Back on track?

So after missing my 8km race (decided it really wasn't worth it if it would mean I'd be out of luck with the marathon) I gave it a shot running on Monday. I ran 4km without any knee pain (other than the normal running stuff). Felt good to be back to normal. So I am very thankful that I was able to keep myself from trying to run through the pain last week and instead I stopped. It really has taken me years to learn that lesson. I don't know if I can fully express how it feels to not be able to do something you are passionate about (unless you have experienced this before). It sucks! Fortunately I could still swim and I started biking.
Tomorrow (my birthday, by the way) I'm going to attempt a 20km. I haven't run that far in over 2 weeks, but I think when you have a long distance base, as I do, it shouldn't matter. In fact, it might even go better than my other long runs. If I am not dying at the end of the 20km, I will try to run 2 or 4km more to get back to where I should be, or pretty close to it. I'm tentatively planning a marathon in Niagara for mid-June, but it depends on how this all goes. I will really find out in a few weeks if the race begins at 30km. For me it has begun at 22km. So, it's sad for me, but I won't be doing any races this summer unless I decide not to do the marathon. At least we'll save some money! Hopefully I will have more interesting stories to write tomorrow!

A bad week

On Monday night it was time to do my weekly long run, this week being 24km. I made a discovery that day though. Working all day (standing) then trying to run does not work for me. Stubborn me decided to try running after and it was a miserably disaster. I made it 2.5km out and was in pain most of the time. It was the time of pain that maybe only a runner will understand. You can run through it but it's not good to run through it. I ran a half marathon in similar pain (much worse though). To make matters worse for me at the time, since I'd been stubborn for so long (2.5km) it meant I had to walk back 2.5km. I was dressed for a long, hot run but not for a long, not so warm walk. My hands nearly froze by the time I got home and it was not a nice walk. I've never walked well. You could say I'm a bad walker, lol. I have bad posture or something.

I think that I was still a bit sore from my race on Saturday and it was just too soon. Since I have the 2nd part of this race on Saturday, I am forced to wait until next week to do a long run or I will end up injured for the rest of the season. Running 24km too close to another run is a bad idea for me. What I was feeling on my run was runner's knee, which doesn't worry me as much as the ITB pains. Runner's knee goes away for me but the ITB pain makes me have to stop running for awhile, then start all over again. So, I will just pick up my long run next week.

I'll be spending the rest of the week swimming and biking, getting ready for the triathlon. It's really frustrating not being able to run, but I have learned my lesson over many years of being injured. As soon as it hurts, stop. You have to stop and say do I want to run for the next 2 weeks or the rest of my life.

First race of the season

So today I ran in the ENDURrace 5km. Unfortunately for all of us running, it decided to snow after many, many nice days in a row. The snow/cold wasn't so bad, but the wind pretty much sucked. But, we all survived and everyone seemed pretty happy after. This is the first race in a 2-race series. There is an 8km next Saturday evening. I figured out fairly soon after I started that I was wearing too much. I just didn't want to be cold and you would think I would know how much to wear considering I ran all winter outside, but it didn't work out so well. There were 3 hills in it, the last one being the killer long one. I was feeling pretty good and passed a lot of people on the hills (I do a lot of training on hills so I would say I'm fairly good with them). At the very end a girl passed me but wasn't going much faster than me so I sprinted to try to catch her and I did catch her but then she realized that I was gonna beat her and she sped up and I just couldn't stay that fast for the 5 seconds longer it would have been for me to beat her. It was a good challenge though.

My time was 26:16 which is ok, but not what I used to do. I was happy with it because it's the fastest I've been able to run this year so far for a 5km. I was also happy because I found out when the results went up that I had placed 2nd in my category (female age 25-29). I have actually placed every time I've run this race, so I'm happy that I am still running well, even though my training has changed. I was running almost as fast as I could the whole time.

So, overall, I'm pretty happy with how everything went today (other than the snow!). Ryan was happy with his run as well, though it's much tougher for him to place in his category because there are a lot of men competing who are very fast. The only downside for us now is that we both have sore throats/lots of coughing from breathing hard in the cold air. I was coughing so much I actually have given myself the hiccups. I also get sinus issues after this race every time I run in it. So, we are sniffing and coughing and planning a relaxing movie night! It's a small price to pay for all the benefits of doing this kind of exercise though. Off to the next race!

I love 22

Never have I been happier to see the number 22 as I was yesterday.....(to be continued)

For all of you who have lost toenails, who haven't been able to use stairs for days after a run, who won't cancel a run no matter how many schools and buses are closed for a snow day, who have no social life for a year before a big race, who will get up hours before work to run even when it's still dark out, and for those who organize your entire week around your runs...know this-you are not alone! There is a drive in all of us for something. For me, it's running. I can't explain it, I just love it. I see that same drive in people at races. So, I thought I would blog about it. I'm training for a marathon and I thought I would start writing about it in hopes to motivate others who are running or doing any other sort of exercise (or even those who feel like they might want to start). A number of years ago when I was running, a friend and I would email each other about our runs and we both found it motivational. I hope these blogs motivate and inspire (or at the very least, entertain) those who read them. I hope I don't discourage anyone from running when I write about the bad stuff that comes with the territory of training for anything this much.

To start off, I should have started this way back at the beginning in December when I decided I wanted to do a marathon in 2010 but I wasn't sure at that point if I would even make it to half without injury.

To give you some background, I've been running seriously for about 6 years, but ran when I was younger in school as well. I ran a few 5km races and joined the cross country team. I did ok with it, but lost motivation in high school and didn't really pick it up again (except for off and on runs during summer) until 2004. I started running with Ryan in 2006 and we began our races in 2007. It all started with the ENDURrace. We competed in only the 5km race (there is also an 8km) and I placed in my category which helped give me perspective as to where I stood in competitive running. I realized I didn't completely suck at running, haha.

After that race, we competed in many more, sometimes doing well, sometimes not. Later on in 2007, we tried a half marathon. Well...2 actually. Our inexperience with races of this size was shown when we signed up for the races 2 weeks apart. Since then we've learned doing a race of that size 2 weeks apart with the little training we did is a really bad idea. I was also injured (in my knees) for both races. My best time was 2:06. The following year we did more races and tried the half marathon again. I was injured during my training again and ran in pain for 2 hours and 30 minutes. I don't have a high pain tolerance but I have a high endurance level and this is why I kept running despite constant pain.

So, in 2009 I decided to focus more on 5k races, but was not able to get my speed to what I wanted. All in all, a frustrating running season. I also tried a try-a-tri and that's a whole other story in itself. At this point I realized how much better I run when I swim, bike and do a lot of core workouts. When it got colder, I decided to try to run outside as long as I could. The other option was the rec centre track, which I don't really like using. In December, I decided I'd like to try a full marathon. This required me being able to start running longer each week. Fortunately for me, we had a mild winter and I survived outside all winter.

So, the training began. I started running 3 times a week, 1 long run, 1 short run with sprints, and one medium run at a medium pace. After my runs, I would do a workout and on the off days I would sometimes go swimming. I increased my long run by 10% every week.

So....why do I love 22? Yesterday I hit the 22km mark. A half marathon is 21km and I've never run farther than 21km before, so I'm feeling pretty good. I'm not injured at all. This is monumental for me. My time this week was 2:19, which I'm ok with. It has taken me 6 years to figure out the proper training for myself to run without injury, so I'm just happy to finish. I'll tell ya, it's not easy to run that far. It's not as hard as it was in the past for me though because I've been building up properly. The swimming/workout sessions have been key in keeping my knees from injury.

So, that's all for now. Stay tuned....