After a crappy day at work (with more crappy work to follow later that evening), I really needed to run on Thursday night. The plan: run a total of 45 minutes, consisting of a 10-minute warm up, 25-minute tempo run and a 10-minute cool down.
I think I was so happy to be running that I took off too fast. My warm up was quicker than usual. When I got to my 25-minute tempo run, I went faster ... and it felt really good at first. There's something about really stretching out your legs that feels so good. But, it didn't feel good for long. My legs were tired 10 minutes into the 25-minute hard interval. They just felt fatigued. I managed to keep going at a decent speed, but slower than when I started my interval. I made it 20 minutes into the interval at a decent pace, but then I had to slow down to a ridiculously slow jog for the remainder of the time.
I just felt like I didn't have any energy, and my legs were tired. They weren't sore or painful. It just felt like they were over it (as I was with my work week).
Whenever I have a bad run, which is thankfully a lot less frequently than it used to be, I always evaluate what I did that day that could have contributed to it. So, after evaluating my day, I came up with three possibilities: (1). I didn't get much sleep the night before (or really all that week, actually); (2). I didn't eat on my usual schedule, and I ate a different lunch than normal; (3). My legs actually are fatigued – especially after playing beach volleyball the day before. All seem like reasonable explanations, not excuses (I hope).
I decided I need to include some visual element in each of my posts. So, I decided to start taking a picture of myself before or after each run. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, our training group meets at Fit2Run in International Plaza, a rather spiffy mall.
So, I figured I'd take a picture of myself before I headed in to meet the group. I felt like such a 16-year-old taking a picture in my car. I got embarrassed, but I still took a few shots because of my vow to include photos. I'm dedicated to enhancing my blog posts, darn it!
The resulting photo cracks me up! It says, "I'm totally doing something a teenager would do, and I'm embarrassed because I'm over 30."
Oh, well. I'll keep working on the photos. And, try to start acting my age ... nah, that's no fun. But, I will start trying to get more sleep. Sheesh! Talk about dark circles.
I love shoes! But, this is first time I've been super-excited about running shoes. Mainly because this is the first pair of "real" running shoes I've bought. My first pair was an impulse buy at Off Broadway Shoes. Yeah, not a running store. Not even a sports store. Just a shoe store. They were Asics. They served me well. They got me running. They were with me for my first race and my first training group. They were comfortable. I never had an issue with them.
Then, I started noticing everyone's spiffy shoes in my training group. And, my coach mentioned that I am a moderate overpronator (my foot rolls inward too much while running, which can lead to knee pain or injury). This called for a shoe with support, my coach said. My Asics were a neutral shoe. I finally gave in and last week, I went to my training group early to try on shoes at Fit2Run, the store that puts on my training program.
Since my coach already evaluated me running, I didn't hop on the treadmill in the store, which is what normally happens. I did step on a machine that evaluated where I put pressure on my feet and my arch level. I put more pressure on my heels, which is normal, and I have a high arch. I tried on three shoes that met my moderate-overpronating, high-arch feet. I tried a pair of Asics (felt pretty good), Brooks (felt better) and Nike (yucky).
After making a fairly easy decision, I went with the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11th edition.
Sadly, after evaluating my feet, the store employee said I needed to go up a size from my previous shoe. Ugh. Really?!? I'm a size 10. I really, really, really didn't want to move up to an 11. It just sounds so huge and boat-like. But, after trying them on, I knew I needed to go with the bigger size. Just don't tell anyone I wear a size 11! I really was hoping for some of the cool, bright-colored shoes. Unfortunately, these are pretty plain. And red. Blech. I don't care for red (Side note: as I was talking about my shoes to people at work while walking down the hall to get coffee, I said, "I hate red" just as a guy in a red shirt walked by. Oops. Sorry, dude.). I have no red running clothes. I turn red when I run. I don't need to wear a red shirt and look like a giant tomato (as much as I love tomatoes, I don't want to look like one).
Aside from the color (and on to more important things), these shoes are comfortable! And supportive! They made me feel like I was running on two pieces of crap before (no offense to the Asics shoes; I think they were just old and worn out). I wore these on my Tuesday run (50 minutes total with three, five-minute speed intervals), and I loved them. They were supportive and comfortable. I guess I really didn't know what it is like to own a real pair of running shoes that I was evaluated for and picked just for me. I couldn't believe I could throw them on and hit the road. No issues whatsoever. No blisters or sore feet. Just running in wonderful comfort.
This week’s workout involved running a total of 50 minutes. Easy enough, right? Well, throw three five-minute speed intervals in there. It was difficult, but manageable. I made it, and I was really happy with my time. My hard intervals were significantly faster, and my warm up and recovery times weren’t too shabby either. Yay! Improvement!
Since I always include pictures of the crappy gym, I thought I should include a more pleasant photo of my Tuesday-Thursday route.
The big, scary sun is really big and scary. It’s getting less big and scary with somewhat cooler temperatures, but it is still my enemy. I’m pale. And, I sweat a lot. These are two things that are in direct conflict with the sun.
But, I think training in the hot sun beginning in September will make running in cooler months a breeze … or so I’m hoping. If Sunday is any indication, this theory is coming true.
Aside from the big scary sun, you can see a nice flat road. I like flat roads. At least for running, I do. Our group of about 20 girls runs along this road every Tuesday and Thursday. We actually run on the road for about a mile before we hit a sidewalk. There isn’t much traffic since it is an airport service road. I’m thinking of investing in some fluorescent running clothes before the time change. I always wear black pants and a darker shirt. I’d prefer to not get hit by a car, so maybe some bright colored shirts are in order.
