Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Day 64
Today was another day I wasn't expecting to feel so hot going into my run. And once again, I was pleasantly surprised with the exact opposite. With every 1/2 mile, my pace was getting faster and faster. I ended up doing 6 miles at an overall pace of like 9:38, which is unheard of for me. It was a night run and there was a gorgeous lighting storm and a very nice breeze going on the whole time. Aunt Jean got the feeding tube out today and I think the relief of that part of the misery being over added to the intensity of my run. It was probably one of the most spiritual runs I've ever had. I think a lot of it was the crazy weather going on - it was like the titantic energy of the lightning storm was almost radiating from me, through me, something. A very intimate moment with nature. I felt the unleashing of a titan. Weird. Emotional.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Day 63
Today was supposed to be 15 miles, but since I did 15 miles two Sunday's ago, I really wanted to one-up it, so I mapped out a 16 mile route. Going into this run, my belly had been bloaty and cramping since the night before, and I was expecting a miserable 3 hour run. I also did not get as early a start as I wanted, as it was 10am by the time I got all my goodies hidden on the trail, so I was also expecting to be murdered by the heat too. But then I was reminded of the miracle of running. Not even 1/2 a mile into things, my tummy ache was completely gone & the heat was just not phasing me today. You just can't ever know what the run has in store for you.
Somewhere around the 12th mile or so, I was starting to drag because I was getting thirsty & there was no shade. A really tall guy on a skate board was coming towards me and I was a little concerned because he was not staying on his side of the trail & was pretty much headed straight for me. But then, when he got right up on me, he stuck out his hand for a high-five. This was just the encouragement I needed!! Thank-you skater dude!!
Somewhere around the 12th mile or so, I was starting to drag because I was getting thirsty & there was no shade. A really tall guy on a skate board was coming towards me and I was a little concerned because he was not staying on his side of the trail & was pretty much headed straight for me. But then, when he got right up on me, he stuck out his hand for a high-five. This was just the encouragement I needed!! Thank-you skater dude!!
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Days 22-31
Hello, hello!!! I was afraid that last week of finishing up that house was going to mess with the running schedule, and it did. So, last week was pretty much a wash. But I was finally able to ease back in on Saturday w/ 4 miles. My long run on Monday was in the POURING rain! My shoes were completely soaked, which made for some nice little blisters. But aside from that aspect, I loved the run in the rain - so refreshing.
I did reach a major milestone in training, broke 100 miles! In 4 weeks time, I have run over 100 miles, that is uber cool. I hope to be back on the blogging bandwagon this week.
I need to catch up with Katy too! http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Saturday's Miles: 4
Sunday's Miles: 6
Monday's Miles: 9
Tuesday's Miles: 3
Total Traning Miles: 107.75
I did reach a major milestone in training, broke 100 miles! In 4 weeks time, I have run over 100 miles, that is uber cool. I hope to be back on the blogging bandwagon this week.
I need to catch up with Katy too! http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Saturday's Miles: 4
Sunday's Miles: 6
Monday's Miles: 9
Tuesday's Miles: 3
Total Traning Miles: 107.75
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Days 20 & 21
This weekend I decided to just do the low end of the required 4-6 miles on saturday because I wanted to go for the high end of 5-10 miles on sunday - so Saturday was 4 miles; Sunday was 10. I can't really remember what Saturday's run was like - most likely because I am still kind of inebriated from my 10-miler this evening. Long runs do that to me quite frequently, especially today since I'm pretty sure I was low on blood sugar before even starting out. So it's a crazy combo of a runner's high and tanked glycogen levels. I should have eaten more today in prep for such a long run, but oh well.
Believe it or not, it's actually good practice for the marathon because it's forcing my body to function on energy derived from fat, as opposed to energy derived from glucose. Quick biochemistry lesson... The average human body can only store about 380 grams of glycogen, which equates to approx 18-20 miles of running. Herein lies the rub - a marathon is 26 miles, so where the heck you 'spose to pull those last 6-8 miles out of? The answer: fat stores. The other rub: The body naturally prefers glycogen as fuel (because it requires only like 10 metabolic processes, as opposed to the 20 or so required to turn fat into energy). As with anything, the more practice you have at something, the better you are at it.
