Saturday, April 28, 2012

termination and an unplanned 5k

I was terminated from my job yesterday...no reason why yet. Can't think of any reason why either...

Which leads me to the 5k. I was planning on drinking a lot last night (I'm not a huge drinker, so maybe 2-3 drinks would make me tipsy). Well, I didn't. Had decided to go cheer on a friend at a 5k as I didn't feel I'd be in any shape to do my planned 6 miles. Woke up and decided I might as well run the 5k, there was nothing better to do...no job to go to. Ended up finishing in 34:26, which was 2.5 minutes faster than my last 5k which was only three weeks ago. Did the first mile in 10:57, which is my second fastest mile time ever by 1 second. The second mile in 12:13 (walked a bit at the halfway point) and the third in 11:17. I am happy with the results. I feel like being diligent in my training has really helped! Looking forward to seeing that time decrease in the next few months.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Sometimes...it's just there

Well and sometimes it just isn't. My friend and I were discussing how sometimes when you go out for a run "it" just isn't there. I felt that way for all my runs this week. I did my first ever tempo run on Monday. Even though I did not feel up for a run (been fighting illness), I sucked it up and did it. My reward was to have run my two fastest consecutive miles ever. EVER. The first mile completed in 10:56 and the second in just over 11 minutes. I even walked some. How crazy is that?

My second run was a day of speed work. J did 400m intervals and I did 300m intervals. I did a warm up beforehand and was just dragging. I continued to feel like I was dragging the whole way through the 10 intervals, but somehow managed to pull out a 9:30 average pace. Again, how crazy is that?

Sadly, yesterday's "long" run turned into a walk. I got to my car after work and realized I had packed two left shoes. One of my new ones and one of my old ones. Sigh, I was stuck with my work shoes, which while they are made for being outdoors, didn't cut it for running. Here's too a better week next week in the long run, right?

I guess this week has made me realize that even when I'm not feeling up for a run, I need to get my rear out there and just do it. The rewards were definitely worth it for me this week. I felt more like a "real" runner after struggling to get to those runs and then succeeding.

Now for a weekend of rest and back at it on Monday.

Runs for next week:
Monday: easy 2-3 miles
Tuesday: tempo run for 45 minutes
Thursday: speed work of some kind
Saturday: long run 6 miles

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Speed

Now, I am not swift of foot. At all. Never have been, likely will never be extremely fast. But, lately I've been wanting to test myself. Just to see HOW fast my body can go. I imagine that once I lose the rest of the weight that I'd like to lose, that speed will sort of come with it. At least, I hope for that.

So when J posted on the running group's FB page about a speed session, I was all over that. Sure J and L are twice as fast as I am (literally). We did 10 intervals of running a slight downhill then racing as fast as possible up a longer hill. I about died. I wasn't hurting, but I couldn't breathe. I somehow survived. While this was physically difficult for me, emotionally it was rocking. J and L were extremely encouraging. It probably rates up there as one of my top running days ever. They never started without me. Never left me behind. Waited for me at the top of the hill encouraging me to "push" just one more time.

It made me eager to do it again. So I've been messaging J and E (another runner) for tips on how to make a training plan to A) keep me in shape, B) help me speed up some, and C) be in the best running shape for a 10k this summer (as well as have me at a good starting point for a half marathon in the fall).

This month's plan is made...I will do this. I will.

Monday, April 9, 2012

Death

The one thing I have not dealt with at all in my healthcare experiences is death. I have a feeling that I will not be saying that by the end of this week. Death in a hospital and death in long term care are completely different things. In the hospital, one does everything they can to save the person's life. In long term care, it is generally all about making the resident comfortable as they are usually a DNR/AND.

I am not sure how well I will deal with this. I'm hoping with grace, peace, and professionalism. I've grown attached to some of the residents in the short time I've been there and am already dreading their passing whenever it will occur.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

Race for the Golden Stethoscope

Today (well now it was yesterday), I ran my first 5k in almost three years. Sure I'd run 3 miles more often than that, but not the actual race. I'm still not sure what I was thinking running this exactly a week after the half marathon, but I wanted something to keep me running.

