12/25

I was planning to go running with a friend this morning, but she got tied up and so I just ran on the treadmill this afternoon. Did some mild hills, but mostly just focused on more speed than I've done lately. Stopped at 2.6 to attend to the baguettes I had going and then finished out the 5; overall pace was 8:28/mile. Felt great!

12/24

Christmas Eve! Only 2 miles today because I don't want to push it too much after 10 twelve hours previously. And I'm hoping to run harder tomorrow, so again, want to save up for that. In actuality, there's no way I could have gone longer today since hello, it's Christmas Eve and I'm the mom in charge of everything and there's a baby sitting on my bed waiting for me to stop so he can nurse.

12/23

Friday: 4
Saturday: 3

Today: scheduled for 5 and ended up running 10 because I had nothing better to do. All on the treadmill; 9:12/mile. Stopped for water a few times and thought about stopping but I really had nothing else to do other than just wait for Neil to get home...I had a big stack of interesting books but for some bizarre reason I felt more like running.

12/19

Tuesday: 3 miles easyish
Wednesday: 5 miles; quite a few hills
Thursday: 4 miles

I'm not running super fast these days since I'm missing out on rest days, but I'm trying to focus on mileage and hill work and making sure I'm in the 9-9:30ish range.

12/16: Long run

I figured that as long as I have "long runs" scheduled that are actually still pretty short I might as well do them on Monday nights...it seems like I have more time & energy then. Running outside is impossible right now since there is about 8 inches of snow and ice all over.

So I ran on the treadmill and just tried to do lots of hills to simulate being outside. I think it actually ended up being much hillier than any runs I normally do. I ran it more slowly than I usually do (per the advice on the Hal Higdon training--he said 30-90 seconds slower per mile for the long runs than what you're planning for the actual race. I figured slow and steady with hill work is better than speediness on the flat...I hope!)  Anyway, ran the 7 with no stops in 67 minutes, so about 9:34/mile. Kept it at level 1 incline for all the "flat" parts and then just slowly went up and down (2,3,4,5,4,3,2) every mile or so for a minute at each incline level.

12/14

3 today to bring me up to the weekly 26 that I've hit for the last 3 weeks.  I'm definitely feeling like I need to be following some kind of more specific training plan--I've been doing long runs earlier in the week and then never really taking a rest day and then by the end of the week I'm so tired! I'll have to rethink this. And I think I'm going to take the plunge and tentatively start marathon training...I found a good race in April for which I can wait to sign up until March 31.

12/13

4 yesterday, another 4 today. My hip was really painful this afternoon but was fine this evening...I was only planning to run a mile but I was waiting for Neil and I ended up having time to run 4. 8:20/mile for the 4 today; can't remember what it was yesterday but it was definitely slower.

12/11

Still going on my (sunday-less) streak.

Monday: 6 miles, under 9/mile
Tuesday: 4 miles...can't remember the time but I felt great
Wednesday: 5 miles...could have gone longer, but my hip hurt after my Monday run so I thought I better stop and use the extra time to walk (.8 mile cooldown) and stretch really well

12/7

Blast, I haven't blogged in awhile! I haven't felt like this has been a great week for running. The kids have been really sick and it's just seemed like I have NO time.

Wednesday: 3 miles (trying to take it easy)
Thursday: 3 miles--ended up not being able to run until really late and I just ran out of time
Friday: 4 miles--did speedwork and was planning to go longer but Nathan woke up and was going crazy
Saturday: 6 miles...never managed to go faster than 8:52/mile. My legs were just tired from daily running on too little sleep...the kids have been up half the night for the last few nights (so bad that on Thursday morning I just went back to bed once I had kids at school and down for naps)

12/3

6 on the treadmill tonight--tired and my knee was aching.  Had to stop at 2 miles to turn off the oven; stopped at 5 for water and decided to go another mile. 9:06/mile average pace (started out slow to warm up and gradually increased; last couple of miles were about 8:46)

12/2

Not sure how I feel about tonight's run--I wanted to do some hill training. Ran for 5 minutes to warm up, then ran 90 seconds at a level 6 incline, 90 seconds at zero, then 60 seconds at 7 incline, then 120 seconds at zero. I repeated that...four times? I think? cranking up the speed on each repeat until I was at 6.8 and then I was really getting pretty tired so I just ran for awhile.  At 3.6 I stopped for water, planning to run another 2-3 miles, but when I started up again Nathan started screaming--I ran to 4 miles and he was screaming even more, so I ended up having to nurse him and change him and rock him to sleep again.  And now it's 11:30, I'm totally cooled off (and freezing cold) and much as I would like to hop back on and run another couple of miles, I think the sensible thing to do is to go shower and go to bed.  Even if I feel guilty about doing so...despite the fact that I didn't really have a goal in mind tonight and 4 miles of hill workout is perfectly respectable, but still...

11/25-11/30

Maybe if I just do this once a week I'll be more consistent?  I'm going to try to do a holiday daily run (excepting Sundays) streak.

Monday: 5 miles
Tuesday: 5 miles
Wednesday: 3 miles
Thursday (Thanksgiving): 5K; 8:01/mile 24:52 chip time (I feel like this could have been faster, but Neil stopped to tie his shoe at the start and told me to go ahead and catch up, so I was running kind of slow the first mile to give him a chance to catch up, then I kept pulling my pace back the next 2 miles looking for him...he ended up crossing about 2.5 minutes after me, so I ran back and found him and then ran him in)

Friday: 5 miles--calf was really aching before the run
Saturday: 5 miles, some good hills--beautiful day in the woods! still a little achy on the calf so hopefully that will work out soon...I think it's probably the result of lots of standing while cooking on Wednesday/Thursday (I hosted THanksgiving this year)

Weekly mileage: 26 miles

catching up again

Not very good about posting lately...oh well.  Right now I'm trying to make sure I get at least 2 5-milers, a longer run, and another run.  Doesn't sound very organized, I know!

5 Monday, 5 on Tuesday, and then 8 tonight.  I've been pretty consistently around 8:42/mile for the 5-milers; I was at 8:48/mile tonight.  Ran the first 5.1, stopped for a drink and to roll my IT bands (aching knee again), then ran to the 7, stopped to walk, then realized I really had nothing better to do so I ran another mile.  I wasn't tired so I could have kept going for quite awhile after I finished the 8 but it's almost 11:30 so I should probably go to bed.

