Training for a half marathon is hard!
Duh, Michelle. That's what you're probably thinking.
Each week I have to run more and more and I find myself almost dreading it, wondering what I got myself into. Doubt sets in. Can I really finish a half marathon? Not just finish, but finish with very very minimal walking. I'm talking no walking unless I absolutely HAVE to. I hate having to take walk breaks.
Today I ran 8.1 miles in 1 hour and 21 min. I'm pretty proud of that. Never ran that far before. Never ran for that amount of time before.
The thing I'm mad about is the walk break I had to take when I had less than a mile left. LESS THAN A MILE! What the hell happened? I got this twisting pinching in my lower right abdomen at around 7.15 miles. It turned into a stabbing pain and I had to walk. It hurt to breathe and I almost panicked. I got upset which made it worse! It felt a little better with walking but once I tried to run it immediately came back.
At about 7.45 miles I decided to suck it up and run. At 7.7ish miles it got better and I was feeling great again. SO mad though! That messed up my time! That stabbing pain hits me once in a while and I really wish I knew why. Sometimes it hits me at 2 miles, sometimes at 5. Thankfully, it doesn't happen during ever run.
Anyway, I ran a nice 4 mile loop so that I was able to stop at my house for a drink of water halfway through. My legs felt great, which is why I was so mad about the pain in my side.
I had mixed feelings about this run. I was excited to try out my new shoes, but I was worried about running longer than I ever had before.
Yes, its a pretty much a no-no to just go out and run that far in brand new shoes. BUT I realized that my other shoes were a big mistake. Looking at them, I'm not even sure what type of shoes they are, but they are definitely NOT made for running. They kill my feet. On runs longer than 3 or 4 miles, they leave giant blisters on my pinkie toes, and they rub the backs of my ankles raw. My feet just don't feel good at all after running in them.
My new shoes are definitely for RUNNING. I made sure of it. And I got them on sale! And they're so pretty! And I felt like I was running on clouds!
Well, not really. But my feet feel great right now!
Here's a link if you're interested in the shoes. I bought mine at Shopko yesterday.
Until next time everyone! I'll let you know how 9 miles goes next week.... Yikes...
Hey Shelly,
ReplyDeleteUsually those sharp pains in the side are from dehydration. If you want to avoid walking, try stretching it out but reaching your arm on the affected side over your head towards the other side (like as far as possible). Also, I know it sounds weird, but dig your hand into the affected side for a little while and it should start to subside. Just the things I've been taught throughout my many years of running. Also, apparently (I just learned this), you should drink 2 oz. of water for every additional 20 minutes after about 40 minutes of running, so it might not hurt to get one of those handheld running water bottles (I like this one because it's got a thumb hole in the handle so you don't really have to grip it very tight: http://www.nathansports.com/hydration/handhelds/quickdraw-plus) for those longer runs... carrying it around takes some getting used to, but I've found that it REALLY helps. Congrats on taking the leap to the half marathon distance - when you finish it you'll feel so accomplished! Good luck!!
Thank you! I was thinking it was due to dehydration and you confirmed my suspicion. I was hoping stopping halfway would do it but I guess I should look into carrying water with me!!
Deletethose shoes are awesome. i hope they dont give you blisters.
ReplyDeletedo you track milage on your shoes? i saw that somewhere recently, maybe runsforcookies.com
i just wear mine until they become uncomfortable or my feet start hurting them i use them to cut grass in until i have another pair replace it.
awesome job with the 8 miles today.
Thanks! I don't track mileage on my shoes right now but I should probably start doing that if I'm going to continue running long distances! I know they say you should switch shoes after a certain amount of miles- 300 or 500 or something like that...
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