Friday news and Fleeting thoughts...

3am seemed exceptionally early this morning. But since yesterday wasn't a heart pumping workout day I pried my eyes open and went to the gym. I'm still having residual calf soreness from Tuesday. I'm a bit saddened by the fact that a 1 mile run:walk session was the catalyst for this lingering discomfort, but it's getting better each day so I'll get over it

The gym had a lot of activity by the time I got there (3:30am). Well, "a lot" is relative, but there were more people there than normal. I decided not to do anything that really stressed my calves today (so no stair master). Instead I ended up doing 30mins on the elliptical...

I did my elliptical workout a bit differently today. I started with the cross ramp at level 10 and resistance at level 1, and then every 5 mins I would drop the cross ramp by one level and increase the resistance by one level until I reached level 5 for both. I liked the variety so I think I'm going to keep trying to find ways to "mix it up". Hopefully that will (should) keep me from getting bored.

I also did 30mins on the upright bike

The bike routine was pretty basic. I kept it at level 1. I was just trying to keep my legs moving but not necessarily trying to "work them out" too much. I want to be fine for my run tomorrow.

When I got home I did the legs up the wall yoga position I saw on my friend's blog...

I don't really meditate (too many racing thoughts for that) but just lying down and relaxing for the few minutes felt good.

Although my run is early tomorrow (and so humidity shouldn't be a big problem) I focused a lot on hydration today. I'm also trying to improve my diet and cut out unhealthy carbs, but I realize that I can't rely on hospital cafeteria food (at work) to help with that so it's an ongoing endeavor (and today was no exception).

I was reviewing past activities on my Runtastic app and since the beginning of the year I have completed 274.7 miles. That's almost the distance from the Keys to Orlando...

In 2013 (starting from June) I completed 352.5 miles...

I'm waaaaay behind for this year! Although there were a lot more walking sessions last year, I still accomplished quite a few miles. Being injured = setbacks. It's important to train safely and listen to your body. I've learned my lesson I promise.

Today I have been feeling a little homesick and missing my sisters...

I keep this picture in my office. 

It's from a few years ago, but it's one of my favorites

On a lighter note I got new sneakers for work!

They are purple therefore they are AMAZING! The ones I used to wear to work were literally falling apart (I really wear my shoes down to shambles) so Damian got these for me (brownie points because they are purple and double brownie points because they are very very comfortable!)

Also, Runner's World magazine is having a special rate! 

I love this magazine so I decided share this info with you :)

Happy Friday!!

What are your LR plans (if any) this the weekend?

It takes "mindset not miles"...

This week has been a good reminder of why it is important to be flexible in your training, especially when great opportunities present themselves. My training plan has changed at least 3 or 4 times already for this week. Today was supposed to be a cardio day, which would have worked out well since I had to be at work early today. But as it turned out I had to be at work at 5:30am and deferred training until the evening. Plus my calves have been soooo sore since I ran on Tuesday and followed that up with 80 minutes of cardio on Wednesday. I vaguely remember reading in an article that running on the balls of your feet can make your calves sore, but I had no idea they would be this sore. It feels like I did weights! So even though I would gladly take muscle soreness over injury pain any day, taking the morning off probably wasn't a bad idea.

Earlier I mentioned making adjustments for great opportunities that present themselves. Well, this Saturday morning I'm going to run with one of my friends that was also going to do the Ft. Lauderdale Airport runway 5K (the one I was supposed to do on Saturday but got cancelled). She is also scheduled for a 5 mile run this weekend so she suggested that we do ours together (which I thought was a great idea since normally anything over 2-3 miles I end up doing by myself). Although Jeanette does a 3:1 ratio, she is graciously going to do 2:1 with me (I'm all smiles). So this changes my LR day (again), but it's for a great reason this time so I'm very excited!

I'm hoping to get up to a 3:1 ratio again soon (with the ultimate goal being a 4:1 ratio with a 10 minute/mile pace (at least)). I often refer to this run:walk ratio chart from the Jeff Galloway website for pacing guidance...

