Running in Valley Ranch Once Again!!!

Today I had a great run. I didn't really know how far I'd go or how far I wanted to go... I just went.

I started out at the front of our apartment complex (The Trails) and ran south along Valley Ranch Pkwy. I headed west where Valley Ranch Pkwy picks up again (sounds weird... I ran down Valley Ranch Pkwy to Valley Ranch Pkwy). From there I ran up to MacArthur, then north all the way up to Valley of Champions. I took that east to Cowboys, then headed south towards home. I started getting that pain in the lateral part of my left knee about then. I ended up stopping as I passed the Star Center (the hockey rink there in Valley Ranch) and walked the rest of the way home. I didn't want to be hobbled the rest of the day, so that was a good decision.

All in all, that added up to a 4.1 mile run. I didn't think I ran that far because it felt so much easier to run than in Arizona.

I have a hard time running there because it's so dry. Here, the humidity makes life easier. Who knows if that's right or not. It sure feels like it, though.

Crazy Few Weeks

It's been hard keeping up with this the past few weeks. Mainly because we moved back to the Dallas area so I can finish chiropractic school. Cross-country moves aren't the most relaxing things around, and journaling about my runs can fall by the waist-side.

I didn't have the chance to run too much due to some ITB issues... again, but I did run some among the chaos of getting ready for the move. I just don't remember which days or how far.

I do remember running 3 miles two days in a row. The first day my ITB starting hurting during the last mile, but the 2nd day in a row, it was fine. That told me that the more frequently I run, maybe, possibly, my ITB will react positively to that. We'll see.

I did run in Hurricane, UT when we went to visit Ryan and Staci last week. I ran from Staci's mom's house south to the highway, then took that west to 600 W and headed south. I headed east on some street and weaved my way in and out of neighborhoods to get to their house. I think it was around 4 miles, but I'm not sure. I never measured it.

One thing's for sure- my knee was killing me when I finished that run. Not enough stretching I guess. I really have to get this thing figured out, because I love running.

Good Run Yesterday

I got up yesterday at 5 am (wasn't in the mood to do that... especially on a Saturday morning) to run. I stretched really well, especially my ITB. I read on Dr. Pribut's site about ITB syndrome, and the best way to get rid of it is to stretch your ITB 7-10 times for 7-10 seconds each several times a day. I did that and felt very loose.

I ended up only running 2 miles, just because I was unsure of how my leg would feel. I kept a fairly slow pace, but it felt good. When I was done, I felt like I could run another 2-3 miles, but I didn't just for the sake of not overdoing after the problems I've been having.

ITB Syndrome Is No Fun

After last Tuesday's run, I didn't run anymore the whole week. That was due mainly to wanting to rest my legs because of the ITB syndrome I've been getting.

So I ran this morning, thinking that everything would be fine. After about a mile, though, It started coming back. I would turn to my side to do a side-skipping motion, mainly to change up the angle to my legs during the run. That was okay.

I ran up the hill along Union Hills and when I ran down, I increased my speed to nearly a sprint. That actually helped my left knee feel better. Unfortunately, my body can't keep up that pace for 3-4 miles.

After about 2 miles, I had to call it quits because the pain was getting stronger and I didn't feel like putting up with it. Ironically, the mile I walked to get back home was painful toward the end.

I'll just have to figure this out. Structurally, I know I need some adjustments for my pelvis. I probably need to stretch more, warm-up more, etc. I'll figure it out, though.

About Tuesday's Run

I ran 3 miles on Tuesday. Nothing exciting, but I did get that stupid pain in my left ITB again. It wasn't too bad, but I'd prefer not to get it at all.

I've been making sure to stretch that like crazy. I plan on going running in the morning, er, in a few hours, as it's about 1:10 am. I'm going for 4 miles, so we'll see.

Toughing It Out Through 8 Miles

I went for my weekly long Saturday run. My goal was 8 miles, and, lo and behold, I actually did it. I was gone about 1:20 but the last five minutes or so I was walking off the pain and cooling down.

