Another 6.82 miles down

I have been slacking on my blog this week...sorry!

Thursday's run

I ran on Thursday, it wasn't my favorite run.  I have every intention on going on a long run.  I was hoping for a 5-8 mile run.  When I got out onto the road it started out fine.  I decided I would go to the other Quadrant Home neighborhood first then head into McCormick Woods.  I got to the Quadrant neighborhood and that is where things started going wrong. 
My wonderful friends who took the time to cheer me on on my Nike app were a blessing and a curse that day.  Every time I would get a cheer it would pause my workout!  This has never happened to me before.  It was very frustrating to have to stop what I was doing to restart my program.  When I restarted the program, my music would freeze up...it was a sign.  I kept running anyway thinking "it's okay, maybe it won't happen again."  Boy, was I wrong! 
After several interruptions I was having a hard time staying focused on my run.  That combined with the thoughts of the recent attack on yet another local female runner and the sun starting to set led me to abandon the long run and head for home.  Good thing too...my program turned off for another 1/2 mile!  Oh well, I know what I ran :)

3.72 miles in 37 minutes (the distance is right but I am not sure of the time)

Sunday's run

I did my usual Sunday morning 45 minute, sweat-like-crazy, butt-kicking spin class this morning with Amy.  Then I went for a run on the treadmill.  I wasn't sure what I had left in me today because Amy had a ROCKIN' class!  I decided to at least try and get myself to run a 5k.  Well, I did it.  I tried not to let my speed go down any less then 10 minute miles.  The one big complaint I have since getting my stress fracture is that I have lost my speed.  I know I will get it back eventually...right now I am just trying to focus on getting my miles back. :)

Did I mention I am not a big fan of running on a treadmill?  I hate not having the scenery and it is so much easier for me to adjust my speed.  Plus...I OBSESS about the time time and distance.  It is torturous for me.  I finished though.  I think if I was outside my time may have been better.

So that is all for today.  3.1 miles in 30.42 minutes.

980 miles to go to complete 1000 for the year.
http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/history/676716880/

5 miles

I was able to get off work a little earlier today so I thought...why not try to run a little further today?  Guess what...5 miles baby!!!  I am going further everyday, I am feeling less pain everyday, and I feel stronger everyday.  That can't be bad can it?

After getting all dressed up and layered up for my run I stepped outside and started running.  Darn it, forgot my gloves.  Shouldn't be too bad right, wrong!  My hands were frozen and my poor knuckles were purple.  Oh well, the run must go on...isn't that how the saying goes :)

So I decided it was time to go into my favorite running grounds today, McCormick Woods.  Some minor rolling hills but for the most part a nice even course.  The highest elevation is only 100ft.  Not too bad.  Traffic was very quiet today, thank goodness.  Usually it is terrible and I am still dodging cars from the furthest side of the shoulder.  Some drivers have no courtesy!

The weirdest thing happened to me at mile 1.48.  I just stopped.  No reason really.  I just stopped.  I guess when I think back now I was feeling a little nauseated at the time.  The clam chowder I had for lunch didn't seem to agree with my run.  But either way, it is very unlike me to just stop.  I only stopped for about 30 seconds then went about my run again.

So off I went again.  Trugging along, kind of listening to my music but mostly just listening to the sound of the road.  I don't usually run with headphones in so I listen to what is going on around me most of the time.  I was feeling pretty sluggish for the first 2.3 miles but once I hit the halfway point I had finally hit my stride.  I felt like my legs were actually cooperating with me and I was making progress!  It was a great feeling.

Well that's about it.  I finished up my 5 miles.  According to Nike my fastest mile was my second mile and my slowest mile was my fourth mile (probably because I had to go to the clubhouse for a potty break).  Any way I look at it I am so happy that I ran 5 miles today without ANY pain!!!  NO PAIN AT ALL!!!!  That makes every moment of it all worthwhile!

Oh yeah, did I mention that Andrea and I are running the 2 half marathons next month from my previous posts?  I can't wait!!!

986.8 miles to go to reach 1000 miles for the year. 

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/676716880/295543365/all/allRuns/

Slow and steady

That seems to be my mantra lately during this rehabilitation time.  It was a good thing today too.  I had a long night last night...

I stayed up late last night watching The Social Network.  The movie ended at midnight and just as I turned it off to go to bed my 3 year old, Bryce, woke up.  He has been pretty sick lately and he couldn't sleep.  So it was my turn to get up with him since Erik got up with him the night before.  Needless to say, I was up with him until 4am!!!  Ugh...I am a girl who needs at least 8 hours of sleep so I knew today was going to be a struggle.

