Days 222 & 223: Operation continued...

Yesterday I went to my new gym for an hour of pilates and an hour of yoga. Pilates was much more difficult than I expected... my abs were really sore. It does feel great to be doing yoga again. I think that every time I come back after a break. Maybe I should just stop taking breaks...

Today I had every intention of getting up to go to a spinning class. Supposedly this gym has the best spinning instructors in Georgia or something. But I was so sore after the past two days that I knew my legs could not handle a spin class and the run I needed to get in. So I went back to bed for a little, and then went for a 6m run. The weather was amazing... 60 degrees, ran in shorts. Picked a hilly, muddy course, which didn't help my time, but at least I felt better. I also did 45 minutes of strength training at home, and got in a good 45 minutes of stretching to help ease the soreness.

Moment of truth is rapidly approaching... here's hoping for a fabulous new year... and for looking fabulous in my dress.

Days 219 - 221: Title too long, see below

Operation crap-I-ate-too-much-over-break-and-didn't-exercise-enough-because-I've-been-sick-but-still-need-to-fit-into-a-sexy-New-Year's-dress-Friday-night-and-maintain-fitness-for-the-marathon

Monday and Tuesday I was traveling and did nothing. I meant to get up and run on Monday, but the temperature was 12 degrees. The army has a cutoff for doing PT outside of like 20, so I figured if the army was staying inside, it was probably not a good idea for me to go outside, especially since I was FINALLY feeling better. Instead, I attempted to eat a 4 pound grilled cheese sandwich with an accompanying pound of fries and coleslaw for lunch (the Melt challenge! As featured on Man vs Food! http://www.meltbarandgrilled.com/melt-challenge/). Sadly for my pride but lucky for my thighs and tummy, I only made it half way. It was delicious, but really didn't help the bloated holiday cow feeling.

I was gently reminded that I have a sexy dress to fit into for New Year's Eve. And since I've been pathetic about training, I'm still super worried about being able to finish the marathon. So... time to get serious.

I had a Groupon for a new gym called Jeanne's Body Tech, so I decided to activate it today. 3 month membership for use of their enormous gym with every type of equipment you could ever want and all of their classes. So, after a 5 mile run outside (slow, but I made it, and thankfully it was in the 40s), I went to the "Diesel" class, which is essentially death. It's an interval class, which means high intensity cardio and strength, and I thought I was going to die. I realized how not in overall shape I am (my upper body is pathetic), and I had to modify or cut down the reps for almost all the exercises. I was probably also tired from running and it was my first time doing a class like that, but still. I ended my day with a nice easy yoga class. Nothing fast or intense, just got everything stretched out and loosened up. I'm trying to watch how much I eat too, but hopefully just getting super active again will help, although starting Sunday I am going on a super healthy get-ready-for-marathon-day diet. Back to quinoa and fish and veggies. Figure I should be reasonable and get through New Year's first though, since I'm a sucker for champagne.

Tomorrow the goal is at least pilates and yoga. Depending on how sore I am maybe another class or a run or even just a walk. I just don't want to look bloated and jiggly in my dress. It's too pretty for that.

Days 212 - 218: Christmas break... in more ways than one

What a crazy week... I don't know if I can even remember what happened. I just know there was no work, too much food, and not enough exercise.

Monday and Tuesday I did nothing. I drove to Dayton, and then to Cleveland, and I was so sick I couldn't even sleep. I actually started taking medicine, which I usually try to avoid at all cost. But it hurt to breath and the cold, dry Ohio air just made it worse, so I had to try something.

Wednesday I did some "cross training." The baseball stadium in Cleveland started this thing called "Snow Days" this year. They basically converted the park into a winter wonderland, with a maze, a skating path around the field, a place for snow ball fights, and a tubing hill. My friends and I decided to try it out. It was AWESOME! So much fun and a brilliant way to put the field to use and earn some extra revenue during the off season. The cross training part was climbing the stairs five times to go tubing and ice skating, which for me, since I'm so bad, is a lot of work. The cold air was a little irritating to my diseased lungs, but I was outside and moving and it was a good way to ease back into some exercise after 12 hours in the car and two days of nothing.

Thursday I used the gym my mom and sister go to and got a real work out in. I wanted to try some running, but I didn't want to push my luck, so I tried circuit training for the first time. I ran a mile, and then did one ab, one leg, and one arm workout. Completed 3 circuits. For not having run since Sunday and for being so sick, I feel that was a pretty good start.

Christmas Eve was a packed day, since that's when we celebrate, so I went for 30 minutes on the treadmill. I only got in 2.5 miles, so I felt pretty pathetic. I just hate the treadmill so much, I have no motivation to keep going. I used an interval program though, so I guess I can say I got some hill training in.

Saturday... Christmas Day... I braved the cold and went outside for a 4 mile run. It actually went much better than I thought. I ran the whole time, and although my pace was pretty slow, I didn't feel too cramped and cold and miserable until the last mile. I didn't cough up a lung afterward either, so I think I'm well into the recovery stages of the plague. I don't want to push it though, so I'm going to keep taking it slow. Better to be healthy, I think.

Today I tried circuit training again. Completed 4 circuits, so I feel like I did accomplish something. At least I'm getting a few miles in and trying to keep my overall fitness up. I think I'm just going to do a reverse taper and work on building my mileage back up during the next week. Definitely taking a real taper the week before the marathon though. Two weeks... craziness. I'm scared.

Days 205 - 211: There is a 0% chance I can do this

Seriously. I just want to give up now.

Monday and Tuesday I could feel the cold that has been plaguing me for almost a month now creeping into my chest, so I took both days off. Wednesday I did belly dancing times 2, and it seemed to go ok. Thursday I was feeling bad again, so I only made it through a 5k on the treadmill. Friday I was determined to make up for my slacking and try to get back into running, so I did 5 miles outside. Saturday I didn't want to run, but needed to do something besides pack, so I did about 30 minutes on the elliptical. I hate the elliptical. All 30 minutes were torture. I feel like my legs are too far apart and my butt sticks out and my posture is poor and I can't get a feel for how to change my speed significantly. Ugh. I don't know how people do it. I also did a little arm work, since I wasn't able to go to yoga this week, as I didn't figure me coughing up my lungs all through class would be a little disruptive to others' focus and peace.

Today was supposed to be 23 miles, or last long run. But it was fail. Huge, epic fail. My back and abs are so sore from coughing to much that I was physically unable to hold myself upright. My chest was burning and I kept having to stop to cough up all the crap from my lungs. I made it through 11 miles, and then we ended up doing a run walk for a total of 16.75. Pathetic.

I don't know what to do now. I haven't been running nearly as much as I should because I'm sick. So am I going to lose my stamina? But if I do run, I'm never going to get better, and I'm so scared of pneumonia since this stupid cold has gone from my head to my chest. I feel like a baby, I feel like I'm making excuses. And I have no one to ask what I should do. Take a week off? Start tapering like we're scheduled to? Try to get in one more long run? I don't know. This was a stupid idea. I really don't think I'm going to be able to finish.

Days 200 - 204: Cold and doubt

Wednesday I did belly dancing times 2. Walk-in and workout was intense as usual. I've decided from my choreography class though that I will never be "sexy." I'm pretty much stuck in the realm of "cute" forever. Oh well, at least I'm not afraid to look a little silly and have a lot of fun.

Thursday I ran in the afternoon. A bunch of people were going to Taco Mac for dinner and beer, so I just planned a route and ran there (it's too cold to sweat much and it's a sports bar, so does it really matter what I look like?) I ended up running 7.6 and walking the last 0.4 to make 8. But I think it might have been even colder than Tuesday, and so the run was even more of a struggle. I was feeling pretty down and a little sick before I got into Taco Mac, but some very nice people working for the city invited me in to their abandoned shop space for free hot chocolate and cookies if I looked at their new city action plan (it wasn't as sketchy as it sounds). I've never voted in my life (I'd never even been registered until this past November), but... never too late to start getting involved right? After warming up, I headed into Taco Mac where a couple beer and some french fries had me feeling better about life again.

Friday was supposed to be a rest day, but I ended up walking 4 miles since I had to go to campus and back twice. Poor planning on my part.

Saturday my cross training was AWESOME!!! I went to a 3 hour hula workshop and learned a Christmas hula to the song "Merriest Hawaiian Christmas." A Christmas hula!!! It was so fun... great way to spend a Saturday afternoon and way better than the gym. I might like hula better than belly dancing... my butt can stick out a little more so my back doesn't get as tired trying to keep it all tucked in. All I can say is... my hips don't lie. But my upper body might be a little... challenged. I definitely hope the studio offers more hula classes though.

Today we ran 13.1. When we started, it was in the 40s, but we had both checked the weather and it was only supposed to get colder, so we dressed warmly and took extra layers with us. Both of us swore sun was in the forecast... but 5 minutes into the run it started to rain. Then in turned to hail. And then snow. And not wimpy snow either. Actual flakes of snow. The temperature dropped to 29-feels-like-15 degrees. Everything was cramped. Chris couldn't feel his fingers. I was exhausted because I felt like I was working so hard but my cramped legs were barely moving. It was awful... it ended up taking us 3 hours. That's a personal worst.

Every single run this week sucked. I just can't make my legs move. I hope that it's the cold, and subsequently hope that it will be warmer in Orlando. I don't need it to be perfect. I just need it not to snow. I need it to be at least 40. I want to believe that a flatter course and warmer weather and having tapered for 3 weeks will equal a good run. But I can't help but worry that it's me... that there's something wrong with me and I'm not going to be able to finish, or that it's going to take me right down until the very last second. Ugh. I'm feeling really depressed about this right now. I don't know why I thought this was a good idea.

Days 191 - 199: Baby, it's cold outside!

Wow, super blog fail this week. Sorry.

Monday: yoga. Tuesday: 6 a.m. yoga (I'm addicted... I wish I could get up that early every day because it's such a great way to get started, but by the end of the week I need sleep) and 8.5 miles on the treadmill because it rained ALL day. I used it as a chance for speed work--mile repeats increasing from 10 min/mile with 0.2 mi recoveries. It was a hard workout, definitely. Wednesday: belly dancing times two: walk-in and work-out, and the Upgrade U class. Walk-in and work-out was HARDCORE... my abs and thighs were super tired, but felt amazing. We finally started learning choreography to our dance in the Upgrade U class. Just the intro. I feel a little silly, but mostly it's just fun.

