I did make another rookie mistake. I went to the gym yesterday and I worked out on the elliptical and then I worked out on the weights. I was trying to be gentle, knowing that I had the 10 mile run today but I kept going probably longer than I should. But I felt great and I didn't think I was straining or anything. It felt so good to be back in the gym, I may have over done it. But it was a scheduled rest day. But because of my foot, I hadn't run all week so I was trying to make up for that.
The run this morning was TOUGH!! I felt so tired and my legs hurt and felt heavy. My foot kind of hurt. I should have respected the rest day before a long run. Another lesson learned!! I walked a good chunk of the first 5 miles, I just could not find a pace or get in my groove. It was a gorgeous morning, the temp was like 56 when I left the house. But I was struggling! It was probably the toughest run I have done so far. There was a very funny moment when I hit 5 miles, my Nike sensor voice said "You have reached the halfway point, only 5 miles left" Right after he said that, the Hallelujah Chorus came on my Ipod. It was fantastic and made me giggle. I whispered "Thank you Uncle!" It seemed like a nice sign from him! That perked me up and I started to run at a better pace.
In the park this morning was a 9/11 Remembrance Service, there was a Honor Guard and many fire fighters and policemen where there. I ran past them before the service and I thanked a couple of them. I hope they knew I was thanking them for so much more than letting me pass on the path. When I got back around they were just finishing up the moment of silence. One of the bloggers I follow wrote this today "On this day, Run to honor those whose feet no longer touch the earth, And now run with angels." I absolutely love it!! And I hope I did just that this morning!
One other bummer of the morning, was that my Nike sensor stopped working at some point at 5.28 miles and I'm not sure how long I ran before I noticed it wasn't working. I'm not sure what's up, that is the second time on a long run, it has stopped. Kind of a drag, because the Nike website sees them as different workouts so it counts the total mileage, but it doesn't count as my longest run. It's kind of hard to explain. Anyway, I need to figure out how to keep that from happening again, it's such a drag. So I'm not sure what the exact distance I ran this morning, but I think it was at least 11 miles. I actually hate not knowing exactly. But I need to get over that too. The second half of the run was much nicer than the first half.
It was a yucky run at first but I felt good at the end! I'm a little more sore tonight than I have been after other runs. It has been a pretty big learning curve for me. I like figuring out these things before the marathon though. It seems like with each run, I learn another do or don't. And I'm glad! I did ask my cousin Jessica about running the VT City Marathon in May as a relay and she said that she would run it with me!! YEAH!!! As I was on my run/walk this morning, I kept thinking about Uncle's favorite quote and the name of this blog. "It does not matter how slow you so long as you do not stop" And I didn't stop! I hope he is proud!!
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
First days.....
After I dropped Emma off, I went to get my x-ray done. I thought that since they don't take appointments, I would be sitting for a long time. I did get up early this morning and ride 10 miles on the bike because I was worried I wouldn't get my exercise in because of the x-ray and I thought that was pretty low impact. But they got me right in. After the x-ray I decided to hit the gym. It would be my first day at the gym in a really long time! I had to come home and pack up and get ready to go. I knew that I wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time there but wanted to go give it a try!! I tried one eliptical and didn't like it so I tried another one and then another one. I wanted to do something low impact for my foot. My Nike sensor didn't seem to be working so I kept trying different ones to see if it would work. After quite a bit of trial and error, I realized that the sensor doesn't work on the eliptical, apparently you need to actually lift your foot up and hit the ground. That seems to make a lot of sense now, but at the time, it was very frustrating.
Even though I wasn't there very long and really didn't make the best use of my time while I was there, it was so great to be back in the gym, I loved every minute of it. I loved trying out the different machines. I can't wait to go back on Friday morning so I can try out some of the weights. My foot did start bothering me a bit so after I picked Em up I did ice it and take some Aleve. But it was nothing like the pain I felt on Monday. I'm anxious to see if they find anything on the x-ray. I am scheduled for a 6 mile run tomorrow, I'm pretty anxious about that too. I'm hoping that my foot holds up, I'm supposed to run 10 miles again on Saturday. Good thoughts and a prayer or two would be just lovely! Thanks!! Monday, September 6, 2010
My foot hurts....
I did get to 10.2 miles on Saturday morning! It was such a gorgeous morning, the sky was blue, a wonderful breeze and a beautiful setting. I got to Centennial Lake, stretched a bit and then hit the trail. Mile 1 was lovely, but mile 2 was SO yucky. My left calf hurt, I felt tired and I was thinking that I was just not going to make it at all. When I had finished one lap around the lake I actually switched directions, I'm not sure if this helped or if all my endorphins had kicked in but from that point on, I felt much better. Mile 3-8 were great, but after 8 miles I started to get a bit tired.
I'm not sure if I'm not warming up enough, if it's become a mental block or what, but mile 2 is ALWAYS hard for me, no matter where I run. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also I'm wondering about any long run rituals, superstitions or advice. I started to wonder if Uncle had special socks he wore on a long run or something he had to eat before hand. (I'm looking at you, Dave, Randy, Jessica and Aunt Sue :). I would love to know if he had any special rituals before a long run or a race. I was really missing him as I was driving over to the park that morning, I would have given anything to talk to him about it!
