BON #22

Tuesday was a great night for a run. The weather was a perfect 75 degrees and there was a slight headwind. I met up my two running buddies at BON and we set off on a 3 mile run around Rice. We were all pretty pumped up and full of energy since they had signed up for their first half marathon that morning. They asked me all sorts of questions about how to train and how the run will go while we chugged around the university. The first 3 miles went by so easily, we decided to keep going to the next corner and back once we'd finished the lap. I think my tiredness set in by the time we made it to the corner, but we still had to make it back to BON. I sucked it up and plowed through to the finish.

Total Distance: 5.6 miles
Total Time: 1:00:40*

*Not bad for a liesurely run.

Cramps?

After last Wednesday's horrible attempt at a run, I've taken a small (although unplanned) break to see if that helps my cramping-calves problem any. I was busy with work and dive meetings on Thursday, and actually meant to attempt something on Friday, but my laziness won over. Saturday I woke up with a kink in my neck where it hurt to even turn my head, so I figured a run wasn't a good idea (even though it might have made my hangover feel a little better). I chose to do yard work on Sunday as my exercise. I think Hubby and I spent a good 4 hours on our backyard, but it looks amazing now. Check out my new garden:

There's a little bit of everything in there and I'm so proud of it. We did hot peppers and tomatos last year that turned out well, so we've upsized a lil.

Anyways, it's Tuesday again and time for another run at BON. Today, three of my buddies signed up with me for the Nike Women's Marathon (half for them, full for me), so I'm all pepped to get back out there and run again. I feel like it's been more than a week!

Here's to great runs and lots of fruits and veggies from the garden!

Cramps

I hate when I don't feel comfortable running. Last week, my calves were cramping so bad that I went for a massage. After that, I ran great - everything felt great. I thought maybe I was out of the woods, but NO. Tuesday I went out to BON for my leisurely 3 mile run around Rice. My calves cramped again. But, I thought, plenty of water and rest and The Stick would work them out and I'd feel better.

Yesterday, I was supposed to run hills. It's my first week of training and I really want to stick to it as closely as I can this time around. I set off to find some hills in my neighborhood (which, btw, there aren't any) and my calves started seizing up so bad it was hard to walk. I'd jog a little to the point where I couldn't take the pain anymore and then I'd walk. All in all, I made it about 3 miles, but my calves are really worrying me. What do I do?

I know potassium is supposed to help with muscle recovery and cramping, so I'm doing what I can to up the intake of that. I actually got a smoothie with a banana in it for my afternoon snack today. Gasp! Did you hear me? I got a smoothie with BANANA. I think I'm loosing my mind. It's bad when I want my legs to heal so bad that I'll go as far as eating a revolting banana. I'm  not sure who I am anymore. I'm almost ashamed of myself for it, but if it works, I don't really care if I have to eat these disgusting, slimy, abhorent bananas.

Still Relishing in the Glory

This past weekend was the 4 Four the Park run at Memorial. 4 miles on a relatively flat course that I practically run on all the time. Parking was supposed to be difficult, so my 2 friends and I arrived almost 2 hours before the race began. We had plenty time for potty breaks, stretching, and even warming up. I've never been one for warming up before a race, but I wanted to PR. My body felt great - especially after the wonderful sports massage I had on Wednesday to relieve the tension in my calves. My stomach was nervous, but I had set my goal high - I wanted an average 8:55 pace. C-Wow promised to push me at the begining instead of letting me hold back as usual if I pushed her at the end when I still had the energy left. She was aiming for a 9:00 min/mile pace, so we were well paired.

The gun went off exactly at 8:30am and we were off. After dodging the slow people that decided to stand in front of us, we settled into a 9 min pace weaving our way through the River Oaks neighborhood. Mile 1 was a success: 9:06. After that, my shoe came untied. I really need to start remembering to double knot my shoes before a race. Anyway, I tied them as quickly as possible and jumped back in with the herd. I sprinted to catch up with C-Wow, then had to recover my breath before the solo uphill trek. We didn't slow down for the hill and I think it took it's toll on my running partner, but she stayed with me until almost mile 3 before she fell back. I had absolute faith in her and waved her goodbye as I kept my "under 9" pace. The last stretch was pretty miserable without her. My stomach was hungry and there weren't very many people around. I kept my eyes on a couple in front of me and let them pace me to the finish. I wanted to collapse. But as I rounded the corner and the finish line came into sight, I saw my nice friend from Finish Strong cheering everyone on. He said "you can do it. Keep your back straight and pick up your knees." It was exactly what I needed - whether he recognized me or not. I didn't think I had a sprint left in me, but I gave it my all. I crossed the finish line knowing that I had crushed my 8:55 goal and it was exhilarating!