Then... Thursday happened. I was feeling a little under the weather all week, but chalked it up to a case of the sniffles. By Thursday, my throat was on fire, and I was incredibly congested. Combined with the fact that the temperature had started to drop significantly, I decided to take a rest day, with plans of running Friday. But Friday I woke up and couldn't even open my eyes. My face was so swollen, and I had no voice whatsoever. So I took rest day number 2. Saturday I could move again, but with 22 miles looming in front of me, I decided to take it easy again and just did some cleaning and got the apartment festively decorated for Christmas (more work than you might think, actually, so I don't feel too guilty).

Sunday I was down to a little sniffle, and despite the fact that it was snowing as I put out Gatorade along our route, I decided to go for the 22 mile run with Chris. It was chilly and overcast (but the snow stopped, thank goodness), but we bundled up and had a really great start. The first 10.5 flew by much faster than we expected. For some reason, though, when the sun came out and it got later in the afternoon, it actually started to get colder. We were definitely fighting some cramping. Just after mile 17, Chris pulled something in his knee... his turn for injury, I guess. We ran a little bit more, and then ended up just walking about the last 5 miles. My Garmin's battery died at 19.5 miles (I knew I should have charged it the night before...), but given where we were when it died, I'm certain we finished somewhere between 21 and 22. We actually ended up finishing in about 5 hours and 15 - 20 minutes, which isn't too bad with the walking. And the main point is that we kept moving and kept on our feet for that whole time. We're not going for time, we're just going to finish, and we have 7 hours to do it, so as long as we can keep moving for that whole 26.2 miles, we should be ok.

I'm especially inspired recently because I got a peek at the elevation chart for the Disney marathon. The first 15 miles are FLAT. I've never seen an elevation chart that looks like that. It's crazy. Then there's a few gentle hills. Mile 19 is entirely uphill, but I don't think it will actually be that steep. But after mile 20, it's flat again. Glorious. That's why I think we'll be just fine for the marathon. Hills are hard on your knees and your ankles and your lungs and... ok, well, everything. But we'll have so many fewer. And we'll have the aide stations to keep us vigilant about hydration and walk breaks. So I think we're ok.

Anyway... a 22 mile run is never helpful for the immune system, so I was feeling very congested again yesterday. Yoga was out of the question, since the heat would make me uncomfortable, and I couldn't breathe through my nose at all. So I did some "yogalates" (yoga + pilates) at home... about an hour and 45 minutes total. I must have done something right because my abs are sore today.

It's too cold to run in the mornings right now, so I ran this afternoon while there was still some sun. Cold... upper 30s when I started... and the temperature dropped rapidly towards the end once the sun went away. I did a total of 7.6 miles. It's a rest week so technically I only needed to do 7, but I'm trying to atone for my weekend of laziness (even though it's really not my fault, I mean, I was sick, right?). I really hope it's not this cold in Orlando... when the temperature is so close to freezing I can feel my muscles tighten and my blood turning to icy sludge. Definitely slows me down.

I have more inspiration to write about, but I'm being hurried along, so I'll save that for later. Perhaps that means I'll have to post before Sunday.

Days 184 - 190: Training vs Turkey (and pie...)

I tried really hard to rest my bum knee this week. I figured yoga would be good to stretch it out, so Monday I grabbed my Groupon and headed to the studio I'll be using until I go back to Cleveland for Christmas. It's a hot yoga studio, but it's not all Bikram... they have a lot of "Power" classes that are vinyasa-based. The Monday class I did was a "Power hour," and it was pretty hard. I haven't done hot yoga in awhile, and I had forgotten how much more tired it makes you feel at the end.

Since my knee held up Monday and we weren't running on Tuesday (both due to my injury and because we needed to recover in general from 21 miles before trying to race on Thursday), I decided to go to another yoga class. I wanted to adjust to going to bed early and getting up early so that I would be able to fall asleep Wednesday night and wake up bright and early Thursday morning ready to race, so I decided to go to the 6 a.m. power class. It was actually a great way to start my day, and nice to have my afternoon off for mad Thanksgiving cleaning and baking, so I did the same thing Wednesday.

Thursday: race day! The Atlanta Thanksgiving half marathon, my 2nd anniversary. My trick for slightly readjusting my body clock worked, so I was up on time and ready to go. Chris and I met where he was house sitting and walked the mile to the starting line at Turner Field. It was so foggy... we couldn't see the tops of the buildings... very creepy. The course was different from last year, and it was HARD. Terrible. We were constantly running hills, which I know are unavoidable in Atlanta, but it is possible to plan routes with flat parts or fewer steep hills. The good thing was, although my knee was a little stiff and achy, it held up until mile 12. But our time was pretty awful... 2:37:19. My worst time ever. The only thing that eased the pain was that there were somewhere between 12,000 and 15,000 runners, and only 8,866 finished. So in the end, I'm just glad we finished, and that I didn't destroy my knee. I celebrated with way too much food and 3 pieces of pie (what's the point of running so much if I can't eat pie?).

Friday was a day off to spend time with my mom and sister who were visiting for the holiday. Saturday I went to a walk in and work out belly dancing class to make up for the canceled classes Wednesday (don't want my belly dancing muscles to deteriorate!), followed immediately by an hour and a half of hot yoga. My abs were sufficiently sore.

Since our "long" run was Thursday, Chris and I did 7 miles this morning. My knee is still achy, but it's not a sharp pain anymore, so I can still run on it, and least for these shorter distances. I'm just hoping it will hold up for our 22 miler Sunday...

Days 177 - 183

Ok, weekly recap:

Monday went to yoga. Last one at Active Sol for awhile again. I have a Groupon for another studio that's mostly hot yoga classes; I'll probably start using that this week. But Active Sol has definitely been my favorite studio so far, so I think once I'm done with my Groupons I'll go back. They're starting to offer some pretty good membership deals, so hopefully it will be affordable.

Tuesday, due to inclement weather, I ran in the evening on the treadmill. Did all 8 miles, but used it as a chance to do some speed work--tempo runs starting at 10 min/mile and increasing my speed a little at a time. I didn't time like you're supposed to... I just used the songs on my iPod as the indication for when I should increase or decrease the speed. Finished the whole thing in 1:22, so even with my walking recoveries, I came out just over a 10 min/mile average. Definitely a tough run though.

Wednesday I did two belly dancing classes again. The theme for the walk in and workout class was "Bollywood"... so fun! In the choreography class we started working on some of the moves we'll need for the dance. My abs were so sore by the end of the night! I guess that means it's working, right? I'm completely addicted. Belly dancing is such a fun and different workout, and my abs are getting awesome again, and it makes me feel pretty. :-p I'm definitely going to keep it up.

Thursday I was sick. As in stuffy, sore throat, headache, ear ache, jaw ache, face ache, eyes so swollen I had to ice my face sick (yes, ice my face). So there was no work and no working out. I got my second 8 miler in Friday afternoon; however, I learned that lunch at the Indian buffet plus a head cold is not conducive to a good run. Slow and painful. But I got it done, which is what matters, I guess.

Saturday I did not technically do a workout. However, I ran errands and cleaned my apartment and didn't sit down from noon until 6, so I feel all that work must count for something. Gotta love getting ready for the holidays. I did go to Big Peach with my birthday gift certificate so generously given to me by my mom and sister, and got an ADORABLE new cold weather running outfit (baggy track pants and long sleeve t-shirts from high school just aren't cutting it for long runs and winter races anymore). It's seriously awesome. Cute little black running pants with green stitching and a matching green coat. It was really hard to decide... there were like 1,000 things I wanted. But I'm happy with my selection, and I'm going to be so stylish for the half marathon Thursday!

Speaking of the half marathon... I guess I should say IF I run the half on Thursday. Chris and I did a 21 miler today. About half-way through, I felt my right knee start to ache, but it wasn't unbearable... it just felt like I had a tight or sore muscle. So I kept going, but by about mile 17 the pain was getting sharp. We basically had to walk the last three miles because I was hurting so much. I've been stretching and icing all afternoon, but it still hurts to even walk. I'm just going to try to use it as little as possible this week, and keep stretching and icing. I really want to be able to run Thursday. But more than that, I don't want to be hurt so long that I lose all the hard work I've done, or that I can't run the marathon. When Chris hurt his knee, he was out for 3 months. I'm nervous. But I guess I'll give it a few days and see how it goes.

Days 170 - 176: Rest?

I think we should just accept that updating is going to be a weekly thing now.

While the actual 20 mile run wasn't as bad as we expected, the following days were less fun. So, since originally, before our rearranging because of my traveling, this was scheduled as a "rest" week, we decided to stick to that schedule. In fact, since most training plans only ever get to 20 miles, everything after this is just bonus, so we decided that instead of 2 weeks increasing distance followed by one step back week, we're going to do one week increasing, one week step back. I think it's a good plan. Every extra mile we do will help, but not pushing it too hard will help prevent us from getting injured, over-trained, or over-tired so close to the big day.

I was pretty tough on myself for a rest week, though. Monday I did my usual yoga class; my back was killing me after our run, but felt much better afterward. Tuesday morning Chris and I ran a slow, heavy, somewhat painful 7 miles... we were definitely not recovered yet. Since it was a slow beginning of the week at work, I left a little early and did a double yoga class Tuesday. The classes were slightly different styles and philosophies, but both were slow and purposeful, and we were really encouraged to focus on each pose and the strengthening and/or releasing the pose allowed. It was just what I needed.

Wednesday I started my new belly dance course: Upgrade U by Beyonce. I actually made it to the studio early enough for the walk in and work out class the hour before... it's like a step aerobics class or a zumba class but with belly dancing moves. It was a good chance to practice some of the things I learned last class, and it definitely got my heart going. My actual class wasn't too tough this week... just a lot of preliminary stuff. Should be fun though.

Thursday morning Chris and I ran a much better 7 miles. I was finally free of my aches and pains and soreness. Friday was supposed to be a rest day, but for my birthday Randy took me salsa dancing, which totally counts as an extra workout! So, given the double yoga classes Tuesday, the double belly dancing classes Wednesday, and the dancing Friday, I decided I could just take Saturday off (at least from working out).

Today Chris and I ran 13.1 as a last practice for our Thanksgiving Day half marathon. The weather was perfect: sunny, 60s, nice breeze. We finished in 2:30, which is definitely acceptable for a training run. I was actually really excited about the run for some reason, and I felt great afterward. We celebrated with a delicious (and quite large...) lunch at Highland Bakery.