I felt fantastic when it was over, when I got home, I showered and we headed out to the Labor Day festival. I was a little sore, but not how I thought I would feel. No blisters, nothing. We had a great time at the festival, but I do have to say that around 4:00, I hit my wall and I didn't want to ride another ride, eat anything else, I just wanted to get home! On Sunday morning, I was a little sore when I first got out of bed, but after that I felt fine. We went to church and then to a friend's house for lunch. No worries. I had my favorite FitFlops on (which I personally think are the most comfortable shoe EVER!) and my feet didn't hurt at all. I am pretty tired but not sure if that is from the run or from staying up until after 11. I need to get to bed earlier!
Seth let me sleep in this morning until 8:00! I so appreciated that although I almost wished that I had gone for my run today. It was so lovely out this morning, it was only like 60 degrees and tomorrow it's supposed to get hot out again. But the schedule is for me to 5 miles tomorrow morning. It is a high mileage week for me, 5 miles tomorrow, 6 on Thursday and 10 again on Saturday. It makes me a little nervous actually. Seth took the girls shopping this morning, which was so nice. I got a bunch of things done around here. He got Sarah her shin guards and her new soccer ball for soccer, that starts on Saturday. She is SO excited about it. He went to a U of MD football game this afternoon at M&T Stadium. Sarah wanted to try out her new ball, so we got in our sneakers and headed over to the school fields to try them out.
I hadn't worn my running shoes since Saturday morning and when I put them on today, my right foot kind of hurt, but I just figured it was sore from the long run. The ache would come and go and I wasn't really worried about it, I thought it would go away. We had fun running and kicking the soccer ball around. Both my girls are such fast runners! And Sarah can really kick the ball. Emma can hold her own against Sarah. We were all having fun and laughing, laughing, laughing! But after awhile my foot started hurting more and more. It hurts on the bottom of my foot on the outside edge, not really my heel but not really my arch either. There were times when I put my foot down that it almost brought me to tears because it hurt so much. The girls wanted to play on the playground for a bit and then we headed home. My guess is that it is plantar fasciitis, although in the book it says that is in your heel and this really isn't. I took some Aleve and I'm icing it now. And I found some stretches that I should do. I guess I should call my Dr. in the morning, I'm also thinking about getting one of those nighttime positioning things. But I guess I should find out what it is exactly before I start buying things. It feels better out of my sneakers, not sure if that just means I need a different insole or something. I wish Seth was home so I could talk to him about it.
So I will wait on my run tomorrow, maybe do the stationary bike instead to give whatever this is some time to heal. Please send happy thoughts and a prayer or two would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping not to have to much downtime, that will make me blue. I'm glad that I wore my sneakers today and noticed this now instead of when I was out for a run in the morning. I will listen to what my body is trying to tell me and not push it. I'm keeping my eyes toward the race in October, I need to figure these things out before then. It seems like with every run, I'm learning new things. I am also thinking about doing the VT City Marathon as a relay (hopefully with my cousin Jessica, although I haven't really talked to her about it) in May. I haven't even finished this one and I'm already dreaming of the next one!
I'm not sure if I'm not warming up enough, if it's become a mental block or what, but mile 2 is ALWAYS hard for me, no matter where I run. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also I'm wondering about any long run rituals, superstitions or advice. I started to wonder if Uncle had special socks he wore on a long run or something he had to eat before hand. (I'm looking at you, Dave, Randy, Jessica and Aunt Sue :). I would love to know if he had any special rituals before a long run or a race. I was really missing him as I was driving over to the park that morning, I would have given anything to talk to him about it!
I felt fantastic when it was over, when I got home, I showered and we headed out to the Labor Day festival. I was a little sore, but not how I thought I would feel. No blisters, nothing. We had a great time at the festival, but I do have to say that around 4:00, I hit my wall and I didn't want to ride another ride, eat anything else, I just wanted to get home! On Sunday morning, I was a little sore when I first got out of bed, but after that I felt fine. We went to church and then to a friend's house for lunch. No worries. I had my favorite FitFlops on (which I personally think are the most comfortable shoe EVER!) and my feet didn't hurt at all. I am pretty tired but not sure if that is from the run or from staying up until after 11. I need to get to bed earlier!
Seth let me sleep in this morning until 8:00! I so appreciated that although I almost wished that I had gone for my run today. It was so lovely out this morning, it was only like 60 degrees and tomorrow it's supposed to get hot out again. But the schedule is for me to 5 miles tomorrow morning. It is a high mileage week for me, 5 miles tomorrow, 6 on Thursday and 10 again on Saturday. It makes me a little nervous actually. Seth took the girls shopping this morning, which was so nice. I got a bunch of things done around here. He got Sarah her shin guards and her new soccer ball for soccer, that starts on Saturday. She is SO excited about it. He went to a U of MD football game this afternoon at M&T Stadium. Sarah wanted to try out her new ball, so we got in our sneakers and headed over to the school fields to try them out.
