Project done and running freakout

Soul-sucking, life-killing project has been submitted! Hip hip hurray!
And the Yankees won tonight to tie up the series! Hip hip Jorge!

Goodness am I glad to be done with that project. Well, in all truth, only the writing portion is done as we still need to present next week. Also, I have to physically turn it in tomorrow morning as it was just sent to the printer to be bound. However, as it is no longer able to be edited, in essence, I think it is done.

Tonight, I was able to beg off a few hours from my partner (who was fabulous by the by) and steal off to yoga for an hour tonight. It was so nice to be back moving, but I could really feel my inactivity from the past week. Plus, it was a crazy challenging class! We must have held chaturangas for 5 breaths at a time, 8 or 9 times. I was suffering by the end of those. Plus, my body was really super tight, probably due to stress.

Usually, I find Ardha Matsyendrasana (seated twists) to be super comfortable and easy to bind, however, I was having a lot of trouble getting into it. So, instead of being an intelligent yogini and taking it easy, I shoved by shoulder down and pulled my left shoulder. I suppose it's not really the shoulder, rather the muscle under my left armpit towards the back? Anyway, it hurt. I tried to rotate my shoulder a bit to loosen it up, but it was hurting even to extend my left arm all the way out so I was down for the count. I was especially sad because they spent the rest of the class working on backbends and walkovers, which I loooove. Anything involving a bendy back. :) I wish I could say lesson learned but we'll see. I tend to be rather injury prone and it's usually from pushing myself... or walking into walls. I don't think it's bad though and will probably be all better tomorrow.

Anyway, tomorrow is a "no school work" day for me as I am celebrating the end of this project! I'm looking forward to a nice pedicure, some sushi, maybe checking out the new Lululemon showroom. Fun fun fun! I also need to pick up my 5K registration. Oops. I haven't really run in.... (checking blog for training records).... OH MY GOSHNESS NINE DAYS! And my last long run was TWO WEEKS AGO!?! Crap crap crap. Well, 5K Saturday and I'll do a long one on Sunday and have a short taper until the half on next Saturday. This project could not have come at a worse time and I need to learn how to fit runs in when I'm busy. I hope this doesn't really screw me over come next week as it would suck if I lost all my endurance after all that work. Sigh. Alright. Positive thoughts and energy to my muscles.

Plus it's my five year anniversary on Saturday! "Anniversary of what?" you ask?


I shall tell you tomorrow. :) Good night!

Another article to tide you over while I slave away

No time to run and had to skip yoga today. Awful. Therefore, also no time to post. To keep you entertained, check out this additional New York Times article on human physiology and running.

The Human Body is Built for Distance

(I'm assuming that the New York Times is posting so many interesting running articles in preparation for the upcoming New York City Marathon this weekend. Keep 'em coming!)

I'm not sure that I'm quite ready to hop on the barefoot running train, but once I get through this academic crunch period, I'd love to read Born to Run. (Realistically, I won't have time until the end of December but oh well. I'll squeeze it in. Plus, it helps me me one of my goals set at the left!!)

Sigh. Back to work. Barf.

Interesting NYT article

Interesting New York Times article about slow runners. I go back and forth between being offended and agreeing with them.

Plodders Have a Place, but Is It in a Marathon?

Thoughts?

Wanted: Time for a run!

AHHHH! All I want to do is go for a run! It's so beautiful outside! 60's. Crisp air but clear blue sky. Crunchy leaves. Air smells smokey. UGH school UGH. I need to get this done.

I've always been a procrastinator. In high school, I got away with everything. Writing a paper in the class before it's due? Check. In college, I'd cram for exams the night before, sometime day of. Fine. However, it's so much hader to do now. I've gotten a bit better, but not really. I've always been jealous of the people who can sit down at a computer and write a paper in 3 hours... several days before it's due! The very few times that I've managed to do this, I notice how much less stressful it is and how I actually enjoy the process. Again, I think it comes down to mental stamina. Maybe doing school work can help my running by teaching me concentration? I truly don't know how I've made it this far academically without learning how to prioritize work.

