This has been a terrible week in my world of running. My full-blown cold has turned into bronchitis and a severe ear infection. I ran 3 or 4 days this week (that's how bad it it, I can't even remember) and all of my runs were at a very easy pace. Yesterday I went to the doctor, which was how I found out about the bronchitis and ear infection, and told her I had a race next week that I was training for. I am allowed to run, however I am not suppose to push it. In other words, its all easy runs this week (with the exception of the race), or at least until I start getting better.
I am still hoping to PR on Saturday, but I am not getting my hopes set too high.
Its ironic that we started studying the immune system this week in biology. Not only has my immune system gone on vacation, but I have been researching, evaluating and thinking a lot about nutrition. Stress, nutritional choices, bacteria or viral exposure and many more things affect your immune system. The decline in my immune system most likely stemmed from the stress of a family member dying, which led to improper nutrition, lack of appetite and sleep deprivation, further leading to low calorie intake while maintaining and even increasing my training, all of this allowing the bacteria I was exposed to take up residence in my body.
I have lately realized that I am not giving my body the proper nutrition not only for running, but just to function normally. I spent a few hours researching and evaluating nutrition, weight loss, eating dysfunctions, athletes, etc. I have set some goals for myself and am currently (starting today) making an effort to eat healthier, more quantities, more often, and at optimal times for energy and recovery during training.
In other news, I discovered that I can graduate with my bachelors in May 2013 and hopefully my masters two years after. I am very excited as I will probably be able to graduate a semester sooner than I have originally thought.
Well, off to go to Sam's Club and then for an easy run. So tired still...
Happy Running :)
The crazy normal life of a running-addicted woman.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The Wonderful World of Running
This past week has been great! I have achieved running goals and had a great week of training. Last Saturday I went for a long run. Usually I can't get myself to run longer than 45 minutes at a time and any runs that have been over 5 miles have usually been split up. However, this time I was determined to run for an hour without stopping. I grabbed my iPod, put on my ankle bunga pads (for those of you that don't know, those are typically used by figure skaters) to avoid scrapping all of the skin off of my heels again, and started off on my run. The first mile was difficult. I am not good at setting a slow pace (I always want to push myself faster) and was struggling to find a pace that wouldn't kill me. Finally I got settle into a pace. I ran 6 miles in 60 minutes, which I consider a fairly good pace for the first long run.
Thursday morning I woke up with a slightly scratchy throat that had transformed by Friday into a full blown cold. Yesterday morning (race day) I ran a 5k in 25:26, cutting 34 seconds from my race time last month! I am very excited! My Mom also ran the 5k, it was her first 5k and she did great! She ran the entire race! We had a lot of fun.
Our next 5k is in two weeks (March 5th). My goal is to cut another 30 seconds off my time and finish under 25 minutes.
Thursday morning I woke up with a slightly scratchy throat that had transformed by Friday into a full blown cold. Yesterday morning (race day) I ran a 5k in 25:26, cutting 34 seconds from my race time last month! I am very excited! My Mom also ran the 5k, it was her first 5k and she did great! She ran the entire race! We had a lot of fun.
Our next 5k is in two weeks (March 5th). My goal is to cut another 30 seconds off my time and finish under 25 minutes.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Running Gadgets and Cognitive Running
When it comes to running gear and gadgets I am sort of a "naturalist". I believe in having the essentials; shoes, shorts/pants, sports bra, and shirts/jackets. I also will run with an iPod on occasion (the occasion that I actually remember to grab it). I think the idea of a Garmin running watch is fine and I wouldn't mind having an iPod touch with "cool" running applications. But honestly, those things tend to be more distracting to me while running than helpful and are not essential for running.
However, I have discovered a gadget that I would LOVE to have. It is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. It was created to be used with the Nike+ shoes, however there are ways around it if you do not have Nike shoes, which I do not. The kit comes with a wonderful little wireless sensor that you place inside the special pocket in the sole of your running shoes (assuming you wear Nike shoes). There is also a wireless receiving device that you plug into your iPod. As you run the shoe sensor sends information to your iPod that tracks your progress, pace, distance, calories burned, and duration of the run. My favorite feature is that it gives you real-time updates during your run. You can choose to have spoken feedback alerting you of milestones reached your pace and time, or how far away you are from your goal. You can find more information and buy it at the Apple Store.
I have high hopes of purchasing this gadget sometime in the near future. However, between the cost of college, 5k entry fees, bills and everything else going on in life right now, it does not have a high ranking in our budget. But as soon as I do purchase it, I will test it out and let you know my thoughts and feedback on it.
I was very excited to discover that I have had 71 people view my blog. I only have two followers, but viewers are good.
Running Update:
Grandma Gibbs will be missed by so many loved ones. She was an amazing woman who will continue to live through the memories of her legacy: her children and grandchildren. We are sad because we miss her and it hurts to know we will never see her again in this lifetime. But we rejoice in her homecoming. She will is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, but has been welcomed into The Father's embrace. She is home.
However, I have discovered a gadget that I would LOVE to have. It is the Nike+iPod Sport Kit. It was created to be used with the Nike+ shoes, however there are ways around it if you do not have Nike shoes, which I do not. The kit comes with a wonderful little wireless sensor that you place inside the special pocket in the sole of your running shoes (assuming you wear Nike shoes). There is also a wireless receiving device that you plug into your iPod. As you run the shoe sensor sends information to your iPod that tracks your progress, pace, distance, calories burned, and duration of the run. My favorite feature is that it gives you real-time updates during your run. You can choose to have spoken feedback alerting you of milestones reached your pace and time, or how far away you are from your goal. You can find more information and buy it at the Apple Store.
I have high hopes of purchasing this gadget sometime in the near future. However, between the cost of college, 5k entry fees, bills and everything else going on in life right now, it does not have a high ranking in our budget. But as soon as I do purchase it, I will test it out and let you know my thoughts and feedback on it.
I was very excited to discover that I have had 71 people view my blog. I only have two followers, but viewers are good.
Running Update:
- I have recruited my Mom to run her first 5k. We are running in one and half weeks. My goal is to run the 5k in 25:30 or less, but I am not going to beat myself up if I do not reach my goal considering I haven't been training hardcore over the last few weeks.
- Sunday: My husband and I ran 4 miles. I love when my husband decides to run with me and it was a wonderful run.
- Monday: I ran two miles with a friend and continued to run two hard miles.
- Tuesday (today): I ran two miles this morning at a moderate pace. I had hoped to run this evening, but too many variables were against me.
Grandma Gibbs will be missed by so many loved ones. She was an amazing woman who will continue to live through the memories of her legacy: her children and grandchildren. We are sad because we miss her and it hurts to know we will never see her again in this lifetime. But we rejoice in her homecoming. She will is no longer in pain, no longer suffering, but has been welcomed into The Father's embrace. She is home.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)