Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running...

So, after my less-than-stellar long run last week, I was a little nervous about this week.  And then I remembered when I ran my first 10-miler during my marathon training and it was awful as well.  So I looked at my blog from the following week when I ran 11 miles, and I remembered that that run was great.  I had high hopes that history would repeat itself.

I had an average, run-of-the-treadmill run on Tuesday at my own gym.  Then I ran at a different gym due to a training I had for work.  There just happened to be a 24-Hour Fitness within 2 miles of my training (which was over an hour away from my house), so I knocked it out early before I picked up the boys from daycare.  That run was fine, but the treadmill was a little different, so it felt weird.  For the rest of the week I kept a close eye on the weather forecast...

Once again, thunderstorms sent me running inside again.  I don't mind the mill runs for 3 miles, but anything above 6 miles tends to lose its "fun" factor rather quickly.  The worst part was that SportsCenter wasn't playing on any of the TVs, so I was stuck watching "Law & Order".  I hadn't watched that show much, but I was able to enjoy 2 episodes during my run.  I think having to focus on reading the subtitles to keep up with the story helped distract me from my task, so it wasn't as dreadful as it could have been.  I broke my run up into three 3-mile chunks with restroom breaks in between and a 2-mile chunk to end.  If I didn't count my pit stops, I kept a 13:28-minute mile pace for the entire run.  However, I kept my timer going, so my actual pace was 14:33-minute mile.  I think that is the best pace I've kept for my long runs, so I feel pretty good about it.  We'll see if I'm able to walk tomorrow... :)

Bad at Blogging & Bonking

So, I completely forgot to blog last week.  I had a rather busy Saturday, but I've finally pried the boys off the computer long enough to catch back up.  Here's what you've missed:

Last Week

I finally got my new shoes, and boy do my feet feel fantastic!  Every time I wince at the price of those puppies, I need to remember that they fit wonderfully and make all the difference.  I ran on Sept. 11th through the neighborhood, and the weather felt great. We finally got a much-needed break from the heat.

On Sept. 13th, I started out too fast and got tired towards the end.  But, all in all, still wasn't a bad run.  Once again, the shoes were nice!

On Sept. 15th, I ended up changing my running plans due to getting a call from the city of Alvin that we had multiple mosquito populations near us that tested positive for West Nile virus.  Between not wanting to get sick & having a haircut scheduled at 9:30, I went to the gym.  It was only 6 miles, but feeling like I was on a time crunch bothered me and threw off my concentration.  I got it done, but it wasn't pretty.  I had a lot of running around town to do, so I still squeezed in a little more exercise...

This Week

On Tuesday, I decided to run through the neighborhood due to being at school longer than I anticipated.  I started out great, then slowed down a bit when James decided to "help" me.  He wanted to ride his bike along side me.  The only problem was that he kept weaving in front of me and slowing down suddenly, which threw off my pace.  At one point, I told him to ride behind me, and then he ran into the back of my leg.  Needless to say, I will not be encouraging him to ride when I'm running again anytime soon...

On Thursday, I had this weird feeling that I was forgetting something.  I had my school stuff, both kids, my keys & phone, but I couldn't figure out what I had missed.  It wasn't until I was getting ready to run on the treadmill that I made my discovery--my MP3 player was at home.  Ugh!  I'm a bit of a "music-holic", so not having my tunes was really frustrating.  So, instead, I just focused on SportsCenter and followed the timer on the mill to make sure I kept a decent pace.

This morning, I woke up early to go tackle my 10-mile run.  Learning from my mistake on Thursday, the first thing I grabbed was my MP3 player.  I checked the battery level & discovered to my horror that it was dead.  So, I made an executive decision to charge it and go back to sleep... :)  I got up later & had my granola bar, then headed out the door.  I chose to run at Stevenson Park again because I wanted to be sure I only ran 10 miles.  Plus, my tummy was a little off(so making sure I had facilities nearby was a bonus.  I figured out that I could use rocks to keep track of my laps.  The track is only 1/2 mile around, so I was in for 20 laps.  I wanted to make sure that I didn't miscount and end up doing any extra, so I picked up 10 rocks and put them in my pocket.  As I completed a mile, I placed a rock on top of the distance sign.  I did really well for the first 8.5 miles, keeping a solid 13:11-minute-mile pace, and then the big BONK hit me.  I didn't have enough of the energy gels I normally use on my longer runs, and the granola bar didn't last as long as I was hoping.  It was literally all I could do to make the last 3 laps.  The worst part was feeling dizzy and out of it. I had never experienced that before, and I never want to again!  I stopped at my rock-piled sign, prayed that God would just help me finish, and I started again, but at a much slower pace.  I even ended up walking the last 1/2 mile because I didn't want to risk passing out or not being able to drive home.  I stopped at McDonald's on the way home to get a mango-pineapple smoothie to bump my blood sugar up, and that seemed to make all the difference.  I'll be making sure I'm more prepared next week, since I have an 11-miler scheduled.

