Then summer was over and I had to shift my jogging to the 4PM heat and humidity. It was almost unbearable, but I made it. Then winter arrived and I had to deal with a host of new issues ---- never been an exerciser, let alone one who ran in the ice and snow, so how do you keep your glasses from fogging up or avoid bronchitis in the cold???? Made it through that too.
This summer (up until yesterday's close), I taught summer academy but did not have to be there so early as with regular school, so I was able to return to my morning workouts. HALLELUJAH --- I had forgotten how incredible cool, peaceful, and invigorating it is to run in the early morning hours. It's as if my dog and I are the only living beings..... I love it.
My body clock is pretty good at waking me up and I try very hard to just make it happen every day --- for me to be done with my workout in the cooler weather and because my dog needs the exercise, but my friend Tamar who lives in a VERY HOT climate is having a hard time getting up to run.
How do you make it happen for yourself? How do you get up and get going???????
Other deep thoughts that cross my mind in the morning..........
1) my knees are beginning to be an issue even with new shoes, stretching, ibuprofen, etc, anyone here an OT or sports medicine guru? I know I supinate/walk on the outsides of my feet and that is why my knees hurt ---from being torqued too hard side to side, so what do I do to strengthen whatever quad/ham muscles to stop/help my knees?
2)am I the only person stricken at times with almost emergency bathroom situations while jogging before "voiding"?
3) anyone find now the mp3 player that first motivated you to keep going is now just a distraction from the road and your pace?
4) what about runner's etiquette ??? -- I always get out of oncoming car paths -- even if it means running across the road or getting my running shoes wet/dirty, but still the people in this town are hateful.
5) what about this --- the same routes I have been running (I have a range of 2-5 miles mapped out) are getting too easy/too short/I feel like I could run more, but I like to do a loop, you know? start at my house, make 4 turns, I am home. do I just try to pick up my speed (yuck) or do I do two trips?
This is long, but I hope to hear lots of good advice and get a support group going for all us early morning slaves of the shoe! Are you out there?????
lol to that too, nicole. I so rarely see anyone at all, it;s sort of like my own ghost town.....
I too run a lake route sometimes. This spring it was so cool. A bunch of ducks and geese took up residence and with them, came baby ducks and goslings that I could look out for. A few times I have seen deer graxing next to it, and one time a turkey walked right across the road in front of me. I thought that was pretty neat!
I did get going today after posting earlier. Did 4 miles in good time and FELT GOOD!!! I always forget how nice it is the day after a rest day. ( ;
Wow! An alligator! That is crazy! I haven't seen anything too cool either. But I did get to run along the beach in California and for a chic who spends most of her time inland (in Utah) that was pretty awesome! I think I could've run forever that day.
Got in a run on the treadmill last night. I've only been running outside lately and my pace was suffering so I decided to do my usual 3.1 miles at a 6.5 speed. It was harder than it used to be so I'm thinking I need to run indoors for the next couple of weeks to get my pace back to where it needs to be. Oh, and I ran without the tv or mp3 player and I have to say that is pretty brutal on the treadmill. All I did was stare at the wall for half an hour. Boring!
And Asics rock! I wear the Gel Landreth.
Lets see... coolest things I have seen while running
Kangaroos and wallabies - ok, not that exciting when you live in the land of Oz, but I figure for all you state siders, it would consistute cool. I sometimes encounter them when I get to run trails in the national parks here, usually when we head up the coast for a few days away.
Kookaburras - I see them fairly regularly, but its hearing them that is the cool part, I still never get tired of the kookaburra's laugh, it is wild to me that a bird can make such a noise and when one starts, the others join in so you hear this echoing laugh coming from all directions
Cockatoos, lorikeets, rosellas - again, another thing I never tire of here in Oz is the beautifully coloured birds flying around everywhere, I see them daily
Pod of dolphins surfing in the waves - geez, this is really making me miss summer because its so dark right now for most of my run that I don't see squat atm when I run by the ocean, just dark waves crashing on the shore
Sunrise over the ocean - again... missing spring/summer/fall here, this winter morning darkness SUCKS! We get some really gorgeous sunrises here, and there is nothing like running up one of the headlands just at sunrise. I remember before I started running how I always thought what a spectacular experience it would be to run up the headland at long reef and see the sun come up and listen to the ocean crashing into the rocks down below. It is one hell of a climb to get up there, but well worth it!
