Thursday, December 27, 2012

22.5 weeks

So just when I was hopeful that I was feeling better, I think I'm getting bronchitis.  Argh!  I still ran Monday and Wednesday, but it was really rough.  I'm barely keeping it under 10/mile; I felt like I was choking the whole first two miles yesterday.  Last two were a little better, but today I've been coughing up all kinds of stuff.  Yuck.

On a HUGE bright side, my brother-in-law replaced his Garmin and passed his previous one on to me--best Christmas present ever!  I opened it up today and just about died from excitement.  I can't wait to get outside (although since it's icy and I'm sick that may take longer than I'd like) and give it a spin.

Monday, December 17, 2012

21.5 weeks

It's been an interesting couple of weeks as far as running goes--I've been struggling to get over a nasty cold and then contracted stomach flu last week.  I kept running through it all (switched running days around so I wasn't running and throwing up on the same days), but it was not easy or fun.

Today, happily, things seem to be looking up a bit--I was able to run my 4 miles without having to stop to get my heart rate down or anything like that, and I cut 3 minutes off my time from Saturday (which was admittedly pretty bad, since I had to stop 3 times in the first mile because my stomach was cramping so much.  Stupid flu!!)  Hoping things get back to normal soon!

Wednesday, December 5, 2012

19.5 weeks

You guys, I am so slow right now compared to where I used to be!  It's depressing.  Every time I look at my times from my last pregnancy...sigh.

On the bright side...I kept running this week through one of the absolute worst head colds I've ever had in my life (the kids all had croup, but lucky me, I only had the fever and stuffy nose).  I honestly believe that running helped me to get better much faster.

I clocked myself at 9:34 for my four miles on Monday.  Slower tonight, because I was really exhausted (oh look, it's 11:15 PM and I got five hours of sleep last night, no wonder I'm tired!) and I was worried about overheating.  I'm not sure if I'm still feverish but I definitely felt like I was warmer/sweating more than I normally would be at this pace.

Anyway, ran 2.2 miles tonight, stopped for water, ran to 3.1 and stopped for more water, then ran to 4.2 and decided, what the heck, I have nothing better to do and I might as well finish out the 5.  So 5 miles for the first time in quite awhile...I think that's my longest run since a couple of weeks post-race.  About 9:48/mile with all the stops and speeding back up again.

Monday, November 26, 2012

18.5 weeks

I haven't blogged here in a long time, but I've been doing the same thing I did with my last pregnancy--4 miles 3 times a week and yoga on a couple of the off days.  I'm not running very quickly (39 minutes for my 4 miles today) and to be honest it's pretty hard.  I definitely am struggling a lot more with this pregnancy and just feeling sick the majority of the time (thanks, ovarian cyst, you're such a fun pal to have around!).  But I'm still going...for now.  I have been keeping that 3 times, at least, but the off days are definitely a relief because I'm so sick.

I ran outside last Friday for the first time since the half-marathon, and yikes!  So much harder when it's freezing cold.  I started having contractions after a couple of miles and had to take a little walking break; similar thing at the end of my run today--I couldn't even stand up.  We'll see how much longer this goes!  I definitely have room to step back on pace and mileage, but I'm hoping that I can keep it up a bit longer; I feel like I've lost so much ground over the last year that I hate to see more go so quickly.

Monday, October 22, 2012

catching up

Um, I've gotten really lousy at updating this.  Mostly because I've been trying to not focus so much on time and just on running, because that's what I wanted to do for the race, given how rough the training time was.

Quick update:

Knee: better, but not great.  It bothers me about half the time, but it's more feeling uncomfortable than actually debilitatingly painful.  I'd say it's about 65-70%.  Not strong enough that I feel like I can really go all-out.  I am still nowhere near the pace I was running pre-injury, which is depressing in some ways, but it's also been good for making me more focused on just running rather than trying to shave off a second or two.

Pregnancy awesomeness:  much more tired than I would normally be, lots more pain from the cyst.  Manageable, but not making it my best training year ever.

Half-marathon:

  • All things considered, the training actually went pretty well.  There were a lot of runs where I was very ill, and in a lot of pain, and there were a handful where I couldn't run more than a mile or two before I had to stop and just wait for the pain and the nausea to abate so I could start again.  I missed 2 runs, both in Week 10 (3 miles and 11 miles.  I took the 3 off because I was so incredibly exhausted [it was also a grading week] and I had been very very sick the week before.  Took the 11 off later that week because my dad was in town, I hadn't seen him in months, it was Conference weekend, and I wanted to go hiking with him rather than leave to go running in the short time we actually had to do anything).  Ran every other single run, 5 days a week for the 12 weeks, despite some pretty crippling pain, nausea, and fatigue.  Entire first trimester.  So fun!
  • I was pleased with how the race itself went.  My time was 2:08:19, which is a full 10 minutes slower than my PR for the last half-marathon I ran, during which I was also pregnant.  There were no splits on the course, so I really didn't know how fast I was going, and I was fine with that (I left my Nike + at home on purpose because I didn't want to push myself harder than my body could go).  Let me tell you...this is a real triumph for me.  It may seem sort of oxymoronic, but I have SUCH a hard time not being ultra-competitive all the time that actually backing off was way more of a challenge!  I did have one freak-out moment at mile 8, when I was worried about going over 2:10 (which I'd kind of mentally set as the point at which I would feel lame about the race), and I asked Neil to tell me that I was okay because I was running a race with a bad knee, an ovarian cyst, and 3 months pregnant, and thankfully we've been married long enough that he knows that I just need to hear it from someone else to accept that it's okay.  So he handled that and then I was fine again and stopped panicking.  It was a really fun race, because I was just going for miles and not minutes, and I kept being surprised that it was already another mile down!  Which was great.  In all honesty, I don't think I could set a PR on this course without a lot lot lot of effort, because it was incredibly hilly.  They actually changed the course because there was so much initial outcry about how hilly it was, and man, I can't even imagine how exhausting that first course would have been, because this one was intense.  Our town sits on a hill, and then there's a river, and then another town on a hill across the river, and we just kept running up and down those hills between the towns.  And the last 2 miles were almost all uphill, which was pretty murderous at that point.  The final approach to the finish line was all uphill until mile 12.9, and I have never seen so many people walking!  It was crazy.  I checked the Facebook page afterward and a lot of people were talking about how they had run tons of races and this was by far their worst time ever (then again, the guy who won ran it in 1:05, so somebody was doing just fine!)
  • Recovery has been pretty good--I was stiff Saturday and my joints really hurt, but the joint achiness was gone Sunday, and there was just some residual muscle soreness.  We went on a long walk as a family Sunday evening (the uphills on that were hard on my hip flexors, but otherwise it was fine) and then I ran 3 miles today and it was totally fine.  I would have liked to run more, but I didn't start early enough, and I thought I should probably take it easy today anyway.
So there's the last while in a nutshell.  

Saturday, September 29, 2012

Not the best

This was a hard week for running; I found out on Wednesday that I have an ovarian cyst, which has been what's causing all the pain (thankful that it was not an ectopic pregnancy, as I had originally thought, but still worrisome because I'm 10 weeks pregnant and the cyst could potentially be pretty dangerous to the baby.  How's that for a pregnancy announcement?!)  :-)

Anyway, for the past few months, with how sick I have been with this pregnancy, my goal has been miles rather than time, and this week was definitely along those lines.

Monday: 5 miles on treadmill
Tuesday: 4.5 miles speedwork (9 x400), treadmill
Wednesday:  accidentally ran 6 miles.  Long story.  Usual Wednesday run should be 3 miles, but I swapped it with a 5-miler and then realized a couple miles in that I was running a 6-mile route instead of the 5-mile route.
Thursday: blessed day of rest.  Good because the pain started up again, so I cancelled my plans to go running Friday morning with a friend and instead
Friday: ran 3 miles on the treadmill
Saturday: really long 10 miles (approximate--didn't have a good tracker and it was through tiny winding trails in the woods).  My stomach pain woke me up this morning, and it was pretty agonizing--I had to walk about 100 yards in.  We quickly revised our running plans so that we were running 7 miles of woods loops so that we would never be more than a couple of miles from home, instead of running halfway across town.  I made it through the run, but it was pretty agonizing and there were periods every mile or so when I was just bent over with my hands on my knees breathing through the pain.  So frustrating when my body shuts down on me like this, but as far as I know, there's nothing to be done about the pain other than just deal with it.  So, so, so insanely glad that Neil was with me.

