Managing the Noise Between the Ears

Pre Run

Today is a day I need the run. When I was working on my undergrad running was a way I was able to manage the crap that goes on between my ears. I am having a hard time getting anything done. The noise between my ears is a lot today. I hope I make it out the door and further than a few houses down. That's what happened yesterday, I made it 4 houses away and stopped and came back. I felt defeated, I kept telling myself I would run after work. It didn't happen. My goal for today is 40 minutes.

Post Run

I made it. I did the whole 40 minutes doing a run/walk. Running really helped me to regulate my emotions. I'm still not feeling the greatest, but I am doing better than I was. What helped me get through the first half was dangling that carrot in front of me of feeling better than I was. The second half was accomplished because I had to make it home and had 20 minutes make it there to get back to work. Which I will have to start getting some more miles in to get it feeling normal. The first mile was OK, it's usually after mile one that I start to get in a rhythm and start feeling better.

It's typically a rough run when I am having mental struggles like I have been today. Today wasn't an exception. Kept saying to myself, after my minute walk, "This time I'm just going to walk for an extra minute." Then when the buzzing and beeping happen on my watch to signal the start of the one minute run I just went for another one minute run. That was the case for all but one signal toward the end. I walked for 3 minutes instead of two. Because of that I was short of the distance I was hoping for. I'll get it next time.

Tomorrow will be a very easy 30 minute slow run/walk or cross training, I've not decided just yet. Saturday I will be doing a 60 minute run/walk. I did my run today in my Brooks Ghost Max. They feel like they work out different areas of the leg than my New Balance Rebel v3 do. 

I think that's it for now. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Not Wanting to Run and Cloud Cover

Before the Run

It's Thursday morning and I'll be candid, I am not feeling like running today. I'll still be running and my goal is to reach the 55 minute run that I have planned. I will be stepping out to lunch a little early so I can get it in and have time to change and hydrate when I get back. To help get me out on my run today I have my running clothes right behind me for easy access and a consistent reminder of what I'll be doing today.

With the training I signed up for I will be going to a meeting about it Sunday night to review training plans and what not. So that's exciting that it's moving forward.

Post Run

It was humid outside with a lot of cloud cover today during my run. The temperature wasn't as high as it was on Tuesday which was nice. I was just shy of 5k for the run. I was reminded of the first 3/4 mile is rough, my body was yelling at me, legs were burning, heart rate was good though. I just kept focused on my heart rate and getting one foot in front of the other and I made it out to where running was feeling better.

I'm nervous about running as far as I can nonstop. I'm just progressively increasing my run time with my walk run in steady increments. I look forward to see what my training plan will look like for my 10k.

I'm still struggling nutrition wise, eating out too much. It's a hard habit to break. But when I cook dinner at home it have been better for us (I think). I have lots of snacks that are better for me around the house too. Speaking of which, I'm off to have one of those snacks.

Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Still Figuring Out How to Run in the Summer and Starting Too Fast

Pre-Run

Feeling much better this morning. A bit tired, but ready to get out and run in a couple of hours. It's going to be warm again today. I have scheduled 2.75 miles, which I am trying to change it up a little with the path that I'm taking, so I will be doing the small hill portion of my run a little later than normal.

The Run

It was a good run, until the half way mark. My heart rate was higher than I wanted it, and stayed high even with walking. So I kept walking, and it kept getting hotter. By the end my heart rate was where I wanted it on average, so that's a plus. I was too hot towards the end as well, I was getting a dizzy and sweating tons. I made it home at 2.5 miles and didn't think the last .25 would be worth it with how I was feeling. I came across another runner at around the 2 mile mark, which isn't common in my neighborhood, and got a fist pump and something like, "Keep going man!" I made it until he turned the corner before I was walking again.

My first mile was great, I was really good, so good I got it done too fast. I'm working on not getting out too fast now as well as figuring out how to handle the heat better. One thing I did to handle the heat better is ordered a lighter colored running shirt. I'll see how that goes Saturday.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

It's a Hot Run Like Seven Inches from the Midday Sun

 Pre Run

It's early on the 15th. I could wake up at my regular time in the morning for the first time in a couple of weeks. Today it's supposed to be (according to my phone) 87° when I go out for my run. I will bring enough liquids so I don't keel over for some reason. I got Nuun electrolyte tablets that I'll be trying out today. I'll let you know how that goes. I got them because of how much I sweat when I run and because my lunch isn't long enough to get something else. Most importantly the containers are small (since they are tablets in a tube), so they won't take up precious real estate in our pantry.

Something I have been thinking about a lot, thanks to a friend of mine who has had to start a new meal plan, is my diet. It's time that I work on that, otherwise, this change to running won't be fueled right. As the saying goes, You can't outrun a bad diet. So it's time for a change of some sort. I will start with decreasing added sugar, increasing veggies, increasing whole grains, and improving the quality of animal protein we eat. So no eating doughnuts for breakfast. This should be easier since I make most of the meals and do most of the grocery shopping. I will be starting that dietary shift this week when I get groceries.

