Just Running

Well, I've not posted since Labor Day but I have been running. The week of the race I was off more than I care to be, but "things" happen. A small cyst was removed on my shoulder blade and took me out one day (thankfully only one) and we were out of town visiting my Dad and this took out two more days. This left me with a lesser mile week than I would have cared to have done as I'm shooting for an average of 20+ miles each week now. But I must re-focus on the necessary things occasionally to keep me a decent person as well as keeping tabs on the state of my health at my age. Does that make sense? I'm not complaining about our good visit with Dad at all. He seemed to have been much better than he was the last couple of times we visited and I'm so glad about that.

With that said...my body does NOT understand why I won't take it for a run almost every day. It can be as bad as a dog panting to go outside to use the bathroom (sorry for the terrible analogy) but it has a way to dominate my thoughts and actions like nothing else does.

I experienced my first long run disappointment! Not so much as the run itself, but me personally. Monday held a 10-miler for me. I prefer doing them on Mondays because I enjoy a rest day on Sunday and this fits into my schedule easily without making a bunch of changes or arrangements. I felt "heavy", blah and got hot before I finished on top of that! The heavy and blah feelings I was experiencing I'm absolutely sure I know where that came from. Friday and Saturday's meals there were not what my body is use to. I know eating well is not as good as it should be but every meal is not consumed in that manner like it is when we go out of town. Saturday's filling was not completely "gone" before I did my long run. The overall pace was not so bad but, to me, the "mile" pace was not as good as I would have liked it to be. I'm trying something new with my longer runs and after a couple more I'll see if it's working or not...can't consider this one with not fueling correctly. Next week's 11 mile run will paint a clearer picture.

Tuesday I decided to do a short run and some cross training. The first time I've run after a long one but, again, I'm trying something a little different. It was on my treadmill and I felt really good. Then a 10 minute workout with weights followed along with 10 minutes of floor work and 15 minutes of ab and core. An addition of a few new floor exercises made me use different muscles in my legs and hips. I really liked the way it made me feel.

Wednesday another run was tackled. Looking over the log, I recorded that I was sore and was blaming it on Tuesday's workout. And, yeah, it was tough and muscles were felt I didn't know I had. BUT usually runs don't occur so frequent after my long ones.

My rest day was moved to Thursday as I had something else planned that day that couldn't be changed. This is the reason for the frequent running right after Monday's long run. Had a wonderful day scrapping my marathon that occurred earlier this year. I had been getting things together but it's usually my head that keeps things from occurring quickly. I'll think things through many, many times before I will actually put it down on paper. But it's happening and now I'm only a couple of pages away from completion! I'm so happy with it and the way it's turning out.

Friday, five miles were calling my name; so five it was. My body tends to be my "thinker" more than my mind. I can't help it. One thing...I'm learning to incorporate walking more into my warm ups and cool downs and with that said, I feel less guilt running so much...regardless of how good or bad they turn out to be. I felt "heavy" again, but good this day. Negative splits that day was such a boost to my ego and was glad I had run through this heaviness I've been experiencing this week.

Saturday I shot for 3 miles. I've been wanting to incorporate some hills in my training and cutting this one short I decided to tackle the little hilly track at the Sportsplex. We have a VERY hilly race coming up and I've not raced hills like this before. It sure wouldn't hurt doing a few of these. It wasn't as bad as I had dreaded. Isn't that usually the case?? The first mile was a warm-up normal run. The hills were the entire second mile. Had a 9:03 pace!! I couldn't believe that!! VERY happy with it...although I KNOW that bridge is much harder and more intimidating than that little piece of a track!! I know because I've run it several times...I know what's ahead...and can hardly wait...am I crazy??

This week's mileage is 25.25 running miles with a total of 27.75. I'm getting closer to where I want to be. I'm so hungry for longer distances...you hear me??? Once I get my body trained, in shape and less of it (5-7 pounds less), I want to commit to a 10 miler (or a double digit one) every 7-10 days. This is my "unwritten" goal!! So what's yours?? Until I see you again...

Run4It