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Chicago is for runners

So I really, really, really love running in Chicago, and that is what I got to do today.

We were scheduled to run 10, but we decided to take it back a notch and run a couple less miles, because we were planning to spend ALL our time walking around downtown (and frankly, I am so glad we did, because there was the strongest wind I have ever run against and it was exhausting, plus I picked up a blister and my hips hurt like death, so anyway).

Back to the beginning of the week:

4.5 Monday (treadmill)
4.5 Tuesday (speedwork on treadmill)
5 Wednesday (outside on trails by myself in the evening...pretty grueling run, but it was exactly what I needed after a really rocky day)
3 early Friday morning. plus a TON of walking around downtown--at least 4-5 miles, likely more.

7.25 (at least--maybe more?) Saturday morning--we started out from our hotel (the Hilton overlooking Grant Park), ran down past Buckingham Fountain and along the lake by all of the yachts, over the river and down the Riverwalk to the very end of Navy Pier, then turned around and ran back along the lake out to the Field Museum, past Shedd, and all the way around Adler.  At this point the wind picked up at it was INSANE.  I was running SO fast because otherwise I would have fallen over from the wind battering at my back...when I stretched out my arms and the wind caught my long-sleeved shirt it was seriously acting like a sail.  The whitecaps were crashing against the breakwater next to us and it was awesome--until we turned around and started running into the wind back through the Museum Campus and back to the hotel.  Great run.  A little harder than usual because I didn't have anything to eat other than a couple of granola bars until 1 pm that day, which is tres unusual for me, but that's how the morning worked out.  Then we showered and walked all over the city for another 4 hours.  Awesomeness!  And my hips hurt so bad all the way home from running stairs against the wind that I am super excited to get into bed tonight!

So running in general is more challenging these days.  Any guesses as to why?

Oh--and I have a summons for jury duty next week, which could seriously wreck my running schedule (and the rest of my life.  So uncivic of me, but I am really really hoping that I get dismissed and I don't actually end up on the jury.  I can't even imagine how I would work that one out.)

Saturday, September 15, 2012

9/15

Still haven't missed a run, although this morning was close.  I've been having some stomach pain lately that has been making my life miserable, and when I got out of bed this morning I couldn't even stand up straight.  I went running anyway, and although I had to stop to walk a few times, I felt better once I was done (and then I came home and went back to bed for another two hours).  I think it probably didn't help that I finished running 9 miles at 8:45 last night, slept about five hours (lousy night's sleep with abdominal pain), and then ran another 4 this morning.

Monday:  4.5 miles (treadmill)

Tuesday: 8x400 (4.0 miles total, treadmill)

Wednesday: 3 miles (outside)

Friday: 9 miles (outside, LOTS OF HILLS)

Saturday: 4 miles (outside, some low rolling hills including woods trails)

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Good week

I feel really good about my runs this week.  I had a couple of rough ones early in the week, but the last 2 were great, and I got in 3 outdoor runs, which is what I've been trying to do, so that was also great.

4 on Monday, 4.5 on Tuesday (tempo run on the treadmill and it was sooooo long...my laptop finally died so I couldn't watch a movie and I didn't have a good book to read that would stay up well so I could read as I ran).  3 on Wednesday with my friend, who was so kind about the fact that I was feeling awful and I stopped a couple of times thinking I was going to throw up--it was honestly the worst I have ever felt on such a short run!  It was a pretty warm & humid day and I totally hadn't drunk enough, plus I was really tired--it was a bad combination.

8 last night with Neil--one of the very best runs we've ever done together.  We were running the toughest course that we can do around here (hills all the way with a big hill in the middle--one mile down, one mile back up again), and it started running before we were even a mile in.  HARD.  It stopped again after another mile or so, but around mile 3 it started raining and and at mile 4 it was DUMPING rain.  Like so insanely hard that the trail was completely awash, our feet were soaked, our clothes were plastered to us, and it was really hard to see!  It was so completely insane that we both just started laughing and we ended up singing at the top of our lungs (and making out about 6 miles in, which usually we're too sweaty to do when we're running, but when you're standing in torrential rain, it works!).  By the end I was starting to shiver and the rain was little pellets and I could feel it puddling in my collarbones (my skin was so red and abraded afterwards) so I was glad we were only running 8.

Ran half of the course (4 miles, starting at the big mile uphill) by myself tonight, running home from a ward potluck at a park.  Really fun run and I spent most of it thinking how grateful I am for my body.  I'm not as fast as I was a couple of years ago, and who knows if I will be again, since my knee is still not totally stable and pain-free, but I think that year of pain and injury has taught me to just appreciate running for the sheer love of running, and not being (quite) as obsessed about my pace and splits.

M 4, T 4.5, W 3, F 8, S 4, 23.5 for the week

Saturday, September 1, 2012

Boiled eggs are the worst pre-run food ever

4 miles Monday, 3.5 miles Tuesday (speedwork 7x400 sprints), 3 miles easy Wednesday, rest Thursday, 8 miles Friday, 3 miles Saturday

I've felt kind of cruddy this week, but I did all my runs!  Some were good and some not so good...lots of them I was pretty dizzy and nauseated.  Yesterday's 8-miler was an endurance test--it was just under 90 degrees (at 7 pm) and insanely humid (thunderstorms on their way).  I ran 3.5 miles to meet a friend, ran 3 miles with her, and ran 1.5 miles home by myself.  I'm so glad that I was meeting her halfway because it would have been really hard to run that all by myself--the first 3.5 I was motivating myself by trying to catch up with other runners (and felt inordinate satisfaction when passing them!).

3 miles tonight were so revitalizing--I felt SO incredibly sick all day.  I took a nap this afternoon and then spent about an hour and a half lying on my bed while everyone else was eating dinner, which I felt too yucky to eat (I got almost done making it and then I just couldn't handle it anymore, so I ended up boiling myself two eggs and lying down to eat them).  When I finally got up Neil had the kids almost in bed, and I got dressed and went out to run hoping that would make me at least feel better mentally if not physically.  The eggs started to come back up about 2 minutes into the run, but I hung in there, and ran out to what used to be my favorite route and is now a construction zone.  I ran through the muddy mucky mess of road-in-progress and up the hill and it was the best part of my day--just being alone out there with NO cars and no people and nothing (not even any construction equipment--just a deserted sweep of dirt road) but geese honking and swimming in a nearby flood zone.  When I turned around I was so sad to go back to civilization!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

8/25

I've done all my other runs this week; they just haven't made it on here.

So 3.5 miles on Monday, 4 miles Tuesday, 3 miles on Wednesday (which oddly enough felt harder than either of the shorter runs, because I'd pushed those really hard and I was trashed on Wednesday, plus I got up about 5:30 to go run).  Another 3 miles yesterday, and then 7 today.

And whew!  Today's run was a first in that it is the first time I have ever ever ever run in public wearing just a sports bra.  We ran the first 3 miles and I was dying, so when we got to the woods I just carried my shirt for the rest of the run.  Since it was right around 90 degrees at 6 pm and I was starting to get dizzy, I think it made a huge difference in being able to finish comfortably.  I felt SO much better afterwards.

So 7 good miles through heat and hills...much slower than we'd normally go, but since it was the end of the day and we'd done 3 hours of yard work that morning (I mowed the lawn in that awful heat and then spent forever weeding the garden!) I was pretty happy with it.  Stopped 3 times for water.

20.5 miles for the week; knee is a little twinge-inducing but overall pretty good.

Monday, August 20, 2012

8/20

Really relaxing run with my friend Doreen on Saturday morning; there was mist everywhere and it was beautiful and cool.  Came home and biked (up INSANE hills!) for a couple of hours with the family (which means toting kids on my bike) and then mowed the lawn; by the end I was glad that I'd only run 3 miles that morning so I had energy for the rest of the day.

