So this week I started my tri training. I’ve been back on the bike for a while, and that is going well; this week I started swimming, and did a thirty minute lap swim in the pool. It is still a bit cold but feels great once in. I plan to do a second lap swim today, thirty minutes again, working up to 45 before July’s triathlon.

I’ve invited my mom to come. My husband has a tough time bringing the girls to these things, since they have to get up and ready so early and since it takes me a while. But I want someone there at the finish line, especially since this is my first: And I know my mom will be proud. She won’t even complain about the July heat!

I had a lot of great runs this week. My overall mileage has been:

Sunday 8.5

Monday 5

Tuesday 30 min swim

Wed 6 miles

Thurs 2.5 miles and a 9 mile bike

Friday 4 miles, and I will swim in a bit

I’ll do 10-12 on Sunday.

I will be moving that Tuesday swim to another day of the week when I’m already exercising. I found I can do a lot of cardio in one day, but I need those two days a week off from all cardio. When I don’t have it, I get too run down and tired. I’ll juggle that around as I train.

In non running news, I’m looking for some cute marathon shirts with great sayins – anyone know where to find great running apparel?

Stretching:

Just a reminder, get in your stretches. I’ve been devoting at least half an hour each night to stretching while watching television. I do my back and legs, concentrating on my hamstrings since I’ve had so much knee pain. And it has been very beneficial! Increasing my mileage generally means some knee tenderness but I haven’t had that lately. I’m using the foam roller as well – and I know that works from my injury after Disney. So, get in your stretches this week!

Happy Running Friday Runners!

I have lately been reevaluating my running program, due to some injuries and fatigue. I also want to add in some cross training to both alleviate some of the boredom and to train for a triathlon.

This has made me wonder about my readers: How many days and miles per week do you run?

Lately I have been running 5 days, about 30 miles per week. My longest run is about 10-12 on the weekends – though I will do a long one and then drop back the next week.

Throughout the week my shortest runs are 4 miles, my mid runs are 5-6.

I’m going to cut back this week to four days of running, one of X training, two off. I’m going to try to run only 25 miles this week. I’m also going to do a 20 minute period of yoga each day.

I think sore, tight, stiff muscles are really affecting my running and my down time. I have been having muscle twitches regularly, yesterday in my calf all day and evening (and it is starting again now!) Sometimes they are in my upper leg, sometimes in my eye . . . . blood work showed no sodium issues, so guessing it is fatigue.

This week my longest will be about 10 – Sunday.

What about you? How many miles, how many days per week?  And are you training for a particular race right now or just maintaining?

So I’ve been contemplating doing something I have not yet done – running a race with team in training.

It’s not that I need the push, or the structure, or the team comraderie, though I’m sure all of those things are great.

I’d really like to make my next marathon about something other than my desire to push myself that far.

In my first half marathon, I’d just suffered a miscarriage, an unexpected finding at 11 weeks when I was still deathly sick. During the entire half, which I ran about 4 months later – having never run more than 8 or so miles previously – I said goodbye and let go. It was an emotional experience, as was my first marathon: I lost my aunt and a close friend and then my mom had a stroke, within three months of the first marathon I ran. I ran it in the rain, a torrential downpour uncommon in So Cal, saying goodbye to people I had loved and sending my mom strength to overcome what the stroke had done to her both physically and mentally.

My last marathon – well, it was all me. I didn’t have anything to say goodbye to, or to look forward to, during the race. I just ran. And I enjoyed it, but it made me wonder if I could do it for something else, something good.

Leukemia is close to me not because I know someone who has suffered from the illness but because my oldest had a blood condition that we thought for a while might be leukemia. I did a lot of research during that time regarding children and leukemia and it broke my heart. I’ve always been drawn to TNT when I’ve considered doing a charity race.

I’m looking into the San Francisco run, Nike Women’s Marathon, in October.

Have you ever done a charity run, or a TNT race?  If so was your experience negative or positive, and would you do it again?

I’d love to hear your stories, if you want to share!

In running news, I did five today, a good strong five after taking a day off I normally don’t take. This week I’m running four days instead of five as I make my switch in schedules and it is going well. I don’t feel as burned out. Tomorrow I’m doing my bike and run, probably 4 or 5 on the bike and 3-4 running.

In non running news, I trimmed my hedges today. Sounds like fun, and it was, but it’s tough work! It took an hour to trim and an hour to clean up. Now my body is slightly sore! So while the kids take quiet time, I’m off to do some reading and, shhh, possibly catch twenty minutes of shut eye!

So as I move into summer and humidity, my mortal enemy (humidity and heat, not necessarily summer!), I’m dreading the potential issues that come with hot weather running.

Last September we house hunted here. It was hot, yes, but not brutally so – but the humidity was out of control!

I’m not sure what happened – I was drinking before, during, and after my six miler. I felt something was wrong before I finished up the run, and though I was running with someone and could have continued on a few more miles (I was supposed to do ten), I knew when I got to six I was spent.

I went back to the condo and all of a sudden felt incredibly sick. I had to use the bathroom, but could barely remain upright. I ended up on my back on the sofa, chugging gatorade but still feeling sick and weak. We had houses to look at but my husband said maybe I should stay back. I was afraid, too, though; I felt so sick I wondered for a bit if I should go to the hospital.

During my run, I drank two bottles of water, one mixed with gatorade, and I continued to drink after. I ran 6 miles.

So, to say I’m scared of summertime running in south Georgia is not a lie! Though I was not used to the heat and humidity that day, it wasn’t as hot as it will get.

I’ve been training here now for about four months, so I’m slowly becoming acclimated to the difference in temperature from California. Still, the summer months scare me. I’m not sure if I should drink gatorade on lower runs – 4 milers – or stick with water. And should I go for all out gatorade on runs over 6, rather than mixing in water as I normally do?

