March Running Update
This was the month for me to really push things while running. And I'm really proud of how well the month went. I managed four easy 9 mile runs (as in, I let myself run easy, not that running 9 miles is easy), worked on speed, and worked on my ideal long run pace. I don't know much about official training routines, but I think this has been working for me. I did get REALLY tired toward the end of the month, and would have loved to take a week off to rest and recover a bit, but I'm so close to the 10 mile race that I made myself push through it. Which was hard, but I managed. Besides I'm having a small surgical procedure in 2 weeks which will require time off from exercising, so I will get my (well earned) rest soon enough :) And then I'll start running again as soon as I get the okay... I've already got a few races in mind for late spring, so I really hope I can be ready in time.
Total Miles for the month: 65.2 (wow, that's higher than I expected)
Total Miles for 2014: 165.8
Longest run: 9 miles
Fastest mile time: on the treadmill as part of a 3 mile speed workout- 8:34; outside, at the end of a 6.5 mile run 8:52
Indoors, on the treadmill: Maintained Wednesday as my "Run 3 miles in under 30mins" day, though it still hasn't gotten easy, and I always think there's a chance I won't make it. And actually, for some reason I seem incapable of doing simple math while running (I need to subtract my warm up walking time and distance from the overall time and distance), so there's also a good chance that I haven't made it some weeks, or that I'm actually running the 3 miles in like 27 mins. But either way, I think it's close enough, and it definitely feels like I'm pushing myself to be fast, which is the point. On Fridays I switched to a 1 hour run, hoping to manage a decent 5.5 miles in that time. Which went over pretty good. Now I'm thinking that 5.5 mph is a pace I can hold for a long time (an 11:00 minute mile). Also, one day I ran 8 miles inside on the treadmill because I was tired of running in the cold. Freezing cold vs insane boredom?????? Neither would be nice.
Pain: Last week I had the worst side stitch of my life. I get little ones from time to time but they dont usually hurt enough to slow me down and usually pass on their own after a minute or two if I ease up a bit. This one did NOT. It hurt so bad that I was involuntarily screaming and nearly in tears with each step. So after a few minutes with no relief, I realized I needed to stop. It took a good 15 minutes of sitting and careful breathing to get it to ease up to a manageable pain level. At which point I jumped back on the treadmill and finished off my last 2 miles (at a very easy pace to make sure it didn't get worse again). Please please please let that not happen this Sunday. Otherwise, I've been pretty much pain free! Which is really nice :)
Push ups: So I've learned that it's easiest for me to do them at night before going to bed. We usually put a show on (it was Walking Dead for a while, but we're all caught up now, so we're trying to find a new show to binge watch) and I get through my pushups pretty quickly before hopping in to bed to finally relax. I've been breaking down the amounts into sets of 25 (5 full push-ups and 20 knee push-ups per set) with a little break after each set. I also started taking 1 or 2 days off a week so my arms can rest and I think that has helped tremendously. I'll be hitting the 100 push up mark next week... I'm really looking forward to it! And right after that I get a break from push-ups too while I'm on a forced exercise break. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up where I left off, but if not then I'll just slowly work my way back to this point.
Push-ups this month: 1,940
Push ups total: 3,732
Total Miles for the month: 65.2 (wow, that's higher than I expected)
Total Miles for 2014: 165.8
Longest run: 9 miles
Fastest mile time: on the treadmill as part of a 3 mile speed workout- 8:34; outside, at the end of a 6.5 mile run 8:52
Indoors, on the treadmill: Maintained Wednesday as my "Run 3 miles in under 30mins" day, though it still hasn't gotten easy, and I always think there's a chance I won't make it. And actually, for some reason I seem incapable of doing simple math while running (I need to subtract my warm up walking time and distance from the overall time and distance), so there's also a good chance that I haven't made it some weeks, or that I'm actually running the 3 miles in like 27 mins. But either way, I think it's close enough, and it definitely feels like I'm pushing myself to be fast, which is the point. On Fridays I switched to a 1 hour run, hoping to manage a decent 5.5 miles in that time. Which went over pretty good. Now I'm thinking that 5.5 mph is a pace I can hold for a long time (an 11:00 minute mile). Also, one day I ran 8 miles inside on the treadmill because I was tired of running in the cold. Freezing cold vs insane boredom?????? Neither would be nice.
Pain: Last week I had the worst side stitch of my life. I get little ones from time to time but they dont usually hurt enough to slow me down and usually pass on their own after a minute or two if I ease up a bit. This one did NOT. It hurt so bad that I was involuntarily screaming and nearly in tears with each step. So after a few minutes with no relief, I realized I needed to stop. It took a good 15 minutes of sitting and careful breathing to get it to ease up to a manageable pain level. At which point I jumped back on the treadmill and finished off my last 2 miles (at a very easy pace to make sure it didn't get worse again). Please please please let that not happen this Sunday. Otherwise, I've been pretty much pain free! Which is really nice :)
Push ups: So I've learned that it's easiest for me to do them at night before going to bed. We usually put a show on (it was Walking Dead for a while, but we're all caught up now, so we're trying to find a new show to binge watch) and I get through my pushups pretty quickly before hopping in to bed to finally relax. I've been breaking down the amounts into sets of 25 (5 full push-ups and 20 knee push-ups per set) with a little break after each set. I also started taking 1 or 2 days off a week so my arms can rest and I think that has helped tremendously. I'll be hitting the 100 push up mark next week... I'm really looking forward to it! And right after that I get a break from push-ups too while I'm on a forced exercise break. Hopefully I'll be able to pick up where I left off, but if not then I'll just slowly work my way back to this point.
Push-ups this month: 1,940
Push ups total: 3,732
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