Frederick Women's Distance Festival

I got the go-ahead from my coach, so it looks like I'll be running in the Frederick Women's Distance Festival 5K Run/Walk on August 10th.  Which means I have 10 days to figure out how in the heck to run a 5K.

Even though I've been doing speed work once a week, my running lately has been more focused on laid-back, easy runs, and building up mileage.  It's been ages since I tried to run at a fast pace and hold it for any length of time.   Yesterday I did mile repeats, but I know I can't hold that pace for 3.1 miles.  I suppose I'll just have to go out and wing it, like always, but I do wish I had a better idea of what I'm capable of.

Actually, that's part of the whole reason behind running this race- so that I can find out what I'm capable of!

Fortunately, unless I trip and break something, there's a high probability that this race will go better than my last one, so that's something, at least.  Plus, this is an all-women event for a good cause, so there's that.  

Now, I'm off to the gym.  Someone remind me why I thought an hour long training session would be a good idea today?  

*crickets*

Yeah, that's what I thought! 

Week 3 Recap

Week 3 of my half marathon training is officially over - I can't believe there are only 11 weeks to go!  When I signed up for this race, it seemed soooooo far away.  Not anymore!


GMM Half Marathon Week 3 Training Schedule:

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - 3 miles speed
• Wednesday - Rest/Cross Training
• Thursday - 2 miles easy
• Friday - Rest/Cross Training
• Saturday - 6 miles
• Sunday - 2 miles easy

How it actually went: 

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - 3.25 miles (Hit all my paces, but somehow the math was off, so with the cooldown, this was 3.25 miles)
• Wednesday - 1/2 hour training session at the gym 
• Thursday - 2 miles easy (Super slow, some calf pain)
• Friday - Rest
• Saturday - 6 miles (Nice run, very happy with it)
• Sunday - 2 miles (Faster than I was supposed to, got chastised by my coach)

So, 13.25 miles for the week (plus a 1/2 mile on the treadmill before my training session, which I'm not really counting).   All in all it was a good week, and last night's run made me realize that I'm ready to try another 5K, so I've asked my coach for her blessing. The last one I did was just a miserable day and I know it's in no way indicative of what I can actually do right now.  

I found a local-ish race that supports a good cause that is on a cut-back week in my training cycle, so I'm just waiting to hear back from my coach.  Fingers crossed, people - I'd rather have permission than do it anyway and get yelled at later. LOL

Happy Monday!

In The Long Run

My alarm went off at 5 this morning and in true Di fashion, I turned the bugger off.  No way was I getting up. 7 a.m. rolled around and my son came in to snuggle with his dad for a bit.  Saturdays are my morning to sleep in, but I knew I had 6 miles ahead of me, so I got up.

Last week, my 5 miler was .... crappy.  Too much walking, too many stupid little things going wrong.  I had no real hopes for today's run.  I couldn't stop to think, I just went out.

I had a few aches and pains here and there (the dog tried to kill me last night, but more about that later), but mostly I was fine.  Kept it slow and just plodded along.  Got home feeling quite pleased with myself.

(Avg. pace was 12:52, I think - right in the middle of the pace range I was given. Huzzah!)

Today was the first time I'd run 6 miles without regular walk intervals since January.  It felt damn good.  Though it's cotton and ended up weighing 3,000 lbs by the time I got home, I was so glad I'd worn this shirt:

Don't mind the sweat, it was hot out there!

It was nice to come home and have gone over my "step" goal before 9 a.m.  In fact, my Fitbit rolled over 25,000 steps today, all told - over 12 miles!  It was a good day - except for one thing.  I am in so much pain now, I want to cry. 

Remember when I said my dog tried to kill me last night?  I tried to take pictures of my injuries as proof, but they're not showing up well on my phone right now.  I'm sure they'll be nice and ugly tomorrow. But I digress. 

Last night, I was stepping back into my house from my garage when my foot slid out from under me, my other leg caught on the step up into the house, and my leg buckled and I went down like a ton of bricks.  Why did my foot slide out from under me, you wonder?  Well, I'll tell you.  My lovely dog decided that the best place for her water was not in her bowl, or in her stomach, but all over the tile floor in my kitchen, right in front of the door leading to the garage.  Water + tile floor = Di go boom. 

After the initial "AHHH!!!" and the subsequent crying (because I am a weenie and it HURT!) and the examining where all the skin was scraped off my knee and top of my foot, I realized that I was feeling ok and decided not to worry about it.  (Though I did threaten the dog.  I swear she hates me.)  

Fast forward to mile 4 of my run, when my hip/butt started to hurt.  I figured it was just from having weak glutes and/or adductors.    Fast forward to going out to dinner with my husband tonight, and in the car driving to the restaurant, my legs are hurting.  Fast forward again to walking around the mall and EVERYTHING hurts.  Legs, shoulders, neck, back, you name it.  I talked about DOMS in my last post - this was more like DOPFFOMA (Delayed Onset Pain From Falling On My Ass).

Now I have fun bruises and my everything is sore and I have a run scheduled tomorrow and I don't wanna and waaaaaa!!  

Insert pouty face here. 

So, I am going to go take some anti-inflammatories and toddle off to bed hoping that tomorrow, I will be able to walk without limping.  If I can do that, I can run, right?  RIGHT?!??  

Stupid dog.  *sniffle*