Learning to run in a healthy way

This week started on a very positive note and its all about health. It's amazing how much there is behind living an active healthy lifestyle, specially if this involves running. Somehow I always thought that running was just that, getting off the couch and hitting the pavement and just... run. Well I am learning "the hard way" that there is a lot more science to this than just going for it.

Last week I had pain while running and even though I rested a couple of day I still went for my long run and felt it. I was a lot more aware and careful of what was bothering me and took it easy, which translated into tons of walking. Running in Central Park was fun but definitely didn't account for how hilly the run would be. My lower calf pain kept bothering me but walking when this happened made it feel better almost immediately which took an Achilles injury out of the picture (awesome news) but due to this pain I probably started running funny and developed a different injury "ITBS".

ITBS or Iliotibial Band Syndrome is a pretty common injury for runners, the good news is that I do not really have to stop running but I do have to take it easy. Incorporating exercises that strengthen my leg muscles will help these injuries heal. The Calf strain is due to my butt being week, lol! so I have to work on moves that help my gluts get stronger and my hip abductor to help my ITBS... who would have thought! Thanks to Athletico Andersonville for all the help.

Stretching is also one of the things I need to improve for a healthy running experience. I was sure that STRETCHING or maybe I should say NOT STRETCHING would be part of the problem. I am totally guilty of not taking enough time to stretch before and after my runs and that is something that has to change, so I am committed to work on it.

This made me realize how little I know about running, there is so much more I need to do if I want to keep my body healthy and active for years to come. I am excited about incorporating these changes into my routine, I have great support at home specially now that my fiance is training with me. This will be an improvement to our routine and can't wait to see the results on both of us.

Cheer to healthy training habits, stay safe!

A challenging week

I think one of the hardest things for me at this point when we talk about health & fitness is consistency, I have to say I am not the most consistent person on earth and it's really hard for me to stick to something. Following a training schedule with 2 little ones, a full time job, being in a relationship and planing a wedding is certainly not an easy task. Add to this the fact that this full time job involves travel and junk food lovers and now we have a real challenge.

This week I started on the right foot, but while at it I freaked out a bit when my Achilles started hurting real bad after a 4 mile run. I have heard about so many people getting injured this way lately and how long this takes to heal that I got really worried. This led to me skipping my Tuesday run thinking, well, I can run Wednesday morning. Guess what, that didn't happen either... We have been having really bad storms and Wednesday morning was pouring. On top of that, I was leaving town that same day at noon to attend a client meeting in Detroit with my boss and two others and we decided to drive.

After a 4 1/2 hour drive I was exhausted I took a nap and woke up and got ready to go to the gym at the hotel, it was almost midnight but I was determined to get my run in. To my surprise as I am preparing to leave my room sirens start going off, people are running to the stairs and I hear a message that says that we are on tornado warning and we need to all get to the Grand Ballroom until the warning is lifted... Yeah! there goes my Wednesday run!

Thursday was a lot of fun, first we had a client meeting but once we were done being responsible adults my boss and one of our consultants had scheduled a fishing trip on 70 miles into Lake Erie. We had a blast, definitely a team building experience! After 16 fishes and all the afternoon in the sun it was time to drive back to Chicago, another 4 1/2 hour drive which obviously left no time for running.

I feel like these are all excuses, that is why when its marathon training season people wake up super early and get the runs out of the way before they even start their days. This week was definitely reality check, if I am determined to train for this event I need to rearrange my schedule and make running my priority.

After a week of atomic wings, fries, sweets and pop I am actually looking at next week as a step up in my training routine. For now I look forward to this Saturday's long run, 7 miles in Central Park next to my fiance who had just decided to train with me all the way to the end! Thanks for your support lover, it means the world to me ;)

That's all for now... Stay safe and happy training!

The Marathon training begins!

This week was a good one... Last year I decided to run my first Marathon, I had been running 4 to 5 times per week the prior summer, kept it going through fall and winter of '08 so I decided to register to run the Chicago Marathon on Oct 2009. Somewhere along the way I fell off the wagon, started running less and less and at one point I wasn't running at all.

It was weeks before the marathon and I was ready to bail out when someone told me to try doing the remaining long runs. Now... let me bring up the fact that I had not been running AT ALL! Not on the treadmill, not outside, not 5 miles, or 3 or even 1; I had completely dropped running off my list of to do's. Somehow I thought that trying to do the long runs was a good idea, I had nothing to lose and I could at least prove myself that I was quitting for a good reason, running a marathon without training wasn't a smart idea.

So here came the weekend of the 18 miler and I asked my friend S to come along and do as much as she was able to, we were used to running together and she had been running a ton so why not? I decided to do a run/walk combo of 5min/1min and to my surprise it worked! I can't remember how long it took me but we kept it going through 15 miles until we decided to walk the last 3 to be able to cover the distance. Same thing for the 20 miler, 5min/1min run/walk, S ran 10 miles with me and did the remainder on her bike! 

After these unbelievable results I ran my first marathon, horrible time, but I finished it so this year I decided to sign up again... This time I promised myself I would train.

With that said, I had been trying for weeks to remember to go into the Chicago Marathon website and download the training schedule. I haven't been running much but I was determined to start running once the marathon training season began. 

So last Monday, while at work I finally got to it... but to my surprise, last Monday was actually DAY 1 of marathon training. I was so not mentally prepared for that and I whined all day about it, but last Monday I ran 4 miles! I actually did it! Then came Tuesday and I ran 5 miles, this time with my "Fiance" Dave (yes, we are engaged) who has now started running and it was his 1st time running 5 miles. It was awesome because he kept me going as I whined the whole way about how out of shape I am. 

Then Thursday I didn't run, but I did it on Friday on the treadmill... 4 miles! Never done that before, as I absolutely hate running on the treadmill more than 2 or 3 miles. Then it was the weekend and time for my long run, 6 miles! It's so weird for me to consider that a long run, that was my usual distance when I was running 4 to 5 times per week... anything under that was not really considered a run. I guess I gotta work back up to that.

So we went to Lake Geneva to our friend's house for the weekend and it was time to run, I thought of every possible excuse to not do it, I even slept in, but some how I am sticking to it this time and I ran my 6 miles along the Lake Geneva path, through hill and an uneven trail and with no water. It felt good to finish my "long run" and being able to say that WEEK 1 of marathon training is done. 

Its hard to run now, I feel I am back to square one and I get even more frustrated than when I first started running because this time I chose to be back here, I did this to myself when I got lazy and broke my routine of running. I used to enjoy every second out there and I had a decent pace and was getting faster every day. Now I am back to the love/hate relationship, at having to drag myself out of the house and talk myself out of walking or turning around before I have met my goal distance but I am doing it. I am doing it because I miss loving to run, I miss my long runs on the weekend and all I think while I power through my very hard runs now is that I can't wait to get to that point again!

For all of you out there that feel the same way I feel now, just remember its totally worth it. Soon enough you will look back and smile when you realized how far you've come and how much you once hated what you now love and enjoy so much!

Good luck for those out there training for the Chicago Marathon and let the fun begin!