5 for Friday

Here's what happened this week in Because I can land...

1. ) Linda- Switched seats at work to finally sit near my team, was dreading it since I was losing my awesome view, but ... FREAKIN.LOVE.IT. I got a new staple at my desk--- I named her Linda.. for Linda Lamp.

As an added bonus, my desk mate behind me is "the candy lady", so anytime I need a chocolate fix, I can turn around and have an M & M or 10... maybe this isn't a good thing? I've been swayed to join forces with her and also be the candy lady so there can be a one stop shop for variety... I WILL practice self control :)

2.) 29- I wrapped up my week (I'm counting week from last wed - tuesday) with 29 miles for my first week back to running. I'm so excited because my body feels fine (lungs may disagree), but its been a REALLY long time since I've ran that many miles in a week before--- I crunched the numbers and its actually been since July 16 (my birthday week!) since I've ran that many. My god I'm the world's best example of how to not train appropriately. 

3. ) Newtons- I received my Newton's for Christmas 2010- they are not my 'everyday' running shoes as I generally will run 6 miles or less in them due to heel drop and not wanting tight calves and hamstrings. I loaned them to a friend for 2 months, forgot about them, and finally got them back on Tuesday. I decided to test them out on the gym and did a 3 mile run at 8:00 min pace (run varied b/n 6:30 min/ mile to walking so 8 is what it averaged to) so excited that I was able to do it + I wasn't sore at ALL the next day. Huge step in the right direction

shoes really are that bright, but sadly I'm no where near that dark... i'm close to casper than i am to any shade near brown. 

4.) Hokas- Lately I've been hearing more and more about Hoka running shoes, or as the proper name for them 'Hoka One One'--- its funny because it seems that they are the opposite of a minimalist shoe, yet still offer the same benefits as a minimalist shoe?  From their website:

"The distinctive rockered geometry creates a platform for optimally efficient natural running mechanics. The oversized outsoles allow for maximum stability, traction and connection to the ground. Not only do the shoes provide a sense of weightlessness, superior comfort and efficiency but Hoka’s athlete results prove optimal performance. They have recorded over 30 podium finishes on five continents in the past 18 months. Additionally, these running shoes are 15 percent lighter than most others. They make running uphill as much fun as they make running downhill and with less body fatigue."

I'll admit, the last sentence that I underlined had me intrigued and so I wanted to post the question--- 

Anyone out there tried Hokas? Thoughts? Pros / Cons?? 

I know their pricey, BUT i do have quite a bit of credit on Amazon so I can buy them through their and they would be cheap that way.  Also they are NOT stylish... they remind me of the first edition of Sketchers shape ups. 

5.)  Anniversary Today is marks the 3 year service anniversay at work--- although my department is uber fun, they have no idea that it's today so it just kind of  feels like any other day.Everyone gets their anniversay day off OR save it for a rainy day (in my case a monday)  At least there will be wine later for Blue Zones Friday :) 

Anything exciting happen this week for you?

Thoughts on Hokas shoes?

Date with my Newtons.

Ever since my annoying knee injury, I hung up my Newtons. Majority of the reason being I was only doing training runs in them and I stopped doing training runs, and the other reason being  I thought they might be the cause of my injury.

I later found out the true cause(s) of what was going on in my body, ruling the Newtons out, however I jut felt they weren't stable enough to support my knee. After absolutely NO KNEE PAIN in the St. Louis 1/2 this past Sunday, I decided to break them out and go for one run this week to see how they held up.

Immediately when I started running I felt great. This has been a huge rarity lately with my running. For the past 2 months I've been feeling that my form is all off, that i'm heavy, and  S L O W. Call me crazy, but I just feel more like a runner wearing these shoes- my stride is longer, my shoulders and arms are more relaxed, I have more rhythmnic  breathing, and I'm faster!

I really wanted to turn this run into a speed workout, BUT I didn't want to push my luck, so instead I tried to keep a steady pace and if I didn't hurt afterward, I'll do my first speed workout in over 2 months next week!

