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Pick-Hey-Up-From-Failed-Run Day

7 Apr

This AM was scheduled to be my 20-miler. I woke up feeling good. I twisted my hair up, brushed my teeth, dressed and was out the door, eating overnight oats as I drove to meet up with my group.

The run started off good. I was optimistic and looking forward to freeing up my weekend from this wicked run. I was laughing and practicing my “weeeeeeeeeeeeeee…. weweweeeeeeeeeeeeeee!” for Flying Pig Marathon.

Then a couple of miles in I became distracted. I had to use the restroom and it now became the focus of all of my attention. This is what I get for recently bragging about my lack of bathroom issues during runs.

Finally around mile four we ran by a 7-Eleven that could fulfill my needs. Sure beats a port-o-potty.

Back on the road I was happy that I could finally relax and enjoy the run. This feeling was short-lasted. Around mile seven I started to feel a familiar twinge to the side of my right knee. I was running with my IT strap on my left leg, because that’s where I’ve been having the problems, and contemplated whether I should switch legs with the strap. The problem is, I know that once the pain starts, it’s not going to go away. The point of the strap is to keep that agitation from starting in the first place. I left in on my left leg. The last thing I wanted was for both of my knees to hurt.

Around mile 10 I moved it over in vain.

A little less than 12 miles into the run, we were minutes away from a water stop when I felt a sharp pain run up my right leg. Expletives flew out of my mouth and I started to run with a visible limp. The dull pain had become sharp and unbearable.

My group was awesome. Immediately they started to tell me that I should stop running and spend the week rolling my leg and icing it and try again next weekend… It wasn’t worth making the injury worse today, especially with plenty of time before the marathon. They are wise women, and I decided to heed their advice. I called it a run at 12.23 miles. I called Donnie and asked him to come pick me up.

Here were my stats (I didn’t stop my watch for any breaks, including 7-Eleven):

  • Distance: 12.23 miles
  • Time: 02:58:19
  • Avg Pace: 14:34/mile

He came to get me with the dogs in tow. It was genius on his part. C’mon… It’s hard to stay disappointed in yourself with a pug trying to lick your face.

We decided to grab breakfast with the dogs at the Briarpatch on Park Ave. The pugs were pretty excited to be dining al fresco on such a beautiful morning:

Rex trying to make new friends on Park Ave.

The conversation went something like this:

Donnie: (to the dogs) You don’t get to come to Park Ave. every day. This is a special occasion.

Me: What’s the special occasion?

Donnie: Oh, it’s Pick-Hey-Up-From-Failed-Run Day.

Sometimes you have to know when to say when. And it doesn’t hurt to reward your smart, yet disheartening, decision with a delicious breakfast afterwards. I had the truffle fried eggs, over medium. The eggs were served over vegetables: peppers, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes and fresh basil. It was delicious! Briarpatch really never disappoints.

Truffle fried eggs at the Briarpatch.

Next week is a scheduled mock half marathon with Marathonfest. I’m going to have to wake up early and run seven miles prior to it. To be honest, I’m not particularly excited about spending another week thinking about running 20 miles.

Have you had a run recently not go according to plan? How did you improvise?

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Rock My Face Off Yoga, New Shoes and a Lovely AM Run

5 Apr

As you may have already read, I’ve only recently started yoga. I’ve loved my few practices, but as a noob I underestimated the sort of experience I could have. Walking into the Full Circle Yoga studio last night, I had no idea what was coming.

In short, our Hatha instructor, Suzie, worked us last night. I twisted and turned and balanced and held and breathed like no other. And then at the end I was so relaxed during savasana that I think I dosed off! When I left that studio, I felt like I needed a cigarette. WHEW!

I came home last night, ate some fried chicken (I know, I know… poor life decision), showered and went right to bed. A few hours later I awoke in a startle and grabbed my phone to see what time it was… it was 4:30 AM and for some reason my alarm was turned off. Props to my internal alarm clock for getting the job done!

