Update Shmupdate

In five days I will be running the Monster Dash Half Marathon.  It will be the fifth and final race in me and Jason's 2012 Monster Race Series and my third half marathon.  I was totally pumped for months...knowing that I would definitely PR for this one...get in under 2:30 even!  Now, I'm getting more and more worried.

My knee has been bad.  And I don't mean my normal nagging pain...I mean pretty bad.  I've had some trouble lately with it buckeling and just general pain.  Saturday evening, after our housewarming party and being on my feet all day, I could barely hobble to the couch to put it up.  I was supposed to do a 5-8 mile run with Jason on Sunday morning, but I was just too scared and my knee was still bugging me.  Lee thinks I tore something and should see a doctor.  Coming from the guy who has had two knee surgeries (ACL and meniscus)...do I listen?  I'm thinking that I wait until Monday to make an appointment.  There is NO WAY that I'm chancing being told I cannot run on Saturday.

Here is my attack plan for this week:

• Run a few 3-5 milers
• Chill out with my knee up
• Do a little heat and ice
• Eat well to help combat the lack of running

I'm still super hopeful that I will do decent in this race, but we will see.  I'll make sure I am prepped great the night before and super ready to just go in the morning, so I can be in downtown St. Paul well before the 8:30 start.  I am confident that I can force myself to at least do better than when I was injured and on my deathbed for the Minneapolis Half Marathon, eh?

Wish me luck and all that jazz.  We are looking at 45° F for a high on Saturday...so I'm sure the early morning will be nice and frosty.  I need to go purchase a new pair of running capris since my old ones are far too big.  Hmm...here we go.  Countdown begins!

XOXO

Du Training Day 3: Complete!

So hot!  Wish I would have worked out sooner, but I had a lovely breakfast date this morning, so a later training session, it was.


Ran 2.25 miles on the treadmill in 21:24 (9:28 pace)
Biked 13.66 miles in 1:00:01 (13.66 mph pace)
Ran 2 miles on the treadmill in 19:13 (9:33 pace)
Walked .5 mile on the treadmill in 8:30

A little ab work to round it out and lunch!  It was a great workout and I did better than I thought I would (especially since I REALLY didn't want to do it).  Finishing a workout is even sweeter when you had to FORCE yourself to do it in the first place, isn't it?

XOXO

Du Training Day 2: Complete!

I have made Monday my Du Training Day, since it is my day off.  I am really happy with my workout today:

Ran 2 miles on the treadmill in 19:15 (9:34 pace)
Biked 12.5 miles in 56:15 (13.4 mph pace)
Ran 1.25 miles on the treadmill in 11:59 (9:30 pace)
Walked 1 mile on the treadmill in 18:04

It is hot out and sunny.  Yikes!  According to dailymile, I lost 991 calories (without the walk...which put me over 1,000).  That makes me feel a little better about this past weekend, but that is a different post...

The first run felt pretty good.  I was a little tired, but it went well.  I figure if I can keep up some speed right now during training, when I tone things back a bit and slow down, it should be a little easier (I hope!).

The bike was decent.  I took a route with lots of rolling hills...and I suck at hills.  However, for being the second time on the bike...it went well enough.

The second run I was just wishing were over because I was so hot and sweaty and had jelly legs from biking.  I pushed myself, though, and I'm glad I did.  Once I build things up again...my endurance, my stamina, my muscle memory...I WILL be able to do this thing.

I feel great now that it is done!  Time for some ab work, a shower, more water/Gatorade and LUNCH!!!

XOXO

Du Training Day 1: Complete!

I would say I am satisfied with what I did!

Biked 4.54 miles to the beach in 21:00

Ran 1.67 miles on the path in 17:12

Biked 4.66 miles from the beach in 23:00

I haven't biked in I don't know how long...so that went alright.  I think my butt and legs will be sore tomorrow...  I got to the beach, locked up my bike, and took off jogging.  I went out on the trail through town, which was nice, but hot! The plan was to have a 2.5 mile run in the middle, but once I got about .5 mile in, I knew that my body was low on fuel and I still had to bike home (apparently, half of a PowerBar and some coffee three hours earlier won’t sustain you…what???).  I was still happy with the milage I did put under my feet.  Then, I chilled in the park for a bit.  After I cooled off just a bit, I hopped back on the bike and headed home.

Here I am, eating a turkey burger and getting ready to go for a swim.  I know I will be sore tomorrow, but I'm glad I got Day 1 out of the way.

Beautiful Day at the Park at the Beach

Happy Monday!  Have a great one!

XOXO

First Day of Du Training

Let's see how this goes...

XOXO

Training

Run training lately?  Not so good.

I missed two runs last week which is really, really bad.

I missed my 3 mile run on Thursday because of my sore quad.

I missed my 12 mile run on Saturday because of my stupid ankle.

That was supposed to be my last BIG run before my first BIG race.

I'm going to still try to squeeze in some longer runs (maybe drag out a couple of my 3 mile runs to 4 mile runs...since I really need the mileage.

Otherwise...I'M IN TAPER MODE!!!

My half marathon is only 13 days away.  I'm getting nervous...really nervous (Especially since I missed the 12 mile run...)!