3.5 miles today on the treadmill, kept the resistance at 1 to mimic some of the wind resistance outside; 8:34/average pace, topping out at 8:00/mile and running a tempo run.  It still feels really weird to be running such short runs, but it is great to focus on building up speed again (finally! My 3.5 is back under 30 minutes), and it's nice to be running 5 days a week.  I'm excited to hit a couple of weeks down the road when I'm running 5-milers on my regular days and 10 on my long days.  (Especially excited to start running with Neil, who has not run a step since we ran today on my birthday, almost a month ago, and it was probably 3 months before that.  He keeps insisting that he wants to run the half-marathon with me, but he isn't doing any running, so we'll see.  The fact that he's 11 inches taller does give him an unfair advantage on training for pace, but I am secretly hoping that I show him up when we run together this weekend.  I love it when I have to slow down so he can keep up. How's that for a nice wife?)

My knee is still feeling decent--it grates occasionally, but my hip on the opposite side is getting a little achy.  Come on, body!

Thursday, August 16, 2012

8/16

Today was supposed to be a rest day but I ran six miles (makes sense, right?)  I opted to run tonight because I'm hoping to go hiking Saturday, and I figured that I would have more free time tonight than I would tomorrow.

Pretty tired, so I didn't push incredibly hard.  Ran at a level 1 resistance and threw in some hills of 2, 3, and 5 resistance.  Stopped at 2.2 and 4.7 miles for water.

Six miles; right around 9/mile...not great, but not bad considering that it was a treadmill run at the very end of a day where I was so tired I fell asleep reading to the kids...multiple times!

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

8/15

So far, so good on the half training, although my knee has been bothering me again lately.  Not excited about that...I think I may have strained it this past weekend (ran 6 miles and didn't roll it afterward).  Hopefully it will get better soon--I'm excited to have a rest day tomorrow!

Not sure on pace for today, since I was running outside with a friend.  6x400 yesterday; the first couple were a little slow since I stopped after both of the first 2 (helping Isaac with some things) but then the next 4 were much better.  Pace for the whole set was 8:45; pace for the last mile was 8:09.  Getting there!

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

8/1

I started half-marathon training earlier this week.  It's good to be back on a rigorous daily schedule like that.  Unfortunately, this also means that I backed out of running with my friend, partially because of Neil's schedule (he likes to go into work really early), partially because I was really struggling with the post-run crash hitting mid-morning, and partially because I was enjoying easy runs and conversations too much, and I wasn't pushing myself hard enough.  Today I ran hills on the treadmill-- as hard and steep as I could stand--until just before I started throwing up and I felt so much more satisfied with myself than the gentle runs where I was having fun talking with my friend.  And then I toed off my shoes and realized that my mind is very messed up sometimes.  Maybe it's just the fever talking (oh yeah, i'm really sick right now, which is another awesome reason to go run the crap out of some hills).  I've realized over the past year how crazy it was to find someone with my exact same schedule who ran the exact same pace and was training for the exact same run...I really want to find someone who is training for a half so that we can trade babysitting but so far, I don't know anyone else who is running that much.

Another thing--I have been totally feeling like crap lately, mentally and physically.  So in an effort to dig myself out of my little black pit of despair where I've been living for the last four or five months, I'm trying to be much more disciplined about what I eat.  And one of the ways I want to do this is by writing down everything I eat.  I'm hoping that the combination of race training and watching food intake will work some magic (I'm also downing a lot of interesting vitamin combinations).  And tracking my sleep and exercise.

Breakfast: apricot, homemade whole-wheat toast with honey, strawberry yogurt, pint of water
Lunch:  four carrots, quinoa bowl (with peppers, cannelloni beans, red onion), and green smoothie (spinach, blueberries, carrots, OJ), pint of water
Snack: another pint of water and 1.5 apricots (Luke dove on the second half)
Dinner: roasted tomato soup, one homemade whole-wheat roll, and 3 helpings of quinoa salad (quinoa with spinach, lettuce, craisins, apples, and cashews).  and another pint of water.

looking at this I think I need a lot more protein.  and maybe I should measure portion sizes.  that sounds exhausting. 
Sleep: 5.5 hours
Run: 3 miles of really crappy hills, around 9:05/mile (so slow, so slow, but I am so not where I need to be and I seriously feel like death today).  Ran 5x400 yesterday, around 8:50/mile or so and another 3 on Monday.  Kind of nice having a break from my regular 5 milers and I'm trying to run harder and work in more hills while my mileage is still so low.  I always love that first week of training. 

Friday, July 20, 2012

7/20

And another month down...knee is much better these days, it seems (I have been having some pain in the opposing hip that I assume is derived from shifting things around with my knee).

I've been running in the mornings with a friend for the past couple weeks.  I have to say that while I've loved being done with my run by 7 am, I'm not thrilled by my performance.  I feel so much slower and weaker than I did a couple of years ago.  But at least I'm running, and it's good to be back on the roads and have the wind resistance (I'm running 1.5 miles to meet her, 2 miles with her, and then the 1.5 miles home).

I still haven't decided if I'm running a half this fall or not...when I'm not running, I want to do it, but at 5:45 am when I'm staring down another bleary-eyed five miles in the insane humidity, it doesn't sound so great.

Monday, June 25, 2012

6/25

Wow--have I really not written in 3 weeks?  Quick update:

  1. Trainer was AMAZING.  She released my IT bands (which was incredibly painful!) and then showed me a handful of exercises to do to combat the problems that are causing the knee pain (wound-up IT bands, shortened obliques on one side from carrying kids around on my hip, and a misfiring glute muscle that never started pulling its weight post-pregnancy and so my quads have overdeveloped to compensate, plus a shortened calf muscle in one leg due to the oblique/quad issues).  I must say it was totally fascinating listening to her put together the complete picture of how one thing has led to another.
  2. Ran the night after meeting with the trainer with NO brace, over a hard and hilly 4.5 miles around my parents' home--totally pain-free during and after the run.  This is big stuff.
  3. Continued running with similar results--it's been a little more achy than after the first run (which I expected) but it's gotten progressively better each time.  
  4. Right now I'm running about 3 miles, then stopping and rolling my IT bands, then running another couple of miles.  This seems to work really well (it gets a little achy around that 3rd mile and then is fine after the foam roller).  NO PAIN at all post-run.
  5. Not a ton of miles or very fast right now; just trying to build up slowly and steadily.  I had some pain a couple weeks ago when I was walking all over Chicago, but last weekend I ran 3 5-milers pain-free and then did another day in Chicago without my knee bothering me at all!  Hurray!
  6. Starting to build in some 8:34/mile pickups (every 3-4 minutes for 1-2 minutes).  I definitely need to build back up before I'm running that for the whole run, but things are feeling so much better!!!

Monday, June 4, 2012

6/4

Another week, another update.  Last week I decided to try running--just a bit--and I ran a leisurely three miles.  No pain the next day, which I spent driving to Tennessee.  The day after that I spent hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains.  I felt fine for most of the day and then my knee started hurting the last mile (of four or five--hiking up a crazy steep broken trail in totally trashed old running shoes, packing Luke on my back).  The next day after that I spent walking around Dollywood (amusement park) and no issues there.  And then the next day I didn't do any hiking (go-karts, shopping, and the longest nap ever when I totally crashed--so crashed that I fell asleep on a hard wooden porch swing in a freezing-cold breeze) and the day after that we drove home.

So I ran tonight--it had been a good week since my last run.  My knee gave a few twinges but it didn't ache like it did a couple of weeks ago--hopefully the rest is helping?  Started off slow (10/mile) and worked up to 8:34/mile.  3 miles at an average pace of 9:20, stopped for water, and then finished the last mile at an average pace of 8:37/mile, then walked another third of a mile to cool down. I really miss running and I SO hope that the trainer I'm seeing on Friday can help me figure out how to fix this!
Off to ice...(so, so, so sick of icing).

Friday, May 25, 2012

5/25

Just a quick update--my knee was mind-blowingly painful after Monday's run, so on Tuesday I made an appointment with a new trainer who told me not to run until I see her (she's in Michigan, so it's a couple of weeks away, but I saw her when I was pregnant and really want to work with someone who actually trains runners/women who have had babies, as opposed to the crappy trainers at Purdue who are like, who has babies? Who runs?).  Anyway.

So I took Tuesday off because I was seriously hobbling all day.  It was awful.  I had to have a hot compress to sleep because the ice didn't do a thing.

