Day 14: Week 4 Day 3 The Week Off

Yep, what was me trying to get over the summer cold from hell turned into a week off. I had planned to go running Saturday. But it was the first night I slept through the night without a five to ten minute coughing attack waking me up. So I stayed asleep. 

Today I jumped right in where I left off. And I felt every minute of it. It was defiantly a day if "this will never end". 

I had been so excited to go out there too, because I had just gotten new shoes. Yes, a part of me wanted to see if the childhood belief still held. I swear when I was a kid and got new shoes, I could run faster, jump higher, and go longer. Granted. I didn't get new shoes then not use them for a week while I tried to recover from some horrible cold. But still, I felt the new shoe feeling would do something. I'm not sure it did anything but look good. 

And no I didn't just buy the shoes for that. I needed new running shoes from the minute I started this. I just hadn't had a chance to get to the store. 

I think this running is helping me appreciate mornings more. And I enjoy 5am more then 6am. I never thought I'd say that.  Well on to see what Tuesdays brings. 

Day 13: Week 4, Day 2 Getting sick and my current playlist

Of course, Friday morning when I went out to run, I didn't know I was getting sick.

Friday's run was better, I think.  I never hit the "is this over yet" wall, and I figure that's a good sign.  It really was a very good run overall I thought.  Rather then doing a lap around the yard, like I did last time, I took a slightly differently route.  The run was almost 40 minutes long, and I went almost 3 miles.    I felt great afterwards, did my yoga, and went to work.

Now, I didn't start to feel sick until I got home from work.  And even then, it was just my voice that decided to take leave on me.  Saturday I had a lot of running around to do, and I had originally planned to not run on Sunday, and run on Monday do to a work related overnight trip.  On the drive down I started to get the lovely scratching feeling that, unless I drank water, would lead to a cough.

Although that led to me drinking almost an entire pitcher of water at the dinner and awards banquet that I went to.  Then, of course, my company went out for a celebratory drink.  Since that is not really my thing, I was the first to leave the bar and head back to the hotel room.  The downside is that every time someone else came in, it woke me up, so not much sleep for me.

Then I woke up before 6am to drive home.  On not much sleep.  I just started to feel worse on the drive, but I thought that was a case of lack of sleep.  I managed to get a little nap in when my daughter was napping, but that didn't seem to help much.  I ended up going to bed before 8pm.  I had a feeling that running this morning was not going to happen, so I didn't set my alarm for a run.  And I was right on that one.  I woke up to a fever and a cough that will not leave me alone.

So, I am home sick from work, and hoping that tomorrow I will be back in the game, and Wednesday I will be back out on the run.

In the meantime, here is my current playlist for running:

Burn Witch Burn--Ego LIkeness
It's Been Fun--Ayria
Addicted--Alice In Videoland
Tears--The Cruxshadows
All the Things She Said--t.A.T.u.
Stand Up--Stromkern
Stop The Fall--Absurd Minds
Freaks In Uniform--HorrorPops
Dr. Online--Zeromancer
Russion Roulette--Tsunami Bomb
Zerospace--Kidney Thieves
Afterglow--Sunshine Blind
I Want You--Starlit
Seduction--Beborn Benton
Let The Record Show--Emilie Autumn
Cherry Lips--Garbage
The Current--Blue Man Group
Cry Little Sister--Carfax Abbey
Ravenheart--Xandria

This Friday I made it to Tsunami Bomb, which is the furthest on the playlist I've made it so far.  The playlist was originally created to use while I did Slim in Six, (since you can turn the music off on those tapes)  But I haven't done that program in a long time.

Day 12: Week 4 Day 1 Longer Runs

The runs have gotten longer today.  About a week ago I was looking at the "training schedule", and all I could think is, I will never make it! 

All that had taught me, is to not look too far ahead. One day at a time and I'll get there. 

Today was fairly cold. Apperently in some areas of the state it was snowing. Not here, but we had a cold wind. My focus today was breathing. For the most part I was doing pretty good at breathing through my nose. The five minute runs were interesting, mostly because I didn't look to see what the plan was today, so the time just kept going on and on. The first one, I started to wonder if the app shut off. But I've had that feeling before. 

When I returned home, I was still in the cooldown, so I made a lap around the yard and it timed just right. Just as I got to the front, and was walking past the porch it announced my workout over. 

