Thursday, April 28, 2011

proving something to nobody

I'm not exactly sure how it happened, but tonight I ran 4 miles--nonstop--at about 9:54/mile.  Maybe it was just listening to music that helped, or maybe I just had more energy, but it was great to know that my body is capable of this at 38 weeks pregnant!! 

STATS:  5 miles; 4 miles running @ 9:54/mile, 1 mile walking for cooldown

Monday, April 25, 2011

running at night--yuck

Since I'm pretty much incapacitated in the evenings when I run afternoons, I've been running more frequently at night.  I really hate doing this.  I feel like I'm putting it off all day, which makes me cranky and short-tempered, plus I want to rush everyone into bed so I can finish my run early enough to go to bed at a decent hour.  I don't know whether it's better to limp around all afternoon and get the run over with, or to be able to walk without pain but then still have it to do at the end of the day when I really just want to crash.  Ho-hum.  (I definitely prefer running in the afternoon and taking a bath in the evening to soak away the achiness, but it's probably nicer for my family to have me not randomly collapsing as I walk, which tends to happen rather frequently if I run in the afternoon.) 

STATS:  6 miles; 3 walking in the afternoon and 3 running in the evening.  Running was hard tonight; I had to stop at .4 miles to go to the bathroom, at 1.1 miles to figure out why Isaac and Juliet were screaming at each other, at 1.4 miles to go to the bathroom again (seriously, I hate this!!) and then finished out the 3 miles.  Average pace running 10:46; so slow...I took it back up to 9:50 at the end but the contractions started, and I really can't have this baby until after Saturday, so we'll hold at the slow end until then. 

**I'm probably going to post more frequently now at the end, since I want a good record of the end of my pregnancy for the next time around.

Friday, April 22, 2011

experimenting

During today's run I decided to try a few different things.

First, I ran at my regular speed (9:50/mile).  That worked, but it started to get uncomfortable after about half a mile, so I walked for a couple minutes, then ran another half mile, then walked another two minutes.

Then I took my speed down to 10:54/mile.  And ran for another 2.1 miles before I started getting enough nerve twinges in my leg that I walked it out for three minutes, then ran the remaining .9 miles to finish out the four miles (then walked to cool down and finish out five miles.  I should explain that I only count running miles in the 4 miles, and walking breaks are then counted in the last cool-down mile to bring the total up to five).

So much as I'd like to keep my speed up, I think for now I'm going to run at a slower speed so that I can keep endurance up instead, since that always seems to be harder to regain than speed.  And hopefully once the baby is born the speed will come back more quickly, since I'll be considerably lighter and have more lung capacity!!

Best of all:  I honestly enjoyed the run today and felt like I could have kept going for another couple of miles--no fatigue!!  Hurray!!!

STATS:  5 miles; 1 @ 9:50 mile, 3 @ 10:54/mile, 1 @ 17:08/mile (walking to cool down)

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

37 weeks

After Monday's run I had contractions and back pain until midnight, so I promised Neil I would scale back today.  (Plus it was Abigail's birthday and I wanted to be functioning, not aching.)

So I walked 3 miles this afternoon, then started running after the children were in bed.  I ran 1 mile and started having contractions about halfway through; by the end of the mile it was bad enough that I couldn't run through it anymore.  I walked four minutes, ran another 1/2 mile, walked four, and ran another 1/2 mile (at which point I had promised Neil I would stop, plus the nerve in my right leg was going crazy and I would definitely have fallen had I been running outside without the treadmill bar to grab), then walked to finish out the last mile.  Five minutes seems to be the manageable point; much longer than that and the hurting starts. 

I'm not sure what my plan is from here on out.  I definitely can't run four miles straight.  I'm wondering if I should run intervals, run at a slower pace, or just walk for a week and then start running again (I really need to grade the final papers for this semester before I have a baby!).  We'll see.

STATS:  6 miles; ran 2 (9:50/mile), walked 4

**Reading over this I sound a little crazy.  I don't know why I'm still pushing to run at this point other than I can't imagine not running for a month...or two...

Monday, April 18, 2011

500 miles

Today's 4 miles brought me up to a total of 500 for this pregnancy.  All I have to say about today's run is that it was miserable.  The end. 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

36 weeks

Yikes!  Every day I think that was the last run.  Contractions are picking up afterwards, my sciatic nerve is making it pretty painful while I run, and my hips and back are aching so much afterward.  I can't decide if I'm just pushing through or being stupid.  I've run 496 miles this pregnancy; once I hit 500...we'll see.  I won't be able to run again until Monday because of everything we have going on tomorrow, Friday, and Sat., so we'll see how I'm feeling then.  I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow and I'm wondering if they'll finally ask me to restrict my level of activity, depending on how the exam goes (what a lovely thing to look forward to). 

