Half Training - Week Eleven

Ahh Week 11! And Week 12 is barely a training week with, what, my four mile on Tuesday and two baby miles on Thursday? I dare say this is the home stretch my friends! Anyway, today I ran a lousy 6 miles in the rain. Everyone on FB had these really great rainy runs or races and mine just blew chunks. My new Brooks visor helped a ton though...I really needed something to shield my eyes from the rain...I absolutely hate that feeling. Meanwhile though, my knees hurt and I just felt like lead. Oh well, hopefully this just means NEXT weekend will kick ass. This week I had two quality five mile runs at 8:48 min. mi. and 8:49 min mi. averages respectively! That's a full 20 seconds better than I've been running lately! Who do I have to thank? Claire and my ankle weights, that's who! ;) I also thank these nutrition changes I've made. Running days, I always eat two breakfasts, one at like 7: an egg/whole grain bread half sandwich thing, and one a couple hours before my run: quick oats, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and honey. Then I run around 12:30 and I eat or drink some kind of high sugar thing right after, like chocolate milk or almonds and golden raisins. Less than an hour after that I eat some sort of high complex carb/protein lunch like quinoa with stuff in it or a peanut butter sandwich or whatever. So I definitely have a system going for sure!

But let's be honest here, I WANT BAD FOODS!! Especially sugary cakey yumminess that I haven't had for six weeks!!!!! Mmmmmmm I had a slice of orange cake frozen from my grandpa's birthday two weeks ago that's de-thawing in the fridge as we speak. I will devour it upon arriving home around 11pm tonight after the Easter Vigil! Then I will proceed to eat the following in no particular order: a Cadbury Cream Egg, a Peanut Butter Egg, a cupcake, Girl Scout cookies that have been in my desk drawer for a month, ICE CREAM...or no no CUSTARD, Oreos, a donut, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. Am I preggers? Jeez!

And on that note, Happy Easter!!! Ok so this next week I'll probably write up a fun Pre-Half Marathon post. I can't believe it's a week away WHAT THE EGG?!?!?!?

Half Training - Week Ten

This week was a light one for sure. Work was insane and I just didn't have the time (didn't WANT to have the time?) to squeeze in a 5mi run at the end of the week. However, I did do yoga on Monday (day after the horrendous 14), then did a 5mi on Tuesday along with leg weights. Then an hour long work out (dance, kickboxing, leg weights) on Wednesday. Thursday and yesterday were "off days" but hardly felt like it because I barely sat down the entirety of both days on this photo shoot for work. A lot of people are on their feet for their full time jobs, but not this desk chair flat ass cubicle worker bee! It was quite the workout ;)

Anyway, I'm actually really glad I was "forced" to take a light week. I think after the 14, my body really needed the breather, both physically and mentally. A lot of people training for Halfs will log in like 30-40mi weeks, while I've been averaging barely 20. But I remind myself that this is the first time in my [one year] running career that I've trained this hard, I'm not exactly used to it! So I've pushed pretty hard considering, especially the distance mileage jumps of 10 to 12 to 14 in two week's time! Anyway, this is a long winded way of convincing myself that it was GOOD to take it easy this week.

Another thing that proves this to be true is my KICK FREAKING ASS RUN TODAY!!! I tapered down to 8 miles (much less than the suggested "30% reduction" but whatever). I felt just fabulous during the entire run. I was able to keep up a great pace (averaged 9:30) and NOTHING HURT!!!!!! This is unprecedented. The last time I did an 8mi run was five weeks ago and I did it in 1:30 (~11 min mi pace) and a lot of body parts hurt...my hips, knees, groin, and feet bottoms most especially. But this 8mi was WORLDS different. My feet didn't feel a thing, my right knee was a little twingey but nothing to write home about. My hips were fine. It was a miracle! Thus, the reduction in miles this week really helped heal my ailing legs I think!

Two more things that helped?
1. My new leg lifts routine with my ankle weights. I can already totally feel the difference. During today's run my legs felt strong! They felt like runner legs!! Nothing like last weekend when they felt like they were shattering inside my skin with every step. Like grandma legs! (Thanks C for urging me to get going on this!!!)
2. My diet. I went to the store early this week and just loaded up on healthy foods: quick oats, bananas, tuna, almonds/sunflower and pumpkin seeds, chicken breasts, brown whole grain rice, quinoa, broccoli, apples, Boca burgers, the list goes on. And I signed up for a My Plate account at Livestrong.com, so I could really pay attention to what I was eating and more importantly WHEN. I could go on and on and on about the diet portion of my new outlook, but that will be another novel of a blog post altogether. The point is, I think it will all very much help me in these last two weeks before the race!

Ok that's all I got! I hope everyone's weekend runs went/go well!!

Half Training - Week Nine

I'm officially over yet another hump...the distance. Yesterday was my 14 mile run, and the furthest I'll go in my training. And possibly the furthest I'll go for quite awhile. It's going to be my White Whale. For this was a distance that SERIOUSLY pushed me to my pain threshold.