My Route

I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street and north to Grovers, then west to 7th Street, as usual. But this time I crossed 7th Street and ran all the way down past the ward building and the end of the road where it curved around to Villa Rita, then back up to Central. Then I went north to Union Hills, and finally west to 7th Avenue before turning around and going back the same way.

But right as I got to 7th Avenue and turned around, my IT Band started tightening up on my left leg... AGAIN! As usual it felt like a really sharp pain on the lateral side of my knee, but I continued on.

In fact, the last four miles I really pushed myself through that. I didn't really know I had that it me. As I was running back, I was constantly saying affirmations to myself to really hold the pain off. I said things like:

"My legs are loose and feel great."

"The longer I run, the looser my legs get."

"The longer I run, the looser my IT band gets."

I was really able to hold off the pain. That is, until I got to my last mile. Holy moly, was that hard. A few different times I thought my knee was going to give out on me from the pain. Soon after that, my other knee started feeling some of the same pain. By the time I was finally finished, I could not believe I really pushed through all that pain.

I was kind of impressed that my pain threshold was that high, although I don't want to test it anymore while I run. I have to really be consistent with my stretching every day, as well as get enough sleep. The last time this happened to me, I did not sleep a whole lot that night. Last night I went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 2:30. Why? I don't know... I just couldn't sleep. But I took a snooze this afternoon and when I woke up, my legs felt slightly better.

Overall, I'm pretty impressed I ran 8 miles. A year ago, I had a hard time running 3 miles. Now? What a cakewalk! ;-P

Thursday Run Results on Friday Morning

The last two weeks, I haven't been that great at getting my Tuesday runs in. This week has been crazy with our van's transmission crapping out on us and all, but that shouldn't be an excuse.

Anyway, I ran 4 miles yesterday. I have to say that after running 7 miles on Saturday, 4 miles felt relatively easy. Getting up at 5 am to do it wasn't easy, but who cares. I didn't have to push myself at all and just kind of lost myself in my thoughts, which was nice. In fact, my run felt very relaxing and therapeutic.

I will say I started getting that felling in the back of my left knee where I had that Baker's cyst a year and a half ago, but it went away toward the end of the run, so I'm not going to pay it any attention.

Before work yesterday, I went to Dr. Force's office for the AK class he teaches his associate doctors. I volunteered to be the guinea pig for thoracic adjusting techniques. I'm glad I did. Dr. Force adjusted my 1st rib, T1-2, and T7. I felt great the rest of the day and I'm looking forward to seeing how that rib adjustment works for me on my run tomorrow. Everytime I run, I'm constantly out of breath and I'm always having to catch that last little breath of air in my lungs. It get pretty old sometimes. But that rib adjustment should really help.

Another doctor that was there taught me to stimulate my lymphatics by rubbing really hard at the area where the deltoids and pecs meet, as well as up and down alongside the sternum. He also showed me this place on the top of my head where I can rub very slightly to stimulate more relaxed blood flow to my lungs. Needless to say, I will be trying all this when I run tomorrow.

I'm shooting for an 8-miler tomorrow, so we shall see how that goes. I might have to go a different route... The route I've been going is getting pretty bland and shabby to look at. I'll have to re-route tonight.

Holy Moly! 7 miles This Morning!

Wow! I ran 7 miles this morning. It's kind of hard to believe I did that, but I did. I have to say I felt really good the whole run except for the last mile. That was just plain hard. When I finished and cooled down with a short walk, I really felt like I had been hit by a bus. Sheesh!

My Route

I ran up Campo Bello to 20th Street, headed north to Grovers, and then went west to 7th street. I ran back up to 20th street, turned around and went back to 7th street, before coming back. Then I ran back down 20th street to Campo Bello and home.

It was kind of interesting... when I would run toward 7th Street, I felt on top of the world and almost like I could run forever. But when I would turn around and head back in the direction of home, it felt harder.

