In the midst of the craziness and overnight guests I found some time to hit the treadmill yesterday afternoon. While I definitely enjoyed running outside, I welcomed the treadmill with open arms because I love being able to see how far and how fast I am running. So while the boy slept I brought the girl downstairs with me and got right down to it.
I was still feeling my cold pretty bad so I wasn't feeling up to doing too much, so I only ran for about 2.5 miles in total with a time of 28 minutes. I started off at a 6 and worked up to a 7 and at times hit a 7.5, but I kept having to drop to a walk because of the coughing fits that the running brought on.
Not thrilled with my time or my distance, but my lungs just aren't up to it. So I'm taking today off and hopefully Wednesday will lend itself to a better performance.
That's all I got for now. Time for some hot tea and getting the little ones to bed!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Monday, September 24, 2012
Craziness & Running With My Cousin
So it's been one hell of a week! My race was last Saturday and I haven't run since until today. My plan was to take Sunday & Monday off and run on Tuesday. But everything went nuts on Tuesday when the girl got sick. Not just sick, I mean REALLY sick. Like 911, ambulances, overnight at the hospital sick with pneumonia sick. You can read about part of the ordeal here. She is mostly fine now, but we're taking it easy. It just didn't really leave any kind of time open for me to get any running in. And then when I could, I was sick myself & didn't want to push myself into a coughing fit.
So it's been a week since my last run. But my cousin (KR) is spending an extended weekend with me, and lucky for me she is a runner! I was nervous heading out yesterday morning; It had been a week since I did any kind of exercise, I was still battling the remnants of a cold, and we were running outside which I still don't do that often. And of course, since I was running with someone else I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up, that I would run out of breath and fall down and be left on the street by myself, or that I would just be an embarrassment to myself and the entire sport of running. Silly, I know, but this is what goes through my head every time I do something different.
Once we took off, I knew we would be fine. KR was letting me set the pace, and I was surprised to see that I was faster than her! I wasn't racing or anything like that - it was just a fun morning run for the two of us. I had just assumed that since she had been running for years that I wouldn't be able to keep up and was happy to see that I could hold my own :)
We didn't really set a course, we just took off from the house and guesstimated how far we went, looping through the neighborhood a few times. We both guessed that it was just over 2 miles, and when I got home, I used Map My Run to see what we actually did and was happy to see that it was 2.76 miles! I can't really use this app while running outside because I don't have an iPhone, so I have no idea how fast we were, but I felt good and I was fine with the distance. It had been a week so I was happy to be moving at all!
So running outside is always a new experience for me. Yesterday morning in particular I noticed a few things.
1. I don't sweat nearly as much outside as I do in the basement. Might have something to do with the 60 degree weather. I'm sure if it were 90 out there it would be a different story. But I think there is something to be said for moving through space and the wind that it creates. I think even in warmer temps I may sweat less because I'm not staying in one place. We'll have to test this out next summer!
2. I could feel the breeze through my sneakers. Not kidding. This was a very interesting experience for me. Again, I'm sure the cool air had something to do with it. I wonder what that will be like in the cold of winter...will I have to wear warmer socks?
3. Hamstrings are definitely used more outside. Nothing to really elaborate on here, just something I'm noticing.
4. I am more motivated to go further if I am outside. Since I can see how far I've actually gone it makes me want to go even further.
5. Running with someone else, whether in conversation or not also pushes me to go further. It keeps me accountable for holding my own and my mind doesn't go to the "I want to quit" zone, no matter how bad I feel.
So this running outside thing I'm starting to like. There is that control freak part of me that likes the treadmill because it is familiar and I can see exactly how far and how fast I've gone. I wonder if one of the GPS watches would allow me the same feeling of control?
More running to come. Not sure if I'll be able to get outside with KR again, but I feel a noticeable difference when I do run compared with when I don't. And now that I'm aware of it I'm sure I will be more on top of it.
4.
So it's been a week since my last run. But my cousin (KR) is spending an extended weekend with me, and lucky for me she is a runner! I was nervous heading out yesterday morning; It had been a week since I did any kind of exercise, I was still battling the remnants of a cold, and we were running outside which I still don't do that often. And of course, since I was running with someone else I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep up, that I would run out of breath and fall down and be left on the street by myself, or that I would just be an embarrassment to myself and the entire sport of running. Silly, I know, but this is what goes through my head every time I do something different.
Once we took off, I knew we would be fine. KR was letting me set the pace, and I was surprised to see that I was faster than her! I wasn't racing or anything like that - it was just a fun morning run for the two of us. I had just assumed that since she had been running for years that I wouldn't be able to keep up and was happy to see that I could hold my own :)
We didn't really set a course, we just took off from the house and guesstimated how far we went, looping through the neighborhood a few times. We both guessed that it was just over 2 miles, and when I got home, I used Map My Run to see what we actually did and was happy to see that it was 2.76 miles! I can't really use this app while running outside because I don't have an iPhone, so I have no idea how fast we were, but I felt good and I was fine with the distance. It had been a week so I was happy to be moving at all!
So running outside is always a new experience for me. Yesterday morning in particular I noticed a few things.
1. I don't sweat nearly as much outside as I do in the basement. Might have something to do with the 60 degree weather. I'm sure if it were 90 out there it would be a different story. But I think there is something to be said for moving through space and the wind that it creates. I think even in warmer temps I may sweat less because I'm not staying in one place. We'll have to test this out next summer!
2. I could feel the breeze through my sneakers. Not kidding. This was a very interesting experience for me. Again, I'm sure the cool air had something to do with it. I wonder what that will be like in the cold of winter...will I have to wear warmer socks?
3. Hamstrings are definitely used more outside. Nothing to really elaborate on here, just something I'm noticing.
4. I am more motivated to go further if I am outside. Since I can see how far I've actually gone it makes me want to go even further.
5. Running with someone else, whether in conversation or not also pushes me to go further. It keeps me accountable for holding my own and my mind doesn't go to the "I want to quit" zone, no matter how bad I feel.
So this running outside thing I'm starting to like. There is that control freak part of me that likes the treadmill because it is familiar and I can see exactly how far and how fast I've gone. I wonder if one of the GPS watches would allow me the same feeling of control?
More running to come. Not sure if I'll be able to get outside with KR again, but I feel a noticeable difference when I do run compared with when I don't. And now that I'm aware of it I'm sure I will be more on top of it.
4.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Spotswood 5K Picture Summary
I just got an e-mail that the pictures from Saturday's run are up, so I figured I'd share with you all. If you haven't already, read the recap I posted so that some of the pictures make more sense.
Hope you enjoy!
Hope you enjoy!
