TIART: Time and Balance

Today's TIaRT topic is 'Time and Balance'. How do we find the time to run when we have multiple priorities and day to day to-do lists competing for our attention? This aspect of running becomes particularly challenging when we are training for a specific race, and therefore following a training schedule where every run has a purpose, and every run is important - especially for rookie runners like myself. Let's face it - it is quite obvious that the key to becoming a good runner is to simply - Run.

I started running 9 months ago. It only took about two to three weeks for me to realize that I could really love running. Very quickly I realized that challenging my body and mind in this new way was important to me. My family started to pick up on this, and they have supported me every step of the way. Having the support of my husband and kids has been the foundation of my running progress. The rest is up to ME.

I have learned to let things go. The laundry is not always folded, every dish is not always done. My house is not always spotless. There is LIVING and LOVE going on in my home though, and where once I would agonize over every speck of dust, I now see right past it to the more important things. I am more relaxed, I take time to chat with my kids in the kitchen. We all work together to take care of the responsibilities of keeping house....it works for us! So, running makes me relaxed and therefore less obsessive about the clutter in my home, and more tuned in to the 'people' in my home. Finding time to run has meant letting things go...and it has paid off well for me!

Finding time and balance for running requires FLEXIBILITY too. This is challenging for me - because when I follow a training plan, I want to follow it to the letter. Things happen, life happens, and sometimes runs have to be skipped, or swapped to another day. It is easy, at least for me, to get a little bent out of shape over The Running Schedule, but I am learning that it is OKAY to change things around when needed, and I am not going to lose any fitness because I missed a day, or did something differently then The Schedule noted. This is an area I continue to work on...

I am hard pressed to find a runner that doesn't take it seriously and work their lives around their running schedule. I'm not even a fast runner...I've only ran one 5K race in 9 months, I am still considered a 'newbie' runner....and yet it is VERY important to me to get those runs in! I have found a life long passion in running. And so, I rearrange social committments to fit my running schedule. Every time I add something to my day planner, I look at the training schedule to see if it all fits. My runs are marked in my day planner as 'appointments' that are just as important as a meeting at my son's school, or a dental appointment.

The bottom line is, if it's is important to us - and that is a given for sure - we manage to find the time and balance to "git'er done". After all, we all know that for us....running is the thread that holds the fabric of our lives together. If that thread breaks, everything else will surely fall apart.

Run on ~

How To Run Like A Rookie

What a great weather weekend! Here in Ohio it was unseasonably warm, with temps in the mid to upper 80’s, and sunny skies. Awesome! The only drawback to all this is that I was not prepared to RUN in the heat. Considering just 10 days ago, it was ‘too cold’ to run outside….Anyway, I made a lot of rookie mistakes yesterday and it cost me an important long run.

I was supposed to run Friday evening after work, and my long run was scheduled for Sunday (yesterday). Except that my dear husband made plans with some friends to ‘stop over’ with their kids for a ‘little cookout’. GREAT. I love my friends, I love my husband – don’t get me wrong here…but don’t make plans without consulting the ‘boss’ first! ;-) So, instead of running, I got home and had to quick clean up and run to the store all while keeping a pleasant smile on my face and trying to hide my frustration over missing a training run. We still had a nice evening enjoying the weather and sitting out on the patio, but I was obsessing in my mind over my running schedule.

So Saturday what do I do? I become a weekend warrior! I ran 3 miles Sat morning to try to ‘make up’ for the missed run Friday. It was warm, but a nice breeze was blowing and that helped, but I was ready to stop at 3 miles…I was starting to feel the heat. THEN, I go to the rec and do 30 minutes of bike and stepping. THEN I did one hour of strength training. Oh I was feeling GREAT! Not only did I get a run in (albeit shorter than I wanted), I also got my cross training in! OH yeah, Cyndi Rocks….NOT.

By about 6pm Saturday evening, I was starting to worry about getting through a 9 mile run the next morning. My body was feeling tired. I vaguely woke up around 5am and could NOT get my butt out of bed to go run. I PICTURED myself getting up and going about my pre-run routine…yes it was a nice PICTURE in my mind, but the body did not follow, unfortunately.

