Longest Run Since March

Yesterday I ran my longest run since March. As I wrote earlier this week I was kind of nervous about it. My pace has been slower and I've been getting really winded. My plan was to run at 6.3 for 3:05 then walk 4.0 for 1:20. I was scheduled to run 10.5 miles, but since I don't like half miles, I went 11.

Since it was Disneyland Half Marathon weekend, I just had to wear my pink Minnie Sparkle Athletic skirt:) 

I walked for one mile as a warm up, then started running. I felt great at the beginning. I had no problems keeping my pace. I was watching Netflix so I wouldn't get bored.

At 7.1 miles in is when I got tired. I added one extra minute of walking to my walk break.

At 7.9 miles, 1 hours 25 mins in, I took ENERGYbits. I should of taken them earlier. I realize that now.

9.9 mile mark I had to add another minute walk. I know with only 1 mile to go I still had to take that extra minute.

With only .4 left I didn't stop, I just kept running.

My time was 1:57:39. The treadmill starts over after 100 minutes.

I still kept ahead of my planned marathon pace. According to my pace band, my 11 mile time should have been 2:05:52.

This is how I recovered after the long run!

Coming back from a running injury

It's hard coming back from an injury. I was only out for 10 days and I can't believe how much I lost.

The last five runs have been difficult. I knew coming back that I would start out slow. However I didn't think it would be that bad. It was only 10 days.

I did 5 miles on Sunday. I kept it under 50 mins, but my lungs were burning and I was exhausted. Tuesday I did I 5k in just over 30 mins and I pushed so hard I thought I was going to puke. Not only did I run a 5k on Tuesday, I went back to the treadmill to do two quick miles. I had to do those one at a time cause I was winded.

I really thought it was my allergies that were the problem with me being out of breath. The last two days I've been taking Mucinex, and it didn't help. Bringing us to todays run...

Last month at this time I was able to put the treadmill on 6.3 and run forever. I didn't get winded, I didn't get tired. It felt great! Today however... nope! I started out at 6.3 and I was going to do 3:1 run/walk ratio. I had my gym boss timer on, turned on Netflix and I was ready to bust out 5 miles.

2.66 miles in I was done. I wanted to stop so bad, but I kept thinking I 'm half way there just do it. I changed the speed to 6.1 with the same 3:1 ratio. I did that for one "cycle", and it wasn't bad. The next two "cycles" I changed the speed to 6.2. I lost track of what I did as far as cycles and speed after that.

After I hit the four mile mark I remembered that I was going to add an extra mile when my runs were difficult, so I did. I ran 6 miles today.

It's not my greatest time, but I'll take it! I need to keep reminding myself that it's ok not to be as fast as I once was a few weeks ago. I'll get back there. A mile is a mile at any pace. And November is a few months away. I'm aiming to PR at the Space Coast Half this year.

I didn't stop my workout there. I did PiYo Sculpt! OUCH!!! Good thing tomorrow is my rest day cause my legs are killing me right now.

The only thing that is worrying me now, is I have a 10.5 mile run scheduled for Saturday. I'm not sure what pace or ratio I'll be doing. I'm almost thinking that I should do a 3 minute run followed by a 1:30 walk break. I normally don't go over 1 minute on my walk breaks, but under the circumstances I think I'll need it to last the full 10.5 miles. After reading Jeff Galloway's Marathon book, he always recommends running a little slower on your long runs. I'm thinking I may need to listen to him on this. My marathon pace is 11:27 min mile. I guess I'll just aim for that pace on Saturday. I usually stay way ahead of that pace, so when it comes to marathon day I have time to stop for a few photos and maybe a ride:) 

If you made it this far in this post, thanks for listening to me whine!!!

Week 10 Marathon Training

Photo Credit: runDisney

Week 10 is here and I'm back running!! Week 9 didn't have a recap cause it contained ZERO running. My leg is feeling so much better and I'm back at it!!

Monday - Rest Day (not that needed anymore rest days but I took one more)

Tuesday - I walked 1 mile followed by a 1 mile run!! Then PiYo Lower Body.

Wednesday - Walked 2 miles and did PiYo Upper Body

Thursday - Ran a 5k and did PiYo Lower Body!

Friday - I walked, lifted weights and did PiYo core

Saturday - Rest day

Sunday - Long run day! 5 miles!!

Can't wait for week 11 to begin!

The skirt of the week was my new Aqua skirt. It's my new favorite. 

How was your week?

Runner Down.....

13 days ago I injured myself. I ran a 5k. I let my competitiveness take over and ended up pulling a muscle. It was so bad that to get into bed I had to lift my leg with my arms. Laying down, sitting, standing hurt. It was terrible.

The day after I pulled it I started getting massages twice a week and started taking 30 RECOVERYbits twice a day. I also rested, a lot. I tried walking on the treadmill four days after the injury and it didn't go well. I tried again the next day and it was worse. I had to go back to resting. I'll admit it was kind of depressing not being able to run. I was probably not the nicest person to be around.

Well two days ago my resting days were over! I walked 1 mile on the treadmill with NO PAIN! Thought lets try running. I ran 1 mile NO PAIN! After that I did PiYo lower body. It felt so good to be active again! I did use KT Tape on my leg for support. I will probably continue to use it for the next couple of weeks just to make sure everything is healed.

Yesterday I walked 2 miles on the treadmill and did PiYo Upper Body! Woohoo!!!

As much as I love eating junk food and drinking wine, it's just not worth it to me anymore. It makes me feel like crap. I would much rather exercise and eat healthy. During my resting time I ate way too much junk food.