All in all, a good week, I feel. Recovered from 20 miles, took a little rest from running so much, and got in a lot of cross training. Hopefully I'm all prepared for this week!

Days 166 - 169: Runner's karma?

Thursday I didn't get my run in. I spent 3 hours arguing with my apartment office and UPS about a lost package, which took up my whole evening. Lame.

Friday I was going to wake up early to run, but that didn't happen either. Not to worry, however, because I left work a little early and got in my 8 miles. It was chilly and I was feeling very unmotivated, so I did something quite unorthodox: I took my iPod. I almost never run with an iPod. It adds more equipment and hassle to worry about, I worry that I won't hear cars or other people behind me, and I feel that when I'm out running I should enjoy the sounds of birds and my feet hitting the pavement and just be able to think and clear my head. But I was desperate. It actually seemed to work; the first part of my run went really well--about 11:00 pace, didn't tire too quickly, got out some of my frustrations from Thursday. When I started, the sky was beautiful and blue and sunny. With 2.5 miles left, however, the sky suddenly turned black and there was a massive downpour. After about half a mile I was soaked so badly I had to turn off the iPod and hide it away in my pocket. Then, I thought either it was raining much harder than I had realized, or that I must have been running really fast, because the rain started to seriously sting. That's when I saw the ice balls bouncing off my cheeks and nose. Hail. Seriously, hail? That was a new one. It subsided back to rain eventually, and my last 3/4 of a mile was clear, although I was already wet and cold, so it really wouldn't have mattered if it kept raining. I imagine it was punishment for skipping my run Thursday when the weather was beautiful, and for being so weak I needed to take the iPod. At least I got some practice running in the rain, I guess... who knows what the weather will be like on marathon day.

Saturday I didn't really do too much cross training. My dad was in town, and we went shopping and stuff. I did a LOT of walking and trying on clothes, and I was really tired by the end of the day, so I figure I must have accomplished a little. I mean, so many hours of shopping helps build endurance, right? And do you have any idea how much of a challenge it is for me to pick out clothes? I think it counts.

Today was the dreaded run. 20 miles. The run everyone swore would kill us. I had massive amounts of anxiety all morning; it didn't make it better that we started much later than usual because I went to brunch with dad first (but it was totally worth the carb-tastic pancakes of deliciousness I ate at brunch in preparation for the run!). We took it easy and the first 7 miles went by faster than we'd thought. I felt great and our time stayed right around 12:00 min/mile until just after the 13 mile mark... I think at that point my body is so used to half marathons that it's just like, "Why are you still running? We should be done now!" And it gets a little ornery. I got runner's high around mile 15; Chris didn't get his until 17 or 18. It didn't last either of us too long though, so by mile 19 I was getting pretty nervous for mile 20. But it was uneventful. Totally anticlimactic. After all those warnings and worry and dread... it was pretty much just like 19. Maybe a reward for not giving up despite the hail Friday. Maybe it's just that after a certain point, all the mileage is the same. Either way, we finished, and in 4:13:47, which included 4 or 5 5-minute walking/hydrating breaks--so we're still on track to finish around 5:30 - 6 hours. So I feel good about our run. My back hurts, my legs hurt, my shoulders hurt... but we broke through the 20 mile wall... in way better shape than I could have hoped. :-)

Days 160 - 165

Well, I was extra Faily McFail last week. Friday was a rest day. As was Saturday, apparently... although I did do a lot of walking around Charleston. Like... a lot. So maybe not a total loss. Sunday was supposed to be a "shorter" long run... I was planning 13 miles. But... I just didn't run at all. I was so tired by the time we got back. I slept for two hours, got dinner, watched a little football, and then went to bed. That's almost a work out, right? Ha. I feel tremendously guilty. Only 1 yoga class and no long run. Pretty pathetic week.

This week I have resolved to be better. Monday I went to yoga. Tuesday morning Chris and I did an 8 miler, and our time was a little better... 1:31, average pace 11:25. I'll take it over the 12:00 I've been doing. Also attended one tough belly dancing class... we worked on moving hip shimmies... my quads were exhausted and my abs were still sore this morning. Last class for that series; next week on to something new and different: choreography to Beyonce! Should be interesting...

Yoga again tonight... made it on time and everything. There are not words for how much I love this Wednesday class. The instructor is definitely my favorite, and I like the slower pace because I can really focus on correct posture in the pose, and I have the time to work on challenging myself and trying the more advanced modifications. It's usually pretty small too, 4 - 6 people, so it feels a little less hectic. I'm just so much calmer and happier afterward. I think I need this class every day...

So far so good. Hopefully I'll continue to behave myself through the end of the week.

Days 152 - 159

Wow I'm getting really bad at this. Life is just so busy busy busy. I need a real weekend. And a real week, for that matter.

Ok, last Thursday ran my 7.5 in the afternoon since I woke up with a migraine. I need to stop this early morning running thing. Or the staying up way too late and not sleeping things. Either way. Didn't look at the time. Just got it done. Friday was a rest day, and I decided Saturday would be too. I think some of my tiredness is from slightly over-training, especially since we were due for a rest week but decided to switch weeks around because of yet another travel adventure for me this coming weekend. Plus a friend was in town, so it's totally excusable.

Sunday was 19 miles. It was long and tough, but we finished in just under 4 hours. I realized during the run that after 16, it's all the same. Every mile sucks, and you don't even notice the additional mileage. 18 = 19 = well... let's not talk about 20 yet. I felt pretty good about the run. We're getting so close now, and most marathon training plans only go to 20 miles, which we'll obviously make it to. Every mile we get in after that is just bonus. I think Chris was feeling a little down though, because we were definitely hurting and exhausted. I tried to be encouraging... if our goal is just to finish, we can totally do it. We ran 19 miles in 4 hours... that leaves us 3 more to run 7.2. No problem. We could walk that. And after our first half marathon I didn't run for a few weeks and he didn't run for 3 months. Now we run a half marathon every weekend AND are out running two days later. I think we can make it.

Monday's yoga class kicked my butt. I don't know if I'm still super out of shape or if my instructor is really that tough... probably a combination of both, honestly. This week we're taking our rest week, so Tuesday morning's run was only 6.5, but both Chris and I were still sore and heavy from 19, so it was pretty slow. (And by pretty I mean pathetically... 6.5 in 1:27... ugh.) Despite my soreness I made it through belly dancing Tuesday night as well... probably because it was mostly arm and chest work. My arms have not burned that badly in a long time, and I found muscles in my chest I didn't know existed! I signed up for another course too... I think I'm addicted. Yesterday I was supposed to go to yoga, but time just ran out and I didn't make it, so I did 20 minutes of yoga on my own and 20 minutes of belly dancing practice... if I carry over belly dancing from Tuesday, I think I can count my cross training complete.

This morning Chris and I ran our second 6.5. It was slightly better than Tuesday... I felt better, and it was a little faster... 1:15 - 1:20 (It was too cloudy for my Garmin to receive satellite reception, so I don't know exactly). I again tried to make it to yoga today, and again failed. I'm pretty disappointed. I really need to get back on track with it, and I don't want to waste my Living Social coupon. Next week I'm going to have to make up for it.

Charleston this weekend, so probably workout (and blog) fail, but I'm going to try to get a good run in on Sunday. We'll see. Maybe we'll walk a lot around the city, and that can count as Saturday's cross training...

Day 151

Yoga tonight. Probably one of the best classes ever. Wednesday night class is "yoga basics," so we do fewer poses and slower flow, but really have a chance to work on form. Everyone is at a different level, so you can do as much as you feel capable of. It's really nice to slow things down a little and think about what I'm doing; I think it helps keep me more present in the moment. I could tell I really needed this class tonight--I was very focused and left feeling so much calmer and refreshed. This is why I shouldn't slack off for so long, obviously.

P.S. I also cleaned my apartment... which I totally think should count toward cross training!

Days 149 & 150

Finally went back to yoga Monday, using my second coupon for Active Sol. I slacked for way too long. I really thought I might die. It was so ridiculously hard, especially anything involving my arms. Definitely need to make good use of this month and get back in shape.

Because next weekend I'll be traveling again, Chris and I switched our 19 mile week and our rest week so we're not trying to cram a 19 mile run into a weekday night after a full day of work (we all know how well that went with 17). So Chris and I did 7.5 miles this morning. It's getting pretty chilly (and dark) in the mornings--had to break out the pants and long sleeve shirt. The run was solid, but I am just so slow. I don't understand how not that long ago we were running 10 - 11 min miles, and now I can barely do 12:30. I know we're not running for time, but if I can run 18 miles, I feel I should be able to run a fast 7.5. I'm frustrated and discouraged. Maybe it's just from so much training; I could just be in a slump. If I can get through this week, I'm going to take a pretty extreme rest week and see if I can come back feeling better.

I also went to belly dancing tonight. I discovered I'm pretty good at hip stuff, but really terrible at upper body. I don't have the coordination to move my chest and stomach like that. Maybe if I keep working on it. I'm thinking about signing up for another 6 weeks... maybe a beginner's choreography class so I can learn to apply all of these moves I'm learning. Hopefully I have the money this month. Sure could use another Groupon...

Day 145 - 148: New shoes, new attitude

Switched Thursday and Friday workouts, so Thursday was a rest day, which I used to head over to Big Peach and get my new shoes. Decided to go back to the first type I owned... I didn't need the Superfeet in those, and I just felt I had less foot pain in general. This edition is hot pink, so I guess I can feel pretty while I run?

Didn't hesitate to break in the new shoes... jumped back on the proverbial horse for another 7.5 miler Friday afternoon. I was still pretty slow, but I ran the whole thing and didn't hurt too much, so clearly shoes really were a part of my problem. I tried out some new roads in our usual neighborhood too (which is the kinder way of saying I got lost... it's amazing how fast time goes by when you have no idea where you are), so maybe I can start mixing up our "shorter" routes a little more without having to stray too far from home.

Saturday was creative cross training: went up north for a corn maze adventure! (I live in the south now, I say "y'all" and do things like corn mazes.) It actually ended up being a pretty decent amount of walking... the whole thing is 3 miles, and we probably did almost that, since, well, it was a maze and it was dark and it's really hard to navigate in a giant dark field of corn. We also did a hayride, an apple slingshot, and a duck race (rubber ducks, not real ducks... I was disappointed too), but I don't think any of those really count towards my training.

