGE for that short of a period of time.
It's crazy how much stronger I have become in the last year. I keep having new experiences all the time. I have had to buy new jeans a few times this year because I have dropped a size. Even though the scale is still around the same place, I have continued to see my body change. I look forward to opportunities to get dressed up and show off the progress I have made. I am realizing that even though I haven't stuck to my eating plan as closely as I should the last few weeks, I'm still doing OK. As I start getting back into a regular running schedule, I know the food will start to fall back into place as I begin to fuel my body for these runs. I'm excited about the prospect of shopping for a ball gown for the next military ball we have in December. I am finally realizing wholeheartedly that I can do this and that I am doing this and that I will succeed. No, the time line may not have been what I wanted or hoped but it is all coming together and I feel like I am unstoppable.
I think it is also kind of fitting that this is my 200th post. Seems like a pretty good line up of milestones.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Confidence dashed
I am feeling a little better now that I have gotten my first post race run in but before that, I was feeling like I really am crazy for the things I am planning to do. Tower of Terror did not go as planned and it made it really hard to look ahead to all of the races on my calendar and feel optimistic. Fortunately, I am pretty sure I know what went wrong with the race and I should be able to avoid it in the future. I will post a full race recap soon.
I think my biggest problem was it was a night race. I know that seems silly since I always run at night but when I know I have a long run, I try to go easy earlier in the day. That is a little harder to do when you are at Disney and you want to enjoy it during the short time you are there. Even though I didn't do too much on Saturday, I spent a lot of time standing and I knew the more I stood, the less prepared my feet would be for that night. We ended up waiting almost an hour for a ferry which meant standing and then we tried to hit Test track quickly before leaving(since we had a fast pass) but it broke down and we were stuck standing in line waiting on them to let us out. Plus all of the walking between the places we went meant I spent more time on my feet Saturday than I should. At least with a morning race, I spend 4-5 hours at least in bed before the race so my feet can rest. With Tower of Terror, I may have gotten a chance to sit for about an hour before heading to the race and then I sat in the corral as much as I could but it still wasn't enough. By about mile five of the race, my feet were done and the last half of the course was very painful.
My time ended up being about 20 minutes slower than the ten mile run Mac and I did here before I left. It really just disappointed and frustrated me. I knew I had trained better. I knew I had worked out my nutrition and I was better prepared for this race. But I did some stupid things during the day that made my race that night suffer. It was hard to face.
Last night I finally sucked it up and went out for my first run since being home. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go but it ended up being about 4 1/2 miles. My legs could have gone further but I hadn't eaten enough and I got really hungry so we headed home. It felt good to get it out of the way. It wasn't a great run since the humidity was around 100%(it rained off and on) but the temps weren't too high so it was bearable just not comfortable. We have a cold front coming through this week so I am looking forward to how it will feel next weekend when we tackle 11 miles. I have to keep moving forward because I still have a half marathon to run in 5 weeks and several more to run after that.
I think my biggest problem was it was a night race. I know that seems silly since I always run at night but when I know I have a long run, I try to go easy earlier in the day. That is a little harder to do when you are at Disney and you want to enjoy it during the short time you are there. Even though I didn't do too much on Saturday, I spent a lot of time standing and I knew the more I stood, the less prepared my feet would be for that night. We ended up waiting almost an hour for a ferry which meant standing and then we tried to hit Test track quickly before leaving(since we had a fast pass) but it broke down and we were stuck standing in line waiting on them to let us out. Plus all of the walking between the places we went meant I spent more time on my feet Saturday than I should. At least with a morning race, I spend 4-5 hours at least in bed before the race so my feet can rest. With Tower of Terror, I may have gotten a chance to sit for about an hour before heading to the race and then I sat in the corral as much as I could but it still wasn't enough. By about mile five of the race, my feet were done and the last half of the course was very painful.
My time ended up being about 20 minutes slower than the ten mile run Mac and I did here before I left. It really just disappointed and frustrated me. I knew I had trained better. I knew I had worked out my nutrition and I was better prepared for this race. But I did some stupid things during the day that made my race that night suffer. It was hard to face.