Anyway, back to the 10 miler, breathing was at an all-time worst, the entire freaking run! Big fun!! I'm sure I've had instances where my asthma was acting more obnoxious that it did today, but I certainly cannot recall one at the moment. It hurts and it's sort of miserable, but at the same time, it is a part of me and the added struggle makes the battle, the journey and the victory all the more meaningful. I could; however, have done without the insanely painful stitch in my side the last 1.5 miles. But on a good note, I'm so glad my Aunt Jean had a good day yesterday. Unfortunately, the good day was just a teaser and was followed by another very weak day today. Let's hope for another good day tomorrow! :)
Katy did 10 today too - this is the longest she has ever run in her entire life - muy congrats!!!: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Saturday's Miles: 4
Today's Miles: 10
Miles This Week: 30.5
Total Training Miles: 85.75
Believe it or not, it's actually good practice for the marathon because it's forcing my body to function on energy derived from fat, as opposed to energy derived from glucose. Quick biochemistry lesson... The average human body can only store about 380 grams of glycogen, which equates to approx 18-20 miles of running. Herein lies the rub - a marathon is 26 miles, so where the heck you 'spose to pull those last 6-8 miles out of? The answer: fat stores. The other rub: The body naturally prefers glycogen as fuel (because it requires only like 10 metabolic processes, as opposed to the 20 or so required to turn fat into energy). As with anything, the more practice you have at something, the better you are at it.
Anyway, back to the 10 miler, breathing was at an all-time worst, the entire freaking run! Big fun!! I'm sure I've had instances where my asthma was acting more obnoxious that it did today, but I certainly cannot recall one at the moment. It hurts and it's sort of miserable, but at the same time, it is a part of me and the added struggle makes the battle, the journey and the victory all the more meaningful. I could; however, have done without the insanely painful stitch in my side the last 1.5 miles. But on a good note, I'm so glad my Aunt Jean had a good day yesterday. Unfortunately, the good day was just a teaser and was followed by another very weak day today. Let's hope for another good day tomorrow! :)
Katy did 10 today too - this is the longest she has ever run in her entire life - muy congrats!!!: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Saturday's Miles: 4
Today's Miles: 10
Miles This Week: 30.5
Total Training Miles: 85.75
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Day 19 - Gawd I hate that friggin hill!
Why oh why am I already experiencing chaffing?! My first encounter with chaffing last year wasn't until I hit like a 16-18 mile run. But oh no, yesterday and today, thighs rubbing together and now I have little strawberries between my legs, go ahead, laugh. A 112lb person should NOT be having this problem, wth.
This run was just doomed I guess. Less than a mile into things, Jasper took off after a fox, despite my yelling at her to stop. I called and called and she never came; I didn't see her for several mintues. I was sure the fox had eaten her, and quite frankly, I didn't care. Then, she just shows back up out of nowhere. Considering her bad behavior yesterday, this is strike 2 for her.
I've noticed my asthma usually lets up a little bit after the first mile or so (the doctor says that this is because the adrenaline and endorphins released during exercise are natural bronchodilators, hmm interesting). I decided to try to use this to my advantage and get a mile on flat land before going after Darth Vader. This didn't work at all. I still wanted to die on that mile long hill. So far we have chaffing, Jasper acting up and the hill cramping my style.
About the 3rd mile (schedule called for 4-7 miles, I wanted to go for 7 today), Jasper once again misbehaves. The rule is that she can wonder all over the place while I run, but that when I see/hear a car coming and call for her, she is to stay at my side until they pass. She did not come this time and just dilly-dallied in the middle of the road. The people had to come to a complete stop & when I went to pick her up, she just ran away from me. I don't know if the people in the car were amused or what, but they just kept sitting there. Angry & embarassed, I waved them on and kept trying to chase down the stupid dog. Meanwhile, ANOTHER car is coming and we go thru the same drill with them too. Jasper finally crowches down on the side of the road, as if I beat her senseless on a regular basis - which I have never done, but it certainly took everything I had not to do it at this moment. Strikes 3 & 4 for Jasper - she is on indefinite running probation. Stupid bitch.
As if I couldn't have gotten any more angry and frustrated on this run, as the sun is setting, the bugs are swarming. I am so effen sick of effen bugs!! I cannot wait to get back to the city where we have far, far fewer bugs, and there is concrete instead of dirt and mud everywhere. And I am never more than 5 minutes away from a Wal-Mart. I am SOOOOO friggin sick of the country and nature right now. Bahhhhhhhh!!! Oh, and even though I'm wearing neon yellow shorts & a bright white top, the next several cars that go by must have been texting while driving or something because 3-4 times I was nearly run off the road. I threw my arms in the air at one car and the next one I flipped them off. I am an angry, angry girl today.