Tuesday night I came home to find that these babies had been delivered:

My new shoes: New Balance 20 Minimus Trail

I had tried the Minimus trail running shoes when I bought my New Balance 10 Minimus Road running shoes and thought they were the most comfy shoes in the world. However, I was transitioning from Nike Free Run+ shoes to these and was training for my first marathon, so I figured I should play it safe with the road version of the shoe. I ended up loving these shoes, and have had two pairs already:

My first and second pair of New Balance 10 Minimus Road running Shoes

I had forgotten about the trail versions of the shoe until recently when I came across the New Balance 20 Minimus Trail shoe at a store and stopped to admire them once again. And then suddenly I get an email from Amazon offering these shoes for 40% off. I jumped at the offer!

I only ran 4 miles this morning and the shoes felt great! I even think I might be able to go sans socks in them (for shorter runs). I’ll post more thoughts when I’ve had the chance to get a few short runs and a long run in. I’ll also work on a post about my slow transition from ‘more supportive’ running shoes to these more minimal shoes too. They’re not for everyone, but definitely worth some research and testing if you suffer from shin splints like I did!

Back to the run this morning. It was hot and muggy, and my body was a little tired from the yoga. But considering all that, I felt pretty good this morning. I don’t have official stats because I failed to charge my borrowed Garmin yet again. That reminds me, I need to charge my Garmin. 😉

Here’s the guestimate version:

  • Distance: 4 miles
  • Time: fifty or so minutes?
While I don’t have official stats, I do have a photo of the Rice Krispy Treats that my group mate Rachelle brought in:

I promise we don’t usually have this many snacks. 😉

What kind of shoes do you run in?

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A Strong Fourteen Miles

1 Apr

Earlier today I posted my April Fool’s blog for the day, announcing that I was going to quit running. If you read down to the bottom, you caught that I would denounce this decision by Tuesday morning, when my next run is scheduled. Hee hee.

And while the reasons were quite honest (I really do hate waking up early and I miss sleeping in on Saturday mornings), I do believe that the benefits of running far outweigh these cons. Besides, running keeps me from going cray cray. 🙂

Since yesterday’s long training run was to be 10 to 14 miles, I set out for our run at 6 AM with the intent to run 10 miles. This is what happens when you give me a range… I mentally commit to the lowest mileage.

However, the stars were aligned yesterday and I felt so good that I ran just over 14 miles. Aside from the bug that stalked me for two blocks, I thoroughly enjoyed the run. Maybe it was my new favorite yummy running snack, the Vanilla Organic Stinger Waffle, that put a pep in my step. Or maybe it was the Mexican food I had for dinner the night before. Whatever it was, it worked!

Around mile 13 I convinced my wonderful Marathonfest group leaders to pose for this pic with me. I’m pretty sure they were welcoming the sit down break. 🙂

My group leaders, Emily and Sue, and I cheesin' at 13 miles

It really was the perfect day for a run! And with the Flying Pig Marathon only five weeks away, it was good to have a positive run!

Afterwards, one of my group mates and I doubled back to Panera. We wanted coffee badly.

Here were my run stats:

  • Distance: 14.29 miles
  • Time: 03:18:01
  • Avg Pace: 13:51/mile
Afterwards I headed home to begin a weekend of much needed rest.
Did you get your sweat on outside this weekend? 


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You Really Need to Work on Your Cardio

28 Mar

“Wow, Babe, you really need to work on your cardio.”

This is what Donnie said to me after our hike this past weekend when I admitted to him that I was seriously out of breath while hiking up the mountain that lies in my best friend’s back yard. The mischievous smile on his face told me he was kidding, and I couldn’t help but laugh (after I rolled my eyes, of course).

Here I am, training for my second marathon this year, and I could hardly tell my best friend a story without stopping to huff ‘n puff. Meanwhile my best friend, who just had a beautiful baby last month, didn’t seem out of breath at all. At one point she reassured me that it gets easier with practice, but I’m not sure where I’m supposed to find mountains to hike down here in Florida. Well, besides Clermont.

My best friend and her husband live in Sylva, a small town located in Western North Carolina. A small creek runs by their house and their back yard is the foot of a mountain. Their “yard” is picturesque, and made the perfect setting for our hike.

I don’t know how long or how far we hiked. Great company and the beauty of nature were quite distracting and I got lost in the moment. Growing up I spent every day with my best friend (no, I’m not exaggerating) and now I’m lucky if I get to see her once a year. Getting to spend time with her is a rare treat so I’d say this has been hands down my favorite workout all year. Even if it did take me longer to spit out a sentence.

