Slacker July 14, 2010

So I’ve been working on my post from my 6 mile race. I’ve been spending too much time thinking about it and I felt like I had to post it before I wrote another post. Or at least that’s the story I’m telling myself. If I’m being honest, I’ve probably just been a slacker.

Yesterday I ran just under 2 miles with Nancy (slacker for not making it an even 2 miles). Even though the pace of my first mile was pretty good for me (11:30) I wanted to stop as soon as I hit 1 mile. I only kept going because I was running with someone and didn’t want to look like a slacker. It still amazes me how I can run 5 or 6 miles, but still struggle so much with 1 or 2 miles. I got light headed and dizzy after the run and felt like I was going to black out.

For my Saturday running group, Bethany wanted me to run 6 miles again. I thought I deserved a break after the 6 mile race the week before, so I only did just over 4 miles and I even walked some of that (you can say it, slacker).

Bethany said that was okay but this upcoming Saturday run she really wants me to hit 6 miles. She also said it’s very important to get two 2 mile runs in and one 4 mile run in. That means I still have to get in one 2 and one 4 today, Thursday, of Friday. I had every intention of running 4 miles this morning and even set two alarms for 5 am. But I had nobody planned to run with and Cecil is away at training. I hit the snooze for TWO HOURS (that’s right–slacker). I really need to kick it up a notch and be more consistent with my weekday runs. Hopefully I’ll get some time to get those much needed runs in.

Aches and Pains June 29, 2010

So far since I’ve started running I’ve had a lot of struggles with soreness, tightness, and exhaustion in my muscles. Then, I’ve had a couple runs that made me feel on top of my game with very little soreness afterward. This morning though, for the first time I felt something more than just soreness. There was tightness and pain in my knees and ankles. At times there were even a few shooting pains up the back of my ankles. I’m not sure what this means, so if anyone has advice, do offer. I need to look into this to figure out the best way to avoid this happening again.

I’ve been icing my knees and ankles all day but I’m not sure if it’s helping. It makes me nervous because I’m running a 6 mile race this weekend. I totally didn’t think I’d be at this point so soon, but Saturday’s 5 mile run has got me pumped and believing I can run the whole thing. I know I’ll be resting tomorrow but I’m not sure how to use the rest of my week. I’m wondering if that 5 mile run was too soon.

The good news is the half marathon I’m training for is still pretty far away, so if I do need to slow down, I have some time. Any suggestions of how to approach this week leading up to a 6 mile race?

Take a look at this morning’s 3.5 mile run.

Update: My ankle has still given me a few shooting pains this morning. I’m wondering if I did something run or if it’s just par for the course for “runners”. If so are injuries a rite of passage for runners?

Running Barefoot After Bikes June 29, 2010

Two weeks ago I experienced something that probably most bicyclists living in the city experience at some point in their lives. But for me it was the fourth time experiencing it…my bike was stolen. While I used to get more upset about it, I have learned that it’s just a part of living in a city (Muncie and now Indy). It has become no more than an annoyance. But this time was different; it was exciting. The difference was we saw it happen and gave chase!

Here’s the setup: Cecil and I had another couple over and we were going to be grilling out. We were all hanging out in the dining room, which is above the garage. Cecil went down to get the grill going. He opened the garage door, rolled the grill in front of the garage, and lit it up. There were three vehicles in front of that, so three vehicles and a flaming grill were between the alley and the garage. My bike was in the far end of the garage. Cecil came back up to the kitchen to grab the meat and there witnessed the man taking off with my bike. Cecil, being quick to react, took off out the door. Seeing as how I had recently made him purchase his first pair of flip flops (#flipflopsrock by the way), he kicked them off and chased after the ballsy jerk barefoot…for 4 blocks! Long story short, police were called and many wonderful neighbors and friends also pursued him by bike and by car, but to no avail. He turned down a one way street the wrong way and shook off my neighbor and the police, but not before my husband almost caught him and managed to sacrifice his feet to the sidewalk. Here’s a glimpse at the blood blisters he sustained:

Cecil's feet were torn up and blistered after chasing the guy for 4 blocks barefoot.

Fast forward two weeks and you find me anxiously waiting at home on Friday for my new bike. I purchased the same model of Diamondback hybrid, but got the newest year’s version from bikemania.biz a lot cheaper. It was set to arrive (in under 48 hours) and I was not leaving the house until I got it. I even sacrificed a morning run to stay and wait ::sarcasm:: Every large truck I heard drive by had me racing to the front door. Finally I went upstairs for maybe five minutes before I heard the dreaded sound of a UPS truck starting up and pulling away. Nooo! I raced down the stairs and found the note left on the window, which only served to confirm I had missed him. I grabbed my keys, unlocked my front door, and without thinking, ran barefoot down the street after him. I didn’t even bother to shut my door, but by the time I had realized that I didn’t have time to turn back. Luckily, he stopped just a block down the street to deliver another package. I yelled across the street at him and asked him to please come back. And he did!:

He came back!

