Getting back into Training!

After running the Polar Dash on New Year's Day, I have been very motivated to get back into training. In fact, I want to make it official that I have decided to run the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon again in 2014! More importantly, Ryan and I have decided to run two 5k (or longer?) Races a month for 6 months, starting in March with the Team Ortho Get Lucky 7k! I am almost more excited about this goal than I am about my Princess 2014 goal, because it means I will get to share the experience with Ryan. :) So, with all of these running goals, I know I have to get training, and train smarter and more consistently than I have in the past. I do not want to risk getting injured again, and/or losing my passion for this sport. I am starting out slow, and I am hoping that it will serve me well. I am also going to try to do more cross training and more core workouts on off-running days. I am hoping that by building a stronger core, I will be able to have better running form and be less prone to the hip/back injuries that plagued me in the past! Wish me luck! Yesterday I ran for the first time since the Polar Dash, and was very happy about it! I complete the C25k Week 5 Day 3 workout. I felt great running and the workout was pretty easy for me! I was also sporting my new shoes!! As you have read in earlier posts, I have a lot of problems with shoes, and with my feet. Ever since I was injured, I have struggled with finding the right shoe, one that provides some cushion, but is still a minimal shoe. I had been running in a Newton shoe, and then switched to a couple of different pairs of Brooks. I was unhappy with all of my shoes, and was thinking about running barefoot, when I remembered a pair of extremely minimal Newtons that I had barely worn. I pulled those out of the closet and found them to be very light, and comfortable. I enjoyed running in them, but knew that they just didn't have enough cushion to support the miles I wanted to be putting in. I went online and found a Newton shoe that was what I was looking for. The Newton Distance U. I was even able to order it in a women's size 12 (I have been wearing men's running shoes for over a year, which are not really suited to my narrow foot!).

My new shoes did not arrive in time for the Polar Dash, so I wore my older Newtons, and was very happy with the results. The very minimal Newton MV2 is great for a 5k, but would never work for me in a 10k or 1/2. My new shoes arrived the next day, and when I finally was able to take them out for a spin (on the treadmill), I was blown away by the comfort! My legs never got sore, and my foot finally felt like it was being supported in the right way (I think the men's shoes I have been wearing had something to do with my injury!). I loved these shoes from the first to the last step!! Of course I will need to run in the a few more times to make sure they are really as great as I think they are, but I am looking forward to it! Today, I rode the bike for 35 minutes, and did a short core workout.

Polar Dash 2013

As I said in my last post, I took quite a long break from running and on New Year's Day I ran my first race since May! This was my second time running the Team Ortho Polar Dash, so I knew what to expect, but I was more nervou than ever to run. This is the first race in a series of five races that Ryan gave me for Christmas. And as an even better gift, Ryan decided to run this race with me! Not until the race was over did I let Ryan know just how scared I was to run this race. I guess I was scared of not having a good time, of my hip starting to hurt again, and mainly I was scared that this race would prove that I didn't have it in me! All of my fears, however, went away the minute we got near the course. Ryan and I had stayed the night in Minneapolis, which made getting to the race very easy, and we did not have to worry about waking up super early either. It happened to be freezing cold the day of the race, in fact when we woke up it was below zero! The high for the day was only 7 degrees!! The race directors had posted on Facebook the night before, allowing the 1/2 marathoners to just finish a 10k and receive their medals because of the cold! That scared me! I was nervous about being warm enough during the race, and so Ryan and I had packed a lot of warm clothing, and spent quite a bit of time that morning deciding on how many layers to wear. I decided on a pair of running tights under my Lululemon insulated pants, a tech T, and 1/2 zip pullover and the ever famous Polar Dash Fleece! I also had to wear the penguin hat that was given as race swag! I did a little test run outside of our hotel, and along with a neck gator and mittens, I was feeling pretty good! After a good breakfast, we headed over to the race site. The race didn't start until 11am, but we made it to the parking lot at around 10am. With over 9,000 people running, we didn't want to have to wait too long in the cold. The Polar Dash takes place alongside the Mississippi river in Minneapolis, in a very residential area. Runners are not allowed to park in the neighborhood surrounding the course, we were instead asked to park in a parking lot/ramp about 1.5 miles away from the start of the course, and take a school bus to the start. Once on the bus, my sister called. She had braved the cold and had come to watch us! That made me very happy! I always feel better knowing someone is waiting for me at the finish line! She also took over as the official gear holder, which was great!! Team Ortho, who puts this race on, does a great job of keeping their runners warm. We were able to wait in the warming tent until just before the gun went off. About 10 minutes before the start of the race, we left the warming tent, and made our way to the starting line. I was super excited, and not even one bit nervous about running this race! The wait for the starting gun was very cold, and I worried that I had not put enough clothes on! The starting corral was so crowded, and I could tell that this would be another race that involved a lot of bobbing and weaving around other runners and walkers. Once the starting gun went off, I was right, the course was so tight, and it was very hard to break away from the pack and get any space!Ryan and I stuck together for most of the first mile, I was feeling great (but was sweating so badly, as I had again, overdressed!). I stopped for about 2 minutes to rearrange my clothing, i told Ryan to go ahead and that I would catch up. Once my clothing was situated, I was able to catch up to Ryan, and it felt so good to really stretch my legs out at a good pace. I didn't even notice, that I had left Ryan far behind me. I knew he wouldn't mind, and so I just kept going. Right before the turnaround, there is a pretty long hill, and I spent some time walking, thinking maybe Ryan might catch up. At the top of the hill, I sped up again, made the turnaround, where I finally saw Ryan again, and took off down the hill. I was still sweating, and icicles were forming in my hair, as I made my way though the crowd to the finish line. I was excited as I cross, and happy that soon I could be in our warm car!! After crossing the finish line (with a slow time of 38:22) I found my sister and waited for Ryan to come across the finish line. We were both excited to be done, because all the sweat was now starting to freeze and we were chilled to the bone! We collected our medals, and our hot chocolate (so good!) and made our way to the bus. We could not believe the line that was waiting for the busses back to the parking lot, it was HUGE!! Luckily, my sister had gotten there early and found a close parking spot. She gladly gave us a ride back to the lot and we were grateful to be out of the cold much quicker than waiting in line for the busses!!While the race was freezing cold, and my time was much slower than last year, I had a wonderful time, and am so very glad that Ryan not only pushed me back into running, but was there with me as I made my comeback. While this is only the second race we have run "together", meaning I have left him behind during both races, it is truly a great thing to be able to start together. I really love him being there with me!!I love it so much, that I proposed to Ryan that we should commit to running a 5k every week for the next 6 months (starting in March, as this cold weather running is brutal!). He agreed, but said we should maybe cut it back to two 5k races a month. I am super excited to look for some races to fill our calendar, and even more excited to have this adventure with Ryan!! I am really looking forward to it!!