10/30

Wow, almost to the end of the month!

3 yesterday--didn't have much time so I just did some speedwork (8:46/mile).

Easy 5 today at 9:13/mile plus half a mile walking to cool down--had some tightness in the back of my thigh all through the run and an aching knee.

10/28

Didn't run Thursday because I was busy packing all day for a weekend trip.  Didn't run Friday because we left for Chicago early in the morning; I did hike a bit with the kids plus walked around IKEA for an hour...on Saturday we walked about 4 miles downtown (I mapped it) and I was planning to run that night but ohmygosh my right knee hurt SO much!  I had to wrap it in a heating pad (twice) before I could sleep.  The next day my right quad was really aching--I think that my posture when I was nursing Nathan in the sling & walking all day--plus pushing 3 kids in a stroller--totally did something to my legs.  Ouch ouch ouch--I was limping around.

Anyway, felt way better today so I ran 5 miles on the treadmill; 8:52/avg pace

What now?

Ran 3 on Monday to shake out the achiness, 4 on Tuesday, and 5 tonight.  I need something new to train for.

Race report

Another one down, and my fastest yet!  1:56:57 for 8:55/mile.

I don't really feel like writing up a report mile-by-mile, mostly because I'm tired and I want to go roll my IT bands and then lie down for awhile.  But I'll write a bit.

First of all, the weather was crappy--cold and raining.  I think it was around 40 when we started out, and I was wearing 2 wicking shirts and a windbreaker.  I was cold when I got up this morning and I never warmed up all day--I did briefly take off my windbreaker around mile 7 or so, but I put it back on after another mile or two.  My hands were so cold that it was really hard to get gels out--I couldn't close my hands around the packet.  The rain let up after 45 minutes or so, but then the wind started and it was worse!

I felt pretty good for the first few miles--both Megan and I had agreed that morning that we really didn't care about time; she'd had a really awful asthma attack on Thursday and I was still struggling with residual bronchial weakness from bronchitis last week.  Anyway, we lined up with the 10/mile group so that we wouldn't push too hard at the start.

We ran the first mile in around 8:47 or so and thought we maybe should slow down, but we were still feeling good so we figured we'd just stay in the zone.  The hill around 2.5 was harder than it usually is, and I think it was because my legs were so cold.  I was really excited at 3.5 to see Neil & the kids, but they didn't get there until after I'd gone by--such a bummer!  I was really sad about that for the next few miles as we ran downhill and over the bridge.  We hit another hill around 5.5 that was harder than I'd anticipated--my legs were so cold that my quads really had a hard time with the incline.  The mile-long hill around mile 8 was pure murder and I felt SO lousy!  I dropped back behind Megan and it took me probably the entire mile to catch up--I was really struggling to get my legs going, I was freezing cold, and I was starting to feel shaky and have goosebumps all over my whole body (usually a good indicator that I'm about to black out).  Argh.  I kept taking tons of gels and drinking water, and just sort of pushed through it.  I'm not going to lie, it was miserable and I REALLY wanted to stop.  I was just not having fun!  I felt this way until it flattened out and then I mostly just was miserable but sort of plodding along in my zone.  I started feeling better when we ran through campus and the wind was blocked by all the buildings--that made a huge difference!  Neil and the boys were at mile 10.5 (Luke totally had no idea what was going on and I don't think he recognized me when I high-fived him), and that gave me a little boost of happiness to go up the next lousy hill. Which was again really awful!  I honestly felt like I might be going faster if I was walking.  Then up another hill to mile 12, and I just stared at my feet and sang Cold Play's Viva La Vida in my head and ate another gel.  I caught up with Megan again and we talked briefly before I dropped back again (I was running about 15 feet behind her for the last 6 miles of the race!) and just powered through the last mile.  I tried to pick up the pace a bit, but mostly my legs were so cold that I felt like I couldn't do much more, and I was still struggling with pain in my ribcage from the bronchitis.

So it's interesting because the whole time I felt like I was going SO slow and it was miserable and cold and awful, and truthfully I really didn't enjoy it, but it was my fastest run yet!  And afterwards I felt fabulous and energetic and so proud of myself.  GO figure, right?  And since I was wearing my Garmin, i knew I was going faster, but I felt slow.

Belated update

Wow, it's been exactly a month since I posted...usually I finish my run and have to do something else immediately (sad how many times I've picked kids up from school in my sweaty workout clothes).  But the half-marathon is this Saturday!  Training has gone pretty well--I'm not as fast as I'd like to be, but this is the most I've ever run postpartum, so I'll take what I can get.

I had a setback last week--came down with bronchitis.  I was only able to do 6 of the 10 miles I'd planned for my long run, but I kept up with all the other runs for the rest of the week.

4 miles today; 9:02/mile

9/14

This has been a weird week for running.  On the one hand, it hasn't been great in terms of mileage; on the other, it's been good in terms of prioritizing my family.

So on Tuesday I did speedwork but not super hard because I was planning to run 9 miles Wednesday night.  I think I did 8 x400 and ran it at 8:34/9:13 for the out and back legs.  Wednesday night it was SO hot--like 95 and super humid--and when my running buddy called to say she'd be at least half an hour late (we were planning to meet at 8 pm) I suggested that we run on Friday when it was supposed to be cooler.  So I ended up just running an easy 3 that night as I was originally scheduled to do.

On Friday we were planning to do our long run, but as the day went on I just felt increasingly like I needed to cancel and spend some time with my family instead.  This week I taught a sewing class on Tuesday night, took Abs to piano Wednesday and then ran, and led book group Thursday night, so I hadn't seen much of either Neil or the kids.  Friday night is always our date night since he works Saturdays, plus I'd promised the kids I would take them to the library book sale Friday night.  So I cancelled my long run and was planning to run the 4 that night, but...it didn't happen.  I got home about 9 and Neil was SO excited to spend some time together that I didn't want to delay it any further.

Saturday I was hoping to do 9-10 to make up for everything else.  And I had to run it on the treadmill.  I was SO tired--Nathan & Luke had both been up about every hour during the night and then we took the kids to the zoo this morning.  My legs just felt dead.  I ended up running 7.2 (with stops) before I was just so tired that I was SO happy when Nathan woke up crying to eat!  I'd actually stopped right before he woke up and I was so glad to have the excuse to stop.  I'd done quite a lot of hills early in the run and I think that wore me out for the rest.

