Back At It

We had an awesome Memorial Day, spending time with our family and honoring those who sacrificed their lives so that we can have our freedom. I am truly forever grateful to the men and women who served, and are currently serving our country.

I'm back to running! Thank God! I don't know what I would do if I was still out of commission. Let me tell  you something, it definitely puts things in perspective and makes you want to use all the preventative measures they suggest so that it doesn't happen again. I will say that the left shin still isn't 100% however, when I run (at least on the treadmill-we're testing the road this afternoon) I don't feel any pain and the only time I do is when I foam roll the area.

I still have big news, but I can't give it away until July. Don't worry, the time will fly by. I'm signing up for a race on June 21st. Just a 5k (it'll be my second one) so I'm following a 4 week training plan right now. The Recycle Run out by Lake Mead in Henderson, NV. It is a bunch of rolling hills so it'll will present much more of a challenge which kind of makes me excited considering the last 5k I did was very flat.

The hubby and I are heading to SoCal this weekend for a RC Race (his not mine) and I'm going to spend some quality time with my mama who will be fresh out of a minor surgery and since she's my best friend I'm super excited to spend all day Saturday with her. I can't wait!

I have a 5 mile run scheduled with a friend tonight. It will be the ultimate test as it will be the first time I'll run on the road since my shin splints and also the longest distance I will have ran since taking time off. And yes, I'm bringing my training plan with me to Cali so that I can continue training for the 5k :-)

Until next time!

A Week of Excitement

Well, I finally got myself some new running shoes. I had my coach fit me and as it turns out, I have a low arch and I pronated so that all of my pressure hits the outer edges of my feet and apparently I'm also a size 8.5 not an 8 (at least in running shoes). The new shoes are amazingly comfy. We went with the Saucony ProGrid Guide 6.

Aren't they pretty? I love them! After a week and a half off of running I took them to the treadmill and ran a slow/easy 2 miles 10:50/mile pace with minimal pain. Yes, I still had pain, but it's been a long time since it was that minimal. When I started feeling it (around mile 1.25), I stepped it back and let it subside and then finished the last half a mile at a run with no pain. My shins are still tight and they were a little sore to touch afterward but I've been foam rolling and ice massaging every night and it seems to help.

I actually get to try my hand at training again for the first time since taking off, I'm hoping coach gives me a bit easier plan to follow than everyone else so that I don't strain them and end up not being able to run again, but I'm just so ecstatic to be able to run with my group again.

I'm also scheduled for day 4 of p90x3 tonight and so far I like it. The workouts are hard and I definitely feel them the next day, but overall I think because the workouts are kept at 30 minutes instead of 75, it makes the program seem a bit easier to get through and I'm enjoying it so far.

Last night I also received some very exciting news, but I'm not able to share quite yet because it's not 100% certain at this point. However, once I get the okay, I will definitely be sharing. I'm seriously so excited and can't wait to let you all know!

Until next time!

A Week Of Craziness

It has been a week for crazy, but it was definitely enjoyable. My parents made it out for a visit to Las Vegas on Wednesday and stayed through this morning for Mother's Day. I haven't seen my mom on Mother's Day in almost four years, so this was very important to me, especially considering she is my best friend.

YardHouse for a Pre-Mother's Day Dinner

A Beautiful Day at the Park with my Amazing Parents

Because you can't have a picnic in a park without a barefoot picture-I have the purple polish (and the cigarettes are my dad's NOT MINE!)

Another Family YardHouse Picture from Later that Evening

Me and My Amazing Husband Without Whom I Don't Know What I Would Do

When you have visitors in from out of town, the training schedule usually suffers (I need to get better at being committed even when people are in town.) I did however give myself permission to indulge which probably wasn't a great idea considering I am now sitting here, writing this blog, and feeling like I look like the female version of the Michelin Man. It's okay though, I know most of it is bloat, but right now, it doesn't make me feel any better.

Not working out was both bad and good. Bad because now I feel guilty and mad at myself for overeating not good for you food, but good because it allowed me to give me shin some more time off. Yes, those damn shin splits are still plaguing me. I haven't ran since last Saturday and I'm going through some major withdrawals, not to mention I'm terrified that all the progress I made running went out the window. I did get a spin class in on Tuesday with a friend and it was great, but it just wasn't the same. I so badly just want to lace up my shoes and head out my door. Monday evening I did some strength training which I had been meaning to work into my running routine anyway to help me run better and hopefully build more strength so that I'm less injury prone.

