From fat to Coast to Coast - Challenging myself

Just reading your journal and wanted to join in and encourage and congratulate you on your progress. I'm fortunate to have some really supportive people in my life who help me, so I can't imagine how hard it is to do this with little to no encouragement from those around you.

I'm sorry for the loss of your former boyfriend. :(

Are there any opportunities for some running groups around that you could join? Maybe a Galloway group. We have a local Galloway group and that contributes so much to my accountability and enjoyment of running.

Well done on your determination and sticking with your training. Pushing through 8 miles when you don't want to and with sore legs is no small thing. Be proud of that mental and physical strength!!
 
Oh my gosh I never saw your reply @ZellyB ! I'm sorry. And thank you! I appreciate the support so much. I'm very thankful for the people on this board keeping me going and positive. I know this is silly but I don't really feel like I'm at a level for a running group. I'm doing the distance but I'm still pretty slow. Not to mention I'd just get frustrated and give up if I was the slowest. I do stop into my local running store and get some supplies and chat about once a week though so that's always good. It's at the point where they ask how everything is going and know what races I'm looking at. So I'm working on my real life support base!


Today's Run
Firstly yes, it has been since Wednesday since I ran. Some of that was weather and ice, and some was just me falling off the wagon. Was that the best choice? Not so much.

This was the weirdest run I've ever had. Training called for 7 miles and I went out early to avoid snow (I mostly did). I was pretty determined, but it was obvious by the half mile point that things were going really really wrong. My legs weren't moving and my shin splints were to the point of being horrific. It was at that point that I was debating cutting it down to a half hour easy run and calling it a day. I couldn't shake it no matter how much I reminded myself that the shin splints would go away it was just going to take some time, and distance. At the mile point I decided to pause my garmin and walk it off. I went for about a half mile, and decided that I'd take it mile by mile and just kind of accept that this was going to be a horrible slow run, but that the miles mattered more than the speed. At mile 3 I had to pee like emergency levels had to pee haha. I decided to run home, pee, fuel, and hydrate. I stopped my watch and recorded that part of the run at 3.72 miles.

I was in my apartment for about 10 min total and then back out on the road. I was finally feeling warmed up and good. Let me say the next 3.5 miles were not the fastest I've ever done, but I felt so good and strong the whole way through. I am so happy I battled out that first mile, and made the choice to just walk it off rather than stop and head back home. I did the last half mile with it snowing, and the last 2 miles with strong and very cold winds.

I think that first mile was a little bit my legs being like ahhh it's been four days what do you want from us, and a lot the cold. Once I got going and warmed up everything was fine. I feel pretty confident pointing a finger at the temperature because it was around 18 degrees (F) for the majority of this run. It wasn't exactly ideal conditions, but I have a half at the end of the month and it could realistically be that cold. I'm going to have to figure out a few ways to combat the negative effects of the cold on my body. Yes, I am dressing and layering properly. Honestly if I didn't have my buff on I would have been in trouble. It did an amazing job protecting me from that wind.
 
Oh boy. Embarrassingly enough it has actually been two weeks since I've ran. At first I wanted to rest my hip because of the nagging pain. Then some bad weather got in the way, and then I procrastinated. Just what you want a few weeks before a half marathon. It's so easy to just sink into lazy and come up with excuses. I really need to focus on all my runs as well, what I'm doing now is leading to fitness this fall where I have much bigger challenges waiting, and my fitness is really going to have to be on point. I can't skip active recovery, and I have to stop avoiding strength training. I also really need to consistently eat better.

Anyway

Today's Run

First mile was fine. Mile two was pretty bad and pretty slow. My shoe came untied so I tied it, then the other one and I tied it tighter so I retied the other one. I did it so tight my pinky toe went numb and my whole foot up to my ankle started to hurt. I took a shot and undid my laces and tied it not as tight. Magically the pain was gone. My third mile pace wasn't much faster. The last three and nearly a quarter I picked it up a lot an managed to salvage my pace. I have some aches and a baby blister, but it went way way way better than I expected.

It's really nice to know I'm at a place fitness wise that I can take time off and on a whim do a 10k. It might not be at the most amazing pace, but I can do it. I'm so thankful for the work I've put in to get me where I am right now. My half in a week is going to hurt after missing the last two weeks, but I know I'm going to be able to do it, and then I have a month and two weeks before Dark Side.
 
It can be easy to get off track with nagging injuries and then the challenge of running during the winter months. I've been there myself and before you know it, it's two weeks. Good job on getting back out there and getting a run in even if it wasn't all great. Even though it's easy to get off track, the base of fitness you build up makes it easier to get back in the groove.
 


Thanks! @ZellyB I had no idea I had any fitness built up so that was an awesome shock to me! You're 100% right when you say it makes getting back into the groove that much easier.


In other news my hips/groin area are a bit tender today. I suspect it's from "sprinting" up hills. Those muscles aren't so used to getting attention.
 