If memory serves me well, the last time I trained my 10-miler was awful, but my 11-miler was awesome.  I'm sure hoping history will repeat itself!

Schedule Problems & a Slump

I spent Monday evening downloading & going a little haywire on iTunes to help freshen up the playlist in hopes of that helping my momentum with training.  That was, sadly, the highlight of the training for this week. If I had my way, I'd just forget the whole thing happened and just move on.  However, there were lessons to be learned from my training trials.

Lesson #1:  NEVER run on a full stomach.  Even if you wait the obligatory 30 minutes to "let it settle", you will be extremely sorry and in agony.  I don't think I have ever had a more painful run (stomach-wise) than my run Tuesday night.  I ended up having a meeting after work, so I couldn't just go straight to the gym like I had planned.  Instead, I made dinner, ate with the family, sat with the littlest one and watched part of a DVD with him before I headed off to the gym.  I made it about a half-mile before I started feeling my dinner slowly try to march back up my esophagus.  I hadn't had that sensation since I was pregnant with James (and  no, I'm not expecting again!).  Let me just say that it was reminiscent of driving hundreds of miles across Louisiana, which at the time had terrible roads.  I spent somewhere between 300-400 miles trying everything possible to keep from throwing up inside our U-Haul truck and the occupants.  Needless to say, that is an experience that never needs to surface again.  The good part was that I ran at a 12:45-mile pace, even while trying to hold my dinner down.

Because I had "Meet Your Teacher Night" on Thursday & didn't leave school until 8:30 pm, I opted to skip my Thursday run and just rest from being at work for about 13 hours straight.  I wonder if that had something to do with my long run not going so hot. Which brings us to my other lesson...

Lesson #2:  Old shoes & treadmills make for bad long runs.  I attempted to replace my Brooks last weekend, but the store didn't have my size in stock.  Apparently, they don't carry high quantities of women's "Gargantuan" shoes.  So, I was put on a waiting list and told that I'd be called when they came in.  They called Thursday night while was sitting in the McDonald's drive-thru, waiting for my salad, my hubby's food,  & the kids' Happy Meals to take back to school so we could eat before "MYTN".  I decided I'd just pick up the shoes on Saturday.

So, today (Saturday), I had a baby shower at church to help co-host, so I had to be done with my long run, showered, presentable, & present by 10:00 am.  Since we have a crazy outbreak of the West Nile virus running rampant, I decided to not take my chances with the mosquitoes and just take my long run indoors again.  This time, I decided to break it up into 3-mile increments & to run my normal pace using my music as my timer instead of the clock on the treadmill.  I figured I'd run a little faster this time than last week.  Not so.  I got about 5-6 miles into my 9-mile run when the tops of my feet started to cramp up.  Then at about mile 8, the bottoms of my feet started to ache.  The last mile I was so worn out I couldn't even run through an entire song, so my pace ended up being a full minutes per mile slower than last week.  At least I got it done, and this time I didn't feel like I was going to hurl in the process.

I finally have the new shoes in my possession, and I'm anxiously awaiting my run on Tuesday.  Nathan told me that he thought my new purple shoes would make me go fast.  I guess we'll have to wait to find out.

Hamster Runs

Ah, back to work and back to schedule juggling.    I have to admit, I'm a little frustrated that I can't just zip up to the 24-Hour Shaq gym after work.  But I refuse to pay the extra money just for a little convenience.  Plus, the gym in Friendswood is only 8 miles from my house and has lovely ladies that know my boys as soon as they come in.  It's just going to take a little getting used to for now.

Due to the weather not cooperating this week, I ended up feeling a bit like a hamster on a wheel (all this running & not going anywhere).  It never bothered me running in a gym during the week, but it really bothered me on Saturday.  Overall, the runs went okay.

Tuesday's run was interesting.  I figured it would be tough because I was running after my second day of teaching.  For those of you who don't know, the first week of teaching is usually the hardest.  You're so exhausted by 3:45 that all you want to do is curl up in a ball and nap until Thanksgiving break.  Instead, I used the faculty restroom as my personal "phone booth" to make my transformation from meek & mild (yeah, right) Mrs. Cooke to Mandessa, the Marathoning Momma (minus the cape--don't want anything to get tangled up on the equipment)!