I think this could have something to do subconsciously with me feeling like my run is almost over and the end is in sight, even thought it's not. I'm not sure why that would be. Another thing was that when I ran west, the sun was to my back and I was in the shade periodically. Heading east, I wasn't in the shade and the sun was beating down on my face and chest.

On my second go-around toward 7th Street, I was feeling like I could push it to 8 miles today. But on my way back, especially on my last mile, that was just not going to happen. I was really laboring to finish.

I took my squeeze bottle with me and filled it up with some Vitamin Water. That stuff is filled with sugar, but that's a good thing when you're running for a long time. It really helped me with my energy, so that's good.

All in all, I was running for about an hour and fifteen minutes to an hour and twenty. It felt great to accomplish that, but man I've been feeling it since. Not so much that my legs and feet hurt, but just my body overall. I can tell I really pushed myself.

Another interesting thing was that the whole time I ran, I felt fantastic. The instant I stopped, and this is no joke, my allergies flared up. I was sneezing and my nose tickled like crazy. Obviously running suppressed that for a while.

4 Miles This Morning

This morning I went for a 4 mile run. I felt really good in my new shoes. during the last mile, I started feeling that darn ITB pain in my left knee. I just bore down and pushed through it, though. That was really just a by-product of not stretching enough. I just have to make sure that ITB gets stretched thoroughly.

First Run With New Shoes

So last week was a rough week and I didn't run any day except for Monday. That's all I'll say about that.

But yesterday, I finally got new running shoes. It's been a year overdue so I'm very grateful to have the new shoes. I was going to get the same shoes I had, the Mizzuno Wave Alchemy 6, but the store was all out. So I got the Wave Alchemy 7s instead. They felt really springy and gave my feet a lot of cushion. I tried on a different, cheaper pair and they didn't give me the same support.

When I ran last night, I just went for a 3 mile run. But with the new shoes, I really realize how hard my legs had to work to run before. These shoes have so much spring that they really made it easy for my legs to move. I had the fastest 3 mile run I've had since I started running again. I think it was about a 10-minute mile pace.

I felt really good during the run, but toward the end of it, I could tell I was wearing new shoes. My feet started getting hot and my left middle toe started feeling tingly, but I realized that was because my sock bunched up under it for some reason.

Overall, it was a great run and thank goodness for new shoes!

Short Run Tonight

When I got home from work, I went out for a 3 mile run. Nothing special, nothing exciting. Just a basic run to keep my body in the training mode.

My Route

I ran from our complex on Campo Bello up to 20th Street, then north to Union Hills. I backtracked to Grovers and headed east to Cave Creek, then back to 20th street. I finished up to Campo Bello then west back to our place.

I definitely wasn't in the mood. I used to prefer to run at night, but since I started running in the mornings last week, I've changed my mind. But, the point is that I went.

My biceps were still a little sore and fatigued from my long run on Saturday.

I kept my pace up as much as possible. At times, I think my body just slowed down on its own, against my will. That's OK, because my left buttock was still fairly sore.

All in all, I feel good that I went out and ran tonight.

About Yesterday

Nothing major to report here. However, yesterday was the first day all week that I did not work out in some form or capacity, be it running or calisthenics.

I felt it. I just felt off and didn't feel all that energetic. Even on days when I don't start out the day exercising, just knowing I will later seems to be enough to keep me going. Like today for example. I didn't run this morning, but I plan on going for a short 3-3.5 mile run tonight when I get home from work. Because of that, I feel really good today. It's almost like a pre-run runner's high.

Anyhow, just an observation I had.

My Best Run Yet... Finally!!!

No ITB syndrome today.

So, finally, I could run... and run... and apparently run some more. I avoided going down Union Hills today, which means I avoided the "ITB Hill."

I didn't have the energy I had on Thursday. In fact, for almost 2/3 of the run, I had to really push through a wall and talk myself into going a little further. I almost stopped several times, not wanting to push myself too hard because of my ITB issues this week. But I told myself to shut up each time and reminded myself how much I wanted to run earlier in the week. So needless to say, I didn't stop, until much later.

