I had been on a good roll with the side stitches, but they came back last night with a vengeance. They did start to taper off at about mile 2.5 of my 4 mile run, but they had already done the damage to my overall time. I think that my time last night on the treadmill was 4 miles in 54+ minutes, so the side stitches added probably a whole five minutes of walking to my run, which actually doesn’t sound that bad. I suppose it’s just that a lot of that first half of the run was rather painful.
I signed up to run in a spur of the moment 5K tomorrow morning, which should be fun. It’s really laid back with no timing and I’m not even sure if I get a t-shirt with my entry fee or not. We are visiting my parents this weekend and the race is in their neighborhood, so we all went ahead and signed up as a family. I am really looking forward to spending some time with them getting out and being active and may even talk my 10-year old brother into running with us. I am not however looking forward to the big 180-ft hill that I have to run up, turn around and run back down during the first mile of the race. I have big plans for this 5K though; if I can make it to the top of the hill then I have a very good chance of running the whole thing!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 23, 2010
New Running Shoes
So after two mediocre runs last week and having to run with a numb foot twice I decided to go get fitted for running shoes this past weekend. I ended up taking home a new pair of Mizuno Wave Inspires and I was excited to try them out on a longer run than just around the block.
This weekend went by quickly and I managed to make it to the gym at the last minute at 8:00 pm Sunday night. Since it was so late I decided to just do one of my shorter runs and save the long run for later (probably today or tomorrow). I was actually really happy with my run last night, which is a huge relief after a rough week last week. This was the first run that I have ever done without a side stitch and because of that I was able to run 2.25 miles without stopping!! If there hadn’t been a commercial on every single channel at the gym I might have been able to push through it and run the whole 3.1 miles. This makes me really pumped about my progress and I’m excited about tackling this upcoming 10K in two weeks.
Although thanks to the shoes it actually felt more comfortable to run, I was a little disappointed in my time. I ran a 5K in 38:05 minutes, which I suppose is still about 35 seconds faster than my official 5K time from 6 weeks ago. I guess it just felt like I was running faster than I was!! I’m still really itching to get out there on the road and run again, and with morning temps in the upper 60’s this week I might just get that opportunity.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
6 Mile Shuffle
So my 6 mile run this week wasn’t particularly graceful. It took me all of 1:19:55 and I hit the 4 mile mark about 3 minutes slower than I had been running it (4 miles took be about 53 minutes to finish this time). I had set the treadmill slower than normal, but I realized after about two miles that the belt was moving faster than it should have been. So I was working a lot harder for what I thought was a slower pace, which was probably what threw me off. I walked more than normal today and got tired quicker than I have been used to.
Things started to get really hard after I hit 4.5 miles and I probably walked a whole third of the remaining 1.5 miles. I was especially worn down after hitting the 5.25 mile mark and walked the whole next lap before finishing out strong-ish. My muscles were definitely wearing down and my knees and ankles were rebelling. My right shoe was apparently too tight because my foot was numb for a good portion of the last mile. I suppose the good news is, is that I woke up the next morning with only a little bit of stiffness and a huge appetite! I also realized that maybe I really do need shoes with better support if I’m going to continue to run for over an hour at a time. My husband got fitted for shoes last week and he is thrilled with the results!
Things started to get really hard after I hit 4.5 miles and I probably walked a whole third of the remaining 1.5 miles. I was especially worn down after hitting the 5.25 mile mark and walked the whole next lap before finishing out strong-ish. My muscles were definitely wearing down and my knees and ankles were rebelling. My right shoe was apparently too tight because my foot was numb for a good portion of the last mile. I suppose the good news is, is that I woke up the next morning with only a little bit of stiffness and a huge appetite! I also realized that maybe I really do need shoes with better support if I’m going to continue to run for over an hour at a time. My husband got fitted for shoes last week and he is thrilled with the results!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Goal 6 Miles; Actual 2.4 Miles
So this week’s long run didn’t exactly go as planned. I got up early Sunday morning to try out a local walking trail with a loop of about 1.2 miles. I was really excited to be running outside and had been looking forward to it all week. The problem that I ran into was that by the time that I really got started running it was nearly 80ºF and I just really wasn’t able to go as far as I should have. I was having trouble staying hydrated, since I wasn’t used to sweating that much on the treadmill. I really need more water while running than I realized. After two laps (2.4 miles) I stopped because I was feeling a little dizzy, and ended up just walking one more lap before heading home. I felt good about the running that I did do, and my knees felt a whole lot better than they do on the treadmill. I wasn’t too tired either; I guess I just need to work on drinking more water before and during the run.