Wednesday I biked 7 miles, then came home and mowed the lawn.

Thursday I biked 4 miles but pulling 3 of the kids that time, over a hilly route against the wind.  I was taking the kids to their friend's house and was planning to bike over to pick them up, but I was so exhausted! (Plus my backside hurt because I haven't biked in forever).

Today I biked just under 7 miles, again with 3 of the kids, to the playground for a picnic.  I must say that while I know biking isn't anywhere near the workout that running is, it's sure nice to fit it in as part of my day and have it as time with the kids...

Monday, May 21, 2012

Changing pace

I've still been running (hit a nice 5 tonight that felt pretty darn great) but I haven't been blogging about it because I've found that I've been stressed about reporting on the runs.  I know it sounds ridiculous, but there it is.  My knee has been giving me a ton of pain lately (I only ran twice last week because it was hurting so much and I knew I needed to rest it before spending the weekend hiking).  I've decided that I am going to start doing my PT exercises again, only run at night when I have a ton of time to stretch and ice (as opposed to morning/mid-afternoon frantic racing-the-clock runs), and not blog about it so that if I feel like my knee needs to go 10 seconds a mile slower, I can do it without feeling the pressure of having to blog that time and thereby refusing to run it.

There's an inaugural half-marathon going right by my house this fall.  I'd like to run it, but my first priority right now is running pain-free.  

Thursday, May 10, 2012

5/9

Another five on Saturday, nothing Monday (I used my running time to mow the lawn), 5 yesterday around 8:50 pace or so.  I woke up this morning and my knee was aching from yesterday's run--it hurt all day today.  I tried to run really slowly tonight--started off slow, warmed up with a half-mile of jogging, stretched, and put on my brace.  Ran to 2 miles and stopped again to stretch--hurting so bad.  Ran to 3.1 and stopped in tears; did some more stretching and a couple of PT exercises. Neil looked at my brace and told me to hike it up--it was a good 3/4 of an inch too low.  Ran another .9 miles to finish out the four and it seemed to be feeling better, although I don't know if it was the rest/stretching or the brace adjustment (I'm really hoping for that last one).

I hate hate hate this.  Not being able to run the way I want to is seriously just sinking me into this black pit of despair--my outlet; my thing that keeps me going and the thing that I can push myself and be proud of my achievements--it's become the thing I'm worst at and that causes me physical pain throughout the day.  Argh.  Can't even express how awful I've been feeling lately about running.  And now it's 11 pm and I still have to ice it and shower.  My life feels like it's rocketing out of control these days and it's driving me crazy that the ONE THING that used to give me some measure of control and allow me to metabolize all the stress has turned into this nightmare (and Neil is working so much that the only way I can exercise is via the treadmill, so it knocks out biking, swimming, aerobics, etc.).

Thursday, May 3, 2012

5 on Tuesday around 8:45 or so?  Yoga yesterday, and then a regular run today--my knee was THROBBING just a mile or so in.  Like, insane pain.  I stopped at 2 miles and tried to sort of shake it out, then started again and I was dying.  Then Juliet came in with my new shoes--yay!  So I laced them up and started running--my knee felt better, but something with the brand-new cushioning made me feel like the bottom of my feet were on fire.  Really weird--I ran a mile and then stopped and re-laced them and ran another mile and it was better, but not much.  So I decided to take the time that I would normally spend on the last mile and just stretch and ice.  Sigh. 

Monday, April 30, 2012

4/30

I was hoping to fit another run in last week, but I had to perform in our ward dinner theater Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, plus all the end-of-semester grading on Saturday.  Craziness.

Started off really slow today because I was exhausted and I had terrible cramps.  Stopped at 3.5 for water; finished out the 5.  Didn't go faster than 8:34/mile, but I'd started so slow for so long (around 10/mile for the first mile) that my average pace was only 9/mile.  I'm seriously debating whether it's worth continuing to blog this until my knee gets better and I feel like I can push harder.  I feel like running is really taking a backseat right now...I'm trying not to run during the afternoons so that I can either spend that time with my children or doing other things that would otherwise take time from my children, so by the time I finally get around to running I am drained.  I need to just focus on maintaining and not worry about getting faster or farther, I think, because right now my family needs my time more than I need to be setting PRs.  (Like my little pep talk here?)

I did order new shoes tonight--I'm really hoping that helps.  My feet are starting to ache.  And I didn't wear my brace tonight because I was too tired to deal with it...we'll see how that plays out tomorrow.

Thursday, April 26, 2012

4/26

Took it slower today because my knee has been bothering me, even though I did yoga yesterday instead of running.

Stopped at 1.7 miles to put laundry in the dryer and at 3.6 miles to try to get Luke to go back to sleep (Jules and Isaac are at a playdate, so I decided to run this morning during Luke's morning nap, which is almost always a reliable 1.5 hours.  HAH!  Try 40 minutes when I wanted to run).

5 miles; 9:02/mile

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

the last week

Last week wasn't a great one for running; I was sick and the kids were sick, which meant there wasn't much spare time.  I ran 3 on Wednesday and 3 on Friday, and that was all I squeezed in before poor miserable Lukey would wake up inconsolable (speak of the devil!  10:36 pm and he just started crying--last night he was crying from 10-midnight and then up again at 6:30).  And as I mentioned, I was sick and a total wreck.  I spent a lot more time crying last week than running.

5 miles yesterday; stopped at 3 for water and then at 4 to get Luke--he sat on my bed while I ran the last mile. Average pace for that run was 8:41.

Another 5 today--SO exhausted.  Started running really late after a long day with sick kids (and I'm still coughing a lot, which seems to be exacerbated by running.  I really hope this goes away soon, since when I was coughing a ton last week it was pulling on the scar from my hernia surgery.  Not fun at all).  Stopped at 2 miles and at 3.6 miles for water and just trying to give myself a pep talk to keep going--my knee was aching and my back was aching on the opposite side--my legs felt like lead.  So, so, so tired!  8:50/avg pace today.

Monday, April 16, 2012

4/16

This is the first time in a long time that I feel like running failed me--I had a pretty dismal day and went out for an evening run hoping that it would clear my head.  The whole time I felt like I was running through this fog of fatigue and achiness (I think I'm coming down with something; I've taken naps 3 out of the last 4 days and I usually take a nap maybe once every other month).  My leg muscles started feeling heavy and knotted just a couple of miles in, and I usually NEVER get that.  Came home and everything was still just waiting for me and the endorphins didn't help a bit.  I'm going to take a shower, crawl into bed, and call it a day.

5.11 miles through the woods and over the hills (against wind)

Saturday, April 14, 2012

4/14

Early morning run today over the roads, bike trails, and through the woods.  Couldn't have been more beautiful, as evidenced by the flocks of runners even though it was still really early!  Cut it a little shorter than I would have otherwise since we have good friends visiting from out of state and I wanted to get home quickly.

4.71 miles (dang!  I just missed my 5 mark, probably because I didn't detour to the water fountain...)

Thursday, April 12, 2012

4/12

My run today felt much stronger--I always feel better the faster I go.  And I have finally figured out how to balance a book or magazine so I can read while I run rather than watching a movie/listening to music/staring at the wall.  Today I read the 2008 leadership broadcast booklet on strengthening home & family and I felt so inspired!!  I have truly missed reading the Ensign  & talks from General Conference while I run and I am so excited that I've finally worked it so I can balance a magazine.

Stopped at 4.1 for water then finished out the 5.

5 miles; 8:42/mile

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

4/10

I think I'm just getting lazy--I don't have anything to push for right now (and starting a run at 10 pm is not the best of ideas anyway).  Oh well.  At least I ran.

3.6 miles, then stopped to adjust my knee brace, went in to the computer to double-check how fast I needed to go to hit 8:27 pace, got side-tracked for fifteen minutes by the wiles of the internet, started running again and felt lousy (go figure since I had totally cooled down), stopped at 4 miles to go to bed, then realized I was being kind of lame and finished out the 5 miles.

5 miles, about 8:58/mile--started out really slow (10:00/mile--seems to go easier on my knee if I start that slow and gradually pick it up for the first mile and then run pretty steadily after that).  Last mile right around 8:30.