Next think you know, it’s 1:00 in the afternoon and I am finally ready to go run. It was 86 outside, so I already planned to take it slow and easy and I headed down to the valley where there is ‘more shade’. Uhhh….there was NO shade. Not enough leaves on the trees yet!
So here’s the rundown:

Mistake #1 – A pre-run cup of Kashi cereal (plain) a GU and some water is not proper fuel for a 9 mile run on a hot afternoon. ( I had a good breakfast but that was at 9am…)

Mistake #2 - A long run in warm temps would require FULL STRENGTH Powerade or Gatorade for hydration, not Powerade ZERO, which has ZERO carbs and ½ the sodium. DUH. Thank god I also brought a pack of sport beans or I would have been in worse shape!

Mistake #3 - I probably needed more than a 16 oz. bottle of said fluids…..(ya think?)

Mistake #4 – I had too much coffee in the morning, and not enough water.

Mistake #5 - Don’t workout hard (run, bike, step, weights) the day before your long run.

All of this added up to a bad run, in which I konked out at mile 4, but I managed to eek out another mile and ½ run/walk, and then ended up walking about 2 miles home. (two miles which included a big a**s hill OUT of the valley, because of course the only way OUT of the metroparks is to go UP.) And then, what’s worse is that about two miles into my run yesterday I experienced the ‘Fat Hands’ phenomenon too. By the time I got home 2 hours later, my hands were swelled up like balloons! Definitely a sign that my electrolyte balance was WAY out of wack.

I was almost home when my hubby passed me while driving and beeped and waved – I could barely wave back ha ha. When I got home and he came home he says ‘I feel stupid. I was just beeping and waving at some chic because I thought it was you, but it wasn’t you, because THIS girl was WALKING’.

HA! *smack* Funny guy that one, let me tell you!

So, again, more lessons learned. My first clue that I was an idiot was when I got down to the valley and I did not see ONE runner! Lots of cyclists, cruising along just fine…but no.runners. Period. Except me, the rookie. ;-) All the REAL RUNNERS got their butts out of bed at the crack of dawn to beat the heat!

Thankfully, temps are returning to normal this week. Even though I did not do 9 yesterday, I sure as heck FEEL like I did, so I’m going to go for 10 next weekend. I have to – that’s all there is to it, it’s my last opportunity to do 10 and allow one weekend for a taper.

While reading up on the swelling hands thing, I read that the body has to acclimate to warm temps gradually, by easing into it and being careful. There was no easing into this, that’s for sure! Some of our friends who ran Nashville this weekend found this out too!

Unfortunately, my poor Chris, with his ‘stronger’ brain, could not withstand the big weather swing and he went down for the count on Saturday with a couple of seizures. He recovered nicely though and thankfully did not lose a whole weekend to it.

Some of you had some great runs this weekend though, and good race reports! I love that!

Cheers~

Thursday: This and That

Just a couple of little updates....things have been hectic this week so I'm a little behind on the important things like keeping up my running log and blogging etc. (By the way, I am 'trying' Twitter to be cool like everyone else, and it's not working out very well - I'm not sure I quite get it's purpose yet and may just stick to FaceBook!)

I had a great 5 mile run Tuesday evening down in the Metroparks. I just did an out and back 2.5 mile stretch of the trail. Got caught in a little bit of rain, which only made me run faster ....otherwise it was a pretty uneventful run, a little hard, but the effort felt good. I had '60 minutes' on the plan, and as it turns out, I can now run 5 miles in 60 minutes, average pace an even 12 minute mile!

I took a Gu before I left, but it's still hard to say if it's working for me. I had a popcorn snack at my desk around 3pm that day, and THAT was not agreeing with my run at all. Lesson learned there.

I am experimenting with new lace tying because of my left big toe issue - I always feel like the top of my foot is too tight in the shoe as my runs progress and my feet swell. The shoe is the appropriate size, and this model definitely has a wider toe box, so that's all good. Just a slight tweak with the laces has been in order I think.....So here is how I tied them for Tuesday's run:

This worked out great - I felt more stability in my ankle and my toe box was less constricted. This was a successful experiment!

And of course, a run down in the Valley would not be complete without encountering a little critter.

I find it cool that he ran to a place where he blended in with his surroundings. I was pretty close to him, but you can't really tell on my cell phone.

I did not cross train yesterday - it was to be a gym day. I had a little 'Gracie crisis' to deal with yesterday (long story but all is well) and we were both quite tired by the end of the day. I did do lots of walking though, but I'm a little bummed that I missed my strength training and hope to head up to the gym tonight.

