Friday, June 30, 2006
7:30 AM
I mapped out my run on someone's driveway
Activity: Running
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 45:53
Average: 9:10
Best: 8:18
Splits: 9:26, 9:47, 9:39, 8:45, 8:18
Weather: 63 and mostly sunny = beautiful
I decided to change up my 5 mile loop to avoid that huge hill on Fairmount...I think that I like this new one better because there are still steep hills, but they are shorter and don't wipe me out as much. The run started out okay...I'm not at all happy with my 2 and 3 mile splits. Since my energy is coming back though, I expect these to improve in the next couple of weeks. Then my average for the 5 mile will be back down to around 8:45. After mile 3, I got my runner's high and started to speed up...really need to work on a more consistent pace tho. My goal for the 10K Arts Fest is an 8:30 pace.
Sooo I got lost near the beginning of mile 4. Google maps made it seem like Metz Ave went all the way to Sparks, but 'Metz' beyond Buckhout didn't appear to exist. I stopped my watch and ran back and forth on Buckhout to try to find where I should go. To the right, was this road Robin Lane, which I figured wouldn't go through to Atherton (actually, Robin Lane turned into Fairmount, where I wanted to be, but I didn't see the sign). To the left was College Ave, which was much farther out than I wanted to be (and not very pretty). In my efforts to find the route, I probably turned my 5 mile into a 6 mile run. Oh well. I think that my 4 mile split is still pretty accurate since I stopped my watch and restarted it when I found 'Metz', which def looked like someone's driveway. I changed up the route for the future so that I avoid running on private property or whatev. Aside: there are some really beautiful stone houses on Fairmount.
mood:
I love my runner's high.
health:
need (pant) more (pant) energy (pant) at the beginning butgoodattheend!!!!
Distance: 5 miles
Time: 45:53
Average: 9:10
Best: 8:18
Splits: 9:26, 9:47, 9:39, 8:45, 8:18
Weather: 63 and mostly sunny = beautiful
I decided to change up my 5 mile loop to avoid that huge hill on Fairmount...I think that I like this new one better because there are still steep hills, but they are shorter and don't wipe me out as much. The run started out okay...I'm not at all happy with my 2 and 3 mile splits. Since my energy is coming back though, I expect these to improve in the next couple of weeks. Then my average for the 5 mile will be back down to around 8:45. After mile 3, I got my runner's high and started to speed up...really need to work on a more consistent pace tho. My goal for the 10K Arts Fest is an 8:30 pace.
Sooo I got lost near the beginning of mile 4. Google maps made it seem like Metz Ave went all the way to Sparks, but 'Metz' beyond Buckhout didn't appear to exist. I stopped my watch and ran back and forth on Buckhout to try to find where I should go. To the right, was this road Robin Lane, which I figured wouldn't go through to Atherton (actually, Robin Lane turned into Fairmount, where I wanted to be, but I didn't see the sign). To the left was College Ave, which was much farther out than I wanted to be (and not very pretty). In my efforts to find the route, I probably turned my 5 mile into a 6 mile run. Oh well. I think that my 4 mile split is still pretty accurate since I stopped my watch and restarted it when I found 'Metz', which def looked like someone's driveway. I changed up the route for the future so that I avoid running on private property or whatev. Aside: there are some really beautiful stone houses on Fairmount.
mood:
I love my runner's high.health:
need (pant) more (pant) energy (pant) at the beginning butgoodattheend!!!!Thursday, June 29, 2006
4:34 PM
Two-a-days!
Distance: 2350 yards
Time: ~55:00
After working for about 6 hours, I was actually starting to get antsy. My energy is coming back! Soooo I decided to go for a swim. It's been quite a while since I swam since PSU has been renovating the White Building pool for about a month, and it was quite refreshing. It's really amazing how I never seem to get out of swimming shape.
The pool was really cold! Jumping in took my breath away! I walked around on my tiptoes for a bit, hoping that I would suddenly adjust to the temperature. I think that my legs were starting to go numb! Once I finally got up the courage to completely submerge myself, I started my workout:
1. 400 yd free warm-up
2.500 yds of alternating stroke drill, sprint, kick drill, sprint (some freestyle and some backstroke)
3. 3 100 yarders (fast, faster, fastest), a slow 200 and a fast 100 (all free)
4. 200 yds of fast kicking!