Today: 18 miles. Pretty intense sense of dread all last night and this morning. We picked up my coworker a mile in and she did a 10 mile loop with us in preparation for her half marathon next month. Then Chris and I finished on our own. It was hard, definitely, and I am still slow for some reason. But we finished, and only had to walk up a few of the super steep hills toward the end. We finished in 3:47, and at our average pace today, we probably would have finished 19 in 4 hours. That should put us on track to finish in about 5:30 - 5:45, which would be great. I did, however, reach a point today where I realized that I don't care that much about time any more. Running that far is HARD. The majority of the population will never do it. So all I want is to be able to say I did do it, to finish before the vans have to pick me up and carry me to the end. I think we're insane for doing this, but it's kind of late to quit now. So I guess we just keep trucking along and hope it all pays off in the end.

Days 143 & 144: It's official... and I officially fail

Ok, first things first: Cross training yesterday due to wacky schedule was belly dancing. Learned these moves called camels. All I have to say is... I didn't know I had muscles there...

I registered for the Disney marathon today. I paid the money... all $135 of it... so I'm committed. Unfortunately, it was the worst possible day I could pick to do it. Chris and I attempted to run our 17 miler. Worst. Run. EVER. At mile 7, I was so hungry that I was actually in pain, and we had to do a walk/run. We stopped for an apple and some Gatorade at 13.5, but it was too late by that point, so we mostly walked the last part... and we only made it 16. I literally teared up and was going to cry. There's no way we can do a marathon if we can't run 17. Chris assured me that it wasn't the distance. We know that we can run 7 miles. We do it all the time. We know we can run 13... how many times have we done that? And our 16 miler was great, followed by a fantastic half marathon. He thinks we had too many other factors working against us. And it's probably true. Usually we do our long runs first thing in the morning, after a good breakfast. Today we had both worked a full day and neither of us had eaten any time close to when we ran. We both desperately need new shoes, so we were both hurting. And since we just had two good long runs, we were due for a bad one. It happens.

By the time we finished I was fairly convinced. We both agreed to get new shoes before Sunday, regroup, and get back to our long run routine. We're going to try for 18 on Sunday like we're supposed to do, but we agreed that it would be ok if we decide to stop at 17. It would only put us a week behind, and since we planned extra time for that and haven't lost any time yet, I think that's probably fine. So I'm not going to cry about the bad run tonight. I'm going to get super excited about my trip to Big Peach and snazzy new running shoes tomorrow, focus on the resolutions I set Monday, and get ready for Sunday like it's any other long run day. It's going to be ok. It has to be.

Day 142: Ugh

I don't know what's wrong with me. I should be all recovered, but my average pace for my 7.5 miles today was 11:40/mile. Pathetic, really. Granted, there were quite a few hills, and it was a little better than Friday's run, because I added an extra half mile and finished in the same time, but I'm just feeling really discouraged. I definitely need new shoes; my left foot is nagging me, and I know this pair is past it's mileage. Also, I've just been so busy and been letting my schedule get way to crazy, so I've been neglecting all of the healthy eating and hydrating habits I worked so hard to learn at the beginning.

So... things I MUST start doing again after this week so I can run better:
1. Get new shoes.
2. HYDRATE! 1 - 2 liters a day of plain water, plus whatever else I drink... coffee, tea, gatorade, (beer, wine, vodka... I mean...), etc.
3. Start going to yoga regularly! I have 1 Living Social and 1 Groupon for month yoga studio memberships. I WILL use them before I go home for Christmas. Neglecting my core strength and overall flexibility is probably not helping at all.
4. Eat healthy, even if it costs more money. I've been super worried about money lately, but things are slowly straightening out. I need to go back to planning my meals for the week, and include some of those amazing super foods and plenty of protein.

Ok, pact to myself. Get through this crazy week, then get back on track. I've been training for so long, and we're getting so close. I can't give up now.

Days 135 - 141: Workout disaster week

Ohmygosh it's been a whole week I fail.

This past week was all over the place. So much rearranging. Monday my legs were still tired, so I did an arm and ab workout and practiced belly dancing. Tuesday neither Chris nor I could run because we both had very full crazy days that started early and ended late, so I switched my Tuesday and Wednesday workouts and used belly dancing class as my cross training Tuesday and ran 7 miles after work on Wednesday. My run was mediocre... blame it on still recovering. Since I ran Wednesday, I couldn't run until Friday, so I switched Thursday and Friday's workouts too, and used Thursday as my rest day and ran 7 miles again Friday afternoon. That run was HORRIBLE. I was slow and tight and heavy and my stomach hurt and I think I was pretty dehydrated since I hadn't been paying attention to how much water I'd been drinking that day. Ugh.

Saturday was normal. Well, normal in that it was cross training but awesome in that my cross training was white water rafting! We took a trip up to the mountains in Tennessee for a weekend of outdoor adventure in celebration of Randy's birthday. This rafting trip was way more work than last time, so my abs and arms got a great workout and the adrenaline definitely got my heart going. We also went on a 3 - 4 mile hike later that afternoon. (It was only supposed to be like 2.5, but we got lost. Oh well. Can't hurt to burn some extra calories and build those stabilizing muscles in my legs!) Because we were away, I couldn't do a long run today, So Chris and I have moved our long run to Wednesday afternoon when he gets done at school. Which means I'll have to do a "short" run tomorrow instead of Tuesday, and no running today. Instead, my workout today was a three hour zip line tour through the canopy of the North Georgia forest. I actually hate heights, so it was kind of terrifying. But the zipping required lots of arms and abs, and we hiked between posts, so it was a good all-over workout, and tons of fun... once I got used to it.

Hopefully I'm all recovered now, so tomorrow's run will be decent. Might have to get creative again, since it's going to be another crazy workout week...

Day 134: NEW HALF MARATHON PR!!!!!!!

What a fabulous race! We ran the 13.1 series half marathon at 7:00 a.m. at Oglethorpe University. The weather was slightly chilly but perfect for running. The course was different than I was expecting; most races I've run have been along main streets, so there are bands and big crowds. But this one wound through shady neighborhoods with huge houses, so it was a pretty quiet run, although the hydration stations were well-staffed with tons of cheering boy scouts, cheerleaders, college students, and other volunteers crazy enough to be up at that hour and standing out in the cold on a Sunday morning.

We were warned in advance that the course would be hilly, and for most of the beginning of the course, it was... but it was sort of rolling hills through the neighborhood behind the University, so while it was challenging, it wasn't horrible. We definitely run bigger hills on our training runs. We made fantastic time. We must have been at 10:00 min. or less per mile for at least the first 5 miles. My knee wasn't bothering me at all, so I just decided to take advantage of it while I could and really push, so that if I had to slow down later due to pain, it wouldn't be as detrimental to our time. But actually, it never started hurting. My left foot and my right calf cramped pretty badly towards the end, but my knee never bothered me, although now it screams at me every time I attempt to walk up or down stairs. Back to stretching and icing.

We were really amazing until mile 10... which was entirely up hill on a narrow path through a park until well into mile 11. We lost a lot of time there; I was actually really frustrated about it because I couldn't believe how well we were doing, and if it wasn't for that horrible section, I think we could have done even better. The end of the course was mean too... you had to run downhill past the finish line a long way, only to turn around and have to finish uphill. Cruel. But... our time was 2:14:57! That's 3:28 off of my best time, from our first half marathon last Thanksgiving, which was a much easier course. Our goal before I hurt myself was 2:!5, and even with my knee we broke that goal. Every time we passed a clock at the mile markers, I was astounded at our time, and even with our time lost in mile 10, I knew we would beat our previous time when we passed the clock at mile 11. It was exhilarating. I am soooooo excited and happy.

The after party was excellent as well. There was a live band and they had bagels, apples, bananas, cookies, popsicles, and sausage biscuits for us, as well as the usual athletic gear expo booths. And, even better, one of the fitness clubs who cosponsored the event was giving away free hot dogs and beer if you stopped by after the race. FREE BEER. There is nothing I want more after a long run than a beer... fastest way to replenish both water and carbs at a nice cold temperature, right? Conveniently, the club was on our way back to MARTA, so of course we had to stop. Brilliant idea.

I'm sore and exhausted from getting up at 5 and running so hard and not sleeping much last night because of my nerves. But I could not be happier with how the race went. Especially since I was expecting it to go so poorly. Next up: Thanksgiving Day half marathon. Next time goal: 2:10. But the two will probably not happen at the same time, which is ok. I'm going to be pretty excited about this run for awhile, so I can wait a year to set a new PR. :-)

Days 131 - 133: Pre-race jitters

So... I tried to run Thursday afternoon. Pretty bad. I went really, REALLY slowly at first, and I made it about 3 miles without hurting. But I had to cut it a mile short and only did 5 miles total because after that I was just in too much pain. I took yesterday "off," although I probably ended up walking about 3 miles, since I had to walk to campus and back for a seminar, and then went to the Brave's game, where the bus parked so far away we might as well have walked from home. I was going to go to yoga today, too, but the game was epically long last night, so I didn't go to bed until 2:00, and way overslept, so I just ran out of time. So today I guess was another rest day, which it was marked as anyway, but I still feel slightly guilty after my short run Thursday. I'm hoping the extra time off is good for my knee, I guess.

Chris and I went to pick up our race numbers today. This must be a pretty small race; packet pick up was in a pretty small room and there really was no expo, just registration, information, and a small athletic gear booth. Not nearly as exciting as the Thanksgiving or ING expos... kind of sad, really... I always look forward to walking around and getting free samples and looking at shoes and gear that I can never afford.

I'm super nervous for tomorrow. It would be awesome to beat our time from last year's Thanksgiving half marathon. But this course specifically warns you about how hilly it is, so that's factor number one that makes me unhopeful. Number two is my knee... I'm so scared it will hurt too bad for me to finish, or that I'll have to walk most of it, or that I'll hurt so badly by the end of it I'll have to take off a lot of time from training. I really just want to be able to finish without the truck having to pick me up because I'm too slow, and still be ok enough afterwards to not have to take more than a week off. I doubt I'll sleep tonight... too nervous. Wish me luck...

Days 128 - 130: Injured quad and flabby abs

Ugh. First half of the week not so great.

