3-30-10 Running with the whole family

James was home today so I convinced him to come for a short run with me. We put the two older kids in the double stroller and the baby in the single. It was really windy and I wasn't very fast. I just didn't have much energy. The kids are heavy! When we got to the park I ran around the track once by myself while James played with the kids on the toys.

The last mile James said to see how fast we could go so we ran as fast as I could. We did a 9 minute mile with strollers! That is fast for me even with out a stroller. The kids had fun and so did I.

3-27-10 14 MILES!

Today I ran farther than I have ever run. Ever.

I started my lovely Saturday by waking up at 5:30am, feeding the baby, getting some breakfast and then getting dressed. By 6:20 I was up at the park running around the track, it was dark and cold, there was still a little snow on the ground from yesterday's weird storm. I hoped to get in 4 miles before 7am so I could pickup my basket of produce that I had ordered from the food co-op. I finished my miles (after a lot of starting and stopping), picked up my produce, drove home dropped it off and then went to meet Karri. We drove down to the elementary school where she was picking up her produce and started our 10 miles. The time went by quickly and I walked less in that 10 miles stretch than I did in my 4 miles. It warmed up and turned into a really beautiful day. Our run was great we made pretty good time, we were back to the school by 9:30 For some reason her Nike+ and my Nike+ was different. Mine said I was only up to 13.36 miles so I did a quick loop to the soccer field and then ran back to my car for exactly 14 miles.

It feels good to know I can do longer than a half marathon, I was worried for a while because when I did the half a few years ago I was in so much pain the last 3 miles. I have confidence now that I can continue to keep adding miles without killing myself.

As far as my new gadgets go, the water bottle was great, I really didn't use it much, maybe twice and I still had some water left when I finished. (Perhaps I should be drinking more.) But it stayed in place and didn't bother me at all. The knee braces were fine, I guess. My knees still hurt towards the end but really didn't bother me the first 11 miles. I am finding out now that the body glide, anti-chafing product didn't fully live up to my expectations. The good news is half of me is "un-chafed" the other half didn't fare so well. Oh well.

I am feeling okay now, I can feel it in my knees and calves when I go up and down stairs but other than that I feel good. I think it has something to do with the ice bath. I have been doing (short) ice baths after my long runs. It hurts to get in, it is hard to stay in, but I think it really helps get the swelling down and I feel like my muscles recover a lot faster after long runs.

This week I ran 26 miles. That is a lot of running.

3-26-10 A test run....

After Wednesday's weird and painful run, I took Thursday off. I hadn't had any real pain since, just a little twinge here and there so I figured I would do a really short run and try out a couple new things I bought to get me through my 14 mile run tomorrow.

I have been having knee pain off and on, and after the weird shooting pain I had I can't help but wonder if my knees are causing the rest of my body to run weirdly. So I got these braces and I am hoping they will help. (In the past when I see people wear any kind of knee brace I have just wanted to say "I know how to make your knee quit hurting, just quit running you crazy person." Well now I must have become one of those crazy people who like to inflict injury upon themselves.)

Won't those look lovely when I wear shorts. :)

(That is now my leg, by the way.)

Luckily it is still cold enough to wear pants, to cover up my weird black knee bands.

I also bought this lovely product.

I have high hopes for this one. I tried it today just to make sure I wasn't allergic to it and that it doesn't feel sticky. I seemed sort of like the consistency of chapstick. I really really hope it does what it says it can do. I guess I will know tomorrow if it works or not.

And last, I bought a little water bottle. I have been trying to figure out what to do on my longer runs when I need to drink. I looked at the belts with 2-4 bottles attached, I looked at the water bottles with straps to hold on to but all of them seemed like they would get in the way. I ended up finding this:

It has a clip that you can clip onto a belt or waistband. I took it this morning and tried to run with it but it bounced way to much. So I mostly just held it in my hand, which was fine. But then I had a thought. I had seen this water bottle online so I decided to adapt my little bottle to strap around my arm. I cut off the clip and then got my old MP3 armband and came up with this:

It worked. It isn't too heavy, it doesn't bounce around. It isn't real big so it doesn't hold a lot of water but I tend to run in places where there are parks, gas stations and near my mom's house. So my plan is to just fill it up and then plan my running routes to be somewhere that I can refill it if I need to.