So.

4.5 Monday, 4 Tuesday, 3 Wed, 7.2 Friday.  So not what I'd planned, but it was what I needed to do this week.  Sometimes it's hard for me to remember that anything I'm running is great.  I've never tried to train for a half-marathon with a baby this young, plus I now have 5 kids, I'm working 20 hours a week, and I have a house to run and children to raise.

And to be perfectly honest, I realized that this weekend is the 10K I've run a couple times in the past and so if I had done that--as I usually would--then I would have run one mile less this week anyway.  So that's comforting.  :-)

9/9

Looks like I'm topping out at recording my runs twice a week.

I was really sore the day after my long run; fortunately it was an easy day so I ran 3 (treadmill) and felt lots better after the run.  Friday was a 40-minute tempo run (treadmill); ended up running 4.7 miles at either 8:15/mile or 8:28/mile...can't remember which.  Felt SO awful Saturday morning--like I had lead weights attached to my legs.  I ran one of the most boring routes around town but fortunately I ran it with a friend--we did 4.3 miles at about 8:50/mile (which includes stopping for water at a cooler set up for a race because I felt like I was going to die--I woke up late and hadn't drunk anything yet).

Felt pretty lousy today--I've had a killer headache for the last two days and I haven't gotten much sleep.  I felt so weak and slow running today.  It was definitely not a good run, and I've continued to feel crummy the rest of the day (nasty stomachache started too).  4.5 miles at about 9:05/mile on the treadmill.

9/3

9 miles tonight over the half-marathon course.  My current running buddy is fabulous in terms of really pushing me!  We're both pretty Type A about our running.  When we got back to the parking lot it was 8.9 miles on my Garmin and we both looked at each other and kept running right past our cars to finish out the 9.

Lots of hills, late in the day, and I had a pulled muscle in my leg, so I feel GREAT about the fact that we ran it all nonstop in 9/mile.  81 minutes total.

9/2

And here's to a great month of September running!  Fall is my favorite time of year.

4 on the treadmill today; 8:42/mile.  Also ran 3 on Friday & Saturday, but didn't log those.  I think I'll probably do my long run tomorrow since my in-laws are coming this weekend.

Long run

8.22 miles tonight on the half-marathon course--we cut off a few miles in the middle but ran the first half and the last half, which includes the long hill up to the finish.  We started around 8 PM and it was a looong day for me, but I ate a Gu halfway through and carried water, so I think that helped.  Anyway, I felt strong the whole run and we kept trying to slow it down--every time I checked the Garmin we were somewhere between 8 and 8:30/mile.  I accidentally turned it off halfway through so I'm not totally sure on our pace, but I think it was 9:00/mile or less.  My new running buddy is definitely helping me to go faster than I'd go on my own (keep in mind that this was her second run today and she'd just spent an hour playing tennis.  Wow!).

8.22 miles, hilly course, 9/mile

8/27

Speedwork today, 7x400.  Ran at 8/mile for the sprints and 10/mile for the first 2 recoveries and then 9:13/mile for the other 5.  Stopped after the 4th to give Nathan his paci and grabbed some water.

Overall pace averaged out to 8:36/mile; pace for the second half was 8:25/mile.

I'm planning to do my long run tomorrow because my running buddy has a race on Saturday--hopefully my legs won't be too tired!

8/26

Ran home from the kids' soccer game on Tuesday and it was really hot--definitely the most intense run I've had this summer.  I think it ended up being around 4 miles.  Ran my 3 on Wednesday and then ran 7 on the treadmill Friday.  Went to the beach Saturday and left early and got home way late so I didn't get a run in.

4 on the treadmill today; 8:55/mile.

8/19

Blast, I'm totally forgetting to log the runs!  But I'm doing them.  3 on Wednesday, yoga Thurs, 3 on Friday, 6.2 on Saturday.  I think I was about 8:45/mile on Friday and Saturday was around 9:20ish--I know we finished at 7:12/mile.

Treadmill today; I'm trying to do lots of hills on the Monday treadmill runs.  It would be nice to get outside for these runs but Neil leaves early for work and then goes back to work as soon as the kids are asleep, and our evenings are packed...so I'm just doing a harder treadmill workout.  (And it's SO hard timing it with a nursing baby who usually keeps me up until 2 am.)

Anyway, started out at 9:13/mile on incline 1 and did a 4-minute warmup, then went to incline 2 for a minute, then back to 1 and 9:05/mile for 4 minutes, then up to incline 2 for the next minute, then incline 3 for a minute, then incline 2 for...5 minutes maybe? then incline 5 for 1 min, incline 4 for 1 min, and then incline 3 for a really long time--lost track at this point of the minutes--then incline 2, and then I had a couple of minutes left so I ran it at incline 1 to finish it out.  And i was bumping speed up all along too--I think I finished at 8:49, but I'm not really sure.  I had to stop at 2.2 miles to cut up an apple for Isaac, so that slowed me down mid-run getting back up to speed again.

3.5 miles; 9:03/mile

8/13

Speedwork today--6 x 400.  Ran the first set at 6.8/6.5, then 6.9/6.5, 7/6.5, 7.1/6.5, 7.2/6.6, then 7.5/7

Average pace was 8:46; 26:20 for the 3 miles

8/12

Hmm, apparently I forgot to update a few runs...I did yoga on Thursday for my rest day, ran 3 miles on the treadmill Friday, and ran a hard five outside on Saturday.  In hindsight, I think I was sick or something--I came home and fell asleep for 2 hours, then took another 2-hour nap a few hours later--I was dizzy and shaking and all my joints hurt.  No fun.

Anyway, today was 3.5 on the treadmill--a little slower at 9:22/mile.  Stopped at 2.5 to adjust Nathan in his swing (he was madly stuffing his blankets in his mouth), then at 3 because the band-aid had come off my nasty blister and it was hurting like mad, then at 3.2 to just take my shoes off and run barefoot, then at 3.4 to put a sock back on because I'd stepped on a screw a few days ago and apparently bruised the bottom of my foot enough that it was hurting to run barefoot.  Good times.

