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Long run lessons

It was a good run yesterday, for the most part.

I ran the first 11 miles at close to a 9:00 pace. I honestly didn’t feel like I was pushing it much, but I guess I was. I tired to keep with my app, but I kept going too fast by the end of each split.

So, 11 miles went great. Then I came to mile 12. I lost all strength. It hit me out of left field. I suddenly had very little strength left. I ended up walking some of the 12th and 13th mile. I decided that rather than pushing myself, I would be glad I had a good run and head home.

I realized a couple things after yesterday’s run.

First, I pushed it too hard for the first 11 miles. Even though my perceived effort was low and I felt great, it was more than my system could handle. I should not have crashed as I did. Had I tried to keep my pace a little slower, I could have finished the course. As it was I ran 13 out of the 15 miles planned.

Second, I need to work on keeping my energy level up by taking some type of energy gel during my run. I read an article the other day that said, if you wait until you feel tired before you take a gel or drink gatorade, it is too late. Made sense. It said to start taking a little gel about 30 minutes into your run and then take more ever 15 minutes. Obviously you wouldn’t want to take a full gel every 15 minutes, but about a quarter of one each 15 minuted will keep your energy up throughout the race.

Last, I hurt my hip yesterday. I knew it was aching during my run, but that has happened before and not been a problem. Yesterday though, I was in quite a lot of pain about an hour after my run. It still hurts today. Since today is my off day, I am going to see how it feels after a day of rest and go from there. Based on my research, it sounds like it is my hip flexor that is inflamed. I am sure it was caused several weeks ago when I tripped on the sidewalk running. I hope it will get better on its own, but if not, I’ll see some type of doctor this week. Not good timing as I was just getting back into running well again.

So the ups and downs of my long run. The encouraging thing to me was the fact I am getting back to my Spring pace and had an overall good run. I just hope my second wind isn’t too close to the marathon that I run out of time.

Saturday, the Retro Run in Birmingham. It is a fun 5K that we did last year. Hopefully I’ll be all better and ready to run! Going to see Neill (@bigbiggeek) there and about 5 other people I know (plus TJ and RS will run). Can’t wait.

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Pre-long run, hangin with the dog

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Getting myself ready to run my long run for the week. “The dog” is so excited!

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The Reinspired Runner

I have a goal for tomorrow that will change my run plan today.

I have to get to 15 miles tomorrow for my long run.

To be honest, a week ago I was thinking that I may never get back to a point where I could run 15, let alone 26 miles. But it has been a good week. I found out I had a sinus infection and got it taken care of. I ran 5 miles a day rather than my planned 7 miles a day. This was because of the heat and not wanting to feel overwhelmed each day since running had been difficult for a while. Finally, I ran negative splits every day this week. I started off slowly and each mile I ran faster than the previous mile.

Having our first marathon in 8 weeks (from tomorrow), I have to get the longer runs in and get up my confidence. I have gained great confidence from this week and now feel I can run 15 miles tomorrow and do it well.

Back to my opening sentence. I am taking today off from running to get me ready for tomorrow. My goal over the next 4-6 weeks is to get my long run up to 20+ miles and my hope is that I will feel good doing it. I now believe that is a possibility.

Confidence is huge and I lost my confidence over the past couple of months.

Now, however, you can call me the reinspired runner!

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Good runs + less pressure = more fun

I had another successful summer run yesterday.  Two great runs in a row.  Wow.

My app has really helped slow me down as it speaks to me, “Slower” when I run too fast for the preset pace.  This had enabled me to run like I used to before the summer heat hit.  I have cut my weekday runs to 5 miles for now and am working on rebooting my training for our marathon.

I am so encouraged by my runs this week.  Negative splits have changed my summer runs from dreadful to… maybe not exciting, but at least something to which I look forward.

As I ponder the Lehigh Valley Marathon in 8 weeks, I have come to realize (with TJ’s help) that the pressure of wanting to keep an 8:00 pace for 26.2 miles has really gotten to me.  It has made my running a burden and no longer fun.  So I have changed my attitude toward the marathon.  I would love to qualify for Boston in September and hope that I will, but I am no longer focusing on that as my primary objective.  It is an accomplishment in and of itself to finish my first marathon and I may surprise myself and run at my desired pace.  But I am going to relax, enjoy and make this an experience to remember.

