PTJ: Personal Training Journal

OK - So this is really why I started this blog.  Not that I think anyone will ever read it, but because Jeff Galloway encourages you to keep a log of your runs.  It doesn't have to be elaborate, just a basic record of:  the time, distance, temperature, time spent running and how you felt.  So, in the future, if you see "PTJ" in the title...it is simply a record of my run....

I am behind so I am going to make two here:

Sunday, September 18, 2011:
     8:00 pm -Went to the Valley Mills track and completed the week 3, day 3 of Couch to 5K.  It felt good to be running again.  The New Balance 890's were great and running the track was a nice change!  Nice and smooth.  I am not sure what the temperature was but a cold front was coming in and storms were off in the distance


Tuesday, September 20, 2011:
     6:00 pm - We were in Valley Mills again for a 4-H meeting so I snuck over to the track.  Today's run was going to be harder and I thought the track would make it a bit easier.   It was:  5 min warm-up, 3 min jog, 1 1/2 min walk, 5 min jog, 3 min walk, 3 min jog, 1 1/2 min walk, 5 min jog, 5 min cool down.  I should have run this morning when the temperatures were in the mid-60's!  It was in the upper 80's when I started which was just plain hot!  I made it through the whole run but man was 5 minutes hard!  I did feel great after and am now actually enjoying running (did I just say that?)


Happy trails,
Prairie Kerri

The importance of a shoe

While visiting with our insurance agent, he stressed the importance of a runner's shoe.  He recommended that I go to a running store and be fit.  I said, "That would be great, but where's the closest running store, Dallas?"  He then revealed a nifty secret....Waco had just recently had a running store open in town... On The Run .  So, I paid them a visit the following day and met Todd Millerd, the manager.  He was wonderfully fantastic fitting me for shoes.  The soreness in my knees was most likely caused from the fact that I was wearing a size 10 Nike, when I should have been in an 11!  Todd, also at one point looked at my bare feet and stumbled on his words when he said "You're second toe is as long if not longer than you're first toe."  I quickly responded, "For your information, that is a princess toe....my dad told me so."  Then, I burst out laughing...it was true, I can remember my dad telling me that, and it is a trait that both me and my brother have....I bet he never told my brother it was a princess toe.  This got me to thinking though, my shoes were a size to small, my second toe is longer than my first and my left foot is bigger than my right.  So, my second toe on left foot was taking a beating from the end of the shoe which may have jammed that knuckle...hence the pain....again, I highly recommend going somewhere geared towards runners and having them look at your feet!  You only have one pair of 'em!

Back to shoes... I have to say I have traditionally loved Nike, but I decided to veer from the mundane path I have been on and went with the New Balance 890....

Now, although I chose this shoe, I must say that it is a road shoe.  And, so you will understand me better, when I run at home, I am running on a gravel/rock road.  So, the road shoe probably isn't going to hold up all that well.  But, being that I clearly graduated to the Saskewatch category of shoes, On The Run, didn't have a trail in a size 11.  However, they have ordered a Brooks Cascadia for me that will hopefully be here tomorrow...

I will let you know how those workout for me later...  But, after doing some research and visiting with Todd, a runner's shoes should be replaced every 250 - 400 miles.  However, you can increase the life of your shoes if you alternate pairs because it gives each shoe a longer recovery period...similar to a runner's muscles. 

Happy trails,

PrairieKerri

From 5K to Marathon...really?

So - part of my job description in life is that I run my husband's farrier business (to those that don't know - he's a horse shoer).  The other day, I needed to make a trip down to visit with our insurance agent about a new policy we had taken out.  In the process of our conversation, and I can't even remember how we got on this topic, he tells me he runs marathons.  I squealed like I had just Bingo-ed, which I am sure threw him off guard.  I was so excited to have a real runner to ask about my knees.  I had now been off running for 10 days and my knees were perhaps a little better but not fully.  I had also now acquired a true pain in my left foot, on the bottom, underneath the knuckle of my second toe.  Did you get that?  

The next thing he says to me is "I actually train marathoners, too."  We proceed to talk running (not insurance) for the next hour or so.  He uses a training method by Jeff Galloway that is run/walk/run.  He also said they had a 6 month training session starting September 24th.  The next 15 minutes or so was a blur....I was sucked in to his overwhelming enthusiasm.  It was almost like watching one of those infomercials...it doesn't matter which one...when the sales person is so excited that you get all excited, you pick up the phone and call the number on the screen to get an operator who's so excited and you yell "I'll take 10!" in your most excited voice.  I walked out of his office and truly believed I could do this.  I started the drive home....called my best friend and said..."You're never going to believe this....I'm going to run a marathon."

PrairieKerri

Achey Breaky...Knees

OK - I am not sure if you got this, but I am not a runner.  I made my way through the first two weeks of the Couch to 5K plan....barely.  I want to like this running thing, but I really just don't.  My knees have developed a sort of achey feeling on the outside and I am concerned that my running form leaves a lot to be desired.  My husband laughed when I told him that....he doesn't think I should refer to what I am doing as "running form".

Needless to say, I have been doing some research and it may be my shoes.  Again, Mr. Wise Guy, aka my husband, says "I just bought you those shoes!".....yes, Dear, like 18 months ago!

So, I am going to take a few days off and see if the rest helps....

See you soon,

PrairieKerri

In the beginning...

This is the beginning of a story about a girl, slightly overweight from bearing 3 children, who doesn't like to run, who has always strictly adhered to the theory....One should only run when chased.