Hmmm... the water dragon (iguana like lizard) I almost tripped over the other days was startling if not cool.
Fortunately, I don't live where the salties are (salt water crocs), wouldn't want to encounter one of those while running!
manta!!!! LUCKY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that is too cool..... like your own backyard zoo
I agree, I think I would go mental running on a treadmill. I guess it would be a bit convenient to have on on certain occassions, but mostly as I said, it would make me mental.
Ishipop, I think you have just become my new hero for being able to do 3 miles on a teadmill without music or a tv! I think I would crack after 5 minutes of that.
hope you ladies have a great run today!
EDIT TO ADD: it was awesome!! I ran the whole thing outside of traffic and puppy potty breaks.
Manta- believe me, there is nothing heroic about it. rather stupid, really. :) And I for one do think it is really cool that you see kangaroos and wallabies on your runs. Australia is definitely one of my must-see-in-this-lifetime vacation spots. Your post reminded me of this song that me 6 yr old learned in kindergarten this year- "Laugh, Kookaburra, Laugh" Ever heard it? It's his favorite and he always sings the chorus at the top of his lungs.
Back to the topic at hand- I don't love running on the treadmill but I really need to increase my speed and it's always the best way for me. That being said, I just hopped off the treadmill a few minutes ago. My boys were still sleeping and I obviously can't leave the house to run so the treadmill was my only option this morning. Feels good to get the day started off on the right foot. (And this time, I had both the tv and the mp3 player on!)
Olivia- so glad you had a great run this morning!
I need access to a treadmill, so I can see exactly how slow I really go.... which is very. I ran dang near the whole thing today, but I bet it is slower than most people speed walk! LOL
ishipop - well, I still think that having the determination to actually do that for a half an hour says something about your dedication to your running! And, unfortunately, I don't get to see Roos and Wallabies all the time (I do live in the suburbs afterall), but there are a ton of national parks around, so when I get the chance to run in them, I will jump at it and many times will see something. And yes I know the kookaburra song, they sing it at my daughters daycare. Its amusing the different kids songs they have here verses what I knew growing up. My favorite is a christmas song they have about santa's sleigh being pulled by 6 white "boomers" which I guess is a slang term for kangaroos. I don't know the whole song, but it talks about how its too hot here for Santa's reindeer, so the white kangaroos do the job while he visits Australia. I also find it amusing how my 2 year olf daughter just finds wombats, platypus, koala bears, kangaroos, etc all commonplace. While we were visitng my parents in FL in march, we took her to a zoo and she saw deer there and were convinced they had to be kangaroos... I laughed so hard! No matter what I told her, she wouldn't believe me, to her, they were kangaroos! And yes... you definitely should visit Oz sometime in your life... it is an absolutely fantastic place.
Ok, so I think I go even MORE off topic than ishipop did. Anyway, Olivia, you can use the training long on mapmyrun.com to give you your speed and pace for your run, just map out the run you did, save it, add it to the training log and enter the time it took you to run it. I have been keeping track of my runs sine Feb on the training log and its great to go back and see how much my time has improved on different runs. And I know you feel like you are going slow, but I honestly bet you are running at least an 11 min/mile, which honeslty isn't too bad. I have improved from just under an 11 min/mile to ~9 min/mile through weekly speed training. And anyway, so what if you are slow... at least you are out there doing it right?
Got in a good jog today,. Strange but good. Realized a while ago that I have maybe never jogged without a doggie. SO I did a short loop by myself and then got the dog and did the same again. I like it with the doggie better. : D
Here's to making it to Austrailia some day!!! my hotmail is girlinoz after all -- everyone makes assumptions anyway!
