And more running...

This week wasn't really that exciting when it comes to running. I ran 20 minutes Monday, 30 Tuesday, skipped the track night Wednesday, and ran 30 minutes Thursday. All of my runs were the same route, really - the one I've been running a lot lately. I leave my apartment, run to the bayou side of Allen Parkway, and run down the bayou. I need a new route, but that one is just easy, and I like ending the run at home. I'm getting bored, though.

I am still not totally healthy, but I'm at least not crazy sick anymore. I just feel kinda yucky and down.

It is getting harder to make myself get out and run. I still don't really enjoy doing it, but I am stubborn and so afraid of not being able to finish the half marathon that I get myself out there and get through it. I will be relieved when this is over, though.

I am sore everywhere. I start out every run wondering if my legs are going to make it through. I mean, it's nice that I no longer feel totally nauseous whenever I run, but it is still really, really hard.

Tomorrow we're doing 7 miles and 2 parking garages. I think it's the garages at the end that are going to kill me. Also, I am not a fan of the 5am wake-up call. Bah.

getting back into it...

Well, yesterday was my first serious run back since the sinus infection, and it went pretty well.

I decided not to do the group run so I could sleep in - I figure that I really need the rest right now. Plus, I didn't think that 8 miles would be a good plan for me since I am still trying to recover.

I slept in until I woke up (basically when the sun came up), then headed out on a 6 mile run - from my apartment into Memorial Park, and back.

It was cold out when I started, and the temperature stayed pleasant for the entire run. I really think that the temperature is a huge factor for me, so I was really pleased with the weather.

I used my new water bottle belt for the first time this run. It looked really dorky, but, once I got used to the feel of it, it was a big help. I filled one bottle with HEED, and one with Gatorade (I hadn't used the HEED before, and I didn't want to take the chance of it not working for me and being without anything). That combination actually worked perfectly, and combined with the gel that I took before the run, kept me at a decent energy level.

Anyway, the run was a little rough at first, but I pushed through and settled into it. The first half felt like it would never end, but once I was headed back towards home, I brightened up a little. It really is a motivation to be running towards your bed.

I made the mistake of not taking any tissue with me. Considering I've been sick for 3 weeks, you'd think I would have thought of it, but no. I ended up grabbing leaves off of trees as I ran to blow my nose. It was really pretty gross. Of course, having to hold onto snotty tissues the whole run would have been pretty gross, too. I guess you really can't win.

So, yeah, I finished 6 miles without too many issues. I mean, my knee started to hurt (I'm considering buying a band to take some of the IT Band pressure of my knees), and my lower back was a complete mess all day yesterday (still not sure what caused that), but I made it without feeling like I needed to stop. And it doesn't seem to have made me more sick.

I think I maybe could have made the 8, but I really didn't want to push it. As it was, I finished somewhere around 6 miles in about 1 hour, 15 minutes. That's roughly a 12:30 mile, which is way better than I have been doing. I am hoping that I can keep that speed going. I was happy with the run.

I guess we'll see how this week goes...

Still sick...

I decided to try to run on Tuesday because I was feeling a little better, and I really wanted to get back onto my training schedule. I set out to do 20 minutes instead of the assigned 30 because I was still not feeling so great, and I really didn't want to push myself too hard while I was still sick.

I managed to get through 15 minutes running before I started to worry about how awful I was feeling. I ended up walking the 10 minutes home from there. I felt really bad about not doing a longer run, and the one that I did manage to do was so slow and pathetic.

I felt awful on Wednesday, so I didn't run, and I am still a mess today, so it seems that running is out. I don't want to make myself more sick by running when my body can't take it, and the way I felt on Wednesday made me feel like the run Tuesday wasn't the best idea. I mm getting terribly behind on my training.

I am worried that being sick is going to destroy all of the work that I have done towards my training. I was finally starting to settle into things, and now I haven't run in a week. I've also been sick for 3 weeks (that's all of October, so far). I am worried and upset and unhappy right now.

So, I won't run today, and tomorrow is a rest day. That leaves the long run on Saturday. It is supposed to be 8 miles, and I'm not sure I feel great about that. I am really hoping that I will be feeling well enough by then to force myself through a long run, but I might consider shortening it to 6 miles in order to "ease" myself back into the running. I guess I will wait and see how I feel Saturday morning and make my decision from there.

I need to get better soon.

A cold front came through last night, and it is GORGEOUS outside. I hope it stays this way for a while.

Blurg

I haven't run since Thursday, and that run wasn't a good one.