It looked from their Facebook page, that it would be a small race and it proved to be true. There were maybe 70-80 runners? Anyway, most of them were med students as this race was going to benefit the college of medicine's Salvation Army clinic which provides free care to those without insurance. The age groups were in the range of 10 years. So even with a smaller group of runners, no chance of placing anything as I was in the same age range as all the other females, just older. I started out running what I thought was a  little two fast (for me), but decided to keep it up and see how it went. I ended up running the first mile in 11:40, the second one in 11:32. Considering the fastest mile I'd ever run previously was 11:30 and I've only ever done that once...I was stoked. After the second mile, I was able to overtake three other runners who had to start walking. It took about 12:40 for the last mile and I finished with a time of 36:59. The 5k I did almost three years ago my time was 45:53. I cut about 9 minutes off my time. I was astounded. I was shooting for under 40 and never dreamed it'd be 36:59. woohoo!

Monday, April 2, 2012

Half Marathon = complete!

March 31, 2012 was the day I completed my first half marathon. RunTheBluegrass Half Marathon was run out near Keeneland in Lexington, KY. I had run the parts of the course a few times, which was rough but nowhere near as rough as this day was.

I'll go back to Thursday which was my last run before the race. I had planned an easy 3 miler. The run itself went pretty well except a little annoying twinge in my left hip. I had tried to get into my chiropractor earlier that week but wasn't able to. Made a mental note to call him on Friday morning and never did.

Friday was my first day on the floor at my new job. I ended up on my feet a majority of the 12 hour shift. My shift ended at 11:30pm. I went out to my car and the headlights didn't turn on. I was able to follow someone part of the way home, however eventually pulled over by the police and they escorted me back home without giving me a ticket. They just told me to get the lights fixed before I drove again. I finally returned home a little after midnight and finished gathering my stuff for the morning.

Saturday I woke up at 5am. I started looking up garages to see if any of them opened early enough for me to get my headlights fixed. Unfortunately, none early enough. So I went to my car and turned the lights on...the high beams worked. Good enough for me! I left around 6:20am and arrived at Keeneland about 6:45. I braided my hair in the car, gathered my stuff and hopped on the shuttle to the start. I picked up my race packet and found my running friends. I gathered with one group to get a picture, then off to another group. I found my running partner and we headed to the official start line.

The first couple miles K and I were running about what we had planned. After mile 3, she said "there's only 10 miles left...we've run 10 miles before, we can do this!" We plodded along, had some Gu around mile 4, then started up the part of the course we had not been on before. Between miles 6-7 I started experiencing pain in my left hip again. Just enough to bother me, but not enough to make me want to stop. At mile 7 was one of the local ladies running groups manning a water station. Saw one of my friends and she gave me some encouragement.  Off I went again.

Around mile 8, I started struggling more as my left knee started hurting some. K started getting further ahead of me. I could still see her. the hardest hill was from mile 9-10. at 10.5 K was still ahead of me and she had stopped to check on a runner who had stopped and was bent over on the side of the road. she pointed at me and I could hear her say the girl in the white hat was a nurse. I ran a little faster than I had been to catch up. He had experienced such bad cramps he couldn't even walk. I tried to get a hold of a friend who was volunteering, but she had already left for home. I started running to the next water station, because he asked me to get the ambulance. Thankfully a few minutes after I left him, I saw the ambulance come by.  By that point, I was hurting too much to run a lot. So I set off walking and walked most of the rest of the race. I threw in a few jogs here and there and ran through the last part to the finish line.

My friend J was there waiting and gave me a hug and I almost started bawling from the pain I was in. I drank the chocolate milk they had and J had to leave. I found somewhere to sit for a little and M came to check on me. He has been one of my consistent running buddies the last few months. He volunteered during this race though. He made sure I was okay. I had to wait until the person who had my stuff came back from her water station before I could leave. I ended up able to stretch out my legs more and I'm sure that helped immensely.

Overall, it was a great experience. For this being only the second year for this particular race, the organization was outstanding. E, who organized the race, thought of everything possible and I couldn't think of a better race to have as my first half marathon.

Will I do another half? Probably. I'm looking toward the Iron Horse Half in October depending on my work/kid schedule. For now, I'm going to focus on some 5/10k's and do some speed training.