Week 7 - Sun-Wed

My mentor, Carla, says if we bring our blogs up to date, then we get a surprise. Woo hoo! Nothing too exciting to report. I did Pilates on Monday and noticed that my lower back was bothering me. Since I had to stop running and lifting over the winter due to lower back problems, I'm trying to be super mindful. I think this means that I need to do a better job of stretching out after runs. Luckily, my hamstrings don't seem super tight yet, so I think I can stay on top of it and keep it from becoming incapacitating, like in the winter.

On Tuesday, I was going to run hills with our team at Annadel, but it was just too hot. Plus, I had a meeting at 7pm, and I could only imagine arriving after running hills from 6-7 in 90-degree heat (or maybe 85 by then). So instead I swam a mile at the Petaluma Aquatic Center. The water was amazing!!! Of course, this has now resulted in a swim-off challenge with Joe (a member of the Triathlon team) that I can swim a mile faster than he can. The swim-off will take place tomorrow (Friday) at 3pm. To the winner, the victory!

Yesterday, I ran four miles on the elliptical/climber. I was still being a bit protective of my back and figured it wouldn't hurt to give it a rest and do my running on the machine. Tonight is Pilates and then track practice, so hopefully all goes well. :)

P.S. Carla rocks!!! ;-)

Week 6 - Saturday Long Run

Up at 6:30am for a 5-mile run in Novato at Hamilton Field. I've been to Hamilton before, and my reaction is always mixed. It's pretty (Spanish colonial architecture) but weird... in a Truman Show kind of way. It's a former Air Force base that has been turned into a planned community. So it's a mixture of military and suburban sprawl. But it made for an interesting and pictureque run. We started out along a levi where we could see the wetlands. Then about two miles in, there was a run up a fair hill where at the top we could look out on the base and the wetlands.

5 miles seemed much shorter. Of course, it's just a chance to catch our breaths before we tackle 8 miles next Saturday! I took my new fuel belt on this run, and I loved having it! It wasn't as sloshy or distracting as I thought it might be. And it's cool to be able to bring some liquid and carry some energy supplements with me. A good addition to my longer runs.

Week 6 - Thursday Intervals

On Week 6, we had track practice at Petaluma High School. I both look forward to and dread track practice. That's where we do intervals training, sprints, drills-- you know, all that fun stuff! (That really does help out in the end.) Today, we ran hills outside the track. Up and down 5 times. I wasn't fast, but I managed to get through it. And, actually, I wasn't very sore on Friday, which is new. Perhaps that means improvement?? :)
Go Team!

Week 5 - Saturday (Group Run)

I was pretty apprehensive for the Saturday group run since my training hadn't followed the calendar over the week. Plus, we were running 7 miles, which would definitely be the most I've ever done! However, I learned after the Shiloh run that I need to do a better job of fueling and hydrating myself during the run. After Shiloh's run, my pee smelled like ammonia, and I read that that comes from burning amino acids during a run. So this time, I brought a gu gel that I had around mile 4, and I ate some energy jelly things about every mile. It really helped! I felt like I wasn't so tired when I finished and I think I only walked for a couple blocks of the whole route. It's great to see progress! I'm going to buy a fuel belt to use now that the runs are getting longer-- I think it will be useful to carry my own water and energy drinks, although I do love the water stations that Team in Training sets up for us. :)

Week 5 - Monday

I took a little 3-mile run up to the B'Hai temple and around Lake Shore Drive. We've been super busy at night with dumpster diving and I walk everywhere in Evanston, so hopefully I'm not throwing off my training too much. I'm looking forward to getting back to following our structured training calendar when I return to California. But today's run went well. This is the run I used to do a few times a week when I was living here last summer, so it was great to compare my better endurance this time to last summer. And of course running up to Wilmette and to the B'Hai temple is just gorgeous! It's like a space-age wedding cake that was dropped in the middle of a beautiful landscape!

Week 4 - Friday

It finally cooled off enough for me to run comfortably in Chicago. The first day I was here, I heard it was 90 degrees with 90% humidity! But today it was in the 70s. I mapped out a 4-5 mile run and headed out around 7pm. I ran the two blocks to campus and then ran the lakefront trails along Lake Michigan. Lots of other people were out enjoying the cooler weather. I forgot how pretty it is along the lake beaches. It definitely made for a comfortable and enjoyable run. I had intended to turn back around Dempster street, but I guess I missed it and I ran all the way down to Kedzie in South Evanston. So I think that definitely puts my run around/over 5 miles. I ran back along Forest street with all its old mansions that date back to the 19th century (when prominent businessmen and factory owners lived in Evanston and worked in the city).