On the bright side my pace was a lot better than on the treadmill with an average of 11:30 over the 2.4 miles. (11:00 mm on the first lap and 12:00 on the second lap, since I walked just a little bit).
I also signed up for a local 10K over Labor Day weekend that I’m really excited about. I really wanted to do another race before the half-marathon to get a better feel for running a longer distance with a crowd. This is a much bigger race than the last one that I did, so I’m hoping that there is a good turnout.
Tonight I am heading to the gym to try the long run again on the treadmill, but I’m nervous about doing 6 miles. On my last long run 4.5 miles seemed to be about my limit, so we’ll see how those last 1.5 miles go tonight.
On the bright side my pace was a lot better than on the treadmill with an average of 11:30 over the 2.4 miles. (11:00 mm on the first lap and 12:00 on the second lap, since I walked just a little bit).
I also signed up for a local 10K over Labor Day weekend that I’m really excited about. I really wanted to do another race before the half-marathon to get a better feel for running a longer distance with a crowd. This is a much bigger race than the last one that I did, so I’m hoping that there is a good turnout.
Tonight I am heading to the gym to try the long run again on the treadmill, but I’m nervous about doing 6 miles. On my last long run 4.5 miles seemed to be about my limit, so we’ll see how those last 1.5 miles go tonight.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
5 Mile Long Run
So this weekend was kind of crazy, but in a good way. I did get to the running store on Friday, but decided not to buy any shoes. I actually didn’t try any on either. The store clerk, while helpful didn’t seem knowledgeable enough so we decided to wait and check out a different running store.
Saturday we got up late, again and ran on the treadmill, again. I think that next weekend I will try to do my long run on Sunday instead, since Saturday morning just isn’t working out for me. I ran 5 miles in 1:05:52. I wish that I had something to record my mile splits, because the first four miles felt great and I was right on target speed wise, but that last one was really hard and it probably took me close to 15 minutes to finish. My legs were just getting really heavy and I was struggling to make it to 5 miles. This is probably the first time that I have run, where I felt like I had reached my limit for the day.
I spent the rest of Saturday taking advantage of my state’s tax-free shopping weekend, which did translate to a lot of walking. The walking definitely helped ease the tension and soreness that I felt after our long run, so I woke up the next morning feeling great.
Sunday my husband and I had made plans to hike Mt. Le Conte, which is one of the highest peaks in the Smoky Mountains. It was a 5.5 mile hike up to the highest point with an elevation change of 2,700 feet from the trailhead. It was an amazing feeling to be that high above everything else!! I love hiking and this was certainly some good cross-training it took us 3 hours to hike to the top of Mt. Le Conte and about 2.5 hours to hike back down to the base.
Saturday we got up late, again and ran on the treadmill, again. I think that next weekend I will try to do my long run on Sunday instead, since Saturday morning just isn’t working out for me. I ran 5 miles in 1:05:52. I wish that I had something to record my mile splits, because the first four miles felt great and I was right on target speed wise, but that last one was really hard and it probably took me close to 15 minutes to finish. My legs were just getting really heavy and I was struggling to make it to 5 miles. This is probably the first time that I have run, where I felt like I had reached my limit for the day.
I spent the rest of Saturday taking advantage of my state’s tax-free shopping weekend, which did translate to a lot of walking. The walking definitely helped ease the tension and soreness that I felt after our long run, so I woke up the next morning feeling great.
Sunday my husband and I had made plans to hike Mt. Le Conte, which is one of the highest peaks in the Smoky Mountains. It was a 5.5 mile hike up to the highest point with an elevation change of 2,700 feet from the trailhead. It was an amazing feeling to be that high above everything else!! I love hiking and this was certainly some good cross-training it took us 3 hours to hike to the top of Mt. Le Conte and about 2.5 hours to hike back down to the base.