8/7

Easy run scheduled for today--I was hoping to get out early this morning, but Nathan's sleep (or lack thereof) last night made that, um, not happen.  So I ran on the treadmill and threw in hills to try to compensate.  Ran the first half at incline 1 and then varied the next half between inclines 2 and 3.  Deliberately went slower since I'm really not used to running 3 days in a row right now!  Can't wait to get back to where I was.

3 miles; 9:33/mile

8/6

Speedwork today with a 30-minute tempo run.  I ended up running 31:47 to finish out the 3.5 miles.  Ran the whole thing on incline level 1 but didn't add any more hills--sad to say, I'm pushing myself on pace right now!  Sad to think that 18 months ago I could do a 6:59 mile and right now 8:34 feels pretty fast.

Anyway, started out at 10/mile and cranked it up every 2 minutes until I hit the top pace of 8:34, then worked back down to end at 8:57/mile.

3.5 miles; avg pace 9:04/mile

Logging it again

So apparently I haven't been very good at logging my runs lately!  But I'm starting race training again, so I'm back to writing things down rather than just running for fun.

I'm not sure if I'll actually be able to run a half-marathon this fall in terms of time, but I figured I'd at least start training and wait to sign up until I know more.  Anyway, doing the same Hal Higdon intermediate training that I've done in the past, which meant that today was a nice short 3-miler, so I tried to push it more on hills.  I'm still not nearly as fast as I used to be, but hey, I just gave birth 3 months ago so whatever.

3 miles; under 9:07/mile, treadmill, incline level 1 for first 1.5 miles and then bumped it up to 2, 3, 4, 5 for the next 1.5.

dang knee

My knee started hurting after my run Friday and then I heard a sort of "pop" later as I was picking up toys and holy cow it hurt all weekend.  We went hiking Saturday and Sunday and it was not fun.  I started my PT exercises again today and those seemed to help.  Rolled it just before running and at mile 3 (had to stop bc I had a nasty blister that needed a band-aid) and then finished the 4.  Ran slower today hoping that would help too.
4 miles; 9:30/mile

New shoes

I bought a pair of Mizuno Wave Inspires this week...I really needed new shoes and I'm hoping these will help with some of the pain I've been having.  I have my gait videotaped and analyzed so fingers crossed that this helps!

Took it a little slower today because I wanted to concentrate on how my feet felt rather than just trying for air!  5 miles on the treadmill without stops--amazing that no kids needed anything!!!!

5 miles; 9:16/mile

6/12

Similar run to Monday's--I did have to stop at 2.5 to get the kids a snack.  Finished the 4 miles around 36:22 and then ran a fifth after getting some water and finished around 45:11. Left knee has been bothering me again for the last few weeks; I've been rolling it with a foam roller and did yoga yesterday in hopes that it would help some of the back pain I've been having as well.

5 miles; average pace around 9/mile

6/10

Ran 4 miles without having to stop for anything--hurray!!-- in 36:20.  Stopped, got some bread dough going for dinner, and then thought I might as well try to get another mile in and see if I could go under 45 for the whole 5.  And I did.

5 miles; first 4 9:05/mile, last mile 8:40/mile

6/7

4 miles on Wednesday--I don't remember how fast it was.  Walked a half-mile or so to cool down, as I typically try to do if I have time.

I was hoping to get in 5 miles today but the kids didn't allow that--stopped at 2.8 miles to break up an argument and at 3.4 miles when Luke unexpectedly appeared next to the treadmill (an hour early!).  Finished out the 4 and walked .2 to cool down.  9:27/avg pace

6/3

4 miles on the treadmill today; 9:05/mile.  Getting back there!  I ran pretty ragged intervals as my breathing allowed--started out at 6 mph to warm up for 2 minutes, 6.1 for 3 minutes, 6.5 for 2 minutes, 6.3 for three minutes, 6.5, 6.6, 6.8, 6.5, 6.3, then back up to 6.5 and gradually worked up to 7 and then back down to 6.8 and back up to 7 to end. Mind games to keep myself interested.

6/1

Hmm, it's been awhile since I've updated.  I spent 1.5 hours mowing the lawn on 5/22 and didn't run (so exhausted by the end!) that day; I know I ran on 5/24 and I think it ended up being 5 miles because all three of the boys miraculously slept at the same time.  Can't remember if I ran the next day or not, but I don't think I did.

Ran 4 miles on the roads on 5/27.  I was visiting my parents this past week so I ran to my old high school and back.  On Tuesday I walked a mile with the kids, then mowed 2/3 of my parents' lawn (my dad mowed the other 1/3 while I was putting my kids in bed), then ran half a mile around the block to get the grass off my running shoes.  I was hoping to work out more that night but I had to feed Nathan, then it started thunderstorming, and then Nathan was up like FOREVER and then there was a tornado.  On Wednesday I did 4 miles on the elliptical and that was pretty intense because I wasn't used to it; it took me about 4 minutes longer than my run on Monday.  Nothing Thursday because my car had a flat tire and it took all my workout time to get that fixed.  Drove home on Friday, so no workout in the morning, and then spent another 1.5 hours mowing the lawn, then walked half a mile with the kids.  Saturday (6/1; today) walked through the woods with the kids for an hour and then ran 4 miles this afternoon.  Not very fast because I'm exhausted today and I had a full-blown panic attack earlier.  I think it ended up being about 9:35/mile?  I had to stop at 1.4 miles to feed Nathan.

5/20

Holy cow!  This was one exhausting day.  I sat down to nurse, to eat dinner (ate breakfast in the car this morning and lunch racing around the kitchen), and to write thank-you notes for a few minutes in the afternoon.  Seriously insane.  I finally got Nathan settled at 9:50 PM and that was the first time I had a chance to run!

Stopped to massage a cramp out of the arch of my foot at 3.1 miles; ran at a pretty good clip most of the time but boy am I exhausted--lots of different parts of me were aching.  Rolled my IT bands with the foam roller afterwards; hopefully that will help.  And now to shower before Nathan wakes up again.