The Run

So running today, hotter than I expected. I forget that at noon there isn't much shade, and today there was no breeze. I made it half way through before I just walked the rest of my workout today. I was able to keep my heart rate even which is a plus. It was still a good workout even with the walking, just hot and I'm not used to it being that hot. To avoid this happening on Saturday I will be running in the morning for sure.

The hardest part of the run came with the 3rd running segment. I think if I could have toughed that out I would have been able to run more. I was mentally tired to add to the physical. One thing I have noticed about my running is the fist 1/2 - 3/4 mile my legs hurt, but the longer I'm out the less it bothers me. It's the fatigue that gets me, either mentally or physically, every time.

I did bring out the Nuun, I will only be doing half a tablet from now on. The whole tablet was a bit intense for the duration of my runs. It will also help them last longer.

That's it for today. Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Tricking th Brain, The Run, and Running Long Term

I made it out, and only had to use two mind tricks to do it. First one was having all of my running clothes laid out for myself so when I stood up at my desk I saw them. Which led to me changing into them at the beginning of lunch. Second I committed to 10 minutes of running, 5 minute warm up then 5 minutes of running. By the time I got to the 10 minute mark I just kept going. I was really struggling to get out today. It's right around 78° outside. So a little on the warm side for my liking when running. I like closer to 50° and a bit of rain. Since I produce so much heat while running it's helps to keep me cool, causing me to sweat less.

The run was good, I ran more today than I did on Tuesday. Of the 4 six minute runs Number 1 was no stop, 2 was a 30 second walk, 3 was a 1 minute walk, and 4 was a 3 minute walk. My legs just gave out on that 4th leg of running. I'm a little under a month out from the Firecracker 5k, and know I will be able to finish, I just want to run as much of it as I can. I think that means more lower heart rate runs like today was. I did try to focus on form today, like standing up taller and leaning into the run. It's just so different than what I'm doing now that it's hard to maintain. I will try to do it for longer on Saturday. Saturdays run will be 5 sets of 6 minute run / 1 minute walk.

I've been watching a lot of running videos on the YouTube lately. It's been giving me a lot of thoughts on making sure I keep running as part of my life even if my goal isn't a race and is just feeling better. I want to make sure it is part of my life. When I was running while I was working on my undergrad it helped me with creativity and handling the stress of trying to get into my program officially. I want that back. So my long term goal with running is to keep doing it. Races help me have something to focus on, so I will use those to trick myself into running more and more.

I tried out my other new pair of socks today. They passed the test. It's official I have started the running sock collection again.

Thanks for reading.

-Riley

Rambling Before the Run, More Heat, and 2 Miles

Before Running

To start off, I didn't get my cross training in yesterday. I now have it scheduled for tomorrow. I did find on my watch that I have a strength training monitor, which will be nice to get some information about how much I'll be pushing myself during my cross training. Also, I just checked the temperature on my phone and it has it as a cool 88° during my lunch today when I plan on running. I have been bringing out a water bottle I got off of Amazon with a handy strap on it to keep hydrated. By the time I took my first drink on Tuesday it was quite warm because it had been in my hand for 20 minutes.

I have planned a 2 mile run today. It's 5 sets of 5 minute run / 1 minute walk with a 2 minute stretch, 3 minute warm up walk then a 3-5 minute cool down. So max time hitting the road should be 38 minutes. I'm going to be pushing my runs to earlier in the morning so I actually have time to eat during lunch within the next couple of weeks. My aim is to be between 132-143 bpm for my target heart rate.

After the Run

Two miles in 90° heat... probably not the smartest thing I've done, but I'm glad I did it. I will keep running in the heat too, but will be changing the time of day that I do it in the near future. It just works really well to run during lunch, only home bodies and crazy guys with binoculars who broke their leg are watching. So less paranoia about people gawking at the guy running outside. It also stops me from sleeping my lunch away. Another plus is that it doesn't interfere with other things that I should be doing, like the course work for my MBA.

So I did 2 miles today, and it was hot. The last .02 miles were basically me pacing back and forth in my drive way until I feeling my watch buzz to indicate 2 miles. I really wasn't sure I was going to make it the whole way, at roughly the mile and a half mark I had the fleeting thought, "If I went home right now I could be out of the heat." Then a guy drove by whose dogs got out of his yard around the .25 mile mark and were still evading him. He was able to eventually wrangle them in with the help of a nice neighbor (I wasn't the nice neighbor just a guy running up the street). It was a good run though. This is my high intensity workout for the week, I spent most of my run in Zones 3 & 4. The heat probably impacted that to a degree.

Well, I think that's about it for the day. Thanks for reading.

-Riley