While taking a break (read: avoiding writing like the plague) I found another race to do! :) The New Paltz Turkey Trot. I called my mom and told her about it, and she said that she'd been thinking about it today too actually! Weird cross country ESP that we have. It's on the morning of Thanksgiving, so the whole family will be in NY. I know at least 4 of us would want to run it and maybe others would want to walk! Nice way to start off a holiday which involves stuffing yourself chock full of food for hours.

Also, I heard from a good friend of mine out in Nevada who apparently reads my blog frequently. Just wanted to tell her that as soon as we get her back to her good and healthy self, I will run her first 5K with her. :) :) :) Now, I just have to do MY first one next Saturday!
And sometime between now and then, I have to do my 12 mile run...

GAHHHHHH! Ok. Back to work.

In a rush!

Busy busy busy! Please pardon the quick updates for the next few weeks. I have a giant project due next Friday. Honestly, I probably spend more time thinking about how much work I have to do and finding ways to put it off instead of actually doing it. As is, unfortunately, the norm for me. Anyway, so Tuesday as usual was yoga. Lots of quad work, for sure. I was actually thinking that I may either take the Thursday before the half-marathon off of yoga or ask her to not do so many warriors. I can't tire those muscles out!!

On to Wednesday which was supposed to be my short run of about 4 miles. However, because of my weird Wednesday schedule, I had to do it inside again so I got about a mile and a half into it and gave up. I'm surprised how running on a treadmill makes me so aggravated. It's all mental I realize and I really need to work on just calming my mind down. Once I start thinking that I hate what I'm doing, it's usually less than 5 minutes before I hop off and walk back home. I need some more mental stamina stamina stamina...

Thursday was yoga again. I'm surprised because at this class, there were more men than women again. This makes me happy because so many people think yoga is only for girls, but it's for everyone. :) The highlight of the class for me was definitely that I held my handstand (without the wall) for a few seconds for the first time. I wasn't expecting it at all either, which is actually probably why I did it. I wish I had some place to practice more. I don't have a lot of open wall space in my apartment and the carpet makes it hard. I wonder if some studios have open time?

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get my 12 mile run out of the way. I had wanted to do it today but it was in the 70s and tomorrow will be in the low 50s which is much more comfortable. I'm also thinking that I may just do the full 13.1 miles just for my mental piece of mind.

Ok, must sleep and do work. Hope to have more time to do a real update later.

Weekend update!

What a long but lovely weekend!! It was such a short and busy whirlwind trip so I didn't get to see everyone that I had hoped to in the city, but luckily I'll be home for a week before Thanksgiving so I can catch up then. Also, I didn't bring my computer with me and tried to update from my phone once, but it ended up being too difficult of a process. Here is the quick rundown of all my my training from the past couple days!

Thursday was yoga, but with a different teacher for the day. Definitely challenging but I was surprised with myself in that I finally got the hang of one-legged chaturangas. Kind of. I think I sink into my shoulders a bit too much so I'm still working on pushing out of them.

I had an early morning on Friday to make it to the airport for my flight. Although I'm usually late for many things, I'm never ever late to the airport. It makes me too crazy. However, it usually means I end up sitting around for a loooong time especially because my flights are often delayed, which of course happened last Friday. Luckily I made it to NY at last and my mama picked me up and we headed upstate where I got to meet the new puppy! He is so sweet and I can't wait for Thanksgiving when all three Havanese pups get to play together. We'll have our own mini-herd of Havanese puppies wreaking havoc all over the house, with my Martha probably being the fearless ring leader.

Even though it was freeeeezing outside at aroun 40 degrees, my mom and I did a 7 mile trail run on the Walden Rail Trail. What a gorgeous place to run! I also got to test out some of my cold weather running gear and I warmed up pretty nicely. I think I need gloves though as my thumbs were pretty cold for most of it.

I was surprised how nice and comfortable it was to run with her. We were aiming for an 11min/mile pace, but hit under every mile. I think running with someone forces me to push my pace and then she pushes her and back and forth. When I upload my Garmin data later tonight, I'll put up the splits but it ended up being 7 miles in 1:16:05. Awesome. I really liked the Luna energy chews. I still find that around mile 5 or 6 I start to fade but hopefully munching on those will help me get some much needed energy to my muscles! I didn't feel too shabby the next day either, and haven't yet resorted to an ice bath!

