Whew! 12 miler

So went out to a local flat trail this morning for a 12 mile LSD. I went out feeling really good and trying to incorporate some of the new (correct) techniques I learned on Thursday, mainly the arm swing. I think I got that down. The trail is pretty, flat, and has a neat tunnel you run through. It's part of the rail trail system up here. It's such a nice and convenient place to run. I didn't really tire out until the last mile. I was dragging, but I didn't have to walk. I was covered in sweat and salt when I was done, but I did it. I even came home, cleaned up, and went shopping. I may get a recovery run in tomorrow, I'm not sure, but I do have softball games, at least two. That may be good enough. I do a little running there.

Not a very interesting post, but only so much can be done when I have to pee so bad. ;)

Here It Comes!

So, I'm starting to get out of the mamby-pamby part of my training schedule. Last week was my last single digit LSD run. I won't see any of those (hopefully, fingers crossed) until the week before the actual race.

I do have some HUGE updates, and I'm not sure how I'm going to write about this all in one post, but here goes....

1. I ordered a Garmin Forerunner 205 today. It's my birthday present and I'm SOO excited! No more mapmyrun.com or driving my course in my car to get the mileage, among the many other things that this will tell me about my running.

2. Um, how about ZERO IT Band pain?? None! I'm still wearing my brace, but I think it's a crutch. I've been running hills and everything. YES!

3. I went to a running clinic last night, put on by my local running store and it was awesome. I found out that I am heel striking (no shock there) and that I move my arms WAY too much. I also need to work on my cadence and my forward lean. I have a lot to work and I hope to get it right someday.


I have 12 miles for my LSD tomorrow and it's going to be humid, so I hope to get it done. Again, crossing my fingers. Then Husband and I working on renovating our bathroom. Yikes! This has been one exhausting summer, but hey, this is living. Sitting on the couch and watching TV is SOO 2005.

It's Official!

I signed up for the Marshall University Marathon today during my lunch break at work. Eek! I don't know if I want to vomit or just go ahead and let my heart explode out of my chest. I told Hubs that I registered and he said that I actually paid for this torture, which is funny since Hal Higdon has a chapter in his book dedicated to that thinking.

I'm pretty scared, excited, nervous, thrilled, and anxious! I've got about 13 more weeks to go in my training and anything could happen between now and then. For now, I'm sticking to my training, playing it smart, and if I have to walk to the finish line, then so be it and move on. ;)

My running has been going extremely well these last few weeks. I've been getting used to the heat and my feet have been feeling pretty light. I've gotten some sub 30 minute 3 mile runs in and my average pace has been in the 10ish minute mile. This time last year, it was a 11 minute mile that I had to really work at to maintain. My IT band has finally stopped hurting and I've been running hills the last two weeks with no problem.

Wahoo!! Huntington, here I come.

Aloha!

Seems like everyone is on vacation this week, except for me. It's funny since this is about the time I've taken at least a small vacation this time of year in the past. See, today's my wedding anniversary, and Husband and I usually take off somewhere. Our first anniversary was in Clearwater, FL. The second and following years have been in a cabin in the woods. This year, wait for it, we're going grocery shopping. ;) Seriously, we're going out to eat tomorrow at the Melting Pot, which is fondue and sound absolutely amazing. Can't wait!

Yesterday, after work, I took to the streets for a run. It was the first time since Zooma that I've been on the streets and running hills. Oh my, did it ever show. I was cramping before the first mile, and it stayed with me for another 5-6 minutes. I looked at my watch and it said my first half mile took 6 minutes, sheesh! I did pick up the pace a bit, but the heat was getting to me, which it was about 86 with humidity and NO shade, plus the cars passing warmed me up even more. As I finished, I felt great. I did it. Hills and I did them without even thinking of my IT Band. Okay, that was a lie. I did think about it, but it didn't get tight, even on the downhills. SWEET! I'm feeling more and more optimistic as the weeks roll by.

Tomorrow, there's 9 miles on the schedule. It's suppose to be hot, like weather advisory hot, so I'm going to get up as early as I can to make it out there before it gets too bad. The trail does offer shade and a breeze that I hated in the winter, but it's more than welcome now. I'll how well my run goes by my legs, if the feel good, then I'm going to register for my full marathon. Heck, I'm about to finish week 3 of my training, I think I've already committed. I'm definitely going to be there, but I hope it's for the full and not for the half.

After my run, I'm getting my hair done, which is MUCH needed. Then I'll hang out and get ready for dinner. ;)

Hot Stuff Coming Through!

