Operation Healthy Balance

I've gotten the urge to start "documenting" my life again. So much has happened...and I'll get to that later.  Right now, I'm sharing my first half marathon race. I had started this post in May and got extremely side tracked. Just found it as a draft so I decided to finish it off.  I still can't believe that I actually finished a half marathon and in a pretty decent time for me:) I picked up my race kit the day before the race.  Stood in line for over an hour but it was worth having my bib and chip the day before. Larrin drove me to the race.  We got there in plenty of time to find parking and get to the start line.  I found a quiet spot to calm my nerves and do some warm up and stretching.  It was really important that I stretch out my calves and hamstrings since they seem to get tight after a while of running. The start line was absolutely crazy.  I pushed my way and just got in the middle of the pack.  I had my phone with me so I texted a...

With such little time before the scheduled half-marathon race, I knew that this week was going to be very telling.  Either the pain would come back in my foot and I would know that I should give up my race spot to someone that could actually finish the race or my foot would continue to be okay and I could then be able to judge where I was in relation to being ready for 21.1k. I decided to try to get three runs in this week, an easy 6k, a more challenging 8k, and then a 12k long run.  Monday I went out at lunch to run 6k.  It was beautiful and sunny; first run this year in a tank top.  My foot did not hurt but my calves and hamstrings were super tight.   The 8k on thursday was much the same except it was t-shirt weather instead of tank top.  Calves and hamstrings were super tight again.  I stopped to stretch at about the 4k mark and walked for a bit.  It was very windy too.  One stretch of road that I took was not runner friendly; the ...

Finally opened up the old blog today and took a peak.  I find it very interesting that the last post that I had written was the day before I injured my foot hiking.  Yes, hiking.  No running, no twisting, no spraining, no crazy story, just merely glorified walking.  Yeah, a little bit frustrating. After that family day hike, I had severe foot pain which continued for days after and then reappeared whenever I ran.  Anyways, after getting tired of the resting and re-aggravating cycle, I sought professional help.  Diagnosis: Fibularis/Peroneal Tendonitis (or something like that).  Also known as pain in my ass-itis. Rest, ultrasound and laser therapy for a month has resulted in a possible healing....I ran 5K on Friday for the first time without pain.  Fingers crossed that this the turning point. I wanted so bad to run again this weekend but to tell the truth the foot was feeling a little stiff and achy.  So, yesterday I compromised and did ...

I have been very lax about half marathon training as of late so I thought I would review some facts for motivation: Fact:  My half marathon race is in 96 days. Fact:  I want to finish this half marathon in less than 2 hrs 15min. Fact:  I will not finish the half marathon in less than 2 hrs 15 min unless I train properly. Fact:  The more I train the better I will do and feel. Fact:  I have come so far with my running in just a year. Fact:  Just a year ago I was struggling to finish 5 km in under 39 min.  Now I finish 5 km in under 30. Fact:  My average pace one year ago was 7:42 min/km. Fact:  My average pace now is around 6:00 min/km. Fact:  A year ago I could not run more than 5 km. Fact:  My longest run thus far is almost 13 km. Fact:  Training works. and lastly... Fact:  I am a competitor and most of all I am a runner.

Another week has passed and to my delight I completed the necessary three runs for my training this week.  Here is my week in chart form thanks to my Endomondo app:)  I love tracking my run with my phone to be able to plot out my course and get accurate distances.  I find it very helpful with training as well.  Helps me with pacing and also motivates me to keep going to catch a new personal best time or distance. My long run was just done today and I despite it being a bit cold, it was awesome.  I think it shows that I am gaining strength as a runner when after 7km I finally felt "warmed up" and had enough fuel to complete  the next 4 kms in under 6 minutes each.  I ended up shaving a couple minutes off my 10 km time too (1h:01m:41s)....getting closer to under an hour:)  The roads were slippery but I was still able to maintain a great pace throughout.  I do like taking the backroads to avoid traffic but I'm pretty sure the roads were only s...