TexasLindsey

6 miles at 8 am at the Trinity River trails.  Average pace=7:58/m.  Weather = 55 degrees, 58% humidity, 5 mph wind, sunny. 

First 3 miles were between 8:00 and 8:30.  I was feeling rather sluggish which I think was because I ate breakfast too soon before I ran.  I started gradually speeding up at the turn around.  The 6th mile was at 7:17 pace. 

I'm in a hurry because we are going to Austin for the weekend to visit my husband's parents and sister.  We're going to get some babysitting!!!  Very excited!

Have a good weekend everyone!!

Ran in my sister-in-law's neighborhood in Pfluggerville, TX. Near Austin. Weather was 60's with thick FOG.

Mile 1- 8:31

Mile 2- 8:25

Mile 3- 7:53

Mile 4- 7:36 (downhill)

Mile 5- 7:50 (uphill)

Mile 6- 7:42

Last .5- 7:30

I thought it would be fun to run in fog, and it kinda was... but it was just pure humidity so the sweat wouldn't evaporate. I was drenched by the end of it. Her neighborhood had miles and miles of super wide running/walking trails.

Wind 35 mph.  I decided not to run today... just wasn't appealing fighting the wind.   Tomorrow my sister is babysitting and I'm doing 14 miles. 

13.5 miles at noon at the Trinity Trails.  Average pace=8:18/m.  Weather=60 degrees, 29% humidity, 19 mph wind, sunny. 

mile 1- 8:18

mile 2- 8:20

mile 3- 8:16

mile 4- 8:15

mile 5- 8:09

mile 6- 7:53

mile 7- 8:17

mile 8- 8:26

mile 9- 8:30

mile 10- 8:13

mile 11- 8:24

mile 12- 8:35

mile 13- 8:19

Last .5- 8:18

That stinkin' wind.  It was in my face on the way out.  I was running hard against it and the entire time I was thinking to myself, "Just suck it up... at the turn around, the wind will be at your back and you're going to feel like your flying."  

So you might think that after the halfway point at mile 6.7, I got faster... Well, for some reason that seems to defy physics, after the turn around I did not feel the wind at my back.    It felt more to the side of me.  I couldn't understand why it feel directly in front of me on the way out and on the side on the way back.  It was only slightly less difficult.  Stupid wind.  Ha, ha!  I guess it's strength training at least.

My right IT band started bugging me when I stopped for water at the half way point.  The last half of the run it was hurting. 

6 miles with group at Trinity.  Tempo run.  Weather=HOT!!  75 degrees, 80% humidity, 10 mph wind, SUNNY.

Mile 1- 7:45

Mile 2- 7:29

Mile 3- 7:25

water stop

Mile 4- 7:45

Mile 5- 7:44

Mile 6- 7:31

It was a hot day especially with the humidity.  It feels good to sweat!  I'll take this over cold weather any day!  The others did another 3 mile loop but my mizuno wave riders were giving me blisters... my right foot had blood blisters when I stopped.  I am retiring these shoes - they just suck for me! 

I talked to this girl about Newton shoes today.  I am a toe runner and under-pronator (supinator) with high arches.  I could care less about heel cushioning.  However, I'm not interested in miminalist shoes because I need more cushion in the forefoot.  When the forefoot padding wears out on my shoes, I get hurt.  

This girl I was talking to claimed that Newton shoes will last me 600 miles.  I told her I wear shoes out in the forefoot every 200-250 miles... she claimed that Newton's would last longer.  Hmmm...  well, if that's true, then the $200 price would be worth it. 

I had an off-week this week... didn't run much.  I was having some pain in my right IT band.  It was hurting even when I wasn't running.  I decided that taking a few days off would be a good idea to prevent injury.  Today's run my IT band didn't hurt at all... but I feel like I lost fitness.  Felt kinda slow. 

6.2 miles at 6:15pm around my neighborhood.  Average pace=8:18/m.  Weather=77 degrees, 20% humidity, 20 mph wind, sunny.

My calfs have been SUPER sore since Saturday's run!!  I wore the mizuno wave riders WITHOUT my orthotic inserts.  The only thing I can figure is that the shoes were super flat without them (my inserts elevate my heels about 3/4 inch).  Seriously, I could hardly walk yesterday and today is only slightly better. 

I got these inserts made for my high arches about 2 years ago.  The arch support is still really good... but the toe area has been worn down to flat and the heels are still about 3/4 inch tall... the reason is because I only wear them when I run and I only land on my toes.  My old running shoes are all worn flat on the forefoot and the heel areas are in mint condition.

I wonder if the inserts elevating my feet are helpful or harmful for my running form....   Hmmmmm...  I know mimimalist shoes are relatively flat.  I wonder what Newton's are?  It seems to me that if you strike with your forefoot, it would be helpful to have your heels elevated for fast lift off.  Maybe not.

5.5 miles at Trinity trails.  Average pace=8:11/m.  Weather=85 degrees, 49% humidity, 23 mph wind gusting up to 28 mph, sunny.

WIND.  WIND.  WIND. 

Weather=70 degrees, 15% humidity, 32 mph wind gusting up to 45 mph, sunny.

I decided to run the Fort Worth Zoo Run 10k tomorrow.  I decided that today would be a good day to do some mile repeats.  I thought 4-5 would be about right.  Then I walked outside and noticed that the wind was ridiculous... I walked back inside and checked the weather.  It said wind was 32 mph.  Gusting to 45 mph.  FORTY-FIVE!!  Are you kidding me?  Maybe only 3 mile repeats. 

Mile 1- 6:53 pace.  This was a loop I was running and only the last 1/3 was against the wind.  I was 6:46 average pace at mile .62... then I turned into the wind.  I was slower but it felt MUCH more difficult.  