Working on form and endurance both require time and I have been realizing more and more that I will have to diversify my training and begin incorporating other activities that will help me develop the endurance and running strength required to run 26.2 miles (swimming, weights, other endurance building activities etc)

Marathon Training is never one dimensional

Weather didn't permit an evening running session so I spent some quality time doing core workouts and some of my physical therapy exercises. Tomorrow I am going to do a morning cardio session and ice my knees and legs in preparation for Saturday!

Oh! I saw this on Active.com and thought it was cool so I decided to share it with you.

The Chicago marathon is ranked #2 in terms of the number of marathon finishers 

(I don't know how recent the data is though so forgive me if that has changed)

Big races or small races...what do you prefer?

"Why Do You Run Wednesday"

Yesterday I received this email regarding the 5K scheduled for Saturday...

So, let's be honest, I'm glad they realized the runway was not safe prior to hosting the 5K, but they really could have come to that realization sooner than 4 days before the event! They're issuing refunds (of course) so I shouldn't complain, but I am a little disappointed because I was looking forward to running with so many of my friends :(

Anyway, this "change in plans" gives me the opportunity to make a few adjustments to my weekly training schedule. Today was cardio day (since I ran yesterday, albeit 1 mile). I might change tomorrow to a cardio day also, and then run on Friday, rest on Saturday, and run 5 miles (yes, again) on Sunday. I'm trying to "be flexible" with my training schedule (to keep in line with my newly developed "curve-ball accommodation complex"), and I have to go to work early on Thursday so it actually works out well.

My cardio session at the gym this morning was great (it really was I'm not being sarcastic. I'm starting to enjoy the cardio sessions...well I did today at least, let me not get too ahead of myself). 

Today I did 4 sets of 20 minutes on my usual machines:

Eliptical...

Recumbent bike...

Stride machine (I really should find out the proper name for this machine....I'm not 100% sure it's actually called a "stride machine")...

And the Stair Climber...

I think next week (or the week after) I'm going to start doing a teeny tiny bit of very very light weights on my cardio days. Well, maybe I will...I'm still thinking about it. I don't want to do too much too soon since that's what got me into trouble in the first place.

I read this article this morning regarding training mileage...

which basically supports running more miles a week to help with faster marathon finish times. But then that article led me to this one 

that offered "rules" and "tips" to help you determine how many miles/week you should be running to train for varying distance races. 

Personally, I don't see myself running past 30 miles/week when I'm at the peak of my marathon training. There is a point when I think my LR is 27 miles (that's as high as it gets I believe) so for that week I might go up to 32 miles (taking into consideration my mid-week running sessions). There are those elite runners that are running triple that number however, and sometimes running in the morning and in the evening (I can't even imagine what that's like). 

Regardless of how many miles you are logging in your training journal...

And never lose sight of why you started running in the first place...

Why do you run?

"Speed" workout Tuesday

This morning I didn't have a lot of time for my mid-week run so this morning's session turned into a "speed" workout and you know what? I'm glad it did!

I got up and did a little more of a warm up than I normally do inside. I did some chair squats...

and high knees...

and put a heating pad on my legs for about 15 minutes.

While I was "warming my legs" I read this article on proper running form and it really registered with me. A few posts ago I mentioned that I was going to be using my mid-week running sessions to really focus on running form. Today was no exception.

I decided not to check the weather, specifically the humidity because I didn't want to put up any mental blocks for the session. So once I was outside I just focused on my newly revised routine for the day.

Logic behind my revised routine:
Many of us have come to realize, at some point during our training, that when you're tired your form falls off. Of course, if you have bad form to begin with, fatigue only leads to a "form crisis". I have also noticed that when my knee hurts I fall apart (form-wise, mentally, emotionally etc), so my goal needs to be to learn proper running form (or at the very least "better" running form) and to keep my knees and everything else from hurting. Muscle soreness I can live with but pain from an injury is totally different.

