A New Distance for Me....

As the temperatures dropped this week, my miles went up!  This morning, I normally would have started my day with the girls running our training run, but today was a continuation of a 24 year tradition.  My mom and I have attended a fall festival in a local little town since I was a kid, I've only missed twice for a funeral and a dear friend's wedding.  We started taking my little one a few years ago and today we continued that tradition.  One thing was missing, my Nanny who hasn't been able to go with us for the last couple of years.  We were there when the sun came up and joined with the die hard attendees in looking for what was new, it was a great morning, I'm certain we would have made Nanny proud.

Back to running, my 5 mile run was scheduled today.  I left something out about this morning, it was soooooo cold here!  This flip flop wearing Florida girl is not a big fan of cold weather, so when it came down to it, my five mile run happened this afternoon when it was closer to 70 and not close to 46 (as it was this morning.)  I was honestly happy about that.

The first couple of miles were interesting, as my left foot continued to slap the ground a bit, but by mile 4, things were moving along nicely!  I really found a great groove and felt fantastic that last mile.  My hubby took great care of me by bringing water out to the mailbox for me, which I was glad to swing by and pick up before the halfway point.

Some things I now appreciate about running in the morning: less traffic, no people watching me, cars have headlights turned on so I don't almost cross the road in front of them, I'm not as concerned about pets being out and about ready to chase me down.  My morning runs really give me that peaceful solitude.

It surprises me sometimes in those wee hours of the morning what great conversations I get to have with my heavenly Father.  There are times I'm asking for His help to make it around the next mile, other times I'm praying for friends that I know are out and about doing the same thing, and most times I'm asking Him to direct my path for the day ahead.  Then I get to the cool down part, when I'm grateful, oh so grateful, that I have the little bit of ability I do have to get up and run.  I get to appreciate the stars that are still out, over the summer it was the beginnings of a beautiful sunrise that would end my runs.  And amazingly my running mix shuffles to just the right songs just when I need them or can appreciate them the best.  I just love it!

I lucked out today, found some long running pants (on clearance) that should work for those cooler temps in the morning and found these reflecter slap bands that I'm going to try in the mornings.  This will save some batteries in my little flashlight that I feel the need to turn on every time a car comes within a mile of me.  Safety first! 

I hope everyone is enjoying this fantastic fall weather! 

If It Was Easy....Anyone could do it

My first run back out on the roads and I'm going to say.....boooo!

I anticipated being a bit slower, it has been almost a week since I've had a good run.  What I did not anticipate was my stride/strike problem.  Can you say, one foot cooperates and the other one slaps like a wet noodle. When I started running, I paid very close attention to how my feet were striking and my stride, making sure I didn't over extend, these legs are only so long.  I have been very fortunate that both feet cooperated and really have been pleased with them.

I noticed the issue on the treadmill Saturday, but attributed it to the treadmill, my attitude, being tired, etc.  This morning.......I'm clueless.  Well of course I'm tired, who isn't first thing in the morning.  I was on my normal path, with my great playlist shuffled beautifully.  My running gear was all the same.  I have no idea.........

I love running with music, I even took my headphones off to try and figure out what on earth was going on with my left foot for the last mile.  The right one landed beautifully with the just the right amount of force, no pain, no strain.  Then here came the left one ....bam.....bam.....and a nice little muscle strain on that leg quickly followed.

I know I've been very lucky to not have injury issues, weird aches/pains, etc.  I really don't want to start now, this has me very concerned....time for research.  If you have experience this issue or have any suggestions, please share them. 

Other than that little issue, it felt great to be back outside.  The stars were peaking thru some clouds that are building for the rainy day ahead.  I did take a moment to be thankful that I got out of bed this morning, while another hour in bed would have been nice.  But as my dad has always said, if it was easy anyone could do it.  I'm anticipating cooler mornings than what we've been having, which adds a new twist. 

Must get this figured out so my morning run gets back to normal....enjoyable for me.

Gratitude

They say you don't know how good you have it until.....complete the sentence as you choose.

I'm finding this to be true this week. I'm very grateful that God has chosen to bless me in many ways. Are they always easy, well no. But I am grateful for each of them. So,now you get to hear what:

I'm grateful for my hubby. I've missed him a lot while traveling. He has been uber supportive and I'll be glad to see him.

For my girlie, we have fun, even when there is work to be done. Plus we have interesting conversations. Grateful that she wants to have those too.

For my home, hotel living is fine for short stays, I think I'm now past short.

I'm grateful that my parents made sure I understood the importance of education. Sitting in class for 4 days that reviews what I learned in 6 courses over a period of 7 months....wow my brain hurts. but I know it's totally worth it in the end.

For my family that encourages me and listens when I just need to vent because my brain hurts.

For my running buddies, I really missed being with all of them this morning for our Saturday run.

For the ability to run outside on roads and not treadmills. This may be what really brought all of this to mind. Tonight I ran on a treadmill, for the first time since college. Can you say boredom?

A. I don't like running looking at myself in mirrors. I tried even imagining where I would be at distance wise on my usual route. Didn't work.

B. I do not like feeling like I could totally face plant with one little bitty stumble.

C. I'm not a big fan of running at the same pace constantly. It's hard to push yourself, and the little speed button, when point B. At the forefront of my mind.

Grateful that I get to go home tomorrow! Monday is going to be crazy busy, but I'll be in my own little world. And I'll get to run my own little roads with my own little heart rate monitor and my own little routine to follow. Wahoooooooooo!

Changes in Attitude

Attitude, a word often used in our household to mean something that needs to be corrected.  I resembled that remark this morning when it came to running intervals.