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| Wifey & CR (in the red shirts) wait for me while I use the bathroom before the race starts. Again. |
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| The race starts! Apparently the first few people just fall forwards. I had no idea. |
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| If you look closely, you can see me & CR getting ready to take off! We're kind of in the middle, behind the girl in the neon green shirt. |
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| OK, I'm coming up in the purple tank, the runner on the left. To the right you can see my distraction as I approached the finish line. |
It looks like they're assaulting her, but I assure you they were helping. She had already gone down & they were stopping it from happening again. Also, if you look behind me & the girl I was running next to, you can see the blur of Orange Shirt Guy approaching
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| Happy to be finishing! (And they have hamstring girl taken care of now.) |
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| Pure happiness! |
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| As soon as I crossed the finish line, Ticket Nazi assaulted me. Yes, THAT close to the finish line. Hamstring Girl is seconds from crossing with the aid of some fellow runners, and Orange Shirt Guy is coming up too. |
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| Orange Shirt Guy. Thank you for pushing me! |
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| You can barely see CR crossing the finish line because Ticket Nazi (red vest) is now standing in front of the photographer. |
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| CR finishes! Yup, that look sums up how we all feel about Ticket Nazi. Who is still standing in front of the photographer, btw. |
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| Great run! Me with CR after we finished :) |
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Spotswood 5K Recap
The Night Before
Since this race was in Spotswood, not far from my mom's house in Old Bridge, I spent the night before there again with wifey, the boy & the girl. It appears to be tradition now - I've done 3 5K's, all of which I have spent the night before at my mom's house. This time though my sister (MFC) happened to be spending the night there as well with her puppy, Mr. Peter, so it was a full house! The plan was originally for wifey & the kids to wait at the finish line for me, but that changed & just wifey came courtesy of Grandma's Baby-Sitting Service. They are wonderful, I recommend them!
My first concern was that I am allergic to dogs. Since I am still nursing the boy my previous go-to allergy medicine has been a no-no due to its propensity to dry up breast milk. However, at this point I am not as worried about that because he's a toddler and isn't far away from weaning himself anyway. Plus, it's a 24 hour medication and I wanted to take it ONE time, ONE pill. I didn't want to risk not being able to breathe in the morning and having it affect my performance and I felt that the risk was minimal in comparison to the benefit. So we stopped at Walgreens on the way to my mom's house and I took my first allergy pill in over three and a half years. I am happy to report that it worked splendidly, there was hardly a show of any kind of allergic reaction to Mr. Peter-head (except for when I touched my eye after petting him that one time and my eye swelled & turned red, but that's totally my fault). So yay for that going right!
The second area of concern was sleep. Since I haven't seen MFC in a while due to her being locationally challenged, we ended up staying up talking much, much later than I had planned/anticipated. So I went to bed worrying about the amount of sleep that I was going to get which of course led to an even greater lack of sleep because I was then worrying about not getting any sleep. Viscous cycle! That in combination with the super mega comforter blanket that was more like an oven than a blanket and made me sweat to death after an hour caused some tossing & turning for a while. But I finally drifted off to sleep around 2am, a mere 2 hours after getting into bed. Lucky for me the boy woke up at about 3:30am, unhappy, and it took me a little while to get him back to sleep. I drifted back to sleep for a bit and then my mom's wonderful upstairs neighbors decided that 4:30am is when they need to wake up. Complete with alarms and the sounds of doggie paws on their hardwood floors above my head. A quiet people they are not. They were done bowling upstairs by about 5:30, just in time for my alarm to go off. Needless to say I was not well-rested.
Getting Started
I snoozed the alarm until about 6am, just to get a little bit of rest. I got up and made my coffee & breakfast and the boy decided that this was a good time for him to wake up as well. At this point I forced wifey to get up so that I could finish eating. She got into the shower right after that, which woke the girl up. Great. Now I have to make breakfast for everyone and I'm supposed to be getting ready myself, but wifey is in the shower. I also needed to stretch out my glute since it was still bothering me and make sure everything was in order. Ack!
Fast-forward to 7:15, I'm supposed to be leaving and I'm not even dressed, forget about stretching or rolling my glutes! Shall we say I was stressed??!! Just a bit! We get it together and head out the door around 7:30, arrive at the venue at about 7:45. Apparently their recommendation of arriving between 7am & 8am is not taken seriously at all because there was almost nobody there!! I went to the sign-in tent to pick up my race bib & t-shirt and there was only one person ahead of me. So I relaxed a bit knowing that I still had over an hour to get set up, stretched, and use the bathroom about a hundred times before getting in the starting line. They actually had someone from Snap Fitness run a stretching session which I happily participated in and felt great afterwords! My glutes weren't in as much discomfort and I had actually warmed up a bit from the freezing state I was in! I also ran into one of my friends (CR) there, which was pretty cool. It was her first 5K and I'm still a newbie too so we were having some of the same race day gitters.
In all honestly, my gitters were pretty bad! I kept having a nightmare where I was the absolute last person and they stopped blocking the roads off and I had no idea where I was or where I was going because I was so far behind and I ended up completely lost. Or It's go time and I think I'm running but really it's not running at all and it's a big joke and so ridiculous that I would even consider signing-up for a 5K. Obviously neither of those things happened, and hopefully this will be the last time I fear that!
Setting the Pace
One of my biggest difficulties with running outside is setting my pace. Since I run mainly on a treadmill, I don't even have to pay attention to how fast I'm going or regulating myself that much since my feet just fall and I just need to stay on the machine. There's not much thinking involved or regulating on my part, it just kind of happens. But when I get outside, I tend to take off running waayy faster than I am used to and I start to burn out or lose steam early on. So I made sure not to do that today.
After everyone spread out a little, people ahead of me started walking and I passed them. This helped calm my fears hat I was going to come in absolute last. And soon enough I got into a bit of a race with who I will call Orange Shirt Guy. At first I found him annoying, but I am actually thankful for him because he kind of kept me going and on top of my game. A few minutes into the run he whizzed past me and then halted to a walk in front of me. Kind of annoying since he obviously saw me since he had just passed me, but whatever. So I went around him and kept my pace. A few minutes later he runs up next to me and we're kind of keeping the same pace. In my head, I'm thinking, "Oh yeah, you want to race buddy?! Let's GO!!" But I know that's stupid and I don't want to burn myself out, and I definitely didn't want to do any walking today. So I just ignored him as much as possible and rocked on to Adele in my ear buds. After a while, he starts walking again and falls back. I was sure this was the last of him.
We hit the first water station and the attendant is calling out "Mile 1" and the time. My jaw about hit the floor when he said 9:30!! I could not believe that, since I have never run a mile that fast before and I certainly didn't feel like I was pushing too hard!! Shortly after this, Orange Shirt Guy speeds past me again. I try to speed up a little bit to stay on his tail, but he's going too fast so I let myself fall back a little bit. Again, I didn't want to burn out and stop running. I started losing some steam having been overtaken by Orange Shirt Guy and the pain in my hip/glute resurfacing. There was a second where I was actually fighting with myself to keep running. I had a moment of, "Running is stupid, I'm never doing this again, I'm in pain and I paid money for this, blah, blah, blah..." and at just that moment the right music came on & I got some cheers from two little kids sitting on their front lawn watching everyone run by. And then I saw I was coming up on Orange Shirt Guy who had started walking again! Haha! I can still beat him! I ran past Orange Shirt Guy and that was the last I saw of him until the end. Talk about getting what you need when you need it! Thank you universe!
Keep Moving
The rest of the run was kind of a blur...I started to get lost in my thoughts for a little bit, which was nice because while I was in some pain, before I knew it I was at the 2 mile mark! They had people directing us at every turn so there was no way for me to get lost, there were people cheering all along the way - some volunteers, some people just sitting in front of their houses, some people just driving in their cars - and that gave me extra steam to keep the run up when my hip and glute so desperately wanted me to quit.
