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Thursday, July 30, 2015

7 Mile Run: The bad, the good, and the cake!?

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I have been doing some thinking about the amount of running I have been doing and decided I need to suck it up and run more often. It is hard because I like to lift and usually I refuse to lift and run on the same day. But I have been focusing a lot on my upper body these past couple months, so I decided that this week I am going to chill out a little on the lifting and run MORE.

The plan for Tuesday was to run for an hour. I wasn't going to worry about mileage or pace. All I needed to do was run for an hour without stopping.

I reached my goal, but it wasn't pretty! I didn't feel good at all. I mean, after the first two minutes, the whole thing sucked.


Yah, if something was chasing me on this run, I would have LOST. Big time.


Here's why it sucked:

1. It was REALLY FREAKING HOT OUT! The real feel temperature was 95 degrees and I picked a route that had no shade. This was my own fault. I could have picked a shadier route or *gasp* got up earlier. But I didn't.


2. It was Day #1 of my period, AKA the day everything aches. My back felt tight and all I wanted to do was streeeeeeeeeeeeetch.


3. My knee felt weak from the get go. This is strange because usually my knee feels strong while I run. I think it was still recovering from walking all around DC the day before. Walking really bothers my knee.




There were some good parts about my run...

1. Hydration! I took water with me so I could stay hydrated.


2. I changed up the route. Even though the route was sunny, it was different from my normal neighborhood run, so I had fresh scenery.


3. I passed a piece of cake. It was laying in the grass! WTF!?



Have you ever seen such a perfect piece of chocolate cake just laying on the grass!?

4. I finished without giving up. The grand total was 7 miles @ 8:59 pace. I know that's a little over an hour of running but when you only have to run a couple more minutes to make it an even 7 miles, it's hard to stop!




That mileage at that pace was an effort. I should have gotten up earlier and run when it was cooler. So I'm not leaving myself off the hook! Tomorrow, I plan to run the same mileage but I am going to get it done before my first piano lesson of the day. Which means I'm going to have to be out on the road by 6:30! Do you think I can get up that early? We shall see!
What's the weirdest thing you saw on a run?
Do you ever run for time, not mileage?
Who else gets lower back period pain? All I want to do the whole first day is just bend over. All day.

25 comments:

  1. That cakes cracks me up! One time when I was running someone drove by w/ a gallon of milk on top of their car and about a block ahead of me it went crashing down (bummer)! Sometimes I think I just need to ditch the Garmin and run for time but "not knowing" how far I actually went (and my pace even though I don't care about pace and often times want to slow down to make it an easy run) would kill me.

    I hope you are up by now!! And getting ready to run. Enjoy it.

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    1. Aw man milk is so expensive, I would be bummed if I lost my milk! I know what you mean- Garmins give us great information, not just for the hard runs but for the runs that are supposed to be easy too!

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  2. Usually the morning before my period starts my back starts killing me. I have been on runs when it is all I can think about and really makes me want to stop running. Nice job pushing through- I know that usually after a run my back feels better! I think that building mileage is so mental..in a few weeks 7 miles will feel like nothing!

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    1. I hope it feels like nothing soon! I agree it is mental. I think once I just DO it a couple times I will know in my heart that it's something I can handle.

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  3. Hahaha, that cake! So tempting...lol.

    My first day of period sucks! I hurt everywhere, especially my back, boobs and belly. So all that pavement pounding sure feels awesome, NOT. I totally cannot get up early this summer. At all. I blame Lola for being such a good bed buddy.

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    1. I would never get out of bed if I had Lola to cuddle with!

      Ugh sounds like your first day of your period suuuuucks. My boobs have never hurt. I don't even know what that would feel like.

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  4. I have been getting up early to go running, and I can honestly say it is worth it. It has been cooler and it is nice to feel so accomplished at 7am!! I gave piano lessons yesterday, and had a speed work session beforehand, and I kept on apologizing for getting water during the lesson...I felt a little like George in the Seinfeld episode where he showers before he has time to cool off from the gym...

