Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from March, 2009

Friday, March 27, 2009

Whew, 8 miles was difficult today. I shaved about 30 seconds per minute off of my time. I can contribute it to the course being flat instead of hills. But it was tough! I saw several other runners running which helped motivate me. Although, it didn’t do much for my self esteem as they whizzed past me. I’ll set the scene. My face was no longer red but a shade of purple. I had salt trails down my face. My breathing was labored… but on a positive note… I was still moving. Park benches lined the trail I was running. It was tempting to just sit for a moment, but I refused. I have to admit that running 8 miles during the middle of the day and then going back to work was a little tiring - more than I had expected. But, I’m glad I did it. I ran 8 miles on Sunday, 5 on Tuesday and 8 today… not bad if I say so myself.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

I’m trying to get mentally prepared for my 8 mile run tomorrow. I plan to go to work and work for a few hours, then go run 8 miles on an extended lunch break, and then come back to work. I’ve mapped out my route. This route should be flat so hopefully it will be a little easier than the hilly route that I ran on Sunday. I don’t normally run my ‘long’ run on a week day, but it’s supposed to rain all weekend. It’s raining now. I hope the forecast is correct for tomorrow because it is supposed to be mostly sunny and in the 60’s. I remember when I ran my first 4 miles alone. I wasn’t sure if I could do it. Now, I’m attempting to run my second 8 mile run. It’s nice to finally see some progress.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

8 miles…that was the goal for the day. I just wasn’t feeling it yesterday, and I decided not to run. The weather was a little cooler than I had expected, and I wasn’t in the mental frame of mind to push myself. Today, well today I told myself that the number was 8, there wouldn’t be any excuse, and that I would complete it. Once again, I ran a new route. I wasn’t expecting the gigantic hills! About half of my run contained hills with two long winding steep hills mixed with smaller rolling hills. I was about half way into my run and as I looped around, I could see my car. I knew that I could quit or I could continue on and reach my goal. I took a left and kept running. As I made the last loop, once again my car was in sight. At this point, I was 6.2 miles into my run. My legs were tired and my knees hurt, but I had set a goal and I was determined to completed it. I was thirsty on this run. This is the first time that I’ve actually wanted water while running. When I was in MS, I ran long

Monday, March 16, 2009

I ran 2 miles today on my lunch break. I think by now that my coworkers find it a common practice to see me running during the day. I was only supposed to run 2 miles according to my training schedule. And I sure was glad it was only 2 miles. I have shin splints from Saturday and my calves are still very sore. Needless to say it was a long two miles. I'm supposed to run 6 on Wednesday, but I'm going to wait and see how my legs feel. I may put it off another day to let them rest because this weekend I'm supposed to run another 7 miles. Saturday took more out of me than I thought. I'm going to try to start back strength training. I hate it. I have yet to get 'into strength training'. But I'm going to try to see if I can work 2 days of strength training into my work out routine. Hopefully my legs will cooperate with me this week and I can get the rest of my runs in...

Saturday, March 14, 2009 - Run 4 Luck

I did it. I did it. I did it. WOO HOO. Ok, granted more than one woman pushing a baby in a baby stroller zoomed past me, but I still completed it. This was not my first race. But this was my first 4 mile race – and the first race that I ran every step. In the past I would run, walk some steps, run, walk some steps. You get the picture. I know that it helped that I ran it with my boss. I used her as my pace guide and stayed with her until about 3.25 in.. then she sped up... and I slowed behind. I was struggling at that point but kept telling myself that I was not a quitter. I can't count the number of times that I told myself that I was not a quitter and that I would not stop. It was cold, upper 20's lower 30's. I had to scrape the frost off of my car before I drove to meet my boss. Thankfully it was not windy. The course was hilly. It wasn't huge hills, but gradual inclines that at times felt as though it would never end. There were some down slopes, but never long e

Friday, March 13, 2009

Wow, tomorrow is the day – my first 4 mile race. For those of you who run marathons or ultras, I know that 4 miles is nothing. But - to me - right now it seems like a LONG way to run - especially since I haven't been able to run this week. My knee has been bothering me. I would like to run it under 40 minutes. I'm not sure if that is a realistic goal. I guess I will find out tomorrow. I just hope the course is flat... but ... most places here are not flat.... I think the temps are supposed to be in the lower 30's. I suppose I will find out tomorrow :)

Saturday, March 7, 2009

7 miles – it's hard to believe that I ran 7 miles today. I'd never run that far alone. It was difficult, and it took a lot of telling myself to 'just keep moving'. But I did it. I didn't plan on running hills today though. I ran a new route and discovered hills were included. Thankfully, I only had one long incline and several smaller ones, but the route wasn't totally flat. The weather was gorgeous today with temps in the 70's. I'm very pleased with myself that I did it, and that I didn't quit – but kept moving forward.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

I haven't been able to get any runs in this week so far. The weather has just been too bad. With the snow yesterday and the wind chill today, I just couldn't get out there. I am supposed run 2, 5, and 7 mile runs this week. I'm going to attempt to try to get a 5 mile run in tomorrow. I'm not sure if it will happen. I have a busy day at work, but I'm going to take my work-out bag just in case I can get a run in on my lunch break. My 4 mile race is less than 2 weeks away. I hope I can get some running time in this week!