The foam roller and ice have been my best friends the past few weeks. Unfortunately, although I was hoping a one week break from running would be enough, especially since yesterday I was unable to pin point the areas on both of my shins that normally hurt, it does not appear that that will be the case. The hubby and I decide to talk a walk around the forum shops this morning and after a couple hours of walking, although my shins didn't hurt, I was still able to once again pin point the area that they hurt the most. Sigh. I guess it's another week without running. I'm hopefully going to get a new pair of running shoes this week which I know will ultimately help, but I won't really be able to use them until my shins are healed and at this rate, it feels like that might be forever from now. Oh well. :-/

This Quote Right Here, Explains Perfectly Why I Am So Frustrated That I Can't Run.

That being said, since I'm down for the count running, I've decided to start incorporating P90X3 into my workouts. The plan is to ultimately incorporate the program into my running regimen, but until then I'll likely just do it in conjunction with a twice weekly spin class or something of the sort. I'll ideally be posting progress updates every few days to keep everyone posted on the goings ons and how I'm liking the program.

Yeah Baby!

I Will Likely End Up Following a Plan Similar to This When I can Start Running Again

As for reading, sadly, Saturday I had to turn in the ten library books I had borrowed (but was only able to read four of them because other books kept getting in the way- they tend to do that a lot the damn things lol) and I have not read one bit since my parents arrived on Wednesday night. I'll be able to get back into the swing of that tomorrow most likely, and so yes, I'm still on The Serial Killer Whisperer by Pete Early. It's very disturbing, unlike anything I've read, non-fiction, and if it weren't for me having out of town guests, unputdownable. Along with that I'm also re-reading my way through Nora Robert's entire list starting with the earliest and am up to Her Mother's Keeper, I'm reading A Game of Thrones~ George R. R. Marting, The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay~ Michael Chabon, 1Q84~ Haruki Murakami, Absalom Absalom!~William Faulkner and I just finished Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde- good book, just not what I expected. I can never just read one book at a time, there are just too many in the world to be able to do that!

Well as this was a five day recap, I'll leave you all the rest of your evening, until next time…

Happy Running and Happy Reading!

Sidelined

Well, coming off the Runner's High happened relatively quickly for me :-/ After the race on Saturday my shin splints are worse than ever, under the advice of my husband, my coach, and begrudgingly, myself, I have to give them some time to rest. Which sucks because all I want to do is run, and I know, I know, the whole point of resting them is so that I can run and that if I keep going as I've been going they'll just get worse and I'll be out for longer, but I want to run so bad that I just don't care! Except I'm smart enough to listen- damn it!

The plan is to take this week off from running, then try a mile or two on the treadmill next Tuesday, if i experience pain, then I'll repeat that plan, if I don't then I'll start running again, but will drop my weekly mileage by half just to insure and I don't re-aggravate them. Those suckers hurt like a B! I'm hoping I'll only have to take a week off, two at the most so cross your fingers for me. I'm so paranoid that I'm going to lose all the hard work I've done, but it is what it is. My parents are coming into town on Wednesday evening and staying until Sunday morning for Mother's Day so I'm super excited about that and it will definitely help to keep my mind off of not being able to run.

In the meantime, I'd been planning on adding in some strength training and cross training into my weekly regiment to help strengthen me as a runner overall and now I don't have any excuses not to. The plan is to take a spin class on the days that I would normally run (3 days), do full body strength training two days a week, and do a yoga/pilates/ab work day each week. If I get into the routine then switching from spin to running should be a breeze and I'll perhaps consider replacing one of the two strength training days with a spin day just to keep myself well rounded overall. I'm excited to start it, but not as excited as I'll be when I get to run again.

Also, the plan in before I start back into running in a week or two, is to get fitted for some new running shoes. I hear the right pair does wonders to get rid of shin splints. Here's hoping.

Now I'm off to read some more of my serial killer book.

Race for the Cure 5k Recap

Well I did it! Raced my first 5k AND PR'd it. I'm so excited. My finish time was 35:36, but that was only because the advertised 5k was actually more along the lines of 3.7 miles instead of 3.1 miles because apparently they wanted me to die!!!

