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... :)
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Saturday, September 22, 2012
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!
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!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
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.
Monday, September 3, 2012
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...
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...
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