So with all my new gadgets I should be totally ready. (Right?)

I am nervous about 14 miles tomorrow. I really want to be able to finish.

3-24-10

I planned on 6 miles this morning and headed out to start my run. I was feeling good, I had energy, it was a good day to be outside. At almost exactly the 1 mile point I got this shooting pain in my lower back that went down my hip and into my thigh. It stopped me from even taking another step. It was so weird. I thought maybe it was some sort of muscle cramp so I walked for a little bit but finally had to sit down on the curb. I sat there for about 10 minutes, trying to stretch and wondering what was going on. It was such a sharp pain I couldn't even run through it. In the past I have had knee pain that sort of aches and is annoying but this was different. After sitting and stretching I was able to get up and walk and then eventually if I moved just right I could run. I told myself I would just try to get around the track one time and then see how I felt from there. I was able to run, I just had to be careful how I stepped.  After about 3 miles I wasn't in a lot of pain just sort of uncomfortable. I ended up finishing the 6 miles (not sure if that was a good idea or bad idea). When I got home I stretched and then I made an appointment with the chiropractor.
I went tonight and got adjusted and told him about what had happened on my run. He gave me some ideas about perhaps it is because of the surfaces I have been running on being slanted (the track is sort of slanted, when I run on the side of the road it is slanted etc.) I think that may be some of it. Also he said I may be moving my body weirdly to compensate for the knee pain I have been having. And also suggested I need to do more stretching, which is true, I have slacked off on that.

I haven't decided if I am going to do my remaining 4 mile short run for the week before I do my 14 mile long run. I will just wait and see how I feel.

3-22-10

4 miles on a Monday morning. My main thought during this run was "When will this just become easy?"
I keep wondering that. Even 4 miles (which is supposed to be a "short" run ) some days seems really really hard.

This week is really busy we have something planned everynight, except Friday.
Monday- a family B-day party
Tuesday- Neighborhood Caucus at our messy house.
Wednesday - I was invited to play Bunko :)
Thursday- a parenting workshop
Friday - Nothing yet, thank goodness.
And Saturday I am supposed to run 14 miles, go to a lunch for a friends birthday and then be ready by 6 o'clock to attend the YW General Broadcast with my girls. I am feeling overwhelmed. A lot of the things I have planned are fun things that I want to do but it still feels stressful trying to fit everything in.

3-20-10 12 miles, just me and my music.

12 Miles this morning! That is one long run. I felt good today, I ran alone for this one, (Karri was running this morning too but she was leaving at 6:30am and I knew I would have a hard time getting up, getting the baby fed and getting out the door by that time). So I decided to run by myself.


Last night  I planned out the where I wanted to run and used Google Earth to figure the distance. I even printed my route on a little piece of paper so I could take it with me (I am not the best at directions and for some reason I get lost easily). I had 2 packs of strawberry flavored "shot bloks" to take and I also downloaded some new music and I had some new running clothes (shirts, socks, etc.) ready to wear.



I got up this morning and was ready to head out the door at 8am. It was chilly but I just layered two shirts and wore a hat and gloves. I headed to the park and did 6 laps around the track (that was the only part of the run I didn't enjoy, 6 laps is very tedious but I don't like to stray too far from places I am familiar with). After my laps around the track I headed down towards mom's house. I took a water bottle with me today but it was just so annoying to carry. I set it down while I ran around the park but when I got onto the roads I just decided it just wasn't worth the hassle trying to carry it. I figured I could just get a drink when I ran past mom's house. I ran down to mom's (took a quick water break) then looped around and came back up 48 and then up Midland a little. I took a road into one of the neighborhoods up toward's our neighborhood and only had 100 meters left by the time I got to the house, so I just went down a couple houses then turned around and hit 12 miles right at my front yard.

The only real complaints I had were that my left knee hurt from about mile 2-4, and from miles 9 and on my hips hurt and I could feel myself running out of energy so I had quite a few walking breaks.

Overall it was an enjoyable run and I am happy to say that I was able to finish the 12 miles even after having such a bad week with my shorter runs.

Maybe my new running clothes and my new music helped me out.