I hadn't worn my running shoes since Saturday morning and when I put them on today, my right foot kind of hurt, but I just figured it was sore from the long run. The ache would come and go and I wasn't really worried about it, I thought it would go away. We had fun running and kicking the soccer ball around. Both my girls are such fast runners! And Sarah can really kick the ball. Emma can hold her own against Sarah. We were all having fun and laughing, laughing, laughing! But after awhile my foot started hurting more and more. It hurts on the bottom of my foot on the outside edge, not really my heel but not really my arch either. There were times when I put my foot down that it almost brought me to tears because it hurt so much. The girls wanted to play on the playground for a bit and then we headed home. My guess is that it is plantar fasciitis, although in the book it says that is in your heel and this really isn't. I took some Aleve and I'm icing it now. And I found some stretches that I should do. I guess I should call my Dr. in the morning, I'm also thinking about getting one of those nighttime positioning things. But I guess I should find out what it is exactly before I start buying things. It feels better out of my sneakers, not sure if that just means I need a different insole or something. I wish Seth was home so I could talk to him about it.
So I will wait on my run tomorrow, maybe do the stationary bike instead to give whatever this is some time to heal. Please send happy thoughts and a prayer or two would be greatly appreciated. I'm hoping not to have to much downtime, that will make me blue. I'm glad that I wore my sneakers today and noticed this now instead of when I was out for a run in the morning. I will listen to what my body is trying to tell me and not push it. I'm keeping my eyes toward the race in October, I need to figure these things out before then. It seems like with every run, I'm learning new things. I am also thinking about doing the VT City Marathon as a relay (hopefully with my cousin Jessica, although I haven't really talked to her about it) in May. I haven't even finished this one and I'm already dreaming of the next one!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Slipping through my fingers....
I really like her teacher, she seems fantastic! She is so caring and has such a wonderful energy! Sarah already loves her. Yesterday afternoon after snack, my girls started playing school and Sarah was "Mrs. Burnett." I will have to tell her that sometime. The past two mornings we were able to walk our children right into the gym, right to the teacher! Tomorrow though we just drop them off at the front door. Her classroom is at the back of the school. The thought of her walking all the way by herself kept me awake for hours last night. Then I came up with the idea of asking on of the other mom's if their child might want to walk with Sarah so they could walk together. That idea allowed me to fall asleep. Even with this plan in place though, drop off will be infinitely harder for me, Sarah will probably be nervous but she will be fine. I don't know how parents of children who are bused handle it, I'm fairly certain, I would be a wreck. I admire those parents! Several times now, I've seen Sarah talk to herself to psych herself up to do something. When she was having trouble getting her kite in the air, she made up a song, saying "Never give up, I'll never give up." When she was trying to psych herself up to go across the monkey bars, she said over and over "I believe in my heart that I can do it." So I'm sure tomorrow if she has trouble she will talk herself into overcoming her nervousness! She truly amazes me!!
I think sometimes I need to be more like her, with her enthusiasm and her amazing self esteem. I'm so proud of her when she is her own cheerleader. Sometimes you just need that. I can't wait for her to cheer me on during the race in October! She will be over the top! It will be excellent!!! I miss her terribly and I can't wait to go pick her up in 2 hours and hear all about her day!! Just a quick update about my running: I ran 5 miles Saturday night after 2 excellent birthday parties. I haven't run at night in a really long time. It seemed so different, I'm pretty sure I swallowed a couple bugs. There don't seem to be any bugs in the morning. I got home just as it was getting really dark. I thought since it was the end of the day I wouldn't need much of a warmup, but my calves were bothering me.
This morning I ran 5.1 miles. I started later than I wanted to and the inside of my calf was really bothering me. So I walked for a good chunk of time. Around 2.5 miles, "There Must Be an Angel" came on my Ipod and I started running and kept going and my leg felt fine. It seems to take me a long time to warm up, not sure why. I got home later than I wanted and then our morning was a bit rushed. I have a 3 mile run on Thursday and then a 10.2 mile run on Saturday!! Next week is going to be a high mileage week. I hope I can keep up! I hope the weather cooperates too. I hope Hurricane Earl stays out at sea!!
And I know I've rambled on long enough but wanted to share this quickly. On the Nike website, there is this "Mini Me" that is supposed to provide extra motivation for you. I think it's fairly lame, you can customize them a bit, but wish there were more options, mine looks kind of freaky actually. Anyway, if you click on it, it will say semi-motivating things. But yesterday I changed mine up a bit and when I was finished it said "Your running skills defy gravity." When I read it, a chill actually went through my whole body. I hadn't seen it say that before, I thought it was pretty awesome that it echoed my new theme song.
Emma starts preschool next Wednesday. She is going M-W-F mornings. Who knows how I will be doing next week?!?!? Weren't they babies just yesterday? Time has just flown by so quickly around here. I think time literally sped up when Emma was born. I'm hoping to spend most of the time they are both at school at the gym! Hopefully, at first I will be too busy to be sad. I'm sure next week, I ramble on and on about her too!