4 miles; 9:26/mile + 1 mile walking to cool down

5/18

5 miles tonight over the hills with the Garmin.  I ran one of my usual routes--through heavy woods--and it kept losing the GPS signal, so sometimes it would say I was running 7:07/mile and then the next time I looked down it would say 16:38/mile.  And then on the way back it started going backwards--the first time I looked it said 3.68 miles and then the next time it said 3.65, then 3.64, etc.  I ran an out-and-back route and it took about .12 off the mileage on the way back.  Overall, I really liked running with the Garmin (first time! finally!) but I think I may have to just not plan on using it in the woods.  I was SO glad to get out and run today--I was tired and had a stomachache that's lasted for 24 hours, and I was tired enough that I tripped over a few roots, but it was so so so so good to get away from the crazy.

Stopped at 4.7 miles when I ran into Juliet's friend's mom, with whom I wanted to talk about running.  Ran the last .3 miles at 7:30 because I was worried about getting home in time to feed Nathan; I think most of the rest of the run was around 10/mile or less (until it started going backwards on the mileage I was about 9:40/mile going by time & accumulated distance).

5 miles, lots of hills

5/17

Ran in the morning rather than the afternoon, since I wanted to spend some one-on-one time with Isaac this afternoon (Jules is staying at kindergarten all day for a party).  Had to stop at .65 miles to get Luker an apple and then at 2 miles to get him some water and change the laundry over to the dryer.

But even with the treadmill time stops, I still managed to cut off a few more seconds from my time on Wednesday--I averaged 9:27/mile (or 9:20 if I take out the stop times).  Getting better!

4 miles; 9:27/mile

Another 4 on the treadmill; I'd really love to be running at 6 am again outside.  I'm trying to find a running partner, but everyone I used to run with has moved, so it's hard.

Had to stop at 1 and 3.3 to take care of Nathan, who kept waking up and needed a pacifier insertion.  Very similar run to Monday--started at 10/mile and worked up to 8:34 at the end.

4 miles; 9:32/mile

5/13

Ran Friday but I forgot the details--I was really dizzy and nauseated before, during, and after the run, plus I had to feed Nathan immediately afterwards.  4 miles & slower than Wednesday.

Started today at 10/mile and worked up to 8:49 at the end.  Had to stop at 2.2 and 3.1 to tell the kids to be quieter so they wouldn't wake up the two littles napping.

4 miles, average pace (including treadmill speed-up times) 9:33.

5/8

Treadmill tonight; started out at 10/mile, ran that for 3 minutes, dropped down to 10:54/mile for 2 minutes, then back up to 10/mile, gradually worked up to 9:05/mile, then back down to end at 9:31/mile.  Overall pace was 9:33/mile, including the speed-up time from a quick water break at the 5K mark.  I'm a little worried that the treadmill is under-estimating the mileage by a few seconds per mile.

4 miles; 9:33 avg pace
.5 walking to cool down at 20/mile

On the road again

Neil & I took advantage of my mom's presence here yesterday during naptime and walked 3 miles through the blossomy sweet-smelling woods yesterday after church.  It was so lovely that I wanted to recreate it again tonight.  He got home from work just in time to kiss the kids goodnight and then we headed out into the dusk and ran 4 miles over my favorite route.  It's been so long since I've run this and it was a gorgeous, perfect, wonderful run.  I felt like myself for the first time in so long as I was running down the center line of a deserted road headed for the horizon.

Second postpartum run

So my goal with these runs is to just add a mile every time until I'm back to four and then run at that for awhile before I go back up to five.  After Luke was born I ran 4 miles 5 days later at a pretty good clip and I ended up back on bedrest from all the bleeding.  So I'm trying to work it up more gradually this time.

2 miles today, started out at 12/mile and worked up to 9:40/mile by the end.  Felt great!  I did, however, make the rookie mistake of stopping immediately when I hit the 2 mile mark and not walking at all--I got really dizzy and had to sit down.  Overall pace was 10:54 a mile, including one stop at 4 minutes to pull the blanket down from Nathan's face.

catching up

Okay, here goes:

Thursday: walked 4 miles
Friday: already in labor, walked about 2.5 miles with Neil & the boys trying to regularize contractions, walked another 15-20 minutes around the circumference of the hospital parking lot, walked another 1/3 mile in the hospital halls before the contractions were too bad and Neil had to carry me back to the delivery room (he was born about an hour later).  Really, really, really rough delivery.  Like really awful.  I could barely get out of bed for the next couple of days.

Monday: walked half a mile and it totally did me in for the day.
Tuesday: walked 1.2 miles and did half an hour of yoga
Wednesday: (today, 5 days postpartum) ran a slow mile (about 11:20) to see what I would feel like later.  Didn't want to push it because I'm taking the kids to the zoo after I take baby Nathan to the pediatrician.

running again

Walked another 4 miles yesterday and then decided to try running the standard 4 miles again today.  I ran pretty slow in hopes that it would make it easier on my body (I'm due in 3 days), and while the run itself was fine and I really enjoyed it, the pain hit about 8 hours afterward and has been absolutely miserable--by far the worst that I've had in the last couple of weeks.  So...I don't know if I'll run again.  I didn't have any nerve pain during the 8 days that I was walking instead of running.

catching up

Didn't do anything on Friday because we had family in town for Abigail's baptism (ditto for Saturday, but both days I was completely exhausted from everything else we were doing, so...).

Walked about 2.4 miles on Sunday with the kids.

Walked 2 miles on Monday with the boys in the morning, then was getting ready to run in the afternoon & got a message from my best friend (who moved to Iowa a month ago) saying to call her, so I ended up walking 2 miles instead while I talked to her, which was much more fun than running would have been!  Then I spent 2 hours mowing the lawn that night (part of it with an old-fashioned non-gas-or-electric mower) and was completely trashed so I went to bed at 8:30.

4/18

Really struggled on Tuesday with debilitating pain after Monday's run.  I did an hour of yoga on Tuesday and it didn't help at all--everything just ached so much.  I was literally unable to sit in my chair by dinnertime because the spikes of pain through my thighs and hip flexors were so bad.  I finally spent a couple of hours in a super-hot bath and that seemed to stop the involuntary muscle spasms, but it was still a painful evening.

So on Wednesday I decided to walk instead of run.  I walked the standard 4 miles and while I still had some hip-spasms, it wasn't as unbearable as with running.

Walked 3 miles this afternoon and then another 2 miles this evening, most of it at 17:08/mile (warm-up and cool-down were slightly slower).  Stopped when the pain in my bad ankle was too bad to continue; took my sock off to see that it was swollen to at least twice its normal size.

Pregnancy is awesome!

