Sunday, August 12, 2007

Eleven...

Hey Everyone!! Thanks so much to everybody who sent well wishes and good thoughts my way. I totally felt them this morning and was thinking of many of you as I ran. (Amy running in the dead of the afternoon heat (crazy), Patty hiding gatorades on her route (stealthy), Running Chick taking a nasty spill (I'm so sorry), Brian learning the hydration lesson again (humbling), Hoosier and Silly Lilly working through some health stuff, and the list goes on...) Thank you all for being with me....

I DID IT!! I've officially done ELEVEN. I don't know why this scared me, I had just done TEN, but every week is moving into new territory so I guess there's bound to be doubts.

I went out the door around 5:45 and the humidity was close to 90% - nasty. Also, Garmin got up on the wrong side of the bed, so I fiddled around for quite awhile as I walked a half mile to warm up. The air was positively soupy but it did improve.

I finally sort of gave up on Garmin, and headed out. It started to work somewhere on the way so the splits are sort of there, sort of best guess. I started out low 13, high 12's, and progressed to 14's at some point. A couple of the miles that I took walk breaks for Gatorade were in the 15's, but I decided I should stop pausing Garmin, as this will be realistic. I feel like this should bum me out, I am so DANG slow, but I don't really care. I FINISHED and I have felt a sense of accomplishment (between naps!!).

My energy was there and I was really pleased with this. I do have a question for the veterans.... I have been fitted at our local running store and feel like my shoes are much better, no problems with knees, calves, achilles, bunions, blisters, etc. However, my feet are still what seem to be the rate-limiter for me right now. I am usually icing ankles, arches, balls of feet. Do they just take a while to get stronger as you first start ramping up the miles? Is this to be expected or do I go back to the running store? Hubby thinks I probably need to strengthen but I was curious what you all think?

Anyway, I am doing pretty well by tonight. Next week, 4,6,4,12 !!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nancy, congrats on the completion on 11 miles and great job. I knew you wold b able to do it, onnce you stop listening to the uglies.

Thanks fot thinking about me also. I wish I could say this has been a good weekend, but the sugar levels and have been bothering me all weekend. Another attack today and I was wiped, had to take a three hour nap afterwards. Engery had been gone all day.

Even after the three hour nap, I am tired and headed to bed after I finish this.

Again, GREAT JOB today.. keep pushing on.

sRod said...

Great job Nancy! It's really inspiring to read your story. I feel like we're in similar places when it comes to running and training.

About those aching feet...it's a tough call. Yes, they are going to hurt a lot and you're going to have to build up the strength in them. But it is a bit strange that it's only your feet that hurt. If they continue to hurt this much for the next week or two, then you might have a problem. If the pain is less intense next week, then you're ok.

Anonymous said...

congrats on your first 11! that's awesome :) i will be trying a 6-mile run some time soon!

Patty said...

Congrats on the eleven...one more step up the ladder to the full 26.2! YEAH!!

I will refrain from giving you any advice on the feet except these two things...It never hurts to see the professionals, and try ramping up the stretching of everything. If I don't stretch my left calf area enough the toes on my left foot tend to go numb during a long run, if I keep it streched out I don't have any problems.

Okay, one more thing that I do is wear a good supportive shoe when my feet are hurting after running. Giving the muscles support from the shoe seems to make them feel better. And you could try strengthening exercises...making the alphabet in the air with your toes, trying to pick up small things with your toes (tissue, pencils, stuff like that).

The bottom line is you've come too far in your training to risk an injury, so listen to your body and check it out. Better to hear, "It's nothing serious," than to let it worry you.

J~Mom said...

Great job on your 11!! That is a fantastic accomplishment! Poor Nellie...always getting the bad rap. LOL Thanks for stopping by my blog!

Single said...

Great job! Every mile is a victory no matter how fast it is.

About the feet, I do know people whose feet are their limiters. If you can see a health professional about it I bet it'll be worthwhile.

Active Release chiropractors can be terrific, as can PT folks.

Cranky

Marcy said...

CONGRATS on your 11 miler!! ;D Great job!! I won;t offer any advice on the shoes because I'm a newb :P

RunToTheFinish said...

Congrats! Always fun to reach a new peak!

On the foot thing... what kinds of shoes are you wearing when not running? That might be the culprit.

Or maybe you need a little more cushion in your shoe? It's all one great big experiment in finding the right place for your body.

Bob - BlogMYruns.com said...

Nancy Said: I just feel really strongly that no one should suffer from true migraines when we have stuff available. But to be fair, this is my line of work :) I am a doctor of pharmacy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey Nancy!! thanks for ur reply on GB's blog, makes more sense coming from a doctor with knowledge to back it up...and yes WE are stubborn to take anything-lolol

well I am really bad about it, might have taking less then 10 aspirin this year-- LOL

but I do agree with U to a point, just hate when (not GB)so many people these days drop down to pres.drugs( see a commercial on TV & say maybe I need that) and before you know it the whole cupboard is full ( I am sure you know what I mean )

anyways, CONGRATS on ur 11 miles, I believe it's a combination of ur feet/ankles getting use to higher miles and also ur running shoes are still off a bit...

unfortunately the shoes do take some time to figure out, especially when u add more miles(cause ur feet will swell more so U will need a larger size or more cushion or maybe less cushion--lol really is a pain in the ass to get the correct shoes---my shoes are still off a bit but getting better!

Have a great training week and nice blog :-)

Running Ragged said...

I knew you would make it, I was cheering for you all the way!

I brought your 'club' with me along my 15 miler on Sunday and used it quite a bit...I hope you didn't mind. ;)

In regards to your feet, it wouldn't hurt to see a professional. I have had a the Active Release Technique (ART) done on my leg and it really helped.

Brian Hawkinson said...

Congrats! I enjoy reading and watching your progress from week to week. My training for the marathon was so mish mash. I would do this, maybe that, or perhaps this and that, but never anything with structure.

So it is fun to watch someone move towards their marathon with a structured approach.

Tom@RunnersLounge said...

Nancy,

Give the feet/ankles a little more time. If it feels musclular/soft tissue, the area is likely to get stronger. If you don't get the pain/soreness on shorter runs, it's probably related to the longer distance. As we speak your body is recovering and adapting and you'll be stronger on the next LR.

DawnB said...

Congratulations Nancy nice job on the long run. Remember my 11 miles was in a race. I'm pretty sure my 11 miles training runs would have taken me about the same time as yours. I have to say this my training runs are usually 2 to 3 mins slower than my race pace. Wasn't always like that but thats where I'm at now. I think it started when I strated running so many marathons!! But they are my true test and most rewarding.