Schoolbag in hand, she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile
I watch her go with a surge of that well-known sadness
And I have to sit down for a while
The feeling that I'm losing her forever
And without really entering her world
I'm glad whenever I can share her laughter
That funny little girl
Slipping through my fingers all the time
I try to capture every minute
The feeling in it
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Do I really see what's in her mind
Each time I think I'm close to knowing
She keeps on growing
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Sleep in our eyes, her and me at the breakfast table
Barely awake, I let precious time go by
Then when she's gone there's that odd melancholy feeling
And a sense of guilt I can't deny
What happened to the wonderful adventures
The places I had planned for us to go
(slipping through my fingers all the time)
Well, some of that we did but most we didn't
And why I just don't know
Sometimes I wish that I could freeze the picture
And save it from the funny tricks of time
Slipping through my fingers...
Slipping through my fingers all the time
Schoolbag in hand she leaves home in the early morning
Waving goodbye with an absent-minded smile...
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Mid-season slump?
I felt great after my 8.33 mile run on Saturday, I wasn't sore at all. I was kind of expecting to be a little sore, but I really wasn't. Seth and I even went out to a fancy party for our neighbor's 50th wedding anniversary that night. I even wore heels, not crazy ones, but heels none the less! We had a fantastic time at the party. We are so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors!! They have just included us from day 1 of living here. It was so lovely to talk to them. And they were all SO incredibly supportive of me training for the 1/2 marathon!
Sunday morning we got up for church and I wasn't sore, but this incredible feeling of exhaustion settled over me. I can't quite explain it, but it was almost if I could fall asleep at any moment and had pretty much zero ambition. At first it was ok, but then it started getting on my nerves, I would have been so happy sitting on the couch doing nothing. The girls were tired on Sunday so we just had a quiet day around here. It was a lovely day on Monday so we went to the playground. It was a lot of fun! But when we got home, I didn't really want to do anything.
I was scheduled for a 4 mile run on Tuesday. When my alarm went off, it was so dark outside and I thought I heard rain. So I turned off my alarm and rolled over and went back to sleep. When I did wake up, I realized that it wasn't raining and I was pretty disappointed in myself, but I also felt like I got a bit of extra sleep. Which I probably needed since we spent the day walking all over the Baltimore Zoo. I love the Baltimore Zoo, this was the first time we have been all year. We met friends there and we had a great time, except that I thought I yelled to much. I was tired and wasn't at my best with the girls. I was pretty disappointed in myself. That night, I met up with some friends to go out to dinner. I'm very blessed to be friends with these incredible women! We have been friends for 5 years, we all met in a support group for brand new Moms. We had a wonderful time, it's so great to go out with my friends. We talked about EVERYTHING!!! The food was good, the company was great. I think I got home around 10:30 and it felt like it was like 2 in the morning for some reason. Again, this feeling of exhaustion was just overwhelming.
I didn't even set my alarm for Wednesday morning. I didn't even try to get up, but then the girls got up around 7:30 and I figured I needed to get the day started. We ate breakfast and then we headed out to the grocery store, which was kind of a disaster. Our grocery store has these little carts for kids. It sounds like a good idea, right? It's the worst idea EVER! Both girls of course needed one and then they fought over what got put into each cart. They ran and didn't watch where they were going. Each one of them ran into my ankles at full force. OMG, it hurt!!! I tried to include them in the shopping and there were moments when they were a big help. But for the most part, I think I just looked the worst mother ever with my children running amuck and me just yelling. I was not happy. When we got home, things improved a bit and we had an ok afternoon until dinner time and then the whining started and I had zero patience. I knew I was off my game, and I just seemed to make matters worse. Nothing was right for the girls and I felt like I was at the end of my rope! I couldn't wait for Seth to come home.
Was I depressed? I'm not sure. Was I anxious? Maybe. Was I tired? Absolutely! All these things combined to make me a not so good Mommy. It was at this point, that I realized that I hadn't run since Saturday, could there be a connection? Or was I just on the edge of a breakdown? I decided that I wanted to believe it was because I hadn't run in 5 days and come hell or high water I was going to run this morning!! I had to turn things around. I wasn't sure it was all just the girls, I was pretty sure that I was to blame for a lot of the yuckiness around here this week. I told Seth that no matter what I had to get up and he said that when the alarm went off, he would kick me out of bed. I said that wasn't quite necessary but a gentle nudge would be helpful.
So the alarm went off at 5:45, and it was still dark out! YUCK! I lay in bed for a moment trying to get my motivation to get up. It seemed like an eternity, but finally I got up. I changed my clothes, checked the weather on my Ipod and saw that the sunrise was at 6:30. Yuck! I decided that I needed to head out through the neighborhood, the path would be dark. The temperature was perfect though! I walked and stretched out for a bit and then I started running. It felt great!!! I was listening to great songs and I was in my groove!! I ran through the neighborhood for a bit and then ran laps around the pond by my house. I'm pretty sure I didn't have any deep thoughts, I was just in the moment of putting my foot in front of the next. I'm pretty sure I completely zoned out for awhile. Sometimes when so much is going on, you need a few moments of just not thinking about anything. It was a good run, I had some technical difficulties around mile 4, my Ipod just stopped the music and my workout. So I had to restart both of them, not sure why that happened but whatever. Even that didn't seem to really bother me today. I ran a total of 5.17 miles this morning. When I got home, both girls were awake and excited to see me. It was a fantastic way to start the day!