Update for mile splits!:
Mile 1: 9:58
Mile 2: 10:21
Mile 3: 10:47
Mile 4: 11:15
Mile 5: 11:17
Mile 6: 10:56
Mile 7: 11:30
So I guess we didn't hit under 11 minutes every mile. Oh well. :)

On Saturday, I made it to the Lululemon store on the Upper East Side and it was love at first sight. I just wandered around for a bit picking stuff up and adding it to my pile. In the end, here are a few of the things I got: Swift tank, yoga towel, headbands, water bottle, and Groove pants for my mom. They even hemmed them for her in the store and are shipping them upstate to her. So nice. My bank account is going to be in so much trouble when the Nashville store opens up. Plus, my favorite yoga teacher, Gillian, is teaching the first community yoga class there on the opening day! Life is so good. :)

Back to this weekend, Sunday I did some speed work in the hotel gym (ick, treadmill). It was 40 degrees and rainy in the middle of nowhere Jersey so I didn't want to run outside. I planned to do a 2 mile speed workout, then stretch and do abs, then repeat the 2 mile speed workout again. I did the first set and it was SO hot in there. There was no air movement and the air between me and the treadmill screen was just hot and dead. So I did my stretching and some quick mini yoga, and hopped back on the treadmill. A half mile in, I paled and got cold and clammy so I hopped off and called it the end. I've never passed out, but I've come awful close in the gym a few times when it's too hot or I haven't eaten recently so I try to play it safe. Plus, there was all that wedding dancing later on at night. The wedding was beautiful and lots of fun, as expected!!

Finally, this morning, I took a flight back to Nashville. It was super early and my knees kept cramping on the flight so I was exhausted and cranky for most of the day. Instead of doing my scheduled run, I went to a yoga class which was a lovely way to start the week and loosen me up from a weekend of flying and running. Lots and lots of lunges and warriors so it was definitely a class for quad strengthening!

Whew. So that's the quick rundown. I have more yoga tomorrow night and then a run on Wednesday. Busy busy busy. I also registered for the Nashville Halloween 5k! Now I need to think of a running-friendly costume. I think fairy wings are probably aerodynamic. :) I also realized that this is my first official 5k and I'm running it exactly a week before my first half marathon. I probably should've spaced those a little better... oops. :)

Speed sets and yoga

Wednesdays are always hard to fit in a real run. I have class starting at 9:30am and don't wrap until about 6pm and my breaks in between classes are not quite long enough to run in. Therefore, when I finally got home last night at 7pm, the idea of going for a 5 mile run sounded pretty attrocious. Instead: speed sets! They aren't too time consuming but are really good for leg strengthening. It's basically a minute and a half at jogging pace (5.2) and then a minute and a half at a run (5.9). Then back to 5.2 for a minute and a half, then up to 6.0 for a minute and a half. It keeps going back and forth from jog to run and the run goes up .1 in speed every set, for seven sets, which ends up being 2 miles. I find that it goes pretty quick because you spend so much time concentrating on the time and changing speeds that it's over before you know it. Definitely a good way to squeeze in a good workout in 21 minutes when I don't feel like doing anything at all.

At least my legs felt better on this run. Finally recovered, just in time for my trip back to New York tomorrow!! Unfortunately, the weather there is pretty indicative of the end of the world. I bring bad weather with me, wherever I go. Hurricanes, snow storms, rainy summers. I apologize. Tomorrow, my mom and I have planned to go on a 11 mile run together, however the weather may dampen that a bit. It's supposed to be about 40 degrees and rainy so it may turn into just a 5 or 6 mile run. Apparently there is a 5.8 mile trail loop that she runs a lot so we'll test that out. Hopefully it's not too terrible outside! I plan on layering!!

Tonight I have my yoga class but it is a different teacher for the evening, so that should be an interesting change! I love my teacher, but I suppose that it's a good thing to change it up a bit. In fact, if I can find an early morning yoga class in NYC on Saturday morning, maybe I'll try to get out to that. I already have tons and tons of stuff that I have to bring with me but pair of Lululemon crops and a tank doesn't take up too much room! (Oh my, and I get to go to the Lululemon store in NYC and they are opening a store in Nashville on October 30th. So excited!) There are so many wonderful studios in Manhattan. I'll start searching tonight! Hopefully my flight will be on time tomorrow because I have so much to do and see and eat.

