Week 3 Day 4

I had planned to run 5 miles today. However, I took an impromptu vacation to the Mall of America! So I had plenty of cross training today.

I walked about 2 miles in the mall, then took advantage of the fitness facilities in the hotel. I started by swimming for about ten minutes. Can I let you in on a secret? I never actually learned how to swim! I've just taught myself to stay afloat. I'm sure I'm exerting more effort than necessary, but it gets the job done. Then I went to the fitness center and biked 6.2 miles. 

And the best part?

THE STICK IS FINALLY HERE

Unfortunately it arrived right before I left so I haven't used it yet. Bummer. 

Week 3 Day 3

Tonight I ran 3.1 miles.

At the half mile mark I literally ran into a pack of dogs. My neighbors were out walking and had one collie and two boxers off-leash. One of the boxers followed me and kept jumping up my leg! I stopped for a bit to pet him.

My upper body felt great during the run. It was nice and easy with no heavy breathing. However, I'm still having some soreness in my lowers legs. I'm not sure exactly what's causing it, but I have three theories:

1) The newness of marathon training. My weekly mileage has increased so much in the past few weeks. Maybe my body is just getting used to it.

2) Shoes. I've been running in the same style shoe for almost one year with no prior problems. Could it be that this shoe just isn't good for lots of running?

3) The need for massage. The Stick will be here tomorrow so I'll see how massage helps me out. I'm also considering a foam roller.

Week 3 Day 1

I think this way of logging what day I'm on will be easier than saying 'Day 15' or whatever it is because I'm sure I'll lose track eventually.

Today I got my 9 miles in. Actually, it came out to be around 9.5 miles. I did a decent chunk of the run without my GPS running so the exact amount is unknown. I also took a few walk breaks due to the heat. I stopped by the park twice for water and took four walk breaks all together, adding up to about a mile or a mile and a half. I'm glad I took the breaks. The sun was hot, and I had a side stich, so I didn't want to push myself too hard. But thanks to the combination of walk breaks and the lacking GPS I have no idea how long I was outside for. Oops!

My legs feel pretty good right now. I did my usual stretches afterward...standing pike, high lunge, pigeon pose, mermaid pose, and some lower leg stretches.

High Lunge

Standing Pike

One-legged pigeon pose

Mermaid pose

Lower leg stretch

Can you tell I'm kinda into yoga?

I'll add in The Stick to my post-run routine soon. It's supposed to arrive on Thursday!

May 27th: Conclusion of Week 2

Today I was supposed to run 9 miles.

Bad news?

I only went for 5 miles.

Worse news?

Of those, I only ran 2.5

I feel like a failure. An absolute failure.

I have my excuses, to be sure. I had planned on running around 7:30 when then sun starts to set. It was a really hot day so I didn't want to run with a high sun. However, my boyfriend wanted to go out for dinner tonight so I bumped my run up to 5:00.

I brought water in anticipation of the heat. But something just wasn't right. My stomach felt full and achey after the movie theatre popcorn I had this afternoon. The full and achey feeling combined with the high heat just left me feeling uncomfortable and sickly.

Excuses, excuses.

I stopped running at the 2.5 mark and started the walk of shame back home. I could have shortened the walk home but I wanted to punish myself for quitting.

I feel disappointed in myself now. I cut this run down. I missed one earlier this week. Why do I keep letting myself do this?

I'm regretting telling people my plans to run a marathon. If I fail I'm not just going to disappoint myself. I'm going to disappoint them as well. I don't want this to turn into yet another thing in life that I've attempted and failed at. I don't want people to say 'I told you so.' I just want to do something that will make people proud of me for a change.

I promise to myself week three will be better.

Monday May 28th: 9 miles
Tuesday May 29th: Rest
Wednesday May 30th: 3 miles
Thursday May 31st: 5 miles
Friday June 1st: 3 miles
Saturday June 2nd: Rest
Sunday June 3rd: 6 miles

May 25th: Day 11

Today was a 5 mile run. I intended to do it yesterday, but I went to the beach with some friends instead. Plus it was insanely windy yesterday. Running would have been no fun!

It was a nice run. It's about 70 degrees out, overcast with some sprinkles, so I had no worries of heat or sun in my eyes. 

Lately I've been having some tenderness in my lower legs. Last Saturday I woke up in the middle of the night for some water. I stepped on the ground and...ouch!...my ankle hurt. It's persisted for the past week. And now as my weekly mileage has increased from 5 miles in April to 11-20 miles in May my lower legs feel sore. I'm no physician and never took an anatomy course so I can't say exactly what it is that's bothering me, or whether it's a muscle or a tendon. I spent extra time today stretching and ordered the stick. It should be here in 3-5 business days! 

