Workout: 20:00 cross + strength
Weight: 124.6
Did not feel like doing either of these things this morning, but got up and did it anyway. I'm in a taper kind of mindset in terms of everything:) I just want to take the week off, I think. The workout was fine. I actually increased some of my weights in anticipation of being done with this training program.
Yesterday I had 4.5 miles on the schedule and went out and could not complete one mile due to ulcer pain. I had been taking prilosec everyday and was feeling much better. I missed a day or two and didn't feel any different, so I stopped altogether about 1 1/2 weeks ago. Must not have been a good idea. I tried to run through it, but I couldn't. It is a pain that I can't mental my way through... ankle pain I can tough it out, this is different pain and I had to stop. I was too far from home, though, to turn around so I altered my planned route and walked most of the way home. I was able to run the last 1/8 of a mile and felt better about that. I ended up doing 2.5 miles at a 12:22 pace. I wasn't happy about it, but couldn't change it.
This morning I could still feel the pain a bit, but right now I'm feeling better. I'm going to take 2/day this week hoping to calm everything down by the race. Tomorrow I have 2 miles on the schedule so hopefully I'll be able to run them.
One really great thing about the taper is that Cornbread and I can both run in the morning because the run is so much shorter. He ran first yesterday and then I went out when he got home. Scheduling our runs has been kind of troublesome at times throughout the training... its one thing when you have only one person training, its another when two people are trying to figure out how to work things out. However, with both of us training, it has been much easier to be understanding toward one another when we have to figure out a way to get a training run worked into our families schedule. Knowing that I ran 6 miles in a day and Cornbread has to work it in somewhere, too, makes it much easier for me to be understanding if he needs to do it during non-work hours. We didn't run into issues often - during the week I mostly ran in the morning and he ran during the day at the gym. Our biggest issues were the long runs on Saturdays and figuring those out. He has worked every Saturday since we got back from Colorado which ties up 4-5 hours during the morning and early afternoon. We leave for church at 3:30, so it left a small window open for either of us to run - one of us had to get up early to run and the other would have to leave immediately after he got home in the afternoon in order to be back in time for church. There were a couple of Saturdays that he went to church with the girls while I finished showering and getting ready and I would drive separately and meet him there. It certainly was not ideal, but we worked it out. And having us both training meant that we prioritized everything around our Saturday long runs... if only one of us was training it would have been harder to give something up on Friday in order to get to bed on time, or to not be upset if yard work didn't get done on Saturday because one of us had to run. I think it was all around a good thing that we were training on the same schedule... we also encouraged each other a lot throughout because we each did the same run each day. Ultimately, I just love it that we're both interested in the same things... we may not start out interested in the same things, but because we love eachother and love spending time together we support eachother in our respective interests and ultimately are won over, too.
I'm currently contemplating a training plan for the race in the fall. Trying to figure out how many weeks I want to train and what exactly I want to do. I want to increase my weekly mileage for sure. I want to include some speedwork, too. Not sure if I want to run 5 days or 4 days or what. Have to peruse the training plans and get an idea. Before the training starts, though, I'd like to focus a little more on strength training and core conditioning. Back and arms are important to form and I want to hit them pretty hard. I've also skipped every form of ab/core training for the last 4 months, so I should probably add some of that back in. Maybe I'll do a 12 week program and before that starts I can really concentrate on building a base of muscles - which would mean a higher protein diet, which I hate. So I have to really think about it and figure out what I want to do and what I want to accomplish in the next race. First, I should probably get through this one :)
Showing posts with label mental. Show all posts
Showing posts with label mental. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Workout: 5 1/2 miles
Weight: 125.2
Had a very difficult run at the gym today. I have felt great all weekend with no unusual pains or abdominal/GI issues from my run on Saturday. I haven't been feeling nauseous at all, however, I have been feeling like I'm (warning: TMI) burping a lot and burping up my food a lot. So I don't know what that is about.