Our group of women, who have worked very hard this summer to get moving, started the schedule to train for the half marathon.  We agreed that we need to utilize intervals in order to stay injury free and make it out alive without being picked up by the Disney running police for being too slow.  I've been very fortunate during my weekday runs to be able to run 3 miles regularly and the schedule called for 3 miles today. 

I figured, who needs intervals, I've got this.  The other ladies were running intervals, yet I still was acting like the pouty child who didn't want to do it.  Then it hit me....I didn't enjoy them last weekend because they were new, they caused my pace to get out of whack (which is totally a pride thing that I need to let go of), but how am I ever going to "like" them if I don't practice. 

This reminded me of habits we all have.  I forget the number of times you are suppose to do something before it officially becomes a habit, but it doesn't just magically appear.  Getting up early to run and make sure I've set enough time aside to spend in the Word didn't happen overnight.  This took several mornings of making myself roll out of bed to go do something new (running....or attempting to in the beginning) and making sure I focused my time once I got back to the house to have that peaceful time I need in order to get my day off on the right foot. 

All that to say, I did intervals this morning and was pleasantly surprised.  I stayed within a decent pace, helped that I didn't leisurely stroll during the walking part as well, I pushed myself a bit harder during the 4 minutes of running in between the 1 minute of walking.  Once I sat down to analyze my laps and look at the intervals, I was amazed at the heart rate recovery that takes place in those quick 60 seconds.  I'm beginning to see great value, especially once we up our mileage, in these lovely little things called intervals. 

Now....to make sure I program the Garmin next time I start will definately make the running part easier.  The Garmin has a more pleasant way of telling when it's time to change vs. the voices that were in my ears during C25k, the one guy was a bit intimidating. 

This week will be a bit weird, I'll be traveling over the end of the week and the weekend, which means..... treadmill!  I'll be very honest, walking on a treadmill doesn't bother me, but I don't enjoy it as much as being outside.  Running on a treadmill actually scares me a bit the whole moving belt thing that I have to stay (or should I say attempt to stay) at the same pace.....ack!

 

Just keep running, running, running

It amazes me that fall has arrived in FL. I know, it happens every year, it just seems like the weather is responding earlier than normal.

The cooler weather during earlier runs has posed some new challenges in the running attire arena. As a new runner, the attire at this point has been solely focused on warm weather. Layering will go into effect, just trying to decide how much, what temperature, what layers? I'll get it figured out, but it may be interesting. My poor neighbors might laugh at me as I'm running and removing layers, I'm kinda klutzy.

The one change I didn't think about was the transition to intervals on long runs impacting my weekly 30 minute runs. I'm not the only one either. I really have to figure out the proper balance. Part of me thinks, hmmmm can I run for the first 30 minutes then do intervals after that. Too complicated at that point.

Not sure if I'm running, cross training or walking in the morning. We shall see....

Going the Distance

The last week of running has been interesting.  Last weekend I was out of town at a retreat at the beach, a few of us made sure we were up early and ran anyways, nice 30 minute run with cool down on the beach it was beautiful!  Easy paced run, we had a busy day ahead of us and didn't get much sleep the night before.  (I know, excuses.)

Monday's run was another story.  I just knew I was slower, I kept pushing myself but really didn't feel I was getting any speed put in there.  Surprise, surprise, surprise, I had two miles under 10 minutes/mile which is better than I did during the 5k.  My goal for next weekend's 5k is to pace right at 10 min/mile and finish in 30 minutes or less.  I have to remind myself, I have only been running since July.  I read so many running blogs and so many of these folks make me look like a slow little tortoise. 

Wednesday wasn't bad and I walked a bit this week.  Today was fun day, trying something new!  As a group of us are beginning to train for a half marathon (The Disney Princess 1/2) at the beginning of 2012, we've agreed that intervals are likely best for us.  Today we were doing 4 miles and putting intervals in, you have to start some time.  While we likely could have ran 4 miles, I think I could continue to think that every mile that gets added and end up injuring myself or something.  Do I want to be able to run the entire thing, well of course I do.  Do I want to end up injured and doing nothing?  NO!!!

We had a nice brisk start to the morning, only 64 degrees this morning and I was cold before we started running.  (Yes, Florida born and raised and when it gets below 70 I feel the need for warm clothes.)  We were ready to go, got started and everything went well.  Nothing stellar, I think it's going to take a bit to get the pace right for the walking intervals and the running pace to make sure everything ends up right.  I'm getting a little obsessive about my pace, which isn't a good thing. 

Another area I am absolutely enjoying is the accessory side to running.  I love my Garmin 405cx.  My hubby gave it to me in August for my birthday.  I was so new to running I really had no idea what I was going to do with this little watch that I swore was smarter than I was.  Turns out, that little watch is awesome for all kinds of things!  I found this great little hand size flashlight for my early morning runs that isn't cumbersome and is super bright. 

Then there's the BondiBands!  I love these things!  Living in FL and on a hot muggy morning run, we are talking seriously gross amounts of sweat will end up coming down my face from my hair.  These bands do exactly what they are suppose to do. 

I love great accessories.  I could go on and on about my shoes (Asics) and my favorite socks (New Balance), but I'll save that for another time.  This week I'm working on my pace for the 5k next weekend.  I just want to make sure I'm seeing improvement.  I will never be the fastest, but I just want to improve. 

Healthy Habit update, I haven't had a soda since I gave them up over 2 weeks ago.  Funny, I really don't miss them.  It's October, so I need to add another "healthy habit" to my routine.  Any suggestions?