Yesterday was hills...once again a Thursday hill run. This week we were going to extend the distance a bit, but I think most of us got started a bit earlier than when the coach got there so we've put it off. I was glad - not because I didn't want to run, but more because the heat was out yesterday (more so than the past weeks.)
Anyhow, I ran, I sweated, I ran some more and got thru it. After my relatively easy first one I thought for sure I could keep going, however by the time I got to my 3rd set I was starting to feel it and the heat was getting to me. I did manage to do 4 sets (did 5 last week) but all in all I was feeling pretty good.
Imagine my surprise when I got home and sitting in my inbox was an application to join the Bear Naked Team. I mean I was feeling pretty good and thinking I was making strides, but seriously...ready for the big time?!
HA
The heat must have really played games with my head - the application is for anyone interested in applying for the team, they just sent it out to active users. It kind of burst my bubble when my other more 'functioning' brain cells kicked into high gear, but after reading the info I thought I would share. It sounds like a pretty interesting organization.
So if this sounds like something that might interest any of you, dear readers, I encourage you to fill out the application form. Seriously, what have you got to lose??
Friday, June 27, 2008
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Running vs. Slumping
I don't know what happened to me, but I feel like I've fallen into a hole or rather 'slumped' over and don't want to run much. I'm not sure why, the weather has been rather nice and I was feeling pretty good prior to this, but all the sudden my running is just not fun right now.
Sad really.
Yesterday was monday training and even though I went, I did not want to go. I spent the entire day having a silent battle with myself
- You really should go...
- No, I don't want to go, maybe I can get sick
- You're such a faker...why pretend to be sick no one cares
- I know, but I'm tired, I just want to watch tv
(no, I'm not completely crazy, just sound like it when I put it out here) hehe
I get into these ruts, I eventually get out, it's the time in between that is so hard. The bad part about all this is the fact that I am going on vacation in about a week and don't want to train that week, so I really should be running this week.
Why is it so hard to run during the summer??
Sad really.
Yesterday was monday training and even though I went, I did not want to go. I spent the entire day having a silent battle with myself
- You really should go...
- No, I don't want to go, maybe I can get sick
- You're such a faker...why pretend to be sick no one cares
- I know, but I'm tired, I just want to watch tv
(no, I'm not completely crazy, just sound like it when I put it out here) hehe
I get into these ruts, I eventually get out, it's the time in between that is so hard. The bad part about all this is the fact that I am going on vacation in about a week and don't want to train that week, so I really should be running this week.
Why is it so hard to run during the summer??
Friday, June 20, 2008
Breath in...
... breath out. That's the way we go, round and round again.
This week has been an exceptional week as far as weather is concerned. Both Monday and last night were much cooler than the previous weeks and I've found it easier to run longer distances. (It is possible that because I've up'd my running distance and actually have been doing it more consistently this could be a factor, but nah..I'm betting on the weather.)
Anyhow, yesterday was hills. The ever so tiring hills. A few weeks ago I started running said hills and found the few reps I did not quite so exhausting - now I've started running the longer sets and doing more reps...I am definitely tired afterward, but I digress.
When I started running yesterday I could feel the tension in my shoulders and upper back. It felt like I needed to pop my back and I was trying to do some stretches during my warm up to target this area. Not much helped (been a stressful week). I noticed as I ran that each breath I took seemed to be centered in my chest which would point out the tightness in my upper back. This got me to thinking. (ah ha...she does have a point to this story)
During our Monday workouts, Mark, has us do a warm up exercise that concentrates on breathing...specifically breathing from our diaphragm and not our chest. We put one hand on our chest and one on our stomach and breath - which one moves? If the stomach expands, you are breathing from your diaphragm, if not then you are breathing from the chest and not getting the full amount of oxygen.
I spent a good amount of my running focusing on this...breath in with my diaphragm - eventually it became second thought and I was able to do so without dedicated thought. What I noticed during this is that my breathing became more controlled and I could run better. By better I mean I didn't pant like a dog with short choppy breaths when I ran up the hills.