Friday, August 6, 2010
3.1 Miles in 38:17 Minutes
I had three miles to complete last night on the treadmill, so I set out to beat my official 5K time of 38:41 to make sure that I was running hard enough. On the treadmill it is easy to stick to a slow pace and allow myself to get distracted by the TVs (although I was kind of disappointed the Food Network was not on last night) and not give it any additional effort with lack of hills and such. I suppose it is getting easier to run, at least now I know that I can run three miles even if that still includes a few walk breaks. It was nice to know that out of three walk breaks two were for side stitches and just one to catch my breath around the 2.25 mile mark because I had started to run too fast to try to make up some time.
I got a side stitch much earlier last night and pretty ran the entire first two miles with at least some sort of discomfort even after trying to walk it off twice. Finally after about 2.5 miles I started to get into it and fell into a much better pace to make up for some of that lost time spent walking.
Lately I have been debating on whether or not to add a fourth day of running into my schedule, but time just didn’t allow it this week. Maybe next week if I can run on Monday or Friday or the temperatures drop back into the low 70’s in the morning then it would be easier. It is supposed to be much cooler on Saturday morning, 71ºF so we are for sure planning on running that one outside.
Also tonight I am going to go try on some running shoes!! I think that my shoes are fairly comfortable, but I am interested to see what the differences are. So I may or may not be trying out a new pair of shoes on our 5 mile run tomorrow morning!
I got a side stitch much earlier last night and pretty ran the entire first two miles with at least some sort of discomfort even after trying to walk it off twice. Finally after about 2.5 miles I started to get into it and fell into a much better pace to make up for some of that lost time spent walking.
Lately I have been debating on whether or not to add a fourth day of running into my schedule, but time just didn’t allow it this week. Maybe next week if I can run on Monday or Friday or the temperatures drop back into the low 70’s in the morning then it would be easier. It is supposed to be much cooler on Saturday morning, 71ºF so we are for sure planning on running that one outside.
Also tonight I am going to go try on some running shoes!! I think that my shoes are fairly comfortable, but I am interested to see what the differences are. So I may or may not be trying out a new pair of shoes on our 5 mile run tomorrow morning!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
4 Miles in 51:20 Minutes
So after realizing that it was going to be 79º first thing in the morning, I decided to go ahead and get my longest run knocked out on the treadmill this week. I set the pace at 5.0mph, set the incline at 1% and set my iPhone to another episode of Glee. This was actually one of my more enjoyable runs that I’ve had so far. I only had one little side stitch about 17 minutes in and after walking for about 1 minute or two it went away and didn’t come back at all.
I ran about 1.5 miles, then walked for probably 2 minutes and the rest of run was pretty much run between .5 and .75 miles and walk for a minute or two to catch my breath and give my knees a break from the treadmill. I felt like I pushed the proper amount today and was happy with my time, I clocked 3.1 miles a little slower than my 5K time but right in the same ballpark.
The only thing that concerns me about continuing to run on the treadmill is the fact that my knees and ankles were sore yesterday after running Tuesday. They haven’t been sore like that previously, but I also ran both of my 4 mile runs on the treadmill so it’s hard to tell what the culprit is. After my scheduled 5 mile run this weekend I should be able to tell if I need new shoes or I just need to run on the pavement instead of the treadmill.
I ran about 1.5 miles, then walked for probably 2 minutes and the rest of run was pretty much run between .5 and .75 miles and walk for a minute or two to catch my breath and give my knees a break from the treadmill. I felt like I pushed the proper amount today and was happy with my time, I clocked 3.1 miles a little slower than my 5K time but right in the same ballpark.
The only thing that concerns me about continuing to run on the treadmill is the fact that my knees and ankles were sore yesterday after running Tuesday. They haven’t been sore like that previously, but I also ran both of my 4 mile runs on the treadmill so it’s hard to tell what the culprit is. After my scheduled 5 mile run this weekend I should be able to tell if I need new shoes or I just need to run on the pavement instead of the treadmill.
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