Day 33

Between spring break and getting ready for spring break and internship hunting, I have not posted in awhile but I still have been training! It's been pretty smooth sailing these past two weeks, plus I also have had running buddies every now and then (thanks Anna and Rachel). This week in Florida my schedule has been a bit different, but I still have managed to workout all of my scheduled days except one. Monday was my shorter run, Rachel accompanied me and ran most of my run with me. We ran 3.5 miles in the rain around the neighborhood where my aunt and uncle live, and my time was exactly 35 minutes. Yesterday there was sadly no Zumba, but I managed to do my fast mile which I usually aim to run in 8 minutes in 7:25 minutes! The week before this for my long run my little Anna ran with me, and we ran around the section at home which is a total of 4 miles. Once again, I ran it in 40 minutes. Next week I plan to go back to my normal routine.

Day 18

This week at a glance so far has been fun, challenging, rewarding and again challenging. Here's what my days have been like. 

Monday was my short run and lifting. I ran for 3 miles on the trails behind good life fitness gym and then lifted back and legs. Lifting was normal, but my run was adventurous. Last time I ran on the trail I went right, this time I went left. The trail had a few winds and curves and then turned into a new trail called Jamaica trail. Now I have never been to Jamaica, but I can only assume that it is nothing like this trail was. It didn't matter though because it was beautiful weather for early March in Nebraska and I am not going to complain about that. I was running around 2 in the afternoon, right in the middle of the day on a public trail on a gorgeous day. I was getting close to my turn around point when I ran by an abandoned picnic. I thought that was somewhat strange, but kept on running. I was approaching a bridge that went over a creek when I noticed a trail of clothing leading to the bridge. Then I heard laughing.  From a boy and a girl. And I was afraid that it was going to get real weird real quick running over this bridge. But I thought its the middle of the day, its only March, maybe they have swimsuits on and are just sitting on the rocks, so I ran over the bridge anyway. And they were definitely skinny dipping. On a Monday afternoon. In broad daylight. On a public trail. In March. In Nebraska. Did I mention it was like 2 in the afternoon? When I reached my halfway point and turned around the clothes had disappeared but the picnic remnants were still there. I finished my run of three miles in 27 minutes and 30 seconds, so a little over 9 minute miles which is better than my usual pace! Not by much, but by some. 

Tuesday was fun because my friend Bekah was visiting me and we went to the gym together.  We lifted all upper body and core and it was awesome and we got juice stop afterwards which was awesome and I had a lifting buddy which was awesome. Bekah is pretty awesome and I'm glad she went with me. 

Wednesday was SOOO nice outside! It was boot camp day and I was ready to play outside! The teacher who instructs boot camp on Wednesdays is one of my favorites and now she is one of my bosses at Good Life because I got accepted as an instructor there (yay!) We ran outside, jumped rope outside, and did pushups and squats outside for a warmup. Then for one of our circuits we had to run around the building to where the tire pile was, grab a tire and then run with it up the hill right next to the gym. If you do not know what the hill by good life looks like, imagine the highest incline a treadmill goes and then add some. It's like a tiny mountain and when you're supposed to run up it with a tire, well it looks even more giant. But I accomplished that, ran back down the hill with my tire where then we had to do 30 overhead tire presses and run back inside for the other circuits. The rest of bootcamp continued from inside to outside, and then I left and sat in my wine lab smelling like outside sweat and tire. It was awesome. I apologize to my classmates. 

Which brings me to today. Today I definitely felt the fronts of my legs from running up mini mount everest the other day. When it got time for my sprint mile though, I was ready to bust it out and be done with it. Unfortunately I did not finish my full mile because I was afraid of hurting my shins, but I kept my pace high for what I did run. I ran .75 miles in 6 minutes, which means I would have completed my 8 minute mile if I didn't stop. I don't regret stopping early though. It gave me adequate time to stretch my shins out and do some therapeutic exercises for my legs before Zumba. Zumba was great, as always, and I always leave there feeling refreshed and happy. After Zumba I utilized the Rec Centers injury prevention center for the first time in my life. The girl working there was really nice and she strapped two bags of ice to my shins with plastic wrap. Walking felt so weird, but as I am writing this now my legs are numb and it feels so good. The girl asked me if I was a runner when I asked for ice and I laughed and said no but that I was training for my first half marathon. She smiled at me and said that that inspired her, which made me feel good about myself that I could inspire someone. 

Yesterday I officially signed up for the half marathon in Kearney. They have my name. I have my number. They are expecting me. I am expecting them. Hopefully I can reach this goal. 

                           Here are my ice wrapped numb feeling sore legs. Aren't they beautiful?

Day 13

Today was absolutely beautiful. It got to be 60 degrees in the afternoon, sunny with a slight breeze. I am home for the weekend so I got to run in the area where I grew up at, which was refreshing and fun.

I ran right after I had some yogurt and granola for breakfast. Todays distance run was 3.75 miles, not too far. It was about 10 in the morning when I headed out the door and onto the gravel road. It was the first run of the year outside in a tank top and it felt amazing. Today while running I never had a side ache. I never had pain in my shins. I never felt incredibly out of breath. I kept my breathing pattern the whole time and finished my run in 37 minutes. Even without looking at my time I am really good at sticking to my 10 minute mile pace.