Let me start off with the fact that while last Tuesday's 5 mile was amazing and quick, my second 5 mile on Friday was horrible. My legs just wouldn't go! They were stiff and I never hit a comfortable stride. It put me in the worst mood for the rest of the day, let me tell you. So I did the 14 yesterday, hoping that Friday was just a fluke. Nope. I could tell right away that it was going to be more of the same: that stiffness that prevents a nice comfy stride. I do have to admit that I decided on a quicker pace than usual. Probably too quick. But I have a running acquaintance who just started, is training for a Half, and totally leaves me in the dust. This person is about my same size, age, etc. Jealousy is ugly my friends, it really is. It gets the best out of me sometimes. That's why I chose the quote that's at the top of this blog. Something to remind me that this is my own journey, no one else's. But meanwhile, jealousy also pushes me to be better. So I pushed this weekend and I pushed hard.

So basically, it wasn't that I was tired during my run, or that I was out of breath, or that I had cramps. It was solely my legs. They ached all over. It didn't feel like a pull or an injury of any kind. Just an all-over pain from the thigh all the way down to the bottoms of my feet. And they felt this way the entire time. So basically I was putting myself through pretty awful pain for a solid 2 and a half hours. I stopped maybe 3-4 times for intersections, stretched, but never walked.

Now, I'm trying REALLY hard not to be a wimp here, honestly. Because DUH running is freaking hard! This I know. Just for some reason yesterday was particularly rough. There were times where I wanted to cry a little, but I tried to pay more attention to This American Life and Girl Talk, my aforementioned saviors on these long runs. There were also times when I felt pure unadulterated glee! Granted these lasted about 30 seconds and maybe there were a total of 3-4 glee segments. Two minutes of glee gets lost in the 2.5hrs of pain.

The last three miles were probably the hardest I've ever pushed my body. I kept thinking: how will I make it??? And then I'd tell myself: Omg you have THREE miles left, just get through it it'll be fine! I also put this "I Am A Warrior" mantra into effect, and that helped a lot. But I could tell, I was running so awkwardly. Not exactly like limping, but picture sort of a waddle? Like a granny running? Or running after riding a horse for five hours? That's what I felt like (probably looked normal though). Around the 11.5 mile, I had to stop to wait for a traffic light. I stretched a little and drank water (hooray for my hand-held Fuel Belt bottle!!!!). But when I started back up??? NIGHTMARISH. It felt like running on broken legs! Guh. The other thing is that I kept thinking: aren't my endorphins supposed to kick in? Whatever those are called? Where's the "runner's high" from being in so much pain that my body just goes on auto-pilot? I think I was born without the capacity for a runner's high. Which kinda sucks because that's half the fun of BEING a long distance runner in the first place!

Anyway, so the final block, I sprinted. I always sprint. Even when there's nothing left. And when I crossed the imaginary line, I cried. Yep, couldn't hold it in. And it was the heaving type of crying, like not so much tears, but heavy jagged inhaling. And it wouldn't stop! I seriously felt like such a pansy! Well from the ridiculous to the ridiculous, I dragged myself up the stairs by my arms, and took off my ipod/shoes/jacket/clothes like an elderly person. I put the bathtub faucet at the coldest it could get. I grabbed my half gallon of chocolate milk and I got into the water. I cried some more because THAT was insanely painful. I put my running socks back on because my toes just couldn't withstand the cold. I sat there for about 15 minutes, soppy running socks, sweatshirt on, drinking chocolate milk and talking to myself aloud: "That was really horrible right? I mean that was seriously painful, am I wrong? I can't do that any more can I? Can I?? Thank God the Half is shorter than that. How do people run marathons? I just don't get it." And more crying. I got out and shivered for a solid half hour while I went on the internet, waiting for my skin to reach room temp so it wouldn't be such a shock when I took the HOTTEST shower I could!!

My boyfriend came home from work with a hot chocolate cherry mocha :) and made an Indian chicken dish...PERFECT for getting some proteins in my system. I spent the rest of the night collapsed on the couch watching that new Life series on Discovery HD, and probably had one of the best nights sleep in history. Today I'm sore, but not too awful. At lunch, I volunteered at my church's soup kitchen, which is a lot of scampering and squeezing around a tiny, tight dining area, and I handled it ok.

So now what's the Plan of Attack from here?
1. I've still got my two 5mi runs during the week, plus cross. This next weekend my "long" run drops significantly by half with an 8 mile, but I'm going to listen really intensely to my body and make sure this will be ok. How HORRIFYING would it be to go through all of this work and pain only to injure myself in the final weeks of training?! I officially know that I can do the 13.1, so that's all that really matters. While I tried really hard not to pay attention to my TIME, considering a good time (for someone with my experience) was inevitable, but I'm going to try not to obsess over it.
2. I'm going to pay more attention to my diet. I don't think I'm getting enough good carbs and DEFINITELY not getting enough protein. Especially right after my runs when those things are key. You can eat all the carbs/proteins in the world six hours after your run but they aren't going to replenish your muscles like they would right afterward. I'm also going to drink more water, less booze. Not that I'm some lush, but in these last three weeks, I've gotta just hunker down. A friend of mine just called me this morning who is in the Police Academy and wanted to know if I would participate in a study they were doing for class. Drink as much as you can in a small amount of time so the students could have experience with drunks. I passed it up. Free booze! I'm from WI, where that's like a mortal sin! ;) I kid of course (sort of), but honestly, I have to take better care of my body! Hopefully it'll help.

Ok that's all I got! Thanks yet again for reading the novels I write here, yikes! I just have to tell myself that this is probably a cake walk compared to being in labor for three days ;)

Half Training - Week Eight

I'm going to try REALZ hard to keep this short because my posts are far too long and blathery and peeps ain't got no time to be readin' these novels!!

