Short Run

I was pretty sore from Saturday's 9 miler this morning. But I ran anyway. Ed was doing a 15 miler and I really wanted to do that, but I knew I would be too sore for more than 4 miles.

The first mile was kinda iffy, my hips and right knee were very sore. We did about an 11 minute pace. By mile 2 I was feeling peppy. The soreness was wearing off so I figured it was all muscle fatigue from running 9 miles after a 2 week hiatus from running. Then at mile 3 my knee basically let me know we were done. It was sore and tired. Felt a little creaky too.

Ed has had knee problems in the past so when he told me not to push it, I listened. He ran up ahead in here and there and back-tracked because it was still dark and he didn't want me to get kidnapped....lol. We went to the water station (at the end of my driveway) and Ed continued on. I sat on the car and rubbed ice on my knee for awhile. It seems better. Then I went in, I had 2 kiddies to get ready for school.

I popped out the door to cheer him on when he passed about an hour later. When I pulled back in the driveway from dropping the kids, Ed was back at the water station with the biggest grin on his face! He completed 15 miles!!! YAY!!!! I'm so jealous...haha! Great job Ed!!!!!!!

There's a man who runs my route now and then, I call him "Gazelle-Man" because when he runs he looks like he's just gliding along effortlessly at about a 6 minute pace. He passes me a few times running, then again on his bike. Drives me crazy...lol. I found out Tess lives nearby and runs my route, so I asked her if she's ever seen Gazelle-Man. Tess had not had that honor...until this morning. I got a text from her this morning telling me she spotted Gazelle-Man on her way to work. I almost died laughing!!! I called her back for the full story, of course. It was girl-talk so haha!!!

Tess is a marathoner, I enjoy running with her. We seem to be on the same page with pacing and she runs like she loves it. I love that about her. We're doing an exercise class together tonight and then going for a run right after. I know I ran this morning but I'm going again. =P

Endurance Project Week 10 (wow)

I cannot believe we're past week TEN! This project is going by so quickly. Emotionally, I have very mixed feelings. I'm sooooo excited for race day, but sad that out Saturday meetings are coming to an end. I have not missed one meeting, but I'll admit the Saturdays after working until midnight the night before were a bit tough to get out of bed for.

Yesterday's meeting was our long run. Jim had a 12 miler planned with the route printed up for us to see. It was perfect...familiar, scenic, quiet back roads. The loop brought us back to point A for a water break every 3-4 miles. Most of the team went to a 5k race and Bethany had a track meet with her PC Track team so it was just four of us, Jim, Tess, Michelle and me.

I do the Galloway method on runs longer than 5 miles. I was taught this method from day one, I love it because I can run long distances and still feel strong. I understand this method may not be for everyone, and that's ok but it is for me! I do not enjoy getting to mile 6 or 7 and wanting to quit because I'm so tired. The Galloway lets me enjoy running distance. If I'm not enjoying it, I won't do it. Pretty simple for me.

That being said, I got to mile 9-ish and felt terrible. My knees started feeling tight at about mile 7, kinda creaky. I never felt that before. By mile 8 my legs were VERY fatigued. Almost like I was hitting a wall. It was so strange. I thought maybe it was from not running for 2 weeks (I was sick) so I tried to run through it. I casually mentioned it to Jim and he said exactly what I figured he'd say: do a cool down walk back to the gym and stretch. I did just that and I'm glad I did because I was hurting. My knees and hips are so very sore, even this morning. I'm not really sure what happened. All I know is, I was fine up until mile 7. Very strange.

I guess I can share a little known fact that does effect my running. I wasn't talking about it too much because it's hard to pretend it isn't happening if the whole world knows about it. Maybe someone out there has the same issue and can realize they are not alone, which is how I feel sometimes. Anyway, a while back I had some serious medical issues and I was taking Excederine for the pain. Took too much and completely burned my entire GI tract. My pancreas was (is) a wreck from it. It will take a long time to finish healing. It flares up now and then and is pretty painful, tiring and nauseating. Keeps me from running sometimes. It's hard to train for speed or a marathon when it's bothering me. Makes for an inconsistant training schedule. The last 2 weeks had my body in down mode. Couldn't run the Myakka 10k (huge disappointment) but just being there to see my teammates run it was wonderful. I got about 2 miles into a run Tues morning and had to stop. That's all the running I had in for 2 weeks before Saturday's planned 12 miler.