I was incredibly sore from the sprints I did on Wednesday, so much so that I was a bit worried about my legs when I started the run. It didn't take long into the run for me to realize that the pain wasn't just normal soreness. My legs weren't going to get me through a full 30 minutes.

I ended up deciding to shorten the run to 20 minutes in order to try to preserve my legs for the long run Saturday. I also went really, really slowly, even for me. It still hurt, a lot. I think I need to be more careful about my speed work. I need to do it, but I can't destroy my legs like that. I'm still a weakling.

I wasn't feeling good at all when I got home Friday, but I had been suffering from that cold for over 2 weeks, and I had been out late Thursday night, so I thought I was just run down. Unfortunately, things just got worse overnight.

I woke up to go run on Saturday and realized that there was no way I was going to manage a run. My cold had apparently managed to work its way into a sinus infection, and I was a mess.

I've been really sick since then. I did somehow manage to drag myself to the fundraiser that we hosted on Saturday. It went really well (big thanks to everyone involved), but I felt awful the whole time.

I skipped work (and my run) today because I was still not doing so well. The antibiotics appear to be helping, but functioning normally is still rough. I'm guessing this post isn't great because I'm just trying to get stuff written so I can stop trying to think.

I need to get back to work, and I need to get back to running. I hate missing a long run, and I am really worried about the 8 miles next Saturday. Let's hope I'm at least some form of healthy by then.

Sigh.

Another week...

I wasn't feeling great Monday, so I opted to give myself an off day. I was still waking up feeling so sick, and my knee was still a little questionable. I hate skipping runs, but if I am sick or injured, I miss more. I really didn't want to take a chance at hurting my knee worse. So, Monday I rested. I like resting, but I can't get used to it.

The soreness in my legs from Saturday's long run still wasn't gone when I set out for my Tuesday run. My legs always complain at the beginning of the run, but this was on another level. The soreness melted a bit as I went. Of course, a little over halfway through the run, it felt like my legs themselves were melting. It was almost as if there just wasn't anything left in them. It was a pretty surreal feeling. I managed to push through it, though.

The run, for the record, was 30 minutes and followed what has become my "regular" 30 minute run down the bayou. The last 5 minutes are always tough on me - I start to totally give out right around then, plus it's slightly uphill back towards my apartment.

The runs are starting to become a bit easier, but I still wouldn't call them fun. People keep saying that I will start to enjoy them, but I am still not there yet.

Tonight was supposed to be track practice, but, with the storm rolling in, I was worried they would decide to run a parking garage. The up and down seems to be rougher on my knee than running on the flat, so I really wasn't up for running a garage this week.

I still wanted to do some sort of speed work today, both because it is nice to have a change in pace and because I feel like I am starting to get the distance in, so I want to improve my stride and speed.

James was willing to head out to Spotts Park with me a little later in the day, so we headed out there together. It's always nice to have some sort of company. He spent the time kicking around a soccer ball with his roommate while I ran sprints.

I started out on the grass, but the rain had soaked the ground pretty well, so I gave up on that idea pretty quickly and moved to the path.

I did what I guessed at as 100m sprints. I'd sprint the length, walk back, and repeat. I kept that up for 20 minutes.

I felt like my sprints went really well. I felt fast and strong. Towards the end, of course, my legs started to feel like they were going to give out - my quads were just screaming at me. I am going to hurt all over tomorrow.

I am starting to feel healthier. Hopefully, my knees will still feel good tomorrow. At least I "only" have to run 6 miles Saturday =)

Wooo!

I ran 8 miles yesterday. I hurt EVERYWHERE, but I ran 8 miles!

Thursday's run went really well. It was basically the same run as Tuesday, and I felt really strong. The last 5 minutes of the 30 was a little rough, but it really wasn't too bad. I am really happy with how my shorter runs have started going. I do need to find some new paths to run, though - doing the same run several times a week will get old really, really soon.

I did learn something about this stupid cold that I just can't seem to shake: running does seem to make it worse the next day. I skipped Wednesday's track practice to try to give myself time to heal, and I felt a lot better Thursday. Then I ran when I got home on Thursday, and I didn't feel as good on Friday. Bah! Stupid cold!

Anyway, on to yesterday. Our long run was scheduled to be 8 miles, and I was definitely scared (and not feeling so healthy) going into it. I was glad to have Kelli's company again, though.

So, we headed out. The route, for those of you familiar with Houston, started out with half of the Memorial loop, then went up Memorial to Chimney Rock, turned around, and came back into the park with the second half of the loop. It was FAR.

We ran into Cassie part of the way through the loop, and she decided to run with us. I know we were way slower than she is used to running, but I definitely appreciated the support.

