2 Days 'til Race Day ~ Elliptical last night, Tough run this morning

I made a last-minute decision last night to do the elliptical, and was surprised at how easy it was this time! I had to go pretty fast to feel like I was getting any kind of workout at all. Made me realize how much stronger my legs have gotten since running again.

It had been awhile since I had done the elliptical since I had been doing the IronStrength workout. This week, however, I decided to forgo the IronStrength workout, since it takes a lot out of me and I wanted to take it easier this week to prepare for the 5K race on Saturday. I'll resume it next week for sure.

This morning I ran 1.4 miles. When I first started out, I was debating how far I should run. Should I try to get in one more 3.1 mile run 2 days before the race, since I've only run 3.1 miles once so far since returning to running? Would that make it easier or harder to run 3.1 miles on Race Day? I wasn't sure. All I knew is what I had "heard" that it is better to taper off the week before a race. I wondered, however, if that only applied to those who were already running longer distances.

I decided just to run and see how I felt. My body gave me the answer. It was screaming at me to take it easier, as my breath was a bit labored and my legs were stiff, so take it easier I did. I almost stopped at a mile, but pushed myself to run a little bit further and did 1.4 miles. Afterward my shins were hurting again, but nothing too terrible.

Tonight, foam rolling it is. Tomorrow, rest (as much as possible).

And supposedly, I should be "carb loading" leading up to the race. I'm not sure how necessary it is for a 5K race, but I'll do it anyway and see if it helps.

Tonight's dinner: Kraft Deluxe 4-Cheese macaroni and cheese with tuna, and fresh steamed broccoli. Tomorrow's breakfast: Oatmeal with raisins; eggs with cheese (I must have cheese on my eggs or I can't eat them)
Lunch: A chef salad with croutons and pita bread crisps.
Dinner: A big plate of spaghetti with a lean meat sauce; garlic bread; salad.

I also read that the morning of the race, it's best to eat something low in fiber yet high in carbs (so you'll retain water and stay hydrated), so I'll probably do a banana with peanut butter and some milk. And of course plenty of water far enough in advance to allow enough time to empty my bladder before the race.

4 Days 'til Race Day ~ 2.2 Miles and a lesson about fuel

Today I wasn't sure at first if I was going to run another 3.1 miles or not, but my shins gave me the answer, so 2.2 miles it was. I had wanted to start tapering down to prepare for the 5K Race on Saturday anyway and had originally planned to only run 2 miles today, but being the stubborn girl that I am, I wanted to see if I could do more.

It was an easy to run this time. At no point during the run did I have to give myself a pep talk. My shins did hurt at first and my legs felt a little tight, but not for the entire run, at least. In fact, I increased my pace for about the last mile, and sprinted near the end. My shins began to hurt again something fierce afterward, but it wasn't too long before the pain began to subside (after some good stretching). And I am pretty sure it was a much easier run because I ate a banana beforehand. The last time I did that, it was an easy run. Coincidence? Maybe. But I have a bad habit of not properly fueling for my runs, and I think I've been paying for it.

Thursday I will try my best to only run a mile in order to give my shins every fighting chance for a good run on Race Day.

Run day 19 ~ Back in the game!

Today was finally "the" day. The one I've been longing for since the injury that put me out of running several months ago. The day I would be able to run 5K again without stopping. What an awesome feeling it was to know that I am finally back in the game, and much sooner than I originally thought I would be. 19 days of running and I'm there. Wow.

It was another evening run. Thankfully a cool front moved in a couple of days ago, so the heat was much more bearable. I was hoping for an easy run after taking two days off to rest, but at less than a mile, I wanted to stop. I couldn't believe it. Thoughts crossed my mind like, "You must be nuts. Why are you doing this? Why are you putting yourself through this? Just stop already and go home. This is no fun." But I ignored those thoughts and just kept going. There was no way I was wimping out. No siree. I wanted today to be the day I ran 5K, and I knew my body was probably ready.

So out came my tougher side, and the pep talk commenced:

- "If that woman can run 100 miles (there's a woman on DailyMile who recently ran in in the Umstead100--have I mentioned her?), then you can run 3.1 miles. No problem."
- "3.1 miles is easy. It's nothing. Think of all those people who see 3.1 miles as an easy warm-up run."
- "One foot in front of the other. Just keep running."
- "Your legs aren't hurting. Nothing is hurting. You aren't out of breath. Keep going. You can do it."
- "Focus on the finish line, on how good you'll feel once you get there."
- "Push yourself. C'mon. Unless you're about to pass out or die, just keep running."
- "You're in the home stretch. C'mon, don't give up now. You would kick yourself if you got this close and then gave up."

At one point I tried to take my cell phone out and play a game of bowling. Bad idea. I promptly closed my phone and put it away. I don't know if it's just me, but I can't focus on much of anything else when I need to keep running and I don't feel like it. I think I do want to get an ipod, however. That's right folks, I do not own an ipod. "Rawr." (That was a Tyrannosaurus.)

I love what running can teach you, if you let it. To get the job done, even when you don't feel like it; push yourself beyond what you "think" you can do. To not be a wimp; not give up; to practice delayed gratification. To think ahead to the end result, instead of focusing on the uncomfortable here and now. The rewards are so worth it, too. It gives you more confidence in yourself, strengthens your resolve, and gives you a real sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, just to name a few.

I look forward to Race Day on Saturday with more confidence now. I know I can cover the distance if I just push myself. Now it's just a matter of how fast. Today I did it in 33 minutes, 30 seconds. I hope to do it in 31 minutes on Race Day.

