Total Miles Ran: 172
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash: 71Trail Miles: 16Songs with the most airtime on my mp3 player: Alanis Morissette - GuardianNumber of P90x or Jillian Michaels Workouts: 5
September is leaving me very frustrated. Over the past 2 weeks, my legs have felt dead. I backed off the number of miles I was running and hoped for the best. After the 5K last Saturday with the dogs (Miles and Mutts recap here!), I completed a 16 mile long run on Sunday. It felt really good and things were looking up and thought this week would be back to normal.
That was until I tried to run this week. On Tuesday, I could tell my gait was all messed up due to some pains in my right leg. I took Wednesday and Thursday off from running. Friday, I had the day scheduled off work and the original plan was to get in my last non-race 20 mile run. It didn't happen. I struggled through six miles and knew I needed to take a few days off. On top of mysterious dead legs and a calf muscle pain, I've been completely exhausted over the past few weeks. I can barely get myself out of bed each morning and want to be asleep again by 8 PM.
Saturday was a planned day off anyway since I was going to be out of town. On Sunday, my plans to get up early were again overridden by feeling exhausted so I slept in. Then, headed up to pick up the dogs for a run. We had our largest group run yet and were able to get seven dogs out. I got in three miles before I needed to get back to handle getting the water ready for the dogs and loading up some of the early finishers. They weren't great miles and I'm still having issues with my right leg but it was a little better than Friday. After getting home, I thought about getting in a few more miles but decided it was probably more logical to skip and try to get back on track this week and give myself a little more rest because I can tell something is still up with the leg beyond just feeling tired.
Here's to hoping the rest takes care of things and Freedom's Run in two weeks won't be a huge suffer-fest of a marathon!
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Peace-4-Paws 5K
On Saturday, I ran my 3rd 5K with Hannah. The other two had a few issues but she seems to be catching onto this running with a bunch of other people around her routine. So, the recap will be from Hannah's point of view.
On Saturday, the girl who feeds me woke up early. I didn't even have to start whining outside their bedroom door for my breakfast. After feeding us, she took off with a bunch of stuff and said she'd see me later and had to go set up for the Peace-4-Paws 5K.
About an hour or so later, the guy who sometimes feeds me put a leash on me...but not the other two. Excited!!
Then, he made me get in a cage in this big, windowless van these two humans have sitting in our driveway. Previously, I had no idea what they do with this windowless van. I've learned not to question too much with these two. As long as they keep the food coming, the three dogs living here just go with it. They take off in this van once or twice a week and come back smelling like they've been around a bunch of strange dogs.
After about thirty minutes, we pulled into some place and the guy who sometimes feeds me started loading other dogs that I've never seen before into some of the other cages around me. What in the hell? One hound started barking at me and never stopped. At this point, I was beginning to fear for me life and started whining and shaky because I had no idea what was going on. The last time I was in a situation like this it was something called an animal shelter. I hated it there.
After a bunch of other dogs were in the van, we went somewhere else. There were all kinds of people around. They started unloading dogs and the girl who feeds me was there! But, she left me in that damn cage and got all the other dogs out first. The humans were running around like crazy and seemed to have no idea what was going on. They didn't know who half of these other dogs were or who they should go to. They should really pay attention and be more organized because I wanted out of the cage. Eventually, they let me out. There were all kinds of dogs and people around. There were some sirens in the distance and I started howling. They said it sounded like I was mooing.
All of sudden, we were lined up with a bunch of other people on a path. This looked familiar. We'd been here before and I realized the girl who feeds me had a number pinned onto her. This was one of those races again!
Soon, we were off and I was excited and ready to run. Too bad that girl who feeds me can't keep up. She kept pulling me back and trying to slow down. If I could just run without being attached to a leash with her, it would be a lot easier. I compromised a little but wanted to do my best to get around these other dogs and people. We started picking off a few of the slower ones but there were definitely some fast dogs this year. That one who barked at me the whole time was running too and was super fast.