What about you? What are your eating and drinking habits like when you run in the summer? Are you in a highly humid or very dry climate?

In other news . . . I changed my running schedule as promised. I ran a short 4 on Saturday, and on Easter morning I skipped my run and enjoyed the festivities with the family. This morning I did 9 miles. It was a good, strong 9 miler, too.

Hope you all had a nice Easter; I’ll be posting some photos of ours as soon as I get them uploaded on the computer.

Now, off to shower and get the oldest to school!

Happy Monday running, runners :0)

I’ve had a tough week. I have been super tired and just haven’t felt up to the same level of running I”ve been doing. I’ve not skipped any runs, but I sure have skipped other things – fun things – and I’ve been getting about 8 hours of sleep every night – 10 one night!

I couldn’t figure out what was going on until my daughter pulled out the scale the other day and asked if she could weigh herself. When she was finished, I got on. I typically don’t weigh myself unless I’m in training, but I thought what the heck.

I’d lost three pounds.

Now for some this is no biggie – for me, a hugie. I’m always struggling to keep my weight up, particularly when I run. I don’t like to be rail thin, but that is what happens if I don’t eat enormous amounts of calories while running.

The fact that I had lost that much weight in just a few months startled me. So, I took a really hard look at my running routine yesterday and during my long run this morning (12 miles) to consider what could be happening.

This is what I realized:

1. While I had cut back on mileage during Saturday’s long run, I had actually increased mileage during the week AND added on a new day – Sunday – so I could get used to running back to back.
2. Since I was not running more than 10 on Saturdays I gave up both Gatorade and any type of nourishment during my longer runs (power bar, etc) that i used to eat if I was going over 8 miles.

It was like a lightbulb going off in my head – bing! – oh yea, Einstein, you are running a lot and not doing it the right way.

I always write about making sure you get enough fluids, using Gatorade for runs over 8 or so miles (esp. in the heat and humidity, of which we’ve had both), watchign calories so you are eating to run, and what do I do? I turn my back on all of this advice.

My last few long runs have been brutal, and I mean brutal, with me stopping a few times, feeling out of breath, and being dragged through the last mile or so at the end.

Today I had a gel pack at mile 7, I had gatorade and water mixed throughout the run, and I felt so, so, so much better – I was able to do 12, and felt I could do another mile or two if needed.

I also finished my last mile at a 7:49 pace! That astounded me. I have been interspersing speed with longer runs, and I will write about this tomorrow, but to be able to do this at the end of a 12 miler was great.

Heed my advice, which I shall, too, heed: if you are going over 6 miles, drink a mix of gatorade and water (esp. if it is hot outside!)

If you are going over 8 or so mile, also use a gel pack for added energy – or munch on a powerbar or goldfish or something along the way.

Watch the number of miles you are running per week and eat accordingly.

If you are falling out of training – the marathon is over, for instance – don’t forget that you are still running high miles (if you are ) and eat and run and plan accordingly. Don’t give all of that up because the day of the big race is over!

Today’s 12 miler was a great one. I’m hoping I am ‘back.’ It was tough feeling so sluggish this week.

Happy Running this weekend!

Let’s face it: At one time or another we all experience mental blocks. Even Dean K, runner extraordinaire, admits that this can happen. He says it typically does not at the beginning of training for a run, or at the end, but in the middle, when all has become routine and the end isn’t close in sight.

I am going through a good spurt right now. My running is going well and I’m getting ready to add in swimming and biking for a triathlon training, and I’m looking forward to that. I’m increasing mileage but have not yet hit a wall. I will. I’ll get to a point where I’m a little worn out and I’ll have to decide a way around that.

I think for now my strategy has been interspersing the long runs with short speed runs. I have written about htis a lot lately because 1) the speed work is helping and 2) the speed work is changing things up enough to keep me interested in running, and to keep me from burning out.

So here’s the question of the week: When you hit that wall, and we all do, I believe, what do you do to get over it? Do you take a day off, shorten the run, go longer, take a different path?

Seems to be two trains of thought when it comes to running: being fast or going the distance.

Many runners can’t do both. Unless you are an Olympic marathoner like Paula Radcliffe, chances are you are either running long distances at a regular pace or short distances pretty quickly.

I like to say, “I can’t run far but I sure go slowly!”

All kidding aside, my strength seems to be my ability to run distances, but I have been working on the ability to go quickly and the efforts have paid off. I’ve been able to shave at least a minute and a half off of my time since starting after the birth of my second daughter. Race day I’m going about two minutes faster per mile. I’m happy with those results, but I don’t think I could keep up an 8:20 pace for 26.2 miles. My body would drop at about mile 8.

I think we all have our preferences, too. While I have always loved the distance, I’m getting more infatuated with the speed. Still, I can’t go fast for a long time, so I have to say my preference is still a longer run. But in longer, I’m finding that 10-13 miles is best for me; not 20. I enjoy marathons, love training, and will do more of them, but it is hard work for me to go that far. Right now it is a matter of lack of training time – going out for an hour and a half run is much easier than going out for a three hour run.

So my question of the week for you is: Are you a distance runner or a speedster?

This week I’ll talk a little about developing your body for speed and/or distance, depending on where you are now and where you want to be. Oftentimes those running shorter distances want to go longer and those going longer want to go longer faster.

My run today will consist of going with my daughter in the stroller since husband has an odd work schedule this week. I’ll head out as soon as we drop my other daughter off at school. I’m only planning to do four, since the stroller is heavy and not very comfortable. My running will be back on track after today, so I don’t mind doing a shorter one on a day that should be a bit longer.