Here was my route: From our town home complex up Campo Bello to 20th street. Then north to Union Hills and back to Grovers. West on Grovers to 7th street, then all the way back to Cave Creek (which is the same as 24th street). Then I ran back to 20th street, headed south to Bell, then back to Campo Bello where I finally stopped and walked home. All this added up to a total of 6.3 miles! My all-time best!

Halfway into it, I felt really thirsty. My energy wasn't what it has been either. This week I would eat a couple pieces of the healthy cake January made, as well as a banana, and I would load up on water. This morning we didn't have any bananas, so I ate an orange that tasted only like the pith. very dry, very blah. Yuck! I also had a piece of cake. I had a few tall glasses of water. I had a feeling I should've had more. I didn't listen to my gut, so I started feeling pretty parched as I was running back up Grovers to Cave Creek. Needless to say, I like my morning banana and tons and tons of water.

A few times I noticed my pelvis was rocked forward, causing me to tense up in my hip flexors. When I noticed, I would rock my pelvis the opposite way and my legs loosened up, especially my hip flexors.

One funny thing happened as I was running down Grovers to 7th Street. A guy in his little red Hyundai pulled over on the side of road opposite the side I was running on. He got out and offered me some reading material. Judging by his Sunday's best, he was a Jehovah's Witness. I said I wasn't interested and chuckled to myself. I have to give the guy some credit... he had some serious cajones to ask someone if they wanted to religious material while they were running. He had two other people in his car, and I saw them driving back and forth, here and there, etc. At one point, when I was running back up Grovers, a different guy got out and approached a woman walking her dogs. She wasn't interested either. Hmmm.... Maybe witnessing to people on their morning walk or run isn't the greatest strategy. Seriously.

The Learning Experiences Continue...

I was going to title this post "This is Pissing Me Off!" But I opted for the positive tone, since I'm a positive person.

Having suffered an unexpected bout of ITB syndrome Tuesday, I was aware of the possibility for more of that today. Tuesday was a bit of a hellish day for me. My legs were killing me all day. I had to walk around a lot that day when all I wanted to do was sit and rest. I got a good night's sleep and yesterday I felt much better. I felt some slight lingering effects in my lateral knee area once in a while yesterday, but nothing serious.

I woke up this morning feeling great physically. I ate a banana and some of the healthy pumpkin cake January made. I loaded up on a ton of water to get hydrated. My goal was to run that 5 miles I was going for Tuesday.

I stretched really well, especially my ITBs, calves, and hamstrings. I wanted to make sure nothing would tighten up and rub my ITB over my femoral condyles. That sucks!

So I started my run going the exact same way I did Tuesday. Physically, I felt as good as I've ever felt on a run. I wasn't felling that wall at all, so that was great. I had a good pace going as well.

As I was coming down that hill between 16th Street and 12th street that's when I felt it. That ITB pain started coming back, but this time in only my left knee. My right leg/knee was the big problem Tuesday, but felt completely fine today.

the pain wasn't too bad, so I kept going past 12th Street. I noticed it started progressing a little but so I turned around, slowed down and walked down 12th Street to Grovers and eventually home.

I was extremely frustrated because I was feeling great. I probably got about 1.6-1.7 miles of running in before I had to walk the rest of the way.

When I was researching this pain, I found that it can be caused by circular tracks or crowned surfaces. I remember running on a lot of crowned sidewalks Tuesday. But I made a point of avoiding those surfaces this morning. I also saw that when you have patellofemoral pain (chondromalacia) that it's triggered by going down hills. But that kind of pain is behind the kneecap and on the medial side of the kneecap. That's not what I felt. So I was frustrated that going down the hill seemed to trigger my ITB pain.

I think there are some factors as to why this is happening:

1. It's been cold in the mornings... maybe my legs are tightening up from that?

2. I need new running shoes really bad. Seeing as how I should be replacing them every 350-500 miles or every 6 months, I'm really overdue, like a year overdue.

3. I noticed that my left calf was much tighter this morning than my right calf. This can trigger ITB syndrome sometimes.

