A story of going from being a non-runner to planning for a marathon in three years...

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Skirting Eight



First off, let me just say that I am SO HAPPY that spring and/or summer has arrived and everything is green again. I mean, just look at the creek along my usual bike path! It's so beautiful. Let's take a quick look back over how it's looked from January until now.




Wow. The greenness really sneaked up on me, huh?

Secondly, my calves were so tight on this run. Ouchie! I've been reading recently in the Livejournal Runners Community that tight calves can lead to shin pain. That was certainly true for me today! I even started off slow but my right shin was killing me. It hurt so bad until about mile 3. I think that's when my calves finally loosened up.

Thirdly, I managed to get out on the path around 8:15 this morning after a bowl of instant steel cut oatmeal, honey, and almond butter. And some Sport Beans. Aside from the shin pain, the run was fairly decent. My plan was to try and pace myself around a 10 minute mile for the entirety of my 8 mile run. And, aside from having to stop at the one stoplight during both the out and the back parts of the run, I did pretty well. Check it out:

Photobucket

I also walked some between the mile 4 and mile 5 marker while I ate another package of Sports Beans and drank some water.

Finally, I ran in something a little different today. On Friday my boss let us off work early so I went up the street to Nordstrom Rack to look at jeans and other random things. I wandered into their "active wear" section and found an adorable Adidas running skirt for $19.99! I tried it on and it fit perfectly. So, it came home with me and I wore it out today. I admit I was a little apprehensive to wear it on my long run. What if my thighs chaffed? What if it rode up? Thankfully, neither of those things happened. In fact, I loved wearing it so much that I wore it around the rest of the day while doing all my errands.

Isn't it cute?


Click photos to see them larger


I think I'm going to try and wear it on all my long runs. If it keeps behaving itself and I don't have any chaffing issues, I'm thinking about wearing it for the half-marathon in July. Now I just have to find a tank-top that actually fits tight enough in the chest without being too tight at the hips.

So, with that, I leave you with today's stats.


Activity
Route:--Elev. Avg:621 ft
Location:Brookfield, ILElev. Gain:+4 ft
Date:05/23/09Up/Downhill: [+223/-219]
Time:08:15 AMDifficulty:2.7 / 5.0
 
Weather:Partly Cloudy
 69 F temp; 54% humidity
 69 F heat index; winds Calm
Performance

Distance: 8.00 miles
Time:1:22:44
Speed:5.8 mph
Pace:10' 21 /mi
Calories:794
Map
 
Elevation (ft)
 
Pace (min/mile)
 

Posted from bimactive.com

4 comments:

Oz Runner said...

i totally agree with you about spring/summer....winter stayed around much too long for my taste....

sounds like we're about the same pace...i did an 8 miler yesterday too in 1:22:37, 7 seconds difference from you....great job on the run!

kristen said...

That skirt is very cute. Looks great on you.

Do you use body glide? I put some in between my thigs so I don't chafe. Most runners couldn't live without it.

Anonymous said...

What a great run! I am too sick to run today. David and I will run the course tomorrow. I feel like I am SUCKING on our joint training! ::cries::

That skirt is HOTT. Wonder if we should get matching tops?? I'm hoping I'm comfortable enough to run in shorts by the half, but I might not be and would be possibly rocking my capris. But they'd be black, so we could totally match!

Anonymous said...

Nice! You know me, I'm a great advocate of the running skirt. If you start to get any chafing issues I recommend Monistat Anti-chafing gel. I wear it every time I'm in a skirt of any variety.

How much do you like the Beans? I just bought some for our long bike ride since Lane tends to fall out after 7-8 miles, but I might try them too.

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