Day 15 | November 2, 2009: Stretch and Strengthen

Same routine as last week, plus the ab moves, minus the 90 Degree Chest (I think the machine was broken or something).

So, when are these darn arm curls going to get easier? I am using a machine like this… which makes doing arm curls look easy, when they are really NOT. I wonder if I have the seat too low. I guess I’ll keep trying. What strength move do you find to be struggling?

I totally wish we had weight equipment like this at home. Doing strength training makes me feel so worn out and calm… I bet I would sleep well after doing it in the evening! (“It” being strength training!)

Day 16 | November 3, 2009: 3.5 m run

Ha. The temperature was about 37°F but I was being a total baby about the cold and got all decked out in my Under Armour and hat and gloves! I love running when it’s cold like this. I felt like Steven and I were going super fast, but alas, our splits say “No. You weren’t.” I do like that I am not constantly looking at the watch when I am running in the dark.

A super bright shirt and a reflective belt for safety!

Distance: 3.51 | Time: 36:58 | 1: 10:41 | 2: 10:40 | 3: 10:29 | 4: 5:06

Day 17 | November 4, 2009: 2 m run or cross

We made this a functional walk – we somehow managed to get exactly 2 miles in between our home and our neighbors – where we were picking up some pizza kits we ordered from their daughter. Steven asked if walking counts as cross-training. Well, Hal Higdon says it does! Ha ha. I hope it does. I feel like it works my calves more than running. And it makes me sweaty so… it counts, right?

Distance: 2.00 | Time: 29:36 | 1: 14:46 | 2: 14:49

Day 18 | November 5, 2009: 3.5 m run + strength

Early morning strength training at 6:30 am (that means I got up at 4:30, people!). I did Monday’s routine, plus the 90 Degree Chest, which was fixed. Damn, I hate getting up that early, but LOVE having the gym mostly to myself.

I convinced Steven (it wasn’t that hard) that we should do our run on Friday in the daylight, at a park. I won’t be surprised if I put off every other Thursday run to my Friday off!

Day 19 | November 6, 2009: Rest 3.5 m run

We “ran” at the Rollins Savanna Forest Preserve. It was nice and sunny and warm (about 53°+F) but DAMN was it windy. The last 2.5 miles were straight into the wind. I felt like I was running through water. Or wading, actually. Bleh. We got to see a lot of beaver dens at the end. That was fun.

Matchy McMatchersons!

Distance: 3.50 | Time: 38:00 | 1: 10:19 | 2: 10:38 | 3: 11:22 | 4: 5:40

Day 20 | November 7, 2009: 40 min cross

Steven and I celebrated the 70°F  (!!!) November weather by taking our bikes to the Singing Hills Forest Preserve to explore a bit of the Millennium Trail.  The Millennium trail will eventually connect 35 miles of trails (with forest preserves as hubs) in the county I live in. Only certain parts of it are completed right now – 11 of those completed miles are very near our home, but we had never visited! I wanted to run on the trail this summer, but there are not many toilets on the path. Ha ha!

We had a fun ride. We actually really enjoyed the scenery, and are sad it will be winter soon and we won’t be able to ride much on this trail. I noticed that our mile splits were lower than an elite runner, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t getting a workout! Plus, we spent about two hours painting when we got home. That counts for something, right?

My brother-in-law gave me a gift card for my birthday and I used it to buy a bike helmet in August! I didn’t have one!

The start of the trail at Singing Hills – can you tell it was getting dark when we got there? We both wished we could have started earlier! We wanted to keep going!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a home right off the trail? Easy access AND fun people watching!

Bike Time: 44:00 | Distance: 7.39 miles

Day 21 | November 8, 2009: 5 m run

Sad Face McMatchersons. Have you noticed I like for us to match? I don’t think Steven likes it, but he puts up with it! Another runner started a conversation with us by asking about the shirts. See – good conversation starter!

I don’t know what to say about this run. I actually had high hopes for it, since we had a nice temperature (low 70s) and since I was feeling pretty crappy all day. I figured the run would make me feel better.

But, it didn’t. We started off well, and I felt like I had to go to the bathroom about 1.4 miles in. When I finally got to a toilet at 3.4, the phantom poo went away, and I was very upset, because I have been feeling constipated for… well, too long (I went when I got home).

Steven took off ahead of me at the last mile, and then I felt even crappier for being slow. I am going to blame it on the weather, and my sour mood. At least my shin felt good!

(And I have a suspicion I should be running all of my “longer” runs at the pace of my last mile. Ha. 5 miles used to be a SHORT run!)

Here are two pictures of the beaver dens (is that what they’re called?) we saw on Friday (we ran at the same place on Sunday). I thought it was neat to see them all together!

Distance: 5.00 | Time: 55:16 | 1: 10:32 | 2: 10:53 | 3: 10:50 | 4: 11:11 | 5: 11:46

Week Summary: 14.00 miles

I enjoyed our workouts this week, except for the last one, because painting, website issues, and a work report left me in a bad mood. I have a feeling that the workouts will be even more fun when I am carrying LESS weight around. I’ve lost 9 pounds in the last three weeks so let’s HOPE I keep that up!

Welcome to week 9 of marathon training! If you click on the activity link after the dates, it will take you to the Garmin connect website for full stats.

Day 57 | Monday, August 10: Rest

I spent Monday pondering whether I wanted to move down to Novice 1 Training or Novice 2 Training. I eventually choose Novice 2, because it had shorter mid-week runs, but in the meantime, I am NOT going to run pace runs until my leg feels better.

