Training Update: Week 10 (August 17-August 23)

The heat has been so horrible for the past few weeks but the positive thing is that I have not had any hip pain for ten weeks! That is truly a blessing and when I think about that, the heat really doesn't bother me anymore. There is always something to be thankful for and life is so much better when we try to see the good in everything. 

Here is a recap of Week Ten:

Monday: Strength Training: My day started out with Jury Duty. I seriously don't think I would be good on a jury so I spent most of the day praying that I would be excused and I finally was!

I wore my Mountains 2 Beach shirt to celebrate the fact that I just signed up to run the marathon again in 2016. I love this race. If I ever BQ, I would love for it to happen on this course because I love it that much.

Tuesday: 6 Miles: Speedwork: This one did not seem too bad until it ended with two miles at tempo pace instead of a nice and easy cool down. I wasn't sure if I would be able to do it but somehow I did.

Wednesday: Muscle Imbalance Strength Training: I felt a little better on the Bosu ball this week. I was sore from all of the body squats so I guess it is working!

Thursday: 7 Miles@8:21: This was a really tough day for me because I could not sleep. I ended up getting three hours of sleep and then going to an all day training for work. I could barely stay awake and had already decided to put my run off until the next day. Once I got home and rested for a couple of hours I decided to go to the gym and run on the treadmill. I haven't done any of my runs on a treadmill unless my coach actually tells me to so it was a good change. I did take two breaks because my IT band started hurting a little bit and I had to stretch it out.

Friday: REST DAY: It is always nice when my Off-Friday and Rest Day fall on the same day. I slept in until 7:30 am, spent some quality time with the furkids and ran some errands.

Saturday: 15 Miles:  The weather was perfect but my energy level was low. I am getting so used to slowing these long runs down that when I have to run at endurance pace it seems hard. That is the only thing that scares me about running my long runs at a much slower pace.

Sunday: Strength Training: I didn't feel like driving to the gym so I decided to get my sweat on at home with my Bosu Ball and other tools that I have at home.

TOTAL MILES: 28

2015 MILES: 835

Treadmill Tell-All

Since I am such a big fan of the treadmill (NOT) I thought I would chime in with Marcia over at Marcia's Healthy Slice on her post about treadmill running.

As much as I dislike running on the treadmill it is a necessary evil for me. In California we have really hot summers and if you are not out there at 5:00 am it is going to be a tough run. We don't get much rain here but when we do, the treadmill is always a way for me to get my runs in and stick to my training plan. Working a full-time job also makes it difficult to get a run in before dark so I often have to run on the treadmill on the days that I work. So yes, the treadmill is a must for me!

 

1. What’s your favorite workout to do on a treadmill? I can't say that I have a favorite workout because I really dislike the dreadmill! I usually do progressive runs or speedwork since it is easier to hold the pace without having to sop for traffic lights when you run outdoors.

2. How many miles, on average, do you run on the mill each week?  I average about 14 miles a week on the treadmill.

3. What was the most mileage you’ve ever completed on the mill in one workout? When? Why?  My record treadmill run is 13.11 miles  back in May, 2013. My friend was injured and was running the OC Half Marathon and since we were going to the race together, I did not want to leave her out on the course alone. I was also training for a big race so I knew that I could not miss my long run so I got it done on the treadmill.

4. Do you mill at home, the gym or both?  I mill at the gym since I don't have a treadmill at home.

 

5. What distractions or entertainment (if any) do you use to help pass the time? Some of the treadmills at the gym have TV's but they make me dizzy so I cannot watch them. To pass the time, I listen to my music or I just people watch. People watching is probably the best way to pass time since I have some interesting people at my gym to say the least. Some of the regulars are pretty darn entertaining!

6. If you have a treadmill at home, what kind is it? How old is it?   I used to have a treadmill at home but never used it so I sold it. I am the kind of person who will put my run off if the treadmill is in the house so I have to get out the door to get it done. The minute I sold my treadmill I regretted it. Then Pro-Form came out with the Boston Marathon treadmill  and I have been wanting it ever since but simply can't afford it!

7. Do you fuel any differently for a treadmill workout than an outside one? I never GU on the treadmill but probably drink the same amount of water. Sometimes the gym feels warm so I might even drink more.

8. Any treadmill mishaps to report? Thankfully none! I always think about how embarrassing that would be so I am pretty careful.
 
9. Do you mill at incline to compensate for not being outside? Barely. I set the incline to .5 and that is about it. I have heard that you have to adjust it or else you are running slower than you think you are. Oh well, that's fine with me because I am sweating like a pig when I get off  the mill.

10. Describe your perfect (if there is such an animal) treadmill conditions:I always try to find a machine that is close to the AC vent. I usually have a favorite machine that is in the right place but then they re-arrange the equipment and I am on the hunt again.

