Posts
August 6-August 25, 2012 posts
August 25, 2012--MCM Gender Defender
Today
was another 5K race, the Marine Corp Marathon Gender Defender. I was a
little worried about rain during the day, since it was forecasted to
rain this evening--as it has done for the last week or so. We had a
little over an hours drive to Quantico where the race was going to be
held, so we headed out around 3:00. We stopped at the Marine Exchange
and walked around for a bit and headed to the race to pick up our
packets. The parking was a little ways away from the start line, so we
walked and got our chip, number, and packet. I was a little
disappointed since women were supposed to get pink shirts and men blue,
but the only size left in the pink was a large! And we had registered a
couple of months ago and specified our shirt sizes. I guess a lot of
later registrants picked up sizes or something. Or maybe they just
didn't order enough of women's shirts--there were more women running
than men. There were a lot of tents set up, and we found one that would
hold our things for us during the race, which was nice. We had planned
on going back to the car to drop our things off, but changed our
minds. Luckily, I had thought ahead and brought my inhaler and was able
take it before the race. I didn't remember to bring a kleenex, but got
some tp from the porta john. I seem to always need to blow my nose
when I run. Especially if I run into puffs of smoke or other
allergens. Besides the shirt, we also received a wrist pocket form
Scion and a reflector belt at registration. They had music playing from
a local radio station and other vendors and displays. We lined up and
in typical military fashion they presented the colors and had someone
sing the national anthem. I love that about the military--such American
pride. The gun went off and we were off. We pass a woman who was
struggling to walk with a cane--someone to admire. Partway through the
route there was a live band set up which was nice! I ran all the way to
the 1.5 mile point where there was a water break, walked while I drank
the water, and ran the rest of the way. We went through a housing area,
the little "Q town", and through a tunnel...which people had fun
hollering when they got in there. It started raining a short bit during
the race, then quit. I finished with a time that was about 8 minutes
faster than my July 4th race! I was very proud of myself. It did rain a
lot more after that while we were enjoying the fun. When we finished,
we were handing a commemorative coin, ladies got a carnation and men a
bottle opener, chocolate dipped fruit, Gatorade & water, and all
kinds of other things. The atmosphere was fun and festive and despite
the rain, we had a blast. We left saying we would definitely do this
race next year. In fact, we registered for the MCM 10K that is
scheduled for October when we got home...at 11 pm! A great day!
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August 24, 2012
Boy,
I have not been very vigilant posting my runs right after I run them!
So I am working on a couple of posts all on the same day! I didn't run
today, but I did walk for 2 miles. We have a race tomorrow, so I didn't
want to really tire out my leg muscles or do something stupid like pull
a muscle or something. It is interesting to view my routes from a
different speed. Sometimes when I am running, I really don't notice a
lot of things that are around me, but when walking I was able to do more
of that. My husband and I were also able to talk while walking, since
we can't normally do that when running because we run at different
paces. This was a nice warmup for the race the next day. At least it
wasn't raining!
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August 22, 2012
My
husband stayed home and worked from home today. He also got a lot of
work done around the house and was still ready to run when I got home.
He had thought about the hills we have to run and suggested we drive a
car to the end of our road where it meets 231. After driving two cars
down and one car back, my husband dropped me off a little ways from
home. He drove home and dropped the other car off at home, got the dogs
in order, and started running. I ran towards the house and then turned
around and we ran most of the way together. I was impressed with him
keeping up with me most of the way! By the time I made it to the car, I
had run 4.33 miles. Not quite as far as I wanted, but that is ok. My
legs were a little sore from the "toe running" that I did the other
day. My pace was a little slower than the run in Massachusetts, but
maybe the hills had something to do with that. We have a 5K race on
Saturday, so I will probably just walk the next time before that. I
have a goal of trying to beat my last 5K race time. Hopefully I will do
that.
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August 20, 2012
I
had almost talked myself out of running--I had a busy day at work, then
PT, and just exhausted. Luckily, my husband was already changed into
his running clothes when I got home, so that gave me the motivation I
needed to get changed and run. I remembered my meds tonight, so that
made the run more enjoyable. My husband and I set out together both
taking it at our pace. I was able to run 3.86 miles tonight. It was
interesting to notice all the different smells and aromas that I ran
by. The fresh cut hay tingled my nose, the fresh manure in the cow
fields swept over me, even the fragrant wildflowers tingled my
nostrils. It was nice to run without cigarettes drifting past me.
Our large hills still are my biggest challenge. I try to slow down and make sure I'm not leaning too far forward when I run up, but going down is still much better than going up the hill! I did work on running more on my toes to try to work out more of my muscles, but I did that only for short bits at a time. |
August 18, 2012
We
were traveling all day today and arrived in Massachusetts around 7:00
pm. My husband and I were taking our daughter back to college for the
school year and drove the 12 hours in two cars. I switched between the
cars relieving drivers, so we were all exhausted when we pulled into the
hotel. Luckily, we had made mental plans to run tonight, so my husband
and I changed and got ourselves outside. We ran using our GPS watches
to help track how far we were going. I really didn't know where I was
going, and basically just ran. We ran / walked through parking lots,
then neighborhoods, then an industrial type area. I realized about 10
minutes into the evening that I didn't take my inhaler...and I could
tell! I didn't really want to go back, or cut the run short, so I
decided to just push through it and hope for the best. I didn't run as
far as I would have liked, but we wanted to be able to relax some before
having to unpack all of her things from our cars to her dorm the next
day. I ran / walked 2.72 miles and due to the fact that Massachusetts
isn't as hilly as home, I had a great average pace running. I'm sure I
could have run more if I had taken my meds before setting off. I guess
that is a lesson to myself for next time.
