Dumb



no, this is not me,
 just how I feel



So I hurt my back on Tuesday.  But I didn't know I hurt my back until Wednesday.  So, that awesome 4 miles run on Tuesday probably did me more harm than good.  Well, I got the ok to go back to work and so I assumed I was all healed.  Yea, NO!  Running yesterday and today was not such a great idea and I only have myself to blame.  But I am so gung-ho about this marathon I don't want my training to slow down.  We'll see if I'm up for the 3 miles run I have planned for tomorrow.  I also realize I am breaking the rules I so clearly outlined to the doc I thought wouldn't approve of this marathon idea.  Blah!  I promise if my back hurts tomorrow, I will not run.

Morning runs are hard for me.  I woke up, ate an apple and peanut butter sandwich that I made the night before and placed next to my bed.  Then I went back to sleep for an hour and then watched TV for an hour.  I also drank about 12 oz of water (probably not enough).  Then I drove to the trail.  I had to walk some of the last mile of my 5 mile run so my time was slow.  I don't know if it was the heat, my food, or that my body is just used to evening runs.  Also, I ran last night around 6pm so I had less than 24 hours to recover.  I gotta figure out this morning run stuff.  If I feel well tomorrow, my 3 miles will also be done in the morning. 

Injury

Injured at work... boooooooooooooooooooo!!!  I'm on leave until next Tuesday but hopefully I am better earlier so I can run.  I just strained muscles in my back, upper arms, and shoulders.

Good run... hard day

I had an AWESOME run today!!!  I decided to bring my running clothes to work and just go running right after work.  It was great since it is right on a trail (a trail that crosses interesections so thats not fun but still cool).  I ran 4 miles in 38 minutes!!!!!  I am proud of that.  I was so beat red though when I walked back in the school building (to wipe my face and get a drink).  It was in the 80s though so I guess thats why.  Today was a stressful day at work so it was nice to be able to just use running to de-stress.  I got a workout at work today but it was lifing and holding heavy things (can't say more but it was hard, stressful, and frustrating).   So....

NOTE TO SELF:

1. bring workout clothes to work and run right after if weather permits
2. use your stressful and tiring days to fuel a good run

Update

I want to start off with GOOD NEWS.  I see many doctors for various health issues I have.  There is one doctor I was sure would not agree to me running a marathon but guess what?!?!?!?!  He never said yes to running a marathon but he never said no.  He listened to my reasoning and the precautions I have in place and he respected it.  At the end of the appointment I told him I knew he would say no and his response was "I'm not saying no".  I think professionally/ethically he can't say yes but its good to know that he hasn't squashed my dreams.  Honestly, I wasn't going to listen to him if he said no but its good to know he isn't against it.  When I have more time, I'll list out my precautions for training and running the marathon.

So, I had to run on the treadmill Thursday night (3 miles).  I had a doctor appointment and didn't get home until 9pm.  So it was too dark to run and while I live in a well lit area, I also live on major roads.   I went to the gym instead where it was safe.  However, the run was miserable, I think it was just late and I was tired from being in the car for a total of 4 hours getting to Towson in rush hour and then coming back.  So my 3 mile run wasn't fun but I got it done.  I was also interupted by my brother calling so getting back on was hard.  Normally I ignore my phone but he was having a medical procedure on Friday (which went well) and I wanted to talk to my brother.  It was way more important than my run.

Friday was a rest day which meant I went to work and then lied in bed until I woke up Saturday morning.  Not good.

I got up Saturday morning to do my 7 mile run.  It went ok.  There is trail which goes around the city nearby.  It still has intersections but not big ones and there are a lot of people on the trail.  I've learned I should drive to the trail instead of running to it.  I ran 2 miles to the trail but hit so many red lights on  major roads.  Then I ran a nice 3 miles on the trail and then had to run back.  My long run this week is only 5 miles but the following week is 9 so I will make sure I just drive to the trail.  It was warm and sunny on the run, my face has a pinkish color from it.  I was definitely worn out from it and my legs are still sore.  It seems that when one area of my legs stops being sore, a run makes another area sore.  It didn't help that I babysat two girls overnight last night so my legs were constantly forced to go up and down stairs and from sitting to standing a lot.