I finally turned the last corner and could see the crowd of people at the finish line and what appeared to be a clock. The end!! Yay!! I kicked it into high gear and it was a sprint to the finish. I could hear that Orange Shirt Guy was approaching me from behind (he had a distinct gasp when he was struggling for air), and there was no way I was going to let him beat me!
As I got closer to the clock, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it was at 29:3x!! If I hurried, I might be able to make it in under 30 minutes!!! Full speed ahead baby! That is, until I saw the girl ahead of me fall flat on her face. Apparently her hamstring was cramping up pretty bad on her. She did get back up and tried to run, but she was done - she couldn't even walk anymore. There were a few people next to her helping to carry her, so I was OK with pushing ahead but I felt bad for her because she was so close to the finish line. In my distraction I approached the finish line & didn't catch what my final time was! Oh no! How did I not see it??!! Aaahhh!!
The second I crossed the line I was accosted by what we called the Ticket Nazi. She approached each runner as they finished & ripped off a stub from their bib to help record their times. I (along with many other people) ripped this off prior to the race because nobody told us we needed it, and it was labeled as a raffle ticket, and it made pinning the bib to my shirt more difficult. So, not only did I almost run her over/fall on my face trying not to hit her because she jumped right in front of me the second I crossed the finish line without allowing for time to slow down, but then she yelled at me for ripping my "race" (read: raffle) ticket off. I wanted to be like, "Move before I plow into you crazy lady!!", but she was already yelling at the next person who did the same thing as me. I tried to find out how we would get out end times but she blew me off and was again yelling at the next person. A regular Miss. Sunshine.
As I finished my wonderful interaction with her and searched the crowd for wifey I was approached by Orange Shirt Guy, who told me my time was either right under or over 30:00. He came in at 30:16 and I was ahead of him by a few seconds. (YES!!) He then thanked me for setting a pace for him to try to keep up with and admitted to liking the race we had going on with each other. I agreed, and we had a little chat about it and I decided then that I didn't dislike him. Our conversation got cut off when I saw wifey in the crowd, waiving my "race ticket" in the air towards me.
It was when I saw her that finishing hit me. Between the hamstring girl, the Ticket Nazi, and Orange Shirt Guy, I barely had a second to realize what I had just accomplished!! I ran a 5K in about 30-ish minutes!! Possibly under! I did it! I didn't come in last, I didn't get lost, I actually beat a bunch of high school soccer players! It was a wonderful moment, and I'm so glad she was there to reel me back into reality. We waited for CR to finish and she did amazing for her first run, 33:51. It was also the first time she ran straight through the 3.1 miles! So a big day for all of us! So much fun, so happy I did this, and I can't wait until wifey is ready to join me :) As always, thanks for your support! And thank you to anyone still reading this blog all these weeks later. You're keeping me accountable whether you know it or not, and that's what is going to help make all of this stick for a long time.
The After Effects
I don't know if this is at all related, but I figure I should mention it.
After the race we went back to my mom's house, I showered, and we all got ready to go out to a celebratory brunch - I was craving waffles in the worst way! After my shower something funky happened with my eyes - it was like I had stared at a bright light and a portion of my vision was blurry and dark. You know, like when too many flashes from a camera go off in front of your face? And I started feeling a little shaky and I realized that I hadn't eaten anything post-race yet so maybe my sugar was a little low. It's never really mattered that much before, and I don't often eat right after I'm done running so I found it odd. But I ate a few cookies anyway, just in case. A few minutes later the vision cleared up so I assumed it was just a low blood sugar thing and that I needed to eat. Good thing we were on our way to brunch!
Then right before we left I got a little bit of a headache. Nothing major, and again, I thought I just needed to eat. But the closer we got to the restaurant the worse it got. By the time we pulled in I had a full-fledged migraine, something I haven't had in over 10 years! I used to get them all the time when I was in high school & college and then when I started taking better care of myself they went away. But this was really bad. Light sensitivity, nausea, heavy head - it was awful! I walked into the restaurant and I had to walk right out because the smell bothered me so badly. My celebratory brunch was cancelled because I couldn't even bear to be in the restaurant that I chose! It was one of those headaches that made me unable to function. I couldn't talk, I couldn't open my eyes, I couldn't move. I layed down on my mother's couch and slept for about 2 hours because there was nothing else that I could do. I woke up feeling better - I still had a headache, but it was one I could function with. Even now as I type this, hours later, I still feel the remnants and hope that it's all rectified by tomorrow.
Odd. I'm not so sure that this was brought about by lack of food or low blood sugar. I have eaten plenty and it still hasn't gone away entirely. And I'm pretty sure that the funky eye thing was a warning sign that a migraine was coming on and not the result of low sugar. But I figure I should mention this in case any other runners out there have experienced anything similar. Anything in case I can avoid it from happening again!
So what a roller-coaster of a day, huh?!
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Hip Pain = Rest
So since I'm having some pain while merely walking today I decided early on that I was just going to take the day to rest. Hopefully I'll be restored by Saturday and if not, fingers crossed I can just run through it! I'm already getting jittery thinking about it! I have tomorrow to prepare and I'm going to make sure I do a lot of stretching and hopefully wifey will do some massaging as well :) So since I probably won't post again until after the race...wish me luck!! My goal is under 32 minutes!!
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
30:53 & Cramping
Wow, I didn't think I'd shave over a minute off of my time tonight but I did! 1:13 to be exact! I just got it in my head that I was going to be faster tonight and I was. Started off at 5.7, moved quickly to a 6.0 and spent most of my time there. I hit 1 mile at 10:16 and was pretty happy with that, though I am looking forward to making it under 10:00. After 2 miles I moved to 6.2 and then up to a 6.5. Finished off with a 7 and debated going faster as I was racing the clock to be under 31:00. I was secretly hoping to make it under 30:00, but my muscles were screaming at me and now is not the time to overdo it so I didn't push too too much.
I had a crazy busy day today and did a ton of walking. So much so that by dinnertime my right hip & glute were already bothering me. Not a good sign. So I decided to do the foam roller before I ran tonight in hopes that it would loosen me up a bit and reduce some of the pain I knew was coming. I think it worked for the most part; there was pain but I know it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
2 new(er) things tonight...
1. Something popped up from my past that I haven't had to deal with in years and years. The muscle in the arch of my left foot cramped up during the day today and then again tonight. This used to happen to me all the time as a teenager. Went to an Ortho and he called it Plantar Fasci-something-itis. I don't remember the cause of it but I remember pulling my big toe back to ease up the spasm. So I did again today and tonight and it went away. Totally weird, don't know what that's all about...maybe I need more potassium? I'd say water, but I know I over-hydrate as it is.
2. While walking up the stairs from the basement after my run my right calf & hamstring also cramped up. Same side as the hip & glute issue. Not sure if this is related to that or the foot thing, even though the foot is on the other side of my body.
So I'm dealing with some cramping issues. Again. I have no idea why. I hope it's not just from overuse, which it could be. Even though I doubt it's from dehydration I'll up my fluid intake anyway because it can't hurt. But now I am torn with what to do tomorrow. I have thought about just running for 1 mile just so that I am doing something to keep myself moving. I originally wanted to do some sprints and I'm still contemplating that, but if I'm cramping that's an awful idea. So I'm going to play it by ear and see how I feel tomorrow when it's time to run. If I end up with 2 days of rest before Saturday it's not the end of the world. I won't be thrilled and I'll be nervous as heck going into it, but I've had a good week so far so hopefully that will be enough for me to feel prepared mentally.