3-18-10

Another attempt at a run. It was like torture just getting these 3 miles in. The weather was fine, I don't really have any good excuses, except that I feel busy, like there are so many other things I need to be doing. I have no desire to run some days. I am noticing that the time I spend running each week is starting to add up and  I am behind in just about every responsibility I have. One good thing though, I have sort of caught up on my laundry (well we aren't drowning in dirty clothes anymore) and the house is clean (thanks to James taking a day off to help me).  This week was supposed to be a 26 mile week, maybe next week.

I have a 12 mile long run planned for Saturday, I need some energy.

3-17-10 Not sure I can even call this a run...

Blah.

Tried to run on the treadmill in the basement. I was bored out of my mind. I just couldn't do it. I thought I would run when James came home from work but he came home late. I have no energy this week.

3-16-10

6 miles today. It was a nice day, sunny and not too cold. I think spring is on it's way but the daylight savings time change has been hard to adjust to. I just cannot get up in the morning.

3-13-10 WRC 10 Miler

Today was the 10 Mile Winter Racing Circuit run. It went better than I expected.

(Lovely bathroom shot again.)

The course was up in the same area as the 5K and 10K, so that meant hills. I drove up yesterday to check it out so I would know what to expect. There definitly was no shortage of hills, but the biggest one was the same hill on 36th that we went up in the 10K and I figured I could always walk up it if I had to.

It started at 8am. It wasn't as cold as it has been and it hadn't started snow like the forecast had predicted so I was happy about that. We started out at the Dee Events center and ran down 36th and over to 26th, then looped around back to Dee Event Center and up into some of the neighborhoods. About 3.5 miles I slowed a little but I brought some of my energy chew things ("shot bloks") and ate two at about mile 4. They had water stops in 4 different places so I was able to get water and gatorade. Coming up 36th street was ridiculous again, like last time, I had to walk most of the way. Once I got up the hill I felt pretty good and found a good pace. Once we got into the neighborhoods there was another big hill I had to slow down and walk for but it wasn't too long. I set my goal to pass a lady in a red shirt that had been in front of me most of the time. I ate my last 4 energy chews at mile 6. About mile 7 it started to snow and then I think my I got my second wind because I passed red shirt lady and I was able to run the rest of the way without much trouble (it helped that there were a lot of downhill parts). The last mile was good and I hit the button on my ipod to check my time, it said 1:54, I really wanted to finish in under 2 hours so I sped up.

My official time was 1:57:36.  

(Somewhere along the way my NIKE+ got off and so it was about a quarter mile ahead.)

Overall it was a good run. I had some points where my left knee was really bothering me but it seemed to come and go. At one point, probably mile 8 my left foot (between my big toe and second toe) really started to hurt and I thought I would have to walk but instead I ran up onto the sidewalk to get off the slope of the side of the road and it helped a lot.  Twice now (this race and last race)when I have been running my hands just all of the sudden get really cold, so cold it hurts,  but the rest of my body is warm it is weird. This time I just put my gloves back on and also when I finished and got back to my car I had some little hand warmers I put inside my gloves to warm back up. It is very strange to have my hands so cold but the rest of me so sweaty.

Today was a good day. James took the rest of the day off and even made pancakes (I begged him to take me to IHOP, but it didn't work) and I got to take a long nap. I feel good now, not really sore yet but I am sure I will be feeling it tomorrow.

3-12-10

I woke up early (or should I say, Jack woke me up early) so after I got him fed and back to sleep I figured I might as well get my run in. It seemed like too much energy to get all bundled up to run outside so I headed to the gym.

It just wasn't my day. I was supposed to do 4 miles, but I barely did 3.4. My knees (especially my right) hurt, my hips hurt and even my elbows hurt. I don't know what is up with my joints but I just couldn't get past the pain today. Livy has been sick with a cold, maybe she is passing her illness on to me. Oh well.

Tomorrow is a 10 miler. I need to drive up there and see the course so I atleast will know what to expect. Maybe I will load the kids in the car and take a drive when Rachel is home from school.

3-10-10

4 miles today. I took the kids in the stroller again. I am still amazed at how much more effort it takes to push them. I did a little bit downhill and that was great, and increased my average pace. I did a lot of starting and stopping.

I am wondering if my Nike+ sensor is off though, when I run pushing the stroller it seems to be off a little bit. I think I ran a little less than 4 miles, but it felt like 8 pushing that thing.