Feel free to write your own  "Treadmill Tell-All" post on your blog or share your treadmill love/hate stories with me in the comments! Thank you for the idea Marcia!

What a Great Weekend It Was!

I had a great weekend in spite of the rainy weather. I drove out to see my Mom on Friday and the visibility was really poor on the freeway.  By the end of the day there was a beautiful rainbow but then the rains started again in the late evening hours.

I am overly excited about being able to run on Friday and Sunday.  They were all treadmill miles but I will take whatever I can get right now!!  I feel like I am finally making some progress and I am really feeling good! I don't think I have felt this happy in a long time. Isn't it kind of crazy that running has become such a part of my life that when it goes away I am sort of lost?  It's almost like running and I went through a bad divorce! My Friday treadmill run went really well and I hardly walked but I know better than to push myself these days so I was more than happy to take a 1-2 minute walk break after being able to handle 12-15 minutes at 6.0-6.2.  I haven't done that in quite some time. I was kind of proud of myself!

On Saturday we went on a 4 mile walk on a local bike trail.  My son rode his bike while we walked it out. The weather was cool and my son enjoyed it so it was quality family time.

On Sunday I was more than ready to try another 7 miler on my good old friend treadmill.  I accidentally hit the stop button after 2.6 miles because I dropped my towel so I had to restart the darn treadmill.  I hate it when that happens because I have to put my math skills to work.

The OC Half Marathon is just a few weeks away and my mind is pretty set on running it.  If things continue to improve over the next few weeks, I hope to be out there. I want to be able to run 10 pain free miles before I decide to run this race.  I even considered running without my Garmin but then I thought that I might take it too fast so my Garmin will keep me in check.  I have my heart set on the Beach Cities Challenge medal but I will not risk an injury if my body is telling me to sit this race out.  I have already sat out four races so one more won't kill me. 

I will set no goals for the OC Half Marathon. I will walk when I need to, I will walk the entire race if I have to and I will only focus on finishing. I hope it happens for me...I want it so bad.

A Little Road Trip to Sin City.....

My son is on spring break this week and I mentioned that we were consider taking a small road trip.  My son had a list of things that he wanted to do on his  break like go and see Hunger Games, go to Universal Studios and he really wanted to Las Vegas.  We decided that it would be nice to get away so off we went to Sin City. We usually stay at The Excalibur since they have an arcade for kids and the rates were really reasonable this week, like $21.00 a night.  They do charge a resort fee of $15.00 a day so I guess the rate was actually $36.00 a night plus all of the lovely taxes. We left early Sunday morning and got back late Tuesday afternoon.

We did a lot of walking on Sunday.  We visited several casinos and bothered lots of random strangers to take pictures of us.  My son is just amazed with Las Vegas and all the strip walking is a good workout too! 

We also ate at one our favorite sandwich places that we do not have here in California. It is called "Earl of Sandwich" and they have the best hot sandwiches ever!! I always get The Earl's Club, which has roasted turkey breast. Mmmm! If you have never tried this place, you have to try it!! Their website says that they are opening one soon at Downtown Disney right near Disneyland. I can hardly wait!!

We finished off the night by taking my son to the arcade and he played some games and collected a few prizes. My son can go through $25.00 within a few minutes so we have to keep a close eye on him!

On Monday we went to the Fashion Show Mall because there is a Lululemon store and I wanted to check out a tank that I have been eyeing on their website.  It's called the "Stuff Your Bra Tank" and of course after I tried it, I bought it.  I like that it has a ton of pockets to hold gels, keys and even your phone so you can run hands free. I can't wait until I can actually run a race again so that I can wear it.

SOURCE

After the mall, we headed back to the hotel to hit up the pool. I opted not to do the pool thing and headed to the Fitness Center to get a workout in. 

I only did six miles but with the walk breaks in between the jogs, a six mile run takes longer than I would like it to. The fitness center was pretty decent and was practically empty. They hotel supplied...

the water and the towels...

the view of the pool....
AND

the entertainment!

I am not sure what kind of dance this girl was doing but it was pretty entertaining! Perhaps she had a little too much too drink! I did witness her making a few trips to the bar.

 

After our visit to the pool we went back to our room and showered and headed out for dinner.  My son wanted to see the motorcycles at the Harley Davidson Cafe so we took him there for dinner. The food wasn't to die for but my son enjoyed the many motorcycles on display.

We were pretty beat after all of the activities of the day and headed back to the hotel to take a rest before we did a little more walking around on the strip. We closed out the night by having a beer, which is something that I don't normally do but Michelob Ultra tastes better to me than most beer. I tried it at a race I ran in December with Shawna and decided that beer is not that bad after all. 

As we were driving down to the strip to head back to California, I spotted this place and stopped to grab some lunch.