Mile 2- 7:08 pace.  I think the wind actually picked up in between miles 1 and 2... could be wrong... but I swear it seemed that way.  So on the second mile repeat, I was 6:35 average pace at mile .62...  then I turned into the wind.  OMG!  I cannot tell you!  At one point I thought it was going to stop me... like actually make me come to a complete stop!  Ha, ah!   Quite funny I'm sure to watch me battle.  It felt like I was pulling a car.  Little pieces of sand were hitting my face and ...it hurt!

Mile 3 - DNF.  Yup.  I quit.  That wind is too ridiculous. 

When I got back in my car to drive home, I was feeling kinda quilty about quitting.  But then I noticed the atmosphere was dirty brown.  As windy as it has been, today was worst by far... it looks like a sand storm out there. 

Mile 1- 7:04

Mile 2- 7:21

Mile 3- 7:24

Mile 4- 7:25

Mile 5- 7:18

Mile 6- 7:01

Final .26 mile - 6:17

First mile went through the zoo and we ran past the elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras & gazelles, famingos, petting zoo and the Old West Texas Town.... pretty cool!   A 10 year old boy passed me in the first mile... I thought I might pass him back later in the race because 10 year olds don't usually have the endurance to stay ahead the whole race... but no!  That kid held out and I never saw him again.  

I actually PR'd today by almost 9 minutes... but I haven't run a 10k in 2 years.  The first half of the race had many hills.  The final 2.2 miles were mostly downhill.  Overall, I am happy with my results... however, I feel like I could have done better had I trained better.  These last three weeks I haven't been running much.  I was second place in my age group... the first place girl's chip time was only 5 seconds ahead of me...  had I known that, I might have mustered up some extra power at the end.... but she was actually behind me in gun time so I didn't know I had competition that close.

The last mile was interesting:   A really in-shape 40-something guy and a 20-something girl passed myself and this guy wearing five-finger shoes when there was less than a mile to go.  Then I passed five-fingers  because he was looking pretty tired...  but then all of a sudden, five-fingers threw himself into turbo speed with 200 yards to go...  I kept up for about 5 seconds and then gave up... I was really impressed with him!  I started yelling at him to catch that guy and girl just ahead... and he did it!!  I was excited for him even though I didn't know him.  What a kick!   Then it occured to me that I got passed by 3 people in the final mile.  Hmmm... I need to work on my 10k racing strategy... It's a whole different race than the half marathon.  You have to endure more pain in the 10k but it's over quicker... I don't think I did it just right.  I smell another challenge...  : )

7.5 very slow miles at noon.  Average pace=8:52/m.  Weather=90 degrees, 50% humidity, 20 mph wind, SUNNY. 

It was very hot so I went slow.

6.3 miles on hilly route around my neighborhood with my friend, Ashley.  Average pace=8:12/m.  Weather= 70ish, 15-20 mph wind, cloudy. 

My hip and IT band were really bothering me on my right leg the last 3 weeks.  Last week I started running in my Brooks shoes instead of the Asics and it started feeling better... but now my groin muscle on my right leg is bothering me.  Also, I was struggling with blisters for months even though I was wearing synthetic socks... Finally, last week I switched to very, very thin synthetic socks and no more blisters! 

6 miles on hilly route at 6 pm with Ashley.  Average pace=8:24/m.  Weather=74 degrees, 69% humidity, 13mph wind, sunny. 

Didn't run for a week against all best intentions.  There were various things that got in my way from running:  1) my in-laws visited on Thursday night, 2) I went out of town for a wedding this weekend, 3)my one year old is teething/has fever/crying-non-stop/waking up all night long.

I started running today and it felt like my right femur was hurting.  After I ran for a little while the pain lessened, but then when we stopped at red light and started running again, the pain was really bad.  I still was able to run, but it did not feel good.

This is just the latest of my right leg problems.  Over the last month or so I have had pain in my right leg move to various locations.  First it was the right big toe, then I took some days off... started running again and my right IT band hurts, then I got new shoes and took some rest days... started running again and my right groin muscle felt pulled or hurt in some way, then just now took a whole week off... and now it feels like the pain is on the femur bone itself.  

This is really depressing.  I wonder if I have a leg length discrepancy.  UGH!   I feel defeated at the moment. 

Woke up today and I cannot put any weight on my right leg.  Pain is concentrated in groin... feels like maybe the pelvis and femur joint.  I am going to see a sports doctor today or tomorrow. 

My husband made me feel guilty about going to see this chiropractor/sports injury specialist.  Our insurance doesn't cover it, so it could be very expensive.  However, I think they would diagnose my problem easily... the specialize on running injuries.   My husband just doesn't see my running as a priority.  It's not worth the extra expense.  Sigh.

I'm relunctant to go to my regular doctor because in the past when I've seen him for running related injuries, he sends me to orthopedic doctor who then sends me to physical therapy... no one diagnoses what is wrong, and because I'm just sent around to various different doctors on different days, I have to spend countless babysitting favors and money on co-pays for each doctor that I see.  Waste of time and money.

I will presevere.  I will not give up until I am running again pain-free.  Think of me as Scarlet O'hara with a fist full of Tara dirt in my hand, "As God as my witness"...  Well, maybe that's a little dramatic... but I really do not want to get discouraged.

I looked over this training log and I realized that the precursor to all the problems on my right leg was my big right toe.  That big toe joint was bothering me for months.  I bet I had a stress fracture.  My theory is that I started running differently with my right leg because of the big toe.  This triggered all the IT band issues.  I eventually switched shoes and my groin muscle was injured.  Now everytime I run it feels like my femur is hurting. 

Here's my plan:  A. 2-3 weeks of no running.  B. New orthotics  C. Start running again very slow and not many miles.  If it hurts, more time off.  D. strength training.