Week of September 1st - 8th ... 2013

Tuesday of this week I ran 3 miles with hills that was a hard run and kind of fast paced and beat me up a little but too bad ... then Wednesday was to be a moderate pace 4 miles and this was fairly nice with just a little hip pain.... then Thursday was to be 3 miles easy ... I ran slow and easy and felt good.

Today was my 7 mile run with blisters on my feet, which I got from barefoot laszer tag with my daughter Ashlyn the night before (bad idea)  ... too tired to go through a lot of details but it was run #8 of the Half Marathon training for race in October.   It went well ... felt really good through mile 4 .. hips starting hurting some but then went into zone around 6 and not much hip pain to finish.  I was very pleased.

RUNKEEPER routes can be viewed HERE ...

Be Blessed all ... 

Can I Even Attempt This?

Many of you that have followed my running journey know that the very first race I did was a 5k in Charlotte called The Runway 5k.  It was 7 weeks into my running journey.  I had not even completed a full 3 miles at that point.  Running that race was such a huge accomplishment for me.  Every year since then I have returned to that race.  It's been kind of like an anniversary race for me.

So this year, I planned on running it again. It would be the 4th time if I ran it.  I ended up asking a buddy of mine if he wanted to run it with me, and he was excited to do so.  

He has been racing a lot this year.  He was actually training for a marathon that is the week before The Runway 5k.  However, upon further review, he realized it was the exact same weekend as the race at the runway.  He was very disappointed to tell me that he would not be able to attend.   I was pretty bummed as well.  
 
I decided to look up his event and found there were several races that weekend.  They were holding a 5k, 10k, half marathon and a marathon.  I thought to myself, "we both really want to complete in a race together soon. Since he was willing to run with me, why shouldn't I be willing to run with him?" He had already been involved in a training plan for his marathon, but I had not began a plan for my race yet.  It would be more logical for me to steer my efforts towards his event knowing they were hosting a 5k that day.  
 
I've been wanting to run consistently again because I've missed it. Sure, I could train for the 5k, but I do not think that would be a big enough challenge to get me focused on a serious running regimen.   I started thinking about last summer, and how great it felt when I trained for a half marathon and completed it.  (By the way that was an insane adventure for many reasons.  You can read that story here: Half Marathon Nightmare!!!) Then it occurred to me, what better way to begin a regimen then to train for the half marathon that weekend instead of the 5k.  Although my friend would be running the full marathon, at least we would be at the same event pushing ourselves to complete something awesome.  

I knew training for this half marathon would be tough.  I looked at the calendar and realized there were only 9 weeks until the race. Last year, my plan was 12 weeks.  We barely were prepared.  I began looking at 10 week plans because I technically had nine and a half weeks.  I thought if I could complete the last long run day of  week 3, which would be 6 miles, it would leave me 9 weeks of a plan left to follow until the race.  Completing that 6 mile run was not going to be easy.  Let me back up just a bit.  Last week was the first time I had ran in a quite a while because of few different circumstances.  At this point, knowing I have only ran twice, and  both times I had to push to even complete 3 miles, running 6 miles felt impossible.  I knew I had the cardio for it, but was not sure about the muscle and joint endurance after such a long break from running.  However, I also knew that if I could complete it, then I would feel very confident moving forward with the training plan.  

I messaged my buddy and asked him if he would like to run the 6 miles with me.  His mileage was already built up and he was definitely up for it.  We met Wednesday morning to run.  Up until this point, my two runs were on Thursday, August 22nd and Sunday the 25th.  This 6 mile run was to be on Wednesday, August 28th.  As a trainer, I would never suggest this to anybody after taking a lengthy break from running.  The risk of injury is great if your joints, tendons, and ligaments are not ready to withstand that repetitive force.

In my early days of running in 2010, I had to push through distances that I thought were going to break me, but they always grew me instead.  I do a lot of strength training that is ideal for runners. Since I have such a strong base of lower body strength, I had a pretty good feeling that even if I went through some pain, I would not injure myself long term.  

Off we went to begin this 6 mile run. The last time I ran this distance was training for the half marathon last July.  I was unsure of what to expect.
 
The first mile was pretty good except for running up a steep hill too fast.  I should have pulled back, but my pride was in the way, and I was conversing with my friend. After the hill was over,  I felt pretty good. We continued on to mile 2, then 3.  I knew we had started too fast, but I felt ok.  I had hopes it would continue.  

Around mile 3.5 my hips and lower back, where I commonly have some issues, began to ache a little.  I tried to pull back, but it seemed running slower actually caused my gait to change. This was applying more impact to what was hurting.  By mile 4, my hips began to throb really bad, and my lower back was hurting pretty bad as well.  I knew this feeling.  I had it the first time 3 years ago when trying to reach 2 miles for the first time.   I persevered then and I wanted to now, but was not sure I could.

The pain intensified and almost brought me to a screeching halt. I thought back to the early days. I was so determined and I always knew that it would pay off later.  I remembered thinking about how many people were following me on that journey and I wanted to be strong for them.  I knew my perseverance could change the life of someone if I made it through.

 

I thought about my current clients and how hard they work in their sessions.  How could I expect them to push through when they felt like quitting if I couldn't do the same?  There are too many people I would let down including myself if I stopped, so I kept on.  

 

The last 2 miles felt like an eternity, as does this blog entry.  :) Every step felt calculated and it was as if I had to make a conscious decision to take the next step.  I wanted to be a runner again too much to quit.  I knew before starting this run it was going to be a test.  I knew that if I did not pass it that I would question if running a half in October would be possible.  I decided it meant too much to me to give up on the idea that quick.  I continued to calculate the cost of quitting over and over and over.  

 

 

I decided it was all worth it, and I had to make it.  I just kept saying, "just put one foot in front of the other, and do not look ahead." ( ..... one foot, then the next, then the next.)  Each minute felt like 10, but I was going to finish.  I wanted to feel that feeling of accomplishment.  I had a feeling that my body was going to respond well to the new demand and it would begin to remember how to deal with longer runs.  That is yet to be determined, as I have not had to run again. 

I did finish the six miles this past Wednesday.  The next day would be the real test.  I knew how my body would feel if it was a bad decision.  I also knew what I would feel like if it was ok, and I was going to be able to continue my training.    

The next day, I was not very sore.  No more then expected from an increase in mileage.  I was so glad.  I am very excited to continue to train for this race.  I will keep you all updated as I technically need to complete 6 - 7 miles tomorrow.  I may pull it back to 4 and then adjust next Saturday.  I think I will just play it by ear.  My sweet wife said she would run tomorrow with me.  I am excited because it will bring back great memories of last year when we ran the other half marathon together.

Don't forget if you want to read about last years adventure you can do so here: 

Half Marathon Nightmare!!!  LOL...

Thanks for reading today...and remember .... 

Put in the time. Believe in yourself. Trust the process.  Change forever!