Rejoicing As A Strong [Wo]man To Run A Race

I hope St. Paul doesn't mind my slight paraphrase. Given what appears to be his general view on women, he might, though. But I'm not here to quibble over Bible verses!

It's been a long time since my last entry, and a lot has happened in the meantime, some of it good, some of it sad. But I am thrilled to report I have made fantastic progress towards my fitness goals this year, and have remained relatively uninjured.

I am just so excited because I have finally realized my dream of returning to running. 9 (yikes!) years ago at this time I was training for the Chicago Marathon, when I was sidelined by a pernicious case of Achilles tendinitis in both legs. Every time I tried to start training again, I would just re-injure them, until I finally gave up on the idea of running.

But I have missed it so-- that wonderful place you get to about a mile and a half into a good run when your body is like a well-oiled machine and everything is working together in perfect harmony-- heart, lungs, legs, arms, breath. Your body just goes on autopilot while your mind is free to float and think about anything. You feel like you could just keep going forever. For me, it's very soothing and meditative and trance-like. Everything feels comfortable, so I'm not thinking, O God, how much further? How much longer? When can I stop? My body just does what it needs to do, and my mind is free, free free!

I've missed being out in the fresh air, where everything is so quiet except for bird song... watching the sun rise... or watching it set... enjoying the beauty of all the trees and plants and birds ... feeling the wind on my face or at my back ... or the cooling rain on me.

And I AM BACK!!! I guess it's been about a month now that I've been able to run 30 minutes continuously. Not fast, mind you-- but I can run!! I've had absolutely no Achilles or soleus pain, for which I am very grateful. Aside from the inevitable DOMS when I first started, my main challenge has been aerobic. When faster runner pass me, I tell myself: Someday I will run fast too!

I have my wonderful greyhound, Zelda, to thank for my success. She's been my faithful companion since the beginning. When I got Zelda in March, I made a commitment to walk her for at least 45 minutes every day. By the middle of April, we were walking 5 miles a day. My lower body strength and endurance improved dramatically, even though I had been doing step, hi-low, and kickbox all along. (And no, I did not lose much, if any weight, drat it!)

At the end of April, I decided to try Budd Coates' (Runner's World) First Steps program, which gradually builds you up from running two minutes at a time to running for 30 minutes over a ten week period. To my surprise, I did great. It took a few times to get Zelda trained not to run cross-wise in front of me or try to chase dogs and people or take potty breaks during running intervals, but she got the hang of it pretty fast. Now, greyhounds are sprinters, not distance runners. If she is going flat out, she can run 45 mph for a minute or so. So Zelda and I are complete opposites as to our natural abilities. I was built for endurance, not speed. But I figured if we both built up slowly, we'd do fine. And we did! Zelda just LOVES running days.

It took me longer than 10 weeks (more like 3 months!) to get through the program. This was largely due to the fact that right at the end of week 2, I got bronchitis and couldn't run for a while. But the Big Day finally came about the middle of July, when I ditched my last Week 9 workout and just went for the gold, running 30 minutes straight.

OK, I have to admit, I was bad... I did not follow the program completely as specified. Most weeks I could only squeeze in 3 training sessions, rather than the 4 I should have been doing. So my goal for the next month is to run 4 times per week consistently. (My ultimate goal is to get back to 5 runs per week).

It's really hard sometimes to squeeze in a run because of the heat, but that should be getting better soon. If you don't get out by 8 a.m. or earlier, forget it. It's just too hot. I do have the option of running on the treadmill in the fitness center here at the apts., but I HATE the treadmill. Soooooooo boring. Now, you can't beat the treadmill for a pace workout, as your choice is either to hit your target pace or fly through the wall backwards! But for regular runs, no.

Zelda isn't allowed in the fitness center, of course, so if I run inside I know I'll have to take her out for her walk in the evening when it gets cooler. It gets cool enough to walk but not run. Greyhounds are really susceptible to heat stroke, which can kill them in minutes, so I have to be very careful about when/whether I can take her outside for exercise. I have seen doggie treadmills and would love to get one, but they cost around $500, and I don't know where I would put it!

I really am rejoicing as a strong woman to run a race, because I plan to do some 5 Ks this Fall. I am not where I hoped to be with my mileage base by this time, so I am not sure I'll be ready for the October race I wanted to run. My 5K training plan takes about 6 weeks and is based on running 15 miles per week, consistently. It builds from there to about 25, I think. At this point, I am probably somewhere around 10-11 miles per week. So it's crucial to get that fourth run in every week.

As I mentioned before, I am NOT a fast runner. In fact, it's a bit demoralizing when I'm giving it my all and look down to see that Zelda, is just walking real fast. She hasn't even broken a trot! My goal for racing really isn't to compete against the other runners (as if!), but against myself. I'd be ecstatic to finish a 5K in under 30 minutes, that would be a PR for me. Sigh. A GOOD finish for a 5K is under 20 minutes, but I'm not sure I'll ever see that day!

I must say, I am SO pleased with my progress. When I was running 9 years ago, my regular training pace was 12 minutes per mile. Speed walkers would lap me during races.... how humiliating is that? But I am THRILLED to say that this time, I am well under that, generally somewhere between 10 and 11 minutes per mile, and I am hoping to improve that as my mileage base builds and also as I lose weight. (I'd like to lose at least 20 lbs.) I am hopeful that a 9 minute mile may be within my reach! I used to aim for a 10 min. mile for pace workouts, and now I am almost there for my plain old training runs!

Here are the stats for my last 2 runs:

Sat. Aug 7
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 31 min., 44 sec
Pace: 10.5 min per mile

Sun. Aug. 15
Distance: 3.5 miles (my "long" run for the week, LSD: long slow distance)
Time: 40 min., 30 sec.
Pace: 11.5 min. per mile

Wow, I was slower by a whole minute per mile today! I had a business trip the first part of the week so did not get in any training at all. Of course, the point of today's run was just to increase distance, so it was supposed to be slower. But it's pretty evident from my time that I've slacked off on training.

Today's run was really tough, especially the last half mile or so, when I was in oxygen debt the whole time. Thank God for Cathe-- I am used to working in oxygen debt for some part of every one of her workouts! Not fun, but I know I can do it. I'm not using my HRM yet, but I know I was up around 185 or so. That's my peak rate. I know that seems really, really fast, but that is normal for me when I am working hard. Normal but not fun. Good grief, if I went by those dumb training charts where your max heart rate is based on age, I would never get anywhere with my training. Today's run is my longest to date.

For now, every run is somewhat tough, but I just have to focus on getting through this phase so my fitness level will improve. It will get easier as I get fitter, more consistent, and build my mileage base. So far my only training strategy is just to not stop, LOL!