Pounding pavement

So, I decided not to fall for that constant conversation in my head and run outside instead of indoor.

From advice given to me by seasoned runners - I should do my long distance running outside - gives you a feel for when you run the whole course. Good advice because the mind was so distracted with everything else going around you - there was no time to whine.

One of the advantages of running outside you have to keep going. Why? Because even if you decide you are tired you still have to make your way back home. Unless of course if you have someone following you in a car who can take you home or call someone to pick you up.

Another advantage - fresh air. when the weather is good, it could be a beautiful day to run. Fill up your lungs with the smell of summer - be it flowers, freshly mowed lawns or barbecue on the grill.

Some run with headphones on - I don't think it is a good idea since you have to be alert about your surroundings. It might work in a gym where you are trying to find things to keep you going.

How far did I run - I am not sure - still have to work it out - but I ran longer than I was at the gym and was less tired - does that mean I am getting stronger - probably.

Now to figure out how to get rid of the boredom while running.

Dreams and Goals

Do you know what the difference is between a goal and a dream - a goal is a dream with a deadline.

I must be going through a slump cause this is the conversation going through my head. Picture this:
I am in the gym got my spanking new shoes on and working out the time I have to run. Imagine a devil version of me (D) on one shoulder and the angel version (A)on the other have this conversation:
D: What the heck were you thinking? what made you think that you can run?
A: Hey, you got new shoes, you want to do it, you can make it happen.
D: Yeah right! It takes you 20 minutes to get past the hive stage - dang and that is uncomfortable and then you still have to run 10 more minutes before you get to 30 minutes
A: Don't think of all that, think of the end goal - in 3 months you will be able to run 13.1 miles because you have the stamina.
D: Ha ha ha ha. How are you going to run 13.1 miles when you cannot even get through 1 mile without feeling like your lungs are going to explode?
A: Of course you can, every time you run, you run a little more.
D: Oh yeah right - you look at the timer on the machine and try and figure out why 30 seconds takes so darn long.

By the end of that conversation - I am almost done with my workout, so the next tiem I go running, I am running outside - thank you.

Endorphins make you happy

That is the truth - endorphins make you happy. But working out after almost a month sucks! Where did all those random muscles show up from - I thought I knew where everything was.

The hardest part about getting back into the running is getting back into the running. I had to drag myself and put my feet into those expensive running shoes that I am still justifying to everyone and force myself to go to the gym.

That was the hardest 30 minutes of my life - Sheesh! The weather is great but I figured running on a treadmill will at least let me keep track of the time and distance. I am supposed to be running by time now, not distance to build stamina.

You know the worst part about it - the legs start aching and protesting and just as you get into that comfortable mode - your blood vessels decide to start pumping more blood - next thing you know the hives start. I don't know about others but those hives was my reason to not run. Wait, you have yet to hear the worst - it takes 25 minutes for those hives to show - that means your most comfortable point is after that.

OK now that the whining is over - I am happy - I have to since I exercised, which produces endorphins, which makes you happy. Anyone have a problem with that?

These shoes are made for running

I did, I finally did get my new pair of shoes. I know a couple people who will be happy, my physical therapist for one, who has been threatening to yank my old shoes off my feet and throw them away on my behalf.

Buying the shoe was a tough choice on two fronts - on one hand it meant that I had to commit to the running - after all they said I would get 300 - 500 miles out of these shoes - so if I run 10 miles a week we are talking 30 weeks - hey not bad eh?
On the other hand I had to give myself permission to pay for these expensive shoes. That was hard to do.

Most of us are value conscious and in the process we tend to settle for the lesser quality for the sake of price. But I have noticed you get what you pay for. You buy shoes at Payless, it will last only 3 months, 6 months max - that is why you paid less for it.

As you get older you don't want to take a chance with injuries, actually you never want to take chance with injuries at any age, but the recovery time as you grow older is longer. Why chance it?

