Run with your heart

Being a busy mom and running with other busy mom's means that sometimes we do crazy things.  Like plan a 16 mile at 5:00 am so we can be home in time to get kids off to school.  It was so early that when I got out of bed the hubby looked at me totally confused and said "what are you doing?" My answer:  I'm going running!!  It was so early and dark but I am glad I got up and did it.  Once it's over I'm always glad I did it.  

For some reason today's run was brutal - I felt worse than I did at the end of our 20 miler last week.  By the last 4 miles I was just out of steam.  My caffeinated Roctane couldn't even cover up the blah I was feeling.  Then after I got home and was getting ready for work 3 different times I got light headed and was seeing spots so I had to sit down.  Once I got my protein shake down I started to feel better.  My guess is that the lack of eating a good dinner last night took it's toll on me.  I'm usually very good at drinking lots and eating right the day before a long run but for some reason 16 miles didn't stress me out this week and I just acted like it was a normal run.  Not smart.  

Thank goodness I had the girls with me today so I could just force myself to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  I finished that run - all 16 miles!!  And it was my heart not my legs keeping me going.

Gear Review - Injinji Socks

Remember how I get really nasty blisters?  Well my feet are seriously nasty.  No matter what I do I get big huge blood blisters on the inside of my right big toe.  So I decided to give these fancy socks a try.  I have worn them on every long (16+)  training run I've done since July.  And guess what - no blisters.  Maybe there is something to it.  The true test will be St. George because I tend to only blister bad during races (don't ask me why it doesn't make sense).  

If you decide to try these socks make sure you leave an extra 5 minutes to get them on if you run early and your brain function is minimal.  Trying to get each toe into the proper slot is always a challenge for me.  And let's not even talk about how annoying it is to get the toes pulled back out after I wash them. 

Straight Up

I got tired of the way my Udo's made my shake taste in the mornings so I decided to just start taking it straight up.   I pour 1-2 T in my little cup and down it fast chased by water, water and more water.  Then I feel like I can enjoy my recovery shake more since it doesn't have the "nutty" taste of Udo's.  I love my Udo's and I really do think it is making a difference in my training but the taste is just nasty to me.  I bought the pills but you have to take 14 of them to equal a T so that wasn't worth it to me either.  I did find that if I have banana in my shake I can't taste it - but I don't always put them in my shake. 

On the side of the package it talks about the "pleasant, nutty, buttery taste" and how you can put it on cereal and even "poured over dessert".  Are you kidding me?  Maybe over veggies or salad.  It makes me laugh when I read that line on the bottle.  You must have jacked up taste buds to pour this over dessert!

Today was a tempo run.  1 mile warm up then 5 miles at 7:53 pace then a mile cool down.  Somehow I did the whole thing without resorting to loud music blasting in my ears.  You know it's true friendship when you can run together non-stop and still not run out of things to talk about!!  

The gym was really packed this morning at 5:40 am so I ran on a different type of treadmill at the gym today and once I hit 60 minutes it automatically went to cool down.  I was in my last half mile and it just slowed all the way down.  SO ANNOYING!! I tried turning it back up but every minute it would go back down.  So I just walked the last tenth of a mile.  Next time I'm running on my usual one.

Recovering from a long run

After Saturday's 20 miler I knew I had a long full day ahead of me (my brother was moving, lots of laundry to be done and I had lots of shopping to do) and that I wasn't going to be able to just lay in bed reading like my body wanted to.  So I made sure to do my full recovery routine.  

1.  Protein drink (at least 30 g of protein)

2. Udo's Oil

3. Gatorade (this helps my tummy not cramp the rest of the day)

4. Ice bath - this time I did it different than I ever have before.  I filled 2 tubs one with hot water and one with ice water and did 5 min hot - 5 min cold - 5 min hot - 5 min cold.  I think it worked better than a straight 10 min ice bath.

5. Roller - focusing on my hips and hamstrings

6.  Compression socks

7. Flip flops - there is no way I could get my feet into closed toe shoes

I think it worked - because I was tired but not sore the rest of the day.  And yesterday I wasn't sore at all.  Today was a 9 mile run and even though I felt like I got hit by a truck since I slept horrible last night my legs felt good.  I didn't have "flat tire" legs.

Awesome 20 Miler Quote

"I love the fact that not many people can say 'Oh, I went out and ran 20 miles today.' I love how much dedication it takes and how much you learn a lot about yourself, your physical and mental limits. There's just something about it."

Shalane Flanagan, 2012 U.S. Olympic Marathoner

How awesome is that quote?  I got it today as my Runners World quote of the day.  It came at the perfect time. Tomorrow T and I are doing our first St. George 20 miler.  As with all long runs I'm nervous that I won't be able to do it and I'm scared it will hurt. But I am going to get out there and just go for it.  

This picture is after our 18 miler last week.  Let's hope that tomorrow I am one lucky girl to have friends who are as dedicated and crazy as me.  I'd never do this alone!

