Training Summary, Week 3

Week 3 Training Summary:

Total runs done: 2-ish (I say –ish because one run lasted only ½ of a mile)

Total miles: 4.75

Cross-training: 1 Kettlebell circuit, swam 1400 yards, lots of foam rolling and stretching

Challenges this week:

-Shin Splints.  Like many new runners, I’ve developed shin splints.  I feel like they came out of nowhere.  Last week, my legs felt great and all of the sudden this week, they fell apart and just walking through Target hurt like a mofo.  So, I’m resting for a bit, lots of ice, lots of Advil.  With resting comes feelings of guilt, like I’m giving up or I should be tougher and work through the pain.  I don’t like being sidelined.  It also brings about feelings of doubt like can I really succeed at this whole half marathon thing? Is my training plan right for me?

Successes this week:

-Uhmmm, I’m sure there was something?

I have my first 5k race this coming Saturday; so naturally, I’m worried about it with the current state of my legs.  I’ll be changing up my training for Week 4 to give my legs a few more days to recover before Saturday.  There will definitely be less mileage done this week. 

I leave you with this quote.  Runner’s World posted this on Facebook yesterday: “Anyone can train hard. Do you have the discipline to recover?”  Timely advice, RW…

Thursday Inspiration

Ugh

I have moved more in the last 2 1/2 weeks than I have in a long time and it's catching up with me.  Everything aches this morning. I think I pushed it a little too hard last night.  I am not Wonder Woman.  Yet.  But I'm getting there.

Training Summary, Week 2

Week 2 Training Summary:
Total runs done: 3
Total miles: 7.5
Cross-training: Swam 1600 yards

Challenges this week:
-Fuel/Nutrition: continuing to figure this out, have a feeling this will be an ongoing challenge.
-Cross-training.  Better this week, but once a week still is not good enough.
-Need to find new/better socks to wear.
-Recovery- work on a after-run better stretching routine
-Mental toughness.  I'm too easy on myself and give in to the littlest thing too quickly.  Need to push through and push myself.

Successes this week:
-Got all 3 training runs in, 2 of them outside.
-Starting to run more and more each time.  While this is a success, I'm also calling it a challenge as I don't feel like it's enough yet.  I should be doing more.

Misc:
-The was a fun article in Sunday's Daily Herald about RunDisney

-My running shoes have been officially baptized.  On Tuesday, part of the path I was on was flooded from melting snow.  I had no choice but to run through it, as going around would result in going into a snow pile or a lake.  My shoes, socks, and pants got soaked. Went around the path a second time, got even more soaked.  Had to call it a day after that- my shoes were so wet and heavy, they felt like lead bricks on my feet, and was feeling a blister coming on from the wet sock.  It took two days for my shoes to dry out.

-Got a pedicure on Saturday, the leg and foot massage they do is never long enough.

Neon orange polish for Spring and for the "girl on fire".
Will my feet still look as pretty after 35 weeks of half marathon training?

-Made homemade pizza on Sunday, with homemade dough for the pizza crust for the first time.  Success! 

Tomato, basil, and mozzarella

Spinach, feta, and kalamata olive
Yes, this has suddenly become a foodie blog.

On to week three! 

All flailing arms and legs

Part of my training plan is to cross-train on the some of the days I’m not running.  This may include weights/kettle bells, Pilates, dusting off my bike once all the snow melts- anything to keep moving on the off days.

Last night I went back to my athletic roots- I got in the pool.  I swam competitively year-round from when I was in the 8 & under age group, through my senior year of high school.  By the time I got to my last meet of my senior year, I was done.  Burnt out.  Lost all desire to get back in a pool for the sake of doing laps.  These days, a pool is a means to get a sun tan and float on a noodle.  Last night, that changed.  I decided to go swim.

It wasn’t pretty, it took about 800 yards before I found a rhythm and didn’t feel like I was all flailing arms and legs.  I just did 100’s- averaged just less than 2 minutes per 100 (so sad, my fastest was like 45+ seconds faster than that.  I’m old and slow.), mostly freestyle, did one backstroke and another one dolphin kick on my back.  Total yards: 1600 in 40 minutes.

I hope to make Wednesday nights a regular swim night.  Getting a lane at open swim isn’t always the easiest at my YMCA as the pool is being used for swim lessons and water aerobics most nights.  But, Wednesday nights seem to be the most open night on the pool schedule and when I got there around 7:30, the pool was pretty empty and I had a lane to myself.

On a side note, my YMCA needs to update their locker rooms.  The women’s locker room is lovely shades of outdated pinks and mauves.

On tap for the rest of the week: 2 more runs.  Hope my shoes are finally dry from the massive flood I ran through on Tuesday.

Thursday Inspiration

I like this one...