So what did I find, I am not a pronator or a supinator, I have beautiful arches so i got a regular shoe. The best part is I get to try it in the gym for a week and if it does not work - I can return it. Pretty neat eh? Will keep you posted on any updates.

Injuries - the bane for runners

Little did I know that a little discomfort to my ankle would cause so much pain.

Being a dancer and training for the half marathon it is imperative that your legs especially your joints are well looked after. Maybe it was an old injury or maybe it was just stress - when my ankle started to hurt I just kept my foot up thinking it would go away.

But life does not stop because you are uncomfortable and the body learns to cope. So I was hobbling around by distributing my weight differently so the weight was not being put on the area that hurt. As a result other muscles in my leg started to hurt because of the difference in walking. Now I know how people who have polio learn to deal with the way their cope because of the distribution of the weight.

RICE - Rest Ice Compression Elevation is the key - but to be honest I only did the rest and elevation. There are other home remedies that help like soaking in salt water that definitely helps.

But as a result I have lost a week of training - which means I have to start from scratch again. The important thing is not to hurry up the healing process because the injury can become worse. So bottom line - enjoy the time off to heal and then start again with renewed vigor.

Week 2 - Day 10

Well if 3 miles was hard - 2 mile should be easy.
Ha! Tell that to someone who does not hurt.

I think it has something to do with the mindset. if you have to run 5 miles - the first and last mile is the hardest. But when you have to run two miles - the first and the last mile is hard - so that probably explains it.

My feet hurt - actually everything hurt but the bottom of my feet really hurt. The shoes probably has something to do with it. My physical therapist has threatened to steal them from my foot and throw them away - but I am hanging on to them.

Talking about shoes, little did I know that there are overpronators and supinators - it basically means how do you distribute your weight and land when you run - whether the arch collapses and turns inward when you run or if you are too rigid.

Based on how you run - you find shoes built to give you the comfort where you need it. Either the sole will curved, straight or semi curved. Now just to find the right kind of shoes.

Week 2 - Day 8, Day 9

Day 8 was stretch and strengthen. That was easy (so I thought) but I was sore. That is a good thing - it means that your muscles are working and building.

Day 9 was a 3 mile run. I did 4 miles 2 days ago so 3 should be a piece of cake - that is what I said. I decided to go to the gym and run - just so I had some numbers to work with. The hardest part was keeping the motivation so that you don't stop. If I had to do 10 minute miles - I would be going at 6miles/hour - way too fast. If I had to 12 minute miles - I would be going at 5 miles per hour and 15 minute miles would be at 4 miles an hour.

The bad thing about numbers is that you end up calculating it all the time. You become so obsessed with it. I was counting paces and realized that for .1 mile I had 20 or 22 paces depending on my speed.

It does not matter if you are outside or inside - it is your motivation that keeps you going.

Day 7 - long run

Today was the day of the long run - 4 miles - Happy Mother's Day. I think that was the best gift - gift of time to let me run. Now if that was planned or not - I am not sure, but it worked for me.

The run was not bad - I started off walking and gradually started running - walked fast when it got hard. i think the hardest part of running alone is allowing yourself not to get bored.

I like running with a buddy. It helps in the passage of time and before you know it the run is over. Stretching of course is important. More important to do it after than before.

Now to figure out how long am I taking to do this.

Day 6

The schedule said cross train - but being the weekend - I could only do stretching and some dancing of course. If I sweat I know I worked out - usually I don't
break into a sweat. Maybe I never worked that hard before?

As I get ready for the long run on Sunday - I had to find out about speed training. So I asked the question:

Q: I am training for the half marathon. So for the entire 13.1 mile should I be able to maintain a conversation and not be out of breath and that is what the speed training is for?

A:Speed training gets you out of the rut of running a set speed all the time. A lot of people who jog will only jog at one speed .. no matter how long they've been doing it. It is comfortable to them and they don't want to change.