We have had such an incredibly different day today. I'm working really hard on not yelling and I've asked the girls to really work on their listening! It's teamwork for sure! We went to Target and we even went to the mall and there were no meltdowns, no yelling, it was like we were all different people. Well maybe not all different, but I sure was different. I need to remember that when I least feel like running, is probably when I need it the most. I have come to rely on that time and I cherish it. And I'm sure it makes me a better mother and person, I have more patience, more energy and a brighter outlook on life. I have a pretty easy week in training coming up, I'm glad since Sarah starts kindergarten on Monday, I need to figure out our new morning routine. I'm sure it will be chaotic at moments, but that's all part of it, right?
5 miles on Saturday morning, I'm looking forward to it. On 9/5, I'm scheduled for a 10 mile run!!! YIKES!!!! Then the training really kicks up a notch!! I will be putting in some serious mileage in September, gearing up for October! It's not that far away anymore, I think I'm through mid-season now!
Sunday morning we got up for church and I wasn't sore, but this incredible feeling of exhaustion settled over me. I can't quite explain it, but it was almost if I could fall asleep at any moment and had pretty much zero ambition. At first it was ok, but then it started getting on my nerves, I would have been so happy sitting on the couch doing nothing. The girls were tired on Sunday so we just had a quiet day around here. It was a lovely day on Monday so we went to the playground. It was a lot of fun! But when we got home, I didn't really want to do anything.
I was scheduled for a 4 mile run on Tuesday. When my alarm went off, it was so dark outside and I thought I heard rain. So I turned off my alarm and rolled over and went back to sleep. When I did wake up, I realized that it wasn't raining and I was pretty disappointed in myself, but I also felt like I got a bit of extra sleep. Which I probably needed since we spent the day walking all over the Baltimore Zoo. I love the Baltimore Zoo, this was the first time we have been all year. We met friends there and we had a great time, except that I thought I yelled to much. I was tired and wasn't at my best with the girls. I was pretty disappointed in myself. That night, I met up with some friends to go out to dinner. I'm very blessed to be friends with these incredible women! We have been friends for 5 years, we all met in a support group for brand new Moms. We had a wonderful time, it's so great to go out with my friends. We talked about EVERYTHING!!! The food was good, the company was great. I think I got home around 10:30 and it felt like it was like 2 in the morning for some reason. Again, this feeling of exhaustion was just overwhelming.
I didn't even set my alarm for Wednesday morning. I didn't even try to get up, but then the girls got up around 7:30 and I figured I needed to get the day started. We ate breakfast and then we headed out to the grocery store, which was kind of a disaster. Our grocery store has these little carts for kids. It sounds like a good idea, right? It's the worst idea EVER! Both girls of course needed one and then they fought over what got put into each cart. They ran and didn't watch where they were going. Each one of them ran into my ankles at full force. OMG, it hurt!!! I tried to include them in the shopping and there were moments when they were a big help. But for the most part, I think I just looked the worst mother ever with my children running amuck and me just yelling. I was not happy. When we got home, things improved a bit and we had an ok afternoon until dinner time and then the whining started and I had zero patience. I knew I was off my game, and I just seemed to make matters worse. Nothing was right for the girls and I felt like I was at the end of my rope! I couldn't wait for Seth to come home.
Was I depressed? I'm not sure. Was I anxious? Maybe. Was I tired? Absolutely! All these things combined to make me a not so good Mommy. It was at this point, that I realized that I hadn't run since Saturday, could there be a connection? Or was I just on the edge of a breakdown? I decided that I wanted to believe it was because I hadn't run in 5 days and come hell or high water I was going to run this morning!! I had to turn things around. I wasn't sure it was all just the girls, I was pretty sure that I was to blame for a lot of the yuckiness around here this week. I told Seth that no matter what I had to get up and he said that when the alarm went off, he would kick me out of bed. I said that wasn't quite necessary but a gentle nudge would be helpful.
So the alarm went off at 5:45, and it was still dark out! YUCK! I lay in bed for a moment trying to get my motivation to get up. It seemed like an eternity, but finally I got up. I changed my clothes, checked the weather on my Ipod and saw that the sunrise was at 6:30. Yuck! I decided that I needed to head out through the neighborhood, the path would be dark. The temperature was perfect though! I walked and stretched out for a bit and then I started running. It felt great!!! I was listening to great songs and I was in my groove!! I ran through the neighborhood for a bit and then ran laps around the pond by my house. I'm pretty sure I didn't have any deep thoughts, I was just in the moment of putting my foot in front of the next. I'm pretty sure I completely zoned out for awhile. Sometimes when so much is going on, you need a few moments of just not thinking about anything. It was a good run, I had some technical difficulties around mile 4, my Ipod just stopped the music and my workout. So I had to restart both of them, not sure why that happened but whatever. Even that didn't seem to really bother me today. I ran a total of 5.17 miles this morning. When I got home, both girls were awake and excited to see me. It was a fantastic way to start the day!
