Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Wednesday Workout Update - 10 Miles

Remember when I wrote that you'll never come here and see me write "I had an easy XX mile run today"?  Yeah.  Running long distances is just not easy for me.  Case in point, the 10 miler we had on Saturday.  We ran a different route, and while it started off pretty well - in fact, good enough that I began thinking "OK, I'm about ready for that half marathon in three weeks" - it ended up being pretty dang hard.  It was a very hilly route and the backs of my legs were aching while I was running...never a good sign to have sore muscles during the run.  At one point, just past mile 6 or 7, had there been an errant foam roller just laying on the side of the road, I swear I would have stopped to work on my achy body.  This was definitely a run where I had to grit it out to the end - I am discovering some inner strength that is helping to propel me along when my physical energy feels like it's not there anymore.  Any case, I finished...10 running miles (as opposed to 10 run/walking miles the previous week) is in the books:
Ten plus hills equals one tough run.

Notice anything different in that picture?  Besides the flip flops - no, I didn't run in them (although one man recently ran a marathon in flip flops, how crazy).  Capris!  It was cool enough that I got to wear capris under my running skirt!  Perfect temperature to start - about 54 degrees.  Ahhh...now THAT is the weather we've been waiting for!

I spent the rest of the day lazing around, watching some football (the Aggies ended their game with a last play of hot potato...watch this video - it was hilarious), and stretching, taking Motrin, icing my foot and rubbing my arsenal of topical creams on my sore foot and ankle.  Yes, I am a hot mess on Saturdays!

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Here's something that I've been struggling with:  for whatever reason, when I run with Erica on Thursdays, we do our 2 mile route without stopping - we run slow, sure - but we get it done without fail.  But lately, when Jenny and I run, we have more stops than either of us would really like, and except for a great 3 miler a few weeks ago, I wouldn't say our Tuesday runs have been all that wonderful.  Don't get me wrong - the company is excellent, but we can't seem to find the groove we once had.  So yesterday, we decided to do a hill workout along with some running. 

We did a half mile walking warmup, and then four hill repeats on the same hill that I did them on with the running club over the summer.  Holy crap, was that difficult...I felt like I'd never done them, and I was doing twice as many just a few months ago.  Amazing how fast I lost my hill stamina, even though I've been running longer and longer distances.  We definitely need to be doing these more often.  Anyway, after we finished them, we ran on a flat straight road for a while; then took a walking break.  I was out of breath - we probably should have left the hill repeats for the end of the run.  We ran some more, walked some more, and ended up covering about 3.5 miles, but again, it wasn't quite what either of us were happy with.  I'm at a loss - we keep trying to get a good solid run in, but it's just not happening.  Any suggestions from my running readers?

10 comments:

  1. **sits back and waits for the runnerreaders to respond :-)**

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  2. Could it probably have something to do that on Tuesday you're not fully recovered from Saturday's long run? On Thursday's you probably am. That's the only thing I can think of.

    Excellent 10 miles Shelley. I admire you because we all know running long runs isn't easy for you but you do it everytime! I need some of your inner strength to get my butt out of bed on weekdays and do my run.

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  3. I am not a runner, but I have to agree with Fran (still can't get on her blog :( ). You are more rested by Thursday and you've recovered more by then.

    I am very proud of your 10 milers - I've never run/walked that distance in my life!

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  4. 10 miles is never, ever easy. Way to run them all.
    Maybe on Tuesdays you should run your route backwards? You guys need to get your act together:)

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  5. Running 10 miles straight with hills?! That's tough stuff. Congratulations.
    Cool weather is coming! Yay! Yay for COOL but not cold. LOL Did you see the weekend forecast?! Brrr.:)

    No suggestions on the other run. :/ Sorry.

    Doing great and looking great! If you can do 10 miles, you can do 13 miles no problem. You got this!

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  6. Congrats on the fantastic run Shelley! I'm so NOT a runner, so I'm in awe of your accomplishments. (and I DID notice the flip flops and thought "oh no she didn't")

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  7. Lower your expectations. Struggling and not enjoying runs could be from many things: overtraining, expecting too much, going to fast when you start - i.e., any number of things. You guys should just go run - maybe even without a Garmin dare I say? Run, run/walk, just do it and don't worry about the mechanics of it: pace, time, etc. Look at it as a recovery run from the Saturday long run. Actually don't lower your expectations, have NO expectations. I bet you find it gets better.

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  8. 10 - miles. That's like biking 30! Yay!

    I would bet it takes you just a little extra time to recover and that is why your other runs have been a bit off. What will be your base running mileage once the 1/2 is over?

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  9. Do you think you would do better with timed walking breaks? For both marathons I did a 6 minute run with 2 minute walking break. I'm not a good keep running without stopping kind of gal, so I do that and feel great.

    I still think you are doing awesome after your injury Shelley!

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  10. Well, you know I got nuthin'. Except to say that if I ran 10 miles on Saturday, I KNOW I wouldn't be recovered by Tuesday. I was thinking of suggesting walking for a longer distance, like 5 miles, and I see some people have suggested run/walks. That is probably more in line with what a runner needs to do.

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