Last Saturday’s long run was “just” a 12 miler – at least thats the way I kept looking at it. I mean, what’s 12 miles when you’ve run 14.5 and then walked a couple more miles home, right? Wrong – especially when you add the hills of Newton. Oh my goodness – the last time I was that sore was after the Boston Run to Remember. My feet were dragging toward the end, and my glutes and hammmies, well, they were dead. I really worked hard though, and made sure to run up all 3 of the hills on the way out to our turnaround point. However, on the return there was plenty of walking.
Went home, took an ice bath and rested – I was actually able to take a nap for once. I slept for about 1.5 hrs and didn’t really ache too much when I got up. Yesterday I did 6 miles recovery, then stopped at the gym and stretched and foam rolled. Today is a day off, but I’m going to the gym to do the same thing. It will help to keep me loose!
Yesterday afternoon we took advantage of the Massachusetts tax free weekend and ordered our iPhones. We will be the proud owners in 7-14 days. Sweet! An early birthday present for both of us.
Afterward I had a much deserved manicure and pedicure. My feet were quite happy!
This week’s workouts are a little different than normal because I won’t be seeing Tara tomorrow. She’s out for the day, so I think I’m going to run tomorrow morning (hills), strength train on Wednesday, run on Thursday (speedwork), strength train on Friday and on Saturday we have a 15 mile long run. Sunday is 5 miles recovery.
My run buddy Julie is on vacation this week, so she won’t be there to run early with me on Saturday. I might just do the whole thing myself without stopping in the middle to run with the group. I could get started at 5:30 am and be finished by 9:15 or so, although it looks like they are changing the course around. I’m going to have to get more details before I make that decision. Depends on how hot it’s going to be too. Looks like we’re finally going to get a nice, sunny week. It’s about time!
August 18, 2008
August 14, 2008
Another One Bites The Dust
Another toenail, that is!! How ironic that today's Take It and Run Thursday over at the Runner's Lounge is care and feeding of your feet. It's like they knew.
Well, if there has been anything that's been affected by new love of running, it's my poor feet. I lost 2 toenails after the Boston Run to Remember half, and then for the longest time I was getting bad blisters on both insteps of my feet. So, I went up another 1/2 size in shoes, and have tried 4 different brands of running socks - Thorlos, Balengas, Wrightsock and finally, Sole. I love the Soles and my blistering has healed up - of course, it could be the hot and humid weather diminished, which help! I also started taping with Leukotape.
Now, I have always prided myself on having some very nice feet. I remember when I was younger my mother had the most God awful looking feet - all white and crusty looking on the heels - thick yellow toenails. Blech! I swore I would never have feet that looked like that! So, I get very frequent pedicures - every 2 weeks in the summertime and every 3 weeks in the winter.
Other than big thick callouses on my big toes things with my feet have been okay. I stopped having my pedicurist do anything with those callouses because not having them was making my toes hurt during my long runs. However, a few weeks ago I ended up getting a couple of blisters on the toe next to my big toe on my right foot - of course, that's one of the toenails I lost in May. Well, the blister was actually underneath the nail, and when I drained it the nail started sinking into the nailbed, which started hurting.
So, last night I pulled out the rubber tub and filled it with water and Epsom salts and stuck my feet in for a nice soaking. Once the nail had softened up...you should stop reading now if things like this gross you out...I pulled the nail off. It did feel better, but since it wasn't really ready to come off there's a section that's still tender. As my friend Jen's mom says "it's angry".
I made sure to spray it with antiseptic spray and popped a bandaid on it, and didn't have any trouble with my run this morning. I'm sure it will be fine in a couple of days, and soon I'll have a brand new toenail. I wonder if Jeanine will give me a discount when I see her on Sunday for my next pedicure? I mean - I only have 9 toenails to paint now!
Oh, so advice.
1. Make sure you have shoes that fit! Your feet WILL swell - so don't be shy about going up 1/2 to a full size from your regular shoes. Your feet will thank you.
2. Don't even think about wearing cotton socks. WICKING is the WORD.
3. Treat yourself to a pedicure. Maybe not as often as I do, but your tootsies are working hard, they need some love. Give it to them.
Well, if there has been anything that's been affected by new love of running, it's my poor feet. I lost 2 toenails after the Boston Run to Remember half, and then for the longest time I was getting bad blisters on both insteps of my feet. So, I went up another 1/2 size in shoes, and have tried 4 different brands of running socks - Thorlos, Balengas, Wrightsock and finally, Sole. I love the Soles and my blistering has healed up - of course, it could be the hot and humid weather diminished, which help! I also started taping with Leukotape.