I finally dragged my behind out of bed around 10:30am and made a large pot of coffee.  I only drank one cup before I decided that was enough to get the motivation I needed to go out for a run.  The sun was out but I wasn't sure how cold out it really was.  I threw on my Under Armor long sleeved shirt and my a short sleeved tech shirt over the top, my fleece gloves and set the Nike+GPS for a game of Tag with the husband. 

Tag is a new addition to the app... you can play tag against your friends and challenge them to see who can run the furthest distance or the longest time.  It's fun and gives me more motivation to try to beat Erik even though I know he runs further then me every week :) 

So back to my run...I stepped outside...uh oh, I may have dressed too warm!  Too late now, I'm not turning back now.  I begin my run down Siskin.  The sun is so bright today...why didn't I think of sunglasses?  I make the half loop out to the entrance of The Ridge and head out to the main road Old Clifton...so far, so good. 

I decided to head out to the other Quadrant neighborhood today.  I haven't run that route in a while.  It's mostly downhill the whole way there so that makes for a nice easy run.  Unfortunately, that means it's mostly uphill the whole way back!  The good thing about that is it helps me to push harder for the second half of my races.  I did stop at mile 1.82 to look at a new house that was built...beautiful, by the way, I just wanted to look at the spec sheet and then I was off again. 

At mile 2.57 and up the biggest of the hills I experienced the first twinge of pain.  Today it was more like a cramp though.  It was in the part of my foot that has the stress fracture though...  I was still .75 miles away from home so I just kept going but slowed my pace.  Slow and steady...Slow and steady...that's my mantra.

3.28 miles today in 33.16 minutes.  Not my quickest time but I am still plugging along.  I feel like, as long as I am adding mileage with each run, I am improving. 

991.8 miles to go to complete 1000 miles for the year.

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/676716880/1503612302/all/allRuns/

995.14 miles to go

I got to go on another run 2 days ago.  It was chilly out so I threw on the fleece sweatshirt (I never run in fleece), the fleece gloves, and a beanie.  It was also already dark out so I finally got to use the new reflective light up safety band  that I got for Christmas from my sister-in-law, Andrea.  It was a nice, easy run around the neighborhood.  I promised myself the same as my previous run...any pain and I would stop running. 

One loop around the neighborhood is almost exactly 1 mile.  First lap done, no pain.  On the second lap I decided to switch it up and about 3/4 of the way around, I turned back and went the way I came.  I wasn't sure if I could do a full 3 miles tonight so I thought by turning around, I could add some extra ground without committing to a full lap. 

Well, I probably should have stayed on my original path because about .25 miles later I started to feel pain.  I was still .5 miles away from home!  So, I just kept going and it ended up not being too bad either.  I felt more like it was a cramp in my foot tonight rather then pain so I pushed through.  All together, I ran a total of 2.51 miles that night.  Still building towards my 1000 miles for the year...SLOWLY!  

995.14 to go.

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/676716880/1369432481/all/allRuns/

Am I crazy?

Or did my sweet husband find my 2 qualifying half marathons that will get me into the Half Fanatics?  It looks like we may be running the Cupid's Marathon, Half-Marathon, 10 Miles, 10K, 5K & 1 mile in Rochester, WA on February 13th and also the 43rd Annual Birch Bay Marathon in Blaine, WA on February 20th.  I am hoping and praying that my foot is healed in time and I will have two great runs :)

Here is my chance, now I have to get my game plan in action...

I hope to be able to do another small run tomorrow (to test the waters) and see if I experience what I went through yesterday.  I hope that doing some shorter build up runs will help my foot overcome any pain that I am experiencing.  Obviously I am not just going to get out on the road and bust out huge mileage over the next week or two but I hope to slowly build up so that I will run at a nice comfortable pace.  

If all goes well over the next twelve days then I will indeed sign up for these races.  If not, at least I tried.

Wish me luck!

I did it!

I FINALLY GOT TO RUN!!

I convinced Bryce (my 3 year old) that it was time to go to the YMCA today so I could run for the first time in over two weeks.  I haven't limped in about a week and my foot has had no pain since that long either, so I felt it was time to give it a shot. 

Let me start by stressing some of my biggest pet peeves about running indoors on the track at the YMCA:

1. The staff does not watch the track; therefore anyone and everyone is allowed to use it.
2. By anyone, I mean: children, people who can't read or follow directions, parents who encourage their children to run wild on the track, people who go the wrong direction on the track, and people who don't look before hopping onto the track.
3. Did I mention that children are on the track?

