More of the week

I decided not to go to track practice on Wednesday. That does not mean that I didn't run. Since I am still working on getting my body adjusted to the idea of running, I felt that the run I missed on Tuesday was more important than the speed work that we do at track practice, so I opted to do a 30 minute run instead of practice. It turns out that none of the coaches showed up at track practice, so I guess it was a good choice.

Of course, I won't pretend that my decision wasn't a bit influenced by wanted to get my run out of the way so I could go play Bocce with friends, but it really was better to get a solid run in.

The run really didn't go so well. I mean, I made it the 30 minutes without stopping, but I felt awful. The stitch in my side was acting up a lot, and trying to change my breathing tends to speed up my pace, so I started to wear out pretty quickly. When I finished, I felt worse than I have after running in a long time. I'm sure running right after work in the heat doesn't help at all, either.

Thursday's 25 minute run went a lot better. I also did it right after work because of a concert we were heading to, but it was a little cooler. I had to take it easy because I rolled my ankle a little bit on Wednesday, and I wanted to be sure that it was ok before pushing it.

I ran directly from my apartment both days. I have found lots of different paths that I can take, and it's easier not to have to drive somewhere and back (especially when I have somewhere I want to be fairly early in the evening).

Saturday's run went much better than the weekly runs. I'm not sure why, since the Saturday runs are much longer, but I am happy to have my long runs go so well.

This weekend's run was somewhere around 6.5 miles - that's half of the distance of the half-marathon. I am really, really excited that the run went so well for me. My confidence is definitely on the rise.

The weather was fantastic Saturday morning - at 6:30 in the morning, we were chilly waiting to start the run. Once we got going, it felt great. I can't wait to have weather like that more often.

Our route left Memorial Park (which is still dark from the hurricane), ran down to Waugh (where there was a water stop), ran down Waugh to Spott's Park, ran a loop there (including a set of stairs), and headed back.

My lower back hurt a little bit as we started out, but it seemed to work itself out as I went, and I made it to the water station with no real problems. The water stop was decorated because the fall training group was doing their longest run of the training season (12 or 21 miles), and they had a big support group there cheering them on. Of course, they also had tons of things like candy at the stop, and it took a lot of self-control not to eat any of the candy. I know it would have given me problems on the run, though, so I stuck to Gatorade and a really short stop before moving on.

It was interesting to do a loop at the park as part of the run. I actually do some of my weekly runs there (James introduced me to the place), but it seemed like a much shorter loop as part of a longer run. The set of stairs wasn't fun, but it didn't seem to hurt me too much.

The run back went surprisingly well. I actually felt at my best a little over halfway through the run. I felt strong, and my pace felt decent. I actually felt happy to be running. It was a little weird.

I managed to finish strong (no walking!), and I actually felt like I could have gone longer (it would have been rough, but I could have pulled it off).

I didn't have too much trouble with the side stitch on the run, and I wasn't really concentrating on my breathing. I need to figure out what makes my Saturday runs go so much better than my weekly runs. I'm wondering if it's just mindset starting out. It might also have something to do with the time of day I run.

I had some oranges and Gatorade at the end of the route, then I picked up kolaches on my way home. I definitely ended up feeling a lot better since I managed to put food into me, but I still don't enjoy eating after a run. I am working on the fueling aspect of this running stuff, for sure.

I did manage to get a blister on the bottom of my big toe. It didn't hurt at all when I was running, but it gave me trouble for the rest of the day. I am really glad that today is an off day so I have more time to heal before running on Monday.

In other news, the fundraising is going pretty well. I want to thank everyone who has donated - it means so much to me that you guys are helping me support a cause that I really do believe in. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to go to my page and look at how much money you guys have helped me raise. I still have a long way to go, though. If you haven't had a chance to donate, please visit my page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston09/khughesw0s

Yay for off days!

Confession time: I didn't run today.

I had every intention of running - I even put on running clothes. Then I ended up spending the evening dealing with some personal things that were much more important and have no place in this blog. By the time I was done, it was dark out, and running wasn't going to happen.

I missed one run, and I feel terribly guilty. I know it's not important that I make EVERY run, but I really feel like I am improving right now, so I don't want to do anything to slow down. Silly guilt. I'm sure it won't screw up all of my training or anything, but I don't like skipping runs.

I did run yesterday. It wasn't great, but that seems to be a trend with my Monday runs. They really never seem to go well. But I got through it.

I ran 20 minutes without stopping, though I definitely wanted to stop. The route was the same one I took Thursday, and I think that I started out too fast. I spent most of the run concentrating on my breathing. I still can't seem to get it right, even when I am concentrating. I will keep trying, though, as it seems to help when I do get it right.