Anyway, ran at the gym this morning and it was horrible. I had to take several breaks off of the treadmill because I felt like I was going to burp up my water. My heart rate was higher than it was prior to Colorado - 174-180 throughout. I was sweating an unusual amount as well. I am normally a very sweaty exerciser - sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one in the gym who is sweating - but today was unusual. I was sweating at 3 miles the way I was sweating at the end of my 9 mile treadmill run a few weeks ago. I got finished and I could have wrung out my shirt AND my shorts. Sweat was dripping off of my elbows. I know I'm a sweat-er, but at this short of a distance, I feel like that was excessive - especially since I didn't sweat that much at 5 miles before leaving on vacation.
So I don't know if I'm still fighting off a virus, if I've got a bit more going on than a virus (acid reflux possibly?) or if taking the better part of 3 weeks off of running has made this big of a difference. I feel like I'm starting from square one right now - fighting my way through every quarter of a mile to stay with it. I'm incredibly frustrated right now - I just want to feel good and to stop struggling through this.
Weight: 125.2
Had a very difficult run at the gym today. I have felt great all weekend with no unusual pains or abdominal/GI issues from my run on Saturday. I haven't been feeling nauseous at all, however, I have been feeling like I'm (warning: TMI) burping a lot and burping up my food a lot. So I don't know what that is about.
Anyway, ran at the gym this morning and it was horrible. I had to take several breaks off of the treadmill because I felt like I was going to burp up my water. My heart rate was higher than it was prior to Colorado - 174-180 throughout. I was sweating an unusual amount as well. I am normally a very sweaty exerciser - sometimes I wonder if I'm the only one in the gym who is sweating - but today was unusual. I was sweating at 3 miles the way I was sweating at the end of my 9 mile treadmill run a few weeks ago. I got finished and I could have wrung out my shirt AND my shorts. Sweat was dripping off of my elbows. I know I'm a sweat-er, but at this short of a distance, I feel like that was excessive - especially since I didn't sweat that much at 5 miles before leaving on vacation.
So I don't know if I'm still fighting off a virus, if I've got a bit more going on than a virus (acid reflux possibly?) or if taking the better part of 3 weeks off of running has made this big of a difference. I feel like I'm starting from square one right now - fighting my way through every quarter of a mile to stay with it. I'm incredibly frustrated right now - I just want to feel good and to stop struggling through this.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Workout: Long Run - 9 miles on schedule, actual: 9 1/2
Weight: 126.4
Aahhg - my weight is fluctuating like mad. On thursday I weighed 122.0. Friday - 125.2, today - 126.4. Whatever. I'm so used to the fluctuations that it doesn't bother me anymore. There is simply no way that I can gain that much in such a short time without it being water retention.
Ran outside today. Figured I'd be running in the rain, but it cleared up before I left. It was the hardest, worst run I have ever done. The wind was gusting 20-30 mph to the East my whole way home... and much of the way home was hills. I felt incredibly beat up - physically and mentally - by the end. There were times when I didn't know if I was actually moving forward because I was being blown back so hard. And the times that I was running N or S I felt like I was being pushed over. It was ridiculously hard and by the time I got past Alison (a street), any time I ran West I just gave up and walked. Even walking was difficult against the wind.
Cornbread said it was windy when he ran this morning, too. His winds were blowing N / S, so he did a mainly E/W route. I had no idea it was windy when I went out - the wind direction changed with the rain so they were blowing to the East. My route is also mainly E / W - East on the way out and West on the way back. I told him that either they weren't blowing as hard or his additional 10 inches in height and 65 lbs helped him. This was the first time I have questioned whether or not I could do this race.
I feel good now, though.
Pain difference today vs. previous long runs: My calves hurt in a different way than they did before skiing. They started hurthing like this in CO. My left calf was hurting a lot while I was running. In addition, my left top of my foot was hurting terribly, too. When I went to the podiatrist in December for my tendonitis in that ankle, he also noted that the bone on top of my foot, where the foot meets the shin/ankle (best way I can describe it... I'm talking about the top of the foot bone) has chipped off and is hanging out there. He asked if it bothered me and at the time it did from time to time, but nothing to bad. It hurt really badly today while I was running. So thats great.