I wonder if this is something I've always done or if perhaps it is something that I've become accustomed to over time?
This week has been an exceptional week as far as weather is concerned. Both Monday and last night were much cooler than the previous weeks and I've found it easier to run longer distances. (It is possible that because I've up'd my running distance and actually have been doing it more consistently this could be a factor, but nah..I'm betting on the weather.)
Anyhow, yesterday was hills. The ever so tiring hills. A few weeks ago I started running said hills and found the few reps I did not quite so exhausting - now I've started running the longer sets and doing more reps...I am definitely tired afterward, but I digress.
When I started running yesterday I could feel the tension in my shoulders and upper back. It felt like I needed to pop my back and I was trying to do some stretches during my warm up to target this area. Not much helped (been a stressful week). I noticed as I ran that each breath I took seemed to be centered in my chest which would point out the tightness in my upper back. This got me to thinking. (ah ha...she does have a point to this story)
During our Monday workouts, Mark, has us do a warm up exercise that concentrates on breathing...specifically breathing from our diaphragm and not our chest. We put one hand on our chest and one on our stomach and breath - which one moves? If the stomach expands, you are breathing from your diaphragm, if not then you are breathing from the chest and not getting the full amount of oxygen.
I spent a good amount of my running focusing on this...breath in with my diaphragm - eventually it became second thought and I was able to do so without dedicated thought. What I noticed during this is that my breathing became more controlled and I could run better. By better I mean I didn't pant like a dog with short choppy breaths when I ran up the hills.
I wonder if this is something I've always done or if perhaps it is something that I've become accustomed to over time?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Group Running
Typically mondays are group running days and I like to post about the heat (gawd - is it hot here) or the rain (yes, it teased me yesterday during the early part of the workout only to leave me with more humidity than needed) but during the runs yesterday I noticed something.
You see, we had about 5 new people join the group and while Mark was spending time with them going over the techniques and form and other stuff I ran with a couple different groups of people. I've been coming to the group for a little over a month and like any group, there are people of all different speeds and they tend to group up, because of the good ol' south heat and humidity most conversations tend to gear towards the weather. Yesterday however, there were quite a few conversations about people dislike of running, or rather their dislike of running alone.
I have to say that this is a lot of the reason I started running with a group in the first place, so I like everyone else, like running with a group. What I think is odd is that running is really an individual sport. Rarely are there two people who run at exactly the same speed, usually one is pushing the other to be better and one is trying to be better.
Running is about determination - personal determination and motivation to do something just for me. If you run for fun, it is just that...there are no medals, no parties at the end of it, just you and your thoughts. There is no special equipment needed, no set times to do it, no need to reserve a place to run - just you and the road, maybe some tunes or perhaps your thoughts, but otherwise it is left up to you.
So why is it that people want to run but dislike running alone? If the alone part of it is hard, then why don't we choose a group sport? I don't have an all encompassing answer - obviously everyone is different, but I can speak from my view point.
Running is a release. It doesn't require much planning, it doesn't require any special training (unless you want to be competitive) and it's easy. Yes, that's right, running is easy. I'm not saying that a marathon is easy, but just getting out and putting one foot in front of the other is easy...baby steps, we've all got to start somewhere. The hard part comes into play day after day, especially when the heat or cold sets in, when the weather conditions are not ideal and it becomes easy to make excuses about how busy we are. The beauty of running is that no matter what...we can still do it-for as little or as long as we like.
Group running - that just brings us together with other people who are like us. Runners are a unique breed and no matter what level they will always encourage you to do it. For me, I may complain about the heat, the humidity, the amount of things I should be doing instead of running, but really I enjoy every minute I'm out there!
