Some runs are good, some are miserable. And then some are pain, with no way to sugar coat it. My goal this morning was five miles. Easy peasy, right? Wrong. I had not even entered my second minute (and I always walk the first two minutes) when my left leg started hollering at me. This conversation took place over the course of a mile:
Left Leg: ow.
Brain: suck it up.
LL: Ow.
B: Running through the pain. Shut up.
LL: OW.
B: I'm not listening.
LL: OW!
B: All right. Bastard.
Only by that time my left leg was so insistent that we stop running, it was also pissy about walking, and I started to think maybe I should call my MIL to come pick me up. Alas, it would have been a bigger pain to try to give her directions to come find me than it would have been to walk home 1.2 miles. One mile is nothing.
My left leg said: OW OW OW OW OW!
Sigh.
Needless to say, this completely ruined my overall pace, as I found myself unable to run, let alone attempt to do a fast walk.
I'm really disappointed. I truly wanted to get in five miles this morning. It was kind of cool, in as much as it can be cool on a day that will reach 90 degrees, because it rained all night long, and that made for a slightly cooler morning. Stupid leg.
I've not had this particular kind of pain before, so I'm not sure what to expect with it. I've been running through my right ankle pain for months and months and months. But this left leg pain, well, I don't know what to make of it. I'll try again on Friday, I guess, to get out there.
I'm way behind on my goal of 40 miles in 4 weeks, and was hoping to make up ground this morning. Alas, I am only at 11.8 miles, and today is day 8 of that goal. So I guess I'm about on target, but I wanted to be ahead of target. Dammit.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
hot as hell
OMG, it is getting hotter and hotter and hotter, no matter how early I go running in the morning. Clearly I am not meant to be running in the summer months. I knew today would be a short run because I have places to go and people to see this morning. I'm pleased to say, despite the heat, this was a relatively easy two miles. It would have been easier if it had not been so bloody hot all ready. Gah!
I could have gone another mile in the amount of time I had, but it was really hot. I cannot do much in this kind of heat.
I could have gone another mile in the amount of time I had, but it was really hot. I cannot do much in this kind of heat.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
rough time of it
I cannot even tell you how much I did not want to run this morning. Oh, sure, my mind was in it, but my body was a less-than-willing participant. Nevertheless, I dragged my tired butt out there and forced myself to move.
I added a very little distance on to my route. I think I mentioned all ready that I'm trying to add a little at a time to see what each addition is, mileage wise. I'm a little surprised my addition only added about 1.8 onto the route. It felt more like .3! My mind was telling me it wanted to reach five miles today, but it just was not meant to be. Anyway, it's not how far or how fast I went, it's that I went at all that matters.
Now then, about the run. Walked two, ran two, and then settled into a 1:1 for the rest of the run. I was feeling flat out exhausted and it took a lot of mental work to get through the route around the lake.
It's safe to say there was absolutely nothing I enjoyed about this run. It sucked. And it was bloody hot out there, even though I started at 740a. I was pouring sweat. Gah, I hate Florida.
Go me, though, for getting out there when I flat out did not want to go. It might have actually gone better if I had eaten more than a handful of pretzels before I left, but that would have just made it later (hotter) in the day, and I would have been less inclined to get out there and pound out a few miles.
I set a goal for myself on the Nike+ site earlier this week: run 40 miles in 4 weeks. That should be a simple goal to knock out, and I imagine, if I can stay motivated, that I can bang it out in three weeks instead of four. I'm all ready at 7.3 miles, and only three days into the goal. Time will tell! I also signed up for a challenge on the Nike+ community: to run a 45' 5K by July 12th. Well, I beat that today. But in order to win the challenge, I have to beat out the other participants. I don't see that happening; this morning, I'm in 11th place in the challenge. No doubt there are only eleven challengers! Wow! Actually, there are 33 people signed up for this challenge, so far!
I added a very little distance on to my route. I think I mentioned all ready that I'm trying to add a little at a time to see what each addition is, mileage wise. I'm a little surprised my addition only added about 1.8 onto the route. It felt more like .3! My mind was telling me it wanted to reach five miles today, but it just was not meant to be. Anyway, it's not how far or how fast I went, it's that I went at all that matters.
Now then, about the run. Walked two, ran two, and then settled into a 1:1 for the rest of the run. I was feeling flat out exhausted and it took a lot of mental work to get through the route around the lake.
It's safe to say there was absolutely nothing I enjoyed about this run. It sucked. And it was bloody hot out there, even though I started at 740a. I was pouring sweat. Gah, I hate Florida.
Go me, though, for getting out there when I flat out did not want to go. It might have actually gone better if I had eaten more than a handful of pretzels before I left, but that would have just made it later (hotter) in the day, and I would have been less inclined to get out there and pound out a few miles.
I set a goal for myself on the Nike+ site earlier this week: run 40 miles in 4 weeks. That should be a simple goal to knock out, and I imagine, if I can stay motivated, that I can bang it out in three weeks instead of four. I'm all ready at 7.3 miles, and only three days into the goal. Time will tell! I also signed up for a challenge on the Nike+ community: to run a 45' 5K by July 12th. Well, I beat that today. But in order to win the challenge, I have to beat out the other participants. I don't see that happening; this morning, I'm in 11th place in the challenge. No doubt there are only eleven challengers! Wow! Actually, there are 33 people signed up for this challenge, so far!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Product Review: Clif Builder's Bars
During my marathon training, I posted some product reviews of various types of fuel over on my main blog. My reviews included Power Bar Gels and Luna Gels and Sports Beans and PowerBar Gels (two flavors). I think I also wrote about sports drinks, but I'm not going to search for those links (I like G2 or Powerade).