Monday, April 9, 2012

catching up

5 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday, 4.5 on Saturday (really wonderful run with Neil through the woods, which made me realize I love running when I am outside and not stressing about my pace, as opposed to running inside on the treadmill listening for kids.  That run was everything that I love about running, and my runs lately have been miserable.  I have GOT to find a new running partner).

Another 5 today just under 9/mile.

Monday, April 2, 2012

4/2

I'm sure that there are days where I have felt less like running, but today was right up there.  On the bright side, Luke finally is on antibiotics, so maybe I will actually get to sleep tonight.

5 miles; 9:04/mile (I have discovered that it's much easier to make myself run when I feel horrible if I just go really slowly when I start out and gradually work up to a respectable speed.  My average pace isn't great, but...at least I ran.  I am so not happy with my level of fitness/endurance/whatnot right now...I keep telling myself that this too shall pass and at some point my knee will heal, Neil will be working less, the children will be on different (better, please, make them be better!!!) schedules and I will have time, energy, and strength to run the way I wish I was running).

Also...it probably would have helped if I'd eaten an actual meal today.

Saturday, March 31, 2012

3/30 & 3/31

4 yesterday; 5 today (stopped at 1 mile and 3 miles to check on kids, who were still in the wandering-out-of-their-rooms stage of going to bed).  Around 9/mile for each, maybe a little less.  Really tired both days; the kids are on day 9 of stomach flu.

My knee is still hurting, even with the brace, but I quit (at least for now) going to physical therapy--it wasn't doing anything but racking up bills and taking a TON of time.  Ho-hum.

Monday, March 26, 2012

3/26

Stopped at 1.8 to answer the phone (pediatrician) and then to check on miserable little Isaac; I turned a fan so it was blowing on him and his eyes rolled up in his head and he fell asleep.  Poor baby!  Stopped at 4.1 to start another story for Jooj.

5 miles; 8:48/mile

Saturday, March 24, 2012

3/24

Three of my kids are sick right now (fevers and occasional vomiting, so awesome).  I don't know if I have what they have or if my body is just reacting to a super stressful week (all that grading plus the sick kids) and the fact that I stayed up until 1:30 am last night reading The Hunger Games again and then got up at 6 am to nurse my miserable little baby (fortunately he went back to sleep for another hour after that).

Anyway, I seriously felt horrible all day, but I was hoping that running would do the trick.  I told myself to just start out slow (at 10:00/mile) and work up, although I never went faster than 8:49/mile, and would take it back down to 9:13/mile every so often when I started feeling dizzy again.

4.1 miles; stopped for water and to check on my feverish babies (Neil was at the lab) and then ran until I hit 6; my time was right around 9:00/mile for the whole thing. Slow, but satisfying, and I feel a lot better now.  Running as the miracle cure!  I need to just focus on miles and not worry about pace right now, I think, but that is really hard to do.

Knee a little uncomfortable at the beginning and then again when I stopped for water; stretched for a LONG time afterwards and I'm going for ice now.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

3/22

Another late and very low-energy run.  I will be glad when I'm done grading these projects--they are eating up my time and my patience is at an all-time low.  So tired tonight that I almost fell asleep stretching before my run.

4 miles, stopped at 3 for water, somewhere under 9:00/mile.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

3/19 & 3/20

4 miles yesterday (one water stop) at 8:49 pace; another 4 miles today (two stops--one after just one minute to restart my laptop and another at 2.8 for water) at 8:55.  Totally exhausted today--it was REALLY hard to run (it's 10:30 and I've graded 16 midterm projects in the last two days, plus everything else I usually have going on).  I still have to do my PT exercises, put away laundry, prep for tomorrow, mop the kitchen, ice, shower, etc. I am totally worn out.

I think I am going to try going back to my normal 5 miles 4 times a week.  I really feel like my knee needs the extra rest day; it's aching right now.  And let's face it--there's no way my knee will be in half-marathon shape in another two months, so I think right now I just need to focus on 20 miles at a steady pace until I feel good there and not push for more or faster times.  Meh.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

3/16 & 3/17

Easy three yesterday; it was supposed to be 4 but Luke woke up at 2.5 and was practically in hysterics by the time I got to three...and I figured I should go easy on my knee since I was planning a longer run for today.  Stopped at 1.5 to start Jooj's story; just under 9:00/mile.

Ran along the river tonight with Neil on a trail that neither of us had run before; it was a mix of asphalt, brick, concrete, sand, dirt, mulch, mud, etc.  Fun to see and SO awesome to run with Neil--it was just a lovely night.  We took our time and paused to check out the cool murals painted underneath the bridges, the random cars submerged up to their steering wheels in sand (we were guessing from the style of the cars that there was a big flood in the 50s or 60s that washed them up against the riverbank), and a bunch of historical markers.  It was nice not to stress about my pace.  We even checked out the canal displays (at least I did while Neil went to the bathroom) at the Amtrak station and I learned that the Wabash-Erie canal used to flow right where I was standing!  

And best of all--both runs were PAIN FREE with my brace!!! (except at the very end when we started running again and I'd been standing around waiting for Neil).

3 miles yesterday and 6+ miles today

Thursday, March 15, 2012

3/14

PT yesterday & fitted for a knee brace--that thing is a beast.  It looks like a corset for your knee--there are all these reinforced bits and it goes from my lower thigh to my upper calf (I'm guessing it's at least 14 inches long?).  And it is less than comfortable (understatement of the year).  I can run in it, but I can't bend my knee enough to do a standing quad stretch--it is pretty restrictive. But if it helps...

Anyway, the PT verdict is that I need to just run slowly and focus on getting pain-free before I try to get faster.  I'm also wondering if I should not be running 3 days in a row...we'll see how the brace goes.  And she checked my hips yesterday and didn't find any discrepancies, so it sounds like that problem was just the mixed-up old shoe.

4 miles yesterday, stopped 2 minutes in to readjust the brace and then at 3 miles because I was dying for a drink.  So 8:52/mile with the treadmill slowdowns; 8:37 without.

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

3/13

6x400 today; worked up in pace (first one out was at 8:34 out and 9:05 back, the sixth was at 8:00 out and 8:34 back).  Knee pain, iced afterwards.

I am really struggling with my self-esteem right now about my pace and mileage.  I have PT again tomorrow and I feel like it's worthless; I'm going to ask for a brace.  I am so tired of my knee hurting all the time, even when I'm not running. And I feel like I'm not pushing myself because I'm worried about my knee; my run today was harder than I have been running but it wasn't anywhere near exhaustion.

3 miles; avg pace 8:30

Monday, March 12, 2012

3/12

Didn't run Saturday; we were in Chicago and my knee was aching so much that I was having to work hard to keep from limping.

Ran an easy 4 today just under 9:00/mile pace.

Friday, March 9, 2012

3/9

Knee hurting again; didn't push much today.

3 miles; 8:50/mile

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

3/7

Knee hurt during my entire run today; never debilitatingly so, but enough to be bothersome, so I didn't push too hard.

Ran 2.5, stopped for Isaac (getting snack, more books, etc.) and water, then finished up.

4 miles; 8:45/mile

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

3/6

30-minute tempo run today; started at 9:05/mile to warm up and worked up to 8:00/mile.  Hit the 3.5 mile mark at 29:30 so I stopped there.  I was definitely running harder than I have been lately--I think I've been kind of lazy.  Knee started hurting about halfway through--never very bad, but uncomfortable enough that it seemed a little swollen afterwards, so I iced it.

3.5 miles; 8:25/mile

Monday, March 5, 2012

3/5

Ran 3.1 and then stopped to get Jooj a new audiobook and to put my bread dough into pans, then finished up the run.  Another short one today--I always love the beginning of training!

4 miles; 8:51 (including speedup time)

Saturday, March 3, 2012

3/3

Ran 4 and then stopped to load a new audio book for the girls, ran another mile.

5 miles; 8:48 with speed-up time; 8:42 discounting that.  Pretty happy with this time today considering I downed Tylenol this morning before I bothered with eating breakfast; I wasn't really looking forward to running with that!

Friday, March 2, 2012

3/2

Felt like an idiot today when I was sorting out my running shoes (Luke loves to play with them and always drags them around the house to make a pile) and realized that the left shoe I've been using for the past few months is an ancient one.  Um...no wonder my knee has been hurting.  ARGH!!  So frustrated with myself!!!

