Start of Summer vacation…

We are now on summer vacation. Rob is almost done with his school year and that means I will have to adjust my workout schedule and run in the mornings. I need to do this mostly because it will be too hot later on in the day, but also because I don’t want it to take up so much of my day and be away from the kids. So, starting next week I will start running before the sun comes up.

And that gets into my training for the summer. I have a race coming up this Saturday, but I also have been having knee pain in my IT band. It started last week during my six mile run and had gotten better. But, then, I ran 6.5 miles this past Monday and again had pain. I’ve been taking it easy and rolling and icing it. I think it should be okay for a 5K, but I definitely think I need to take it easy on the running. I think I’m going to do mostly cross training and throw in a run once or twice a week. I think this will also help me with my overall fitness and help me lose some weight. We’ll see. I’ll also need to figure out what I’m going to do during the fasting month of Ramadan. It starts around the first of August this year and will be hot. Last year was pretty tough trying to get runs in during the day because I couldn’t drink any water. I might see about doing aqua jogging at the Y.

Anyways, I’ll be back with a rundown of my race.

My Brooks, my Brooks, my lovely lady Brooks…

So, I told you last time that I recently bought some new shoes because I started having some shin pain. I found out from my husband that I should get new shoes every 300-500 miles. I was over 400. The lady at Fleet Foot told me that running shoes should never have a birthday, meaning if you’ve had you’re running shoes for a year or longer and you’re really out there running in them and racking up the mileage, you should replace them before they are a year older. Probably sooner. As you can see from my pictures, I did need a new pair. I realized my shoes were looking a bit dirty, but I hadn’t realized how much the tread had worn down.

I opted for the same style of shoe – Brooks Glycerin. My old shoe was actually a Brooks Glycerin 7; the new one is a Glycerin 8. I was a bit disappointed that they no longer make the Glycerin 7 because I am used to it and really liked the style and comfort. But the Glycerin 8 looks pretty similar and feels just about the same. When I first got serious about running, Rob took me to a running store and I got professionally fitted for my shoes. The Glycerin 7 was recommended for my foot. I could have been refitted, but I love the Glycerin and new what I wanted to buy.

I would really recommend getting professionally fitted for a running shoe. When I first started running almost two years ago, I went to Famous Footwear and bought a pair of Adidas. They were way too loose and the toe box entirely too big, but I had no clue at the time. I just picked out a shoe that I thought looked all right and wasn’t too expensive and was off. Thankfully, I know now what to wear.

You can see in these pictures how worn my tread was. If your shoes look this worn, it’s time for a new pair.

Go! St. Louis…

Recap of the Go! St. Louis 5K

I woke up around 4:30 in the morning, but couldn’t go back to sleep. That was fine, though, because I got a good night’s sleep the night before and it gave me a chance to try and get the nerves out. We were going to ride the metro to Forest Park where the race was being held, but I forgot my watch and we didn’t have enough time to go back to the house and get back to the metro station on time. But thankfully, we all took it in stride, got the watch, and drove to the race. Parking was fine and the kids road their bikes around while I warmed up. Oh, I forgot to mention that it was really stormy that morning, but the storms cleared out by the time we were headed to the race. The weather was perfect for a run and really helped set the tone.

I tried to get near the start and I thought I had positioned myself well. But then the gun went off and I found myself weaving in and out of a lot of people. Note to self: Get closer to the start. Anyways, the race went well. I was pacing really well, even over the hills. It really helped that Rob told me right before the race to just go for it, that in my other races I’ve held back, hoping to have enough at the end. This time I wanted to go out hard and smart and see how it went. And it went fairly well. There were only a couple of times when I looked down and my pace had gone up to about 9:20 or 9:30. I quickly tried to get it back down and kept pushing through. There was a woman who passed me right after the 1 mile marker and I was determined not to lose sight of her. She did creep away from me for a bit after the 2 mile marker, but she came back to me and at the end, about the last 200 meters, I sprinted, she didn’t and I caught her! I literally beat her by one second. I ended up running a 27:26 officially. To be honest, I was hoping for something closer to 27 flat or even under it, but a 26 second PR from my race in November (27:52) is really good and I am really happy with it. I am so happy to see my training paying off and just seeing myself working so hard towards being faster.