The thing that sucked about today's run, is a headache. I had it yesterday and just ignored it. But it persisted and was here when I woke up. After my run I took something for it, and proceeded with my yoga. After I finished that, I started to get an aura indicating a migraine. All I could think was "great, a headache on top of a headache". 

Off to work with head pain galore.  About half an hour later I drank water, ate my banana, and was halfway through my tea when I noticed the pain had gone. I'm not sure if it was dehydration or hunger, but I'm glad it left me alone. I was not in the mood to spend the whole day in pain. 

Day 11: Week 3 Day 3 High Kneeing it through the grass

The title sounds far more dramatic than the reality of yesterdays run.

And, as you can tell from that sentence, I'm a day late in posting.  What can I say, I'm a mother, wife, and I hold a full time job.  Sometimes I just run out of time.

Lets start at the beginning, shall we?

It was a fairly mild day.  There was a chill in the air, but it was a normal, 5am chill.  Not the chill of post rain or wind.  The sky was overcast, leading me to believe that it would rain that day.  I started my run as usual, setting my phone up so the pedometer would run, then the c25k app would run, then starting my music.  I thought I would do something a bit different and go with the most often played, playlist.  First off it's the Dresden Dolls.  Not surprising that is a most often played song.

Into the first round of running, I immediately feel my shins.  I'm not sure what to do to avoid that type of pain.  Now, this isn't necessary the start of shin splints.  About ten years ago I got tendinitis in the front of my legs from standing and walking for 12 hour shifts while wearing steel toed shoes.  It's an irritation that creeps up every now and then.  The worst being when the heal of my shoe broke one day and I did the splits down the staircase at work. 
So, I figure, it's probably just that acting up, and I just need to work on stretching that muscle better.  But it does make for an irritating run.

Onward I go.  I've made it to the end of the trail, and turned around to head back.  I hit a walk cycle just as Nelson Eddie's starts to sing the bobcat song.  I'm going to go ahead and assume that no one reading this has any clue what that is, so here is a link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wDmyPBXK7k
Yes, I have an eclectic taste in music.  Partway through the walk cycle, a rooster crows just as I pass the property it lives on.  So I can say, that on June 16, 2014, the rooster crowed at 5:15 AM MST

On I went.  Now someone apperently felt the great need to water the dirt road this day, and it was a muddy mess.  I had walked through it the first time, slipping a bit.  I hit that patch of road in a run cycle, so rather than slipping in the mud and twisting something, I decided to run through the grassy area next to it.  That grass is over knee high on me, thus, I was high kneeing it through the grass (see, I told you it wasn't that exciting)

I was slower on this run then I was on Saturday.  I think that was in most part because rather then listening to my "workout" playlist, I listed to my most listened, and those aren't all the fastest of songs.  I plan to create a new playlist, but that is one of those things I need to find time for.  In the meantime I shall return to the workout playlist.  Perhaps I will post that in an upcoming blog post.  And of course I'll have to follow that up with whatever new playlist I make. 

Strangely enough, the last song to play as I was walking into my house was another Dresden Dolls song. 

Day 10: Week 3 day... 2?

Yep, that says day 2.  Somewhere along the way, in my not being a morning person, I stumbled outside at 5am and clicked start on the wrong day.  I had though of going back and doing that day today, but since I already went through day one on Thursday, I figured I'd just go with it.

But really, it explains why Thursdays runs felt so long.  Today I was not in the groove at all and it was a slower run then on Thursday, after which my lower back was killing me.  But I think it had more to do with the fact that I am female, and sometimes have female issues.  And due to that, I'm sure that is why I was not in my groove, and was slower.

Today was chilly to start with, due to a 3am rain/hail storm that came through the area, that woke me up.  That rain was coming down hard.  My main concern waking up was mud.  From the sound of the rain, and the fact that the road I travel is a dirt road, I was just worried it would be a muddy mess.  While the ground was damp, it wasn't what I feared, which was a good thing.  It's been dry enough that the ground just soaked the water up.

I still really need to work on breathing through my nose, that is a constant problem.  Breathing through my mouth just dries out my through too much, but breathing through my nose feels like I'm not getting enough air.  I work on it every run.

