My bod is such a rebel

February 26th (although I started this last week)

With the change of the seasons, my body has decided to rebel again. I'm pretty sure it's a cold...which is not awesome because those can linger! But with my immune system, I'm usually only out a week or so...depending on how much I rest. But it is soooo hard to rest when I know I have only a little over 2 months of training left! May 1st is quickly approaching!

I did run outside February 15th about a couple of miles. Running outside is so much different than a treadmill! Of course I knew this, but it didn't really set in until I actually put on my shoes and decided I didn't want to take my nice gym shoes outside so I put on my old ones. Then when I got outside there was gravel and mud everywhere. And the hills! How different is it to run up and down hills! But a good thing about being outside is the scenery. Not that running outside in February is particularly beautiful but it's a little bit more fun than people watching at the gym (a little) and constantly looking down to see how much further I have to run.

I ran again for the first time today since last Tuesday’s run. I drank a ton of water yesterday because I was going to run yesterday and wimped out, then I drank a lot today. I think this is why my stitches were much better today. They didn’t start until after 2 miles and then I walked a little bit after 2.5 miles. I ran a total of 3.5 miles which was surprisingly not as hard as I thought it would be. I may have to think Dr. Phil for this…not because of any advice I took of his…but because his show was on in the gym as I ran so reading the subtitles of the crazy and disturbing show gave me something else to focus on besides running.

I am going to try to run another 3.5 miles tomorrow and then 4 miles on Saturday, although for my training schedule it should be 5 miles. We will see how I feel! 5 miles seems achievable, but I am still a little nervous for that. Speaking of 5 miles, my mom just told me that in high school she used to run 5 miles EVERY DAY and then usually 10 miles on Saturdays! I knew she ran track, but I didn’t realize how dedicated she was! She said it helped to relieve stress, so she probably wasn’t focused on how hard it was. I heard an actress say that when she ran it gave her time to think about her life, issues, etc. Maybe I should try that to not focus on the run itself? That seems to be one of the issues I’ve had in the past with running…is that it can get boring.

Hopefully the weather will get nicer so I can run outside again!

Happy running!  Whether it be inside or out... :-)

Stitches! (week 5 of half-marathon training)

Okay I didn't fall and have to get stitches or anything...yet, but I have been having issues with getting a "stitch in my side."  It is not only irritating and discouraging, but it can become very painful!  My boyfriend suggested it was due to carbonated beverages...my two or three glasses of Diet Mountain Dew I drink daily.  I love my Diet Dew..and my dad keeps an unlimited supply...maybe that's why I like it?  Because it's free?  And the fact that it is crisp and refreshing. :-)  I really should be getting money for the advertising I do on my blog!  I think I could sell it much better than the crazy commercial below did...





Diet Mountain Dew Commercial

So I decided to give up the carbonation Friday and Saturday because I ran 3.5 miles Saturday!  Heck yes!!  I also ran 2.5 miles Sunday and 2 miles Wednesday.  (Missed a 3 mile run because of silly snowy, icy, blowy weather)

It wasn't too bad without carbonation a couple of days...I just had coffee for my caffeine.  Although I was a little grouchy one morning because all that my boyfriend had was pop so I had to drive to get a coffee.  Seriously who doesn't have a coffee maker! ;-)

I guess getting "stitches" in your side is not an uncommon problem.  I googled it and came to runnersworld.com where they had an article and a TON of people commented on their own remedies.  Here's the article: http://beginners.runnersworld.com/2009/08/how-do-i-get-rid-of-side-stitches.html.  I think the stitches may come from the way I breathe...and there are many ways of doing this as well.  So I need to keep researching this and testing different ways.  Right now I try to breathe in sync with my running but maybe I am just not getting the right amount of oxygen.  If anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome!

Another issue I've been having is a runny-nose (runner's world link) while running.  I brought tissue on the last run and I didn't have much of a problem..I think it is more of a problem when I don't have anything to blow my nose into.  I wasn't even running outside so it's weird to me that running inside could make my nose run!  I am thinking that I will need to have pants/shorts with pockets when I begin to do my outdoor runs.

While I was on runnersworld.com I signed up so I could do a log of my running.  I have it on paper, but it's way cooler to see it in chart form!  (Because I am a dork like that.)  So if you like charts like I do...check out my stats!





 


Not too exciting yet...but when I look at where I started where 1.5 miles was a challenge, I realize, I'm getting better!!  There are actually watches that track all of the stats I am recording into the log, but for a few hundred bucks.  I will stick with the free option for now.  :-)

Thanks for the encouragement from everyone whether its on Facebook or on the blog!  I am realizing that now that people know I am training for a half-marathon...I am actually going to have to run it because I don't want to tell people I quit!  ;-)

As always, comments and advice are welcome!  Especially if you can help me with my stitches!

Happy running and have a great week!