Earth Day Run Volunteer Report + Long Run Lessons Learned

We had a busy weekend!

Saturday, we volunteered at the bag check for the Earth Day Run in Tigard. We had a lot of fun, and got to talk to a lot of runners. We were also able to enjoy some delicious beer (specially brewed for the Earth Day Run) from Hopworks. I've never had Hopworks beer before, but I can now say it is delicious! Now I'm even more excited to stop by their restaurant after the Girls on the Run practice 5k this Thursday!

Arriving bright and early:

Checking a bag.

Letting J do all the work! ;)

It had rained for about 10 minutes randomly, but we were able to warm up with some beer:

Since we were “in the area”, we drove over to Dundee for some wine tasting. (Delicious, of course!) Then relaxed (and napped) for the rest of the day.

Since Saturday was so busy, we saved our long run for Sunday. I was looking forward to this run all morning. My legs were finally feeling fresh, but I would soon realize that we shouldn't have waited so long to start our run! (This would be our first mistake.) We ended up heading out after lunch (on full stomachs, our second mistake). We decided to try out the Maple Trail in Forest Park (our third mistake). This trail was much too hilly and difficult for me after the past week. All week my legs have felt like lead, and I decided to finish them off with a super tough run. Not a good idea. I was miserable. My legs were tired, my stomach was upset (ugh!), my Garmin was feeding me weird numbers, and I soon lost all desire to complete our planned 7 miles.

We each took a Gu somewhere in the middle. I was hoping it would make me feel better, but it only seemed to make me feel worse. I tried the chocolate mint flavor, and it felt like I was choking down thick frosting. Blech. I don't think I gave it a fair chance, since I was already feeling pretty terrible, so I'll give it another go sometime in the future.

After the Gu, we found ourselves on the Leif Erickson Trail. We decided to change our path, here, thank goodness. This trail seemed to be much more up my alley, today. By the end of the run, my legs actually felt pretty good, but I still felt like I was going to hurl. I didn't, but the feeling wouldn't go away. We ended up walking the remaining 1.5-2 miles back to the car, since my stomach was giving me so much trouble. This was not the best week for my digestive tract, and it was definitely not the best week for my running.

I'm not going to let this week of running get me down. It was kind of a “recovery” week after last Sundays 10k (which capped off a great week). Everyone has great and not-so-great weeks. You just gotta work with what your body gives you!

Sunday:
5.32 miles (measured out later with maps)
1:18:57 (this includes walking and stopping, at least my Garmin could still measure time...)

We also walked another 2-ish miles. Meh.

Anyway, this upcoming week is going to be great! At least, that's how I've planned it to be! ;) Here's the plan, as of right now.

Monday:
3 miles

Tuesday:
5 miles (We're going to try to make it to a track workout! :)

Wednesday:
Rest Day

Thursday:
5k with GOTR

Friday:
Rest Day

Saturday:
Flying down to SoCal (again!)
8 miles (on nothing but flat pavement!)

Sunday:
Rest Day/Kid's Bday party, so not much rest, I guess ;)

Here's to a better week!

Still holding on

So far so good. I successfully completed 3 runs last week, pain free!! We continued running along the grassy section of the Waterfront, to be safe, but upped our mileage to ~3 miles/run. Here’s a quick recap:

Monday
2.91 miles
10:52 min/mi

Tuesday
3.01 miles
11:28 min/mi (not sure about this one…outlier!)

Wednesday
3.15 miles
10:41 min/mi

As you can see, not only did the distance increase, but so did the pace! It didn’t even feel like I was pushing it too far or too fast, but I still tried to hold back, a little…kinda. I didn’t experience any calf cramping this week, but I did experience a tiny, itty-bitty bit of “sensitivity” in my shin yesterday during work, but before we even ran. It was weird. It didn’t hurt when I was weight bearing. It only hurt when I was sitting down. I hadn’t run since Wednesday (a day and a half previously), so it didn’t seem to be connected to my running. It wasn’t a full on “pain”, either, it was just a mini-ache. Weird. It didn’t bother me really at all during yesterday’s run. About halfway through I felt…something…in my shins, but it didn’t get any worse, and I don’t feel it today, so I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.

That’s what I’ve noticed. I’ve been benched for so long with this stupid self-inflicted injury, that I read into any little tweak as potential injury. I got shin splints from over-doing it and pushing through the pain for 2 weeks. I’m a very goal driven person. I was 2 weeks from finishing this 10-week-plan and 2 weeks from my very first official running race. I was so focused on finishing the ride, that I didn’t stop and take care of myself. It is infinitely more idiotic since I should know better. I mean I’m a PT for goodness sakes!

I am definitely going to try to be smarter now. Any real pain (“bad” pain) and it is an automatic 2 day rest and a prescription for ice. Random knee pain during the middle of the run that goes away after half-a-mile, yeah, not “bad” pain, just weird (random yesterday’s-run happenstance). I just need to be better about listening to my body, and not pushing myself beyond my own limits.

So, now that I have a plan…You (Who? J? I realize no one else is reading this. ;) may have noticed some additions to the race calendar. Next Sunday, is, of course, the Shamrock Run. Originally, I was planning on running the 8K race, increasing our distance, trying something new, but we all know I don’t have the base for that, so 5K it is!

One month after Shamrock, there is a local run that looks really fun. (aka Beer at the end, you will soon notice a trend!) Bridge to Brews can be either an 8K or a 10K. I will try to decide on the distance once I successfully complete the Shamrock run. Successful completion = Pain-free. Once that has been accomplished, we’ll sign up for our April race.

Yesterday, at dinner, J and I started eyeballing something a little bigger, and I’m not talking about our meal. I’m talking about a Half Marathon. Before my shin splint set-back, I had already been contemplating this possibility, with the same race actually. The Helvetia Half is scheduled in June. I found a 10 week plan (which I hope we can successfully complete) that would have us start our Half Marathon training on April 5th. The schedule seems do-able. (That’s what she said?) Of course it’s hard to estimate what will be or won’t be “do-able” in the future, but I really think we can do it. And worse case scenario, Helvetia Half is supposed to be a great marathon for walkers as well. And the Drop Top 10K is run right alongside the Half, and both races end with a nice brew (see!) and a burger. And to top it all off (enough with the “ands!”) Drop Top is our favorite beer! How could we not participate in some way!

Thus far, the half is still tentative. First and foremost, I have to be successful with the upcoming Shamrock 5K. Once that happens, we’ll start really planning on these races (i.e.. signing up!) Today we had our packet/shirt pick-up. (By signing up with a large team we each saved $5 on registration; WIN!) I’m really excited (and not just about the beer at the end! I <3 beer!)