Friday, March 30, 2012

4 Mile Run

Another great run done :)  It was CRAZY windy, 32 mph winds and only 58 degrees but very sunny.  My brother has become my savior, I'm truly enjoying our runs together which makes my long runs a bit harder since he can't do those with me.

We ran the 4 miles at a 9:08 per mile pace, Larry finished ahead of me, he always does :)  I was surprised because I actually felt like we were going super slow and my legs were pretty tight, so it was a nice surprise when we were done.

Today I went to the chiro again, seriously he works magic and I wish I would have started going much sooner. My hips were way out of whack of course and I had a horrible kink in my neck.  Neck cracking always freaks me out, but my chiro totally distracts me like he's doing something else and then does it.  I got to have an ultra sound treatment with some Biofreeze.  Now I'm just enjoying the hot, tingly feeling on my neck and the somewhat release of the tight muscles.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

5 Mile Run and a Lecture

Well last night I did a five mile run with Larry and it was wonderful! The past few runs have sucked, I've really been struggling with the long runs. I did go to the chiro on Friday my hips were totally out of place and my back was pretty bad. I also got some electric stim therapy, so wonderful :)

It made a world of difference getting adjusted! I go back today and will go twice a week up until the race. I also made a call to my cardiologist, I was dreading it but I needed more meds to help me retain fluids. My cardiologist was not happy about me running a half marathon, refilled my meds, doubled up my dose and told me good luck but after this race no half marathon ever again. Keep it under 10 miles and my body and heart should be able to handle that without all the extra meds.

I asked him about me doing a fitness show, my next big goal in October, because I will be slowly decreasing my fluid intake two weeks before the show to get my body fat as low as possible. Oddly enough he said that will be ok, but if I have fainting spells at all to stop and not do the show. The difference between the half marathon and the show is obviously during the half marathon I will run for about two hours and after an hour of running my body pretty much uses up whatever it has and there is no way for me to replenish the nutrients. The gu does help, but I end up extremely dehydrated and it takes a few days to get rehydrated. With the fitness show we will slowly be depriving my body over a two week period, and I also won't be doing any hard cardio in those two weeks.

So all in all, I understand what he is saying, I'm glad I'm doing the half marathon no matter what and will be happy to get one ran in this life. I'm very excited about the fitness show and getting the "ok" to go ahead with it :)

Only two and a half weeks until the half marathon, I can't believe it!!!!!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

4 Mile Run

My Tuesday four mile run wasn't the greatest, Larry and I started off way too fast and I had us go on a route that starts with a long hill and ends with a long hill. I really felt like crap and my hydration issues are out of control.

After the nine mile run Saturday I went to a cousin's house for a Patty's Day party and I consumed a lot of beer, so the run dehydrated me, I was in the sun all day and of course the beer further dehydrated me. I'm on double dose of my medication to help me retain fluids and I'm hoping I will see a difference tonight on my run. So sad that consuming over 100 oz of water and Gaterade daily just wasn't getting me rehydrated.

We ran the 4 miles in 37:04, it was very warm, sunny and windy. I can't believe how quickly the half marathon is coming up!

I'm also switching up my eating, I'm not losing any weight with all this running and frankly it was pissing me off. So I'm cutting down on the starches, me and pizza are meant to be, but sadly I have to cut that out I eat pizza far too much.

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

9 Mile Run

On Saturday I did my nine mile run. I found a hydration belt to try out and I LOVE it. The first few steps it felt weird of course but then I didn't notice it, it didn't bounce around and the bottles were easy to get in and out.

I didn't wake up as early as I wanted to so I didn't start my run until about 9:15, it was super sunny and already 75 degrees. We all know how I do not do well in heat or humidity so I was a bit concerned.

It honestly wasn't too bad, I ended up running a lot of it on our nature trail and it was encouraging to cross paths with other runners once I got out of town, the small waves and smiles helped a little bit :)

I ran it just under one hour and thirty minutes, so not too bad of a pace. But I learned a hard lesson, time for me to start lubing up the arms and legs on long runs! I sweated profusely and ended up chaffing the inside of both biceps and my thighs, it was pretty bad. But I will not let that happen again!

Friday, March 16, 2012

Run, Run, Run

So I was supposed to do a 4 mile run and my "little" brother Larry is joining me on my weekly runs now. I say "little" because he is younger than me in age but about 4 inches taller than me and I swear his stride is like a gazelle!

My Nike+ sensor had a low battery so I switched it with another one, we began our run and I knew we were going at a fast pace. I pushed the button on my iPod to check our pace and the sensor wasn't working!

Talk about me being mad, but at least I just did a 4 mile run on the same route Tuesday so I pretty much knew our halfway point. It sucked not having the gal come on and tell me our halfway point or the pace we were running.

We were running faster than I normally do and it was about 78 degrees and super sunny. I was dripping sweat like crazy and had severe goosebumps about halfway through, so sad I got dehydrated that quickly.

At the end of the run my brother took off to finish the run and I sped up but couldn't keep up with him. So jealous of that guy, he can jump into running like it's nothing and I've been training for like three months and he still beats me!

Anyway, we got done and I checked our time and about crapped myself. We did the run in just over 32 minutes, way, way faster than my normal pace! But I did it and really it felt great, so glad I have him to push me and make me a better runner :)

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

4 Mile Run

I honestly was not wanting to run, I almost talked myself out of it due to a crappy day, but then I decided that a run would be perfect to make my day better and it did :)

I had a great run, it was much warmer today about 72 degrees and 12 mph winds. I felt awful for my first mile but after that I felt wonderful.

4 miles, 36:47

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

7 Mile Run

I did my 7 mile run on Saturday and it was great! Of course there was wind, it was 38 degrees, 18mph winds, so 28 degrees with the windchill.

I decided to try the gu stuff, I knew I needed something to help me on my longer runs because I was wearing down after 5 miles. My body just processes everything so fast, after about 40 minutes if I don't have something I just can't keep going.

So Kyle and I planned my halfway point would be at the house, he met me at the front door with a packet of gu and some gaterade. It made a huge difference, thankfully the gu wasn't too bad because I have an issue with eating and running, I just can't chew and run.

I ran 7 miles in 1:06:54, not too bad. I felt it was a turning point in my training, I survived my longest run of this training session and felt I could have kept going, woo hoo!!

Friday, March 9, 2012

4 Mile Run

The weather was pretty good today, except for the darn wind, 25mph again!!! I'm so, so tired of this awful wind and hope it starts to ease up, I like some wind when I run but man this is a bit much.

I ran my 4 miles in 37:02, I knew I ran it faster than normal and that made me happy :) I know for my long run tomorrow I will be slower, but I'm feeling better with the runs finally.

At the end of my run Lance Armstrong came on my iPod and said, "Congratulations Stephanie you have cleared 250 miles". That made me smile :) I've had the Nike+ stuff for a while, looking forward to tacking on many more miles.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

5 Mile Run

This run was rough, not gonna lie.

First of all I ate a bad lunch, I didn't think I was being too bad but man did I have acid reflux issues on my run. The first two miles were full of acid like burps and feeling like acid was just being shaken around in my tummy. Not fun.

It was warm out, much warmer than it has been, it was 68 degrees!!! I didn't look at the temps but I checked the wind and it was 25mph, so I wore pants and a long sleeved shirt, so not smart. I sweated my ass off.

So it wasn't my best run, but I ran the entire 5 miles even though I wanted to stop. My biggest issue right now is getting out of my own head on my runs, seriously, it is awful. I was proud of myself for doing it though and plan on eating better and being more positive on my next run!

5 miles, it took me 49:03, and like I said 25mph winds!