Back in the saddle?

I ran with a fellow St. George trainee  this morning.  We took a new loop (new for me), which was fun.  Average pace was 10:05.  I'm still struggling with pace, and I'm not sure why.

Actually, the big news is that our house was burglarized yesterday...in broad daylight, while we were at church.  We had all of our doors locked, but they came in through the doggie door.  We don't even have a dog, so they must have been watching us.  They stole a lot of stuff, but fortunately didn't damage anything.  I  hardly slept last night.  I took today off work to get some stuff done.  They stole my husband's house keys, so we are changing all of the locks today and putting locks on our gates.  We are  also getting an alarm system.  We live in a very quiet neighborhood, so this is surprising.  They took our big-screen TV, computer, iPods, digital camera (all photos from the last two years: gone!), my husband's Garmin (but not mine), and some other stuff.

I got home first and discovered everything but didn't know if they were still in the house.  It was terrifying.  We feel so violated, and I'm scared to be in the house alone, but I'm scared for both of us to leave.  I knew if I didn't make plans to meet up this morning that I would have skipped my run, so I'm glad I did.  We are without Internet at home, so I will still blog, but comments will probably be somewhat limited since I'll be blogging from work.

Be careful, and lock your doors!!

OK.  I need to figure some things out.  I couldn't sleep again last night.  Every sight and sound freaks me out, and every time I close my eyes I envision those horrible people in my house again.  So, with no sleep last night, I skipped the run this morning in favor of bed.

I got up and got ready for work very slowly, because I was reluctant to leave the house.  As I got into my car, I started to feel some anxiety, and it continued to escalate as I drove farther from my house.  People, I had a full-blown anxiety attack, and I have no idea how I made it to the office safely.  I snuck through the lobby with my sunglasses on, rode up the elevator, and went straight to the restroom. 

Thankfully, my amazing secretary was in there and helped to calm me down (turns out that Lamaze classes are helpful for more reasons than childbirth, and I now have a headstart on childbirth techniques!).  I couldn't breathe, I got very dizzy and lightheaded, and my arms were tingling.  That had never happened before.  So, I called my sister, and she came to my office to get me.

I feel like I should be stronger than this.  Nobody was hurt, and it's only stuff.  I can't imagine how I would react if I or someone I loved ever got hurt or further victimized.  It has gotten in the way of me doing my job for the last two days, and I feel like I'm letting people down.  Thankfully, I work for amazing people who are very understanding (and who have been burglarized too).  One of the partners said he was surprised that I showed up at all today.  My sister just left, and I'm getting scared again, but I feel more in control of myself than I did this morning.

I am so sore (again!).  I thought it was from the run yesterday, but now I realize it's from the tension I have been holding and this stupid panic attack.

OK, this rant has been therapeutic.  I need to get my marathon training back on track.  If I wasn't so scared to leave the house, it would be a great way to take my mind off everything!  Thanks to everyone who left supportive comments yesterday (if you're still reading!).  My goal is to go to work all day tomorrow.  One step at a time...

Why I couldn't get out the door today, I don't know.  I feel much better though.  The alarm system guy came last night, and we bought a (pricey!) system that will be installed next week.  And, last night, I slept like a baby!  Finally!

I have learned a lot about myself during this burglary ordeal.  I have always been a drama queen and feel life's highs and lows very strongly.  It can be an asset and a liability.  In this case, it was a liability.  It is the same way with my running.  If a race goes well, I am on cloud nine and very motivated.  If a race goes badly, I get down in the dumps and don't run at all for a while, as my blog has shown over the last few months.

Because this situation was relatively minor (we weren't hurt, nothing was damaged, and it's only stuff, except the pictures), I think I expected to be stronger than I was.  I was on autopilot on Monday, doing things I had to do with the insurance company, etc.  When that frenzy ended and it was time to go back to my normal routine yesterday (and I had time to reflect), I completely freaked out.  In the process, I became very angry with myself for not being stronger (I have also always been very hard on myself) and not  being able to do my job for another day.  Luckily, I have great, understanding bosses.  I allowed myself yesterday to freak out, be angry and scared, etc., which I know will not go away overnight.  On the bright side, I got to spend several uninterrupted hours with my sister.  She is the best!