So I feel that I am in a much better place now.  I have had a couple really good runs this week, even in the heat.  I have taken the pressure off of myself as to my expectations for the marathon.  I am more positive and enjoying the journey rather than obsessing about the destination.

Life is good!

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Finally… A good, hot summer run

Finally, finally, finally.  Yes, I am rather relieved and excited.

I had a good summer run yesterday.

I ran 5 miles in a heat index of somewhere between 97 and 106 (depending on the app).  But unlike Tuesday’s run, I ran negative splits.

As I wrote yesterday, I decided to use my iSmoothRun app and allow the interval coach tell me to speed up or slow down based on my pace and my preset goal.  In the past I did this to keep up a pace, but my goal yesterday was to SLOW down.  I wanted to run the first mile really slow and the second mile slow and then the next three at an average pace.

So I set my app to keep me at 10:30 for the first mile, 10:00 for the second and 9:30 for the next three.  I figured that 9:30 might be too fast as this summer my pace has deteriorated into the 10:00 range, but but I decided to give it a try and see how I would do.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:25
Mile 2: 9:20
Mile 3: 9:18
Mile 4: 9:14
Mile 5: 9:05
Mile 5.5: 8:49

I choose to keep at the 5 mile range so I would not feel overwhelmed and make the run a negative experience.  My run went so well that at 5 miles, rather than walking home, I ran harder for the last half mile!  I did walk a little during the run, but that was just at the top of a couple of hills and not for long.

So what made the difference?

I really believe that starting out slowly made the run much better.  I kept up my energy and I never had that mental moment of, “I can’t continue”.  The heat was really bad and it was still hard to breath, but starting out slowly really made the run like night and day.  Also I began my run at the top of my street so I wouldn’t begin by running up hill.  Finally the app I use is fantastic.  It doesn’t nag about pace, but gives good feedback and keeps my mind in the run.  In fact the last half mile I didn’t have the coaching going since it was only set up for 5 miles and I noticed my running getting more erratic, even though I was able to push myself.

So this is a major victory for my running this summer.  It has been so tough and tiring that I felt I wouldn’t have another good run until the Fall.

Hopefully today will go as well.  I’ll let you know tomorrow. 🙂

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5 mile summer run – back in the game

Yesterday was hot again.  Leave it to me to take time off running last week while it is 79 degrees outside and come back with a heat index near 100.  Anyway, my first regular run had good points and, let’s say, personal challenges.

Here are my splits:

Mile 1 – 8:48
Mile 2 – 8:39

I have not been having my app tell me my pace so as to not concentrate so much on pace but just on feel.  I specifically tried to start out slowly, but ended up at a faster pace than I have had in quite some time.  Not that I am complaining about the faster pace, but I know in the heat it is important not to start out too strong.

Mile 3 – 9:16

By the time I hit my third mile I realized I must have started too hard.  I felt fatigued and even walked for a short time at the top of a hill.  The heat was getting to me as I pushed along.  It was so humid and hot that it was getting hard to keep my breath.

Mile 4 – 11:52
Mile 5 – 11:51

By mile 4 I knew I must have started out way too fast.  I ended up walking about half the way and slowly running the rest.  At 4.5 miles I decided to head home knowing I’d make 5 total and not worry about the last two miles.

Talking with TJ afterwards I realized that I really need to do what I had originally planned and run negative splits.  I think I will go back to my iSmoothRun app telling me how fast I am running so I keep my pace slow in the beginning and pick up as the run progresses.  Running this way will not only help with the heat, but also is good practice for the Lehigh Valley Marathon in September.

So, overall I would say that my run went well.  I ran a 10:01 average pace which isn’t bad for running in the heat and honestly I was encouraged that I ran at least part of the run in the 8:00 – 9:00 range.  I also have decided to just try and do my runs as best I can and not worry about the marathon as much.  The marathon will happen and I will run it, but worrying about it won’t make me run it any faster.

Even with the hot summer, I’m glad to get back to running a normal schedule.

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The Uninspired Runner

Maybe this post should be called “The Uninspired Life”

I haven’t had much inspiration with my blog or running or life in general lately.  I have been trying to figure out if it was overtraining or a nutrient that I have been missing or something else.  This is one reason I reduced my running to 19 miles last week compared to almost a 50 mile average week for the month of June.  I also had been really sore so I thought now was as good a time as ever to rest.

