Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Or is it one step forward and two steps back???

Lesson:  Just because my foot is ok to run does not mean it is ready to handle the kind of miles it takes to run a marathon.

Today's run was HARD!  I don't think I can really put into words how hard it was.  First of all it was HOT.  85 degrees during my run.  Since I have not been outside running the last few weeks my body is no longer adjusted to these temps.

The first mile, I felt amazing.  My legs were moving great and I ran it in 8:20.  What was I thinking?  I am not ready to run this fast.  I am training for a marathon not a sprint.  So I felt like I was going to die the last part of my run.

My foot was still feeling great (unlike the rest of me) until mile 5.  Then the cramping feeling came.  It was even worse than yesterday.  Obviously I don't have a full stress fracture if I can run on it.  But something is going on.  I have an appointment next week with my ortho doctor.  I hope to get more answers then.

I managed to get through 7 miles.  Overall pace was 8:52min/mile.

7 miles at this pace and at this point in my training should feel easy.  Not even close.  Which means I am not even close to being able to run the Chicago Marathon NEXT month.

Onto some good news...
Today is my sister's birthday!  Happy Birthday Katie!  I was able to meet her for lunch today at Cafe Patachou.  One of our favorite restaurants.  It was yummy.

Sisters are the best!

Double Digit Run

I ran 10 miles today...on a weekday!  Another record.

It was a GREAT, GREAT, GREAT run!  I felt so good on today's run.  I had no time goals for today.  I just wanted to get in 10 miles.  I knew I would be going a little fast though since I was running with Alyssa.

I was not paying any attention to my garmin.  But at one point, Alyssa said we just ran a 7:53 mile.  Really?  It didn't feel that fast.  I was working a little hard.  But we were talking away, so I just didn't think I was going that fast.

After the 10 miles, I looked at my splits.  We actually ran a couple of miles in the 7:50s and a couple just over 8 min.  My overall pace for the 10 miles was 8:20min/mile.  I felt great today:)

Only one bad thing with today's run... My good foot started to hurt.  (My bad foot is finally 100% better).  I am going to pray extra long tonight that a day of rest will heal my feet for good!!!!

Weekly Recap: Ended on a High Note

Today I ran 9 miles with Katie.  It was the first time in a long time when I ran an entire run with someone.  Lately,  I always have to finish off a few miles after my running partners are done.  I was very happy to have someone by my side the entire time.

I wasn't sure how my legs would feel after running 19 miles two days ago.  But I took yesterday completely off, so I thought they would be fine.  They were...

We ran 9 miles with our average pace at 8:23min/mile.  Our last mile came in at 8:10.  I am very happy with this run and how I felt.  My sister said I just about killed her on our run.  But she did just fine.  I am sure I would not have ran that fast if she wasn't with me.

This is how my week went:

Monday: 4 miles (felt good)
Tuesday: 9 miles (some stomach issues)
Wednesday:  4 easy miles (slow and easy)
Thursday:  19 miles  (stomach issues but happy with run)
Friday: Rest
Saturday:  9 miles (fastest medium long run I have ran in awhile)
Sunday: Rest

Today miles for the week:  45 miles!

I think next week will be the hardest week for me.  I have to increase my mileage again.  And I am coming off a high mileage week.  After next week, my training plan will start having a taper week every other week.  So I will be getting in more recovery time.

Happy Weekend!
Jaime

Weekly Recap and Medical Mondays

Time for another addition of Medical Mondays:

1.  True or False:  Sodium in fast food meals may contain more than 50% of the recommended daily sodium content for children.

2.  True or False:  The Chicken Pox Vaccination cuts chicken pox death by 50% among children.

3.  True or false:  It is recommended to keep toddlers rear-facing in car seats until age 1.

Answers below...

My milage was down a little last week since it was a taper week.  I'm not sure that I feel more rested though.  It still felt like I ran a lot.

