Tonight we started hill training.  While I argue that all my runs are hill runs, Coach Mike disagrees.  At least with the follow up argument that this fact should get me out of tonight’s run.  Oh well.

I surprised myself by running two miles with only a very short walk break.  I’ve been doing intervals of as many as eight minutes of running for three minute of walking, but always felt like I needed that walk break.  Tonight we were doing an easy two miles for a warm up, so I tried an experiment & left my timer behind.  I figured I would run until I needed a break, then walk a bit, then run some more.  All of a sudden I was at the turn around and I hadn’t taken a break, and didn’t until nearly halfway through the mile back.

I had heard that a lot of running is mind over matter, but didn’t really understand what that meant until now.  I’m going to try more experiments without my timer.  Trusty as it is, I wonder if I’ve outgrown it.  Like a lot of things one outgrows, it’s a little scary to think of going without it, but it feels really good, too.

I haven’t been here in awhile – been busy running!!  

If you are wondering, yes, I am still running, and yes, I am still raising money.  Just too slacker-y to write about it.  :)

Our long runs keep getting longer – last weekend was a “light” week at eight miles – and our midweek runs are longer too.  Coach says we will be starting hill workouts in a week.  I told him all my workouts are hill workouts.  He doesn’t seem inclined to let me out of them, though.  

I’m learning a ton about myself as I do this – how much my body is really capable of, how little things affect a run (weather, socks, lighting).  I’ve learned that chocolate is not the best fuel for running (bummer) and that I can talk myself into doing anything for one minute (just one more minute, then you can walk.  just one more).

I’ve gotten a lot of money in so far too, although I’m really nervous about the halfway point.  I’ve got to have half my goal in by Nov. 8, and that isn’t nearly far enough away.  I’d like to have the whole thing in by Dec. 1, so as to make the end of the year and holiday season a bit easier, but I don’t know.  We’ll just have to see!!

Tonight’s run was 3 miles.  I’ve got a bit of pain in my calves & shins that I’m chalking up to tight muscles, so doing a lot of stretching.  It was 40 degrees outside, the coldest yet, but not that bad once I got going.  Tomorrow is 5 miles, and it’s supposed to be warmer, so should be nice!

Today’s run looked like it was going to be absolutely miserable.  It rained all day, was still raining when I got home, it was chilly, and I had to do five miles right on the heels of a hard four miler (the training plan went up a notch this week!).  I had no expectations, and even told myself that I could cut it short and only run three or four if that’s what I needed to do.

I mentioned yesterday that every run that begins at my house is a hill run.  I live on the side of a bluff.  I have to go down twenty steps just to get to the street from my front door.  About a quarter mile into my running route is a huge, steep hill, and the back half of my run is one long slope.  These hills are hard for me.  I have asthma, and hills just don’t agree with my lungs.  I run as far as I can, then stop and walk when I need to.  Typically this has left me walking 2/3 to 1/2 of either hill. 

Today I ran the steep hill.  The whole way up.  And ran over 1/2 of the long slope.  And tons of little hills in between.  In the rain.  In the cold.  Tired and crabby.  WOOT!!!

The other cool thing?  Oh, yes, there’s another.  Several, in fact.  The sun came out about halfway through my run, and there was a ginormous rainbow over the whole eastern sky.  There was even a very faint second bow.  It was beautiful, and in a really cheesy way it felt a bit like the whole world was celebrating my hill-running (yes, I do believe the universe revolves around me).  

On the cool but slightly less spectacular, my pace has been really good lately.  I’m running about 12 minutes per mile, and that’s doing intervals of 6 minutes of running and 3 minutes of walking.  I figure my walking pace is about a 15 minute mile, so that puts my running pace down in the 10 minute range (I think?  Anybody do math better than me?).  Certainly a nice clip for a newbie like me!  

I imagine that at some point I will have the nasty run I predicted for today, but I’m awfully glad to postpone it this time!

Well, it’s been a Monday.  It was a crazy busy day at work, but I managed to stay on track with my eating & had a really good run.  I’m focusing on fuel this week – making sure I eat the right things at the right times so that my runs don’t suffer.  

Saturday was an eight mile group run – the first time I’ve ever run that far.  We ran on the Gateway Trail, which is 18 miles of paved trail cutting through the cities from just north of the Capital in St. Paul to Stillwater.  We ran a section of the middle.  The trail is wooded for the most part, and it’s really easy to forget you’re in the middle of the city.  I did pretty well for the first six miles, and the last two were hard.  This makes sense, considering our Wednesday runs have been just under 6 miles, so that is a distance I am somewhat used to.  The “extra” distance is always hard for me the first time through, but gets easier.

Yesterday was a rest day (thank goodness!) and I spent a little time down at mile 17 of the Twin Cities Marathon cheering for other Team in Training folk, and everyone else that ran by.  It was really fun to be out, but after several hours in the cold I was rather stiff.  Very glad not to have been running – it was very wet and most runners looked at least a little bit miserable.  

