Respect the run; 7 weeks till Rock N Roll Half

Posted: 2012/06/03 | Author: | Filed under: Running | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment

On July 22 I’m registered to run the  XSport Fitness Rock ‘n’ Roll Chicago Half Marathon, a mere 7 Sundays away. The hotel is booked and the sitter is arranged. Now all I have to do is run.   I don’t think I’ve ever slammed in training for a race this quickly before. I have been off  the Doctor mandated four weeks and only was a short 2 miler once to test my foot out.  I don’t think it really is/was a sesamoid fracture, but rather  more likely inflammation and flare up.  He also mentioned arthritis so I’m hoping for “old” vs. broken.  This will likely be the last time I hope to be “old”.  The down side to that diagnosis though is the foot/joint is going to be my new potential whiner and fit thrower, not unlike the ticking time bomb of kids on long car trips.  It’s going to try to screw with my mind and my confidence.  Hyperfocus on an injury or body part is not a good part of a run.

The last four weeks have both crawled and flown by.  When I can’t run it’s almost like time stands still so I’m really looking forward to getting back out there this week and seeing how the foot feels.  I’m interested in how bad the first 2 weeks of training are going to suck as I shed my lazy  and recondition my lungs and heart.  My legs have certainly enjoyed the break,  almost 4 weeks of zero muscle soreness has been  quite lovely.   I haven’t been a complete and total sloth; there was gardening, dancing and one trial run,  but I still didn’t do any cross training.  I blame the ADD, it’s a task I wasn’t really all that pumped about, so I just didn’t do it.  Given the short timeline to the next race, play time is definitely over.

There is a new running schedule to negotiate because Babu is supposed to run this one too, but I”m not going to hound him about  training or buying his bib, I need to focus on myself. I’ve got to get my mental crap together so I can push past those last 3-4 miles.  I’ve only got two more races scheduled for this year and I’d like to realize my goal of not walking that last 3 miles sooner rather than later.

I need to focus on my physical strength by adding an extra 1-2 days of either strength, flexibility or cross training is a must. I’ve already got my sights on another round of Yo-Pi, nothing like some downward dog and scissor kicks to tone and lengthen.  There is one school of thought to run 6 days a week, but with less miles on the short days, I may look into that if only to keep it a part of almost every day, and maybe shed some more weight while I am at it.

A training plan must be documented and followed, or I will skip runs from laziness or bad planning.

I have to eat cleaner, drink more water, get enough sleep, take my vitamins.

I need to be gentle, yet firm with myself.

Things are getting full of chaos at the office, and I may be spending the whole summer  working remote at home. This  means I can run in the morning at a reasonable hour and don’t have to commute or be pretty for my first round of meetings.

My running posts may get more boring and technical as I plan to really analyze and look critically at my diet and training and how it affects my performance,  I think this means I can  feel like a ‘real” runner now, maybe?

We’ll see 🙂

 

Respect the run: 2 weeks till race day #1

Posted: 2012/04/23 | Author: | Filed under: Running | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

It’s almost here! My first half marathon of this years running season.  The One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon.  In July I will rock the Chicago Rock and Roll Half marathon followed by the Indianapolis Women’s Half marathon in September.  I may take leave of my senses and do the Geist  Half if only for a medal and some funny writing material.  I’ve driven up the hill at Mile 8 on that course and I don’t relish running it on legs that are 2 hours in.  There is a Dirty Girl Mud Run in 3 short weeks,  I’m on a team and I am anxious and excited for that one too.  I had a really amazing day complete with an epiphany or two last week. But I didn’t get in here to write it all down soon enough so it is as of now still percolating.  Let’s talk about running for a bit.

I did in fact finish all 12 miles last Wednesday.  I did also in fact have to walk the last 5 miles or so because of a bad attitude from the get go and a left foot that started to hurt the more i pounded on it.  I also got to the tired point and felt dehydrated. So at the end I was walking faster than I probably could of ran.  I fell like I can handle next Saturday’s 13.1 with no issues now.   I took Saturday’s run off to rest my legs and foot further and today I tackled another 4.0.  I hadn’t successfully run 4.0 in about 10 days.  I don’t like not having confidence on even the short runs. It means I have to dog deeper within myself to get some and some days it is much harder than others.  Today  we ran in mild temps  but crazy winds.  We seem to have run a lot of wind this season so it doesn’t even bother me anymore. This of course means that the humidity this year will be early and brutal.   Maybe if I am lucky it will clear up by the Women’s over Labor Day weekend.   I was tight and stretched several times today.  When we started I knew my legs were tight but I also know that if I remain clam and patient that I can sometimes find my knees before the end of mile 3.  So i just went with it and the miles were not easy. Babu and I did minimal talking today but I also did minimal grousing.  I was just determined to make it to the next little landmark on our route. The miles passed by while I let my mind wander to how close the actual race is.   And then to the training regimen for the next one, what I can tweak, how much harder can  I work, how much weight can I lose if I focus on nutrition.  Before I knew we were at the final land marks, crosswalk, crosswalk, crosswalk….home.

I had run the whole thing without stopping it nasty winds and there were no cracks in the mental armor!  Up next is 8.0 miles on Wednesday, thank GOD we are on taper.