Well, I didn't wake up as early as I thought I would this morning (late movie last night) so I ended up going out at about 8:45 am. It was HOT already but what was I to do? I really didn't feel like running on the treadmill for the 3rd time this week. Man, was I pooped this morning! Ever feel more tired when you wake up then you did when you went to sleep the night before? I did this morning. So, I'm pretty impressed with myself for going for a run at all. Usually I have tennis lessons on Saturday mornings but it was cancelled so I had to get some exercise.
So, here's an odd question. Maybe you guys have some insight. Every once in a while I'll get chills while I'm running. Even when it's hot. Like today, I got chills twice. What's up with that?! It's so strange.
manta- wow, you get to see a whole zoo of animals on a regular basis! that's awesome! alligators are common in louisiana, i was just surprised to see on in baton rouge. you usually have to go bayou country. i think someone put it there as a joke.
ishipop- i only got chills once, and i honestly think it was because i was about to have a heat stroke, or was too dehydrated. it was last august, 100 degrees outside, very humid, about 1 pm, mile 7 of what was supposed to be at 12 miler. out of nowhere i got extremely cold and dizzy. i stopped, checked my heartrate (i have one of those watches), and it registered at 198. i have never seen it that high- keep in mind i'm 30, so my max is supposedly 190. i stopped running, sat down, and called my husband to come pick me up. that was when i quit running in the middle of the day! anyway, i HOPE that's not why you're getting the chills, but it's something to think about.
Hi to all of you and I hope you don't mind if I join you--or try to, anyway. I'll give you my life story (my running life story, that is) and then maybe you can help me get back to morning running. I didn't go out this afternoon because I am too sunburned from yesterday (a rest day, too) and I realized, "This is it. The two day break I NEVER take that might let me get back to morning running!!"
Ok, so anyway, here's the scoop. I was an early morning runner for 12 years (ages 18-30) b.c.-before children. I had an amazing, almost completely unused trail of about 5 miles or so along a river's flood plain--no people, no houses, no cars, no noise--and I could add miles in our neighborhood if I wanted to run more. Also, there is a pond in the middle of that 5 miles, and I could jump in, swim across (took of my shoes, but always ran in shorts and sports bra in warm weather in those days), put the shoes back on, and keep going. Just AMAZING. I have stories about snakes and spiders and stags that will horrify or delight you, depending on your perspective!!
I ran 5 days a week at 6 am all those years. Never had a problem getting up. Loved it so much . . . then I moved to a different state. Kept running mostly in the mornings but after about 3 years, had my first child. . . we moved to a city (from a university town with a great set of running trails). End of my life as an early morning runner.
Oh, and for about 6 years, I ran with my beautiful Australian Shepherd. Definitely both a joy and a security enhancement to run with a dog!
Well, I went from running to aerobics for several years, then gained a scary amount of weight just before I turned 40, during my 2nd pregnancy. I'm now 49. I've been jogging and playing soccer off and on since about 45, and I discovered a beautiful trail nearby this year and want to get back into morning running. It really is the best, IMHO, although running anytime is always wonderful!
I'm going to put my phone with the alarm set on the opposite side of my room tonight so I have to GET UP to answer it. I will go to bed wearing my running gear (easy in the summer), except my shoes and socks, of course!! I'm going to go to the park and do my usual route as best I can, come home, and LOG IN HERE and report my success.
Please wish me luck. I KNOW what I am missing and all your exciting talk about it has made me long for the days again. . .
TTFN!!
Welcome mkculs, hope all goes well for your morning run! Hope we can motivate you!
Well, yesterday morning (Sunday) got up and 5:45 for my long run (11 miles) and it started out GREAT. I was having a fantastic run, mapped a new route that took me pretty much by the ocean the whole time. I even got to see my much loved sunrise over the ocean and let me tell you... it was absolutely spectacular! Pinks, oranges, reds, yellows, so many colors I can't even describe it. About 8 miles in, I am thinking, wow, this is one of the easiest long runs I have done yet! Then around mile 9, it hit... the dreaded runner's tummy cramps, and the feeling of having to go... NOW, but I pushed through, and then on mile 10, I hit the last hill (you know, I like hills and all, but just ONCE, I would like to do a long run that doesn't involve a million hills!), and I struggled, and my legsfelt like they would fall off, and I thought... oh well, so much for my nice easy long run! Well, made it up the hill and then home without stopping, but I was SORE afterwards. Luckily this morning I feel better.
