Friday, August 27, 2010

Memorial Park Run

Well, these last few weeks have been the worst for my training. It's been hot, we can't coordinate schedules, and my thigh injury acts up. My last run was the 10K, which was 2 weeks ago. Needless to say, I'm out of shape...big time. All that progress I made to get my endurance up has taken a step back, but this week was going to change. MaloRee (who hasn't ran since before she left for Africa), Jodi, and I decided to meet up at Memorial Park. We just love this park even though it's far away, because it's so great on the knees and one lap is 3 miles long.

We did some stretching (mostly me) and set off on the walking. Just passed the quarter mile, we started running. I was really trying to spend the time working on my stride, while still keeping up the conversation. We made it to the 1 1/2 mile marker when Mal said she had to stop for a walk. I was trying to make it to the stoplight, which was alittle over 25 feet away, but I was super happy she wanted to stop. We started running again, but I had to make another stop for walking. And the walking lasted longer and longer. I was so disappointed with myself, because the last time we ran Memorial Park, I made it to way passed the 2 mile marker without stopping and our walking was quick short stops. I just couldn't continue on, because I could feel it in my legs. We ran and walked, ran and walked, ran and walked (all because of me).

The plan was to do 6 miles (2 laps around the park), but I knew that 3 miles was going to be it. By now, my thigh injury was hurting something fierce. I didn't even do any stretching when I got done, which I am paying for today.

After our run last night, I have realized that I have to rebuild my endurance up back to what it was before. I was running 6 miles without many issues, but I have been slacking. However, I will say that when I got done with the 3 miles, I felt like I only did 1 mile. I didn't even feel like I worked all that hard, which is great news for me. I also worked on my stride, which was better on my legs. I still have a long way to go though before I'm ready for the half marathon, but I have a lot of months left for training.

3 comments:

  1. I didn't know there was all this terminology for running. . . . like "working on my stride." How do you work on your stride?

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  2. BTW, a big CONGRATS for getting in the Chevron Marathon. I am so excited because now I, too, can go around saying, "oh I have someone running in the Chevron Marathon." However, I now have a herculean task ahead of me. I have to prepare for all the "things" people do when they have people running in the Chevron Marathon. Is it like the Boston Marathon? Can we bring food, lawn chairs, grilling stuff, cooler for drinks, etc.? Will I need to make banners? Gee, I hope there's a website to help the uninformed on what I can and must do. The pressure is on. How many months until the marathon?

    Maybe I won't have to worry . . . since someone we all know put a moratorium, including rising taxes on the oil industry, Chevron may NOT be able to afford this huge event. Well, just a thought.

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  3. From what I hear it is like the Boston Marathon with people on the sidelines cheering us on and handing us drinks (beer hee hee!). I'm not sure if you will have room to grill and lawn chairs, but I will find out. I like banners. I will for sure have some Skydive Houston stuff. January is the month that I run...so roughly five months.

    Also, working on your stride means the length of step you take. The smaller steps equal more energy used. Long steps help you last longer and really build the leg muscle. It's also easier on your knees.

    Yes, there is alot I've learned with these new terms.

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