No one informed me how long this race was and I think we were running faster than usual. We passed a few people and dogs in the last half mile but there was one speedy blue heeler that went around me. I was really excited when I saw the finish and tried to sprint crossing the finish line in 24:30. The girl who feeds me told me that's the fastest we've run a 5K together but not the fastest she's ever run one.
1.jpg)
We won a medal. Something about placing in an age group. Whatever that means.
We waited around to see the guy who sometimes feeds me finish. He ran with some goofy pit bull who was slow. They talk about her all the time though. Must be a good dog. I liked her.
After awhile, they stuck me back in the van with a bunch of dogs again. We were missing two from the original trip. The guy who sometimes feeds me said the girl who feeds me was going to take them back to the shelter after wrapping up and cleaning up everything with the event.
We dropped the other dogs off and finally the guy who sometimes feeds me let me out of the cage and I rode shotgun the rest of the way home.
These humans should really run with us more and take us to these races. I'm starting to get the hang of it.
On Saturday, the girl who feeds me woke up early. I didn't even have to start whining outside their bedroom door for my breakfast. After feeding us, she took off with a bunch of stuff and said she'd see me later and had to go set up for the Peace-4-Paws 5K.
About an hour or so later, the guy who sometimes feeds me put a leash on me...but not the other two. Excited!!
Then, he made me get in a cage in this big, windowless van these two humans have sitting in our driveway. Previously, I had no idea what they do with this windowless van. I've learned not to question too much with these two. As long as they keep the food coming, the three dogs living here just go with it. They take off in this van once or twice a week and come back smelling like they've been around a bunch of strange dogs.
After about thirty minutes, we pulled into some place and the guy who sometimes feeds me started loading other dogs that I've never seen before into some of the other cages around me. What in the hell? One hound started barking at me and never stopped. At this point, I was beginning to fear for me life and started whining and shaky because I had no idea what was going on. The last time I was in a situation like this it was something called an animal shelter. I hated it there.
After a bunch of other dogs were in the van, we went somewhere else. There were all kinds of people around. They started unloading dogs and the girl who feeds me was there! But, she left me in that damn cage and got all the other dogs out first. The humans were running around like crazy and seemed to have no idea what was going on. They didn't know who half of these other dogs were or who they should go to. They should really pay attention and be more organized because I wanted out of the cage. Eventually, they let me out. There were all kinds of dogs and people around. There were some sirens in the distance and I started howling. They said it sounded like I was mooing.
All of sudden, we were lined up with a bunch of other people on a path. This looked familiar. We'd been here before and I realized the girl who feeds me had a number pinned onto her. This was one of those races again!
Soon, we were off and I was excited and ready to run. Too bad that girl who feeds me can't keep up. She kept pulling me back and trying to slow down. If I could just run without being attached to a leash with her, it would be a lot easier. I compromised a little but wanted to do my best to get around these other dogs and people. We started picking off a few of the slower ones but there were definitely some fast dogs this year. That one who barked at me the whole time was running too and was super fast.
No one informed me how long this race was and I think we were running faster than usual. We passed a few people and dogs in the last half mile but there was one speedy blue heeler that went around me. I was really excited when I saw the finish and tried to sprint crossing the finish line in 24:30. The girl who feeds me told me that's the fastest we've run a 5K together but not the fastest she's ever run one.
1.jpg)
We won a medal. Something about placing in an age group. Whatever that means.
We waited around to see the guy who sometimes feeds me finish. He ran with some goofy pit bull who was slow. They talk about her all the time though. Must be a good dog. I liked her.
After awhile, they stuck me back in the van with a bunch of dogs again. We were missing two from the original trip. The guy who sometimes feeds me said the girl who feeds me was going to take them back to the shelter after wrapping up and cleaning up everything with the event.
We dropped the other dogs off and finally the guy who sometimes feeds me let me out of the cage and I rode shotgun the rest of the way home.
These humans should really run with us more and take us to these races. I'm starting to get the hang of it.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Weekend Multitasking
Saturday, I had plans to help with a local 5K. It didn't start until 11 AM but I was planning to get there around 9 AM. I wanted to run about 12 miles beforehand. After thinking I'd do my normal neighborhood routes that are beginning to bore me out of my mind, I did the logical thing and looked up on mapquest the directions to the 5K. It told me the start was about 9.5 miles from my house. Decision made, I'd run to the 5K and get someone at the race to drive me home.
