Thoughts on my long run

I've talked a bit about Kelly, my running friend who is running the Go! St. Louis Marathon Relay with me. We were supposed to put in our 7 mile run on Friday night and she got a mysterious illness which meant she couldn't run. I had eaten way too much earlier in the day to have a good run so I took a rest day on Friday too. Saturday was the last chance I had to get off a treadmill and run far outside since Evren was headed back to NY. He encouraged me to wake up & run. I text Kelly. No response. Please Kelly, call me, text me, show up with your running shoes on...nada.

So I went at the run alone.

I had purchased a Nathan water belt the day before so I got to test it out for this run. Rosie suggested that I get the running belt with the small water bottles but they were a bit more expensive than the single larger belt. My thought was that "it's just water." Let me tell you, it's not just water - it's a big water bottle that flops around on the run. It's unstable and I really don't care for it. I'm going to keep it and pray that I just get used to it flopping around the first half of the run while it's full.


Don't be cheap with your water bottle selections.

 

Rosie also suggested that now is the time I start eating while running. I bought GU and took it with me on the run. At mile 3.5, I opened the packet, took a big glob in my mouth, swallowed, and THREW IT ALL BACK UP!!! Gross. I put it back away only to pull it back out at mile 4.5 when I felt sluggish. The trick to eating GU is to take a little bit at a time, swish it in your mouth and drink water with it so that it's not a huge glob going down your throat. ICK. I'll try it again, but I also have jelly beans and shock blocks to try too.

While on my run, I thought about a lot of things. I'm so thankful to be healthy enough to be able to run and to be able to have a marathon for a goal. I was also thankful for my family's health because other friends are fighting serious battles.

I also thought about my poor underwear selection. Granny panties are the way to go while running!! I'm hopeful that someday I won't have chub rub on my thighs and boy shorts will look cute. It was hard to put in a full effort when running with a wedgie.


7 miles in and I think it's the farthest I've ever run. Surprisingly, I wasn't even sore - probably a sign that I didn't push myself hard enough. But at least the distance is done.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Kicked off the day with a 5K (and then some). Evren joined me at Trekking today so it was good to be inspired by his long strides. It was interesting - our legs go at the same pace but he's SOOOO much further ahead than me. Short legs is more work to cover the same distance.

Long run and then some...

Kelly (running pal) and I went for a long(er) run the day after our performance at the 7K. I know we could have done better but I had, uh, tummy trouble.

Monday I took my much needed day of rest and was back to trekking on Tuesday with the husband, who is in town all week. This was a tough class for me, with a new instructor. We kept our pace while running an 8 incline. Yowzas. I'm not sure if I'd ever take her class again, especially when I start working, but happy to get my 4 miles and 400 calorie burn in for the day.

Race Results

My husband and son.

WOW! I finished the 7K at a 9:51 pace, accomplishing all my goals for this race. I ran the entire race, kept a 10:00 pace and kept up (even finished before) my running buddy. This was significant to me just to be able to keep up because she SMOKED me on a 10K in October. My husband and son finished before I did, on much less training...Grrr....

Sprint to the finish

Over Thinking, Under Running

I had hoped to get through 4 miles at trekking today, but I barely made it through 2. I knew I was in trouble today when I was seriously thrilled for making it a mile.

I have a lot on my mind, mostly kid stuff. I'm going back to work, wondering how I will train being a single mom with a full time job. I hopped off just after 2 miles and threw up. I had hoped to get back on but it was just too hot to run indoors today.

I look at two miles today as a success because I felt awful on the treadmill.

I registered my husband, son & I to run the Run for the Helmet 7K on March 12 today.



In the Saddle

I went trekking, expecting a different instructor from Monday, but no, it was sweet Rosie again. Rosie saw that I wasn't really pushing myself and totally wiped out and she said I was probably running too much, too soon. OK, whatever. She is a repeat marathoner and suggested cross training...

When any runner says cross training, what they really mean is spinning.

Spinning sucks. Been there, done that. I nearly fell of the bike several times and swore I'd never go back. My back side hurt for a week, I could hardly walk...but here I was, back in the saddle of a spinning class today. Rosie set up my bike and told me just to keep my heart rate up and offered little insights about how this is going to help my running... I guess I'll go back but I probably won't be very happy about it. Tomorrow - back to running!

Sunday is a day of rest...

I rested.

I hopped right back into my Trekking class on Monday morning. It was great because I brought a friend along, who I will be running the GO! St. Louis Marathon Relay with. We have run a 10K together in the past and she smoked me in the first mile and finished 6:00 faster than me. I was happy with my progress on the treadmill this week because we managed to stay together and both feel winded at the same time.

I think it's important to set small goals leading up to my big goal of running the Marine Corps marathon. My first goal is next Saturday - a 7K where I would like to keep a 10:00 pace and finish running. Secretly, I'd like to run faster than my 9 year old son. He had me by 3:00 last April in a 5K. As long as he hasn't improved over last year (and I'm sure he has) I should keep pace with him.

Stay tuned.