Enough ranting.  The moral?  I'm not quite sure-get an alarm system, definitely!  Also learn to accept yourself and your imperfections.  Know your limitations.  And, it's important to surround yourself with supportive people who, at the same time, will not let you have a pity party.  My mom said in a sermon once, "Having a pity party is like crying on the devil's shoulder." 

It's funny how a running blog can morph into something completely different...

It felt so good to get back out again, for the most part.  I still have unexplained bouts of anxiety.  My breathing got a little restricted when I was alone on the trail, which is ironic because the trail is right next to a major street!

Total time was 59:26, average 9:55 (I think-Garmin is at home).  Mile 1 was 10:10, and miles 2-4 were about 10:00 even.  Slower than I'd like, but very even splits, so that is good.  I was able to pick up the last two miles to 9:51 and 9:22.

I am still obviously much slower than I want to be.  I am kicking myself now for sitting on my butt for 2 months.  If I hadn't done that, I would probably be close to 9:00 pace for my easy runs.  Oh well, lesson learned.  Won't do that again!

I have been racking my brain about my computer, and I have concluded that there were no memorized passwords on my computer, so I don't think my identity will be stolen.  However, the exception is...fastrunningblog!  If there are any weird entries, it's the burglars-ha!  We'll catch 'em!

I almost didn't get up today, but I'm glad I did.  We had a late night last night.  I did 5 or so pickups to eventual marathon race pace.  I found that my normal pace increased between the pickups too.  Total time was 58:21, 9:43 average.

It was kind of hard, but I feel OK.  I hope my legs forgive me for my long run tomorrow.

It is getting HOT!  The first 3-4 miles were fine, and then we slowed down.  I felt sluggish, and I think it was from the heat.  It was 74 degrees when we started and it's 88 now (I finished about an hour ago).  Total time was 1:49:18, average pace of 9:56.  We were sub-10:00 pace for a while, but slowed down to 10:00 and sometimes slower when it started getting hot.  The last mile was 9:15, though.

I ran with my normal group, but there were only four of us today.  Two others are also training for St. George and want to BQ (3:45 for them).  I figure if I train for 3:45, I'm going to go for BQ(3:40), but I'm just not there yet.  So I haven't decided what my goal will be.  I think I'll just try to PR (sub-3:54) and go for BQ in a winter marathon.  Right now I'm on track for a 4:00 marathon, but I know I'll get faster.  We shall see...

I saw my husband out there, which is always fun.  He runs with a different group in Scottsdale.  It's a great group, but a 25-minute drive to get there, and they don't start until 6:30.

My lazy butt slept in this morning, so I had to do hill workouts on the treadmill tonight.  I decided to get the hard workout over first so I don't have to do it tomorrow morning on not-fully-recovered legs.

I started with dynamic stretching and then hopped on the treadmill.  I didn't have my iPod (it was stolen and I haven't bought a replacement yet).  Let me tell you: treadmill without music is BORING, especially while jogging at recovery pace!

I warmed up with 1.5 miles of easy jogging at a 1.0 incline, then stepped it up for the hill repeats.  I set the incline at 3.0 and ran 4 2-minute hill intervals at 7:53 pace with two minutes of jogging at 0 incline between.  I ran a longer cooldown to make it an even 5 miles.  My pace during warmup and cooldown was 10:42 (recovery pace) and quite a bit slower during my interval recoveries.

The good thing about the treadmill: I was able to keep the pace steady and strong throughout the hill intervals and not go too fast on the warmup and cooldown portions.  I'm looking forward to getting back outside tomorrow morning, though.

I think I'm going to step up the mileage beyond what the plan calls for this week because I won't be able to run this weekend.  I will be on a boat at Lake Powell-there is literally no place to run.  I will probably do a .5-mile open water swim, though, and definitely water-ski until I drop!

I'm getting better at this early-morning thing.  I actually woke up a couple minutes before the alarm went off!  I ran 6 miles on my normal trail, and it was getting really busy around 6:30.  I just took it easy but felt a little sluggish.  I don't know if it's because I ran hills last night or because I was STARVING before mile 3, or both.

