July 16-22: Fun While You Run!

[KSH]

2h 3m
10.51 miles
11m 42s /mile


That is right... I ran my first 10.5 miles EVER TONIGHT!

It hit me, I am 2.5 miles off from a half-marathon! WOW! Trust me, a year ago, I never would have believed I would be here today.

Sometimes, I am very hard on myself and I don't give myself credit when I should.

Well, I am giving myself some credit for this run!

Turns out the loop is 2.1 miles, NOT 2.66 miles. I found this out when I was about to hit mile 4. UGH. Two more laps to go.

Jonny (my boyfriend) ran with me for loop 4. It was a nice break and I got to listen to him talk (I was working too hard to talk).

Overall this was a good run. I ran more than I walked, although I did walk some. The weather was nice, but it was humid. Not too hot though.

The hills... oh the hills! Long and climbing... some of them short and steep. I did more running than walking up the hills (although Jonny might beg to differ).

Now, with all the positives said... let me just say.. that was also my hardest run to date. WOW! My legs are FEELING IT. Even after I stopped I kind of stumbled around and I didn't have the energy to stretch for a long time.

I have swimming and running on tap for Friday, but I can't imagine running right now. I hate to get behind on my running miles, but my legs are hurting... and it's mostly the quads!

[Wahine]

WWWWWOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!

Way to go KSH!! I am so proud of you. When I signed on to TE for the first time 7 months ago you could barely run 3 miles without agony. Look at you now!! Wow. You rock.

[teigyr]

KSH, that is fantastic!!! I almost know how it feels...today I ran my 3 mile run without walking! Baby steps, you know. I was thrilled and I actually feel more energized right now than when I started.

Anyway, wow!!! And of course it's a hard run for you but you did something incredibly difficult. So I think

[KSH]

Wahine... awe, thanks so much for the congrats! I appreciate it!

Teigyr... yes, baby steps. I think it was September 2006... I couldn't even run 1 mile without walking. You WILL get there!

[Skierchickie]

Way to go, KSH! Once you work your way up in distance, it comes quicker every year. I run from about April until October, so I start over every year, after ski season (my favorite!) is over. I'm as aerobically fit as I'm going to get, going into running season, but it is still a totally different set of muscles, so it takes me a while to get beyond 2-3 miles. I do a 25k in mid-June, so I'm always struggling to get up to 9 or 10 before then, and then suddenly jump my distance up by 50% that day (stupid, huh?). After I recover from that, it gets easier. You won't have any problem doing a 1/2 marathon, if you are up to 10.5 already.

Like Yellow, my way of battling the boredom is also trail running - a totally different animal! I absolutely hated running for years, until I did enough one year to feel strong and have fun. Then we started running almost exclusively on trails, and it makes a world of difference. My few road runs are usually on a beautiful stretch along Lake Superior, which I do enjoy. Narrow road with little shoulder, but twisty & rolling & cool & scenic. I feel awful on long straight roads (mental thing, I suppose).

I did a 10 mile road race today (let's see, I did about 1/4 mile of pavement in April, a 5k in May, and 10 miles today - gotta love those Asics Kayanos, or I'd be pounded to death). I've run so little this season, between road biking, mtn biking, and swimming, recovering from grueling races, and just getting back from a week paddling in the Boundary Waters, I wasn't sure I could do it today, pavement aside. I'm pretty pleased with 1:25:19 - not a PR, but my PR days probably ended 10 years ago. I did win my age group! And I beat my DH and my training buddy (reeled her in gradually and passed her 10 feet from the top of about a 1.5 mile hill, maybe 1/2 mile from the finish - teehee). Fantastic weather - 62F at the finish, sunny but lots of shade along the course. And I didn't have to poo! Highly unusual for me for a pavement run.

[Wahine]

Way to go Skierchick. Nice race and good on ya for winning your AG.

I went for a short track workout today after my ride. I got this new running coach ya see. The idea being that I might be able to tweak out my form a bit before IM and improve my time. This guy used to race against Mark Allen and Dave Scott! He's totally intense and he intimidated the h@ll out of me the first time I met him. Well he gave me some form tips to work on and I did exactly that today. He's a great coach and I'm glad we hooked up but man is he intense.

So off to the track I was to do my spazzy skipping drills and run repeats stoming the cockroach and wouldn't you know it....the relay for life was on and I had to run around all these people walking on the track. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy they were out there doing their thing for cancer but I really had a hard time concentrating. So yes, I ran today. No it was not a good run. So I'm going to try to go out again tomorrow. I have to clean up my form before Tuesday - my next coached workout.

[Shiraz]

Hi Everyone,
I haven't posted in a long time. Wow the summer is flying by! I have been pretty busy with a new grandbaby and a sick elderly mother- in -law.

Sounds like everyone is still hitting the trails and road. I have signed up to do another half in Park City, Utah August 25th. Anybody else?? Yellow maybe we can meet up again. Luckily, I have been getting my miles in to prepare for my run but not any extra time to spend on the internet.

I can't wait for the fall weather!! It has been high 90-100's here in SE Idaho. I can hardly stand it. I logged 35.75 miles last week and thought I would die in the heat. I can get in some early morning miles but not most. I feel like I am running in the mud in the heat.

[alpinerabbit]

I went for a 4 hour hike on Sat, for enjoyment and base endurance on the side.

It was about an hour climb and then an hour descent with another hour there and back "flat".

What hurts are the tender ligaments and such around my ankles, because it was very tricky finding footing on the descent but I reckon that would strenghten a lot of the little stabilizing parts in the foot.

[yellow]

I have signed up to do another half in Park City, Utah August 25th. Anybody else?? Yellow maybe we can meet up again.

I am tentatively planning on running the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase on Aug 11. I'm afraid I've slacked off enough that I don't know if I could finish it (it's 16 miles on the trails in Park City). I'll definitely meet up with you when you're here for the Park City Half! The Midmountain Trail Marathon (Sept 8) is defnitely out given my lack of proper conditioning. Maybe next year.

Glad to hear you're rippin it up!

[tattiefritter]

Am still working away at my injury but have felt quite good for the last couple of days and my walking gait is almost back to normal I think (I've been moving my left knee out on contact with the ground rather than picking my foot up properly). I've been working on my single leg squats etc and have discovered that my left glute medius is not up to par either so have been working on that too. Have also spent a bit of time faffing with my cleat and saddle height/position on the bike and that appears to have helped some. Did Body Pump and Yoga last night and the difference in strength between my left and right legs is like night and day , I'm beginning to think I've just been dragging my left leg around like a parasite for years!

Left leg a little stiff from BP I headed out on a 2 mile run this afternoon concentrating on picking my feet up properly and driving forward with my knee and......it felt quite good actually, I was springing along so much so I extended my run to 2.5 miles (think that's quite enough for a comeback run - sensible head on). Only slight problem was that I did run far too fast but we'll see how things are later after an afternoon of desk driving.

I've decided to stop being so "woe is me" and take advantage of my inability to do long rides/runs and go give blood for the first time tonight, I've always been worried it'll mess things up training wise. Fingers crossed I don't faint afterwards....I've been told to freely raid the biscuit (cookie) tin by those in the know and its also a great excuse to drink red wine