Too Good…

… of a rare warm, sunny day in January to pass on a run.

I’m overdue. I didn’t get a couple scheduled runs in last week. [weather]  So, I’m back on schedule for this week.

I honestly wish I could run/walk outside year ‘round. Except the week between Christmas and New Year’s, snow then, please?

That being said – I got into my gear and hit the neighborhood streets running. 

Sometimes when I go out, I have a route in mind.  I know how long I want to be out and plot my route according to the mileage I want to put up.  Other times, I play games with myself – when I get to the intersection, if there’s no cars coming and I can cross without stopping, I’ll cross. If there is traffic, I’ll turn the corner and run down the block away from the intersection, completely changing my route…

I don’t always play those games – but I like to mix it up and surprise myself.  It’s a challenge because I’m familiar with the terrain [hills/neighborhood] and yet – I’m letting an external event [traffic] decide my route.

2.21 MILES OF FUN RUN.

My favorite part of today’s run was crossing a very busy Route 519 to run into the heart of Houston, PA.  Several large trucks saw me waiting to cross and stopped to let me!

Most appreciative and it sure beats running in circles at the gym…

Round and Round…

Why – Yes.

Yes. I. Did.

And as the sun came through the windows of the gym and I could watch my shadow, it was almost as good as running outdoors.

KIDDING.

But you know what? Doesn’t matter.

What mattered to me was putting in some mileage and keeping the training moving forward.  And that’s what I did.

After the first, maybe 8-10 minutes I noticed that my left foot custom orthotic insert was bothering me.  The arch of my foot hurt.  I had this issue before when I first started wearing them.  The pain moved to the top of my foot in a muscle that connected to my big toe.  Then just as suddenly as it appeared, it disappeared. 

It may have been just a muscle spasm – the important thing was, I have no residual pain and I was able to put up A DECENT 2.01 MILES.

Next week, we increase the running intervals.

Again…

Slight Malfunction…

I understand that GPS isn’t meant for indoor usage.  But right now, it suits my purpose to use the same program that I’ve been using, RUNKEEPER.

There’s other programs/applications out there, but I choose this one because I am able to program the INTERVALS that I choose to run. 

This week is 2:30 minutes of walking and 1:15 minutes of running. Rinse and Repeat. Ad Nauseum.  [And you other athletes out there know exactly what I mean.]

I’m not able to turn off the GPS and still hear the Interval prompts, it’s a shortcoming with the program, but one I’m able to overlook.  The GPS malfunctioned indoors. So what?  I was still able to hear the Interval prompts and that’s more important to me than the mileage.  There will come a point [SOON – PLEASE?] that I will be able to continue my training out of doors. 

But in the meantime – I’ll use the GPS then edit and manually enter the time/mileage; today was 2.01 MILES.

Works for me…

Breaking in New Shoes…

… and running indoors on the track.

TWELFTH of a mile indoor track.  Running in circles forevah. But the important thing to me was to be consistent with changing the intervals to 2:30 minutes of walking and 1:15 minutes of running.

I’m not so much worried about my pace and mileage as I am changing up in the intervals.

The new shoes weren’t horrible – I’m not sure about the size. That’s the problem. I want to be sure they’re large enough with the custom insoles – and yet not TOO large.  Truth be told, they feel a little large.

I won’t kid you – it’s difficult not to be discouraged. It’s beginning all over again – it’s not that my body doesn’t want to run. It’s that my stamina and strength disappeared so quickly. I’ll get it back. I’m not quitting. I already am stronger than I was last week.

1.79 MILES that looks like I ran around the dining room table.

Whatever. 

DONE.

Time to Catch Up…

… My dad told me so many times just to TRY. Wake up sick before school – Try. Can’t do homework – Try. Can’t go to sleep – Try.

Can’t – TRY.  I come by it honest.

So this ‘running thing’ that I do – it’s time to try.

The other day, I began with a AN OUTDOOR 1.51 MILES because the weather was mild and I needed to gage where I am physically.  Not bad – not much soreness after.  Not a whole lot of stamina, but I wasn’t pushing – I was just testing the running waters.  That night, I had some leg cramping that I couldn’t get worked out – I finally wrapped a heating pad around my calf and that seemed to do the trick.

Muscle memory took over on the 1.51 mile run and I didn’t really have to THINK about form any more than I usually do. When I looked at my running pace/time – I’m not far off where I had been this Summer.  This is very encouraging to me.

Today was my first test run in the new custom orthotic inserts. [They’re to help with my INJURY.]  It wasn’t  a horrible 1.78 MILES AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I’m sure they’re not completely broken in yet – but that’s okay.

Here’s my strategy for training for the Pittsburgh Marathon Relay – I’m beginning with timed intervals. Normally in the past, I’ve run 10/2, 8/1 and most recently 5/1. [That breaks down to 10 minutes running – 2 minutes walking.]

I’ve decided not to continue on the C25K PROGRAM simply because it doesn’t really meet my needs at this time. It’s a wonderful program and I’d highly recommend it to anyone who’s starting out. I did it, loved it and obviously, it worked for me.  The premise of the program is to run a continuous 30 minutes.

However for me, I’ve found that RUNNING/WALKING INTERVALS works best for me, both in strength, stamina AND working within my physical limitations.  The plan over the next few weeks is to go from 3/1 [and I’ve reversed the process because I’m breaking in the orthotic inserts AND getting over an injury] 3 minutes of WALKING and 1 minute of RUNNING.  Every three days of this training, I will decrease the walking interval and increase the running interval.

At least that’s my plan.  Square ONE plan, but it seems to be working, so I’m happy with that…

Happy and HEALTHY 2013!