Training Day #11 & #12

Let's get to some updates shall we. I haven't been slacking in my running, just blogging. All I can say, is I've been a little beyond the city limits of crazy town, and what few minutes I have had, I've been dedicated to doing as little as possible.

So rewind back to Wednesday and training day #11. The weather was forecasted to be sunny and warm at 50 degrees. Instead of my usual treadmill run, I decided to run right after work to take advantage of the weather and daylight. Unfortunately for me, the weather didn't hit 50, but I swear the wind did. It was so cold and windy, but I covered my 4 miles.

My crazy shins started giving me some issues about 1/2 way through so I look it easy. But with 3 weeks to go until the Hot Chocolate 15K, I don't want to risk injuring my shins or legs.

My training schedule has me doing a cross-training day on Fridays, but our schedules have just not cooperated lately. After an emotionally draining week, I just couldn't muster up the energy to do much yesterday. But today - today I was ready. Sort of.

The husband is away at a middle school youth conference, which means no outdoor run for me. So I knew I would have to do my run on the treadmill. I debated whether to knock out my run during nap time or wait and do my run after the kids went to bed, and reluctantly decided trying to get it out of the way during nap time was probably my best bet. The first two miles had me thinking I would have to cut it short. My calves were tight and my shins were starting to feel it. But I kept pushing. At 2.8 miles I had to take a brief break to calm a toddler down and get him back to sleep. Just that couple of minutes, plus a GU pack, gave me the boost I needed to finish the remaining 2.2 miles fairly strong. I was actually surprised at how great I felt finishing up. Pace is still below my target, but I'm really trying to just focus on the distances and avoid pain. I know the pace will come with time. Some good stretching and heel raises helped with any lingering soreness and tightness.

I'm really hoping that things are *actually* starting to work and my training continues strong. 4 miles are coming up on Monday!

Have a great weekend!

Training Day #10

Tonight was a scheduled cross-train day. If you saw yesterday post, you'll remember I was pretty upset. No, not just upset, pissed off. Really PISSED OFF. So tonight I had planned a relatively boring 40 minutes on the treadmill walking. Not really even noteworthy.

As I was preparing to get changed, my husband encouraged me to layer up and head outside. Now granted, it was 8:20 PM and completely dark, but for January it was 40-some degrees, so I caved and said why not. And seriously, I'm so glad I did. I started off at a brisk pace, wanting to make the most of my walk, and at a few points even jogged! It felt great. The cool temps were perfect, and I came home refreshed. Even more exciting, was the fact that my pace was on point to what I've been posting - BUT I WAS WALKING! Crazy. I'm always amazed at the difference being outside does for me. And while I love my treadmill, it's a total mind game. Being able to SEE how fast (or not so fast) I'm running syncs me out. 

Parting thought for the day - leave the excuses and just get going. Not every run (or walk) is going to be awesome and outstanding, but you never know when it will be either!

Training Day #9

Let's just say tonight didn't go as plan. After a long day on my feet, my shins were killing me before I even started. My scheduled work out was a 4 mile run, but 2 miles in I knew it wasn't happening. So I pounded out 3 (which is on the schedule for Wednesday) and spent a solid 30 minutes stretching, massaging, and attempting to work out the pain. Hopefully come Wednesday I can eek out 4 miles.

So tonight, I'm really frustrated. I would like to say I'm irritated about my pace, but honestly, I'm so ticked off that I don't even care. And I'm really starting to feeling anxious about how this whole race is going to go down. I'll save you the ranting and just call it a night.  Here's my stats.

Training Day #8

Saturdays are my designated long run days and since this week has been a step-down week for my training program, my long run today was only 2 miles. It was great timing considering my troubling shins, and the lessened mileage certainly has helped with recovery. After a quick stretch I was prepared to take off. I intentionally tried to start out slow and gradually fell into my rhythm. I hit the 1/2 mile mark on my run much quicker than I imagined I would, but much to my surprise felt good. I managed to run a little over a mile with only about a 30 second breather around 3/4 of a mile.

I intentionally pick my routes to ensure I'm getting to hills later in my run. Why torture myself you might ask? Firstly, who wants to start off a run feeling like they're not doing great?! So the flat beginnings help give me a mental boost. Secondly, I want to make my muscles work, and so I let them get good and warmed up (and tired) before tackling hills. When I look at my splits, it definitely shows. I managed a 10:56 min/mi pace during the first mile and a 13:10 min/mi pace on mile 2. I finished strong and genuinely enjoyed my run - which is is honestly a first for me. But one I hope continues. On the down side, my shins were killing me, so I spent quite a bit of time stretching down and doing some of my PT exercises throughout the day. Here's the stats from today.

Recently, I've discovered how much I really enjoy listening to podcast during my runs. While I don't get the benefit of having a beat (which for me is actually proving a positive thing, because I'm running at my natural pace, as opposed to the beat of music) my mind is completely engaged in the story, and less focused on the running. Today, I started on the wildly successful Serial podcast series. And let me just say, I'm hooked! If you like detective type stories, then you'll love it.

While a lot of runners prefer to just run, the nerd in me really likes being able to analyze how I'm doing in terms of pace and how I respond to elevation changes. Below is today's graph and below that is last week's graph. I was most excited to see my pace line look a little flatters, which indicate more consistent pacing and less switching between walking and running. So I'm celebrating the little victories. Each day it seems that I'm making baby steps.  This coming week my milage steps back up, so I'm praying my exercises with continue to help my shin splints stay at bay. Just 4 weeks to go!