Anyhow, here's a couple pics as we waited for the race to start.

 And here I am, pumped but exhausted while enjoying a delicious (and free) smoothie from Tropical Smoothie after the race. Love me some swag!

 And here the group is enjoying some refreshing fruit and veggie popsicles to cool us off afterward.

I ran a fairly consistent pace on race day, which was awesome except that I pushed too hard for the first mile and half and then I felt like I was dying, but even then I still kept my pace well below my normal pace outside of racing. My average pace was 9:31/mile which was also a personal best. The whole day was full of personal bests. I was very excited about it. I finished 8th in my age group with females- not bad even though I was getting passed by women with strollers- haha.

The days splits were as follows:

mile 1: 8:42
mile 2: 9:49
mile 3: 9:44
last .8: 9:54

Overall I did stay pretty consistent. I hit the 5k mark at 29:23- the first time I ever hit it sub-30:00 yay! And okay, it was a bit of an easier course because it was virtually flat, but I'm taking that PR with me and you can't have it back! I also hit my mileage goal of 16 miles for the week which I was expecting to fall short on so I guess it's a good thing the course ran long even though I was cursing about it at the time.

I officially crashed once I got home and am even more addicted to running than I was before the race. Not bad for someone who's only been running for two months. I spent most of my Sunday relaxing still a little worn out from the excitement on Saturday and read some more of The Serial Killer Whisperer by Pete Early. Great book, very disturbing and true, but I can't put it down. I'm about 30% done with it. After that, I haven't decided what to read yet- it's between a Nora Roberts, A Game of Thrones, or Giovanni's Room (one of the selections of my Ultimate Insanity Books to Read Before You Die List of 1700+ books, Decision, decisions.

Now on to the next- race and book that is. Reading and Running- I definitely need them both in my life.

Pushing Yourself

Welcome! I see you've found my blog- my first official one that is. You see, I'm a new runner, I've only been at it for about a month and a half in terms of dedication. I mean, yes, before that, I would run here or there (usually on a treadmill), but nothing consistent. So far since March I've been running at least 3 times a week and averaging about 12 miles per week. It's something I never thought I would enjoy and somehow, in this short time, I've become so passionate about it, I can't imagine not running. I can only imagine where that will put me a couple years down the line. Addicted is not a strong enough word.

Most of you that know me, know that I'm an avid reader, I like to exercise, but mostly I find anyway I can to keep my nose in a book and knock out 3-4 books a week. Since I started running, I haven't given up reading- not at all- I have however toned it down a bit, I may only read 1-3 books every two weeks depending on length, pace etc. I find that I've found a healthy balance between reading a running for myself without suffering withdrawal from one or the other.

Running for me has become a challenge that I cannot ignore. I find myself continually trying to improve which is, at times, extremely frustrating. Especially when I'm surrounded by people who are so much faster. I do my best not to compare myself, particularly because they have been at it so much longer than I have, but it's difficult.

During yesterday's training, my running coach told me to learn how to push. Now let me tell you, I didn't let it discourage me, but it did frustrate the heck out of me. Why? Because I felt like I was pushing myself hard as hell. I couldn't speak, my legs felt like jello and I wanted to puke and my whole run I averaged 11:49/mile pace- F-R-U-S-T-R-A-T-E-D. I'm going slow as hell and I feel like I'm going to die and I'm supposed to somehow learn how to tap into myself to push myself past a jog and into a run. At least, that's what my coach wants, and she's right of course. The question is how? And that's why I'm so frustrated.


I just so badly want to go fast and I'm not there yet. I want to be able to keep an 8min/mile pace and not feel like I'm going to die. I know I'll get there, but still... I have a long run scheduled for tomorrow morning in the canyons and I'm going to start trying to work in some cross training each week hopefully the small things will go a long way to helping me gain my speed. Right now I'm focusing on increasing my weekly mileage by 1-2 miles/week. I have my first 5k scheduled for next Saturday. My husband thinks that signing up for races will spark what I need mentally to start increasing my speed. You see, I've never been a competitive person. Not even a little bit. I always stayed as far away from it as possible and kept my nose in a book, except that now that I'm around this sport I feel myself becoming competitive which is GOOD. I need the competitive streak to help push me I think. I don't know- we shall see.

What tips or tricks do you all have when it comes to try to push yourself to that next step up in running?