Big Milestone - My First 10 Mile Run!

Yep! I did it! I did my first 10 mile run. : ) I managed it in 1 hr. 47 mins. at a 10:43 avg. pace. That was better than I expected! It was a beautiful, crisp, fall like day too. It was definitely a lovely day to run.

I ran out and back for 6 miles on my favorite country route. Then I made a hydration and fuel stop at my in laws house and proceeded around town for another 4 miles. The first 6 were great! The last 4, especially miles 9 & 10, were grueling for me. Mile 10 was somewhat painful. Makes me wonder about the viability of actually running 13.1 miles in 2 short weeks. But I'm going to go with the saying of "where there is a will there is a way!" I know I have the will.

I got to wear some new running clothes today. One of my new items was a running skirt. It proved to be very comfortable. I've read a few people comment about being bothered by the skirt flopping up and down while they run. But that was NOT my experience at all. I had all the comfort of spandex shorts without the self consciousness I would have wearing them in public. lol

Good news on Jim's job! We thought he was finished this week but now we have a 3 month reprieve. If the market improves, maybe they will continue even after that! What a relief.

Everything is working out! It always does.

The Running Rollercoaster (the highs and lows of running)

I'm feeling up and encouraged right now. I got an 8 miler in on Saturday (my longest has been 9 miles) without too much trouble and I was actually ready for the challenge. I did it in 1hr 25 mins. I think my running blues were due to a couple of things. First I was having a lot of foot and ankle discomfort, I believe now, was due to dying shoes. A fresh pair has totally changed my perspective and improved my comfort. I also took two days rest before my long run this time. I'm thinking this 40 something body just needs an extra day of recovery before I do my long run. Although that may not work out now as I try to push up my mileage the next 2 weeks. I'll experiment and see what happens. I'm still a little behind on my half training. I'll be going for a 10 mile long run later this week. I may get to 11 miles next week which would be great. The week after will be minimal running to prepare/rest for the half that weekend. I really wish I had gotten closer to or surpassed 13 miles just so I KNOW I can do it. I'll just have to believe in myself!

Today's run was 4 miles in the most extreme wind I have ever attempted. It was challenging and exhilarating. My new shoes were even better this time, since I loosened the laces a bit. I think I had them a little too tight on Saturday. lol Today they were just right! It was a fun run in spite of all the wind. I got used to it and armed up quickly. I ran it as a tempo run and had an avg pace of 9:55!

Cross your fingers that I can hang onto my rediscovered enthusiasm!

Pepper Spray Practice and the IRS

I went out for 6 miles this evening. Couldn't go this morning since I went to the IRS building/offices with my Mom which are located downtown. We had to tie up some loose ends on my Grandmother's affairs. She died 2 yrs ago. NOW they want more information and a tax return! She was on Medicaid and hadn't had enough income to file a return for years. The 800# we called had informed us that they do not make appointments for tax return help unless you are disabled. Anyone else must walk in/first come first served. So my Mom took off a day from work, we navigated our way around the city, and found a parking garage. Upon entering we had to show IDs and go through the metal detector. As I walked through the halls and used the elevator, I rediscovered that I don't like the confinement of the city and office buildings. I sure wouldn't want to be stuck in that building or in the city if the zombie apocalypse or other emergency occurred. Finally we entered the office and the receptionist informed us that they were shorthanded today and only had enough staff to take their appointments. Lucky us! Should I really be surprised?

So back to running: It was lightly raining when I left but I got lucky and it stopped not too far out. This run felt a little difficult. I think because it was later in the day than I am accustomed to running and it was very humid.

