Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Weekly Recap, Gravel Road Runs and IIFYM

I don't know what it is with my running lately but the last several runs have seemed to be a struggle. 


Monday I hit the gym.  I don't remember why (yes, it was just a week ago) but I didn't have my girls with me so I actually got to do my warm up run OUTSIDE!!!  You know I hate the treadmill so this made me really giddy.  I wanted to do it fast but it is pretty hilly around the gym and I am a hill wimp, so it wasn't as fast as I liked.  I had my course mapped out but encountered barking dogs almost right away.  Barking dogs wouldn't bother normal people, but they terrify chickens like me, so I was too scared to run by their house (even though I know they have one of those invisible fences), so I had to turn around and change my route.  Speaking of invisible fences, do dogs every run through it?  I would imagine so, as our pigs and cattle used to run through electric fences sometimes.  I am not taking the chance!  So I just did a mile warm up at a 8'19 pace.  I then did my weight training.


Tuesday my MIL picked up my girls so I could do a longer run.  I didn't have a ton of time, so I figured 6 miles would be good.  It was HOT and my cute little booty shorts kept riding up (yea, I wont wear those again for a run).  My goal was faster than race pace negative splits.  I started off strong (9'00, 8'40, 8'31") but mile 4 was a little rough.  I finished mile 4 and ended up walking the last mile with Somer.  1 mile short of my goal and rather slow.


Wednesday night I hit the gym and then took the girls to church.  My niece was umpiring at a softball game so I ran over there to cheer her on (the only ump with a fan base).  It was 1.12 miles there and I ran at a 8'10 pace.  I watched her for about 15 minutes and then ran back a different way.  1.44 miles at an 8'10 pace.


Thursday night I just played ball with my girls.


Friday night I had to mow and it takes all evening so no exercise.


I am the assistant coach for Chloe's softball team, so we had a 2 hour practice on Saturday.  Not the best cardio exercise but a little exercise.  After that the girls and I did a lot of yard work and planted all my outdoor pots.  We had friends over for dinner and cards Saturday night.


Sunday was a perfect day to run.  Sunny and 65 with a slight breeze.  I didn't want to waste time by driving all the way to town and back to run, so I foolishly decided to run on my gravel road.  Bg didn't want me to leave:





She was fine 30 seconds after I left.


So, gravel road running kinda sucks.  Part of the gravel road has a lot of loose rock, other parts is muddy ruts and a few parts are hard as a rock.  There is a lot of shaky footing.  The first mile felt great, which should have alerted me that something was off, ha ha.  Normally I struggle in mile 1 and it takes until about mile 3-4 until I get into a groove.  I did *okay* until about mile 3 and really felt like I needed to walk, so I did for just a bit.  Funny story, but I ran into this little town by my house.  This town is tiny, has no zip code and probably 15 houses total.  It's a bit of a redneck town.  Anyway, there was a pack of cigarettes on the ground that I could see had several cigarettes still in it.  I did a loop and met a guy on a 4 wheeler cruising town in his wife beater.  He got up to the cigs and it was like he hit the jackpot.  He gave me a questioning look and I told him they weren't mine, so he happily picked them up, lit one and took off.  It made his day.


I only walked a tiny bit and took off running again.  I felt like crap but kept giving myself short goals till I could walk but everytime I reached that point, I was able to go on.  Around mile 4 my back really started hurting ( it used to hurt everytime I ran but hasn't for a long time).  I stopped to walk around mile 4.5 b/c my back was really hurting.  I decided to enjoy the scene.  As I walked, my left IT band really started cramping and I had some pretty bad knee pain.  Dang gravel tearing me up.



Something about perfect corn rows gives me such a sense of peace and calmness.  I love the straight lines. 





At a little over 5 miles, I saw my happy family throwing rocks into the creek.  But what made me really happy was seeing the 4 wheeler- my IT band was throbbing at this point.  We have a pretty cool creek close to our house.  But it is also kind of a party spot for teens so that sucks a little.





I snapped this pic of the girls throwing rocks and didn't realize until later that it is a great butt shot of Jeff, ha ha.





My paces:
1- 9'26
2- 9'41
3- 9'45
4- 10'38
5- 10'28
.5- 66'57 (oops, forgot to shut off my app!).


I went to the chiro yesterday for my monthly appointment and he could instantly tell where my back had hurt.  He said that the loose rock causes my spine to really vibrate back and forth which causes the back pain.  He then had his massage lady work out my left IT band.  OUCH!  She was shocked at how tight both bands were, even though the right one wasn't bothering me.


I have been doing Flexible Dieting, IIFYM, Counting Macros (whatever you want to call it) with a coach for two weeks now.  I feel pretty happy with how close I am getting to the numbers each day.  She adjusted my carbs and fats this week (increased carbs and lowered fats) to better match my diet so that started yesterday.  I really feel like my stomach is flatter, I have lost about 2 pounds and definitely feel like my muscles are tighter.  But I don't feel like my pictures or measurements really reflect that much.  I cant wait to see what the next two weeks brings and look forward to working with her on a longer basis.


I have two upcoming races:
Go Girl Run in Columbia this Saturday.  This will definitely be a harder course than Lincoln but the weather looks to be much better and the field wont be anywhere near as crowded.  I don't feel real confident going into this race, but since my goals are always to improve, here they are:
AA: 1:97 (aa is always my probably unrealistic goal but I hope to get in the future)
A: 2:00- I am SO close and maybe running in my college town will give me an extra kick
B: 2:03:30- To beat my current PR
C: 2:07- This is a hilly course and I have felt tired lately, so hoping to at least finish in this time.


I signed up for the Hospital Hill half on June 4 yesterday.  I know this is two halves super close to each other, but since the Mo Beef Counsel is sponsoring it, I got a free entry for working the Expo, so a free race is a free race, right?  This race has the word HILL in it, so you can imagine what it is like.  Don't plan to PR in this one.



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