4. I also noticed that my left ITB was tighter than my right. I thought I stretched it out enough, but maybe not.

5. I have to avoid hills. Going up hills is no big deal, but going down is tough. It keeps my quads constantly loaded and obviously that's not good, At least for me right now. This will be tough when we move back to Dallas. All it is out there is hills.

6. I exercised my legs pretty hard on Monday. I think doing this and running is too much for my legs to handle. I trained my calves too hard and I did a lot of squat reps. My legs have probably been too sore and tight because of this. No more leg workouts.

So these are the things I think caused it. I think I just need to rest my legs for now.

Back Into the Swing of Things

It's been 40 days since my last post. I got a little lazy with my posting, along with moving and work. My running schedule has been very off. Not long after my last post I ran over 5 miles, but then things got a little crazy and I allowed that to be an excuse as to why I didn't run.

It's been hard because our financial situation has been really frustrating and we had to move again (the 4th time in the past 10 months)! This time into Poppy's town home, which has been a HUGE blessing. Because my pay scale since I've been licensed has been sporadic at best, I can't count on a fixed amount every week, so living in the town home will allow us to breathe a little bit.

But enough of the excuses. The main reason I haven't been running is because I allowed myself to get out of the habit since we moved. That led to me losing some, or most, of my drive to run a marathon.

But a funny thing happened over the weekend. I was reading some stuff on Tim Ferriss' blog and in one of his posts he mentioned an article about a guy named Dean Karnazes. He said something about this guy running an ultra-marathon, which is a 135 mile trek through Death Valley in the summer. This guy sleeps 4 hours a night, runs a marathon every morning, gets back in time to make his family breakfast, and takes his kids to school. He's basically a family man who also happens to be a bit of a genetic freak that can run for 350 straight miles, not sleeping for 3 days!

His most recent mind-blowing experience was running 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. I watched the clip of him on the Conan O'Brien show the day after he finished his 50th marathon (New York City Marathon).

I'm going to get his book, but I have to say, what I saw on his site really, really, REALLY lit a fire under me. I was so motivated to get up and run this morning that I hardly slept, although half of that can be attributed to Trent keeping me up for 2 hours.

I got up around 3 am and ate a banana and a piece of toast. I stretched, bundled up (it's cold this morning), and went running.

My goal was to go up Campo Bello to 20th street, go north to Union Hills, then west all the way to 7th street, south to Bell, and then either stop at our town home complex or continue on to 20th street before heading north to Campo Bello and back home, depending on how I felt.

At about Grovers, I started to push through my wall and I felt like I could go forever. However, at the same time, I started getting a sharp, swelling pain just under my right kneecap. It didn't feel very good (still doesn't... I got ice on it as I type this) and got progressively worse. I know exactly what it was. My glutes started to tighten up, which led to my IT band tightening up, which affected the muscles around my knee. As I ran, it felt like a knife was stabbing into my knee. It was also swelling up and I had a hard time bending my leg.

I made it past Bell and all the way up to about 12th Street before I had to slow down to a walk. I walked for about 100 yards, then ran again. I didn't get very far before I had to stop. I thought about how much pain Dean Karnazes had to push through to do all the long distance runs he's done, and I figured I could push through another 4 1/2 blocks. I started to run again, but the pain and extreme tightness in my IT band was too much to bear. I had to walk the rest of the way home, and it was not easy. I think the cold temperature didn't help much either.

I felt pretty bummed out because I wanted to run 5-6 miles this morning and really push myself beyond my normal limits. I didn't know how far my goal for this morning was at the time, but I figured it was between 5 and 6 miles. I was frustrated that I probably barely ran 3 miles, if that. Or so I thought.

After I ate, drank a ton of H2O, stretched and recovered a little bit, I went and drove my route and discovered, much to my surprise, that I actually ran 4 miles. I was shocked I actually ran that far. If my legs had cooperated with my mind and lungs, I would have easily accomplished my goal.

Oh well.