I picked up my kids, drove to the gym, and got them checked in with Ms. Joanne.  I flew to the first treadmill I saw and started my run.  I adjusted the incline & speed and was on my way.  After the first mile I felt pretty good.  I was thinking about my class & how smoothly the first two days had gone.  But, by the second mile, I felt like someone had unplugged me.  I was not sure I would even make it another mile.  Then, I glanced down at the display and realized my mistake.  I had the incline too high.  No wonder it seemed so much harder this time!  I adjusted it to where it should have been, and that made all the difference.  Disaster averted, three miles done.

Thursday rolled around and my schedule got messed up.  I don't even remember what happened.  All I remember is that I went home, made dinner, and ate before going to the gym.  This was different.  One, tilapia in the tummy while running three miles is not the best thing.  Two, it was later in the evening than I'm used to running.  The good part was that the gym was not nearly as busy.  The bad part was that my body was already beginning to wind down for the night.  I got on the treadmill, and it was a struggle to get done.  The good part was that I had a rerun of "Glee" to watch while I was running.  Once I reached my three miles, I was glad to be done and on my way home.

I woke up at 5:30am on Saturday to tackle my eight-mile run early on and turned on the news.  Bad news:  thunderstorms were headed straight to my outdoor route.  Had it been just rain, I probably would have sucked it up and done a "drowned rat" training run.  However, with the lightning, it was a different story. I run near a golf course where at 5' 4" I'm the tallest thing out there in some parts, I just didn't feel the need to test Franklin's theory and become a human lightning rod.  Judge if you must, but I chickened out and headed back to the trusty gym.

I pulled up in the parking lot, walked inside, and was surprised to see that there were only three other people working out besides me.  I picked a treadmill with a fantastic view of ESPN SportsCenter and got to work.  I ran for two miles, made a pit stop, ran another three miles, made another pit stop, and finished the final three miles.  This time, I didn't pace myself with my music like I normally do.  I just did the same thing I do for my short runs.  I ran for 0.25 miles, then walked for 0.10.  I didn't worry about being below the 13-minute mark since I was already out of my normal routine, and I'm not really sure exactly what my pace is when I'm running outside.  Anyway, the best part had to be watching the clips from the Boise State-Michigan State game from the night before replayed over & over again. Two football players were running out of bounds and completely creamed a cheerleader on the sidelines (don't worry, she was fine).  I must have seen that clip at least a half a dozen times, and it made me laugh out loud every time!  I had no idea laughter would help a long run.

So, the "hamster runs" are done, and I lived to tell the tale.  Hopefully the weather will be better this weekend so I can get back into my "normal" routine of running outdoors.  Somehow running outside just feels better than being cooped up in a gym, even if the entertainment on the screens gets a giggle...

FINALLY Broke 13:00-Minute Mile!!

I feel like Wonder Woman, minus the inappropriate outfit for someone who turned 35 yesterday!  This had to have been the best week I had running, and I'm pretty sure it was because it was my "easy week."  It started off a little rough, but today made it all worthwhile!

So, Tuesday I roll in to the 24-Hour Fitness Shaq gym near my work.  This is the location I ran at all year last school year, and it was recently expanded and refurbished.  I was able to enjoy this gym until Tuesday.  Little did I know, my gym membership that I had renewed the week before was no longer valid because I only had access to "all-Sport" gyms, not "all-Super Sport" gyms (of which there are 4 in the country, and with my luck, that location is one of them).  I was informed that I could upgrade by paying a mere $120 more, to which I screamed, "ARE YOU KIDDING ME??" in my head while politely responding, "Uh, I don't think so.  I'm a teacher, and that will not be happening."  The manager could probably see the fire back-lighting my eyeballs and was kind enough to let me enjoy one last hurrah.  I got on a treadmill and ran a little of the frustration out in my 2-mile run and made a 12:15-minute mile pace.  Maybe being aggravated made me run a little faster...

Fast-forward to Thursday.  I attended training all day (which, in itself it torture when you're used to being on your feet most of the day), then worked at my school for two hours with student registration.  Apparently, my brain was still a bit in "summer" mode when I spoke with a certain student.  I won't bore you with the details here, but let me just say that I've been kicking myself ever since and am fervently praying that I haven't completely soured this poor student towards me or the institute of education.  Anyway, after my brief moment of "athlete's tongue", I picked up the boys, headed home, made & ate dinner, took care of dishes, and then continued the "kicking myself" process on the treadmill at the gym location that will still welcome me (thank you 24-Hour Fitness in Friendswood!).  Once again, irritation helped fuel another sub-13-minute mile pace, but this time it was a tad slower at 12:35-minute mile.  I think exhaustion & running after dinner for the first time didn't have as bad of an affect on me as I thought.  I still like running right after work because once I get home, I can stay put!

