Only a Month Away!
Once again, time has slipped by without me getting a chance to update this. The weekend that we were supposed to run 18 miles was really pretty hard. I tried to run that Thursday, but my knees wouldn't let me - so I walked for 50 minutes instead. Now, let me tell you - skipping all your weekly runs and then trying to run 18 miles really doesn't work so well.
At 13 miles (or so) I was really exhausted and my knees hurt, so I walked two miles back to the start, and made poor Mindy run the last 5 miles on her own. She said it was not fun, and I believe her!
The next week we were supposed to do the same training schedule, 30, 60, 60. I did one hour run on Monday, but then didn't get a chance to do another run. Friday was our event and Silent Auction. We had a good time and raised a little bit of money, but we didn't have quite the attendance that we were hoping for. Nevertheless it was a good time.
However, it did mean I didn't get to bed until 11:30. Mindy came to our event, and she said she got about as much sleep as I did. We had to get up at 4:30 to make it out to a different park this Saturday.
There are two marathons this season, ours in Alaska, but also one in San Diego two weeks before ours. So the San Diego folks were running 21 miles this Saturday. For the 21 mile runs all the teams in Houston get together and the coaches man different water stations in an effort to make it seem a bit more fun.
However, all of us from the West Houston team think we should have made everyone come to our park! The trail included a lot of running on streets, and places where you had to wait for cars, as well as sidewalk cracks big enough to swallow a small dog and giant curbs. Oh, and did I mention having to do one loop of the course 3 times?? At our park we could have done 21 miles with very minimal repetition, no cars, and no giant cracks or curbs.
Anyway, Mindy and I started our run well, but were both getting tired. I think I was running slower than usual. At around 13 and a half or so, we were being given directions on where to go next, when one of those giant cracks reached out and grabbed Mindy's foot causing her to fall and scrape up her knees. We continued running to the next water station (about half a mile or so) that happened to be manned by our coaches and a couple teammates who couldn't run this week.
We got there and cleaned up her knees and waited a little bit for her to feel ready to go. Except that we didn't know Mindy gets pretty queasy when she sees her own blood. She fainted - and we were all happy that the nurse on our team happened to be there. We decided that was probably a good time to end our run. We were both pretty tired - and since I was her ride home, I have to admit I welcomed the excuse.
By that time I had also realized that the brace the orthopedist gave me to wear had chaffed my thigh so badly I had broken skin. Odd how I hadn't felt that while running...It did seem to help my knee though, so I will just have to prevent the chaffing next time.
So this week Brant is in Spain - he says he will try to run there. Here, I am supposed to do 30, 60 60 again. And I plan on actually getting in all of my runs this time! This Saturday is only 14-16 miles - but next week is our 21 mile run, and I want to get my body ready for it! After that we have a 10-14 mile run, a 10-12 mile run, and then the marathon! I can't believe it's almost here!
At 13 miles (or so) I was really exhausted and my knees hurt, so I walked two miles back to the start, and made poor Mindy run the last 5 miles on her own. She said it was not fun, and I believe her!
The next week we were supposed to do the same training schedule, 30, 60, 60. I did one hour run on Monday, but then didn't get a chance to do another run. Friday was our event and Silent Auction. We had a good time and raised a little bit of money, but we didn't have quite the attendance that we were hoping for. Nevertheless it was a good time.
However, it did mean I didn't get to bed until 11:30. Mindy came to our event, and she said she got about as much sleep as I did. We had to get up at 4:30 to make it out to a different park this Saturday.
There are two marathons this season, ours in Alaska, but also one in San Diego two weeks before ours. So the San Diego folks were running 21 miles this Saturday. For the 21 mile runs all the teams in Houston get together and the coaches man different water stations in an effort to make it seem a bit more fun.
However, all of us from the West Houston team think we should have made everyone come to our park! The trail included a lot of running on streets, and places where you had to wait for cars, as well as sidewalk cracks big enough to swallow a small dog and giant curbs. Oh, and did I mention having to do one loop of the course 3 times?? At our park we could have done 21 miles with very minimal repetition, no cars, and no giant cracks or curbs.
Anyway, Mindy and I started our run well, but were both getting tired. I think I was running slower than usual. At around 13 and a half or so, we were being given directions on where to go next, when one of those giant cracks reached out and grabbed Mindy's foot causing her to fall and scrape up her knees. We continued running to the next water station (about half a mile or so) that happened to be manned by our coaches and a couple teammates who couldn't run this week.
We got there and cleaned up her knees and waited a little bit for her to feel ready to go. Except that we didn't know Mindy gets pretty queasy when she sees her own blood. She fainted - and we were all happy that the nurse on our team happened to be there. We decided that was probably a good time to end our run. We were both pretty tired - and since I was her ride home, I have to admit I welcomed the excuse.
By that time I had also realized that the brace the orthopedist gave me to wear had chaffed my thigh so badly I had broken skin. Odd how I hadn't felt that while running...It did seem to help my knee though, so I will just have to prevent the chaffing next time.
So this week Brant is in Spain - he says he will try to run there. Here, I am supposed to do 30, 60 60 again. And I plan on actually getting in all of my runs this time! This Saturday is only 14-16 miles - but next week is our 21 mile run, and I want to get my body ready for it! After that we have a 10-14 mile run, a 10-12 mile run, and then the marathon! I can't believe it's almost here!