That's OK because I know I can and will do it later this week.

First Run In A While

I ran 3.6 miles today. It wasn't that fun and it felt really hard. I guess that happens when you didn't run for a while and you don't have the greatest stamina in the world.

Monday Run, Tuesday Rest

So Monday night (last night) I went running. I was only planning on running 2.5 to 3 miles. But when 2.5 miles came, I kept going. When 3 miles came, I kept going. When 3.5 miles came, I kept going.

In fact I kept going to the point where I ran 4.8 miles... my second longest run ever. I actually felt fine, except for my hip flexors and glutes. They were feeling really strained by the end of my run. Obviously they aren't in shape for running that far yet. but the only way to get them into that kind of shape is to run that far.

Afterward, I felt good. I was tired, obviously, but I didn't feel like I was beat up like when I ran 4miles two Saturdays ago.

This morning when I woke up, I was definitely sore. My calves and butt especially. The funny thing is, though, that I enjoy that feeling. It let's me know I'm doing the right thing.

No Running Over the Weekend

January was in St. George (actually Hurricane), UT visiting Staci for the past week. I drove up on Saturday with the intention of taking them back home the same day and running 5 miles on Sunday. We didn't leave until Sunday. After 7 hours of driving with 3 small kids, I wasn't in any mood to run.

So total mileage for the week was 9.5 miles.

Frigid Running

This morning I ran 2.5 miles and it sucked. It was so cold. When I finished my run, my face was stinging from the cold. My upper lip and nose were in some serious pain. I don't know why it was so cold, but that was no fun.

Tomorrow, I drive up to Utah to get January and the kids. My goal is to drive back tomorrow as well. Sunday, I'll go for my big 4.5 - 5 mile run.

4 Miles Yesterday and Off Today

Last night I was in no mood to run. In fact, I really tried to talk myself out of it. But luckily, the warrior in me overpowered the wimp and I dressed up and stretched for my run. When I first started out, I was proud of the fact that I, in a sense, beat myself by running. I didn't want to and forced myself to go do it. My goal of running a marathon is too real to me, so I can't wimp out.

I ran four miles last night. Only the 3rd time in my life I've run at least four miles. It really wasn't that bad. At about 3.2 miles, I had to push myself through the wall, but I actually broke through the wall quickly and ran hard for the last 0.3 miles.

When finished, I didn't feel like I was beat down like on Saturday. All in all, a very good run. I felt good.

I planned on running tonight, just 2.5 miles, but I went out over to my dad's to hang out. They live over by University of Phoenix Stadium, which is on the opposite side of the valley from where I live.

I'll wake up early in the morning for a short run. Saturday, I plan on running 4.5 to 5 miles, preferably 5 miles. We'll see.

Tuesday Off Day

I didn't feel too bad today. Just a little tired. I didn't get a whole a lot of sleep last night, but other than that, my body felt great. Some mild soreness in the legs, but nothing noticeable. It actually felt good.

Getting ready for a 4 mile run tomorrow morning.

Monday Run

I ran three miles tonight when I got home from work. I was able to keep a faster pace than I've ever had before during a three mile run, and that's including a treadmill. It actually didn't feel very hard. My mind was occupied with some other thoughts for most of it, so that definitely helped.

When I got to that 2.5 miles mark, I thought I was going to stop. I didn't want to over-train, considering I had a 12 mile week for the first time ever last week. But to get to the 2.5 mile mark I set for myself, I would have had to cross the street. Cars were coming and I didn't feel like getting hit, so I continued on. Once I decided to continue, I was fine for the last half mile.

The final tenth of a mile, I ran faster. It wasn't a full out sprint, but close. It felt really good when I stopped and walked the rest of the way to my house.

One thing I noticed was that my biceps were pretty sore. I think this is from my run on Saturday. I kept my arms at 90 degrees for so long and they aren't used to that. I stretched them out often, but the the soreness is worse now than it was before my run. Oh well, that's life.