Now, I have always prided myself on having some very nice feet. I remember when I was younger my mother had the most God awful looking feet - all white and crusty looking on the heels - thick yellow toenails. Blech! I swore I would never have feet that looked like that! So, I get very frequent pedicures - every 2 weeks in the summertime and every 3 weeks in the winter.
Other than big thick callouses on my big toes things with my feet have been okay. I stopped having my pedicurist do anything with those callouses because not having them was making my toes hurt during my long runs. However, a few weeks ago I ended up getting a couple of blisters on the toe next to my big toe on my right foot - of course, that's one of the toenails I lost in May. Well, the blister was actually underneath the nail, and when I drained it the nail started sinking into the nailbed, which started hurting.
So, last night I pulled out the rubber tub and filled it with water and Epsom salts and stuck my feet in for a nice soaking. Once the nail had softened up...you should stop reading now if things like this gross you out...I pulled the nail off. It did feel better, but since it wasn't really ready to come off there's a section that's still tender. As my friend Jen's mom says "it's angry".
I made sure to spray it with antiseptic spray and popped a bandaid on it, and didn't have any trouble with my run this morning. I'm sure it will be fine in a couple of days, and soon I'll have a brand new toenail. I wonder if Jeanine will give me a discount when I see her on Sunday for my next pedicure? I mean - I only have 9 toenails to paint now!
Oh, so advice.
1. Make sure you have shoes that fit! Your feet WILL swell - so don't be shy about going up 1/2 to a full size from your regular shoes. Your feet will thank you.
2. Don't even think about wearing cotton socks. WICKING is the WORD.
3. Treat yourself to a pedicure. Maybe not as often as I do, but your tootsies are working hard, they need some love. Give it to them.
August 12, 2008
How Are Lunges Like Jello?
Because there’s always room for more…at least that’s Tara’s philosophy! Nothing like 25 stationary lunges on each leg while holding 20 lb dumbbells, followed by 15 single leg presses at 25 lbs, followed by 25 more stationary lunges on each leg while holding 20 lb dumbbells, of course followed by…you guessed it…15 more single leg presses at 25 lbs. May I say…Holy Crap! I’m so glad I have 3 days to recover before I hit the hills of Newton on Saturday.
We also did a new chest press move and my pecs are seriously aching, and she added about 4 more core exercises that I need to start doing. I got my money’s worth today, that’s for sure.
Did I mention that one of my TNT coaches signed up to do the Maine Coast Half on Sept. 21st? I’m so excited that there will be someone else I know there. I’m also trying to get my running buddy to sign up too.
Julie & I are registering for the Falmouth in the Fall Road Race on November 2nd. I had thought about doing the Manchester Half that day, but wasn’t quite sure I would be ready for a half so soon after the full – it’s only 2 weeks after Nike.
Tomorrow morning's run - 6 miles. It's supposed to be a fantastic day - finally - here in Boston!
We also did a new chest press move and my pecs are seriously aching, and she added about 4 more core exercises that I need to start doing. I got my money’s worth today, that’s for sure.
Did I mention that one of my TNT coaches signed up to do the Maine Coast Half on Sept. 21st? I’m so excited that there will be someone else I know there. I’m also trying to get my running buddy to sign up too.
Julie & I are registering for the Falmouth in the Fall Road Race on November 2nd. I had thought about doing the Manchester Half that day, but wasn’t quite sure I would be ready for a half so soon after the full – it’s only 2 weeks after Nike.
Tomorrow morning's run - 6 miles. It's supposed to be a fantastic day - finally - here in Boston!
August 11, 2008
Just Awesome!
Have you ever had one of those days where you feel just incredible? That’s me today!! No idea why, I just feel fantastic. Everything just seems like it’s falling into place. Running is going great, the scale is finally moving downward, & my pants are fitting better. Sure, it’s raining today, but since it’s my rest day, it doesn’t even matter.
Yesterday I woke up around 6:15. I really thought I would sleep longer, but I guess not. So, I got up and had a bite to eat, and then decided to go ahead and get my recovery run out of the way. I headed over to the Esplanade after a bit of stretching, jogged a little, but then walked over the Arthur Fiedler bridge. Once on the Esplanade I stretched a little more, retied my shoes and then started running. I didn’t run very fast – around 14:30 – but get this. I RAN FOR 3 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!! That’s right – I just kept moving. I am really working on the whole mentality of running right now, to just keep going. It felt SO AWESOME!! I even had to sprint across the street a couple of times because I didn’t want to have to wait for traffic. I’m still not quite over the fact that I can put in 14 or so miles one day and still be able to run the next!
Get this…so far this month I’ve run 45.5 miles!! I’ve almost beaten last month’s mileage of 46.9. That is INSANE!