I have a race, probably my last one of the spring season, in about three weeks. The course is hilly. I decided to run the course two days after my race to see how hilly it was and if I could keep a good pace over those hills. I ended up running a 28:14 in rather muggy weather, so I think I could at least run what I ran in the Go! St. Louis 5K. The only problem is that the day after that, my shin started to hurt and so I’ve been taking it easy ever since. I’ve been icing it, taking ibuprofen when needed and just being careful, but it is still bothering me slightly. I decided to ride my bike this past Wednesday to get a workout in without the impact, but besides that run and the bike, I haven’t done anything. I’m not going to stress about it because I think I did need a few days to just relax. I’m hoping my shin will feel better by Monday and I can get back out there.

After telling Rob about my shin, I asked him if I should get some compression socks or if new shoes would be the better option. He said, definitely the shoes. I don’t need to be told twice that I need new shoes!! :0) I went and got a new pair at Fleet Feet because I had a gift card to help pay for them. Next time, I’ll explain my shoe choice and hopefully give you a picture.

In the meantime, I have been using a bit more sugar the past few days. My in-laws have been in town and I felt the need to loosen up a bit. And, really, though my energy levels have been better since using less sugar, the main thing that I have wanted to happen hasn’t. I didn’t do it just to lose weight, but I hoped I was lose some. And despite having cut way back on the sugar for over a month, I haven’t lost any weight. And so I just decided, what’s the point? If I’m not going to lose weight without sugar, then I might as well enjoy it instead of being so restrictive. So, I’m eating more, but not a ton, and I’m not going to stress about it. I’m just going to let things happen as they do.

My next race and me without sugar…

This was my time from my 4 miler on Tuesday. I’ve been prepping for the Go! St. Louis 5K coming up this weekend and I was pretty happy with that time considering all the hills I ran during that run. My neighborhood is so hilly! I’m hoping that translates into a PR. My PR is 27:52 that I ran back in November. I’ve been training well and consistently for the past several weeks and I feel pretty good. I just need to foam roll my legs a bit and ice because a couple of muscles are a little sore. I’m not aiming too high, but I do want to beat 27:52. That’s my goal, even if it’s only by a second.

One of the other things I’ve done over the last few weeks has been to cut back on my sugar intake. I didn’t really think I consumed a ton of sugar, but the first couple of days that I virtually cut it out, I had horrible headaches that I can only assume were withdrawal headaches. And I thought I didn’t consume that much! But now, things are better. I wish I could say that it has helped me lose weight, but I don’t think a pound is that much. But I didn’t cut it out to lose weight. I cut back on sugar to be a better athlete. I’m really committing myself to being the best runner I can and sugar is of no benefit to me. That being said, I do allow myself some ice cream on the weekends, as well as coffee with sugar, but much less sugar. During the week, though, I don’t eat anything that isn’t naturally sweet. I do still eat packaged items that have sugar in it, like crackers, but no actual sweets like chocolate or cookies. Well, and Gatorade after a long run, but that has only been this week because I felt really dehydrated and have been craving salty things.

I’m hoping that I can stick with this much less sugar plan. We’ll see. Gotta put together my playlist for the race. Will post it next time.