In other news - I just wanted to say a little about my Chris. I am beaming ear to ear because he is about two months seizure free now, and because his brain has been so 'quiet' for him, he is like a new kid! His special ed teacher at school emailed me with a great report on how amazing Chris has been lately....focused, and sharp and driven - funny and talkative. We are seeing this at home too, and I know it's because he has not had major electrical 'storms' going off in his brain constantly- storms that normally put him out of commission for 2-3 days at a time. He is ON his game and I pray like anything that this honeymoon lasts a LONG LONG time for him and this drug keeps working! I am truly thankful to a higher power for giving Chris this time of peace.

Run on~

How fun was today?

I really enjoyed this day. I was a complete Geek about the Boston Marathon! How can you not get excited about another woman running for 26.2 miles at a 5 minute mile (or less) pace - non-stop, no 'walk breaks', ...just running, fast....very fast. Against Ethiopians and Kenyans with bionic legs no less. Wow...it just doesn't get any better!

Even more amazing is ....that I care about this! I think of me one year ago...I had no clue what the Boston Marathon was really, or at least, it's significance, nor did I care. I never knew there were actually 'elite' runners, that got paid $150,000 for coming in first place, and that they ran with almost SuperHuman speed. I had no idea the heart and soul, pain and agony that Elite runners experience both in training and on race day...and I almost CRIED when I saw that 'Kara' lost her lead. I found myself imagining how devasted she must feel after leading for 25 miles, and then losing it in the end. She still did awesome - but I know that she probably doesn't think that way, her best, today, was not good enough for her. I get that.

A year ago, I did not have a clue about any of this. Who was I then? I don't even recognize my 'self' of a year ago. What DID I like then anyway? What was I interested in, passionate about - what did I have for my SELF that made me feel excited and energized? (Besides the obvious, kids, husband, nice job...but that's not what I'm talking about, I'm sure you all 'get' what I'm saying)

Even my cousin pinged me on Facebook today and teased me about my enthusiasm. And I was just smiling all day. It was so fun to be excited about the race, to surf blogs looking for other's commentary, and finding updates on other bloggers who were running in Boston today. I was VERY unproductive at work for about 2 hours this morning. I don't care...it was totally worth it.

Even little me, a 40-something mom, wife, average Joe lady attempting to be an athlete - even little me, had fun being part of something much bigger today.

Run on friends~

LIVE Blog coverage of Boston!

This is where I will be hangin' throughout this morning:

http://bostonmarathon.runnersworld.com/


Cheers!

Lesson Number One - Don't Go Out TOO FAST!

Thanks everyone for some great advice on my remaining 4 weeks of training! I am so grateful to have some experienced friends to call upon when I'm feeling a little lost on what to do! I decided to go for an 8 miler today, instead of 9. It's a good dayum thing, because I barely got through the 8! It's all good though - I know why I struggled and I'm still ok with the run in the end. That's the great thing about every run, I continue to learn while getting stronger - it's a beautiful thing.

I had to stick around suburbia today because the hub had to work, so I nixed my original plan to run down in the Valley just because I wanted to stay closer to home. The girls and I went to Dick's this morning for some things Alison needed for softball (sliding shorts and a leg guard). Of course, once I started looking around, I ended up with an armful of my own paraphenalia!

I finally got a water bottle, I went with a Nathan, single bottle pack. So today was my first run with something sloshing around behind me. Took awhile to get used to it, but it really didn't bother me once I was deep in to my running thoughts. I was happy to have it, especially since it was a balmy 70 degree, bright sunny day. I also stocked up on different flavors of Gu, and some Jelly Belly sport beans. I'm mostly just curious about these, I don't think I really need it all that much right now - I think the PowerAid at the marathon will be sufficient for me. I have to say that the Gu I took today did absolutely NOTHING for me - Nada. Zip. Zilch. Nu-THING. The last time I did the 8 miler, I did a PowerBar gel, and I definitely had a little zip in my step after that! Next weekend I plan to try the JellyBelly sport beans. I took the Gu today at mile 4. The 2nd half of my run was s-l-o-w going!