On Saturday morning, I tried to dress all cute, loaded up my Nathan vest with some water, cell phone, pepper spray (per request of my husband due to one neighborhood I'd be running through), snacks, comb, baby wipes, Miles and Mutts brochures, Peace-4-Paws registration forms and I anything else I could possibly think of and went on my way. It's amazing how much you can cram into a hydration pack, I was impressed with my abilities.
The run was just what I needed, lots of open road, farmlands and views of mountains in the distance. Much better to run with a change of scenery! The 5K was held in an area not normally open to the public and I happened to arrive right when the guy was opening the gate for the day. After a nice conversation with an older man who thought I was in high school (thank you old man, I'm not getting that as often these days), I finished up my 12 miles.
After helping with the world's smallest 5K, I got a ride and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Sunday morning, I got up and hit the treadmill for 6 miles and then made my way to pick up dogs for another group run. I ended up with one of the hounds as my partner for the day. I haven't run with either of those two for a couple of months. Athena's usual partner couldn't make it this week though. I have my bets placed on who I think top dog's might be at this weekend's 5k! My legs didn't have it in me to run her usual 7 miles at her often faster than 8:30 pace but I still took her 5 miles at that pace.
This whole concept of multi-tasking for running seems to keep it interesting!
On Saturday morning, I tried to dress all cute, loaded up my Nathan vest with some water, cell phone, pepper spray (per request of my husband due to one neighborhood I'd be running through), snacks, comb, baby wipes, Miles and Mutts brochures, Peace-4-Paws registration forms and I anything else I could possibly think of and went on my way. It's amazing how much you can cram into a hydration pack, I was impressed with my abilities.
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| Re-used picture but I was too lazy to get another one - this is now my Miles and Mutts uniform. |
After helping with the world's smallest 5K, I got a ride and spent the rest of the day relaxing. Sunday morning, I got up and hit the treadmill for 6 miles and then made my way to pick up dogs for another group run. I ended up with one of the hounds as my partner for the day. I haven't run with either of those two for a couple of months. Athena's usual partner couldn't make it this week though. I have my bets placed on who I think top dog's might be at this weekend's 5k! My legs didn't have it in me to run her usual 7 miles at her often faster than 8:30 pace but I still took her 5 miles at that pace.
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| Another re-used photo! |
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Hello Fall
The fall-like temperatures are spoiling me this week. I'm loving it and feeling a little better about this whole running thing.
On Monday, I broke out a Yoga DVD. My hip still felt a bit tender from Saturday's long run so I wanted to take it easy and thought good stretching would help. It seemed to help. I am not a yoga person at all and am really quite terrible at stretching and sometimes it seems to catch up with me.
On Tuesday, it was another double day. A morning run with my dogs and then an evening run with one of the shelter dogs, Cinnamon. I'm calling my run with Cinnamon speedwork. She can run and we got in 4 miles together. I don't wear a watch when I run with the dogs so I have no idea if we were running fast or not but I was definitely working harder than usual.
The rest of the week has been normal running around the neighborhood but my 'easy' pace seems to be a little quicker than it's been in those humid days from the past several weeks.
On Monday, I broke out a Yoga DVD. My hip still felt a bit tender from Saturday's long run so I wanted to take it easy and thought good stretching would help. It seemed to help. I am not a yoga person at all and am really quite terrible at stretching and sometimes it seems to catch up with me.
On Tuesday, it was another double day. A morning run with my dogs and then an evening run with one of the shelter dogs, Cinnamon. I'm calling my run with Cinnamon speedwork. She can run and we got in 4 miles together. I don't wear a watch when I run with the dogs so I have no idea if we were running fast or not but I was definitely working harder than usual.
The rest of the week has been normal running around the neighborhood but my 'easy' pace seems to be a little quicker than it's been in those humid days from the past several weeks.