Most of the run was shaded, and it didn't get TOO hot, but the humidity was still pretty stout. Silly Houston.

So, the first half of the run went pretty well. I was amazed at how far it actually was. The water break on the way to Chimney Rock was definitely welcome, and it was my only stop for the first part of the run.

Cassie did manage to tell me at one point that Chimney Rock was the next street and was totally wrong. I forgive her =)

Turning around and heading back felt good, even though I knew how much I still needed to run. I stopped for water again, and I took a gel. I think that I took too much water with it. I definitely needed the energy boost at that point, but I didn't feel fantastic afterwards. More experimentation needed, for sure.

I did start to slow a bit on the way back. 8 miles really is much longer than I should be forcing myself to run.

Sometime around mile 6, my knee started to hurt. It was familiar pain - a sharp pain that is caused by tightness and knots in my IT Bands. I guess I haven't been stretching and rolling them often enough. Anyway, I ran the last 2 miles with pain in my knee. It came and went, but by the last mile, it was starting to wrap itself around my knee.

Yeah, I know I maybe should have stopped, but I actually had the ability to finish 8 MILES, and I wanted to get through it. And I did finish the 8 miles. I was really slow by the end of it, but I finished.

I did the 8 miles in around 2 hours. That is a really slow pace, but, to me, the important part is that I ran all 8 miles. The increased pace will come. I still have 3 months to train. I can do this.

I had trouble walking the rest of the day. The pain is mostly gone today, so I will use the roller thingy tonight, and we'll see how I feel tomorrow before I make a decision on whether or not to do my short run.

Of course, I feel pretty sick today. The cold won't go away, and running yesterday can't have helped (also, I went to a wedding and a house warming party, so, yeah =)). I might be better off taking tomorrow off. We'll see how I'm feeling. I need my health back.

But, seriously, 8 MILES!

Well, yesterday's run went really well.

I tried a bit of Hammer Gel before the run just to see how my body reacted to it before taking it on a long run (having it hurt me on a long run would be BAD). I couldn't get the whole serving down (it DOES taste just like chocolate pudding, but I could only take about half of it for some reason). It seemed to help. The important thing is that it didn't cause any negative reactions. I think I am going to get some of the Raspberry one - for some reason, I handle fruit flavor better when I work out.

The run itself was good. I did 30 minutes, leaving from my apartment and running down the bayou. I was actually really surprised by how far I got before I hit 15 minutes and needed to turn around. And I felt pretty good the entire time. I didn't really have any trouble with side cramps or anything like that. It was nice to see where the path goes past where I usually turn around =)

For being as sick as I have been this week, I have been surprised by how good I have felt when I run (the short ones, at least - Saturday was just bad). The best I have felt this week has been the couple of hours immediately after my runs. It's just weird.

I went to the doctor today because my boss told me I should. She told me what I expected to hear - it's a cold, it hasn't turned into a sinus or bronchial infection, and it might just take up to 2 weeks to get rid of it. Fun times. At least it's nothing serious, right? She also told me that I can run as long as it isn't making me feel worse, and that I should maybe take a break and see if it helps.

So, I decided to skip track practice tonight. It makes me jumpy not to run, especially with our first 8-mile run coming up on Saturday. But, I do want to get better as soon as possible, so I have to try to take care of myself. I will do my run tomorrow, enjoy the rest day on Friday, and try go into Saturday with a good attitude about it. At least I'll have my running partner back on Saturday.

You ready, Kelli?

I left work about an hour early today because I was still feeling really sick (it was a ROUGH day at work). I didn't expect to get a run in at all; I just came home and collapsed.

After a couple of hours of just resting, I was feeling a bit better, so I decided that I should try to get some sort of a run in. The plan was to just take it really, really easy, and to start walking as soon as I stopped feeling good. I assumed that I would walk a good bit of the 20 minutes, but at least I would be on my feet, doing something towards my training.

Things actually went a lot better than I expected. Besides the predictable sluggish feeling in my legs (first run after a long run does that to me), I actually felt pretty good. I kept a slow and steady pace through the entire 20 minutes. I didn't feel at all sick, and the pain in my side was very slight. 20 minutes actually felt easy for once. Weird.

I think the weather really is a big factor for me. Since I ran a bit later in the afternoon today, the route I took was mostly shaded, and there was a nice breeze. I think that was another factor in how badly Saturday went - we didn't start running until almost 8:45am (I'm usually done with my long run by then), and it was hot and sunny. Ugh.

Anyway, I had a nice run even through I've been sick. I needed that.