2 miles; then stopped to get Luke, another mile, then stopped to give Luke my chapstick before he took a header off my bed in pursuit of it.

4 miles; just under 9/mile with all the stops (8:45 if I disregard the speeding-up time for the treadmill)

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

2/29

Full hour of physical therapy this morning, plus more exercises at home on my own, and then a run.  I'm tired.  And there's nothing quite like being asked by the crosscountry PT how many miles you're doing a week, and then asking her how many miles her team runs a week.  Let's just say the difference was an even 100.

4 miles, NO STOPS!!!  Yay!!!  Amazingly (since he was up all night coughing and sneezing) Luke stayed asleep.  Maybe I can even shower before he wakes up--that would be awesome.

4 miles; 8:40/mile

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

2/28

5x400 today; 8:34/out and 9:05/back for recovery.  Had to stop after the 3rd one for Luke.

2.5 miles total; iced afterwards because my knee was popping and grinding

Monday, February 27, 2012

day 1

On my calendar it says I should be starting half-marathon training today.  I don't think I'll be running one this spring, but I decided to go ahead and do the runs as if I were whenever I can.  So here goes.

Started running and stopped after 5 minutes to tighten the treadmill belt; ran another 2 miles and then got a drink, then finished out.  It felt weird to only plan to run 4 miles.  Kind of exciting!  Free time!

4 miles; 8:45/mile

Saturday, February 25, 2012

2/25

Didn't run yesterday because it was the first time all week that Neil was home in the evening and we were able to spend time together and as a family.  Ran today during quiet time, stopped at 3 miles to turn on the fan and get some water, then another 2.  Thought about running another one, but decided not to--fortunately, since both of the boys woke up right as I finished.

The more I think about it, the more it seems that this is not a year to be doing much long-distance training (perhaps my knee was a good way to make me slow down and realize this...).  Neil is trying to work every spare minute and I've got another baby and I'm working twice as much as I did the summer where I was able to run 2 half-marathons and a 10K.  This year needs a different focus, and I feel like right now I need to be putting my time somewhere else.  This is something I'm sad about, but...I think that's how it needs to be right now.

5 miles; 8:54/mile

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

2/22

This is so frustrating!  I just am not loving running these days.  I was planning to run yesterday and try to do some speedwork but my hip was hurting so much that it was painful to stand or walk, so I ended up soaking it out in a super hot bath instead.

I ran late tonight--I HATE running at night because I'm so exhausted, but I've been grading all the projects from both of my classes this week and so I'm short on time (grading during naptime rather than running because I dread grading so much that I try to get it out of the way first).  Anyway...

ran 4 miles, then stopped to switch laptops (I was watching Hulu on Neil's laptop because he ran first so I used his laptop while he showered, then stopped to switch to my [ancient] laptop when he was ready to work).  Ran another mile.

5 miles; just under 9:00/mile.  I hate how slow I'm getting.  Stupid knee.  Stupid treadmill breaking and being sick.  And STUPID PHYSICAL THERAPY that takes an HOUR every day and means I have that much less energy to run.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Run of crapitude

I think the only thing worse than talking yourself into running when you feel lousy is having that run interrupted over and over and over.  I had stress dreams all night about my patella grinding off the side of my knee and becoming completely detached and only held on by the skin of my leg...it was not a restful night, plus the pile of grading that I'm dreading conjured up its own set of stress dreams.

Ran 2 miles and then stopped to give Luke his pacifier and restart Juliet's story (Luke had been crying for awhile--I don't know how to make that kid sleep a decent interval!  So frustrating; it seems like no matter how soon I start running after he falls asleep he always wakes up). Ran another 1.1 miles and then brought furious Luke to hang out on my bed, ran another .9 miles and decided that the panicky fear and occasional leaps off the treadmill to rescue him from diving off my bed was not worth running another mile.  Grumpy grumpy grumpy about that.

Oh...and I'm starting to give up on racing this year.  Maybe the achiness in my knee will get better when I'm not sick, but right now it's pretty bad and it pops like mad and I honestly don't know how I would even run 10 miles on it this way.  Plus Neil is INSANELY busy and I'm worried that this is not the time for our family to work around long Saturday runs.  We'll see.  At this point, I would rather Neil tackle the prelims marathon than I conquer the real marathon.

4 miles; 9ish/mile (hard to time with all the stopping)

Saturday, February 18, 2012

2/18

Up very late last night (past 1 am) with grading and whatnot.  My parents were here the whole day and then I did more grading and then started running just before 10 pm.  So late! So tired!

Ran 1 minute and then had to stop to get the DVD I dropped; ran another 7 minutes and then I had to plug in my laptop, ran to 15 minutes and I had to stop to give Luke his pacifier.  You'd think that at 10 I would be able to run without fear of baby stops, but...apparently not.  Stretched, water, then ran to 3.3 and stopped again to stretch and drink, ran to 5, stretched (longer stretching time--about 4 minutes, since my knee was starting to feel weird) and then ran a final mile.

6 miles; 9:13/mile...really took it slow because my knee has been feeling weird the last couple of days.  I'm starting to feel gloomy about the prospect of running a half in the spring.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

2/16

I really needed the lift from running today but I didn't have much stamina/time...so I ran an easy 3 and got those much-needed endorphins.

3 miles; 8:53/mile

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

2/15

Physical therapy again this morning; I'm now at 9 sets of exercises, 3 sets of 30 reps per side, twice a day, which is a nice total of 3,240 different reps.  Because, you know, I have so much free time.  Argh!  It's a solid hour.

2.5 miles and stopped for water and to start a new story for Jules (storynory.com is awesome) and then finished out the 5.  Still sick and I feel slow and awful and like I will never again be running like I was a few months ago.  Very very depressing.

5 miles; 8:43/mile

Monday, February 13, 2012

craziness

I've been sick all weekend and so have the kids; tried running very very slowly today just to get it in.  I spent all day yesterday in bed and I wish I could have done the same today; it's progressed to the point where I now feel totally despondent and despairing about everything and incapable of doing normal tasks.  Hopefully the endorphins will help.

Stopped at 1.7 miles to help Jules get a snack and at 4 miles to get Luke up.

5 miles; somewhere between 9:13 and 9:05 mile

Saturday, February 11, 2012

2/11

No run today despite ample opportunity (Neil took the older kiddies to the school carnival this morning and I stayed home with napping Luke)...I feel like death.  I was totally planning to run and then I felt nauseated when I looked at the treadmill and I ended up just lying on the floor weakly doing my incredibly time-consuming PT exercises.  I still have plenty of time to run today but I'm posting this and admitting that I've already opted out so that I won't be tempted to push my sick body yet again.

Friday, February 10, 2012

2/8 & 2/10

Weird couple of days--our internet was out and everyone was sick.  Very isolating.

Ran on Wednesday and felt like I could manage 2-3 miles, tops.  As always, I felt better once I started going; stopped for water at the 5K mark and my pace up to that point was 8:33/mile.  Started running again and kept running until Neil told me I had to stop before I made myself sicker (and then I kept running until he came and stood next to the treadmill and said "Get. Off. Now.")

4.5 miles; 8:44/avg pace

This afternoon was a disjointed run--stopped after 1 minute to put my contacts in (I was hoping my glasses would do better because my eyes still don't feel great), then stopped at 2 miles to answer the phone and deal with the internet tech support guy, and then at 4.1 miles to get yelling Luke, and then finished out the 5.  The last few minutes were awful because I kept worrying that Luke was going to dive off the bed and so I would leap off the treadmill, rearrange Luke, and then jump back on (8-9 seconds each) and I just left the treadmill going so that it didn't take the dreaded 30-second startup time (I also got off at 2.6 miles to turn the fan on because I was dying).  So I ran an extra tenth of a mile to make up for the stopping.

5 miles; 8:50/mile...I could definitely tell I was sicker today.  Not much energy, dizzy, etc.

Monday, February 6, 2012

2/6

Still boring treadmill, but faster!  Once I get something figured out so I can read while I run instead of staring at the wall, we'll be back in business.