Monday: Rest
Tuesday:  8 miles
Wednesday:  4 easy miles
Thursday:  9 miles with 2 at tempo pace
Friday:  4 easy miles
Saturday:  12 miles with rolling hills
Sunday:  Rest

Total miles for the week:  37 miles

Answers:
1.   True.   A study in Childhood Obesity found that lunchtime meals served in fast-food restaurants contain more than 50% of recommended sodium intake for children, with some containing 100% of the recommended amount for preschoolers. 


2.  False.  It cuts death by 97%!!  The CDC, reporting data from 1990 to 2007, said that the percentage of adolescents and children who died from chickenpox declined 97% after the U.S. started its vaccination program in 1995.  I think vaccinations are one of the many thinks that Americans take for granted.  They save so many lives and I feel lucky that they are readily available to us.


3.  False:  The new American Academy of Pediatrics policy advises parents to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. It also advises that most children will need to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.

Today I did an easy 4 miles.  I ran the first 3 miles at an 8:30 pace and it felt pretty easy.  Yea!  The last mile I picked up the pace a little bit and ran it in 8:10.  I felt really good during my run this morning.

Happy Monday!
Jaime

Long Run at Eagle Creek

This week was a taper week on my marathon training plan.  So I only had 12 miles on my schedule.

That sounded too easy.  So I made it a little harder by doing the run at Eagle Creek, which has lots of rolling hills.

Ryan and I made it a running date.  We even hired a babysitter for the morning.  My good friend, Christy, was supposed to join us but wasn't able to make it.  Ryan ran about the first 6 miles with me and then he rode his bike while I finished the 12 miles.  He loves riding so much more than running!

Eagle Creek Date:  No I didn't jump in a lake after my run.  That is sweat.  Hey, I try to look good on my dates.

Another beautiful day at Eagle Creek.  It was overcast so the sun wasn't beating down on me.  It felt cool too.  I was surprised when I checked the weather after the run and it said 77.  Definitely didn't feel that warm.

Overcast day.  This is the only section that is not shaded by trees.  I still think it is beautiful.

My legs felt heavy at the beginning and then felt better after a couple of miles.  But then the hills came.  I need to start loving hills because they are so many marathons that I want to run and  most of them are not flat.  I do love going downhill though.  My legs feel like they can fly and my lungs aren't working hard either.  I wish I always felt like that.  Is that how elite runners feel?

Overall pace for 12 miles: 8:50ish.  There is so much to look at in the park that the miles went by quick.  Before I knew it I was at mile 11 and I picked it up a little with my last mile split at 8:38min/mile.

Tomorrow is a rest day.  I need it to get ready for all the miles I am supposed to run next week.

Happy weekend!
Jaime

Tempo Run

Honestly, I didn't even know what a tempo run was until a few months ago.  I interpret a tempo run as breaking up a run into three parts:  warm-up, fast miles, then cool down.

Tempo runs are my least favorite runs.  I keep reading how important these runs are though.  So I attempted one today.  Ugh!

My goal was to run a couple of warm-up miles, run 3 miles at an 8 min pace and then slow down a little to finish out a 9 mile run.

Well I only ran 2 miles at 8 minutes.  I just don't like running that fast anymore.  It is not really my legs that slow me done but my lungs.  They burn...and I don't like that feeling.  I slowed my run down a little after those miles and averaged an 8:40 pace for the 9 miles.

I am not sure when it became so hard for me to run 8 min miles.  I used to be able to bang out 5 miles at that pace no problem.  I also ran 8 miles at that pace a few months ago.  Now I can't run more than 2 or 3  at that pace???  Am I getting slower?  I'll just tell myself that I am building up my endurance now and the speed will come later. (And I don't need to run 1 single mile in my marathon at that pace!)  Ok now I've made myself feel better.