I wish I could’ve bottled up the hike to share with you, but all I got were pictures. Enjoy!

Fellow hikers (and my favorite people in the world) Donnie, Brad and Jenny

Donnie and Brad lead the way. Brad is carrying his baby girl.

We smile because we hike. Brad, me and Jenny.

The world would be a better place if we all had waterfalls in our backyard.

The creek that runs by their house.

Freshwater puppy

Donnie rocks his burly mountain beard.

Our trip was much too short, but I look forward to the day we hike together again!

What’s been your favorite workout this year?

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My ‘Welcome Back to Normal Life’ Run

27 Mar

Since almost two weeks ago, my life has been total chaos, in the most amazing kind of way. The week leading up to my birthday, I was super busy, but still able to fit in my training runs.

I thought the week after my birthday would ease up, but I ended up being just as busy (or perhaps busier), and by this time too exhausted to keep up my running. Around Wednesday I decided that rather than stress about it, I was going to take the time off and enjoy it. Once I made that decision, it took so much weight off my shoulders!

After an amazing weekend road trip to North Carolina to visit my best friend and her husband and their beautiful new baby girl (which I will write about later), I had a little trouble getting out of bed this morning. But my body was craving a run so I dragged myself out of bed, threw on some running clothes and was out the door by 4:45 AM.

This morning was a short run, full of great conversation and lots of laughter. We spent a good portion of our run  discussing a book that a friend recommended I read: Bringing Up Bebe. Before you jump to crazy conclusions, NO… I AM NOT EXPECTING and neither is the friend who recommended it. It’s a fascinating look at the differences in American and French culture and definitely worth picking up.

Afterwards we continued our laughter over Starbucks coffee and our chicken sausage breakfast wraps (which are delish by the way). As I drove away this morning smiling, I realized how much I’ve missed the ladies the last couple of weeks.

Here are this mornings stats:

  • Distance: 4.12 miles
  • Time: 49:21.03
  • Avg Pace: 11:58/mile

Are you reading any good books? Let me know. I’ll be ready for a new one soon! 🙂

Here’s a pic of the double rainbow we caught on our drive to North Carolina. This was in North Georgia, near the North Carolina border. I saw this and squealed and yelled “WHAT DOES IT MEAN? WHAT DOES IT MEEEAAANNN??”

If you don’t know what YouTube video I’m referencing, then you must watch this video now.

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I Ran 18 Miles and Didn’t Want to Die!

20 Mar

Yes, it’s true. Almost every time I’ve set out to run anything over 16 miles, the run usually ends with me feeling like I’m going to die. Or at least feel like I’m going to pass out in the middle of the street.

Except for this past Saturday. This time, the stars were aligned and everything felt okay. Well except for the horrible blister I got on my right foot from wearing a cute pair of flats earlier in the week, but that’s not running related. And I may never, ever wear those shoes again. 🙂

We were starting our run at 4:30 AM, so I woke up at 3:15 AM and did some foam rolling and ate my favorite pre-long run breakfast: a toasted wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana slices. It was nice waking up with so much time, so I wasn’t rushing around the house like a mad woman. Well, except for the part when I remembered I needed to find some green earrings so I didn’t get pinched during our St Patty’s Day long run.

I met part of our group at 4:30 and off we went for a 10-mile jaunt. We would circle back around and pick up the rest of the group for the final 8 miles. This time I remembered to start my run with my IT band. And my borrowed Garmin.

This was the first long run where we had so many runners joining on the back half. I loved it. They were fresh and still had pep in their step, which kept me motivated. If you’re running with someone and they are only running a portion of your distance, I suggest you try meeting them for the back half of your run!

Along the back half, we came across some poor little kids and a dog that had been turned into statues by an evil witch. I had to stop and take a photo with them!

My group leader insists that these are merely replicas of the house owner’s niece and nephew, but I don’t know if I believe that. Poor kids.

Oh, and only in Florida (and some parts of Georgia) do you find energy sources decked out in camo:

Ha!

