Week 5: Run 2

Scheduled: 5
Actual: 5
RPE: 4

It was a tough run, I was feeling tired and really didn't want to go, but my sister got me an early birthday present so I wanted to try it out. It's called a camelback, which is basically a water pouch that you wear on your back. It was pretty great except I think I should wear it around my hips rather than my waist, as it kind of rubbed me the wrong way.

I'm getting really tired of running. Hopefully this is just a phase, this annoyance with the time I'm spending on it.

Catch (my iPod Shuffle) is awesome and I love him.

Week 5: Run 1

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 4

This was a tough run for some reason, I wasn't running too fast, but my lungs were really burning. I blame the woodsmoke in the area. It smells great when you walk outside, but is a little tough on my chest. The weather was gorgeous, didn't rain a drop on me.

All in all a great run.

Week 4: Run 4

Scheduled: 8
Actual: 8
RPE: 4

I'm in Shoreline, WA right now, and the weather is... well, rainy. But it is gorgeous. I ran from my sister's house down to the ferry and back. There are quite a few hills here, so the run was tough. Add to that the sporadic pouring rain and then sprinkling and then clear and it was definitely a change of pace. Exhausting, but a change of pace.

Week 4: Run 3

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 4

Oh. My. God. Last night sucked hard. I had just about convinced myself that I would "run in the morning" which is code for, I'll never run again, when I sucked it up and got dressed. I walked over to the track. And. IT WAS CLOSED! LOCKED UP! Fucking Christmas Break.

So, I was going to just walk home and call it quits when I convinced myself to run the reservoir, which is roughly three miles. I wanted to die.

The night got worse. Just wait till I tell you about it on the regular blog. Just. You. Wait.

Week 4: Run 2

Scheduled: 5
Actual: 5+
RPE: 5

This was the first time I had to run this distance on a week day. I was all keyed up about it. Very nervous for some reason. I think because I knew I couldn't torture myself on the track for that long so I was going to have to run at night in an area I'm not entirely sure is completely safe.

The area I ran in was heavily used last night, lots of joggers and dog walkers and only a couple of people looked suspicious. I'm pretty sure I should invest in some pepper spray though, it would make me feel a lot better.

I pushed really hard on this run and actually ended up doing it in 52 minutes, which is fast for me, not for most people, but fast for me. I was pretty proud of myself.

Week 4: Run 1

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 4

I really pushed hard on this run. After hurting my quad stretching (of all things) the day before, I was hurting a bit. But it seemed like the faster I ran, the less it hurt, so I just pushed really hard the first mile and a half. I was dragging ass the next quarter of a mile, my quad was killing every step. So I decided to try this technique I read about in some cancer novel. (Actually, I have no idea where I read about it, but I must have read about it somewhere, because I don't think I would make this kind of shit up.)

The technique is kind of a pain management/out of body type thing. What you do is focus on something external, like say a tree on the horizon, and put all of your pain into that tree. For some reason (and I know it sounds hokey and new agey) all the concentration on mentally giving your pain a physical space to reside in that isn't your body, makes you forget about or lose your pain. The weirdest part is, one would think that my quad would start to hurt again once I stopped doing this technique (which I guess I need to give a name for) but today, my quad doesn't hurt at all. I did stretch immediately after my run, so that I'm sure is playing a large part in this, but I swear that it works. I did this once before when I had really bad cramps and no Advil. I imagined the pain as tiny threads that I could pull out and throw away. So I would mentally go into the pain and find a thread, pull it out and work on the next one, until eventually the pain was gone. Like I said, I don't believe in this shit normally, and if it didn't work for me, I wouldn't be talking about it. But it totally works and I'm a big fan.

Week 3: Run 4

Scheduled: 7
Actual: 7
RPE: 4

Saturday - Dec. 17th
So, everything was going fine for my first mile and a half. I was cruising along at a good clip, my Christmas present from Louie (an iPod shuffle named Catch) was spinning some tunes, I was wearing a new pair of pants. The morning was crisp. All things good. Until, I fell. In the mud. Green, diarhea colored mud. All down my leg. And on my hand. I spent the next mile and a half thinking everyone thought I shit my pants. It was a tough run mentally, to say the least.

I managed to hurt myself stretching the next day. More about that on the next entry.

Week 3: Run 3

Scheduled: 3
Actual:3
RPE: 4

I ran one mile on the track then ran through the neighborhood for the last two miles. I got a little freaked out because there were nefarious characters hanging around. Leering. I might be switching to morning runs. Or get a pitbull to run with me.

Week 3: Run 2

Scheduled: 4
Actual: 4
RPE: 4

I ran two on the track and then down to the bridge and back up the hill for the last two.

Not to make this all "Tamara's Continuing Declining Health Corner" but I have this weird bump near my bikini line that I thought was an ingrown hair, but now sort of looks like a blister or a bite, and it kind of hurts. So... that's bothering me, but I don't really notice it all the time, and I have health insurance! So I can get it checked out.

