Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Day 80

I think I've discovered my "wall."  Now with most runners their wall is a mile number, like mile number 2 or 22, with me though I believe my wall is a month - month three in my training to be exact.  August has been rough for me man!  I have kept up with my mileage, however it was been more of a mix of running and walking than I would like.  Through my aching ankles and finicky knee, I have started doing halves and quarters to get me through until I can run more.  Halves and quarters are what I'm calling my running to walking ratio: I run a half mile, walk a quarter.  It seems to be suiting me well, but I should be running full miles - I WAS running full miles.  This is exceptionally frustrating. 

Last night I discovered the perils of running at a high school track during the school year.  I was having a rough time anyway, doing only halves and quarters, but to top that I was also dodging soccer balls!  Yup, it was soccer practice, and some of those j.v. guys were not very good.  The end of the field where the varsity squad was practicing was a bit less treacherous, but I still had to keep my eyes open.
It had been raining off and on all day and the smell of the field was reminiscent of my high school days.  The sweet smell of the damp turf mixing with the pungent rubbery smell of the track.  Ahh, memories...  There was even a jogger who reminded me of Mrs. R - one of the high school gym teachers.  She was wearing wind pants that went "swish, swish, swish" as she ran.  For my last half mile, it rained one of the most pleasant rains I think that could have occurred: it was misty and cooling, without being drenching.  Unfortunately my timing was impeccable and I finished up my run just as practice was finishing up.  Since it was raining all of the parents were jockeying for spot close to the field to pick up their kids and I was blocked in by two minivans not wanting to move and sacrifice their spots.  It took a couple honks of the horn and the security guard to come over and tell the drivers to keep it moving before I was able to get out of the parking lot. 

Friday, August 20, 2010

Exciting things are happening...

First up: Manda had her baby!!!!  YAY!!!!  Little Kaida was born yesterday and weighed 6lbs 2oz :o)  Congrats to the new Mommy and Daddy

Tomorrow Alyssa and I are running 3 miles at 7:30 am... let's hope my ankles hold out!  This is our first official "long run" from here on out when we run on Saturdays we will increase the distance 1 mile each week (with the exception of Sept 4th... but I feel actually running a race counts as a distance run, even if it is 2 miles shy of the actual distance we're supposed to run - maybe we'll run 2 more miles that evening or something...)

Tomorrow night I am (finally) hosting my birthday dinner party, yay!!  For obvious reasons JR and Manda won't be able to make it, and Soccer Mike pretty much has backed out... Jen and Hudson are going to be in Myrtle Beach so they won't be there - but it'll be fun anyways 'cause there'll be 14 or 15 people there anyways :o)  Cool people too.  Ones who actually like to spend time with me.  And like my cooking.  And don't make excuses at the last minute (I'm looking at you, Soccer Mike...)

Sunday is the official start to our Sunday runs... from here on out we run 4 days a week, have 1 day of cross training and 2 days of much needed rest.

I need new sneakers, stat!

Thursday, August 19, 2010

Ankles go ow...

Today we ran 2.5 miles (and by today, I mean 6 am, not really day if you ask me)... it wouldn't be so bad except for after about 1.75 miles my ankles were in horrible pain.  I blame my shoes.  I do believe that since my feet tend to roll outwards as I run/ walk/ do anything at all, it's creating extra stress on the insides of my ankles which in turn hurt.  A lot.  Although some of my former performers may disagree - I am not a podiatrist and cannot diagnose foot problems.  If you have a blister I will give you a band-aid and say "suck it up" but that's about it for my doctoring skills.  Or if you complain about your arches hurting I'll give you a pair of insoles, again - I'm no doctor.  But my ankles hurt, and I've decided the best cure is ice and a new pair of running shoes.  This is fortuitous because I got a gift card for Dick's Sporting Goods for my birthday with which I can purchase new shoes - yay!  Although I will not have time to purchase new shoes before running on Saturday, I'm hoping all the ice and TLC I provide to my poor ankles will be enough to get me through those 3 miles.  One can only hope.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

August 18th, day 74

  • August 18th, day 74, only 16 days until the Luke Hadley Foundation 5K, 45 days until ZooZilla 5K, 58 days until Making Strides Against Breast Cancer 5K, and 79 days until Stomp the Grapes half marathon. 
  • Today for lunch I had Kung Pao Shrimp.
  • Tomorrow I will be running 2.5 miles at 5 am.
  • My sister is coming into town this weekend for my party.  I think I will put her to work.
  • My basset hound and my bed are greatly missing me, not necessarily in that order.
  • I really, really need to do laundry tonight.
  • I think that's it.

