MIA

I have gone two weeks without running at.ALL!

The week after my half marathon, I started getting weird chest pains and I could feel my heart beating out of rhythm. It wouldn’t last long, just enough to feel uncomfortable, but it happened off and on all week. So I decided to stick with walking and took a week off to rest. That seemed to help and I think it’s gone now. Instead of going to the doctor, you know, like a logical person,I chose to just wait and see. I’m pretty sure my electrolytes got very messed up during the half which resulted in my heart doing jumping jacks. I’ve never had any issue with electrolytes before, but in the last six months, I’ve made the switch to a low sodium diet which makes me think I should have considered that before sweating balls for 2 hours. Whoops. Now I know, right???

I have decided to do the Insanity workout for the month of May to rest my knee. Once June comes, I’ll throw a couple of runs back in the mix and see how my knee holds up. But for now, Shaun T. and his “insanity” is making me work! It’s been a really great way to cross train with my own body for resistance and it’s nice to be done in 45 minutes a day. 

Hope the trail is treating all my running friends right!

The good, the bad, and the ugly

I survived the Capital City Half Marathon. Barely. It was a rough one. There is nothing more frustrating than spending lots of time training, doing your best to avoid injury (or bouncing back from one), and working really hard to improve  your time, only to head into a race and have it go south on you.

I had to dig deep, fight off some nasty self-doubt, push-off knee pain, and mentally battle with myself, but I did make it across the finish line. I’m having a hard time being proud of myself rather than berating myself for not doing the best that I could. That’s one thing that I think we runners can easily slip into. Overlooking what we accomplished and fixating on what we didn’t do. At least, that’s how I am.

The good – lots of  restrooms, water and Powerade stations, plus Gu gels at mile 8. (Or somewhere around there. It became a mental haze.) Miles 1-4 were also good. I set my goal to hit 2:15 or less, meaning I need to hit a 10:15 pace or faster. I set off with a good, steady start of sub-10:00 miles and I felt really good.

The bad – Shortly into mile 4 – 5, I started to overheat. The weather was really humid and muggy, with rain looming and I wonder if that contributed to the dizziness and light headedness I started to get. I could feel my face burning and so I decided to scale back and slow down a bit. Not long after, I started to get some discomfort in my left knee, the one with ITB issues, and so I decided to stay slower and keep my pace steady. Mile 5, 6, 7 were pretty bad. My knee pain got worse, my light headedness got worse, and my chest started to tighten up a little. Thankfully, it started to rain around mile 6 which was wonderful to cool down a bit. I think somewhere around the mile-5 mark I started adding in walk intervals.

The ugly – Everything after mile 8. For whatever reason, I just was not able to recover. I spent the second half of the race doing walk/jog intervals. Interestingly, there were about 40 other runners around me who seemed to be doing the same thing, as we kept passing and catching up with each other. I distinctly started getting really awful knee pain around mile 10. Walking made the ITB feel the worst, so I would jog for a while, but then my knees would start to ache from pounding the pavement, so I would have to walk, which made my ITB hurt, and so on. Such a crappy cycle. The rain never let up so I spent the second half wet, miserable, and switching from feeling very sorry for myself to feeling really pissed at myself, that I couldn’t suck it up and just get it done. I really considered walking off the course and being done.

Somehow, I did dig deep and convince myself to finish and I’m glad I was able to cross the finish line. This was hands down the most grueling, mentally and physically exhausting race I’ve ever done. After some lunch, ibuprofen and ice, and a long shower, I got in a great nap and woke up feeling much better. I did spend the rest of the weekend taking it easy and napping. My hips and hamstrings are sore today, but surprisingly my knees feel better. Just a little stiff.

I think I’ve learned that the half is probably just too long for me. After my first, my knees felt bruised for a week and I’ve got a history of knee issues which have plagued me since high school. I want to keep running enjoyable and relaxing, so I’m going to take the month of May (mostly) off from running and focus on getting my knees back into tip-top shape. (There are some 5Ks I want to still run.) Once I’m back in the saddle, I’m going to try to make myself stick with 5 and 10Ks.

Now that it’s all done, I can sort of chuckle about what I’ve dubbed “The Race from Hell” and feel glad that I pushed through to finish, but at the time I just wanted to cry with self-pity and loathing. I have to add – the race was very well-organized and everyone else seemed to have a good time.  I would definitely recommend the Capital City Half Marathon to anyone looking for a good race in central Ohio.

Locked ‘n loaded?

Do you carbo load before a big race? I never really paid much attention to this, since I generally eat a diet with sufficient carbs anyway, but in researching this, it seems like more runners load up than I thought…

In my head I tend to shrug off my own half marathons as a non-event, since so many runners are a. faster than me, b. seem like more serious runners, c. complete greater distances, or d. all of the above. I need to acknowledge that I am pushing myself more than I normally would to do this and give myself a break. 13.1 miles is a big deal! (Especially mid-race when you hit miles 8-9-10! I’m dreading this a little. )

I’ve been working to hydrate really well this week and I think I will put some extra emphasis on carbs tomorrow, the day before race day. From what I’ve read, the day and night before seem to be when you really want to get them in.

Any tips on carbo loading? What’s your opinion? Help a sister out.

Two Mile Tuesday

After a weekend of crappy, cold, and rainy weather I got a nice two-mile run in. I (foolishly) thought it would be fun to do some sprints so I did a nice one-mile run to a local track. Then, the self-inflicted torture started.

How in the hell did I sprint in high school?!?! I used to knock out 100- and 200-yard sprints. After just trying to do a 100-yard dash I was sucking down air!! For a girl who thought she was in decent shape, I sure have a long way to go.

Since race day is this Saturday, I called a spade a spade and did an easy run back home. I must admit, that is one of my favorite things about running; you can always find a way to push yourself.

Miles: 2.00     Time: 20:15       

Splits: mile 1= 9:55, mile 2 = 10:19

Well…shoot.

Just got my “reject” letter from Nike. I did NOT get into the Nike Women’s Marathon. Looks like I’ll be hunting out a different full this fall.

Congrats and good luck to those lucky ladies who did get in!

…I wonder if it’s because I bad-mouthed my Nike+…

Food for Thought Friday

Forrest Gump: “Now you wouldn’t believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going somewhere, I was running!”

Happy trails, friends! Wishing you a weekend full of sunny weather, mild breezes, and great runs.

I was running!

I got a really good run in last night. It was one of those runs that just felt good. Like, I-had-a-really-really-long-hectic-day-and-just-need-to-run good.

The sun was shining, traffic was quiet on the side streets, and the breeze felt wonderful. I’m not sure why or how, but I definitely stepped up my usual training pace. Stupidly, I forgot my ITB brace and didn’t realize it until I was 1/2 mile out. Doh! I decided not to go back for it and just pushed myself forward. (Probably a bad idea…) I did a longer than normal cool-down walk, a really good post-run stretch, and I’m icing that knee so I should be in the clear.

I love runs like yesterday’s.

Miles: 3.01       Time: 29:14        Best Pace: 7:30        Avg Pace: 9:45

Splits: mile 1= 9:09, mile 2 = 10:27, mile 3 = 9:39