Mind the Gap

Oh hey,
Remember me? The girl who did run and also blog about it? What I affectionately like to call...runblogging. Yeah I'm working on forcing the two words together, what can I say sometimes I'm clever and other times I couldn't fit a 12 piece puzzle set together in under ten minutes (not experimented).

So anyway, I've been slacking HARD on the blogging but I've done well with the running. Ever since the 5K in April I kind of stopped blogging about running because I felt like I was repeating myself over and over again about distance and time and how my muscles felt and all that jazz. But sincerely who cares about that stuff?

Nobody. (Unless you're Kara Goucher blogging about running, she'd probably have a BUNCH of followers on her blog no matter what she was talking about...does she blog? Also can I find it and read it? ALLOW ME THIS INFORMATION!).

I'm just a normal girl that has a PR of 30'47" running 5K and hasn't been able to reach that time since I accomplished it. However, no matter I continue to run and run with hope that one day I will reach that time again and be able to run it without batting an eyelash. I would also like to go farther but for some reason I've been trying to perfect my 5K time and ability. I would love to get back to a base of 10K like I had been running about a year and a half ago.

I've found freedom in being wireless. No headphones, ipods, and no music. This has been beneficial but there are times, I must admit, that I wish I had something to bring me to that place of forgetting that I am even running the way music used to do.

I want to blog more but I'm not an organized person and personality test after personality test tells me that I am an abstract person. Therefore, my thoughts are abstract in the way that they are very fluid much like this particular blog entry. SO if you are a person who likes to read things that are a bit more sophisticated than a stream of consciousness about running then I'm not your girl.

With that said I'm just writing and running. Nothing special, but it's something...a place for me to word vomit all my feels about training, running, and all that comes with it.

Ok, well...that's all for now.
Bye.

This Week Running Activities

I know I haven't posted on here in a few days BUT here I am again! I have yet to sign up for another race because most of the races that are close to me are within a time frame where I cannot attend. This next month is about to get crazy for me so it will be great to find an opportunity to run much less race. This week has not been for naught however!

I rested Sunday, but on Monday I did some cross-training.Tuesday I ran a 5K where I felt like I couldn't breathe properly which is always the worst. Then on Wednesday I cross-trained which felt really good to work specific parts of my body but overall I worked almost every part, although I need to do more for my back muscles. That brings us to today where I ran another 5K which differed from Tuesday because today my breathing was on point but my calves were not happy, they weren't really too happy on Tuesday either. I feel like they are building because it's more of a burning pain and not so much an aching or sharp pain.

This weekend I am travelling to see friends who actually enjoy running! So I have been informed that we will be running four miles and then hiking, so this weekend is shaping up to be a physical one! I've put on the schedule to run 6K's next week but I might just run one or two more 5's and then hop on the 6K train. We'll see what happens but for now I'm hungry, I'm going to go eat!

Run hungry (in a motivational way of course) my friends!

Race Day for 5K

The day has come, and the race has come and gone. I am pleased with how everything panned out. The race started at 7a.m. and the course was not terrible, except for the massive hill at the end of it all. I started off slow and saw a slew of people bust out of the gate in front of me and I told myself not to sweat it and that many would slow down after going out too fast.

Of course I was never in this race to win, I was in it for the consistency of running and training. This morning was good in that I met my expectations of going out of the gate at a normal speed, keeping pace, speeding up later in the race, and recovering from the hill correctly and still maintaining my position in the race.

My time ended up being 32:22 and I felt really strong throughout the whole race and even overtook some people! I was very glad that the rain held off and the wind was actually helpful making the warmness a little more bearable. The most unexpected moment was when they called my name for first place in my age group! So that is pretty cool.

Now it's time to find another race...maybe a 10K this time?

Run on my friends!

5K Ouchies

Happy Thursday, today was my last run before the 5K race. I ran a complete 5K today and it was harder than I expected. Not the distance, the distance was not the problem, my legs were not cooperating. They had some pain and felt tired. Again, I know this could be an effect of raising kilometers too fast, but I still hate it. Also, I had a case of the side stitches, I call them "sticky ribs." It didn't help that I was being followed by a huge tractor for about a kilometer (My hometown is very rural).

Despite all the hurting and being followed by a tractor for so long I was still proud of myself. I did happen to time myself on this run (and may continue to do so). I'm not so focused on splits but my overall time was about 32:50. Without the pain in my legs and sticky ribs I feel like I could have made it in 30, but you don't get better with could have/would have/should have. I'm just glad that with all the painful distraction that I made it in the time that I did.