Running on the gravel road by my home today made me think of growing up on the farm and all the memories I have of this place. I first passed my schoolhouse where I went to kindergarten all the way through 7th grade. It looks so desolate now, but I can remember a schoolyard full of children and classrooms full of learning. Down the road I could see where one of my childhood best friends lived. I remember going over to Carissa's house numerous times after school to go sledding, bake cookies, play in her yard, and our favorite, to make crafts together. I also ran past the home of where 'the country garden' is. I remember visiting that yard in the 5th grade for art class. The class got to roam around the huge yard, pick wherever they wanted to set up and draw their view with oil pastels. I turned around to start my journey back home shortly passed Malina's house. Malina was a little girl who had to have been in 2nd or 3rd grade when I broke my wrist in 7th grade during recess and she brought me flowers after my surgery. The whole run home I was thinking about how lucky I was to have grown up where I did. I would't change a thing.

Day 11

Thursdays are my training day that I never know how to feel about because I hate sprinting but I love Zumba. In the end I think it balances out, and todays sprint actually went really well. (Hooray!) I got to the gym shortly before 8:30 to get my sprint mile out of the way and let me tell you, 8:30 is a busy time for the gym. In the entire building there was only one open treadmill and I felt lucky to get it. Anyway, I got on and warmed up by walking .30 miles on a slight incline.  The whole warm up I was dreading the run because of how last week went which wasn't the best attitude to start my short run because every day is a new day and you shouldn't dwell on the past, but it's hard to forget. After my warmup I set the speed to 7.5 and got going.

At about .70 through my mile the thought of stopping crossed my mind (I was breathing heavy, sweating hard, you get the picture) and it reminded me of a conversation I had earlier with my little Anna. Earlier today we were talking together because she has a hard decision that she needs to make.  If you know me, you know I am terrible at decisions.  They stress me out and make me feel anxious, but she is coping well with the cards she was dealt with and I know she will pick the right path. Thinking about her situation and decision making in general, I decided that for the next two minutes or so that it was going to take me to finish this 8 minute mile that I wasn't going to stop because I know I am capable of finishing it no matter how many times my mind would tell me I'm tired. I finished without stopping and it felt good. Like, real good.

Zumba went wonderfully afterwards. I love my class and the energy they bring to dance. Today I had about 30ish people.  Throughout the entire class there was this one girl who did not have a rhythmic bone in her body. She would frequently get the steps wrong, turn a wrong way, throw up the wrong hand, but throughout the entire class she had the biggest smile on her face. She was smiling, laughing, calling out, just in general having an awesome time no matter if she messed up or not. She could have been upset and walked out half way through class (I have had people do that before) but she chose to make the best of what she was doing. She chose to be the best class participant today, and it warmed my happy Zumba heart.

Day 8

A couple posts ago I talked about dedicating runs to a different person or idea, so after the last couple days I dedicated todays run to being present. It is absolutely beautiful outside today so I decided to do a 5 minute warm up on the bike at Good Life gym and then do my run on the trails that run right behind the building. Today was the same distance as Saturdays "distance" run, three miles. Saturday went terrible, but today went so good.  

After my warm up, I went out to the trail to get started. There were two different paths to choose from, one was paved and one was gravel.  I chose the gravel road because it reminded me of home and started my run.  I went at a comfortable pace the whole time and really paid attention to my breathing, to my rhythm, to me legs, and to my surroundings. I did not check my running watch to see how far I had gone or what my time was,  I was focusing on being present in what I was doing and really just noticing what was around me. It felt so good to run outside and before I knew it the first mile was over. After that I ran for a bit longer hoping it was around a half mile and then turned around so I would end up back at the gym at three miles.  When I turned around I thought how funny it is that you don't notice wind until you are running against it. Shortly after I had turned around my side started to ache with that annoying feeling of having knives in your stomach.  I kept pushing through it, still trying to stay present and trying to remember to honor my body with what I was doing. After a couple more minutes of this the song "Walk it Out" came on my music on shuffle and I took Gods hint and took a quick walk break until the pain subsided. I continued on and felt really good all the way back to the gym where I checked my watch and still had .25 left until my 3 mile goal and my time had roughly 2 minutes till it reached 30 minutes of running. I finished out my last bit of distance and finished my 3 miles in just under 30 minutes. It was awesome. 

When I went back in the gym I still had my SS training left.  I did the same as I did last Monday, 30 minutes of lifting legs and back and stretching.  I also incorporated some of the leg exercises to bring more strength into my shins in hopes of keeping those shin splints away. When I left the gym I felt great about myself and to make it all even better, the sun was shining. 

Be present in what you do and good things will come back to you. 

Day 7

Today I went to Red Dirt Running Company to get some help for my shin issue. The woman that helped me gave me some exercises and stretches to relieve my shin splints and strengthen my shins. I never really knew what shin splints were and she explained that what happens is your calf muscle gets too strong for your shin and the shin muscle literally tears itself from the calf (which is super painful.) She also had me stand on a pad that analyzed the pressure points of your feet and can find what side of your foot you favor and if you have arches that need support. Then she had me run on a treadmill and there is a camera that records how your feet strike the ground and if your ankle has any sort of pronation at all. After all of this she told me I would benefit from a shoe that had more arch support and more stability for the inside of my ankle. She went back and pulled three different models for me to try on and I found a pair of sauconys that fit perfectly (and they were the cheapest, how lucky am I?) The real test will come with how this week goes, but I am hopeful that it will get better from here.