I ate some caffeine jelly beans around mile 7. Not sure if they helped or not because I was running against the wind. I'm sure they did. I would like to try some other stuff - I feel like those would be pretty cumbersome to eat WHILE running (I ate them while I was walking against the wind). There were about 20 in the package, which ended up taking too long to eat. Perhaps I need to try some Gu. I will go on a mission this week to find something.
Did not take my water bottle/fanny pack because Cornbread said the drinking fountain at the park at wolf/151st was working. I assumed the fountain at Kingston Hills would also be working, but apparently Homer Glen hasn't turned theirs on yet. So I only got a drink halfway through. Not a great situation either.
Feeling good so far tonight. Hoping that my quads and calves are killing me tomorrow. Definitely ready for Easter Brunch!
Weight: 126.4
Aahhg - my weight is fluctuating like mad. On thursday I weighed 122.0. Friday - 125.2, today - 126.4. Whatever. I'm so used to the fluctuations that it doesn't bother me anymore. There is simply no way that I can gain that much in such a short time without it being water retention.
Ran outside today. Figured I'd be running in the rain, but it cleared up before I left. It was the hardest, worst run I have ever done. The wind was gusting 20-30 mph to the East my whole way home... and much of the way home was hills. I felt incredibly beat up - physically and mentally - by the end. There were times when I didn't know if I was actually moving forward because I was being blown back so hard. And the times that I was running N or S I felt like I was being pushed over. It was ridiculously hard and by the time I got past Alison (a street), any time I ran West I just gave up and walked. Even walking was difficult against the wind.
Cornbread said it was windy when he ran this morning, too. His winds were blowing N / S, so he did a mainly E/W route. I had no idea it was windy when I went out - the wind direction changed with the rain so they were blowing to the East. My route is also mainly E / W - East on the way out and West on the way back. I told him that either they weren't blowing as hard or his additional 10 inches in height and 65 lbs helped him. This was the first time I have questioned whether or not I could do this race.
I feel good now, though.
Pain difference today vs. previous long runs: My calves hurt in a different way than they did before skiing. They started hurthing like this in CO. My left calf was hurting a lot while I was running. In addition, my left top of my foot was hurting terribly, too. When I went to the podiatrist in December for my tendonitis in that ankle, he also noted that the bone on top of my foot, where the foot meets the shin/ankle (best way I can describe it... I'm talking about the top of the foot bone) has chipped off and is hanging out there. He asked if it bothered me and at the time it did from time to time, but nothing to bad. It hurt really badly today while I was running. So thats great.
I ate some caffeine jelly beans around mile 7. Not sure if they helped or not because I was running against the wind. I'm sure they did. I would like to try some other stuff - I feel like those would be pretty cumbersome to eat WHILE running (I ate them while I was walking against the wind). There were about 20 in the package, which ended up taking too long to eat. Perhaps I need to try some Gu. I will go on a mission this week to find something.
Did not take my water bottle/fanny pack because Cornbread said the drinking fountain at the park at wolf/151st was working. I assumed the fountain at Kingston Hills would also be working, but apparently Homer Glen hasn't turned theirs on yet. So I only got a drink halfway through. Not a great situation either.
Feeling good so far tonight. Hoping that my quads and calves are killing me tomorrow. Definitely ready for Easter Brunch!
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Saturday February 20, 2010
Weight: 123.2
Workout: Long run - 6 miles
Run was fantastic this morning. Fantastic! I ran the entire 6 miles at 6.0 and no breaks (with the exception of a short step-off to turn the fan on in the middle of the 5th song). The first 4-4.5 miles were extremely comfortable and after that I really had to mentally push myself to stay on and not take a short break.
I put together a playlist of perfect songs that was 60:22 - I wanted as close to an hour of songs as possible. I put them in a particular order and paid close attention to what the final two songs were so I'd know when I was close to the end. That ended up being a great motivator - I knew I only had 3 more songs, then 2 more songs, and finally 1 more song and less than 1/2 mile to go. Worked really well.
