Today was my second group training. We did four miles. I remembered my Garmin this week, so I am able to show the data (see below). The run went well and I went faster than I had been doing by myself. I ran with the same woman that I ran with last week. We ran seven minutes, walked one for the most part. The sun was shining brightly the entire time and I got pretty warm. The new shoes felt good, although I did get a small blister on my right foot. I had tried to just use body glide by itself, but I guess I need to be using the blister blocker band-aid things too.
During the run, we saw about six deer in the forest preserve. I was happy to see them so far inside the preserve. When I see them out by the road I get nervous for them. I didn’t have my phone with me, so I couldn’t take their picture.
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Fearing rain, I debated whether or not to run outside or go to the track at the gym. It rained all day yesterday and part of this morning. The weather channel (not the actual Weather Channel, but the really good weather channel on my cable that just does the local weather all the time) showed much more rain to come. I decided to take a chance and went out and did my 40 minute run outside. I heard one rumble of thunder near the end of the run, but had no rain. I got home and took a shower. When I got out of the shower, it was pouring rain. I guess I got home just in time.
The news shoes felt good, definitely more stable than before (they are stability shoes after all) and the run was pretty good. I felt like I was running easier, although I think that was all in my head because I was actually slower than my previous runs.
I wore my official Team in Training training shirt today on my run.
Front
Back
The husband took the candy that we purchased at Costco to work yesterday and we made $37! Someone even donated some money without taking any candy.
I am now thinking about doing a few batches of brownies and then individually wrapping them for sale.
How much would you pay for a fresh home-baked (from a box of Ghirardelli mix) brownie?
Since I started running, I have probably read the phrase “be sure to get fit for running shoes at a running store” in one derivation or another about 200 times. Apparently, though, this did not apply to me and I used the internet to try to determine what kind of shoes that I should be wearing. What that means is that for the last 2 years and 8 months I have been, apparently, wearing the wrong kind of shoes. Although I do in fact run like a duck, the insides of my feet turn inward, which means that I need stability shoes. I am glad that I finally listened to the advice at the running gear clinic and got myself checked. Hopefully this is the correct diagnosis and these new shoes will prove to be just what I need to have happy feet.
* free ice cream cone to the first person who can name the movie.
I went for another 30 minutes yesterday, per the schedule. My feet hurt a bit on the outside edges. When I got home, I had the husband help me do the size test I had learned at the shoe clinic: while standing straight up have another person measure the space between your big toe and the end of the shoe. The ideal is a thumbnail’s size space. Mine was half the husband’s thumbnail, which means that the shoe is likely too small. The other test is that your foot should not be hanging off the side of the shoes. Mine were on the side where it was painful, I believe as a result of the bunions on the outsides of my feet (not to be confused with the bunions on the inside of my feet near by big toe; I am doubly cursed).
After work today I am going to go to the shoe store and get measured properly because I don’t know if I need to just get one half-size up or a full size up or if I need to go up in the width as well.
You can see my training schedule by clicking on the “training schedule” link at the top of the page. I am not happy with the days that they have things scheduled on, so I am in the process of trying to figure out how to move it around. I believe that as long as I am not running all my days in a row, I should be okay. I was thinking of having my run days be M, T, Th, and Sat. Or maybe M, T, F, Sat. I am not sure if the key is to do the same thing every week, or just to make sure that I am getting it all in. Because I spent about three hours walking today at the Illinois Railway Museum, that is going to count as my cross-training for the week.
Today was the first group run. Because we were having a “getting started” clinic after the run, it was held at a local running store. I was surprised that they didn’t really make any mention of pacing and just had everyone run/walk for 15 minutes and then turn around and come back. There were some very fast people and some people slower than me. I guess I was somewhere in the middle. I wonder if those really fast people will slow down or if they will always go that fast. I had forgotten my Garmin at home, so I had to ask another woman how long we had been running so I knew when to turn around. It had only been seven minutes when I asked. I stayed behind her for a little bit because she was going a nice pace. We finished the first mile in 13:40, according to her Garmin. Later, a woman that I had met last week met up with me. Right about then it was time to turn around and we ran back together. We had a similar pace so it worked out well. She had worn too much clothing, though, and was warm, so she might naturally be faster.
After the run, we learned what stretches we should do and then headed inside for the clinic. I could have used a snack at that point, but none was offered. My tummy growled a little while the running store owner was talking about shoes. It pretty much reaffirmed what I knew already (that I am a freak and that only 10% of the population has feet like mine; I would guess far less than that if you add the bunions). He also talked about water bottle holders, clothing, and gels. Like me, the man was a fan of the Clif shot bloks. Yummy. The store gave us all one Powerbar gel (I got chocolate) and one free pair of fancy socks. They are so comfortable that I might end up getting some more.
Then the coach spoke about the training schedule and some other things. I spaced out a bit because I was so hungry and it was so warm in the store. Luckily I had my other half of a granola bar that I ate this morning in the car so I didn’t drive off the road or anything on my way home.
Remember when I thought I was supposed to run 35 minutes last Monday? Well it was only supposed to be 30. So much for carefully reading my schedule. Today was another 30 minutes. My husband and I both bought bluetooth devices for our phones, thinking that it would make a great way to communicate during the marathon. He can call me and I can tell him that I am at mile 10 or wherever so that he can easily find me to give me hugs, water, band-aids, etc. I ran today with the bluetooth for the first time, experimenting with it by calling my mom. Except for some wind, the communication was pretty clear. I didn’t mind the thing on my ear for the short run. We will see if that changes on longer runs. I had mistakenly thought that the devices would be expensive, but we got them for less than $20 each on clearance.
Total Time (h:m:s) 0:30:01 15:18 pace
Distance (mi) 1.96
Moving Speed (mph) 3.9 avg 9.0 max.
Today for my cross-training I did 20 minutes on the elliptical trainer and then brought out the hand weights to do some strength training. The weights had a considerable layer of dust on them and I don’t recall the last time I used them. The benefit of slacking off is that the weights did their job. Just imagine: if I had kept up with my strength training, they would be too light and I would have had to buy new heavier ones!
My first official day of training: run/walk 35 minutes. It was pretty rough initially, but after the first 10 minutes or so, I felt pretty good. I need to get back in the habit of prepping for a run because it took me so long to get ready!
Summary Data
Total Time (h:m:s) 0:37:58 17:21 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s) 0:34:20 15:41 pace
Distance (mi ) 2.19
Moving Speed (mph) 3.8 avg. 16.0 max.