I ran to my BFF's house (4 miles) and surprised her. She was working in the yard and happy for the break. I needed a pit stop and a refresh of water. I hung there for 10 minutes, and slurped the Gu and went on my merry way. The first 4 miles were done in 42 minutes! 10.50 average pace. Holy Cow. That is speedy speedy for me! But that is NOT a long slow run pace, at all. That was more like a tempo run for me. *ugh*

THAT is why I struggled so much in the 2nd 4 miles. I wore myself out. I have to say, my legs felt GREAT though. My issue was with breathing. Yep, allergy season is underway. I had taken an allergy pill about 2 hours earlier, but obviously it hadn't kicked in yet. I wasn't wheezing, it just felt like it was more difficult, and of course it was warmer, and I started out too fast. (It was such a beautiful day and my tunes were awesome and I just got carried away!)

The reason my legs felt so great was because I tried a pair of Dr. Scholl's sport massagers in my shoes for this run. I think the pounding on the concrete really does a number on these old legs. So I wanted to try this today, figuring I could just pull them out if it didn't go well during the run. Well....it was AWESOME. My Brooks are cushion shoes, and the Asics I had were a stability shoe. Well the stability shoe was WAY to stable - they over-corrected my mild pronation. However, my Brooks are starting to show an ever-so-slight 'lean' when I look at them from behind. So I wanted to try just a small boost in the arch, more cushion than 'stability'. It was perfect - I felt like I was running on pillows.

So the full 8 miles took 1 hour and 40 minutes, for an average pace of 12:30. Not too shabby for me. My last 8 miler was at 13:15. I just tanked in the last probably 2.5 miles today - I probably walked more than I ran in the last 1.5 miles. I pushed it, believe me I was not goin' down if I didn't have to...but since I already knew my error, I gave myself some slack at the end. NEXT weekend I will be sure to slow it down, or I will not make it through 9 miles.

So it was fun, and I feel 'better' - that I can still RUN ha ha, even after my slacker self of the last 2 weeks.

Tomorrow I have strength training and may do a very easy 3 or 4 miles just to loosen up the legs, and a little bit of bike. Today's run was just my 2nd run of the week, so I feel good throwing in an easy recovery run tomorrow if I'm up to it. Monday is a rest day. And Tuesday is a 60 minute run.

The good news is - not a hint of tendonitis flaring up in my foot, at least not yet! The piriformis has subsided after I took some Advil yesterday and did some serious stretching.

Life is good, and I'm heading to bed with a good book and stupid tv! I'll probably be out in 10 minutes!

Cheers!

Calling all friends - I NEED YOUR ADVICE!

Ok, I’m calling on my peeps for some advice. Training advice! Please share the love – I’m in a little quandry, my stupid foot thing / virus thing just threw everything out of whack with my training schedule and I don’t want to do anything stupid at this point. Especially because NOW my piriformis is acting up, as is the ITB, and it must be from doing leg presses and squats, because as you will see below, I can’t blame it on too much running. *sigh* I would LOVE some advice!

Here’s the story – this weekend I have a 9 miler scheduled. My last long run was TWO WEEKS ago when I did the 8 miler, and subsequently had to deal with my little foot issue. So I took it easy for the next week after that run. Here is what I have done in the last two weeks:

Saturday 4/4 – 8 miles

Tuesday 4/7 – Easy 30 minute run (60 minutes scheduled)

Thursday 4/9 – Cross Training – Bike/Strength


Saturday 4/11 – 3 mile treadmill : 400m repeats
Strength training

Wednesday 4/15 - 50 minute run@ 12:15 pace (60 minutes scheduled)

I am about 15 miles behind, including one 8 mile long run. (*gulp*)


So, as you can see, I am WAY down on the run time over the last two weeks. Not only because of my foot, but then I was a bit down and out with a touch of something going around my house. (fatigue, tummy ache) I now only have 3 long runs left before the half, and then the weekend before the race. (so total 4 weekends) How do I make the most of the remaining 3 long runs?

Option one: Long runs: 8 (this weekend), 9, 10 and then taper down on the last weekend before the race. (and taper to what? 5? 6? 7? My plan calls for 6 miles the weekend before but is that enough given that I’m behind?)

Option two: starting this weekend: 9, 10, 10, taper (should I do TWO 10 milers before the half or is that stupid?)

Option three: starting this weekend: 9, 9 and then do 10 on May 2nd, then taper down on May 9th ?