I don’t care if I have to deal with a big, scary sun or traffic; it’s still better than the craptastic gym.
So, this happened a few weeks (um, almost a month) ago, but since I was behind on my posts at that point, I forgot to add this to my post when I caught up on all my posts (another reason to not fall behind on posts again).
Our running training group meets at Fit2Run, a running store at International Plaza. International Plaza is a spiffy place. So spiffy that I usually don’t shop there. It has nicknames like million-dollar mall, where rich people shop and fancy mall (OK, maybe I just made those up). It has stores that make me mad (I haven’t decided if this because I can’t afford them or because they really irritate me). I mean, if I had millions of dollars, would I feel the need to buy a Burberry jacket, Gucci hat and Louis Vuitton purse? I don’t think so. And, I think I’d still feel the prices were ridiculous, and I think they’d still make me mad. I think. I don’t know because I don’t have millions of dollars. If someone wants to give me millions of dollars, I’ll let you know if I still feel this way. Thanks.
Well, this particular Thursday, I noticed the parking lot was fuller than usual. People were pulling into the parking lot at an alarming rate. And everyone had their fancy pants on. People usually dress pretty well to go to this mall, but these people were a step up from usual. So, I really stood out in my running gear.
When I got to the door to the mall, a sign on the door stated that by entering the mall you are giving the property rights to use your image in promotional videos. Um, yeah. I don’t think they want an image of a girl in running clothes in their video. Since I really wasn’t concerned about being used in a video (and because I didn’t have a choice), I walked in … and onto a red carpet. Ah, lovely.
I ducked into the store and found my running group. After waiting longer than usual to make sure that everyone had a chance to find a spot to park, we headed out.
After completing our run, our assistant coach let us know about events happening in their store and the mall. He said it was a big deal, and that Jessica Simpson was at the mall.
Eeeeeeek! Jessica Simpson?!?! I LOVE her!
I tried to ignore some of the other girls degrading comments about not finding a parking spot due to Jessica Simpson, and I tried to contain my excitement that Jessica Simpson was IN THE HOUSE (or the mall, as it may be).
After grabbing our post-run smoothie in the store, one girl asked if anyone wanted to try and hunt down Jessica Simpson. I, of course, said “Of course!”
So, we headed out into the crowd of fancy pants in sweaty runny gear.
We hit up Dillard’s, thinking since her clothing and shoe line is there, she’d probably be hanging out in the area. Even though I felt some disgusting glares from the fancy pants crowd, I didn’t care. I just wanted to see Jessica.
Dillard’s had a fashion show happening on the lower level in front of the store, and we searched for Jessica. No luck. We asked a Dillard’s employee. She said if Jessica was there, she’d be at the fashion show. Hmm … Since it was the last fashion show of the night, we figured we could have missed the lovely JS. I managed to hold back tears (OK, not really. Really, not really.), and we went back through all the fancy pants to get out of the mall.
Somewhat disappointed, I headed home. Then, I started thinking. I’m a big Jessica Simpson fan. Huge. I’m friends with her on Facebook. I’m on the Jessica Simpson Collection email list. I check her website. How could I miss her appearance in MY city?!? I couldn’t is the only answer.
After some research, I found out that a “designer from Jessica Simpson Collection” was at the mall. That doesn’t mean Jessica Simpson herself. Pesky assistant running coach got my hopes up!
So, I guess the moral of this story is … never be ashamed to go anywhere in your sweaty running gear. You ran. That’s more than those people in their fancy pants can say (well, maybe they ran earlier, but it's more fun to say they didn't). Oh, and Jessica Simpson rocks!
I found an awesome shirt for me! (Someone I know would say I have more than enough shirts, but this someone is a boy, so what does he know about the proper number of shirts?)
Check out this shirt and a bunch of other cool running-related apparel at this rockin' website.
I realize I may have said this before, but this day tops anything prior.
Up until this week, we were dealing with almost 80-degree temperatures and high humidity at our 7:30 a.m. Sunday runs. When we met for our long run this morning, temperatures were in the low 60s. And, almost more mind-blowing, the humidity was 0%. Living in Florida, you get used to 90%+ humidity. Every. Stinking. Day. Having none feels heavenly.
Due to these glorious temperatures, running felt like a breeze today. I still cannot believe I ran 7 miles with no walk breaks and without feeling like death. It felt easy. It felt fabulous.
I tackled that pesky, hilly bridge with no issues. I tackled the entire 7 miles with no issues.
Oh! And, I took 9 minutes off of my time from last week. Yes, 9 whole freakin' minutes!
I want every run to feel like today. I loved every minute of it, and I even wanted more. Call me crazy. Or call me a runner.
I'm so happy pesky work didn't get in my way of making it to my training group on Thursday. It is so much better running with a group than by yourself. In a crappy gym. With no ventilation.
I was just so happy to be there, I really wasn't that worried about the run. We had a 40-minute run on our schedule, with a 10-minute warm up, 20-minute hard interval and a 10-minute cool down. I was able to keep up a nice pace during the hard interval — about 1-1:30-minute faster pace than normal. I slowed down quite a bit for the 10-minute cool down, but I kept running.
The Women's Half Marathon also has a 5K associated with it, and the 5K training group just joined our half marathon group. It's so cool to see people just starting out, and even though I feel like I'm still a beginner runner, it's amazing to realize how much progress I've made.
