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).