I just got back from my TWELVE MILE RUN WHAT THE EFF?!?!??! I can't believe I did it. I mean I can't believe I DID IT did it! I will say this...I kept my promise of takin' 'er easy and stopping to stretch. I kind of had no choice. LOTS of super busy intersections! See I ran from my house in Bayview to my parents in Greenfield. This means nothing to most people person(s) reading this blog, but it's from Lake to 43rd St, with some wind-y-ness mixed in, which still makes no sense. Alls I know is that at my half way point which was "only" six miles, I looked to the north and could see downtown like super far in the distance and I got chills a little bit. Maaaaaaaaybe that could've been the yucky weather though...it was chilly, dismal, SUPER windy, and just generally the blahish day you could imagine. But I was kinda happy to be able to wear a jacket because I had a lot to carry. I've been all about bringing my phone just in case I seriously injure myself...so far so good!

So the run itself was good and bad. I mean not horrendous or anything, but I was really dehydrated. I had some delicious Bloody Marys with my mom last night :) And then a salty George Webb's MEGA breakfast of eggs, 'cakes, bacons, and 'browns MMMMM! I tried to drink as much water as I could, but omg, at mile 5ish, I was SO THIRSTY!!! I finally stopped at a gas station hoping they'd have a drinking fountain (bubbler, whatever, I'm from Iowa), and they didn't of course, so I had to cup my inked up hands (more crib notes) and drink from the faucet. Yikes. Hopefully I'm not bent over the toilet tomorrow! It barely made a dent in my thirst, so I just dealt with it at that point and learned my lesson. The funny thing is that after my MEGA breakfast at Webb's, the BF and I went to Sports Authority so I could buy some ankle weights and I scoured and asked about the Fuel Belt hand held water bottle. SA doesn't carry the awesomeness, so I walked away thirsty.

I think the biggest struggle were miles 7-10. I was just losing steam and sore and just like "why am I doing this again???" What kept me sane was two episodes of This American Life: "My Pen Pal" and "My Experimental Phase"...I had heard of This American Life before, but never really checked it out as I'm not necessarily and NPR/Talkish Radio type. But omg, this show is aaaaaaaaaaaaaaddicting!!!! I just get glued to every episode. Which translates to: um, perfect distance running companion??? YES! So these kept most of my attention away from pain and thirst. THEN because clearly my 12 miles were going to go over the 2 hour mark (and TAL eps are an hour long)...I switched Orange Bomb over to Girl Talk who, if you aren't already aware, is this dude who, among other things, mixes dirty booty hip hop with The Sounds of the Seventies. Seriously though, this guy's a genius and I went to his show here in Milwaukee awhile back and FREAKED OUT. I lost a flip flop. I lost 10 gallons of water via sweat. I danced on stage. It was amazing. ANYWAY! Gregg's music gets me through anything, so I started up Night Ripper and my last mile was absolutely the best mile I've ever run in my life. I didn't know I had anything left in my tank, but here it was!! I was fist pumping and rappin' along with Luda and just, yeah, freaking out all over the road! People in Greenfield, WI probably thought I was nuts.

So I did NOT bring my watch. But I left exactly at 2:00 and rolled in around 4:19. Now that includes all my stretch stops and dirty faucet shenanigans, so I'm all right with that time! When I got to my parents' house, I ran upstairs and immediately ran a COLD BATH!!! I didn't have any ice, but I wanted to try out this whole ice-ish bath phenomenon! Omg it's amazing! It really helps!! And I think I'd be able to withstand the ice too if I poured it in after sitting in the cold water for awhile. So yeah, I chatted with my mom and sat in the water for about 15 and then she drove me back home. THANKS MOMSI!

So yep! Only 1.1 miles to go and I'm there baby! Although next week is supposed to be 14...yowzah! Good times....good times.

Ok so I wrote a novel anyway. Then I'll spare you the details of when I ran 4.6mi during my lunch hour in the rain and didn't bring a hair dryer so pretty much had to be at my place of work with wet hair in two little buns at the top of my head for the remainder of the afternoon. Lesson learned! But I did that 4.6 in 9:05 minute miles, and THAT was awesome in my book!

Not awesome in my book?? PUSH UPS. I am absolutely terrible at push ups. I do the designated amount, but just SUCK at them. I'll keep trying though. It's all I can do! But yay for ankle weights! I'm hoping that in the final month of training for the Half, I'll be able to strengthen my legs more so it won't be as painful. Fingers crossed!

OH! One final thing...love Hammer Gel, but Hammer Gel Vanilla????? Yikes. It tasted like cold medicine. Very strange! No biggie...I still got my Espresso!

Half Training - Week Seven

I am over the hump! Over the halfway mark and officially over the single digit mileage!!

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!

Half Training - Week Six

It's been awhile! Much to catch up on. Topics from this past week:

1. It's Halvsies in Halfville as I'm offically halfway through my Half training. HALF!
2. 12 people were laid off in my department and it was ridiculously horrible.
3. Run for Haiti!
4. I ran my 9 miles on Saturday in 1:34:57.
5. I hate snow even more than I thought I could.
6. I have a cold...nooooooooooooo!!!!
7. PUSH UPS YES!!!!!

