Wife Mother Runner running Archives - Page 7 of 8

Dumbo Double Dare Training continues

July 19, 2013

Dumbo Double Dare training countdown

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.

3 years

July 18, 2013

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!

Back On

June 30, 2013

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.

Just 60 days till Disney Land!! HOLY CRAP!

Back Off

June 24, 2013

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.

Where have I been, Where am I Going?

February 23, 2013

I went out for my run today. The plan was to do 10 miles in preparation for a half marathon on March 23. It was 35 degrees and drizzly out, but that didn’t bother me at all. I know how to dress for the weather now. I listened to my Mickey Miles Podcasts and Michelle asked one of the guests how they had gotten to know runDisney. This got me thinking. When did I learn about runDisney? I know for sure that in January, 2012 I was listening to any podcast I could find that talked about the WDW marathon. I wanted to learn as much about it as I could. But at that time I didn’t know I would be running it in 2013. It was a “dream” to run it someday. Now when I look back to last January, 2012 I can’t believe that the WDW marathon is already behind me this year. I had done it!

What is next? Well as I mentioned earlier, I am registered for the Disney Dumbo Double Dare. I hope to go to it. As far as bigger goals, I do plan on doing goofy one day. But I don’t think 2014 will be the year. I do want the confidence of training for another marathon again and having another successful marathon. When I ran my 9.5 mile run (which was supposed to be 10), I felt like I lost a lot of my training. 10 miles should be a piece of cake compared to the 26.5 I ran back in December to train for the marathon. So why was today’s run so hard? Well simple answer that I can think of. Some days it’s just hard.

As I was listening to the podcast they were talking about the upcoming Princess Half marathon that is this weekend. It planted a seed in my head. Maybe next year I can do marathon weekend with my family and then do the Princess Half marathon (with family??) My kids won’t be in school that week because of February vacation and maybe my son can take off the Monday following. Maybe my mother could join us too???? Things to think of. However there’s also the cost of flying the whole family down there for January, plus February and then our annual trip in May. But then again we are using Annual passes now and the parks are paid for and if we get a cheaper hotel rather then there’s an option. Again, seed planted, we’ll see what happens.

I do think I am hooked on runDisney races. Like they say once you do one, you want to do more! So there is Marathon weekend, Princess Half, Tink Half (West Coast), Wine and Dine (fall race at night), Tower of Terror (fall race at night). I have some choices. Now it’s about saving up the funds!

26.5 mile breakdown

February 8, 2013

On December 20 I did my last long run prior to the marathon. It was a LONG run to say the least. Here is the breakdown… and during the run I did have my own little breakdown.

During the first few miles I was struggling to mentally and emotionally to get geared up for this run. With the recent Newtown tragedy, my heart was already very heavy with sadness along with the other emotional situations going on at home. Kevin called me around mile 2.5 and we were both feeling overcome with emotions for his day ahead and I was feeling it for my run ahead. After we hung up I talked to my sister briefly and went on with my run. Mile 7 started to pick up a little. I had a Gu at mile 5 on the way up the hill past our house so i think it was starting to give me a little help. I was listening to a podcast about positive living and envisioning a goal you want and working for it.

As I was approaching the mile 8 mark, I heard a rumble in the distance. I realized it was a train coming and I couldn’t beat it so I had to wait for it to pass. Thankfully it wasn’t too long.

At mile 9 I was feeling a bit of a high and felt that that was my best mile. After I passed the YMCA in Wallingford my right hip was starting to bother me. I stopped a few times to stretch it out real well. It worked and I continued on through North Haven.

Miles 13-15 I was starting to feel a little frustrated. I was reaching the half way point and started to walk a little more after mile 15. Around mile 16 I started to eat pretzels for energy. I had to start to tell myself “Don’t be afraid, Don’t quit”.

Miles 17 and 18 I was taking more frequent walk breaks. My pace slowed down and bit and by mile 19 I was losing focus and breaking down. Kevin called me around mile 20 and I was at a point where the tears were starting. My legs were cramping up and I knew I still had 5 miles to go to get home. I was beginning to wonder if I should call my dad to come pick me up. Kevin talked me through it and I kept going. I walked quick then ran. It hurt more to keep walking so I ran as much as I could.

My dad passed me when I was back on Route 22 and I only had 4 miles left from that point and I knew I had to finish what I started. I pushed and pushed and made it through.

When I got home I was very glad it was done; but I was afraid of what I have waiting ahead of me.

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge begins

November 20, 2012

Today I signed up for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. I heard about it from Danielle Nardi from www.liverungrow.com . When you refer a friend mention Danielle or I and we can earn points. The reason why I joined this challenge is to make me step up my workouts, diet, intentions prior to the marathon. With it being close to 50 days away, I want to make sure I am healthy and prepared. I have a 23 mile long run and a 26 mile long run on the schedule and those long runs will also help me earn points! I still have to write about my 20 mile long run recap, which went very well.

For the challenge I will be tracking my workouts on Endomondo as I usually do, and will also note my workouts in the blog.

On Sunday I had the Wallingford Turkey Trot 5 mile run and it was a great run for me. I finished 5.44 miles in 52:59. One of my best times since last June. I am done with physical theraphy on my hamstring and it’s feeling 100% better. I am battling an issue with a posterior shin splint which I can hopefully nip in the bud.

So watch for my weekly recaps and points accumulations and decide if you too want to beat the holiday pounds with a challenge!

