I was surprised at how sore I was on Monday. My hips and IT
Bands were still so tight I felt like I could barely walk. As much as I didn’t
want to do a 3 mile “easy” recovery run, I kept trying to convince myself to go
do it. I almost talked myself out of it, but decided to give it a try, hoping
that it would help me loosen up and recover. That’s the point, right? I went
out and ended up doing a mile of intervals – we started with a short walk to
warm up, and then did 2 minutes running, 1 minute walking until we got back to
the house. I’d like to say it helped, but at the end of the mile I was done. I
felt worse, if not the same as when I left the house so I decided not to push
for 2. Jerry thinks I still should have, and that it would have been more
helpful.
Tuesday was a scheduled rest day, so all I did was walk a
mile at run club with the kids. It was weird though. I felt a little antsy, all
day, like I needed to go out and run. Although I was feeling quite a bit
better, I’m glad it was a rest day, because it was pouring rain in the evening
when I would have been out running.
Wednesday it snowed all day and the sidewalks were icy so
Kyndall and I went to Kettlebell instead. Since Wednesdays are cardio nights
anyway, I wasn’t too worried about missing my run. It’s become pretty obvious
that regular kettlebell workouts improve my running, anyway.
I think I mentioned before that my work was hosting a “Biggest
Loser” contest that started in January. I decided to participate with some
hesitation because of my struggles to lose weight, but decided that since I
wasn’t out anything I would join. I haven’t participated in any of the weekly
weigh ins, so although I’ve been tracking my weight loss at home, I haven’t
been calculating the percentages so I had no idea how I was comparing to the
weekly top 10. Thursday was the final weigh in, and payouts were for the top 10
places. Surprisingly, I got 7th place with almost 17 lbs lost (some
of that was clothes/shoes), and won $25. I also went to Kettlebell with Kyndall
on Thursday, and we got our butts kicked!
I was determined not to go another whole week between long
runs without any short runs, so Friday I got out and did 3 miles with Caleb and
Lily.
Saturday was Project One, so we made plans to keep our long
run on Sunday, like the last week. When we got home from Project One, Deanna
was getting ready to go for a short run and wanted me to go with her. She’s
starting the “From Couch to 5k” program that I used to get started, and only
had a 3 minute run on the schedule, so I agreed to go. We started with a warm
up walk, and she decided that she wanted to try for a mile, with running
intervals, so we ended up doing a 3 minute walk, 3 minute run, 1 minute walk, 2
minute run, 1 minute walk, 1 minute run, 1 minute walk, 30 second run. I was
surprised at how quick we were able to get it done with all the walking and I
didn’t really feel like I put any effort into it, either.
I had 10 miles on the schedule for today, and we kept the
kids at 7 again, so they would be on schedule for their half marathon as well. Jerry
had a headache so I went out with Caleb and Lily and left him at home. We were
all tired from Project One, yesterday, so I decided we were going to do the run
at a nice, slow, easy pace. We jogged their 7 miles at a 15 minute mile (4mph)
pace. Caleb wasn’t feeling real well. Lunch wasn’t sitting right or something.
So he kept walking and then would run to catch up while I kept the 4mph pace. We
made a quick pit stop at mile 3 so Caleb could rinse off his legs at the water
fountain. He had some cuts and scratches from Project One and the sun block and
sweat was making them sting. We practiced our fueling with gel at mile 3.5, before
turning around and heading home. The gel didn’t improve Caleb’s upset stomach
but also didn’t make it worse. Lily drank more water with her gel this time,
and didn’t end up with stomach cramps. At mile 6 we passed a bathroom at the
trailhead and so we stopped to let Caleb see if going might help. It still
didn’t, but we were only a mile from home so off we went. When we got home I
had the kids make themselves a snack of apple juice and a peanut butter honey
sandwich and rest until dinner. I had another 3 miles to go, so I had another
gel and water, plus refilled my 6 oz water bottle that I hook to my run belt. I
decided to keep the pace I ran with the kids, because I was feeling so good. I
didn’t want to change up my stride or pace and end up with tight IT bands
again, especially since the 3 mile route I took had an uphill from 1.25 to 1.5
and again at 2.5 to 2.75. I felt great as I went out alone. I drank half my
water at mile 8, I stopped and stretched for a minute at the top of the hill at
mile 8.5, finished my water at mile 9 and finished strong, maintaining my pace.
Not only did I kill my 10 mile run, I barely walked any of it and even though I
went slow I still finished right on schedule with my projected finish time. I
figured 15 minute miles would have me home in 2.5 hours, and I finished at
2:32. This run is exactly what I needed mentally and physically. I was worried
going into it that it was going to be so hard. I’ve heard that the 10 mile run
is the hardest to get through for runners, and I am so glad to say that I
didn’t have any problems. I’m actually looking forward to my 11 miles next
weekend! I think making sure that I something throughout the week helped too,
so I will make sure to go to kettlebell and get in the short runs again this
week. I’m pretty convinced that was the
difference between my 9 mile and 10 mile runs last weekend and today.
Weekly totals:
16 Miles, 2 lbs gained
No comments:
Post a Comment