bruised calf

Seven days ago I woke up with a large and dark bruise on my calf. I had participated in Boot Camp the night before, so I figured maybe I did something to my muscle. The bruise hasn't changed at all since then, so I had it checked out by a nurse practitioner yesterday. She is fairly certain something happened to my calf muscle. I need to ice it, take ibuprofen, and pray. :) It actually doesn't hurt when I run or exercise, so I haven't slowed down a bit. In fact, since I got the bruise I've gone on a serious hike in the White Mountains and continued to do marathon training and boot camp.

I have noticed that my calves have been really tight lately. I need to stretch them more! I know that stretching is good for you, but I rarely do it. Perhaps this will be the motivation I need. I've never really had a problem with tight calf muscles before, other than when they cramped up during two different marathons. But Succeed S!Caps seemed to solve that problem. I don't think those caplets are going to help *this* problem.

I just hope the bruise goes away soon! It's kind of scary looking.

weight loss

I am in my second week of boot camp at my gym. It began on June 7th and it's a month-long blast of boot camp sessions. There are awesome prizes at the end for the top three people who lose the most percentage of weight. I went into the contest with a great attitude and a determination to win. First prize includes a night at a bed and breakfast on the coast of Maine, a full course dinner, and spa services. Great incentive, right?! Well, despite going to boot camp 3 times per week, training for a marathon, and eating healthy (for the most part), I am not losing any weight. I am working my butt off in all areas (especially at that darn boot camp!) and it's not showing on the scale. My clothes do fit better so what I am thinking is that I am gaining muscle.

As a long distance runner I have lots of endurance and my leg muscles are fairly toned. However, my upper body and core have no strength or tone. AT ALL. It's embarrassing how poorly I do at boot camp at anything involving the core or upper body. But I figure I have got to start somewhere, and I can only improve from here. I do try really hard and give it my all, but some of the exercises are really kicking me in the rear.

Back to weight loss (or lack thereof). I have certainly gotten really frustrated each day I have stepped on the scale. Heck, I've even thought about going back to eating lots of desserts and quitting boot camp. But I won't do either of these things. That's because I have a will and a determination that is stronger than these things. I will be disappointed if I don't win the contest or even if I don't lose weight, but I know deep down that what I am doing is good for me. Perhaps the results will eventually make their way to the scale. For now I just have to remind myself that all of the exercise and healthy eating I am doing is certainly doing my body good.

marathon training begins

I have blogged in June already, but somehow the post did not get published. Oh well! Marathon training started last Monday, June 7th. It's only been a week, but so far so good. This part of marathon training seems easy, with a long run of only 8 miles the first week. Before I know it, those long runs will be in the double digits. In some ways I prefer running longer as then I can go even more slowly than my usual slow pace.

One big change this time around for marathon training is that my cross training has been boosted quite a bit. You see, I signed up for a month-long Boot Camp at my gym and it started the same day as marathon training. So not only am I cross training one day a week like Hal Higdon says, but I'm going to boot camp three times a week. (For those of you who don't know, Hal Higdon is a runner/trainer/author whose training program I follow). Anyway, boot camp is kicking me in the butt but people tell me it's going to help my running. We'll see! The hard part is schedule both my training runs as well as boot camp. My already busy life has gotten that much busier.

I am training for 2 marathons this fall: the Mohwak Hudson River in NY state in October and the Richmond Marathon in Virginia in November. For the NY marathon I am following Hal's regular 18 week marathon training program (Intermediate I) and then after the NY marathon I will follow his program for if you have 5 weeks between marathons. I ran 2 marathons 8 weeks apart in spring, so this will be that much more challenging. But I know I can do it if I just trust Hal's program.

Gotta run...literally. Heading off on a 3 mile lunchtime training run.

summer running

It's baaaaack! Heat and humidity. Ugh! My least favorite running weather has emerged. Right now I'm not following a marathon training program so I'm only doing 3 miles runs, which are bearable in this horrible heat and humidity. But going any farther is going to be tough. When I hit those 18-20+ milers, I'll be doing what I hate to do: getting up early to run. It's the only way I can tolerate running in the heat and humidity. I want to try and find one of those things you can wrap around your neck to keep you cool. I remember years ago seeing them for tennis. I assume they sell them for runners, too? I'll be on a quest to find something like that. In the meantime, plenty of hydration, both before and during running. And I'll be popping electrolyte tablets like crazy during runs.

cross training

I bought a new bike! It's a hybrid, a Specialized Globe Vienna 2, and it's brand spanking new. Yeah! Time for some cross training. I owned a road bike many years ago but it passed away and I never replaced it. I used to enjoy rides along Route 1A in New Hampshire. Now I can get back out there again! I think I will take it out this weekend for its maiden voyage, maybe along the Minuteman Bike Trail in the Lexington, MA area. I'm a little nervous because I don't know much about how to take care of a bike, and I wouldn't know what to do if it broke down. But that's what cell phones are for, right? :)

Biking is excellent cross-training for running. Hal Higdon, whose marathon raining schedules I follow, says that tennis is not so great for cross-training due to the lateral movement. I am an avid tennis player, but I have definitely held back a little bit on tennis now that I have gotten into marathons. I took a tennis clinic at lunch today and I realized that I have gotten very tentative when I play. I think it's because I am so afraid of injuring myself for running. Right now I'm trying to figure out if I should just "go for it" in tennis and not worry about getting injured? It's a tough call. But I guess I shouldn't live my life in fear. Perhaps next time on the court I'll just give it my all and think positively!

a new outlook

Yesterday I completed a 5K race. Due to some digestive issues (I'll spare you the details), I decided to walk the race. Once I started though, I turned it into a slow jog. I felt comfortable the whole way and never felt I really pushed myself. And I did not look at my watch once! Somehow I managed to run faster than my last 5K race. Keep in my mind that in my world "faster" is relative, as I am normally in the back of the pack due to my slower pace. But it was a sub-10 minute pace and that is always good for me!

The lesson of the story for me is this: don't worry about your finish time, or about always pushing yourself. Sometimes it's just about the journey. I have said this many times before but yesterday I really *felt* it. It was quite wonderful to approach the finish line, see the time on the clock..and know that I had enjoyed the race, hadn't pushed myself too hard, and felt good.

It's a lesson I need to carry forward from here on out. As Ben & Jerry have said: "If it's not fun, why do it?" I will now make running more fun. And maybe somehow I'll be able to squeeze in a decent pace, too!

motivation

My motivation for running always varies, but I find that when I am not training for anything in particular, my motivation bottoms out. Training for my next set of marathons does not begin until June, and on April 25th I ran my 2nd of 2 marathons of 2 months. I have only run 4 times since then, and I'm finding it hard to get motivated. For the first two weeks after the April marathon, I purposely didn't run. I felt that my body needed a rest. In addition, I wanted to enjoy some free time! No more squeezing in a run before a night out with friends, or lugging my running clothes around every day, or having to take 2 or 3 showers in a day due to running. It was a nice break!

But I figured I should keep my muscles active and start running again a few times a week, perhaps just 3 miles at a time. This might sound easy to a marathon runner, but for me right now it's not. It's not that I dread running. It's that I just feel tired and unenergized. So far I have run each of the days I committed myself to, so I guess I am not totally defeated. But it has taken me a lot to get myself out there. I guess I shouldn't worry about it. In June I won't really have a choice (okay, yes, I have a choice. But if I want to do 2 marathons in 1 month in the fall I really need to do the training!). Maybe I should just take the month of May for what it is: a time to enjoy life (both with and WITHOUT running) and just do the best I can!