3-8-10

I have scheduled this week 4, 6, 4, and 12 but I am adjusting my runs a little because I have a 10 mile "race" (for me it's not really a race, I just go to run with people and to see if I can not finish last) on Saturday. So, I won't be doing 12 miles until next week. My plan is 6, 4, 4 and 10. Today I did the 6.

It was a nice day, no snow or rain so I figured I would do 6 miles while the weather is good, who knows how the rest of the week will look, it is supposed to snow sometime soon.
I started off at home and headed to the park, then ran down 48 and over to Midland, then I ran back up to the park, went around the track a couple times and headed back home. I hadn't run that route before and coming up Midland slowed me down a bit but overall the run was good. I had a couple times that my left knee started bothering me but it wasn't bad enough to stop.

I felt good, I really wanted to finish 6 miles in 60 minutes (that is fast for me) but I didn't quite make it. Someday though.

3-6-10 11 Miles is Easier than 10

I decided to skip my third short run this week (4 miles) hoping that my knee would feel better. It felt good yesterday and today  I was able to do my long run  so I think that was a good choice.

This morning was 11 beautiful and sunny miles! I started off at home and did 3 miles by myself. Then I was supposed to pick up Karri at her house at 8am to run the rest. It was a little past 8 o'clock when I got to her house, (I was sort of slow this morning getting out the door). We headed back out past the park and down 48, we ran in the road which I never do because I always thought I would get hit by a car, but I think people in cars notice two people running better than one person. We ran down and past mom's house then turned around and ran back up. Along the way Karri brought water so we took a couple breaks to drink and she also had these:

CLIF® SHOT BLOKS® Electrolyte Chews are a semi-solid, easily chewable source of carbohydrates—your body's preferred source of fuel during activity—and electrolytes.

I don't know if it was the pace, the beautiful weather, the water and "shot bloks", or our great conversations but 11 miles was so much better than the 10 miles last week.

Even after 11 miles I still had some energy and debated whether or not to jog down to the gas station to get a drink. (I decided not to and just drank some water at home.) My knee didn't hurt during the run but it is a little painful now. I am icing both knees and wearing my Recovery Socks, hopefully I won't be too sore tomorrow.

It was a good run, we took some short walking breaks, but overall we kept a good pace. I am encouraged now that 12 miles will be doable next week.

3-4-10

I was supposed to do 4 miles today. I am trying to decide what to do. My left knee is really bugging me. It is just achy and feels sort of weak. My choices are to skip the 4 miles today and do them tomorrow or to skip them altogether in hopes that my knee will feel good enough to do 11 miles on Saturday.
I can't decide which to do. Sometimes I think if I skip one run then I will make excuses in the future to skip other runs. I am really good at making excuses. I am still pondering this one, not sure what to do.

3-3-10

5 miles today. It was raining a little but it felt good. I started from home and headed to the park, did the track 4 times, then back home. My left knee is hurting and after about 3.5 miles my left hip. James was home today so I didn't need to take the kids and he snapped a couple pictures as I was leaving our neighborhood.

3-1-10 Running with Kids

I was unmotiviated this morning. I didn't get up in time to run before James left for work. I was dreading going downstairs to the basement to run on the treadmill. (Looking at the piles of laundry I should have done does nothing for my running motivation.)
Instead I strapped the kids into the bike trailer (which also is a weird looking stroller) and took them out for a slow (with a lot of stops) run.

I could tell within the first 2 minutes that it was going to be a slow and hard run. That thing is heavy with two kids, any incline slowed me to a walk instantly.

After about 3 miles we stopped at the park to play and rest.

Then we headed back home for our last mile (kicking and screaming "I want to go on the slide again!" for about a quarter of a mile--so much fun).

It was a perfect day to run. Maybe March will be a good running month.  We will have to do that again. Minus the screaming and crying though.

5, 4 and 11 more to go this week.

The verdict on the Recovery Socks:
 I wore them for about 4 hours after my run. The next day my leg muscles weren't sore, I did feel like I could maybe get a calf cramp a couple times but I didn't actually end up getting one. I don't know if it was the socks, the ice packs, the ice bath or the ibuprofen but the day after my 10 mile run I felt fine.