We have had such an incredibly different day today. I'm working really hard on not yelling and I've asked the girls to really work on their listening! It's teamwork for sure! We went to Target and we even went to the mall and there were no meltdowns, no yelling, it was like we were all different people. Well maybe not all different, but I sure was different. I need to remember that when I least feel like running, is probably when I need it the most. I have come to rely on that time and I cherish it. And I'm sure it makes me a better mother and person, I have more patience, more energy and a brighter outlook on life. I have a pretty easy week in training coming up, I'm glad since Sarah starts kindergarten on Monday, I need to figure out our new morning routine. I'm sure it will be chaotic at moments, but that's all part of it, right?
5 miles on Saturday morning, I'm looking forward to it. On 9/5, I'm scheduled for a 10 mile run!!! YIKES!!!! Then the training really kicks up a notch!! I will be putting in some serious mileage in September, gearing up for October! It's not that far away anymore, I think I'm through mid-season now!
Saturday, August 21, 2010
8.33 MILES!!!!
So I did it!! I was nervous about this run for some reason, 8 miles seems so long, much longer than 7 for some reason. I did it in an 1:41, I was very pleased with my time! According to my Nike Sensor I did a 12'08 minute mile. That seems prety acceptable! It's faster than I have been running my other runs lately. I am seeing quite a bit of progress! I think I need to keep mixing up my routes, I seem to do better on new routes. Not sure if it's because I'm not sure what is coming up next or what, but I'll take it. I'm pretty proud of myself and now 13.1 miles doesn't seem quite so scary.
I left the house this morning at 7:30, I had planned on going to Centennial Lake. In the car on the way there, I listened to my theme song "Defying Gravity" really loud to try to psych myself up! When I turned the corner into the park, I saw all these barriers and signs for an Iron Girl race. So I couldn't run there, I thought for a minute of where I could go and decided to head over to Lake Elkhorn and run around there.
Lake Elkhorn is very close to our old townhouse. Seth and I would go there quite a bit and walk around, we walked there when I was pregnant and when Sarah was little baby. I would also meet my new Mommy friends and we would walk around it with our newborns in our strollers. It was so lovely. We would sometimes have a picnic there after with all our babies crawling around on the blanket. Such wonderful memories. As I was running this morning, these memories came flooding back to me.
You see, I haven't been to Lake Elkhorn since July 2, 2007. It was such a beautiful cool day, which was a suprise for July in MD. Emma was 3 months old and it was the day before Sarah's second birthday. I pushed them both in our double stroller and I was amazed that I saw 3 cardinals. It was such a lovely day. When we got home, we had lunch, Sarah took a nap and then I got that most awful call from Dad that my Uncle was gone. And my life was forever changed.
It wasn't a delibrate thing to stay away from that lake, it just sort of happened. And the longer it went on, the harder it seemed to ever go back there. I just wanted to freeze that memory. Plus I was afraid that I would be overwhelmed if I went back. I had gone to the playground several times with friends but I just didn't want to go around that lake.
So it was with trepidation that I headed over there this morning, I was already nervous about the run. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that this was exactly where I needed to go for my longest run so far. It was a good run, I had all my memories to keep me company. I had to run around the lake 4 times to get to 8 miles and it is pretty hilly. A lot of the path is in the shade so it was very nice. A cardinal did fly right in front of me on the path and I got a little misty. I felt like my Grandma Boyden, Grandma Pete and Uncle were right there checking up on me. Mile 2 is always hard for me, not sure why, if I'm not warming up enough or what, but once I got passed it, I got into a pretty good pace. I was surprised that the saddness didn't overwhelm me, but it didn't. There were many bittersweet moments, but I'm so glad I was there and I plan to go back for my other long runs. Around mile 6.5, I was on a pretty big hill and I was tired and I'm not kidding a woman ran past me and she was running BACKWARDS! I felt pretty pathetic at that moment, but whatever.
Anyway, I'm feeling good this afternoon, no pains or strains. I'm really proud of myself, and feeling much more confident about this 13.1 miles in October. I'm so glad that I went back to Lake Elkhorn, yes it's attached to a horrible memory but there were so many, many happy memories there. I am definitely headed back there for more runs, I enjoyed having the memories with me!!
I left the house this morning at 7:30, I had planned on going to Centennial Lake. In the car on the way there, I listened to my theme song "Defying Gravity" really loud to try to psych myself up! When I turned the corner into the park, I saw all these barriers and signs for an Iron Girl race. So I couldn't run there, I thought for a minute of where I could go and decided to head over to Lake Elkhorn and run around there.
Lake Elkhorn is very close to our old townhouse. Seth and I would go there quite a bit and walk around, we walked there when I was pregnant and when Sarah was little baby. I would also meet my new Mommy friends and we would walk around it with our newborns in our strollers. It was so lovely. We would sometimes have a picnic there after with all our babies crawling around on the blanket. Such wonderful memories. As I was running this morning, these memories came flooding back to me.
You see, I haven't been to Lake Elkhorn since July 2, 2007. It was such a beautiful cool day, which was a suprise for July in MD. Emma was 3 months old and it was the day before Sarah's second birthday. I pushed them both in our double stroller and I was amazed that I saw 3 cardinals. It was such a lovely day. When we got home, we had lunch, Sarah took a nap and then I got that most awful call from Dad that my Uncle was gone. And my life was forever changed.
