Long and Less Long Runs: 4-2 to 4-8

[KSH]

I think you will. It's all about consistency and you're certainly consistent with your training.

Like Yellow said, You've made huge improvements, just in the last 2 months!!

You're doing great.

Yellow and Wahine... thank you both for the kind words of encouragement. I really do appreciate it.

Tattie and Shariz... thank you so much too! Very kind words indeed.

I have come a long way... as I wasn't even running last year.

From May to December of 2006, I only ran 85 miles! From January to March of 2007, I have logged 125 miles.

It's just frustrating sometimes... the lower leg pain that never goes away... the side cramps... being so DAMN SLOW!!!

I know I should be proud of what I can do... but when I see that I could do pretty dang well in tri's (placing top 3-5 in my age group!)... IF I could RUN FAST... I get frustrated.



Well, I ran last night on the treadmill as it was raining.

45m 4.00 miles 11m 15s /mile

No side cramp! WOO-HOO! My legs were hurting pretty bad, but not my side. HA!

It's always one or to the other... although the legs typically always hurt.

[KSH]

So after yesterday's 7.5 on the beach, which was nice, I headed to a local state park to hit some trails. Found one with the word "peak" in it and decided I needed to run it. Aside from the minor considerations of ticks, mountain lions, and poison oak, it was an absolutely fabulous run. I was only going to go about 5 miles but ended up with between 9-10 (as near as I can tell...gps died on me during the run as I forgot my charger). And I felt great the whole time, still feel good, and never really felt tired. Spooky. It seems that after 2 runs of that length 2 days in a row I should be tired, but I'm not.

That sounds beautiful Yellow. Running for the fun of it!

[alpinerabbit]

Phew. second run after the break. I feel so sluggish. I managed something like 4K in 35 minutes. I also did some laps around the football field. Grass is tiring to run on.

I am religiously treating my hip with antiinflammatory cream and I think it is going away.

I got new running shoes. "Same" model as before which I used 3 winters (of little running until this one). The new ones feel much stiffer so maybe the dampening material was wearing out after all.

[Deborajen]

Great job everyone! I can't believe all the miles that are being put in.

I did an 8-mile easy run on Monday evening. Temps were in the mid 80's and it was windy. Towards the end, I started getting a little queasy and my calves started cramping, so I slowed down (even slower than the easy run/walk pace ) and came home. Guess the heat got to me a little since I haven't been out in those temps in awhile.

This evening is a 6-mile tempo run. It should be in the mid 50's, so quite a change from Monday. I'm looking forward to it.

Don't know how you girls manage a run over lunch hour - especially more than a short one. That would be a nice break. Then again, with the short lunch break we have here at my work, the full day is shorter so a before or after work run is more doable.

Keep up the great work everyone! It's always inspiring to read everyone's posts. It really helps keep me motivated!

Deb

[Wahine]

Don't know how you girls manage a run over lunch hour - especially more than a short one. That would be a nice break. Then again, with the short lunch break we have here at my work, the full day is shorter so a before or after work run is more doable.

It helps that when I took this job I duly informed my employers that I would need long lunches to get in IM worthy workouts. I assured them that I would get the job done efficiently and well but not to expect me in the clinic for 2 to 2.5 hours in the middle of the day. So they schedule my patients around my workouts. I block them out on the appointment sheet a week in advance and they just make it work.

[tattiefritter]

We have almost flexible hours - if I use up 1.5 to 2 hours at lunch then I make it up by either coming in earlier or staying a bit later (normal). As long as I do my 37.5 hours a week my boss doesn't mind. I started running at lunchtime because there are several men in my current team who take long lunches to play football, squash, go to the gym so there is precedent and I'm not the only one so nobody bats an eyelid. I'm hoping the same will be true of the next team I move to but I think people have just got used to seeing me going out/coming back from a run and know its something I do, luckily work commitments tend not to get in the way at the minute.

I think for me about 8 miles is as much as I could comfortably fit in at lunchtime until I sort out my faffing issues!

[alpinerabbit]

Yep, yay for flextime.

Considering I have 180 h overtime I could still leave early.
I could take up to 2.5 hours for a lunch break without a problem.
But usually my runs haven't been that long.