I went down to the trail after work today and headed out for 3 miles. It was about 86* with humidity when I started, but after I warmed up, I didn't mind the heat as much. Could it be? Could I be assimilated?? Maybe I'm getting there. After the first 1/2 mile, I picked up the pace. It felt SOO good to release my legs, they've been wanted to go fast (Valerie fast, that is) and I felt confident enough to let them go. Breathing the warm air was a little tough, but not too bad. Everything feel into place and I ended up finished right under 29 minutes, even with a slower 1/2 warmup. I was so stoked at the end of my run, my only regret is that it wasn't longer than 3 miles. I'm feeling pretty confident about the marathon running this week. I want to head out for my LSD, just to see how my legs handle a 9 mile run.

Oh, my legs felt great! YAY! My Nike Free's rock, I've started to wear them more and more, which is awesome. :)

Sizzle

So we came home to a broken a/c this afternoon. Crap! I wanted to run inside to escape the heat since it was over 90 with humidity again today. I thought I would do some work and then maybe our a/c would be thawed out before I did my run. WRONG!!
I actually did run on the treadmill for three miles and it was the first time i ever ditched my shirt during a run. Our office was steamy! I hope i didn't cause any harm to the chinchilla with the heat I made. Poor girl. Anyways, I ended up running in my nike frees for 3 miles and my legs felt great. My stomach is another story. We stopped off for Chinese food after work, and even though I waited over an hour to run, I still got nauseous. However, since my legs felt great, there was no way I was ending that run. ;)

Tomorrow is a rest day and then I have my long run on Sunday.

Day 2?

I could be my second running day of marathon training. I'm not going to say I'm officially in until the weekend is over. Tonight, I did 3 miles on the treadmill at a 10:43 pace, mind you I run faster outside than on this dang treadmill. I didn't have any knee pain while running, but I felt a little tightness when I walked to cool down. Weird! I usually didn't feel anything when I walked. No pain while running tho, so I'll take it. Not even any tightness!! I did my foam roller and ate some protein along with half a bag of peas (which was followed up by half a bag of gold fish, serious problem with those.)

Tomorrow will be another 3, which will probably be on the treadmill again. It's so hot outside, about 94 WITH humidity. The weather channel is sending out warnings, which I'll take. I'll complain if it's too hot, but tell me to stay inside, I will. :)

Back to Civilization.

Ugh, I hate the first day back to work after a long weekend or vacation. I was staying at my parent's campsite down in Harman, WV, it's a little past Blackwater Falls and Canaan Valley. I always love going down to that area. The hills and beautiful sights always make my heart heavy. I often fantasize about moving down to the area and simplifying, but it's not in the cards....for now. I did do some running with Husband in Canaan Valley, so pretty! He ended up going by himself the next day. I didn't go since my dad and I went horseback riding that morning, which I'm considering as cross training. My back muscles and butt are still sore. Such a nice Fourth, which is a good change.

When I got back home yesterday, Hal Higdon's "Marathon" book was waiting for me. I read the first chapter and then jumped on the treadmill. I did 3 miles and it felt perfectly fine. I could feel my achy horseback riding muscles, but nothing in the IT band. Awesome! Me running a marathon this fall will be determined after this weekend's "long" run. If I can make it through 7 miles without my IT band hurting, I'm signing up. If it does hurt, I'll probably rest up a bit and attempt a long run again the following week. I am following Hal's novice program and so far, day 1 of running was great. I have two more 3 mile runs and then I'll be doing the long run Saturday.

I guess I'm in my official training, but I don't want to say it out loud until I know I can finish a long run. Cross your fingers.

Deploy!

I went on my first run in three days, and it was awesome. Well, it would have been if I let myself. When I set out, I was going to do three miles, but when I hit the turn around point, I passed a guy who could barely control his dog and I didn't want to pass him again just yet. I ended up going out to the two mile mark and was still feeling good. Around the 3rd mile, I was still feeling pretty good, but I started to worry. I kept thinking that this is when the tightness usually sets in and when tightness comes, pain will follow shortly, but it didn't happen. Almost 1/2 a mile to my car, and I'm still waiting, and it doesn't happen. I finished 4 miles and felt pretty good the entire way, and I finished in a 10ish minute mile. It was a run in the right direction, and there's hope!

Right now, I'm incredibly hungry! I had some rice frozen meal, some chips and salsa, and cereal bar. My stomach feels so empty. What's up with that?!?

Okay, tomorrow is three miles and I might do it on the treadmill for the softer even surface. Then it'll be an easy long weekend, since I'll be camping. :)

One more day!

One more day and I will have completed my three days of no running. Phew, it's rough to not run, after one day, I get the itch. Last time I took three days off, it did wonders for my legs. This week is perfect timing too, since I leave to go camping on Friday. I won't get much running in and I will be well rested without pushing too hard before marathon training begins.

I don't want to have to back out of this, my heart is already in it and I'm ready to go!

Last night, I did Shred level 3, and man, did it suck (but in a good way). It's amazing that I think I'm in great shape, but this workout video had me panting. Seriously, I can run for hours, but these little 2 minute cardio segments killed.