End Result- 3.1 miles in 26 min- 8:32 pace. This is consistent with what I want my whole race pace to be to get a new PR, however I can't manage to get past 6 miles at this rate... pretty sure I lost some endurance with taking so much time off. My past few races I have been STRUGGLING and walking has been an absolute necessity. If my knee holds up for 1 week straight, I'm going to start doing 3 runs a week again so my endurance can once again find me :)

Here's to hoping it comes back quickly!

Three Things Thursday

1. I bought my Newton shoes for Christmas with the intention that I would be ready to run half marathons in them by February, my busiest month thus far. This doesn't look promising. I work 10-7 during the week so unless I want to get up early or run in the dark at night, my only option for running is either my lunch break or the TM at the gym. Due to hating doing long distances on the TM and only having so much time to run at lunch, the longest I've been able to do is 4 miles consistently in the shoes. I decided to just wing it and do my long run this past sunday, 9 miles, in them. BIG mistake. By mile 6 my feet and calves were cramping and I had to walk a little. Its thursday and the tightness is just now starting to loosen up. My stick isn't working on speeding up the process either! I need 2 things- 1. Start adding in a mid distance (I'm thinking 5-6 miles) on saturday to start building up comfortable mileage on my shoes. And 2. I need someone w/ strong hands to massage out the knots in my calves... hmmm I think Ryan would fill that role nicely :-)

2. I get extreme migraines about 2-3 hours after running any mileage over 10 miles- therefore its a given after every half mary, I'll be out of commission for a bit. For me the only cure is sleep, no meds help. My 'chiro go to' RJ keeps telling me I need to come in and get adjusted and get some xrays to see whats going on, and me, being stubborn, have put it off.... until now. I  FINALLY made an appt for next Wednesday to get looked at. My company partnered up with a clinic where I get a 30 minute massage, consultation, and xrays for $20- umm yes please! ( I need to talk to them about the possibility that I can request Ryan as my massage guy... might be too short of notice)

3. I put on a good solid 5lbs over the holidays, (didn't we all) and I'm proud to report that as of this morning I've lost it all and then 2 more lbs to officially put me at a weight that I haven't weighed since college, say what?!? I get the comment a lot that since I'm tall it probably makes for easier running- to an extent it does, but you also have to take in consideration I'm carrying an easy 20-30lbs more than the average runner due to my height, so even though I look fine, any weight down makes it that much easier on my joints- my knees and hips just LOVE me. 

2nd time is a charm

A few days before Christmas I went on my first run with my Newton running shoes- major fail. My first mistake was not reading the instructions before running in the shoes. The gentleman at the shoe store had given me some tips and I just assumed that was good enough- wrong. The directions say to start out small with only doing 1 mile, and then building from there. As stubborn as I am, I thought since I have some miles under my belt that 2.5 would be no big deal. To add to my 'uneducateness' I thought I was supposed to run on my toes (specifically says in the directions not to) - so add that on top of too many miles to start out with, and you have one extremely sore 'right calved Lisa'- took me 2 days for the tightness to dissipate.  Exactly one week has passed and went out to do my 2nd run in Newtons for my lunch run with Becca.
Now I have no way of knowing if my feet are adjusting, or if  its bc I wasn't running on my toes this time, OR bc its first time wearing compression socks, but I felt great. My left leg / calf was extremely comfortable, right one, eh- but much better than last week. I don't know if its bc my right leg is shorter than left, but it seems to take a majority of the impact when I run- before these shoes I never noticed until post 1/2 marathons bc my right hip would be killing me. Now I feel it when I run- motivation to fix it in time for races. So one hour after my run, proud to say I am not sore at all- looking forward to doing my next run in them, perhaps a 5 miler.

sidenote- also 2nd time running with my Garmin- getting used to it, however there is still a lot to learn, at least now I'm comfortable with wearing it for next weeks race in Mississippi.
Lot of firsts in the past week- newtons, garmin, compression socks- and new years day will be first time running with my fuel belt- breaking in the New Year with something new (and it will be 60 degrees!!!!) :)