Today's run

I ran a half today, and oh boy. It wasn't too cold and so nice out. Pretty windy which didn't have much effect until I was running by the ocean. I've never actually sworn at the air before. I was running right into the gusts. It was so horrible but so pretty!

I crushed the first 8 miles. I was running at a pace that was just shy of 2 min faster than my current pace. I kept telling myself to pull back, but my legs felt so good. They actually still feel good. However at around mile 5.5 I started getting a blister on my right foot. I thought meh just keep going and pushed through. It started really bugging me at mile 8, and by 9 I was walking. I ended up limping through the last 3 miles. I finished at Disney pace aka 16 min mile after walking at about an 16/17 min mile for 1 and an 18ish for 3.

I'd lie if I said I wasn't upset about the blisters. I was feeling amazing and completely killing it. I'm really going to have to look into something for them. I get them every single race. My shoes might be a little bit to big if my foot is moving that much. About an hour and a half post race I finally got my shoes and socks off. Yeah the blister that had me limping is over an inch in diameter. No wonder I was limping. So if anyone has some blister help let me know!! I really need it.

After I finished I grabbed water, half a bagel, and a donut to nibble on while I cheered on everyone still finishing the full and half marathons. I really need to get out and volunteer, they are really everything and so awesome. There were lots of little kids out there which was so much fun!

There are way more positives to take away from this race than the issue with the blisters. I went in with no fear and no anxiety. I knew I could finish, and I was just excited. The other races that I've done I went in nervous, or so stressed out about outside factors that I couldn't enjoy myself. I enjoyed myself till the part where I was kind of limping. I had solid training to rely on and it makes all the difference in the world. This race was a huge win for me. It was the first one that has been 110% for me, and just to prove something to myself.

Nothing like a race to put a little pep in your mental step.

I'd have more mile stats, but I left my garmin in my car and I can't walk out to it right now with the blister and other little aches and pains. So I guess more to come there.
 
Congrats on the Half today! Sounds like once you can get you're blisters under control you'll destroy your current PR.

What kind of socks do you use? Also, do you use any glide products on your feet?

I have found these two things, in addition to shoes, have reduced the number of blisters I get. Keep up the good work!
 


Congrats on the Half today! Sounds like once you can get you're blisters under control you'll destroy your current PR.

What kind of socks do you use? Also, do you use any glide products on your feet?

I have found these two things, in addition to shoes, have reduced the number of blisters I get. Keep up the good work!

First THANK YOU! Your insight on your own thread has been so helpful and supportive so thank you for that as well. I really do just need to get this blister situation under control, and then it's all going to click!

I wear running socks. I got blisters in feetures, and now darn tough socks. I always glide my feet. I really do think my shoes are just a little bit to big so my feet are moving around way more than they should and causing that friction. I can't afford a blister like this after Dark side with Tink right after. It's weird because I don't get them on my training runs, and didn't at Wine and Dine, but those were much slower runs for me than this last one.

I needed to get new shoes anyway, and I think I'm going to try taping my feet as well to cut down the friction next long run. I'll be spending tonight and tomorrow reading up on blister prevention.
 
Appreciate it.

I use to wear adidas brand socks and get blisters on my toes constantly. I switched to Balega and have had seen a significant reduction. Do your feet seem wet or hot when you finish a race?
 
Congratulations on your race!! Sorry to hear about the blisters and it does seem like your shoes might be the issue, but regardless well done on pushing through and finishing.
 
Ugh I loaded my Garmin finally. You can see right where the blisters started being a huge issue.

Now I'm just annoyed.
 
Blisters nearly all healed up back at it tomorrow! I've been going through a lot of emotional stress this week so I'm extremely happy to finally be able to run it out tomorrow.

I also have next sunday off and I want to find a 10k to run and was mad that I couldn't. I never though I'd be so in love with running or the 10k distance that I'd be mad there are only 5k races.
 
Full disclosure Sunday ended up being a 6 mile walk. A nurse friend of mine suggested I give my feet another day or two after looking at the blisters and an unfortunately purple toenail. The toenail doesn't hurt at all, it's just half purple. Super fun. Though I'm now around 95% sure it's my shoes. It makes sense though. I didn't know what I really needed when I got fitted for them. Now it's coming up with the extra money for shoes that I wasn't expecting to buy till May. Feet come first though. I need to get them sorted out before I start going beyond 13.1.

I also started looking at marathon training. I apparently planned well without knowing it. I can take a week off after Tink and then slide right into a 16 week training plan and still have some wiggle room. It's great knowing that the 6 mile start for a long run isn't a big deal. I haven't had a long run shorter than 6 in about a month and a half. I'm just going to keep pushing.

Last Night's Run

Easy runs are the devil. It's the worst part of any run on repeat. I was so stiff, and so paranoid about my feet (which are fine). Being stiff led to bad form which led to shin splints. I ended up not pausing my garmin at one point and saving my run rather than starting it again when I was about 5 min away from being done. It was a mess.

I don't know why I was so much faster during my race. It's insanely frustrating.

Such a bad run. I did it, but oh man it was horrible.


 

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