Now, the moment you've all been waiting for:  today's "long" run!  Because it was an "easy week", I only had to run 5 miles.  I decided to try out the new RunKeeper app on my phone.  Unfortunately, because the park I ran in had so many trees, it couldn't log as I went.  I had a back-up plan in mind in case that happened.  I just used the timer on my phone to keep track of the time so that all I had to do was keep track of my laps.  I decided to skip the slower songs as they came up on my MP3 player, and I think that made a difference.  It also gave me a personal homework assignment to put only faster songs on it for the future (thank you, Mark Wiesenborn for the idea!).  So, ten laps and five miles later, I looked at my clock.  It read one hour and four minutes.  I quickly switched to my RunKeeper app to input my run and was ecstatic to find out that I had kept at 12:57-minute mile pace!  I probably looked like a complete wacko, fist pumping and hopping up and down like I had won the lottery, but I didn't care.  I finally did it!  I broke that crazy 13-minute mile road block!  The true test of success will come next week, with a full week of teaching & an eight-mile run on Saturday.  We'll just have to see how the week pans out...

Summer's End & 13:00 Struggle

Ah, the final week of just being a mommy & going to the gym mid-morning.  I will miss time with my boys like crazy, but I'll really miss having a bunch of treadmills available when I want to run.  Now I'll be joining all the "working stiffs" trying to squeeze in my jaunts after work & before dinner.  At least my training this week went well!

My 3-mile run on Tuesday went well, followed by hours of work getting my classroom ready for the new school year.  I wonder if climbing up & down ladders and rearranging furniture counts as cross-training?  My 3-mile run on Thursday was a little different.  Apparently, the treadmill I chose for the morning was possessed by some evil gremlin that refused to keep the incline where I wanted it.  Instead of changing machines, I figured I'd just deal with it so I could hurry & get done.  I ran my first two miles like normal (run for 0.25, then walk for .10 and repeat), then I decided to push myself and try to run the whole last mile without a break.  Much to my surprise, I did it!  I made it and didn't feel like I was going to keel over once I hit the stop button.  I felt like SuperMom minus the cape!  I figured that would help my long run on Saturday go faster.

This morning, I started my run with my new app "Run Keeper".  I love it!  It periodically tells me how far I've run, my time, and my pace while I'm running.  Plus, it actually kept an accurate distance for me.  The first half of my run felt great, albeit humid.  I had my stride & breathing down and thought, "This is awesome!  I'm going to break 13:00!"  Once I hit my halfway point, it felt like I had been dropped in a sauna.  I ended up having to stop at mile 5 to buy more water because I ran out.  The rest of the run was slower than I liked, but I got it done.  Unfortunately, it was at a 13:35-minute mile pace. I'm a little frustrated that I can't seem to break the 13-minute mile mark yet, but I think I'll be able to before too long.  I think I may start changing my running pace for my short runs to increase endurance, like run 0.50 instead before a walk, and then see how next weekend goes...

Good, Good, Blah...

My two 3-mile runs at the gym this week were fantastic!  I felt great & finally have gotten to the point where I'm not gasping for breath by the second mile.  The lungs are starting to remember how to do the "run & breathe" thing, which makes life more comfortable.  Plus, watching the Olympics on the screens is amazing motivation to keep going when you feel a little tired.  The only thing that would be more inspirational for me would be watching Tebow... :)

The long run today was a six-mile jalk.  I arrived at the park for my run and discovered a mini tent-city.  Apparently, there was a 5K that was starting & ending there, complete with a DJ from a local country station.  I had a lot more company than I was expecting for my training!  The path is a half-mile, so I completed 12 laps to get my mileage in.  I tried a new app "Map My Run" to keep track of my distance & time, but I think I bumped something by accident or it didn't have a good GPS signal.  Instead of recording my six miles, it only recorded four, and I KNOW I ran six because I was counting laps.  I'll give it another shot next weekend to see if it's just a case of user error or app issues.  What mattered to me was that I ran six miles and kept an average of 13.5-minute-mile pace.  I'm a little frustrated that I haven't dropped below the 13-minute mile mark yet, but I know it'll get better.  That's why I'm training.  We'll have to see what next week holds in store!

Still going strong... sort of...

So with being on vacation, I skipped on blogging.  Now that I'm back home, I can get back into the swing of  posting more regularly (with any luck)...  Here's how the past two-and-a-half weeks of training went.