During the down time I realized I'm just lucky I can run at all and I shouldn't be worried about my finish times for the half or the whole marathons I have planned. It sounded right to me while I couldn't run, but now I'm back to wanting it all again. Haha! Can't keep a good (or crazy) woman down I guess.

I was hoping to join Ed Monday morning for his long run. He's planning at 14 miler, I would have to stop at 7am to get the kids up for school but I might have gotten 6-8 miles in first. Now I think I'd better wait. Depends on how I feel by morning!

Endurance Team Message

Hi TEAM!! Here's our weekly message from Coach Jim...

First of all a huge congratulations to the members of our Project that went to the Myakka River Run this past Saturday. There were some excellent performances, ribbons, and awards for some of our teammates. AWESOME. Most importantly, all who ran finished, and some LINDA and TESS extended the mileage on a cool-down run to fulfill a very good "long run" training day. There was some excellent pacing teamwork with Ed, Michelle and Josephine.

We will stay healthy. We are ready. Some of us may think we/you haven't trained enough, or you're not ready. Banish the thought. Remember your primary goal... TO FINISH. Coach Kim knows about believing even if you think you may not have trained enough. (yes, I do!)

The week ahead:Mostly Strength Training / stretching during the week. Actual running miles stay about 10 total over two-to-three days... Mon-Thurs. If you'd like, trade out some "road miles" for non-impact cardio on the elliptical machine or in the pool. We want to be strong for the "long run" on Saturday, Sept. 20....

This Saturday, the 20th is an important workout. Originally we thought we'd travel to away for a trail run, but the plans have been modified and this Saturday, We are "staying local" and running the neighborhood streets of North Port.... Our plan is for anywhere between 10-11 miler.... NOT VERY FAST. We are going to have an earlier start time.... 6:30, And we will be done with the run, or the miles by 8 a.m. finishing with a cooling stretch and beverage in the Teen Activity Center at the YMCA. Meet in our familiar spot in front of the Y ready to start our run at 6:30-- we can beat the heat and humidity. The running route will be set up to pass the YMCA as a "water/Gatorade" station... See you there.

Your proud coaches,

Jim, Bethany and Kim

I'd just like to add that everyone is doing EXCEPTIONALLY well. Your dedication to your training shows at every meeting. You may not even realize it, but all of you are showing huge improvements in your endurance and self confidence. In moments of self doubt, stay positive. You CAN do this. You know you can finish this race. Your coaches know it too! I feel so proud of our team.

Kim

Endurance Project Week 9

VIEW OF THE PARK


RUNNER FRIEND MARY



MARY AGAIN IN RED TOP

MR CHAPS

Here's Guy Healy headed for the finish!

BETHANY IN RED SHORTS, FRANK WITHOUT

HIS INSIDE OUT SHIRT ON

FRANK

CINDY, 2ND FROM RIGHT, IN PINK SHORTS

GREEN TOP

BETHANY WITH HER PC TRACK TEAM

BETHANY AT THE FINISH LINE

Here's Coach Bethany...looking strong. I had to
run to get this pic, she's too quick! She finished
in 41 minutes. No typo folks. Not bad for having
a birthday last week. Still in my age group though.


Here's cutie-pie Linda, explaining that she ran
past me so fast and that was why I didn't see her
get to the finish line! I was so mad. Linda got an
awesome PR! 1:03, I do believe!!! Go SISTA!!!!



Here's Michelle, one of our younger, more sprintier
chicks on the team. Former b-ball champ!!! She
finished in under an hour. You Go Girlie!!



This is Frank. He's the only guy on the team who
is not afraid to run mostly naked. For that, we
thank you Frank. He wears a pretty red bandana
to to tone it down just a little....lol. Frank finished
in under an hour also!

Here's Josephine cheering Cindy across the finish line!!



This is Coach Jim at the starting line. Number
54, far left. Jim and Frank had a little competitive
thing going on. Jim came in 1st at 46 minutes. At
least I think it was 46 minutes. Maybe 47 (?) I'll
edit this later when I find out. He came in just a
bit before Frank.

