Random 6

1.  Training this week (or since last post)
Last Sunday-tried to go out for a 7 miler run after my 5k the day before- failed- got 2 in before my left heel felt bruised again.  It seems I can't run 3 days in a row...grumble.
Monday- Spinning
Tuesday- 6.2 miles in the heat! 80 degrees in Ohio in March?
Wednesday- 3 mile trail run (hoping for a cool shady trail run- but oops, leaves haven't budded yet! Hot and tired.  I had my running clinic that pm too.  More about that later...
Thursday- Spinning class
Friday- rest day= pizza & beer and watching the Ohio University Bobcats basketball team!  Go OU!
Saturday- 3 miles easy
Sunday-7.65 miles (heel started bugging me at 5)  This is so seriously annoying.  I'm going to have to stick my Dr. Scholl's heel pads on top of my orthotics- seriously how much stuff can you pile into a shoe and still have room for your feet?

2. Decisions, decisions-  Air Force 10k or Air Force 1/2 marathon?  Columbus 1/2 or Full?  My time for my Columbus half qualifies me for preferred starting position/seeded at the Air Force Half.  Which is way cool! (and shhhh, I'm not even that fast) So I'm leaning towards the AF half in September and Columbus Full in October. 

3.  How long should I wait to register?  Both AF and Columbus have cut off price changes on March 31. I'm paranoid about the heel...will I be ok?  

4.  Should I submit an entry into the Nuun's Hood to Coast Relay Team?  It would be so cool...but out of my comfort zone...

5.  Go BOBCATS!  Nothing like Ohio University making it to the Sweet 16!
6. Anyone train for a half then turn around and do a full the next month?
 

Harrigan's race recap/PR!

 I was a bit nervous going into this race since I haven't run a race since the Columbus half marathon in October.  I'd run the Harrigan's 5k in Kettering last year and pr'd  running a 21:40.  Ten seconds faster than my old high school pr of 21:50. 

I wasn't expecting anything to great this year.  I figured that my training runs have been about 8:30 pace so I'd probably do better so I was hoping for around 22-23 mins.  I didn't want to set myself up for disappointment.  My training has been much lighter than last year by this time.  In fact, I only ran 2 times this week.  At the same time, I've been surprised how much spinning 3-4 times a week has kept in in shape as I dealt with plantar fasciitis.  I have felt stronger on my runs and consistently run about 8:30 pace for training.  I decided this race, I would not look at my Garmin for my pace, but to just go on how I felt...

 COLD...it was COLD.  Brrrr.  I got to Harrigan's about 40 mins before and stood around with everyone else.  I was totally regretting my fashionable running skirt,  cute purple compression socks, t-shirt, arm warmers (with my hoodie as my only cover up!)  It was cold.  35 degrees.  Everyone else was wearing tights, jackets, earbands, etc.    I knew once I started running I'd be fine, but that was a long 40 minutes!

Start to mile 1-  Forgot to start my Garmin until for about 40  6:seconds after the start (rookie Garmin user) doh.  I passed a bunch of girls I knew (who are much younger than me, and my motivation for the rest of the race- really hoping they wouldn't pass me later in the race).  I couldn't feel my feet yet.  They were frozen blocks of ice.  Reached the first mile in 6:40-  starting to panic a bit, that has to be my "adult" PR for a mile. 

Mile 2-3 Hoping keep it up...I kept waiting to feel "the burning lungs, I'm going to throw up" stage where I slow down and back off.  Nothing. Passed the 2 mile marker 13:something.  Pretty good.  Started to recognize the course from the beginning which meant it was almost done.  I pushed it as much as a I could.  Turned the corner, saw the finish line, saw that timer was still at 20 mins.  What?!  By the time I reached the finish line it was 21:13 (6:51 pace).  I'll take it.  Wow.  How'd that happen? I dropped 27 seconds off my 5k time.  That's huge. 

So, for someone who hates running on the track (umm, Carrie, talking to you), spinning definitely helps with the speed. I'm so happy to see that it does actually help my running.  I've been having a hard time looking at my schedule to try to fit in spinning. It can be such a hassle at our rec since there are only 14 bikes and you have to get there 50 minutes before to line up otherwise you're out.  By the end of the evening it can take almost 2 hrs of your night,  not good when the spring gets going and kids have soccer starting soon. 

So my stats are bit messed up since I started my Garmin late.

Mile 1- 6:40 at mile 1 clock (Garmin time 6:55)
Mile 2- Garmin time 7:12
Mile 3- Garmin time  6:31 (wow, did i really run that fast?! at the end?!)
Overall time for Garmin: 20:38
Overall Official race time 21:13
Place overall: 49/970
Place in sex:  11 overall female- I didn't count the rest, the results didn't sort them by sex
Place in age group 2nd!
Oh, btw- those girls never did pass me.  Looks like I'll get some street cred with them! :-)

Bragging about my brother

My brother moved out to northern Utah last summer.  His blog was the featured blog today on wordpress.  Take a look if you have a chance.  Very cool pictures!

http://lookingatthewest.com/

Plantar fasciitis has no mercy

 I hate to see anyone have to suffer through plantar fasciitis.  I can not imagine how frustrating it must be if you were on the U.S. Olympic marathon team and have to train through it.  It's so painful- not while you run but as soon as you stop.  Ryan Hall, I wish you a speedy recovery! 
 ryan-hall-has-plantar-fasciitis
If you don't know how fast he his...check out this video

But on a side note, it is good to see that even elite runners (like the rest us "normal" runners) get plantar fasciitis - and they have to do all the same things for recovery.   Night splints, golf balls, frozen water bottles, stretching, double checking with a MRI, shockwave therapy (that was next for me),...and you just have to wait.  There is no magic pill.  Most of the stuff I read while suffering through my PF said it would usually last no more than 4 to 12 months.  If you are a runner, that's an eternity!  Mine lasted 3.5 months then just went away one day. 