Stopped at 34 seconds because I realized I'd forgotten to stretch and majorly felt it; stopped at 3.5 miles for water and more stretching, then finished the 5.  Happily, despite the dual stops (and the subsequent entire minute it takes to get back up to speed!) my total time was back under 43 minutes!

5 miles; 8:34/mile

Saturday, February 4, 2012

2/4

So far the first two runs on this treadmill have not been great.  Hopefully it improves.  I think it is substantially more challenging to run on than others I've run on; Neil thinks the calibration for the mileage may be off (but at least the possible error is on the side of underestimating pace/mileage) and I'm wondering the same thing (the calories definitely are.  There's no way I'm burning 150+ calories a mile running with no incline).

And in all fairness to the treadmill, I'm feeling crummy since it's that time of the month, so that may be a lot of it.  And it's boring running without being able to read--even with my iPod I just stare at those ticking numbers willing them upwards.

Stopped at .2 miles when the treadmill randomly was on a program that dropped me down to .5 miles an hour (down from 7 mph, why?!) and restarted, then stopped again after .3 miles because I was dizzy (ended up with my ceiling fan and Isaac's fan and that helped) and then again at 10 minutes to take care of Isaac who was lying on the floor with wet pants yelling for someone to come take off his wet pants.  Then (finally) I was able to just run until I finished the 4 miles; stopped there because my knee was starting to feel wobbly and weird.  But on the bright side, this is the first back-to-back run I've been able to do since January 6/7.

4 miles; 8:53/mile

Friday, February 3, 2012

new treadmill

My new treadmill arrived yesterday and I did my first run this morning. So far I have mixed feelings.

Pros:  quieter and more powerful, fancier interface with more options.
Cons: takes longer to get up to speed (25ish seconds vs. the old one which was about 15), and it feels much more difficult to run on.  And the biggie:  no magazine rack or anything like that!  I almost always read while I run so this is hard for me (Neil is going to build something that will hopefully solve this).

Made the mistake of running this morning during Luke's supposedly "longer" nap.  I figured I could get in a quick run and have time to shower before he was up.  Haha!  He woke up less than a minute in.

Stopped at 1 minute to close the heating vent blowing hot air down onto the treadmill, at 2 minutes to give Luke his pacifier (hoping against hope), at 2 miles to change Luke's unpleasant diaper, and 3.3 miles to finally give in and get Luke up.  Kind of a frustrating run, although Isaac played very happily with his trains and marbles and books.  I think I need to get up before everyone and run then so that Neil can run at night, because running during the day always ends up being frustrating like this.

4 miles, under 9/mile--started out at 6.5 to warm up and ended at 7.2 mph, but all those stops really messed up my timing (it was like 35:50 or something, so I could probably subtract at least 2 minutes for treadmill speeding up time...)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

2/1

Here's to February being a better month running-wise!  Physical therapist again today; things are looking good.  My knee is no longer hurting when (and after) I run; now it's just uncomfortable (popping and feeling weird) which is way better.

Stopped at 3 miles to tie my shoes again and stretch (knee was feeling weird) and then ran the last 2.

5 miles; 8:58/mile (I should mention that I've been starting out slow every time and very gradually building up so that my muscles are good and warmed up).

Monday, January 30, 2012

1/30

Last of the month--this month definitely hasn't gone how I would have envisioned.  Oh well.

5 miles; no stretching stops (we'll see how that goes later...).  8:37/mile.

Now off to that wonderful-feeling ice massage.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

1/28

5 on the treadmill this morning; stopped to stretch at 2.5 and at 4.1 to fix my sock (it was starting to rub a blister), another ice massage post-run.

Knee discomfort yesterday after I ran the previous day, but it gradually went away throughout the day and was gone by night.

5 miles; 9ish/mile

Thursday, January 26, 2012

starting slow

Tried running again tonight--no pain, but some grinding, popping, and clicking post-run.  I think this is still an improvement.

As per the directions of the physical therapist, I ran on a treadmill, with no resistance, very slowly, and stopped to stretch after a couple of miles.  And I didn't run as far as I normally would, stretched a lot afterward, did a couple of inner quad strength machines, and then I iced my knee to the point of numbness when I got home.  It was extremely incredibly nice to run again.  The end.

4 miles; 9:11/mile

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

figuring it out

I spent a couple hours this morning figuring out what's going on with my knee; I saw a sports doctor and he diagnosed a problem with the tracking of my kneecap (incidentally, I should say that my left knee has been giving me problems for the last decade whenever there's a storm; in the last 6 months it's started hurting occasionally when I run and in the last month it's gotten worse, and then REALLY bad the last week).  So he sent me to a physical therapist, who worked with me for an hour and gave me a whole bunch of strengthening and stretching exercises to strengthen my inner quadriceps and to loosen the tension in my IT band.  And during the course of this, he also noted that my right hip is higher than my left, and my right arch is higher than my left, and attributed it to an ankle injury I had when I was 15 that put me in a cast & crutches for six weeks--it was crushed to the bone when I hit an underwater concrete barrier diving into a swimming pool.  It healed up after about four or five months, but I've been left with a huge lump of scar tissue on that ankle, which apparently changed the arch of my foot when it healed, and then (probably during pregnancy) gradually misaligned the right side of my pelvis.

Anyway, long story short, I now have an orthotic lift in my left shoe, which evens out my hips so they are both the same height.  And lots of exercises to do, and weekly physical therapy.  Supposedly after a couple of days of doing the exercises I can start running again a little bit, and then a little bit more, but only on the treadmill until my kneecap is stabilized again and it stops grinding and popping.  And I have to ice it after every single run--my last run was on Wednesday and it was still swollen today.  It was kind of crazy doing some of the exercises because I would start out with good form and then my kneecap would just--shift sideways--and I couldn't do anything about it.

I'm excited to get this under control and ditch this pain that has been bothering me off and on for years!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

1/23

oh look, it's 1:16 am and I'm online!  this is not going to be fun tomorrow.

I haven't run since Wednesday for two reasons:  first of all, we had a nasty snowstorm and there are cars going off the road ALL OVER THE PLACE (seriously, I drove one of my running routes to see if it was runnable, and let's just say that after the guy in front of me went careening across the road into a ditch, I decided I didn't want to get hit while running and I would stay inside).

And secondly, and majorly why I haven't gone looking for more treadmills--my left knee has really been acting up.  After Wednesday's run I spent most of Thursday and part of Friday with a heating pad on it.  It's been awful.  So I am taking a break and looking for a sports doctor.  Any local recommendations?  Anything you've done to alleviate knee pain?  I'm worried about totally blowing it out and having to take months off--this knee has bothered me off and on for the last ten or fifteen years (I always have to use a heating pad on it when the weather changes--it's a very effective barometer) but it's gotten worse over the last year.

Suggestions?  Please?

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

1/18

Six on the treadmill--loooong boring run.  Very so incredibly horribly boring.  Tried a different gym and I didn't like it at all. Dark, too crowded, and boring boring boring.  I actually prefer the last gym where I could watch myself running the entire time--it motivated me to work on my form, thanks to the big mirrors.  Also I was crazy tired (too many sick kids waking up at night).  So tired that I fell asleep on the floor while the kids were playing and Luke was crawling into my head over and over.

Stumbled a couple minutes in and accidentally turned off the treadmill, then stopped at 4 miles for water and then finished out the six.

6 miles, I think 8:43/mile?  Felt so slow today and I was playing games with the speed the whole time in an effort to distract myself.

Monday, January 16, 2012

1/16

No run Saturday; it was snowing and Neil left for the lab at 6:30 am and got home right at dinnertime--I was kind of bummed (okay a lot) but it was one of those days where family took precedence.  I was getting kind of stressed today about not running again (Neil had stomach flu last night and was home sick today and the kids were just crazy!  So hard keeping them quiet and away from him, plus Abigail had dance today and it was just kind of a long day what with the sick husband and the teething baby and the potty-training toddler and the two girls who are typically at school and were not today--plus Jooj has been throwing up intermittently this weekend as well.  Fun stuff).

Anyway...today was my last day of the week's free trial at the nearby gym where I've been going to get my runs in.  Neil recovered enough that I felt okay leaving once the kids were in bed, so I scampered over SO ready to just run and run and run (it was honestly all I could think about the last hour before bedtime, and I was thinking off and on all day how much I REALLY needed to run).

