Lonest run EVER!

So I ran my longest run ever on Sat. It was an 11 miler! I thought it would take me around 2 hours to complete, but I was 10 min. shorter than that! WOO HOO!!! I don't know how some people do runs that long on a treadmill. It was hard enough for me outside. Jer helped me find a good loop to run and the route was really pretty. I actually felt a lot better afterwards than I thought I would. Hopefully I'll feel the same way after my scheduled run next Sat.

Treadmill Trouble

Well, I ran my 11 miles on Thursday. I was just cooling down when my treadmill shut completely down. It turns off after 100 minutes. I'm glad I was done and know about this now. I will have to plan accordingly for my longer runs. Today I ran a 5K. I wanted to run it in 25 minutes and I made it in 24:52. That was close. I'm not used to running outside in cold temps so my lungs are feeling it right now. Also, there was a nice hill at the beginning of the race. I sure need to run a few more of those. Overall it was a great week for running.

Milestone

I hit a milestone today! I ran 10 miles! I'm very proud of myself. I did, however, have to stop at 7.8 miles for an emergency bathroom break. I sure hope I don't have to take bathroom break during the race. It was hard to start again, but after about a half a mile I felt amazing and could go even stronger. I guess the break wasn't all that bad.

So This Is Why We Do It

As I was running last week, I couldn't help but think, "why am I running again? It hurts, I am not having any fun, and I think I just heard something pop!!!" But I continued on anyway. Then when my toe spontaneously turned black I had to give it a rest and I kinda missed it. Then today as I was running, things just clicked. I was running a good pace, my breathing was good, legs felt strong, I really felt like a runner. So I remembered why we do this crazy thing called running. I just have to remember this after those tough days!

Tired Arms

So last week I ran 7.5 miles for my long run. After I was done I felt pretty good. My legs weren't tired, my heart and lungs felt great, but my arms were tired. What!!! I try to shake them out every once in awhile, but I guess I need to do a better job with that. Perhaps I should lift weights! My arms are wimpy. Is this just me? I wonder how my arms will do tomorrow on my next long run.

Longer, Slower Run

So I decided to follow expert advise and run my long run much slower than normal. Guess what, it was still hard. Hopefully it will help me build my endurance though. I'm going to need it! :)

Getting There

So I feel like I'm finally getting the miles that I need to feel like I'm doing anything. I actually ran 2 days in a row, which for me is super weird. I hopefully will get my run in tomorrow, but right now all I can think about is how good a sleep in would feel! It's hard to get my lazy out of bed early every morning but so far I've done it for 2 weeks in a row. Go Me!!

Steady-state... come on steady legs

Tonight I ran a steady-state run as a stamina workout prescribed by McMillan's six step training program. I've been developing a pretty good base (at least I think it is good) so I decided to throw in a different type of workout.

The run went very well. McMillan suggests in the beginning you only do the steady-state portion for 25 minutes to get used to running this way; however, thinking I was tougher than I am, I ran for 40 minutes. It was a great idea at the time but now my legs are feeling quite fatigued.

The good news is that now I get to enjoy a nice recovery run tomorrow without feeling like a slacker!

Distance PR of sorts

Today's long run signified both the last individual run and the most weekly miles I've had since breaking my foot last July. It was a 10 mile run giving me 33.5 miles for the week.

The run went well, I ran the first 9ish miles at a nice LSD type pace. I look forward to the excuse each week to run slow, but while doing I keep thinking that if I ran faster I would be done! :) Anyway, the last part of the run I gave into the temptation to pick it up and ran at a 7:30 pace.

Katie said her run felt so good she wanted to keep going. Mine only felt great when I was done!

As a side note, I agree with Vitamin.

Great run

I had a great run this morning. I ran 5 miles at a 8:35 pace. This is amazing for me. I felt so good and wanted to keep going. I only do yoga on Fridays before my longer runs on Saturday. I think this has something to do with it. I feel refreshed and ready to go!

Three Words

Body Glide ROCKS!!!!

An evening of workouts

This evening was a busy one for me. I didn't get up nearly as early as I had hoped, so instead of running earlier in the day, I ran after work. I had a great run of 7.5 miles, things felt good and I felt as if I could go further.

After my run I went to Midway UT (we run right past there near the end of our race) and ice skated on the outdoor rink. It was approximately 0 degrees F (I abbreviate that word as I have no idea how to spell it).

It was a good evening although I'm a bit fatigued--but I'm not sore.

Not to Shabby

So I decided that I need to see if I can run as fast as I need to without the treadmill keeping my pace. I went to the track and decided to run 3 miles. I started out pretty slow and then kept building and building. Of course I was going faster than I normally do because there were people there!! Anyway, I made it a lot quicker than I thought. I was actually just a tad over 10 min. per mile. Now I know some of you will think that is awfully slow, but for me it's quite fast. Especially since I've only been running for a few months. Go MIN!!

So, I was just wondering. How many miles should you put on a pair of running shoes before you should buy some more? I was thinking that with all of the training coming up, I might need some new shoes. I enjoy my New Balance, but wonder if anyone else has had some amazing shoes that I should try.
On a different note. I have days were I dread running. I dread getting my body moving. I always force myself to run and then I really feel good. Am I alone out there with this problem? What is the best solution?

What's the deal?!?!

I have discovered an interesting phenomenon while walking to work over the last week. The only time a car passes me is when there is one going the other direction as well so that they both pass me at the same time. I can't explain it, I don't see very many cars on my walk to work. It is a rather unnerving experience on narrow snow covered roads. To test the frequency of this, yesterday I counted three times that cars passed me, twice out of these three times it was a double pass (one of them was a snow plow--yikes).

I've noticed the same thing while running. Is this just some crazy extrapolation of Murphy's Law or what?

Some days you have it...

...and some days you don't. Today I didn't. I finished off a week of running everyday with a run of 8 miles. The day had been quite hectic and it was a tough run for me. I desperately wanted to be done after 4 miles, but gutted through it and now I'm glad.

Training is in full swing for the WBR, I'm planning only 2 non-Sunday rest days between now and June 21 and on those days I plan to be hiking the Grand Canyon.

Hopefully, we are going to get a few more bloggers from our team posting here as we are beginning to sort out who will be running and who won't be.

I'm here

So it has been a while since I've posted.  Around Thanksgiving time I was having problems with my ITBS again, very frustrating.  I got a band for my knee and it has made all the difference.  I've decided to train a little different now.  I'm going to go harder and longer, but I plan on taking days off to allow for recovery.  I'll be doing some cross training in between, and so far it has been working out pretty well, I've improved more than I ever have before.