So yeah, halfway through! Things I've noticed? When I first started out, after my hiatus, my lungs were not up to par with the rest of my body. It partly had to do with the cold air (much colder than it's been these past few weeks at around 15 degrees) as well as still recovering from my NYE cold. Now, particularly during the 9 miles, I realize that my lungs bounced back more quickly than my body could keep up with. I have aches and pains in places I didn't know I had, but breathing couldn't be easier. My hope is that in the next six weeks, things will balance out and my body will catch up.

Back in 2007, 30 people were laid off in my department, including my sister and best work friend Nicole. Not fun times. At the beginning of 2009, maybe 3-5 more people were let go. But now we're back up in scary territory as a dozen more got the chop, including two other best work buddies. Yeah I'm lucky to STILL be here after all this, but that makes me much more sad than happy or relieved. In good news, all my close pals who lost their jobs here and now doing bigger and better things (or at least getting paid way more), so I'm sure the same will go for my other buds.

The same day of the Big Layoff, was my Virtual 4mi Run for Haiti. So I tried funneling all of my anger and frustration into the run. I made the mistake of doing it after work, instead of at lunch, where I may or may not have been indulging in a pint of Spotted Cow in honor of my fallen comrades. So traffic was a nightmare to deal with. I also screwed up my timer, so I couldn't pause it at stoplights. I had to watch the timer go by and keep track of all the seconds to deduct from my final time. SOOOO frustrating! In any case, I timed around 37:33, although the website has a different idea about "Virtual Time" which I don't really understand, but that was 36:44. ~stats here, if you filter to Milwaukee, WI.

So while the watch/traffic screwing up my race, the awful awful work day, and the lovers quarrel that followed that evening all got me pretty down, my 9 mi on Saturday picked me right back up! I ran it a little faster than I should've...I wasn't out of breath by any means, but it averaged 10:30min miles...an average that maybe I should save for actual Half Day. But it felt good, so I kept with it! As I mentioned above, however, my legs were screaming at me. Ugh. And I couldn't really walk correctly until about three hours after the run! It freaks me out because I'm like: "if its like this after 'only' nine miles, what will 13.1 feel like?!! Or worse, the 14 that I have to do in THREE WEEKS???" Freaks me out. Did I mention that? So I just need to take it easy, and again, not go so fast that my legs are wondering what the deal is. The good news is my knees are getting better, I can feel it. I haven't felt the need to ice them (tho I probably should).

Snow. I am soooooooooooo OVER IT. Like I mentioned for my 8mi, I ran the lakefront path and it was clear for the most part, but sections were pretty bad. Well for some stupid reason, despite the fact that we got MORE snow last week, I thought it'd be a stellar idea to run the same path. It was even worse! On the one hand, it kept me at a slow pace, but on the other, it didn't even matter because I was huffing and puffing so hard from the bounding I had to do over all the snow piles. Not to mention trying desperately to avoid rolling my ankle...unsuccessfully I might add. At one point, I wanted to throw knives at people because I got to a stretch of sidewalk...SIDEWALK...that snow had completely drifted over...at least three feet. This whole time, I had been trying to keep an even pace, at least a jogging pace over the snow, but I finally was forced to completely stop in order to step into pre-made footholes inside of the mountain of snow. I mean, it's really frustrating when you're already in 4miles, have a good pace going, and just have to stop for some stupid reason.

Ok I'm done complaining. It's supposed to be FIFTY this Saturday!!!!

But speaking of Saturday...the day I'm supposed to run 10 miles...double digits...FINALLY. So yeah, in the wee hours of the morning, around 4:30 or so, I awoke to someone throwing knives into my throat. In other words, I'm getting a cold. Another one. Now, I usually have two colds in the winter...pretty typical. But I thought, maybe with my new healthy lifestyle I'd avoid the second one. Totally jinxed myself. So I'm sucking on Zicam, throwing down water and tea, and peeing like it's going out of style. And I'm already planning on a sick day tomorrow. Not because I can't work with a cold, because clearly I'm not that sick, but just so I can reeeeeeallly get some sleep in. At this stage in the game, any sickness or injury is such a liability. I mean I still remember my posts from the Hiatus Comeback and how the phlegm from my cold was SUCH a damper on my runs. If I wasn't such a Mucus Queen, it wouldn't be a problem, but I seriously have crazy leaky faucet nose even when I'm perfectly healthy and its 55 degrees outside. I'm supposed to go 4.5mi tomorrow, and while I currently feel well enough to run, I shouldn't push the envelope as there will be NOTHING that stops my long run on Saturday. NOTHING.

Finally, one of my fave running chicas posted this Push Ups Challenge that looks like something I'm pretty much going to definitely do. Six Weeks | 100 Push Ups. Now, I am NOT a push up person. And my arms are my absolutely least favorite body feature. So with six weeks left in my Half Training, I think this will be a great addition to my cross training schedule. So along with Beth's Kickass Motivational Greatness List, I'm going to print out the schedule and get crackin', cold or no cold!

Good luck out there to the rest of my running friends!! Spring is right around the corner :)

PS My next post, if not devoted to how much I hate getting sick, will discuss all of the running gear and accoutrements I've been coveting these past few weeks!! And SOME of which I may be able to actually buy because guess who just got her ATT Uverse Rebate Cards in the mail this afternoon!! HOLLA!!!!! (Sorry I just got this news and it totally made my day!!)

