Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Still Going...

No, I have not fallen off the face of the Earth, but at times, admittedly, I feel as though it would not be such a far off place. I have let life consume me. That is why I love running. What an escape!

The latest (and not necessarily recent) developments in my marathon adventure are:
I have in fact committed to running the Chicago marathon as part of the St. Jude’s Children Hospital fundraiser. I received my packet last Friday. I’m running for Mary.
I have purchased and began reading Hal Hidgon’s latest book.
I am getting out for jogs nearly every other day.

The evening that I received Hal’s book in the mail, I immediately sought out his training schedule. Yup, I’m a planner! I just had to know what I had gotten myself into as far as time commitments. I sat down with a calendar and started counting back 18 weeks from October 7th. Much to my relief, I realized I was not a scary 5-6 weeks behind. I for some reason had it in my head that if I was not running 6 days a week starting the second week in April, I was never going to be able to be fit enough in time for the marathon in October. I guess my overdramatic side had taken over. I am excited to say that week 1 (18 weeks out) is next week!

Looking to the future, I’m focusing on having a training plan and following it. I plan to do the Hal Hidgon’s Intermediate 1 Training Plan. Although this is my first marathon, which makes me a beginner, I have been a runner nearly my whole life. In fact last summer, without any goal in mind, I was putting myself through long runs, hill repeats and speed workouts. I love feeling strong. I’m disappointed with myself this winter because I did not maintain my usual rigorous cardio/weight/circuit regimen that I typically follow when the weather moves south for a few months. However, I feel like I’m coming up strong as I start to run more. My goal is really to following the training schedule to avoid burn out. I’ll throw in my usual hikes and horseback riding, along with some weight circuits, yoga and calisthenics. I’m convinced that since a horrible knee injury and some shin splints in high school, it is the 30 minutes of calisthenics drills that have saved my knees, hips and ankles over the years. That is not to say I don’t hurt at times. (Knees are sore today.) In fact, my next two major “To Do” items are to buy shoes, and find a group to run/train with at least once a week. I do a lot “by the book.” My husband gets such a kick out of the fact that my answer for everything is “I’m sure there is a book or some articles on _________.” I’m not convinced that running a marathon one of those things that can be accomplished completely solo just by reading up on it. (Neither is investing…)

Okay, so I’m trying to kill some time this morning by crossing a few items off my ever growing “To Do” list of life, but it is finally time to head out for my run and then get out to run errands on my way to work. As it is, I’ve killed enough time I will once again not be able to get a full 8 in at work today. I can not work late on Wednesdays because I give evening horseback riding lessons to four adults from an assisted living facility. It is the highlight of their week! I get to look forward to a longer day tomorrow to make up for the less-than-eight. And I wonder why I never have time and run my life a day late and dollar short! At least I’m running my life.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

so week before last i ran my 200th mile, and also that week hit my first week of training 20+ miles. i was feeling pretty good about this accomplishment (and callie, thank you for my 200+ mile card! it really made me smile).

the following thursday, feeling so good about my training and all, i pushed myself through a really hard speed workout. i felt great, but when i got home my left achilles tendon was kind of sore. for the next week i limped along, taking 2 days off, it'd get better, then i'd run and it'd get worse.i had two lower-mileage weeks and then called my marathon coach, who sidelined me for at least a week, telling me this is not an injury that i can "run thru". since my dad ruined his achilles tendons permanently by running, i realized i should probably take the advice seriously.

but, as with most things in my life, as soon as i stop worrying about a thing and actually have to face it, i'm pretty good at making a plan and moving forward. i was dreading having to take a week off, but now that i am, i'm using the week to focus on stretching (my lack of stretching mostly definitely being the source of this injury in the first place), doing more ab and core work, and supplementing with other cardio workouts. i was feeling a little stressed/burned out anyway, not with running so much as making time to run, so i think this break will probably be good for me mentally. also, the weather is beautiful in chicago right now, so i'm enjoying riding my bike a lot more.

as i write this i've got my foot up on an ice pack, and i am following my coaches' instructions to the letter: taping my heel, wearing shoes with low heels on them to keep the achilles tendon short, taking a lot of ibuprofen (vitamin I, as many runners refer to it), and of course, trying to stretch several times a day. i was complaining of tight calves over the past few weeks, but not really doing anything about them, so this is what i get.

i'm excited that i know a number of people running the marathon now, tho. myself and callie, of course, and also my uncle paul, my friends jack and rebecca, and a number of other acquaintances. of course, if you live in chicago, running the chicago marathon is nothing special - seems like half the city does it! still, it will be awesome to have company on the starting/finishing line.

tag, callie, it's been a while since an update - how goes with you?