Maria's Running Blog

I had to take 3 days off again, because I felt crappy after my 7 miler. It was obviously too much for me. I had lots of lung pain and the anxiety is back. I had kind of a rough 3 days mentally, and I have to thank the blog and all the nice people that stop by and leave comments. If it wasn't for this community, I would be tempted to just give up and stop running, at least temporarily. It's taking me much longer to recover than I expected, and I don't know when it will end. I just want to feel like my old self, but it's not happening! It's been 5 months, but I'm not back to normal.

So I tried again today, running very easy pace intentionally, and somewhat shorter. I hope I can get out at least 4 times this week. I felt okay on the run, kind of sluggish, because I was running so slowly. I don't generally feel good rhythm going slower than 9:30 pace. But I have to leave my pride at home, and try to get out consistently. I know that exercise is good for anxiety, so I'm trying. But if some lung pain is caused by running, it is very hard to say how much pain is from running, and how much is from all the anxiety (it can cause chest pain too!).

Total time: 42:12 (9:48 pace).

It was an okay run today. The weather is wonderful, and it is really enjoyable to just run, even as slowly as I am running now. I tried to take it really easy, but still ended up about 10 sec/mile faster than yesterday. My stomach was cramping too, so sometimes I would slow down even more until the cramp went away.The goal for the remainder of the week is to run 5 a day which should bring me to 24 for the week. This would be a slight increase from last week.

Total time: 48:19 (9:39 pace).

Got out very late and only had time for 3 miles. But I'm glad I got out at all, and it was very pleasant outside, around 60F and clear - I have to enjoy this weather while it lasts! I'm planning a track meet on Monday, doing 200m, 4x100m and javelin. I hope it's not too much.

Total time: 29:49 (9:37 pace)

It was a beautiful day, but more for the picnic, than for running. A little too warm, 75-80F, but I enjoyed my run for the most part. I started faster than in recent days, and it felt very good, so I let it be. Unfortunately, after about 3 miles my lungs started hurtng again, and after 4 miles, my breathing got weird, and I stopped and walked for about 0.1mi. Felt okay after that and finished the run, but I'm sooo frustrated. Why is it that I keep getting this lung pain?? Yesterday I didn't run, because I had this feeling like something was stuck at the base of my throat and I can choke any moment. I was afraid to go running. Today was much better, but still I got lung pain during the run. Once I finished and got home, I was fine again, no pain.

Total time: 46:14 (9:26 pace).

This was a fun meet, held at St. Mary's University College in Twickenham. I was looking up directions on how to get there, when I noticed a link to some Open meet they held recently. Out of curiosity, I clicked on it, and was shocked to see the names of UK Olympic team members and other Olympic hopefuls. Mo Farah was listed, as well as Jo Pavey and Stephanie Twell.Upon further investigation, it turned out that this college is home to UK Athletics Endurance Performance Center and the college itself has a lot of sport related courses of study (like sport science, physiology, sport coaching, massage, etc.), so a lot of UK athletes actually study there for their degrees.

The college itself didn't impress me at all, compared to shiny facilities of many US universities. But the track is very nice, with a new surface (although no spectator seating). The weather was perfect, mid 70s and sunny. I had my usual lung pain since earlier in the day and decided to stick with my plan for 200m, javelin and 4x100m relay.

I got unlucky with 6th lane assignment in 200m - the outermost lane on the track, so I had to run away from everyone rather then trying to catch other people. I was pretty happy with how it turned out - I ran 33.64, which is 0.5 sec. off my PR from last year, but is a better result than my 16.6 100m a month earlier. I started tying up the last 50m and couldn't catch a girl that passed me with about 80m to go. She ended up with 32.9.

Then I went to javelin competition. They had only one javelin that was normal 600g weight, and the rest were some specially weighted javelins designed to go over 50m. I figured they are more likely to land flat, and didn't use them, so I had to wait for the one normal one to be retireved by the officials. I managed to somehow foul my first throw! I think it's because I was trying to time my runup to get close to the line, and I looked down rather than up in the direction I was throwing, and that caused the javelin to fall flat. My next 3 throws were each better than the previous one, and on the last one, I got 13m. 74cm (45 feet), which is a PR! I was pretty happy about that as well.

Finally, we ran 4x100m relay. One girl on our team just finished 3000m 5 min. prior to the relay, but she still ran very well. I was the anchor leg, and we did well, beating the only other team in the competition. Our first leg lady opened at least a second gap on the other girl, and we kept it to the end (and didn't drop the baton or got DQd in any other way!).

I got home at 11PM, dead tired, and my lungs aching like crazy, but it was a lot of fun! The next match is in couple of weeks on June 23.

I'm still sore from Monday, but it didn't interfere with my run today. I felt better than I expected, and that is something to celebrate! Usually, my lungs start to hurt midway through my run, but today, they hurt in the beginning, but after couple of miles, there was only mild discomfort left. After I finished one loop around the park, I considered extending it to make it 5 miles, but then decided against it. I don't want to push my luck and go over the edge. I'm still not able to run 25 miles a week. Maybe if I stay conservative early in the week, I can get there. The pace was slow, but it doesn't matter. I should really leave my watch at home, but I love numbers too much, so I'm always checking my splits, calculating my finish time and other silly nonsense.