You see, we had about 5 new people join the group and while Mark was spending time with them going over the techniques and form and other stuff I ran with a couple different groups of people. I've been coming to the group for a little over a month and like any group, there are people of all different speeds and they tend to group up, because of the good ol' south heat and humidity most conversations tend to gear towards the weather. Yesterday however, there were quite a few conversations about people dislike of running, or rather their dislike of running alone.
I have to say that this is a lot of the reason I started running with a group in the first place, so I like everyone else, like running with a group. What I think is odd is that running is really an individual sport. Rarely are there two people who run at exactly the same speed, usually one is pushing the other to be better and one is trying to be better.
Running is about determination - personal determination and motivation to do something just for me. If you run for fun, it is just that...there are no medals, no parties at the end of it, just you and your thoughts. There is no special equipment needed, no set times to do it, no need to reserve a place to run - just you and the road, maybe some tunes or perhaps your thoughts, but otherwise it is left up to you.
So why is it that people want to run but dislike running alone? If the alone part of it is hard, then why don't we choose a group sport? I don't have an all encompassing answer - obviously everyone is different, but I can speak from my view point.
Running is a release. It doesn't require much planning, it doesn't require any special training (unless you want to be competitive) and it's easy. Yes, that's right, running is easy. I'm not saying that a marathon is easy, but just getting out and putting one foot in front of the other is easy...baby steps, we've all got to start somewhere. The hard part comes into play day after day, especially when the heat or cold sets in, when the weather conditions are not ideal and it becomes easy to make excuses about how busy we are. The beauty of running is that no matter what...we can still do it-for as little or as long as we like.
Group running - that just brings us together with other people who are like us. Runners are a unique breed and no matter what level they will always encourage you to do it. For me, I may complain about the heat, the humidity, the amount of things I should be doing instead of running, but really I enjoy every minute I'm out there!
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Rain, rain - won't you stay?
Please don't leave ... it's much easier to run when your here than with the heat and humidity when your gone!!
Yes, that is how I felt today - this morning to be exact. I had spent all week gearing myself up for a 2 hr long run this morning. Nope, I didn't have a clue where I was going, I was just going to head out to where ever the road takes me. The weather man (like they know what their talking about) was forcasting rain yesterday and today. There was none yesterday, just some clouds and some humid and very hot mid-south heat. Then last night about 8 it started thundering and lightening and the skys just sort of opened up. Oh yeah..time to cool off.
My first thought was that it would be great to run today, then I thought it might be raining and I'd wait until sunday, but nope, it was wet out, but not raining today when I finally decided to crawl out of bed. I decided I would bribe the kids (and the hubby too) with some donuts...it also doubled as a warm up. I ran over to the donut shop (about 1/2) mile, picked up some goodies and headed back. I quickly dropped them off and out the door I went. It was about 8:30am, a few clouds in the sky and the air wasn't too bad. I thought I had it made. 30 minutes later I rounded a corner and if the clouds didn't part and make way for the sun - yep I could feel the heat around me. It was like an oven and I was the pot roast!
I sucked it up (because at this point there was no turning back) and kept putting one foot in front of the other. I ran by where I work, which doubled as a quick water refueling station, and then headed for home. 2hrs later and a bit of energy lighter I had completed it. I was soaked, red faced and tired, but you know what? I wouldn't change a thing!
Yes, that is how I felt today - this morning to be exact. I had spent all week gearing myself up for a 2 hr long run this morning. Nope, I didn't have a clue where I was going, I was just going to head out to where ever the road takes me. The weather man (like they know what their talking about) was forcasting rain yesterday and today. There was none yesterday, just some clouds and some humid and very hot mid-south heat. Then last night about 8 it started thundering and lightening and the skys just sort of opened up. Oh yeah..time to cool off.
