training day number fifty-two

today's run offered more new and fresh challenges. wow. it is amazing how each day is different. (smile)

i was up late with work and when the 5:00 am alarm came, i was like "do i run today?" but i got my ass in gear. i was tired from this infection i have had the past week. i went to urgent care yesterday and got a shot and antibiotics. so i had an excuse but i was not buying it.

then on mile six i had to pee and there was no holding it. i found a tree and let it go hopefully no one took any iphone photos. oh well.

so i made all my runs this week. i feel myself getting stronger. and i am ready for another pair of running shoes. (smile) $$$

run:

duration: 1:16:39
distance: 7.15 mi (goal 7 miles)
pace: 10:43 min/mi
calories: 1071


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216817751

weight: 180 lbs

days to go until race day: 72

total miles this week: 21.42

training day number fifty-one

is there a lesson in trying to run when you don't feel so good? i guess there is but the jury is still out. today's run was a bit different than any other run. the world felt different and i am not sure it was just me. i know i did not sleep as well as i could. for the past few days i have had an infection that i assume is making me tired. i got some good rest over the weekend but it still persisted on monday. i went to work and worked out will a little less energy than normal. then i went to bed early planning to get up and run before work.

i did not get up early for two reasons. the first reason was due to being awake a big portion of the night either cold, hot or sweaty. the second reason was due to sunrise being later in the morning. running in the dark of morning is ok but with students back there is more traffic. i need to make good, safe decisions, right?

as i headed out on today's run i did not have a lot of energy. but i wanted to run as fast as i could to get to work on time or close to it. so i'm going good, then i get hungry. i get over that and i'm going good again, then i get thirsty. both never happened before. so i fight through those and then i get some pain which i have had before and i know what to do. when i focus on my core and breathing it helps with pain and gives me a burst of energy to keep going.

today's goal was 6 miles. i wanted to run an extra mile but i did not want to risk injury after feeling so tired during the run. i also was at a point where it was time to get to work.

as of now, i'm in "serious training" (diet, sacrifices, etc.) because i'm committed to the obx marathon. i have to be healthy and ready on race day.

run:

duration: 1:06:05
distance: 6.24 mi (goal 6 miles)
pace: 10:35 min/mi
calories: 931


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/216018662

weight: 178 lbs

training day number fifty

today marks 50 training runs so far. wow.

i was supposed to run 7 miles today but i could not get running further out of my head so i ran an extra mile. i was also tired. i was so tired after mile 1 that i had to push myself to keep going so many times. i finally settled back into a jog and enjoyed it.

after i got home, we had breakfast with coffee but took a nap until noon.

run:

duration: 1:31:13
distance: 8.03 mi (goal 7 miles)
pace: 11:22 min/mi
calories: 1176


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/215443461

weight: 179 lbs

training day number forty-nine

today's run marks the end of the summer fun party season. i committed to take my training to the next level. this means focused eating and cutting way back on anything not healthy. as the training runs will get longer, i need to feel good starting out instead of being in a recovery mode from the night before. this will be a challenge but i can get it done.

i ran well today. i did have more pain than usual but nothing too bad. i wore new shoes that are really cool. these shoes have a light fabric and just string for laces. they are very comfortable but i wonder how long they will last with my abuse.

i did run slower today as i was not feeling it after last night's gallery opening and big late dinner. i was feeling full and had to push more than usual to keep going. but one foot in front of the other, i got there. (smile)

run:

duration: 1:32:43
distance: 8.05 mi (goal 6 miles)
pace: 11:31 min/mi
calories: 1192


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213997801

weight: 178 lbs

week total: 28.29 miles (wow)

 

training day number forty-eight

today's run was good. i felt like i had good form for most of it. there was some pain on the last mile but i pushed on through it by slowing down and focusing on something else; i don't remember what that was though. (smile) with that my pace is not the best. that doesn't matter to me as much as others. i just want to do the miles.

i went past my goal today since i will not get to go to the gym. i am on vacation until thursday. if i run thursday what i did today, i can past the marathon total milage for the week. fingers crossed for that.

run:

duration: 1:28:10
distance: 8.05 mi (goal 6 miles)
pace: 10:57 min/mi
calories: 1212


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/213212805

weight: 173 lbs

training day number forty-seven

happy birthday to me and i ran 12 miles to celebrate. a bonus was the rain. yes, i had my first run in the rain and it was great. it made me feel like i can do anything. i feel strong after today's run and just where i should be in my training. now off to have some breakfast with my boo and to enjoy this glorious day. cheers

run:

duration: 2:24:25
distance: 12.19 mi (goal 12 miles)
pace: 11:51 min/mi
calories: 1742


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/212347102

weight: 174 lbs

training day number forty-six

man it is getting closer to race day with just over two months to go. i wonder if i can sustain the jitters for that long. i guess i don't have the jitters yet but i just hope i am doing enough training to finish the race. the key for me is to stay in the moment. the cycle of input from other people is what freaks me out.  i wish i would only get good encouraging advice but i don't. in fact, i almost freak about the "what if" comments and have to push them out of my mind. in the end i will just do my best anyway.

today's run was good. i felt good and ran good. the weather was great at 71 degrees. the sunrise was beautiful and the traffic was not bad and did not cut my stride. everyone i encountered was nice and most said "good morning" to me before i said it to them. i know i just said "i need to stay in the moment" but i am looking forward to sunday's run of 12 miles. plus it's my birthday and i have a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for my return. :)

run:

duration: 1:15:05
distance: 7.29 mi (goal 5 miles)
pace: 10:19 min/mi
calories: 1093