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Conquering A Fear
There are many days, and it is probably quite obvious on this blog, where I question training for the JFK 50 miler. As mentioned several times before, I am dreading the over 26 miles along the C&O canal towpath. I find it boring and I can still vividly remember running Freedom's Run in 2010 and just dying to get off that thing. Please give me some rolling hills! Usually, a good way to conquer something I'm dreading is to blast some loud music and power through it. This was my game plan for the dreaded 'Road Across the Sky' in Highlands Sky...and it worked.
However, for JFK, there is a strict no-headphones policy. Suck. I ran the Gettysburg marathon music free and it wasn't that bad...but I had my rolling hills and I wasn't trying to force myself through 50 miles.
On Saturday, a running friend and I were up and at it early making the drive to the nearest point where we could hop on the towpath. 20 miles later and I conquered a fear of running long on that damn towpath sans music. My friend and I talked a little bit during the run but mostly we were both in our zone. Also, we both sadly realized how much shorter the days are getting. We got to the path and it was still pitch black outside. We didn't have headlamps and the first couple of miles were a little rough not being able to see anything!
I'm dreading that section a little less now. Of course, that was until I realized that come race day, I'll have to do the run we did last week, what I did Saturday plus 15 more miles. This is the first long, long run that I've done in awhile and while overall it was pretty good, I was quite ready for it to be over in the last few miles.
Last week, Oliver was my Miles and Mutts running buddy and he got me moving on tired legs. For some reason, I still attempted to run on Monday (Mondays are usually a cross-train day) since it was Labor Day and I had the day off and I thought Hannah could use a run. She didn't seem up for it so my legs got some rest and the rest of the week looked like this:
Monday: 1 mile, run with Hannah. She was lazy, I was lazy. This turned into a walk.
Tuesday: 5 miles treadmill followed by 4 miles with the dogs in the morning. 3ish miles in the evening with Hannah (oh, no, now I'm incorporating 2-a-days with the dog!) at the rail trail to prep her for the upcoming 5K. She didn't do so well with other people and dogs on the path and was easily distracted. I seem to always forget how comfortable she is running in our neighborhood which doesn't translate as well to new locations and race settings.
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 4 miles treadmill followed by 4 miles with the dogs in the morning
Friday: 2 miles with Miles and Mutts dogs (it was hot, new dogs in the mix!)
Saturday: 20 miles canal towpath
Sunday: 4 miles with the dogs followed by 3 miles with Zeus for Miles and Mutts. My hip hurts a bit from the long run. Suck.
However, for JFK, there is a strict no-headphones policy. Suck. I ran the Gettysburg marathon music free and it wasn't that bad...but I had my rolling hills and I wasn't trying to force myself through 50 miles.
On Saturday, a running friend and I were up and at it early making the drive to the nearest point where we could hop on the towpath. 20 miles later and I conquered a fear of running long on that damn towpath sans music. My friend and I talked a little bit during the run but mostly we were both in our zone. Also, we both sadly realized how much shorter the days are getting. We got to the path and it was still pitch black outside. We didn't have headlamps and the first couple of miles were a little rough not being able to see anything!
I'm dreading that section a little less now. Of course, that was until I realized that come race day, I'll have to do the run we did last week, what I did Saturday plus 15 more miles. This is the first long, long run that I've done in awhile and while overall it was pretty good, I was quite ready for it to be over in the last few miles.
Last week, Oliver was my Miles and Mutts running buddy and he got me moving on tired legs. For some reason, I still attempted to run on Monday (Mondays are usually a cross-train day) since it was Labor Day and I had the day off and I thought Hannah could use a run. She didn't seem up for it so my legs got some rest and the rest of the week looked like this:
Monday: 1 mile, run with Hannah. She was lazy, I was lazy. This turned into a walk.
Tuesday: 5 miles treadmill followed by 4 miles with the dogs in the morning. 3ish miles in the evening with Hannah (oh, no, now I'm incorporating 2-a-days with the dog!) at the rail trail to prep her for the upcoming 5K. She didn't do so well with other people and dogs on the path and was easily distracted. I seem to always forget how comfortable she is running in our neighborhood which doesn't translate as well to new locations and race settings.