4/15

Tough run today--the nerve pain in my leg is getting really bad and hard to run through.  I kept having to grip the treadmill every few minutes so I didn't fall over.  Speed varied a lot--I had to take one walking break @ 17:08 pace, running pace varied anywhere from 15/mile (trying to go REALLY slow and seeing if that helped with the pain--it didn't) up to 10/mile.  Overall, for 4 miles it took me just under 50 minutes.  I think I pulled a muscle in my back during the last half-mile; between that and the awful leg pain we'll see how the next session goes.

38 weeks

I meant to run or walk yesterday, but it was SO busy and by the time everything was done (10 PM) I was exhausted and my back hurt so much that I couldn't sit, stand, walk, or lie down without it throbbing.  So I didn't run.

Kind of an interesting workout today--I really wanted to run outside, but I also wanted to spend time with everyone as a family before Neil went to work.  So I ran the 1.25 miles over to a nearby nature center, we hung out there as a family, then we walked the mile loop through the woods, then I ran home.  Then after everyone ate lunch, I washed the dishes, put Luke down, read to the kids, and then hopped on the treadmill  & ran another 1.5 miles and walked .5 miles.

The first 1.25 miles I ran today were really painful--it was GORGEOUS outside but the nerve in my right leg kept dropping me every couple of minutes, so I had to walk every so often for 30 seconds or so until it was bearable again.  It seemed to be worse on the uphills, didn't bother me much when we were walking around as a family, and then was at a low enough level that I could ignore it on the way home, so I could run that one the whole time (except for the occasional sudden  careful walk through giant boggy puddles).  I got home totally mud-splattered but thrilled about having run outside!

4/11

No yoga today, but I walked a couple miles tonight after everyone was asleep (2 miles @ 17:45/mile).  I've been having some swelling that isn't very fun--my bad ankle, of course, but when I walk and let my hands hang down, my fingers swell enough that I can't clench them into fists (which is actually kind of entertaining given how skeletal my hands are the rest of the time).

4/10

Better!  Tired today, so I debated between running tonight & taking a nap in the afternoon, or just running in the afternoon...decided to run because the kids were playing with a noisy game and I figured I might as well.

Started out with some cramping, so after I'd run 4 minutes I walked for 2 minutes, then started up running again and ran until I hit 2 miles.  Stopped for water and decided to see what would happen if I cranked the pace up (I was running about 11:19/mile).  So I started up at 10:00/mile and thought I'd just take the pace down every minute or so in order to not get exhausted--I dropped down every minute until I hit 10:31/mile and then realized I wasn't really tired, so I went back up to 10:00/mile for another 6/10 of a mile or so, then stopped again for water, and started again at 10:00/mile.  This time I did drop the pace every 2/10 of a mile by .1 so that I could start to cool down a bit.

Average pace for the 4 miles, including walking, was right about 11:00/mile (close to 12:00 for the first two and close to 10:00 for the second two).  I feel much better about this run because of the negative splits for the second half.

Walked 6/10 of a mile earlier with the kids; hopefully if the rain stops we'll get out for another walk later.

4/9

Trying to work the nerve pain out--yoga this morning and 2.2 miles power-walking this evening.  Hopefully I can run tomorrow...

4/8

Weird workout today.  I didn't really have time to run and shower because I had an appointment early this evening, so I walked 2 miles this afternoon (not all consecutively since I was constantly having to stop to help the kids with things).  Then this evening I walked another half-mile with the kids around the block, then I did some walk/run stuff tonight where I ran half a mile, walked a couple of minutes, ran another half-mile, took a water break (that extended into a way-too-long email-checking break), then ran another mile, then walked another mile.  I have REALLY been struggling with nerve pain lately that just drops me in my tracks when I am walking/running/standing/sitting/you name it.  Totally agonizing and I haven't figured out any way to get relief (I went to see a massage therapist today but it was still awful tonight).  It's bad enough that if it hits when I don't have any support around to grab, I'll just fall right over because my legs literally go out and there's no muscular control from my brain.  Weird and not fun and very painful.

Totals for today were 2 miles running and 3.5 miles walking.  I have to say that I am really not thrilled with myself right now...I weighed myself today and I weigh 6 pounds over my standard "delivery" weight, and I've gained 30 pounds total from where I was when I got pregnant, which is by far the most I've ever gained with any of my babies.  So depressing when I couple that with how unfit I feel right now...today I just feel old and fat and very pregnant with still 3 weeks to go.

37 weeks

Kind of a bizarre workout today; I had really bad contractions after my run both Monday & Wednesday and then HORRIBLE stomach cramping that put me on the couch for 4 hours straight yesterday, so I just sort of decided to do whatever today and get in 4 miles somehow.  I stopped every 10 minutes for water because I think part of my problem has been dehydration.

First 10 minutes I ran only 1 minute; contractions were really bothering me.

Second 10 minutes I ran 6 minutes.

Third 10 I ran 7 minutes.

Fourth 10 (plus a few) I ran 8 minutes, walked 2, and then ran another 2 or 3.

Fifth 10 I ran for...I forget...four or five? then walked for 2, then ran to finish out the rest of the 4 miles.  I think in total it took me about 54 minutes, which is a long time, but...we'll see if it makes the rest of the night any easier because I am not a fan of the contractions every 8 minutes and the unbearable backache that accompanies them.

4/3

Yipes!  I don't know if I should keep running or not.  I'm back at the stage where I feel great while I'm running and the energy boost is lovely afterwards, but then I have a good 8 hours of hard, regular contractions afterwards.  I never ran faster than 11:31/mile today because that was about as fast as I could run through the contractions themselves (about every 6 minutes or so?).  Stopped at 1.5 to check on Luke (his monitor was shorting out and I thought he was crying), then at 2 for water before finishing out the 4.

So yeah...we'll see what happens with running.  I feel like I'm walking the fence between running keeping my endorphins high and my mood good so I'm pleasant to be around, but on the other hand, on nights like tonight where I have to go take a bath right after dinner to get the achiness soaked out and slow the contractions down, it seems kind of counterproductive.  Ho hum.

The other super awesome thing I'm dealing with right now that's making running a little more exciting is that my super-powered heartburn has progressed to random and spontaneous vomiting.  Nothing like running merrily along and all of a sudden your mouth is full of stomach acid and you're gagging...

