Running Chick

I finished my final long run on Friday afternoon.  I was supposed to run on Saturday, but the forecast called for rain all weekend so I decided to take a rest day on Thursday and do my long run on Friday.

It was a balmy 67 degrees, so I wore shorts.  I’m sure the oncoming drivers appreciated the glare from my alabaster white legs.  I ran to Chassell and tried to stay on the trail the entire way, but parts were completely swamped and I got tired of running up & down driveways working my way around the water, so mostly I just stuck to the road.  My shins are a little pissed off about that but they’ll get over it.

And, since I’ve been running in frigid temps the last four months not worrying too much about hydration, I completely blew the amount of water I took and ran out around mile 8.  Fortunately I was able to refill my bottle in a car repair shop (unbeknownst to them).  I was totally going to ask permission, but nobody was at the front desk and the water fountain was right there, so I did a quick refill and took off.

Anyway, I ended up doing 11 miles at 10:42.  I was originally intending to do 12, but I was dumb and wore my heavier winter socks instead of my lighter summer ones and I felt hot spots on my feet around 10 miles.  I didn’t want them to turn into monster blisters, so I decided I’d better quit while I was ahead and finished up once I hit 11.  Had it not been for the blisters, I could have made 12 with no problem.

In my quest to collect every single GPS running device Garmin makes, I bought the Forerunner 305 last week when I noticed that the price came way down.  This one’s got a heart rate monitor so I’m able to collect even more data that I have no idea how to interpret!  My average heart rate for this run was 171.  I have no idea if that’s good or bad but I didn’t keel over from a heart attack, so I can only assume it’s okay.  The chest strap is pretty comfortable, I completely forgot I was wearing it once I left the house.

New toys are fun!

This week’s totals:  19.58 miles @ 10:36

Next week’s schedule calls for 16 miles with a long run of 6.  Depending on how my shins are feeling, I might end up cutting back, we’ll see.

After next week, I have two short runs for 5 miles then it’s off to the races!

I successfully completed three pain-free, conservative (read slow) miles on the dreadmill today. Holla!

I was a little afraid of reinjuring my calf, so I took it really easy and wore the calf sleeve I picked up last summer. It's supposed to do things such as keep the muscle warm and provide compression and support which are all good for a calf injury. At least that's what the doctor told me when he advised me to get one. Seeing as how my calf stayed attached throughout my run, I can only assume it did it's job.

Anyhoo, tomorrow I'll attempt four miles. I don't know if I'll do it on the dreadmill or not, I'll let the weather determine that. Speaking of weather, Ma Winter can't decide whether she wants to give up or not. We had snow yesterday and today and it's also on the forecast for tomorrow. The temps have been in the mid-to-high 30's so what snow we've been getting hasn't been sticking around, but it leaves us in a constant of wet and sloppy roads. That's no fun for running. If I do run outside tomorrow, I'll have to pick a hill-less route that's calf-friendly. That'll take me at least half the day messing around on www.mapmyrun.com.

Oh, new gear! The Superfeet insoles that I got a couple of weeks ago weren’t so super on my feet so back to www.runningwarehouse.com they went. The UPS guy dropped these babies off today:

New Balance Pressure Relief Insoles

I’ve used them before with no issues, and bonus - they don’t need trimming.  I’ll be taking them for their first spin tomorrow.

Shameless plug:  www.runningwarehouse.com 

I’m completely in love with this store.  Their prices are great, they have **free 2-day shipping** and they’ll even return, for a full refund, trimmed, worn insoles.  I’ve spent so much money there in the last two weeks that I’ve put myself on time-out from their web site.  Hopefully there are just as many other runners out there as addicted to it as I am and their business won’t go under because of my hiatus.

Let’s hope, anyway.