Idle

3 years ago, I had one pair of sneakers. I never wore them so they lasted for years. Now, I have an expanding collection. 2 for running, 2 for the gym (retired running shoes), casual sneakers, trail shoes ... And they last about a year at most.  I wish I could have more but budget and closet space don't allow.

Sadly, none of these are seeing any action these days (except the casual ones). I went to the gym and rode the stationary bike yesterday since my knee was feeling better. Well, by last night I was achy. 

More rest for me.  *sigh*

Cherry Blossom 10-miler 2013

I had quite the eventful weekend.  I admit, I haven't exercised much due to laziness and the "I don't have time" excuse, but also because of injury.  Last week, I managed to squeeze in a trainer appointment followed by a 3 mile run and that's about it.

Friday night, the minute my husband walked in the door from work, I flew out in a hurry to make it to packet pick-up for the Cherry Blossom 10-miler.  I made it there in an hour.  The building was beautiful and packet pick-up was a breeze with no line. 

I like how Metro added the Cherry Blossoms to their stations. I made it back home with my packet and a Smartrip card for race morning.

Saturday morning, I took my girls to a kids dash.  It was freezing, but so much fun.  My older daughter, Zoe, took off like a flash and she loved it.  My little one, Sydney, cared more about the cute clothes but she finished the race like a little star.  I'd love to take them to do it again sometime - maybe when it's not so cold.  It's one thing for me to suffer in the cold for a race, but my girls are too young for that misery. 

I spent the night at my running buddy's apartment since she lives closer to the city.  We feasted on pizza and snacks and eventually went to sleep.  I got up around 4:30AM, had some coffee and 1/2 bagel.  I also realized that I forgot my emergency TP stash so I asked my friend for a ziplock and some paper towels.  I mention this because it is critically important later in the day.

Rather than walking, we cabbed over to a Metro stop for the ride in.  I think I had too much coffee, because this situation was happening on the train ...

Normally, we try to stay warm in the station but the police booted us out into the cold.  It wasn't terribly cold, but the wind made it feel pretty brisk.  Here I am at the starting line trying to avoid hypothermia ...

After bag checking and the requisite potty stop, we headed to the corrals which were empty but filled to the brim fast.  The race started and the corrals were off one by one.  We were in the corral for about 30 min. and by that time, I had to pee again (too much coffee!) and my friend - well, she had other issues.  Finally, our corral was off with only my fingers and feet suffering frost bite.

Everything was fine and as we got to the first water stop, I asked my friend if she wanted to stop at the potties there.  She said she did, but she didn't want to stand in the line.  I hadn't even noticed the crazy line.  We ran on.

Passed another water stop.  Same situation.  This whole time we were on the look-out for bushes, but things were pretty bare.  Finally, at the third water stop, there was a lovely group of large bushes and we headed toward them.  My friend asked for the ziplock bag.  I asked her how many she needed - ALL of them!  I took one since my situation wasn't dire and gave her the rest.  I went right onto the bushes ignoring the fact that they were thorny and tearing at my arms and legs.  I was pretty well covered but I figured if anyone saw me, it's not like I was ever going to see them again.  I found relief and was glad I no longer had to think about how bad I had to pee. 

I came out to see my friend only backed up into the bushes and still clearly visible to the world including the hundreds of runners that passed.  I told her this and she didn't seem at all concerned.  As I waited, a man approached me and asked if she was ok.  I looked up and realized he was a medic.  I told him she was fine and he just said, "Oh, just mother nature?"  Yep.  Then another runner came over in desperate need of a relief.  She seemed really concerned about whether people would see.  I told her what I'd just said to myself - You will never see any of these people again.  Off she went.

We returned to the course and there were some people cheering for us.  It was all such a comical sutation!  As my friend said - Gotta take care of business. 

That's bad?  Well, to me, what happened next is worse.  Around mile 7, I started having serious problems with my knee.  I had been running slow expecting to speed up in the final miles, but I ended up having to slow way down.  I was in serious pain.  I tried walking, but that was actually worse, so I just decided to run to the finish as best I could.  On the way there, we saw a woman on the ground surrounded by medics and later an ambulance on the way to get her.  I figured things could be worse for me.

I told my friend that I needed to head to the medical tent at the finish.  I was ok, but happy the race wasn't a half and that it was over.

We walked and walked and walked ... and finally got water.  I didn't see food anywhere and figured the next best thing to do was to get my checked bag.  It was windy and cold and I knew my temp would drop fast.  After wandering around in the general direction of bag check, I finally found a very small banana and a small muffin.  I was starving so I scarfed that down quickly.  Luckily, I had thrown a Clif Bar in my bag so I ate that as well.  I was a little surprised by how little food there was compared to other races I've done.

The race was really crowded.  To me, this was nothing more than a long run so I didn't care much about speed, but it was tough running surrounded by so many people.  I mean, my worst race experience was running from the last corral at the Disney Princess half which was so bad that I had to walk in several places and ran in the grass most of the race but this wasn't too much better.  For this reason, I'm not sure I'd do it again.

I ended up skipping the medical tent because I was feeling ok walking at that point so instead we headed to the Metro.  We went for breakfast and when I got up to walk out, the pain was really bad.  We stopped at a running store for a patella strap since it was on the way back so I can try that in the future.  However, the pain at this point was so bad, I could barely walk.  My friend even carried me part of the way back to her apartment.

We were supposed to go to a wine tasting, but since I couldn't move fast, time was short and we decided to skip it.  We ended up just hanging at my house with ice on my knee.