Good news:  I ran 9 miles today!  Midweek.  That is a record for me.  Also the weather was fantastic this morning:)

So what are my favorite runs:
1.  Long runs:  I love how good I feel after a long run.  My lungs never hurt either.
2.  Intervals:  Ok I know I said I don't like to go fast.  But when it is only for a mile or 1/2 mile and then I can walk for a minute, I don't mind it.
3.  Easy runs:  I love going out and getting lost in my run and not worrying about pace at all.
4.  Tempo runs:  These are the hardest for me.

What is your least favorite run?  How do you get through it?

Early Morning Run

I woke up early today!  I met up with my Tuesday morning running friends, Alyssa and Lisa, and we were off and running by 5:45am.  It was early!  But it actually worked out perfect because I needed to get home a little earlier and still wanted to run 8 miles.

It is so nice running with these girls!  They talk and talk and it makes the miles fly by.  I try to chime in too but am not the best at telling stories while running.

Our pace was steady for the first 5 miles. Ranging between 8:00-8:30 min/mile.  Then I thought I needed to slow down for a bit.  I ran the next 2 miles a little slower but was able to pick up the pace again for the last mile.  I am glad when I am able to pick up the pace at the end of my runs.  Now I just need to do this in races:)

My legs felt heavy while running today.  Tonight they feel even more tired.  I am glad this week is a taper week.  Only 12 miles for my long run this weekend. (I can't believe I am now saying ONLY 12 miles)

I am so thankful that I am able to run!  I hope I never lose my passion for running or the ability to run!

Happy Running!

Running with Family

My brother, Mike, is visiting this week so I got to do a run with him this morning.  We also met up with my Tuesday morning running buddies, Lisa and Alyssa.

Me and Mike

Mike is training for his first half marathon.  Our hometown, LaPorte, is having its first half marathon in August.  My husband, my sister, my brother and I are planning on running it.  Fun!  Will there be any family rivalry?  I don't think so.  Although my brother said he just wants to beat Katie.  But she is pretty darn fast!  I have never been competitive with Mike.  I think because we never played the same sports.  He loves soccer!  I have never been competitive with Katie either.  She is just the type of person that would walk the last mile of a race with you if you needed too even if she was feeling awesome.  And there is no point with me being competitive with Ryan because I could never be as fast as him.  Ever!

In a perfect world, we would all run the half marathon together and finish at the same time with the clock reading 1:4x:xx.

My dad is planning on running the 5K that day with Kaitlyn, Jackson, and my 2 younger brothers: Andrew(11) and Aaron (8).  It will be a family affair!

Today the goal was to do 8 miles.  Check!  And do some fast miles in there.  We did 1 or 2.

I felt much better than last week when I ran with the speedy girls.  I think what helped was we were going a little slower, I did an easy run yesterday, and the weather was cooler.  Although I didn't quite get the tempo run in today, that is ok.  Maybe on Thursday?

Have you ever ran a race with a family member?
Jaime

Hot and humid

Normally I take Wednesday as a rest day but decided to get a run in early this morning.  The reason why is that I really want to take Friday off before my long run on Saturday.  I am getting really nervous to do a long run in this heat.  It is going to be in the 80s and probably 90+ humidity while I am running.  Ugh!  I need to be as rested as possible.  

My goal was to run 8 miles today.  I knew it was going to be hard with my recent runs.  My plan was to run only on feel.  I was not going to push myself at all.  Just get the miles in...  

The first few miles felt better than expected.  The last few were harder.  Not sure if it was the heat and humidity or my tired legs.  I ran through every sprinkler that was on.  Kind of fun! 

I was back in my neighborhood at mile 7 and was set to stop and call it a day.  But I ran into another neighbor who was running.  I love that I live in a very active neighborhood!  I did another .75 miles with her.  So I finished the day at 7.75 miles.  I'll take it!

I took a sprinkle shower when I was home (with running clothes on:))  It felt soooo good!  

My plan is do another easy run tomorrow.  But my IT band is hurting some tonight.  If it still hurts in the morning then I won't run:(

Jaime