In the 4th mile a farm dog came out so fast with its teeth fully bared. It was really scary! Usually I meet with aggressive barking. This dog never even barked. It was going to get me for sure. I could tell it was serious. I have practiced this scenario in my mind. I believe you have to decide ahead of time what you will do if you are threatened. In this case, I had decided I would stand my ground and shoot. And that's exactly what I did. I was really impressed with the range and spread of this little container of pepper spray. This dog never stopped baring its teeth and was smart. He stayed just on the edge of the range of the spray. A man in a mini van pulled up and started honking and yelling at the dog. That made him back off a little. Then he came after me again! I sprayed again and still couldn't quite get him. The man honked some more and the dog finally took off. I was really grateful he stopped to help me. I'm not sure what would have happened if he hadn't. I didn't want to turn my back and run. And I wasn't having much luck spraying the dog. Maybe I would have eventually got him. The container holds 38 sprays! lol Who knows?

I'm not sure if it would make difference but I am tempted to drive there and nicely let the farmer know what his dog did. I love dogs and would hate to see the dog confined and they are out in the country where you kind of expect to live as you wish. But man that was dangerous!

Decisions, Decisions...

I've been progressing steadily with my running up to this point. To be honest though, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed and in a funk today. I decided to blog about it because if I only blog about the bright and shiny, then my blog isn't very authentic. Now is it? I hate it when Jim goes back to Indiana. That makes me blue. Instead of living in the NOW, I am living weekend to weekend. At least I am aware of this. Today is supposed to be long run day (10 miles, overwhelming). At the moment, I am feeling incredibly unmotivated to do anything (house, running, etc.). When I get like this, I just don't do anything and want to eat. I really need to get out for my run. It's great for mental health. I know I would feel better afterward. Unfortunately it is now late morning and the temperature has risen. So my choice is to do it now anyway (hot and uncomfortable) or take my chances and wait until this evening when it might be cooler. But if I wait, I might not do it at all. 10 miles is a long way and it takes so long. We shall see!

I like to run, but I'm thinking long distance running isn't my thing. After the 1/2 marathon (13.1 miles), I'd like to scale it back to 6-7 mile long runs. I'll work on my speed and participate in 5ks and 10ks. Actually I would like to do that now! I think I am on to something here. I don't REALLY want to do the 1/2 now that I've experienced what it is to run longer distances. How is that for stream of consciousness writing? If I could go to the nature center trails and run in the shade amidst nature for about 5 miles today, I would get up and go now. I won't make myself do 10 miles today and I can't keep sitting here doing nothing either. lol So nature center it is!

5 Mile Trail Run - Bring On the Hills

I love the Cincinnati Nature Center! It is such a beautiful place and has so many trails with varied terrain. It has a few flat, paved trails near the buildings and parking lot. Get a little farther out and you have roots, rocks, mulch, gravel, stone steps, and wood steps, and creek crossings. There's so much, I can't list it all! And if you want hills, they have them.There is one hill in particular that takes me about 8 mins. to just walk up. I haven't attempted to run this one yet, but it is in my sight. That accomplishment would be a Rocky moment for sure!

Gena L got me thinking about my resistance training again. I've been so focused on training for the half marathon what was once a mainstay of my routine has been ignored for awhile. Since the move, my weight set is in pieces until further notice/unpacking. I figured the best way to get lower body resistance in the meantime without weights is HILLS! So I will purposely incorporate a hill run once a week. I started this yesterday with a 5 mile trail run focusing on a course with hills. Loved it! It really slowed down my time but it was worth it. Good workout!

Next I need to dig out the adjustable dumb bell set and exercise ball for upper body conditioning. I think between hills, pushups, dips, and the dumb bells, I can get in an efficient yet simple routine without interfering with my 1/2 training schedule. I got behind a bit during the time around our move. So from now until the race on Oct. 18, every single run is important and has a purpose.

Hill running will pay off for me in the Spring if I decide to do the Flying Pig 1/2 so I have been advised. I've been told it is a challenging course with hills. I can't even believe I'm all ready thinking of another 1/2 when I haven't completed this one! lol

A 9 Mile Potty Run (My First 9 Miler)

I'll do my best in this account to get the comedic aspects across about this run without crossing the line into "too much information". Wow! Was this one a doozy!

