Ah, some lovely pre-spring weather....

I have been blessed to be able to run outside several times in the last few weeks.  If we get home fast enough, I can get in three to four miles before it gets too dark.  I'm loving it!  However, my knees aren't loving it.  It's taking them a little bit to get used to the pavement again.  They are feeling how I used to feel when I first started increasing my mileage.  The same for my left hip and tailbone--all sore.  This is what I get for wussing out on a treadmill.  I'm hoping that the aches subside soon, and that this is all temporary as I adjust to the pavement again.

We are well on our way through our training schedule for the half marathon.  There is less than six weeks to the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon in Springfield, Illinois.  It will be my first--hopefully, not my last half.  I have heard that the course is a tough one, with all the hills after the first six miles of relatively flat course. 

In my mind, I am running this race to finish; to say that I've done it; to accomplish a goal of mine.  What I am NOT running it for is:  to set a PR for a half marathon; to compete with Shane or any other person running this race; or to kill myself trying.  I am going to try to enjoy every minute of it, and not let anything psyche me out from enjoying the thrill of accomplishment.  Sure, there will be some pains along the way.  It wouldn't be a challenge if there weren't.

During the training, we scheduled a 5K race in place of our long run a reduced mileage week.  We ran it at Washington Park, the site of our first 5K race back in October.  I am pleased to say that I set a new PR for myself at 26:29 (8:31/mile).  This is a full two and a half minutes faster than just three months prior.  I'm very happy with that.  I can't wait to see what the continued training and the addition of speedwork will do to my next official 5K time!

I have been enjoying the addition of speedwork to my weekly routine.  I wasn't really sure what intervals or tempo runs were all about.  Even reading about them in articles didn't truly tell me what they were or what pace I should be doing.  I found the SmartCoach application for my iPhone and it takes all the guessing out of that.  All you do is put in your time for a recent race, what you are training for, and how long you have to train.  It puts together a schedule and tells you what paces you should be running for each day.  It's pretty much fool proof (except that I find it hard to run so slow on easy runs--call me a fool).  I'm running tempos around 8:45 and speedwork at 8:15.  It's been great to see the pace getting easier as I incorporate this training into my schedule. 

If you have been running without a plan, I seriously suggest looking into it if you care at all about running any faster.  And why wouldn't you care?  Even if you are mainly running for exercise, your body gets more efficient as time goes by.  That means you are burning fewer calories doing the same exact thing as time goes by.  Mix it up a little.  Change up your tempo and pace.  It's amazing what shaking up your routine can do for mind, body and spirit!

Bring on the spring!  I'm ready to RUN!

This weather sucks!

It's been staying light out a little longer every day.  It's almost to the point that if I really hurried home, I could possibly get in a short run before dark.  However, as soon as I that thought occured to me, the weather gods decided I should be punished for it!  The severe cold (today it feels like -11 degrees) isn't as much as an issue as the 12-15 inches of snow it dumped all over central Illinois this week.  But the snow and ice, paired with low temperatures and howling wind, and we are looking at slippery conditions with potential for frostbite within minutes.  I love to run outside, but I'm not going to do it like that.  I'm not there...yet.   And I value my extremities.

So, back on the treadmill for me.  You know it wouldn't be as bad, but our treadmill is cheap, used and runs horribly.  You have to land just right with each step or the belt bogs down.  I've adjusted my running to make sure my footfalls land right beneath my body and stride through smoothly to eliminate the bogging down.  Thankfully, I don't think this is a bad thing and might even help me smooth out my stride when I head back to the pavement on long run weekends.  Since I hate the treadmill so much (except for interval training), it's even harder to justify spending a ton of money on a really good one. 

Sigh.  I can't wait for early spring we've just been notified about.  That groundhog better be right!!

Beginning to train for the Half (looking for balance)

Here we go...the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon is about 10 weeks away.  We've selected a training schedule, and it "looks" doable.  However, I'm still struggling to balance work, being a mom and wife, life in general and fitting in my runs.  It's not easy.  I'm feeling a little overwhelmed.

Take last week for instance.  I was supposed to run three miles on Monday, Thursday, Friday, speed work on Tuesday and run six miles on Saturday.  I didn't do anything Thursday and Friday.  The days are getting longer, but it's still not light out for long enough when I get home to run outside.  I still loathe the treadmill.  I have volleyball on Thursday nights, so I can't really do both.  I might need to move my day off to Thursday.  Whatever.  I'm not going to go crazy with all of the details of the schedule.  As long as I get my miles in, and I'm not over doing it, I should be okay on April 2nd, right?  Yes, I know I'm rambling!

