I am on vacation in New Hampshire celebrating my 3 year anniversary of running outdoors. To end my week here I went for my last run today. I ran 4 miles. I am pleased with the number of runs I went on while here.
It is hot here, very hot. In fact the whole nation is in the middle of a dangerous heat wave. But I am glad I was still able to get out and run. My times aren’t the best, but I am still maintaining my endurance.
Recap – Sunday 3 miles Tuesday 3 miles Wednesday 6 miles Friday 4 miles
I am feeling an issue starting to visit me again from an injury last year. My IT band and hamstring are acting up. I am working on rolling it out and stretching and doing my PT exercises. I am hoping not to have to go to the doctor but I will if it isn’t improving after D3 and when I am ramping up my mileage to train for the marathon. The cortisone therapy is what really helps with the deep massage.
I read a great blog from a fellow #TeamRunDisney member Laurel http://penniestoyennies.com/?p=243 about her Dopey experience and the marathon DNF. I had considered doing the Dopey; but now that I am training for the Dumbo Double Dare, even though it is just a 10K and a half back to back, you can’t underestimate the miles and what it does to your body. I am learning this while training. I don’t typically run back to back days and I am hoping that I am not ruining by body while doing it now.
These multiple event weekend sound like fun, but they are hard.
I have reached my 3 year anniversary of when I began a more serious approach to running. As I stated in the beginning of my blog, I didn’t consider myself a runner, but once I started to run outdoors and participate in races, then it really became something more for me. Now three years later, I am on vacation in New Hampshire and still running. I went on three runs so far and loved all of them. It has been exceptionally hot this week and my runs haven’t been my best; but I am learning that not all of them will be. My training for the Dumbo Double Dare seems to be a little behind. However, I did a 3 mile run on Tuesday and then a 6 mile run on Wednesday so I am sticking with back to back runs. I need to increase my mileage to get back into my half marathon mileage.
This week I have had some great opportunities come my way. I am now a Swirlgear Amabassador. Thanks to Jennifer Tara from the #TeamRunDisney group, I have connected with Marisa from swirlgear.com and am going to help them market their products by wearing their gear and spreading the word. Check them out at www.swirlgear.com!
I have also become a Sweat Pink Ambassador! I love these opportunities to network with other runners, especially women and mom runners. I love even more, the chance to test out new gear and provide feedback on it. It has made me learn that I want to do more of what I love and that is run, and get involved in running communities. I wish I could get paid to run! But I guess I have to keep my day job.
If you want to purchase swirlgear.com items, please contact me and I can provide you a special code for checkout that will give you free shipping.
I am looking forward to meeting the other swirlgear Ambassadors at the Dumbo Double Dare, too!
It’s been 1 week since my horrendous back incident, and I am pleased to say that I was able to run today. I ran yesterday, my first run since it happened. I did a short and easy run of 2.25 miles. My time wasn’t as fast and it was previous to the injury, but I need to be thankful I am moving again.
Today’s run was unplanned in terms of distance. I knew I wanted to do at least 5 miles; but I was prepared to bail whenever necessary. I didn’t exactly want to do much farther than that since I haven’t done more than 5 miles in the past 2 weeks. It was a VERY humid and hot morning. I wore my fuel belt with Gatorade so that I would have some fuel with me to avoid further injuries by staying hydrated. I was sweating head to toe within the first mile. My fastest mile was my third but then I was feeling a little lightheaded. So I walked more during the fourth mile.
Overall, I am pleased that I am back on track for the Dumbo Double Dare training. I have done back to back runs, even after injury and not running for a week. I enjoyed taking walks during that week and may resume that on my non-running days. I’d like to take the kids with me on walks. I am learning how to handle the fatigue on back to back runs. I was remembering during today’s run that I did just run the day before so that’s why my legs also feel a little more tired than usual. I also have to remember that on very hot and humid days that my pace will not be at its best. Summer training resumes. The weather will remain this hot. I hope to go for a longer run on Friday. I would like to do a short run earlier in the day on July 4 and while the kids are in camp on the 5th get in a 6.5 or 7 mile run. That’s my plan. So it’s back on again, hoping for no other issues with my back. I have made adjustments at work to have a standing work station and when I do sit, it will be for shorter periods of time, with a new chair and the correct ergonomic set up.
I have to write this post about my back so that when it happens to me again I can look back and know what I did to help make it better and know how long it took to get better. On June 6th my back went out on me. I hadn’t had an episode with it in over a year so I was disturbed that it happened. After two visits to my chiropractor and his wife I ran 6.5 miles 3 days later on June 9th. That was my longest training run towards the Dumbo Double Dare. I ran the Branford Road Race on June 16th and got a PR, then I ran 4 miles the following day with a decent run. On Saturday, June 22 after not having run since Wednesday, June 19th my back seized up on me in the middle of my easy walk/run. For a few days prior there were hints that it was not balanced and I actually said out loud, “Oh no I think my back is going to go out soon.” I should have picked up the phone and made an appointment with Dr. Pat right then. Then Saturday, I was cleaning out my closet and it was slowly seizing up on me. I was icing it an using my legs and not my back to pick up things, but at that point it was too late. I did a quick arm workout and dressed for a run. My husband warned me that maybe I shouldn’t run, but I never listen when he warns me. This time deep down I think I knew he was right. However, I was going to take it slow. I walked up my hill then started to do some running. After 1.25 miles it hit me. It stopped me in my tracks. I knew Kevin was mowing and wouldn’t have his phone with him, so I had to hold my lower spine while I walked the 1.25 miles back home. I was not happy. I tried to reach my doctors, but they were away for the weekend. Ice, ice ice, is the only way I got through till today. Saturday night was my worst night ever, I couldn’t even walk from my bed to the bathroom because the compression shot pains down my legs. I had to wake Kevin up for help.