Today I made it to the gym and did 45 minutes on the elliptical and 45 minutes on the bike.  It was nice because I read a lot on my kindle.  I have started The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest.  Very good series so far.  I've seen the movies so I know the basic plot but reading while exercising makes time go fast.  However, I am probably not getting as good a workout as I would if I were not reading.  O well, when I was in college, I did my best studying on the elliptical.

So, I am gaining weight since starting to train.  I won't list numbers because it might bother some of my readers but it is stressing me out.  I think I am just overeating junk.  With the money I made babysitting I went to Giant (yay for gas points) and bought a ton of good food.  I am not the most healthiest eater.  I have a nice lunch packed for tomorrow and I have a lot of food I can cook.  I usually eat out or microwave food but now I need to get my butt in gear and get my eating under control.  I am not trying to lose weight and gaining weight isn't bad for me, I just gotta make sure my eating is what it should be to run a marathon and have energy.  I see a nutritionist June 20th.  We shall see what s/he says.

My schedule this week is crazy.  I am going to try for 3 miles tomorrow, 3 on Tuesday, rest on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday, rest on Friday, 5 on Saturday, and cross on Sunday.  We shall see how that goes.

In Training

I got my "In Training - Baltimore Running Festival - 10.15.11" Under Armour shirt today!!!!

So of course, I took it out of the package, changed out of my work clothes, put the shirt on and went for my 3 mile run!  It was so awesome running with it on.  I went on an outdoor run because all the rain had stopped by the time I got home.  I chose a new route, it was nice to change things up a bit.  All the roads, trails, and side-walks are all hilly so I didn't get away from that but this run wasn't too bad.  I always run slower when I am unsure exactly where roads are. 

Ankle is doing ok.  I had no problems with it at work today which was good.  This week our community trip was bowling which was so much fun.  I love my students, they truely make me happy.

I cancelled my weekly doc appointment this week because I have another tomorrow and I just didn't think it was necessary to go.  It is so nice being home on a Wednesday night (normally I leave work right after my kids and then don't get home until 10pm).  It is 7:30 and I've run, had a nice dinner, did some work, watched TV, and am about to get into the bath and read.  I have to figure out how to make all my training weeks set up like this week.  I do have to go to my doc office tomorrow but I won't be there for hours.  All my apppointments are complicated.  I'm hoping over the summer I can work it more nicely into my schedule.  Basically, it is nice to be home and it was nice to run.

New Week

I want to start off by saying how AMAZING the orchard chicken salad sub is at Subway!  That was my dinner after my run today.  I got the $5 footlong and always intend to save the other half but never do, whoops.

My ankle has been bothering me a little.  I tried KT tape only to realize my skin doesn't like it and the red dots have finally gone away.  I wore an ankle brace all day at work and when I ran.  I will see how the ankle feels tomorrow.

The weather here in Maryland is weird at the moment.  I couldn't decide whether to run outside or go to the gym because of the chance of rain and the wind wasn't too pleasent at work.  Well, when I finally decided to go for my run I decided to use the treadmill at the gym but it was so glorious and nice outside so I ended up running outside.  I did the same 3 mile run I've been doing (tomorrow I will mix it up).  It was nice, a little windy but overall perfect.  It rained a little but it was a nice rain.  With the brace on, my ankle didn't bother me and its not bothering me now, yay!

I got my second pair of running shoes today.  I am a bit bummed, they look ugly on me.  My roommate informed me that I need to wear black socks with black shoes but the socks I like (see previous post) don't come in black.  O well, I'll save these shoes for runs outside alone.  When I go to the gym or run with a friend then I will wear the pretty pink ones. 

I'm signed up for the Rockville Twilighter in July!!!  Its an awesome race run at night through Rockville, MD.  I ran it in 2009 but couldn't last year because I was sick.  It's an 8k.