It wasn't a delibrate thing to stay away from that lake, it just sort of happened. And the longer it went on, the harder it seemed to ever go back there. I just wanted to freeze that memory. Plus I was afraid that I would be overwhelmed if I went back. I had gone to the playground several times with friends but I just didn't want to go around that lake.
So it was with trepidation that I headed over there this morning, I was already nervous about the run. But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that this was exactly where I needed to go for my longest run so far. It was a good run, I had all my memories to keep me company. I had to run around the lake 4 times to get to 8 miles and it is pretty hilly. A lot of the path is in the shade so it was very nice. A cardinal did fly right in front of me on the path and I got a little misty. I felt like my Grandma Boyden, Grandma Pete and Uncle were right there checking up on me. Mile 2 is always hard for me, not sure why, if I'm not warming up enough or what, but once I got passed it, I got into a pretty good pace. I was surprised that the saddness didn't overwhelm me, but it didn't. There were many bittersweet moments, but I'm so glad I was there and I plan to go back for my other long runs. Around mile 6.5, I was on a pretty big hill and I was tired and I'm not kidding a woman ran past me and she was running BACKWARDS! I felt pretty pathetic at that moment, but whatever.
Anyway, I'm feeling good this afternoon, no pains or strains. I'm really proud of myself, and feeling much more confident about this 13.1 miles in October. I'm so glad that I went back to Lake Elkhorn, yes it's attached to a horrible memory but there were so many, many happy memories there. I am definitely headed back there for more runs, I enjoyed having the memories with me!!
Friday, August 20, 2010
There must be an angel.....
It has been a lot harder to get up at 5:45am lately. I just really want to hit the snooze button and roll right back over and go to sleep. First of all, it already seems darker than it has, although we have had several rainy, cloudy days. Second, in the summer, we aren't as strict about bedtimes, so we have had many late nights. (We need to get back into our schedule since school starts in a week).
So Tuesday was one of those mornings, I was scheduled for a 4 mile run. The alarm went off and I hit snooze. I lay there again debating the pros and cons of getting up. It was so dark out. I finally kicked the covers off and got up. I got dressed and turned my Ipod on, the first song of my shuffle was "There Must Be an Angel Playing with My Heart" by the Eurythmics. This song has always had a special place in my family and everytime we are together, we play it, and we all dance and sing at the top of our lungs! It's fantastic! So it holds a very special place in my heart and it reminds me instantly of my family and of course of Uncle! Now I know what you might be thinking, 'you put that song on your Ipod so of course you will hear it', but I always have it on "shuffle" so I never know what the next song will be. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear it first thing and I like to think it was Uncle encouraging me.
So off I went and I did get to 4.2 miles but it was a tough run, which kind of bummed me out. But I knew how tired I was, I knew it would be tough. But I got through it. Later in the day, the girls and I went to the pool and had such a lovely time!
Wednesday night before bed I decide to be nice to my feet and I put some Aveda foot lotion on them, it feels fantastic. Similar scenario Thursday morning, hit snooze, but this time I scheduled for a 5 mile run so I couldn't dilly dally, I needed to get back in time for Seth to get to work. So this morning no divine intervention to start off. But I got going and I felt pretty good. Although I felt like my feet are slipping and sliding in my shoes. I realized that I made a rookie mistake by putting the lotion on BEFORE a run, even if it was the night before. It bothered me the whole run, I won't do that again. I'll be nice to my feet AFTER a run!! Good thing I realized this now and not the night before the 1/2 marathon or something. I changed up my route a bit, went through some of the neighborhood and then to my pond and I run several laps around there. It's good to be back to my pond, I've missed it! I did make it to 5.2 miles and I felt pretty good.
Thursday morning we headed down to the National Zoo, it was a lovely day and we met friends there. Not sure if you have been there before but it's VERY hilly there and my girls fought over who sits in the stroller. So I'm walked while pushing one of them in the stroller. It was very fun and we saw a lot of animals. The panda bear was sitting really close to the glass, it was the best view I've ever had, usually they are sitting far away in a tree or something. Anyway, the girls love seeing their friend and seeing all the animals. But it's pretty exhausting. Emma fell asleep on the way home, I thought Sarah was going to fall asleep too, she was SO quiet! If I wasn't driving, I could probably have fallen asleep too!
I'm very sleepy today, I was hoping the girls would sleep in, but they were both up at 7 this morning. I started taking a multivitamin today, I probably should have done that awhile ago. So I'm hoping that will help. We are heading to a birthday party for one our good friends at the pool!! It should be alot of fun. I want to spend as much time at the pool as I can before school starts. Sarah has her orientation a week from today, I can't believe it.