5. 750 yds slow freestyle
6. Cool down: 50 back, 50 breast, slow 50 free
It felt awesome to be back in the pool. My right shoulder is still sore though. I'm pretty sure that it hurts in the same place as when my arms cramps while running. Maybe it's just strained a little. Anyway, I was hoping to do 100 yds free at the end instead of 750, but I cut it short since my arm was hurting.
mood: I'm back baby!
health: Just wish that my shoulder wasn't sore..
Time: ~55:00
After working for about 6 hours, I was actually starting to get antsy. My energy is coming back! Soooo I decided to go for a swim. It's been quite a while since I swam since PSU has been renovating the White Building pool for about a month, and it was quite refreshing. It's really amazing how I never seem to get out of swimming shape.
The pool was really cold! Jumping in took my breath away! I walked around on my tiptoes for a bit, hoping that I would suddenly adjust to the temperature. I think that my legs were starting to go numb! Once I finally got up the courage to completely submerge myself, I started my workout:
1. 400 yd free warm-up
2.500 yds of alternating stroke drill, sprint, kick drill, sprint (some freestyle and some backstroke)
3. 3 100 yarders (fast, faster, fastest), a slow 200 and a fast 100 (all free)
4. 200 yds of fast kicking!
5. 750 yds slow freestyle
6. Cool down: 50 back, 50 breast, slow 50 free
It felt awesome to be back in the pool. My right shoulder is still sore though. I'm pretty sure that it hurts in the same place as when my arms cramps while running. Maybe it's just strained a little. Anyway, I was hoping to do 100 yds free at the end instead of 750, but I cut it short since my arm was hurting.
mood:
I'm back baby!health:
Just wish that my shoulder wasn't sore..7:30 AM
WBC...wtf?!
Activity: Running
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26:53
Average Pace: 8:57
Best: 8:15
Splits: 9:28, 9:08, 8:15
Weather: Mostly sunny and 63
I finally went to the doctor yesterday morning to get the blood work done. My hemoglobin was low, but my white blood cell count was too. Therefore, the doc thinks that I have a virus. I sorta didn't tell her that I had been taking iron supplements for the last 4 days...I really should have because I wonder what my hemoglobin count would have been if I hadn't taken them. I'm going back for more blood work next week, and if my hemoglobin is low again, she's goin to put me on an iron supplement. I'll stop taking it for the rest of the week so that I don't screw up my results.
I wasn't sure if I should go for a run this morning, but I woke up and it was actually sunny outside! YAY maybe it won't rain today! I also wanted to see how I felt: if I was totally exhausted again, I figured that I could just turn around and walk/jog back. According to my scehdule, I was supposed to run 4 miles yesterday and 5 today, but I didn't want to push it. Anyway, I only did 3 miles, but I think that I am starting to feel better. more iron? virus going away? both? I almost stopped a little after I turned onto Allen (at like mile 0.2) because I was feeling tired. Since I knew this also could have been because I have been so inactive the last three days, I decided to finish out the mile and see how my time was and how I felt. When I saw my split, I decided to go for 3. I guess that I sped up quite a bit on the third mile, partially because I passed Aviva. Ha I think that I scared her cuz I tapped her on the shoulder :0
I'm feeling pretty good now. I was hoping that getting off of my butt (or my back since I've been sleeping so much!) would give me some more energy. I'm going to try to get back into the week's running schedule tomorrow and do a 5 mile. We'll see how it goes! Kalpana's coming this weekend!
mood:
Not as tired - this makes me happy :)
health:
I'm starting to feel better, tho I'm nowhere near ready for another 12 mile!
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 26:53
Average Pace: 8:57
Best: 8:15
Splits: 9:28, 9:08, 8:15
Weather: Mostly sunny and 63
I finally went to the doctor yesterday morning to get the blood work done. My hemoglobin was low, but my white blood cell count was too. Therefore, the doc thinks that I have a virus. I sorta didn't tell her that I had been taking iron supplements for the last 4 days...I really should have because I wonder what my hemoglobin count would have been if I hadn't taken them. I'm going back for more blood work next week, and if my hemoglobin is low again, she's goin to put me on an iron supplement. I'll stop taking it for the rest of the week so that I don't screw up my results.