Disappointment

Yesterday was my birthday. I started my birthday by getting up early to go run. And it went very, very badly.

I left home as soon as it started to get light out (no running in the dark when I'm on my own), and headed out to run 2 miles before the Komen Race for the Cure 5K. I could tell things weren't going to go well less than a mile into the run. I just felt awful. I honestly haven't felt that bad since our very first long run. I felt nauseous, I had an awful side cramp, and nothing seemed to feel right.

On another note, it was interesting running along the route for the race as things were getting set up.

Anyway, I got through roughly the first mile before having to stop and catch my breath. The second mile was pretty rough - I had to walk bits of it, and I was really happy to make it to the staging area for the race so I could sit down and try to regroup.

Of course, I then had over an hour of standing around waiting for the 5K to start. I started to feel a little better, but my body had gone into recovery mode, and I started to get the awful feeling in my stomach that comes on when I don't get something into my stomach after my run.

Eventually, all of the race hoopla started. It was pretty interesting to me, since I've never participated in a race like this one. There were so many people there! We listened to several speeches, and they released birds. It was pretty. Then they started the family 1K, followed by the competitive runners.

I was in the non-competitive running group, and we started about 10 minutes later than we were supposed to. It was so weird to start out in the middle of a huge group of people. I was near the start of the group, so that was good because things got moving fairly easily. It was bad because tons of people passing you doesn't feel great.

I felt ok at the start. I set my pace and tried not to let the people passing me cause me to speed up. I mostly just tried to take in the feeling of the run. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for my body to just start shutting down. I was miserable. I'm sure I looked awful as I tried to push myself to run as much as possible.

I really wanted to finish the run, so I just kept pushing myself. I did have to start walking bits of it, and I was really frustrated by that. By the time the finish line was in sight, I was running and walking almost the same amount. I managed to run across the line, and I sat down under a tree to try to quiet all the different parts of me that were complaining.

The original plan was to run the 1.5 miles back to my apartment after the run to finish out the 6+ miles assigned for Saturday. Unfortunately, there was just no way that a run back was going to happen - I ended up having a terrible time just trying to walk back.

Seriously, it was a bad morning, and I collapsed when I finally got home. I was really, really depressed about the failure. After the high that came from a strong 6.5 miles last week, having a run go as badly as my first long run just hurt. I started to worry about my ability to get through this process for the first time in a while.

So, I spent some time going through what I think went wrong. Honestly, I think the problems all probably stem from being sick the last part of the week. I mean:
1. I was still sick. Bodies don't work as well when they are fighting off germs.
2. Because of being sick, I skipped 2 weekly runs - so I hadn't run since Tuesday. There's definitely a reason that our schedule has us running as often as we do.
3. My nutrition had been really, really poor since I started to get sick. I wasn't eating well, or much, so I wasn't even close to properly fueled.

Of course, the break in the middle of the run didn't help at all, either.

Still, it hurt my confidence to have a long run go that badly. Especially since we have an 8 mile long run coming up next Saturday. I guess it's back to running tomorrow. Hopefully it goes better.

I woke up this morning with cold symptoms even worse than last week, so I'm just hoping I get healthy soon.

Well, the week started out decently enough...

I took my running clothes to work Monday so that I could go straight to the park and run after work (a sports bra is about the only thing that I can't change into in the car =)). I ran my 20 minutes at Spotts Park without too much trouble. Don't get me wrong, it was hot, and I didn't feel great. But I did get through the run. My body felt weak and sore, but I expected at least the weakness since I gave blood on Saturday. Whatever, it was a Monday run, and Monday runs are never the best.

Tuesday was similar - I took my clothes to work and ran at Spotts (I needed to get the run over with early because I had Book Club that night). Instead of running the loop there like I usually do, I took lots of random turns, including a bit of a run along Memorial. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, because it was hot out. I made it through the 30 minutes, but it was really difficult not to just stop early.

So, I got through the first 2 runs of my week without too much drama, then I went and got sick. I've apparently got some sort of a cold. It's been going around at work, and I failed to avoid it, of course. I'm hoping that it's just something short and quick, but I worry about how long I'll be down. I don't want anything getting in the way of my training.

I skipped Wednesday's track practice because I got home from work feeling awful. I hoped to be well enough today to get my run in, but I ended up coming home from work early because I felt so bad, so I'm guessing that a run is out.

Hopefully I will be feeling better Saturday, because I plan to do my long run unless I am physically unable to get out of bed. I am signed up for the Komen Houston Race for the Cure, and I'll be doing a run before it and a bit after to turn the 3 miles of the race into the slightly more than 6 that I need to do. Fun times.