My two runs during the week for the next 4 weeks are
60 minutes (x2),
50 minutes (x2),
40 minutes (x2) and
30 minutes (x2, week before the race on the 17th)

Given that I am having such ‘aches and pains’ lately, should I take out speedwork altogether and just run? I am definitely going to stop leg pressing and squats, because at the moment that seems to be aggravating my leg/hip/butt in general. (of course where I need the most help ha ha)

The bottom line is that I want to make the most of the next 4 weeks, without escalating my current aches and pains, and without exhausting myself trying to ‘catch up’. I’m a little nervous and confidence is a bit low at the moment. I know 4 weeks is a ‘long’ time in running progress, especially for a newbie, but at the moment I’m feeling a little unsure about the best approach to take so that I end up with a happy rewarding race experience!

Feel free to offer advice or opinions – that’s the purpose of this post today!

Hope everyone has a great weather weekend and great races and/or long runs!

TIART: Running Blogs

I started this blog last July, and it was originally intended to be a weight loss and general 'I'm getting in shape' discussion. Once I got through 9 weeks of C25K, I was looking at this journey with a whole new set of glasses! I fell in love with running, I started reading blogs and blogs and more blogs about running - new runners, seasoned runners, fast runners, slow runners....anything and everything I could find about running went on my Google Reader.

All of these people, fellow runners, started encouraging me to keep going, giving me tips and high fives when needed. People started telling ME that I was inspiring THEM. I found this amazing - I am just a 40 something mom of 3 who works full time and lives in the suburbs and lives a fairly ordinary existence.

Now I have a special blog friend coming to Cleveland all the way from NYC, JUST to cross my first half marathon finish line with me! I get so much knowledge and inspiration and camraderie from blogging. If someone goes MIA for a longer period than would be accepted, we feel the need to go hunt them down to make sure everything is ok. It's also great to know that there is pretty much a running friend in every city with a great race, where we could throw a pillow on the floor and crash for a night if needed. (Is that a social faux pas? I just invited myself to everyone's home ha ha....)

I don't know if I would still be running if not for reading blogs and posting my own thoughts, rants and bragging rights a few times a week!

I don't want to find out though!

Running Rocks ~

*YAWN*

Boy am I TIRED. Fatigued is a better word. I’m not sure what is up, but I am draggin’ my wagon lately! It could be a combination of factors….I hesitate to say I have been ‘over training’ because, well, since I hurt my foot last week, I have only run twice. But I did have that kick butt training session last Thursday with my trainer, and a 40 minute track workout Saturday with another hour of strength training as well. But that was AFTER 11 hours of sleep Friday night. Yes, I slept until 9:00 Saturday morning! That is WAY late for me. I just could not wake up! I am in bed falling asleep by 9pm, and still having trouble waking in the morning, today included. This has been going on for about the last week I’d say.

I had no long run this past weekend which is just as well because I don’t think I could have done it. Monday is usually a rest day for me, following a long run, but I thought about heading to the gym for some cardio last night – but, I was too tired again. I was yawning like crazy from about 4pm on yesterday. I am not sure what is going on, but I’m not feeling my usual energy and it’s making me a little crazy! I admit my nutrition has not been the greatest, the past couple of days my stomach has been *blah*. I could have a little viral thing goin’ on. Something seems to be going around the office – stomach, dizzy, blah thing, so maybe I’m just functioning through it when I should have taken a sick day like everyone else did! I just heard people over the cube walls talking about this ‘thing’ they had over the weekend ha ha.

So that’s it for me friends – I wish I had some Woot Woot! to share, but I don’t! I hope like anything to be back here later in the week with my usual energy and the pep back in my step! I have a one hour run scheduled for this evening, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it will be nice and easy and the foot holds up for me! My foot seems to be fine – no issues after 40 minutes on the treadmill Saturday, so all is well with that, thank goodness. Now if I can get through this little slump or whatever it is…I will be a very happy runnergirl!

Cheers~

Foot Update and Cross Training

First things first...The Foot. It is healing nicely. No pain, just soreness once in awhile after I've been walking on it, and it's still a little puffy. I had a great workout with my trainer yesterday, and I have decided to not run on the foot until Tuesday, minimum. My trainer recommended TWO WEEKS off. (smiling as she said it, knowing THAT wasn't gonna happen). Tuesday gives me one week off, so I'll re-evaluate at that time.

I'm surprisingly 'ok' with this. For starters, it's Easter weekend obviously, so it will be challenging to get an 8 mile run in - I would have to do it tomorrow, and the foot is just not ready. Also, I don't want to get back to it by jumping into an 8 mile run. I don't want to risk making anything worse at this point in my training. So if I run on Tuesday, I will just keep it to a 40 minute run. Slowly working up to a long run next weekend.