Working for it

I love this picture!!!  I love the quote and I really love the pink laces!!  This quote helped me get through speed work yesterday.  The workout consisted of 4 1600 intervals at a 7:24 pace with 800 jogs between with a warm up and cool down totally 8 miles.  I have a love/hate relationship with speed work.  I love that it's a totally different workout and I hate how hard it is.  I love how awesome I feel about what I accomplished once it's over and I hate how hot it is inside the gym.  But nothing is going to stop me from working for what I want and that is to take 5 more minutes off my marathon time by St. George so I can qualify for Boston.  

Today instead of an easy run I taught spin for another teacher and lifted weights.  My legs felt pretty heavy at the start then after a few songs felt great! 

Monday.....Monday

Monday morning run's are always the slowest hardest runs I do every week.  No matter what I do on Sunday.  So when the text came "I'm out. long night"  I jumped all over it and suggested we do a run later in the day when we dropped the kids off at dance.  It sounded like such a great idea at 5:30 am.  Then when we ran at noon it wasn't such a great idea after all.  Holy hot!!!  And nothing saps the energy out of me more than running in direct sunlight when it's hot outside.  It was ridiculous.  But 8 miles later it was over and now I can remember that next time I don't feel like waking up at the crack of dawn.  

I set a goal to eat 30 grams of protein with each meal.  Since I want to get lean and mean before the marathon.  So before yesterdays run I had my usual breakfast protein shake then after my run I went to pick the kids up from dance and then I went straight to the grocery store. So while I was there I picked up a muscle milk for lunch - at 4:00 pm - oops.  Even though I didn't eat as much as I normally do I felt pretty full because of the protein.   Then a nice grilled bean burrito for dinner to round off my protein intake. 

Today I taught spin and did weights.  I love my cross training days.  Mixing it up is such a great change. Tomorrow is speed work. 

18 miles with a big scare

Today on our 18 mile we almost got hit by a car. It was insane!! We were running in the road down the bike lane of a very wide road when a car sped up an swerved towards us. Luckily T was paying attention an pushed me out of the way up onto the sidewalk. The car came inches away from the curb then swerved back into their lane. I yelled a few choice words and it took about a mile before my heart stopped pounding. Never have I come that close to being hit while running and I swear it was intentional.

As for the rest of the run it was touch hard but we did it. I took 2 Roctane GUs. One at mile 5.5 and one at 12.5. No music today so there were a few tough miles when we were trying to come up with really exciting topics - like back to school shopping and backpacks. Ha ha.

At least my new shoes are a perfect match with my favorite running skirt.  

Right after the run I had to rush to work and do a training - so I had to wear my fancy clothes to work.  No compression sleeves with flats today.  After about an hour I thought I was going to die. So painful.  

I have to disagree

Normally I would agree with this and say a mile is a mile.  And I downloaded this image because I find it very motivational.  But on a tempo run day I have to disagree.  

Today I ran 7 miles.  One mile warm up then 5 miles at an 8:00 min pace then a cool down mile.  And let me tell you each mile was different.

The first mile felt like every first mile I run - a bit painful at first then it felt comfortable.  Then at mile 2 I had to speed up and I wondered if I could do it for 5 miles.  The next 3 miles were fine and I was just running in my groove.  By my last tempo mile I was getting tired and had to put on my iPod to drown out my breathing.  And by the last half of that mile I kept increasing my speed so I could just get it over with.  Then my last mile was heaven.  It felt good to slow it up a bit and just run it to the finish.  

This is the first time I've ever trained for a very specific (and much faster) time for a race.  So I've been very focused on how I can get faster and that is teaching me a lot about myself physically and mentally.  So for now a mile isn't just a mile but someday it will be again!

My Shoes

 I got 2 new pairs of shoes!!  I bought the new Kinvara 3's.  I've done 2 runs in them and they feel great.  I obviously have loved my Kinvaras.  

When I was cleaning out my shoes yesterday I found all these running shoes - 7 pair of Kinvaras and 2 other pair. I have been going through a lot of shoes lately because of how many miles I'm putting in these days.  I like to buy my shoes 2 at a time so I can break them in equally.

Saturday we ran 12 miles and today was an 8 mile run.  My pace is back to where it was before the UV marathon.  Which is good since I'm less than 2 months away from the St. George marathon.

Tomorrow:  spin & lift

Wednesday: 7 miles w/5 at tempo

Thursday: 7 miles

Saturday:  18 miles

Aren't my new shoes sooooo cute!

Running and Travel

 Last week I went to Florida on vacation.  I am so bad at motivating myself but I did manage to get my speed work done.  7 miles with 5 at an 8:00 pace.  The workout room was tiny and hot and depressing but I powered through it.  I was so happy to run my 8 miler yesterday with the girls.  I love running outside with my friends :)

Today I taught spin and lifted.  I love how I feel after a good workout and today was a good workout.  

However, I hate how I feel after a trip.  I ate way too much candy and junk food and drank way too much diet coke.  And the airplane leaves me feeling bloated and uncomfortable.  But luckily I weighed in this morning and didn't pack on the pounds!!

Tomorrow:  another 8 mile run