Anyway, I used the roller again on my glute & hamstrings after the run and after I stretched, and it's already feeling a little better. So that was definitely worth the $16 that I didn't pay for it!
I had a crazy busy day today and did a ton of walking. So much so that by dinnertime my right hip & glute were already bothering me. Not a good sign. So I decided to do the foam roller before I ran tonight in hopes that it would loosen me up a bit and reduce some of the pain I knew was coming. I think it worked for the most part; there was pain but I know it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
2 new(er) things tonight...
1. Something popped up from my past that I haven't had to deal with in years and years. The muscle in the arch of my left foot cramped up during the day today and then again tonight. This used to happen to me all the time as a teenager. Went to an Ortho and he called it Plantar Fasci-something-itis. I don't remember the cause of it but I remember pulling my big toe back to ease up the spasm. So I did again today and tonight and it went away. Totally weird, don't know what that's all about...maybe I need more potassium? I'd say water, but I know I over-hydrate as it is.
2. While walking up the stairs from the basement after my run my right calf & hamstring also cramped up. Same side as the hip & glute issue. Not sure if this is related to that or the foot thing, even though the foot is on the other side of my body.
So I'm dealing with some cramping issues. Again. I have no idea why. I hope it's not just from overuse, which it could be. Even though I doubt it's from dehydration I'll up my fluid intake anyway because it can't hurt. But now I am torn with what to do tomorrow. I have thought about just running for 1 mile just so that I am doing something to keep myself moving. I originally wanted to do some sprints and I'm still contemplating that, but if I'm cramping that's an awful idea. So I'm going to play it by ear and see how I feel tomorrow when it's time to run. If I end up with 2 days of rest before Saturday it's not the end of the world. I won't be thrilled and I'll be nervous as heck going into it, but I've had a good week so far so hopefully that will be enough for me to feel prepared mentally.
Anyway, I used the roller again on my glute & hamstrings after the run and after I stretched, and it's already feeling a little better. So that was definitely worth the $16 that I didn't pay for it!
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
32:06 and a Foam Roller
OK, so I have a new fastest time!! Oh yeah! And I wasn't so sure tonight would go well, ha! It was 9:30 before I could even think about heading downstairs and I was already exhausted from a busy day. As I was putting on my running clothes I questioned for a second whether I should bother so late or not, but I knew I would kick myself if I didn't. I scanned through the TV and found some Big Bang Theory (always good to run to!) and tried to ignore the glowing red panel in front of me.
I hit 1 mile at 10:32, pretty happy about that! I stayed at a 5.7 for most of the run and towards the end I kicked it up to a 6 and eventually a 6.5. So I am getting faster. I'm hoping I have more energy tomorrow so that after the 3.1 miles I can get some more sprinting in because I know I have to take it easy on Thursday.
Part of my busy day today was scouring the stores that I have gift cards to in search of a foam roller, which has been recommended to me by many people. As much as I loathe Wal-Mart, I had a gift card for there and braved the crazy for the greater good of my glutes. I was surprised by how much larger it was than I had pictured! In my head, these things were more like the noodles you use in a pool than the solid thing it really is! Of course since it was Wal-Mart, there was only one selection and it was the very last one as well, so I went with it. Lucky for me it was blue and it was (free) $16.
During the run tonight my right hip flexor and glute again were screaming at me. Not as badly as Sunday's run, but enough for me to want to do something about it. I had looked up some exercises online and the roller came with some as well, so I knew what I needed to do. Oh my God, why haven't I heard of these things before?! Best way to work out a muscle kink EVER!! (Sorry wifey, but your hands wear out. This doesn't, lol.) Just a few minutes and the soreness was pretty much gone! I do feel it a tad when I walk around, but nothing like what it was. So thank you to everyone who recommended I get this!
So that was my exciting night! Hopefully we have a good run tomorrow as well :)
I hit 1 mile at 10:32, pretty happy about that! I stayed at a 5.7 for most of the run and towards the end I kicked it up to a 6 and eventually a 6.5. So I am getting faster. I'm hoping I have more energy tomorrow so that after the 3.1 miles I can get some more sprinting in because I know I have to take it easy on Thursday.
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| My new Gold's Gym (c) Foam Roller. Of course it is blue. |
During the run tonight my right hip flexor and glute again were screaming at me. Not as badly as Sunday's run, but enough for me to want to do something about it. I had looked up some exercises online and the roller came with some as well, so I knew what I needed to do. Oh my God, why haven't I heard of these things before?! Best way to work out a muscle kink EVER!! (Sorry wifey, but your hands wear out. This doesn't, lol.) Just a few minutes and the soreness was pretty much gone! I do feel it a tad when I walk around, but nothing like what it was. So thank you to everyone who recommended I get this!
So that was my exciting night! Hopefully we have a good run tomorrow as well :)
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Back at 3.1 Miles & a Butt Injury
Oy!
I went down for my run today feeling good. My food was relatively in check, running the past 2 days got me feeling better and more prepared for the 3.1 mile attempt today, and I've been able to get a decent amount of sleep over the past few days as well. I was ready to take on this run!
Lucky for me, Superbad happened to be on, and if you're going to be watching TV while running, comedy is definitely the way to go. I did the first mile at a slower pace and came in at 10:54. Not too happy about that so I bumped my speed up a little bit so as to be faster but not wear myself out too soon. At about 1.5 or 1.6 miles I started noticing some cramping & pain going from my lower back into my right glute and hip. "Not again!" I thought to myself. After my last injury, which I discovered was to a hip flexor, I started doing exercises to strengthen my flexor muscles so that I don't strain/pull/whatever them again. And as I ran tonight I realized that this was different; while I felt a little bit of strain in my hip, the pain was mostly in my lower back & glute.
I started to worry if I was even going to be able to make it to 2 miles, let alone 3.1! But I hit 2 miles at 21:28. Better, but still not great. I didn't want to push it too hard right now and hurt myself further, but I also didn't want to give up too early, so I pushed on. The whole last 1.1 mile I was wondering if I should stop or not, was I doing more harm than good, will I have to take off more days for rest now and throw a wrench into everything? Ugh, it was so frustrating!
So the good news is that I finished at 32:50, which isn't too shabby for being lazy for a while. Also, after the run I got to stretch and I stretched quite a bit. I even looked up stretches for the glutes and lower back and added those in as well. I also had wifey rub some of the kinks out and there will be another massage session with ET later too. After all of that and some time relaxing, I am happy to report that most of the pain has subsided. Something has definitely been strained though and I am not 100% out of the woods. Since tomorrow is Monday I am resting. If I have to rest again on Tuesday I will, but I HAVE TO be able to go on Wednesday & Thursday for me to feel even remotely ready for Saturday. So I'm taking it one day at a time & keeping my fingers crossed!
Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?
I went down for my run today feeling good. My food was relatively in check, running the past 2 days got me feeling better and more prepared for the 3.1 mile attempt today, and I've been able to get a decent amount of sleep over the past few days as well. I was ready to take on this run!
