miles and injuries

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Two weeks ago, I ran my longest distance, 7 miles. Last Saturday, I was supposed to run 8 miles, but I cut my run short at 4 miles because of blisters. I’ve been dealing with some lingering blisters since the 7 mile run. :-/

I’m at a point where I feel like the most important thing is distance. I’m not worried about speed or time, I will finish no matter how long it takes. But I need that time/distance on my feet to get my body used to the longer distance. To build up the callouses on my feet. I just wish the blisters I’ve been dealing with would heal.

I gave my feet a day and then made the 8 miles happen. It was slow and, by the end, painful. That resulted in a new blister, of course. I wanted to let me feet have a chance to heal. I’m feeling surprisingly comfortable running, so I skipped my Thursday run and went on a drive down the 1 with a friend. We did a short walk on a trail at Garrapata State Park.

Today, I’ve got 6 miles to run. Should take me about an hour. It’s foggy, so it’ll be nice and cool.

https://www.stbaldricks.org/fundraisers/joggingforjon

Saturday Morning

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My usual running partner mentioned earlier this week that she wouldn’t be able to run with me Saturday morning. So, I went to Facebook to put our a plea for a Saturday morning run partner. As luck would have it, some friends I hadn’t seen in about 17 years were in town this weekend. Meet Tim. (The guy in the picture) Tim’s daughter Sarah is my age and was my first friend after I changed schools in 7th grade. I’ve known her and her family for 20 years. Tim offered to meet me for a run, if I could go early. We met up at 0630 this morning. I was hoping for a clear sky to see the sunrise, no such luck. However, it wasn’t foggy like it is a lot of mornings here so we had a good view of the coastline as we ran.

Today we ran 7 miles. Officially my longest run. I realized that I actually manage a faster average pace if I walk a bit. I managed to run almost all 7 miles. I slowed to a walk a couple times just long enough to get my breathing under control.

Also, I realized I need to do some hill work. We headed up a small one to get to our turnaround and it kicked my butt. I’ve been running on mostly flat, or small rolling hills. There’s a good incline around mile 4 of the half marathon course. I *may* have been studying the map… Since I regularly run a lot of the route… Just not all at once.

We spent a large majority of the 7 miles chatting and catching up. So nice since it’s been 17 years… Social media is a great and all, but it’s not the same as an in person conversation. It is was made this meet up happen though.

chipping away at the miles

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4 runs since my last post. They haven’t felt great. I’m struggling with pacing. I’m kind of terrible at it. With the exception of 14 August, I did manage to get in all the prescribed miles.

This weekend, I’m running 7 miles. As luck would have it, my usual running partner isn’t able to run with me BUT an old friend, well, her parents but still people I adore, are in town this weekend. Tim, her dad, is also training for his first half marathon and runs a pace similar to mine… but I’m betting he can actually maintain a steady pace, unlike me. 😛

Equal parts anxious and excited about my run this weekend. 7 miles will be a new distance for me. But I did run a 10k two weeks ago, so it’s less than a mile farther. Fingers crossed for an easy run.

https://www.stbaldricks.org/fundraisers/joggingforjon

a unicorn week

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Let me start by saying I am NOT a runner. I don’t like it. I kind of hate it. Or rather, I did. It’s something that I’ve never done much of and haven’t ever really been good at. Even after months of running here, I still never felt good at it. Every run was HARD. I struggled to keep my breathing under control. Actually, it was never under control. I would reach a point where I couldn’t breath and then I’d start walking. That’s how that went. I can actually run pretty fast, just not for very long. 😛

This week, though, something changed. I finally found my stride. Both of my runs this week have felt great. Better than great. A feeling I genuinely never thought I’d experience with running. I’m not sure it qualifies as the “runner’s high”, but it was something. A unicorn.

My goal lately has been to finish the run without walking. Regardless of how slow that “run” might get… as long as I never gave in and walked.. I counted it as a win. Both runs this week have felt like a turning point. I know there will be bad days and terrible runs between now and November, but the feeling I had on both runs this week is something I will remember on the really crappy days.

Tuesday, I ran 3.04 miles. Had I gone the additional .06 mile, I’d have beaten my “best” 5k time. Today, I ran with a friend and we ran the 3.1 miles for a 5k. And we were faster than I was on Tuesday. It was a 5k PR for us both. We were all smiles afterwards.

I’m looking forward to a hot epsom salt soak later tonight and mentally preparing for the 5 miles I’m supposed to run this weekend. My farthest run to date is 5.4 miles, so this will be interesting. I ran 4 miles 2 weeks ago. My goal for the 5 miles is under an hour. Check back next week to see how it went! 😉

how it’s going

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I’m starting week 6 of my 20 week half marathon training. Only 15 weeks to go.

Despite having this lovely little training plan all written out for me, my runs have been a bit inconsistent. I have a husband, a kid and 2 dogs. Life is a little crazy and I’m squeezing my runs in when I can.

More often than not, I’ll stop and take a picture post-run. For “proof”, because I live in such a beautiful place, because I like to track progress. Of the training runs I’ve done and remembered to take a picture…

I’ll try to be better about pictures so I can share my progress throughout the next 16 weeks leading up to the Half.

I did a thing.

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I signed up to run a half marathon. I have clearly lost my mind.

I don’t even like to run.

I started running back in January. I live in an incredibly beautiful place. I started running as an excuse to be out by the beach. I run on the road next to it. Sea breeze in my face. If I veer over to the trails, sand in my shoes. I love it. Even if it’s not a good run, I was at the beach.

In January, my best friend’s oldest son started chemo to treat a malignant brain tumor. I had the bright idea of running 13.1 miles for every week of his chemo. 48 weeks=628.8 Miles. It’s been slow going. I’ve had weeks where I didn’t log a single mile. I’m chipping away at it though.

A couple weeks ago, a friend showed me a 12 week training plan for a half marathon and asked if I wanted to do it with her, maybe doing an actual half marathon at the end. I said sure. Why not.

I’ve spent some time looking into half marathon races in the fall. There’s one in my area in November. So, I decided to do it.

If my goal was to accumulate 13.1 miles for each week of his chemo, why not do an actual half marathon?!

So, I did it. I registered for the Monterey Bay Half Marathon on 11 November.

Definitely questioning my sanity, but also a little excited about this new endeavor. I have just over 24 weeks to prepare and I will need every single one of them. My longest run to date is only 5.5 miles. 😳 Clearly, I have a lot of work to do. I’m also a super slow runner, but my times have improved over the last 5 months

I’m also wanting to use this experience to raise some money for the St. Baldricks Foundation. They find research for childhood cancer… in honor of my little cancer super hero, Jonathan.

https://www.stbaldricks.org/fundraisers/joggingforJon

This blog will serve as my training log.