With the aid of half of a bottle of Zicam, a Starbucks Vivanno, four giant cloves of mashed garlic in tomato soup, spinach salads, literally like 500 gallons of water, LOTS of sleep, and refraining from alcohol....my cold lasted less than one week. This is a record in my life, my friends. An absolute record!
So with that, I took my 10 mile run by storm on Saturday! It was about 45 degrees and crystal blue skies...an absolute DREAM for Wiscy in March!!! I wore my running tights, but only a thin short-sleeve t'shirt and I felt perfect. So because my routes are getting longer now, I actually have to write crib notes on my hand haha!
It really would pay to have a Garmin, but hey, I'm old school?? I did take my phone along this time because I was a little nervous and wasn't sure if something would go horribly wrong. Like I'd need to be peeled off the pavement or God knows what. BUT! I got to take a lovely photo of my route!
That's downtown waaaaaaaaay off in the distance on the left-hand side. So far away!
The run felt great during miles 1-4. I went niiiiice and easy just like I said I would. But somewhere between 4 and 5, things unraveled a little. Nothing major, but I was definitely feeling some pain creeping up in my legs. This of course was the exact same time that I entered the park and about 70 percent of the path was covered in lakes of melted snow! (If it's not one thing, it's another hey? haha!) So my new pinkies got REAL dirty and my socks were absolutely soaked. This made for a pretty shitty second half, let me tell you. Running in soaked socks just isn't fun at all. My toes felt all chaped and raw. I think the puddles just caused me to lose my focus or something because then the leg pain just came with a vengeance. It wasn't anything dehabilitating, but for example, in my new shoes, there's this extremely strange pain I get at the top of my foot (where the leg and foot connect...in that crook). It's as if there's a part of my shoe that's digging in there, but no matter how I adjust it, I can't find the problem for the life of me!! So miles 5-7 I just had to deal with it...there was nothing I could do.
Suddenly between 7 and 8, it kinda went away, as did any other pain...or perhaps I just regained my focus and decided to not let it bother me? I picked up the pace and ran the last two miles at a pretty good clip! SO much so that I was incredibly winded by the time I crossed my imaginary finish line and it took awhile to regain my composure! So my final time was exactly one hour and 47 minutes - 10:40 min miles. So I think my next hump is running for over two hours! That's just going to be a trip, seriously!
Two recovery items I have noticed:
-My calves are really tight. I never have a problem with my calves after a run. So I'm not sure if I just forgot to stretch them for longer, or what. But even today, still pretty tender.
-My knees don't hurt at all! I iced them twice the night after the run...so that must've helped!
So this weekend, I'll be skipping 11 and going straight to 12 miles. For this run, I am going to forget completely about time (I may even leave my watch at home)...and focus on keeping my body healthy. This means, STRETCHING! I rarely stop to stretch during my runs, and I think I'm at the point where I really have to be careful in these final weeks. I'm going to take a solid five minutes every 3-4 miles and make sure all muscles have some quality TLC. The other reason I don't really want to bring my watch is that I know if I get my time, I'll be too tempted to predict my Half time and there is no way I want to be disappointed by anything after that race.
Oh I'll end on this lovely note: I got home from my 10mile and guess what had come in the mail. HOORAY!!!!!! Too bad it hadn't come BEFORE the run though ;) I look forward to the 12 mile to see if the music distracts me from my legs. Hope so! Anyway, here's Orange Bomb and Floyd, new and old, passing the torch! I like how there's a piece of ATT mail accidentally in the corner. Thanks ATT Uverse!
Yeah for the Orange Bomb..and LOVING the crib notes...I used to do the same thing so I'd remember where to go!!
ReplyDeleteMaybe take a look at relacing the shoes...you'd be amazed at the difference that may make...you don't have time to deal with shoebullshit right now...LOL.
Sounds like a great run...you're sooo coming along and I love to hear about it! Don't worry about time...just get the distance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Run on soulsista
Congratulations on making it to the halfway point! Hope the second half is as good as the first!
ReplyDeleteWow! I had no idea you had a rough time on your run. When I saw you Saturday night you seemed invigorated! Way to soldier on.
ReplyDeletePS - your route is PERRRRRRTY!
Great views on your run! Wow! Glad you are feeling better. The Princess Half in Orlando was amazingly fun. I smiled the whole way... just got to see the professional pictures and they never caught me without one. :)It was my first half so I just stuck with my training plan from runner's world. I kept the same pace the whole way through. The run went super fast. I certainly was not fast but I met my goal of running the whole time and not having to get but in the bus. :)
ReplyDeleteI just signed up for the Wisconsin Half on May 1st here in Kenosha. Know anyone who is doing it or has done it in the past?
Whoops! I forgot to sign my name on that last one...
ReplyDelete-Steph from the Wis/Il state line :)
Thanks everyone!! C- It seems like it's more an issue with the shoe tongue than the laces, so I tried tying my left shoe behind tongue...a little awkward, but it worked! I have no idea what that's all about though!
ReplyDeleteSteph HUGE congrats!!!!!!! I'm sure it was just an absolutely amazing experience with your surroundings and everything! And the fact that you're right back on the horse to do another one in May? Incredible! I actually DO know someone running that Half...she's a friend of a former coworker and she just started running a few months ago. So it's going to be a bit of a challenge for her, but hopefully she'll rock it! Anyway good luck in May! Do you have a new goal for this one? Shorter time?
Thank you! :) Yes, going to try to shave 15 minutes off my time. For the Disney run I did around 11:10 minute miles so I am going to go for more around a 10:00 mile this time. I did a short tempo run last night on the treadmill and 10:00 had me working and sweating a bit. Although I was sore, I finished the Princess half with lots of good stuff still in my tank. :)
ReplyDeleteThanks again for writing on your blog!
Steph from the stateline
Good stuff Steph!! I hope you're able to hit your pace! I have no projected pace, but the temptations of snagging one are creeping up on me more and more now that I'm in the final month of training. I can't let it grab me though! This first Half is just for running and it IN ITSELF will be a PR!
ReplyDeleteThanks for READING my blog!! :)