Ice baths?

Today my legs still felt pretty sluggish and I was so frustrated in yoga. Although I felt pretty alright after my run Sunday, I'm just not recovering well from it.

Which led me to, of course, do a handy internet search. The suggestion that kept coming up for recovery from 8+ mile runs was.... ice baths. I find that runnersworld.com usually has great articles and advice, so I'm a little dismayed that they also support this tactic (see this article!). I'm starting to like running more and I'm really pleased with my progress, but I hate, despise, loath being cold. My car's seat heaters are always on, I have about 4 or 5 throw blankets in a one bedroom apartment, and my winter heating bill is embarrassingly atrocious. Therefore, the idea of lowering myself into a bath with ice sounds appalling. However, it seems like there is a whole lot of support behind it and marathoners and ultra-marathoners swear by it. (And then there is little ol' me, huffing and puffing behind.)

Plus, the science of it makes sense. When you run, the blood vessels in your legs open up to deliver extra oxygen to your muscles. By cooling them, you are helping to restrict the vessels which keeps blood from pooling in your legs and helps in the healing process. (Can I tell you though, just the idea of blood pooling anywhere, even in my legs, is enough to make me squeamish... Ick)

Have any of you actually done this ice bath madness? Did it result in hypothermia? What kinda of really really exciting reading material did you have to take your mind off of the numbing of your extremities? Sigh. I'd like to think that I'm willing to do anything, within reason, to help my running process along, but I wonder if this is outside my boundaries of reason. Burr.

Yoga was shockingly unenjoyable today. I think much of it was because my legs were so tight and my body felt crappy. We also were working on peacock pose, which involves resting on your chin a little bit in order to get your balance to go totally up. I can't put any weight on my chin since I broke my jaw a few years back (more on that soon, I'm sure) so I found it exceedingly frustrating.

Peacock Pose in Yoga Journal

Oh well. There will always be hard days. I suppose that getting through hard classes and difficult days with grace is always a bigger accomplishment, but that didn't stop me from cursing under my breath. At least, I got to gorge myself on sashimi afterward!!

Sigh. Onward and upward, I hope.

Recovery Run as Torture

Since I felt so good after my run yesterday and so good this morning, I figured that my recovery run would be a super pleasant jaunt around the block. You know, just logging a few miles to loosen up some tight muscles.

Oh how wrong I was.

I pretty much felt like I was slogging through quicksand. I did 2 miles in about 23 minutes and then walked a really slow 1/2 mile. Sweet goodness, I was not expecting that kind of pain and sluggishness. At least I got out there and moved around a bit, but this felt like I was picking up right where I started yesterday at the end of 10 miles. However.... I ran 10 miles in under 2 hours yesterday and I'm still riding that high. Plus, my knee still feels great even though I forgot the strap today (oops). But golly, what a difference it makes when I'm well rested. I barely have enough left in me to update my blog.

All energy reserves have been depleted so I must eat some ice cream and get some sleep to rebuild. A vacation would be nice too. Something like... this.


Ah... Could you pass me a Corona and a couple teenage vampire love stories please? Thanks.

10 miles - Accomplished!

Holy amazing run! I did my 10 miles this afternoon in 1:50:32. Considering that I ran 8 miles last week in 1:47:28, this is a pretty incredible time for me. My 5K split was 31:38. Really pretty amazing! I think the thing that made the most difference is that IT band strap that I got last week. Honestly, I didn't have any side knee pain during or after the run. Both knees are still a little bit sore, but more the general soreness that comes from pounding on the pavement for two hours! I'm ecstatic. I actually got the chance to push my muscles without worrying about what it would do to my joints.

I'm also glad that I waited until today to do the run. On Friday, I wasn't really feeling it and I felt so rested today. I also didn't have my watch on Friday and it helps a lot for me to know my pace etc. Speaking of pace, my mile splits! (Goodness I love this watch)
1: 10:00
2: 10:06
3: 10:32
4: 10:47
5: 10:59
6: 11:02
7: 10:55
8: 11:23
9: 12:56
10: 11:42

I pretty much had no energy after mile 7. I'm going to try out a couple of things to munch on as I go to see what works for me. My mom tried Luna Sports Energy Chews today on her long run and really liked them so I think that I'll pick up some of these to try out this week.
I think it's time to invest in that fuel belt too as I'd like to have more water and Gatorade on me as I run. My arms also got tired holding the full bottles in the beginning!