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August 16, 2012
I
got to run today! I once again told myself that I was going to run
today throughout the day. Once I got home, I took my inhaler and got
ready and one of my daughters joined me with her dog. I was able to run
for 10 minutes after my 2 minute walking warmup. Then I continued with
1-1.5 minute walk breaks and varying running lengths, 5-10 minutes at a
stretch. It was warmer than I thought it was going to be, and I
sweated a lot, but that is ok. I listened to Mamma Mia as I was
running, that is a very motivating soundtrack for running. My lungs
were holding up very well as I ran today, even with the heat. Maybe
taking a Benadryl and inhaler and getting more in shape helps. As I ran
today, cars whizzed past me on the road. At one time, I could smell the
smoke from a gentleman driving by in a truck. That just made my
lungs/throat tighten up and the coughing begin. People who smoke have
no idea what they do to others. Luckily, flowers are still blooming
along my road, so I enjoy the beautiful blossoms and clean scents they
provide. While some flowers (lavender specifically) can bother me, the
wildflowers smell beautiful. Now, I need to figure out what all the
blooms I see are actually called. I was able to get in 4 miles
tonight. If it had been a little cooler, I might have been able to run
farther, but I am happy that I made it that far. So, this was another
good run!
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August 14, 2012
While
at work, I reminded myself several times that I was going to run that
evening. While driving home, I felt good and happy because I was going
to run when I got there! That is a great feeling. Of course, the whole
time I drove, storms were in the sky following me home. I quickly
changed, took my inhaler, and got ready to run. My daughters decided to
come with me (yea!) and one was bringing one of her dogs, so we had to
figure out what to do with the other dog. Once all that was taken care
of, we set out. We hadn't gotten far from the house, maybe a half mile,
when a green truck came around the curve and actually headed straight
for my daughter in front of me, moved over then came straight for me. I
turned and hollered to my other daughter to watch out. I have no clue
what that was about, but I think he got our message when we turned
around with our arms up in the air saying, "What was that?" We saw him
later on (I then memorized the plate number) and he stayed completely on
the other side of the road, so he understood we were nervous with how
close he came to us. It was just bizarre since we live out in a rural
area--I guess the biggest downfall is that the roads do not have much
edge or shoulder so when someone drives too close there is literally
only the ditch to jump into. I was able to make it 3 miles tonight and
once again I ran for longer periods of time, 10 minutes, 8 minutes, and
so on. It felt great to run, and few times did my breathing cause me
concern. I kept my heartrate in the zone for a longer period of time
too, so that was good. Luckily we never got rained on, the rain came
later in the evening. After doing the 7.4 mile run, I was feeling like I
HAD to run 5-7 miles every time I ran, but that is not necessarily
true. I need to run at least 30 minutes, but by changing the exertion
and effort that I use will make it good workout. So this was a great
night for a run!
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August 11, 2011
Well,
it is a Saturday morning, and I once again put on my running shirt,
shorts, sunglasses, and shoes. I added tape to two blisters that I got
from running the "lost route" a few days ago. I used regular ole
bandage tape and wrapped it around the couple of blisters. And it
worked! I read this on the active.com forum--there are some great ideas
and hints out there. I decided to run a 'long slow run' today as
advised by Jeff Galloway. I slowed myself down, which isn't very easy.
I decided since I was running slower, then I could maybe run a longer
time period. So I walked 4 minutes / ran 20 minutes, then W-2 / R-13,
W-2.5 / R-10 / and W-2 / R-the rest. It felt great to do this! Running
at a slower speed helped me keep my breathing in tact and still cover
some distance. So Jeff G is right when he says this helps build
endurance. I was able to run about 6 miles this way, even though it
took me the same time that I ran harder and faster for 5.8 miles. I
guess the running for 20 minutes at a time helped. Taking my inhaler
and Benadryl probably helped too. So running today felt GREAT! Now to
figure out how to keep the running while working full time and having to
go to PT three days a week. But somehow I will do it because it is
important to me!
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August 8, 2012
Ok,
after running 7.4 miles a couple of days ago, I felt I had to run more
than my usual 2-3 miles, so I decided to go 6 miles --on main roads of
course. The traffic is so much worse than the gravel route--some of the
cars are going well above the 40 mph speed limit. Plus there is no
shoulder, the road basically falls off into ditches or just the woods.
So running on the paved roads can be a little trickier than the gravel
roads--although I had a couple of rock bruises on my arch and heel of my
right foot. So I probably shouldn't have run 6 miles today, but I did
accomplish it! I used running and walking intervals again--keeping the
running portion most of the time at 4 minutes, 5 minutes, or 6 minutes.
A couple of times I had to do 2 or 3 minute runs and then walk for 1-2
minutes--usually on hills. I wanted to finish a little faster than I
did, but that is ok. I took my benadryl and inhaler ahead of time,
which helped with my breathing. Sometimes, I just get winded and it is
hard to continue. Other times, I can run longer pieces. I haven't
quite figured it out--am I struggling with breathing, or am I just out
of shape? I just have to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
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