I am forced to use the indoor track because unfortunately, I do not have childcare any other way.  So if I want to run, I have to run indoors.  I am very appreciative that the YMCA even provides a track though.  I just wish that there were stricter rules for those who were using it and that they were enforced. :)

Okay, vent over.  I promised myself that I would only run as long as my foot would allow and I would stop the second I felt any sort of pain.  I checked Bryce into daycare and went upstairs to stretch before my run. I made sure the track was clear and stepped onto it.  I turned on my Nike+GPS program and started to RUN! 

It was a nice, easy pace.  I didn't want to do anything that to hurt myself and tried to just ease my way back into running.  There were a lot of people on the track today so I had to dodge quite a few walkers who were taking up several lanes and still manage to stay out of the run lane so I didn't get mauled down by some heavy duty runners. 

I was going strong when my Nike program told me I hit mile #1.  It was a wonderful feeling!  By then, I had found my stride, my breathing was very steady, and best of all---my foot felt great.  That was until mile 1.85.  A man was stretching on the side of the track and his young son (about age 4) was just standing right in the middle of the jog/run lane.  The dad didn't seem to even care and didn't ask the child to get off the track either.  This of course, prompted me to get off the track and get a staff member to come talk to the dad and his son.  I am not going to re-injure dodging a young child, especially when I am already nursing a stress fracture. 

So after my slight detour, I hopped back on the track and continued on my way.  Another lap down when two pre-teen girls decided it would be fun to start running the opposite way on the track.  Lucky for me the lady in front of me decided to scold the girls who didn't listen and continued on their path.  When they continued to run by me the wrong way, I also told them to follow the rules and run the right way.  I think with the two distractions from the children, it was enough for my foot.  Dodging kids is not good when you have a stress fracture. 

Once I hit a little over mile 2...my foot got a sharp pain.  As I told myself before my run, I stopped the second I felt the pain.  I walked long enough to get to the stretching mats and got off the track.  I really was hoping to get 3 miles in today but I will take what I can get.  Some running is better than no running!

My foot is paying the price tonight though.  I have been limping around ever since.  I've iced it like crazy and I've stayed off it for the remainder of the day.  Hopefully I can gradually build back up to some decent mileage. 

I really want to run 1000 miles this year!  So far I have 997.6 miles to go :)

Here is a summary of my run:

http://nikerunning.nike.com/nikeos/p/nikeplus/en_US/plus/#//runs/detail/676716880/1839181377/all/allRuns/

I want to run!!!!

I am happy to report that I have made it through the whole week without any pain!

So I convinced my foot to do a 30 minute spin session the other day.  The first 10 minutes were going fine.  Easy cadence with low resistance and a gradual build-up.  I attempted to do 10 minutes standing with a higher resistance for safety...seemed to be okay.  When I sat back down to finish the last 10 minutes with rolling hills, I was reminded that I am indeed still nursing a stress fractured foot. 

The rest of the night when by with minimal pain so I think overall I am on the mend.  I may actually try to do a little running this weekend!  I can't wait.  Really!!!  It's been two weeks since I've been able to run and I really miss it.  I read about my friends on Facebook who are able to get out and run right now (even the ones who are so dedicated they get out and run in the snow---Rory) and I can't help but think, when will that be me again? 

So maybe tomorrow or Sunday...until then, I'll just keep smiling.

Arm workout

Since my running is on hold right now and did I mention I've had ice cream the last few nights...

ICE CREAM + NO EXERCISE = BAD NEWS FOR ME!!!! 

So:

Cybil is right--No excuses!  Nothing should stop me from exercising...not even a stress fractured foot.  I decided, injury or not, I have to get some kind of exercise in somehow, someway!  Since wearing a shoe is what seems to bother me the most lately I had to figure out what I could do as a form of cardio to get my heart rate up quickly and safely.  The solution...my spin bike I got for Christmas! 

I laced up the dreaded shoe and and hopped on the bike.  It was a VERY short ride.  I realized I won't be attending a formal spin class for a few more weeks, that's for sure.  I was only on the bike for 5-10 minutes with almost no resistance, sitting upright and pedaling very easily...but it worked.  My foot was uncomfortable but not unbearable and my heart rate was up!  I dismounted the bike and took my shoe off :)

For todays wokout I decided to focus on arm strength training.  I pulled my Reebok arm weights out of the closet (blew off the dust) and tried to duplicate a routine that I would do in one of Amy's core/strength training classes that I usually attend on Sundays.  I was pretty successful I think. 