Last night I finally sucked it up and went out for my first run since being home. I wasn't sure how far I was going to go but it ended up being about 4 1/2 miles. My legs could have gone further but I hadn't eaten enough and I got really hungry so we headed home. It felt good to get it out of the way. It wasn't a great run since the humidity was around 100%(it rained off and on) but the temps weren't too high so it was bearable just not comfortable. We have a cold front coming through this week so I am looking forward to how it will feel next weekend when we tackle 11 miles. I have to keep moving forward because I still have a half marathon to run in 5 weeks and several more to run after that.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Confidence Boost
Tonight was my "dress rehearsal" for the Tower of Terror 10 miler, full costume and all. I wanted to be sure that I could actually run in the costume I wanted to wear and not want to ditch it half way through the race. Everything went much better than I expected and now I feel much more confident about the race being only two weeks away.
This was actually the first time I have ever ran the race distance in my training. I usually run close to the actual distance in training for half marathons but never actually run 13 miles before race day. I went back and forth about whether I would actually do 10 miles before ToT but I am glad I decided to do it. I knew that I could go ten miles because I have done 8 in plenty of time. I knew that even if I got tired I could finish the distance by walking without worrying about my time. If I had done my 9 mile run last weekend, I don't know that I would have done 10 this week. I'm glad I took the week off. I think my body really enjoyed it. I felt great on my run tonight even though I didn't do any of my regular training this week. I knew that I had built a strong enough base that taking some time off wouldn't hurt me.
The weather ended up being perfect tonight. I can only hope that it would be similar on race day but I know that even if it isn't, I am prepared. We had a front come through this week that gave us a lot of rain but also seriously dropped the temps. It was around 75 when I ran tonight with a low humidity so it felt AMAZING. I know that it really helped with how my run felt. For the first time I didn't get too hot half way through. I know that the humidity will be higher in Florida but as long as the temps aren't too high, I will be fine. With all of the water stations they have, I can dump some water on my head if I start feeling a little warm unlike here where I have to search for sprinklers to cool me off.
It's amazing how much more confident I am now with my running than a two years ago or even just last year. Finally figuring out my nutrition and losing as much weight as I have in the past year has helped tremendously. Tower of Terror will be the first race I will run under 200lbs and I am excited to see how it turns out.
_________________________________
Yes, I am officially in One-derland now. I have been wanting to post about it and I have technically been under 200 for a couple weeks now. I did not post about it at first because for a few days it went back and forth. Then when I was pretty sure I was done with 200, mother nature reared her ugly head and I gained about 5 lbs of water weight. Now that I am back to normal, I am back under 200 and hopefully I will never see that on the scale for me again. I still have a ways to go but I am getting a little closer every day.
This was actually the first time I have ever ran the race distance in my training. I usually run close to the actual distance in training for half marathons but never actually run 13 miles before race day. I went back and forth about whether I would actually do 10 miles before ToT but I am glad I decided to do it. I knew that I could go ten miles because I have done 8 in plenty of time. I knew that even if I got tired I could finish the distance by walking without worrying about my time. If I had done my 9 mile run last weekend, I don't know that I would have done 10 this week. I'm glad I took the week off. I think my body really enjoyed it. I felt great on my run tonight even though I didn't do any of my regular training this week. I knew that I had built a strong enough base that taking some time off wouldn't hurt me.
The weather ended up being perfect tonight. I can only hope that it would be similar on race day but I know that even if it isn't, I am prepared. We had a front come through this week that gave us a lot of rain but also seriously dropped the temps. It was around 75 when I ran tonight with a low humidity so it felt AMAZING. I know that it really helped with how my run felt. For the first time I didn't get too hot half way through. I know that the humidity will be higher in Florida but as long as the temps aren't too high, I will be fine. With all of the water stations they have, I can dump some water on my head if I start feeling a little warm unlike here where I have to search for sprinklers to cool me off.
It's amazing how much more confident I am now with my running than a two years ago or even just last year. Finally figuring out my nutrition and losing as much weight as I have in the past year has helped tremendously. Tower of Terror will be the first race I will run under 200lbs and I am excited to see how it turns out.
_________________________________
Yes, I am officially in One-derland now. I have been wanting to post about it and I have technically been under 200 for a couple weeks now. I did not post about it at first because for a few days it went back and forth. Then when I was pretty sure I was done with 200, mother nature reared her ugly head and I gained about 5 lbs of water weight. Now that I am back to normal, I am back under 200 and hopefully I will never see that on the scale for me again. I still have a ways to go but I am getting a little closer every day.