Lucky for me, Superbad happened to be on, and if you're going to be watching TV while running, comedy is definitely the way to go. I did the first mile at a slower pace and came in at 10:54. Not too happy about that so I bumped my speed up a little bit so as to be faster but not wear myself out too soon. At about 1.5 or 1.6 miles I started noticing some cramping & pain going from my lower back into my right glute and hip. "Not again!" I thought to myself. After my last injury, which I discovered was to a hip flexor, I started doing exercises to strengthen my flexor muscles so that I don't strain/pull/whatever them again. And as I ran tonight I realized that this was different; while I felt a little bit of strain in my hip, the pain was mostly in my lower back & glute.
I started to worry if I was even going to be able to make it to 2 miles, let alone 3.1! But I hit 2 miles at 21:28. Better, but still not great. I didn't want to push it too hard right now and hurt myself further, but I also didn't want to give up too early, so I pushed on. The whole last 1.1 mile I was wondering if I should stop or not, was I doing more harm than good, will I have to take off more days for rest now and throw a wrench into everything? Ugh, it was so frustrating!
So the good news is that I finished at 32:50, which isn't too shabby for being lazy for a while. Also, after the run I got to stretch and I stretched quite a bit. I even looked up stretches for the glutes and lower back and added those in as well. I also had wifey rub some of the kinks out and there will be another massage session with ET later too. After all of that and some time relaxing, I am happy to report that most of the pain has subsided. Something has definitely been strained though and I am not 100% out of the woods. Since tomorrow is Monday I am resting. If I have to rest again on Tuesday I will, but I HAVE TO be able to go on Wednesday & Thursday for me to feel even remotely ready for Saturday. So I'm taking it one day at a time & keeping my fingers crossed!
Anyone have any ideas why this is happening?
Time to Buckle Down!
I felt pretty good going into yesterday's run. I knew my distance wouldn't be wonderful but I planned on working on speed too so I was OK with it.
I ran my first mile in 11:15, and kept running for another 3/4 mile. As I felt myself giving out, somewhere around 1.6 miles, I pushed it pretty far with the speed and ran at a 9 for 0.15 miles. It might not sound like a lot, but I felt it! I went to a walk for a little bit but then pushed the speed really hard for as long as I could take it. There were a few times I had to jump onto the sides of the treadmill (something I never do because I'm not coordinated enough!) because I was struggling so much I couldn't even push the speed button to slow myself down! I kept up with this until I hit 2.75 miles and then walked it out to 3.
My goal for Sunday is to try to run the full 3.1 miles and then call it a day. If I have it in me when I'm done to work on speed as well, I'll give it a whirl, but I don't want to overdo it. I'm only taking Monday off and then I'm in it Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Thursday I will take it easy, and maybe work on the speed more than distance, and then Friday is my rest day before the race on Saturday! It's still a week away, but I am nervous that I will not be back up to snuff by then and I'm kicking myself for letting me get this far off track. Ugh. But no sense in dwelling, the only thing I can do now is work hard and do the best I can. I know I am capable of it it's just a matter of getting myself there again.
I ran my first mile in 11:15, and kept running for another 3/4 mile. As I felt myself giving out, somewhere around 1.6 miles, I pushed it pretty far with the speed and ran at a 9 for 0.15 miles. It might not sound like a lot, but I felt it! I went to a walk for a little bit but then pushed the speed really hard for as long as I could take it. There were a few times I had to jump onto the sides of the treadmill (something I never do because I'm not coordinated enough!) because I was struggling so much I couldn't even push the speed button to slow myself down! I kept up with this until I hit 2.75 miles and then walked it out to 3.
My goal for Sunday is to try to run the full 3.1 miles and then call it a day. If I have it in me when I'm done to work on speed as well, I'll give it a whirl, but I don't want to overdo it. I'm only taking Monday off and then I'm in it Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. Thursday I will take it easy, and maybe work on the speed more than distance, and then Friday is my rest day before the race on Saturday! It's still a week away, but I am nervous that I will not be back up to snuff by then and I'm kicking myself for letting me get this far off track. Ugh. But no sense in dwelling, the only thing I can do now is work hard and do the best I can. I know I am capable of it it's just a matter of getting myself there again.
Staycation Killing My Run!
I've been lazy.
This past week was our annual "Staycation" week, and I have let it get the best of my running. Friday night was the first time I ran since my botched attempt in the rain. Why? Because we got busy, because I was tired, because I was LAZY!
I hear real runners talk about how they feel awful if they don't run. I'm not totally there yet. I feel guilty if I don't run, and after three days of it I felt sluggish and loaf-like but I don't automatically notice it as being from not running right away yet. Every day that I put off running I felt like it was OK. I know that it's not, I have a race next weekend! And after I ran last night I felt totally better so I do see that it is making a difference in how I feel.
But it is still sort of a chore for me. I'm not at the point where it's a break, or my escape or something I totally look forward to. Yes, I look forward to how I feel when I achieve something I didn't think was possible. Yes, I like how I feel after a run. And I think that part of the problem is lack of a structured schedule. This week was overtaken with our staycation activities and I never really planned a run schedule. And although I have a race next weekend, there's no formal training plan that I'm following so I'm a bit lost with what I should be doing. I do very well with following instructions and when I have a deadline and when someone or something tells me what to do and how. I don't fare well left up to my own devices, lol.
So I came up with a formal plan for myself. I don't know if it's a sound one, I don't know if it will work, but it's a plan & I'm going to follow it. Since I skipped 3 days in a row, when I went to run on Friday night I was not at my best. I knew going into it that I wasn't going to have 3 miles in me. So I went down with a goal of 1 mile and if I could push the speed a little, I would. I didn't do anything great, and to be honest I don't even remember what the first mile's time was (this is what happens when I wait another 3 days to write about it!). But I ran the first mile straight through, and then walked for 0.15. And for another mile and a half and worked on fartleks. Many times I pushed it up to a 9.0 on the speed. So while I didn't do great with distance, I did push myself a lot with the speed.
My plan heading into Saturday was to do more of the same and work my way up to the 3.1 miles by Tuesday, of course with taking Monday off. After the race next weekend, I need to come up with a plan to keep myself on track. Without a plan I am lost - this week just proves that!
This past week was our annual "Staycation" week, and I have let it get the best of my running. Friday night was the first time I ran since my botched attempt in the rain. Why? Because we got busy, because I was tired, because I was LAZY!
I hear real runners talk about how they feel awful if they don't run. I'm not totally there yet. I feel guilty if I don't run, and after three days of it I felt sluggish and loaf-like but I don't automatically notice it as being from not running right away yet. Every day that I put off running I felt like it was OK. I know that it's not, I have a race next weekend! And after I ran last night I felt totally better so I do see that it is making a difference in how I feel.
But it is still sort of a chore for me. I'm not at the point where it's a break, or my escape or something I totally look forward to. Yes, I look forward to how I feel when I achieve something I didn't think was possible. Yes, I like how I feel after a run. And I think that part of the problem is lack of a structured schedule. This week was overtaken with our staycation activities and I never really planned a run schedule. And although I have a race next weekend, there's no formal training plan that I'm following so I'm a bit lost with what I should be doing. I do very well with following instructions and when I have a deadline and when someone or something tells me what to do and how. I don't fare well left up to my own devices, lol.
