Exchanging the shoes….

November 7, 2013

Yup that's right it's time to exchange those sneakers.  So after Sunday's run I went back to the really dead old running shoes to see if I was still having pain.  And no pain with the old sneakers which confirms my concern…it was the new shoes.
I truly understand the recommendation of a less structured sneaker, however I also have always been told don't make a major change (unless you are having issues due to your current pair) when you are increasing mileage.  You either increase mileage or make a major change to your form or sneakers etc - never both.
So back to the store I went.  The shoe expert I dealt with this time was wonderful and agreed with me the sneaker was too big of a change.  In fact the new pair was NOTHING like my old pair and was probably way too big of a change combined with increasing mileage.  Of course they no longer make my sneaker but we came out with something that is considered similar.  Hopefully this will work.

Growing Pains or Something to Worry about?

Sunday November 3, 2013

Today wasn’t a great run, in fact overall it was pretty awful.  I had to spend most of my run paying very close attention to my body trying to figure out what is going on.  Starting by mile 3 my entire right leg was cramping up.  It started in the hip and gradually the entire leg had cramped.  Of course at this point I was 3 miles from home and still had 6.5 miles to go in my run.  I did my best to stretch out at mile 3  and made my way home, managing to stay on pace.  But now came decision time – to scrap the run or keep going?  This is never an easy decision to make and you have to look at so many possibilities.  If this was the start of an injury would I be better off cutting the run short and hopefully preventing a full injury?  But what about not getting the mileage in?  How do I determine if this is an injury versus growing pains?  I mean after all there is going to be discomfort with an increase in mileage. When I got to the house to switch out my water bottle at mile 6 I decided to take time to stretch that leg out.  After 10 minutes of stretching the pain was mostly gone and I felt ready to run again.  I decided to go out and try to finish my run but if I started to hurt at all I would turn around and go home.  The run ended up going much better than expected and I think I found the culprit of my pain – my new running shoes L Time to figure that out…

Food Poisoning on Saturday….8 Mile Run on Sunday

The title say’s it all about my run this weekend.  I am exactly 12 weeks away from my 9^th marathon and for the first time in years I have time goals.  Training is starting to ramp up and I am focusing a great deal on my runs, especially my long runs.  Saturday was a day off from training and I managed to get food poisoning from leftovers.  I spent Saturday afternoon throwing up and dry heaving, Saturday night curled up on the couch with my club soda and Ritz crackers. 

Unfortunately my diet of club soda and Ritz crackers is not exactly ideal the night before an 8 mile run.  Which means I had some decisions to make.  1. Was it a good plan to go running on Sunday after throwing up on Saturday?  2.  Did I have enough reserves to get through the 8 mile run?  And if I didn’t and was really bottoming out while running would I be able to make the tough call to scrap the rest?  I decided before going to bed if I didn’t throw up again and had no other GI issues after 2 A.M. I would get up planning for my run.  When I woke up I was no longer nauseas which was a good sign and as far as I was concerned this meant the run was a go.  I took down a granola bar with some water and gave it about 30 minutes to see how my stomach handled it.  All seemed well so I got my water bottles ready and time to head out the door.  For my last few runs I have been filling my first water bottle with water and then at the halfway point my loop brings me by the house and I switch out for the water bottle filled with Gatorade.  Today I decided to fill both bottles with Gatorade so I could help make up for the lack of caloric intake on Saturday.

Overall this run went very well.  I was able to keep my scheduled pace of 11:10 min/mi without an issue.  The last mile was a struggle for me, however this was more of a mental issue than a physical one.  This is the first marathon where I do not run with anyone – ever.  I was bored and had to work hard to get over my mental block of just wanting to stop.  Above all else when it comes time for the marathon, my mental strength should be stronger than ever.

Just over 12 weeks to go?

