Training Log

It's been a long time since I've been here.  Ran Boston in 2009, 2010, and 2011.  Then had a nagging psoas muscle injury that sidelined me on and off for the last several years.  Had to take a break from long distance running to allow it to heal somewhat.  Tried lots of other things - CrossFit, swimming, cycling, running short distances, lots of yoga, with some success.  It never really stays completely healed, though, and flares up often.

But, I need a goal.  So I'm going to start the long-term process of trying to qualify for Boston again.  Ran it for the first time when I was 50, and hope to run it again at 60, or before, if the psoas muscle cooperates and I'm smart about training

Starting an intermediate half-marathon running plan, as I have been running 4-5-6 miles regularly over the summer.  Hoping to complete a half in December.

Ran 6.5 today, with a 53:15 at the 10K mark with several hills.

Just need some conversation and support from the blog group, as the injury sometimes really decreases my motiviation.  Thanks in advance.

Early morning run before work on trails near Schilling Farms.  Beautiful weather, felt good.  Stretched at halfway point to try to release vertebrae in lower back; seems like they popped back into place.

Slow 6.11 miles at 7:30 pm.  Taking it slow to begin with.

Slow 4.19 miles at 8 pm.

Slow 5 miles Saturday morning.  Finding new an interesting running routes.  Some downhills on this one.   I think St. George will be my qualifying attempt next year if I can run uninjured.

8 miles, which is the longest distance I have run in a while.  Slow (1:13 total).  A few fast bursts with music miles 5 and 6.

Rest day according to my training plan.

3.3 miles in the evening.  Right heel hurts really bad, which usually means I need to replace my orthotics, so have to make a podiatrist appointment.  Tried not to heel strike and ran slowly, alternating with walking.

Planned run was 3 miles, but heel still hurts.  Got a podiatrist appointment for the 12th.  Will try tomorrow if heel is better.

Morning run...heels still hurt.  Tried not to heel strike.  Heels felt ok until the end when they hurt.  Didn't hurt too bad during the day until the end of the day.  Will have to call podiatrist to find out what to do to improve the pain until my appointment.

Just didn't have time to run today - got to work early and didn't get done til late, then transported my miniature horse to a friend's pasture to be a companion to her older horse whose pasture companion recently passed away.  Stayed late with horses and owner to make sure everyone got along ok.  

Probably worked out well since my right heel still hurts.  Will see how it goes over the weekend with my longer run on Sunday.   Podiatrist appointment still a little more than a week away.

Guess I could do the long run on Saturday and recovery run on Sunday.

6.8 miles mid-morning.   Before the run, I went to Walgreens and bought some $25 Dr. Scholls gel inserts and put them on top of my orthotics to see if that would help.  Ran pretty comfortably, but my heels hurt, probably residual pain from earlier run this week. Will see how they feel tomorrow.

Morning 9.2 mile run in 1:22.  No heel pain with the Dr. Scholls inserts added to my orthotics.  Will see how they feel tomorrow.  Hopeful that it is just needing new orthotics and that the old orthotics + Dr. Scholls will last until I get new ones.  Might be time for new running shoes too.

2.5 miles at night as a recovery run from the two runs this weekend.  May not get to run tomorrow because of travel.

Travel day - up early getting ready, dropping dogs off at kennel, and it took all day to get to Mom's.  Then visited with her and went to her house to make sure all is ok.  

3 Miles in Upstate NY at dusk.  Taking care of Mom and a few things at her house.  Busy day doing things for her, so not much time to run.  Will run further tomorrow morning.

No time to run at all!  Bees had invaded my Mom's house, and I had to find a hotel to spend the night.  Busy day all day doing necessary errands and things for Mom and spending time with her.

Met the exterminator early at the house, and it took several hours to get the bees under control, then had to take Mom to they eye doctor, get her back to assisted living, have dinner, and find another hotel for the night.  Leaving early tomorrow - 6 am flight.

Travel day - up at 3:45 am and just got to the airport on time.  Got home around 1:00 and had to catch up on lots of house responsibilities and exercise 2 horses.   All these adult responbililities really cut into running time.  Hope for a long run tomorrow.

10 miles in 1:29, then 0.5 walking cool down.  Nice morning, felt good, building endurance.  Need new shoes and orthotics.  Got blisters because the makeshift orthotics cause feet to rub on shoes in odd places.

5 miles in the morning before traveling to Houston for a conference.

Continuing the training plan...there was no opportunity to run last week at the conference.   Did not feel comfortable running where I was staying in Houston and had responsibilities at the conference so had to be there early and stay late.  Hoping for a better week of running this week.

8 pm run,  Felt a little tired after a busy day at work.

7:30 pm run, felt pretty tired after work, so took it slowly.

A better start to the week.  11 miles at 4:30 pm in the rain in 1:44.  Fortunately not a cold rain.  The good thing is, I'n almost to 13 miles, and I still have time to work on speed before the first weekend in December.

Plan:  Rest day

Plan: 6 x 880s, 5K to 10K pace

Actual:  None!  5 a.m. meeting and then worked all day until 5 pm.  Way too tired.

Plan:  4 miles

Another 5 a.m. meeting with a full day after that.  This is really hurting my training.

Plan:  7 miles

Actual:  5.29 at night.

5 a.m. meetings are not allowing me to run as much as I would like!

Plan: 7 miles

Tired after the busy work week and another early meeting.  Rode my horse Ellie which is quite a workout for my legs since she is reluctant and needs a lot of pushing and correction.  Didn't have time to run.  : (

Plan:  4 Miles.  Then tomorrow is a long run.

Actual:  6.37.  average pace: 9:03

Plan: 12 miles

Actual:  12 or a little more.  Phone battery died after 10 miles, 1:31.  Started out a little fast, and psoas muscle began to hurt after 5 miles, so stopped and stretched.  It cramped somewhat around mile 9, so stopped and stretched again, then stretched again at 10+ and 11.  So quite a bit of stopping to stretch to alleviate back pain.

Quick run before opening hunt.

Today, I was supposed to run the St. Jude Half Marathon, but various injuries, including doing a face plant at night from tripping on debris left by vandals on the sidewalk, have slowed down my progress, so I ran 7 miles in honor of the St. Jude patients and the race itself.  

It seems this has been a year of continuously starting over in my running training.  It has been a challenge to be consistent with so many adult responsibilities required, but I'm going to try again.  I've built up a base level of fitness and now just need to get consistent and run those base miles before increasing too quickly to meet the goal of a race I had to register for months ago to even get into the race.  Yes, increasing my mileage to meet the 13.1 goal caused my back injury to flare up, and I spent many nights awake and in pain.  

Let's see if I can get consistent with 5 - 6 days of running per week, and then I'll think about registering for another half marathon.

Congratulations to all the St. Jude finishers today.

Early morning run of 4.34 miles.