RnR: Week 2 Day 6

Ran with my girl friend, Jane, this morning. We did a training run for the Dammit Run route which will be our next race happening mid-week of August. She picked me up promptly at 7AM and we drove to Los Gatos together. The actual Dammit Run route starts and ends at the high school track but to avoid having to weave our way through downtown LG, we tweaked the route a little bit. We drove to the parking lot at Miles Ave., took the Los Gatos Creek trail about 2.5 miles up to the top of the Lexington Reservoir, ran up St. Joseph's hill following Jones trail down to College Ave., looped back to LG Creek trail and back to the parking lot for a total of 4.41 miles @ 56 minutes.

Running early certainly has its perks. It was nice to enjoy the cool breeze for a change. The temps at 8AM is certainly different from the temps at 11AM. We were also able to avoid the crowd from Team In Training and other running clubs who seemed to converge at the same time at Los Gatos Creek Trail today. It was around the last 1/2 mile when we started meeting throngs of oncoming runners just starting there way into the trail.

Jane and I had a couple steep climbs during this run as you can see from the elevation profile below. The most ridiculous climb was at St. Joseph's hill at 858ft elevation around 2.45 mile which Jane and I basically walked. Definitely a butt kicker! I've done this route a few times but still couldn't manage a slow run up that hill. Someday, I'll be tough enough to hammer this hill down. =)

The good thing about a steep uphill is a really nice downhill but I held myself back from running downhill at my maximum pace to keep up with Jane. Not sure if she was also holding back to keep up with me. I do know she can run faster than the pace we did on this run. While I like having the hubby as my running buddy, it was a pleasant change to have a girl like Jane to run with. We chit chatted almost the whole time! Looking forward to more runs together with her.

Today's 4.41 mile route

Today's hilly elevation profile

RnR: Week 2 Day 5

Fridays are supposed to be rest days for me. I intended to just rest up and do nothing today because I was feeling an onset of a sore throat and just feeling unusually tired the whole day. In addition to that, I was also feeling a bit of muscle soreness most probably from overdoing the workout the other day. But by late afternoon, I was going stir crazy so I decided to lace up my running shoes and head off to the gym. I managed 3 miles on the treadmill on a 1% incline @ 32 mins. This run was just to run off the funk so I pretty much just took it easy. I didn't even bothered tracking my splits. It was kind of a hard run mentally but just what I needed to shake off the blues that had me in a funk for days now.  I did and left the gym feeling a lot better and lighter.

From imgspark.com via Pinterest

RnR: Week 2 Day 4

I was supposed to run 30 min tempo today but I had chores to do. I had an orthodontist appointment in the morning, took the little miss to Build-A-Bear after that and went malling, went grocery shopping and then took her swimming. That pretty much took my whole day. By the end of the day, I was too tired to even think about running but I did manage to squeeze in a late night 20 minute Total Body Pilates with Nicole Stewart which is also via Exercise TV On Demand. It is short but great when you don't have a lot of time to spare for an exercise. It also gives you a calming and relaxing effect which is pretty nice after a long day and before heading to bed.

wordspiration courtesy from searchquotes.com via Pinterest

RnR: Week 2 Day 3

Hello W2D3! I am still trying to bounce back and recover from being pestered by emotional setbacks. It's probably going to take some time but I will not let things get in the way of my half marathon training. Not now.

So today is scheduled for a 30 minute tempo but I was too psyched up to do more than that. Today's workout started with "6 Weeks, 6 Pack" Level 2 with Jillian Michaels via Exercise TV On Demand. It is a 35 minute core-focused cardio intervals. This is only the second time I am doing this workout but it seemed a little easier today or was I just too pumped up? I did worked up a good sweat and felt it more as a total body workout than just abs.

After that, I headed to the gym for my 3 mile date with the treadmill. Here's what I did: 
1/2 mile warmup @ 5:33
Mile 1 @ 11:33
Mile 2 @ 10:44
Mile 3 @ 10:12
1/2 mile cool down @ 9:14
Total mileage = 4 miles @ 46:37

Then added another 25 minute or so strength training session which is as follows:

Chest press 30 lbs 5x 10 reps
Lat pull 50 lbs 5x 10 reps
Leg pull 40 lbs 5x 10 reps
Ab Crunch 40 lbs 5x 20 reps

Wordspiration courtesy from Pinterest.com

RnR: Week 2 Day 2

W2D2: I was in a serious emotional rut all weekend. I managed to pull myself together today, dragged myself to the gym and hooped on the treadmill.  I knew that running can help me feel better and pull me out of a rut.

The schedule for W2D2 is to do a 3 mile run. This run, although just a short 3 mile, seemed like one of the toughest run in recent memory. There was a point when I felt like quitting but I tried really hard to push it through and just continued to run. I toughed it out and made it to 3 miles plus an extra 1/2 mile warmup and 1/2 mile cooldown.

Here's the breakdown:

1/2 mile warmup @ 6:40
Mile 1 - 11:01
Mile 2 - 10:01
Mile 3 - 9:56
1/2 mile cool down @ 5:57

I was such in a funk before I ran but came out on the other side feeling so much better. The emotional anxiety is still there but at least it lifted my mood a little bit after the run. Thanks to endorphins! I wish I can bottle it up and use it whenever needed.

Wordspiration by Dan Cassaro for Poolga.

RnR: Week 2 Day 1

Week 1 of training has come and gone. There were definitely a lot of necessary adjustments made to the training plan but I think the first week went pretty well. Now, I am moving on to Week 2 of training.

W2D1 is supposed to be a stretch and strengthen day but life got in the way of my training plans. I had to set doing any workout aside. So this one will have to go down also as a rest day and please enjoy a little wordspiration.

RnR: Week 1 Day 7

Photo courtesy from depositphotos.com

I decided to skip the 3 mile run today per the training schedule and devote this day as a day of complete rest. Meaning no runs, no cross training, no yoga or Pilates. Nada. Rest days are important for runners to help the body recover and recuperate.

I started getting shin splints again especially on my left shin. I noticed the shin splint re-occurring right after the 5x800 I did. Today's rest day is a much needed break. The shin splint is a sign that I have over done something and over worked myself.

I had a really bad case of shin splints last year while training for my Race to the End of Summer 10k and the HERS Keep ABreast 10k. I ran both races with shin splints. It was a stupid move and I paid for it at the end. I couldn't run without the shin screaming at me. The recovery took several months. It was very very frustrating not being able to run when you have the will for it. I don't want to go through that again. I try to listen to my body this time to avoid being injured and not being able to run at all.