Finishing up my first 10k.

August 11, 2010

Haven't blogged in awhile, so I need to get this a little more up to date real quick. Let's see. We're now in our 9th (of 12) week of training! Wow, this is going fast. Our longest run yet was 8 miles this past Sunday. That was a tough run. We picked a trail we weren't familiar with, and it was much more difficult than the even rail trails we've gotten ourselves used to. This one was near Crater Lake, up in the mountains. The plan was to swim afterward, so we chose a trail close by to save time. Well..talk about rough. We ended up turning back around because it got to the point where we couldn't run, just kinda marched through these rocky areas along the mountainside, quite ridiculous really. Actually, it was ok..until my Nike+ decided to give out just past our half way point. The iPod and Nike+, I've discovered and confirmed by reading others' cries for help, does not do well with perspiration. Go figure. So it stops recognizing the receiver somewhere around 4 miles, and we just had to estimate the rest of the way. We decided to run another 40 minutes. Typically, we tend to run a 10 minute mile (together, that is. Tom's much faster on his own.) We're pretty sure we cheated ourselves, though, because with the hills and a little walking, it's doubtful we did an additional 4 full miles. Oh well. It was definitely an intense workout.
So that was Sunday. On to today. Wednesday. By the way, we took Monday as our rest day this week instead of Friday. It was a very enjoyable day! Tom picked out his *free* pair of running shoes at the runner's store (umm, forgetting the name here). He won the shoes at our last 5k, because the first place winner for his age group never came up and he was second. So he got a $100 pair of New Balance trail shoes free! Nice : ) Of course, you have to dodge all the sales pitches. Tom did all the fancy shmansy "shoe dog" measurements, ran on the treadmill and was videotaped. They even made him personalized insoles. (Come to find out-at the register-those insoles were going to cost $80! Sorry, no thanks.) Overall, the store was a nice experience. We like those places. You just feel like you have to remind the sales people, "Hey, one of the big reasons we run is because its an inexpensive way to stay in shape!" There are a lot of unnecessary extras out there.

Anyway, didn't I say back to Wednesday? Yes. This morning I ran by myself for the first time in a few weeks. I also ran on the roads for the first time in quite awhile (since this was a lone run). I wasn't sure how it was gonna go, but today was a beautiful morning. I decided to just go down run road 2.5 miles and turn back around, instead of weaving in and out of roads. This took a little bravery because I hadn't been more than a mile down this road before and wasn't really sure what to expect. I decided, "Ok, whatever it is, I'm gonna run it. That's that. 2.5 then turn around and run back." I found myself going down a lot of hills, thinking maybe I had made a bad choice. But then I found myself talking to those hills. "I'm gonna beat you on the way back. Don't worry, you're not gonna get me." Haha..yeah. The steepest hill was just about at the half way point. I made it almost up the hill, then I hear my iPod "Half way point." So I turned around. Then I started getting back to all those hills I had just run down. I started talking to them again. "You're not as bad as you look. I can do this." I knocked down every single one! This is huge for me. Yes, I did slow down quite a bit, but for me not to avoid the hills and to face them head on was a really big deal. It's really all a mental game. You have to picture yourself having finished that hill and tell yourself, "No, you were never really going to start walking. It was built into you to finish running it from the start." When you're thinking this, it makes it kinda like a give-in that you will just run the hill. I don't know if that makes sense.. but it worked for me. For every up hill, there is a down hill that you are going to enjoy so much more if you endured the run up.

Week 3, Day 5

Training is still going well. We mixed up a few days this week, but it worked out fine. That's just part of it- knowing where you're at. Sometimes you're too sore after one days workout to do a longer run, so its better to just go for the 2 mile cross train. Learning to listen to your body is better than forcing yourself to adapt strictly to a training plan. Of course, we are being diligent with the overall plan, but part of that is just being flexible throughout the week, without really compromising. So far, so good.

Something I'm also learning is that I can get bored too easily. When I know I have a set amount of miles to run, I can't just go half way and turn and run back. I have to trick myself. Run, just run till I feel like turning around, so that I don't know where exactly the mileage is going to end. (Nike+ lets me know how far I've gone along the way.) Otherwise, when I know I'm half way, its harder to finish and the run becomes less enjoyable. I want it to be an adventure. So what if the cool down walk home is a little longer.