We flew into Orlando late Friday night.  On Saturday, I had a two-mile run scheduled, but I didn't know the distances from my parents house.  We came up with a consensus that it was about a mile to my old elementary school, so I ran there and back.  I came in the door after my run and said, "That felt too short..." I checked the pedometer, and I was right.  It was only a mile and a half.  Since I had plans that night to go out, I decided to not worry about it.

The next week, I walked a little over four miles with Mom & Mary Monday night.  Then, I skipped my three miles on Tuesday because we went to Legoland and walked six-and-a-half miles.  On Thursday, we were in New Symrna Beach, so I enlisted in the help of the condo manager to figure out my three-mile route (from the condo to A1A, back down to Flagler Ave, back to the condo & repeat).  While my family was playing on the beach, I was completing my training run.  I have to admit, playing in the cool Atlantic felt wonderful after that run!  We were back in Orlando by Saturday for my three-mile "long run."  I ran from my parents' house to Mary's house and back (which we confirmed the distance in the car).  

The following Tuesday, I ran my three-mile route in Orlando while the family ate breakfast.  On Thursday, we were in Cocoa Beach.  This time, I just decided to run for 30 minutes on the beach.  I had never actually run on the sand before, and it was nice.  The only part I didn't like was getting sand in my running shoes.  I'm pretty sure there's still a little bit of Cocoa Beach in my Brooks to this day!  We were back in Orlando by Saturday for my four-mile "long run", so I ran to Mary's house & back for three miles, then ran up & down the main road next to my parents' house to make the fourth mile.  I left on my run to the smells of bacon & pancakes, and I think it help me keep my fastest pace since I started training again:  12-minute mile!

I had one more run in Orlando before coming back home on Tuesday.  I did great for the first two miles, but when I hit mile three, my stomach decided to do a repeat performance of "miles 14-17 misery" from my Marathon.  I got it done, but it drastically impacted my pace (only 13:30-minute mile).  I figured once I got home things would improve.

Unfortunately, they haven't yet.  I ran at the gym yesterday and only made a mile before the stomach began its pyrotechnics once again.  I took a quick break, then got back on and ran in smaller increments.  Talk about frustrating!  I'm really hoping my five-mile "long run" tomorrow goes better.  We'll have to wait and see...

Now that I've gotten caught up online, I need to get caught up on housework (sigh...)...

Here I go again...

I trying to get ready to start training again!  My sights are set on the finish line of the Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon on November 10th, and my brain is still rethinking the training schedule.  The problem I'm having is that I'm torn between two schedules. The first one, which is the Jeff Galloway Beginner schedule, has me  running only three days a week (two short runs and one long run).  It seems easy enough, but it's unfamiliar.  And I'm not sure that "jalking" only 30 minutes twice a week will prepare me enough for the long runs on Saturdays.  The other option is to run two "short" days, one Fartlek (ugh!)/cross-train day (Zumba?), and one "long" run,.  It's basically a modified version of the one I used to train for the Disney Marathon, so it's a little more comfortable.  The problem with that one is that stinkin' Fartlek/cross-train day falls on Wednesday.  This may not seem like a big deal, but what it means is doing training after work and church, with a possible a faculty or vertical team meeting and/or praise team practice twice a month.  In a word?  Yuck.  Plus, when I was running last time, my weekday runs were here at home on a borrowed treadmill.  This time, I'll be at the gym.  So, here's what I'm thinking.  I can do the Jeff Galloway schedule time-wise, but keep the distances from my old training.  If I have time and/or energy to  Fartlek/cross-train, then it'd just be a bonus.  I may even try just the Jeff Galloway plan for a week or two and then see how my long runs go.  If they're just awful, then I can switch back to the other plan.  The only thing that is for certain is that my tail will be in the gym for a 2-mile jalk tomorrow!

She's At It AGAIN!

So, almost 18 months after I completed the 2011 Disney Marathon, I am now registered to complete the 2012 Disney Wine & Dine Half-Marathon!  I know, you're probably thinking, "Why is she doing this again?" or "What trouble has fallen upon another soul that she feels she needs to do another big race?"  Oh, don't worry, nothing like that has happened.  This time it's all about me.  I saw videos & pictures of friends completing the race, and I felt like, "Well, if I can finish a whole one, I KNOW I can finish a little half-marathon..."  There are other benefits besides the fact that it's shorter than my last one:  (1) it's a night race--no getting up at 2:30 am, (2) I'll get to run with my mom's best friend, Mary, (3) it ends at the Food & Wine Festival at Epcot--run & then eat?  I'm all over it!  So, I'll be continuing to run a little at the gym from now until early July, then it's back to "training camp".  As my son likes to say, "It's on!  It's on like Donkey-Kong!"