Half Training - Week Five

This afternoon I officially ran the furthest and longest of my little running career thus far, with 8.18 miles in an hour and a half! (Up till now, my furthest/longest was 7.22mi in 1:07 back in Sept.) For some reason, I was really nervous about this run all day. I don't know why I was building it up in my head, as it really isn't all that long. Perhaps because it WAS the newest mileage "personal record" since Sept. But once I got out there, the nerves melted away and the run felt fab! I definitely decided to cut it waaaay back pace-wise. I've been doing my regular week runs averaging a 9:30 pace. Well, I Half-Marathon-Shuffled it up big time and it felt wonderful. Just so relaxing! And even knowing I'd probably be running at LEAST an hour and a half, it was really nice not paying attention to my watch too! The whole thing just made me love running that much more.

So most of the route consisted of the path right next to the lakefront in my neighborhood. A couple miles of it run right along this beach and I actually almost transferred myself on over there because the path was ridiculous. It started out ok, but the snow and ice just got worse and worse. It's a good thing I was down with going so slow because there's no way I could've scampered along that path any quicker, trying not to roll my freaking ankle!

At the halfway mark, I had run for about 48 minutes, so that obviously works out to 12 minute miles. This is most definitely the slowest I've ever run, and while it is hard swallowing my pride in that sense, I know its good for me. Half Marathon Day is one thing, maybe I'll bust it out, but training, I just really gotta take it easy.

While breathing was an absolute picnic the whole time, what hurt was various odd parts of my legs: my inside right groin area, my left outer hip area, and the bottoms of my feet. At about an hour into the run, I stopped cold to stretch out my hips because it was getting really uncomfy! That helped, as did the Espresso flavored Hammer Gel I tore into once I stopped! Oh my YUM!! I decided to try it after a blogger pal's positive thoughts...I've always heard mixed reviews about Gu and my stomach can get iffy on runs, so I wasn't sure where to start until she mentioned this stuff. Not only did it NOT do any weird stomach things, it was so easy to ingest. See, I already have trubs swallowing my own mucus on runs, I had no idea how I was going to swallow something even more viscous (that's what she said?) But afterward, it was almost like I didn't eat the gel at all...there was no weird aftertaste or throat-grossness! Plus it was just absolutely delish. I have a few other flavors as well, so I look forward to trying those!

The funny thing about the Hammer Gel, however, is the part where I tried to follow these directions to pin the package to my running tights. I did everything just fine except for where I rounded the edges. Well I must cut a teeeeny tiny hole in the corner because when I reached for the package on the inside of my tights, there was a nickel-sized glob of it that had oozed and attached to my skin and tights. CLAAAAASIC Katie. Luckily, since it was like 30 degrees out, it was virtually frozen there and not going to like smear all over the place or anything. And when I got home, I just ran super hot water over the spot in my tights and it melted away with ease. I tell ya.

The one thing I wish I had, and hope to have access to soon, is water. I really shouldn't be running over and hour without SOME kind of water. But I just don't have the money right now to spend on a Fuel Belt, and I just don't like carrying anything in my hands when I run. (Uh Katie, isn't discomfort better than dehydration? Hello!!) I'll figure it out. The hilarious thing is that I was dealing with a classic: "water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink" scenario because snow is quite abundant, but all covered with droplets of God knows what. I could've stopped to dig into the four foot high snow banks for some fresh stuff, but I was over it. "I'll down a bunch when I get home," I thought to myself. Currently I'm almost through my 32oz bottle of water with more on the way. I figure it's not SO bad since I'm not sweating all the much.

Ok! So that's about it! I feel better about Week Five after this long run because I took it WAY too easy. Two 4 milers, yes, but barely ANY cross training and too much alcohol on Friday night ;) Tomorrow I'll try to write a shorter blog post (geez) about my NEW SHOES! I'm at 300mi plus on my current pair, but I'm really thinking I need to change it up with my leg pain and now foot-bottom pain I'm experiencing. Maybe I just wear shoes out faster, I don't know!

8K Race and Half Training - Week Four

Alright alright! I'm sitting in a Starbucks, using some free WiFi, sippin' on an upside-down Caramel Macchiato! I just finished building my boyfriend a light box for his photography stuff. He's been talking and talking about making one, and while he was at work, I just went ahead and did it for him ;) Post-Valentine's Day gift?? We had a blast this V'day weekend...pulled a 500 Days of Summer and tooled around Ikea for more hours than most people probably do.

"Doesn't my new living room look lovely?"


"But our sink doesn't work!"


"Hey I ran a 5mi race today."

It was funny because we stopped at a 'Bucks afterward and the barista was like "What are you guys doing for Valentine's Day?" "Uhh, we went to Ikea?" Haha!

ANYWAY...I bring up the light box because I had off of work today for Prez Day, and it appeared as though I had plenty of time to take my 4mi run...but the day just gets away with you, especially when you sleep til 10am WHOOPS! So instead of running, I built the light box, and I'm at Starbucks WRITING about running. Ah whatevs, the weather absolutely sucks right now, so I'll just do it tomorrow.

Week Four of training, as I've already written about, has gone very very well! I'm feeling back to my old running self and have good vibes about how the rest of the training will go. My knee seems to be getting better too...which I'm hoping is due to the cross-training I've been doing. The fun kickboxing and dance dvds I work out to are murder on my quads and those are precisely the muscles I need to build up to balance out my muscular hamstrings, so my femur isn't rubbing against the back of my patella OUCH! I wanna vom just thinking about that! So anyway, Week 5 will entail two 4mi runs during the week and an 8mi this weekend. Now 8 will officially be my longest run to date (I ran a 7.5mi this past fall). I'm very excited to cross that line! And SPEAKING of crossing lines.......