Friday, September 20, 2013
Some time off
Even though I had a really great run last Thursday, I decided to take some time off. We went to Dallas Friday afternoon so I could attend an event with Shaun T on Saturday. The plan was to get in 9 miles when we got home Saturday night. The event began around 9 am and included an hour long live workout with Shaun T. It was awesome and EXHAUSTING as his workouts always are, but it made start questioning my plan to run that night. Once the event was over and we were headed home, later than expected, my resolve to run that night began to fade. I was beat. I never really sleep in the car anymore yet I slept the entire 3 hour drive home and was still tired once we got home. I decided to wait and try to run on Sunday morning. I set my alarm and went to sleep.
The next morning I woke up two hours after my alarm was supposed to go off. I forgot I set the alarm to vibrate only and so I never heard it. The more I thought about it the more I thought some time off was a good idea. I've been pushing pretty hard and getting in a lot of long runs. Skipping one wasn't going to kill me.
The weather is finally starting to shift here and as great as that is, it also means fighting allergies and the possibility of getting sick. There have been several nights this week that I have had a scratchy throat. I ended up taking the entire week off to try to help keep from getting sick and just to give my body a break. I have a lot of miles planned for this weekend and I want to make sure I have a chance to get them in since it will be the confidence boost I need to feel ready for the Tower of Terror 10 miler.
It's not unusual for me to just take a week off for no reason. Every now and then, your body just needs a break and I always seem to run better after the time off. Hopefully that will hold true for this weekends run. It will basically be a dress rehearsal for ToT and will help me make some last minute decisions about what I am wearing for the race.
The next morning I woke up two hours after my alarm was supposed to go off. I forgot I set the alarm to vibrate only and so I never heard it. The more I thought about it the more I thought some time off was a good idea. I've been pushing pretty hard and getting in a lot of long runs. Skipping one wasn't going to kill me.
The weather is finally starting to shift here and as great as that is, it also means fighting allergies and the possibility of getting sick. There have been several nights this week that I have had a scratchy throat. I ended up taking the entire week off to try to help keep from getting sick and just to give my body a break. I have a lot of miles planned for this weekend and I want to make sure I have a chance to get them in since it will be the confidence boost I need to feel ready for the Tower of Terror 10 miler.
It's not unusual for me to just take a week off for no reason. Every now and then, your body just needs a break and I always seem to run better after the time off. Hopefully that will hold true for this weekends run. It will basically be a dress rehearsal for ToT and will help me make some last minute decisions about what I am wearing for the race.
Thursday, September 12, 2013
It only takes one great run...
to remind me why I started running and continue to do it.
Tuesday night was one of those great runs that helped pull me out of the most recent valley I found myself in with running. My journey has been up and down from the start and I've spent a long time this week thinking about how far I have come.
My running journey has not been easy. It hasn't been pretty or overly "successful" in normal running terms. It has been slow, and painful and a long hard road. Just over three years ago, an online friend posted about the Princess Half marathon and asked if there were any other Army wives that wanted to join her at the 2011 race. I was very over weight, had never enjoyed running but desperate to find something that would help me find the athlete I used to be, so I said yes. I was too mentally defeated to train like I should have and so I quit trying. I forced myself to go to the start that morning and give it a try and that is when the journey of 8 miles set me on the path to finding the love of running I have today.
After being swept at that race but realizing it was in fact possible, I came home with a new perspective and determination to try again and finish the race. A few weeks after Princess, I walked my first 5K on post. Then I started Couch to 5K but switched to the Weight Watchers 5K plan soon after because it just felt better to me. Even though I liked the plan and found some success with it, it was not easy. Any time the run intervals got really long, I had trouble with my calves tightening up. If I kept trying to run with my calves tight, I would eventually lose feeling in my toes or feet because my calves were so tight they were cutting off the circulation. That was when I decided that trying to run an entire 5k, let alone a half marathon probably wasn't going to happen. So I switched up to Jeff Galloway's run/walk intervals. I realized that if I did intervals, I felt better for longer and actually was faster than trying to run straight through. The one time I almost ran an entire 5K, I ran an 18 minute mile. That is walking for most people. When I did another 5K a few months later with intervals, I finished with a 16 minute mile average pace. That was very encouraging since that was the required pace for RunDisney events.
I became confident enough that I signed up to do the Inaugural Tinker Bell half marathon a month before my second attempt at Princess. I began training more seriously with the intervals after that and started finding more success. I was still slow, but I was just barely fast enough. I tried a 10K which didn't start out great but I still finished with around a 16mpm pace. I did more 5ks on post and tried to stick to my training more. When Mac deployed in November, three months before Tink, it got a little harder for me to stay on track. I had done all of my training with him and not having him there made it hard. Plus dealing with all of the emotions of saying good-bye to the love of my life for a year just before the holiday season is tough enough all by itself. I didn't stick to the schedule as well as I should but I still made sure to get in my long runs. Finally time for Tink rolled around and I finished. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't fun but I finished. My run time was over the required pace per mile and suggested finish time but since I wasn't in the last corral, I had the cushion I needed to complete it. A month later, I did the same at Princess and earned my Coast to Coast medal. I was proud of myself but also a little disappointed that even after all that hard work, I was still slow.