I grabbed a water bottle and turned around just to see C-Wow coming across the finish. She had stayed strong in the end and met her goal as well. All 3 of us PR'ed this race and we were all so excited. We hung around for over an hour at the afterparty listening to the band, eating all the great food, enjoying margaritas and of course partaking in the 5-min massages. It was a good day.

1st Half: 17:43!
2nd Half: 17:20
Overall Time: 35:04
Average Pace: 8:46!!!

Weekend Recap

What a great weekend! I started Friday out with a great 4-mile run down Allen Parkway during lunch. It was a beautiful sunny day and only about 60 degrees. I finished the hilly run in just under 48 minutes, but I had a few walk breaks because my calves were cramping up. I spent a good amount of time afterwards on the foam roller trying to work out the knots. One of the trainers walked by and saw the painful look on my face and commented "It hurts so good, doesn't it?" I'm not sure if he knew the half of it - it took everything I had not to scream.

Friday night we drove up to Dallas and stayed at a friend's house. I was determined to get up and run on Saturday morning and not start off my training lazily. I knew I had to be in heels for most of the night, so I kept the run under 3 miles. I ran around my friend's neighborhood and around a couple of roads where I saw other runners. It wasn't a horrible run, but it was super hilly and super duper windy. There were moments when the wind was so loud coming through my ears that I couldn't hear my headphones! My calves were still cramping slightly, but I didn't have to stop for them this time. I finished the workout with abs, pushups and lots of stretching. I think it's time for a massage! I can't ever seem to keep the cramps at bay by stretching alone, but a massage always works wonders.

The rest of the weekend was spent eating, hanging out with friends, and going to a wedding. I took lots of pics of the beautiful flowers at the Dallas Arboretum that I'll leave you with. Happy Monday!

BON Run #19

One of these days I'll run enough Tuesday night runs at Brian O'Neills that I'll earn my awesome pint glass. (It'll definately be one for the picture books!) Last night (after a long hiatus), I ran my 19th run there. None of my friends could make it, so I figured it would make for a good training run. I spent yesterday working on my new running schedule for the Napa to Sonoma Half Marathon, so I was in the mood. I targeted to run the Rice Loop at a 9:45 pace. I have never actually tried to pace myself for such a long period of time before. I think I looked down at my watch every 2/10ths of a mile or so! I kept catching myself going faster or slower and needing to adjust. I thought I would struggle to keep the pace since I haven't run at all since the 10K, but I got stronger at the end. I felt I could have kept going, but I feel I need to start slow.

Total Distance: 2.91m
Avg Pace: 9:45min/m

I hit the nail on the head with that one! Afterwords I got a text from my old running buddy who said she had seen me running when she drove by. Too funny. I asked her if at least I looked good and she said yes and congratulated me on my pace. Here's to an awesome running season (and no more snow in Texas)!

Bayou City 10K

Even though I haven't been training very much, I tackled a 10K a couple weeks ago. 3 of my friends signed up to do it too. We all started together, but of course there's always one in the group that pulls ahead. As much as everyone thought it would be me, it wasn't. Jersey pulled ahead and we didn't see her for quite a while. E and I managed to stay together and kept a pretty steady 10min pace for the first half. N is just starting to pick up running, so she didn't try to keep up with us. She just wanted to finish without walking. E's goal was to catch up with Jersey and at the turn around at halfway, she was about 1/2 a mile in front of us. We picked up the pace even though the sun was beating down on us and the temperature was rising. At mile 5.5, we headed up the last bridge and at the top, lo and behold is Jersey. We took either side of her and surprised her - she was not happy to see us. She knew she had started too fast but didnt' want us to catch up, she liked her lead. But she was struggling and needed us to pull her through. Me, being the one who usually has the energy at the end, told them both to hold on and just focus on my green shirt - I wouldn't let them stop.  With the motivation of St Arnold's beer at the finish, we crossed the line under 59 minutes. Jersey was so excited to complete her 1st 10K in under 60 minutes. N came in a few minutes later looking great - she had never walked. Congrats to all, and hopefully another one in the future!

Official 10K time: 58:36
1st 5K: 31:51
2nd 5K: 28:02
(I sure know how to pick it up in the end!)