Go Katy Go!!: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Today's Miles: 7
Miles This Week: 16.5
Total Training Miles: 71.75
This run was just doomed I guess. Less than a mile into things, Jasper took off after a fox, despite my yelling at her to stop. I called and called and she never came; I didn't see her for several mintues. I was sure the fox had eaten her, and quite frankly, I didn't care. Then, she just shows back up out of nowhere. Considering her bad behavior yesterday, this is strike 2 for her.
I've noticed my asthma usually lets up a little bit after the first mile or so (the doctor says that this is because the adrenaline and endorphins released during exercise are natural bronchodilators, hmm interesting). I decided to try to use this to my advantage and get a mile on flat land before going after Darth Vader. This didn't work at all. I still wanted to die on that mile long hill. So far we have chaffing, Jasper acting up and the hill cramping my style.
About the 3rd mile (schedule called for 4-7 miles, I wanted to go for 7 today), Jasper once again misbehaves. The rule is that she can wonder all over the place while I run, but that when I see/hear a car coming and call for her, she is to stay at my side until they pass. She did not come this time and just dilly-dallied in the middle of the road. The people had to come to a complete stop & when I went to pick her up, she just ran away from me. I don't know if the people in the car were amused or what, but they just kept sitting there. Angry & embarassed, I waved them on and kept trying to chase down the stupid dog. Meanwhile, ANOTHER car is coming and we go thru the same drill with them too. Jasper finally crowches down on the side of the road, as if I beat her senseless on a regular basis - which I have never done, but it certainly took everything I had not to do it at this moment. Strikes 3 & 4 for Jasper - she is on indefinite running probation. Stupid bitch.
As if I couldn't have gotten any more angry and frustrated on this run, as the sun is setting, the bugs are swarming. I am so effen sick of effen bugs!! I cannot wait to get back to the city where we have far, far fewer bugs, and there is concrete instead of dirt and mud everywhere. And I am never more than 5 minutes away from a Wal-Mart. I am SOOOOO friggin sick of the country and nature right now. Bahhhhhhhh!!! Oh, and even though I'm wearing neon yellow shorts & a bright white top, the next several cars that go by must have been texting while driving or something because 3-4 times I was nearly run off the road. I threw my arms in the air at one car and the next one I flipped them off. I am an angry, angry girl today.
Go Katy Go!!: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Today's Miles: 7
Miles This Week: 16.5
Total Training Miles: 71.75
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Days 17 & 18 - That darn hill is back
Wednesday was my day off - well, from running anyway, not from anything else. Aunt Jean is still feeling very crummy. It's been exactly one week since her last radiation and the pain hasn't let up any yet :( We really hoped it would have by now, maybe just a little bit anyway. I did officially register for the race today, though. How crazy is it that I'm paying $65 so I can run 26.2 miles? I'm sure most people wouldn't run a marathon even if you offered to pay them ten times that, ha! I love being insane.
Today I was supposed to do 6 miles at my target marathon pace, which I have decided to shoot for 10 min miles. Considering my recent progress, I thought today was going to be easy. But then I realized that it's been a week and a half since I had to tackle that awful hill, which I have decided to name Darth Vader.
My first mile (all uphill, and a pretty steep one) took over 11 minutes, and I knew I still had one more large hill and two smaller ones before the sweet relief of downhills. Just when I was starting to really make up the difference in time, I had to take a detour and chase down my running partner (Jasper, the 10 foot tall and bullet proof chihuahua), grab her up and walk with her in my arms for the next quarter mile or so. Why, you ask? There was a very big dog that she tried to pick a fight with. Well, I'm sure I've shot my goal all to hell by now, but the downhills are just around the corner, so maybe I can at least keep from totally bombing. Should have finished in exactly 60 min, and made it in 60 min & 28 sec. I was happy with that, considering.
Annnnnd, herrrrrre's Johnny, no wait, Katy: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Wednesday Miles: 0 (Day off)
Thursday's Miles: 6
Miles This Week: 9.5
Total Training Miles: 64.75
Today I was supposed to do 6 miles at my target marathon pace, which I have decided to shoot for 10 min miles. Considering my recent progress, I thought today was going to be easy. But then I realized that it's been a week and a half since I had to tackle that awful hill, which I have decided to name Darth Vader.
