This is also the Sunday after Thanksgiving, so I’ve had four days off work. And I still haven’t found time to blog. Continue reading →

Woke up early for this morning’s 3-mile run. I didn’t sleep well, so I was happy for the energy boost from the early morning workout. I’m just now done with the core &hip workout. I finished one circuit and decided to do a modified second circuit. I hope to feel a little sore tomorrow.

The left knee feels much better — it’s bruised but I believe I have full range of motion. I haven’t taken any ibuprofen since this morning. I think that means I didn’t do any significant damage.

Tomorrow is a cardio workout. I may just work out at the club as I’m a little concerned about the weather.

Today, I ran Candy Mountain. Continue reading →

Well, it happened: I’m sick. Not terrible, just moderately miserable and disproportionately whiny.

Today’s workout was a 10-mile run. This was also the Girls on the Run 5K. Because I’d served as a substitute coach, I could sign up as a community running buddy for free. There were two schools I’d coached at twice, and I felt a connection with some of those girls. I asked to be a running buddy if any of those girls needed one.

Just like last year, the girl I ran with took off like lightning. She was easier to keep up with, though. She get ahead of me, see how far back I was, and then wait for me to catch up — and then, she’d take off again. This lasted for a little over a mile, and then she grew weary of running. We walked the rest of the way.

My running buddy said she doesn’t like running, and she doesn’t plan to sign up for GotR next spring. If I coach again, it’ll likely be at her school – I hope she changes her mind.

Her mom snapped this picture of us. I asked if I could share it, so long as I didn’t include her name.

Since I’d just run three miles, I only needed another seven to complete the day’s workout. Because I’m sick, I decided to stick to a flat course and keep it to an easy pace. I switched to trail shoes and headed over to Chamna.

I ran up to W.E. Johnson Park, and then back into Chamna. It’s not as muddy or soggy as it was a few weeks ago, but it’s still muddy enough to slow me down. I appreciated the challenge – my feet should have been propelling me forward, but they were going sideways. It gave my ankles & lower legs a good workout, too.

This run was slow, but I felt good. My cold medication wore off, and I could really feel it. I’m going to have to take some potent stuff tonight, or I won’t sleep. Tomorrow is supposed to be a 7-mile easy run. I’m hopeful I can do that before church; I’m afraid if I don’t do it early, I won’t have time to do anything else in the afternoon. (I want to watch the Seahawks game, prepare pie crust, tidy up the kitchen…. You get the idea.)

I’m not happy I’m sick, but I’m glad it’s just a cold. I’m keeping in touch with how my body feels. I don’t have a fever. If I can get enough sleep tonight, I’ll be in good shape tomorrow. If I need to take some time off from training, I will, but I don’t want to make that decision lightly: I still have a lot of ground to gain. I need to be healthy to do it, though, so I can’t ignore it if my body tells me it needs a break.

 

Yup. Week five is in books and nineteen more weeks lie ahead of me. Thus far, I’m feeling really good about this.

Historically, week four is always the roughest for me. It doesn’t matter what we’re talking about: diet, academic semesters, fitness classes, training programs – it’s all the same. Week one, I’m excited. Week two, I’m less enthusiastic, but things are still good. Week three, I start making excuses and motivation flags. Week four, the wheels come off. Not this time. Continue reading →

I really needed this workout today. It boosted my spirits more than I thought possible.

Today’s workout was hill intervals. The directions said to pick a hill I could run up at a steady pace. On my easy-pace runs, I cover about .3 miles in four minutes; I figured that would be enough for a four minute uphill run. It wasn’t! I was able to climb the hill in a little over two minutes. My pace going up that hill was around 12:00/mile. Geez!

Clearly, I need to quit sandbagging my workouts.

 

Imma start by giving myself a big ol’ high five.

Continue reading →

On Sunday, I ran up & over Candy Mountain and back. I wasn’t deceived: the north side is very steep in places, and the footing is not great. I cannot imagine running that in the dark, as the 50 & 100-milers do. I struggled with this run. I am so slow – my average pace was 18:52/mile – and I don’t really gain much speed on the descents. To finish the 50K within the 8-hour cutoff, I’ll need to cut a full three minutes per mile. That’s a lot, and it intimidates me.

But the good news is, this was just the end of the third week of a 24-week plan. I need to trust that I will get there. My job right now is to keep doing the work and not get hurt. If I push myself to do too much too fast, I sharply increase my chances of getting hurt. I’m already dealing with a cranky IT band; I don’t want to risk getting a serious overuse injury that sidelines me. Continue reading →