Tuesday will be my next run day, and I'll taper back down to 2 miles, then 1 mile on Thursday. I want to have well-rested legs on Race Day. I'm pretty sure the reason my shins were giving me a problem before is because I was trying to increase my weekly mileage a little too soon.

Run Day 18 ~ Today wasn't the day

Today wouldn't be "the day" I would run 5K without stopping, though I wanted it to be. I overslept, then hurried out the door with just enough time to get in 2.2 miles. The good news is, I ran the whole 2.2 miles without stopping, and in 24 minutes. It was an easier run today, though not easy by any means, as my shins were sore. Then tonight, the bottom part of the shin muscle--where it runs down into the foot--was hurting immensely on both legs/feet. Tennis ball rolling up and down those muscles seemed to help, but the lower part of the shin muscle still hurts on the right leg/foot.

I have to wonder if I have been trying to do too much, too soon. As much as I don't want to, I think I will rest from running tomorrow and Saturday to give my muscles plenty of time to recover. That will still give me three more runs before race day.

Run Day 17 ~ Practice Run of 5K Race Route

The pier in the above picture will be the starting point for Don's Friends 5K Run I plan to run in (God willing) on April 14. The run won't be on the beach; rather, it will start in the parking lot of the pier and follow along one main road near the beach as well as a couple of side roads. Either way, it is a beautiful place to run, and I can't wait. Yesterday morning (Tuesday), I went there to do a practice run. My original plan was to be there early, but I wound up not making it until 11:00am. I dropped off my daughter first at my brother's house not far from there. It was getting pretty warm by then, and a bit humid. This time I was prepared for the heat with a water bottle.

The water bottle helped (I didn't drink it, just used it to cool off), but only a little. It was one of my tougher runs. After only running about a mile, I had to stop to walk for a bit and recover, then run again.  I was also interrupted three times by urgent phone calls related to a family matter, which forced me have to stop and walk each time. I had another challenge along the way as well, but I didn't let it get to me, I just told myself there will be challenges and you have to work through them. Challenges are good, they teach you to expect the unexpected, and not let them trip you up.

When I saw that I had about a mile left to go (based on the race map), I gritted my teeth and made myself run faster. Everything in me wanted to stop, but I made myself keep going. Drivers turning onto the side roads were very courteous to me and would stop to wait for me to run across before turning. Maybe because they saw the sweat pouring off of me and felt sorry for me. LOL.

I finished the 5K route in about 38 minutes. I say "about" because I was so happy to be at the finish line, that I completely forgot to look at the time. I looked at it not longer after that, however, so I estimated.

Not too bad, I guess, considering the challenges. My goal right now is to finish the 5K race on April 14 in 31 minutes flat. Maybe even 30 minutes if I'm at my very best that day. My hope is that I will continue to get stronger with my runs this week and at some point conquer that last six tenths of a mile or so and run 5K without stopping. I believe I can do it. Tomorrow morning will be my next run, which I'll probably do from home before my husband goes to work. It's too bad I live so far away from the race route, or I would be doing more practice runs there. Hopefully I'll be able to run it at least one more time before race day.

Run Day 16 ~ 2.4 miles and counting...

Yesterday evening I went for my next run. Normally I don't run on Sundays, but to prepare for the 5K race two Saturdays from now, on April 14, I decided to change up my running schedule starting this week.

I really had to push myself this time. It was much warmer, and apparently I don't handle heat all that well. But this new much less wimpy girl dug deep and was willing to risk going too far. My legs were tightening up and I was really hot.

At about a mile and a quarter, having had to push myself as it was, I had to literally say to myself, "Run to the next mailbox," and I'd run to that one, then the next one, and so on until I just didn't think I had any more in me. Then I saw the canal bridge ahead and said to myself, "Now run to that canal bridge. C'mon, you can do it. Just to the bridge," and when I got to the bridge, I told myself to run to the end of it (that happens to be a particularly wide canal), at which point I stopped to walk and felt like flopping over into the grass, but of course kept walking, and tried to keep my walking at a fast pace until I was ready to run again.

My goal from here to Race Day is to cover an entire 5K distance each time I run, even if I have to walk part of it. All total, I wound up running 2.4 miles, and walked only .7 mile. Progress!

Sometime this week I plan to run the route of the race. I may have to do it with my daughter in the stroller since she is off from school for Spring Break and it is too far away to go do it before my husband does to work or even after he gets home, but it's a flat and mostly straight route, so it shouldn't be too hard.

Run Day 15 ~ Over halfway there (literally)!!!!

This morning I woke up early and wanted to get my run in before my husband went to work, since my daughter took a turn for the worse and is home from school again with a diagnosis of walking pneumonia. My plan was to try and run 1.5 miles today without stopping. I had only a banana and water before my run, which is different from my usual complete (though light) breakfast. I didn't even have coffee beforehand.

It was much cooler than I expected and was regretting not wearing my lightweight hoodie, but figured I'd warm up quickly and it would just be tied around my waist by mid-run anyway. It was a beautiful day for a run, and my body was READY to run today. It was so easy to run compared to most days, and I never got too winded at any point.

At about 1.5 miles and still running strong, I decided to continue on. As I rounded the corner onto the dirt road leading back to my house where I usually stop to do my cool-down walk, I saw one of our neighbor's set of mailboxes and decided to run to them. Then, I decided to run to our mailboxes, at which point I finally stopped to allow for ample cool-down time before getting home (we live out in the country, so our mailboxes are pretty far from our actual house).

I estimated that I had run about two miles, and upon measuring, discovered it was 2.1 miles, so even better! I am so grateful to be progressing faster than I expected. 5K, here I come! I might even be able to run the 5K race on April 14 without having to stop to walk! So stoked!