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*  

Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness

You know what's fun?   That burning sensation in your muscles the day after a hard workout.  The feeling of heaviness, pain, and soreness that makes it hard to lift your arms, walk down stairs, or sit, depending on what muscle groups you tortured worked on.

It's a blast, isn't it?

If you're new to exercise, the day after being in the gym, you may wake up thinking that you've injured yourself.  While that is possible, it's more likely that you're just experiencing Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (or DOMS).   So what is DOMS, anyway?

This article explains that:

 Delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) describes a phenomenon of muscle pain, muscle soreness or muscle stiffness that occurs in the day or two after exercise. This muscle soreness is most frequently felt when you begin a new exercise program, change your exercise routine, or dramatically increase the duration or intensity of your exercise routine.

Also:

Delayed onset muscle soreness is thought to be a result of microscopic tearing of the muscle fibers. The amount of tearing (and soreness) depends on how hard and how long you exercise and what type of exercise you do. Any movement you aren't used to can lead to DOMS, but eccentric muscle contractions (movements that cause muscle to forcefully contract while it lengthens) seem to cause the most soreness.

Fortunately, DOMS goes away after a few days - and if it's bothering you too much, you can always take ibuprofen or something similar to help with the pain.  The absolute best way to deal with DOMS, however, is to prevent it in the first place - for example, by not giving up on the gym for over a year and then expecting to pick up where you left off.  (And yes, I'm talking to myself here.  Don't mind me.) 

For more information on DOMS, you can go here.  If you'd like to experience DOMS for yourself, I can give you the name of my trainer.  

(He IS kinda hot....  My trainer.  Not this guy.) 

Week 2 Recap

I've been a very lazy blogger this week, mostly due to the fact that my parents were staying with us and I tend to let everything slide when we have house guests.

I was not a lazy runner, though, and I did all of the workouts that my coach laid out for me.

GMM Half Marathon Training Week 2 Schedule:

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - 3 speed
• Wednesday - Rest/Cross Train
• Thursday - 2 easy
• Friday - Rest/Cross Train
• Saturday - 5 miles
• Sunday - 2 easy

How the week actually went: 

• Monday - Rest
• Tuesday - Rest (Tuesdays have not worked out lately! Grr!) 
• Wednesday - 3 speed (hit my paces PERFECTLY, if I do say so myself)
• Thursday - 2 easy (not a great run, but it was ok)
• Friday - Rest
• Saturday - 4.8 miles (major malfunctions all over the place, including my watch dying, hence the short run since I didn't know exactly where I was supposed to turn around)
• Sunday - 2.2 easy (possibly the easiest run I've ever had)

I'm over being upset about Saturday's run (it was UGLY and I walked a lot), but if I were a newer newb, I'd be pretty disheartened and would be questioning my ability to do a HM in a few months.  Fortunately, I know I can complete the distance because I've done it before.  The question now is just whether I'll be running it or run/walking.  I'm hoping for the former!   We'll see.  Lots of time still!  

So, Week 3 begins today - fortunately with a rest day, because I'm feeling blah today (and I'm taking my parents to the airport this morning).    No new weight loss to report - but no gain, either, so that's good.  At least I know I can stop tracking calories for a few days and keep off what I've lost so far.  Actually, I think it's good to relax for a few days every once in awhile - otherwise it all ends up feeling like such a chore that you might say "Forget this!" and stop trying altogether.  Not what I want!   So I'm back to counting calories today and paying a little bit more attention.  5 months left in 2013, and I am 5 lbs from the goal I set for myself in January.  Pretty sure I can do it, but only time will tell. 

Fitbit Zip Update - Last week I accidentally wore my Zip in the pool for about 5 minutes.  NO HARM DONE!  I was shocked (and totally relieved) to see that it still worked perfectly, and has had no issues since.  Phew!  Well done, Fitbit, for creating something that is Diana-proof! 

Happy Monday, all!