36ish weeks

So Monday & Wednesday's runs went well, although I didn't run on Friday--my family was in town visiting and we took the children to Indianapolis to go to the Children's Museum.  It was a full day and totally wiped me out!  We hiked for a couple of hours on Saturday so I did get a bit of cardio (not very intense, but it was something).

Ran 4 miles today and it felt really good--I started out slow to warm up, gradually increased, and then spent the last couple of miles hovering around a 10:50 mile.  Slow, but hey, I'm going!

My mom commented several times over the weekend that I am the most agile and energetic 8-months-pregnant woman she's ever seen.  It's good to realize that even though I'm not very fast right now, there are lots of other benefits that I'm seeing from running--I didn't really think about that before, but while I'm slower, my range of motion is just about what it is when I'm not pregnant.  So if all these miles are doing nothing other than making it easy for me to pick up toys, swing my kids around, and get up off the floor easily...hey, it's worth it!

back again

After walking 3 miles on Wednesday and Friday, I'm back where the doctor said I could try running again.  Nothing fancy today--started out at 12:00/mile and worked my way up to 10:00 at the very end of the run.  I didn't have a lengthy continuous stretch (the longest was 1.5 miles at the beginning) just because the kids needed things and I had to start some stuff for dinner (the last mile I had to stop every 4 minutes to do things to the bread I was starting), but hey, I got in 4 miles of running!

35ish weeks--last run? Hopefully not!

So on Monday after I'd run half a mile, I felt a weird pop in my calf and then a lot of pain.  I stopped running and stretched and tried to walk it out, and it got bearable enough to keep going, so I thought I might as well run through it.  I finished out the four miles and it was still pretty achy and my veins were all outlined in bluish-purple bruising.  I ended up calling my midwife because I've had so many vascular issues with that leg and I was worried that maybe I was headed for a blood clot or something like that.  She told me to go into the ER; by the time I got there I was having noticeable contractions every 8-10 minutes, so I ended up having to go to labor & delivery and THEN the ER.  It was a completely awful night.  The verdict was a tear in one of my calf muscles, and the doctor told me to take it easy for a week or so.

I didn't exercise at all on Tuesday; today my leg was feeling quite a bit better so I walked at a gentle pace (18:40 mile) for 3 miles.  My leg felt fine the whole time (I was being really careful not to push off in a way that extended my calf, like I would if I was running) and I'm sure I would have been fine to walk longer, but I didn't want to push it.  So...we'll see what happens.  My hope is that I'll substitute another run or two with walking and then be back to running soon, but I'm not pushing it right now because I do NOT want to go see the orthopedic surgeon (like I'm supposed to be doing today).

34 weeks

And...we're one week closer.  Hard running this week; I've been sick (lots of coughing) and pretty low-energy, but I still sort of ran.  Today's run was definitely the worst of the lot; I ran a mile then stopped for water, and continued that pattern throughout most of the run.  The deviations were 2 walking breaks when my stomach was cramping so much that I couldn't run and had to walk for 2 minutes each time.

No faster than a 12-minute mile today; just couldn't crank it up AT ALL because I was so weak and in so much pain.

33 weeks

Another week down!  Still running slower this week; pace seems to totally depend on the day.  I was hoping to go a little faster today, but I ended up going to bed early last night with stomach cramps/contractions, so today was not a day to push it with running...I was still feeling some of the cramping even at a 12-minute mile.  I did manage to get it up to about an 11:20 mile for the majority of the run, and then was able to go up to 10:30 by the end, but nothing very fabulous.  Frustrating because my legs ache so much at the slower pace, and while my legs are thrilled when I run faster, the cramping starts at the higher pace and then I can't even walk.  Moderation in all things, right?

Anyway, usual 3 4-milers this week plus 1 session of yoga, plus I'm spending all day in Chicago tomorrow, so there's some good caloric burn there!

32 weeks

I've been trying to pick up the pace a little this week--it's going a tiny bit faster, but I just don't have the lung capacity right now that I used to.  Too many weeks of scaling back to avoid the cramping and contractions!  The last two runs I've started out faster, dropped down after 2 minutes, and then gradually climbed up to a faster pace.

Today I ran 3 miles, then stopped to help Jules (she had broken a bead necklace and was in tears).  When I started up again I started out at 8:49, which was faster than I was comfortable, so I gradually took the speed down over the next half-mile.  Then Isaac needed something, and I was glad of the excuse to stop and help him!  Started back up at 9:30 and that was much better.  Average pace for the run today was 10:27/mile, including all the stopping/starting.  Other runs this week were around the same pace; yoga only happened once (I have been doing tons of grading & projects the other days trying to get ready for the baby).  Walking .5-1 mile every time to cool down, depending on how much time I have.

31 weeks

This was my worst grading week of the semester, so sadly I didn't ever do yoga.  (I was planning to Thursday, but I ended up having absolutely insane stomach cramps for 6 or 7 hours...the kind where you're wondering if you should go to the ER or not.)

Anyway, I did get in all my runs--standard 4 miles plus another walking mile afterwards to cool down.

Average pace is still pretty slow, but on the bright side starting on slow and very slowly increasing speed seems to be warding off the contractions and cramping, so I'll take what I can get!

Spent a couple of hours hiking in the woods through the snow with the kids this morning, then came home and ran during naptime--2 miles, then stopped for water, another mile and stopped to massage the cramp out of my left arch, last mile running and then another mile walking.  Avg. pace 10:48/mile (including all of the treadmill speed-up time).

30 weeks

This week has been interesting--lots more cramping and contractions when I'm running.  With Luke, it was the back and stomach pain post-run that was the issue, with this baby, it seems like the post-run pain is much less than the during-the-run pain.  I think the longevity of my running with this baby will totally depend on at what point I just physically can't run anymore because of that insane pain where I can't even walk.

Anyway.  Pain Monday and Wednesday, none today, probably because I just started out very slow and ran a 12-minute mile for the first mile (it seems like once I get through the first mile it's okay) and then gradually bumped it up to a 10-minute mile.  Stopped for water at 2.1.  Still doing the 4 miles for each run; average pace is varying between 10-11 per mile with walking and slow starts included.