So I came up with a formal plan for myself. I don't know if it's a sound one, I don't know if it will work, but it's a plan & I'm going to follow it. Since I skipped 3 days in a row, when I went to run on Friday night I was not at my best. I knew going into it that I wasn't going to have 3 miles in me. So I went down with a goal of 1 mile and if I could push the speed a little, I would. I didn't do anything great, and to be honest I don't even remember what the first mile's time was (this is what happens when I wait another 3 days to write about it!). But I ran the first mile straight through, and then walked for 0.15. And for another mile and a half and worked on fartleks. Many times I pushed it up to a 9.0 on the speed. So while I didn't do great with distance, I did push myself a lot with the speed.
My plan heading into Saturday was to do more of the same and work my way up to the 3.1 miles by Tuesday, of course with taking Monday off. After the race next weekend, I need to come up with a plan to keep myself on track. Without a plan I am lost - this week just proves that!
Monday, September 3, 2012
Running In The Rain
Things got hectic this morning, but I was able to squeeze in a run outside! Yay!
Since I don't have one of those nifty runners' GPS watches, I went out ahead of time & drove around the neighborhood to clock what 3.1 miles would be. It's a lot longer than I had realized! LOL. I made a few loops, but it was pretty simple to remember. The sky was a little shifty looking but I set out anyway and figured that if it got really bad I'd just head back. Since I plotted it out in several loops, I was never going to be more than about 0.75 miles away from the house at any given time.
I set my iPod and the stopwatch on my phone and off I went! It was CRAZY humid out so I found breathing to be a bit different than I am used to, a little harder but I adjusted. It started to sprinkle pretty much the second I got out there, but I have to say that it felt pretty good! Cool little droplets of water randomly misting me made the heat & humidity not only bearable but I was actually enjoying the feeling of the rain on me!
Again, I noticed the effort in my legs. I have to say that I'm actually still a little sore from Saturday's run! So I did feel it a lot today. Other than the tight hamstrings & achy calves I felt really good! And it was cool to run through our neighborhood! Each section that I hit had a different smell to it and it was wonderful to soak it all in. I had to pay attention to my footing because some of the sidewalk I was running on had those little smooth rocks in the cement which were quite slick in the rain. I still had a hard time setting a pace & sticking with it, but I felt like I did a better job of it today. There were no hoards of people to maneuver around but there was also nobody else to keep pace with, so it was all up to me.
Unfortunately, I had to cut the run short because the skies opened up on me which was quite the experience! It was fun to get caught in the rain, but I didn't want to ruin my new sneaks or my beloved iPod so I headed back home. I will guesstimate that I did somewhere between a mile & a mile and a half in about 15 minutes which I am more than OK with. If there is a nicer day this week I will hope to get back out there again, especially now that I know my route.
Who'd have thought it would take me this long to get outside??!!
Since I don't have one of those nifty runners' GPS watches, I went out ahead of time & drove around the neighborhood to clock what 3.1 miles would be. It's a lot longer than I had realized! LOL. I made a few loops, but it was pretty simple to remember. The sky was a little shifty looking but I set out anyway and figured that if it got really bad I'd just head back. Since I plotted it out in several loops, I was never going to be more than about 0.75 miles away from the house at any given time.
I set my iPod and the stopwatch on my phone and off I went! It was CRAZY humid out so I found breathing to be a bit different than I am used to, a little harder but I adjusted. It started to sprinkle pretty much the second I got out there, but I have to say that it felt pretty good! Cool little droplets of water randomly misting me made the heat & humidity not only bearable but I was actually enjoying the feeling of the rain on me!
Again, I noticed the effort in my legs. I have to say that I'm actually still a little sore from Saturday's run! So I did feel it a lot today. Other than the tight hamstrings & achy calves I felt really good! And it was cool to run through our neighborhood! Each section that I hit had a different smell to it and it was wonderful to soak it all in. I had to pay attention to my footing because some of the sidewalk I was running on had those little smooth rocks in the cement which were quite slick in the rain. I still had a hard time setting a pace & sticking with it, but I felt like I did a better job of it today. There were no hoards of people to maneuver around but there was also nobody else to keep pace with, so it was all up to me.
Unfortunately, I had to cut the run short because the skies opened up on me which was quite the experience! It was fun to get caught in the rain, but I didn't want to ruin my new sneaks or my beloved iPod so I headed back home. I will guesstimate that I did somewhere between a mile & a mile and a half in about 15 minutes which I am more than OK with. If there is a nicer day this week I will hope to get back out there again, especially now that I know my route.
Who'd have thought it would take me this long to get outside??!!
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Discovering New Muscles
Since beginning this journey 10 weeks ago I have noticed some changes in my body. Some I figured were coming and others were complete surprises. I expected (and hoped!) that my legs would put on some muscle - Lord knows I needed it! They definitely look better now with some meat on my stems!
What I didn't expect was the change in my waist. After having kids my mid-section was drastically changed forever. My once prominent abs were buried beneath a layer of fat and excess skin. I knew that it would never go back to the way it was but I was hopeful that I could at least make it look better! After the boy was born I did work at losing the extra weight and was able to successfully get back to my pre-baby number. However it looked different - MUCH different. I assumed that there was a little bit of fat in there but since it moved around so much, I assumed it was mostly skin. Until I started running! Apparently there was more fat there than I knew because that lovely skin belt is getting looser and looser and more and more wrinkled! When I go into a push-up or plank position, if I happen to grab a glance at my mid-section, the skin droops down to a point in the middle. Ewww. While amusing, I never expected to see a difference in my waist, so that's a pleasant surprise!
And since I've been doing exercises to strengthen my core (push-ups, a number of plank variations, crunches, leg lifts) I am noticing changes in my arms as well - I'm starting to have some definition and they are definitely more toned than before. I knew the strength would increase, but I didn't expect to actually be able to see a difference, so that's another welcomed unexpected change!
And after one day of running outside I am feeling that different muscles were worked than when I am on the treadmill. As usual, my calves and shins have the ache going on, but my hamstrings, hips & quads are tender as well. I wonder what other changes I'd see if I ran outside more? Since this is our annual staycation week I'm hoping I have some opportunities to get some outside running in. I know that once fall/winter hits and the daylight hours lessen so will my chances for running outside, so I want to get some in while I have the chance. If it weren't raining today, I'd be out there right now!
I figured I'd share the new discoveries I'm making, but there are still more training blogs to come. Thanks for sticking with me!
What I didn't expect was the change in my waist. After having kids my mid-section was drastically changed forever. My once prominent abs were buried beneath a layer of fat and excess skin. I knew that it would never go back to the way it was but I was hopeful that I could at least make it look better! After the boy was born I did work at losing the extra weight and was able to successfully get back to my pre-baby number. However it looked different - MUCH different. I assumed that there was a little bit of fat in there but since it moved around so much, I assumed it was mostly skin. Until I started running! Apparently there was more fat there than I knew because that lovely skin belt is getting looser and looser and more and more wrinkled! When I go into a push-up or plank position, if I happen to grab a glance at my mid-section, the skin droops down to a point in the middle. Ewww. While amusing, I never expected to see a difference in my waist, so that's a pleasant surprise!
And since I've been doing exercises to strengthen my core (push-ups, a number of plank variations, crunches, leg lifts) I am noticing changes in my arms as well - I'm starting to have some definition and they are definitely more toned than before. I knew the strength would increase, but I didn't expect to actually be able to see a difference, so that's another welcomed unexpected change!
