Lord of the Run - plus my random ramblings

I'm in the groove now. I am finally being consistent with my running and it's getting a lot easier. Here's my drill:

I run 4 miles every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Saturday I have a long run, anywhere between 6 - 10 miles. Sunday is a recovery day - the point of these being that you give your body enough rest after doing a long run that it can recuperate, but give it enough exercise that your muscles don't build up a ton of lactic acid and get stiff. On these days I just walk home from church.

The four mile route I do is becoming second nature to me. It's an out and back, which I like because it makes it just feel like a 2 mile route. I run 2 miles to the post office and two miles back home. When I get to the one mile mark, I tell myself I'm halfway there (even though I still have to come back). By the time I reach the post office, I feel I've reached the end, and the rest of the run is just going back home. It's a nice psychological trick that really works for me, so I stick with it.

My six mile route is my very favorite. Sometimes I do that one instead of my four miler just because I like it. It's 5 miles uphill, and then one mile down. That last mile feels amazing!

My shin splints are raging, but I've discovered if you just run through them, by about the half mile mark, you are numb to the pain. I just ice ice ice ice ice after every run and every night before I go to bed. It's been working well.

I ran in the pool the other day. It was really hard. I did 3 miles but it was much harder than even my longest run so far. The resistance of the water really adds something extra! I think I could train that way if my shins start getting too sore to run with impact. So I've got some contingency plans in the works.

I have a 10 mile run this Saturday - I'm nervous. It's a really hard route. I mean REALLY hard. I've never done anything like it. But I like to push myself, so I am going to try it and see how it goes.

I usually run to upbeat music, but lately I've been running to the Lord of the Rings soundtrack. I don't know what it is about that music, but it is so inspiring. It's no secret that LOTR is my absolute favorite movie, trilogy, series of movies, what have you. I've seen each one (extended version) more times than I can count. The soundtrack is absolutely magical. I can tell you what is happening in the movie for each song. So running to the soundtrack puts me right in the middle of the magic of Middle Earth, all its creatures, the fight against good and evil, and the perseverance of an unlikely underdog fighting against something much bigger than himself. As nerdy as I know it is, it's truly inspirational to me and I've enjoyed getting wrapped up in the fantasy and pushing myself to defy the odds and emerge victorious!!!!! Ha ha ha. Yes, I can laugh at myself. I'm a huge nerd. Anyway, that's all that's been going on in my world of fitness. More to come, I'm sure.