That's about all I got for today...it's a boring day today. I'm going to enjoy it while I can since July 1st brings the new fiscal year and LOTS of new reports to complete for clients. BOO! It sounds impressive, but it's just mundane Excel reports.

Still Haunted...

By my IT Band that is. Last weekend, my "long" run was 3 miles. Boo! I'm so missing my morning long runs. The feeling of being so tired, sweaty, but accomplished has eluded me long enough. I'm being patient, I do have a little bit of time to be as my marathon training doesn't begin until after the 4th.

I can't wait to start training for this, but I also want to be completely healed. How disappointing it will be if I can't even get started. Luckily, the training plan I've chosen starts with low mileage, something that's realistic for now. Hopefully, I won't have to tell people I'm backing out.

This week, I ran on Tuesday and did 3 pain free miles. I didn't even have a hint of tightness. I cross trained on Wednesday, and went out for a run last night. I made it 4 miles and felt tightness in my IT band towards the end. Not really pain, but tightness. I felt if I went any further, it would start to hurt. However, I made it four miles at 10ish minute pace, which isn't bad for me, and I haven't ran over 3 miles since my last 10k. So, there is improvement.

Saturday will be another attempt at a "long" run. We'll see how that goes.

The Big Catsup

Well, it's really my post on catching up. It's been two months since my last post and I wish I would have posted my last race report from the Pittsburgh Marathon.

Long story short, the Pittsburgh Marathon was amazing. I made my goal with a finish of 2:06! It was a great day that started at 3:30 am with my alarm going off. I went out to meet a friend right outside Pittsburgh, and we caught the trolley into town since there were 3 other major events going on, driving would have been horrible. We hit the porta potties, bag check, and eventually made it to the starting line. The weather was very humid, but it finally started raining around mile 2 and it felt amazing. It rained the entire time, so I felt cool but traded off for heavy shoes. The crowd support was amazing, even with the rain, there were so many people out there cheering us on. I was so impressed. I loved Pittsburgh and I would definitely do it again.

Recovering from the race since then has been an up and down hill battle. My IT Band has been the biggest culprit and I'm nursing my second bought of ITBS since the half. I think I'm on my way back now. I've lowered my miles, stretched and foam rolled. I've done several runs now without the knee pain, and now I'm on the eve of my first "long" run in a couple weeks. I'm hoping for 8, but I'm not afraid or too proud to quit beforehand if I need to. I just want to get out there, get sweaty, and feel accomplished again.

Two weeks ago, I met up with some running friends in Maryland for Zooma, an all woman's race. I was suppose to do the half, but dropped down to the 10k because of the knee pain. It was such a great time, despite the heat and humidity. I can't really go too much into the weekend without typing another book. All and all, with the heat, humidity, and hills, I finished in 59:14. Not too impressive, but I seriously slowed down when I saw women on the side of the street with EMT crews attending to them. Scary stuff!!

Hopefully, I'll be back to post sooner than two months.

One Week Away

So the Pittsburgh Half Marathon is one week away. Husband asked me if I was nervous this morning and (for now) I'm not. The first half marathon I did last fall was to finish and I really wasn't sure if I was going to see the finish line. The difference in how I feel between then and now is vastly different. Last fall, my legs were aching, and was only able to hit double digit runs 3 times, 11 miles being my farthest run. This time around, i've hit double digit runs countless times while incorporating tempo runs, intervals, and some hill work. I feel like I'm really ready, and I really want to hit my goal, which is finishing under 2:10. My first half was 2:27, which sounds like I'm being overly ambitious (seriously, I want a 17-20 minute PR), but I know I can push it.

Pittsburgh does have me nervous in that this will be my biggest race, people wise. 16,000 people will be there. My biggest race has so far been 2000 people. I'm nervous about parking and getting out of there. I do have the tendency to get migraines after really exerting myself, which means I get nausea with vomiting (non stop) , my vision goes, and I get confused, which is really scary. The last thing I need is to get confused while trying to navigate the maze of Pittsburgh. Those are basically my biggest fears for this next half. If I don't reach my goal, well, there will be other races, so I'm just not nervous about it.

Short Run!

So the night before the race, I finally decided that I needed to wear my running tights. A good thing too since it was in the lower 20s with a slight wind chill. Brr!!



Don't let the sunshine fool you, it isn't even the 30's yet. Oh, and the guy behind me is giving me the stink eye.

I got up early and headed off to the race, which was about an hour away. I arrived at the perfect time to find a decent parking spot and a shuttle bus waiting for me. I had enough time to use the bathroom, get my chip number, and find my friend's van. We sat in there until the race started, a little too long since we found out 10 minutes before the race started that we were 1/2 mile away from our starting line. Oh well, a little warm up didn't hurt anyone.

