Freaked

I'm freakin' out, man! Why you asked? Well...

First, I woke up at 4:30 am to run. I love running, but I never wake up early to do it. I would estimate that I've tried to wake up early about 2,000 times and have really only been successful approximately twice. That works out to 0.1%. Terrible. But this morning I did it! I was wide awake for some reason this morning. I will admit that I tried to fall back asleep, but I just couldn't do it. I was so happy to run to. Once I was out there doing it I kind of wished I could stay out longer and go in late to work. I managed to get 4 miles in this morning.

Second, it's January 8th and it was 47 degrees out when I went running this morning. The forecast is calling for 60 degrees as the high for today. I'll repeat - it's January! How crazy is that!?

Tonight I'm headed to a power yoga class with a couple ladies from my teacher training. It should be a good time. I love this class.

I'm also headed to get my new blackberry for work tonight. Oooo fancy shmancy!

Start of New Year

I haven't posted in awhile because quite frankly, I've been running around with my head cut off. I've been running, but never as much as I'd like. I've been doing yoga, but not as often as I'd like. I've been working, but more than I'd like (kidding of course!).

Since I've last written, I've fully recovered from the achilles injury. Christmas has come and gone and so has New Years. I started my Yoga Teacher Training classes and after 5 weeks I can tell this is quite the journey I'm on. I'm also changing jobs - same company, new position, new manager and new department. As you can see I've had a lot on my plate.

In the running department, I'm attempting to train for the Vermont City marathon, but if I can't get the miles in and don't feel I'm ready, I'll fall back on the Run to Remember half marathon. Both races are on the same day. I'm going to run as often as I can, but in balancing the yoga teacher training and the rest of life, it's not always that easy.

So I will write in my blog as often as I can and I might even start a new one specifically for yoga.

Keep in touch!

The Great Outdoors

I have been running in the great outdoors for one week and I am ecstatic to be back out there. That being said, I am struggling with the fact that I am just not where I once was. I know I'm recovering from an injury, but still it's frustrating. I'm not allowed to run very far or very fast, but at least I'm running and everything will come back with time, training, focus and determination. I hope.

On Sunday, I completed my longest outdoor run since the injury - 4.7 miles in 40 minutes. My IT band on my right leg was really tight towards the end of the run, which was mind boggling to me because that hasn't hurt since the beginning of this year when I was doing big miles for Boston '07. I have a feeling my right leg may be picking up some of the slack for my left leg (the injured one).

My PT gave me a running, strength and cross training workout that gets me until this Saturday when I will do a 45 minute run. It's funny to be in a gym again... I'm terrible at the strength and cross training part of the whole thing, but I am learning to love it. I have been on the elliptical and am somehow finding that fun. I've also found a new love for rowing - I've never done it before and probably look ridiculous, but it's fun! The strength part is going well too and I am feeling stronger all around. In fact, here's a picture of my gym gear - magazine for reading while on the elliptical, post-it with the day's workout and pen for notes.

On Friday, I will see my PT again and consult with him on where I can go from here - at the last consult he said he could have me marathon training again by January 1st - and what's up with my IT band.

My 10 Minutes of Running

I did it today. I ran for 10 minutes. And yes, I did the 6 minutes on the elliptical, my stretches, and 6 more minutes before I started running, just like my PT said.

It was a beautiful day outside - 56 degrees, sunny - and yet I was inside... on the treadmill. It was painful to be there. I haven't been on a treadmill in about nine months. There was a girl on my right, who I actually thought looked like a runner and then I was thinking of the Pearl Izumi® ads and according the them, a runner would never be inside on a treadmill. Then I was afraid that everyone would think I was less of a runner because I was inside. Maybe she is rehabbing an injury too. I never really thought of it before, but at the gym on the treadmill I ran with people so it was hard for me not to go fast and get competitive. But I made it through and those 10 minutes were the fastest 10 minutes of my life.

I iced when I got home and tomorrow I'll go to PT. I'll let them know how great I feel and my fingers are crossed that I'll be released to add on more time to my 10 minute run.

Beautiful Long Run Turns to Semi-Disaster

While out on my long run Sunday all I could think about was writing about how incredible autumn is (as if I haven't said it enough). I was going to write about the smell of the leaves, the smell of the "one-last-barbeque" for the year parties, the look of the families out to enjoy the last warm days, the refreshing feeling of the cool autumn air and on my skin, and so many more sensations I felt during the run. However...

I finished the run just about 10 yards before my apartment and as I was walking up the hill I thought, "Wow my calf is really tight. That's weird. I better make sure I stretch it out." And I actually listened to myself. I went inside, grabbed my yoga strap and stretched my calf out and everything else for that matter. All was well and good. And then...