I came home and started to take it easy. I completed a 10 miler in April and then did the Expedition Everest challenge in May. After that, I took a break from running for a while. I tried to find other ways to work out but nothing really seemed to stick. Finally in August of 2012, I ran another 5K on post. I was glad that I hadn't really lost any ground and actually set a PR for my 5K time that day. I started getting back into running every now and then because once Mac came home in November, we had to start training for the next Princess. I was still slow, but just slightly faster than I had been. I trained harder and more consistently and had really high hopes for the 2013 Princess. Unfortunately, 3 weeks before the race, I was misdiagnosed with a severe wheat allergy. My world was turned upside down and I was told that I could die if I accidentally ate wheat after it was all out of my system. This sent me into full on panic mode and for the next month, while I waited to be seen by the post allergist for confirmation, I could barely eat. I was so scared to eat anything. Because of this, I had a full blown panic attack at Disney the night before the race and barely managed to eat half an order of rice and part of a pork chop.(Disney is amazing with all allergies but I was just scared) That meant the next morning, my body had NO FUEL to use for the race and I am surprised I even managed to finish. My finishing time was 10 minutes SLOWER than the year before. It was heartbreaking.
Once we were back and I found out I wasn't going to die if I ate wheat(I'm not even allergic at all) I was able to relax and start focusing on changing my diet. I still eat mostly gluten free but that is because I have found greater success losing weight by eating this way. It forces me to reduce my carb intake and make better choices on the days I am fueling up for a run. I took a few months off after Princess to focus on the other parts of my weight-loss journey that I had neglected. Finally in April, I decided to try the WW5K program again in hopes of being able to run a full 30 minutes on my 30th birthday in May. The program was so much easier that time around. I didn't have the muscle cramping issues I had before as the intervals increased and I finally ran my first full 30 minutes. I was faster too. I'm still slow by most standards but I ran a mile in just over 12 minutes one night and that was a HUGE deal. Just a few weeks ago after completing Insanity, I ran my fastest mile in just under 11 minutes. My average for longer runs has been 13:30-14:30 mpm.
Unfortunately, right after I saw so much success, I hit another valley. My runs were harder and slower than they should have been. Weather was making it tough, monthly issues got in the way and I just had a few weeks where I really questioned why I even tried. I was starting to get really down about all of it and feeling like I wasn't really getting anywhere. Finally, Tuesday night, the stars aligned and I had a GREAT run. It was one of my week day 4 mile runs so nothing too strenuous but still a good distance. The weather was amazing(with the exception of a little too much humidity) and I was reminded that fall is quickly approaching. I was doing longer run intervals thanks to once again trying to use the WW5K plan to build back up to running 30 minutes.This was my second run using the 10 minute intervals. The first time I did them last week, I only completed two repetitions instead of the 3 I was supposed to do. Tuesday's run really was a huge turn around from the week before. The first 10 minute run interval was tough but I made it to the end and walked out the little bit of tightness that had started. By the second 10 minute interval, I felt good. I was only supposed to repeat the 10 minute intervals 3 times and then switch back to the shorter intervals I normally use but I decided to keep going as long as I felt good. Before I knew it, I had done 5 ten minute intervals and ran 4.3 miles. I was done and I felt GREAT.
It was an amazing feeling. Not only had I had a great run, I found out how to deal with one issue I seem to always have with my runs. I have always HATED short runs because it typically takes me 2-3 miles to get warmed up so if it is a short run, I never really feel like I am warm and running my best. In the first mile or so, I always deal with a little tightness in my calves until they get nice and warm and stop protesting. With my run on Tuesday, I experienced that tightness within my first 10 minute interval and by the time that I walked it out and started running again, I was loose and warm and ready to go. The rest of the run felt great. I'm going to keep testing this theory with my longer runs but I am planning to run 10 minutes at the beginning, walk 3-5 minutes to loosen back up and then start my standard intervals after that. If it continues to work the way it did on Tuesday night, I may have a brand new outlook on short runs. I'll keep you posted as time goes on.