Ran 1.1 miles today, walked for 4 minutes, ran another 1.9 miles, stopped to check on Jooj and then ran .3 miles before I realized I really HAD to walk to keep the contractions down, walked 4 minutes, then ran the last .7 miles.  It's like a total mind game keeping track of everything.  Walked to cool down and finish out the 5 miles.  I definitely missed the race adrenaline and the fun of running outside from Saturday...I'm really looking forward to more outside runs. 

STATS:  4 miles; 9:52ish/mile

Saturday, April 9, 2011

5K race recap

I did it!  So glad I did.  I prayed a lot beforehand about running it, and I felt that if I took it slow and didn't try to push myself the way I normally would, things would be okay. 

When I got to the race site this morning, a police officer told me I had to go find somewhere else to park, which was totally contrary to what the race organizers had said.  Aaaaahhh!!  I found a parking spot up by one of the fraternities about a quarter-mile away, and started off.  I asked a volunteer at the site if I could borrow a phone so I could call Neil and tell him that he'd have to park elsewhere, as he was planning to meet me at the end with the kids.  While I was dialing, the cannon went off and the race started!  So I quickly finished the call, jogged over to the starting line, and managed to wedge myself in behind a woman with a seeing eye dog and a guy in a wheelchair.  Everyone was walking, and it took me awhile to weave my way through and get up with the runners.

The very beginning of the race was a super-steep downhill.  I know some people (Neil, for instance) hate downhills, but I LOVE them!!  It's never bothered my knees, and I always feel a huge energy burst going downhill, so this was a great start for me.  A lot of people were walking down because the grade was so steep, which helped me to get ahead of the pack a bit.  It was pretty cold and sprinkling a bit, but I just was so happy to be running this that I didn't mind. 

The first mile was pretty easy--down the streets by campus and totally flat.  When we turned at the end of the first mile, we hit the looooong uphill that lasted for the next mile.  I ran up most of it, but I told myself that I HAD to stop about halfway up at the speed limit sign and walk.  The last time I ran up a hill I had pretty bad contractions afterwards that lasted for a long time, and I wanted to avoid that, plus I knew how worried my mom and Neil were about me pushing too hard, so I made myself a promise that I would walk.   I felt kind of weird just stopping the run and letting all these people pass me, but I also felt like it was a good compromise.  I walked for three or four minutes until the hill started leveling out again, and this gave me time to notice how tight my muscles were from the uphill.  Yuck! 

When I started running again, my legs felt AWFUL.  I told myself I'd run until the end of the song and then reassess, at which point I hit the lone water stop, paused to drink my little Dixie cup, realized there was only a single mile to go, and started off strong again--the leg pain had worked itself out. 


I ran the last mile at a pretty good clip.  It was great to be passing people consistently again and did a lot for my motivation.  The rain had cleared up, there was a brisk breeze, and I felt so great despite the gray cloudiness of the day.  During this last mile, I just felt so much gratitude for the healthiness I've been able to enjoy throughout most of this pregnancy and that I was able to reach this goal of running one final race a few weeks before my due date.  I was also really excited to see my family at the end, since I've never had anyone to greet me at the finish line before!  I started picking up speed as I rounded the last mile marker and entered the finish chute, at which point I saw Neil and the kids running towards the finish.  I yelled to Abigail and they all turned around and started waving like crazy.  It was such a great ending to the race and such a perfect start to the day.

My final time was 32:02, which I was happy with (the first mile was somewhere between 9 and 9:30 I think?)  It's not going to win me any records, but at 35 weeks pregnant and with walking 3 or 4 minutes of those 32, I was pleased.  And more than anything, I felt like this race was a great culmination to the last 8 months of runs and everything I've battled through to get to this point--still running!! 

the circled one is me, just before crossing the finish line

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

35 weeks

My big debate right now is do I run the 5K on Saturday, or not?  I walked the course with my mom last week and there's a pretty good hill (one that I dreaded running up during half-marathon training when I was NOT eight months pregnant).  It's about 6/10 of a mile uphill at a decent grade--not super steep, but one that is substantial enough to warrant use for hill training.  Ho-hum.  We'll see.  I haven't run on the road since December, which is my other hesitation...but I am really tempted to run this, because I've been motivating myself to keep running with this 5K in mind!!  (Does anyone even read this blog anymore, or am I talking to a void?)

I've been really low-energy this week...I stayed up too late (accidentally) on Monday night reading and it's been killing me ever since.  Last week I ran my 12 and then walked another 9 and my legs started aching a little bit, so I'm glad that's eased itself out now...I'm starting to have more shooting sciatic nerve pain in my back (in the evenings, not when running) and some other weird pain in my hips towards the end of my runs...fun fun.  There's that.

My run today went pretty well--I ran 3.35 miles and then stopped to take care of Jooj, then finished out the 4.  Walked another mile to cool down. 

STATS:  4 miles; 9:50/mile