Secondly, I mentioned a great workout with my trainer yesterday. She gave me a great bike workout, that, although I'm not burning the same calories - my heart definitely got a good pumpin', and my quads were burning....after just 10 minutes. *ugh* Oh, did I mention that WHILE I was spinning away, she had me do shoulder presses with an 8 pound medicine ball? NICE. So if I do a combo of bike/elliptical/stairs for cardio workouts, she said I won't lose any fitness - in fact, this could actually work to my benefit, which I will notice when I go for my long run NEXT weekend. Let's HOPE! By the time the foot heals, my legs will be nice and fresh! I am already feeling 'rested', despite a heavy duty workout yesterday.

In addition to the bike, my trainer added 10 new exercises to my strength routine which is really fun. Lot's more ab work, back and shoulders. I have graduated to my 'toes' on the Bosu Ball push ups (the disk, 1/2 ball), and my trainer gave me a glowing report on my strength gains over all in the 6 weeks since we last met.

I was a little dissapointed (but not surprised) that I was up a couple few pounds, and the fat monitor scale even popped up an INCREASE in BF percentage - but funny how we both immediately dismissed the scale readings when she took my measurements and reported a loss of 4.5 inches! Yay! As we worked out, she mentioned several times that she could definitely see that my body had 'moved' - especially in the arms, chest and core area. So that made me feel better.

She gave me some pointers for watching the calories which is mainly what I already know...journal the food and watch the portion sizes. The problem is not with WHAT I eat, it's how much. I feel hungry all the time and I've read that is is common to gain a few pounds while training for a big race. Boy, a few months ago, this would have sent me over the edge and now? I am more pleased with my fitness and strength gains, that I am not that concerned about the scale at all! The fluctuations over the last 8 months or so are enough to make one crazy...so I have learned to use the scale as yet another gage of progress, but not the end all be all - it does not represent the big picture.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover ~ I hope everyone has a great weekend with family and friends!

Sidelined...dang it!

Well, this is just great. I have an actual injury that may require me to 'rest'. UGH! I am having issues with my left foot. It started after my 8 mile run Saturday. I don't recall any specific 'trauma' while running. I suspect it is related to my bunion flare up, resulting from my spring heels that I started wearing last week at work. Turns out, my feet have shrunk a bit since I wore them last year, because the shoes are loose on my feet now. Consequently, my foot sliding around in them caused my bunion to get aggravated. So during my 8 miler on Saturday, I think I may have unconsciously adjusted my left foot strike to compensate for my bunion issue. It wasn't until Sunday though when I started feeling this discomfort on the outside of my left foot, just in front of the heel.

Of course now I've been studying foot anatomy online (yep, I need to know all),
and I think I have inflammation of the peroneus brevis tendon. I ran last night, but instead of the scheduled 60 minute run, I only ran 30 minutes. DAMN. It wasn't really bothering me too much while running , but I did ice it afterwards. It was a shame I had to cut the run short too because I felt great and it was a nice run in the snow -which I always find peaceful. I just didn't want to risk making the issue worse, so I kept it short and sweet. Better than not at all I guess.

This just - well, it sucks. When I'm walking around in sneakers, I am very 'aware' of the soreness. In my work shoes today (boots with a 2" heel), it feels fine, probably because the weight is off that area. So...I sit at my desk today with my foot elevated, and trying to stay off it as much as possible. I'm supposed to cross train today but I have a meeting tonight so today is officially a rest day.

Tomorrow I meet with my trainer, and our plan was for her to see me run and talk about speedwork. But that's sort of up in the air now. She may be introducing me to a bike workout now instead, and more strength training. I'm supposed to do another 8 miler this weekend too. We shall see. If I do not run between now and then, hopefully I can get it done.

My foot doesn't seem to be swollen, and it's not 'pain' per se. It's just sore - a warning type of sore. I could probably run through it, but then suffer the next day. It does not hurt when I touch the area or press it. Just when I walk a certain way or for a certain period of time.

I plan to do rest, ice etc. and substitute the bike for my next run and if it's still causing me issues next week, I guess I'll have to get it checked out.

If anyone has had this issue before, do share! I had plantar fasciitis years ago, and it took forever to heal. I hear that a lot about foot injuries...so I'm a little concerned!

Thanks for listening to me whine - this is just not the best time for this to be happening! (is it ever though?)

Excellent Eight!