I felt incredibly sick after the run. Stupid Mondays.

Track practice tomorrow. Fun times!

Woo!

I am proud of myself today. I like that feeling.

I guess I should start with a quick summary of Thursday's run. I decided to run from my apartment again, but I took a slightly different route. I basically ran down Allen Parkway on the non-bayou side. It was actually a nice run.

I did the run first thing in the morning, so it was nice and chilly (I am going to miss the chilly mornings as the cold front weather passes). Houston was still a bit eerie post-hurricane, and I found myself dodging lots of debris and branches. It was actually fairly pleasant, though, and my run went really well. I did my 25 minutes fairly easily (and at a faster pace than I have been).

I spent a lot of time trying to concentrate on changing the foot that I breathe on in order to help with the side cramps. I can definitely tell the difference, but it is hard to train myself to breathe differently. As long as I am concentrating, it goes really well, but as soon as I turn my attention to something else, I'm back to the "wrong" way. Of course, as soon as the side cramps start, I can concentrate on breathing better, and it tends to go away. Good thing, for sure. I am hoping that I can eventually train myself to breathe the better way naturally, but we will see.

Anyway, on to me being proud of myself.

We had a long run this morning. We are now meeting at the park before the sun comes up - 6:30am. Today's run was around 5.5 miles, and we had to do it mostly out of the park since the lights in the park don't have power yet.

The run was actually similar to the run that I did myself last week, but it was from the other direction. We ran out of the park, all the way to Waugh, and then back. It was a little hard to be so close to home at halfway through the run =). The weather was still nice and cool, but we still have plenty of icky humidity. Oh, Houston.

I kept the side cramps at bay with the method described above, and I was thrilled to be running with Kelli again. It really is amazing how much a little company helps.

We made it to the water stop at the halfway point with no problems, and our pace has increased a little bit. We took a quick break, got some water, and talked a bit with some other runners, then we headed back. I'm not really sure how I managed it, but I made it all the way back without walking.

That's right! I ran 5.5 miles this morning with no walking, and just one water stop! And I didn't feel like I wanted to die afterward. It was awesome, and I rode that high for a good bit of the morning.

I am still slow, and I still spend most of the run wanting it to be over, but I actually think I can finish this thing.

Yay for tomorrow's off day!

Ike and Running

Well, I survived the hurricane. I’ve finally got everything other than cable back at my apartment. I’ve been living at James’s for the last several days, enjoying the hospitality and all the amenities that they still have there. With the mess that the hurricane has made of my schedule, I managed to only miss one run.

Wednesday night was track practice. I guess it went fairly well. We ran 200s – basically, we ran half the track at an “uncomfortable” pace, then walked half the track, then did a series of lunges, followed by a set of push-ups. I was hurting by the end of it, but I made it through at a fairly reasonable pace, so I was happy with that (my arms and legs would continue to hurt for days afterwards, though).

By Thursday morning, Hurricane Ike appeared to be headed in our direction (with landfall occurring very early Saturday morning), so I decided to skip my Thursday run in order to use Thursday as my pre long run rest day. That made Friday my long run day since Saturday was going to be far too much of a mess for running.

I headed out for my run Friday morning as soon as it got light enough for me to be out. I let a friend of mine know where I was headed since I would be out running alone and wanted to be sure someone knew where I was, and then I headed off. It was really eerily empty and quiet outside (hurricanes will do that, I guess).

I could feel the change in weather – it was cooler, and there was a nice breeze, but it was still pretty humid out. The temperature did help make the run more pleasant, but the humidity kept it from being nice.

This week’s long run was scheduled for 5 miles – the most I have ever done. It was really, really hard to do the run on my own. I missed running with the team and with Kelli. I managed to pull something off, though. I didn’t want to have to drive anywhere, so I decided to map a run from my apartment. One of the other runners recommended a site to me last week (http://www.mapmyrun.com/) that allows you to map out a run and tells you what the distance is. The run I ended up taking was basically the drive I take every Saturday morning to Memorial Park. For those of you who know Houston, I basically ran from my apartment, up W. Dallas to Waugh, down Waugh over to Memorial, up Memorial to the park entrance, and then back. The run mapped roughly 5.25 miles.

It was a pretty rough run, but I think I handled it pretty well. I had to carry a water bottle with me since there would be no TEAM water stations, and the extra weight wasn’t a lot of fun. I think I ended up carrying more water than I needed.

The run actually started off pretty well – I managed to make it to Detering (roughly 2 miles) before I needed to slow to a walk to work out a side cramp. I kept the walk to under a minute, and I made it the rest of the way to the turn-around point without too much trouble. I took another (very short) walk after turning around, and then I was off again.