Hopefully, before too long, I'll be able to run outside after I get home from work again.  However, I've found that I like doing my speed work on the treadmill.  It measures everything out nicely, and I have no choice but to maintain my speed.  On Tuesday, I did 5x400 repeats at 7:30 pace.  This was the first time doing any speed work.  It was good.  I'm still not sure exactly what pace I should be running and how long my recovery time should be between repeats, but I'm looking into it.  I'm also trusting my body to tell me some things.  I want it to be hard, but I don't think I should be killing myself either. 

Saturday's long run was good, but I was struggling a lot at the end.  I couldn't wait until it was over.  I could feel it in my legs and my lungs.  It almost felt like there was so much moisture in the air, combined with a 20 degree temperature, that my lungs couldn't process it all.  I never really asked Shane what pace we were doing.  I learned my lesson and quit asking.  That removes many of the mental issues I have.  It quiets "the voice". 

Another thing that I've been struggling with lately is weight gain.  After I got through the holidays, I weighed myself and was pleasantly surprised that I didn't really gain that much weight.  I was a couple of pounds over the top of my goal range, but I figured once we started training, those pounds would go away.  Prior to getting pregnant three years ago, I had reached the highest weight I had ever been, which was about 40 lbs over my college weight.  I was a little too skinny in college, so when I lost 25 lbs, I was happy and never wanted to return.  Shortly thereafter, I got pregnant and gained nearly 60 lbs.  Thankfully, it wasn't long before I was back down to my goal weight.  I've remained there for about two years....until now.

My goodness, running must make me hungry!!  I've gained five pounds in the three weeks since my first post-holiday weigh in.  I don't know what's going on, but it has got to stop!  I was happy to not be counting calories while maintaining a decent weight.  But now I've got to start counting again, and I'm not thrilled.  I have to figure out how to fuel myself properly (calories in) for the amount of calories I'm burning during runs (calories out).  Another balance issue!

Balance, balance, balance; why can't it just be easy?  Where is that stupid "easy" button from those commercials?  I could use one right about now.

Getting back on the horse

Metaphorically speaking, of course.  Technically, I never fell completely off, but lately I've been pushing my limits--maybe I'm still dangling from the stirrup?  Whatever it was, I probably needed to get back track, and SOON, before I lost my nerve! 

What I'm talking about is the recovery from the Frostbite Festival 10 mile race.  There's this period after a race that you pushed farther than previous.  We needed to adjust our training to allow ourselves to recover from the race without completely falling off course.  We hadn't experienced this need to recover before, mentally or physically.

Physically, I wasn't too bad.  I was very tired that day after the race, and I suffered some stomach issues that I still don't know if it was race-related, something I ate, or maybe that stomach flu going around.  I had little aches and pains here and there, a little overall fatigue, but mostly, I felt good.  It felt good to reach a new milestone--literally. 

Mentally, it was a little different story.  Up until that day, we had been preparing for a race, that one, and the others that preceded it.  We had discussed taking a little "break" through the remainder of December.  Still running, but not training like we have been.  This was a hard mental adjustment.  First, I was totally fine with taking time off of training, however, I started feeling like a big slacker.  For months, I was focused on a goal, and I'm a very goal oriented person.  Now our next goal was so far away and we're taking time off of focused training, I didn't know how to handle it in my head. 

With it still being very dark, cold and icy conditions, I ran a few evenings on the treadmill.  It was horribly boring as usual, but it didn't seem any harder than usual.  Within the two weeks following the race, I had only logged in about 15 treadmill miles!  Not acceptable, but I told myself that I would focus on training for the half marathon after the holidays were over.  As each day passed, the idea of not running got easier and easier.  I skipped treadmill workouts or cut them short with very little guilt. 

When it came time to the first weekend run with Shane, we decided on five miles.  It's amazing how quickly that little voice in my head gains new strength when I haven't been training.  Before the run even began, I was concerned about how I would do or feel during the run.  My insecurities crept up on me.  When we started our run, I could feel that the ease that I had before the Frostbite Festival was not there.  My legs felt a little weird, and my breathing and the sound of my feet on the pavement were nearly unfamiliar to me.

I was feeling a little strain on my legs and lungs when the GPS alarm let us know that we hit a mile.  I was afraid to ask Shane what our pace was.  If we were slower, then I would be shocked at how my body was reacting.  If we were fast, I would start freaking out about burning out too soon.  It was a no-win situation in my head.  Finally, I asked.  We ran the first mile in 9:16.  My head immediately started throwing doubts at me.  It told me that I couldn't sustain it.  It told me I couldn't do it.  It told me I would never make it.  I pushed forward anyways, but intentionally slowed the pace.  I should have never asked.  I would have been better not knowing.  Ignorance is bliss, they say. 