Anyway, I tried another product today that I love: Clif Builder's Bar, Peanut Butter flavor.
The bar appears to be small*, but actually takes several bites and several minutes to consume. It tastes almost like a candy bar. Hooray! It's chocolate covered and is granola-like consistency inside. It's delicious. Not something I'd crave if I were craving, say, a Peanut Butter Twix or something similar, but wonderful for a pre-run snack. Wash it down with a little water or G2, and you're good to go.
Good, crispy consistency. Great taste. A great bar. I highly recommend it.
*upon reviewing the Clif site, I think the bars I have are sample size, as the calorie count on the bar I consumed this morning is half of what is listed for that flavor on their site. This would make sense because I received these as samples at the expo before my marathon.
Anyway, I tried another product today that I love: Clif Builder's Bar, Peanut Butter flavor.
The bar appears to be small*, but actually takes several bites and several minutes to consume. It tastes almost like a candy bar. Hooray! It's chocolate covered and is granola-like consistency inside. It's delicious. Not something I'd crave if I were craving, say, a Peanut Butter Twix or something similar, but wonderful for a pre-run snack. Wash it down with a little water or G2, and you're good to go.
Good, crispy consistency. Great taste. A great bar. I highly recommend it.
*upon reviewing the Clif site, I think the bars I have are sample size, as the calorie count on the bar I consumed this morning is half of what is listed for that flavor on their site. This would make sense because I received these as samples at the expo before my marathon.
just a quick stress relieving run
I was very angry and upset this morning. Instead of comforting myself with food, I laced up and pounded out a couple miles. This is tremendous progress for me, because wouldn't comfort food have been so much easier and tastier? I'm proud of myself for running out my aggression instead of eating.
I was planning to run a short run anyway, but I had to take care of some financial stuff first, which took far too long (and lead to my rage), and made it too late in the day to want to go run. If you're unfamiliar with Orlando in May, it is bloody hot out there. Even at 9am. Too hot for running. But, I went out at around 850a. Because of the heat, however, I only did a short run.
Details then: walked 2, ran 3, walked 1, ran 3, and then settled into a 1:1 ratio. I kept a consistent pace, as you can see, until my cell phone rang. It was an important call, and I had stepped wrong on my left ankle, so I was happy to walk for several minutes for the phone call and ankle hiatus.
All in all, I'm pleased with today's run. In the miserable heat.
I was planning to run a short run anyway, but I had to take care of some financial stuff first, which took far too long (and lead to my rage), and made it too late in the day to want to go run. If you're unfamiliar with Orlando in May, it is bloody hot out there. Even at 9am. Too hot for running. But, I went out at around 850a. Because of the heat, however, I only did a short run.
Details then: walked 2, ran 3, walked 1, ran 3, and then settled into a 1:1 ratio. I kept a consistent pace, as you can see, until my cell phone rang. It was an important call, and I had stepped wrong on my left ankle, so I was happy to walk for several minutes for the phone call and ankle hiatus.
All in all, I'm pleased with today's run. In the miserable heat.
Monday, May 4, 2009
surprising
(Disclaimer: the graph Nike+ is showing me on their site looks nothing at all like the graph it puts over here when I grab the code. This graph is completely inconsistent. The other is very straight. I wonder which I should believe?)
I am rather shocked at how consistent this morning's run ended up being:
It certainly didn't feel that consistent. My first two minutes, of course, were walked. Then, I ran three, walked one, ran three, walked one, before settling into a run two walk one pace for two miles. Of course I was aiming for that elusive 38 minute 5K and, of course, didn't come close to it. One of these days I will surprise myself, I will! As mile 3 approached, though (and my time reflects this), I struggled to maintain even a one to one ratio. It was beastly hot already, at only 830a. Ugh, it's miserable in Florida in the summer (and it's not even summer!).
I went a slightly different route to see if it made a mileage difference, and it did. It added not quite .2 mile onto the route. I wanted to add additional mileage onto it, but am curious to see what each addition actually adds, so I'll be adding one addition per run. I need to get this loop back up to five miles, especially if I'm planning to re-join TNT in August to train for the Disney marathon again, which I am planning to do.
I may have to start researching shoes. The bottoms of my feet have been hurting. It could just be a lacing issue, though, so I'll play around with that. Also, it could just be my body complaining because it would rather go back to bed in the mornings!
I am rather shocked at how consistent this morning's run ended up being:
It certainly didn't feel that consistent. My first two minutes, of course, were walked. Then, I ran three, walked one, ran three, walked one, before settling into a run two walk one pace for two miles. Of course I was aiming for that elusive 38 minute 5K and, of course, didn't come close to it. One of these days I will surprise myself, I will! As mile 3 approached, though (and my time reflects this), I struggled to maintain even a one to one ratio. It was beastly hot already, at only 830a. Ugh, it's miserable in Florida in the summer (and it's not even summer!).
I went a slightly different route to see if it made a mileage difference, and it did. It added not quite .2 mile onto the route. I wanted to add additional mileage onto it, but am curious to see what each addition actually adds, so I'll be adding one addition per run. I need to get this loop back up to five miles, especially if I'm planning to re-join TNT in August to train for the Disney marathon again, which I am planning to do.
I may have to start researching shoes. The bottoms of my feet have been hurting. It could just be a lacing issue, though, so I'll play around with that. Also, it could just be my body complaining because it would rather go back to bed in the mornings!
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