better again

Today's training was even better than yesterdays. I still did the 5/2 split instead of 10/5. It just seems to work better for me. I was able to go faster, further and burned more calories in the same 45 minutes than I did last week. So somethings working.
My left shin still hurt. A couple of times when I started my 5 minute run, I wasn't sure if I could do it, but once I got going it was fine, painful, but manageable.
Tomorrow I will be doing strength training again. Sometime this week I want to get in an hour yoga session too. Not sure when, but I will fit it in!
Tomorrow I am meeting my daughter and granddaughter for lunch and shopping! Our favorite things to do.
till next time....Rally On!

so much better this week

So, this week is almost a complete turn around from last week. I did a 55 minute strength training workout on Monday. It felt incredibly good to work my muscles in a different way. I did my scheduled training run on Tuesday, which was around 68 minutes if I remember. Today, Wednesday, I did the scheduled time, but I did it in 5/2 splits. My left leg is still giving me some problems with shin splints, so I changed the run a bit. I have also been running on my treadmill. It has helped with my shin splints, so I will run on it again tomorrow. Hopefully by Saturdays team run in Olympia it won't be as painful on the pavement. We'll see. I have also been watching the amount of food I've been eating since Sunday. I've been trying to eat salads with some chicken for lunch and added more water, again, so, we'll see. I think it will all help me get the results I'm looking for.
I need to add in about an hour of yoga at least once a week and do 2 strength training sessions a week. Wow, with the amount of time I'm scheduled to run for the 3 days it's going to be kind of hard, but I will DO IT!
till next time.........Rally On!

Motivation

So last week pretty much sucked for me as far as getting my training done for the week. I did Tuesday OK, but after that, I don't know what happened.......my body ached......not just my right side where the sciatic nerve is bothering me, then my left leg was hurting. It hurt to run and walk. So I started out Wednesday but only made it half way thru before I just gave up. I didn't do anything Thursday. Friday I tried to do some Pilate's and ended up with major calf cramping in my right leg. Saturday I ended up doing 55 minutes on my treadmill, mostly walking. I didn't do anything Sunday.
Today, Monday, I did a 55 minute cardio sculpt routine with weights. It's a DVD by The Firm. I have used alot of their workouts and they are all really good.
I think I'm getting frustrated because I thought this would get easier over time. This running thing........but it just seems to get harder for me.
I also assumed I would lose weight thru out this process. Not so, I have actually gained weight. I was pretty disgusted with myself last week.
Over the weekend I decided that I just need to keep going. I also need to keep doing the regular workouts I was doing before I started training for this marathon. I used to work out 5-6 days a week for at least 1-2 hours. I included cardio, run/walk, elliptical, yoga and strength training. Since I started training for the marathon, I pretty much quit doing everything else and just followed the training program. That's why I have put weight on. My body needs to to strength training as well as yoga. The running training is just extra.
Hopefully this will work and help keep me motivated. I am going to finish this.....I'm not a quitter....

pedicure

Well, today I did my run outside. It was a beautiful morning, just a little frosty but the sun was shining. I was cruising along feeling pretty good, when I noticed a nagging, prickly feeling in my right foot around my little toe. I figured I probably had a little sliver or something in there, didn't hurt much, so I just kept going. No big deal, right?

Today's training consisted of different intervals that lasted a total of 55 minutes. So I get done-feel really good-come in and go downstairs to do some stretching before my shower and guess what I see when I go to take my right shoe off? The whole right side around my little toe area is covered in blood! Yuck, I think to myself, what have you done? So I take off the shoe and soaked sock to find that my pinkie toenail has been chewing up the inside of the toe next to it! Yikes! no wonder it hurt a little bit!

So, I have come to the conclusion that I need to start getting regular pedicures to keep this from happening again. It has nothing to do with the fact that I love getting a foot massage and who doesn't like having pretty, painted toenails. right?

till next time......Rally On!

Saturday training

Today I did 6 miles in Olympia with some of my teammates. It was cold at first, but the sun was out and once I started running it was the perfect temp for a run. We were at Capital Lake and ran around the lake and up by the capital. Our coaches always do a great job putting our routes together and clearly marking them so we don't get lost. I decided to try a 5/2 split and it worked better for me than the 10/3 split. My left ankle and calf muscle still hurt, but not as bad. Once I got about half way thru it, my body seemed to just get in the groove or something. It was really weird because that's what happened when I did that 10K a couple of weeks ago. About half way thru I got this huge burst of energy and felt like I could keep on going forever.
Whats that all about?
My body feels good, tired and a little sore, but a good kind of sore.
I got a new book the other day. It's about Chi running. It really interesting so far, and I can't wait to to try it out when I run.
Till next time.... Rally On!

results

Got my 10K results finally. I did the 6.21 miles in 1 hour 19 minutes and 28 seconds. Not bad for a total beginner!
I also got the MRI results. Seems I have a slight protrusion around L4 and my L5 nerve is what is causing my numbness and tingling in my toes. So, since my back doesn't actually hurt, they are recommending I see a neurologist. So we'll see, not sure what they can/will do about it. I have been taking an ibuprofen every 4-6 hours, and the numbness is almost gone, but not quite. The muscles relaxers made me feel yucky and sick to my stomach, so I gave those up!
My training this week has been going good. Today was a little rough, but it's because I stayed up too late again last night. American Idol is killing my sleep patterns! But I love that show!
Till next time.......Rally On!

more hill training.....

So I did my regular scheduled training this morning. I felt good. The muscle relaxer made me feel a little groggy this morning, but that could also be because I didn't get enough sleep last night. The numbness in my toes is much better today, so something is working. I took ibuprofen every 5 hours today for the swelling that might be inside there and I can say that at this moment I can feel all my toes, no numbness no tingling. I get my MRI tomorrow so then we can see what's really going on and come up with a game plan.
I did 20 minutes of hill training tonite. I put my treadmill incline up to 7 and ran as fast as I could for 2 minutes at a time, then would break to catch my breathe for 1 minute. My left ankle and calve didn't hurt as bad as it did on Monday. I think I have come to the conclusion that maybe my right leg is stronger than my left. I'll have to ask the coaches about that on Saturday.
till next time.......Rally On!