I seem to have gotten over the blister hump quite well, but I want to know how in the world I get all the dirt in my shoes every time?  I seriously have to dump about a teaspoon out each time I go out.  I don't know if I'm kicking it up into my shoes somehow, or what.  But it is super noticeable at the end during the cool down walk.  I wonder if a different pair of shoes would help with that.  But then I'd probably be forced to go through the blister hump again.

But, Monday should be a relative breeze after today.  Not easier, hopefully a little faster, but I'm almost certain no back ache.

For not being a morning person though, I do quite enjoy being outside early.  It's kind of strange, because your out there thinking, "I want to be outside enjoying this all the time.   I really need to get to bed earlier." And that though is followed by, "but I really enjoy sunsets and looking at the stars."

Yep, it's a difficult argument to have with yourself.

Day 8&9 remainder of week 2

Well as I was starting the second run cycle of today's run I realized I compleatly forgot to post on Tuesday. So, today will cover both days. 

On Tuesday my pulled muscle seemed to be gone as I was lacing up my shoes to head out. I did a few easy  stretches to test the pulled muscle out and I didn't feel anything, so off I went. 

The first run cycle I immediately could feel the muscle. It was just a slight pulling, kind of warning me that if I don't watch it, I could pull it again. I thought about my bi-weekly Pilates class, and pulled in all the muscles that we are being reminded to pull in, and the pulling went away. So for that day, anytime I started to feel that muscle, if I pulled those muscles in it would stop and I had no injuries or pain. So this is good to know, need to remember form!  But for the most part I keep it at the front of my thoughts while running, but it's a learning process to make sure my stance is right, that I am pulling everything in, and remembering to breath through my nose. I'm sure I'll get it down, but it'll take practice. 

For Thursdays run it started with the moon being huge and orange. I did try to take a photo, but it just didn't do it justice at all. It was a gorgeous morning that, as I went along the path, made me think of all kinds of things to write. Far more eloquently then that last sentence came out. I started thinking of that Stephen King novel, tommyknockers.  The female character creates a machine that writes all her thoughts onto paper, thus giving her the ability to write her novel. The though that crossed my mind this morning is how nice that would be. But then, you have to remember the serious consequences to the people of that book, and I just have to settle for knowing that I had some great things to write, but by the time I have the time, I don't have the energy or the memory. 

Day 7: week 2 day 1 the walk

Today started out great. I woke about 10 minutes before my alarm, and was up and ready to go. It was overcast out, and there was a slight onging drizzle. The first couple run walk sequences were fine. Had one mishap on the uneven ground, but I didn't sprain my ankle, so I kept going. Then after I had turned around on the path, on the next run sequence, I started to feel a tug in my upper leg. I made it most of that run, but did stop before the voice said to begain walking. Each run sequence became shorter and shorter until the last attempt to run was about one step before pain shot up my inner thigh and a bit on the front of my thigh. So, I walked. Walking didn't bother it, and really made it feel more like a good streach. 

I'm going to keep streatching it, and on Tuesday we'll see how well I can run. Or if I will be walking. 

Day 6: Week 1, Day 3.... The end of Week 1!

The first week is over.  Today was a bit more difficult then the last, and I think that is thanks to my Pilates class on Thursday.  My quads were hurting to start, so every time I started the run cycle of the training they just screamed.  The day was cloudy, and a promise of rain hung in the air the entire time I was out.  Although the clouds left in the afternoon without fulfilling that promise, only to return in the evening and open up the flood gates around 10pm.

I mentioned last time about the 5k I was training for being on the same day I'll be out of town.  Well yesterday a co-worker involved me in an email from another 5k event that was seeking sponsorship from our company.  So, basically another run landed in my lap.  but, this is one much earlier, and I will have to adjust my running days a bit.  I was originally going to stick with a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule, but this will make it a literally every other day schedule.

I know I had more I was going to write this morning, but the day was hectic, and I have forgotten most of what I intended between 5am and now.  It is 11pm, so I think sleep is in order.

Day 5: Week 1, Day 2 New Places

I glanced back at previous posts in the blog, and I will apologize for any stilted, or strangely phrased posts.  Please remember that the majority of these are from my phone, and typing on the little touch screen keyboard can be irritating.

Today, Wednesday, I did not want to wake up.  I did extremely well in not laying back down "for just a moment" and reminded myself that I MUST leave the house at 5am.  I dragged my aching body through the morning routine of getting dressed, and whatnot.  By the time I made it to the front door, I was feeling a little more awake.  Covered the blister I had acquired on Monday with a band aid, made a note to myself that we need to buy more "adult" band aids, or we will all be running around with Barbie and Hello Kitty ones soon.  That could look strange if my husband needs one.