The order of the songs got slightly skewed from my original list so the first 3 songs were pretty difficult to run to (I find that What About Now by Daughtry is my absolute number 1 choice for first song and it ended up being song #4). After that, though, I got into a really good rhythm - song choice is so important for my running.
Toward the end I was figuring I had only 4 more songs that I hadn't heard... I was struggling a bit and felt like I was laboring. Knowing that I had only 4 songs left - the long songs though - kept me going through the song I was on. Then that song ended... I'm thinking, okay 4 more songs. And a different song came on than I had counted. UGH - crap, FIVE more songs, not 4. That was a bit of a mental challenge, too, but I worked through it.
My confidence is high - my mental game is good. I was scared that when I came back after my 4 month break that I would suck and have a difficult time getting at least the mental game back. I think the fact that I ran so many miles last spring and summer has really helped my mental confidence this time. I KNOW I CAN do it, I just have to train to the point of being able to do it again. I've done it already, I can do it again.
Its one thing to get my body back into physical shape - I didn't lose a ton of fitness/endurance/stamina, but I did lose some - but its an entirely different thing - for me - to get my mental fitness back in line. The mental game has always been my struggle with running - always. Now I know - I CAN push through it.
Tonight Cornbread and I are going out for a nice italian dinner and staying at a nearby bed and breakfast. It will prove to be a higher calorie day and I'm certain that my tapeworm will be back by dinner time so it will be an even higher calorie day. Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it - and the $50 bottle of wine that our friend gave us for the night:) And breakfast tomorrow. Ahhhh - working hard has its rewards sometimes... no guilt for a weekend like this!
Workout: Long run - 6 miles
Run was fantastic this morning. Fantastic! I ran the entire 6 miles at 6.0 and no breaks (with the exception of a short step-off to turn the fan on in the middle of the 5th song). The first 4-4.5 miles were extremely comfortable and after that I really had to mentally push myself to stay on and not take a short break.
I put together a playlist of perfect songs that was 60:22 - I wanted as close to an hour of songs as possible. I put them in a particular order and paid close attention to what the final two songs were so I'd know when I was close to the end. That ended up being a great motivator - I knew I only had 3 more songs, then 2 more songs, and finally 1 more song and less than 1/2 mile to go. Worked really well.
The order of the songs got slightly skewed from my original list so the first 3 songs were pretty difficult to run to (I find that What About Now by Daughtry is my absolute number 1 choice for first song and it ended up being song #4). After that, though, I got into a really good rhythm - song choice is so important for my running.
Toward the end I was figuring I had only 4 more songs that I hadn't heard... I was struggling a bit and felt like I was laboring. Knowing that I had only 4 songs left - the long songs though - kept me going through the song I was on. Then that song ended... I'm thinking, okay 4 more songs. And a different song came on than I had counted. UGH - crap, FIVE more songs, not 4. That was a bit of a mental challenge, too, but I worked through it.
My confidence is high - my mental game is good. I was scared that when I came back after my 4 month break that I would suck and have a difficult time getting at least the mental game back. I think the fact that I ran so many miles last spring and summer has really helped my mental confidence this time. I KNOW I CAN do it, I just have to train to the point of being able to do it again. I've done it already, I can do it again.
Its one thing to get my body back into physical shape - I didn't lose a ton of fitness/endurance/stamina, but I did lose some - but its an entirely different thing - for me - to get my mental fitness back in line. The mental game has always been my struggle with running - always. Now I know - I CAN push through it.
Tonight Cornbread and I are going out for a nice italian dinner and staying at a nearby bed and breakfast. It will prove to be a higher calorie day and I'm certain that my tapeworm will be back by dinner time so it will be an even higher calorie day. Oh well. I'm going to enjoy it - and the $50 bottle of wine that our friend gave us for the night:) And breakfast tomorrow. Ahhhh - working hard has its rewards sometimes... no guilt for a weekend like this!
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