Lake Michigan at Sunrise

Lake Michigan at Sunrise

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Titleless Tuesday

Yesterday evening I made it to my daughter's first toddler gymnastic class. Pretty sure I was having more fun at first during free play time. (Mandatory photo)
My tot is on the far left

Random story, while I was washing my hands when I had arrived this little boy was recruiting me hard to play dodge ball, I barely escaped the effort but felt Adam Sandler set up the interaction.

Take the hit like a man kid!
This morning I had 9 miles on tap with 6x800 and 400m run in between.  If you have been following me, you know I complained like an angry child about straining my calf hitting my marks doing 400s, which took me off schedule and speed for a couple weeks. I don't have confidence yet to push my intervals to hit the suggested times. So I am settling for slightly slower times and peace of mind that I won't hurt myself again.

Another random thought, running 6:30s at 5am takes a lot more effort than my Sunday runs where I have more time to warm up and coffee. I've hit 6:15-6:30s in long runs just being in a groove and throw on the breaks knowing that is a really bad speed to be doing before the last mile. But ask me to do that when I wake up? And I'll respond, girl you crazy. Slightly aggravating.


Anyways, should I stick with slightly slower intervals or push it again? Ideas why good intervals knock my calf out just about every time?

The run today was fine. First four intervals went smooth. I got a high five from a professional, some people beat me to the wave today, and I had one runner finally wave back after about 5 different attempts. Going south also felt like I was in a gnat party.

Going north, I didn't noticed the gnats, but my stomach instantly started churning. Maybe there was a change in breathing with the wind in my face. The wind was enough to knock me off a little as well. I  made the most of it and finished with a smile. 

Two shout outs today to non runners.  The first is this older Asian lady that walks around one of the soccer fields and hits golf balls. I thought that was pretty cool ( only if she picked them up after!). The second is a slightly older lady who I've seen before walking her little dog in a stroller, but today she was jogging with the dog on a leash and pushing the empty stroller. That was EPIC. 

One last thought, nice thing about all this outdoor running, people think you went on vacation from how dark you've gotten.  

Have a great day! 



15 comments:

  1. Your Stride might be different when you do intervals. If you throw off the stride it can cause muscles to get tweaked that wouldn't normally. Pay very close attention to your stride when you do a normal run and then see if it changes when you do the intervals.



    Case and point... I one time tweaked a muscle with intervals because I lengthened my stride and didn't strike the ground the way I normally do...

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  2. That is exactly how I hurt my calf in the fall. I was doing intervals on the treadmill and lengthened my stride...took about 10 weeks to get back to normal.


    Last time I was trying to focus hard on fast turn over and keep short strides. Guess my right calf is still not as strong as I thought. I might try to mix it up next time, do one interval at my goal, next one a bit slower to see if i can feel if I did anything bad the last time.


    Thanks for commenting!

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  3. Man, that interval stuff sounds terrifying. I need to get in to it at some point, but am really dreading it.

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  4. Your last thought is dead-on - this is the most "tan" I've ever been, and though I did go on vacation this year, all of the outdoor running is helping me not turn back into a pasty ghost. Yet.


    And eiww to the gnats. I've been noticing them a lot lately, either on the lakefront or in forest preserves. There's seriously nothing more gross on a run than a bug flying up your nose/in your mouth.

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  5. I think this was my last week off of intervals. I wanted to go to the track but I'm waiting for this special tape to get delivered (for my knee) so I figured I'd be cautious and skip one last time. I was bummed because it was beautiful today!

    Also, that wind heading north was crazy! It reminded me of the wind I feel along the lake in January. I was just happy that I decided to head north when I hit the lake path so that the wind was at my back during the second half of my run!

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  6. Your daughter is so cute!


    Hmm, I do wonder why your calf is doing that. Do you think your strides is changing for the 400s? Do you wear different shoes than for your long runs?


    Ha ha! People comment on my "tan" too!

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  7. I wouldn't jump right into it. start by mixing in some fartleks into runs!

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  8. and the summer just started! Hopefully our tans hold on for some of the winter too!
    I had to run with my hand in front of my face for half the run it felt like!

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  9. do you actually get out to a track or just do distances on the path?
    Better to be 100% for those intervals! Thanks for commenting!

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  10. thanks! she takes after her mom!



    I keep thinking its how I'm running and was super focused on my form for 400s. Now I'm too afraid to really go hard at it even if my legs are fine.


    LA TAN will probably sue us for getting tan without their assistance

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  11. The gnats have been awful lately! My fiance got one in his eye about a week ago. Yuck. Do you know how much caffeine is affecting your performance? If you don't have time for coffee before your weekday runs but think it might be helpful, maybe try a gel with caffeine in it? Just a thought. :) Above all, just listen to your body; if you're running at the right effort, you'll get all of the physiological benefits you need and you'll hopefully stay injury free.

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  12. gnats are getting to be way too much! mouth, eyes, nose, BLERGH!


    I use the caffeine more for the bowls, but I imagine it helps get me a bit more pumped up. I'll look into some gel or thingy with caffeine for the harder runs. I tried having cold coffee ready, but i felt like I wasted too much time drinking it, and chugging it sounds like a bad plan if you know what i mean!


    Effort feels the same! And yes, injury free is goal 1!

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  13. I usually go to a track. There's a 400 m one on Chicago near the lake path and I'm sure there are others throughout the city. What do you usually do?

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    Replies
    1. I us endomondo. it has an interval program and I create my own in it. pretty neat!

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  14. Debbie @ healthy running momJuly 3, 2013 at 10:33 PM

    Ha- The stroller & leash is hysterical!
    I guess I've been avoiding the gnats. I haven't noticed them while running. I usually also get pelted in the head by a bird while running by NU, but not yet, as this weather is not much like summer.

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