Work, Training, and Irene...

So not only was it the first week of school (which meant that I really had to get back to work for real), my half marathon training started again.

I also had a race that I was going to run on Saturday August 27th. I was really looking forward to it because it was the Movin' and Groovin' 5K to support Pancreatic Cancer research. I signed up to do this race, even though I hadn't really been running all summer, because a close family friend passed away from pancreatic cancer last February. Even though I hadn't seen him in awhile, and I had no idea how bad the cancer was because he just wasn't the type of person to make a big deal out things, he was a rather large piece of the puzzle that is my life and helped bring me into my first true sport, scuba diving. I don't dive as much as I did when I was still under my parent's roof because its expensive and they don't dive so much anymore, but it was really a HUGE part of my life for many years. I started diving at the age of 12 and we went on a number of trips with Chris. We will dearly miss his always smiling face.



Chris, owner of the Scuba Center

 So I had this race planned, C was out of town and I was going to drive myself down there and run it and come home. No big deal...until Hurricane Irene decided to drop in. The weather was just plain creepy on Firday night so I decided I would get up early on Saturday and see what it looked like outside since I had gotten an email that they were still going to have the race regardless. When I got up at 6AM the clouds were swirling and it was rather dark out...so I did something I have never done-I hopped back into bed and skipped my race. I'm a bit annoyed with myself, yes, but when I woke up a little while later and it was pouring down rain, I knew I had made the right choice. The race was south of where I live and not only would I have ended up driving right into the storm, I would have been running in it as well. Food poisening couldn't keep me from running a half marathon, but a hurricane sure kept me from running a 5K. I try to always make the right decision when it comes to mother nature and I usually let her win.

This week I decided it's time to start the serious training. I signed up for the half marathon again and found a new training plan to try out. Monday was Labor Day and since we were home I was able to take my time and get up and go for a nice 3 mile run...or what I thought would be a nice, quick run. For some reason my calves just weren't having it. They locked up and it hurt to try and run. I had to walk a lot. I wasn't too surprised because I always slack off with the running in the summers. Its just too humid outside down here in the South and I am not a huge fan of running on a treadmill, although it seems that I need to start making it a habit, at least in the summer. Then the rain set in from the next tropical storm to blow through so I skipped my Wednesday run. Thursday there was a break in the clouds for a few hours so I rushed home from work, changed my clothes and headed out. Again, my calves locked up. What is going on here?? Do you know what it is like to try and run on stiff calves? It really sucks.

This is where the Stick comes in. The Stick is a wonderfully weird little tool you can use for deep tissue massage without much effort on your part. I used that when I got back from my run and it really helped to loosen up my calves. A foam roller works great too. Today was my long, slow run so I made sure that I used the Stick before I went out. I also decided, since I woke up a little late...that I would skip eating anything. I only drank a little bit of water too. BIG mistake! You think I would not be making these rookie mistakes still but it seems that I am an idiot at times. Althought my legs did much better today, I started to get really thirsty at about mile 3 and by the time I was on mile 5 I was feeling pretty bad. By the time I got home my head was swimming and I was a bit dizzy. I got some fuel in me and I'm feeling a bit better, but as I sit here in my nasty, sweaty clothes, I think its time for a shower.

Total miles this week for training: 3+3+5=11 miles