Monday I did my at-home self-guided stretch/yoga/pilates for almost an hour and a half. But I was not motivated and feeling tired, so it was pretty half-hearted.

Tuesday was a disastrous 6 mile run ("rest" week this week). I slept past my alarm, so Chris showed up at 6:45 and I was still getting ready and hadn't stretched. Then, my Garmin was on the fritz, so instead of having an adventure and trying out some new roads, I had to plan a route last minute over our usual roads. To make matters worse, I thought my right quad was just sore on Sunday from the long run, but it got sore and tight midway through and just kept getting worse for the remainder of the run. It hurt so bad by the end I almost cried walking up the stairs. We have a race Sunday, so there's just no room for an injury right now. Yesterday and today I stretched, took ibuprofen every 4 hours, drank lots of water and green tea, and iced twice. I also avoided taking the stairs at work, which was like torture because everyone who takes the elevators is clueless, which makes me frustrated, or actually disabled, which makes me feel guilty. It doesn't hurt at all tonight, so I'm going to try to run in the morning, but I'm going to take it really slow, and if it hurts at all I'm going to stop. I'd rather be able to run the race Sunday then push it tomorrow just for the sake of saying I got the run in.

Last night I went to belly dancing again. We worked on lower body shimmies: knee shimmies, hip shimmies, pelvic shimmies, and twist shimmies. Who knew there were that many shimmies? And we're not even to upper body yet! I finally got my own coin skirt too; it helps with practice because you can hear if you are doing the moves correctly. I was going to be functional and mature and just go for a black skirt with silver decorations, but then I found buried on the shelf this awesome bright orange and gold skirt, and I couldn't resist. It's totally fun. The cats, however, are not impressed... Lila stared at me indignantly during my entire 20 minute practice tonight, and Frye ran away to hide. Gonna be a long few weeks for them. :-p

I went to Bikram yoga today as my cross training. I found a website through which I can earn free classes online, so it didn't cost me a thing! It was sooooo good to go again. Banff really threw me off, and I've been kind of a slacker since I got back, so my abs are starting to feel a little flabby. Can't lose that 6 pack! Hopefully between belly dancing and getting back into yoga I can get back on track.

Well, wish my quad and I good luck for tomorrow...

Days 123 - 127

Wow, I am really failing at this blogging thing, huh.

Ok... Wednesday I took advantage of my double workout Tuesday and kind of slacked off a little. I did practice my belly dancing and did some arm & ab exercises for about 30 minutes, so it wasn't a total loss.

Thursday was a better run than Tuesday was. 7 miles again, but Chris and I were both less sore and tired, so we finished in about 1:13... definitely much better.

Friday was a rest day! Saturday I went to hot yoga, but not Bikram. Decatur Yoga & Pilates offers a Karma class on Saturday afternoons, so you just pay what you can and it allows some newer teachers to get in a little extra practice. The class was really small yesterday, only 5 of us. And the instructor was super-zen. But it was good to get back into some real yoga after over two weeks without any. Definitely need to get more diligent about practicing again. I really believe it helps with the soreness from running.

Today was 16 miles, and it was actually a great run. Our mile times stayed under 12:00 the entire time, except for 3 short walking breaks we took so we could hydrate properly. Supposedly the run/walk thing is actually good; there are several trainers who recommend some sort of combination. During races, Chris and I have settled on a regimen in which we walk through the drink stations every 2 - 3 miles, and that seems to work pretty well. It allows us to actually consume the water/gatorade instead of pouring it down our shirts, and gives our heart rate a chance to decline for a few minutes. Our 3 walking breaks today were at about a 15:15 pace for 2 - 3 minutes each. We just need to keep our overall pace under 16:00 to ensure we finish the marathon (otherwise they'll pick us up in the truck and we won't get to finish because we're too slow. I'm not too worried about it). We talked and laughed and had smiles on our faces nearly the whole way, and didn't really start hurting until about the last 2, and even then we both agreed that it was mostly just our legs. We even ran the two big hills at the end of the route! From the waist up, I could have run several more miles when we finished, but my legs would definitely have revolted. Our total time was 2:57:47. That's basically 3 minutes better than our 15 mile run! Hurray!

I think 15 miles was just the next wall in distance training after 10. It's just one of those points where your body gives you a big middle finger and pulls out all the stops trying to get you to quit. How you handle those walls really affects how the rest of your training will go. Because you HAVE to listen to what your body is telling you to some extent, or injuries are guaranteed. But running is also a lot of mind over matter. So last week I let myself be slow and walk up those last two big hills, because my body was right: we were covering a significantly longer distance than the 13.1 it's getting used to running, I hadn't eaten, slept, hydrated, or trained properly the entire week before, and it was hot. But forcing myself to make up the distance by running the flat stretch at the end and dragging myself out Tuesday despite how sore and tired I still felt was my way of telling my body that I am still in charge, and darn it, we've worked this hard, we are going to finish this. I think that mental attitude, combined with carbo-loading, lots of water, and a good night's sleep yesterday really facilitated today's excellent run. I can barely walk up the stairs, but I feel confident and optimistic and just generally great that we conquered that next wall and are still fighting. Definitely feeling excited for the marathon...

Days 121 & 122

Yesterday I was feeling indecisive, and just ended up doing my own combination of stretching, yoga, and pilates for an hour and 15 minutes. I think it was still a good workout; my abs are sore, so I must have accomplished something.

This morning we ran 7 miles. We were both nervous it would be a tough run, given how much we had been hurting since the 15 miler (apparently 15 is the new 10). But we finished in 1:16:25, so it wasn't as terrible as it could have been.

Tonight I tried a new cross training activity: belly dancing! (As my mom said, "You'll try anything for cross training, won't you?" Hey, I need to mix it up a little.) I got a Groupon for a 6 week course, so I'm taking a beginner's technique course. Today we just did some introductory stuff: posture, walking, arm movements. But I think it's going to end up being a really good workout... especially for my arms and quads. And I get to wear a pretty skirt that jingles when I walk. What else could I possible ask for?

I might have to count tonight's class as tomorrow's cross training, which I think is fair since I ran AND went to class. Gonna try to get a workout in, but my schedule just might not allow it.

Days 114 - 120: Banff and back

Oh geez, fail week, training and blogging.

So... Monday afternoon we had free time from the conference, so my lab and I rode a gondola up Sulfur Mountain and hiked all around the top. There were mountain goats and a cosmic ray station (I don't even know what that means) and an amazing view. Besides the wooden paths they had set up to the very top of the mountain (7,500 - 8,000 ft), we decided to hike one of the dirt trails. Going down seemed so easy, but when we decided to turn around to head back to the gondola... who knew it was that steep? We all almost passed out. Does that count as hill training? Definitely not stretching, but I think I got my strengthening in... all that climbing = buns of steel!

Tuesday I was supposed to run, but didn't. My coworker and I instead went hiking along the river over to the Banff springs hotel, where we ate lunch which consisted of banana chocolate bread pudding that's been featured twice on the Food Network, and two rounds of drinks, 1.5 of which were complementary (we're just that hot, I guess). We hiked for about 1.5 - 2 hours total, so we probably did about 3 - 4 miles.

I tried to make up for my failed running by doing some speedwork on the indoor track on Wednesday. Did 3.5 miles of a sprint ladder, 200m to 1 mile and back down, with 200m walking as my recovery. Was hoping the training in the altitude would help me out. Also went horseback riding... a little extra workout for the legs.

Thursday I actually ran, 3.5m on the treadmill and 2 more miles of sprint work. Couldn't make the last mile I was supposed to though; I guess I still wasn't adjusted to the elevation, and I was extremely tired and dehydrated and sick to my stomach afterward. After some water and rest I recovered enough to dance the night away at our end of conference dinner dance.

So, all in all, despite the massive amount of food consumed at breakfast, lunch, and dinner buffets all week, I feel I didn't fall too far behind, and maybe mixing up the workouts was good for me.

Friday was a rest day spend traveling back to the States (cell phone again, woohoo!). Saturday I didn't work out... I slept for 11 hours, stayed in bed until 3, did some errands, made dinner, and went for a walk... while eating frozen yogurt. Oh well. It was my first weekend off in a long time, and I was determined to enjoy it and recover from the stress of international travel.

Today... 15 miles. Tried to carb up beforehand with some oatmeal and a banana, stashed several drink stops and a banana for Chris and I to split at mile 10, stretched, and got a good start a little after 9. But too much sitting and not enough yoga this past week made my legs feel super tight, so it was a bit of a struggle. Maintained a 10:30 - 11:30 for most of it, but once we hit mile 13 I thought I might not make it. Pace bottomed out around 13:30 - 14:00 in mile 14, and we had to walk the two hills at the very end because I just couldn't run them. We did run a little extra distance at the end to try to make up for it. We finished in 3:01:33, and crashed with our legs in the pool for a little while to try to recover, but my legs are so sore it hurts just wearing jeans. I'm hoping it was just a bad run from jet lag and too much rich food all week and not being diligent enough with my running while I was away. Because if all the long runs are going to be this bad, I'm not sure I can do it.

Days 111 - 113: High altitude training!

Well, here I am in lovely Banff... pretty much a hiking/skiing town, elevation approximately 4,000 ft.

Friday was a rest day... but I have to say that running through international airports and staying up for 24 hours straight and going out dancing after a long day of traveling probably isn't too restful.

Yesterday my cross training was mostly all the walking we did... we walked to downtown and checked out the main street. Probably walked 2 - 3 miles. Also checked out the gym at the Banff Centre and did about 20 minutes on the bike. And went out dancing again for about 2 hours. Have to burn off all the rich food and lovely drinks that went with the traveling and exploration of Banff nightlife before the real work starts.

Today I ran 10 miles with a coworker also here for the conference. Well, really we ran/hiked/walked. The town is only a mile and a half long, so to avoid boredom and lots of circles, my coworker and I checked out some of the trails too, which got a little steep in places. The altitude is quite a challenge as well, but we finished all 10 and had an awesome adventure with rivers and waterfalls and lots dogs and walkers and trails and excellent scenery (including the very attractive mountain men :-p ).

The good thing about all this elevation training is that I'll be super human when I get back to Atlanta. Maybe it will help me suffer through the heat and humidity better... it has been quite lovely to have cool, dry air to run in no matter what time of day.