My first mile (all uphill, and a pretty steep one) took over 11 minutes, and I knew I still had one more large hill and two smaller ones before the sweet relief of downhills. Just when I was starting to really make up the difference in time, I had to take a detour and chase down my running partner (Jasper, the 10 foot tall and bullet proof chihuahua), grab her up and walk with her in my arms for the next quarter mile or so. Why, you ask? There was a very big dog that she tried to pick a fight with. Well, I'm sure I've shot my goal all to hell by now, but the downhills are just around the corner, so maybe I can at least keep from totally bombing. Should have finished in exactly 60 min, and made it in 60 min & 28 sec. I was happy with that, considering.
Annnnnd, herrrrrre's Johnny, no wait, Katy: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Wednesday Miles: 0 (Day off)
Thursday's Miles: 6
Miles This Week: 9.5
Total Training Miles: 64.75
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Days 15 & 16
After some incredible progress last week, this week sure started out with a flop :( Since it was a very sluggish 8 miles on Sunday, I was really hoping to have a good, strong run for Monday. Schedule called for 0-6, and I had in mind about 4 or 5. However, my job had other plans for me. I ended up working over 12 hours (which really isn't that big of a deal for me), but when I didn't stop work til 10pm or so, it was simply too late at night to just be starting a run, and I was too tired. Not to mention, I was nauseous, light-headed, dizzy and high-as-a-kite from working with lacquer for the last several hours. I was very disappointed, but I had to let this run go. Fail.
Today was another 12 hour work day that involved a lot of inhalants, but since most of the spraying was done during the daytime while the bugs are away, we were able to ventilate and spare a few brain cells, as well as not thoroughly piss off my asthma. But of course, a mild nosebleed had to make a cameo appearance, just for spite. I was still tired though, and a little woozy AND it was supposed to be speed workout day...oh boy what a nice mixture this is gonna be, right? I decided I just wanted to get the 3 miles over with, so I opted for 3 intervals of 1-mile each. It's one thing to do a 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile as hard as you can, but to practically "sprint" an entire mile is a whole other story (sprint being a relative term compared to my usual 10-10:30 pace). Well, screw it, here goes...
Mile 1 - 8:44, wth?! Oh my freakin gaaa, really? Did I just do that? Well cut my legs off and call me shorty!!! This is an incredibly impressive pace for me, but I'm sure my next two miles will suffer dearly.
Mile 2 - 8:58, Did I really just maintain that? Boo-ya! Not to mention that my time was actually a little better than that, but the neighbors stopped me for a few seconds to warn me that they saw copperheads out on the road the night before, oh goody.
Mile 3 - last one, the TRUE test. Let's see what I can dig deep for. Drum roll please... duh duh duh duh - - - - 8:17!! Yes, EIGHT MINUTES, SEVENTEEN SECONDS. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, biatch!!!
Wonder if Katy was able to do the full 3 miles this time on her 2nd go-round w/ speed training: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Monday's Miles: 0
Tuesday's Miles: 3.5, Rockstar Style
Miles This Week: 3.5
Total Training Miles: 58.75
Today was another 12 hour work day that involved a lot of inhalants, but since most of the spraying was done during the daytime while the bugs are away, we were able to ventilate and spare a few brain cells, as well as not thoroughly piss off my asthma. But of course, a mild nosebleed had to make a cameo appearance, just for spite. I was still tired though, and a little woozy AND it was supposed to be speed workout day...oh boy what a nice mixture this is gonna be, right? I decided I just wanted to get the 3 miles over with, so I opted for 3 intervals of 1-mile each. It's one thing to do a 1/4 mile or 1/2 mile as hard as you can, but to practically "sprint" an entire mile is a whole other story (sprint being a relative term compared to my usual 10-10:30 pace). Well, screw it, here goes...
Mile 1 - 8:44, wth?! Oh my freakin gaaa, really? Did I just do that? Well cut my legs off and call me shorty!!! This is an incredibly impressive pace for me, but I'm sure my next two miles will suffer dearly.
Mile 2 - 8:58, Did I really just maintain that? Boo-ya! Not to mention that my time was actually a little better than that, but the neighbors stopped me for a few seconds to warn me that they saw copperheads out on the road the night before, oh goody.
Mile 3 - last one, the TRUE test. Let's see what I can dig deep for. Drum roll please... duh duh duh duh - - - - 8:17!! Yes, EIGHT MINUTES, SEVENTEEN SECONDS. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, biatch!!!
Wonder if Katy was able to do the full 3 miles this time on her 2nd go-round w/ speed training: http://katysfirstmarathon.blogspot.com/
Monday's Miles: 0
Tuesday's Miles: 3.5, Rockstar Style
Miles This Week: 3.5
Total Training Miles: 58.75
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