Running in the Rain

Today's Interesting Training Notes:

***Cotton is NOT king***
After two miles of training in the RAIN, I discovered what it must feel like to participate in a wet t-shirt contest.  (Not that I will *ever* actually know how that feels...)  The rain was chilly and felt way more fabulous than sweat but I definitely feel like there is room for some clothing purchases in the future.  My legs (in ancient lycra) were feeling just like normal while the top half of me (in a light cotton t-shirt and really old sportsbra) was sopping wet through to the skin.  That's not fun.  So.....new clothes for me soon!

***Training Necessity: Kick-Butt Husband***
Mike complimented me when I set a good pace and encouraged me when my pace slacked.  He even told me at one point when I snapped at him that I could snipe at him as long as I did it in my head because saying the words was interfering with my training.  I <3 my hubby!

***Is There a Water-Proof Gel?***
As my hair got wet and dripped into my face and eyes, I discovered that my hair gel did not have the best of tastes.  I shiver just thinking about that nastiness....

***The Positive***
The  most positive thing I learned.........jogging gets you much less wet than walking.  Thus, lesson learned is jog more...walk less!  :)

Tour of Lynbrook

My first FOUR MILE training started where Mike grew up, went past at least two ex-girlfriend's houses, and finished up back at his house.  Mike plotted out a route for me and then cheered me on during training.  He even did the entire route with me!  I <3 my hubbie for that!  I told him that I loved having him there cause he really made me stretch but that I hated having them there because it let me give voice to my inner whiner.  When I'm by myself, I have no one to complain vocally to except the squirrels and bunnies and trees (and I've already commented on that for myself).

That said though, I officially completed my first four mile training!!!  It hurt a bit by mile 3 and I had to do some stretching both in the middle and at the end to make sure I didn't sustain any injuries.  All in all, it was a great training session even if I was whiny throughout it! 

(And I got to see Mike's ex-girlfriends' houses...how bizarro is that???)

Back on Track

I had great plans of getting to New York and being SOOOO fit.  I'm not really sure what I was thinking.  Clearly, I was pie in the sky thinking and not thinking like a rational person.  Especially given the hamstring issue from earlier in the week.  That said, I enjoyed a nice 2 mile walk this morning.  Definitely faster than Tuesday when I discovered my injury but not quite up to speed yet.  And that's ok...it was my first day back to training and it was an unfamiliar route.  Best part about today's training....A PARTNER!!!  Mike went with me for some company.  It was awesome to have someone to talk to for the walk (as I have difficulties chatting with trees and bunnies).  It made the training go by so much faster.

Tomorrow, the schedule is for four miles.  I'm looking forward to the training but not sure if I should keep it at four miles since I've been off for the past few days.  Maybe I'll do some sort of time training for tomorrow for the first two miles and then take it easier for the last two miles..

Thoughts from my personal gallery of trainers??  :)

Today I Learn about Hamstrings

The hamstring is the muscle in the back of your thigh.  Did you all know that?  I bet you did....

I think somewhere in the back of my head I knew it too.  This morning, my hamstring muscle in my left leg decided to go on some sort of strike....

I got up super early this morning (6:30 is early) and was excited to complete my third 3-mile training session.  Sunday had been such a poo that I was excited to get going this morning and have a great new time and be able to maybe go more of the distance jogging than I did on Sunday.  I walked a little to warm up and then started to jog.  In the first ten seconds, my leg seized up and I had to walk.  I thought to myself that I just hadn't warmed up enough so I kept walking for about five more minutes and then started to jog again...I didn't even last ten seconds.  On the first full rotation of my legs, I had to stop and walk again.  So I aborted the session to two miles (since I didn't have time to WALK a full three at that pace) and walked the rest of the way, testing every five minutes or so as I went.

So all my experts (thanks Heidi, Brian, Mike and the nice fellows at Columbus Running Co) say that means I should rest it.  Ugh....I'm so terrified of taking a few days off because I have been doing so well.  But, I also don't want to end up so injured that I can't complete my race.