I wasn't sure if I should go for a run this morning, but I woke up and it was actually sunny outside! YAY maybe it won't rain today! I also wanted to see how I felt: if I was totally exhausted again, I figured that I could just turn around and walk/jog back. According to my scehdule, I was supposed to run 4 miles yesterday and 5 today, but I didn't want to push it. Anyway, I only did 3 miles, but I think that I am starting to feel better. more iron? virus going away? both? I almost stopped a little after I turned onto Allen (at like mile 0.2) because I was feeling tired. Since I knew this also could have been because I have been so inactive the last three days, I decided to finish out the mile and see how my time was and how I felt. When I saw my split, I decided to go for 3. I guess that I sped up quite a bit on the third mile, partially because I passed Aviva. Ha I think that I scared her cuz I tapped her on the shoulder :0
I'm feeling pretty good now. I was hoping that getting off of my butt (or my back since I've been sleeping so much!) would give me some more energy. I'm going to try to get back into the week's running schedule tomorrow and do a 5 mile. We'll see how it goes! Kalpana's coming this weekend!
mood:
Not as tired - this makes me happy :)health:
I'm starting to feel better, tho I'm nowhere near ready for another 12 mile!Sunday, June 25, 2006
11:04 AM
Anemia :(
Activity: Running
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:58:06
Average Pace: 9:50
Best: 9:07
Splits: 10:29, 9:40, 10:01, 9:32, 9:52, 9:45, 9:42, 9:07, 9:56, 9:36, 10:20, 9:35
Weather: Light rain with a temp 68.
I was actually pretty excited to try the 12 mile this morning. I bought my GU on Friday, and I was eager to try out my new shoes for a longer distance. I had a banana for breakfast and downed a couple of glasses of water, hoping that would be enough to hydrate me for the whole run. It wasn't. The plan was to start out slow so that I could try to keep a pretty consistent pace of a little less than 10 minutes/mile. However, despite my enthusiasm for today's run, I was completely lacking energy. The first mile just plain sucked. I felt so exhausted. It was everything I could do to keep going and to tell myself that I would (somehow) finish the next 11 miles. The only thing that I can attribute this lack of energy to is giving blood a couple of days ago, and since I consistently have the bare minimum level of iron, I think that I am probably anemic after I donate. I'm gonna take my iron supplements for the next couple weeks and hope that I can keep my iron levels up by eating lots of tuna, oatmeal, and spinach. There is absolutely no reason why I should be exhausted after only a mile at a 10+ min pace. That should be hella easy.
The good thing is that it got better. Light rain started to fall a little after mile 3 and cooled me down a bit. The endorphins and serotonin kicked in around mile 3.5, and I started to feel soooo much better - I still kept my pace slow so that I could keep it up for the whole distance. I must say that I felt pretty cool when I took my GU break after mile 7 - like I was a hardcore runner! After I ate my GU, I was really itchin for some water. I definitely should have brought water along, and I may need to get one of those water belt things for these long runs. During the marathon, there will be water every 1/4 mile or so, but I have yet to find a water fountain outside in State College, tho I would assume that there are some in the parks??
My body felt pretty good. After mile 10, my knees were sorta aching but not in a bad way. They just felt like the were saying, "Stephanie, please stop running. We are tired." I also got some blisters on my heels from my new shoes, which I could have avoided by wearing higher socks. That was pretty stupid on my part. I was quite happy tho with my arm swing. I avoided getting cramps in my shoulders by concentrating on relaxing every time they started to feel tense. I'll probably have a sore butt and quads tomorrow, but I'm def psyched that my joints aren't hurting!
I deserve an egg sandwich.
Update: so a little after my run, I was gonna get in the shower. I got up from my computer and felt really dizzy and disoriented. All that I could think was that I needed to eat something, so I gulped water and went into the kitchen to find something to eat. I just couldn't seem to think straight. I ended up grabbing a jar of applesauce and eating directly out of it. Then, I started to feel a lot better. Anyway, it was sorta scary, so I need to really take care of this low iron issue (I think this is the problem). Good thing that my long run next week is only 6 miles!
mood: Hey, it was my first 12 mile, and I finished!
health: Felt super exhausted at the beginning, but it got better as the run went on. Joints felt good!
Distance: 12 miles
Time: 1:58:06
Average Pace: 9:50
Best: 9:07
Splits: 10:29, 9:40, 10:01, 9:32, 9:52, 9:45, 9:42, 9:07, 9:56, 9:36, 10:20, 9:35
Weather: Light rain with a temp 68.