Another interesting thing I noticed since last week: my resting heart rate is back to what it was before PE, and maybe even lower - 52-56 during the day, almost certainly below 50 when I sleep. I remember in the hospital when I was hooked up to the heart monitor 24x7, I would wake up and look at it right away, and it never read below 64, and during the day it was always 75-80, even though I was lying in bed all day long. 

Total time: 41:17 (9:36 pace).

I started off not looking forward to today's run - I felt crappy all day, my lungs constantly aching since morning. I had my INR check, and asked the doctor why my lungs hurt so much, and if I should worry. He said it's pretty common, the reason is scar tissue, and it's probably nothing to worry about, since the chance of me having another clot is very, very low because of anticoagulation therapy. My INR is 2.7 which is very good (therapeutic range is 2.0 - 3.0), so my blood is thin enough for new clots not to form.

The run was blah, for the most part due to the constant dull pain in my chest. But it never got worse, and I took a risk and did the full 5 miles. I found that I felt a little better at a slightly faster speed. Interestingly, now, after the run, the pain is almost gone. I'm beginning to think that running does not make the pain worse, the pain just has a mind of its own and appears and disappears as it pleases. The weather was great for running today, low 60s and overcast. If it wasn't for the rain, London has one of the best climates for running year round I've lived in. SF Bay area is still number one in my book.

Total time: 46:07 (9:13 pace).

I felt great today! My lungs didn't bother me at all the whole day, and only started aching after 4 miles on the run. I was even considering going 7 miles, but then decided to be patient and stopped at 6. Perfect weather again. So, despite Friday the 13th, it is a good day to me.

Total time: 56:04 (9:20 pace).

I was aiming to do 5 today, but part of the road around Regent Park was closed with barricades, including the sidewalk. There was also tons of police around that area. I had to go on a detour, and then I added on to compensate, but came up a bit short. Distance is approximate, I just figured I could not have run 5 miles faster than 9:00 pace - not there yet. Felt relatively good for running 4th day in a row.

Total time: 44:45 (9:19 pace).

Felt pretty good today, and even ran last 0.2 mi. at 8:05 pace. Hopefully, I'll feel good the rest of the week.

I signed up for the Nike Human Race 10K on August 31. It's a huge event, when they are attempting to kick off races in 24 cities - at the same time, I assume. In London, it's going to be at Wembley Stadium (start and finish), and Paula Radcliffe will lead. Afterwards there will be a free concert by Moby and some other artists. I have no idea who Moby is, but it's going to be a massive race :). They are planning 4 starting waves with a total of 30000 runners. When I was registering I had a choice of wave and I picked wave 1. Maybe I won't be trampled by hordes of people, LOL. Of course, it's more of an event, than a competitive race and no one should expect to run a PR there, but it should be fun. Even if I don't run, Ill get a nice technical shirt and maybe some other goodies, so that should be worth a rather steep fee - 30GBP. But maybe I will actually run, Wembley is not too far from me, only about 20 min. on the tube. Full details: www.nikeplus.com

Total time: 46:34 (9:18 pace).

Another good run. Felt good, lungs only barely noticeable. Again, perfect running weather, low 60s and overcast. I remember how I suffered on my summer runs in NJ! Today also marks the day when I ran 6 days out of the last 7 (starting from last week) with a total of 30 miles.

Total time: 45:38 (9:07 pace)

I felt very good again on my run. I even considered going 7 miles, but decided to be cautious this week. I found myself speeding up during the run, and in the last mile, I threw in 3x80m strides at about 5K pace, just to see how I would feel. Felt fine, although my lungs complained a little at the end of it. My Garmin was showing 8:40-8:45 pace on the last 2 miles, but because I started slower the overall pace is slower as well.

I'm afraid to even say it, but I'm beginning to feel like my old self. I have to see how the rest of the week goes, but I'm getting pretty excited! Maybe I can finally start building my base again.

Total time: 53:47 (8:57 pace).

Decided to go easy today to make sure I'm recovered from my "blazing" fast run yesterday. Also, I increased the number of day running and the mileage, so just wanted to be cautious. To be honest, I didn't feel like running today and my legs did not feel fresh - not really surprising in light of the circumstances above.  I got home and started reading everyone's blogs - NOT a good idea before your own run! There are so many good blogs I want to read now, that it's very easy to get carried away and never go for a run (especially if you are looking for a reason not to go). Finally I peeled myself away from my laptop and got out. I felt okay on the run, tried to take it easy. Legs were a little heavy as expected, but not too bad. I wanted to run 9:30 pace, but ended up faster. Oh well, hopefully the shorter distance will compensate for not slow enough pace.

Total time: 39:45 (9:14 pace).