Days 108 - 110

This week has about killed me, even though it's a rest week. Rough run Tuesday. Tried really hard to keep up a good pace, but I was tired and it was humid and I just couldn't do it. Finished 5.5 in 57:42, feeling pretty disappointed. Wednesday did Bikram... thought I might pass out. Felt kind of dizzy and dehydrated, but stuck it out. Ran early this morning... 5.5 in 1:01, but considering I only slept about 3 hours last night, I'm not too surprised or upset about it.

Last week of conference prep... headed to Banff, Canada tomorrow. Should still be able to keep up the training, although it will be lonely... and interesting, given the high elevation... and cold... and hilly. Ugh. Trying to think of it as an adventure and a change of scenery...

Day 107: Crushed

Well, my running self esteem is pretty much destroyed for the week. On Wednesday, I was hanging out with a couple of friends, and one of them was asking me about running and said maybe we could run together some time. She asked how fast I ran, and I said 9:30 - 11:30 depending on the distance and the day. She responded with "Oh. I run a lot faster than that. I could push you to make you go faster..." I know she meant well, but it's just like... I know I'm slow. I don't need it rubbed in. It doesn't help that she's way taller and has way longer legs than me to begin with. What am I supposed to do about that?

Then last night I checked in with Chris to see how his 14 miles went. I was so excited just to have finished, and then he texted back how great his run was... he was doing 9:15 miles, and his slowest was only at the very end and was only like 12:00. Apparently his run was fantastic. Which is great, I'm glad he had a good run, but mine was so much slower and so much worse, and I really didn't feel fantastic afterward. So now I feel like maybe I'm holding him back.

I don't know what to do to get faster. Losing weight is definitely not an option, and I only run with my Garmin, so there's not a bunch of equipment I can cut back on. I clearly can't do hill sprints since that's what caused my ITB to start hurting again. I guess I can try some other interval training on the track or something, but I'm not sure I want to sacrifice one of my weekday runs to the track. I need some sort of cross training or strength training that would help, or something else I can do on my runs to work on my speed. Until then I guess I'll just be depressed about my slowness. Gah.

Went to Bikram this morning. I have a love/hate relationship with that class. The first half of the class is so miserable... it's so hot and sweat is just pouring from everywhere, and it's so hard. But then by the last half I'm adjusted to the heat and I'm feeling really stretched out and tired, but in a good way. And then when it's over, I come out feeling great... stronger, more flexible, energized, less sore. So I guess suffering through the first half is worth it. I think once my 10 days are up, it will be good to take a little break though, so I don't get burnt out.

Despite a good yoga class, still pretty sore tonight from yesterday. Tomorrow's run should be interesting.

Days 102 - 106: Oh. My. Gosh.

Ok, boys and girls, party time is over. Now the REAL training begins.

But first, I clearly haven't written in forever, so I have a little catching up to do.

Wednesday I didn't work out, like I predicted. But between the yoga class Tuesday and walking to campus and back on Thursday, I think I made up for it. Thursday, I also ran 6.5 miles with Chris as scheduled. Our time was pretty good... about 1:10. Better than my run Tuesday, but still room for improvement. Friday was a rest day, so nothing exciting. Saturday was... well... interesting. I went to Savannah, so I had to get creative with my cross training. I did 3 sets of 3 sun salutations in the morning to get myself up and awake and ready for the car ride. The afternoon was spent battling hurricane rip tides at Tybee beach... either I'm out of swimming shape already from earlier this summer, or I'm not quite as strong of a swimmer as I thought. I was really tired. Need to work on that for the triathalon. But it was the beach, so I really can't complain... salt water, sand, sea shells... lovely. We wandered all over downtown Savannah in the evening, taking in River Street and attending a haunted pub crawl. Yeah, so we drank beer... but we had to walk between all those pubs! Beer = carbs, walking = cross training. Totally counts. We did lots of extra walking this morning too, so I consider myself cross trained.

And now for today's adventure: 14 miles. Farthest I've ever run in my life. Going to be saying that a lot, I guess. But this was the first time over the 13.1 hurdle, and I was pretty nervous, especially since I had to run it by myself because Chris is out of town. Thankfully, my gluttony over the weekend paid off (hamburgers, gelato, pizza, beer, shrimp and grits, fried green tomatoes, etc etc etc). I had lots of energy and ran a really great first half... kept my pace steady between 10:30 - 11:30, felt strong and pain free, and actually enjoyed myself. The weather was a big help too: under 30% humidity, temperature under 85 when I started and continued to cool, ran a nice shady route. I made it through the first 10 miles still feeling ok. But the last 4 were like torture. I started hurting in my knees and ankles, my quads and calves started cramping, and I was just generally tired. And that last mile... I seriously thought I was going to have to quit. Most people think 14 shouldn't be that big of a deal, since I've "already run 13." But the thing is... 13 is still a big deal. 13 isn't easy. So 14 is not any less of a big deal. It was a struggle, and I'm a little scared for the upcoming continuous increase in mileage. In the end, though, I finished in 2:45:07... key words being "I finished."

From here on out, long runs are going to be rough. Every single one. But hopefully having Chris around will help. And I have hope that if I have reached the point that I can run a strong 10 miles feeling good (remember how miserable that first 10 miler was?), at some point the miles above 10 will start to feel easier too.

Day 101: Little too excited...

I absolutely could NOT get out of bed this morning. I am burnt out from work and never sleeping more than 6 hours a night for the past... I don't know how long. So I ran this afternoon; unfortunately, that messed things up for Chris, so I had to run alone. I did 6.5 miles of repetitions of the loops in Lullwater park. It's actually starting to get nicer in the early evenings... 80s instead of 90s and 30% - 40% humidity instead of... like... 99%. The park was full of people: runners, walkers, students studying, lots of dogs. It's a great environment because it's so close to the university, so the trails are lined with water bottles, shirts, towels, etc. and most people are friendly and smile and say hello. We're bonded through our workouts. I also like running there because I read a challenge in Runner's World to try to run on as many different surfaces as possible, to give your joints a break from the harshness of concrete and asphalt. So running there, I get gravel, dirt, sand, pavement, and grass. Pretty good, huh? My time was about 1:11, so definitely room for improvement, but I felt pretty good afterward and I'm glad to be claiming my afternoon runs back.

I think I got a little over-zealous and decided to go to a Bikram class today too (hey, I'm paying for 10 days unlimited... I might as well use it, right?). Talk about dehydrated. It did help alleviate some of the soreness after my run though, since I got all stretched out, but I am EXHAUSTED. Excited for a good night's sleep. And probably taking a rest day tomorrow... I could use the extra rest. Maybe I'll walk some extra stairs or something to make up for it.

Final thoughts: believe in the power of yoga! Today while I was pondering whether it was too immodest to just wear shorts and a sports bra to yoga (it's so hot, seriously... I think I should just wear a swimming suit), Randy was like "why do your abs look like they have a six pack going on?" Obviously, because they do! (Commence prancing about the apartment and excessive "feel my abs! Feel the rock-hardness!" I swear I tried to not let it go to my head...) I was also noticing how awesome my arms look... I don't think I've ever even had arm muscles. The only workouts I do consistently are running and yoga, so the combination must be working. Yay!

Days 97 - 100

Holy crap day 100.

My apologies for failure to blog.

Friday: rest. Saturday: pilates/yoga combo in my apartment because I overslept and had 1000 things to do. The good thing is I realized that I've taken enough yoga that I am competent enough to work my way through all three sun salutations and a few of my other favorite postures all on my own. I think someday when I am either retired and super bored or 40 and still single and childless and bored I will get my teacher certification. I could handle teaching some beginner's classes, and it'd be great extra cash. Oh, and I also went dancing on Saturday which is a surprisingly good work out and definitely counts towards cross training.

Sunday: 13 miles. My goal is to get us over the fear of that distance. So we've essentially run two half marathons in three weeks. We should have a good base and be ready to move ahead. It was, however, a pretty rough run. Things I learned this weekend: whiskey sours do not count towards hydration, beer does not count as carbo-loading, and only getting 6 hours of sleep after a day that consisted of workout, work, pig roast, dinner out, and clubbing is really not conducive to a long run. Soooo dehydrated. Should have planned about 13 water stops instead of 3. We got through in about 2:32, so not great. But done. And ready to up it to 14 (!).

My month at Active Sol is up, and I have another coupon, but seeing as how I'm headed to Savannah this weekend and Canada for a week, I didn't want to waste my second month with that much time away. So I found a secret Bikram yoga studio literally across the street from the VA. Intro 10 day unlimited for $30, so I decided to give it a try... it will get me through until I go to Canada. Tried my first class today for my strengthening and stretching... hardest class I've EVER taken. Seriously. I've done a little hot yoga before, but oh my gosh... the instructor who checked me in was like "It's only 103 today, so it's not too hot..." I briefly considered running away then, but decided to stick it out. It was a really good workout, actually... elevates heart rate, lots of strength and balancing postures, and the heat helps you get deeper into stretches. But you pretty much feel like you're swimming instead of doing yoga. Should be an interesting few classes. It will be strange to sweat more during yoga than when I run for once.

Days 95 & 96: Irate ITB

Oh, I know that pain. That knife stabbing in my left thigh right where the bone should be. I had such a great start too. Feeling all athletic and professional in my cute little running shorts and my new runnergirl dry fit shirt with my Garmin all fired up, I had decided I'd use my 6 mile run to do some hill sprints to work on my speed. First two hills were great. Then, half way up hill 3, just over mile two, I felt an all too familiar pain shoot up the outside of my left leg.

Honestly, I knew the minute I woke up this morning that I should take it easy, maybe skip the run altogether. My hip was so tight my leg actually felt shorter, and I could feel the knot in the muscle right under the joint. But by the time I got home, it was feeling better, and the weather has been stomry, so I attributed the early morning pain to my premature powers of old lady joint weather forecasting and went for it anyway.

Poor life choice. All I could think about was how similar this felt to my ITB strain months ago, and how long I couldn't run for, and how frustrated I was. I slowed to a walk and simultaneously started hobbling through the five stages of grief.

It's not my ITB, it can't be. It's just a cramp. I'll just walk it out.

Damn it. Stupid hip. Stupid ITB. Why did I skip yoga yesterday (hey, I worked from 8:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. At that point what was I supposed to do?)? Why have I not been stretching more? I'm so stupid.

