This week was another week of crappy weather and busier
schedules. I didn’t get out for any of our short runs all week. I did get to go
to kettlebell on Thursday though. That was my first class back since my injury
and it was great. My back didn’t hurt at all, and even though I had to drop my
weight a little, I didn’t backslide as much as I thought I would. We also ended up postponing our long run to
Sunday. Friday the kids ran around at the park all day, then spent the evening
at the rock climbing gym, and then Saturday, the kids had soccer games and
Caleb had a birthday party to go to at the skating rink. I decided that would
be too hard on their legs to squeeze in a long run on our already busy Saturday.
We did go on our long run today, although we didn’t go out
quite as early as I hoped. We were busy this weekend so it was tough, but I
made sure we went. The kids did 7 miles, and I did 8. Between helping the kids
figure out where to go and then looping around to finish my last two miles with
me, Jerry ended up running almost 11 miles. I’m really glad he went with me
though, because I needed the company and encouragement at the end.
I ran with Lily and although the first mile was a little
rough for her (hair in her face, dirt in her eye) the first 5 miles felt great.
We were right on pace with my typical times at mile 2, 3, 4, and 5. Mile 6
wasn’t bad except that that mile takes us across some busy intersections and we
had to wait for traffic lights. Moving time was good because we got some rests
while we waited, but elapsed time wasn’t so great. At 5.75 we got back to the
house for a quick pit stop. It was the warmest weather we’ve had in months so I
needed water. Jerry and Caleb were just getting back from finishing their 7
miles when Lily and I were ready to leave back out for her last 1.25 and my
last 3.25. Caleb was done so he stayed home but Jerry came back out with us. He
ran with Lily and pushed her to go faster for her last mile so they ended up
looping around about a quarter mile ahead of me which put us back on the same
path at the same time. Instead of splitting up and doing the quarter mile loop
while they went home I changed my course and went by the house with them on my
way to a non-residential 2 mile loop. Lily went inside with Caleb so they could
eat dinner, and Jerry decided to finish out my run with me while my sister
watched the kids. The change of course
put mile 8 on a downhill stretch which felt pretty good on my IT bands as I was
able to lengthen my stride a little easier. I was feeling pretty tight up until
then. I was getting pretty tired and kept stopping to walk, but Jerry kept
pushing me to just get it finished. I went a little past the 1 mile mark so
that I could make up the quarter mile I skipped on the last section of our
course and then turned around. I was running pretty slowly by this point and my
walk break attempts were getting more frequent. It actually hurt to walk
because my IT bands had gotten so sore and tight, but I was tired and didn’t
want to run either. I had a short dizzy spell, twice, which I did stop and walk
during and later decided it was either due to the gel I ate at mile 4 causing
me to sugar crash or because I didn’t eat enough calories throughout the day,
prior to our run. I’m going to experiment with some other gels and see if I can
find something to fuel with that won’t give me a sugar crash. Jerry was still
trying hard to encourage me to run, promising that if I did, my IT Bands would
feel better. He was right, as long as I kept a longer stride, but that wasn’t a
comfortable stride/pace for me, so it made me tired, out of breath and ready to
stop and walk again. It was a hard last mile, being torn between less pain
while running, and a less comfortable pace to keep that pain down. I mentioned
that mile 8 put us on a downhill stretch, well of course that also meant that
mile 9 was an uphill stretch and from 8.5 to 8.75, that uphill was pretty
steep. Of course, it always feels worse at the end of a run. I was so relieved
when my watch ticked over to 9.00 miles and I was done! It took me 2:15 to
finish. I dropped down in the grass to stretch my hip flexors and IT bands then
went inside to chug a ton of water and power-aid. As much as the last 2 miles sucked,
I have to admit I’m pretty proud of myself. I’m going to get through this
training program and I’m going to kick butt at my race. I can’t wait!
Weekly totals:
9 Miles, 2 lbs lost
No comments:
Post a Comment