Here's me before the race in 2009



Here is me after the race in 2009

Tomorrow and Thursday I'll be running 3 miles.  Rest on Friday.  7 miles on Saturday.

Sore

So the 6+ mile hilly run yesterday has left me sort of sore.  Well, actually my only real complaint is my right calf muscle.  That makes me nervous since I'm not really sore anywhere else....

I did an hour of cross training today at the gym on the elliptical.  I probably could have gone hard but I went easy and read my kindle.  I'm reading The Girl Who Played With Fire, good series! 

Tomorrow is a day of rest which I think my right calf desperately needs.  I am a hypochondriac so I am very paranoid.  It is likely my primary care doc will see me every other week while training and she'll just tell me to rest and chill (like always).  She has to put up with me though because after being diagnosed with a rare condition and having brain surgery... she can't easily write me off.

I went to the Leesburg Outlets today!  I bought some new running shirts and new running socks.  I am very particular about my socks when running.  I know its cool to have the not showing crew socks but not for me during running.  My socks must be thin, light and come higher than my shoes.  I'm cool.  I bought two tanks with the bra already in them, and then I bought two light weight shirts.  I also bought this other shirt that was on clearance.  I am mad though because I thought it was a medium but at home I read the tag and it says small.  Smalls are extremely tight on me.  I'm definitely not fat but being 5'9'', smalls don't really work no matter my weight.  I also saw my friend who lives in Leesburg!  We had Iced Chai Tea Lattes and walked around, it was very nice.

6 mile hill filled run

Last night I finished my treadmill run around 8:30pm-ish.  And then this morning, I wake up (around 10:30am) to a text message from my friend Nicole (the one I signed up to run the marathon with), she wanted to know if I wanted to run 6 miles with her in 30 minutes.  I was actually very excited because having someone to run with does two things for me 1) it keeps me social and 2) it pushes me to run harder.  I met her at her house and we went to a nearby regional park.  I should have realized that when the name of the park contains "hills" in it, it would be hard.  I think in total we ran more than 6 miles but we don't have high tech gizmos and gadgets and I can't map out the route on map my run.  The hills were a killer and this was a realization that my marathon dreams will be hard to obtain.

Nicole was ready and trained to run the Frederick half marathon last weekend so I shouldn't really be comparing but she seemed to have no problem with the run while I was struggling.  I'm glad she was with me though.  We differ in our goals for the marathon.  She wants a good time, I want to train, have fun, and finish.  I care about time but for my first marathon it isn't too important.  I am running it as a gift to myself.  in 2010 I spent about 4 months in various hospitals for seizures, surgery to remove my pituitary tumor, and other health issues.  It was a scary and painful year for me, my friends, and family.  Now that I am healthy and have the ok to exercise, I want to run this around the one year anniversary for my brain surgery.  I think it will be cool to look back on the day of the marathon and think "this time last year I was recovering from brain surgery".  The type of surgery was hard core for surgery but not hard core for brain surgery so please don't think I am some brave person for surviving.  But for me, it was a huge deal and a life-changing (and traumatizing) experience. 

So today was good.  I am glad I have Nicole to train with.  Tomorrow will be cross training and then rest on Monday.

3 mile runs

Booooo for this site being down last night when I wanted to post.  O well...

Yesterday: I ran 3.4 miles in about 34 minutes.  10 min miles is basically my normal non-race pace.  I would like that to be faster but this is my first week really running outside that I just let my body feel comfortable and enjoyed the run.

Today: I got home after a LONG day at work and was so not in the mood to run.  So I did what I normally do, I took a nap.  It was really gross out and my motivation was lacking.  So I took a nap until 6:30ish.  Then I watched Law and Order and then somehow I decided I should just go to the gym and get 3 miles done on the treadmill.  I love the treadmill!  I'm actually in pretty good shape so 3 miles isn't hard.  I'm nervous though when my motivation is lacking on long runs.  I got myself out of bed because I knew it would just be 30ish minutes.  I love running but only when I'm in the mood to run.  Hopefully I can work through that.

