Seven Weeks to Go!

Finished another week of training....week 5!  Like the past several weeks, Tuesday (a relatively short run) sucked majorly...hurt, tired, etc.  Not sure why I struggle through Tuesdays.

Because our spin class (cross training) is on Thursday evenings, we've switched our Wed & Thur training...so now Wed we run a 1.5k warmup, then do a distance (varies each week) at race pace and then a 1.5k cool down.  You'd think that would be a tougher run...but I've quite enjoyed the Wednesday runs. 

Thursday spin classes always rock!  I am pushing myself way harder this fall than I ever did before summer.  Loving it!

Saturday is long run day...this week was 13k.  By the time I start getting close to the double digits in km, I start hurting.  The outside of my hips/glutes and lower back....aching big time :(  So, after some intense research via Google I decided that maybe compression tights might help. So I went to our "cycle and sports" shop here in town - which is the closest we come to a running supply store and asked if they have compression tights.  The oh-so-wise fellow helping me suggested I go to the local drugstore.

WHAT!!??  Is he serious??  He thinks I am asking for THESE:

Ugghh!!  Shows we live in a small town and are in DESPERATE need of a real running/yoga/bike store when the closest we have refers me to the drug store for SUPPORT HOSE!!  Wow.

So, today we took a ride to Invermere....A smaller town...but one that actually has a great store called Crazy Soles.  Unfortunately, despite a phone message that said they were open Sunday's....they were not.  So, we drove an hour and a half each way and I ended up with a 45 calorie DQ Fudge Bar and a bottle of water.  Oh well, it was a fun trip anyway....however, the search for ACTUAL compression tights continues....

And on to week 6 of training! Almost half way there!

Groin, Groin....Gone

Ouch!  So....barely slept last night because my groin hurt every time I moved.  Rolling over or moving from one side to another was a near impossibility...Ugggh...  I am only a third of the way through training...I soooo can NOT have a groin injury at this point.

Pulled out the other shoes that I bought in Spokane and wore them for today's run, am eating better so my body gets what it needs to repair better, loaded up on Ibuprofen and a "value size" tube of Voltaren and spent my lunch hour doing some hip and hamstring stretching to see if it will help. So far today I am feeling MUCH better than yesterday (though yesterday's run WAS longer).  This Saturday is a 13k run....That will be the next test.

However, I keep hearing about the woman who ran the Chicago Marathon last weekend...at 38 weeks pregnant....and gave birth 7 hours after crossing the finish line!??  WTF!  SERIOUSLY???  Who does that!!??  Ok, that puts my achy girl bits in a little better perspective.  Suck it up, Schmidt.... At least you're not carrying another human along with you when you run....a human who is trying to get out no less!  Yikes!  THAT is commitment.

Four Weeks in...

Ok....we've completed four weeks.  We're officially 1/3 of the way there.  It only gets harder from here...YIKES!  My glutes/hips are NOT particularly enjoying the long runs.  Will have to figure something out with those.  Foam roller? Stretching? Strengthening?  I dunno.  Trial and error I guess. The long run for week 4 was 11k.  Still well within my comfort zone after doing 10k long runs all summer.  Though I got the 10k under an hour, I have thrown all thoughts about speed out the window.  It's all about just getting it done at this point.

Yup....one hour, 16 minutes....but that's ok.  What worries me is the fact that my hips, lower back and glutes were quite sore for the last part of the run and I was very stiff and sore after we were done (felt much better after stretching).  Not sure how I'll get through a 19k run!  Yikes!

This upcoming weekend we'll be doing the longest run we've ever done!  13k.  That's one more than Bloomsday, 3 more than a "regular" long run.  And a little scary...  But we'll just do what we can do I guess.  Good thing I'm stubborn :)