I walked a minute after every mile and I think it helped save some of the energy in my legs. I also walked 1/2 mile of mile 9 because I was so exhausted but I pulled it out for the last one. Not bad, not bad at all, in my opinion!!

My muscle pain is also definitely not as severe post-run this week. I downed a banana and some Muscle Milk Light following the run as I was starving but I still felt a little nauseous about an hour or so later. I'm not a huge Muscle Milk fan as I think it tastes like chocolate chalk, but it's a quick way get some nutrients and a lot of protein. After dinner, I felt a little bit better though. Dinner was pretty simple but so delicious. I just mixed a cup of chickpeas, half a chopped tomato, half a chopped cucumber, some red onion, and balsamic vinegar and then devoured. I also had a baked sweet potato with some Greek yogurt mixed in.

Following dinner, and with a much calmer stomach, a friend and I tried out Sweet CeCe's frozen yogurt here in Nashville. I was pretty pleasantly surprised! I had stepped in before when I was in the area and was disappointed because it's self-serve and only one or two of the flavors were listed as low-fat. However, I found out later that all of the flavors are fat-free, unless it says low-fat. Interesting. They need to explain that more clearly at the store because I was ready to write it off pretty quickly!

I tried the pumpkin yogurt (fat-free!). It was very good and tasted like fall to me with pumpkin and cinnamon flavors. It was really sweet though so I'm not too sure of what the sugar content would be. Sweet CeCe's website lists the nutritional info for a bunch of the flavors, but pumpkin didn't make the list. Cookies n' Cream however had 110 calories, no fat, and 17g sugar in a 1/2 cup. The self serve cups are giant and the yogurt comes out really fast though so it was even difficult for me to regulate portions. I added some golden graham cereal and a little crushed malt balls. Final verdict: It was a tasty treat, but probably not one that I will be having all the time. Definitely worth trying out though if you are in Nashville!

Thwarted by the weather

Today was supposed to be my 10 mile run. I didn't get up as early as I would have like but I got dressed and drove to the park. On my drive down, I heard the warning signal on the radio that there were tornado watches and hail warnings. I made it a mile into the run when I decided that the sky looked way too ominous and that I would try again tomorrow. The sky opened up about 30 seconds later so I think that I made a good call. :) I will run through rain but I will not run through hail and high winds. I had a bit of a bad experience with the movie Twister when I was younger, so I have a tiny (read: huge) fear of those ravenous wind tunnels. During the spring in Nashville, the tornado sirens go off almost every afternoon and I usually spend the afternoon hours of 3pm - 6pm terrified. I'm certainly not up for running in it. Plus, I had forgotten my watch at home so I felt totally off kilter without it.

Yoga last night was crazy challenging. However, I suppose that I write that about every Thursday class but it's very true. I loved it though. I think I do need to find a new mat though! Mine becomes way too slippery when I sweat and it's caused me to fall on my face several times. This past class, I was in side crow and my right hand slide out from under me and thump, I was on the ground. Takes all the pride and fun out of doing a really difficult asana! My shoulders are a bit tight this morning but I'm definitely not hurting as bad this time around. My teacher is also a dancer and I like how graceful she makes everything look. All of her asanas have a really amazing flow to them and it is certainly something to look up to and try to emulate. I'm one of the world's most ungraceful beings, but it's still fun to try!

On a rare non-training note, today I bought a couple of pumpkin ales to test out. First up:

Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale

Pretty tasty, smooth, mellow. I can't say that I taste all that much pumpkin in it and it's not as sweet as pumpkin beers can sometimes be. Definitely a delicious beer to just sip on while I did stuff around the apartment, but it's a little steep on calories at around 216. I might buy it again, but I'm going to wait to see what I think about the others. I only have 2 more types to try right now but may be willing to open up my lateral taste test to some more options!!

Off to walk the puppy and hopefully get to bed early so I can try a new yoga class tomorrow. Still working on my getting up early goal but at least I'm going to bed earlier!

