Another week closer...

Last week was a pretty good week.  I didn't run as much as the week before but I got more swimming and group ex classes in.  I'd rather be running more but with my teaching schedule, I just can't do more than I am.  I am not worried about the cardio aspect of the race at all.  What worries me is the pounding my joints and muscles will have to endure. 
Last week I ran four miles on Wednesday - two of them in the rain and then I ran 7 miles on Saturday.  Saturday morning, I taught both Body Pump and Body Step but instead of going immediately out and running, I went home, put some calories into my body and rested for a few hours.  When I started my run, I was looking for every excuse not to run - my legs felt heavy, my heel hurt (a lot), etc...  It took me almost a mile to get into the groove a bit.  Michelle had already been running for about 30 minutes and called me when she was 2.5 miles out to let me know she had stashed water near Weber Elementary School if I needed it.  I didn't.  I was wearing my running belt with water.  We met on Rohret Road about a mile later going opposite directions.  She asked me how far I was planning on running and I said a total of about 5 but maybe six.  She continued back toward home and I kept going out.  By the time I hit the 2.5 mile mark (which is at the crest of Rohret hill #1) I was feeling pretty good and decided to run the hill.  Rohret hill is huge.  I made it down without any problems but going up was slow.  I managed to run the whole thing but my legs were on fire by the time I got to the top.  Right before the 3.5 mile point (my turn around point), a man working in his front lawn nodded at me and asked me how I was doing.  I told him that I was fine and just about to head back.  A couple of minutes later, as I passed him again, he notice me drinking from my water bottle and asked if I was okay with water.  I told him thanks but I was fine.  This is one reason I love living in Iowa.  People generally really are concerned about each other.
It was also about this time that I realized that I was chaffing rather badly under my right arm where my arm was rubbing against my tank top.  This has happened before - most notably at the Lake Geode Challenge when I finished the race with my arms held out from my sides.  However, I hadn't worn this tank in months and had forgotten about this problem.  I had remembered to put Body Glide everywhere else but not my arms.  I managed to get hold of Michelle about a mile later and asked her to meet me with some diaper cream.  Thankfully, she got to me by mile five of my run and I slathered on the anti-rash cream.  The last two miles of the run went fairly well once I wasn't obsessing on the pain caused by the rash.  Post run I felt pretty good but even though I stretched well, I had some mobility problems with my ankles and my heel was not happy either.  By yesterday, I felt great. There was no residual pain from the run. 
If I manage to leave work before it rains today, I will try to get a few miles in.  If it rains, I will at least swim.  The forecast for this week is pretty wet and gray.  Since I will be teaching three classes on Saturday, I am going to try to get my long run (at least 10 miles) in on Thursday.

Not a bad week over all

I didn't get to run as often as I wanted (or needed to) but I did manage to get in a long run of 9 miles on Saturday.  I have been very worried the last few weeks that I have not been able to get a long run in due to the pain in my foot from PF.  However, this last Saturday, I just told myself to deal with it.  I taught Body Step at 9:30 am and then left from the gym to do the run immediately following class.  I run north on Hwy 1 to Newport Road, turned west on Newport for about a half mile and then turned around and came back.  It took me 1:37 to do the run but I was not going for speed.  Indeed, I averaged about a 10:50 min/mile pace.  The way out was predominately uphill but the wind was at my back.  I felt pretty good considering I had only eaten an apple before class.  I walked for 0.1 miles at mile three and then again for another 0.1 miles at the turn around point.  At mile 6 and 7 I did the same thing.  It was just enough of a break to keep me moving.  I began to feel the effects of not having enough calories  by mile 7.5.  At mile 8 I was literally asking myself out loud what I was thinking.  I began to have serious doubts as to whether I could run this marathon.  The only thing that kept me somewhat positive was that I knew I was feeling this way because I hadn't eaten and not because I wasn't able to go the distance.  Also, teaching a one hour cardio class before the run was probably not the smartest thing to have done at this point in training.

  I ran with compression socks for the first time and noticed a huge improvement in recovery.  I am barely sore.  I will be running with those socks for each and every long run I do.

As it was the first real sunny and warm day in which I have run so far this year, I also forgot to put on sunblock.  I got my first and hopefully last sunburn of the year.  Last lesson learned from Saturday's run: wear anti-chafe cream.  I was a bit chaffed in some awkward places.

I would have liked to have had one more short run in for the week but that is just the way things worked out.  I ran 4 miles on Thursday and the 9 miles on Saturday.  I also got in 1000 yards at the pool and taught 4 classes - 2 Body Pump, 1 Body Attack, and 1 Body Step.

This week I have 5 classes scheduled.  I would also like to get at least 2000 yards in at the pool and three runs - 2 four milers and one 9 or 10 miler.  I will have to do my long run on Friday since I teach both Body Pump and Body Step back to back on Saturday.
Lastly, I have managed to lose about 3 pounds.  I have a long way to go but it's a start. 

Two weeks closer to race day...

I am on a plateau right now.  I haven't been able to run more than 12 miles a week the last 3 weeks.  I was on track for more last week but the pain in my heel is back.  Last Saturday was the Fool's 5K in Cedar Falls.  It was cold (in the low 40's) so Michelle and I did a 2 mile warm up run.  The race itself was fun - I ran it in 26:54 - and felt pretty good afterward.  I intended to run and additional three miles when I got home but my heel hurt so bad that I didn't run.  I am not sure what I am going to do about this but I have to train for this race.
We are running the Live Healthy Linn 5K tomorrow morning so that will be at least three miles down.  I plan on running 8 miles total tomorrow.  So far this week I have logged 8.4 miles.  8 miles tomorrow will make the most miles I have ever run in a week.