No Garmin or iPod, 77 degrees at the end of the run, felt OK weather-wise, not too hot.

Whew-tough run!  I ran 6 miles with 4 x 2-minute intervals at 3K pace (only 7:57 for me right now).  I hit all the intervals, and was able to sustain the pace, which is really all that matters, right?  The first mile was pretty slow, and I started the fartlek intervals after that.  I ran 10:00 pace between intervals until the last one.  I don't know what happened after that, but I slogged home with a 10:37 last mile-ouch!  I guess the In n Out Burger for dinner last night didn't help!

My husband had troubles too.  He had to take a bathroom break at the big Baptist church.  We don't go to that church, so I'm sure they were thrilled to see a stinky, sweaty stranger using their bathroom!  We rarely eat fast food.  I was just so exhausted yesterday and craving In-n-Out.  Maybe it's because I didn't have time for lunch yesterday....

I also did dynamic stretching before the run.  I hope these little speed intervals pay off, because I'm sick of being slow for the rest of the time!

PM: chiropractic adjustment and massage.  The massage therapist massaged my legs and glutes-it felt great!  She told me my chakras indicated that I'm harboring feelings of betrayal and trust that have been around for a long time and suggested that maybe my first boyfriend broke my heart (not true).  Wow!  Either I have some serious issues, or I look WAY young-ha!

She also said my legs are more muscular than most-yeah! 

This was kind of a rough run, and I'm not sure why.  My legs felt very sluggish, especially after stopping at traffic lights-they felt like jello!  I'm pretty sure I slowed down quite a bit in the last couple of miles.

No garmin, so I don't know my pace/time.  I'm trying really hard not to care about my pace on easy days, but I can't help wondering!

I have been pretty consistent lately, and keeping my weekly mileage steady, so I can't help wondering why I am struggling so much with "easy" 6-mile runs...

After today, I think this is the most I have ever run 5 days in a row.  I used to not run on Fridays because I ran at night.  I won't get in 6 days this week, though.  I will be on the water at Lake Powell all day tomorrow and Sunday.  I'll get plenty of cross-training exercise up there!

The 8 miles was fine.  It took about 3 miles to feel warmed up, and the last 5 went much better.  I need to get up a little earlier though so I won't be late to work.  Total time was 1:19:48, a 9:58 average.  I lost about 5 minutes waiting at traffic lights (turned off the Garmin, though).

Weekend plan: LOTS of water-skiing (not sure how that would translate into cross-training miles!), at least one .5-mile open water swim, and maybe some climbing around on the rocks!  So I will still get plenty of exercise.  We're driving to Flagstaff tonight and getting up at 4 am to leave for Page tomorrow.  Sorry, I am NOT getting up at 3:00 to run!

Happy Father's Day weekend to all you dads!

water-skiing

2.3 mile hike, complete with heat exhaustion, and numerous attempts at water-skiing

Today is one day that I am extra-thankful for the blog, because I probably wouldn't have run otherwise.  I was supposed to do 7 miles today, but after an exhausting (but fun!) weekend at Lake Powell, not much sleep last night, extreme soreness, and some spotty sunburn, I promptly turned off the alarm at 5:05 this morning.  Then, I had a long day at work, including a 4-hour round trip to Tucson and back.  And, to top it off, it was 112 degrees today!

BUT, duty and the quest for consistency won over.  I did 3.1 boring miles on the treadmill at a 9:40 pace (1.0 incline).  I am trying to do what some much-wiser-than-me bloggers have recommended: running 6 days a week, no excuses, and not pushing it too hard on easy runs.

8 x 400s tomorrow morning: time to get psyched up!

Today was a track workout, and it was almost 6:00 by the time we got out there.  With no shade, that is way too late.  Lesson learned!

The goal was 8 x 400s in 1:58 each.  I ran 7.5 of the repeats in 1:58, 1:56, and 1:55 for the rest, until the 8th repeat, which was a DNF.  It was too HOT by then.  My recovery by that point was a shuffle/walk, but I'm still counting it toward my mileage. 