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    1. I agree about how could it actually felt to get done early! This run was Tues, so yesterday I got up early and ran before lessons. Oh my word was I a bubbly teacher HIGH on running endorphins!

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  5. I can't believe you ran 7 miles in the heat and sun! I can barely make it through 2 right now. I think if I was long enough into a run I might have stopped to eat that cake. Especially if I was marathon training...

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    1. Well remember I did it but the whole thing sucked haha.

      I didn't know what the cake was supposed to represent. Was it saying "Look at the type of junk you can eat after your run!" or was it saying, "Come on Megan, 7 miles should be a PIECE OF CAKE for you!" haha

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  6. I love the pics. I'd run fast if I was being chased by a monster too.
    I can't think of the weirdest thing I've seen on a run. I'm in NYC and some strange things happen here. Maybe the man I saw wearing a wig and and a woman's 2 piece bathing suit, riding a bicycle, with a puppy in the bike basket. That was pretty weird but it might not even be the weirdest.

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    1. lol that is awesome! The puppy in the basket is the icing on the cake! I am sure you see a ton of weird stuff in NYC. :)

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  7. 95*...really?!?! Lol...I always look at running in the heat as endurance training. Like training at altitude. It will help a ton when the weather cools down.

    I've seen random hygiene products, not cool. More often than not I run for distance rather than time.

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    1. That is a really great way to look at it. We will all BQ come winter, right??

      Ewww "random hygiene products". Reminds me of the last time my hubby and I walked together. I spotted a condom! Ewww!

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  8. That is totally weird that you saw cake on the grass. Wtf. I remember during a super long run I thought I saw a jellyfish on the side of the road but it turned out to be a piece of kleenex in a puddle. I'm super smart like that. I recently saw a really nice pair of Silver jeans lying in a heap on the sidewalk of a really nice neighborhood. I just hope that whoever was wearing them was in control of the situation. :(

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  9. That cake - so weird and random. But funny!!

    I haven't run for time since my very first running days, when my workouts consisted of "run 20 minutes without stopping". Once I could run over 3 miles I started doing 100% distance and never looked back. Trying to run by time now that I'm so used to distance would be a total head trip for me. I hate it because you can make miles go by faster but you can't make an hour go by faster. Plus I'm way too anal about wanting exact mileage.

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    1. "You can make the miles go faster but you can't make the time go faster" <--- haha so true!

      Clearly I still have a thing for exact mileage too because I just had to go a couple more min so my Garmin would say 7.00 :)

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  10. I'm glad you did the seven miles even if it was hard. It's like you said to me the other day, after one or two bad runs, a really good run is right around the corner! I'm sure the heat had A LOT to do with the run sucking. I find every step of a run miserable when the sun is shining down hard.

    I usually run for distance instead of time, but sometimes when a certain distance seems intimidating I break the run down into time increments and that helps. You know, "run for 30 minutes and then take a water break" or "run for one hour and then take a stretching break." Those time increments really help me mentally make it through super long runs.

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    1. Oh the mental games we play with ourselves! That's kind of what I was doing- playing a mental game. 7 miles seemed daunting to me. But saying 1 hr didn't for some reason. One of my mantras is "X more minutes. I can do ANYTHING for X more minutes."

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  11. When I run with my fast marathon friend, he always wants to run for time because that's what they did in college. This is bad because we always get to a certain time and then decide it's worth it to keep going for a certain mileage. We really are runners. Congrats on running for an hour! The week before my period is always the worst for my running. I notice that the day it starts, I am the best runner ever!

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    1. Same thing I did haha- go for time then round out the mileage!

      Wow it is so weird how everyone's body is different. I don't feel any different before I get my period, it's just like the first two days. Well, you know when to time your races I guess!

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  12. Congrats on your mileage. I should start getting up earlier to beat the heat but I'm that foolish one running at noon. During my run I wonder why I do that to myself.

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  13. I did wear good shoes! You would think I would feel fine. I am usually always barefoot/socks around the house. Sometimes flip flops.

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