Getting Your Step Back and Lesson Learned

Getting Your Step Back (by SoloRunner): For the past four weeks my training has been a hit and miss. I have been sick, and nothing is worst than trying to train for an event and have a little or no energy at all. As I have seen on twitter, a lot of runners continue to train even if they are sick. I often wonder as in any type of recovery, is it best to wait or push? I found that resting is not an option. Even if I take a few days off, and run one or two miles, I still feel as if I am missing something each day that I am not out on the road. Mentally I feel lost and that my day is not complete. Last Saturday’s long run was the first run in the last few weeks that I did not go home and crawl in to bed. It was such an incredible run! It was like running my first 12 miler. I was reminded of how much I was in love with running and how 12 miles was just like that… miles. As I reached two mile marker, and was done fooling around with my water bottle, iPod, etc., I raised my heart rate to a higher range and kept it there. I could not believe how good it felt. With each step I took and to hear my shallow breathing back again, I knew this was going to be good. I could feel that runners high quickly approaching and I knew I was back! So I guess it is all up to what you feel works best for you. Thanks for reading. Now go out and run!

Lesson Learned (by Meechellee): Well, I am the opposite of SoloRunner’s running experience last Saturday. I was miserable because I broke my running rules the night before a long run… I stayed up late, had drinks with friends and wrong choice of carbs. Anyway, my 12 mile run started sluggish and had a sour stomach. I finally got my running groove from mile 6 to 7. Then from mile 8 to 11, it felt like I was wading! This day, I think, was my worst running experience... I was miserable! When I finally saw mile marker 11, I thought of picking up my pace so I waded faster. Whew! I survived my run and finished at 2:06. You think my misery ends here? Nope! I was signed up to participate in Nike’s shoe testing at 2:30 pm that required me run another 3.25 miles. Nike was testing its Nike+ gadget that I had to wear 2 iPods on both of my arms and also 2 wristbands. The first event was a 2 mile run on a flat course and the second event was a mile run uphill. The results showed that I ran an 8:04 pace on the flat course and my uphill run gave me different results: 8:14, 8:21, 9:15. I thought I ran a pretty good pace after running 12 miles 4 hours ago. Nike gave me a $50 gift certificate. After the shoe testing, I was SO glad that my running commitment this day was over. Good run, bad run, otherwise, run on!

Meet SoloRunner and Meechellee

Thanks for stopping by. I, along with my friend, will be writing about our running and triathlon training as well as other running related topics or not. We are by no means experts, just two chicks who run and live in PDX. So here it goes.

Welcome to my first post. I have been very hesitant to write a blog, more because I speak better then I write. I would rather read someone else’s blog, and there are a lot of good ones out there. So, why am I doing this? I will get back to you because I really don’t know, and I could ramble about this for the next year.

I am a runner and have been for many years. I love to run 10k’s and PR/PB. It is always the runners high that keep me going. I never thought I would run a half-marathon let alone a full one. The feeling you get running towards the finish line is one you’ll never forget. I still remember when I finish my first marathon. I said, “I would never do it again and I meant it!” Not until a friend ask me to run with her on her first marathon. I jumped at the chance to train with her. I am running my 4th marathon in May and thinking, “Why am I doing this?” Some of that feeling may be due to the fact that I am also training for my first Triathlon, and I will talk about that another day. One more thing, in case you’re wondering why I go by SoloRunner, it is because I start to run with a group but ends up running solo. I run with a group for safety purposes, but I run alone in the back of the pack. Get it? Solo Runner. I don’t want to hold anyone back from what they want to accomplish that day. That’s the beauty of running; the only one who counts on you to win is you.

Now go out and run.
SoloRunner ☺

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Greetings all! I agree with SoloRunner that we are not experts. We are basically just going to share our experiences about running, triathlon training and life in general.

I am going to make my introduction short and sweet. I am from the Philippines living in PDX. I’ve only been running for 3 ½ years. I ran the Portland Marathon in 2006, 2007, 2008, and those same years, I ran half-marathons, Hood to Coast, 10ks, 5ks. I practice ChiRunning®, and I don’t listen to music when I run---I wander. Running not only lead me to living an active life, but it also lead me to meeting new friends and new experiences.

This year, I am training for my first triathlon so, run on!

Meechellee ☺