I feel pretty good about my performance on the 400s.  I'm not sure why I didn't finish the last one: either I did the others too fast, or the heat just got to me.  I'm pretty sensitive to heat exhaustion.  It was a decent run overall, though.  I am still sore but feel much better.

The weather was surprisingly nice this morning, considering it's supposed to be over 110 today.  It's starting to get more humid, though-monsoon season is officially here!

I ran 5 easy miles with no Garmin.  I felt sluggish the most of the way, probably a combination of the heat and the 400s yesterday.  My right hamstring and calf are also still pretty sore.  I feel good, though: this is a true test of my consistency, and so far...I'm being consistent!   One day at a time, right?

PM: resistance training and anti-sitting stretches

The weather was actually pretty nice this morning.  We left at 5:45, 15 minutes earlier than yesterday (progress!).  I did the whole run with my husband, which was fun and doesn't happen that often.   We did a 1.5-mile warmup with dynamic stretching after .5 miles. 

Then we did 2 one-mile repeats with two minutes of active recovery in between.  The first mile was very slightly downhill, and then we ran back up the "hill" for the second.  The goal was 8:24 pace (my current projected 10K pace and eventual marathon pace). 

I ran the first mile in 8:22 (4:12 and 4:10 halves).  It felt pretty easy.  I didn't consciously pick up the pace on the second mile, but I felt like I needed to go a little harder because it was slightly uphill.  Anyway, I ran the first half in 4:09 and the second half in 4:02, for an 8:11 second mile!  It definitely felt harder, but not too hard.  Maintaining that pace for an entire 10K would be a challenge right now, though.

We finished up with a 1.5-mile cooldown at a very SLOW pace.  I'm happy with my performance.

I did 5 easy miles this morning.  I ran the first two with my husband, who then turned around to go home.  He ran the full 7 miles on Monday and I didn't, so he is still ahead of me on mileage this week.

I felt a little tired, but I haven't been getting enough sleep.  I'm also getting my body used to speedwork again, so it will probably take a few weeks to adjust.  No big deal, right?  Total time was 49:46, average 9:57 pace.  First mile was 10:17 (always takes a bit to get warmed up), and all the rest were under 10:00.

Tomorrow is my first ever downhill run.  We're driving 30 minutes to get there to do 6 miles downhill and then 6 miles of rolling hills.  Should be interesting...

Oh!  I came to the conclusion that the burglars who broke into my house a few weeks ago were definitely adults because they stole my....iron!  Who steals an iron?  (I had thought they might be kids because they came through the doggie door)  The funny thing is, there was a TV in the same room as the iron, and they didn't take the TV!  It was a nice iron, too.

OK.  First, the goal: get up at 4:30, meet at South Mountain at 5:30, start running at 5:30 so we would be done before 7:30, before it started getting hot.  There was no shade there.  The reality: those of us training for the marathon met at 5:30, others get there at 5:45, we find out they are not running down the mountain, we have to discuss it and then drive to the top, we start running at...6:10.  What follows will be no surprise.

There were four of us running together, including my husband.  The first 5.6 miles were steep downhill with a few steep uphills.  We ran a 9:38 average over the first 8 miles (still downhill).  That average is skewed upward a little bit by a 10:25 at mile 3 (big uphill).  I concentrated on just letting gravity pull me down and not braking with my legs.

At mile 5.6, there was water!  Our water was either gone or very hot by then, so we obviously got some more.  BUT, it was Team in Training water.  After we got our water, the lady asked us what "valley" we were with.  We were thinking that we all live in the Valley of the Sun, so we werent' sure what she was asking.  When she figured out we were not Team in Training people, she was MAD.  But what do you do: refuse to give water to people in Phoenix in the summer?  I realize we are not part of the Team and don't pay the exorbitant money to do it, but man, we needed water.

