Running Program - Week 4

For the first time with increasing my mileage, I felt slightly challenged this week. Then again, I don't know if I would chalk it up to being challenged, or just having a bad run day. My Tuesday (28 minute) and Saturday (42 minute) runs were the only two that challenged me. Mostly the Tuesday run. I'm not sure if I missed out on some sleep or ate too much garbage on Monday, but that run kicked my butt. I wasn't feeling too hot for the Wednesday easy run. Then come Saturday, I think the reason that was a bit harder was running a bit faster than I probably should have. I feel that in my current condition, my long runs should be somewhere between a 9:15 min/mile and 9:30 min/mile pace. I ended up running just under 9 min/mile.

Anyway, even with those two, I feel comfortable to increase to 15/30/45 minutes for this coming week. I'm still not sure where I will hold steady. I was initially hoping to progress slowly enough (no more than 10% increase each week) to run a half marathon before the running season ends. However, after looking at the best possible scenario (continually increasing 10% every week), the earliest I would have a long run the distance of a half marathon falls on week 15. That would put me in the last week of October/first week of November. And that's only IF I were to increase every single week. I'm not sure I could keep that kind of progress going that long as I'm sure I will hit some weeks where I won't feel ready to increase and will repeat the same times one, two, maybe three weeks in a row. Maybe I could find a 10k to do.

It's odd, this is really the first time I've been running without a real goal in mind. Like I explained in my last post, when I started up running I was going for a 10k. Did way too much way too soon and paid the price. When I started up again this year, my initial goal was to do a Sprint Triathlon. But, as in a previous post, triathlon training has to be put on hold for a few more years. So, for now, I just run. :) And while doing that, I look to improve little by little. I guess my big goal is to run a marathon next year. I plan to continue to improve and increasing mileage with this running program through the winter. Which will be a lot easier to do with the purchase of a treadmill a few weeks ago. So, I look forward to doing better and better to be in great shape next year. Maybe do a half marathon early on, throw in some 5k or 10k races, and ultimately shoot for a marathon.

Running Program - Week 3

I was very excited when I completed my long run for this week which puts me right back where I was before I got hit with the big viral and bacterial infections in mid June! Back then I was running at paces that would absolutely wear me out when I was done, so I did run the 40 minutes quite a bit faster (roughly 8:24/mile) than I did yesterday. But the difference this time around, the after effects of the run have barely bothered me. :)

If I keep going at this rate of being able to increase by 10% each week, in four weeks I will have a new long run (by time, and maybe distance) PR. The longest I have ever run was for the Farmington Festival Days 10k back on July 10, 2010. It was during that race that I messed up my right knee and did not start running again until late April of this year. I'm quite sure the reason for the injury was that I had never run that far at one time. In fact, I had only been running for maybe a month leading up to that race. I had finished the P90X program just before picking up the running bug and thought I was in great enough shape to handle it. Unfortunately, P90X does not train your body to handle the rigors of running.

That injury taught me many lessons with respect to my running. First, our bodies are so fragile, and just the fact that I am able to be out running every day is a great blessing in my life. There are many people who do not even have the ability to run even though they desire to do so.

Second, running is a lifestyle change. This means it's something that has to be developed and improved on over time. There is no quick and dirty way, no shortcut to becoming a better runner. You simply have to listen to your body, take progress one small step at a time, and be prepared to be in it for the long term.

Finally, third, I learned how much I really do love to run. In that short month of running leading up to my injury, I was so focused on the competitive aspect of it that I quickly lost sight of just how much I love to run. And it wasn't until after I injured myself, waited 3 weeks to recover, and then tried to go out to run and be devastated when the pain came right back after a mile that I realized how much I loved and missed running.

That run took place in a small town in Riverton, Wyoming where I was doing field work with my job. I remember waking up early and stoked to get out and start running again. I was doing so great, keeping a decent form for one who hadn't been out for a few months. Then, the pain hit, right where it had been before. I stopped, walked for a bit, then tried to jog. The pain got worse. I remember exactly how I felt, and all I wanted to do was sit down and cry. Knowing that I couldn't run made me feel like a part of me died. I guess I became so depressed in that aspect of my life that I didn't even think to try and take up running again (for the fear of disappointment with re-injury) until winter was over. That, and I'm a total wimp and can't stand being out in the cold. ;)

A little dramatic? I guess so. But it's the truth. I LOVE to run! While attempting the triathlon training, it was fun to bike and swim. But I always LOVED to run even more. That's why I definitely knew I would keep focusing on running when it became obvious that I didn't have the time to train for triathlons. I know a lot of people in this world just can't understand how one can love to run so much, why we would do something that seems to just inflict pain on yourself. I can't fully explain it, but all I know is that I look forward to every time I get to go out and hit the road and run. It's always an exhilarating, liberating, joyful experience for me. And to see myself make a slow and steady progress over the course of this year with the set backs I have had makes me love it even more!

Running Program - Week 2

Yeah, it's only been two weeks since I started this 6 runs per week program, but I figure I would go ahead and give an update. First of all, I've been having a really hard time keeping my pace down. It's probably more the competitive side of me wanting to go, go go. At the same time, according to where I found this program, the medium and long runs should be done at a pace that would allow you to comfortably talk with other people (i.e. not breathing so hard that you can't even get a long sentence out in one breath). I guess running at a faster pace is okay since my breathing hasn't been a problem at all, neither have my recovery times between medium and long runs. I feel great after week 2!

Second, and this one is really odd, my sore right hip has actually improved! About a month ago, after I recovered from some infections that took me out for a good 2.5 to 3 weeks, when I started running again my right hip began bothering me quite a bit. When it first showed up it would hurt to even walk afterwards. Anyway, I decided to go ahead and give this program a shot even though it was still bothering me just a little bit. During week 1 I would have some moments where I thought that it might be best to take a few days off from running to let it heal up. However, it would never hurt while running so I just continued to run each day. A couple days into week 2 I noticed that the discomfort in my hip was going down with every run. So, even with running almost every day over the last two weeks, any pain in my hip has almost completely disappeared.

I'll be kicking up the time by 10% for week 3 since everything feels great after week 2. Here are my results, so far. Sorry, haven't figured out how to make it bigger.