Speed training will teach your body to recover and encourage you to run faster. You probably won't do any speed training until you can consistently run long distances. Say you can run 6 miles in an hour on a consistent basis.Speed training will encourage you from running a 10 minute mile to a 9 minute mile to less (with more practice) .. so you'll get faster

Day 5

Its a good thing the schedule says cross train - cause that is what I need. I never realized that running only works a certain set of muscles. In order to gain stamina you have to be able to breathe correctly and work the rest of your body.

Dancing is all about conserving energy and learning to use that store of energy when needed. So day 5 was all about dancing. It felt good.

Day 4 - will your thighs get bigger?

Guilt - that horrible parasite that eats you up inside when you don't do something. That is what I felt when I took a day of rest from running a day sooner than planned.

I know I should not let it bother me but it did. So I did 3 miles - which was not bad but I was sore - which was good. That meant I was working them.

So it brought me to another question - which I am sure other women runners have -

Q: If you run slow will your thighs get bigger?

Ans: The speed at which you run has nothing to do with the size of the muscles in your leg. Leg size is more genetic, some people are just born with bigger legs. You can increase muscle mass by weight training. Jogging will generally build muscles to a certain extent, but the speed at which you jog is unrelated to leg size.

The speed at which you jog more determines your cardiovascular shape, i.e if you are able to run further at a faster pace, your heart rate will be elevated more, leading to a better workout in general than jogging at a slower pace. However, for distance running, once you establish a base, you should be able to run at a pace which allows you to comfortably maintain a conversation and not be out of breath.

But one thing that is good for training is speed training, where you run a distance(100 yards) at a fast pace, then return to your normal pace for a distance(300 yards) to recover your> breath/heart-rate. This helps build up your speed of running .. as you do this once a week, you'll find that you can go further faster before you need to slow down to recover.

Day 3 - Will you put on weight if you stop running?

It was a rest day! Not planned but it happened anyway. As a dancer, the biggest fear is putting on weight if you stop dancing. I had questions in my mind about the results of certain techniques and I asked a dear friend who explained it beautifully.

Q:If you stop running will you put on weight?

Ans: Not necessarily - depends on the amount of food you eat, etc.The reason people lose weight when running is that running uses a lot of energy by the body to run.
So by jogging regularly, people usually exert more energy by running then they consume by eating, which leads to weight loss. Also, once you establish yourself in good physical condition, your body at rest will burn more energy then someone who isn't in good physical condition.
So to answer your question, NO. If you stop jogging, your body will simply return slowly to the current state that you are in right now.

Day 2

What a beautiful day! It was ideal to go cycling. The schedule said 2 miles or cross training so we ended up biking for 2 miles or more I think - we were too busy admiring all the spring gardens and flowers.

Interesting discussion came up about maintaining tight abs. Crunches are supposed to be good for abs, but how you do them also makes a difference. We are all post baby and need to make sure we are doing it right.

I am sure we will find out - depending on where it hurts.

Training - Day 1

It was a good day to start and the weather was awesome. For a change no rain.
My buddy and I were able to complete 3 miles running.

I did follow the advice that said take it easy and start by stretching, walk the first five minutes and then do a slow run. Right now the emphasis is not on time but on being able to complete the distance.

Must have taken 45 minutes - considering we were holding a conversation the entire time, we did not even realize the passage of time.

Stretched after we were done too.

Now tomorrow - cross training.

Half Marathon - here we come

I have started on my new goal - training for the half marathon.
I got the website, got the books, got the plan.
Now to get the shoes and start pounding pavement.

Well, if you wait for the shoes - the running will never happen - so the running will happen even with the old shoes.

Interesting to note that since I made mention of the half marathon - I had a few friends say they want to run too. So now I have to make sure that I plan the schedule so that we can do the required miles and give us enough time to stretch and strengthen.

I am using Hal Higdon's training for novice runners. I also have a book that has been designed for women runners.

So check back to see how we progress.