We then started running on a two-lane highway that is closed to cars.  There were lots of runners and bikers out.  A guy on a bike passed us and yelled, "Don't hog the whole road!"  We weren't.  What followed were some not-nice comments made by members of our group that will not be repeated (one, I confess, was made by me, but I know he didn't hear).  :-)

Anyway, I digress.  We turned around at 8.2, still going a 9:38 average.  But then, what goes down must come up (that includes the hill AND the sun).  Both came up with a vengeance, and I overheated and had to walk.  After my few episodes of heat exhaustion, I know the symptoms and listen to my body.  My next two miles were 13:40 and 15:05 because of it.  Fortunately, there was still cold water at the Team in Training station (and no one around), so I was able to cool off.  I was able to run the last 1.5 miles, so I know the problem was only the heat.

When we got back to the car, it was 8:30!  No wonder: it must have been 90 degrees already!  I wish I could have finished my FIRST SIX-DAY RUNNING WEEK with a bang, but...heat happens.  Next time, we start running when we say we're going to start.  We might have to get up before 4:00!  Whoa!

Goose egg so far today.  AARRRRGGGGHHH!  Warning: if injuries are contagious, DO NOT READ FURTHER!

First, I am just about as sore as I am after a marathon after that downhill run on Saturday. So, I woke up extremely stiff yesterday morning (but after 10 hours of sleep-wonderful!), wandered into the bathroom, and promptly stubbed my toe!  What a way to start the day.  I hopped back into the bedroom screaming, looked down, and...blood everywhere!  When I could finally get back into the bathroom, it looked like a horror movie set!  Yuck!  Somehow all the toenail polish was taken off that toenail too...weird.  Anyway, my husband went to the store to get band-aids (can you tell we don't have kids?!), cleaned it, and taped it up.  I still can't wear closed-toe shoes.

I'm hoping some of the soreness and the toe issue goes away today so I can get in some miles tonight.  I'm disappointed, especially after my good 6-day running week last week.

PM-I did 45 minutes on the bike, followed by 15 minutes on the elliptical trainer.  Let me tell you: that elliptical trainer requires a whole new level of coordination that I do not have!  I guess that's why I run: I don't have to fall as far.

My soreness has improved enough that I should be able to run fine tomorrow.  I'm glad I did the non-impact stuff today, though.

I did it!  10 x 400s!

We (hubby and I) ran 1.3 miles to the track, did dynamic stretching, and started the workout: 10 x 400s at 1:58 (goal) with one lap of jogging after each 400.

My first lap was 1:53, and all the rest were 1:50-1:52.  The 5th or 6th repeat, and the last repeat, were 1:48!  I am so excited that I did so well!  We slogged home afterward.  The heat didn't bother me nearly as badly as last week.  We started the repeats at about 5:50, though: a bit earlier than last week.

I am REALLY tired now, but it's going to take a while to get used to the intense workouts.  Also, my spine hurts to the touch-weird!  I first noticed the spine tenderness last night on the bike.  I have a chiro/massage appointment tomorrow, so I'll get it checked out then.  But I don't care right now, because I ROCKED my workout!

Well, what goes up must come down, in terms of workouts.  My legs felt like lead today, and I didn't run a single mile faster than 10:04.  Average pace was 10:18.  My cardio capacity was OK-it was just my legs!  They didn't really feel that sore, just heavy, until after I had been finished for a few minutes.  Now I realize that my quads and hamstrings are actually pretty sore.  I'm REALLY looking forward to my chiro adjustment and massage today.

No more Garmins on recovery runs-it's too discouraging!  I'm glad I got the miles in, though.

I felt really good yesterday, but do today's difficulties mean I overdid it yesterday??

Mid-day: chiropractic adjustment and MASSAGE.  The chiropractor told me the tenderness in my spine was a result from jarring it during lots of running and that it should go away on its own.  The massage was WONDERFUL but went on too long, and now I have zero motivation at work!

PM: anti-sitting stretches

Well!  This workout didn't go quite as well as Tuesday's workout.  We did a 1.5- mile warmup with dynamic stretching and then 3 1-mile repeats with 2-minute rest periods.  Last week, my goal was 8:24 and I surpassed it, so I increased my goal to the 8:05-8:10 range, which proved to be a little ambitious.