Please just let it stop hurting. I'll take a few days off, I'll hydrate better, I'll eat more potassium, protein, calcium, I'll stretch 4 times a day, just please let it not be an ITB strain.

I really think it's my ITB. What can I do? I might have to take time off. What if I can't even run the marathon? I might cry...

Ok, it's my ITB for sure. What are my options?

I stopped on the side of the road to stretch and weigh my choices. I could turn around and walk back, but that would be a long walk. After a good stretch, the stabbing had subsided to a dull ache, so I figured alternatively I could continue in a run/walk/stretch pattern and get through the rest of the "run." I opted for the latter, deciding it would be more productive and less boring, and set off at a slow, easy pace. I actually covered a decent distance without incidence, until the headlights from a car behind me illuminated a giant spider web spanning the entire sidewalk in front of me and I found myself eye-to-eye with a spider the size of my palm (no, seriously. The bugs get bigger the further south you go. In Florida, they have cockroaches the size of my thigh). Stopping on a dime has a new meaning to me. I carefully picked my way through brush and oncoming traffic to get around the web, and continued on my way. My leg felt cramped and tight but the pain wasn't too bad, so I was doing pretty good... until some jackhole decided to beep his horn at me on a quite, dark street and nearly give me a heart attack, subsequently causing me to run face first into a tree. After calming my jittery nerves and pounding heart, I once again took up my snail's pace. I was only two miles from the finish at this point, I had to keep going. Just to keep things exciting, in the last mile I missed a pothole in the dark and rolled my right ankle. I briefly considered attempting to combine my left ankle and right thigh and convincing Chris we should run a three-legged marathon. Deciding against it, I plowed up the last hill and, one strained ITB, one minor black eye, one rolled ankle, and a minor stroke later, I tumbled into my apartment after the most epic 1 hour 12 minutes and 34 seconds of my entire life (hey, I told you I was taking it slow, don't judge me).

So what now? Thankfully I have two days to rest my leg before I have to run again. I'm going to start stretching 2 - 3 times a day, and definitely before AND after EVERY run... I've been a serious slacker lately. Ideally, I'd find someplace flat to run, but around here, that's non-existent. So I'm going to have to start running on the "wrong" side of the road. Roads slant up toward the middle, and when I run on the "right" side (against oncoming traffic), it puts my right leg higher than my left, accentuating the limp I already have. So running on the "wrong" side of the road evens it out a little. I wonder if I can get permission from the police department for that or something...

Days 93 & 94

Monday yoga. Today also yoga, and running. But due to scheduling craziness I couldn't run until after yoga, so it was late and dark. Actually, it was probably the nicest weather I've had for a long time. No sun, low 80s, medium high humidity. Plus I was all stretched out from yoga, so I started off really well, and you'd think it would have been an excellent run. But I got tired pretty quickly and it ended up being just ok: 6 miles, 1:03:17. Maybe someday when I catch up on sleep I'll have another awesome run. But I do miss running in the afternoons and evenings... I can't wait until the weather allows it more often... and when "evening" isn't 9:00.

Days 90 - 92: Adventure!

Friday was a "rest" day, which meant a very full day of work and then a trip to Tennessee! Because Saturday, a bunch of us went white water rafting on the Ocoee! I count that as my cross training for the day. My heart rate was definitely up, I got a good arm and ab workout, and we even did a little swimming at the end. We rafted part of the Olympic kayak course from some year the Olympics were here (I'm so bad at history), and that was definitely the most challenging part. Not quite as wild as it looks on TV though. Which is probably good. Trying to swim out of a swirling pool of death is probably a little extreme for cross training.

I'm doing the next few runs solo. I'm feeling very overwhelmed, and I need some time to reconnect with myself and clear my head and remember why I love running in the first place, and sometimes it's just easier to do that when the only sound you hear is your own feet crunching pavement. So I did the 9 miler this evening on my own. I didn't worry about time at all because I knew it was going to be bad after eating like a pig and drinking like a fish all weekend (is there such thing as a pig fish?), so I have no idea how I did. I didn't plan a route either, I just turned on my Garmin to keep track of distance and went for it. I ended up running a bunch of trails in the park behind the VA (and almost got lost... who knew there was a trail there that went to a secret building... it's like a hidden manor or something). It was a decent run considering the sore, dehydrated, cramptastic state of my body.

Back to the real training this week. Pretty scared for a week from today... 14 miles?! That will be the farthest I've ever run. Which I guess I'm going to be saying a lot pretty soon...

P.S. There IS such a thing as a pigfish! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_pigfish

Day 89

Somehow I managed to get up this morning and run my 5 miles. I'm sooo tired from this week. My time was pretty good. 51:35... so a little faster than Tuesday, miraculously, considering I was by myself and I haven't slept more than 5 hours at a time since Sunday. Super glad for a day off tomorrow, and the rafting trip this weekend! Although I don't think that will help me keep up on sleep...

Day 88: Does a 12 hour work day count as a workout?

How about if I only sat down for a grand total of 30 minutes during those 12 hours? And it was 90 degrees inside so I sweat the whole time?

My legs are sore, so I think it should.

This is my way of saying I failed to actually work out for the day. But when yoga starts at 7 and I'm leaving work at 7:15... well... you get the idea. So I ate pizza for dinner instead. Fair trade, right? I mean, I work out to feel better, but eating pizza makes me feel better... so it's totally the same.

Gah... whatever. Bedtime so I can run tomorrow.

Day 87: 5 misty miles

This week is a fall back week, so weekday runs drop a mile, and long runs drop a couple miles. So this morning we "only" had to do 5. The weather was gross... it was trying really hard to rain, but wouldn't, so the humidity was like 99.9%. It wasn't hot, but I felt so gross afterward, I might as well have run in 90 degree weather. We finished in 52:27. Didn't break any records, but I think we're both still recovering from Sunday. Neither of us have trained longer or farther than this before, so I think we're also both nervous to push it. Hopefully an easier week this week will build up our confidence and give us a little extra energy for a great week next week.

Also did yoga today. It was a struggle though... I'm feeling really tired lately. Just so much stress at work, and a very full social calendar, on top of struggling to stay on top of things like laundry and grocery shopping... definitely not sleeping or relaxing enough. I need running and yoga to keep the stress levels under control, but apparently working out so much doesn't make you feel less tired. Imagine that. I think if I can make it to September 1st, life will calm down. Maybe then I'll have so much new energy I'll be able to run super fast! One can only hope...

Day 86: Surprises!

Stretch & stregnthen = yoga! Of course. I've decided I really like this studio. The good thing is it's not too expensive for a month unlimited, and since they canceled the yoga at the student rec center, I need a new plan. Thankfully, I have another coupon for the discounted price, so I can decide if I really want to start making the investment. Otherwise... not sure what I'm going to do.

In other news... I got surprises from my mommy today! She went on a minor shopping spree on runnergirl.com, and I ended up with an awesome hot pink running shirt, a magnet with the Runner Girl logo for my car to go next to my 13.1 magnet, and a cute little button I put on my work bag so everyone can see and be jealous. I'm so excited! Chris and I were talking about how anticlimactic our run yesterday was, since that's the farthest distance we've ever run, and unlike the Thanksgiving half and the ING half, there was no crowd, no free food, no medal, and no T-shirt at the end. But now I got a T-shirt, and other fun stuff. Yay! Chris will be jealous. I'll be sure to rub it in. :-p

Days 83 - 85

Friday rest day. Nothing exciting to report there.

Saturday I got brave (and got up early) and went to the Intermediate - Advanced Power Yoga class. I was totally fine. I just had to be familiar with poses and know how to modify poses for myself. It was a great class... closer to the Ashtanga style I liked so much at the other place. I felt really strong and really stretched out afterward. And... I did a really hard balancing pose called Crow that I could never do before... for like 3 seconds. But it was the first time ever, so I was super excited.

Today we did a "half marathon"... we reached that point in our training, but we didn't have a race to run, so we just did 13.1 around town. Finished in 2:31. Not our fastest, but we conquered a lot of hills, and it gives us a time to beat in October. I'm super sore though. It's weird to think we have to run on Tuesday... for our other races, we would be done with training by now and get to take some time off. But we still have so far to go...

Day 81 & 82: Best run of my life!!!

Ok, maybe except for that one time I ran a 7:30 mile in high school. But that was only one mile... on a track... and I was in high school... so it hardly counts.

ANYWAY... Wednesday I had every intention of working out. I even drove to Peidmont Park to go to yoga. But there was SO. MUCH. TRAFFIC. So I was too late. And then by the time I went back to work and got home, I was just too tired, so I actually cooked food, instead of making a salad or sandwich, and gave up on the work out. It's not like I was totally lazy... I walked to campus for a meeting, and ended up climbing those 5 flights of stairs 3 times instead of 1. And did I mention I cooked? That's a work out in and of itself, given the fact that I'm kitchen-challenged. But I still felt slightly guilty for skipping.

However, I definitely made up for it this morning. Despite the fact that once again I could barely get up out of bed, Chris and I rocked our run. 6 miles in... ready? Drum roll please... 59:27!!!!!! We broke that 10 min/mile wall! It was crazy... first two miles in 9:25 each. Third in 9:55. FOURTH in 9:43. We slowed down to a bit over 10 after that, but 4 miles in a row under 10 minutes!!! I kept looking at my Garmin in disbelief. GREAT start to my day; it was hours ago and I'm still excited about it. Also a huge confidence builder. Our training is definitely working, and I have the potential to improve my speed, even over long distances. Who knew? I thought I was a 10:30 miler for life. Maybe we can finish this marathon in under 8 hours after all...

Next hurdle: break the 3rd run curse. Tuesday's run must not suck. It doesn't have to be as totally, completely, wonderfully excellent as today's, but it just can't suck. Bring it, 6 miler #3!

Days 79 & 80: Remind me again why I'm doing this...

I am really not doing well at keeping up with this. I guess that's what happens when you burn the candle at both ends, so to speak.

Yoga yesterday for stretching and strengthening. Between my calves and my hips, I could barely walk, so the stretch was much needed. I can tell the strengthening part is working too... did you know I have muscles in my arms? No way! I thought it was just skin and some amorphous material to give them some shape. But holy triceps! It's super exciting.

