So, a friend of mine invited me to join her Ragnar team last week. Oh, boy! This just after I just began jogging (again) a couple of days prior to her call! The day she called, I had run 2 days consecutively for 2 miles each day on the treadmill in a climate-controlled gym! That's not very long, I know, but the good side of it is, that I felt really pretty good on those jogs! No knee pain, no foot pain, which have been problems in the past. Aside from continually checking the clock on the treadmill to see if I was almost finished for the umpteenth time, I did OK. I began to think... "hey, not bad, maybe I can work up to running again!" Then she called...
So, here's a little explanation on what RAGNAR is (because until a year or so ago I didn't have a clue): Basically, you run with a team of 11 other runners a course totalling about 200(ish) miles, around the clock! During the relay, each team member runs three legs, each leg ranging between 3 - 8 miles and varying in difficulty. The RAGNAR website describes it as "a slumber party without sleep, pillows or deodorant. A day, night and day later, you'll have made it all the way from start to finish!"
Doesn't it sound like fun?! Well, I'm in! I guess I'm needing some motivation to actually get my butt in gear again, plus a little fun with friends would be nice!
The race is in a little more than 5 weeks away! I looked up a suggested training routine from the Ragnar website and they're suggesting 20 weeks to build up to it. By week 15 (where I should be now, I am supposed to be running 40 minutes worth of hills Monday, 60 minutes on Wednesday, and another 40 minutes on Friday, and finally 100 minutes of running on Saturday! I should have worn my watch, I'm pretty sure I didn't come close to that today! I'm worried about letting my team down even though my friend said they weren't going for speed!
After I signed on, I ran the next day for 3 1/2 miles on the treadmill. I took it easy running at about 5 mph, just wanting to complete the entire mileage. I did alright, but slow. Physically, I felt pretty good overall, a slight amount of right lateral knee pain, probably from a tight IT band (a hurdle I have experienced before, I think it was during my 2nd or 3rd try at running a few years ago). I had planned to run on the road Saturday after I had mapped out a course of 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-miles on Google Maps. I slept in that morning because I tossed and turned most of the night. Then, when my daughter and I got up, we began making preparations for her Homecoming date later. When I didn't run in the morning, I thought I'd just run in the evening. Well, it didn't happen! Around the perfect time to go out, my husband and son were hungry and ready to eat. I could have eaten without them later, but what fun is that? After I ate dinner, I was too full to run and then I just HAD to watch the U of U football game against USC...
After a weekend of eating junk (leftover fruit pizza, and lemon bars from a dessert party on Thursday night throughout the weekend, and then fried Chinese wontons and orange chicken for dinner Sunday night- hardly the food of champions) I tried running this morning. Began my run at 11 (ish) what I thought I was a 3-miler, turned out to be a 2.5-miler, I had forgotten one small detour I had to add on to make it 3 miles. It's pretty different outside on the road! The sun is hot and the roads aren't as flat (duh)! I was tired by 1 mile and without the treadmill telling me how fast I was running/jogging. I'm not breaking any land speed records, but I think I was running too fast for what I was used to. I walked for a block or so and then tried running again on an uphill! Not so much of a confidence-builder! I had to walk again until I got back into the neighborhood. I thought I'd run to the bottom of the hill before the climb back up to my street, but ended up walking again about 2/3 of the way!
Now I've recovered and I feel like I hardly ran. I want to go try again, but now it's too hot and I'm not sure I really could make any better progress. Maybe later I'll try the treadmill again later tonight?!