I still have twinges if I do too much, mostly just a stiff foot after sitting down for awhile at night but no pain.  I'm trying to make sure I cross train and not do too much running on consecutive days.


Speaking of training:  so far this week...

Sunday- 6.2 miles (treadmill)

Monday- 3.5 miles (treadmill- hills)

Tuesday- 20.4 miles spinning (legs were dead- bad workout)

Wednesday (today)-??  I wanted to run since the weather is great, but I have my first night of a running clinic and I'm not sure what to expect so I don't want to be wiped out- also probably need a rest day at some point.

Thursday- spinning night/or running- depends on the weather :-)
Friday- easy 3
Saturday- my first race of 2012- Harrigan's 5k. 

wild week of weather

What a crazy few days here with the weather! 

wdtn.com picture

Friday, I had the day off and ran in the morning (3 miles) since they were calling for bad weather/tornados in the afternoon.  I kept the tv on all day (usually never do this) since the weather channel and our local news kept updating with the chances of the storms being bad.  Weather channel actually gave Cincinnati/southern Ohio a Tor-con rating of an 8- 80% chance of a tornado within 50 miles.  I knew that my dh has everything prepared in the basement shelter area, but I was more nervous since I was alone.  The kids were in school and dh was at work. I worked on lovely laundry- actually almost had it done! Made our york peppermint patty brownies for the school concert in the evening and waited.  Dh came home early and we went to pick up the boys. 
As soon as we got home, the we had a tornado warning (not a tornado watch) but it was for the northern part of our county.  No sirens, just some heavy rain and lightning, then it was over.  Just like that. Over.  We all know that we were really lucky since Southern Indiana and Kentucky got the worst of it.    I know that I get anxious about storms and I'm always kicking myself that I spent so much time worrying about it.  The good thing was that our boys had a blast at their concert later that night.  They both looked so cute in their ties- which they insisted on wearing (and we found out almost all the boys were wearing ties). 

Only in Ohio...snow today, 70's on Thursday

Today was my long run for the week.  Another 6 mile run.  It was snowing this AM and I really didn't feel like getting all bundled up to run in the snow and wind for 6 miles. So I headed to the rec center to find out they weren't open yet!
 So back home for another hour- wasted times looking at training plans for a full marathon (future post about that)- then headed back to the rec for my run(s).  I love that our rec center is super close to where we live, but there are little things, like 25 min limit on the cardio machines is so annoying!  I was planning on doing a steady  run with some hills but ended up boosting up the speed near the end since I like to try to get 3 miles in.  I ended up going about a 7:10 pace the last few minutes as I raced the clock.  Multiply by 2 and you have my workout.  6.2 in 51:40. (snuck in more minutes during the cooldown)  I figure I might be at the rec again tomorrow- and actually pick up some weights too!  Looking forward to the 70 degrees on Thursday.  Got to love Ohio!  If you don't like the weather, wait a day and it will be completely different. 

 

  Flying Pig 1/2 marathon training: 
Sunday- Ran my longest mileage since October.  6 whole miles!  It felt great.  I could have keep going.  The hills felt manageable. (Thank you spinning!) We managed to do it 61 mins. which is great considering about 30% of the trail was squishy mud or steep hills.  I have to say I'm glad I have trail shoes for days like Sunday!  Monday- I felt twinges with my stupid heel.  My friend the spiky golf ball took care of that! 
 
Monday- quick 3.5 miles in the neighborhood- pretty uneventful.

Tuesday- Spinning class- we worked on keeping a consistent pace throughout the workout- 3 sets of 5 mins sitting, 5 mins standing, 5 mins sitting.  I increased my resistance each set.  Managed to PR in my calories85555555555- thank you to my cat- my calories to 700.  I don't worry about calories since I'm not exercising to lose weight but I do use the number for how hard of a workout it was-since the only way on our bikes (Keiser) is to keep the RPM and the gear up high.  Normally my goal is 20 miles and 600 calories- Tuesday it was 700 calories and 23.5 miles.  Anyone know the bike to run ratio?  I figure my Garmin gives me about 100 calories for 1 mile so is that the equivalent to 7 miles running?  

Wednesday- 6x400 at 5k pace (7 min mile) 13 hour day at work- no energy after. 

Thursday(today)- Rare day at work where we had a more flexible schedule.  I had a break from 11-1 so took advantage of another mild day in Ohio to get out and run.  5 miles in 43mins ( 8:33 pace). I would love to have job that I could run at lunch everyday!  I unfortunately only get 50 mins for lunch- so changing, running, changing, then eating...it's probably not really worth it, when I can run after work- but it's nice to get outside in the middle of the day!

Friday- planning on 3-3.5 tomorrow am, since we're supposed to get severe t-storms/tornados tomorrow afternoon.  

Saturday- spinning? or running long?

Random stuff:

• Signed up for a running clinic.  This is an early birthday present to myself.  I've heard they work you hard- looking forward to sharing what I learn.    
• My new favorite beer- Bell's Two Hearted Ale- yummy IPA from Michigan (sorry- completely random- but really- you have to try it!)  www.bellsbeer.com
• Thinking about new trail shoes- I have Saucony Peregrines- which I like but am wondering if the lower heel maybe making my PF flare up.  I do most of my long runs on the trails so maybe I should look at a different style shoe?  Any suggestions? Mizunos and Sauconys seem to fit my foot the best.