I saw Dr. Pat today and already have some relief. I think this will require 3 visits and hopefully I can take walks during the week to keep my legs in shape and my mental workout going. I will continue to post my recovery so when it happens again I won’t get depressed, I’ll know there is an end in sight and I do recover from this.
Recently I began my training for the Dumbo Double Dare. This includes doing back to back runs. The Jeff Galloway method has the day before a run as a walk day, then the run the following day. This past weekend I ran the Branford Road Race, a 5 mile race. I got a PR at 48:36. The next day I ran 4 miles. I was trying to run it slow, but one of my miles was under 9:30. So lately, I have been getting faster. I haven’t been putting a lot of effort into getting faster. It just started with a few run where in the last mile I would do some sprinting from telephone to telephone pole or by 30 second clips. Then in about a week I noticed my time was really improving. Then I would complete my last mile running by running faster and not taking my walk breaks when the timer goes off. I’ll have to check my endomondo stats and compare my pace per mile from this month to my previous months.
Needless to say, I am really happy that I have increased speed without getting hurt. I do feel a bit sore from my back to back runs this past week. I am going to stick more to the Galloway plan and work on the half marathon training with the longer runs on weekends; but instead of doing a walk the day before I may do it as a run with a longer walk warm up and cool down.
I haven’t booked my flight yet, but I do have a hotel room and training is under way, so I am working my way towards my first West Coast Race!
March 23, 2013 was the Savin Rock Half Marathon. This is my fourth half marathon and I was pleased with my results, compared to my last two half marathons. I finished at 2:29:37 and 11:27 per minute mile. I have been averaging that for my training runs so I seem to be right on target with my training runs and my actual race results. I was also real happy with that time because I had a very bad chest cold. But I wasn’t going to let that stop me from running this race. It was a gorgeous morning. The air was cold, but the sun was warm and the sky was blue. It was perfect.
I went to packet pick up the day before. I woke at 6:00 a.m. before my alarm clock and didn’t waste any time getting out of bed. Seems that on race days I don’t even need to push the snooze button. I want to get out of bed and get on my way. I left for the race at 7:00 a.m. but my son woke up and wanted some love, so we snuggled a little and I gave him kisses through his bedroom window. I was finally on the road by 7:10 and arrived at the race location on time. I waiting in a long line for a bathroom and talked with the girls behind me. Joelle was running her first half marathon so he had normal first half marathon jitters. We talked a bit about running and her mom was waiting in line with her and I told them about the WDW marathon. I think it planted a seed in their heads to make that as a goal for her future. I love sharing the Disney magic. The girl behind Joelle also ran the Princess a few years ago so Joelle had a lot to consider and research now that she has heard what is out there for options.
They were telling the racers they were going to start very soon so we were getting anxious. We got to do our business then rushed out to the starting line just in time. As we started I searched out Joelle. I ran with her for the first 2 miles without doing my intervals. I told her that I would split off after mile 2. We talked about her training and normal first race jitter questions. It was fun. The first 2 miles went by fast. I told her to go off on her own and I’d meet her at the end.
From mile 2 – 4 it was flat. I saw Joelle’s parents at mile 4 and handed them my gloves. That was a good reason for us to hook up at the end for sure. At mile 4 the hills started. They were pretty decent sized hills too. I ran them as much as I could but also walked when necessary. I started to use Gu to keep my fuel going. I was feeling a lot of fatigue in my quads which surprised me; but I am suspecting that could be because I had such a bad cold and a few nights without good sleep. Basically I just wasn’t 100%. I was really surprised at how hilly this area was. I reviewed the route map the day before but when you see the squiggly lines on a chart you really don’t realize how those hills will feel.
I noticed that I kept running close to a woman with the cutest stripped tights and a jacket similar to mine. I would do my walk break and then catch up with her. Around mile 6 we were walking on a hill and we started talking. She said she was going to start running and walking my intervals since we were neck and neck most of the race. She introduced herself as Martha and we ran the rest of the race together. She ran this race last year and said there is a monster hill at mile 8.5. I was surprised since we were once again going up another one.
The time went by real fast having someone to talk to. And we maintained my pace and were on target to finish under 2:30. The last hill slowed us down, but we kept up the pace on the flat return back to the finish line.
The last 3 miles were great. I never felt so fresh at the end of a race. Usually at mile 10 I am pushing myself real hard and my quads and hip flexors are tight and giving up on me where I end up walking 10 seconds running 20 seconds and getting angry and frustrated that I was fatigued. This didn’t happen at all. I told Martha I wanted to pick up the pace for the last .10 of a mile and we sprinted to the finish line. I saw the clock at 2:29:50. I forgot that it was the start time for the entire race and wasn’t sure if I got a PR.
My final time was 2:29:37 and that was only 30 seconds slower than my first half marathon results of 2:29:07. I am real happy with that considering how sick I was and I wasn’t sure if I had trained well enough for this race. I also ran this race with my headphones most of the time. This has been something new to me lately. I have been feeling the need to be more aware of my surroundings and to hear my breathing and listen to the birds and appreciate the world around me.
So now the question is what other races will I do after the Cheshire Half. Will I do the Hamden Hills (minus the large hill at the end now)? Probably cause I always want to improve on previous year’s results.
I hope to find future runners to hook up with at my next half. Having someone there to talk to and pace with at the end is really uplifting and I love making new running friends. I am trying to get Joelle’s and Martha’s email addresses so I can see how Joelle was feeling the day after and to see if she will do another race in the future and hopefully drink the Disney Koo-laid. Martha also said Disney was on her bucket list. I’d love to talk those two into doing it!