My 8K!! I did a lot better than I thought I would! Let me set this race up for you in a three-pronged discussion:

1. According to this article in our city paper, the Journal Sentinel: "'This is a who’s who in the local running community.' In recent years, the Cullen [8K] has developed into competitive early-season test for the top runners in the area." So basically, it's not really a race for your casual runner. Al's Run is packed every year because it's a huge cause, very much in the spotlight. This Steve Cullen race is not only in the middle of winter, but it's longer. For example, despite it also being in the winter, the Sampson Stomp at the Mke Zoo being a shorter distance makes it more popular for casual runners. ANYWAY, omg Katie move on...so there were only 500 runners in this badboy and many of them were elite.

2. In addition to this fact, the course is difficult!! Al's has a mild incline for the first 2-2.5 miles, but nothing too distracting. This one kicked into a steep hill right after the first half mile and it felt like it went on forever. You could hear people huffing and puffing already! It was pretty brutal! After that there were a bunch of significantly shorter hills scattered throughout. And then at the very end, the Big Monster. I swear this thing is at a 45 degree angle. And the Finish is at the top of it, so you see it looming, and you're just dying running up this monstrosity to get there!

3. And finally, most of the race was a park path, so say 4-5 ft wide? And said park path was, of course, covered in snow and ice. Some parts were traveled enough to allow the grippy asphalt beneath to come through. But sometimes it was on the left side, and this race was one of those "double back" types, so the fancy elite athletes were running toward you and you had to move back over to the right.

Alright, so Al's I ran in 42:41. Crazy impressive for me. This one I ran in, according to MY watch, 46:29. And I think that's awesome considering the addition of all the crazy hills AND non grippy snow/ice surface!! Ok enough blabbering, I will provide my stats here to let you see what I mean:

bib number: 356
age: 30
overall place: 307 out of 518
division place: 11 out of 32
gender place: 97 out of 226
time: 46:50 (This makes sense because I took note that I crossed the start 15-20 seconds after the gun. I'M saying 46:29!)
pace: 9:26 (Again, I'M saying 9:16!)

~link to my stats

So basically this is nowhere near my usual percentile (my typical age div/gender is in the top 20% and then like 30-35% overall).

I get really crazy about stats...I should probably stop :)

After the race, and after the barf-up-my-Huevos-Rancheros feeling wore off, I shuffled into the warming tent for my bowl of chili and two beers :) I also grabbed a cup full of candy hearts for my boyfriend who had so lovingly gone through the ridiculous horror that was trying to drop me off, and then pick me up. The race Start/Finish was nestled into this park, so there really was no access by anything other than foot. SO I had to run a half mile to get to the race (we got there late-ish), this INCLUDED the aforementioned Big Monster by the by! And then I ran another half mile AFTER the race to get to my boyfriend's car. Interestingly enough, when I slumped into the passenger seat, I looked down at the cup o' candy hearts I had been juggling and at the top was a larger heart face up which said "You Rock"...awesome :)

Half Training - Week Two

To cap off Week Two of my half training...awesome awesome AWESOME 5 mile run!!! I haven't had a run like that in ages! The further I went, the better I felt, and it's those kind of runs you just dream of, right?! I FELT like a real runner out there....instead of a heaving, struggling, sack of crap like my other runs have felt haha! I felt so swift and compact and my breathing was almost effortless...instead of struggling to maintain my oxygen levels like the past couple weeks. Anyway, one reason this happened is because I went slow. I did exactly ten minute miles almost the whole way (the last 1/2-1mi I did faster). Last year my main goal was to quicken my pace so I could get good times in my races. But today some light bulb went on inside my head. This year I'm training for a half marathon (duh) and the key is to maintain a certain energy level, rather than gain speed (duh again). If I feel anything like I felt today on that half marathon day...well then that run will feel fabulous. And I want it to feel fabulous. (And by "fabulous" I mean not-wanting-to-puke-my-brains-out fab, as opposed to sitting-on-a-beach-with-an-umbrella-drink-in-my-hand fab.)

ANYWAY! This Lightbulb Moment really helps me to hone in on my focus in these next ten weeks of training. I know it was just the beginning back there, but I was getting all kinds of discouraged. Classic Katie. This run was just what I needed to make me feel like a runner again!

Half Training - Week One

Alright, so first of all, I decided to get super Miss Organizized about this whole half marathon situation. I was hemming and hawing about it for the last few weeks because I'm the opposite of prepared. But because I always need a swift quick in the ass when it comes to motivation, there's nothing like training for a half marathon out of nowhere to kick you swiftly in the ass. Ok, well, not completely out of nowhere. Minus the month hiatus, I'm a couple months shy of a year of running. I've run a small fistful of 5Ks and one 8K. The thing is...13.1 miles ain't no 5 miles. The longest I've run is 7.25mi at around a 9:18min mile pace and it wasn't even that taxing. That was stellar for me. This Sunday I ran 4mi at just a few seconds under 10min miles and it was...kinda taxing. Meh. So for this reason, I need to focus, work hard, and stop looking back. I kind of see this whole thing as me starting running for the first time, like back in March of '09...only on a grander scale.

