Friday, September 30, 2011

9/30

Last run of the month!  Stopped for my charming little banshee @ 17, 22, and 27 minutes (at which point I finally just put him in his bouncy seat on my bed, where he stared at me unblinkingly for the rest of the run.  Kind of freaky sometimes the way a baby follows you with their eyes).  Pretty slow today--if I run too fast when I'm stopping frequently, I get really dizzy and nauseated when I start back up (does anyone else have that?  Any ideas on reducing it?)

5 miles; 8:23/mile

Thursday, September 29, 2011

9/29

I really need to kick this exhaustion and general feeling of "don't want to" about running.  Ergh. Two Luke stops today at 11:30 and 17:00 (after that I told myself I'd stop again in five minutes if he was still crying, but he rolled over and fell asleep on his tummy.  Poor sad tired baby).

5 miles; 8:17/pace, incline 1 after the first ten minutes

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

9/27

Pretty lame run today.  I've been SO tired lately--the kind of tired I associate with mono or early pregnancy--I really hope Luke starts sleeping better soon.  I feel like a zombie.  When I wake up in the morning, all I can do is calculate how many hours until I can sleep again.

Anyway, broke one of my rules and ran this morning with the kids up in hopes that the endorphins would carry me through the day.  Luke woke up literally two minutes into my run...bummer.  So child-care stops at 2 minutes, 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 26 minutes (Juliet and Isaac were playing on my bed by the treadmill, then left and were being suspiciously quiet--I found them eating sugar).  I felt so dizzy and nauseated after the last stop that I am really surprised I managed to finish out the last mile at 8:00/pace.

Really slow starting out--I actually had to crank the pace down because I felt so lousy.  No hill/incline.

4 miles; 8:25/mile

Monday, September 26, 2011

9/26

Ho-hum, what happens now that the race is over?  I've really gone back and forth on running a half in October and I think in kindness to my family I should not...it's just really hard finding time to run right now where it doesn't infringe on everything else.  I wish I was getting up early to run, but Luke is still waking up every couple of hours at night and mornings are pretty arduous for me right now.

On that note, I didn't run Friday (mowed the lawn instead, which was probably twice the workout!) and I didn't run Saturday (spent 11 hours canning applesauce and didn't get to bed until midnight). 

Ran 4 on the treadmill today with interval hills.  I think I really need to focus on hills to compensate for the "easiness" of the treadmill as opposed to running on uneven terrain outside against the wind. 

8:19/mile always on an incline (started at level 1, went to level 2 after 5 minutes, level 3 after another 4, back to 2 for 4, back to 3...you get the idea). 

I'm debating whether I want to focus less on running and do more cross-training and yoga.  I've lost all my pregnancy weight (yay!) but I would still like to lose more and just tighten up my whole body rather than exclusive running.  We'll see...I need to set some sort of goal.  Maybe lose 15 pounds by Christmas?

Wednesday, September 21, 2011

9/21

Scheduled interval run today of 8x400, started out at 7:53/mile for three minutes, then ran at 8:06/mile for two minutes, then ran to give Luke his pacifier, then ran another 3/2 set, then ran for 4 at 7:53...you get the idea; increasing the faster intervals (up to five or six minutes, I think, at the longest).  Then at 24 minutes/3 miles I hopped off again to switch Juliet's tape and start the hot wash cycle for diapers, then went back and finished out the last mile at 7:53/pace.

4 miles; 8:00/mile (or less because the treadmill didn't click over until 32:03)

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

9/20

Another late run--4 on the treadmill @ 8:17/pace. Three of the kids have strep and it was another long day.

Monday, September 19, 2011

9/19

4 on the treadmill; stopped at 3.1 to get a drink and try to work some of the stiffness out of my knee.  I was hoping to run outside today but it was a really awful day and I'm just lucky that I ran at all (as I type this it's 9:56 pm and I still have to shower post-run.  crazy day).

4 miles; 8:19/mile

And on a different note, an update on my race Saturday--one of the 5K runners collapsed after crossing the finish line and died.  Apparently he was only 42 and didn't have any apparent medical problems.  I walked right by him (we parked just past the start line for the 5K so as they were lining up to start out we were working our way through the crowds after finishing the 10K) before the 5K started.  As Neil said, it's a sobering reminder of how fragile life is. 

Saturday, September 17, 2011

10K race report

Ran the same 10K that I ran last year and got the EXACT SAME TIME.  To the second.  I was kind of disappointed with my performance, to be honest, but I think it's due to a few things:

1) I hardly ever run outside these days because of Luke, so that was an adjustment and
2) Pollen/ragweed/you name it...I was really having trouble breathing, and when I got home all my exposed skin was all rashy and irritated.
3) Started off too fast (just like last year):  my first split was 7:43 and the second was 16:45.  My iPod (perhaps because of my calibration on the treadmill) was overestimating my speed and told me I'd finished about 200 meters before the finish line.  So I kept thinking that I was going too fast according to my iPod and that I was going to burn out.

Anyway, pretty much the same as last year--stopped for 2 of the 3 water stops, stopped to take off my long-sleeved shirt because I'm not coordinated enough to tie it around my waist and run.  No rain, and that was nice, although that probably would have helped with the pollen.