I was feeling a little left out, I'll admit it. No Asics was a good thing. I'd have run. Joan brought
her bike and took a little spin after we saw everyone off. I walked back to the pavillion to check out the band.

This is the band, called "Myakka".

They played a FANTASTIC rendition of one of my all time faves..."Brown Eyed Girl".
They were from Boston too, so we bonded at the river watching a croc float along the bank. The wife of the band is Cherokee Indian, very cool couple. I'm glad I found a picture. If you're interested in them, here's a link to their website.... http://www.myakkamusic.com/

I talked to a few other people who were not running, then walked back to the finish line to see the finishers coming in.

The team had a 10K at Myakka State Park. This was a 1st 10k for mostly everyone. PR time!!!

I didn't run this one, I didn't get much sleep all week. Figured it would be a great opprtunity to get some pictures and cheer on my team. Joan came along so we stuck together, waiting at the finish line for everyone. I knew when I woke up I should skip this run, but I dressed in my running clothes anyway, just in case. But I know me, I would have run if I was dressed for it, so I wore my flip flops instead of my Asics. I'm wicked smahht, huh?????

The race took place at a state park. What a beautiful place. The trees made a canopy along the dirt road going toward the finish line, which was half a mile away. The dragonflies were everywhere. The walk back to the line was very peaceful. I put my faves playlist on my iPod and walked slow so I could take it all in. The humidity level was so high I heard someone say it was 99%. Ouch. I walked along, watching dragonflies, wondering how everyone was doing. I met back up with Joan and we walked a little past the finish line so we could watch for our peeps. There was a 5k going on too so we cheered those finishers in. I must tell you, this was very exciting. I was glad to be able to see everyone running in. Especially my teammates. Being able to cheer them in was awesome.

I'll be editing this post as I get the pictures downloaded onto my computer.

I'm very proud of the team. Everyone is doing so well, right on target, running strong and staying positive. WAY TO GO ENDURANCE TEAM!!!!!!!

Little Bit Behind In Training

Well, I read the book "4 Months To A 4 Hour Marathon" about 2 months ago. Promptly put it down and never thought about it again. I peeked at the training schedule last week and thought maybe I could hop into week 6 and hope for the best. That was before I twisted my foot Sunday. I hate to admit this, but I was reluctant to do this training before I hurt myself for 2 reasons....I run if/when I feel like it, so it's hard to be on a schedule, and I had NO IDEA what a 400 meter run was. Finally remembered to ask my coach. He had to draw it for me, I'm just that dumb.

Honestly, the only time I start to obsess about timing or speed is when a 5k is coming up. I'm running my first 10K on Saturday but I don't feel the need for speed in that for some reason. Only the 5K races. I thoroughly enjoy a long leisurely run with no limits on miles or pace. That being said...I want to run the half marathon in Oct in under 2 hours VERY BADLY. Call it inner conflict....I'm a woman. I know I won't be fast if I don't train for speed, but it only bugs me before a 5k or when I talk about Boston. Then it becomes a problem in my head. I wish I knew someone else who felt this way too. Maybe there's someone like me out there. Am I not a serious runner???

Today I was supposed to do 16x400's, but when I told my coach I was going to do that this morning he said not to be stupid. I twisted my ankle. He's right, so I skipped it. I did my yoga class....I love yoga! Anyway, I'm so off the schedule, I think I may as well try the 400's tomorrow. If it hurts, I will stop.

I think I'm ready for another shot at the trail run. I want to try it with my running shoes instead of my trails. I also want to do it without a watch, just a sweet run. The last trail run was not too enjoyable but I think it was because I was very uncomfortable in those Nike Trails and I was behind the fast runners. I do get competitive, it will take over if I let it. Once I stopped for water and wasn't trying to keep up with them, it wasn't so bad. Only trouble was, before I could settle into it with my new attitude, the sky opened up and the thunder and lightening made us have to stop. I will try it again soon.

My next race is Saturday, a 10k. It's my first so I'll be ok with whatever time I get. As long as it's under 1 hour.....LOL...told ya I was conflicted!!!! Sighhhhh......