Tomorrow I'm scheduled for an 8 mile run. I'm a little nervous about it, but kind of excited at the same time. It will definitely be the farthest I've run so far. It is supposed to be a nice day and I'm going to go to Centennial Lake to run. I need to bring a camera so I can show you how beautiful it is. It takes me away. Running has become more than just exercise for me. It has become my time to be alone with my thoughts, my music and with nature. It is my time to pray and meditate, which might sound strange, but it's true. I see or feel signs from Uncle, to let me know that he is right there with me. It is my time to reflect on what is going on or plan what we will do next. It is my time to process all that is going on with our family. So running has become so much more to me than just running. I started as a way to lose weight (which hasn't worked), then I was doing it for fitness, and really I think, even though I'm heavier than I want to be, I'm probably in the best shape I've been in since my early 20's. Now I run, obviously to train for the 1/2 marathon , but I also run for me to be a better mother, wife and person. I find that I am much more patient and a better mother on the days that I run versus the days I don't. I definitely feel like this is my time with my angels and they keep me moving on!
So Tuesday was one of those mornings, I was scheduled for a 4 mile run. The alarm went off and I hit snooze. I lay there again debating the pros and cons of getting up. It was so dark out. I finally kicked the covers off and got up. I got dressed and turned my Ipod on, the first song of my shuffle was "There Must Be an Angel Playing with My Heart" by the Eurythmics. This song has always had a special place in my family and everytime we are together, we play it, and we all dance and sing at the top of our lungs! It's fantastic! So it holds a very special place in my heart and it reminds me instantly of my family and of course of Uncle! Now I know what you might be thinking, 'you put that song on your Ipod so of course you will hear it', but I always have it on "shuffle" so I never know what the next song will be. So it was a pleasant surprise to hear it first thing and I like to think it was Uncle encouraging me.
So off I went and I did get to 4.2 miles but it was a tough run, which kind of bummed me out. But I knew how tired I was, I knew it would be tough. But I got through it. Later in the day, the girls and I went to the pool and had such a lovely time!
Wednesday night before bed I decide to be nice to my feet and I put some Aveda foot lotion on them, it feels fantastic. Similar scenario Thursday morning, hit snooze, but this time I scheduled for a 5 mile run so I couldn't dilly dally, I needed to get back in time for Seth to get to work. So this morning no divine intervention to start off. But I got going and I felt pretty good. Although I felt like my feet are slipping and sliding in my shoes. I realized that I made a rookie mistake by putting the lotion on BEFORE a run, even if it was the night before. It bothered me the whole run, I won't do that again. I'll be nice to my feet AFTER a run!! Good thing I realized this now and not the night before the 1/2 marathon or something. I changed up my route a bit, went through some of the neighborhood and then to my pond and I run several laps around there. It's good to be back to my pond, I've missed it! I did make it to 5.2 miles and I felt pretty good.
Thursday morning we headed down to the National Zoo, it was a lovely day and we met friends there. Not sure if you have been there before but it's VERY hilly there and my girls fought over who sits in the stroller. So I'm walked while pushing one of them in the stroller. It was very fun and we saw a lot of animals. The panda bear was sitting really close to the glass, it was the best view I've ever had, usually they are sitting far away in a tree or something. Anyway, the girls love seeing their friend and seeing all the animals. But it's pretty exhausting. Emma fell asleep on the way home, I thought Sarah was going to fall asleep too, she was SO quiet! If I wasn't driving, I could probably have fallen asleep too!
I'm very sleepy today, I was hoping the girls would sleep in, but they were both up at 7 this morning. I started taking a multivitamin today, I probably should have done that awhile ago. So I'm hoping that will help. We are heading to a birthday party for one our good friends at the pool!! It should be alot of fun. I want to spend as much time at the pool as I can before school starts. Sarah has her orientation a week from today, I can't believe it.
Tomorrow I'm scheduled for an 8 mile run. I'm a little nervous about it, but kind of excited at the same time. It will definitely be the farthest I've run so far. It is supposed to be a nice day and I'm going to go to Centennial Lake to run. I need to bring a camera so I can show you how beautiful it is. It takes me away. Running has become more than just exercise for me. It has become my time to be alone with my thoughts, my music and with nature. It is my time to pray and meditate, which might sound strange, but it's true. I see or feel signs from Uncle, to let me know that he is right there with me. It is my time to reflect on what is going on or plan what we will do next. It is my time to process all that is going on with our family. So running has become so much more to me than just running. I started as a way to lose weight (which hasn't worked), then I was doing it for fitness, and really I think, even though I'm heavier than I want to be, I'm probably in the best shape I've been in since my early 20's. Now I run, obviously to train for the 1/2 marathon , but I also run for me to be a better mother, wife and person. I find that I am much more patient and a better mother on the days that I run versus the days I don't. I definitely feel like this is my time with my angels and they keep me moving on!
No-one on earth could feel like this.
I'm thrown and overblown with bliss.
There must be an angel
There must be an angel
Playing with my heart.
I walk into an empty room
And suddenly my heart goes "boom"!
It's an orchestra of angels
And they're playing with my heart.
(must be talking to an angel)
No-one on earth could feel like this.
I'm thrown and overblown with bliss.
There must be an angel
Playing with my heart.
And when I think that I'm alone
It seems there's more of us at home.
It's a multitude of angels
And they're playing with my heart.
I must be hallucinating
Watching angels celebrating.
Could this be reactivating
All my senses dislocating?
This must be a strange deception
By celestial intervention.
Leavin' me the recollection
Of your heavenly connection.
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