And after one day of running outside I am feeling that different muscles were worked than when I am on the treadmill. As usual, my calves and shins have the ache going on, but my hamstrings, hips & quads are tender as well. I wonder what other changes I'd see if I ran outside more? Since this is our annual staycation week I'm hoping I have some opportunities to get some outside running in. I know that once fall/winter hits and the daylight hours lessen so will my chances for running outside, so I want to get some in while I have the chance. If it weren't raining today, I'd be out there right now!
I figured I'd share the new discoveries I'm making, but there are still more training blogs to come. Thanks for sticking with me!
Saturday, September 1, 2012
The Color Run NJ Recap / My Second First 5K
I know you're all anxiously awaiting this post, so I'm just going to get right to it.
Since I decided to do this run kind of last-minute, I didn't really have much of a plan. I knew that a few of my friends were running in this one, so I reached out to my friend Anna & we planned on meeting up. I knew that she would be walking, so I figured I'd start with her and then I'd run and she would walk, and I'd wait for her at the finish line. No pressure for me to walk with her since I was a last-minute add-on, and I didn't feel guilty about running ahead. Perfect.
Getting Started
The whole day started out with a completely different feel than the NYC run. Last week started out bittersweet & sentimental and then I was super excited & full of energy. I felt great, I felt strong, I was ready to go! Today, however, was much different.
I woke up not well rested and I was stressed out. Reilly didn't sleep well the night before and he finally settled into a position that was very uncomfortable for me. I had also wanted to run last night for a bit but it just got too late & I had to leave for my mom's house or else I would have gotten even less sleep than I did. So even though I got to wake up almost 2 hours later than last weekend, I rose feeling groggy, stiff, achy & unprepared. I ate exactly the same thing for breakfast I did the the week before (and most mornings now) but it just wasn't sitting right & I started having an unsettled stomach before I even left the house. I'm pretty sure it was just nerves. But I was unsettled and shaky, even as we got to the start line I was concerned as to how I would hold up because I was not confident in how I felt. But I'll get to that later.
This time I got to drive through a different part of the town I grew up in, and instead of having great memories of times past, I noticed how much things had changed and how run down it all looked. The roads & houses were surprisingly unkept, there was trash in the street and on lawns - it was kind of depressing! When I got to the venue I found out that Anna had hit a lot more traffic on her way in than I did so I had about a half an hour to kill before she got there. Being a lone wolf amidst a sea of groups of people for something like the color run is kind of intimidating! At first I was a little nervous and awkward; it has been a long long time since I've really dome anything by myself, let alone something like this! But after a few minutes I made up my mind to just go with it and have a great time. And I did. There were tons of great outfits - a group of people wore snorkels & water wings, another girl wore a white prom dress, and another group had duck tubes around their waists. Most of these people were interacting with everyone and cheering anyway so I started to feel more comfortable as the morning went on, and I found that if you look like you're looking for someone you feel less out of place as well. I also ran into my friend Donna who was working EMS, and I bumped into the kids' pediatrician as well. Weird. But I was definitely happy to meet up with Anna, and the day got much better once she got there :) We made our way to the start line and off we went!
I wanted to try to time myself just to get an idea of how I run outside, especially since this was my first time! My phone has a stopwatch on it so I started it once I crossed the start line and kept my fingers crossed that nothing disturbed it while I ran. Last time I kept the phone in a pouch on my waist and all sorts of buttons were pushed. This time I kept it in a pouch in my water bottle holder and it worked out much much better.
This is Different
Once we got started it was easy to see that there was a big difference between these participants and the NYC ones. Last week, most people ran or jogged. A decent amount walked, but we were definitely in the minority with that. And as we approached each color station everyone collectively started running through it. This was much different. I would say that most of the people were walkers and the runners were the minority. I did my best to run around the walkers, but there were plenty of times where they spanned from end to end with no way around until the path opened up. I did my best to keep even a slow jog, but there were points where I had no choice but to walk just because there was nowhere else to go. Some runners expressed annoyance at this, which I thought was a bit uncalled for. It's the color run people, not the Boston Marathon! I found the course itself to be odd; It started on pavement and moved to what appeared to be gravel. There were points where it was a lot of sand, and in my attempts to run around people I ran over grass as well.
The biggest difference between the two runs were the color stations. Every time we approached one we came to a standstill because there were lines formed to get doused with color. I don't know if it was lack of volunteers or if the people in the NJ run just approached this differently, but it was difficult to navigate through the color stations because everyone was stopped. Also, the method of color distribution was much much different - where NY had tons of volunteers with condiment bottles filled with color and they would chase you down to make sure you got covered, NJ had only a few people at each station who were stationary at giant barrels of color. They would reach into the barrel with what appeared to be a cup (not 100% sure because it was hard to see) and just toss it on to the people who passed them. There was no cat and mouse chase, and if you were able to make it through the middle at all, you just didn't get colored. I really only got hit with one color since I tried to keep running as much as I could and opted for the free and clear center as opposed to waiting on line to have color dumped over my head.
And because of the way this color was being tossed, every color station was nothing more than a giant cloud of color dust & it was really hard to see & breathe. After most sections the jogging slowed waaayyy down just because it was too dangerous to keep going fast - I really couldn't see more than maybe an arm's length in front of me! Like I said, I'm not sure if everything boils down to lack of volunteers/staff, but I feel like this run was much less organized than the NYC one and more difficult to navigate.
Running
So enough about the comparisons between the two races. This one was a run for me so let's talk about that. Since this was my first time running outside, I was finally able to tell the difference between treadmill running & street running! So my legs definitely felt this much more than I normally do. Overall, I'd say that running on the road is both easier and harder than running on a treadmill. I think I have to do more running outside to determine which one I like more though. My legs felt this more, but if I got tired it was easier to slow it down to where I was comfortable without having to try to figure out which pre-programmed speed worked best. I just go with what my body tells me. Also, I am apparently awful at picking a pace & sticking to it! I started off running pretty hard. I knew it was faster than I normally run, but I went with it for as long as I could and eventually fell back a little only to get passed by people I had already passed. I found it easier if I kept with a group of people. For most of the run I was behind a girl with eyes drawn on the back of her butt. She was running with two guys and they all kept a pace that I was fairly comfortable with. I followed them around groups of people and through the color zones. At some point they lost one of the guys and stopped and I pushed forward, but I found another group to stay behind.
I went into today's run just hoping to beat 35 minutes, and wasn't sure how I would do because I felt so shaky and unprepared this morning. The heat also took a little bit of a toll on me because when I put the handkerchief up over my nose and mouth through the color zones, I felt like I was suffocating! The air was thick and soupy so that took some time to adjust to. Add all of the time times I was forced to walk and the few complete stops we had, I figured I'd be in the high 30's if not the 40's.
After I crossed the finish line I had to make sure I was able to get to a place where I could stop & check my time without being right in the middle of people. And when I did, I was very pleasantly surprised to see 33:15!! I couldn't believe it!! To me, this means one of two things...either my treadmill at home is not calibrated right and I am actually running faster than it's telling me I am, or the course was not a complete 3.1 miles. I don't know. So let's just go with I'm running faster than the treadmill says I am for now, haha. We'll know more once I do the run on September 15th anyway, so let me be delusional and happy for now :)
Conclusion
Overall this was not a bad second first 5K experience, lol. I am very happy that I did it and took on the challenge of not only running in general, but the whole lone wolf social aspect of it as well. I'm also pretty happy with my time too, all things considered. Now I really can't wait for the next time!