Sordino, yes I see tons of wildlife fairly regularly, mostly birds, but sometimes the occassional mammal, its just they have such weird ones here in Oz, that it always strikes me as amusing to see something hopping along trying to get out of my way.
So, I am having the great debate in my head today. The girl I have been running with the last few mondays has backed out on me, and now I don't feel like going for a run, but I know I should. The worst part is that if I had just gotten up early and gone, i wouldn't be worrying about this, but I have been forgoing my morning runs on monday for lunch time runs at work. I shoudl just go and get it over with eh? I do get to run in the national park, but it just annoys me when people back out on you and you have changed your schedule for them, I guess the positive part is that I got to sleep in this morning. So the debate is this... go at lunch (which means pretty much after I finish typing here), go around 4 this afternoon before I pick my daughter up from daycare and head home from work, or go tonight after my husband gets home from work. Sigh, none of those options sound appealing, of course I could just skip it and go tomorrow which is normally one of my days off, but then that means 4 early mornings in a row, and lately I just haven't been too motivated to get up at 5 am! Oh well, I guess the best option is to go right now. Maybe, if I go put my clothes on I will feel more like going! There is always just skipping it outright, but then I will feel guilty and be climbing walls by tomorrow night because I haven't done anything in 2 days.
Ok, heading to change, see if that works!
I was so confused, manta, until I remember you are in Australia! It's still Sunday here. I kept thinking, "but she already ran today . . . ???"
I have never run with a partner. I like the peace and quiet toooooo much! If I'm walking fast, I don't even want a partner. It's definitely total "me" time and the motivation is, if I don't go, I LOSE the "me" time, because any other time/place will be full of people.
Good luck with Monday's run, whatever you decide!
well... I went. Yeah I know what you mean about running alone, and mostly I prefer doing it that way, but I have been running so much these days, I kind of enjoyed the change of having a partner to run with one day a week on my recovery run, made it just nice and relaxing to run and chat at the same time, make the recovery run just seem extra easy.
Anyway, I have to say that todays run was one of the worst 4.5 miles of my life! I even stopped for a bathroom break.... I NEVER stop for a bathroom break on short runs. I know I didn't REALLY have to, but I was just so looking for an excuse to stop. As I was heading through the national park I kept thinking, damn I have to go ALL THE WAY BACK UP! Now, this run is a little hilly, but nothing major, not like the hills by my house. I just felt like I was being a whiney 2 year old. Even at the very end of the run when i was probably about 100 meters from the finish, I debated stopping short... I guess stubborness comes in handly sometimes because I didn't. I even felt like I was doing the old lady trot instead of my actual running stride for about the first half of the run, and every little incline I hit, my brain just screamed at me. But.... its done, tomorrow is a much needed rest day I think.
Well, time to get back to work, hope y'all had a great weekend!
I took the weekend off from running, and today was a little better. It was already hot and humid as all get out though at only 6:45AM!!!
Well, I did it! My first early morning run in YEARS. I wish I could say it was invigorating, but it was hot and humid and oh, yeah, baby, the old lady trot (OLT henceforth) was my salvation!! Now I'm ready to go back to sleep; I slept poorly and woke at 5:15 because my daughter's gerbil had escaped and was chewing paper right next to my bed! What a funny little alarm clock he makes! He goes scuttling back to her room when I get up, fortunately.
I felt really proud of myself for doing it, however, and it's really cool to see my activity meter already so high today! I can eat a lot to "catch up" to it, within 500-1000, of course.
Saw several deer but no baby bunnies or little turkeys today. It's always fun to see the wild life when running.
I think I might freak out if I woke up to a gerbil in my bedroom. LOL
I <3 early morning wildlife sightings!!! : D gives me something to look forward to!
This week is not supposed to be any better...really bad humidity and T-storms every day. I am going to try to get at least one or two runs in, but the majority of my cardio will be indoors again.
I can't wait until it cools down a bit!
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