Here's the results of my treadmill run.  Not fast but thats ok.  It was on a .5 incline (not big).

Thoughts: This week is going well so far.  2 outdoor runs and one treadmill run.  This weekend I'll do cross and a 6 mile run (hopefully outside but I hate gross weather).  At work we've been eating like crazy.  We had 3 catered lunches this week!  I've gained 4 pounds in the last week so I really wanted to run and go to the gym more but I'm sticking to my training plan so I build up to long runs and don't hurt myself.  I'm seeing a nutritionist in June so hopefully I can get my diet in check to run a marathon.

I'm going to the outlets this weekend to buy new running clothes!!!!!!!!  and my second pair of running shoes should be coming in the mail soon.  I've been wearing Mizuno Wave Riders for years.  I bought a pair of Wave Rider 14s 2 months ago and LOVE them!  So I ordered another pair so I can alternate shoes.

Current Shoes:

Second Pair:

Start

Welcome to my random marathon training blog!  I started this more for my own sake to keep me accountable.

I am running the Baltimore Marathon on October 15, 2011 which means I have 23 weeks to train.  Sounds like a lot but in reality it is closer than it seems.

Background:  I first fell in love with running when I ran cross country in high school.  I am 23 now so that wasn't too too long ago.  I was not fast however, my PR for 3.1 miles was 23:55.  I remember that day, I was so excited to break the 24 minute mark.  Anyways, throughout college, I mostly just stuck to the gym.  i went for myself and wasn't competeing.  My junior and senior year in school I taught a weight lifting class (nothing intense, low weights to music).  At the end of my senior year, I ventured outdoors again and started running.  After graduating, in the summer of 2009, I started running a lot.  I ran a 6k, 8k, and 20k that summer.  And then, in September 2009 I ran a half marathon in 2:05:08.  That time for the half marathon is pretty good considering I started my first teaching job 3 weeks prior and only ran once or twice in those 3 weeks.  Well, then teaching took over my life and I stopped working out.  In January 2010 I got sick and spent 2 months in and out of the hospital.  In May 2010 I had my first seizure which led to me being diagnosed with a pituitary tumor.  So, I did not run or exercise the summer of 2010.  In September 2010 I had brain surgery to remove the tumor.  It was a very successful surgery but left me out of work until November and I couldn't exercise until January 2011.  But I was so busy with work.... anyways, it was only a month and a half ago that I decided to start running again.  It was a gift to myself.

Registering for the Marathon:  It was my friend's 30th birthday and she was really sad about turning 30.  She tried convincing her friends that she was now more seceptible to new diseases and infections.  She also complained about her body.  Anyways, somehow that led into her wanting to be in shape and making it her year.  Someone then suggested we run a marathon.... to make a long story short, that night, my friend and I registered for the Baltimore Marathon.  I think it will be a cool gift to myself after making it a year after brain surgery.

The program: I have decided to train using Hal Higdon's training program.  My only problem is that his schedule does not fit my schedule.  Unfortunately I have lots of doctor appointments and a job.  So I have kind of modified it (which I know I shouldn't do).

Today:  I have mostly been running on treadmills up until today.  Today I ran 3.4 miles in 35 minutes.  Not too bad considering I haven't been outdoors in awhile.  I am happy with my time.  The hills were a killer but I did not walk at all!  I am having trouble with cramping on my left side but that isn't new.  It is just hard to work through.

Tomorrow: I have to go to Towson after work for doctor appointments so I won't be running but I might try and take a short walk between appointments.

Thoughts: I'm excited at the idea of running a marathon and I don't forsee any problems now and over the summer.  However, the start of the school year in September will be hard and thats when the workouts will be harder.  We shall see how training goes then.  I'm just going to try my hardest and if worst comes to worst, I have 7 hrs to complete the marathon.  My friend and I put our expected finish time as 4:30:06 (don't ask why we put 6 seconds).  I am hoping that I can do that. 

Anyways, I hope to continue posting.  Again, its more for my sake.