So there you have it, mission complete. I ran my first 5K race and survived.
Since I decided to do this run kind of last-minute, I didn't really have much of a plan. I knew that a few of my friends were running in this one, so I reached out to my friend Anna & we planned on meeting up. I knew that she would be walking, so I figured I'd start with her and then I'd run and she would walk, and I'd wait for her at the finish line. No pressure for me to walk with her since I was a last-minute add-on, and I didn't feel guilty about running ahead. Perfect.
Getting Started
The whole day started out with a completely different feel than the NYC run. Last week started out bittersweet & sentimental and then I was super excited & full of energy. I felt great, I felt strong, I was ready to go! Today, however, was much different.
I woke up not well rested and I was stressed out. Reilly didn't sleep well the night before and he finally settled into a position that was very uncomfortable for me. I had also wanted to run last night for a bit but it just got too late & I had to leave for my mom's house or else I would have gotten even less sleep than I did. So even though I got to wake up almost 2 hours later than last weekend, I rose feeling groggy, stiff, achy & unprepared. I ate exactly the same thing for breakfast I did the the week before (and most mornings now) but it just wasn't sitting right & I started having an unsettled stomach before I even left the house. I'm pretty sure it was just nerves. But I was unsettled and shaky, even as we got to the start line I was concerned as to how I would hold up because I was not confident in how I felt. But I'll get to that later.
This time I got to drive through a different part of the town I grew up in, and instead of having great memories of times past, I noticed how much things had changed and how run down it all looked. The roads & houses were surprisingly unkept, there was trash in the street and on lawns - it was kind of depressing! When I got to the venue I found out that Anna had hit a lot more traffic on her way in than I did so I had about a half an hour to kill before she got there. Being a lone wolf amidst a sea of groups of people for something like the color run is kind of intimidating! At first I was a little nervous and awkward; it has been a long long time since I've really dome anything by myself, let alone something like this! But after a few minutes I made up my mind to just go with it and have a great time. And I did. There were tons of great outfits - a group of people wore snorkels & water wings, another girl wore a white prom dress, and another group had duck tubes around their waists. Most of these people were interacting with everyone and cheering anyway so I started to feel more comfortable as the morning went on, and I found that if you look like you're looking for someone you feel less out of place as well. I also ran into my friend Donna who was working EMS, and I bumped into the kids' pediatrician as well. Weird. But I was definitely happy to meet up with Anna, and the day got much better once she got there :) We made our way to the start line and off we went!
I wanted to try to time myself just to get an idea of how I run outside, especially since this was my first time! My phone has a stopwatch on it so I started it once I crossed the start line and kept my fingers crossed that nothing disturbed it while I ran. Last time I kept the phone in a pouch on my waist and all sorts of buttons were pushed. This time I kept it in a pouch in my water bottle holder and it worked out much much better.
This is Different
Once we got started it was easy to see that there was a big difference between these participants and the NYC ones. Last week, most people ran or jogged. A decent amount walked, but we were definitely in the minority with that. And as we approached each color station everyone collectively started running through it. This was much different. I would say that most of the people were walkers and the runners were the minority. I did my best to run around the walkers, but there were plenty of times where they spanned from end to end with no way around until the path opened up. I did my best to keep even a slow jog, but there were points where I had no choice but to walk just because there was nowhere else to go. Some runners expressed annoyance at this, which I thought was a bit uncalled for. It's the color run people, not the Boston Marathon! I found the course itself to be odd; It started on pavement and moved to what appeared to be gravel. There were points where it was a lot of sand, and in my attempts to run around people I ran over grass as well.
The biggest difference between the two runs were the color stations. Every time we approached one we came to a standstill because there were lines formed to get doused with color. I don't know if it was lack of volunteers or if the people in the NJ run just approached this differently, but it was difficult to navigate through the color stations because everyone was stopped. Also, the method of color distribution was much much different - where NY had tons of volunteers with condiment bottles filled with color and they would chase you down to make sure you got covered, NJ had only a few people at each station who were stationary at giant barrels of color. They would reach into the barrel with what appeared to be a cup (not 100% sure because it was hard to see) and just toss it on to the people who passed them. There was no cat and mouse chase, and if you were able to make it through the middle at all, you just didn't get colored. I really only got hit with one color since I tried to keep running as much as I could and opted for the free and clear center as opposed to waiting on line to have color dumped over my head.
And because of the way this color was being tossed, every color station was nothing more than a giant cloud of color dust & it was really hard to see & breathe. After most sections the jogging slowed waaayyy down just because it was too dangerous to keep going fast - I really couldn't see more than maybe an arm's length in front of me! Like I said, I'm not sure if everything boils down to lack of volunteers/staff, but I feel like this run was much less organized than the NYC one and more difficult to navigate.
Running
So enough about the comparisons between the two races. This one was a run for me so let's talk about that. Since this was my first time running outside, I was finally able to tell the difference between treadmill running & street running! So my legs definitely felt this much more than I normally do. Overall, I'd say that running on the road is both easier and harder than running on a treadmill. I think I have to do more running outside to determine which one I like more though. My legs felt this more, but if I got tired it was easier to slow it down to where I was comfortable without having to try to figure out which pre-programmed speed worked best. I just go with what my body tells me. Also, I am apparently awful at picking a pace & sticking to it! I started off running pretty hard. I knew it was faster than I normally run, but I went with it for as long as I could and eventually fell back a little only to get passed by people I had already passed. I found it easier if I kept with a group of people. For most of the run I was behind a girl with eyes drawn on the back of her butt. She was running with two guys and they all kept a pace that I was fairly comfortable with. I followed them around groups of people and through the color zones. At some point they lost one of the guys and stopped and I pushed forward, but I found another group to stay behind.
I went into today's run just hoping to beat 35 minutes, and wasn't sure how I would do because I felt so shaky and unprepared this morning. The heat also took a little bit of a toll on me because when I put the handkerchief up over my nose and mouth through the color zones, I felt like I was suffocating! The air was thick and soupy so that took some time to adjust to. Add all of the time times I was forced to walk and the few complete stops we had, I figured I'd be in the high 30's if not the 40's.
After I crossed the finish line I had to make sure I was able to get to a place where I could stop & check my time without being right in the middle of people. And when I did, I was very pleasantly surprised to see 33:15!! I couldn't believe it!! To me, this means one of two things...either my treadmill at home is not calibrated right and I am actually running faster than it's telling me I am, or the course was not a complete 3.1 miles. I don't know. So let's just go with I'm running faster than the treadmill says I am for now, haha. We'll know more once I do the run on September 15th anyway, so let me be delusional and happy for now :)
Conclusion
Overall this was not a bad second first 5K experience, lol. I am very happy that I did it and took on the challenge of not only running in general, but the whole lone wolf social aspect of it as well. I'm also pretty happy with my time too, all things considered. Now I really can't wait for the next time!
So there you have it, mission complete. I ran my first 5K race and survived.
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