When I reached the turn-around point, I had 2 conflicting emotions at once – I felt really proud to have made it to the halfway point, and I felt unnerved that I had to do it all over again. The run back actually started out better because I was heading closer to home instead of farther away. Running towards home is just a happier thing =)

Setting out on the second half of my run, I set my goal at making it back to Detering without walking. When I reached Detering, I was still feeling pretty good, so I kept going. I was back to Shepard before I had to stop for a short walk (I guess I was at 3.5 miles by that point). Once I reached Waugh, I was really suffering. The last mile or so was really tough – I alternated between walking and running, just hoping to get home as soon as I could. I got a last burst of energy when I turned onto my street and could see my apartment complex, and I managed to run that last little bit.

It was rough, but I made it through.

The hurricane hit Friday night. It was actually pretty bad. My area suffered a lot of damage. I had no power or water for a little over 4 days. It’s weird to drive down the street and see all of the big trees that are down and the long lines at the gas stations.

Since I was staying at James’s place, I decided to do my runs on Monday (20 minutes) and Tuesday (30 minutes) around a couple of blocks there. The weather was pretty nice due to a cold front that came through after the hurricane.

Monday’s run went pretty well. I did the 20 minutes fairly easy. Of course, I was on 2 days of hurricane rest, so that helps. It actually almost felt good.

Tuesday’s run was a little more difficult on me. The side cramp came back, so that made me need to stop for a short walk about halfway though. I can run through the cramp most of the time, but it is really uncomfortable. I really need to get that problem worked out. I did manage to do the run at a faster pace, though, so that was happy.

Tonight, I wasn’t sure if we were going to have a track practice or not, and the traffic was looking pretty yucky, so I decided not to try to drive out to Memorial. Instead, I did my own version of a track practice on the top floor of my complex’s parking garage. I did close to the same thing we did last week – I ran a length of the garage at an uncomfortable pace, walked a length, did a series of lunges, then did it again. I kept it up for 20 minutes. It was pretty tough, but I made it through. Lots of aches and pains.

Back on schedule…

Struggling...

I looked at the course map for the half-marathon the other day. Maybe that was a mistake. It’s a little scary to be able to put an actual route to the 13 miles we will be attempting in January. I think that the only thing that made me feel a little better was looking at the insanity that is the marathon course and being glad that I am only attempting half of that. Of course, the half-marathon course goes directly past my apartment around mile 7, then again at mile 10. I can’t imagine it won’t be terribly painful to actually run past it at that point instead of heading upstairs for a nap.

Monday’s 20 minute run was pretty awful. It started out well, but it turned ugly pretty quickly. Instead of driving somewhere to run, I just headed from my apartment down towards the bayou and ran along there for a while before heading back. I started out at a decent pace, but at around 7 minutes into the run it started to feel like someone was stabbing a knife into my side. I slowed to a walk for about a minute to try to work out the cramp, then started again. Unfortunately, the cramp would go away and then come back in a couple minutes, just as strong. I ended up needing to slow to a walk every couple of minutes to work out the pain.

It was a very frustrating run, and I felt pretty awful when I finished. James was kind enough to remind me that I am still really new to this, and that sometimes there will be setbacks. His support really did make me feel a lot better.

I was a little worried starting out on Tuesday’s run, but I had done some research about how to keep the “side stitch” at bay (I found all kinds of interesting information on why it happens and how to deal with it when it occurs – yay for the internet!). Kelli and I met out at Rice to do the loop. I started out feeling ok, and when the cramp did start to come back, it was at least something I could deal with. Instead of the stabbing pain, it was a much more manageable pain that I could run through. It made for an unpleasant run, but at least it didn’t force me to walk. I think that some of the breathing techniques and whatnot that I tried were effective, and I can only hope that things will continue to get better. I need to work out my core muscles a bit more, I think.

Anyway, Kelli and I made it to our 30 minutes without walking, making it the longest we’ve ever run without stopping. I didn’t feel great at the end of it, but I have definitely felt worse. I actually managed to eat afterwards, which is an important improvement for me.

I am a bit worried about hurricane Ike. We have a 5 mile run scheduled on Saturday, but I am guessing we won’t make it if we’re being hit by a hurricane. I don’t think I want to miss a run right now, so I guess I had better come up with a contingency plan.

Track night tonight!

Long run

Yesterday's long run went surprisingly well. It was our second go at a 4 mile long run.

I think the major factor for the good run was the weather. It was almost chilly when I stepped outside in the morning - I think it was somewhere around 70 with really low humidity. It felt so good compared to what we have been running in.

Of course, I slept roughly 2 1/2 hours the night before (boyfriend's birthday), so I started out the run tired, but I woke up as we went. At least I had the self control to limit myself to water when we all went out, so I wasn't hungover as well.