MY WORKOUT

3 sets of 15 reps each of the following:

1/2 Bicep Curls

Hammer Curls

Full Bicep Curls

Alternate Bicep Curls

Shoulder Press

Tricep Kickbacks

Overhead Tricep Extensions

Shoulder Lifts

So workout accomplished and smile is definitely acheived!!!  I feel great and I'm happy to be exercising again, even if it's only for a short workout.  I didn't kick my own butt the way Amy would do on a Sunday class but I also didn't want to overdo it today since I'm not even supposed to be doing anything but swimming right now.  :)

Waiting to run...

So I am almost done walking like a zombie! Maybe a few more days of rest and I can try to take a "stroll" around the block?  Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

So after looking at my tiny little mileage stats for last year...I have decided I need to set some goals for this year.  I know I need to keep in mind that I didn't start running until August of last year so of course my mileage isn't very high.  What should a good realistic goal be?  Right now, my goal is 1000 miles for the year.  That puts me at 20 miles a week.  I think right now that is a good goal for a full time working mom of 4...don't you?

Well that's all I have time for tonight. :)

Yukon Do It Stats!

Well I must say...for my first 1/2 marathon, I am pretty happy with my overall results.  Here are the stats from the Yukon Do It!

My time: 2 hrs 20 mins 03 sec according to their clock (2 hrs 19 mins 20 sec on my Nike App)
Overall place 126 out of 182 people
Age group place 15 out of 33 people aged 30 to 34
Gender place 57 oiut of 102 women

Not too bad for finishing with a stress fractured foot!  I know that for my next race I will actually get the proper training in and shoot for a faster pace. 

On another note, the "stressed out" right foot is feeling a little better today.  I would like to thank the weather for this.  It's been so cold out today that I don't think I ever warmed up.  It just feels like I have had a bag of ice on my foot all day!  :)

Confirmed!

Yep...it's a stress fracture.  I knew it.  Dr. Brad confirmed it.  I guess I won't be writing any running posts for a while.  Don't worry though...I am still smiling :)  Hopefully it heals fast and I can get back out on the road soon.  I am really excited to start training for my next race.

I guess I will have to find something else to write about in the next few weeks.  Any ideas?

Oh yeah...here are a couple of pictures from the Yukon Do It! 1/2 Marathon Courtest of Jason Tackett...amazing brother-in-law!

Happy New Year!

Well I am still taking it easy today.  The rest of my body has recovered nicely but boy is that right foot taking it's own sweet time.  I'm pretty sure it's got a stress fracture in it.  I wish it didn't because I want to get out on the road and start running again! 
I spent most of the day researching my races for the new year.  I am not one to set resolutions but I decided to set a goal for the New Year...to become a Half Fanatic!  For anyone who got to these races then you have seen these amazing people out there along the course (along with the Marathon Maniacs).  The minimum criteria is: 2 half marathons in 16 days or 3 half marathons in 90 days.  Time doesn't matter as long as you are having fun!---Well, at least I have that criteria met :) There are other classifications too but that is just the minimum.  For more information you can check it out at: http://www.halffanatics.com/
Here are the races that I am interested in so far:
Tacoma City Half Marathon - May 1st
Heroes Half Marathon (Everett, WA) - May 8th
Capital City Half Marathon (Olympia, WA) - May 15th
North Olympic Discovery Half Marathon (Sequim to Port Angeles, WA) - June 5th
Rock n Roll (Seattle, WA) - June 25th
Ocean Shores Big Half Marathon  - July 10th
See Jane Run Women's Half Marathon (Seattle, WA) - July 17th
Tacoma Narrows Half Marathon - August 6th
Disneyland Half Marathon (Anaheim, CA) - September 4th
You Go Girl (Tacoma, WA) - September 18th
Maui Half Marathon (Maui, HI) - September 18th
Portland Half Marathon (Portland, OR) - October 9th

Of course, this is my wish list...I wonder which ones I will be able to run?

The Pain!!!

I keep telling myself that the accomplishment far outways the pain.  It does, right?  The answer is yes.  Today I woke up feeling like I had been hit by one of those trucks that I was talking about yesterday.  My hips hurt, my ankles hurt, but most importantly my right foot is killing me!  I feel like I have a stress fracture in it.  I am hobbling around like a 100 year old woman but the accomplishment was so worth it, right...YES!

The pics are up from the race.  Here is the proof that Runners DO Smile!

http://leahyphoto.exposuremanager.com/p/yukon_do_it_marathon/yukon10ladies88_90