Wednesday: 5 miles
Thursday: 4 miles treadmill followed by 4 miles with the dogs in the morning
Friday: 2 miles with Miles and Mutts dogs (it was hot, new dogs in the mix!)
Saturday: 20 miles canal towpath
Sunday: 4 miles with the dogs followed by 3 miles with Zeus for Miles and Mutts. My hip hurts a bit from the long run. Suck.
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| More hounds into the Miles and Mutts pack! |
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| Happy dogs, post-run Friday evening |
Sunday, September 2, 2012
August Recap
Total Miles Ran: 188
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash: 68
Trail Miles: 13
Songs with the most airtime on my mp3 player: Emeli Sande - Next to Me
Number of P90x or Jillian Michaels Workouts: 6
July was supposed to be my take it easy and relax month with August being the month where I would feel rejuvenated and ready to whip myself into serious shape for JFK. Umm...not sure that happened. I haven't really been feeling it this month but kept the mileage up and am hoping for a turn of events this month. The Half Wit Half was a fun race. Running with the dogs continues to be the running that I look forward to the most. Hopefully in September all those long runs will turn into what I enjoy.
I started off September with another Appalachian Trail run with my local running crew. We started at the start line of the JFK 50, ran along the road in Boonsboro and the trail section to get 16 miles for the day. The only thing different from this trip was the inclusion of 6 strange men. Six random strangers we met online joined us, all are running JFK for the first time and wanted to get a sense of the trail portion. All of them were stronger runners than me. Somehow though, I still ended up in the lead of the group of women we were the only ones familiar with the trail. When we hit South Mountain Inn, I couldn't see the rest of the group but didn't want the guys to have to wait too long so we jumped right on the trail.. So, there I was running in the woods with 6 guys that I've known for all of about 15 minutes. I still don't know all of their names. Judging by the pictures one of them posted on Facebook, I point a lot when guiding strange men through the woods.
Once we got to the point where they could just follow the trail, I had them go around me. Then, I became a major slacker. Without someone near me in either direction, I didn't push myself at all. I wasn't loving the rocks on this day but got through it slowly with lots of walking.
Then, today, things became even more strange. I'll just let minds wander and ponder this status I posted.
Even though the end was a little strange, a beautiful, slightly nervous husky named Oliver got my butt moving today when I wasn't feeling up for it. We managed to run 7 miles at a decent pace and it felt wonderful in the end!
Number of those miles that involved me holding a dog and a leash: 68
Trail Miles: 13
Songs with the most airtime on my mp3 player: Emeli Sande - Next to Me
Number of P90x or Jillian Michaels Workouts: 6
July was supposed to be my take it easy and relax month with August being the month where I would feel rejuvenated and ready to whip myself into serious shape for JFK. Umm...not sure that happened. I haven't really been feeling it this month but kept the mileage up and am hoping for a turn of events this month. The Half Wit Half was a fun race. Running with the dogs continues to be the running that I look forward to the most. Hopefully in September all those long runs will turn into what I enjoy.
I started off September with another Appalachian Trail run with my local running crew. We started at the start line of the JFK 50, ran along the road in Boonsboro and the trail section to get 16 miles for the day. The only thing different from this trip was the inclusion of 6 strange men. Six random strangers we met online joined us, all are running JFK for the first time and wanted to get a sense of the trail portion. All of them were stronger runners than me. Somehow though, I still ended up in the lead of the group of women we were the only ones familiar with the trail. When we hit South Mountain Inn, I couldn't see the rest of the group but didn't want the guys to have to wait too long so we jumped right on the trail.. So, there I was running in the woods with 6 guys that I've known for all of about 15 minutes. I still don't know all of their names. Judging by the pictures one of them posted on Facebook, I point a lot when guiding strange men through the woods.
Once we got to the point where they could just follow the trail, I had them go around me. Then, I became a major slacker. Without someone near me in either direction, I didn't push myself at all. I wasn't loving the rocks on this day but got through it slowly with lots of walking.
Then, today, things became even more strange. I'll just let minds wander and ponder this status I posted.
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