I knew when I got up that I would need to "go" sometime soon but couldn't quite pull it off. I couldn't wait any longer and let it get any later since I had 9 miles planned. Considering these circumstances, I decided to put 2 different routes together which would bring me by the house about midway without having to run the same scenery twice. That way I could use the bathroom if needed and was a comfy place to refuel and hydrate.

So this is how it went... I ran 3 miles out on my favorite, most isolated route. About that time I knew I could probably "go". That meant I would have to hold it until 6 miles. Yeah, right. lol I got to 4 miles and it was go or the run would be ruined. I found a little farmer's turn off and a little spot between rows of corn and took care of things. Corn stalk leaves are a great sub for tp, btw. Figured I would be good to go the rest of the way and felt very relieved. But, OH NO! Around mile 5 I had to go again. Not much luck of finding a pit stop on a hwy, so I would have to wait for mile 6 and home. Finally the house was in sight and it was so good to see it! Refueled with raisins, drank water, and took care of business again. I DID know at this point I was probably ill, but I all ready had 6 miles in. Did I really want to cut it short when I only had 3 to go? I'd only have to go out 1.5 miles and turn around. I had to do this. I was so close! So off I went again.

At this point I decided to turn on my shuffle for some distraction. I will be ever grateful to KISS and Rob Zombie for helping me through. Close to mile 7 I had the urge to go again but KISS persuaded me that I wanted to Rock and Roll All Night and Party Everyday! Next up was Rob Zombie's Creeper. Well how appropriate! LOL Not what he was referring to but Meet the Creeper Digging Deeper seemed appropriate for me at the time. Although I wasn't going as slow as it seemed according to the Garmin in hindsight. Mile 8, I REALLY had to go. Unfortunately you cannot get a lot of privacy in a soybean field. I had to wait. The plants aren't high enough. But Rob Zombie started making fun of me with his song, Living Dead Girl. lol I had to keep going. I had no idea I had it left in me, but I sprinted the last 1/2 mile at about a 8-8:30/min pace. I felt as though I was doing a huge, continuous kegel to keep everything under control, but I did it! I got there. 9 miles!

I look back on this with humor. Today I feel much better. And my legs and feet actually feel pretty good. But Boy, Oh, Boy, I don't want to go through THAT again. Next week's 10 mile long run will seem easy in comparison. : )

A Not So Easy 3 Miles

I would have thought that after a day's rest that today's 3 miles would have been pretty easy. But nope! It was doable and went OK but lacked the aliveness and excitement it usually holds for me. Can't quite put my finger on exactly what was lacking. Did it in 30:38 at an avg pace of 10:13. Seems I'm stuck at around around a 10 min. mile (anywhere from 9:50-10:30 depending on the distance). I'll have to wait and work on speed after the 1/2 though. I'm working as hard as I can right now to log miles and long runs in order to finish this thing with my dignity intact. lol

I wasn't going to eat any junk today and started out really well. But I just ate some chex mix and a brownie left over from the weekend. I can't figure out what is the matter with me. I did well for months and now I can't seem to make it through a day without sweets since we moved. I'm happy to be back home but something is out of kilter with me regarding food. All I can do now is start over and eat balanced meals the rest of the day. I need to figure this out. Hopefully tomorrow I'll do better.

I'm planning my route for tomorrow's 9 mile long run. At first I was going to do a double loop so I could hydrate and refuel at the house but that puts me on US 50 (busy traffic) double the norm. So I'm now leaning toward stashing water and fuel at the halfway point. I'll have to go pick up my water bottle afterward but I'd rather do that than run a double loop. I really dislike those in races also. The kids will have to get started on school on their own tomorrow morning. I have to get an early start while it's cool or I'll just be making things much more difficult for myself.

Well cross your fingers for me on the 9 miles. This will be my longest run yet!