Today I decided to test the waters and push the pace a little. I decided to do the mildest workout I could think of - 2 miles aerobic threshold run. I wasn't sure I could even do 2, just wanted to see how I would feel. Warmed up for 15 minutes and picked up the pace to what felt like a sustainable faster, but still comfortable, pace. I didn't look at my Garmin till several minutes later because I wanted to run by feel and not try to hit any particular pace. I thought that maybe I can do 8:20-8:25 pace. What I saw was 8:10 pace! First mile was comfortable, but the second one got tougher. I just tried to relax and focus on maintaining the same effort. I was able to finish two miles in 16:20. I had side stitch coming on in the second mile, and generally feeling fatigue - all signs of poor fitness, but I'm still pleased with this run. Finished up with 15 min. cool down.

Total time: 44:07 (8:47 pace).

I didn't know if I could do all 8 miles, but decided to give it a try. Surprisingly, I felt good, and managed the entire distance without too much difficulty. I was tired at the end, but not exhausted, and I could have kept going if I had to. I'm very pleased with this last week, I ran 33+ miles for the week, and this was my farthest run in 7 or 8 months. The weather was windy, but it was 70F and sunny. I had to dodge a lot of people around te park, but that's just inevitable in a large city on a nice summer day. Few times I had to stop due to people overcrowding sidewalk around traffic lights, but it was only for a few seconds.

Tomorrow is another masters track match. I think I'm doing 100m, medley relay (200m or 400m) and javelin.

Total time: 1:12:51 (8:59 pace).

Masters match at Battersea Park track. I ran 100m, 400m leg in the medley relay and did javelin - all scoring in W35 category.

I had time in the beginning to do a mile warmup, and then some stretching, drills and strides. Javelin and 100m were scheduled at the same time, so I was afraid I would have to skip a throw to do 100, but men's javelin was very late, and I ended up doing 100 first. There were 3 ladies in my heat, and I finished dead last! It was the fastest heat, though, so there is my consolation. One woman ran 15.3, another one 15.8 and I did 16.5, 0.1 better than a month ago.

The javelin didn't go so well, either, as I was unable to throw more than 12 meters. Still, I got second place in my age, which was good for the team score.

Finally, there was the relay. It was 200, 200, 400, 800. I was supposed to do 200 leg, but the woman who was going to do 400 was absolutely dead from doing 400 earlier followed by 1500. She is faster than me (she ran 1:11 in the 400), but she just didn't have anything left, so I switched with her and ran 400. This was the greatest relay this season! I got the baton about 2 seconds behind the other team (only 2 teams were running), and I could feel in the first 100 that I can pass the woman in front of me, but I was afraid of using all my energy so early and blow up later, so I relaxed a little and just followed her for the first 200. Then, on the second turn, I could feel that she is getting tired and so I pushed the pace a little and by the end of 300 I passed her and went into the second lane to get clear. I was hurting myself, but not to the point of losing all control of my legs, so I just kept pressing while my team was yelling and cheering me on. When I finished, my hamstrings cramped up, but it wasn't important, because I was done! Our 800 leg girl made the gap even bigger and we won by at least 50m. Our timer whom I asked to time me, because I was curious, told me that I did 76 sec. on my leg. I was very happy, because this is 5 sec. improvement from month ago, and I attribute it to last couple of weeks good running. Another confirmation that even in 400m, aerobic aspect is very important.

We also won the entire match, but only by 6 points, so next match is going to be decisive (we are 2:1 against the other team this season).

I am sore today, but less than couple of weeks ago. Mostly my hamstrings and hip flexors. But I was able to do an easy 6 miler. It was slow, but I got the distance in.

Total time: 55:41 (9:16 pace).

Easy 5 miler, nothing unusual. Had some GI issues, but not too bad. I met another girl from my running club, running in the opposite direction. We usually meet at masters track meets and joke that we never see each other running, although we are both running around the same park. But today we met. Then had an unexpected break when a lost biker asked me for directions.

Total time: 45:06 (9:01 pace).

Did a little workout - ran easy and then tried to speed up to 5K pace for the last 5 minutes. I ended up with 0.54 mi. in 4:01 min. (7:30 pace) - it was hard! I haven't run at a fast pace in at least 6 months (not counting track meets). I think 7:30 now is about right for the 5K pace.

Total time: 54:11 (9:01 pace).

I spent all weekend, both days, at the pool with my daughter. She was swimming in the long course championships. We came home around 7PM both days, so technically I could have run, but I felt so exhausted that running was the last thing on my mind. It's very tiring sitting for 9 hours on your butt (on a stiff bench with no back support, no less) in a noisy pool. I also didn't get my weekend sleep, since we had to get up at 6;30AM both days.

Today I just went for an easy 5 miler. Didn't feel particularly well, 2 days off broke the rhythm.

Just checked my miles for the month of June: 95.5mi vs. 79 in May and 49 in April. I hope to break a 100 in July.

Total time: 45:32 (9:06 pace).