Since there was a 5k, 8.1, and half marathon race all at this starting point, I decided to line up behind the 9:55 pacers. I told myself to stick with them for the first three miles and then pass them. Boom! The race starts. I was told that the worst hill in this race is within the first mile and as we made our way down the road, we made a sharp left turn and hidden behind the trees was the hill. Since the field was very crowded still, I couldn't really see what was going, so I went with it. I told myself to not look up, kind of like not looking down when you're high up. It worked for the most part, the hill was rough, but then the cruel longer incline after steep hill was mean as well. Finally, we made a right turn and went sharply downhill. Phew! This downhill was steep! I was worried about falling down a couple times, but it was all over before we knew it and the course was now just rolling hills from here on out.


I found the 9:55 pacers and I passed them. I made myself so worked up about that pace team for the rest of the race tho. I thought at any point, I would turn around and they would be at my heels. I've never tried to keep pace for a race longer than a 5k, I wasn't sure if I could keep it up for the next 5 miles. Oh, I don't have a Garmin or even wear a watch while I race. I go strictly on how my body feels.

The next 5 miles were a nice rolling course around a lake. It was pretty and pretty cold still. On the uphills, I was sucking in air, on the downhills, trying to recover. At mile 6, I was ready for this race to be over. Luckily, the amazing volunteers were cheering us on and I told myself, "two miles, make it work, and lay it all out on the road."



Finally, I made my way back to starting point and had the .1 miles to go and I tried to push as hard as I could, but it wasn't really much faster than what I was going.
I made it! 8.1 miles in 1:14:44 (chip time) which was a 9:13 pace. I was totally proud of myself. I came in 20th out of 68. I use to be a bottom of the packer, but with several months of hard work, I'm a top middle packer. :)




Next big race....the Pittsburgh Half Marathon!

Crazy Weather

Tomorrow is the 8.1 mile race and I'm feeling very ready for it. I'm just confused as to what to where since the weather is going be quite chilly in the morning and warming up to 60* by the afternoon. Shorts were my first option, but I really think I'm going to go with the tights. Drats! I thought this cold weather was well on it's way out.

After work, I stopped by the local running store to pick up my race packet and Husband got fitted for shoes for the first time (so proud!). The race packet itself was alright, but the cool thing is that you get a pair of shorts instead of a shirt. However, the shorts are obviously men shorts and have no room for hips. I wanted to exchange my smalls for a medium, but they are all out, so I got a large. The packet also included MANY brochures for upcoming races, a box of raisins, and energy drink (which I'll never use) and some cold sore treatment (weird!).

When we got home, I threw on my new expo shorts and after rolling them two times, I jumped on the treadmill. Since I just wanted to warm my legs up a little, I only did 2.5 miles, and I felt ready. My goal tomorrow is to finish under 1:20, which will be under a 10 mpm pace. I know, I'm not a speed demon, but I'm working on it.

I'm off to get everything ready to go in the morning.

Slacker!

I am such a slacker! I post once and then go on a two month hiatus.

The training I'm doing for my second half marathon is going very well. I have a couple unexpected rest days, like today, but I still am hitting my mileage goals and have had only one big fail on a run. It was a long run that I ditched after 6 miles.

February was dreadful in terms of weather and getting outside to run. I did most of my running on the treadmill. However, March has brought warm weather and Daylight Savings. I'm still itching to get outside, but life happened this week. I may not get my outside until tomorrow, which will be two non-running days in a row. At least my legs will be well rested.

In other running related news, I ordered a treadmill last week. My hubby said to go order one because he wants get in on the fun too. After a week of waiting, the tracking website said it was delivered. YAY! We probably won't get it up and running until this weekend tho.

I also decided that I AM going to do a fall marathon. I'm going with the Freedom's Run marathon. It's not exactly the "smart" choice for a first marathon, but I honestly can't imagine doing another marathon this fall. I know I could put it off until next year, but what if I can't? I could get injured, loose interest, or have another reason to take me away. It's a pretty rad race, check it out.

First!

Don't you hate those people that put that on the comment sections below internet articles, especially when they are not really first??

Anyways, this is my first blog and as I set here in my pajamas, with the cat in my lap and coffee by my side, I really don't have anything profound to say. I'm not a profound person, but I wanted to keep a journal this year and I'm already loosing at the exercise journal I bought two weeks ago. All I have to do is write down how my workout went and the day I did it. Big fail! Since I'm at the computer a lot, I figured it I would maybe keep up with a journal if it's online. That's why I'm here.

This last year, I read a biography on John Adams and he couldn't stress enough to keep a journal. That's why I opened up this blog. I really don't care if no one else reads it, but I'd like to have something to look back to and read.

I won't keep this long since I tend to be long winded when I write and no one wants to read a long post about nothing. Not even the author.