About half way in the run, Shane asked me how I was doing.  I told him I was okay, but I was battling my head demons and feeling overall fatigue.  My legs felt like I was wearing ankle weights!  It had been a while since I'd had a bad run, I nearly forgot what it was like.  I had really enjoyed almost every single outdoor run in the weeks prior to the Frostbite Festival.  So, Shane and I started talking.   The conversation helped the little voice in my head shut up. 

I realize that I talk a lot about the voices in my head.  When I talk about it, I'm not literally hearing a voice telling me these things.  When I write about the voice, it is representing my self-doubt that I have struggled with most of my life.  There were very few things in life that I felt that I could do no wrong.  Almost everything else, I told myself, I couldn't be good enough.  I commonly used that to force myself to step up.  However, I also used it avoid failure by not trying something in the first place.  I'm not crazy (most of the time), I assure you.  We all have those little voices in our heads, it's part of our conscience and our thought processes.  I just choose to give it a very distinct voice when I write about it.

If I didn't think about it too much, the run got much easier.  My legs didn't feel as heavy, and my breathing was smoothing out.  Before I knew it, we were near the end of our run.  We went a little past five miles and slowed to a walk.  It felt good to slow down, but it also felt good to run again. 

I realize there is a balance that can be achieved.  I can allow myself time off of training, but I need to keep moving somehow in the meantime.  In these darkest days of the year, I will have forgiveness of my horrible (non) training schedule.  It's okay.  I'm not training for Olympic time trials, I'm just enjoying the run.  It's much better that way.

Consolidating

So. I did it. I ran two miles. Goal one accomplished! It was a great feeling. The question was, could I do it again? So I decided to set another goal. To make two miles seem like no big deal. Basically, I just wanted to consolidate my gains, and start running that 2.5 miles several times a week.

I was still was seeking the 5k mark in my head. Having made 2.5, it actually seemed possible I would be able to run a 5k. This was the goal I had wondered if it was possible for me to reach. It seems a little odd that I actually had accomplished close to this goal in only a couple months time.

But I digress...

So I started running every other day to my mother in laws place of business on my lunch hours. I ran down sidewalks, alleyways, backroads. Summer was coming on, and it was hot. Sometimes my legs felt like lead and I would want to quit. I had to keep chanting encouragement to myself in my head, "just a little further just a little further..." The first several weeks of this were hard. Sometimes it seemed like I'd never run a block let alone two miles. My legs & feet would ache, I would struggle to breath, and I'd just feel like giving up. It was somewhere around this time I started learning about technique, and gear. I actually brought a pair of shorts and tshirt to run in. I went out and bought my first pair of running shoes. ($100!!!) Wow! What a huge difference it made! It seems so obvious but having never ran I just really didn't think about it. Wearing the right gear is important!

I started adding a little more distance to my route to get closer to 3 miles and it wasn't long before I reached that goal as well. I knew it was time. It was time to sign up for a race!!! But which one? I wasn't sure, but I was sure about one thing, this running thing was starting to get in my blood!!!

The Frostbite Festival - 10 miles

If you would have told me a few months ago that I would be preparing for a ten mile race in December, I would have thought you were nuts.  For real--absolutely, certifiably looney.  Maybe I'm the one who's nuts?  But here we are, the first week of December and after training for about five weeks, we were getting ready to do it!

I was pretty nervous about this one.  The longest run we'd done prior to that morning was eight miles the previous weekend.  Could I go two miles longer?  I felt great at the end of eight miles, so I was pretty sure that I could.  My main worries going into the race were mostly about the cold and the hills that so many people warned us about.  I hadn't trained on hills much since daylight savings time ended.  It's pretty hilly out by our house, but I couldn't run those roads in the dark.  Our weekend runs had been mostly flat.  Would those hills give me problems?  I guess there's only one way to find out.

Our goal, as with any new distance, was to finish.  What would be a good pace goal?  We were thinking between 9:30 and 10:00 for such a long race.  I'd be happy with that.  We never really paid attention to pace during our long runs, so honestly I didn't know.

About ten days before the race, the weather reports were predicting mid-to-upper 40's and sunny.  I knew it was too good to be true.  As we got closer, the temperature forecasts dropped and wind forecasts increased.  We both busted our budgets to buy new base layers to keep us warm.  I'd say they were well worth it!  We got up that morning to a frosty 14 degrees outside.  It would only get to 24 degrees that day, not to mention the windchill, which would make the "feels like" temperature top out at 11 degrees.