My first thought was that it would be great to run today, then I thought it might be raining and I'd wait until sunday, but nope, it was wet out, but not raining today when I finally decided to crawl out of bed. I decided I would bribe the kids (and the hubby too) with some donuts...it also doubled as a warm up. I ran over to the donut shop (about 1/2) mile, picked up some goodies and headed back. I quickly dropped them off and out the door I went. It was about 8:30am, a few clouds in the sky and the air wasn't too bad. I thought I had it made. 30 minutes later I rounded a corner and if the clouds didn't part and make way for the sun - yep I could feel the heat around me. It was like an oven and I was the pot roast!
I sucked it up (because at this point there was no turning back) and kept putting one foot in front of the other. I ran by where I work, which doubled as a quick water refueling station, and then headed for home. 2hrs later and a bit of energy lighter I had completed it. I was soaked, red faced and tired, but you know what? I wouldn't change a thing!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Hungry??
Yesterday was hills...the dreaded hills. Truth be told, the hills aren't so bad - I actually kind of enjoy the hills. I ran 3 sets of 4 hills and a 1 set of 3 hills with warm up and cool down included it was about 6mi. Tomorrow will be the long run of the week - I'm already dreading having to get up early on a saturday just to go run, but the alternative is running late and that is even more unappealing.
My point today is not so much the actual exercise as it is the hunger (or lack there of) after a work out. During my group trainings, I often here people discussing their eating habits and the need for a light snack after a work out much like yesterday. I hear people talk about how they are ravenous by the time they get home if they don't have some fruit or something. This got me to thinking about my own hunger. I've noticed over the past few weeks/months of running that I rarely am ever 'hungry' after a run. The longer or further I run the less I want food. I am typically thirsty beyond belief, but food...not so much. This goes for fruit or anything else light. I can eat half a bannana after a 6 mi run and it feels like I just put 5 lbs in my stomach.
This is really only the case after a long run at which due to the change in training has been at a slower and more steady aerobic pace as opposed to my faster 5K race pace. I was talking about this with some other runners and it was said that "perhaps my body is still burning my surplus of fat stores and that is why I am not hungry, where as in a race I am burning sugar and my body feels the need to replace this with food."
Hum...run slow, burn fat - run fast, burn sugar and be hungry. Maybe the coach has got a method to his madness after all.
What do you think??
My point today is not so much the actual exercise as it is the hunger (or lack there of) after a work out. During my group trainings, I often here people discussing their eating habits and the need for a light snack after a work out much like yesterday. I hear people talk about how they are ravenous by the time they get home if they don't have some fruit or something. This got me to thinking about my own hunger. I've noticed over the past few weeks/months of running that I rarely am ever 'hungry' after a run. The longer or further I run the less I want food. I am typically thirsty beyond belief, but food...not so much. This goes for fruit or anything else light. I can eat half a bannana after a 6 mi run and it feels like I just put 5 lbs in my stomach.
This is really only the case after a long run at which due to the change in training has been at a slower and more steady aerobic pace as opposed to my faster 5K race pace. I was talking about this with some other runners and it was said that "perhaps my body is still burning my surplus of fat stores and that is why I am not hungry, where as in a race I am burning sugar and my body feels the need to replace this with food."
Hum...run slow, burn fat - run fast, burn sugar and be hungry. Maybe the coach has got a method to his madness after all.
What do you think??
Monday, June 9, 2008
Rain or Shine
Well I finally made my lazy self get up and get another run in. Yep, you heard me, I fell off the running wagon after last weeks feat! HA Ok, so not really, actually I left town last Thursday and had 'big' plans to get my butt out and run while in Denver, but I quickly realized after walking around...I was not use to the air and got winded. (talk about making a girl feel out of shape?!) So I changed my plans and thought "I'll use the gym" but that didn't happen either. The good news...I did do a 24 mile advanced white water rafting trip that gave me a pretty good work out. Not so much the legs, but I could definitely feel it the next day.