And that is the story of how both Cecil and I ran barefoot after bikes. Maybe I’ll get a pair of Vibrams and just keep this barefoot thing up. Here’s a look at my bike getting built:

Outta the box

Getting my new bike put together.

What I’ve learned (so far) June 28, 2010

It’s been a short 6 weeks that I’ve been officially running, but I think I have learned more in the past week than in the previous 5 put together.

1. Run when you can, not when you want to.
2. There is eventually a time when you no longer find running to be completely torturous.
3. You gotta have friends to support/distract you.
4. You gotta support other runners.
5. You gotta support the girls.
6. Other runners, both seasoned and new can inspire you.
7. You don’t have to lose weight before running. Just run!
8. You don’t have to run fast to run far. Keep going!
9. Cross training is important.
10. Reward yourself whenever you can and even for the small things, but probably not with food too often.

A lot of these things I’ve learned have inspired me for future posts. I can’t wait to share with you. What have you learned about running, or what do you hope to learn?

The First 5 Miles June 27, 2010

So after my amazing feat last Saturday of running 2 miles, I didn’t run all week. This is where you’re allowed to judge me for being a lazy bum; it’s okay. I was either too tired or too busy or more interested in drinking wine all week. But Saturday morning rolled around and I was supposed to meet my new running group for the first time. They had all run together before, but I was nowhere near ready to run with them. I was still nervous to meet up with them because they were planning to run for an hour, and I was sure I’d be dragging behind even if I could run for a whole hour.

It ended up being just me and 2 other ladies, Nancy and Kristi, who are awesome by the way. Remember how I said running with a friend is awesome, well running with two friends is even more awesome. I was so engaged in the conversation that I didn’t even need my music on. I was able to participate in some of the conversation, but mostly I just listened. When I tried to talk I was gasping for air between words. Last week when I ran with Liz, she was great and asked me a lot of questions to try to keep my mind off of the torturous 2 mile run, but I just couldn’t talk enough to have a real conversation.

When we started Nancy said we were going to run to Starbucks, which was 2 miles from her house. I thought, okay I can do 2 miles but maybe I’ll just walk home from there. I doubt I’d be able to run the 2 miles back. But then after we stopped for a drink of water and and free sample of the new Iced Via coffee, I did something crazy. I ran the two miles back! I was feeling pretty good about myself. I’m not sure if it was the endorphins or the Iced Via, but when Nancy suggested we keep going I agreed. It would have been so easy to stop there, get in my car and leave, but I knew I had a little bit left in me. You’ll never guess how far we went, okay maybe the title gave it away. I ran a total of 5.15 miles!

I was shocked. Just a week ago 2 miles seemed like such a struggle and I hadn’t ran (or done anything really) all week. Maybe at this pace I’ll just run a half marathon next weekend. Okay maybe I’m getting a little full of myself, but I’m sure there will be more struggles to come so I need to remember this “on top of the world” feeling. Actually next weekend I’m running a 6 mile race called the Firecracker 6. It’s the first annual race and it’s downtown. Would anybody like to join me?

Running with Friends June 20, 2010

A couple of weeks ago my friend Liz said I should join Daily Mile. “It’s like facebook for runners,” she said.
“What so people can laugh at how incredibly slow I am and how I can’t run very far?” I honestly didn’t believe that sharing my beginning runner experiences with experienced runners would help. I’d just feel really bad about myself. Even if people didn’t mock me outright, I knew they’d be mocking me in their heads. “You think it’s a big deal that you just ran your first mile? I’ve been running marathons for years.”
But nevertheless I tried it out. Afterall, Liz inspired me to join Twitter (even though she bailed on that one) and that’s turned out pretty good for me. Somebody added me as a friend right away and gave me some encouragement. And shockingly nobody has left in mocking remarks. I figured if I was able to share my runs with perfect strangers I could probably share them more with my friends. So far everybody has been super encouraging. Whether they are marathon runners or couch potatoes friends have congratulated me on my progress. This is a new experience for me. I’ve struggled with my weight for years and whenever I’ve let someone know about my weightloss goals, it seems about 50% of the time people say “oh you don’t need to lose weight, you look fine.” well I don’t want to look fine, I want to look fiiiiine. Now I see that anybody who would criticize me on my lack of running skills has issues of their own much like the people who make those comments about not needing to lose weight.
Liz also offered to run with me. While I knew my friend would not mock me, I definitely thought she would resent me. Afterall, I’d be dragging along and she probably underestimated just how slow I actually am when she made the offer. I didn’t want her to resent me. I thought I should build up to her pace(which could take months) before I could run with her.
But she was persistent and last weekend we were both at a friend’s place for an overnight party/canoe trip. I admitted to Liz and Andi that I brought running clothes and shoes. But I told them they should just run without me and I’d go out later. Liz wasn’t really taking no for an answer even with my many excuses. “I need to charge my iPhone” is a good excuse right? Well I went out with them and ran 1.5 miles. Liz helped motivate me and after I was done she kept running. I thought she was really gracious to hold back and run with such a slow runner. But she probably wouldn’t make the mistake of running with me again.
Then, not even a week later, she asked me to run with her again. She didn’t resent me! I met her at her place and she forbade me from checking my mileage on my app as we ran a loop from her place to the Monon Trail. That was a bit freeing but weird at the same time. Without knowing how far I’d gone, I didn’t know when it was okay to give up. But I was also able to focus more. I’m thinking in the future I need to map out my runs ahead of time so I’m not constantly checking the distance. We ran 2.15 miles! And it didn’t kill me. I’m pretty sore. But any excuse for a bubble bath sounds good to me. Just add Epsom salt.
I’ve been convinced that running with friends is very beneficial. Maybe someday I’ll be able to help out a newbie like that and pay it forward.
I still haven’t actually run with my running group yet and that still scares me since they are mostly training for full marathons and I’m only training for half. But they’re nice people too so maybe it won’t be as ugly as I imagine. I’ll let you know how my first running group goes once I manage to actually make it to the 6:00 am Saturday appointment.