Training Summary, Week 1

Every adventure starts with a first step.  Here is my first step:

Week 1 Training Summary:
Total runs done: 2
Total miles: 5.5
Cross-training: not really

Challenges this week:
-Missed one run due to a previous scheduled appointment
-TV can be DVR'ed.  Repeat as needed
-Fuel/Nutrition: my schedule is running in the evenings, after work, when my energy is starting to be tapped out after sitting at my desk all day.  Need to figure out what snacks to eat late in the day to help give me the energy needed for the run. I downloaded the book The New Rules of Marathon and Half-Marathon Nutrition by Matt Fitzgerald.  Plan to start reading that in the next week.
-Finding a balance
-My back.  This will be an ongoing challenge.  I'll talk about my back in another post.
-Cross-training.  It needs to be done.

Successes this week:
-Learning to look ahead, scheduling future appointments on non-running nights
-After a lot of internet searching and money spent, I finally found a sports bra I like and that works for me.

Ready to tackle Week 2...

Thursday Inspiration

It got above freezing today!

Goals

One can't enter into such a huge thing without a plan and some goals. I have my plan, here are my goals.

1. Put the work and effort in. I'm not going to able to run 13.1 miles if I don't do what's necessary to get there. 

2. Trust in the training plan. Experts developed it. They know what they're doing.

3. Remember there are people supporting me and want to help me succeed. 

4. Have fun.

5. Show up at the starting line in November. Don't give up.

6. Cross the finish line. With this being my first half marathon and doing anything of this sort, I have no idea what to expect. I have no time goals, except to finish within the required time. 

7. Enjoy it!!!

I plan to revisit and reevaluate these goals regularly to see how I'm doing and if anything needs to be adjusted or added.

Training calendar and motivation posted on the wall of my office.

It's go time.

Where to begin?

Step One: Sign up for half marathon.  Check!

Step Two: Train for half marathon.  What…???

So how does one begin training for a half marathon?  To answer this question, I turned to my answer for everything, the all-knowing Google, and found countless training plans.  All were somewhat similar in terms of timeframes and ramping up distance, but most assumed the person using the training plan has an established base of several miles.  Which I do not.   Does that mean I’m not ready for this distance?  Is my goal too lofty?  I kept searching around and finally found a plan for a true beginner runner.  Jeff Galloway, champion of the Run-Walk-Run method, has a 35 week plan, where your long run for Week One is 1 mile and slowly increases distance to 14 miles over time.  Hmmm, this seems doable.  And, I’m already ahead of the game because I can jump in at like Week 5. I can do this!

Here what the week looks like:

Monday: off

Tuesday: 30 min easy run

Wednesday: off

Thursday: 30 min easy run

Friday: walk

Saturday: off

Sunday: long runs, increasing distance each week

In looking at this plan compared to others, this seems a little too easy, but maybe it’s designed that way with the beginner in mind. There also seems to be a lot of idle time during the week, so I plan to mix in some cross training on the off days.  I’ll give it a try and see how it works for me and can always reevaluate if needed.  One thing I definitely plan to deviate from is the Run-Walk-Run method.  While I like this idea in theory, mixing in walk breaks with the running, I signed up to RUN a half marathon, and that’s what I intend to do.  If a walk break is needed, I’m okay with that; I won’t see myself as a failure because I had to walk for a moment or two, but to train to run 2 minutes, then walk 1 minute the entire half marathon is not an option.

What my challenge will be is sticking to my plan.  I get lazy.  I use “life” as an excuse and allow it to get in the way too easily.  While preparing myself physically, I also need to prepare myself mentally.  Make this my priority.  Not let life get in the way too easily.  Plan my day around my runs, instead of planning my runs around my day.  Hopefully, by blogging and putting this out there for all 2 people reading this, it will help in holding me accountable.

I know what my goal is, the end result.  I’m ready to put the work in.  Training officially starts on Monday.  Let’s do this.

So I did something crazy this morning...

My name is Kristin and I've always hated running.  My theory was why on earth would anyone want to run, when you can just as easily walk.  Running looks hard.  Running makes you hot and sweaty.  But then in 2013, I got it in my head that I wanted to become a runner.  So I dabbled in it, worked through Couch to 5k (sort of...) and tried to love it more than hate it. It sort of stuck, but I wasn't fully committed or hooked on it yet.  And then one day, I get this crazy thought in my head that I want to complete a half marathon. I laughed it off, attributed the crazy thought to lack of Diet Coke, and went on with my day.  Weeks went by, wasn't really running much at all, but that crazy thought kept nagging at me. So I took baby steps towards it- made an effort to run more, signed up for a couple 5k's, got fitted for a good pair of running shoes, started reading Runner's World magazine and running blogs...

And then this past Tuesday, I sent the following text to my sister:

Ignore my witty commentary on the Little Mermaid

Yep, I signed up for my first half marathon.. It's crazy and I'm nuts, but I'm also really really excited.  I WANT to do this.  I want to prove myself and anyone else who may doubt me wrong. I want people to be proud of me, I WANT to be proud of myself and my accomplishments. It's definitely going to be a lot of work and effort and I'll push and ask myself to do more than I've ever done before.  But I'm ready.

This blog will be my training journal, my story, of going from 0 to 13.1- the good, the bad, and the ugly...  So come on, run along with me and we'll do this together!