withdrawal

I have not run on the road in 4 days and I am going through withdrawal. My dh was out of town for these days and as a result I have not been able to run. I took the kids to the Y several days so I could run on the treadmill on Thursday and take a spinning class on Saturday. I missed getting to the Y on Friday b/c of work and sitter arrangements. I HATE running on the treadmill as it is long and tedious and I guess b/c of my plodding running style it is awkward and hard on my feet. I did speed work but it seemed to take forever--the treadmill is soooooo boring.

The spinning class was interesting. I have taken cycle express classes (30 minutes) before but this was a 75 minute class. I liked the workout but the next day my backside felt bruised from the horribly uncomfortable seat. It is hard to have a 3 day weekend and not be able to get in a long run. Oh I am so addicted to running, I feel sluggish when I do not run.

I also wish I had more time to get in other workouts. I want to get back into strength training/weightlifting. I used to do this when I was younger. Maybe it is time to add some equipment here at home.

My amazing husband!!!

I have always known what a brilliant and incredible man, friend, husband, father, creative talent and soul my husband is and here is further confirmation from a friend of his who blogged about their recent trip to Indy.

Scott's blog entry about Andy

Will it always feel this way?

This week I managed to get in a little over 24 miles. This is the longest I have run in a week so far. The first long run was 9.39(a weird number, but just how the route worked out) on Tuesday. I felt like I could run a mile or two longer but I did not have time to do that and still get to work on time. My pace was 12 minute miles. I did make one mistake in that I ventured off my regular route in order to add miles and so I had just mapped out the extra online but did not know what it really looked like. I turned a corner onto one of these new streets and was faced with a steep long hill. I had wanted to make this a flat, long run. Oh well, I finished it. I ran a shorter run in the middle of the week, but it seemed longer due to the higher temp and humidity. At the 4 mile mark, I knew I did not want to run any further than I had planned.

Today, I met my friend to run the entire 10-miler course. It already felt warmer than I prefer at about 71 degrees. When I ran a portion of this course 2 weeks ago, I felt great about it. Today, I was already feeling strain at about 3 miles into the run. I am so glad that I have run the entire course before my first try at the 10 miler because I was not prepared for the hill in the part, just before the 5 mile line. I finished in 2 hrs, 4+ minutes with three water break stops.

Also, I discovered some hot spots to take care for on my feet. I certainly do not want blisters. I am also experimenting with different undergarments to deal with a chaffing problem. My friend tells me Vaseline is my best bet. I guess I will feel like a greased pig before each race and long run.

Whenever I stretch into my new longer runs, I am wiped out for the rest of the day. I am ravenously hungry and I feel like I could sleep for hours in midday. I try to eat healthy choices with good protein, fruits and veggies. Also, I try to have long runs on days when I can catch a nap and not have to do any long stints of sitting. I am wondering will it always be this way when I run after all long runs?

Running withdrawal

When I looked at the date of my last entry, I did not realize how long it had been since I "blogged." I have been just trying to keep up with work.(I started back last week-already behind!)

Already, I am a bit behind on my runs too. I don't like to go 2 days in a row without running. My hubbie was out of town working at GenCon for 5 days. My mother-in-law came came in town to help through Saturday, but since then I have not been able to get in a run since the 5K race on Saturday. (running withdrawal) In running this 5K, I improved my time (to 30:47)to break just under 10 minute miles -a PB for me. I was expecting better since earlier this week I ran 3 miles in under 29 minutes. I guess I do differently when competing. My friend, who I have run part of the 10-miler course with, did very well as she won the masters' award (She is coming back from a bad injury which has taken over a year to recover from.) I had a 3 goals for this race: 1) better my time 2) test out nutrition and prepping routines and 3) beat another female runner I know. I accomplished all 3.

My plan is to have a nice, long run tomorrow (8.5-10 miles). Since it is registration day at school with afternoon & evening hours, I can take lots of time to run in the AM. I plan to get in a couple of easier runs mid-week and then run the 10-miler course Saturday with my friend.

Dragging, training, and soreness with YIKES less than 8 weeks to go!!!!

I slept in a bit this morning ('til 5:45 instead of 5:15 AM). However, I did not feel like running, I felt like crawling back into bed. I donned my running atire and then laid on the couch for a minute trying to convince myself to run. After dragging myself off of the couch, I drove to my usual running spot. My feet and right knee are a bit achy.

Today I ran speed sprints which were not easy. Actually the speed work was not bad, it was the recovery that seemed long and hard. Overall, I was more sore today from running speed sprints during my 5 miles than when I ran the slower 8 mile long run a few days ago. Tomorrow morning's run will be short because I am meeting a friend early Saturday morning to run 8 miles of the 10-miler course. She is an avid runner of 30 years whose PBs include mile paces in the 7 minute range. It makes me nervous to run with her. Add to that, I am nervous about running the hilly Langhorne Rd. section of the 10-miler and it makes me anxious just thinking about it. Oh well, I have got to attack these hills sometime...might as well be now.

I haven't figured out how to work in training and running time in the warm weather once I go back to school. I don't think I will have time in the mornings to run long runs while still having time to get ready for work and drop my son off. I am getting 2 longer runs in each week and they usually take me 1.5-2 hours each. I either have to run really early (before 5 AM) or run in the evening after dinner or the boys bedtime. I don't know if I am up for long runs in the afternoon heat, but the thought of running after dinner doesn't seem like a good choice either.