All I have to say is...ugh. 

May 23rd: Day 10

Today was a short 3 mile run. I picked up the pace considerably from Monday's pace, and even a bit faster than my normal pace! The first two miles were both 8:00 flat, but then I just...got overwhelmed. I tend to do that on short 3 mile runs. I think 'it's only 3 miles I'm almost done. If it's only three why are you working so hard? It's only 3. That's nothing compared to a marathon.' Then I start freaking out, my heart rate goes up, and I feel like quitting. It's horrible, and a mental block I need to get over fast. My last mile was 8:50. 

Ugh.

My body felt fine after. No soreness. My breathing was back to normal within a minute. It's not a physical limitation I experienced today. It was a mental one. 

I need to get over that mentality during short runs! 

May 21st: Day 8

Yesterday was supposed to be my first long run. However, my boss had some personal issues come up so I had to work the late shift.

So I did my long run today instead!

The run was 8 miles long. I started with my usual route through my neighborhood. I start every run on the same path just for the sake of familiarity. I then headed out to the nature trail. I've gone on the nature trail before, but only a few times. This time I went further than I've gone before and took the trail into the city before turning around.

I kept a slow and steady pace throughout my run. I've read that when running the marathon and when training with long runs it's best to add a minute or two to your usual mile pace. So instead of my usual 8:00-8:30 min/mile on shorter runs I kept a 10:00 min/mile pace. I didn't feel winded at all. Not once did my breathing get rough. I was barely sweaty by the end, more so thanks to the sun than anything else. I think for my next long run I should keep a slightly faster pace, perhaps around 9:30 min/mile.

My body felt great after the run. Immediately after I stretched, of course, but now several hours later I'm not sore at all. The only part that 'hurt' was the bottom of my feet. That felt more like the discomfort that comes from standing too long, which makes sense considering my feet were already sore from working 48 hours in the past week!

May 18th: Day 5

Note: I want to write about every day of marathon training, or almost every day. I wrote elsewhere but not on the blog every day this week, so today I'm posting a cliff-notes version of what I have done so far. From here on out I'd like to give a more detailed report.

Right now I have two pairs of running shoes. I have this pair from Nike. I had found them on sale at TJ Maxx last year and fell in love. Naturally I bought the same pair this year when the old ones wore out. I also have a pair of Nike Free Run 2.

Today I ran in the Frees.

It was a short run, just a 3 miler. I ran the first half-mile with my boyfriend. He's been running a half-mile almost daily as stress relief. He's not fast, and it's hard for him, but he enjoys it. I ran the rest on my own.

I did my usual post-running stretches, and right now I'm having some shin pain. I don't think it's shin splints, but something is definitely not right. I'm still new to the Frees--I've only ran in them maybe six or seven times--so I'm thinking this pain is related to the change in shoe style. The second time I ran in them I had intense calf pain for several days after.

Tomorrow is a rest day, then I'm doing the long run in my old shoes. I'll give the Frees another chance, but I might retire them, and just keep them as 'fashion' sneakers...very expensive fashion sneakers.

In the meantime, I'm going to consider the stick.

May 17th: Day 4

Tonight I went for a 5 mile run. I miss night runs! I sweat significantly less, and I love how it feel like I'm floating on the sidewalk. My favorite part of night runs is running through the lawn sprinklers. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite warm enough for that tonight.

And what's even worse, my phone died! So it was the second run in a row where I don't know my exact distance.

It was really a relaxing run without my music. I was able to get lost in my own thoughts and fall into a robotic state of running. It makes me wish the marathon was happening at night, and not in the hot beating sun!

May 15th: Day 2

I'm not exactly sure how far I ran today. I was chugging along, feeling pretty good, when I realized that my GPS hasn't told me how long it's been. Huh, that's odd. It certainly felt like I had reached the 2 mile mark. I looked down to confirm that my GPS had gone haywire. It said I had ran 215 miles, burning a total of 18,000 calories. Hmph.

I kept running for what I think was a little over 3 miles. I felt so anxious not knowing how far I had gone. It made the run not enjoyable at all.

The Official Start of Marathon Training! May 14th: Day 1

Today is the first official day of marathon training! So what's on the schedule today? A whole lot of nothing.

I'm following Hal Higdon's Novice 2 training program. Mondays are rest days. My day will be spent in the dentist's chair.

I can't wait to get started tomorrow!