A Snowy Daaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy…

Signing up for races in the spring can be such a crap shoot. I signed up for a race on March 26th thinking it would be a nice spring day, hoping the sun would be out and that it could be really fun. Little did I know that by the time the gun went off to start the race, it would be freezing cold and I would be running in five inches of snow slush with it still coming down hard. Yeah, that’s what happened last weekend. As you can imagine, I didn’t PR this race. And it wasn’t just because of the snow.
First, there was the snow that did indeed hamper my ability to see properly though my glasses. I had to take my glasses off in the middle of the race and could barely see the finish at the end. Second was the fact that I had PMS cramps and they made my legs feel like lead. Third, I forgot to get a timing chip when I checked in and so didn’t actually have my race officially timed. Fourth, I forgot to start my watch right at the start and so am unsure of what my time really was. And fifth, the race course was about 55 meters long. Oh, and let’s do a sixth for good measure. Because it was a smaller race, I didn’t have too many people running around me and there were very few spectators due to the weather. This made it harder to push through.
But! Even with all that, I did have fun and am proud of myself for getting out there. My son even ran in his Fun Run with Rob. I’m hoping to do it again next year and hope the conditions are much better. :0)

Update since it’s been a while…

Well, February is here and I’ve been trying to stay motivated through all this snow. Running has taken somewhat of a back seat for a few reasons. Back in late December, early January I had some kind of allergic reaction and severe stomach pains. While both subsided, they really zapped my energy to want to get out and run. Then we’ve had snow storm after snow storm, it seems, and I just haven’t been able to get into a groove. Now my daughter is sick with a cold with fever and I haven’t been able to run in order to stay home with her. I had planned on doing a 5K in late February, but it’s quickly approaching and I feel so out of it. I think I’m going to wait for something in March or April. Maybe by then, the weather will be more springy. Maybe. Last year, it was so much easier because I had a membership to the Y and would just go workout despite the weather. And while I love running outdoors, it is incredibly hard to get motivated to run over snowy slush and in below freezing temps.
(eta) – It’s about a week since I started this post and it has felt like spring the entire week. I’m afraid it won’t last. But it has definitely been nice.

I did want to record here that I ran the Girls on The Run 5K back in November and PRed. I ran it in 27:52, 8:57 pace and I remember thinking as I crossed the finish line, my watch must be wrong because I just couldn’t believe I ran it that fast. I was thinking maybe 28:30, but not below 28 minutes.
Now that the weather has been better, I’ve been able to get out and run and I’m hoping I’ll be in good enough shape to run a good 5K in March. My goal for 2011 is to run a 5K in under 25 minutes.

Me before the Girls on the Run 5K

5K race recap

I just ran my first race since the beginning of May and it was good. I signed up to run the Gumbo Flats Pumpkin 5K. It looked appealing because it was supposed to be really flat. And it was, and a little on the boring side.

Race Recap:

I have been training steadily for the past month, almost two months. It has not been easy because I live in a hilly area. That’s why I wanted to run a flat race to see how much my time had really improved with any time obstacles in my way. I really felt that I could run something in the 28 minute range.

Well, I got up this morning at 6:00AM, got dressed, got the kids up, prayed while my husband got the kids ready, and then we were off. Of course, as soon as I get there I have to use the bathroom, but the line was incredibly long. Thankfully we got there with enough time, so I got that taken care of and warmed up.

I was really excited when the race first started and my pace reflected that – I was running at about a 5:15 K pace, which is not something I can currently maintain for the whole race. I did eventually settle down and tried to pick out people I might be able to pass. I did pass about three women and was going at a solid 5:45 pace, but the 3rd and 4th K were really tough mentally for me. I felt that I needed to start picking it up, but I just didn’t know if I could, if my body would have enough at the end. I didn’t really kick it in until the last little bit. Rob and the kids were cheering me on and he told me to go with this one woman who had just passed me, and I tried, but I was scared, so I hung back. I ended up sprinting to the finish and the time I had on my Garmin was 29 flat. But official time was – 28:56! And I finished 11th inmy age group. This is a 38 second PR for me and I am happy with it. But I do wonder what I could have done had I not been scared. Admittedly, my stomach was kind of feeling funny and the water I drank during the race was sloshing in my stomach. I think next time I will forego the water and see how that goes.

Then we waited around for the 1/2 mile Fun Run and my son ran it with Rob. He did a great job because this was the first one my husband really let him try to set the pace. And then Rob let him sprint it in by himself. We were very proud of him

Anyways, now I’m looking for a new race. I think there might be one in November to run. We’ll see.