Midwinter running, week of January 10-17

[indigoiis]

Hi everyone,
We did 8.1 today, 10 minute miles, not bad because it was a hilly route. About 20 degrees, sunny, and a lovely route overall. I wore the VFFs but still had a little pain on the downhills in the right knee. I think because I run a little like a duck that is the problem. When I focus to straighten out my gait, I don't have the pain.

Hope everyone's week is good. Urlea, I was thinking about your story of the guy with cancer and when I got tired, it inspired me to keep chugging.

[Becky]

I ran about 2.5 miles. I'm not really sure because some of it was off-road. I was freaking out about every little twinge in my left knee, and the more I freaked out, the worse the pain got. I was focusing on the pain instead of my form, and that is a vicious cycle. I have a 4.5 mile organized run this coming saturday and i'm beginning to think that I won't be able to do it

Not a good run by any stretch, but I learnt some lessons, so it's not all bad.

[Grog]

Yay! Went for a run-walk, started with a minute of walking for each 2 minutes of running, then 3 minutes, then 4 minutes. I plateaued there, not wanting to take a risk and hurt myself again.

There is slight discomfort in my groin, but nothing painful. I kept the stride short, and cadence low, it was a little boring just running in the alleys around my neighbourhood (wanted to make a quick return home if needed), but I was really happy about the result.

I'll take a rest day tomorrow I think, but I'm confident that I can schedule almost-normal runs for next week and go back to actually training progressively.

[Grog]

I did it.

I signed up for the Olympia Marathon, May 16th, 2010. Even booked a hotel room.

Just a bit scared but mostly excited!!!

[Aggie_Ama]

It has been too cold to run this week so I was determined not to skip another workout since we finally warmed up. Plotted what I thought was a 5 mile run and it ended up being 6! Oops, overshot my training just a bit but considering I skipped 3 workouts it probably didn't hurt.

[Aggie_Ama]

Good luck Grog! This year I paid for my half marathon even though I hadn't run in months. I am nervous but really excited. Is this your first marathon?

[OakLeaf]

Cool Grog! That's the same day I'll be running Cleveland. Be careful with that groin now.

I've been skipping a lot of rides... mostly because of the weather but also indirectly, because of the chill, the club has been riding late. I used to say I hated getting up early to ride, but when they start at 11 a.m. or noon for a lousy 37 miles, you're basically burning the whole day.

So anyway - the upside is I'm fresher for my runs. I may just add on to my long run again tomorrow, even though I wasn't really planning on it. I'll map something out and see how I feel in the morning.

[indigoiis]

Go Grog!!!! Yay!!!!

[Grog]

Yes AA, it's my first! I'm pretty excited.

Good luck to all of us!

[GLC1968]

Yay, Grog!

And good luck next week, Syndirelah!

Today was a bunch of firsts. First run of the week, first run outside since I started running again, and first run with my husband (ever!). He'd already gone for a ride, so he was tired and was willing to shorten his stride to run with me.

It was a nice run and the time went REALLY fast. Sooo much better than a treadmill! I don't know how far we went, but we did a 10/12 run/walk which was a step down from last week before I step up in running next week (thank goodness!). My H wanted to add one more running interval and even though I felt good and wanted to as well, I resisted. I feel like I MUST stick to the plan if I want to stay injury free.

[Grog]

Thanks everyone!

Syndirelah: How can you read on the threadmill??!! Amazing.

[colby]

Lots of positive runs and stuff this weekend. Way to go, Grog, signing up for your marathon!! And, reading on the treadmill, that's impressive.

I did about 4.5 miles today, re-training myself to my appropriate-for-distance heart rate. I got to jog with my dog, yay. I can tell when we hit what must be 9:30 min/mile or so, she has to switch to a galloping thing rather than a trotting thing. It's cute, she looks like she's having fun (and it wears her out much better than the trotting/walking). According to GPS, average was around 10:30 min/mile, but that does include the required dog-stops as we select the perfect location to bequeath her unique personal flavor upon the earth (and then try to remove it, in some cases ).

Really enjoying my GPS+HRM - not really so much when I'm running (except to check distance and spot-check HR), but moreso afterward when I get to see the data and see how well I did keeping my HR steady at whatever pace.

Keep it up, ladies!

[Veronica]

Drizmal.... where I live is just drizmal all January and February. I HATE it! It's not cold - 45 degrees when I ran this morning. But it's foggy and drizzly. They can have bright sunshine just 15 miles away, but we'll never see it here because of the tule fog from the river. I really hate not seeing the sun. Thus I did not run over the weekend. I had absolutely no desire to be outside at all.

So I knew I had to get out there this morning. And it was drizmal. But after a half a mile I was reasonably warm, except when I turned into the headwind. It turned into a really good run. I was more two minutes faster than last week over the same course. I kept running after I crested the hill with the 12% grade and I actually spent some brain cells on thinking about running technique, and my knee is doing okay.

I posted a note on my mirror to remind me that no matter how drizmal it is I need to get out and stick with my plan. It says:Suck it up and go run!!

Veronica

[kacie tri-ing]

Yeah Grog! That initial commitment is SO exciting!

We had ice down here in Georgia, and I am scared of falling (and not used to ice), so my workout was inside again 6 miles at 10 minute/mile followed by 2 miles at 8 minute/mile. It was tough. I was tired by the end, but I am trying to get my speed up for a half in March!

Hopefully I will be able to get back outside this week!

[Susan Otcenas]

GROG - Congrats on signing up. That's so exciting!

GLC - Smart to stick to plan. Getting where you want to be injury free (especially since you have an old injury) is the way to approach it.

As for me...

Yesterday was supposed to be my rest day.

I went for a 2hr15min trail run instead. It's one of my very favorite trails in the Columbia River Gorge - Eagle Creek. The local run club planned an outing and I just had to go! That trail is so jammed in nice weather, but this time of year we pretty much had it all to ourselves.

I figure I made about 5.5 miles in 1hr5min uptrail. Pretty good for me, considering that it's all uphill on the way out *and* I rarely trail run so I really have to concentrate on every step. Took me a little longer on the way back. You'd think it would be faster, but the footing can be sketchy on the way down (lots of slippery rocks and steep steep drop offs) so I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Such a beautiful trail along the creek, with stunning waterfalls all the way up.

It was my longest run since the half marathon. I expected to feel whipped, but I felt GREAT the entire run, and have no muscle soreness at all.

So 11 miles on a rest day. Hhhmm. I fessed up to my coach last night, then promptly skipped the 60 minute treadmill run she had planned for me today.