Speedbump, what speedbump?!

I ran today at lunch time.  3.2 miles.  I took it easy with a smidge over 10 minute pace.  My calf held up nicely.  I felt it, but no pain.  I did get some strange looks with the ice pack strapped to my calf after my run.  Good thing, ice packs don't violate the dress code! ;)  I know I should just do it, but I am dreading doing my home exercises.  I know if I slack off, my calf will not last through the Emerald Half Marathon this weekend. Anyone else going to be running the race?  Let me know and maybe we can grab a snack afterward. 

Today, a friend asked if I was "set on doing the marathon."  It took me a second to think about that question. I means I wouldn't put myself in harm's way for it, but I like to keep my word.  I told the world (or at least cyberspace) that I was going to do it and so I will.  Where I'm from... (Cue Digable Planets), your word is who you are. So with that, I am off to do my exercises.  Dreaming of a week from now when Angelo (still hoping he's cute) will help me with them! Until next time, keep running, walking or otherwise moving!

On the BRIGHT side...

Drum roll please...Dr. Bright and Max Sports rock the house AGAIN!  Dr. Bright says I am not sidelines.  I have to ice my calf twice a day and do 4 "home stretching exercises" twice a day.  You got it doc!  Plus, I have to go to physical therapy.  I have a re-check with Dr. Bright in 3 weeks.  He said I can even run the Emerald Half Marathon on Sunday.  He said I do have to listen to my body and stop if I have pain, etc.  I also have to cross train more.  Dang it?! How am I gonna fit that in?  He specifically mentioned EFX, bike, and weights.  I am gonna have to add hours to the day to accomplish all this training.  On the bright side, he is a cutie--very distinguished.  Why is it that older guys get cuter, but the ladies just have to use more serums....hmmmm...speaking of...my physical therapist's name is Angelo...sure hope he is a cutie too-that will make PT at 6:45 AM much more doable!  I will find out in 9 days!  :)  In any event, happy running, walking or cross training. Until we meet again.

This is a BIG speedbump!

So, the goal was rest, ice, recovery during much of last week.  My Friday training run was an EPIC fail.  Just 2.5 miles and the cramp/pain was back in my left calf.  It took me almost 5 hours of walking and stretching to get the pain to stop.  I limped around Convention and felt like Keyser Sosay (probably misspelled that one) from The Usual Suspects...although I wasn't faking it.  (I still love that movie...although I digress.)  In any event, I cancelled my 16 mile training run on Sunday and promptly scheduled an appointment with Max Sports Ohio for tomorrow afternoon.  Ok, this is going to be super sales-y but I love Max Sports.  They do whatever they can to keep you in the game.  Hopefully, Dr. Bright will have some way to keep me on track for my marathon.  I will keep you posted.  Until tomorrow...keep running, walking or just plain being active!

Baby Cow Update...

If you have a kid, you probably caught on quickly to the post title.  If not, baby cow = calf.  :)  It is still a bit tight and sore.  I am going with it being a serious cramp from dehydration.  Otherwise, I don't think it would feel so much better so quickly.  I plan to run tomorrow or Thursday morning to test it out.  :)  As for the dehydration front, I have eaten what seems like a ton of salt...although, it really hasn't been that much.  I just don't usually salt my food or anything like that.  The kid of a mom with heart disease will teach ya to watch those kinds of things.  But alas, I have eaten baked pretzels and Kashi sea salt pita chips.  I feel like a regularly piggy gobbling up this stuff.  But hopefully, the salt plus the water will equal one happy baby cow!  If any of you out there in cyberspace have some ideas, I'd be thrilled to hear them.  Until then, happy running, walking or just moving your body!  :)

Back at it....or not

The schedule called for 15 miles, my body called for 10.77 miles--the point at which my left calf said..."hold up, wait..." cue Dr. Dre.  I spent the afternoon icing, stretching and re-hydrating...not necessarily in that order.  :)  On the bright side, I got some miles in. Peter and Teresa rocked their 10 miles.  Emmie was a trooper and got all 15 of her miles in.  My goal now is to rest (and hopefully heal up) then run on Wednesday.  It is never fun being injured.  I am glad that I listened to my body though.  Since it still hurts as I type, I know it would be worse if I kept running. Tomorrow, I will hit the weights.  It has been a while since I lifted, so I am sure to be sore afterward. No matter what the obstacle...stay active.  I know I plan to. :)  Happy Lifting...I'll save the running for Wednesday!

Ok, so how do you start?

Running a race is awesome, but some of you have asked ...How did you start to run one mile, let alone a 5k, a half or full marathon?!  You ask, and you shall receive!  Here is the actual training plan that we followed.  It starts out slow because it is a plan for a 5k, followed by the half and then into the full.  (Note: just ignore the fact that we started off with the St. Patty's Day 5k.  We all thought for a second that we were young again and ran it without really training for it).  For those of you who are working on your first mile, I suggest a run/walk strategy.  Set yourself a time goal like 30 minutes.  Run for 2 minutes, walk for 2 minutes.  You will eventually run for 3 minutes, walk for 1 minute.  Then run for 3.5 minutes, walk for 30 seconds.  Soon you will be running straight through.  Just remember that distance running is NOT a sprint.  Pick a pace that you can sustain for a longer period of time.  You will be training your heart (cardio- to not get winded) and your body (joints- to deal with the soreness of impact).  Happy running!

Race Training Plan

5k, Half & Full Combined

	Monday	Tuesday	Wed.	Thurs	Fri	Sat.	Sun
Week  1	3/7	3/8	3/9	3/10	3/11	3/12 5k St. Patty’s day	3/13
Week 2	3/14	1		1			1.5
Week 3	3/21	1		1			1.5
Week 4	3/28	1.5		1.5			2
Week 5	4/4	1.5		1.5			2
Week 6	4/11	2		2			4/10 Lima 5k
Week 7	4/18	2		2			2.5
Week 8	4/25	2.5		2			3
Week 9	5/2	2.5		2			3
Week 10	5/9	3		3			3
Week 11	5/16	3		3			3
Week 12	5/23	2		2			4
Week 13	5/30	2		2			4
Week 14	6/6	2		2			5
Week 15	6/13	3		2			5
Week 16	6/20	2		3			6
Week 17	6/27	2		3			3
Week 18	7/4	2		4			7
Week 19	7/11	2		4			8
Week 20	7/18	2		4			6
Week 21	7/25	2		4			9
Week 22	8/1	2		4			10
Week 23	8/8	2		3			8/14 Half marathon for Kel’s bady!
Week 24	8/15	3		4			15
Week 25	8/22	3		4			16
Week 26	8/29	4		4			12 or the Emerald City Half
Week 27	9/5	4		4			18
Week 28	9/12	4		5		20 miles at the Endurance Race
Week 29	9/19	5		5			Oxford State to State Half Marathon
Week 30	9/26	4		4			12
Week 31	10/3	4		3			8
Week 32	10/10	3		3			Columbus Marathon!!!