Thursday, May 31, 2012

Skipped today's run

So I didn't go for a run today because of my hamstring being sore. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day and Saturday's run (regardless of the race) is more important to the marathon training overall. The long runs are more important according to Hal Higdon's training program.

I've been icing my hamstring off and on this evening so I'm hoping the combination of that and resting today and tomorrow will be enough time to run on Saturday.

Also, I just registered for a Double Half Marathon outside Lincoln, Nebraska this October. Not sure what I just got myself into.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

What to do, what to do

I'm set to run in the morning. Yesterday and today's runs went really well but today I could feel some soreness or tightness in my right hamstring. I stopped just a 1/4 mile of the way into this morning's run to stretch it out and then started back up and finished strong and about a second faster than yesterday.

I've put a hot pad and ice pack on it as well as stretch it out. I'm really worried about it because I've had problems with my hamstring in the past. I pulled my hamstring at the beginning of football season my senior year of high school and the spring of my freshman year at Garden City Community College during spring football workouts.

Pulled hamstrings are not fun to deal with. I really want to finish strong with this week's workouts and I really want to do well at this weekend's 10k race in Marysville.

What to do, what to do.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Do Life Kansas City

On Saturday I ran a fast 6 miles thanks to a new running partner. I told her to plan on running 10:15 per mile because I thought that's what I'd be able to handle but we ended up running 9:05 instead. I was gutted and tired but the sense of accomplishment far outweighed that. This week's training is the same except for an extra mile on Saturday.

Today I had the privilege of seeing Ben Davis and his dad again. This time was the 2nd stop of the 1st leg of the Do Life Tour 2012. We met at Loose Park in KCMO, an absolutely gorgeous area to walk, run or just be around. Although it was a cross training day for my marathon training I went ahead and ran the 5k, much faster than I planned on running.

What's great about the Do Life Tour is meeting other people who are starting their journey, are somewhere along the way or have finished the first part (losing weight for most) of their journey. I met a very cool guy who drove down from Omaha who just found out about Ben's story just 2 weeks ago. And one of the funny things is that he works for the company where the first Do Life Tour stopped in Omaha last July. He's lost 150 pounds. And it sounds like he might sign up for the Omaha Marathon too. He is signed up for the Color Run in July so I'm looking to meeting up with him again. Here's his site.

So it was a really good weekend and a successful week of training. And to cap it off with seeing Ben and Pa again made it even better.



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Marathon training has begun

Mondays are rest days so today was the first mileage towards training for the the Omaha Marathon. I ran 3 miles at a pace of just over 9 minutes per mile. Felt good, pushed myself.

I only ran one day last week thinking that I'd take a little break before the real training begins and I hope that doesn't come back to haunt me. I don't think it will too much as I'd run a decent amount in the weeks prior or had at least worked up to a decent amount. We shall see.

I'm also doing better on the nutrition side. My weight has crept up over the last few months and I fell back into some bad habits. I hope to share and address some of those things in future posts. I know that if I've gone through them then there's a chance others have struggled with that also.

Rest of the week consists of 3 miles tomorrow and Thursday, 6 miles on Saturday and cross training on Sunday. Cross training will mostly consist of walking until the swimming pool opens for the summer and until I get a new bike.

I'll probably walk and run because Sunday morning I'll be in Kansas City to see Ben Davis again and participate in the Do Life 5k Tour 2012. It's not a race and it's for anyone and everyone. If you want to run it, great. If you want to walk it, awesome. Just come out and join the fun. Ben is a great guy and even though he's lost a bunch of weight and run a bunch of races, he has struggles like the rest of us and isn't afraid to admit it and help out others who need it.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Major News...

So it's obviously been months since my last posting but my blog is still getting a good number of visits.

I've gained more weight since December but after having what I think was iliotibial band syndrome, I'm back to running 3 to 4 days per week.

And because I'm ready for another challenge or maybe because I'm crazy, I'm officially registered for my very first marathon. It's Sunday, September 23rd in Omaha, Nebraska. I'll be following Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Marathon training and it officially starts next Tuesday, May 22nd.

Stay tuned to the blog as I'll be posting about my training. The next 18 weeks should be pretty interesting.