Tonight: 3 miles

Week 3: Run 1

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 4

I pushed pretty hard last night, because I just wanted to get my run over with. I'm having a supreme amount of anxiety for some reason and I really need to get it under control. I talk about it more on the main blog, for those of you who are interested in the minutia of my multiple self-diagnosed disorders.

I didn't have any pain and my heart felt good. I'm still more freaked out about it than I probably should be, so tomorrow I'm not going to have any caffeine, or relatively none. I'm going to drink decaf, which still has a touch of caffeine in it, so I won't have a killer headache.

I'm bored of this entry now, so I'm stopping.

Week 2: Run 4

Scheduled: 6
Actual: 6
RPE: 3-4

This was my first 6 mile run. It wasn't bad. I had a gorgeous clear day and moderately difficult route. I had a little weirdness from my heart. Sort of felt like a skipped beat, but I didn't feel dizzy or nauseous or any pain, so I think it was nothing. I'm definitely a hypochondriac, and I think I was just a little too up from the coffee and sugar. I'm monitering it from now on, and if it happens again, I'll go see a doctor about it.

Week 2: Run 3

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 4

It seems as though I am never pleased with every part of my run. The temperature was warmer, but my knees were creaky and I delevoped a severe side cramp (in grade school we called them a "side ache" heh) at mile 1.5 that didn't go away until I was sprinting my last 1/8th of a mile.

Cuddling in a warm bed with Louie while eating cookies made it all better though.

Week 2: Run 2

Scheduled: 4
Actual: 4
RPE: 3

I fully expected as I set out for my run to have nothing to say about it this morning. I write these entries as I'm running sometimes. Thinking about how to cleverly tell you that I had cramps that made me want to crap my pants is a good way to forget that those cramps are real and that I might actually crap my pants.

I had 4 miles to run last night, and was planning on doing it all on the track. On my drive home when I hit Vermont, I saw my mileage thing tick over. My tripometer doesn't work, so I can't see tenths of a mile. I watched it my odometer until it went to another mile, which conveniently happened right in front of my house. So as I rounded lap 7 on the track I started to think if I did my second 2 miles on the street it might ease some of the boredom. All of lap 8 I was freaked out about leaving the track, which is when I decided that I needed a little push out of my comfort zone and onto the street. The rest of the run was nice, it felt good to run through my neighborhood. My only problem was the stop lights. I'm not comfortable with jogging in place, especially at big intersections. I feel like everyone is watching me. So, I just stand there. And then I think everyone's judging me for not running in place. The inside of my head is very tormented. I don't really know what to do about it, except try to not think about all the cars and all the people in the cars, especially since when I run the marathon there will be a lot of people specifically standing on the side of the road to watch me (and thousands of other people) run.

Yesterday was my 4 week anniversary of quitting smoking. Yay me!

Week 2: Run 1

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 3

This is what goes on in my head on my way home from work, and then when I'm actually home, and then when I'm getting dressed for my run, and then as I'm procrastinating by fooling around with the TiVo.

You could just run tomorrow, it's super cold. But it will be cold tomorrow. And you hate waking up. You could run tomorrow night. But then you'll have to run three days in a row and you won't enjoy tonight like you will tomorrow when you don't have to run. Who are you to tell me that I won't enjoy not running? But you'll feel so superior and smug if you just run tonight. I'm not running TONIGHT! I am eating. I will eat tonight. Eat and watch tv and catch up with myself. I should go for a run though. It will be so much better if I just run in the morning. It will be brisk. It will be freezing. But the street lights are out again tonight and it is dark. And it is cold. I will run tomorrow. Or just get dressed and see how I feel. I will put on these bandaids and then I will have to run. But it sure is looking dark and cold. Tomorrow morning will be dark and colder and you know how you feel about waking up.

And on. And on. And on. Until I'm finally on the track, running. Freezing. But feeling very smug for convincing myself to just get it over with. I hope this gets easier. Or it warms up. Or someone gives me some awesome running gear for Christmas.

Week 1 (ACTUAL): Run 4

Scheduled: 5
Actual: 5
RPE: 3-4

Beautiful day on Saturday. Clear, crisp and brisk. My run was good. My iPod was almost thrown into the lake from frustration. And I almost punched a dumb smoker standing on the sidewalk who purposely wouldn't get out of my way, causing me to have to dart off the sidewalk and almost twist my ankle. I gave her the finger.

This week I have 3, 4, 3, 6 miles to run.

Week 1 (ACTUAL): Run 3

Scheduled: 3
Actual: 3
RPE: 3

I wore three sports bras last night. THREE! And the run was fine. It's been pretty cold outside at night, but I'm trying to deal with it.

Week 1 (ACTUAL): Run 2

Scheduled: 4
Actual: 4
RPE: 4-5

Last nights run totally killed me. I had the wrong sports bra combination on and it was so painful to run. On the last three laps I was actually holding the boobs up. My form was a mess. My knees were killing me and it was very unpleasant. We've been moving and I am sore from that, so added with the bra sitch I was in hell. Hopefully tonights run will feel better.

Louie was a doll and gave me a massage. Love that man.

Tonights run: 3 miles.