Dave made dinner for us and we watched game 7 of the Red Sox vs. Indians series (Red Sox won) while flipping back and forth to the History channel to learn all about the story of the The 300 and Sparta and Persia and all that (I am totally into that by the way). So all was good as I sat on the couch. Then I stood up. Wow, really tight calf. Again, so weird. Oh well. I say goodnight to Dave and head home. I walk up the stairs. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch... I have a lot of stairs. Oh - I was also carrying two bags of groceries and two laundry baskets. I do not feel well...

I call Dave. My calf is so tight and I don't know what to do. I will heat it and take Monday off. No. He looks up a ton of information online and comes to my apartment. He checks out my legs to see if there is any swelling, gets me set up in an ice pack, gives me a massage and puts me to bed. And I'm sure things will be better Monday morning. I wake up Monday morning...

And its even tighter! How is this possible!? What did I do?! Dave encourages me to call the doctor and so does my manager (my boss at work who doubles as my running coach although I don't know if he realizes that part). They are able to get me in that day. I suffer through the day and go to the doctor. She says...

"Well, you didn't tear your achilles and it is still intact." She said intact. INTACT - as if it really could come off!!! Oh my word!! "I think you just have a strain/sprain." I don't know what she said there because I was just waiting to hear the you-can't-run-for-a-million-years-and-why-would-you-want-to-anyway speech that all doctors who don't run like to give. But - this girl is actually a runner! YES! She says take two days off and then I can return to 50% intensity, distance, etc. She also gave me a precription for Naproxen so I can get the swelling down and make the pain go away. Then Tuesday comes...

Tuesday is here and I've been set up with a Physical Therapy referral. I'm icing and heating my leg and being totally lazy. It does not feel that much better and I don't know that the pain meds are necessarily helping. I will be reassesing tomorrow as to whether I can try a run or not. My guess is I won't be ready and better just sit for a while more so I don't take myself out completely. I'm hoping I can at least try a yoga class with some modifications for my achilles.

My fingers are crossed that everything turns out well.

Having Fun

I felt like having some fun today so I threw out whatever was on my schedule today and went up to the track to run. I wore my iPod, which I never do anymore, but I downloaded some new music that I wanted to check out.

The sun was shining. I was singing Milli-Vanilli style. I was having fun. I did 4 miles total, which is good for me at the track because going in circles gets a bit boring. I mixed in some strides and a fast mile.

I felt invigorated afterward because it was just great to put some music on and enjoy the outdoors while doing something I love.

Lazy Days

My boyfriend, Dave, and I were out last night with his little brother watching the Red Sox play Cleveland in the ALCS. Dave is a Cleveland fan. I need to point this out even thought it's off topic because I think it's hilarious. He was born and raised in the Boston area, went to college in Rhode Island and now lives near Boston. Did I mention Ohio in that sentence? No. Here's the thing... Dave has 5 brothers and 2 sisters (I know... wow!) and everyone liked the Red Sox so Dave had to go against them just to be different and have something to get after them about.

Back on topic now... . Although we got in late I had about 8-9 hours of sleep last night. For some reason, I woke up exhausted. I honestly think this is from the beer because my body is just not used to it anymore since I really don't drink. Dave and I had breakfast and ran some errands. He then took off for Rhode Island while I went to get myself lunch. After lunch I fell asleep for another 3 hours! What is wrong with me? Seriously. Am I sick? I have no clue.

It was a beautiful day (even though I missed a majority of it sleeping) - sunny, high 50's. I ranthe same route I did on Wednesday and beat my time. Ha! I love that! The sunset tonight was marvelous! I wish I was running with someone or had a camera just so I could share it. The sky was a bright-light blue color and these pink whispy clouds were sitting in it just so perfectly with a few chunky pink clouds mixed in. I was twisting my head around just to see it for as long as I could. I wish my words could do it justice.

When I wasn't sleeping I was checking coolrunning.com for Sarah's marathon results. Good news - she met all three goals she set for herself! Congratulations, Sarah!

Total Miles Today: 4-ish.

Fall Moves to Massachusetts

Fall has finally moved in. Temperatures this week have been in the high 50s to low 60s with light drizzle and periods of heavy rain. We really need the rain here in Massachusetts and we've been lucky enough to have the heaviest of it coming at night.

Fall makes for great running weather, but I've been focused on getting a good recovery from the BAA Half Marathon. I didn't have much soreness afterward - a tight right hip and tight left quad - but I wanted to make sure I recovered properly. I took Monday and Tuesday off from everything, which left me a bit stir crazy.