Update:
How have I not mentioned the Yankees yet? After tonight's game, I'm ready to propose to Teixiera. I love that team, even if they try to kill me by being down in the 9th. Just saying.

Ouch

So, the morning run did not go as I’d hoped. Even though I was in bed by 11:30pm, I flipped and flopped in bed for another 3 hours so I decided to put it off to catch a few more hours. Sigh. I think that when I got into bed, I immediately started to worry about not being able to fall asleep in time plus worrying about a thousand other things. Dear brain, please shut down at 11pm. Thanks.

When I woke up and hopped out of bed this morning, I was shocked. Muscles I didn’t even know I have hurt! My butt, my thighs, inner shoulders, the outsides of my feet, even the muscles in between my ribs hurt. Granted, nothing is actually in pain, it’s just sore and achy, especially in the morning when I’m dragging myself out of bed. It’s probably a good thing because it means I’m working hard enough to be making myself stronger but yeesh, could I use a massage. I think I’m also a little dehydrated so hopefully my water guzzling will help. Plus, it’s my blog so please excuse me while I whine just a little bit!

Today is a 4 miler, but I may only be able to squeeze in about 3 because I have a softball game later tonight. I’ll try to sprint around the bases to make up for it. Theeeeeeen I have yoga tomorrow, 10 miles on Friday, 4 miles on Saturday, and maybe yoga too on Saturday. Sunday is finally a day off to rest. Eek. I’m thinking of doing my long run tomorrow and bumping the workouts up a bit so I will have more time to recover this weekend. Somehow in there, I also need to squeeze in a boat load of school work. I have a giant project due at the end of the month and am also going to be out of town next weekend (yay!!). I could probably learn to be more productive on the weekends for sure.

OK, so I have work to do, things to be read, and notes to be taken.

P.S. For breakfast tomorrow, I am meeting a friend for buttermilk pancakes and I'm already pretty darn excited. Plus side of all this exercise: stack of carbs and syrup. Mmmm.

Yoga for the Hamstrings and to bother Julia

Some crazy person said they wanted to work on hamstrings and quads today in class... OW. Those muscle groups are so tight on me now! Looking at it objectively, it was a very necessary class because I really needed to stretch them out because of all the running but as I was doing it, I was not having very yogic thoughts. Asanas that are usually pretty standard for me were really hurting. However, I do at least see a whole lot of improvement in the length of my hamstrings. Pre-yoga, my hands would come to about my knees when I'd try to touch my toes. Now I can now get my hands flat on the floor. I'd love to be able to do a full hanumanasana at some point but right now, I'm pretty happy with where I am. :) Oh yes, and a headstand. For some reason my body is afraid to go upside-down...?

Hanumanasana in Yoga Journal

At least post-yoga I had some delicious salmon sashimi and miso soup. I'm very odd about salmon. I like it raw, i.e. sashimi, and smoked, i.e. lox, but salmon fillets really do not appeal to me at all. Something about the texture and smell... yick. However, Zumi Sushi is really fantastic. I'm so glad that this city finally has a decent sushi joint. So yummy.

This is a super short and boring post but I'm tired and want to go to bed. I'm glad today was a day off from running and I felt a whole lot better this morning after a full night's sleep, but tomorrow it's back to the grind. In theory, I'd really like to run tomorrow morning before class. It's only a 4 miler and to be able to bang it out before my day really starts would be so fabulous. We'll see what I think this idea at 6:40am tomorrow morning though. It's a process but I'll get there. I think.

Looking over this blurb, it's such an optimistic entry. Yay me. :)

Ouch Ouch Ouch

Ouch. Everything hurts.

Today was a 5 miler and I actually semi-enjoyed (read: didn't completely hate) it. I ran the first 3 miles at about 12:00 each, walked the fourth in about 14:00, and ran the last one in just under 10:00! Even my fast mile is probably pretty slow for most people, for me, it was pretty darn quick.

However even though it went pretty well during the run, my body is really hurting now. My right knee felt kind of alright (more on that in a second) for most of the run, but now it's throbbing. My ankles are sore, my lower back aches, even my calf muscles hurt. I just took a pain killer and I'm looking forward to when it starts to kick in. I'm icing my knee now and will probably ice my ankles in a little bit, just for good measure.