Texted my husband I was out, turned on the GPS pedometer app, the C2K5 app, and off I went.

I chose a slight variation of Route 3 today.  Not cutting through the back yard to start with, just heading up one of the roads that leads to the path.  The first 60 second run/jog was quick.  I was surprised it was over when the app told me to walk.  On I went.  The path ended, and I decided to follow the paved road until I was halfway through, then just make my way back.  That went well until the Pedometer app decided to work like it's supposed to.

For the first time since this adventure started, it chimed up, very loudly, "One Mile".  Made me jump.  I'm glad I was in a relatively house free area at 5:15 in the morning or someone would have spilled their coffee laughing at me.  I turned around at that point and started back, only to have my other app announce I was half way through about a minute later.  The trek back is where you start to get tired of the run portion.  You get 30 seconds into the run and one half of your brain says "oh man, this is killing me, this will never end!"  The other side says "it's 1 minute.  Chill out"  Then, just when you've got your rhythm..  at about 55 seconds, you think "I got this, I can keep going longer" the app says "Start Walking".  Fine.  Be that way.

I returned through the sagebrush and cacti in the backyard.  But since my adventure through it over the weekend, I have mostly found the path with the least cacti, so it wasn't as slow picking my way through as it was.

My post workout was a nice 20 minutes of yoga.  Much better then Monday when I had too much I thought I wanted to do, then did nothing for half an hour.

My plans for the 5k have been pushed.  I didn't realize that it was the same weekend as a trip we are planning to take.  So, I need to either find a new 5k, or just call this training in training for the 5k.

I will post again Friday. 

Day 4: Week 1 day 1 Fog and Pain

Today I woke up at 4:45 am. Not just, the alarm went off, but, got up and out of bed. Right before I headed out at 5am I looked out the window and saw fog. 

Not even 1 minute into my warm up walk my ankle started to feel irrited. So I adjusted my socks kept going and, no, the irritation didn't go away. But my mind wandered and I managed to not even notice it until I was finished and walking home. 

I ended up combining the routes, so the first day was about 3 minutes longer then planned (that's not a bad thing)  after the first 5 minutes then I began the -run 60 seconds, walk 90 second- pattern. Most of the time my mind was on form, lean forward, breath in through the nose, out through the mouth, ect. The 30+ minutes went by fairly quickly until the end when I went into the 5 minte cooldown (followed by the extra few minutes walk home). Then the pain in my ankle said "hey, I'm still here". And my right leg just felt sore. But then, it's been a bit sore all weekend, so I was anticipating that. 

I ended at home on Pinterest looking for good post run streaches. 

I think between focusing on form, and the feeling I was chasing the fog, I had managed to not notice what my leg/ankle was feeling until I had slowed down. 

The fog was a cool element this morning. There would be a clear line, until you entered it. Then it wasn't as thick as you expected. Almost like you were always seein the fog just ahead, but never reaching it. Like a rainbow. Very cool. (Picture below taken during a walking phase)

Tomorrow I will not be running or walking. I will be doing weight lifting, and I'm not going to post about that. So I'll be back on Wednesday with that days adventure. 

Day 3: nearly 2 miles with a chance of lightning

 Today's walk started out later then planned. About an hour later. When I walked into the kitchen, my husband looked at me a little sideways and asked me what I was doing. I guess he forgot what I told him yesterday. 

So, off I went on route version 3, keeping an eye on the dark mass of clouds to the west rumbling in the distance. I wasn't too worried though, they were over there, not over me. Although when I saw lightning, I took one of my earbuds out and kept an ear open to listen for corosponding thunder. 

It was a pleasent walk, and I think it might be a route I'll take most often. Which means my husband is going to have to mow the path sooner than planned. 

The path was a mile, and as I was walking back home, I noticed the storm clouds were very quickly eclipsing the sun. At that point I got a little nervous, and picked up the pace. In fact, there was a short jog thrown in. I made it home faster then I thought I would and about five minutes later the thunderstorm arrived bringing a downpour. 

Tomorrow I begin the couch to 5k app. I'm pondering taking route 3, but I will see what the day brings at 5am before setting that in stone.