Yesterday was dreadful.  I woke up at 2:30AM and couldn’t go back to sleep.  I was grumpy and angry at the world.

I had a thought.  I have been suffering for some time with congestion in my sinuses.  Also a couple of weekends ago I had non-stop headaches.  Last week I had a sore throat for a few days and Sunday I had a really bad headache.  I never get headaches.  I remember my family physician telling me once that a sinus infection can “hide” and a person my not really know that they have one other than tiredness and fatigue.  So, I decided to go to my ENT and get checked out.

Guess what?  I had a sinus infection.

He gave me a steroid shot, an antibiotic shot and a prescription.  I feel so much more human today.  I am alert (I’m sure the shots didn’t hurt in that area) and I am feeling so much better.

I took yesterday off from running as Monday is my normal off day.  Even though I have only run once since Thursday, I figured I should get another day of rest in before picking things back up.  I have been dreading my running for a couple of weeks.  I guess my sinus infection had just worn my body down to the ground and I couldn’t get the energy to enjoy basic things, let alone run.

Today, Lord willing, I start a 45 mile week.  I really want to try for 15 miles for my long run this weekend.  I had hoped to do that 2 weeks ago, but just couldn’t.  Hopefully things will be different this week.

Funny how something so little can have such a big effect on running and life.

I still don’t know how my running will go this week, but at least I am looking forward to it for the first time in almost a month.

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Made my 10 mile run

It was a whirlwind weekend, but I was able to get in my run yesterday.

I took off two days (Friday and Saturday) in order to let my body recover some from my almost 200 mile month.  It did seem to help as I was able to complete my 10 mile run yesterday.  I am a bit sore today, but overall am feeling better today.

I don’t have much to write about today.  Just trying to get back to work after a long weekend.

Have a great week.

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Another day off from running – Tough recovery week

I took yesterday off running as I said in my post yesterday.  It was a busy day anyway and I honestly would not have had time to run until evening, so it worked out.

I am actually considering taking today off also. I woke up this morning and was still sore all over.  This week is way off from my running plan anyway and so I may as well take advantage of my time and rest today and begin fresh tomorrow.

I am trying not to over analyze the situation in which I find myself.

Slowly but surely I am recovering and I hope and pray that this time off will be just what I need.  I must admit the difficulty of taking a few days off while training for a marathon in 2.5 months.  However my long runs have gotten shorter and more difficult and even my daily runs aren’t easy, so I figure my body needs this time to heal and get whole again.

Thank you for the emails and comments.

Encouragement is always a good thing and appreciated!!!

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Yesterday’s run and injury update

It was a good run yesterday with my friend Neill (@BigBigGeek).  I do enjoy running with other people rather than the lonely road by myself in my neighborhood.  It can really get monotonous running by yourself all the time, so when TJ and I can run together or I meet Neill to run, it is usually a much easier and more fun run for me.

Neill and I met at the mountain lake to run the trail, which is always fun.  Not only is is different running trail runs, but we also have a lot in common to talk about.

I got to the parking lot about 15 minutes early and it was pouring.  I wanted to warm up a bit so that my achilles and hip wouldn’t bug my on the trail, so I ran about half a mile around the area before Neill pulled up.  After we got ready to head out for our run, we decided that the trail may be a bit too muddy and slick to run and so we ran the road instead.

We did about 3.2 miles together and I did about a half a mile, so I was close to 3.75 miles for the day.

All that to say, I am still hurting a bit.  My left hip is still giving me problems from when I tripped over a sidewalk crack last week.  I am hoping that my reduced mileage this week will help calm it down and I am stretching it a bit.  I guess I should be putting ice on it also.

I admit that I am concerned  that with my marathon being less than 10 weeks away I feel this banged up.  There isn’t much I can do, but take it easy and stay off the sidewalks!!!

Anyway, thanks Neill for the great run.  Always a pleasure.

I may take today off and hope that tomorrow things feel better.

Sigh.

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Pre-run hanging with the dog

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Off work today for the 4th of July holiday. I’m going to meet @BigBigGeek to go trail running around the mountain lake.

Just “hanging with the dog” before I head out.

Have a great day!!!