Today I did four miles, and it was a hill run.  From my house, they’re all hill runs.  I actually look forward to the group runs because they’re flat!!  It went very well, although I had a bit of trouble on a long hill in the middle.  It’s not very steep, but it goes on forever, and I find it hard to get good breaths.  I have definitely improved over the last several months, though, so I figure I’ll just keep plugging away.  

Tomorrow is 5 miles, and just under 6 on Wednesday.  Then it’s rest, cross train, 4 miles & 8-10 miles to finish out the week.  It’s going to be a tough one!

Thanks to all of you who have sent in donations!  Every bit counts, and I really appreciate your quick response!!

I think I might have overdone just a tad yesterday.  We did six miles (little under) and I ran just a tad faster than I usually do.  I stretched when I got home, nothing seemed too bad, just a bit of fatigue.  I took some Aleve & went to bed.  

Despite the stretching and the Aleve, I am sore.  I’m pretty sure I could draw and label every muscle in my legs anatomy-class style, because they are all letting me know where they are, and have been for most of the night.  Now, for those of you who are reading & freaking out (Mom), it’s not hideous, I’m not broken or damaged in any way, I’m just feeling my workout.  In a rather larger way than expected.  :)

It’s interesting to me what hurts and what doesn’t.  Often a good run will hurt later, but the hurt associated with a bad run goes away pretty quick.  I suspect this is due in large part to the tendency to go harder/stronger/faster when feeling good, and to take it easy when I’m not.  Still, the waking up in the middle of the night just because I’m darn uncomfortable is a new one for me.

I have to say, this evening made me reconsider the whole “training in winter” thing.  It’s only 55 degrees out, and it was chilly!  We ran around Lake Harriet this evening, a really solid 5.6 miles.  The run felt really good, and I was able to push my speed a bit (what little I have!).  

I didn’t get out on Monday (was fighting a bit of a bug) but managed three miles yesterday.  Those were less than steller, but I did them, and tonight definitely made up for that.  So far, a good week!

I figure I should share a bit about this “running” thing I’m doing. I’m not really a runner. At least, not yet. Maybe I’ll feel like I’m there next month, or in January when I’m running my half-marathon. But right now I feel like a bit of a hack.

I used to run a lot. During the few years right after I finished college, I ran nearly every day, 2-5 miles, never fast but pretty regular. I even ran a 5K (that’s a 3 mile race for you non-runners), and had a pretty respectable time for a new, slow runner (32 minutes, if I recall correctly). But then I stopped. Life got busy. We moved to a college campus where all the runners were younger and skinnier and faster than me. I got intimidated, the weather got cold, and I just stopped. That was nearly five years ago.

This past August, I started again. Just a little bit, to see how it felt. It hurt. I was slow, even slower than before, and my muscles aren’t what they used to be. But it also felt really good. It felt good to be outside, to just let my feet go and my brain reset. As I ran more I had more energy, my thinking was more clear, I felt better overall.

I started very slowly – running for a minute, then walking for 2 minutes, repeat, repeat, repeat. I’m still run/walking all my “runs” – up to 7 minutes of running for 3 minutes of walking. It’s a gradual build up that feels good, keeps me from getting hurt, and let’s my muscles, lungs, and mind strengthen themselves at a comfortable rate. But because I’m still run/walking, it’s hard to say I’m a runner.  I feel the need to explain, when our distance was 6 miles, that I didn’t really run all of it, and that I’m really not fast.  At all.

But I’m out there doing it, and I know enough to know that this counts for a lot.  And I’m getting better every time (even on the crummy runs).  Maybe soon I’ll be able to say “I run” without qualifying it.  But for now, I’m comfortable just saying “I’m becoming a runner.”

Runs planned for the week of September 28

Sunday: Rest Day

Monday: 3 miles

Tuesday: 3 miles

Wednesday: 6 miles

Thursday: Cross Training

Friday: 4 miles

Saturday: 5 miles

Total Miles Planned for the Week:  21

Yesterday we ran along the south side of the Mississippi, beginning in Harriet Island Park and running west along the trails. It was very beautiful! The leaves are starting to turn, and the day was cool (even a little cold when we were standing around). It was nice to catch glimpses of the river through the trees.

This was possibly the hardest run for me yet. I’ve run up to six miles more than once now, and yesterday I could hardly run 4. I was tired and under-fueled, plain and simple. I still consider it a good run though. A few months ago, even this bad four miles would have been well out of my reach, and I probably wouldn’t have gotten up to run at all.

Afterward, I met up with two of my teammates at the Swede Hollow Cafe here in Dayton’s Bluff for brunch. I’ve decided Swede Hollow’s cubano coffee is the perfect treat after a rough run. Something about sitting on their patio, sipping strong sweet coffee, and all was right with the world again!

Miles today (Saturday): 4
Miles for the week: 10
Rating of today’s run (1-5): 3
Rating of the week (1-5): 2 – only got in 2 of four runs!