29 weeks

4 on Monday, an hour of yoga Tuesday, 45 minutes strength-training Wednesday (no opportunity to run), 4 miles Thursday, 40 minutes of yoga Friday, 4 miles Saturday.  All my runs this week (I think?) have been in the evening, which hasn't been ideal for speed.  I've also been having regular contractions near the end while I'm walking to cool down (I've been walking about a mile after the run is done, so a total of 5).

Today I was really tired, so I started off slow to warm up and only a couple minutes in was having just insanely hard horrible cramping.  I tried walking but that didn't stop it and I ended up just having to stand perfectly still.  I went to get some water but I honestly thought I might be done for the night.  I loosened everything I could and just focused on breathing for awhile, then started walking again, then finally was able to start running again right about the time I hit the mile mark.  Ran another 2.2 miles, just cranking the speed up every 2 minutes, and stopped for water at 3.2, then finished out the 4 and then walked another mile.  Gah.

28 weeks

So my ligament pain is quite a bit better if I cinch up my support belt so it's almost painful.  Not that it's super comfortable either way, but bearable!  The thing I'm struggling with right now is mostly just pace--I had slowed down enough with all the ligament awfulness trying to see if that would help that it's hard for me to get back up to speed now.  I wanted to do a faster run today, so I started out faster than I have been lately, but apparently it takes me a couple of miles to really feel good, so it's easier for me to run faster at the end than at the beginning.  Weird, I know.

Started at 10/mile, dipped down for a couple of minutes to 11/mile to get a breather, then back up for the next mile, then back down again.  Stayed mostly up for most of the run, and ended at 9:13/mile.  Would have been faster, but I had to stop three times to take care of Luke, who is sick and apparently didn't understand that he was supposed to be napping (he ended up sitting on my bed watching me finish the last mile), so all of the time to get the treadmill back up to speed ate away at my average pace.

4 miles, avg pace somewhere between 10/mile and 10:10/mile.  Ran regular runs Monday and Wednesday; yoga Tues/Thurs (took Friday off because it was a CRAZY day and there was no time for anything).

27 weeks

I've really been struggling with back, stomach, and tailbone pain lately...yesterday I hurt so much that I couldn't even sit at the dinner table and had to go lie down to eat dinner.  Needless to say, I didn't run yesterday since I pretty much spent every possible moment lying down.  I did run Monday and Wednesday and had pretty normal runs (around 9:40/mile?).

Ran today, but I was still struggling with the cramping, so I had to stop after 3/10 of a mile and walk to finish out the mile--I tried to start running again after I'd been walking for about 2 minutes and I just couldn't because the pain in my stomach was so bad. After the mile mark I started running again very slowly (12/mile) and ran half a mile, then got some water, then ran another 1.7 miles, all the while slowly working my speed up.  Stopped for water again at 3.2 miles and then finished out the 4 miles, still working my speed up until I was running at 9:11/mile to finish.

It's frustrating because this seems like it's becoming a pattern--I start out at about 10/mile and then I have really horrible cramping for about a mile, and then I can work up until I'm finishing around 8:49/mile, but it takes the whole run for my body to adjust again!  And then the pain is so bad a few hours after I run...sigh.  We'll see.

1/15

Another nice one last night coming in right about 9:32.  Ran the first three miles a little slower and stopped for a drink at the 5K mark, then finished out the last .9 more quickly, working to get back under 9:00/mile!  So nice to know that last week's horrible run did not sound the death knell for my running for the next little bit (this was another evening run after a very looong day).  I think I lost a ton of ground being so sick for 6 weeks, so I'm not going to be setting any speed records, but I'm finally starting to feel stronger again!

4 miles; 9:32/mile

25 weeks

Huge relief that my last run was not replicated today!  Started out at 10/mile and felt a little uncomfortable, so after 3 minutes I took it down to 10:42 for two minutes, and then gradually worked up to 9:31/mile.  Stopped at 1.5 miles to start a batch of bread, then ran a bit more, working up to 9:13/mile, then stopped at 2.8 miles to turn off the mixer and start the bread rising.  Finished out the remaining 1.2 miles (up to 9:05).  Average pace for the entire run, including the slow-down time from stopping was 9:32, which isn't great, but isn't too shabby either.

(And to continue the running-as-mom theme, after my run I went right in and got Luke up from his nap, made everyone a snack of apple slices and raisins, and sat down, all nice and sweaty (with one kid on my lap and the other three smooshed up against me) and read them Greek myths for 20 minutes while they ate snacks.  Not exactly the schedule of an elite racer, but hey...I'm running!)

24.5 weeks

Just endured one of the most awful runs ever.  I know I've mentioned this before, but running is SO hard for me this pregnancy--much worse than last time.  I knew it was going to be rough because I wasn't able to run until so late in the evening (very busy day today, plus 3 of the kids are quite ill), and so I planned to take it very very easy, and then slowed down even more once I started and realized that the back pain which was bothering me when I was walking around was agony once I was running.  And then even at a 12-minute mile, I started having sharp cramps in my abdomen.  I stopped and got a drink and then started again--I was able to run less than two minutes before I had to walk for three minutes, then I ran again for about five minutes and then I stopped again to check on crying Luke (I don't think I could have run much further anyway).  Ran another half-mile and then took a longer break to drink more water and answer some emails from students.  Ran another mile, gradually increasing the pace, stopped for more water and another break, then the last mile, still gradually increasing the pace until I finished at 10/mile.  Then I walked another mile because I felt so bad about my crappy run.

Pregnancy is always a hard time for me because I feel awful about my body, but this one is particularly hard. I was struggling with running when I got pregnant (all of that PT) and I wasn't as fast as I felt like I should be.  I had my normal dramatic weight jump in the beginning of the second trimester, but this time it also coincided with the ending of half-marathon training, so instead of my brain agreeing that yes, this ALWAYS happens in every pregnancy (my midwife even pulled out my charts to show me), I just felt like not running = fat and gross.  And I've gotten slower, and slower, and slower, and achier and achier (sometimes so much so that it's difficult to even raise my legs to walk, let alone run).  Whine whine whine, I know, but there it is.

In any case, I did have bronchitis, and I finished out my 23rd week of pregnancy with my standard Friday run, then ran on Monday the next week, took a day off on Wednesday and did a prenatal workout video in the morning because I was desperately hoping that the IT guy would come through and have my website ready so I could  work on it during naptime, and then on Friday I went skiing.  And then I ran again on Monday of this week.