An OK 3 Miles

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood!

I really dislike running on US 50 (busy 2 lane hwy), even though it's only a short distance to less busy roads. So this time I drove the van to a nice place where I could pull off and ran from there. I liked that much better. It was much more safe for sure.

Had to shorten my planned 5 miles to 3 miles today. I did it in 30:11 at an avg pace of 9:59. Not too bad since my legs were kind of tired. I noticed yesterday that my right calf is really sore and my left pinky toe is also giving me fits. They are still bothering me today. My feet always have some sore/rubbed spot after my long run (which was Weds) but this one is especially sore. I covered the sore spot today with the tape from a band aid which worked pretty well during the run. Only problem is now that I took it off it's sticking to the toe next to it! lol Oh, well! I can fix that easily enough.

I had some cute, little , yellow butterflies as an escort during one part of my run. They flew with and around me for about 1/4 mile. There was a nice breeze and plenty of sunshine this morning and only a few cars. It was very enjoyable!

Today's Tempo Went Well

I knew before I started that I was not fully recovered from Weds. long run. But I figured what the heck! I'll try for a tempo run and see how it goes. It went better than I expected but I didn't realize that until I got home. The effort seemed pretty intense at times. I felt slow. I ran 4 miles in 39:15 for an avg pace of 9:50. Makes me wonder what it might have been if I were more rested?

As usual the beauty and animal activity on my favorite route didn't let me down. I have been noticing a lot of scat along the roadside lately. Wonder why they are doing it on the road. Are they sending we humans a message? lol Summer and Fall are definitely my favorite seasons although Spring and even Winter have their own unique offerings of beauty. I've never run outside through the winter months as I am planning. Whe it turns cold, I turn wimpy. It's almost a certainty though that I will find more to appreciate about winter as I experience it first hand rather than through a pane of glass or from an automobile.

Still a lot to do today. Paige has volleyball. We have cleaning and grocery shopping to do. And I need to finish my school work! The kids are mostly finished. : ) Catch up with you again after tomorrow's run!

I'm Back!

We are moved and pretty well settled into our old, familiar surroundings. I'm very happy to be back! Now I need some structure, accountability, and a new routine. I feel like my life has gotten way out of control in the past 3 wks. Nutrition and training have been haphazard and I've found it difficult to get in all of my running. One week I only got in 2 runs. : ( My best weeks have been 3 runs. Forget about any long runs since the wheels were set into motion to move. WELL, the buck stops here! That's my confession and YOU/this blog will help keep me accountable. : )

I've had to change my training program for the 1/2 marathon since I got behind on my long runs. I may only be up to 9 or 10 miles before the 1/2. I'm running out of time. I may just have to gut it out at the race! lol

This week has felt better to me. This is the plan:

Mon. 4 miles (40:36, avg pace 10:04)
Weds. 7 miles (1:12, avg pace 10:28)
Fri. 4 miles
Sat. 5 miles

Last night's run was productive but scary. Traffic is adding to the scary factor. Even though we are in the country, most of the roads I must use to access the quiet roads are busy 2 lane highways. I usually run in the morning but that didn't work out because we just got back to our morning homeschool routine. I left later than I should have. It didn't occur to me since it was a long run, that it might get dark. lol I also didn't see any sign of rain when I left. Well guess what? It got dark AND it rained! Regardless since we are back in school and it is getting a bit cooler outside, I am thinking evening runs may be best for our new routine. I have so much adjusting/trial and error to do. Did I mention I'm thinking about getting a part time job?

School is getting off to a good start! I enjoy learning/relearning the things I need to teach. So I am back in Algebra, Biology, and World History too! lol I just have to stay a few steps ahead of the kids. : ) My son makes that a challenge since he often likes to do extra work and get ahead.

Well, if you read all of this, you ARE a friend! I'll catch up with you again after my next run. Any advice/encouragement is welcome.