Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I still haven’t finished writing out my training schedule yet for my 50k in Oct. I did count out the weeks before the race – 31 weeks. My goal right now is to start strengthening my legs’ weak areas like the gluteus medius muscles and somehow get my knee well enough for the nagging pain to go away. I am adding more leg and hip exercises so I don’t have a lot of problems with my sciatic nerve pain and ITB.
My week has been going well with my workouts - runs, walks, and gym time. Right now I am just trying to get a base going on my runs. I want to be stronger this year so I won't be so worn out when my mileage gets longer. Just doing 8 miles made me tired later in the day but I am really hoping that it’s from a bad night sleep.

I started using Strava a few months ago, and some of my workouts were loaded up from last year when I was doing a lot of running and training for other races. I made it up to 18 miles at the Hot Springs 18 miler before the plantar fasciitis got bad. I found this chart and I feel it really shows my effort and training. It gives me a goal to get back to. 

Enough of that let me tell you about my trail run with Annie! I love running the trails with her. I would take her with me all the time if I could, she just not too friendly with other dogs. I keep her on the leash the whole time for that reason. She does great following the trail and very rarely does she go the wrong way when coming up to a post or tree in the middle of a trail. She stays with me so no wrap around with the leash. 

Ah, the warm weather has finally returned! No more waiting until later in the morning to get out of the house to run or walk. I didn't sleep well at all the night before so I really stayed in longer than I had planned on; it was already 64 degrees when Annie and I stepped on the trails right around 9 am. 

Today’s goal was eight miles and we got it done. Of course, I was nervous about this considering the plantar fasciitis and knee pain that I have been having. Would I be able to finish it out without hurting myself or being too tired? The answer was yes, I was able to finish and finish strong. It’s amazing how you can doubt yourself but I think it helps you keep yourself going. 

Over looking the Wolf River being really high

Not many folks out but did run into a few friends. I wondered if it was just too late in the morning or that we had some rain the night before. It’s nice to have the whole trail to yourself. There is a section off of the trail that I like to take Annie down to the water. With all the rain and high waters, there is more sand deposits so it’s thicker and harder to run/walk on. She loves to wade in the water. This helps me keep her on the trails longer in the summer when the weather starts getting really hot. 

I used my Nathan camelback to keep our water in. Annie does well with drinking the stream from the hose. I carried 2 Hammer Gels and took half of one every 30 minutes and I also took 2 endurolytes every 30 minutes. On the way home I stopped and got a small chocolate milk to drink for recovery. Normally, I don’t do this on a short distance like this but I need to get in the habit again and finding what works and doesn’t.

Right before getting started, we both have on green for St Patrick's Day!