Living Life 2013

Happy New Year!! I have not written anything since May! And since that time I have ran very little as well... I did not run any races from May until this month. I think my body needed a break, needed to heal and I needed to find my motivation for running again. I loved running, and then once I injured myself, I hated running, I hated everything about it, or so I thought. Really, I just hated myself for stopping, I hated that I gave up and I hated that I allowed myself to get back into old unhealthy habits. Before being injured, I was obsessed with running, and as I allowed myself to look back at the races I had completed, and at how far I had come (from being a non-runner to running 2 1/2 marathons and loving every minute), I remembered just how much I loved it, and how badly I wanted to get back out there!! Running for me is freedom, running is therapy, I need to run! If only is was that easy!! I was nervous about getting back out there, I was scared that I would hurt myself again, that I wouldn't be able to do it, that I wouldn't like running anymore. It took me a couple of months to warm up to the idea of getting out there and just go for a run. Most of the summer, I walked, I walked with my dogs, and with my boyfriend. I walked. It reminded me that I like to be outdoors, and that even though I have put on some weight, I am in control of my body and I can lose the weight. Walking was good, walking was safe, walking was easy. I could go out and walk for hours, without ever feeling like I was really "working out". On one of my walks, I mentioned to my boyfriend, that I would like to try running again (but I didn't mention how scared I was!). He was, as always, very supportive, and really pushed me to go for it. He was even going to help!!! He agreed to start the Couch25k Program with me! I was super excited! Not only was I going to start running again, but now I had someone to run with me!!! We ran very early in the morning, and we did a good job of it, until I had to go back to school. My schedule got in the way, and again, running took a back seat to everything else. I felt awful, I had failed....again! This time I did not let it get the best of me, I started the program over, and decided that I would give myself time, and be gentle with myself, not pushing too hard, not worrying about time, or distance, but worrying about finding the love of running again. I went out to find what had made me so very happy, what had made me obsessed, what made me feel alive. I knew it would be a struggle to get back into running, but I had no clue just how hard it would be. After a 6 month break (no running), my body did not respond well to my workouts, it was not like riding a bike, it was very, very hard to get back at it. Physically, I could handle it, the workouts were hard, but I was doing them, and completing them. What was the most difficult for me, was the mental part of running (the part I believe is the most important), I was beating myself up, as i struggled through some of the very first Couch25k workouts, my self-talk was beating the crap out of me. I couldn't believe that I was struggling with such "easy" runs when just months before I was running for hours. Now I was happy to have a 30 minute workout over! Ryan supported me, and pushed me and cheered me on. He even gave me the Team Ortho Race Series as a Christmas present! But better yet, he was going to run the first race with me!! On January 1, 2013 I ran my first race: the Polar Dash. I was awesome!! I found the love and the passion!! All it took was one very cold 5k to remind me why I love to run!! (the race recap will be posted soon!) I am still working my way through the Couch25k Program. I just completed week 5 day 3 today. I am not even near where I once was, when it coming to running, but I am okay with that. I am going to continue to take it slow and to look for the love in every workout. So this year, I am not planning for any PRs nor am I going to be concerned about the times in which I finish my races, but I am going to focus on loving each minute of every race I run and of every workout I run. I am running for fun!! On top of using this year to run for fun, I am also going to commit to blogging more, as it was such a great help to keep me inspired before. In 2013, I am going to live my life!