Running Haters

Is there anyone in your life who does NOT like your running? Who moans and groans when your alarm clock goes off? Or gives you the face as you head our for an after-work run? I understand when people have families and are EXCESSIVELY taking time away from their children but these people have to know running and its addictive qualities. It is currently 6 am on a saturday morning and my roommates must think I am CRAZY! I have actually been able to wake up without an alarm the past couple weeks because as the weather started getting nicer I switched my runs to the morning, and I cycle on opposite days. So there isn't even any alarm! How do we explain to people that we (at least me) LIKE to get up early and get our run in. Running in the morning is peaceful and productive! It has hard to be a morning person in a sea of non-morning people. It is a difficult task [ to balance it all] when running is something that fuels are bodies, our minds and our spirits. I think runners can be flexible people...a surprise meeting may lead one person to have to reschedule a trip to the store or a dinner date but you know what runners think? "Ok I'll just push my speed workout to the morning and my tempo run to saturday and I'll recover on Sunday." HAH!

Runner's Progression

My running years began about 7 years this summer. I can vividly remember running that first mile without walking. I would get up, run around the block, be back in 5 minutes and be done for the day. Granted- I was playing volleyball regularly, so I have always been athletic. BUT, running has always been my passion. I think about those 3 mile runs I would DREAD and now 3 mile runs are a warm up! Today I did 800 mtr repeats. In my senior year of high school, I did 4 of them around 7:30 pace. Today, I did 8 of them, all at sub-7 pace. How does that happen? I like to thnk it is constantly from pushing a little bit farther ever day, whether it is a minute or a mile. We slowly progress to more intensity, longer runs, quicker paces. I love that. I love to imagine what I am going to be able to accomplish in the years to come. I ran high school cross country and everyone always talked about marathons. I was always the first one to announce "I WILL NEVER DO A MARATHON!!!" But, I was the first one to do one a year out of high school. I'm the only one who still runs, and who runs more. If without anything else---I'm proud of myself for that. For pushing a little farther, every day :)

Cross-training

Are there every times that you know you absolutely need to hop on a bike, get in a pool or plain old just DO something else besides run? I had one of those mornings. I like to call them runs that "get the kinks out." I had a hill workout Friday, a long, hilly 14 miler on Saturday and took the day off Sunday and ran today. My legs were begging for me to do something else!!! :) I think cross-training is CRUCIAL to a running program. It strengthens the legs, mind and gives training a different perspective. My favorites are Cycling/Spinning (PERFECT for runners...intense enough to really strengthen the mind when it comes to tough runs/races) Swimming...works all muscles and helps soothe them at the same time and strength training, which we will love because it makes us LOOK GOOD...not that we need it :) I absolutely love it and think ever runner needs to at least give it a try.

Rest Days

This is the first day that I have taken "off" in two weeks. Agh! Won't do that again. I had to drag myself (painfully!) through every workout this week. AND had to do extra recovery (FREEZING ICE BATHS RING A BELL?!) because I didn't rest enough last weekend. No matter how elite or NOT elite we are... We all need rest! For most of us, running well isn't our career and we don't have time to sit in ice baths, and cannot afford professional massage therapists...NOT that I wouldn't love to do that for a living...because I think all die-hard runners would. Rest days aren't only time to let your muscles rebuild...they are time to recharge emotionally and mentally to prepare for another week of early mornings and unexpected adversities. And that is just what I am going to do today! :)

Weekends and my minimal motivation

Is it just me or is it much easier to get up on a work day and get your butt moving? Rather than save some of my heavy-duty workouts for the weekend, I like to get them accomplished during the week so I can do workouts that I enjoy over the weekend. Last week, I got all my tempos/long runs/interval workouts done during the week and still ended up doing mile repeats on Sunday. but that took LOTS of mental preparation to get my butt in gear. Today, (Saturday) I have a long run planned in about 30 min. It was HARD to get up this morning! It's going to be a rainy weekend here in Chicago so the sun wasn't there to greet me as I awoke. DARN! But this is PERFECT running weather-- 55 degrees, overcast, with some rain in the vicinity, but it's not raining. You know what I mean? I love it. Excited to finally take a day off tomorrow- that's all i'll be thinking about for the next 13 or 14 miles! :)

If you're going to train like a serious athlete, you have to recover like one!

I am one that does NOT like my running/training schedule to falter at all. Last weekend, I went to go visit my best friend Hayley at Notre Dame. I usually do my long runs on the weekend, but I knew I would be driving home on Saturday morning and I like to rest on Sundays. Well, I drudgingly changed my schedule for the week. Granted- I was very excited to visit my friend- but I have a race in two weeks so straying from the schedule isn't an option! SO. I did some easy strength work on Saturday, and mile repeats on Sunday and started this week. AKA I did not have a rest day over the weekend. OUCH I have been feeling it all week! This was supposed to be my hardest week of training and I am going to slowly bring down the intensity for race in 2 weeks. Monday I did a "recovery" run and some strength training, Tuesday I did my spin class and some calisthenics in the afternoon, and Wednesday I did another "easy" 7 miler. My legs were BURRRRNING! So, rather than do my strength work, I hopped in the pool and did 30 minutes of water running. WHAT A DIFFERENCE IT MADE! My legs felt GREAT on Thursday morning and I was able to get up and get in a super intense 60 minute cycle. My mantra of the week...If you're going to train like a serious athlete, you have to recover like one too! So, yesterday I sat in an ice-bath for 15 minutes and was able to squeeze in 50 minutes of strength work too. My legs felt SO much better today. I did a light hill workout this morning and am going to do my long run tomorrow. AND I WILL be sitting in an ice-bath later today too! It makes a HUGE difference! So- the lesson of today is to that you are NOT SUPERMAN and you NEED TO RECOVER. Recover doesn't have to mean laying on the couch for 12 hours straight, but your muscles need to rebuild, and if you want to do it QUICKLY, you have to do it in a pool or in a bath. I read a magazine while I was in the bath and the 15 minutes went by super quick.

Is it sad that I am happiest when my training schedule is on point and goes well? Is it sad that I was even the slightest bit annoyed when I had to change up my schedule to visit a friend? Is that obsessive or just dedication? I'm not exactly sure but I did change it which makes me know that I am at least a little bit normal :)

Gotta Try Everything

Gotta Try Everything. I have Twitter, Facebook, G-mail, and now a brand new blog! My purpose is to blog about the thing I am most passionate about: and that is running. I train alone 99.999% of the time so I thought this would be a great opportunity to write about what that all entails. Running is extremely difficult mentally, so like anything else, if we don't take the time to reflect on something so important to us, frustration can and WILL ensue. Quite honestly, I reflect on my running WHILE I am running. I have the BEST ideas and thoughts when I am training and I need somewhere that I can just put it all down on paper to have for myself. I don't do much for myself so to give myself this opportunity is a big step. I am not going to try and have a unique, quirky, witty blog. This is simply a place where I can write about the hard work I do day-in and day-out. and I think I deserve that. I think we all do.