However, when my wonderful, but slightly evil group leaders tossed in some slight inclines (or “hills” as I say) in the last 3 miles of the run, I may or may not have started to say expletives. I’m sure that they would point out that the Flying Pig Marathon has hills and they were only doing me a favor by exposing me to them in our training run to which I’m sure I would respond with an eye roll too and  a “Pfshh.” Nevertheless I do appreciate it now that it’s over and done with.

We restarted our watches after the first part of the run, so my stats are broken into parts. We are not the kind of runners that stop our watches each time one of us has to use the restroom, or wait to cross an intersection, so our paces are slightly faster then what’s reflected below. And by ‘slightly’ I mean hardly at all. 😉

Part 1

  • Distance: 10.33 miles
  • Time: 02:22:47
  • Avg Pace: 13:49/mile

Part 2

  • Distance: 8.38 miles
  • Time: 01:57:50
  • Avg Pace: 14:03/mile

TOTAL DISTANCE: 18.71 miles <– Wait! I was tricked into running more than 18?

After our run we celebrated with breakfast at Panera Bread. Rachelle brought this little piece of motivation to remind us what we’re working for:

Me posing with our Flying Pig Marathon motivation

Only one more long training run scheduled before race day!

Do you keep any items in plain view to motivate you? Generally I usually just hang my training schedule, but I think I want to find a little pig to put on my desk.

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Getting Old and Being Busy (Not Necessarily in that Order)

19 Mar

“As you get older three things happen. The first is your memory goes, and I can’t remember the other two…” – Sir Norman Wisdom

My delish birthday brownie made by two lovely Kennedy's

The past eight days have been busy. Crazy busy. I remember most of it, except for Monday:

Sunday, March 11: Sleep through my run and enjoy coffee and rain instead. Birthday brunch at Dexter’s for my loveliest lady friend. Volunteer serving dinner at a local center. Eat dinner while watching Magic game with friends at Wildside in Thornton Park. Sleep like a baby.

Monday, March 12: Work. I have no clue what else I did Monday. It scares me that I can’t remember this day at all. While this is likely just due to the ridiculously busy, but amazing, weekend I had, it still makes me nervous. Crap, this is the first sign of getting old.

Tuesday, March 13: Run 4 miles in the AM. Work. Yoga at night. Sleep like a baby.

Wednesday, March 14: Wake up and run 5 miles in the AM. Work. Get my hair did at Alchemy. (See my pretty hair on their Facebook page here. I love it! And look how tired I look. Photo proof.) Sleep like a baby.

Thursday, March 15: Work. Go to my little sister’s house for some much needed sister time. Drink wine. Sleep like a baby.

Friday, March 16: Work. Have one drink with friends for Happy Hour. Eat my favorite pre-long run meal: Black Bean Deli chicken entree with plantains and salad and rice and black beans while watching Grey’s Anatomy. Get in bed by 10:30 PM. Sleep like a baby.

Saturday, March 17: Wake up at 3:15 and tear apart my jewelry box looking for green earrings to wear so I don’t get pinched during our run. This is particularly important since I’m the one that warned everyone via email days earlier. Start 18-mile run at 4:30 AM. Finish 18-mile run sometime before 10 AM. Eat breakfast. Ice bath. Curse (a lot). Defrost. Shower. Walk an additional mile or 2 at Winter Park Art Festival. Go to Scruffy Murphy’s in College Park, drink 2 Guinness draughts, jam out to country band (apparently that’s how we do in Orlando), eat corn beef and cabbage and shepard’s pie and fall asleep by 7:30 PM. Sleep like a baby (and for over 12 hours).

Yesterday, March 18: Wake up one year older. Instantly my body feels older, but quite possible that’s 18+ miles speaking. Pack up and head to Cocoa for the most beautiful beach day ever. Spend six hours on the beach. Fishlips for dinner. Come home and eat the delish surprise tiramisu Donnie somehow managed to hide from me. Shower. Sleep. Like. A. Burnt. Baby.

Today, March 19: Wake up. Hit snooze. Fall back asleep. Wake up. Hit snooze. Fall back asleep. Wake up. Hit snooze. Fall back asleep. Eventually wake up for real. Work. Farm Market. Blog for the first time in a week.