Oh and WHY am I doing this?? Two reasons. 1. I've already touched on: I hear more and more 'beginner' runners going for this goal this spring, and I'm like say wah?? "If they can do it, I sure can!" I'm a sucker for competition. And 2. I think my running personality is more distance than speed. I have a runner friend who is just so stellar at races and I hope she starts getting all sorts of huge crazy trophies and stuff! Meanwhile, that won't be me, but that's all good! I'll have distance be my running goals. I'm down!

So with that said, the following is a schedule I sort of based off of Hal Higdon's 'Novice' schedule.


The main change I made personally was to up the mileage more quickly so I could get up to 14 miles three weeks before the Half, and then I could taper. I was feeling a little weird about having race day be the day I get up to that mileage...situations like that make me want to vom on race day. And then I read a similar sentiment on a fellow runner's blog, so I couldn't help but agree. Now, for those people out there who don't care about a time, or don't even care if they walk, just so they complete the mileage somehow...then the training becomes more flexible! But I'm psychotic. I can't walk during a race...any race. I can't even walk during my runs! I started my running career with a 10 week walk/run interval schedule, and once I was able to run straight for 3-4 miles, I didn't look back. Thus, it is my personal stance that, for me, this half marathon MUST be a running half marathon through and through. And that, of course, makes it all the more daunting!

In addition to the running, I've got cross of course. Before I started running I did workouts like Pilates and "twist step" (a stair type machine). In the past year, all I've done was run. I think when you boost your goal so intensely, you should probably really cross train hey? So via the magic of Netflix and Roku, I can stream workout DVDs from my internet connection to my tv...awesome. I've got Yoga, Pilates, Kickboxing, Weights, even Dance, that I'll sprinkle in throughout the week. Also, I know putting a smaller distance race into your training is always a good idea, so I'll probably do the Steve Cullen Healthy Heart 8K on Feb. 13th.

At the end of the day, I really have no goal time, and I'm not even going to think about a goal time. Like, I don't even know what a good goal time would BE for someone like me. All I want is to run the crazy thing in its entirety. And not pass out at the end.

ANYWAY! Week One was this past week. I ran three 3mi days (including a 5K race) and one 4miler. I did some yoga, but no other cross. I got that all organized tonight for the remaining 11 weeks. So yeah...we'll see about this whole crazy thing! I'm not going about it lightly. I'm not one to say: yeah cool, I'll do that no problem! I'm scared shitless and it's three months away. But being scared shitless gets me running. And just think...bikini season what?? Hahaha!

End of Week 10 & Stage 1

And what a way to end Stage 1!!! For this last run, I felt a little rough at first...a little cramping and such, but I literally told myself it'd be gone soon if I just ran it out. And that's exactly what happened! After the first ten minutes, I felt great! And I didn't even bother stopping for my walk breaks. So basically I ran 44 minutes straight. And not only that, but I ran faster at an average of 9:39min miles!!! Gooooood stuff. STATS!

Week 10 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 10 Min (44 mins total)
Total Distance: 13.37 mi
Ave Distance: 4.46 mi/day
Ave Time: ~9:55 min mi

Ok above post will be a synopsis sorta thing...let's ponder running shall we??

End of Week 7

Good stuff!! Ok so yesterday's run wasn't as *perfect...I had stomach cramps (not a side stitch) through the whole first half. Then I had a really great middle, and then almost the entire final 7 minute interval was uphill (and steep!), so my legs got super tired. But I fired on all cylinders for the last two minutes, major sprint, and that felt good! AND you wouldn't believe it, but despite the cramps and the "not perfect" feeling, I ran a teeny tiny bit further and faster than Perfect Run day! So anyhow...

Week 7 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 7 Min (32 mins total)
Total Distance: 8.65 mi
Ave Distance: 2.88 mi/day
Ave Time: ~11:35 min mi

And actually those stats are BS because I had that really bad run on Wedneday coming back into it after a week and a half of being sick. Without that day, I averaged 3 mi days and 10:30 min miles!

I'm going to forgo the day break and start on Week 8 right away tonight after work. I will officially surpass the 5K distance now and be able to gauge and work on my time. And I KNOW speed isn't the goal here...and I will try not to push myself...but I would really like to nail down a decent time that's less than 35 minutes. Anywhere between 32 and 34 would be great at this juncture! I still have a whole month until the Superun (if that's still going on), so that's plenty of time to train.

By the by, when I was walking into work this morning, it all kind of hit me: the fact that I can run 3 miles. I know to the seasoned runner that doesn't sound like much, but to me it's absolutely huge. If you read my first post, you'll recall that I could barely run a couple minutes straight. And here it is, two months later, and I can run three miles?? What the heck is happening?!? Granted I do take those minute walk breaks three times, but sometimes I feel like I don't even need them. I think those walk breaks are sort of my Dumbo feather. While I take them because it's part of the regimen (and I'm a stickler when it comes to my precious regimen), I also feel like I'll jinx something if I don't take them. But I promise, when I get to Week 10: running for four 10 minute intervals with 1 min walk breaks in between (so 43 minutes total), I will take a day and try to go the whole length without stopping. Let go of the feather so to speak. That'll be a great day!!

