Google+

Pages

Monday, July 30, 2012

I Think We Missed a Turn

This was a great running week for me because I finally hit over twenty miles for the first time in five weeks.  I'm not saying I haven't had any good weeks but this one was really good.  Sometimes my job keeps me from getting a run in on the days I know I need to get one but we won't go into that.

To start my running week off, I ran from my house to the TN state line and back on Wednesday morning for a total of 7.1 miles.  That was my longest distance for a middle of the week run.  Most of my midweek runs are 4-6 miles.  This was also a different route  for me too.  I thought there would be lots of traffic down there road but there really wasn't.  I ran to where the "Tennessee" sign and just past it but when I imported my data into MapMyRun I was just a little shy of the line.  It could have been something to do with the GPS data.

I didn't run on Thursday but the next three days were running days.  On Friday, I ran the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo.  Before the race, I ran 2.7 miles because Ballard Park is one of my favorite places to run.  As I was approaching the water stop, I could hear the volunteers shouting, "We are out of water! Sorry!" The last cup of water went to the lady that was about three seconds in front of me.  Then as I came upon the 5K mark, I knew something must be wrong.  I asked a guy if we had signed something to keep the distance secret from next year's runners.  Apparently, when we crossed over onto the dirt again we were really supposed to go left and stay on the pavement.  This stretched a lot of our runs into 3.7 miles.  Mistakes were made and I heard that some of the runners didn't get a shirt because they didn't preregister.  This should be a reminder to preregister if you want a shirt from the event.

My next run was less than twelve hours later.  I had a meeting down in Verona and had left some dry clothes with someone that was going to be at the meeting.  Since we stayed the night in Tupelo, I decided that I was going to run down to the meeting.  Some people thought it was 10-12 miles but when I was all said and done, it ended up being 6.2 miles.  It was hot but well worth it.  It was a great way to start off my birthday.

Jeff and I went to the cross country course on Sunday morning and I only ran 3.8 miles because I just wasn't feeling it.  It was still a good run but my legs were tired.  After this long week (23.4 miles), they deserve a rest.

I was going to review a product for you this week but I'm going to put that off until next week since this post was so long.  Have a great week and hope you will stop back by again next week.  Just 89 more days!!!

Monday, July 23, 2012

Foam on the Legs

I didn't get much running in this past week but ended the week with 14.4 miles. I got home on Thursday and decided I was going to tackle the heat. I wen town to the city park and the heat beat me. I only got in 1.5 miles but I guess that's better than nothing.

Saturday I went out to highway 350 again with the group. It was humid but a little cooler than the previous Saturday. I finally got to the water stop in record time and decided I was going to turn around there. I was still about 3 miles away from the start when I looked down and saw white foamy stuff running down my leg. It scared me at first and I just wiped it off and went on. At the time, I thought it was just soap from my shorts not getting rinsed good enough. I searched for "foaming sweat while running" and came up with this article. It doesn't say if it was bad or not but it could explain why I didn't have any fuel left when I did finish my 7.8 mile run. the best I could gather is I was dehydrated.

I went out and ran 5 miles Sunday a little later than normal and it was still hot. The important thing is that I got it done.

I told you I was going to tell you about a site that was similar to another one I still use but only so it last week's website will retrieve my runs and give me points. The old website is RunKeeper. This week's website is MapMyRun. it basically does the same thing as RunKeeper but the site has a lot more features. The one I like the best is that you can see a calendar view of all of your workouts and it will tell you how much of a difference you have had from week to week in percentage.
Let say you ran 25 miles last week and only 20 miles this week. It will show you as having a -20% difference. You can also choose what day of the week your running week starts on. My running week starts on Monday.

One of the best things about the site is the fact you can import from different sources. You can use a file or a device. I can speak to how the Polar import is but with the Garmin you don't even have to export your run from Garmin Training. It takes it directly from the program that receives the run from the watch so it's one less step than RunKeeper.