The first mile was 8:15, and it felt fine.  The second mile was 8:12 and felt harder, but I still felt OK.  When I started the third mile, I knew I was in trouble.  My legs felt like rubber.  I REALLY wanted to stop, but I pushed through (Michelle, your voice was yelling in my head!...even though I have never actually heard your voice), hoping to just finish the repeat.  I figured it would be about 9:00, the way I was feeling.  I was very pleasantly surprised when I finished in 8:25.

Based on my 400s the other day, I should have been able to complete these repeats in the 8:05 range.  So now I know: I need to work on my speed over longer periods of time.  I cooled down with slightly over 1.5-mile jog.  I had to walk a bit first, though.  Glad it's over, and looking forward to slower mileage for the rest of the week!

I just did a short run today because I want to keep my mileage this week below 40.  Two weeks ago, I cracked 30 miles for the first time in quite a while, and I don't want to escalate the mileage too quickly.  And I have to do 13 tomorrow, which will put me barely below 40 for the week.

I didn't even run the whole time.  I saw my neighbors walking on my way home.  I ran by and said hi, but they asked me about the burglary, so I stopped and walked with them for about a quarter mile.  Apparently another house on our block was burglarized through the doggie door a few months ago.

After listening to my body and the words of several wiser-than-me bloggers, and evaluating my performance, I have decided to change my training plan.  I am going to drop the short interval speed workouts and focus on base mileage with one good tempo run/mile repeat workout per week, and a long run, of course.  I knew in my head that I needed to train this way, but it's fun going fast!  I will also do some hill training (mostly downhill) during one run per week, probably during my easy Tuesday run.  I am a little bit sore all the time, and I know it can escalate into injury or burnout if I don't watch it.

Happy Friday!

Lunchtime: I was checking out my past blogs to see how much mileage I have put on my shoes (it's almost 900: time for new ones!), and I was surprised to see that I wasn't as consistent as I thought I was during marathon training.  There were a couple of minor injuries that laid me off for a few days here and there, and I got really sick one week.  Then I was VERY sore after the two half marathons I did.  But there were also many unexplained goose eggs.  This month will put me at my second highest mileage month ever, since I started blogging, and I'm still 3 months out from St. George.  I'm hoping I stay healthy and motivated, because it will be very interesting to see how I do with consistent consistency (is there such a thing?).  Also, if I have a goose egg day, I'm going to record it, so I can look back and know why I skipped a run.  I think I'm going to join Lybi's consistency challenge too!

Today was a good run.  We started at 5:40 today, instead of after 6:00, so that made a big difference.  I ran with my husband, two other people training for St. George who are a little faster than me, and a 1:26 half marathoner.  We were also running a new route, so I knew I had to keep up.  The first 3.75 were flat miles on our normal long run route.  Then we did about 4-5 miles of hills. 

It was beautiful where we went!  We ran up into Paradise Valley, past amazing houses with killer views of the city.  It almost took my mind off the pain.  We got some good downhills too, but not a lot of sustained downhills.  There was no water there, but it was shady.

It got pretty hot as we got back on the canal (no more shade!), but somehow I was able to speed up.  My average pace was 9:52.  There was just as much uphill as downhill, so they basically cancelled each other out.  I'm pretty happy with my overall pace, especially given all the hills. 

I'm going to post my splits ONLY to show the gains and losses on the hills: 9:40, 9:53, 9:47, 10:03 (unexplained slowdown, no hills yet), 10:08.5 (uphill), 10:16 (BIG uphill and some downhill), 10:03 (big uphill and some downhill), 9:38 (heading back down), 9:56 (flat again), 9:58, 9:45, 10:00 (slight uphill and HUMID by the golf courses), 9:33, 9:15 pace for last .5 mile.

I am now going to attempt my first ice bath.  I hope I live to tell about it.

This was a good run today, although it was HOT!  I drank almost all of my water.  I'll have to figure out how to carry enough water with me as the weekday runs get longer.  And, I have a new iPod!  And new shoes: Asics 2130.  Gee, I feel like a new woman.

Total time was 1:08:48, a 9:49 average.  The first three miles or so were around 10:00, I think, and then I sped up.

I made risotto last night, which is HUGE, because I am the most undomestic person ever.  It is delicious, although I had to stir constantly for an hour!  And, it is too rich to eat the evening before a run, FYI.