I couldn't be more pleased with my 8 miler today! I did some experimenting today, and I think the results are good.

I left the house at 6:30 this morning, and took my sweet time for this little adventure. I knew that most of the house would still be asleep by the time I got back. (Except my Chris, who is up at the crack of dawn EVERY day regardless of school or not!) I left a note outlining my route, time of departure and expected return time - and off I went!

I pre-fueled with a PowerBar smoothie energy type thing - high in carbs (42g) and no fiber. (Experiment #1) I also had 2 cups of coffee. It was 37 degrees this morning and WINDY as I headed north towards Lake Erie. I was running into the wind for the first 1/3 of the run. I took frequent walk breaks early, so the first 2-3 miles felt more like a warm up. I ran 4 minutes, walked 1. I decided to try the Galloway approach for this long run (experiment #2), because when I did my 7 miler 2 weeks ago, I think I was more 'spent' than I should have been at the end. (the hills didn't help though).

What was great about the run / walk approach is that when I ran, I was running about 11:00 - 11:30, and that felt SLOW. And then my 30 second to 1 minute walk breaks were pretty 'brisk' (not plodding in recovery) So my average pace by the end of the run was still about the same as usual (13:15 today), but my actual running pace was faster, and the walk breaks kept the stress off the body! By mile 4, I changed to run 5 / walk 30 seconds.

Also at mile 4, I took a little 5 minute break to enjoy the view of Lake Erie while the sun came up and tried a PowerBar Gel (experiment #3). I'm not sure if I liked it or not - it was SO sweet and the texture was sort of gross. I didn't have any stomach issues really and I will say that it really perked me up for about the next 2 miles. My running pace was closer to 10:50 by then, but I felt nice and relaxed.

By mile 6, I had to go potty - GREAT. I was still a bit from the Caribou coffee shop I had planned to stop at. But I got there finally, used the restroom, blew my nose and bought some water and a yummy rice krispy treat! This was about a 10 minute break , and I finished out the final 2 miles nice and strong!

The other cool thing about this little adventure is that I ran through three other neighboring suburbs besides my own! It was fun to pass the "Welcome" signs as I entered each suburb! I felt like a real runner.

I did not record the run on my Garmin, because I did not want to watch miles. I just checked my pace and heart rate periodically.

If it had been less windy and a little warmer, it would have been near perfect! I feel great now, and am going to stretch and jump in the shower and get on with the day!

Now I can go out with friends tonight and not worry about getting 8 miles in tomorrow! I do have to cross train though, but will do light cardio, and then some core and upper body stuff at the gym some time tomorrow afternoon.

It's 10am and my girls are still asleep! No one even missed me while I was gone ha ha.

Running Rocks! ;O)

This & That

First, a little 'show & tell" ~

In my web travels, I came across this article/blog about efficient running, and correcting common mechanical 'errors' in order to run a little faster. Specifically, the article talks about toe running (no heel striking!), slight leaning, and cadence. The recommended cadence is 88? Holy cow - my average is around 80, and that is only in the last 2 weeks. Prior to that, my average cadence was about 76.

Last night's run was a 'speed' workout. I headed up to the local high school track, and I was quite excited because this is where I started running last summer, and approaching the track yesterday, I felt like a completely different person. I don't even recognize the person I was last year, going to that track and getting through C25K! Crazy.

Well, my track workout was not to be, since the track was otherwise occupied by the 5th & 6th grade track team. My plan B was to head over to the rec (right behind the track) and workout on a treadmill. So I did a repeat workout. First, I did a warmup mile. Then I ran 4x400's @ 10:40 pace, with a 400 recovery jog in between each repeat. It was AWESOME! My form feels so much better when I run fast - I just wish I could sustain the pace! *sigh* someday.....

Today I rest, and tomorrow I will attempt my 8 miler. I normally run long on Sundays, but I have a birthday celebration with my BFF tomorrow evening, so I think it's best to git'er done tomorrow so I can let loose a little bit tomorrow night and enjoy an evening out without stressing over my long run on Sunday.

And finally, I will be hooking up with my trainer for another session next week and hopefully we will talk about some more formal speedwork, and mixing up the strength training a bit - looking forward to that!

That's all I got friends! Oh, feel free to join me on FaceBook , because you know...EVERYone is doing it now. But it's sometimes easier to keep up with everyone when I get busy! The downside is...I feel like my Blackberry is always connected to my hand!

Have a great weekend!