Fall Running Thread

[Crankin]

Ah, the life of a teacher.
It took me a few years to retrain my body not to want lunch at 11:08. The thing is, I still get up at 4:30- 5-ish a couple of days a week, and really, not later than 6 other days. However, I don't get to work until 9 or 10 and 2/3 days I work until 6 or 7. It's hard to go to bed at 9, when you get home at 7:30. And, it's wreaked havoc on my work out schedule. This is why I changed gyms, so I wasn't getting up for boot camp on the days I don't work. And no more after work rides. However, I do ride at 5 AM, which some think is crazy.

[BikeDutchess]

Where did I leave off? The Disneyland Half over Labor Day weekend was a blast! Cut 15 min off last year's time (remember I only just took up running last year, so there was a lot of room for improvement). Then I jetted off to visit my dad in the Netherlands for a week, and got a few short runs in there - love running below sea level! From there, things kind of went downhill. I felt puny after I got home (actually took a sick day which I haven't done in years), tried to get a long run in the weekend after I got back before I was fully recovered, but it felt horrible - no energy and my IT band started acting up. WTH? I hadn't had any IT band issues whatsoever for over a year, and that was the other leg. But I had Lake Powell coming, and was really looking forward to that one and didn't want to cancel since this was my girls' trip. I limited myself to a few short runs after that. As LP got closer, I tried to rest, foam roll, stretch and take ibuprofen with the hope I would at least finish & enjoy the race.

So race day comes around, and many, many things went right - I finally figured out the nutrition/hydration thing, the weather was fabulously cool, my clothing choices were right on, the course was gorgeous, didn't need a lot of cardio effort because it was a mostly gentle downhill course. What did not go well was my IT band - it started getting cranky around mile 4 and was absolutely furious by mile 10, when I had to concede and walk the rest of the way. If it had been a training run I would have bailed & called for a ride, and much sooner. But there was so much beautiful scenery to enjoy, and it was a fun crowd there in the back of the pack! I don't regret doing the race, but would love to do it again when I'm healthy. My knee still hurts, so I won't be running for a while. Planning on a lot of strength training this winter to build up hip and glute strength to try & address this thing.

But I can highly recommend the Lake Powell Half - fabulous race in a beautiful setting and well-organized. Only about 1300 participants this year - what a breath of fresh air after Disney (which had more than 20,000). Here's a peek at the photographer's video.

[emily_in_nc]

But I can highly recommend the Lake Powell Half - fabulous race in a beautiful setting and well-organized. Only about 1300 participants this year - what a breath of fresh air after Disney (which had more than 20,000). Here's a peek at the photographer's video.

OMG, this looks like an absolutely amazing place to run! I checked out the website and the course elevation, and I sure do like the gradual downhill-ness of it. Sorry you weren't totally healthy for it, but the scenery does look worth finishing since you were able to walk. Just lovely!

Hope you heal up quickly and thanks for the report!

[rocknrollgirl]

I was supposed to run today. I tried to run today, but my body said no....so I cut it short and walked it home. meh....sometimes it happens.

[OakLeaf]

Wow BikeDutchess, that looks spectacular. Hope your ITB heals up soon. Sounds like you've been getting plenty of excitement though!

RnR - yep, sometimes that happens. It would happen to me every day if I tried to get up at that hour of the morning! I definitely have to eat before a run, too, hope you figure out something that will sit right with your stomach.

[rocknrollgirl]

Wow BikeDutchess, that looks spectacular. Hope your ITB heals up soon. Sounds like you've been getting plenty of excitement though!

RnR - yep, sometimes that happens. It would happen to me every day if I tried to get up at that hour of the morning! I definitely have to eat before a run, too, hope you figure out something that will sit right with your stomach.

I am fine in the am, no matter what time I run. It is the after work run that kills me.

[emily_in_nc]

I'm very happy today. I was planning to do an official 5K today but injured myself (achilles or soleus, still not 100% sure), as I've mentioned above, right before I signed up so was not able to run for the past two weeks. Gradually the pain decreased to the point that the last few days I felt totally back to normal.

Now I wish I had signed up for the event after all since it was cheap (150 pesos or around $10), for a good cause, AND I would not have been DFL. I happened to catch the tail end of the run on my walk this morning, and there were a bunch of older local women walking with friends and chatting. They were walking slowly and just doing it for the cause or the fun of it, not to make any certain time.

The reason I am happy, though, is that I started out doing a walk this morning and was feeling so good that after a long warm-up, I tried jogging. I figured I'd go a quarter- or half-mile, but I was feeling so good (and no pain whatsoever in the achilles or calf) that I ended up running somewhere between 1 and 1.5 miles (did not have my GPS) out of my 3+ mile walk. I kept it to a slow jog and felt like I could have gone all day!

So I'll be easing back into it, but I am not going to do speedwork again for a looooong time, if ever, as that is how I injured myself. I'll just stick to my usual moderate pace and be very happy that I can do that.