Monday: 3 Miles (27:24)
After the long run Saturday, coupled with the 6 miler Sunday, I woke up this morning with quite a bit of discomfort on the ball of my left foot. The most intelligent thought would be to rest, ice, and take anti-inflammatories to help with the swelling. Well, I got ⅔ of that correct, and if you guessed the piece I missed was rest, winner, winner, chicken dinner. Ashley and I ventured out on a run Monday evening and I was quickly reminded of why I said I should have taken the rest day that was scheduled for today. The scenery was nice, lots of newly constructed homes and modern designs with all sorts of amenities that made me want to stop and stare, my foot however consistently kept reminding me it was there, even as I tried to block it out. Though I am not impressed with the time at all, I am happy that I was able to knock out 3 miles and continue to increase my mileage with training. I was also appreciative that Ashley was there to remind me that I didn’t need to injury myself, though I wasn’t really in the mood to listen to it. Needless to say, I am quite stubborn when it comes to something I don’t want to do.
Quote of the Day:
“We run to undo the damage we’ve done to body and spirit. We run to find some part of ourselves yet discovered.”
Tuesday: 3 Miles (23:35)
Today’s run was much needed. I haven’t done it much, but tonight I ran out of pure frustration. With music blasting, I took off attempting to channel some inner frustrations onto my lower body to escape reality, if even for just a few minutes. Though I had no intentions of running, I found myself out tonight thankful for the opportunity to run and reflect. The quote for tonight is fitting, I had a multitude of things to preoccupy my mind as I ran and while my foot still didn’t feel well, it was minimal compared to everything else. I have no desire to run many more like this, but looking at my splits, I am happy to say something positive came out of it tonight.
Quote of the Day:
“I ran to be free, I ran to avoid pain, I ran to feel pain, I ran out of love and hate and joy and anger.”
Wednesday: 5 Miles (42:55)
The theme this week appears to be stubbornness and frustration. Yet again, my run tonight was plagued with stubbornness and frustration. Though I was able to run negative splits, my foot constantly hurt and I continued to tell myself to keep pushing harder, though I realize now, that was not the best decision. Thankfully, after consistent questioning, Ashley convinced me to slow down and ultimately stop. I realized today that I need to be careful with what my body can handle because my mind has become, at times, stronger than my body. While i am happy with my overall run today, I need to be certain I don’t do this often and put myself at risk of injury that could take me off my feet for a period of time. Stubbornness, it is my nemesis.
Quote of the Day:
“As a breed, runners are a pretty gutsy bunch. We constantly push ourselves to discover limitations, then push past them.”
Thursday: 5 Miles (40:02)
After 3 days of less than stellar performances, I was floored by today’s run. Stephanie and I took off at a rapid pace, compared to the other runs this week and each mile seemed to become easier. My foot was fine, I experienced little discomfort and it showed as our splits decreased each mile with the last being faster than I have ran in quite some time. It is incredible how much one day can make a difference, well that and religious doses of ibuprofen. It also didn’t hurt that I had purchased new shoes for my run, making it seem at times as though I had pillows for shoes, It’s incredible what a new pair of shoes can do for your feet.
Quote of the Day:
“Today is not just another day. It’s a new opportunity, another chance, a new beginning, embrace it.”
Friday: 5 Miles (43:51)
The treadmill… I had missed my old electronic friend and due to thunderstorms, met up the beast early Friday morning. I was excited to see how well my watch calibrated to being indoors and I was pleasantly surprised to see that through it all, the distance was off less than one tenth for the duration of my run. Though I managed a less than stellar time, I was glad to get the mileage in and continue my streak of consecutive days running. (7 days if you are counting)
Quote of the Day:
“Start strong, stay strong, and finish strong by always remembering why you’re doing it in the first place.”
Saturday: 12 Miles (1:41:31)
With my runs this week being hit and miss, I was not completely optimistic that today’s run would go according to plan. At 6 am, 6 of us took off with the temperature in the upper 50’s and clear skies. Ashley and I took little time to find our stride and the miles quickly began to fly by. Though there wasn’t much conversation, the cooler weather helped immensely and after the first warm up mile, the next several flew by at a much faster pace than usual. As we came to meet up with the 7 am group, Ashley had said she wanted to run the last few miles at a much slower pace. (Unspoken rule, runners don’t run slower when they say that!!!)
After pushing off with the 7 am group, Robert, Ryan, Ashley and I all found our stride and we quickly moved back into our pace from earlier in the morning. I found myself striding out better with Ryan and though we fell behind Ashley and Robert, our pacing was great. (Ryan logged 21 miles which was impressive at that pace) Overall, I was happy with my run looking back at the splits. With an 8:27 average, I finished feeling good and not completely exhausted which was reassuring after the week that I had of running. With one more long run planned in two weeks, my goal is to be committed to this pace and see how my body responses. I have given some thought to running a marathon that weekend, Quad Cities to be exact, but I am still leary of how I will do and if I will hurt myself in the process. I have two weeks to figure that out and who knows, maybe it will be my best marathon yet, only time will tell.