At this point, I think my only problem is my diet. I'm eating to much carby food. That's a good thing for running, but I have a tendency to eat too much sometimes. I've been eating a lot of white pasta lately, something I'm not into usually, so I think I'll cut that out. I'm going to eat more oatmeal and brown rice for my carbs. I eat tons of fruit, so that's no big deal. For example, today I had a total of three bananas, two oranges, an apple, and a ton of carrots.

So more oatmeal, brown rice, green leafy veggies, and more beans.

Sounds like a plan!

An "Off" Off Day

After running four miles for only the second time in my life, my body has felt off since last night.

Before I fell asleep, I was up for a while. I just laid in bed waiting to fall asleep. I should have gotten up and read. It wasn't like I ran right before bed. I got back from my run before 6:00 pm and didn't go to bed until close to 11:00 pm. When I finally did fall asleep, I had crazy dreams and woke up numerous times during the night.

When I woke up, I felt okay, but about an hour later, I started feeling nauseous. At one point I thought I was going to throw up. I realized that I was actually super hungry. I ate a banana, an apple, and three pieces of toast with peanut butter. I felt better, but started getting hungry again an hour later. It wasn't until after church that I ate a dilly bar. Not the best choice, but I was starving and we were at January's grandparents' house. The kids were each eating one, and like I said, I was ravenous.

I figured out finally that my body just needed a ton of food today to feel better. Apparently, I used up much more energy to run four miles than I usually do for 2.5 to three miles.

For lunch I had a whole can of black beans, and Ezekiel tortilla, and two eggs. I was still hungry, as were the kids, so I cooked some more eggs and had an egg burrito with another Ezekiel tortilla. I felt better, but started getting hungry about an hour later again. I haven't eaten yet, but I thought I would jot down my feelings today.

Basically, my run yesterday really forced me to refuel even more than I normally would. It wasn't something I expected before, but I will from now on.

About My Runs This Week

It's the weekend, which means I need to write down how much I ran this week. This was my first week training for my marathon.

I'm not a runner by nature. In fact, I used to hate P.E. in elementary school when Mr. Gillham used to make us run the mile around the park next to our school. My face would be redder than a tomato and I wouldn't catch my breath for at least fifteen minutes. All this from being, usually, one of the last three kids to finish. So as you can see, running was never really my forte.

But, now I'm making it my forte, so my body better get used to it.

Anyway, here's the breakdown for the week:

Monday- 2.5 miles
Tuesday- 2.5 miles
Wednesday- off
Thursday- 3.1 miles
Friday- off
Saturday- 4.1 miles
Total miles for the week: 12.2


I figure out the tenths-of-a-mile by driving my route after I run it. It's nice because I know exactly how far I'm running as I run it.

Next week, I'm going to change up the schedule a little. I'll take Tuesday off and run Wednesday instead. After running Monday, Tuesday just felt too hard. I made today my long day because it's the weekend. I have Sunday to recuperate, then Monday I'll hit it again.

Today was only the second time I've run at least four miles at once. The last time was last year back in Dallas, when I ran 5.5 miles once.

The route I take feels a little tough for the first 2.5 miles. Obviously, because I didn't run any farther than that on Monday and Tuesday. At about two miles, I just feel this wall that I have to just push myself through.

On Thursday, once I got to the 2.5 mile mark, the wall disappeared and I felt like I had just started. My pace quickened all on its own, it seems like. I ran another 0.6 miles, but decided not to go any further because I didn't want to overdo it too soon.

Today was harder, though. The wall disappeared at 2.5 miles once again, and my pace quickened. But when I got to about the 3.7 to 3.8 mile mark, my body was just telling me to stop. Obviously I didn't because my goal was to get to the street I live on. I pushed through it, but, man, it was tough. Once I got to my street, I stopped and walked down to my house for my warmdown. When I came inside, I seriously felt like I had been through a hardcore ass-kicking. But I did it. It felt good to have conquered that magic four-mile mark for only the second time in my life.

Next week, I'm going to shoot for a total of 13 miles and 4.5 miles next Saturday.