So for this morning's revised routine I started with a 0.5 mile brisk "warm up" walk (1 lap around my complex). Then I did a speed workout. I adjusted my interval timer to maintain a 1:1 ratio but using a shorter duration (remember I'm not a sprinter so I can't keep up a "fast" pace for very long). I did a 1 mile speed run:walk (30s:30s) and focused on running so that I landed on the balls of my feet. During the "walk" portion I maintained a brisk walk, making sure not to "pound" my heels. Then I ended with a 0.5 mile moderate pace "cool down" walk.

I don't track my warm up or cool down walk time/mileage so this was the summary of the 1 mile run...

11:08mins/mile is better than I have been in a long time, bearing in mind it was only for 1 mile. I'm hoping I can go for 2 miles at that pace (or close to it) during my next mid-week run.

The weather was pretty nice. It did feel humid, but again I didn't check the weather (not even after) so I don't really know how humid it was.

One of the "back drop" pictures I took of the morning sky...

So in addition to the great news about my improved pace for today I'm also happy to announce that.....drumroll please.......my knee didn't hurt! Could it be that all the experts who say running midfoot/on the balls of your feet is the best way to run are actually correct?!

I'm not sure how long (in terms of distance) I can keep up that stride but I really hope I can push myself to do 5 miles this weekend using this new technique. One of the things I did notice is that I felt "unsteady" going around corners so I ended up heel striking a little in those instances, but other than that I was mid-foot running all the way!

See the one "heel striker" in the bunch? That's normally me....but that will soon change (hopefully)

I'm going to be doing a lot more reading and learning about proper running form over the next few months. I really want to be able to use proper form all the time by the end of the year. The rest of 2014 is really about "getting it right" with my foundation mileage, core strength, running form, diet & hydration, and mental focus.

Are there any former "heel strikers" out there? What are some of the tricks you used to change your foot strike? 

Are there any heel strikers that have never had an injury?

How is your weekly running going so far?

My love-hate relationship with Mondays...

I have a love-hate relationship with Mondays. It's complicated. I'm not sure anything can help at this point (except maybe if I didn't have to work on Mondays and it would just be another "weekend" day for me). 

The reason for my "love-hate" relationship is two-fold:
1. I love Mondays because it's the start of a new training week for me. It's a chance to "start clean" and "clear the slate" of any previous mishaps over the past week. It's also my traditional rest day, which I have come to appreciate as a well needed break for my body.

2. I hate Mondays because it's the start of a new regular week and it pretty much means the weekend fun time is over. It's a "back to reality" check, when I have to come to terms with the fact that the bills don't pay themselves (sadly) so my M-F job is a requirement, not a recommendation. I love the people I work with, don't get me wrong, but given the choice I (like most people) would rather work because I want to not because I have to.

Today marked the start of a new school year for Kaiyu (8th grade!). I tried to do the "first day of school" picture thing but that was met with a death stare that read "Mom, I'm 13 not 3" (sigh...teenagers). The first day of school also meant the first day of school traffic (lovely). The roads were not fun today. As I type, Kai is in the midst of algebra homework "aka" her high school math class in middle school (one of the 5 advanced classes she has this year).

Apart from my typical "Monday blues" today was a good day. I did some of my physical therapy exercises and plan to do some leg massages before bed. Tomorrow will be a running day for me because I have a 5K on Saturday, so in order to space out my running days I will run: Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday of this week. That means my cardio days will be Wednesday and Friday. I will rest on Sunday and then (depending on how I am feeling) run next week Monday, Wednesday, Friday and the following Sunday. Sounds simple enough right?

I keep track of my training schedule and make necessary adjustments weekly (sometimes daily as I dodge Life's "curve balls") and post it on a calendar hanging on my bedroom wall. I also keep track of completed activities in my training journal

Sanya (twin sister) bought this one for me. It's the same one she used when she trained for her marathon and she recommended it (as did hundreds of reviewers on Amazon.com). I started using it at the beginning of the year and absolutely LOVE it! I also have the benefit of the "history" feature in my Runtastic app, but I only document my running (and occasional walking) sessions in Runtastic. My journal includes all my activities: cardio days, swimming, weights (when I was focusing on that) etc. It's great to look back and see how far I have come (or reminisce on "where I was").

How do you keep track of your training? Do you have a running journal also? a notebook? or do you use an app?