Quote of the Day:
“It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where yo are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
Sunday: Plaza 10K (1:04:56) 4 Miles (29:47)
For several weeks, Jennifer has been training for this race. She had set a goal of 1 hour in which she would finish, which I later found out was a mere 25 minutes better than her last 10k. I knew the pacing we needed to keep for the race, it was simply a matter of whether Jennifer believed that she could achieve the goal she set out for herself. Overall, the course and the scenery were amazing. The temperature was ideal and though there was a large crowd, I loved people watching, especially back in the pack. Jennifer did a fantastic job and though she didn’t break the mark she had set for herself, she did set a new PR and for that, that is all that matters. We made it nearly the entire race without stopping to walk, but even after our moment of walking 5.3, Jennifer did a great job of finishing the race strong. From the girl that could barely make it 1.5 miles, to the girl that now can run miles at a time without stopping, Jennifer is proof that when you want something bad enough, you are willing to push past your comfort zone to achieve what you ultimately desire. Great work, Jennifer!
After spending the morning at breakfast with Jennifer and Ashley and meeting my Fellows to plan for the week, I decided that I needed to go push myself a little harder and do my own version of “Speed Work”. I decided to run 1 mile loops at my fastest pace and did so until I hit a pace under 7 minutes. Though I was not a fan of the looping, I did enjoy the competition of trying to shave seconds off my time digging deep after the race this morning to see what i still had left in me. I still have a few goals that I haven’t met yet that I have kept to myself, with runs like these, I believe I can reach them, I just need to find time to fit in more speed work to push my body out of its comfort zone and continue to see what I can do.
Quote of the Day:
“People need to learn that their actions do affect other people. So be careful what you say and do, its not always just about you."
Final Thoughts:
With 441 miles of total training behind me, I would like to say that this week was exciting, but it wasn’t. There was a substantial amount of ups and downs and running was my outlet, though consequently it resulted in a minor setback with my foot. I was scheduled to log 26-33 miles this week, but instead I accumulated nearly 45 miles, making this one of the highest weeks of training, though it was clearly not a long mileage week. In addition, I have ran now for 9 consecutive days without taking a day off and honestly at this point, I am nervous to take a day off, though certain parts of my body could use it.
I also realized that within my training plan, I will complete my “plan” a week ahead of schedule, which is requiring me to rethink which week I will replicate to extend my training out. Part of me wants to scrap the whole plan and just run, but I also know that i need consistency as I am not experienced enough yet to truly know what I should and shouldn’t be doing.
After Baltimore, I am simply going to run, I don’t want to fixed on a plan, but I also don’t want to kill myself by training incorrectly. I am not to the point that i can log double digit runs multiple times a week, but I also know that mileage of 2-3 miles a day are becoming a thing of the past. Stay tuned to see where this week leads me, I am optimistic it will be much better than the last!
“I ran to be free, I ran to avoid pain, I ran to feel pain, I ran out of love and hate and joy and anger.”
ReplyDeleteEveryone has their own reasons…good or bad, happy or sad, uplifting or depressing…it changes. Just as everything else does; our stride, our pace, and the pep in our step. Runs represent who we are, what we desire, and what we are willing to do to get where we want to be. If it weren’t for the lows, the highs wouldn’t feel so good and if it weren’t for the highs, we’d lose hope during the low times.
I personally like to remember this quote, “Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life's journey, remember that the black keys also create music.”
Bad days don’t mean we are bad. Good days don’t mean we are good. Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future, right? Let the frustrations fuel you…let the disappointments drive you….but when it comes to injuries…you’ve got a walk a thin line. They can make or break you. Mental fortitude is one thing; it’s something all runners gain with time…but there has to come a time where we give our bodies the break they deserve. I’m glad the foot pain was short-lived and it didn’t lead to greater pain or discomfort (for now), but I hope you also gained a reassurance that it’s okay to back down…just as much as it’s okay to forge ahead and push yourself…which I’m glad to see you are starting to do as well.
They say if you fall in love with the process, the results will come…you seem to be falling in love. Just be careful because the love can quickly turn to obsession; which is not nearly as good.
(Sidenote – I like your take on the unspoken rule. Nice try, but it does really happen….just maybe not on Saturday ;) )
As for that last long run, it’d be fancy running into you at Quad Cities ;)
“It isn't what you have, or who you are, or where you are, or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about.”
Ehh, I like this, but I struggle with it as well. I’m all about making memories, enjoying the moment, etc., but I don’t think you can always make yourself happy simply by what you think about. I get the idea of “fake it until you make it”, but I also get the idea of allowing yourself to truly be present and feel the emotions your mind, body, and soul are experiencing. We can’t always cover things up and pretend it’s okay by thinking happy thoughts. (See previous paragraph on white and black keys both making music…sometimes we just have to let it play out, get it? Play out ;) )
Now one last thing…I came across this and found myself appreciating it for various reasons.
“We don’t set out to save the world; we set out to wonder how other people are doing and to reflect on how our actions affect other people’s hearts. When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it’s bottomless, that it doesn’t have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast, and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space.” –Pema Chodron
Happy Tuesday! I hope the week is off to a great start! Just remember, yesterday morning you were optimistic it was going to be even better than last week. Now make it happen!