A New Perspective on Running Outside

Here's my top 5 reasons for being a treadmill hermit:

5. My schedule. Either have to run early or late after the hubby comes home from work, since I can't take my little one on runs with me. Don't do early, so I would have to run after 8:30 p.m and after dark, like I did tonight.


4. I like to have music when I run. It scares me to run with my iPod on full blast when outside alone.

3. If running outside, I have to run mostly on the sidewalk because of crazy drivers in my neighborhood, or the fact that I have to run at night, and I don't want to get hit by a car.


2. The weather. Not fond of running in weather over 80 degrees or below 50. And humidity over 60% is a daily occurrence in this valley, so I have avoided outside running like the plague. Here was tonight's weather. Not horrible, but humid, nonetheless:

1. Allergies. I live in the 3rd worst city for allergies, according to The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. Typically have to take a bunch of Kleenex with me if running outside at least 6 months out of the year.



The weirdest thing happened tonight. I had 4 miles on the schedule, but I was going to play it by ear because of the knee/shin thing. The hubby was going to get home later than normal from work, so I got started on the treadmill. I knew half a mile in that I wasn't going to make it very far. Shin splints on my right leg were UNBEARABLE!! I stopped and walked, I stopped and stretched, hell, I even just stopped for a few minutes. But they just got worse. So at 1.20 miles, I stopped and iced my shins for about 15 minutes.

Then I decided to take the dog out for jog/walk about a half mile out and back.

Here's the weird part. My shins did not hurt at all the whole time.

According to my iMapMyRun App, I ran 1.02 at a pace that I have trouble hitting on the treadmill unless I'm doing speedwork (i.e. sprints, then walk breaks). I don't know how accurate these GPS apps are, and I have yet to spend the moolah on a Garmin (holding out for my b-day...*sigh*). But I do know that because the shin splints didn't bother me, and because my dog was keeping me going at a pretty steady pace, I'm sure I was pretty close to the time the app said. I ran longer and harder than I have been on the treadmill. Again, I was reminded why I need to run outside more.

I didn't keep going because Heidi (our dog) probably couldn't take much more. She and I have not run together in months, so I didn't want to over do it. She is overweight. And I also didn't want to push the shin splint/knee issue. So I will take the 2.25 miles tonight and plan to do 4 on Thursday instead (Thursday was originally 2 miles). I'm listening to my body during this training and not just looking at the numbers on my schedule.


For me, getting outside to run is a rare thing. I would like to change that. I am going to attempt to start running outside at least 1 out of the 3 days a week that I run, as long as Satan's weather stays away. Maybe I'll even shake things up and get up early before work and run, who knows!

As long as the weather cooperates, I can make the time to do it, my knee and shins hold up, my allergies stay in check and I can learn to live without music while I run, it may work! I'm not asking much, right?

The Pity Party is Over

Today I had my pity party. I was the only guest. I spent a good portion of the day laying around upset, crying, frustrated, and just feeling sorry for myself. There were several reasons why. Some involved running and my body, some reasons were financial and some were just plain stupid stuff.

So now the party's over. I put on my big girl panties and decided it was time to move on.

Sunday and Monday, I was fortunate enough to swim in my neighbors pool. I forgot how much of a workout it can be. Just running around the pool carrying some kids on my back wore me out like no other workout has done in a while! It was really nice to invite myself be asked to swim on such hot days!

Tonight I began working out using Jillian Micheal's "Ripped in 30" workout DVD. I started with week 1. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't as hard as I expected, either. That gave me a confidence boost. Let's see how long that confidence sticks around once I move on to weeks 2, 3 and 4!

Ripped in 30

This video uses the 3, 2, 1 method. Basically, it's a 24 minute workout. There's a warm-up then you head into 3 minutes of strength, 2 minutes of cardio and 1 minute of abs. This repeats 4 times for a total of 24 minutes. The activities change each round, so it does not get boring. A short cool-down at the end involves light stretching.

I found the cardio to be easy, maybe because I've been running and also doing the Cardio Max DVD, which involves 20 minutes straight cardio work. So 2 minutes seemed like a piece of cake! The strength activites invovled hand weights and were challenging but not horrible. The 1 minute of ab work was pure torture. I'm the first to admit I have no ab strength. I've really, really got to work on that. I will keep you updated on the progress!
(side note: I am not being paid to review or use this product, I just wanted to share my cross training activities with you)

Then, right around dusk, I took my dog Heidi out for a "walk". Now, Heidi is an Irish Setter and she was born to run. She takes off like a rocket for the first tenth of a mile. So we did some jogging, alternating with very fast walking. We did 1 mile around the neighborhood, and I felt great! I forgot how good it felt to get outside, quit worrying about the numbers on the treadmill and just do it!

Heidi

So maybe running and I aren't going to take a break after all. Maybe we just need to see other people and then meet in a new environment, namely outside. I have been so focused on time, speed, and distance that I lost the love for it. Before my half marathon training starts in a few weeks, I need to take some time to work on strength (especially those abs) and to get out and run for the fun of it. No pressure, just me and the road.

And maybe the dog. 

Heidi, collapsed after a run