As a result...no more running for me until Saturday.  And then I'll get to run in NY!!!  :)

Should be fun....can't wait to get back out there!

When 68 Degrees Isn't

I did my first three mile trek outside today.  I spent some time on the USA Track and Field website planning a new route, I got up early, and I was excited (sort of) about going out for my THREE MILES!  I knew it would be a better training session than Thursday since I wasn't at the gym and I was more mentally prepared for it.

So the upshot of today's training was a new Personal Record (yay me!) and the discovery that if my phone says it is 68 degrees out, I should really look at the humidity before deciding what the actual temperature is.  Today's lesson...68 degrees with 94% humidity does not feel like 68 degrees.  It feels decidedly yucky and hot.  I can't imagine training in an actual hot weather climate.

I also got home from my run frustrated with myself.  I understand that I can't go my two mile pace for my entire three miles (yet) but I don't understand why I can't go my two mile pace for the first two miles of my three mile walk/jog.  Mike tried to explain it to me but it still seems like it might be all in my head and just something mental I need to break through to be able to complete. 

I made a few new additions to the blog in a countdown to my race, my PRs, and my weekly training schedule.   I'm most excited about updating the Personal Record part since I was able to set TWO personal records this week (one for the 2 mile and another for the 3 mile).  And the countdown timer took forever to get right....

Here's happy jogging and a happy rest day (or yoga maybe) tomorrow! 

Lessons Learned

This week marks the first full week of actual Half Marathon training.  The first three weeks of training were borrowed from a 5k training plan since my Half training plan only went 20 weeks.  Things I have learned so far this week...


1)  Intervals equal pain.
After reading some websites and getting suggestions from my guru, I decided to embark on my 2-mile training yesterday by doing interval training.  So, I took my 9 laps = 1 mile indoor track and alternated laps between walking and interval training.  On the interval training laps, I sprinted the straightaways and walked the curves.  And what did I get for my exhaustive efforts?  PAIN!  I woke up this morning with calf pain and arm pain.  I guess I expected the calf and shin soreness, but arms?  Who knew that you used your arm muscles to run??  I do now............and those 18 laps around the track taught me lesson #2..

2)  I can't count that high.
As most of you know, I have been doing a mix of training at the indoor track and outside.  This week, I learned that when there are more than four laps to a mile, counting laps while running is difficult.  Even with the aid of my split time counter on my heart rate monitor, I still found myself missing clicks of the split timer and lap counts.  As a result, I decided to try something different on day three for my first 3-mile training session.  What I learned from that.....

3)  Treadmills are NOT for running.
After a few weeks of training on the indoor track and outside, I decided to head back to the treadmill today for my first 3-mile.  Yeah........not such the greatest of ideas.  I couldn't find my own personal rhythm on the treadmill and I'm sure my walk time was way too slow when I was walking.  Add that to the pain from earlier in the week and it was the slowest training session I've had to date.  Good news though...I did finish my first 3-mile training session.  I think that finishing today was the bulk of the battle.  Sunday's 3-mile will be completed with actual jogging though.

After part one of week one of full training, I am sore and frustrated that I am not doing better.  I'm trying to figure out how to make my training more fun each session.  Intervals were fun AND they were hard...that's the best!  There also has to be a way to figure out the training sessions so that I am mixing hard shorter workouts with my long endurance runs with the midlevel runs.  I'm not sure what the best course of action is on those...I had worked out an initial idea of doing the following:

Monday: rest days
Tuesday: always a midlevel day from 3-5 miles: probably doing increasing time training (more time jogging each with with diminishing recovery time)
Wednesday: always 2 miles: these will be intervals...
Thursday: always a midlevel day from 3-5 miles: light days for recovery after intervals or time training...or strength training...
Friday: listed as rest/cross-training so I'm thinking yoga or something to keep me injury free!
Saturday: midlevel days...same as Tuesday
Sunday: long runs...just finish them using varying techniques as the runs get longer...

Not sure how that will work out but it's what I'm thinking anyway...here's to my yoga day tomorrow!