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Jello

This morning we ran 2 miles.  It was nice and cool and not humid at all.  And everything was going wrong: my calves siezed up, I couldn't get my breathing right, my shoe untied, when I finally did get my shoe re-tied it was too tight, my toes started to tingle, and I felt like I haven't been running for the past 10 weeks.  To top it all off my entire body now feels like jello. 

Oh yeah, and we have to run 2 and a half miles Thursday.

Monday, August 16, 2010

A busy week

Last week, I was a bit preoccupied...  I was stuck in the alien locale of offsite storage for 3 days straight.  Stuck in a small room with pages of notes and dusty boxes, attempting to decipher the contents of boxes older than me. 

This week begins the first, official, actual-factual half marathon training.  Up until now it was the walk to run, followed by a couple fluff weeks of training.  Now is when we start increasing the milage (gulp!).  Less than 3 weeks until our first official race, and I'm feeling pumped!  I got a couple of Dick's gift cards for my birthday, so I will be using those to get shiny, new sneakers - yay!!!

Current plan is run 2 miles tomorrow at 5 am.  I'll let you know how that goes.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

Cake Drama among other things

Tomorrow is my birthday, and last night there was cake drama (nuf said).  With that, running did not happen for me at 5:30 this morning, and with the weather currently in the 90's I do not anticipate running this evening.  Alyssa though is going for a gold star and is planning on running at Bally's tonight.  I should be back on track when we go running tomorrow morning before work. 

Sunday was possibly the most fun I've had doing cross-training.  Alyssa, Bob and I went kayaking in the Allegheny River.  Kayak Pittsburgh rents kayaks from under the Roberto Clemente Bridge for only $15 an hour.  It was a gorgeous day, my only complaint is that since the Pirates were playing there was quite a bit of boat traffic down near the stadium.  First we paddled away from the commotion, past the convention center and towards the Strip.  Then we turned around and paddled up to Heinz Field before having to turn around and head back to return our kayaks. 

A quick shout out for Alyssa here too:  after kayaking we went to Primanti Bros. and Alyssa had her first Primanti Bros. sandwich and finished it!  (minus coleslaw - apparently she has an aversion to cabbage - whatever weirdo)

Friday, August 6, 2010

4 Weeks

4 weeks from tomorrow I run my first race.  A real race.  With numbers and timing and everything.  And it has an official distance, 5K, not like when we were kids and would race between trees or down dirt roads or... wait, second thought, I never raced as a kid - I didn't like running.  I still don't like running.  Especially at 5:30 in the morning.  Without an IPod.  After being up late at the Pirate game.  Which they actually won.  And after eating a wonderful concoction called "Gimme S'more Cake."  It came off of the dessert cart.  Which I didn't know existed.  How did I live almost 29 years and not know about the dessert cart!  I knew about the dessert cart in restaurants, but at a baseball game?!?  No wonder those suites cost $2000 a game.  Yum.... 

Back to this morning... I couldn't find my IPod (it was next to my glasses) and so I ran sans-music, and boy am I glad we only ran 2 miles, any more and I might have gone completely bonkers. 

Thursday, August 5, 2010

Future Plans

Since this morning did not consist of any running what-so-ever (even though I suppose it should have) I have decided to lay out some future plans.

  • Tonight I am going to a Pirate game; not that the Pirate's are all that great, but the evening will undoubtedly involve nachos, racing pierogies, and free seats in a luxury suite, all of which are great things.  I'm going with a group of people from work, someone set up an admin night in the company's suite, so it will only be admin and office support staff there - i.e. no attorneys, paralegals, or secretaries.

The reason I did not run this morning is because last night I had to take Ellie to my mom's house in preparation for this evening.  By her staying with my mom, I do not have to worry about running home and letting her out, only to leave minutes later to get to the game on time.  We left home around 7 and hit horrible traffic on the way up there.  Everyone who has ever been in the car with me will be glad to know that I did actually use my horn when someone cut me off and I had to slam on my brakes - apparently I was invisible last night.  We stopped at a back woods gas station, that seemed to be something out of a horror movie, and finally arrived at Mom's around 8:45.  Following a detour to Wal-Mart (I bought a spool of thread - exciting I know) I pulled into my driveway at around 11:15.  Pretty much threw myself into bed and was asleep around midnight - 2 and a half hours after I try to go to sleep before a run.

  • Since missing the run today, due to a need for sleep (I like sleep if you couldn't tell from previous entries), Alyssa and I will be running tomorrow at 5 am, and Saturday at 7 am.

