Sunday, May 16, 2010

Starting All Over...

Now that I'm drinking water, gatorade and juice instead of coffee and beer, I really do feel better!!!! I'm so amazed! And the funny thing is that it's the coffee I cannot cut out. The beer is forgotten. Can you say "self medicating????????" Wow....

As soon as I was feeling better I jumped right back in as if I didn't just take 4 months off of running/excercising. I even ran 2.5 miles in my Vibrams 2 days before my first 5k. DUMMY!!!! Then I ran the first 2 miles of that 5K in 17 minutes, calves screaming before I had to stop and walk. Finished in 27:32 hurting. Came in 7th in my age division, 70th out of about 300 runners. Not bad, not bad at all...Took me a good week to recover, no kidding. But what a fantastic feeling to be back among my fellow runners. I wanted to kiss the orange cones.

I was very upset that my recovery time was so drawn out. I posted my disappointment on my FaceBook page (I'm a crazy FaceBooker) and thankfully my IronMaiden girlie Sherry saw it. She reminded me that I need to recondition. That I can't just think I'm going to pick up right where I left off. Why do I do that????? Sherry is at her 70.3 RIGHT NOW!!!! GO GIRLLLLL...xoxo

I have decided to not run over 5 miles until I shave my 5K PR. I need to concentrate on reconditioning and do some speed work more faithfully. I enjoy the steady mileage of marathon training because I love to crank my music and get lost in my thoughts on the routes. If I run less than 5 miles it feels more like a work out than an enjoyment so I tend to try to bang it out as quickly as possible. I have to try to change my way of thinking! Marathon training is burned into my brain. Neg splits, don't go out too fast, nice and steady....I have to put new thoughts in there. As crazy as it sounds, I don't even know what those words can be....

On a fun note...my 12 year old daughter Emily has decided to go out for track next year!! She'll be in 7th grade and I am ALL OVER THAT! She isn't real active normally so I didn't take it too seriously at first, but yesterday I was headed out for a shorty when she spotted me. She asked if she could come and I said OF COURSE! I suited her up, popped a hat on her head and handed her a bottle of WATER. I'm teaching her the importance of hydration above all things.

Twice around the block is a mile, so we did a power walk to warm up then ran for as long as she could. Which was a quarter mile! Not bad!!! We walked one minute, ran another quarter. Emily held that 10:30 pace the first half mile!!!!!! The second half mile was a little slower with more frequent walks so I will have her slow down a little today. We'll stick with the 1 milers until she can do the whole thing without stopping. She is very excited and so am I...I love this!!! She was talking non-stop the whole time (just like her mom...lol) which is good. That'll keep her from going too fast at first. =)

Very exciting stuff...it's so good to be back!!!