Geese and lost keys

I did my run at the park across from the plant today. Technically, it's a cross training day, but I have nowhere to work out and I skipped yesterday's run, so I decided to do 25 minutes. The running itself wasn't terrible - my legs are insanely sore for some reason, so I felt that, but otherwise, it was ok.

I think what killed me was the weather. It was cold and dreary and yucky. I was chilly at first, but that passed. But, for some reason, I just felt awful. My sinuses felt really screwy. It was just icky. But I still made it through 25 minutes of running without walking.

At about minute 20, I realized that I had managed to drop my keys, so I got to walk the entire loop again looking for them. You would think that a black key fob on a light colored running path would be easy to see. Unfortunately, the large number of geese that live in the little park seem to like to leave little black presents on the path, so, yeah. I did find them.

I felt terrible when I finished. Just sick. So, I allowed myself to stop at a great little bakery for a lovely, hot chai (I forgot how great hot drinks are when it's cold out) and a pastry.

I really do think that the sick feeling is the weather and the dry air up here. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss running in Houston. The grass is always greener, right?

In fundraising news, why haven't you donated yet? http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston10/khughesw0s

Catching up...

So, what happens when I miss a week of blogging is that I just keep putting it off because writing the entry has become a bigger and bigger task. I am now 2 weeks behind, and I really need to just get caught up.

Actually, there's not that much to write about from 2 weeks ago. I got sick, and I really didn't run during the week except on Tuesday. On Tuesday, I got stubborn and decided that I wasn't going to let a little cold keep me from my workout. I started with a half hour leg workout with my trainer, which hurt a predictable amount (and continued to hurt for the rest of the week =)), and then I ran the loop at Memorial with my running buddy. Neither of us was feeling well, so it wasn't a great run, and we walked at least half of it, but we got out there and did it. I felt great when I got home, but I felt truly awful when I woke up Wednesday morning.

The run that Saturday went surprisingly well for me considering that I had skipped most of the weekly workouts. We did 5 miles, the same route as the week before. It was probably the best run I've had, ever, and I shaved about 2 minutes off my mile time (it still took about an hour and five minutes, but that's practically FAST for me =)). I really missed running with my running partner (poor girl was really sick), but I ended up running a good chunk of the mileage with one of the other girls, and she was great company, too =)

Last week was pretty uneventful. Monday I did the standard treadmill run followed by Pilates, and I felt awesome afterwards. I actually felt like I could have easily run more than the required 20 minutes on the treadmill. Why is it so much easier to run on the treadmill? It makes me feel like it's not a good workout.

Tuesday, it was raining and ugly all day, so we decided to skip our park run. I still worked out with my trainer, though, and my whole body felt it the next day. She is GOOD.

Wednesday was track night, which meant the first ladder of the season. The workout for those of us doing the half was 200, 400, 600, 600, 400, 200 (yards, if you remain blissfully unaware of track workouts), with walking breaks in between. I managed to get through it, though I was definitely slower at the end than the beginning. As we were without a coach (again, sickness, bah!), I led the group through a short (and probably funny-looking) set of form drills. Yes, I know I'm not the best person to demonsrate FORM drills, but I was nominated =)

I skipped Thursday's run in order to go to a cocktails/culture "crawl" thing at the Pavilions downtown. The space is neat, and I maintain that cocktails, yummy food, multiple musical performances, and good company totally counts as my workout =)

Saturday's run was pretty ugly. The route was a loop at the park followed by a loop through the nearby neighborhood. The start/end point also served as the midway point, which was kinda evil, really. I didn't have anyone to run with this week, so I set out for 6 miles on my own.

3/4 of the way through the Memorial loop, I hit a wall, hard. I ended up walking the rest of the way around the loop, popping energy chews near the end because I was starting to feel sick (I usually wait for the water stop to fuel, since it's best to fuel with water). I still made it to the picnic tables at 40 minutes in, meaning that I started out way too fast (considering I walked about 8 minutes, I must have been over a minute or two under my best pace). I basically just burnt myself out with no one around to help regulate my pace.

The second 3 miles was very slow. I did a bit of it with one of our coaches and the last half of it with one of the other girls. It was pretty painful, but I learned a valuable lesson about speed. I also need to find something I can eat an hour before a run without making myself sick, because not eating before long runs isn't going to fly anymore.

So, it was bad, but I've definitely had worse runs. It's really weird how you can have such a good long run followed by such a bad one. My body is a fickle thing.

This week I'm in Morris for work again, and it is cold. I missed today's run because I forgot to take my shoes to work (bad excuse, I know). The plan had been to run in the park across from the plant, then get groceries and run some errands I don't have time to do back home. When I left work, it was dark and windy and cold, and I never feel quite right up here anyway, so I decided to just run my errands and rest. It's only 20 minutes, and I seem to need the rest.I hate skipping runs, but I'll make up for it.

Blech

Well, I skipped yesterday's run because I've got something that appears to be an ugly cold. Ugh. I've decided to sweat my way through a workout with my trainer and a run with my running buddy tonight, sick or not. I need the workout, and I'm hoping it will make me feel better.

I guess I have a week of runs to write about, but I'll keep it short.

Monday was a holiday, and I was up and had my 20 minute run out of the way before 8am. I took my simple route - the one that leaves my apartment and goes along the bayou. It didn't feel great, but I didn't have to slow to a walk because of the side cramps. Not as bad as before.

Tuesday's run was with my favorite running buddy - we both made it the 20 minutes we set out to do, then walked the rest of the Memorial loop. Hot and sweaty, still, but I definitely prefer to run with someone.