  • Also Saturday is Manda's baby shower - I can't wait to see her, it's been forever it seems!

  • The plan for Sunday's cross-training is to go kayaking.  Alyssa, Bob and I are going to rent kayaks in the afternoon during the Pirate game.  That should be interesting, being able to listen to the game while on the river.

  • Wednesday I turn 29.  It will be the first of many times I turn 29.

  • May 15, 2011 is the Pittsburgh marathon and half-marathon.  Alyssa and I are registering for the half marathon, because unlike the full one, the half does not take you through Oakland, Shadyside, and Bloomfield.

  • Next September Alyssa and I are going to run in the Air Force half marathon in Dayton Ohio.  Key factors which helped us pick that one for next fall: it's a (relatively) short drive; the finisher's medals are impressive; there are food and hydration stations nearly every mile; the course is advertised as "flat and fast"; and at every hydration station there are porta-potties - which you know is one of my phobias (fear of not having a place to pee mid-race).

  • And the biggest news of all is January 2012 Alyssa and I will be running the BIG M.  Yes, we will be running our first full marathon.  At Disney World.  It will be awesome.  Provided I don't give up running for life before that.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

From Today...

One day from today.... Alyssa and I will run at 5 in the morning for 2 miles.

One week from today.... I will turn 29 - for the first time ;o) (just sayin'...).

One month from today.... Alyssa and I will run our first official race, the Luke Hadley Foundation 5K at South Park during their Rib and Wing Festival.

One year from today.... I will be sleeping.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Quick Recap

Saturday, Day 56, Alyssa and I ran at the Baldwin Whitehall track.  We got there around 7:30 in the morning and there were people setting up for some kinda event.  Hoping to be out of there before it began we took to the track.  We walked a warm-up lap and then began our 30 minutes of running straight.  Also at the track that day were:  an old lady, walking, who left before we were done; a dad and his 2 sons, the youngest walking, the oldest running with him, they also left before we were done, but also ran part of the time the wrong way around the track - annoying; a lady running, at least for a little bit before walking, who did not have an ipod but a cd player instead which she carried in her hand along with several cds (personally this would annoy me immensely) she also left before we were done; a couple of walkers, one of whom was a large man with suspenders on, he made me giggle, but alas they all left before we were done; and finally also at the track that day was a growing conglomeration of middle aged men.  Awkward....  Apparently whatever was going on that day had something to do with coaches and officials, but men only.  And so as we ran a personal record mile we had an audience of a couple dozen men to witness our sweating and panting and overall attractiveness which we exude at the end of a run.  (note the sarcasm...)

A note on our Personal Record (PR): we ran a 13:06 mile, which might have only been a "C" level for the mile run in high school was pretty darn impressive for us.  2 people who would rather just take the "F" and walk the mile, actually ran it in an average time - yay!

Sunday, Day 57, cross training - I did abs - boring, I know.

Monday, Day 58, rest day - yay!

Tuesday, Day 59, today, again Alyssa and I ran at the Baldwin Whitehall track.  This time around we arrived at around 5:10 this morning and the gate was not yet open.  As we were vocally expressing our annoyance the security lady called up from the track saying she was on her way to open the gate.  She said she was not used to people being there that early, but we told her that from now on Tuesdays and Thursdays we would most likely be there right around 5.  Warm up lap and then today was the start of measuring our training in miles, not time.  2 miles - that's not so bad - right?!?  It was hotter and more humid at 5 am this morning than it was Saturday at 8 - yuck.  I also tend to be more phlegm-y in the early mornings and kept needing to spit as I ran (not very ladylike I know).  That said, it was not shaping up to be a very good run.  Our first mile we ran 13:09, pretty darn good, and our second mile was shaping up to be worse though - our laps were on average taking 5 to 10 seconds longer.  Until the last lap.  With about an 1/8 of a mile to go, we decided that we both had enough energy to "kick it out" and so we sprinted to the end.  Crossing the finish line with arms raised in celebration, I pressed the button to stop the timer without even looking at it.  Catching my breath following the sudden exertion, I looked at the time: 26:08.  I did the math in my head, I looked at the time again to make sure I didn't misread it.  We did a 12:59 mile, we broke 13 and set a new PR - YAY!!! 

I then went home and took a nap.

Monday, August 2, 2010

8 Weeks

It's official - the 8 week walk to run program has been successfully completed.  Yay!!!  Now comes the tough part - using our new found running skills to actually train for a half marathon.  Eek.