I have the Get in Gear 10k this weekend and then the Lake Minnetonka Half Marathon the next and then the Race for the Cure 5k the weekend after.  Three races three weekends in a row.  At least I get a break when I'm in Europe, right?

I've decided that to fuel myself for these upcoming races, I really need to eat better...especially these next two weeks.  Gotta prep my body to run like a cheetah!

That's is all for now.

XOXO

The Long and Hilly Road

Saturday was scheduled to be a 9 mile run.  Well, lately, it seems my long runs are creeping to a day after they are scheduled.  Not such a big deal...they are still getting done!  Chasey's birthday party was on Saturday and the morning was icky, so the long run moved to yesterday afternoon.  It was chilly and breezy, but the sun made an appearance, so it wasn't too bad!  I did get a little sunburned on my nose, though...  :(

My 9 Mile Route with Elevation


The elevation map may not make it look like much, but that portion highlighted in red with green arrows?  That is a giant...long...hill.  I realize it is only about a 60ft change in elevation, but it is long (about .4 miles) and it sucks.  I had to run up it twice.  There were lots of other places with hills, but that one kills me every single time and I run it just about every time I run.

My Run Report from my Nike +

My Nike + always shows that my pace is all over the place...I can't run at a consistent pace, it seems.  I'm working on this and getting better, but I appear to have a ways to go.  It looks like I'm doing some sort of fartlek training.  My splits, however, look a little better!

Overall Pace for the Run was 10'13"/Mi

It looks like I'm getting closer to keeping some sort of even pacing, based on my splits.  They are all withing 30 seconds of 10'00"/mi!  I would say that is pretty good for me.  I am shooting for 10'00" miles for my long runs, so I feel like I'm getting closer to where I need to be.

I just want to note that it is amazing how much a good or bad run can make or break how you feel.  Two weeks ago, with my 7 mile run, I struggled really bad and started worrying that I couldn't do this whole long-distance running thing.  I ran my 8 mile on the treadmill last week, where I had the comfort of controlling my environment.  This week, I knew I had to get back outside in the wind and whatever else to see where I was at.

Let me just say...it is crazy what a good run will do for you, as far as building you up.  I felt great on my run yesterday.  I ran a solid 9 miles and the only thing holding me back was my knee and my leg muscles getting a bit crampy.  Endurance-wise, I felt great and like I could have kept going!  I recovered fairly quickly after each hill and   I was sore afterward (after I rested for a bit), but was still so happy that I was able to do it.  It is a great run like that...where I feel like I won...that makes me tell myself "Hey!  You can totally do this Half Marathon thing!  This is your year for you, Katie!"  Lame?  Maybe, but it works for me.  It is what it is.

After my run (on which I burned over 1,000 calories!), I wanted pizza for dinner (SALT! YUM!).  I ate my piece and a half of chicken and green olive on garlic butter base (Thank you, Mr. Large $5 Pizza...I LOVE YOU even if you know my pizza and think it is weird!) and my slice of cheese bread and loved every bite of it.

Now, as I sit here struggling to get through my Monday morning...knowing that the next few weeks I am going to be SO ON EDGE (worse than I have been the last few weeks)...I can remind myself that at least my run yesterday made me realize that I'm capable of doing what I deem to be great things (even it has to do with nobody, but myself).


XOXO

Training Day 1

With the gorgeous weather, I have been yearning to get outside and go.  My knee, however, has had a different idea.  Just when I thought it was getting better, it got worse.  Just when I thought it was getting worse, it felt better.  It doesn't seem to know what it wants...kinda like a woman...  :)

Unfortunately for my knee, I have a training schedule to get to...

This evening, I ran again.  It was the first time in a week.  I planned to do 1 mile.  Just 1 mile.  Enough to calibrate my Nike +.

It started out really poorly.  My knee hurt.  Bad.  Really bad until about .25 miles.  Then, it just didn't hurt anymore.  I don't really know if it went numb or if it just finally loosened up, but it just didn't hurt anymore.

So, I kept running.  I ran 1.5 miles, just slightly further than I had planned.  I had told my dad that I was going for a really short run to test my knee and that if I wasn't back in less than an hour, I'm probably lying on the side of the highway with my leg in my hand.  I figured that meant I should get home before he sent out a search party.

My pace was decent (9:32/mile) and I felt okay afterward, so I'm marking it as a 'GO' on the training!  As long as I'm careful...

I soaked my knee in a warm bath after dinner to ease some of the ache.  I followed it with some ice.  Here's hoping tomorrow doesn't leave me limping!

XOXO

Polar Dash Training Schedule - Completed

Did I hit the number of miles I wanted to?  No, but I'm not going to beat myself up about it.  I didn't do too terrible...*shrug*  Now, on to Get Lucky 7k training!

Polar Dash 5k Training Schedule

So, I'm not really sure that I need a schedule to "train" for this 5k, but I created one (along with one for the Get Lucky 7k and then the Minneapolis Half Marathon) to keep me on track and actually running.  I figured I would post it every once in a while to keep myself accountable!  I plan on using my Sunday runs (at least) to run outside in preparation for the whole "running-outside-on-the-1st-of-the-year" thing.  Wish me luck!  I am actually looking forward to running outside...I still hate the treadmill...  Any ideas/suggestions on how to make it better???

2 runs down...a bunch to go!

XOXO