I was actually pretty excited to try the 12 mile this morning. I bought my GU on Friday, and I was eager to try out my new shoes for a longer distance. I had a banana for breakfast and downed a couple of glasses of water, hoping that would be enough to hydrate me for the whole run. It wasn't. The plan was to start out slow so that I could try to keep a pretty consistent pace of a little less than 10 minutes/mile. However, despite my enthusiasm for today's run, I was completely lacking energy. The first mile just plain sucked. I felt so exhausted. It was everything I could do to keep going and to tell myself that I would (somehow) finish the next 11 miles. The only thing that I can attribute this lack of energy to is giving blood a couple of days ago, and since I consistently have the bare minimum level of iron, I think that I am probably anemic after I donate. I'm gonna take my iron supplements for the next couple weeks and hope that I can keep my iron levels up by eating lots of tuna, oatmeal, and spinach. There is absolutely no reason why I should be exhausted after only a mile at a 10+ min pace. That should be hella easy.
The good thing is that it got better. Light rain started to fall a little after mile 3 and cooled me down a bit. The endorphins and serotonin kicked in around mile 3.5, and I started to feel soooo much better - I still kept my pace slow so that I could keep it up for the whole distance. I must say that I felt pretty cool when I took my GU break after mile 7 - like I was a hardcore runner! After I ate my GU, I was really itchin for some water. I definitely should have brought water along, and I may need to get one of those water belt things for these long runs. During the marathon, there will be water every 1/4 mile or so, but I have yet to find a water fountain outside in State College, tho I would assume that there are some in the parks??
My body felt pretty good. After mile 10, my knees were sorta aching but not in a bad way. They just felt like the were saying, "Stephanie, please stop running. We are tired." I also got some blisters on my heels from my new shoes, which I could have avoided by wearing higher socks. That was pretty stupid on my part. I was quite happy tho with my arm swing. I avoided getting cramps in my shoulders by concentrating on relaxing every time they started to feel tense. I'll probably have a sore butt and quads tomorrow, but I'm def psyched that my joints aren't hurting!
I deserve an egg sandwich.
Update: so a little after my run, I was gonna get in the shower. I got up from my computer and felt really dizzy and disoriented. All that I could think was that I needed to eat something, so I gulped water and went into the kitchen to find something to eat. I just couldn't seem to think straight. I ended up grabbing a jar of applesauce and eating directly out of it. Then, I started to feel a lot better. Anyway, it was sorta scary, so I need to really take care of this low iron issue (I think this is the problem). Good thing that my long run next week is only 6 miles!
mood:
Hey, it was my first 12 mile, and I finished!health:
Felt super exhausted at the beginning, but it got better as the run went on. Joints felt good!Friday, June 23, 2006
7:45 AM
happy birthday mommy!
Activity: Running
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 27:30
Average Pace: 9:10
Best: 8:45
Splits: 8:45, 9:40, 9:09
Weather: Cloudy with a temp of 65 and a dewpoint of 63. pretty sticky!
Well, I woke up a little before 6AM when the power finally came back on...woooo! Then I had an egg, a piece of toast, and some coffee because I was starving (despite - or maybe because of - eating a piece of Canyon Pizza around midnight last night). I was really excited to try out my new shoes, so I started out a little too fast. At about mile 1.5, I had to stop and walk because I felt semi-dizzy, maybe from giving blood yesterday. I probably didn't replenish enough of my fluids. Proof: I was barely sweating, and the dewpoint was 64F. Plus I had a few drinks last night at the Skellar (and greasy Canyon Pizza...ha no wonder I felt tired!). My final time wasn't so bad though. 12 miles on Sunday! I have to pick up some GU and figure out how I'm gonna stay hydrated for that.
mood: Yay new shoes!
health:
Dehydrated and felt dizzy. No joint pain tho!
Distance: 3 miles
Time: 27:30
Average Pace: 9:10
Best: 8:45
Splits: 8:45, 9:40, 9:09
Weather: Cloudy with a temp of 65 and a dewpoint of 63. pretty sticky!
Well, I woke up a little before 6AM when the power finally came back on...woooo! Then I had an egg, a piece of toast, and some coffee because I was starving (despite - or maybe because of - eating a piece of Canyon Pizza around midnight last night). I was really excited to try out my new shoes, so I started out a little too fast. At about mile 1.5, I had to stop and walk because I felt semi-dizzy, maybe from giving blood yesterday. I probably didn't replenish enough of my fluids. Proof: I was barely sweating, and the dewpoint was 64F. Plus I had a few drinks last night at the Skellar (and greasy Canyon Pizza...ha no wonder I felt tired!). My final time wasn't so bad though. 12 miles on Sunday! I have to pick up some GU and figure out how I'm gonna stay hydrated for that.
mood:
Yay new shoes!health:
Dehydrated and felt dizzy. No joint pain tho!