Monday, Sarah and I went to watch the Tufts 10K, which Deena Kastor won. It was an amazing race and she had a commanding lead through it all. We even saw Stephanie, who we ran Boston with, finishing the race! Tuesday, I was back to work (we were off Monday for Columbus Day), which meant I was home around 5:00pm. Now, I go to bed sometimes between 10:00pm and 12:00am depending on what stupid activities I can needless stay awake doing. (Doesn't it ever amaze you how you can be reading posts on Runner's World and all of a sudden it's 11:30pm and you have to wake up in 6 hours? Maybe that's just me.) So Tuesday night I had a lot of time to kill. Understand that I am not domestic and don't like anything associated with it - cooking, cleaning, whatever... - well Tuesday night I cleaned for about 4 hours. My entire apartment top to bottom. I'm happy that it's clean now, but seriously... does it take recovery from a big race for me to clean?

Wednesday I was back to running. It was a really gloomy, misty, 60 degree day, but I put my running gear on and headed out. I did just over 4 miles and it felt so great to be outside and running. The weather was awesome. I did a new route, which is definitely a new favorite.

I am so happy to be back in action after the BAA Half Marathon. Running is my addiction and I'm tapping the vein for some more of it! Now, if the rain will move out and the fall temperatures will stay, I might just be the happiest girl in all the world!

Tuesday Speedwork Session

Our summer has lasted well into September this year. At 6:30pm my car was telling me it was 83 degrees outside. It was a great evening to run. So I headed up to the track at Milton Academy for 5 miles worth of speedwork. The planned workout was 2x1200m with 600m recovery at 10K pace, 4x400m with 200m recovery at 5K race pace, 4x200m with 100m recovery at 5K race pace. I added a 400m warm up and 400m cool down as well. So here is what it turned out like...

• 400m wu: 2:26
• 2x1200m @ 10K (600m): 5:19 (3:26); 5:12 (3:39)
• 4x400m @ 5K (200m): 1:43 (1:12); 1:44 (1:11); 1:42 (1:17); 1:45 (1:08)
• 4x200m @ 5K (100m): 0:51 (0:49); 0:51 (0:36); 0:49 (0:40); 0:50 (0:39)
• 400m cd: 2:05

Maybe I do some of these too fast, but I feel good. I use about a 7:35 ish 10K pace estimate and a 7:10 ish 5K estimate. Now if I did the math wrong, I'll really be in trouble. I use my new Ironman watch when I do track workouts since I figure I don't need my big Garmin 205 laptop computer on my wrist.

This warm weather is supposed to continue into tomorrow when the heat will become extremely oppressive with a high of 88 degrees. September 26th and an 88 degree forecast - unbelievable!

Total miles for today: 5.00

First LT Workout

Tonight was my first lactate threshold workout and I really hope I did it right because it kicked my butt! I did 8 total miles with 2 miles as a warmup, 4 miles at half marathon pace, and 2 miles as a cool down.

My first two warm up miles were 8:39 min./mi. and 8:33 min./mi. In retrospect, these were probably a bit too fast for a warm-up. I should probably aim around 8:45 or 9:00 min./mi. My next four miles I tried to do at half marathon pace. The two half marathons I ran were an 8:22 and 8:30 pace so I was aiming for somewhere around there. Instead I ran an 8:12, 8:04, 8:02 and 7:45. I was really happy to see myself pick up speed with each mile. My last two cool down miles were 9:17 (whoa!) and 9:00. Time really flew by tonight. I had no idea I was out there for 1:07:39. It seemed like half an hour!

I think a lot of the time flying by has to do with the fact that I am running without my iPod. I have no music to listen too and therefore am forced to listen to my body and concentrate on my form. I think my leg turnover has really improved because I haven't had the music to distract me. I'm really working on improving my leg turnover, not running up and down (sometimes I sink down too much into my knees), and keeping my wrists loose.

I also did my upper body workout tonight. It consisted of chest press, prone arm lifts, triceps, chest fly, bicep curls, tricep extensions and push-ups. Whoa! I am definitely going to be sore tomorrow. I haven't lifted with my upper body in sooo long!

Tomorrow I'm scheduled for 4 miles of recovery. I work from home tomorrow and am hoping that the rain/thunderstorms that we're supposed to get aren't around at lunchtime so I can get my run in then. I also hope to get to Healing Tree Yoga for my Pilates class tomorrow night too. I love that class!

Battle with the Tool Belt & Other Notes about Warm Weather Running

I am book smart. That does not mean I have common sense. It was supposed to be a beautiful day today - sunshine, warm weather - and I was going to take advantage of it by doing a general aerobic run. I prepared my tool belt (a.k.a. fuel belt, but termed tool belt by Sarah because one looks like a tool wearing it), put on sunscreen, shorts and tank and headed out at noon. Yup, you heard me. Noon! See no common sense. From 10am-2pm is the hottest part of the day and I decided to go out. Needlesss to say I learned a few things today.