We pulled up to the race location and there were runners everywhere.  As 9:00 a.m. approached, we headed to the starting line.  The crowds of runners packed together getting ready for the start, and after a few announcements, we were off!

The course started in a neighborhood on the west side of Springfield. We wove through the streets of suburban houses and then came down the first major hill to exit the neighborhood.  This one will not be fun on our way back!  We headed out to the major road heading west out of town.  The police department had the roads blocked off from traffic (thank you, officers!).  I'm sure we made many people late for church that morning.  There were several people along the course cheering the all of us on and ringing bells.

We hit the first mile marker and those running two-miles only turned around.  I can't remember our time exactly, but I think it was around nine minutes.  We started fast out of the gates on this one too, but we intentionally slowed it down early because we knew we had a long way to go.  Not long after the first mile marker, we were headed out of town.  The subdivisions fell away and there were more open fields.  The winds didn't have anything to stop them.  As we cross the last major road heading out of town, we start down the first of a series of big, long hills.  Man, I really should have trained on some hills!

The photo taken by Alex.  See that hill we just came down?
We have to go back up on the way back!

At the bottom, the Hardy Breed photographer snaps some shots of us running by, a little further down, Shane's running friend Alex takes a few pictures of us.  What the heck do you do on those types of pictures?  Act natural and don't look at the camera?  Smile and wave?   What?!  Alex cheers us on as we get ready to head back up the big hill.  At the top of the hill, my legs start complaining to me that I didn't properly train for this race.  I can't believe that they are already feeling fatigued, and we haven't even reached three miles.  Lesson learned, I guess.

We pass the people blaring Hawaiian and Beach Boys music wearing grass skirts around mile three.  At about three and a half, we pass the port-o-potty (make a mental note, just in case) and the mini-van blaring Christmas music.  Just about then was when the first race leaders passed us heading back.  The first guy had the lead by a pretty wide margin.  I realized that I didn't like the perception that we were nearing the turn-around that the runners heading the other way caused!  We still had more than a mile to go.  About this time, the first female runner passed us going the other way.

We finally saw the turn-around at mile number five. I don't know what it is about that halfway mark, but it definitely re-energizes a person. It seemed like we picked up the pace a little. As we pass others still heading to the turn-around, it somehow helps to know that we have a shorter way to go than they do. It didn't take long for the number of people still heading that way to thin out. There were a couple of groups of walkers at the very end. I can't imagine what time they will be getting back to the finish line.

It seems that a 10 mile race really raises the caliber of the participants. We were about in the middle of the pack that day. In the 5K races, we finished much closer to the front. I would say that there's probably a lot of people out there who would sign up for a 5K race with little or no training, and many people, especially young people with young legs, could run it without a problem. When you get up to ten miles though, I think there's little chance that the average person could run that without training at least a little bit. I definitely wouldn't advise it.

As we made our way back, I knew those big hills were coming after mile seven. We were still feeling pretty good all things considered. I didn't feel as well as I did after our eight mile run the week before, but I was sure it was due to the hills. I knew I could make three more miles though. We headed down the first big hill. At the bottom, Alex was still there, sitting in his car with his kids. They hopped out when they saw us coming and began yelling and cheering for us. We would need it. We headed back up.

My legs began their protest.  Really?  You really want to run uphill after running for more than seven miles?  We kept pushing. I tried to think of other things.  We shortened our strides and shuffled the long way back up to the top.  Ahhhh, flat road again.  Thank goodness!!  There were only a couple of hills left, and that was the largest and longest one.

We hit mile eight and headed back into town.  We had never ran this far before and it was almost like my body sensed that.  It seemed that all my little aches and pains started to speak up.  My toes and the middle of my left foot seemed to be cramping a little.  I felt something blister-like popping up on the right.  I was feeling a little twinge of pain in the my lower back.  I had the foot/toe aches before, but the back-thing was new.  I kept on pushing through it.  There's only two miles to go.  That's an easy run!

About this time, another runner joined us, and we began talking about races.  He had just done a marathon in Greece.  That would be awesome!  We discussed other things like Colorado and different places we had traveled.  We talked about doing triathlons and what that was like. It was a welcome break from the monotony that we seemed to be in.  It took our minds off the aches that were creeping in.  After a short while, he said he had a little left in him and pulled ahead of us.  Shortly thereafter, we hit the final mile marker.