The reason I think MapMyRun may be better is that RunKeeper tends to give you a lot more distance. Also, after importing your runs into RunKeeper, you should be able to see them on your smartphone. For about two months now, the RunKeeper app only shows straight lines for your run and doesn't follow the actually path. I thought they would have fix it in the app by now but they haven't. Old runs still have the path but newer ones have straight lines.

That's going to do me for this week. Next week I will be reviewing a device I've been using for over a month now and it's a great tool to use if you want to lose weight. You can also use it in conjunction with Earndit.com, MapMyRun and my favorite weight loss site, LoseIt.

Monday, July 16, 2012

Get Out & Earn It

Last week was certainly a busy one, I only had time for two runs but they added up to over 16 miles. I got in a nice recovery run Monday morning of 6.2 miles and then I ran with the group on Saturday out on Highway 350. Jeff wasn't able to make it but Jamie did. It wasn't raining when we first started but it wasn't long that the weather made us think that we were going to have to run in the rain. The rain was light and would have been welcome but it decided to wait until later in the morning.
After stopping at the water stop, we went and took on the first big hill and then turned around at 5 miles. When we got back to the water stopped, I decided to try and dry my shirt a little. I was really just eying to make it just "less wet". I took it off and squeezed a lot of sweat out of it. I don't know how much sweat I got out but you could see it.

We finally made it back to the starting point and had in our 10 miles. It was a great run and I enjoyed seeing all the other runners too. After finishing, I took my shirt off again and squeezed even more sweat out of my shirt. The humidity was worse then than it was the week before.

One of the benefits of running is, of course, a healthier body. I found a web site a few months ago that lets your earn rewards for doing activities. You can't just out your workout into the site and them give you points. It got to be verified with a GPS. You can link several other sites to your account and earn the points that way. The name of the site is earndit.com. I use my RunKeeper account to get my points. You can earn as many as 60 points a day and you can get that by running or walking 6 miles. Anything over that and you still get 60 points. Points can be redeemed for a variety of things like so much off on your order or entries into drawings. Most are for energy bars and things that athletes would buy but there are some for like casual clothes and such.

Thanks for stopping by this week and hope you will come back next week. I'll be telling you about another web site that is similar to RunKeeper but might be better. Have a great week!

Monday, July 9, 2012

Soaking Wet Humidity

This past week was the easiest I've had in a while.  I went to the gym on Tuesday and it reminded me of why I don't like the treadmill.  I guess I need that reminder every once in a while.

I ended my running week on Saturday so I can take Sunday off and then run again this morning.  I ran again with the group out on Highway 350.  Jeff was getting some speed work in too and was going to run the first 4 at a faster pace and then we'd finish the rest of our run.  Turns out that he had a blowout on his sandals.  He tried to fix them with a can tab but I don't think that worked out very well.  I ran on out to 5 miles and then back.  Enjoyed the whole 10 miles and was soaking wet by the end because it was so humid.

I looked back over my logs from last July and it surprises me how far I've come in twelve short months.  My average long run back then was 4-5 miles and now that is usually my minimal distance.  When I started this journey almost two years ago, I never thought I'd be running 10 miles.

I do most of my running in the morning and have a hard time getting into it during the afternoon.  My next race is the Nightcrawler down in Tupelo on July 27th.  This race starts at 8pm and it will be the latest that I've ever ran.  Do any of you have any tips on how to fuel for a late run like this?

Thanks for stopping by this week and I hope you'll visit  again soon.

Monday, July 2, 2012

Not Letting Them Have All the Fun

I had another great week of running but because I was working only got three days of running. I decided to go to the track Thursday morning to pass the 1000 mile mark and got in only a 5K.

I had decided I was going to do my long run on the track Saturday morning to but the more I thought about it, the more I kept saying to myself, "I can't let them have all the fun out there on 350.".

That is where I ultimately ended up and we had a crowd! We started at 6 am and I ran 8 in 1:33:14.

Finally, Jeff and I ran just shy of 6 miles on Sunday morning and I think both of us decided before we finished that we probably should have waited and rested a little more.

I posted this on Facebook earlier but wanted to share it here too:

"We run, not because we think it is doing us good, but because we enjoy it and cannot help ourselves."

-Roger Bannister