Long and Less Long Runs: 3-19 to 3-25

[KSH]

Well, I don't have any running scheduled until Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

But I figured I would start the thread for all your running ladies out there!

[tattiefritter]

Due to forecasted strong winds today (which haven't really materialised annoyingly) I decided not to ride to work today but go for a run instead. Consecutive days running is new territory for me as I've never been able to manage it due to my calves needing time to recover. My calves felt fine from yesterdays run so off I went.

Decided not to run the same route as yesterday to make sure I did not get hung up on time and try to push the pace. Wandered around a bit keeping my breathing under control at all times just enjoying the run. Ended up doing 5.5 miles though it didn't feel like it.

Will run Thursday as well but will probably not run over the weekend.

[Grog]

I think we got your winds here Tattie!! It's about 50 km/h out there with several heavier gusts. The good thing about windy days is that the eagles are out. The same (I assume) four as a few days ago greeted us on the start of our run this morning, right above our college. One of my running partners wanted to go in the forest so we did... It was still pretty muddy in there from the recent downpours but that made it more fun somehow, and there we were sheltered from the wind. We ran for about 40 minutes, and the eagles were still there waiting for us when we came back. I'm sure they had not had to flap their wings in the meantime, they're so graceful... *sigh* Yet you can hear them chirping at each other and they sound like tiny birds with a very cute way to talk.

Anyway, that was a good run, at a very gentle pace, which was good for my beaten up legs from the Sunday morning race. My quads really hurt and I've lost a few inches, flexibility-wise. I have start being more serious about flexibility...

Oh, and can I complain? I don't like my shoes. It's my second pair of Asics Cumulus VII (or VIII?). The first pair - purple - was just great. The second pair - orange - is the exact same except, it seems, for the material that's just above the toes (at the bottom of the lacebox) and it just bites into my lower foot on the right side. Really annoying. I should have done something about that in the weeks after I bought them but I didn't. Maybe I should get a new pair way ahead of my half-marathon in May?? Grrr.

[limewave]

I did hill repeats last night, about 3.5 miles worth. Today I'm hoping to do about 5-miler pushing DD in the jogger. Thursday, if I'm lucky, I'll do speed work and Saturday will be the longer run at 8 miles.

[Pika]

Today we did our usual 8km, at the moment I am finding it really hard to get going now that it is pitch dark again when we head out- before the time change it was so nice and light!!!
This run is usually slow because I take my two dogs, one is a golden retriever who is getting old so she is not that interested anymore, she will just stop refusing to budge- she never limps or breathes hard - I think she just likes to be her own boss- she grew up running in the park with me ( off leash and now I have to run on the road- I don't think she likes me setting the pace so she just will stop suddendly and then sit down, then when I stop she just sniffs around rolls in the snow, lollygags..generally enjoying herself while I cool my heels LOL- in the end I know who is boss and it ain't me!
I get my km in but it is hardly a straight run- lots of stops, starts. Oh well I count it as my easy run- when we do speed or or long runs I don't take the silly dogs with me so I can be more "serious".
Looking forward to the daylight again

[tattiefritter]

Aww Eagles! Didn't see any wildlife on my run today (unless you count the Blackpool natives) but I almost had a close encounter with a large branch - there was a man pruning some trees near the end of my run but he was hidden away, I didn't notice him until one of the prunings fell across the road right in front of me. It made for some amusement as I forced my way through to the other side as if I was hacking through jungle.

After the problems my shoes caused me last year I personally wouldn't hesitate to change them if they were causing me discomfort after a few break in runs. Its annoying when they change shoes between models, I've debated whether to buy up the UKs supply of size 6 Wave Rider 9s just in case! I don't get on with Asics shoes, my last pair gave me huge blisters on my insteps after 40 minutes running due to the fact I have quite low arches.

[KSH]

33 minutes 3.00 miles 11m /mile


Looked like rain, so ran on the treadmill at the gym.

I made sure I didn't eat anything after 4:00 PM, and my workout started at 6:20 PM.

I started out at 5.2 and stayed there for .50 mile. I breathed deep and made sure to keep the side cramp at bay.

At .50 mile I upped it to 5.4. I stayed at 5.4 until 1.0 mile.

At 1.0 mile I went up to 5.6 and at times up to 5.8. Focused on breathing deep and not rotating my body too much.

My right calf, was hurting pretty bad... typical leg pain... but I pressed on.

At 2.0 miles I started to feel a side cramp coming on and slowed down to 5.4 and stayed there for the last mile.

I also found out that when I took a sip of water my cramp would pop up.

Great... so I can't eat or drink when I run. This doesn't sound good.

[Wahine]

Hey KSH. You just need to grow a camel hump so you can drink all your water days ahead of a race.

Is the water you drink really cold? Sometimes drinking room temp water can help with cramping. When the cold water hits your stomach it can lead to spasm.

As for my running. I did a measly 9 miles at lunch with 2.5 miles of fairly steep hill climbing at right around my LT. It started out sunny, then turned to sun showers, then turned to full on rain with cloudy skies, this eventually turned to hail and high winds that were very cold. By the time I was done running I had sunny skies and a decent temp again. 3 seasons in one run. I also got to see a piliated woodpecker, one of my favorites.

[limewave]

Wahine--

Those are the kinds of runs I love. The weather just seems to push me harder.

Measely nine miles. At lunch. You're an inspiration

[tattiefritter]

4 miles today (what did I say about patience) however my legs don't seem to be being affected the way they used to by running. Weather was a bit warmer than of late so was boiling in my jacket and took off my gloves after about 5 minutes . Legs felt a little sluggish, not tight or tired just sluggish so did some very short fartlek type efforts after two miles just to get a bit of foot turnover, felt nice to have some pace going even if for only 20 seconds or so and it perked up my legs no end.

Did the 4 miles in 35 minutes (8:45 mm) and I wasn't being anal about stopping the watch at crossings or anything so quite pleased as that's not far off my 10K (8:20) race pace but heart rate was 155 which is actually quite low for me - about 161 is normal. I was only breathing through my mouth on the fartleks the rest was easily through my nose.

So that's a total of 13.5 miles this week so I won't be running over the weekend.

[rocknrollgirl]

Howdy.
One word for tonight's run...OUCH. I already had a lactic acid alert from mt biking last night and.....

We did interval training 8 x 400 repeats full sprint effort the second half of every repeat. And then a mile at race pace, or well the fastest pace I could hold which was about 7:40. Not bad since we were in the woods on a trail. I would love to be able to maintain that pace for even a 5k. Maybe someday.

Total with warm up and cool down 4 miles.