End of Week 5

I am officially half way through the first 10 Week stage! And today's run actually made me a little fearful of my weeks to come. It was pretty hard! I don't know if it was because I had used up all my energy cleaning the apartment all afternoon, or perhaps the not-that-light rainstorm I was running in, or leftover dehydration from the drunken shenanigans on Friday night...but it was hard. And made me wonder if I can run for six minutes straight. I mean I know I can, but is it going to be completely awful?? I can't psyche myself out, I just can't.

In any case, I ran with a new pair of insoles that my stepdad bought me!!! I'm not sure if they worked for my knee just yet?? I'll have to see how I feel tomorrow. Although if anything ruined my knees it was the giant hill I had to run up from Water St up to Van Buren OUCH!!! David you were right about that spot in Al's Run!! I'm really going to have to keep it seriously slow at the beginning of that race in order to get up that thing.

Anyway STATS:

Week 5 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 5 Min (24 mins total)
Total Distance: 6.75 mi
Ave Distance: 2.25 mi/day
Ave Time: ~10:50 min mi

Good stuff! This week I run/walk for 28 minutes...that's quite awhile! But I think I'm ready :)

End of Week 4

Because I screwed up on Wednesday, these stats are just from two runs:

Week 4 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 4 Min (20 mins total) - minus Wednesday (Week 5 run)
Total Distance: 3.41 mi
Ave Distance: 1.705 mi/day
Ave Time: ~11:50 min mi

My biggest hurdle right now is my knees, especially my left. I even had to wear an Ace bandage on my walk to/from work on Thursday. When I run my knees don't necessarily hurt too much...it's just the next day, especially when stairs are involved! But I'm not going to let it stop me. I read a bunch of stuff on the internet, stretches and such, that can help. I'm going to really try to get back into pilates as I know that will help tremendously. I'm also going to look into insoles as maybe those will help too. I read somewhere that tons of runners have knee issues, but they work through it. It would be one thing if I was a seasoned runner and my knees just can't perform anymore, but since I'm just beginning, I have to believe there's a way to simply strengthen them for the time being. I know I won't be able to run till my dying day, but jeez I'm "only" 29! ;)

End of Week 3

This was a light week for me. I felt like I needed to take it down a notch, so took the advice of fellow runners :) and took it easy with only three running days and no twist step. Obviously I burst through the gates with some intensity, but now is the time where I really wouldn't want to bite off more more than I can chew and screw everything up! Today's run was a good example of that. I slowed my pace way down and noticed a significant difference in my breathing (not labored at all!) and I definitely felt like I could've kept going at the end of the run. This was kinda sad too because I had walked about a third of a mile down to the lakefront to run that stretch, and then had 2/3rds of a mile to walk back to my apartment. I saw all these runners and wanted to start up again, but kept hearing my mom and didn't want to push it :) I mostly don't want to injure my shins because I can see those taking FOREVER to heal.

Week 3 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 3 Min (16 mins total)
Total Distance: 4.40 mi
Ave Distance: 1.467 mi/day
Ave Time: ~11:25 min mi

My first two runs this week averaged 11 minutes, but this last one was 11:42 as I slowed my pace way down (as previously mentioned). In this next week of walk 1/run 4, I'm going to try to force myself to slow down. I have to get used to holding myself back, especially at the beginning of a run, if I want to do these long distance races. And now's as good of a time as any...before I get into the habit!

End of Week 2

Well here we are already at the end of week 2! I wouldn't say that running is getting "easier" per se, but I find that every time I go, I like it more! I always look forward to it, and, like today for example, sometimes I have to stop myself from going! I think my knees need a break. I can feel a little more pain than usual when I go upstairs now. But I had a feeling that would happen since my knees have ALWAYS been rough. But if I keep my training steady and don't overdo it, I'm sure I'll build up some endurance in them. Hopefully!

Week 2 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 2 Min (15 mins total)
Total Distance: 5.42 mi
Ave Distance: 1.355 mi/day
Ave Time: ~11:20 min mi

All good stats! I obviously raised my mileage adding on that extra minute, but I also shaved off a few seconds on my average time. THIS, however, won't always be the case. I can imagine that I'll undoubtedly hit a block where I'll be running longer than my body is ready for in the next few weeks, maybe even this next week, and I'll have to slow it way down.

I'm ready for the 1min/3min intervals! I think I've found a comfortable pace/stride now...it's just a matter of controlling my breathing. I can see having a little trouble with that tomorrow. I wonder if there will be snow all over the place??

End of Week 1!

Week 1 Stats:
Walk 1 Min/Run 1 Min (14 mins total)
Total Distance: 4.74 mi
Ave Distance: 1.185 mi/day
Ave Time: ~11:50 min mi

Well I definitely made it and passed with flying colors I think! I mean granted the first week schedule is pretty easy, but hey, I wasn't a runner by any stretch prior to this week, so it definitely means a lot to me!!

My run today was gorgeous yet again! I felt great...the only thing is that I need to find my stride: the distance and timing of each step. In addition to simply building the endurance in my shins, I think finding the right stride and how I land with each step will help too.

I'm very ready for Week 2's 1 min walk/2 min run. In fact, during my last two runs I found myself looking repeatedly at my watch to see when it's time to start running, yet forgetting to look when it's time to start walking. It can even be a little frustrating when I hit a good pace and stride and I have to stop! So mos def a good sign!

First run of Week 2 is tomorrow right away, good stuff!