Being back at home today I did the whole 'talk myself up' and work on convincing myself that I was going to run this afternoon (shouldn't be too hard, I usually do monday night training). Problem was that my stepson was arriving today and dad wouldn't be back in time for me to leave and get to the training site so instead I busied myself with getting the house ready and waiting for some relief from the horrible heat. (Yes, I cheated and waited until just after 7pm (after the thunder clouds started to roll in and the news channel issued a massive t-storm warning complete with flooding to go run) I so could have used this as an excuse, I even felt a little sick to my stomach, but I didn't...I ran. Seriously - ok, so I jogged a good 3 miles, drenched from head to toe in sweat, I could feel the heat radiating from my body, but by the time I got home I felt good.
Not just because I killed a few brain cells with the excess heat, but because I got out and ran instead of making an excuse and sticking around the comfort of the ac. This week we are adding in some additional swimming sessions along with the planned running so, we'll see how it goes.
Being back at home today I did the whole 'talk myself up' and work on convincing myself that I was going to run this afternoon (shouldn't be too hard, I usually do monday night training). Problem was that my stepson was arriving today and dad wouldn't be back in time for me to leave and get to the training site so instead I busied myself with getting the house ready and waiting for some relief from the horrible heat. (Yes, I cheated and waited until just after 7pm (after the thunder clouds started to roll in and the news channel issued a massive t-storm warning complete with flooding to go run) I so could have used this as an excuse, I even felt a little sick to my stomach, but I didn't...I ran. Seriously - ok, so I jogged a good 3 miles, drenched from head to toe in sweat, I could feel the heat radiating from my body, but by the time I got home I felt good.
Not just because I killed a few brain cells with the excess heat, but because I got out and ran instead of making an excuse and sticking around the comfort of the ac. This week we are adding in some additional swimming sessions along with the planned running so, we'll see how it goes.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Drowning gnats
Yesterday (since I'm childless this week...thank you grandma) I decided to start my typical monday workout a little earlier than normal. On a typical monday I get to the park about 5:45 and we start about 6:00. That gives me enough time to do some easy jogging and get warmed up before the group runs. Yesterday however, I got to the park about 5 and thought I would jog for about an hour before the rest of the group got there.
Holy crap was it hot! Nope not just hot, but HUMID too. Now, I'm no stranger to heat and humidity, I grew up near the gulf (hell) and have learned to love heat and humidity...I just never ran for hours on end in it. The difference between hell where I grew up and here is that in hell there is air...hot air, but air none the less. Here, there is a thick, heavy, very still oxygen that you suck in when you breath. Needless to say after half an hour in this I was soaked and the poor little gnats that got near me were drowning in the sweat.
By the time everyone else arrived that night and were getting ready by dowsing themselves in off...I was good to go - Bug's just stayed away at that point, too afraid of drowning!
By the end of the night, I had ran a total of about 7.5 miles, done some strength training and stretching. I felt good, I felt 'worked' by the end of it but still not completely drained. This is just the start of the summer heat and I've already learned that the motto is not..."D*mn it's hot" - instead it's become "Heat is my friend...I love the summer heat." (yep keep saying it, eventually you'll convince yourself!)
Holy crap was it hot! Nope not just hot, but HUMID too. Now, I'm no stranger to heat and humidity, I grew up near the gulf (hell) and have learned to love heat and humidity...I just never ran for hours on end in it. The difference between hell where I grew up and here is that in hell there is air...hot air, but air none the less. Here, there is a thick, heavy, very still oxygen that you suck in when you breath. Needless to say after half an hour in this I was soaked and the poor little gnats that got near me were drowning in the sweat.
By the time everyone else arrived that night and were getting ready by dowsing themselves in off...I was good to go - Bug's just stayed away at that point, too afraid of drowning!
By the end of the night, I had ran a total of about 7.5 miles, done some strength training and stretching. I felt good, I felt 'worked' by the end of it but still not completely drained. This is just the start of the summer heat and I've already learned that the motto is not..."D*mn it's hot" - instead it's become "Heat is my friend...I love the summer heat." (yep keep saying it, eventually you'll convince yourself!)
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