Funny side note – a woman saw my print-out of the two programs when she was walking by me to get off the train and said, “Oh! I’ve done those programs a few times!” I should have asked which she recommended!

Day 58 | Tuesday, August 11: Cross-Train

I went to the office gym during lunch and used the elliptical. I kind of worked up a sweat, but didn’t feel like I got much out of it. It just seems so… easy. Of course, I couldn’t pedal (?) backwards because that hurt my shin.

Elliptical Time: 30 mins | Distance: 2.59 miles

Day 59 | Wednesday, August 12: Run 4 miles Rest

I decided to give my shin one more day of rest, which eventually turned into two. I’ve had some pain in my left heal (which started last week, and feels like plantar fasciitis), and it was bothering me on Wednesday. Body, why do you fight me so?

Day 60 | Thursday, August 13: Run 7 miles Rest

While waiting to get off the train, a stranger (who rides the same train to the same stop with me every night) asked how my leg was doing – he noticed my limp last week. He said, “First your arm, now your leg!” I told him my story, and it turns out he is a runner as well. He has run the Chicago Marathon, and ran track in college. He said he has to run shorter distances now, since he has kids, but is signed up for the same 5K I am doing on 9/13. I have a feeling this guy is fast. He also gave me some tips on how to stretch out my shin.

I probably could have run on Thursday, but I got a headache, then I got cranky and… I also felt afraid of what would happen during my run. I was afraid it would hurt a lot and I would have to take more time off, and not be able to run the 5K on Saturday. I guess I wanted to spend one more night in ignorance.

Day 61 | Friday, August 14: Rest Run 4 miles

I decided to try a “new to me” forest preserve – the Rollins Savanna – for my first attempted run. It has a 5.5 mile crushed granite loop on a mostly flat trail. I figured the crushed granite would be better for my crappy shin.

Steven came with me, and walked with me during my warm-up walk, then worked on his computer while I ran.

This was my first run with my new shoes, and I am making SURE to keep track of the mileage I put on them! My left shin and foot felt okay while I was running. There was no sharp pain, but running didn’t feel as easy as it usually does for me – as you can probably tell from my splits! It was really stinking hot on this trail. There was hardly any shade, and I was running around 9:30 am, with no clouds. I felt pretty blah the whole time. But, I liked the new trail and will probably go back.

This run made me realize that I am going to have to add a big chunk of time onto my race pace, and probably all of my training runs, until the weather gets cooler/I heal 100%/I lose 20 pounds.

Look mom, a REAL butterfly, NOT a made-up one!

I iced my shin for 30 minutes or so when I got home, and did a little prayer to the shin gods that it would feel great for Saturday’s 5K!

Distance: 4.00 | Time: 41:10 | 1: 9:43 | 2: 10:18 | 3: 10:22 | 4: 10:45

Day 62 | Saturday, August 15: Run 11 miles Rally for Autism 5K

This 5K totally kicked my butt. BUT, I still had fun, because I got to run it with Erin!

The race started at 9:00. (Side Note: Why would have you a race start at 9:00, in August? Wouldn’t you want it to start earlier, so the racers don’t fry in the sun? You would think… but hey, I picked this race, so I should have known what we were getting in to!) We did a little warm-up jog about 15 minutes before the race started. It felt pretty good, but I was already glistening in sweat when we got back to the start-line. Since it was so hot, and the course was completely open to the sun, we decided to aim for our first mile at 8:40. And hey – we pretty much did that!

But the heat caught up to us. It must have been about 85°, and it was intense. I felt pretty crappy, and I think Erin must have too. We decided to slow it down, but that wasn’t really enough, so we stopped and sped-walked once before the second mile, and twice after that! I am happy we slowed down, because I was struggling with the heat.

We finished with a decent time – 28:20, and placed 7th and 8th in our age group*, out of 41 – but it definitely wasn’t the race we thought it was going to be! We will have to save our 26:00 5K for sometime when it’s not so hot. And we’ll have to do it somewhere close to where Erin lives, since she was a trooper to drive all the way out to this race which was closer to my house.

Erin found that extra enthusiasm at the finish! Gotta love her!

Right after the finish line, they had people spraying down the runners with water. We both went for that… then immediately looked for some shade! I iced my leg for a bit, and we hung around for the awards (which were kind of pointless to listen to, because they weren’t giving the times – some sort of computer issue/human incompetency).

Some post-race shade.

We went out to brunch afterward with our cheerleaders/photographers/husbands. It was fun to chat with Erin and her husband, Jason! I hope the four of us can get together again soon!

Distance: 3.10 | Time: 28:41 | 1: 8:23 | 2: 9:11 | 3: 10:06 | 4: 00:59
* If I would have run this race two weeks ago, when I was 24, I would have placed first in that age group! Ha ha.

Day 63 | Sunday, August 16: Cross-Train Umm…

My plan was to run 11 miles. Then after arguing discussing it with Steven, he convinced me to run 3-4, see how I felt, then decide whether or not to keep going. So, I got to the park, started walking and… my shin hurt so much while walking that I decided running shouldn’t even be in the picture. Major FAIL. I just got in my car and drove back home. And iced my shin when I got home, of course.

Week Summary: 8 Miles

Originally, I thought it was no big deal that I had to take off about 2 weeks for my shin to heal, because I am only now halfway through this 18-week training program, and figured the remaining 9 weeks would be smooth sailing.

I don’t think so. I don’t think my body wants me to be a runner right now.

I am not sure if there is a logistical, safe way for me to catch up with any training program since I am running so infrequently right now. I am seriously doubtful that I will be able to run this marathon in October, but I am going to see what my body will let me do.