1. I do look like a tool in my fuel belt.
2. I have to battle with my fuel belt to keep it from sliding up my waist.
3. I get really thirsty at noon-time runs on a hot day.
4. I sweat a lot and I like it.
5. I need to plan my fluid intake.
6. Next time I will bring a rag to wipe off all my sweat.
7. I will wear deep woods off even in the day time. A little explanation of that... I had about 50 of those little dead flies stuck to my arms, chest and legs after my run. They must have drowned in my sweat.

The most important thing I learned is that I need to either wake up early and run or run later in the day so I can avoid the hottest part of the day.

I did have a lot of fun out there. I only saw one other person running. It made me feel like I was getting one step up on everyone else who was training. Maybe it's just that they were smart enough to get up early and do it.

Jimmy Kennedy Squirrel Run for ALS - 5 mile

On Saturday, Sarah came down to Quincy and we ran the Jimmy Kennedy Squirrel Run for ALS together. It was a non-certified 5 mile route through Quincy and along Wollaston Beach. It was a very nice route and one that I often run on my own.

It was misting all morning long and pretty chilly, until of course we started running. I had my hat, shorts and t-shirt on, but once we hit the beach around mile 3, I was really starting to heat up a bit too much.

This was my first 5 mile race and I have to say that I think I prefer the 5K to the 5 mile. It was hard to judge how fast to go out, but I'm happy with the way it turned out.

It was nice to run with Sarah again. We chatted a little bit, but we were both going a little bit faster than our old long run pace from Boston training so we couldn't really say too much. Our lunch afterwards allowed for the talking.

Sarah taught me how to do splits on my Garmin so I actually have them now! It's so fun to see them! It really gives me a better idea of my pace and how I ran the race.

In training for my fall marathon today was supposed to be a recovery run, but I just didn't feel like doing that. I can't pay for a race and use it as a recovery run. Mentally, that doesn't work for me.

My overall finishing time was 37:27 (7:29 pace), which was good enough for 16th woman and 7th in my age group. My splits were

Mile 1: 8:00 min./mi.

Mile 2: 7:25 min./mi.

Mile 3: 7:33 min./mi.

Mile 4: 7:35 min./mi.

Mile 5: 7:27 min./mi.

I don't know when I'll race again. It seems like I've been doing a lot of it lately and I'm really starting my fall marathon training now so I need to focus on that. Hopefully, I'll be able to squeeze in some more good race though.

Oh, looks like the fall marathon will be Mohawk Hudson River Marathon in Albany, NY. For now that's what I'm training for, but I'm not registered yet and I don't know why. I think I'm just delaying the inevitable.

Results on coolrunning.com

I've Been MIA, but Now I'm Back in Action

Post-marathon depression. Those three words describe my past month since the Boston Marathon. It wasn't easy and it still isn't. I didn't want to run. Nothing felt as good as that day and I didn't know how to get that feeling back. That love for running, that love for training.

I ran Boston's Run to Remember on May 27th. My boss was there to join me in the race. We had a little duel going. I left him a note that morning on his race packet letting him know I'd be winning our race. Little did I know what was to come. I had so very little training in - it's not an excuse, just the truth and my own fault - and it was a very hot morning. I ended up finishing in 1:51:15 and averaging an 8:30 min/mi pace. This was 8 seconds off my previous half marathon pace. My boss however, came in 10 minutes before me and was nice enough to meet my exhausted self at the finish and walk me to the water area.

I was hoping for a PR that day, but it didn't happen. In hindsight, it shouldn't have happened and it was far reaching for me to expect it. I had no training in for it except for some casual whenever I felt like it general aerobic runs and a few track workouts. I was not ready for that race and my legs told me so. They were incredibly sore afterward and even into the next day. I was upset with my performance and doubted why I was even running.

Tuesday morning before work, my boss gave me a short therapy session. We went over the race - both mine and his - and talked about the ups and downs. He helped me rationalize what had been happening to me the past month and explained that it really wasn't that uncommon. After out talk, I felt much better.

Tuesday night I headed out for a training run on the Vision 5K course. I had been organizing a team from my company (Team Take C.H.A.R.G.E.) for the Vision 5K on June 2nd. We had 5 walkers and 15 runners signed up. All my coworkers new that I had run Boston and I did not want to dissapoint any of them in this race.

The training run went well because I took it very easy and ran with the Director of my department. He was ready to stop at about mile 1.8, but I assured him we didn't have much left and told him to keep going. I can be a real slave driver. I had a great time on this run. Seeing him complete the 3.1 miles running the whole way really inspired me and reminded me just how good running can feel.

The Vision 5K was just a few days away and was about to become the turning point of my post-marathon depression. You'll have to read more about this in my next blog post.