Wednesday was track practice, and it went pretty well. Warm-up was the walk to the track, and then I did three 800m runs. It was hard, but I made it through pretty well, I thought.

I skipped out on Thursdays run for a fashion event (with free food!). I did a lot of walking in heels, so I should get some sort of credit for that, right?

Now, Saturday's run was a doozy. I managed to remind myself the hard way why I don't drink on Friday nights. A lovely dinner with a couple glasses of wine with a great friend made for an ugly run. I don't regret the dinner, but I think those will need to be moved to different nights from here on out =)

We ran 5 miles out of the park. Part of the run was a familiar path, but there was some new stuff thrown in, which was nice. I got to the water stop without stopping, but feeling pretty rough. I also made it to the turnaround and then back to the water stop. I took fairly long breaks at each stop, but I did run it all.

When I got about halfway from the water stop to the park, my stomach knotted completely up. I alternated bits of walking and running for a while before giving up and walking the rest of the way back to the park. I don't think I walked more than a mile of the whole thing, but it was a difficult mile.

Ugh, don't drink and run, people, seriously.

4 miles

Thursday's run was probably my best in Morris. I decided to just run in the neighborhood by the hotel. I considered a trail by the river suggested by one of the guys at work, but I didn't want to leave my work laptop in my car when I'd be out of view of the car. Running from the hotel allowed me to leave my stuff at the hotel and have some juice before the run.

The neighborhood was small, and really cute. I just ran some lazy loops through the streets, trying to change up my route so as not to get bored. The side cramps were there, but pretty mild, so I ran through it. I managed to run for the entire assigned 25 minutes, and I felt pretty good about it.

The long run on Saturday morning was back here in Houston, and the change in temperature and humidity was marked. It was hot and wet. Definitely not a pleasant change, but being home and getting to run with the group (and my lovely running partner) again was nice.

Our route was 4 miles plus hills - we ran out of the park, down to Shepard, did hills there, and ran back to the park.

I managed to make it to Shepard without stopping to walk, and I felt fairly good the whole way. Running with someone else just seems easier to me than doing it on my own. I don't know if it's the distraction or if somehow talking keeps the side cramps from starting. The company is good, though, and the runs are nicer. I'm glad I'll be in Houston and able to do my weekly runs with Kelli for at least a couple of weeks.

We walked a couple of times on the 2 miles back to the park, but we made better time than we have been, and I am really feeling better about running. Slow, but not miserable.

I'm enjoying my day off today, then back to running tomorrow. My legs hurt all the time, now, but that's a good thing. I really need to get better about stretching.

Run run run

Ah, cool weather

Well, the weather in Illinois is interesting. It's still summer back in Houston, but here it's cold in the morning and 70 when it comes time for my run. Can't say I'm not enjoying the cooler and less humid weather, but I won't enjoy the cold when I'm back here next month.

The runs themselves? Still not enjoying them.

I was excited to start Monday's run since it was so beautiful outside. I drove across the street from the plant to the employee park. They've got a great little track there (bit less than a mile, I think). It makes for a nice run (dirt, not concrete - yay knees!). I felt pretty good at first, but started to fade pretty fast. I have several theories about why my short runs tend to go worse than my long runs, but I really think it boils down to this: I try to go too fast. I start out thinking I'm actually a runner, and I start at a decent clip (still slow, mind you), then I just can't keep up with myself. It's not a conscious thing - I certainly don't think "gee, I think I'll run faster today". I need to make myself consciously slow down so I don't end up having to stop.

I was actually about halfway through the run this time before the side cramps started in badly enough that I had to slow to a walk. Again, I'm not sure why these are more prevalent on my shorter runs than the long run, but they appear to be back. I actually think that they were caused by a combination of going to fast and being dehydrated this run. I just can't seem to stay hydrated for the life of me here. The air's all DRY and stuff. So weird.

I only walked for a little bit, then I slowed my running speed way down and started again. I had to walk once more towards the end, but I got through 20 minutes.

Tuesday's run got pushed out because I decided that I would rather take the opportunity to see a game at Wrigley Field. Even better, I got to see the Astros play the Cubs. Wrigley Field is amazing - it's just such a nostalgic park. I am really thrilled that I got a chance to see a game there, even if it did mean over a 2 hour drive in traffic to get there and getting back to the hotel around midnight. 5 1/2 hours of sleep? Totally worth it!

So, technically, I didn't run on Tuesday, but I did do a fair amount of walking at a fairly good clip (Jackie is a fast walker!) as the car was parked over a mile (possibly 2) from the stadium. I felt like I got a pretty good workout in, even if I didn't run.

Today's run was better than Monday, but still not great. Tonight is track practice back in Houston, and I'm sad I'm missing it. The coach's email said that those of us missing practice should do 10 minutes slightly slower than normal, 10 a little faster than normal, then 10 slower. Since I've been having so much trouble just running, I decided to just try for 30 minutes slow at the loop across from the plant.

I started out slower and did pretty well for a while. At 15 minutes, I had to slow to a walk because of side cramps again. Those are really annoying! I didn't bring my electrolyte drink mix with me, and I'm avoiding Gatorade, but I think that might be what I need to help get rid of those. I only walked for 2 minutes before running again, but then only made it 5 minutes before having to walk. I gave myself another 2 minute walk, then finished out the 30 minutes at a run. It was actually a pretty good run for me. The cool air and nice breeze helps. A lot.

Well, that's the week so far. One more run in the nice weather tomorrow, then it's back to suffocating in Houston. Yay!