So, workout plans for this week are:
Tuesday – personal training with Tara
Wednesday – 6 miles
Thursday – 7 miles
Friday – strength training
Saturday – 12 miles long – and hilly because we’re going to be in Newton, running on part of the Boston Marathon course
Sunday – 5 miles recovery
I'm convinced this is going to be a fabulous week!
Yesterday I woke up around 6:15. I really thought I would sleep longer, but I guess not. So, I got up and had a bite to eat, and then decided to go ahead and get my recovery run out of the way. I headed over to the Esplanade after a bit of stretching, jogged a little, but then walked over the Arthur Fiedler bridge. Once on the Esplanade I stretched a little more, retied my shoes and then started running. I didn’t run very fast – around 14:30 – but get this. I RAN FOR 3 MILES WITHOUT STOPPING!! That’s right – I just kept moving. I am really working on the whole mentality of running right now, to just keep going. It felt SO AWESOME!! I even had to sprint across the street a couple of times because I didn’t want to have to wait for traffic. I’m still not quite over the fact that I can put in 14 or so miles one day and still be able to run the next!
Get this…so far this month I’ve run 45.5 miles!! I’ve almost beaten last month’s mileage of 46.9. That is INSANE!
So, workout plans for this week are:
Tuesday – personal training with Tara
Wednesday – 6 miles
Thursday – 7 miles
Friday – strength training
Saturday – 12 miles long – and hilly because we’re going to be in Newton, running on part of the Boston Marathon course
Sunday – 5 miles recovery
I'm convinced this is going to be a fabulous week!
August 9, 2008
Almost Able to Envision 26.2
So, I'm going to try to keep this blog more updated rather than just posting race reports. Not sure if I'll do a good job at keeping 2 blogs going - more than likely I'll just rehash my posts from EP.
I know you all want to make sure I survived a 14 mile long run. Yep, I sure did!! In fact, I felt so good afterward I decided to walk the 2 miles home.
It was a perfect day to run - nice and cool, low humidity. My run buddy Julie & I rocked the first 7 miles. We met the rest of the group and started the second half around 8:00 am. It always takes me a little bit to get started again because my right knee needs to be reawakened.
We finished the last 7.5 (what's another .5 when you're doing 14?) a little before 10, and I was still feeling pretty good, so decided to walk home. I knew from using Map My Run that home is about 2 miles from the Mass Ave. bridge. I figured a nice walk would be a good way to cool down and keep my leg muscles engaged. So, Garmin total for today is 16.38. Calories burnt - 2052!!
Which is where my title comes in. Yes, today is the first day that I can envision actually doing the whole 26.2 miles. I can envision it - but I can't say I would physically be able to do it. I'm still trying to work out my feet issues. I've been wearing toe protectors on a couple of toes on my right foot and I think they are doing more harm than good. Legwise I think I could go the distance, but my little feet just end up aching. I am sure though in another 9 weeks I. Will. Be. Ready!
I took an ice bath when I got home, had some lunch and then tried to take a little snooze. I think I slept for about 10 minutes and that was it! Those endorphins are just flowing too much for me to sleep. I did rest in bed for a couple of hours though, and am happy to say my legs aren't feeling achy at all.
So, 4 miles recovery tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!
I know you all want to make sure I survived a 14 mile long run. Yep, I sure did!! In fact, I felt so good afterward I decided to walk the 2 miles home.
It was a perfect day to run - nice and cool, low humidity. My run buddy Julie & I rocked the first 7 miles. We met the rest of the group and started the second half around 8:00 am. It always takes me a little bit to get started again because my right knee needs to be reawakened.
We finished the last 7.5 (what's another .5 when you're doing 14?) a little before 10, and I was still feeling pretty good, so decided to walk home. I knew from using Map My Run that home is about 2 miles from the Mass Ave. bridge. I figured a nice walk would be a good way to cool down and keep my leg muscles engaged. So, Garmin total for today is 16.38. Calories burnt - 2052!!
Which is where my title comes in. Yes, today is the first day that I can envision actually doing the whole 26.2 miles. I can envision it - but I can't say I would physically be able to do it. I'm still trying to work out my feet issues. I've been wearing toe protectors on a couple of toes on my right foot and I think they are doing more harm than good. Legwise I think I could go the distance, but my little feet just end up aching. I am sure though in another 9 weeks I. Will. Be. Ready!
I took an ice bath when I got home, had some lunch and then tried to take a little snooze. I think I slept for about 10 minutes and that was it! Those endorphins are just flowing too much for me to sleep. I did rest in bed for a couple of hours though, and am happy to say my legs aren't feeling achy at all.
So, 4 miles recovery tomorrow.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!!
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