Over the next month I'll make sure I add extra hip strengthening exercises. Plus I'm planning on adding more leg workouts to my routine. I knew that my legs were my weak area, but this has to change. NO MORE INJURIES!

Week 8 Marathon Training

Photo Credit: runDisney

Well let's just say this week didn't end like I wanted it too.

Monday I did a little "speed" work. It wasn't really planned speed work I just wanted to see if I could do one mile running at 7.0 speed using a 3:1 interval. Then I just wanted to see if I could run at 8.7. That 1/4 mile was HARD. My legs and lungs were burning. Then I ended my workout with PiYo!

Thursday my allergies were bugging me and I really didn't want to run, but I did. I ran 3 miles using the run/walk/run method. When I finished I decided to run two more miles and did PiYo.

Friday I walked on the treadmill for 3 miles and lifted weights.

Saturday I ran a 5k and injured myself. BOOOOOO I hate injuries. I'll write a post all about my latest injury. 

How was your week?

I Run For Pizza 5k Recap

For the 3rd year in a row I ran the I Run For Pizza "Football Kickoff" 5k. It's race two of seven in The Running Zone Foundation series. It's always a fun run, hot, but fun! I love themed races. Two out of the three years I wore the same shirt. It's cotton and it's hot. I really think I need to buy wicking football shirt for next year.

Photo Source: Running Zone

This year we started at the Viera High School. I've run a couple races here and really like the course. It has wide sidewalks and does one big loop instead of lots of turns.

I'm really out of practice when it comes to races. I was getting my stuff together the night before and I kept forgetting things. About four minutes before the start I realized I forgot to turn on my watch and iPod. I think I need to race more. Plus I forgot to pull my bangs back so be warned I had crazy hair in my photos:)

The first mile was good. We were a little congested at the beginning with so many runners. I really wished people would pay more attention to the pace signs. If you run at a 10:00 minute mile pace don't go with the 8:00 minute mile people. About 1/2 mile in the crowd thinned out.

Crazy hair!

More crazy hair!

I really didn't have any goals for this race. I was hoping to keep a 10:06 pace, which is what I'm training for, for the Space Coast Half Marathon. When it's hot I have no hopes and dreams of PRing. I just want to finish.

I only stopped to walk once during the entire race. I gave myself 12 seconds to walk, then went back to running. My time was 30:26. I  went back and checked, and my time last year was the same. Not bad considering last year I was just a few weeks from running a 1/2 marathon. I was defiantly running more per week last year than this year. Slowly I'm getting back to where I once was. 

That thing around my neck isn't just me trying to be fashionable:) My neighbor gave me two of these things a year ago and I used it for the first time.

I have no idea where you buy them or how much they cost. All I know is they really do keep you cool. Kinda wished I would have used them last year.

Monday Motivation 8/4/14

Week 7 Marathon Training

Photo: runDisney

This was a great week! I wrote about my long run yesterday in a post, you can read it here.

This is my new motto!!

I didn't workout everyday, but I did get my scheduled runs done and that's all that counts!

Tuesday I ran 3 miles followed by PiYo hardcore on the floor. OUCH! But it was awesome!

Tuesdays Run

Thursday I ran 5 miles. I can't remember the exact ratio I ran or the speed, however I finished faster than my 2:12:30 half marathon pace! I also did PiYo sweat. I think I sweated more in the 35 mins of PiYo than the 50 mins of running. I'm not sure which video I like more PiYo sweat or sculpt.

Sunday was scheduled 7.5 and I need to run even numbers so I made it 8. It was great!! Like I said earlier I wrote about it. You can read it here.

This weeks Sparkle Athletic skirt was Minnie! This one will not be on the short list of what I'll wear for the marathon!

How was your workout week?

Longest Run in Awhile...

Since "starting over" with my running, I've been running mostly 3-4 miles at a time. I had to go back and check, since March, I've run 5 miles 4 times. Last year at this time I was running 6 miles at time for my short runs. I have to keep reminding myself that I started over and I decided to go slow and it will take time to get back to where I was. Not that I was ever speedy, but I could run long distances and not have any problems.

This is week 7 of marathon training. My long run was suppose to be 7.5 miles. Call me crazy, but I need my runs to be even, so I opted for 8 miles. All week long I knew it was on my schedule and I've been nervous. Not sure why because it's just 8 miles right?!?!

This morning while I was getting ready to run I thought do I need fuel? I haven't run this far in so long, I had no idea what I was doing or what I needed. I did get a That's It bar and cut it up into little bite sizes and grabbed an extra tin of ENERGYbits and went into the gym.

I put my Minnie Sparkle Athletic skirt on and started to run. I figured I would go slow. I ran 6.3 mph for 3 minutes and walked 4.0 for 1 minute. I felt great! I wasn't out of breath, I wasn't tired, I felt like I could run forever! Six miles in, I figured I better up the my run pace to 6.4. I still felt great no problems. My IT band started hurting just before 7 miles. It hurt, but not too bad I kept on going. I ended the last .6 without a walk break. The closer I got to 8 miles the faster I went. It was awesome!!

My final time was 1:22:44. I was not on my 2:12:30 half marathon pace, and just 23 seconds slower than my 2:15 half marathon pace. As far as my marathon pace I was 9 minutes ahead! If I can keep that up for the marathon I will have plenty of time to stop for photos :)

This run was definatly a confidence booster! I have to remember I am stronger than I think. I CAN DO THIS!! I know every run will not be perfect. There will be terrible runs in the future, but I just need to remember how I felt when I finished this run and hopefully it will help.