I can’t find my borrowed Garmin anywhere, but as soon as I do, I’ll post about the 18-miler. And yes, it worries me that I can’t remember where I placed it.

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I Was Bad This Weekend

12 Mar

This past Saturday I missed my long training run (10 miles). I simply woke up, felt that my back was achy, and decided that this was a good enough reason to go back to sleep and do what most normal people do on Saturday mornings: sleep in, roll out of bed and drink coffee in my PJs with disheveled hair.

So I did just that. I slept. And when I finally did wake up, I didn’t jump out of bed with the startle of one of my many alarms. Instead, I took my time with arising from my slumber. No alarm, just the aroma of coffee to awake me.

Unfortunately, I did not send the obligatory “I’m not gonna show” up text that I should’ve sent my group. For that, I feel badly. I wish I was the lying type. I would tell them later that not only was my back cramped, but so were my poor fingers and I couldn’t type out a text. Or perhaps I would play the “Oh, you didn’t get my text?” card…

Training-wise I did feel a little guilty for skipping my run at first. I even made plans to run an “atonement run” (my group leader’s name for a make-up run) on Sunday morning. However, when I woke up Sunday morning and saw I had the obligatory “I’m not gonna show” text from a running partner and it was raining… well, heck, I thought “this is my lucky day.”

So instead of a make-up run, I laid in bed listening to the rain as it fell for what seemed like forever. And then afterwards I got out of bed and drank coffee in my PJs with disheveled hair for the second day in a row.

So, to all you crazy runners that dragged yourselves out of bed in the wee hours of a Saturday morning to run before you started your weekend, I salute you.

As for me, I enjoyed my weekend of being bad.

Do you run weekend mornings? If so, what do you miss most about sleeping in?

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Double Up Tuesday

7 Mar

Yesterday I did something I don’t normally do: I worked out twice in one day. Like at separate times. On purpose. Whoa!

You see, this might be a regular occurrence for others. But I have this mop of hair on my head that takes a long time to dry, so I pretty much hate having to do it more than once a day.

Because of my busy week, I could only go to yoga last night. But I also had a marathon training run scheduled for yesterday morning. And I didn’t want to cancel either of these. So I went to both.

I met my running ladies at 5 AM for an easy 5 miles. By ‘easy’ I mean we took it an easy pace, not that it was an easy run. I think my legs were still heavy from this past weekend 14-miler. Plus, I was tired so I spent the bulk of our run thinking about coffee… about its aroma, how delicious it would taste after our run, what size coffee I would order at Starbucks, etc.

Afterwards I went to work and… well worked.

After work, I went home and let my dogs out, ate a snack (pita chips and hummus… yum!) and threw on some spandex (really just my running clothes) and off to yoga I went. This was my second class ever and I am happy to confirm that I still liked it. I met up with Carolina from Peas in a Blog (who had just come from a run) and my BFF Rox and this time we took a yoga basics class. Our instructor, Debbie, at Full Circle Yoga was pretty awesome. You know when someone exudes peace? Yup, that was Debbie. Tranquility just flows out of her pores.

I think that the reason I like yoga so much is how I feel afterwards. After a run, I’m on that runner’s high, which is nice and I can very much use it to get through the day. But I hate having that runner’s high at night… when I’m supposed to be getting ready for bed. After yoga, on the other hand, my body is completely relaxed. From head to toe.

I slept like a baby last night. 🙂

Do you ever double up your workouts in one day? If not, what keeps you from doing it?

Hands down my hair keeps me from doing it. But I’m thinking I just need to twist my hair up in a bun in between and suck it up. I woke up feeling amazing this morning!

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Fail Run

4 Mar

Yesterday’s long run was scheduled to be 18 miles.

In the end it was 14 or so miles.

I can’t confirm the exact distance or time because my run started with realizing that I hadn’t charged my borrowed Garmin. My run ended with an irritated IT band because I forgot to wear my IT strap. Quite frankly, it would’ve ended sooner, but I forgot my iPhone.

There’s a lot of forgetting when you wake up late and don’t allow yourself enough time to properly think in the morning. I need to start going to bed earlier.

Afterwards, Donnie and I went to the beach where I soaked my left leg in ice cold water. Hands down, that was my favorite “ice bath” to date.

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