Oooops

This week was all about loving encouragement and support. I ran twice-- one short little 2 miler and my long one: an 18-miler. I did MUCH better this time than my last attempt at a long distance-- not in terms of speed, but in terms of other factors. I decided to throw the four minutes/ one minute interval out the window and just jog what I wanted. For the first 13 miles I jogged anywhere from 6 to 13 minutes before taking 1 minute walk breaks. So, I DID take them, I just didn't regulate it. I think that made me less anxious. Surprisingly, I actually drank more water.

Now, the downside, my knees hurt today. For the first time ever, I'm actually in quite a bit of pain. So, I can't fault the intervals for doing what they are supposed to apparently. They DO keep the stress and injury level down. After the 13 mile mark I walked considerably more during miles 14, 15, 16, and 17. I walked all of the last one.

Why was this week all about loving encouragement and support? Why is this week's entry titled "Oooops?" I got up at 5 a.m. to run Sunday morning and found this note on the kitchen counter from Andy. Really, there's no need to say any more.

Sunday, 25 July (A Big ZERO!)

Well,

This is sad news. This week I worked out ZERO times! Just couldn't get it done... between the chaos of work and the grammas' visit. Will definitely have some make-up work to do!

Sunday, 18 July

Emms... excellent photo below! ... And don't feel too bad about your lukewarm running week- you kicked my butt- I ran one time- two miles! :( I need to get rid of the moms so I can find some sort of a routine!

Tuesday- 20 Minutes (2 Miles = 17:58)

Short, short, short

Okay, this week I didn't hit a major milestone at all:

two 3.5 fartlek mile runs: three minutes of my normal plodding with four minutes of actual running (about a 9:30 pace). I tell you, that felt like sprinting!

One session of BodyPump

Why the stupid photo? I don't know, I was skimming through old files, found it and just thought it was funny.

Sunday, July 11

Nothing earth-shattering this week- 3 runs, only one long-ish. I've just got to break into that 16-19 mile range, but I feel like I've hit some sort of ceiling. I think the idea of running/walking for 4-5 hours intimidates me, but I have to get over it and just do it.

Tuesday- 15 Minutes ... power went out, treadmill stopped, and I just quit : (

Friday- 2 Miles (3.21 K in 17:20)

Sunday- 2 Hours (15.75 km = 9.8 miles).

A Week of Not Much

... In honor of mom's traveler's diarrhea, I completed a rather shitty week running-wise. I managed to eke out TWO days of any sort of exercise:

Saturday (a four-mile WALK) and
Sunday six miles (ran four, ran/walked the last two).

And, that, my friends, is it! While I'm sure mom hopes things stop running-- I hope to start!

A great article offers some hope

Check out this article:

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/How-to-Double-Your-Endurance-in-6-Weeks.htm?cmp=11-1575&utm_source=sendible&utm_medium=feed

It offers some hope for INCREASING distance with only three days a week. :)

My To-Do List

The first week of July has brought about some interesting insights and a resulting To-Do list.

I did two short runs (a four miler and a three miler), I BodyPumped once, and I did, technically, finish a 16-mile run/walk on Saturday the 3rd. It wasn't as clean as I would have wanted, but I completed it. I used intervals of 4 minutes running/1 minute walking-- except for miles 12 and 13, which I walked in their entirety! I did resume jogging for the last two miles.

In all, the process took me 4 hours. I learned a number of things.

1. I need to lose some weight. I've actually gained 5 pounds over the summer, and I have no excuse for it. I've been eating like crap and drinking beer at night. I wanted to be 10 pounds lighter than I am now by Mongolia.

2. I have to drink A LOT more water on a daily basis. I have serious hydration issues. When I ran on Saturday it was cooler than it's been in the past, but still hot and muggy. My exposed skin (arms legs) had goosebumps and NO SWEAT. That's a classic sign of heat exhaustion due to improper hydration. I don't drink enough water on a regular basis. I have to change that.

3. I need to start doing more short runs during the week. Two is not enough. I should be doing 4! I have few excuses for why I can't do three miles at some point during the day.

4. I'm dealing with some anxiety around these long distances. I'm running slow enough and using the intervals that it shouldn't be a problem for me physically. But I actually had a panic attack at one point. It took me a good 10 minutes to realize that was what was happening. Once I did I concentrated on my breathing and worked through it. But I definitely need to start reading some articles on how to combat anxiety. I do NOT like these new distances and routes that I've never done. I start to panic, which is silly.

Sunday, 4 July

Happy 4th of July! I did 3 runs this week:

Tuesday: 30 Minutes (5.1 km)
Saturday: 31 Minutes (5 km)
Sunday: 1 hour (5 miles)

Still have to get my 16... and then my 19 for July! UGHHHH!