A Runner’s Balancing Act

So my running buddy and I ended up doing about 8.5 miles early yesterday morning. We wanted to run a new route that included this super steep hill with fantastic views at the top. Seemed like a good idea at the time. One last hill workout that would hopefully get me more prepared for San Francisco.

It was a seriously tough run. The first four miles were a gradual incline and then at 4 miles we hit the crazy hill. It was only about a quarter mile or so, but it went almost straight up. I kid you not!

Now I am remembering all that advice that I’ve been told about taking it easy during the taper and not doing anything that could get you injured.

I woke up this morning and my right hamstring is sore. I have NEVER had a sore hamstring. My sister tore hers a few years ago and she still has problems with it.

Holy crapola.

Okay, calm down. It’s just sore. It doesn’t hurt. It’s just sore. I didn’t tear it. It’s going to go away in a day or two just like all sore muscles do.

RIGHT?

AHHHHHH!

Map my Run.com elevation profile. (I do not understand how when I start and stop at the same point on the map the beginning and the end of the elevation profile are so drastically different!)

Heres some camera phone pics from the top of the hill. The sun was just about to come over the mountain but the the crappy camera phone does it no justice. (New camera phone coming in the mail tomorrow!!!)

Four Peaks in the distance

Red Mountain

I’m off to take some advil and get some ice. Any advice on the hamstring would be greatly appreciated!

Running has been a struggle these last few days. After last Saturday’s awesome 18 miler, I took a much needed day off on Sunday. Monday morning, the backs of my quads were still tired and slightly sore so I opted to run after work, giving them a few more hours to get un-sore.

I think the extra 10 hours helped, but not a lot. Of course I left my running shoes at home so instead of being able to go straight to the gym after work, had to go home first. FRUSTRATING! To save time and gas, I decided to run outside because it “only” 98 degrees out there, ha.

I could tell as I left the house that the run was going to be tough. My legs were like lead and my quads were still sore. I tried to run my 6 mile route, but decided to cut it short at 4.5 miles because I just wasn’t finding a groove. Also, it was getting really dark. I did manage to make it up the crazy hill without stopping, so at least I can say the run counted for a little “hill training”.

The hill from far away, it doesn’t do it justice! (It was a lot darker by then, this photo was taken from an old post.)

Besides that hill, most of the run I was focusing on running a “recovery pace”. Probably 9:45 – 10:15 min miles. It was slow, but it still wasn’t particularly comfortable. I’m not really concerned that the weekly runs are getting difficult. I’ve come to expect it during this last phase of the training program. Those 15 mile +  weekend runs just zap your legs. You have to keep up your weekly runs even though your legs are fatigued because that is how you practice running through the fatigue – a skill you will need for the last 8 miles of a marathon.

Tuesdays run was a bit better. I hit the canal behind my work since I didn’t want to go home before my late volleyball game.

The canal behind my work is actually quite peaceful.

At first I really struggled to find a groove. My legs still did not feel normal. I started thinking about a blog post I read yesterday over at Eat Live Run.  I’m kind of addicted to reading that blog, even though it is can be slightly triggering with my past issues. The author takes photos of all her meals. She is a very clean, mindful eater and I’ve gotten some great ideas over there for healthy quick meals.

She was talking about how she had an incredible run recently where she let go of running for distance or time, and just enjoyed the feeling being out there, breeze in her face, and away from all of life’s stresses.

I was so inspired by her post that I took off yesterday without my ipod in attempt to get back in touch with my thoughts and enjoy the peacefulness of the canal. Unfortunately, as much as I wanted that carefree stress relieving kind of run, I still struggled with my legs of lead and the 95 degree heat.

After 2 miles, I debated turning around.  I didn’t feel great, but I knew I needed to hit 6 miles since I had already shortened Monday’s run. I found a groove after I turned around at 3 miles. After 4 miles, a guy came up behind me from another direction and I picked up my pace as I could hear his foot steps not far behind me. If he was going to pass me, he was going to have to catch me! He ran behind me for more than a mile when he finally passed me. I said hi as he passed and he said “great pace!“. That was encouraging!

I was probably running my 8:35 pace between miles 4 and 5.5. That felt good. I finished the 6 mile run in about 54 minutes. The first half was 28 minutes, the second half was 26 minutes.

Whohoo. 10.5 miles down this week! Tonight after work I’m kinda-sorta running but not really I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.  Happy hump day!

Last night I had planned run at the gym after work. It’s a 45 minute drive from my work to where my gym is, which is really close to my house. I left work at 5:30 excited to hit the gym. As I made my way through traffic I was surprised to feel hunger pains rising up in my stomach.

At first I tried to ignore it. Maybe if I don’t acknowledge it, it will go away on its own. I shouldn’t be hungry anyway, I had a nice sized snack around 4 pm. Nope. Still there. I tried to drown the hunger in water. It worked for a minute or two, but then I was hungrier than before.

Finally, I had to change the game plan. I headed home instead of to the gym.  I got there at 6:15 and quickly downed a few handfuls of pretzels. I checked the weather: 99 degrees, 18% humidity. I’ll just pretend I didn’t see that 99 degrees and be happy the humidity is so low. Besides, the sun it going down which means it will cool down fast.

I headed out with my Nathan hydration belt at about 6:40 pm, determined to get some good hill practice in. This is the first time since early June that I have attempted to run outside after work.
At first, the heat wasn’t that bad, at least for the first half hour or so. About half way into the run I hit this hill:

(Photo taken from an earlier post)

I’ve run up this hill many times, but it never becomes easy. The thing is you have to run a gradual (but tiring) up-hill for about 3/4ths of a mile before you actually get to where the real hill starts. By that time, my quads are already burning in protest.

Last night my goal was to run very strong all the way to the top. It certainly took a good push to get there but I made it.  After rounding the crest of the hill, I let my run fade to a walk so I could enjoy my icy gatorade without choking. That’s when the some sweat made it from my forehead into my eye sockets making my eyes burn and my vision blur. I’m sure my contacts absorbed some of the salty sweat because after that my eyes were burning for the rest of the run.

After my little water break, I started jogging again and now I realized that I was uncomfortably hot. Ugh. I cannot wait for the temperatures to start dropping. The rest of the run proved more difficult. I kept pushing my ipod button to see how fast I was going. My pace was usually somewhere between 9:15 and 9:30. I wanted it to be closer to 8:45 so I kept pushing myself along, trying to be conscientious about running faster.

It got dark much faster than I anticipated and I start to really freak out about stepping on a snake. I was forcing myself to focus on the asphalt in front of me, hoping my eyes would adapt to the darkness enough that I would see a snake before I stepped on it. Every time a cars lights came came up behind me, I tried to memorize the the look of the asphalt ahead of me to reassure myself there were no snakes in the road.

I was getting close to home and my ipod said 5.1 miles. I really wanted to get in at least 6 miles and if I went straight home, I’d be at least a quarter of a mile short. I passed a medical complex that had a big parking lot which was well lit by small street lights. PERFECT! I did about five laps of the parking lot and then headed home.

When I got home I went in the bathroom to grab a towel to wipe my forehead. I was shocked to see my reflection in the mirror. My skin was so pink it looked sunburned and my eyes where shockingly bloodshot and red from being irritated by my salty sweat. Joe noticed right away. “What happened to your eyes?” “are you okay?”

Yup. I’m good. Fantastic actually. I just did 6 miles in 55 minutes, including two water walks, and several hills -  in 95 degree temperatures! Whohoo!

Tonight, I’m running on the treadmill. Once a week is enough for me!