Last week's graphic (4 miles)

Until Monday - have a great weekend!

Training Days 6 & 7

No...I didn't skip out on yesterdays workout, but it was a cross-train day and after the horribly painful run on Monday, I decided to walk for my allotted cross fit time. I had read on several blog that walking hills or inclines was helpful for shin splints, so I gave it a shot. Surprisingly, I do think that the walk, combined with the physical therapy exercises I've been doing, helped. I kept my pace comfortable and pushed the incline as much as I could.

Today, however was a run day. A short one at only 2 miles, but a run none the less. I was a little nervous about how the legs would hold up, so I made sure to stretch out well, and did a round of 20 heel raises before I started. I took is slow to start, but managed to run a full 10 minutes without stopping. (Woo Hoo! I will celebrate the tiny accomplishments - because I didn't know if I could even  get back there.) I did some walking but tried to keep my breaks limited to 1-2 minutes. Each time I went back to running my speed increased, but the time I could run decreased, which I suppose is normal. I felt pretty good about tonight's run. No real pain and only a little bit of tightness in my calves, which if I'm being honest, means I probably should have spent a little more time post-run stretching and rolling things out. As a preventive measure, I did ice afterwards though.

My pace still isn't great, and I was a little disappointed that it wasn't better given how much I actually ran, but I have to focus on the little wins. Running for 10 minutes. Keeping going when I wanted to stop. Not experiencing shards of glass ripping through my shins - Big win! So for tonight I will be satisfied and look forward to my run on Saturday.

Training Day #5

Tonight...it's hard to even gather my thoughts. Yesterday's run was tough, and as the night moved on I realized my shins were starting to take on that faint pain that comes with the dreaded shin splints. Having already been side-lined for a couple of weeks back in December, I stubbornly thought that I needed to keep on my training schedule, even if it was super slow. So I did, despite my husband's warning and encouraging me not to, I tackled my scheduled 2 mile run. And for a while I thought it'd be ok.

I made it a 1/2 mile in before I even needed to stop (which seems like nothing to seasoned runners, but for me, it's a HUGE thing to run more than 2 minutes at a time). I caught my breath and took off again, a little quicker but still slow. Unfortunately by around 1.3 miles the pain really started to crank up. Now, at this point, any good runner would have likely walked a couple cool down minutes and called it quits. But NOOOO, not me. I kept going.

I got my measly 2 miles in, and honestly not much else to show for it. After a solid 30 minutes of stretching down and attempting to roll it all out, the pain and my tears were simply too much. For those who have escaped the horrors of shin splints, count your blessing and give thanks. Those unlucky enough to have experienced them know it's not laughing matter. Frankly, it hurts like hell. And I've given birth to 2 kids.

I'm almost too embarrassed to even post tonights stats. Almost. This blog is about accountability and to help others on this running journey not get down because they don't run fast enough or far enough compared to the mass of runners on Instagram or Facebook (speaking from personal experience here). So here's my stats, promise you won't laugh.

Right now, that pace, oh it hurts. But not as bad as my stupid shins. So for now, I'm going to continue to keep my feet propped up and iced. Tomorrow is a cross train day, so I'm hoping I can at least walk. I have to keep going. I don't want to hurt myself, but I also don't want to quit. 34 days to go.

Training Day #4

I know...I had promised to talked about gear on Thursday (a rest day), but after a long week, I was so exhausted I simply went to bed. Friday, a cross-train day was derailed when one of my little guys came home screaming with an ear ache. We spent the evening at urgent treatment and thankfully were able to get some medicine to ease his pain and deal with the infection. But after several hours of caring for a little one, and not getting to settle down until well after 10 PM cross training was out of the question.

Saturday, my scheduled long run day turned out to be a bitterly cold day. I drug my feet getting out of bed, and eventually the day passed by me before I knew it. I desperately wanted to get outside and do my long run, so we choose to attend church Saturday evening, allowing me this morning to run.

The good news: It was warmer that Saturday and my new Garmin watch worked perfectly!

The bad news: No, you didn't miss anything in the good news. Today's run was hard. While the temperature was not as bitterly cold as Saturday, it was still a balmy 32. I was dress correctly, but the cold really hit me hard and as a result I struggled with my breathing. My other challenge, I started out fast. Much faster than I normally run. I even covered the first mile in 11:54. I also failed to plan to bring some water. Being that I usually drink something every mile, I was struggling. Thankfully, my husband came out looking for me and brought me water. It was just what I needed to push through the last mile.

So the details of my run.

My pace wasn't horrible when I consider that I'm only 4 actual training sessions back and how much I actually walked. I purposefully picked a course that had lots of hills to help get me used to race conditions.

One of the neat features my watch gave me was a graph of the elevation along with my pace. My goal as time progresses is for there to be less peaks and more consistent pacing. But I'm reminding myself, one day at a time. One day at a time.

And finally, for those interested in my splits. It's obvious that my overly energetic start caught up with me. I struggle with pacing myself because it always feels like I'm going too slow, but I'm learning that most likely, I need to be going slower to help build up my stamina.

The Hot Chocolate Run is just 35 days away. I'm struggling with the feelings that I'm never going to be able to get there. That I'm never going to make the progress I need to. But I'm also determined to finish, so I'm working on setting realistic expectations.

Until tomorrow!