Tomorrow is a rest day before the race, I'll be doing stretches and rolling my muscles and of course eating! My sister and bro-in-law are coming here tomorrow so maybe I'll do a little skateboarding and other physical activities to keep my body loose and warm. I'm excited about the race!

Run...painless, my friends!

Feeling Stronger

As I write this I am still warm from my 4K that I literally just ran. I'm drinking my banana, clementine, coconut, with pineapple orange juice and a splash of lime juice smoothie. I had a fantastic run today. I was really able to push myself extremely hard today. I am proud of the run I just did because I started off slow, I didn't push it my first mile, but on my return I pushed the speed.

My legs felt great, there was no pain. As I increased my speed of course my breathing became slightly more rapid, and one thing I must confess is that I am a mouth breather when I run. So I may not be the most efficient breather when I run, the "in through the nose, out through the mouth" technique makes me feel like I'm going to suffocate. Anybody else have this problem?

It was slightly chillier today, the wind is coming from the north and for the first mile I was a little cold. All throughout this winter and now into the spring the wind just has not stopped or calmed, or at least that's how it feels. Of course the forecast for Saturday is a low of 40F and the race is at 7am with a chance of light rain. I'll be bundling up a little bit for this race.

But for today, it is beautiful and I felt great, and also I am proud of the run today. Tomorrow I go for the full 5K and then it's a rest day before the race. I'm excited!

Run strong my friends!

When All Parts Work Together

Day two, week two of (re)training! Today was a stark difference from yesterday. Yesterday I was feeling a little discouraged because of a run that felt slightly miserable in that my body was just heavy. It felt as if I were stomping the whole run and the weather was just awful, but today made up for yesterday's lack.

Today is sunny, and in the 70F's, a wildly beautiful day to do anything outdoors. I ran a 4K this afternoon and all was well. My legs felt strong, my brain didn't want to give up, my breathing was under control, my pace was consistent, and really that's all I'm asking for from a run. However, the problem started after my run, I just feel so tired now. It could be because I'm rising in kilometers too quickly (add one every two days) but I figured that this is for a 5K so it shouldn't be too bad. Well, it hasn't been bad, and most days I return energetic, but today I just feel tired.

With that problem in mind, I have definitely been eating enough calories as to not have my body feed off my necessary calories that keep myself alive. I have learned that if this happens it is a painful process to recuperate, but I know that this is not the case here, I would have to eat nothing for that to happen. Nevertheless, today was beautiful, my run was encouraging, and the rest of the week is supposed to be this wonderful as well so that makes me happy.

The 5K race is not very far away and I am enthused about it. I haven't run in a race for so long so I cannot wait to give it a go again!

Run confident my friends!

Running Like the Monday's

It's Monday again, and after a rest weekend I am excited to be back at my (re)training! I ran my second bout of 3K today, and this one was a little tougher than before. A part of me thinks that at this level two days off is a bit much, but I don't know, if you are an expert in this field (or just someone who knows leaps and bounds more than me please assist!). Is two days after five days of running short distances too much?

Here's why I ask; I felt really heavy today like my feet were just being thrown back down to the ground when on any other normal day my feet don't feel like dead weight. It's not like I calorie-d out this weekend, or just sat on the couch dissolving my muscles. Of course the weather was relentless today and could have had something to do with it, heavier rain, less wind, colder temps about 45F. So I got a little shower while I ran. I didn't have any pain, I was just heavy...maybe it was just a bad run day.

It's always funny when you live in a place where people don't get out and run or anything like that on a gorgeous day, much less a rainy and cold one. A person I know drove up beside me as I was running in my full on running clothes; tights with reflective pattern, running shoes, rain resistant jacket, hat, and ear buds. Still she asks out of the true and well-intentions of her heart "Do I need to give you a ride home? Are you okay?" It's odd to see anyone around here doing something so physically exerting on a nasty day like today. It was just funny because by all the context clues I was obviously okay and intentionally doing this on purpose, but still, it was nice of her to have concern.

Most of the rest of the week is supposed to be exactly the way Spring lives in my mind; sunny and in the 70F's. So I am excited to carry out the rest of the week hopefully running and feeling stronger. I've stretched and rolled my muscles so hopefully any tightness will loosen up. Here's to a whole new week with lots of possibility!

Run renewed my friends!