We left the park this time to add some variety into our run. We started where we usually do, then ran out of the park and down Memorial. When we reached Shepard (halfway), we ran hills, then we ran back.

We made it to Shepard without stopping (that's 2 miles without stopping - I'm fairly sure that it is the longest I have ever run straight), and I still felt pretty good at that point. We stopped for a little water, then ran our hills and started back. I had to walk for a minute a couple minutes into the run back because my side cramped up badly, and I needed to work it out. After that, I maybe slowed to a walk once or twice, but never for more than 30 seconds.

It really was the best run I have ever had, and I think that the weather was a huge part of that. My pace is still really slow (the run took about an hour), but my body is starting to adjust to running, so speed can be worked out later. I can't wait until the weather is nice more often - yay winter!

I actually got through the whole run without feeling any nausea (again, I think the weather played a huge part, there), and I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end of it. I was tired, for sure, but I felt ok.

I drank a fair amount of water and Gatorade and had some orange slices and bananas at the end of the run, then I headed home and collapsed. I didn't manage to sleep well, though, because I started to feel sick about an hour later - I definitely think I still need to figure out my post run refueling strategy.

But, seriously, it was a great run for me. I am excited that I am showing improvement. I'm still not enjoying the whole running thing, but I do like the feeling of finishing what I set out to do.

Off days are awesome.

Yesterday's run wasn't great. I finished the 25 minutes (Ha! I typed "miles" here =)), but I didn't make it without having to walk for a short distance.

I think several factors contributed to my failure:
- I had to run right after work because I had plans that evening. So it was 5:00 in the afternoon, and it was hot and sunny (less humid, though, so that was good). And the trail is only shaded about 1/3 of the way.
- I started out at a faster pace (when I finished the 4 laps that took me 20 minutes on Monday and looked at my watch, I had been running for about 16 minutes).
- My body was a bit worn out from running all week.

I did eventually make it through, and I finished 6 laps, so that's something.

Today is a rest day to prepare for the 4 mile long run tomorrow. I'm hoping that will go better than last week.

Speed! (sort of)

Tonight we had a track practice, and we did some speed work.

We started by running out to the track (roughly 1/2 mile). I am impressed that I can handle these shorter runs fairly easily now. It's nice to see my body adjust, even if it is doing the adjusting really slowly.

Once we got out to the track, we stretched as a group and then ran a "ladder". It went like this:
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute

We were supposed to be running as fast as we could. We started out pretty fast (the 30 seconds felt great), but our pace definitely slowed as we worked through the runs. I had some trouble during the second 1 1/2 minute run (painful side cramp), but I managed to make it through the time and get rid of the cramp during the walk.

Even if our pace slowed, we managed to keep up a faster pace than our regular runs - we definitely couldn't carry on a conversation while we were running. Overall, I thought it went pretty well.

Slowly improving...slowly.

And longer...

I ran out at Rice with Kelli this afternoon. It really is so, so much easier to run with someone else. Especially if you can carry on a good conversation.

We managed to show up wearing almost exactly the same thing - bright pink shirt (the SAME bright pink shirt), black shorts, hat. I am sure that we looked pretty amusing running along together.

I've never run the outer loop before, but it is definitely a popular running location, and the shade is nice. It was pretty overcast when we ran, too, so that was a good thing. Overall, not a bad place to run.

We managed to make it the whole 25 minutes without walking. The first look at a watch happened at 19 minutes and 30 seconds, so that was a big accomplishment for both of us (and a bit of a relief, too).

The loop is 3 miles, and we estimate that we were somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles when we stopped running and walked the rest of the way. So, good for us.

I didn't feel quite as bad when we finished as I have been, though my legs are definitely feeling it.

I've started to plan everything around when I am running. It's weird.

Small Victories

The weather was actually pretty decent when I woke up this morning. It was a little overcast (doesn't hurt that it was 7am, either) and a nice breeze seemed to be keeping the temperature bearable. I decided to take advantage of the weather and get my Monday run out of the way.

I went to the little park down the street where James took me on Thursday and ran there. I like the path there, and it's close, so I'll likely run there regularly.

When I finally allowed myself to check my watch to see how long I'd been going, I had already managed to make it 16 minutes. Since I usually think I've gone at least 10 when it turns out I've only gone 5, it was a nice surprise.

I managed to push myself through the last 4 minutes, so I actually made it the assigned 20 minutes without stopping. My pace is still really, really slow, but my system is at least starting to adjust to the cardio workouts, and that's a good thing.

I am still pretty pathetic and out of shape, but I think I am slowly improving. I can do this!