Rest Day Friday

I forgot to tell my internal clock that it is rest day! 5am *blink* I'm wide awake. Tried hard to go back to sleep, but my body just wasn't having it. I gave in, got up & cleaned the house, did a little laundry, had a little coffee .... kinda nice to have some quiet time around the house before work! Happy Friday bloggy friends!

Hello Sweaty Head

Today was 6am hill repeat day. Nothing sounds fun about that sentence. I know I've said before that hills and I, well, we just don't like each other. I don't practice on them and I pay the price later....

So hill repeats it is. I met Penny at 6am to run up/down/up/down this big nasty hill. I hate that hill. I don't even like driving that hill! An hour later I was drenched. Not a dry spot anywhere! Whew. That was hard.

I always sweat - alot on my head & hairline. I have GOT to find a headband or hat - something to keep the sweat out of my face. I usually wear a hat, but I think I need something else. Any suggestions runner friends? I need something that stays put and soaks up buckets of sweat. Is there such a thing?

I was a little worried how my knee would hold up since today was the 4th day in a row that I've ran. Surprisingly it held up really well this week! Rest day tomorrow! Hooray for rest day!

New Group Jitters

I don't know if everyone is like this or if I'm just a freaky freak....but I get so nervous when I'm running with new people.

I am a member of the local running club, and I'm yet to ever run with them. I meant to, really I did. Well, not really. I'm too scared. Will I be the slowest one in the group? Are they runners who stay together or go off on their own and just meet at the end? ipod runners or talkers? What about water breaks? Do they take them?

I have a few ladies who I'm totally comfortable with, but we can't always meet up for mid-week runs. It would be nice to have another group just in case.

What is the deal with my being so scared to run with new people? For the last maybe 6 months I get the emails everyday announcing group running plans. I read them, I wish I had the guts to go with them, and delete.

Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. I got the same email I get every Tuesday - announcing the 'beginner' (slower) group run Wednesday morning. I've read this same email every Tuesday for months. For some reason, yesterday I read it differently. I've gotten a *tiny* bit of confidence back since I seem to be able to run again, knee is doing ok. I've gotten a *tiny* bit of confidence back because I can now say I'm training for a race.

I emailed the group leader asking pace, she emailed right back telling me it would be slow and asked me to join them.

I typed, 'thanks so much, but I'm not sure my knee is ready for the hills on the route'. Backspaced that out. It's not your knee's fault you're being such a cupcake.

'thanks so much, but I don't really have enough time to do 6 miles before work'. Liar. They meet at 5am, that's plenty of time. Backspaced that out.

In my head : Suck it up princess and just run with them. How bad can it be? If you can't hang with them, just blame it on your knee, walk back to your car and try again another day. They will understand if you're slow, you are just getting back after surgery. Runners are supportive, good people right?

'Ok, I'll be there!'

Holy cow, I'd better get to bed. 5am run means I have to get up no later than 4:15. Must have coffee, food & be out the door by 4:45. Yikes. Slept awful - similar to how I sleep the night before race day. Nervous I'd sleep through the alarm, nervous I'd wake up late, blah. Not sure why I said yes.

But. All that fussing for NOTHING. 6 miles, no problem - I could have gone faster by about mile 3 (that's when I get warmed up and can kick it in a little faster). All went fine, everyone was of course very nice, supportive, etc. Just like you'd expect. 6 miles done before most people were even awake. I kinda LOVE that!

Tomorrow....hill work at 6am, followed by a glorious rest day on Friday! Have a good rest of your week!

3 Hills & a Toilet

Hills schmills, who needs hills?! Thought I would torture myself this morning & throw a few in...WoW. I am going to need to practice that a bit. I hate hills. Hate them. Of course, who really likes them unless you're going DOWN!

In my 2nd 1/2 marathon I got surprised by hills (duh, look at the course before you run silly!) and DIED since I never and I mean NEVER run hills. Fool me once shame on me....what was that my mom always said about me learning my lessons the hard way? Some things never change.

My run today was ok, kinda quiet since I was alone with no ipod. 6am run, 3 miles on the training schedule, so 3 miles I did. But I did see this on my run today:Yes folks, that is a purple toilet on top of a dirt pile. If any of you read Shut Up and Run, this pic is dedicated to her! Check her out, she has a giveaway going on today too. Have a good Tuesday!

1/2 Marathon Monday!

Today is the first official day of training for my October 1/2. How did I start that first day of training? Sleeping through my alarm and missing my run this morning! Dang it. Not a great way to kick things off huh?!

I had 3 miles on the schedule today, so I squeezed those in at lunch time. It was an ok run, I'm a bit tired from staying up too late, but all is feeling good today. I have GOT to get to bed before midnight if I plan to run in the mornings before work! Yikes. I'm gonna have to get it together...it's training time!

Good luck to everyone training for fall races!

you put WHAT in your sports bra?!

First for my daily run recap .... 5 miles at 6am with the girlies. Great run, weather was good, knee was ok, great way to start the day!

The Rack Trap
Ok now, I read this article today, about the Rack Trap. A pocket for your sports bra?!?! I'm a little disturbed, yet curious as well. I have been known to carry things in my sports bra as a last resort(Well, I have to carry stuff somewhere when I run, and I boycotted the hydration belt forever)

I have a hydration belt now with a little pocket to carry my stuff, but I still really don't like it much, and the pocket isn't big enough for keys, phone & fuel. I think I want to try this out!

So ladies? Rack Trap. Discuss.

I wonder....

If you're a runner, you probably have read Born to Run. After telling me all about eating chia seeds, a friend gave me the book to borrow when I was laid up after surgery. It talks alot about barefoot running and how many running injuries never existed until we started running in our high tech shoes. So I've read alot about barefoot running lately. I guess it's the new thing now? Well, everything is new to me because I've only been running for a little over a year - I know just about zero - the only things I know are what NOT to do.

I'm curious about this barefoot running thing. But not curious enough to set out on the street running barefoot. Holy moly, what if I step on something sharp? Want to end your training schedule? Step on a nail. Well, stepping on a nail with shoes on would be bad too....but you get my point.

Or gross, we run by the bars of Aggieville on Saturday mornings - I don't even want to tell you about the barf we saw last weekend. I know, TMI. Nasty.

BUT. During my workout today I started thinking about it. I already basically have shoes on even when I'm barefoot (I wear nothing but flip flops all summer and walk barefoot ALOT), so my feet are not baby bottom soft.

Today I did the elliptical for about 20 minutes to loosen up my knee and hit the track. (inside running today - people it's Kansas, at noon, in July.) I planned to run 3 but I just wasn't with it today. Probably because my breakfast consisted of grapes and I forgot my mid morning snack. Bad eating = bad running.

About 1 1/2 into the run, my knee was hurting quite a bit. I was alone on the track, so what the hey, I decided to take off my shoes and see what all the hubbub is about. It was weird. But kinda cool. I noticed my stride got shorter and my feet landed much lighter. The best thing was - instantly my knee pain was gone. What the heck. Seriously. It was gone. I don't think it's the answer to 'my knee's all better now', but I ran the last 1/2 mile with no pain after it was hurting enough before I took off my shoes that I wanted to stop.

I would have gone farther but a guy came and told me I had to wear shoes on the track. Fun spoiler.

Anyone know anything about barefoot running? Have a good day friends, I'm off to google it! I see Vibrams in my future....do they come in pink?! Why yes, they DO!
Vibram Five Fingers