One thing I have learned through my journey thus far is that every one's run journey is there own. No two are alike. No one training plan is perfect for every one and even the ones that work for you might need to be tweaked here or there to help you reach your potential. There is also no definitive measurement of success or failure. If you are giving your all and lacing up over and over again, you will find your own success. Some people talk about walking in races like it is the worst thing a person could possibly do. For me, it is how I have found my strength and the reason I still run today. Running like anything in life has it's peaks and valleys. Sometimes you find yourself in a dark place but if you keep moving forward, a burst of light will find you when you least expect it.
Running isn't always pretty and sometimes I wonder why I do it, but all it takes is one great run to remind me why I love it.
Tuesday night was one of those great runs that helped pull me out of the most recent valley I found myself in with running. My journey has been up and down from the start and I've spent a long time this week thinking about how far I have come.
My running journey has not been easy. It hasn't been pretty or overly "successful" in normal running terms. It has been slow, and painful and a long hard road. Just over three years ago, an online friend posted about the Princess Half marathon and asked if there were any other Army wives that wanted to join her at the 2011 race. I was very over weight, had never enjoyed running but desperate to find something that would help me find the athlete I used to be, so I said yes. I was too mentally defeated to train like I should have and so I quit trying. I forced myself to go to the start that morning and give it a try and that is when the journey of 8 miles set me on the path to finding the love of running I have today.
After being swept at that race but realizing it was in fact possible, I came home with a new perspective and determination to try again and finish the race. A few weeks after Princess, I walked my first 5K on post. Then I started Couch to 5K but switched to the Weight Watchers 5K plan soon after because it just felt better to me. Even though I liked the plan and found some success with it, it was not easy. Any time the run intervals got really long, I had trouble with my calves tightening up. If I kept trying to run with my calves tight, I would eventually lose feeling in my toes or feet because my calves were so tight they were cutting off the circulation. That was when I decided that trying to run an entire 5k, let alone a half marathon probably wasn't going to happen. So I switched up to Jeff Galloway's run/walk intervals. I realized that if I did intervals, I felt better for longer and actually was faster than trying to run straight through. The one time I almost ran an entire 5K, I ran an 18 minute mile. That is walking for most people. When I did another 5K a few months later with intervals, I finished with a 16 minute mile average pace. That was very encouraging since that was the required pace for RunDisney events.
I became confident enough that I signed up to do the Inaugural Tinker Bell half marathon a month before my second attempt at Princess. I began training more seriously with the intervals after that and started finding more success. I was still slow, but I was just barely fast enough. I tried a 10K which didn't start out great but I still finished with around a 16mpm pace. I did more 5ks on post and tried to stick to my training more. When Mac deployed in November, three months before Tink, it got a little harder for me to stay on track. I had done all of my training with him and not having him there made it hard. Plus dealing with all of the emotions of saying good-bye to the love of my life for a year just before the holiday season is tough enough all by itself. I didn't stick to the schedule as well as I should but I still made sure to get in my long runs. Finally time for Tink rolled around and I finished. It wasn't pretty, and it wasn't fun but I finished. My run time was over the required pace per mile and suggested finish time but since I wasn't in the last corral, I had the cushion I needed to complete it. A month later, I did the same at Princess and earned my Coast to Coast medal. I was proud of myself but also a little disappointed that even after all that hard work, I was still slow.
I came home and started to take it easy. I completed a 10 miler in April and then did the Expedition Everest challenge in May. After that, I took a break from running for a while. I tried to find other ways to work out but nothing really seemed to stick. Finally in August of 2012, I ran another 5K on post. I was glad that I hadn't really lost any ground and actually set a PR for my 5K time that day. I started getting back into running every now and then because once Mac came home in November, we had to start training for the next Princess. I was still slow, but just slightly faster than I had been. I trained harder and more consistently and had really high hopes for the 2013 Princess. Unfortunately, 3 weeks before the race, I was misdiagnosed with a severe wheat allergy. My world was turned upside down and I was told that I could die if I accidentally ate wheat after it was all out of my system. This sent me into full on panic mode and for the next month, while I waited to be seen by the post allergist for confirmation, I could barely eat. I was so scared to eat anything. Because of this, I had a full blown panic attack at Disney the night before the race and barely managed to eat half an order of rice and part of a pork chop.(Disney is amazing with all allergies but I was just scared) That meant the next morning, my body had NO FUEL to use for the race and I am surprised I even managed to finish. My finishing time was 10 minutes SLOWER than the year before. It was heartbreaking.