This also leads to needing to find new places to run. Or at least starting in different places. This evening we were going to run on the trail along the creek in Branchville. It was just after 8:30, though and during our warm up walk, we were on the lookout for bears. Not even 5 minutes into it, we saw one just across the creek from where we were and turned around quickly and did our run through town instead. Oh well. Unfortunately, the sighting will make us both a little more paranoid about running at night, even through Branchville. I really enjoy all this nature, but yeah, don't really need to get attacked by a bear, even though that's fairly uncommon.

So we ended up running past the school, the graveyard, the abandoned psychiatric home, some old abandoned farm and an eerie looking pond. I told Tom I think this place is a hundred years away from being a real ghost town. Pretty creepy. Made for a great run though.

One of these days I'm going to make this blog look nice.  Just some quick thoughts before going to bed..

We ran on a trail today. Actually, Fridays are supposed to be the 'rest' day during this training, but for two weeks in a row we've swapped Thursdays and Fridays. So today was just a 3 mile run + strength back at home.  So yeah, the trail. That was fun. Saw lots of deer and bunnies. Something weird and annoying happens to me though. This particular trail is mostly a narrow path but there are a few sections where it kind of opens up. Well, I find that, in those areas that are more open, my pace immediately slows down. Some kind of psychological effect I guess? There is no incline.. maybe it's the extra sunlight? I don't know, but when I feel closed in, I run faster and its a positive thing. My night runs are always faster too. Go figure. I have to break out of this though. The last quarter mile of our run was back on the road, and once again..my pace totally drops and I feel a lack of energy.  I don't like to end a run that way. Anyway, running on the trail was really fun and the time went by so fast. 

 

I've really been enjoying listening to podcasts on my long drive to work.  My favorite right now is the Runner's Roundtable.  It seems like every episode there are a different group of runners and its really encouraging to hear where they're at, what their experiences are like, what they're training for, etc., etc..  really cool.

Anyways..time to go to sleep. Tomorrow is a lonnng day at work. 10am-9:30pm. The morning in the pharmacy and the evening cashiering (yay.). I'm really hoping to get a full-time pharmacy position. There's a possibility I could be a 'floating' pharmacy tech for the district which would be very cool- going to the four different stores as needed (and getting paid for mileage and travel time).  so tired.. goodnight. :)

Week Two, Day One

-Completed-

Strength First:

Lunge With Dumbbell Reach (5 lb) 3 sets of 15 on each side

Single-Leg Dead Lift (8lb)                3 sets of 15 on each side

Dumbbell Ice-Skaters (5 lb)             3 sets of 10 

(^ Those are tricky, but I'm getting the hang of it- takes a lot of coordination.)

Reach Squat (8lb)                               15 reps on each side

Bench Press with Crunch (8lb)         3 sets of 10

Push Ups (Yes, the girly ones)          3 sets of 10

Some extra weight lifting with a 15lb

Stretch:

Yoga/Pilates Stretch Bands-

Warm-Up

Shoulder Warm-Up

Side Bends

Rowing

Abs & Arms

Hamstring Stretch

Abdominal Activator

Leg Press

Arm Pulse

Short Spine

Some other random stretches

So that's it for today. I didn't really time myself, but I guess it was about an hour.  Feel good. Kinda stinky. I hope I'm not in as much pain tomorrow as I was last Tuesday morning. We'll see. Oh and these strength exercises are pulled out of a bunch of magazine articles I've collected over the last couple years.  The stretches come with the stretch band manual book. The bands are kind of fun, but your hands really smell like rubber after using them.

Week #2 (6/21-6/27)

So this is what next week will look like.  It's exactly the same as Week #1.

Monday: Stretch & Strengthen 

Last week I was sore from this all the way to Friday..

Tuesday: 3 mile run

Last week we did this on a high school track and I was surprised how easy that was.  The mosquitoes were horrendous though.

Wednesday: 2 mile run or cross training

Most likely we will just run.

Thursday: 3 mile run + strength

Friday: REST!! 

(Last week we swapped Thursday and Friday due to extreme soreness left over from Monday and Tuesday.)

Saturday: 30 minutes cross train

Last week we went hiking.

Sunday: 4 mile run

Blog #1

Gonna keep this one short and simple.  I've had this blog account for a few years, but have just put off blogging anything till now. Not sure why.. I guess I haven't really seen a need to blog on MySpace, facebook, my own personal journal AND blogspot. But now I see an opportunity to help myself in accomplishing kind of a bigger challenge.

Tom and I decided to start a 12-week half-marathon training program.  This morning we completed week #1 (hurrah!!). I know it's going to get harder and harder, but we're up for it.  I feel like I need this in my life right now to make me feel like I'm accomplishing something.  Something that takes a lot of commitment and focus.  Anyways..more to come.