Only one mile left.  I could barely believe it.  In about ten minutes, we'd be done.  I knew there was one major hill left: the one that I noticed leaving the subdivision.  We reached that hill and pushed ourselves to move forward.  It wasn't as hard as I imagined earlier.  I had a renewed energy knowing that we were so close to the finish.  We got to the top of the hill--no more hills!  It was getting closer, I could feel it.  My feet were really starting to cramp.  A supporter on the corner yells "Great job! Only two blocks left!".  I don't know what happened, but hearing that there were only two blocks, I got even more energy and my pace picked up some more. 

We turned the final corner, and I could see it.  I could see the finish line!  My pace picked up even more.  I wanted to stop running so badly that I began to run as fast as I could with all that I had left.  I ran across the finish with all the cheering supporters there and I was done! 

It felt amazing to stop running and to know what we had just accomplished.  I gave Shane a big hug.  We did it!  We noticed the frozen curls of hair hanging out from beneath his hat reminding us of just how cold it was that day.  For as much as I am a wuss about the cold, the base layers of running clothes made a huge difference!  I highly recommend spending the extra money on them because the cold was the least of my concerns that day.

Finishing this race felt different from the 5Ks.  It was a race of endurance, not of speed.  It was telling yourself that you could do something harder than you previously thought was possible.  The sense of accomplishment was better than I could expect.  I left this race knowing that I would be running the half marathon in April.  Three more miles and four months to prepare seemed totally possible now. 

Official time on this race was 1:43:36, 155th overall, 51st female and 10th in my division.  I'm not going to complain about that at all!

Shane and I with our friend Rick Snow who also ran that day. 
On a side note, Rick had a heart attack ten months earlier.
He is the poster child for heart attack recovery!! 

The First Run(s) - Shane

So the decision was made. I was going to attempt to see if I could work myself up to two miles. It seemed impossible! But so many people run marathons, surely I could do 2 miles, right?

To be honest, I don't really remember which run was first exactly, or even the rough date it happened. I just remember my goal: to run from my work (downtown Springfield, IL) to my mother-in-law's business about 2.5 miles away.  I would walk the first 1/2 mile to warm up, then run as far as I could.

I had no plan really, knew nothing about technique, gear, shoes, nothing!  Just run as far as I could.  I'm not sure if I was smoking when I first started this challenge.  I had been quitting and starting, quitting and starting for months, sometimes for a week or two, sometimes longer. I know part of the time I smoked in the early phases.

I think the first few times I attempted to run I made it no more than a 1/4 mile at most. It was amazing how fast I got out of breath, and how my feet would ache after just a few minutes. It was miserable!!!  The distance was 2.3 miles from work to destination. Considering I'd walk the first half mile, I was really attempting about 1.8 miles. The first few runs, I managed about half a mile roughly. I would take a quick break (stoplight) and then try to do some more. Sometimes I managed another half mile before my mind and body said OK, that's ALL I CAN TAKE!!! Then I would walk until I recovered. If I had anything left in the tank, I'd try to get a little bit more in before arriving at my destination.

The time of year was spring, and some days it would be in the upper 70's.  I'd arrive hot, out of breath, covered in sweat, my face red from the effort. My mother-in-law would look at me like I was a little crazy, running and walking all that way. I would wear my street clothes: jeans, a t-shirt, and my regular tennis shoes. Thankfully I don't have to be in close contact with anyone at work so it didn't really matter that all I could do was sponge off before heading back to work.

Those first few weeks, it was just a test of my own determination. To even start jogging on my route took some will power, knowing the level of discomfort I would be experiencing.  At some point I realized, I was accomplishing nearly a mile non-stop. In those early days I used google maps and the car odometer to try to guess my distances. For some reason I believed the distance to be about three miles. Now I knew I could make it to a certain cross street without stopping. A few days later I made it a little farther. One day I would make a big gain, then spend a few days trying to reproduce that gain. It would be frustrating because after the big gain it would often seem just as difficult to make it that far again. It was!

I now know aerobic fitness and distance endurance comes in waves, and this is exactly how we train for long distance. You slowly increase the distance for a couple weeks, then a short week, then small increases again... This is how you train for a marathon as well.

I believe it was about the third week when it happened, I made it past any previous point and still had something left in the tank, I was close, less than half a mile away. I kept at it, running shorter on breath and my legs on fire, but I wasn't giving up, and voila! I made it. I had probably run close to two miles. I was so proud of myself! I told myself, if I can do it once, I can do it again!

I had managed to reach my goal in under a month. Not bad. I was pretty proud of myself, for having set a goal, fought my way through and accomplished it. This is what it's all about!!!