To be honest, I don't think I could have gone too much faster--I think last year I was just in a better place training-wise since my long runs for the half-marathon were 10 miles at that point.  I guess I just feel like my performance this year should have been an improvement over last year, but then I have to remind myself that I'm another year older, I was pregnant for eight of those intervening months, etc.  I ran about as hard as I could run this particular day and I'll just be happy with that.  :-)

STATS: 10K, 52:34; 8:28/mile; 5th place for age division (kind of a bummer because I was 3rd last year, but I would have had to run 4 minutes faster to place 3rd this year, which was definitely not possible).

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

9/14; last before the race

I tried to calibrate my Nike+ today, although you're not supposed to do it on the treadmill so we'll see if it actually works.  It was so off though that I figured this would be better than nothing (it was off by .26 miles over a 3-mile run).

3 miles; 8:10/mile

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

9/13

My training schedule said to run 3 today, but I checked the half-marathon training schedule I did last fall to see what it said before the 10K, and it said to do a 40-minute tempo run, so I ended up running for 41:24 (so I could finish out the 5 miles).

I felt really slow and tired--I don't like running at night, plus Neil went back to work so I did bedtime by myself (and after that I'm always ready to go right to bed!!)  Anyway, I didn't feel like it was the best run.  Oh well.

5 miles; 8:16/mile

Monday, September 12, 2011

9/12

So excited to only run 4 today!  Yay for tapering.

Ran 1 mile and then went to take care of screaming Luke.

Ran another mile and went to take care of screaming Luke again (kind of nice how he was at least quiet for a mile).

Ran 3 minutes and then broke up a fight between the girls ("she jumped on my head!"  "she kicked me in the leg!")

Finally some quiet to finish out the run after Luke fell asleep again and the girls were separated (although it would have been nice to not say things like, "Juliet!  Quit biting your toes!  I will get you a snack in a minute!")

4 miles; 8:18/mile

Saturday, September 10, 2011

9/10

Didn't run the 4 I was scheduled to run yesterday--it was like the perfect storm of craziness and I was really tired, so I ended up taking a nap during the time I would usually run. 

Ran 6.2 miles today w/o stopping, then stopped to change my socks and put on a band-aid over a developing blister where my shoe was rubbing my skin (I was wearing a lower cut of socks than I usually wear).  Finished out the 1.8.  Varying pace and inclines; at least 6 miles on level 1 incline or higher (threw in a couple of level 2) but not pushing super hard with hills.

My left knee is still really hurting.  I'm kind of starting to worry about this--I was limping a little when I finished today.

8 miles; average pace 8:25/mile

Thursday, September 8, 2011

9/8

Blah.  I have absolutely no motivation to run right now...our babysitter for Saturday's long run fell through and I'm almost relieved (we'll see how I feel about that one later in the week).

I think I have whatever the kids had--hopefully I don't get to join the throw-up gang (pretty sure I have a fever right now; hoping everything else stays away.  Then again, the fever may be from some awesome nursing-related problems, which is why I postponed yesterday's run until today--hoping that would resolve itself, but no luck).  Anyway.

50-minute tempo run; ran a little longer to finish out the 10K.  Under 8:09/mile but the stupid treadmill took forever to go back to the mileage, so it may have been a little faster than that.  No incline, because I think I would have thrown up over the front of the treadmill (I almost did when I finished up.  Aren't you enjoying this post?!)  Stopped at 35 minutes for water.

6.2 miles @ 8:09/mile

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

9/6

5K hills course today--man, that level 7 incline is still getting to me!

I tried to mimic the way I would run a real 5K today, rather than just trying to keep the same pace throughout.  I started off fast, dropped my pace slightly as I warmed up, and stayed steady on the smaller hills and picked up speed on the flats, then dropped speed on the big hills, stayed slower until I had my breath back, then picked up speed gradually and sprinted at the end.

3 miles, lossa hills, 8:18/mile

Monday, September 5, 2011

9/5

Six today--this is the longest regularly-scheduled weekday run I've ever done--neither of the half-marathon training plans I did had a longer weekday run than 5 miles. 

Stopped at 10 minutes to put Luke in his bed since he was falling asleep in his bouncy seat near the treadmill.  Stopped at 4.3 miles (35:18) to give Abigail and Juliet a snack, then stopped at 42:18 to get screaming Luke out of his bed before he woke up Isaac.  Finished at 48:30.

(This is why I wonder about training for a marathon--it is hard enough wedging in only 6 miles on a weekday!!  How could I fit in 10?  I don't think I could work part-time if I was training that much.  I don't even feel like I can work part-time now, although I do, because of everything else.  Whine, whine, whine.)

6 miles; avg pace 8:05

Saturday, September 3, 2011

9/3--wimping out

Scheduled to run 7 today; I was thinking there was probably about a 60% chance that I wouldn't run today before the day even started.  Hoping it would work out, but it didn't, and I'm okay with that.

Here's why: we canned 200 lbs of peaches.  And all four of my kids came down with fevers and I don't really want to just leave my parents with my four sickies (we're visiting them this weekend).  And I tripped over Luke's bouncy seat, fell over Juliet, and smashed my knee into the wall, which promptly swelled up and turned bluish-purple (enough that I had to ice it).  The icing on the cake is that it's now 8 pm, very dark, windy, and the lightning and thunder that we've had all day look like they're really ready to go.

So no 7 miles today.  Honestly I'm kind of relieved because my knees have been feeling wobbly and I am grateful for the extra day of rest. 


Friday, September 2, 2011

9/2

Easy run of 3 on the treadmill; incline level 1 after the first 10 minutes.  8:16/pace.