So I ran my five--I was hoping to do six but I got really bad stomach cramps during the last mile and given the health of everyone at home I thought I better not push it too much.  And I ran pretty slowly because I wanted to read the whole time--I've had no down time this weekend and I really needed to just spend some time reading and losing myself in another world.  It was so nice and exactly what I needed...although my knee is still bothering me.  I think I am going to meet with a personal trainer and see what I can work out for that.  Speaking of which, I was talking tonight with the trainer that I mentioned in my last post about working with him, and he was saying (Spanish accent here that I cannot replicate), "Yes, you, I have been watching you.  You are a real athlete."  Which was just about the best compliment ever.  I feel like I have SO far to go and sometimes it gets really depressing thinking about the kind of runner that I am not--but then to talk to someone tonight who was so incredibly complimentary about my endurance and lung capacity and cardio work--it was really nice.  And it made me realize how far I've come, even if I still have a looooong way to go.  

5 miles, 8:47/mile, level 1 resistance

Friday, January 13, 2012

1/13

Tired tonight and my knee keeps bothering me, even when I'm not running.  Not excited about that.  I didn't do much leg weight work afterwards tonight because I'm planning to run again tomorrow.  (I did do some of the thigh machines, ab machines, and arms--and I was sort of ridiculously excited that the personal trainer working with another guy near me complimented me on my workout when I left.  Then again, considering that most people were only spending 10 minutes on the cardio machines, my cardio was comparatively impressive, even if my post-run weight-lifting is quite pathetic compared to what it used to be).

Started out slower, ran a couple of hills, and gradually increased speed ending at 8:00/mile.

5 miles, 8:33/average pace, resistance level one + 10 minutes of level 2

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Anger run

Read my main blog to see why I was so mad because I don't even want to get into it again.

Anyway--decided to run a lot of hills tonight at a slow pace (8:57/mile).  Base resistance at 1 on the gym treadmill and then cranked it up to 2 for a few minutes, down to 1, up to 3, down to 1...you get the idea.  Went up to 6 and it started getting hard enough that I didn't push it higher.  I'm trying this hills-on-the-treadmill thing I read about in Runner's World since it was rainy and cold and dark tonight and I didn't feel safe outside.

So I ran 6 miles like that at the slow pace (trying to increase my aerobic capacity and burn fat rather than glycogen because that's what the books are telling me I need to do for marathon prep, yadda yadda) and it just wasn't fast enough for how angry and mad I was.

So after the 6 I cranked it up and finished out the 10K plus a bit and ended at 6:00 pace and that still wasn't fast enough but I was just so mad and shaking and angry that I thought I should stop.  Right now it's been two hours since I finished running and I am still furious--I lifted weights for an hour and I am still so mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6.22 miles, lots of hills, paced at 8:57 for first 6 and climbing to 6:00 to finish (it was surprisingly easy even after the 6...I think the slower pace has potential for some serious long runs)

Monday, January 9, 2012

Getting desperate

Okay, so I am REALLY hoping Neil can fix the treadmill soon--he's fixed two parts so far but he hasn't had time to diagnose the next problem (I have the sinking feeling I'm going to have to order something big and expensive soon...).

I knew it was going to be hard to get my runs in once the semester started; Neil's lab times have changed and today I shuttled Abigail over to school to meet briefly with a couple of her teachers, then took all 4 kids to the pediatrician and dentist, then everyone home for lunch/naps/etc., and then in my last remaining hour of daylight we went to the dance studio so Abigail could be measured for her recital costume.  Neil got home after dark and I was thinking about going running then, but felt nervous about it, so I ended up signing up for a week's trial membership at the gym nearest to our house. (News flash:  it is not good for me to run in a room full of strangers.  I get way too competitive.  I wanted to outrun every single person and never stop for water or whatnot. Or stop, period.)

So for dinner I ate this Waldorf wrap with tuna, cranberries, apples, spinach, and red onion.  It was really good so I ate another one.  And then I ate broccoli, peaches, plums, and cherries (I was ravenously hungry because all I ate for lunch was a couple spoonfuls of leftover pad Thai and I had a boiled egg and an English muffin for breakfast--anyway I was really hungry).  And then I went running half an hour later in an overheated gym where I wanted to outrun everyone else and I was staring at myself in a mirror and trying to go faster because I was watching myself.  I'm sure you can guess the result. Too much food (it's going to be a looong time before I can eat tuna again), too much heat, too much speed.

I ran the first 3.5 miles under 8:00/mile--around 7:50ish--cranking up to 7:30/mile because that's what the guy next to me was doing (note:  he was only running like 5 minutes at a time and then walking for ten, so why did I feel all competitive?)  And then I started feeling bad.  So I took a drink, but that didn't help, so I stopped the treadmill, took a drink, stretched, and started running again, and I started feeling that awful YOU ARE GOING TO THROW UP NOW after 2 minutes of running, so I pretty much sprinted for the bathroom.  I didn't actually throw up but I spent a long time hugging the toilet bowl in a public bathroom.  Awesome, right?

Anyway, I finished out my remaining 1.28 miles at a slower pace (9:05) and felt sheepish and humbled.

5 miles; pace varying between 7:30 and 9:14 like the repentant fool that I am.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

1/7

Ran a route I haven't run in years, which included the hill that I used to be afraid of when we first moved here (now it feels like...nothing). Pretty flat terrain compared to what I've run the rest of the week.

 Felt pretty slow when I was running but when I got back I figured that it was somewhere around a 8:51 pace (maybe I just expected it to be slow because I had awful stomach cramps this morning and I'm pretty drugged up...I guess that's one perk of running during pregnancy).

5.31 miles; 8:51/mile, for a total of 20.74 miles this week...more than I've run in awhile, esp. since the treadmill broke!  Getting to that increased mileage slooowly but (hopefully!) surely!

Friday, January 6, 2012

1/6

Easy 4 today after Neil got home for work; felt a little slow but I'm planning to run tomorrow so I wanted to save up--plus I was delayed at the start/finish (beginning by the dog that tried to attack me and the end by the muddy field that I had to walk across in order to dodge puddles--I think I'm swearing off that route until the ground freezes).

So I decided that rather than making a resolution to run more (although I'm hoping to do that too) I'm going to stop using running as an excuse to eat as much/whatever I want.  I've felt really pudgy the last couple of weeks--I should be a lot leaner than I am.  Right now I'm a size six and I weigh about eight pounds more than I did when I was only running 9 miles a week 3 years ago...some of that may be muscle, but I doubt all of it is.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

the last week or so

So my last post was on Christmas Eve, and here's the catching-up since then:

  • Didn't run Monday the 26th because we went over to Neil's brother's house early (for breakfast) and stayed there until naptime, then Neil and I went out that evening for our anniversary and there just wasn't time.
  • Didn't run Tuesday the 27th because I was starting to feel sick (Neil had a really horrific cold that he graciously shared with everyone else!) and I didn't want to push it before skiing the next day.
  • Spent Wednesday the 28th skiing all day.  It was awesome and amazing and I pulled a muscle in my left calf and ringed both ankles with really scary-looking blisters.  Still awesome.
  • Thursday the 29th--no run because I was having trouble walking comfortably with aforesaid pulled muscle, plus we spent the day packing up to leave Utah.  It was quite the undertaking and I was sick as a dog.
  • Friday the 30th--still sick enough that I was having trouble breathing, but hiked the 3-mile roundtrip route to Delicate Arch, which was lovely and enough of an exertion (uphill over slickrock) that I feel like it counts as exercise.  Spent the rest of the day in the car (until midnight).
  • Saturday the 31st--spent the rest of the day in the car and arrived in Missouri at Neil's other brother's house.
  • Sunday the 1st--Sunday, no run.
  • Monday the 2nd--ran 5.38 miles at 9:44 pace with my sister-in-law Juli.  This was one of the hardest runs I've ever done--the wind was INSANE and it seriously was pushing us backwards.  So glad that she was there to keep me going--we had a great talk (between gasping in the wind!)  Still sick.
  • Tuesday the 3rd--drove 8 hours home, no run.
  • Wednesday the 4th--went out and ran 6.05 miles (9:15 pace) around here.  I felt slow and plodding, but I just kept running and never stopped.  It's good to be home!