6 miles today. It was so hard to get out of bed. I almost didn't. Good thing Chris was coming over, or I wouldn't have. But I would have felt kind of bad just leaving him at my front door at 6:45 a.m. while I was snuggled in bed. So... up and out for 6 miles I went. Our time was 1:03:40, which I think is a good starting place for the set--fast enough to feel good about, but still leaves room for improvement, so we have something to work for. I also went to yoga again tonight. We did lots of hip opening, so I think I'm all stretched out now. If not, class tomorrow should take care of the rest, just in time to beat myself up again Thursday morning.

Why am I doing this again? Balancing work and training and... well... life... I'm exhausted right now. I really must be crazy...

Day 76 - 78

Friday = rest day. And fat day... pizza, beer, etc.

Saturday I was going to go to a "Power" yoga class in the morning (cardio, strength, and stretching all at once), but then I chickened out because it said it was for intermediate to advanced students, and I still don't know where I fall. If it's just that it's fast paced so I need to know the poses, I could do it. But I'm not good at inversions and some of the poses that require both balancing and flexibility (tight hamstrings, what can you do?), so if I need to be able to do those things, then I'm not ready. I think I'm going to ask the instructor this week if she thinks I can handle it. She's been at almost all the classes I've been to, so I feel she'll know, or at the very least can tell me what I need to be able to do. Then I'll try again next week. Anyway... instead I was going swim, except that my car wouldn't start. So I spent an hour waiting for AAA and an hour getting my battery replaced, which pretty much shot my day, since I still had to go to work and had dinner plans. So I just did Pilates instead. Which isn't the worst thing... I decided I really need to work on my core more. I get back aches after my long runs, and having a strong core really helps with balance and endurance through hill running.

Today was a 12 miler. We tried running this morning, since Chris' schedule allows now. We started around 9 a.m. It was actually perfect... it was early enough that it wasn't in the 90s, but late enough that the sun had burned off some of the tropical rain forest humidity we get when we run early on weekday mornings, and there was a nice, cool breeze rather than the desert wind that's been blowing through here lately. Don't get me wrong, it was still hot and humid, but it wasn't nearly as bad as we've been dealing with. I planned a route away from the neighborhood we've been running in too, so we headed more in toward the city, for a change of scenery. We were able to pick up our pace from last week's long run to 11.4 min/mile, and finished in 2:17:40-something. All in all, a good, solid run, and I'm feeling pretty positive... and slightly less guilty about my lazy Friday and Saturday.

Day 75

Wow, 75 days sounds like so long. Probably because it is.

Last 5.5 miler for this set. Definitely kept with the pattern. Finished in 59:02. Not nearly as awesome as our run last Thursday, but it was a good, solid run and I was feeling pretty good about it afterward. Almost makes up for Tuesday.

Also went to a yoga class today... Ashtanga style hip opening. I've decided the Ashtanga style is my favorite; you get a great strength workout while getting a good stretch. Hip opening was pretty much mandatory at this point, so hopefully the class worked its magic and I'll be feeling less like an old woman tomorrow. I feel like I should come with a disclaimer though: "Warning! Messed up hip!" I think I freak people out a little when it pops, and sometimes I just have to say, "Yeah, there's no way I can do that." I'm learning how to modify poses though so that they work for me, and I noticed I'm becoming much more self sufficient at it, so I'm starting to feel like I'm ready to move up from the beginner's classes. But we'll give it a little more time.

Oh yeah, AND I walked back from campus to the VA after yet another defense today, so that's a mile in like 100 degrees, 90% humidity, which should definitely count for something.

Exhausted from the week and really glad for a rest day tomorrow. Need some recovery time before 12 miles...

Days 73 & 74: Tough couple days

My foot recovered sufficiently for me to run Tuesday morning, but it was a bad one. 5.5 miles, 1:04:48. I seem to be keeping with my pattern for our short distance sets: first one good, second one great, third one awful, fourth one good. So that means tomorrow's run should be ok, right? I also walked to campus and back for my lab mate's defense, so that's an extra 2 miles on my feet.

I was going to do some real cross training today along with yoga, but then work happened. So... just yoga in the park for me. I love it. It's kind of a pain because I have to drive to the park, but it's so different and so relaxing, and I DEFINITELY need the deep stretching right now. The crazy weather (thunderstorms on and off) is bothering my hip (yes, I am a 78 year old grandmother, I know), and my ankles and calves are pretty sore recently, which just happens when I hit the longer mileage runs.

I wish I had something more exciting to report. But I feel we're settling in to a good training pattern, so no news is good news, I suppose. Early morning, so off to bed...

Days 69 - 72

Failure to blog, sorry.

Friday was a rest day. Check. Including some extra gluttony with a couple vodka tonics and McDonald's. Double check.

Saturday I was going to go to yoga, but set my alarm wrong. Then I really, really wanted to swim. But by the time I got done at work, it was storming. So I settled for some pilates. Not the best, but better than nothing. And a good ab workout.

Sunday was the worst day ever. And all I wanted to do was run to get rid of some frustration. But by the time Chris and I could meet... it was storming. Poor Chris walked into my apartment to find me near hysterical about "I can't miss my run too on top of everything else!" Thankfully, he's very patient, and by the time he'd cracked a couple jokes to make me smile and I'd calmed down, there was a break in the storms. So we decided to ditch the route and stick close to home and just run loops in the neighborhood nearby in case it started to storm again. But we got all 11 miles in without rain, in 2:10:48. And although I was sore and tired, I felt a ton better. Thank goodness for great running partners!

Stretch & strengthen today... one tough yoga class definitely accomplished both. Sadly, I dropped my computer on my foot tonight, so hopefully it'll be ok and I can run tomorrow. The computer is fine, but my foot is awesomely purple. I'm gonna be extra sad if the reason I can't run is because I'm that clumsy.

Day 68: 5.5 PR!

AWESOME run this morning! 5.5 miles again... our time was 56:22. That's 1:49 off Tuesday's time! And we ran our first 2 miles in under 10 minutes each! It was crazy... I looked at my watch after the first mile... 9:36, even with 2 major hills. Second mile was 9:49. Third was 10:13. So great. The 5th mile I thought I might die, and it was much slower, but the last half mile wasn't too bad, since we had a slight downhill, so I was able to recover enough to push through. Our average pace was 10:14/mile... we're getting so close to that 10 min/mile goal! That will probably be the best run of our 5.5 mile set... it seems I have 1 really good, 1 really bad, and 2 ok per distance set. But if this is our best, I'm ok with that. And since my pace improved from my best 5 miler to my best 5.5 miler, I think there's hope for further improvement.

I celebrated tonight with some much deserved beer and pie. All the hard work is worth it for days like today. :-)

Day 67: Best stretch EVER!

So today for my "cross training" I did another yoga class through Active Sol, except it wasn't at the studio. Instead, it was in Peidmont Park. The though of yoga outdoors seemed a little weird to me, but it was amazing. It was so nice out, not too humid or hot with a good breeze, and the distant sounds of flag football teams and passing cars and barking dogs provided a surprisingly soothing soundtrack. The class was a "yin" yoga class, so instead of a lot of flowing poses, we held deep stretching poses for several minutes each. It was really intense, but my hips and thighs and and knees feel a ton better. Best stretch I've done all training. Probably best stretch I've ever done. Which hopefully means a good run tomorrow, right? It was very peaceful to settle into the end meditation with the sun beginning to set, the sky turning pink and purple and orange, and the city lights starting to turn on. I didn't want to leave when the class was over, so I took a little jaunt around the park as well. It's such a great place, full of runners, walkers, bikers, dogs, frisbees... it's green with plenty of trees, a lake, and endless possibilities of paths... everything you could want from a city park. I think we might have to do a run there sometime. I forgot how great it was. Perhaps Sunday... might make the long run feel less long.

Day 66: I definitely need more sleep...

... because getting up for these early morning runs just keeps getting harder. Once I get going, I'm alright, but bed is just so comfortable and it's so hard to open my eyes.

5.5 miles this morning. Our time was pretty good: 58:11, so about 10:34 min/mile. Always room for improvement, but it was a good, hard run. I can definitely tell our hill training is paying off now, and our speed is getting better, because we can maintain about 10:05 on flat parts of the course. So... yay! I'm feeling pretty good today.

Also went to a yoga class (and the addiction begins again...). The class today was kind of like a lighter version of the Ashtanga classes I took at UBS, which is actually perfect. The Ashtanga is tough and I'm feeling pretty sore, so this provided just the right balance between stretching and strengthening, a good workout but without wearing me out completely.

Feeling pretty tight in my hips... need to get that straightened out before Thursday. And sleep! Must do that as well...

Day 65: New yoga studio!

Stretch and strengthen. So good for my tight calves.

I got one of those coupons again for an awesomely discounted month-long membership at a new yoga studio called Active Sol Yoga, so for the next month that's where I'll be doing my stretching, strengthening, cross training, etc. Today was a basic "power flow" class... a sort of conglomeration of different styles good for a well-rounded yoga experience. It was actually pretty similar to what I would do during my class on campus, but a little longer. And a change of scenery is always nice. Some of their classes sound pretty interesting though, so I'm excited for some new experiences and to expand my yoga horizons. I see more double workout days in my future... running and yoga... looks like Chris might have to take me to those Athletes Anonymous meetings after all...

Days 61 - 64

Sorry, I've been a little Faily McFail with the blog recently. So busy. Time to get caught up.

Thursday morning we did our last 5 miler. I was feeling better than Tuesday, although my lack of sleep all week prevented me from feeling super, but we tied our first time, so we ended that segment of training on a positive note. Friday was a rest day, and, since this was an "easy" week, so was Saturday. I probably should have done some cross training Saturday to make up for my laziness last Saturday, but... I went shopping and to see Inception instead (totally worth it... got an amazing dress and Inception is incredible... go see it... right now, what are you waiting for?!).

Our "easier" long run this week was a 15k, which we did today. We tried to wait out the heat a little, but it's really just not possible right now, so we waited out the sun and ran a little later in the evening. 94 degrees, 3 water stops, no stomach pain, no twisted ankles... we got through it in 1:53:00. Our goal for long run pace is 12 min/mile, because our buddy Hal Higdon, who created the training plan our plan is based off of (and all the training plans we've used so far), suggests that long runs be done at a pace at which we can carry on a conversation. Plus, it's hot and hilly. So I feel 12 min/mile is a good goal, and our average over our whole run today was 12:08, so we're right on target. Maybe when the weather gets better we can work on improving our time, but for now I'm definitely satisfied.