Although we have several Whole Foods Markets in California, I don't have a location close to my house.  I tried the split pea soup and this yummy dish from the Hot Food Bar:

They were barely putting out the hot lunch foods so I am not sure what this is called but I think the guy putting the food out said it is called Curried Quinoa.  It is just vegetables with quinoa and it is just a tad bit spicy. It was pretty good!!  I would definitely get it again in spite of fact that the food is pricey and you have to be careful since it is sold by the pound!

So these are the highlights of our Vegas trip.  It's back to work for me today but I only have a two day work week because I am off this Friday. I also have physical therapy tomorrow and I am hoping that I will be released to start "running" without the walk breaks. My pain seems to be going away but I don't want to jinx myself by saying that! The pain always seems to sneak back up on me just when I think things are starting to get better.  I don't wish a running injury on anyone..it has been life changing for me!

Do you like Whole Foods?  What are some of your favorites from Whole Foods?

Tick Tock...

So last Saturday, I finished the last exam to complete my MPA but now I have to wait for about a month to find out if I passed all three exams. You have to pass all three exams or you fail the class! It's only offered once a year and you are only allowed to repeat the course one more time before they kick you out of the program. It was bad enough having to take one test after the other not knowing if you passed or not!  The tests are being graded by an outside board so I guess they need at least four weeks to grade them.  Boy are my patience being tested lately!

Tonight is my date with my friend the dreadmill treadmill. It will be my third attempt to do the jog/walk thing.  I just hope I don't pick the treadmill by the girl who is running at a great speed without stopping. I can just imagine what she is thinking about me! 

Baby Steps

I finally feel like I might be making some progress! 

I have successfully jogged/walked four miles twice without any pain during or after!  I am not a huge fan of the treadmill but I lately the treadmill has been good to me and I might be having a change of heart. 

Sorry dreadmill treadmill for not showing you the love!

I was given the go-ahead by my PT to try a jog/walk combo on the treadmill. I am doing two minutes of walking at 3.8-4.0 and then a jog for two minutes at 5.0. I have been playing around with the time to see if I can handle a little more and I am now able to do two minutes

of walking and five minutes of jogging without

any pain during or after. I don’t break much of a sweat so

I hop on the elliptical for 15 minutes after my 45-minute treadmill workout and pick up the pace!

I am finally learning to be more patient and accept this whole recovery process. I know that I have to start slowly and work myself back to where I was. This is the hard part because I have so many races that I want to run and so many goals that I want to tackle. I just keep telling myself...

"Be patient. You will get there. Slowly but surely you will get there."

This post guest from BQ by 40 about a runners journey to qualify for Boston also gave me some inspiration today. Check it out!

Keeping My Fingers Crossed!

I always look forward to the time when I can start tapering down on my mileage!  I can breathe a sigh of relief and reflect on all my hard work that I have been putting in for the last few months.  I was feeling pretty crappy and burned out last week and I had to get myself back in gear and finish up the last few weeks of my training.  I have one more ten mile run to complete this Sunday and then it's time to slow things way down.

I did make it to the gym last Friday after work, as I said I would, and knocked out 7 miles on the treadmill.  I had to try something different to deal with my hateful feelings towards the treadmill and decided to alternate my miles between marathon and half marathon pace. The time seemed to go by much faster so I think I found a new way to tolerate the days when I have to run on the dreadmill! Maybe if I had a "New Best Friend" like Gourmet Runner, I might fall in love again! 

I also ran a half marathon around the neighborhood on Sunday morning.  I planned on doing 13 miles but just had to get that extra .10 miles in for some odd reason. The weather was perfect, 60 degrees, and there was a light mist during my entire run. My average pace was 8:44 and I was happy with that.  It was really refreshing and I can only hope that the weather will be this nice in two weeks when I run the Long Beach Marathon.  I am keeping my fingers crossed!

BURN OUT!

This is the sign that has been hanging in my house and in my office for the last week!  I am not sure what has gotten into me but I have completely lost my motivation!  I have the Long Beach Marathon coming up in two weeks and I should been preparing myself both mentally and physically.  What have I been doing instead?   Eating cupcakes as often as my local cupcakery puts out the special flavors and resting!  I have only logged 4 miles this week and need to get with it!

As I am reading through all of the blogs that I follow, I noticed that everyone is getting through their long runs with flying colors and getting really excited about PR's and I am just barely getting by over here! I need to change this mentality quick and make the best of the last two weeks that I have until my marathon.  

The weather has been really hot this week (95-100 degrees) so I have been using that as an excuse to put my runs off.  Today I will make that trip to the gym and knock out an hours worth on the dreadmill!  I would much rather enjoy the fresh air and the scenery but sometimes you just can't have your cake and eat it too!

Everyone is doing such a great job with training and good luck to all of you in your upcoming races!