I bought an IT band strap to see if that helps. I'm pretty sure that it's my right IT band that is flaring up and bothering me, and I thought today to search online if they make some kind of support for it. They do! I bought this one and tried it out today. So far, I'm undecided. My knee still hurt at about mile 2, but I think it felt a little better and didn't hurt as sharply as I continued running. It also didn't feel quite as stiff at the end, but then again, I am currently icing it so who knows. I'll hold off on judgment until I try it out a few more times. I'm pretty sure it didn't make anything worse though so I may as well keep at it.

Also, in a move of sheer brilliance, I decided that I'm not going to go to another orthopedist until after this half... mostly because I don't want to be told to lay off the training and not be able to do it. We'll see what kind of smart plan that really is. If I end up on crutches or needing surgery, here is a note to my future self: You friggen idiot.

Alright, off to finish up the icing and head to bed. I'm exhausted and could probably use a full night sleep. Thank goodness for Advil.

Update:
I was looking over the last couple of posts and realized that I ran 8 miles in 1:47 last week and 5 in 1:00 today. That's a difference of and average 13:23 and 12:00 mile splits. Granted, I tend to get slower as the mileage drags on, but I'm pretty proud of pushing myself. With running, I think I have a tendency to stop or slow too soon (when it's not related to pain) so I've been trying to run through being tired or cramps and only walk for knee pain.
Hurray for going from super slow me to slow me in a week.

Running Gear

4 miles in the rain. Ahh. With a big shock to myself, I didn't hate every single step. Now, this doesn't mean that I loved every second as I sped around the loop but I was able to enjoy a few moments. As I was running in the rain, I was thinking about what a big difference my running gear made. I was always of the mindset that you should get the good gear as you get better and pretty much "earn" it. In some sense, that makes sense. However, on the other hand, for someone like me who really really struggles with the workouts, good quality gear makes my life (and run) just a little bit easier. So, here is a run down of my usual running pieces:

1. Sneakers
I've been a converted Asics fan for quite a bit. They are so light and comfortable. I got a new pair about a month ago and I love them. Introducing my Asics Kayano 15. The best thing about them is that somehow, they stop me from kicking my ankles. I couldn't figure out why, but for years I would kick the inside ankle on my opposite foot every 10 steps or so, so a 5 miles run would leave them pretty raw and bruised. Not a problem anymore!


2. Clothes
I jump around in a lot of brands, but I think my favorite is Under Armour. I didn't realize what a ginormous difference sweat-wicking clothing makes. I was always under the impression that cotten tanks were fine and it was no big deal. For shorter 3 milers, I still don't really care but if it's raining or I'm running a long run, I now really appreciate the difference these make. For example, it was pouring today during my run, and I was only mildly damp at the end. No dripping at all. Today I was wearing my UA long sleeve and Nike running capris. My absolute favorites are the UA Quickstep shorts, too cold for them today though:

3. Watch
For my birthday last year, my mom got me a Garmon Forerunner. It is so technologically advanced that I'm pretty sure I can command satellites with it if I finally got around to reading the whole instruction manual. I probably never will. However! It's very useful for other reasons. First and probably most importantly, calculates distance so I get in the full length of each training run. Second, calculates speed. I find this especially helpful for keeping my walking recovery speed up and my run speed down because I'm really trying to pace myself. I can also use the lap timer to set mile splits, see my heart-rate, calories burned, elevation of course.... amazing thing. With all this data, I should at least be able to fine tune some of my training, right? It's certainly an investment piece but a really amazing tool. My one and only complaint is that the chest strap it comes with is way too big for me. I currently have part of it tied up with a hair tie which give me a nice lump on my back and I'm still always hiking it up. However, my mom just ordered an XS one for me, so that will be fixed soon. Minor complaint and easily fixed.


4. Fuel belt
I don't actually have one of these yet but I want one! I'm thinking of getting the Wachusett Belt for water, Gatorade, and to hold a snack (I start to starve after 7 miles). However, I think the 4 bottle one might be better for longer runs? I really despise holding a water bottle as I run. I suppose I could always refill though... hmm. Things to think about. I'm a pretty thirsty girl. Suggestions?

5. iPhone and headphones
Enough said. How people can run sans music is beyond me. BORED. I was all about Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers on todays jaunt as I will be seeing them (for the 6th time!) tonight.