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/211232901

weight: 181 lbs

week total: 16.67 mi

training day number forty-five

this was an easy day; just 3 miles. it was a beautiful morning of 68 degrees so i wore a shirt and was home and ready for work in no time. i was stressed because i had lost my work badge. then after all that worrying, it was in the jeep as i left for work. the run would have been better without the stress but oh well. lesson learned. (smile)

run:

duration: 36:32
distance: 3.32 mi (goal 3 miles)
pace: 10:54 min/mi
calories: 485


garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/210660732

weight: 182 lbs

training day number forty-four

today's run was great for many reasons but mostly it was a short long run day. i woke up before my alarm thinking i had to run 10 miles or more. when i checked the schedule it was only 5 miles; one of the runs to not push it and heal. well, that was a blessing because i had more wine at dinner than i should have. as i stumbled to the bathroom, i was still determined to make my long run. so when i saw this on the john, it was great that i had a break. even though my ego was wanting to go longer, i stayed the course and only ran the shorter distance. lesson learned here is to give up the drinking for a while; especially on saturday nights.

run:

duration: 1:02:09
distance: 6.06 mi (goal 6 miles)
pace: 10:15 min/mi
calories: 906

garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/209521015

weight: 175 lbs

90 days to go

training day number forty-three

today's run was a new challenge in that i had to run starting at 7:30 am due to work. i had two early meetings and got to bed after 11:00 pm after a long day at work.

so i was challenged but used it to run hard and faster as i still had to get to work. then, since i was determined to run with no shirt i had to overcome anxiety with more traffic on the roads at that time of the morning. i feel i did good but let's check the stats.

run:

duration: 1:04:35
distance: 6.48 mi (goal 6 miles)
pace: 9:58 min/mi
calories: 969

garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/208467860

weight: 175 lbs

93 days to go

wow. that is some progress. and there was very little pain. now for the grand stat; week total miles. drum roll.

week total: 23.23 miles

wow indeed.
:)

training day number forty-two

today's weather almost gave me my first rain run. it had rained a lot overnight but by 5:30 am it was just cloudy and humid at 74 degrees. it did start to sprinkle as i was just finishing my run. this gave me a small taste of what a rain run will be as i stretched and did 25 freestanding squats; i love those.

it was raining on the drive into work and i saw two runners near the office having some fun but with a slight motivational struggle to keep going through the storm. (smile)

on the pain front, it was a good day. i had very little pain and ran at a good pace. i even pretended i was being chased and that made me run faster and loose track of my steady breathing. i ran into more cars than usual this early in the morning. i played like these were bad guys chasing me. then later, there were some cadets on campus running in formation. they were chanting something i could not make out but it sounded aggressive. so as they were running behind me, i pretended i was being chased by the police for running with my shirt off. as they got closer, i ran faster and they never caught me. they all had on black shorts and black t-shirts where i just had on black shorts. i was way cooler in the 94% humidity.

this run felt good overall. it was a bit playful and had a bit of adventure. i even went further than my goal but still finished before my cutoff time of 6:45 am. so i must still be making good progress.

run:

duration: 1:04:10
distance: 6.18 mi (goal 4 miles)
pace: 10:23 min/mi
calories: 927

garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207714265

weight: 183 lbs

95 days to go

training day number forty-one

it's sunday and a LRD. i woke up early excited to get started. i took my time to get ready to ensure i was hydrated and eat a banana. i also had prepared my water break and snack at the 8 mile mark. since this was my second 10 mile run i was able to relax more and enjoy the whole journey.

on the pain front, things were good today. i only had two small surges that came and went very quickly. they were reminders to stay focused on my posture and running form. i used many moments during this run to focus on my breathing and after the first mile, i could go for long moments of that "zone" feeling; very nice.

as i did last week, i went for a cool down walk for about 30 minutes. today's walk included a short stint on the american tobacco trail for another bridge crossing. i am calling today's run route "the 3 bridge run". it crosses highway 147 three times over the duke street bridge, the vickers avenue bridge and the chapel hill street bridge. at the trail, it was great to finished as i saw about 5 couples just getting started with bike rides and runs. fun times.

run:

duration:  2:02:50

distance:  10.57 mi (goal 10 miles)

pace: 11:37 min/mi 

calories: 1512

garmin link: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/207714294

weight: 178 lbs 

97 days to go

training day number forty

today is a new accomplishment in my running training. with today’s run, i have run over 20 miles for the week. the future goal prior to the marathon is 30 miles for the week. with 100 days to go before run day, i think i can make that goal. i just have to stay focused, healthy and as injury free and i can. i’ll do my best. Yea!

it is also groovy that pain was minimal on today’s run. i was able to run a bit longer and faster than tuesday.  progress!

there was a unplanned test today. i had run before on just a bottle of water and a banana with no energy problems. today all i had was some oj and water. but instead of a burger or some other heavy type meal, we had just a large fruit smoothie for dinner last night.

i learned today that i ran low on energy on the last mile and i needed more than just oj and water. :( ... but i pushed through with a fairly good pace. i could have done better with some more fuel.

run:

duration:  1:02:12

distance:  5.73 mi (goal 5 miles)

pace: 10:52 min/mi 

calories: 843

weight: 177 lbs 

100 days to go

*week total: 21.5 mi