It's been a while.  I wasn't officially training, just working out when I could.  I got married, moved across the country 3 days later and now am trying to settle in to my new life.  But within my first few weeks here I got bored and realized I needed to train again and have a focus.  So I registered for the PF Chang Rock 'n' Roll full marathon in January of 2014.  It will be convenient since it is right in Phoenix.  I hired a marathon coach (from afar) and have committed myself to a level of training I have not done in quite some time.
The runs are comfortable for now but I am finding I have new challenges.  This will be the first time I have trained all of my long runs on my own.  I have to get through the mental challenge of running 8, 10, 16 miles by myself.  And yup it can get boring.  In the long run I feel this will end up working to my advantage, I will be able to mentally get through the 26.2 miles, I will have already prepared myself to run by myself.
The other major challenge is trying to explain to my husband so that he truly understands the commitment I have undertaken.  I have not run a full marathon since we have been together.  It's explaining that it isn't always easy to just change which day my long run is on.  Or that I have to eat after my long run, not a few hours later, like within an hour.  It's trying to have him understand my training is now a huge focus in my life.  Finally I went through all of my old emails and found one from my very first marathon on team Joints In Motion with Coach Vic.  Vic wrote weekly training emails and he wrote one to the friends and family of the marathoner, something 8 years I still think parts of it are very useful and others I ignore.  I had my husband read this email hoping it would provide him with a little more insight of what this is all about.
Now that I am training again it is time to start writing about it again.  I am getting to run my 9th marathon with ankylosing spondolysis, something that every single one of my rheumatologist gets excited about.

snow in April

Ok it's April 2nd and there are snow flakes out there.  Seriously??  I know I have run in the snow before but somehow when I don't have other people counting on me or a marathon to train for I lack motivation to go out and run in the cold.  Instead I have been very consistent about doing the Jillian Michaels DVD's, I love the circuit training part of them but am getting bored so decided it was time to start making my own circuits.  I took exercises from a little bit of everywhere and I have to say it was really hard because I did each exercise for the full minute vs splitting it up and going back and forth like a lot of workout DVD's do.  Below is my 24 minute full circuit training workout.  There are 3 full rotations - 3 minutes of strength training, 3 minutes of cardio and 2 minutes of core.

Bent over row

squat

Walk out push up

High knees

Butt kicks

Jumping jacks

Plank twist

Supermans

Shoulder press with leg kick (switch legs at 30 sec)

Push ups

Chair dips

Plank jacks

Mountain climbers

Skaters

Crunches

Scissor kicks

Bridge with arm flies/alternate skull crushers

One hand snatch (alternate which arm at 30 sec)

bicep curls

Alternating front leg kick

Shadow box with weights

Sumo squat jump

Twisting crunches

Wall sit

A Change in Focus??

Can it be?  That right after I declare I need to pick a new marathon that I want to change my focus for my training?  Well maybe change isn't the correct word for what I want.  This morning the love of my life asked me to marry him to which of course I said YES!  So now I want to run a marathon in the fall but I also want to be ready to look stunning in a wedding dress sooner versus later.  And I truly believe every bride is beautiful but there are certain things I want to do.
1. I want to be healthy, this has been and always will be my main goal.
2.  I want to finish my goal of losing a few more pounds, I am already half way there and it is for health more than anything (I was feeling blah)
3. I want to have the well defined but not too masculine arms and back.  You know the parts of me I will be showing off that day.  (oh and abs since I will be in a sari).
4.  And still want to find a marathon

Ok now that I have goals I just need to work a bit more how on to get there.  I know the running part will take care of the weight and health.  It will also help me with that whole marathon thing.  Now just to get the rest of my body ready to say "I do".  I will be blogging my progress and how the workouts are going.  And in the 5 minutes of google I realized there are about a zillion workout plans for the "bride to be" - I won't do them all but may pick and choose what I feel will be most effective for my body.  Check back to see how my progress goes and where my focus is :)

Spring is here...I must run

Ok so maybe it isn't officially spring yet and New England weather does change by the minute but it is warmer and the snow is melting.  In fact it was over 50 degrees today!  This means I am out of excuses and it is time to run again - YAY!  Except starting to run again is miserable.  You suddenly remember how the starting process hurts, how you feel fatigued easily and wish you were back to the point where you took running 5-10 miles for granted.
This morning my run was only 3.2 miles and was definitely on the slower side but I ran up and down the hills of Worcester and completed my run.  As much as I dislike the "start" of training I love the way running makes me feel.  I love the convince of going for a run - stepping out my door vs having to drive somewhere.  Now to finish up my yoga and keep running.  Next will be picking my next Marathon - it's time I start working on Marathon #9!