Emily's training blog

My legs were more tired than I thought they would be this morning.  I must have run pretty hard on Saturday.  Oh well.  I'll still be ready on Wednesday.  Now, I just want it to get here!  

I met Jenny at Murray Park.  We warmed up 2 miles and then ran 10 x 1 minute on/off.  We didn't go crazy, just enough to get some faster turnover.  Then we cooled down around the park.  

Stretching and foam rolling time! 

Easy pre-race shakeout run.  My legs feel pretty good.  My hips are still tight, but felt way better by the end of the run.  I'm ready for tomorrow.  Excited, but really nervous!!!!

I'm super excited with how the race went today!  It was a great step in terms of my progress.  However, it may be one of the more painful races that I have run.

I woke up at 2:30 and thought, "The hardest part of the day is over.  Getting out of bed."  I got ready for the race and fed the baby.  

At 4 a.m I was on the bus wondering why I was doing this, and wondering if it was too late to switch to the 10k.  

5 a.m:  Sitting in the middle of a dark canyon and wondering again why I was doing this.

I warmed up with a mile up the canyon and back to the start.  That was actually pretty incredible.  It was beautiful up there.  Of course, that was the last time I actually looked at the scenery.

 I got out comfortably, but got a little nervous when the first mile said 5:27.  But, I thought I would roll with it and use the downhill to my advantage.  

Mile splits:  5:27, 5:42, 5:39, 5:37, 5:38, 5:31, 5:32, 6:06 (no more downhill,) 5:46.(back on!), 6:00.19  (feeling pain!), 6:13 (wheels came off.  holding on for dear life.)  13: 12 (last 2.1)  I was so happy to be done, and so happy not to get caught in the very long march to the finish line!  

I'm thrilled with my time.  I conservatively wanted to run under 1:20.  Of course, I'm so happy with the win.  And, I learned that if I go out too hard at St. George, I'm going to be in a world of hurt.  The last 3 miles were horrible today!  

I tried to cool down, but my 4 lovely blisters wouldn't let me.  Later I did about a mile of a hobble-jog.  I think I will be cross training tomorrow! 

So. Much. Pain.  My quads hurt so badly.  I thought that I would warm up a little bit on the bike and then try for an easy run.  I biked for 20 minutes, and then tried running.  No go.  The impact is so intense.  So, I got on the cross trainer for half an hour for 50 minutes total cross training.  I'll give myself four miles for it, just to keep tabs on what I am doing.  

I went from feeling elated over yesterday's run, to being worried about recovering in time to continue with enough marathon training to run well in October.  I thought that I would bounce right back.  Silly me!   I have ten weeks until the marathon.  A little recovery time shouldn't hurt, right?  

I stretched and took a 15 minute ice bath when I got home.  I felt a little better afterwards, but walking (especially down stairs) still hurts. A lot!  Any recovery advice out there?

I went over to the park by my house and ran for 20 minutes.  I was super slow, but my muscles did warm up.  Everything felt okay, besides the fatigue.  My left achilles tendon is very tender and didn't like the impact.  It's the opposite one from the one I tore.  I guess I need matching achilles owies.  About 2.5 miles if I'm being generous.

After running I went and took Zumba.  I lined up between the eighty year old woman, and the man on oxygen.  I tried hard to keep up.  I call 2.5 more miles for arthritic looking dancing.

I'm starting to feel a lot better.  I ran some grass loops in the park, and then finished up my run with a big loop through the neighborhood.  There's still no power in my legs, but at least it doesn't feel as if my legs are going to shatter with the impact.  My left achilles seemed to do a lot better than yesterday.  I had some booty lock going on in my right hip, but I actually feel as if I might survive the half marathon.  Right now my plan is just to increase the mileage over the next week, with the goal of a long run next Saturday.  Unless I start feeling amazing, I don't think I will start any harder workouts until next Monday.  I just want to be cautious.  

Hopefully, I can squeeze in some cross training later today.