Marathon training has begun – off with the weight

July 27, 2012

This week I have been focusing on something that has been bothering me for a few weeks.. my weight.

I bucked up and started a food diary. I am using myfitnesspal.com. I needed to be accountable for what I was putting in my mouth because I wasn’t understanding why the scale was climbing higher than it ever has before for me, yet I am “training for a marathon”. I guess even though you are training it doesn’t mean you won’t gain weight. I also read on runnersworld.com about several others who increase their mileage each week and are also increasing their weight because they think the increase in miles means a free pass to eat whatever you want. NOT TRUE! I am getting back to eating clean foods again and watching my caloric intake. No longer will I just graze through my pantry and have a few Lays chips, a handful of chocolate chips, a little of this, a little of that. All those little this’s and that’s gained me 5 pounds!

A fellow runner in my TeamDisney group on facebook wrote a great blog posting about the numbers not lying. He said it so well. When we start really examining what goes into our mouth and writing it down it makes us stop and think twice about what we chose to eat. If I want that special treat then I am going to have to add a workout to my day to get rid of that treat.

Brian also has some good advice on his blog about exercise.
I started adding a 20-30 minute walk to my weekly routine as well. Just because it is a non running day doesn’t mean I can’t get outside and enjoy the morning and also get in a workout. I added weight training back into my routine. I used to do weights for years and in the past year since focusing most of my time on running I have paused the weight training. So I stepped up my exercise routine this week and I hope to see some results in the upcoming weeks.

Weekly Recap:
Sunday – weights
Monday – 3 mile run
Tuesday – 2.5 mile walk
Wednesday – 3.5 mile run
Thursday – 2.6 mile walk and weights
Friday – 4.7 mile run

I am feeling hungrier now that I have started eating less, but I have successfully lost a pound in a week which is a safe amount of weight loss. I am also hungrier from working out more often so I have to be aware of the food choices I make to choose things that are more filling and not just empty calories. With my fitnesspal.com I am able to see how much I am eating and have been able to enjoy some snacks such as my favorite – popcorn. And I have been making banana softserve so I can have a snack after dinner which isn’t a sugary snack at all. I whip up frozen bananas in my blender and enjoy them on a 20 calorie ice cream cone. The added benefit to this is that I am getting my potassium to help my legs.

In terms of the marathon training. I have been ahead of the recommended Jeff Galloway schedule because I am preparing for the Sea Legs Shuffle in Guilford on August 5. It is a 10 mile race. My average miles are between 16 miles to 20 miles per week and I’ll be interested to see those miles increase the closer to the marathon I get. I am feeling good about my training but I want to adjust my running days. I have been running on Monday, Wednesday and Friday and that is not giving my legs enough rest between runs so I will modify that to give myself 2 days off between runs.

While I am a little nervous about the 10 mile race next weekend, I am looking forward to it.

Rain Rain I won’t go away

July 23, 2012

I did something I had always been afraid of recently. I ran in the rain. I have run in the rain before. In fact, my first 5K was in a torrential downpour in a field. I also got caught in a rain storm last summer during a 4 mile run and at mile 2 the skies opened up. However I have never run long distance in the rain. I always planned my running schedule around the weather forecast.

I had been planning all week on doing my 9 mile run on Friday and the weather was looking good. The hot streak that we were in would break on Wednesday and it would be drier and cooler in the morning. When I woke up that wasn’t the case. It was dark and rainy. I held off going early in hopes that the rain would let up. This would give me time to eat my breakfast and watch the radar. I checked the radar and there were no holes in the green blob that was covering the state. So I sucked it up and went for it.

At first I wasn’t sure how I would like running the whole 9 miles in the rain, but it was still pretty humid out and the rain was a relief. I was sure to keep my ear buds in the whole time because once you take them out and water gets in your ears, it’s hard to listen to your ipod. I also had to keep my phone and ipod in my spibelt because they were getting wet whenever I took them out of my spibelt to look at them and change my podcast. The spibelt is not a waterproof sack, so for the future I will be sure to put my phone and ipod in a ziplock bag.

Most of the run was in the rain, but like I said it wasn’t bad. I only started sloshy and have heavy wet feet towards the middle of the run. But it was bearable and I didn’t get any blisters because of it. That was my biggest fear prior to my first half marathon. I was terrified that I would have to run 13.1 miles in the rain and that my feet would just become one messy blister. Not true.

So when I see rain in the forecast in the future now I will not adjust my schedule accordingly. I will look forward to it. It has a soothing and empowering effect that you don’t have to stop doing what you love just because of the weather. Lord knows, I didn’t let the winter slow me down.

It’s been one year since I started running outside

July 2, 2012

This past week marks the one year anniversary of when I started running outside and committed to never using the treadmill again despite the weather. I am pleased to say that my running has changed me. I used to run before on the treadmill, but like I said, I never considered myself a runner. Now a year later, I have run TWO half marathons within 30 days of each other and I am signed up for the WDW 20th anniversary full marathon. Running is in my blood and has become a major element of my life. It is my time alone, my time to NOT think or think if necessary, and a way for me to stay healthy.

In fact, this morning I had to go out for an early run due to the hot weather we are experiencing and I noticed things outside today. The air had a sweet smell to it and it was very dewy out because of the humidity and storms we had yesterday afternoon. You don’t get to experience that on a treadmill.

Here’s to looking forward to a new year of running and what will I accomplish next?!

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