6. Recovery food!
For the last mile of my run, I usually just think about what kind of recovery food I get to eat. Goal is for high protein and nutrient dense. Today was an apple and my favorite: low-fat chocolate milk. I've been buying cases of it in the little kid lunch box size, in vanilla and strawberry too, so I can have one waiting for me in my car. Mmm. So good and so worth running for. Plus, I don't like regular milk so whenever I can cram it into my diet with lattes, protein shakes, or chocolate is a good thing.
So that's a pretty complete run down of my running gear! Are there any things that you can't workout without? (And of course, don't ever forget the SPF! I had 30 on today... and it was pouring). :)

8 miles! 8 miles!

I did it! I ran my planned 8 miles at Centennial Park this afternoon in 1:47:24. It was grueling and difficult and at mile 3, I was pretty ready to give up but I didn't. I'm so proud of myself, really. My knee started hurting about at mile 2 so I did a variation of run/walk every quarter mile. When it was really hurting, I'd walk a half, run a quarter, but by the end, it was back to the original plan. I was so exhausted and starving when I finished but at least I finished.

This trail was a great find though since it's much much closer than the one in Brentwood. It's a mile loop, with every quarter marked. Paved, flat, and very pretty. Also helped that today was perfect running weather with 68 degrees, sunshine, and a light breeze.

Trail

View of the Parthenon over the lake/pond

My whole body is pretty achy though. I popped some ibuprofen when I got home but my lower back especially is bothering me. The combination of my yoga class yesterday and the run today really kicked my butt. So, what do I plan to do about it? I'm going to another class tomorrow morning! :) This one is only a level II though so it should loosen me up a bit. I don't want the running to shorten my hamstrings and counteract all the goodness I have been achieving in yoga!

Alright, I'm exhausted but wanted to document my accomplishment today. Certainly not on the pace to break world records, but it was right on for making my under 3 hours goal (on pace for a 2:55, but I was definitely slowing towards the end). I also tried to keep my walking mile time under 15:00/mile in order to keep the pace up, even if I couldn't run all of it.

Good night! Hoping for less sore muscles in the morning!

Good night moon. Hello October.

Alright! I'm excited to run again! Woo! The weather is so perfect outside that it has renewed my running spirit. The fact that I find it really difficult doesn't mean I should give up as nothing worth doing ever comes easy, no?? Well, it surely does not for me. Plus, I have found the next half that I want to do: The Disney Princess Half Marathon. Imagine the possibilities! A sports tiara! Pink running skirts! A finish line filled with Disney princesses! A giant pile of chocolate chip pancakes with Goofy following the race!! Unfortunately the race starts at 6am, probably to both avoid the heat in Florida and so that they can open the park to the public at a reasonable hour. My goal is to finish the November 7th one in 3 hours, and then I will consider the DPHM. Goals to work towards! Tomorrow is my long run and I'm looking forward to checking out the loop at Centennial Park finally. Hopefully this nice weather will hold out for me (According to the weatherman, it should be perfect around 9am!!).

I'm hoping that my morning run will loosen up my legs a bit. Yoga was insanely difficult tonight and I was almost chaturanga'd to death. I'm always surprised by people who think that yoga is just stretching and chanting Om. Holding those high lunges and up-dogs for several minutes can be excruciating! I definitely need a towel for class though. I was trying to hold onto my ankle in trikonasana and my hand kept sliding off! Funny... but ew. I love the crazy challenging classes the most though. I love feeling exhausted, like I've worked hard and done my best. I've been easing up on the strength training in the gym because yoga is doing a pretty great job kicking my butt on its own. Interestingly, I find the meditation parts to be the most difficult as I can't quite get my mind to sit still yet. It's amazing how hard it is to think of nothing and just... be.

Also, I finally got around to making the acorn squash tonight. I meant to take a picture, but it was at about 10pm that it finally finished cooking so I basically dove into it. It was alright, although not the most special thing that I've ever eaten. It was definitely less food than I was expecting as I ended up also making tomato soup and crackers, and later had some of the roasted cauliflower that I made for tomorrow. I'm actually hungry now again. I guess that means that I better get to sleep.

Good night moon. Hello October. :)