That being a motto I have always carried with me, let me tell you how I got to where I am today....caught in the middle of a decision to train for a marathon.  Several weeks back, my husband and I (on a whim....that's how we roll) decided to travel from the safety of our home in Texas to Ouray, Colorado, the place where we first met.  It was amazing going back after 16 years, almost like a time warp.  But, three days into our trip we were looking for things to do and we came up with hiking.  So, we went to the local outdoor store and BLM office, bought a few maps, a new pair of hiking shoes for me and a backpack.  Clearly, we felt fully educated and prepared and so we head out to hike the Bridge of Heaven trail.  Looking back, at some point I should have actually said out loud that this seemed like a bad idea, but I didn't.  So, we hiked and hiked, and slid and hiked.  Then, it rained and so we hiked and slid more.   After hiking for hours, we got to a point where the trail no longer seemed clear.   We had come to an old mining road and couldn't find where the trail continued.  To our left, we noticed a house with people on the porch watching us.  We started to their house on my recommendation.  These people had to have seen this before and they would certainly be of help.  My husband, however, wasn't so keen on that idea.  Needless to say, the nice folks were entertained by our bi-polar hiking....we started towards their house twice and turned back both times.  After walking back and forth down this mining road, and a quick venture by my husband straight up the mountain side....no trail involved, he decided we should just head back because it was now getting late.  Now let me say this...on most days I consider myself one tough cookie, but on this particular day I cried 3 times on the way down the mountain.  All 3 times were because I was in total fear of my life and never seeing my 3 beautiful kids again.  And, to let you know this behavior was justified, my husband hugged me all 3 times instead of giving me a "Quit your belly-aching".   As we made our way down the trail (or lack thereof) and were approaching the trailhead, we actually began passing folks...you know the ones that look level-headed and intelligent enough to know to stay on beginner's trails.  Each person would politely ask, "How are y'all?" as we passed and each time, I replied "Fine!".  I had to stop and confess my sin to God for lying to all those nice people.  I told my husband I thought I was going to hell for lying to which he responded, "If it makes you feel better, they knew you were lying.  You look like I beat you and drug you up the mountainside."  Pshaw!  It was not until I finally crawled, rather slowly I might add, up the stairs to our hotel and made it to the safety of our room that I realized what my husband was saying.  When I walked past the mirror I realized my husband was right....those sweet people knew I was a liar.  I will say here that my husband detoured before coming to our room to pay for our stay that night.  He was gone what seemed like a really long time, but at this point my sense of time was warped and perhaps left on the mountain.  However, when he finally made it back, he told me the hotel owner had said he wished he had known what we were trying to do....that trail had not been maintained in 5 years.  Apparently, the nice couple that was watching us from their porch had purchased land, which included the mining road, that severed the trail.  The new land-owner had been known to call the police on hikers.   My husband said, "See!  I told you!".  My response to him...."As I see it, you made me miss my taxi...".

After making a meager attempt at cleaning myself up, I crawled into bed, nauseous from my days adventures.  It took me about an hour to get back to reality and want to eat dinner.  So, we walk back down the stairs of the hotel at which point I head to the car.  My sweet husband says, "I think we should walk..." I glared at him, because the last thing I wanted to do was walk...and to be honest, I don't even know how my legs did it because my brain sure wasn't telling them to.  But, I realized quickly that he was right and that most likely, as much as my heart told me not to, we needed to hike tomorrow.  When, we returned to the hotel that evening, I bravely walked up to Dale, the owner of the Ouray Hotel (best place to stay in that town as far as I'm concerned), and told him that I thought we needed to hike the following day or my legs would, in fact, seize up.  So, he directs us to what he describes as a nice easy hike.  He says, "It's mostly shaded which will be nice since it's going to be so hot today."  I was puzzled so I asked him how hot it would be.  His response, "80!"  I looked at him and laughed, "It's 108 at home today!".  He assured me that my safety net to this hike was that when we made it to the top of the trail, we could continue past it just about 50 yards and meet a 4 wheel drive road.   He told us that we could always hitch a ride down with a jeep.  Later, I would realize that those words were crucial in his instructions.

So, the next day, we head out and I must say it was a beautiful hike.  We made it in record time and we head towards the Jeep trail.  Because we Kretzmeier's cannot stand to not get the most bang for our buck....we decide to walk to Jeep trail.  I mean, how bad could it be, it's a road that Jeep's full of people travel....wide and safe.  IT WAS LIKE SOME SORT OF NIGHTMARE....I hiked up the mountain and somehow I hiked UP to get down of the mountain.  Not to mention that the Jeep road was nearly 7 miles long!  Twice some nice Jeepers stopped (or slowed rather) and asked if I would like a ride, but I was tough and would have no part of it.  At one point, I told my husband I thought Dale was cruel and he owed me a beer for this sick practical joke.  Again, the wise words of my husband echo in my ear "He did say to hitch a ride down, not hike!".  @*#%$ !

So, the following day, I was feeling worse off then the day before.  So, I took matters into my own hands and decided to go with the Perimeter Trail of Ouray....it's the one you can take your kids on.  No fear...no danger.  It was long, but easy and exactly what I needed.

My dear husband calculated that we hiked nearly 50 miles in 3 days...and my legs agreed.  So, upon returning to Texas I thought to myself...I'm not going to waste this.  I started running to keep the burn "alive".  Actually, my thoughts were really that I needed to build more stamina so I wasn't so easily winded.  Thus, I started a simple couch to 5K program.  An easy and free app, 5K Training,  on my  iphone and I was off!

And this is the beginning of my story...

PrairieKerri