A Break in the Storm June 16, 2010

I can’t wait for iOS4. Then, I’ll be able to run while running multiple apps. Life will be grand.

Yesterday’s humidity made me wait to run until later in the evening. Then the storm hit…again. I was very frustrated that I’ve actually been motivated to run since Sunday when I ran for 1.5 miles straight (thanks Liz for pushing me) but I couldn’t get out there with the crazy storms going. So after I lazed around tweeting, blogging, and watching the Bachelorette (don’t judge me) I went upstairs to make some dinner. Since I was in a super healthy motivated mood I was cooking up some zucchini, squash, mushroom, onion, and asparagus stir fry with heart healthy olive oil. Go me, right?! Then, the storm broke. There was still rain and some crazy looking clouds, but no more lightning and the sun was peaking through. What I did next was beyond reason. I turned off the stove, laced up my running shoes, and ran.

“But Rachel, it was already 9:30 pm and a storm is a perfectly good excuse not to run. Nobody would judge you for not running, they would understand.” I know.

But I ran anyway. I just didn’t give myself time to think about it. It was like, “okay God you gave me a break in the storm and I need to use it.” As I was getting dressed to go out, I got worried that the storm would start back up, then I was worried that it wouldn’t. Was I really up for this? Maybe Sunday was just a fluke or I needed to have somebody there to push me. I was definitely slower than Sunday, but I was pushing through it. As I started out, I thought, “If I can just make it to 1 mile today that would be good.” Then at .8 I looked at the mileage and thought, I could run past a mile. I didn’t look at my mileage again until 1.5. That was very liberating. I was actually able to just enjoy focus on the run. I thought, “I bet if I ran all the way home that would be about 2 miles. Wouldn’t that be crazy if I ran 2 miles.” 2 miles is the farthest I have ever run. That was in middle school. I haven’t ran 2 miles since then. I had my mind made up and I was going to run 2 miles. Then I got a piercing cramp in my back. I knew it might flare up because it was actually cramping before I even started. But this was intense and I had to stop. When I stopped, I looked at my running app and it said 1.51 miles! wow! I ran 1.51 miles without stopping, and without someone there to make me do it. Is it possible that I’m able to motivate myself? Isn’t that something runners do? I’m not ready to admit that I’m a runner, or that I even enjoy running, but I was able to motivate myself enough to run 1.5 miles in the rain. That is something.

Anyway, I wish I could have taken pictures for you of the beautiful sky last night. If I did though, my running app would have stopped recording my run. And as beautiful as the sky was last night with the sunset peaking through the storm, running 1.5 miles was even more beautiful to me last night.

rachel the runner? June 15, 2010

I so wish I would have started this blog when I first started running about a month ago. (I was afraid I wouldn’t keep going and my blog would let the whole world know about my epic failure.) But I’ll get back to how I actually did get started in another post.

I don’t know if I can actually call myself a runner yet. People keep saying so but I don’t know if I believe them. Runners are thin. Runners love to run. Runners don’t struggle with 1 mile. Runners run marathons. Anyway that’s what I told myself when I first started this running thing. And for your information, I am not thin. I hate running. When I started I could barely finish a half mile (and was incredibly sore after doing so.) And the closest I have ever been to a marathon is walking (not speed walking) a half marathon, and it sucked.

Luckily I think I can actually change all of those factors. I’ve already had many firsts. I finished a 5K(mostly walking, but there was some running so I’m counting it.) Last week I had my first “runners high.” I also ran my first straight mile without walking. And although the first few weeks sucked…hard…I’m still running. So does that mean I’m a runner now?