Once we were back and I found out I wasn't going to die if I ate wheat(I'm not even allergic at all) I was able to relax and start focusing on changing my diet. I still eat mostly gluten free but that is because I have found greater success losing weight by eating this way. It forces me to reduce my carb intake and make better choices on the days I am fueling up for a run. I took a few months off after Princess to focus on the other parts of my weight-loss journey that I had neglected. Finally in April, I decided to try the WW5K program again in hopes of being able to run a full 30 minutes on my 30th birthday in May. The program was so much easier that time around. I didn't have the muscle cramping issues I had before as the intervals increased and I finally ran my first full 30 minutes. I was faster too. I'm still slow by most standards but I ran a mile in just over 12 minutes one night and that was a HUGE deal. Just a few weeks ago after completing Insanity, I ran my fastest mile in just under 11 minutes. My average for longer runs has been 13:30-14:30 mpm.
Unfortunately, right after I saw so much success, I hit another valley. My runs were harder and slower than they should have been. Weather was making it tough, monthly issues got in the way and I just had a few weeks where I really questioned why I even tried. I was starting to get really down about all of it and feeling like I wasn't really getting anywhere. Finally, Tuesday night, the stars aligned and I had a GREAT run. It was one of my week day 4 mile runs so nothing too strenuous but still a good distance. The weather was amazing(with the exception of a little too much humidity) and I was reminded that fall is quickly approaching. I was doing longer run intervals thanks to once again trying to use the WW5K plan to build back up to running 30 minutes.This was my second run using the 10 minute intervals. The first time I did them last week, I only completed two repetitions instead of the 3 I was supposed to do. Tuesday's run really was a huge turn around from the week before. The first 10 minute run interval was tough but I made it to the end and walked out the little bit of tightness that had started. By the second 10 minute interval, I felt good. I was only supposed to repeat the 10 minute intervals 3 times and then switch back to the shorter intervals I normally use but I decided to keep going as long as I felt good. Before I knew it, I had done 5 ten minute intervals and ran 4.3 miles. I was done and I felt GREAT.
It was an amazing feeling. Not only had I had a great run, I found out how to deal with one issue I seem to always have with my runs. I have always HATED short runs because it typically takes me 2-3 miles to get warmed up so if it is a short run, I never really feel like I am warm and running my best. In the first mile or so, I always deal with a little tightness in my calves until they get nice and warm and stop protesting. With my run on Tuesday, I experienced that tightness within my first 10 minute interval and by the time that I walked it out and started running again, I was loose and warm and ready to go. The rest of the run felt great. I'm going to keep testing this theory with my longer runs but I am planning to run 10 minutes at the beginning, walk 3-5 minutes to loosen back up and then start my standard intervals after that. If it continues to work the way it did on Tuesday night, I may have a brand new outlook on short runs. I'll keep you posted as time goes on.
One thing I have learned through my journey thus far is that every one's run journey is there own. No two are alike. No one training plan is perfect for every one and even the ones that work for you might need to be tweaked here or there to help you reach your potential. There is also no definitive measurement of success or failure. If you are giving your all and lacing up over and over again, you will find your own success. Some people talk about walking in races like it is the worst thing a person could possibly do. For me, it is how I have found my strength and the reason I still run today. Running like anything in life has it's peaks and valleys. Sometimes you find yourself in a dark place but if you keep moving forward, a burst of light will find you when you least expect it.
Running isn't always pretty and sometimes I wonder why I do it, but all it takes is one great run to remind me why I love it.
Friday, September 6, 2013
It's been good and bad lately.
I've been feeling a little frustrated lately because things have been going well with my running and my body is changing a lot. I'm wearing sizes I have never worn before, but the scale is still hovering around the same place. I have crossed over int to One-derland a few times but it keeps yo-yoing so I haven't officially declared myself as under 200(because today, I'm not). My measurements have changed some but I think a lot of where I am noticing changes right now is in areas that I don't really measure. It feels good to be seeing results when I look in the mirror, I just wish the scale would agree with it. Oh well, I know it will come with time.
There are lots of things I want and need to post about but I just haven't found the time to sit down and figure it all out. I almost lost my computer this week so that didn't help.(We seem to have revived it for now but I am looking at a replacement soon.)
There are lots of things I want and need to post about but I just haven't found the time to sit down and figure it all out. I almost lost my computer this week so that didn't help.(We seem to have revived it for now but I am looking at a replacement soon.)
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