 

And so, I won't be doing much of anything this week.  Also, this does not bode well for my next few races.  I'm definitely worried. 

Spring Break

I'm feeling pretty good. No knee pain or any other pain for that matter. However, this week is spring break for my daughters so getting to the gym will be a challenge. My husband and I have also planned a little getaway to Cape May for the weekend. I'll have to see how things go.

Today, I'm just trying to figure out what the following from my training plan means. I'll probably just take my best guess. Heck, if it's wrong, it's still some kind of running.

Sunday Night

There are 182,000 other people out there watching Swedish House Mafia play their last show ever at the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. I'm not sure if that's an amazing or pathetic way to spend a Sunday night especially since I'm going to pay for this when I try to get up for work tomorrow morning.

But this is the music I love. The music that gets me through the last painful miles of a race so I'm going to call it amazing. Farewell Swedish House Mafia. And thank you for the inspiration.

Edit: The feed reached 210,000 viewers. Spectacular!

New York-bound

It's been an interesting week. I figured that since I took it nice and slow on Saturday that I could just go on training like usual. Not so much.

I struggled through a cycle class on Wednesday. My training appointment went great (got that good kind of soreness) but yesterday I had 10 miles on my training plan and it wasn't so good. I decided to use the treadmill at the gym to avoid hills since my knee isn't 100%. I started running out of steam around mile 5 and also had some tummy issues. I spent the next 3 miles thinking of what could possibly have done it. Ice cream the night before. Ugh. I can't have dairy before a long run. Still, glad I did the 8 miles.

I guess I need a little more recovery time and it works out because I'm actually headed to NY for a funeral and its going to be a quick trip with no time for workouts. Sunday, I have a belly dance show so that's not looking good either and next week is spring break for the girls so it might be a tough week to get workouts in. I'm hoping a few days rest does me some good and I can get in a few good workouts in the evenings.

I'll end here with this lovely tile at the station. Happy Friday!

Health and Fitness are not luxuries.

Since I was a teenager, I've had periods of exhaustion affecting my daily living.  I even remember my parents taking me to the doctor because I slept so much, only to find every test come back normal.  It wasn't a big deal because when you don't have kids, you can just take a nap after work and sleep in on the weekend.

The real probem began after I had kids, especially having kids who have emotional challenges and don't sleep well (more on that another day).  Giving birth brought the blues which I managed to recover from ok, but it also highlighted my own sleep issues.  I even developed insomnia at one point after my second daughter was born and quite by accident I discovered that birth control pills were causing it.  However, dropping that medication and getting past insomnia didn't solve all my problems and even though I could sleep now, like before, I just couldn't get enough sleep. 

I eventually got to the point where I couldn't function as a mother because of the exhaustion.  My husband was understandably irritated and overwhelmed having to be both father and mother while I was essentially incapacitated.  I felt awful, but what could I do when I was so tired I couldn't see straight?  The exhaustion dragged me down emotionally.  I didn't feel like it was depression (having experienced that after my divorce) but there was a sadness and weariness to my daily existence.  Again, doctor visits yielded nothing.

One day at a routine visit to my gyn, I mentioned it to her and she asked me what I ate, especially for breakfast.  She suggested that I might try eating more protein throughout the day, including for breakfast.  I thought, "It can't be that simple."

It was.

I started paying more attention to what I ate and noticed that on days I ate protein for breakfast - eggs, greek yogurt, etc. vs. a bagel or cereal, I didn't feel like I was going to collapse at 3PM.  I can't believe that all along what was happening was a major sugar crash every day.  I guess I'm just really sensitive to carbs.  Around this time, I also started running for the first time.  My energy level went through the roof and I was happy.  REALLY happy! 

I can't understand why I had to struggle for 20 years when the solution was so simple.  Since making that small adjustment to my diet, I've never felt better.  More doctors need to be aware of how important nutrition is and that it's not always something that they need to throw a bunch of tests and medications at.  I am so incredibly grateful to my gyn for her knowledge.  She changed my life! 

This brings me to an article I came across over the weekend that really captures exactly how I feel. I took a quick phone pic because I didn't want to forget the exerpt, but of course, I forgot which magazine it came from.  Maybe Health?

Sometimes, I feel guilty that instead of going home and cleaning, or doing mom-type things like it seems the other moms do, I head straight to the gym after I drop my girls off.  Then I think of how this is not recreation like say scrapbooking or a photography hobby might be.  If I don't do this, I am left unable to function physically.  I can't be a good mother, a good wife.  Sometimes I wonder if people look at me and think of how selfish or spoiled I am when they see how I spend my time.  Yes, I am lucky to have the opportunity to work part-time and be able to get in 90 minute workouts, but it is truly something I need to live.

As for my husband, I have asked him more than once how he feels about what I do.  His answer is always the same - He is not a fan of mud runs or obstacle races because he worries about my safety, but other than that, he doesn't mind one bit.  He is a huge support and I could never train for or participate in races without him.  I am mindful of his time as well and as the article above mentions, we have a similar method to taking turns.  He goes to the gym during the week at a different time and on weekends, I arrange my workouts around his gym time. 

I hope we are setting an example for our daughters.  I want them to see how important eating well and being active is and wish for their happiness and health without having to experience the struggles that I endured.

Week of March 17th

I plan to take it easy this week to rest my knee and I'm heading to NY friday for a funeral so there is a little interruption there, but I think getting the half in puts me a little ahead of the game.  Sometimes life happens and that's ok.

March 17th - 23rd:

Sunday - Weights (ended up being a rest day post half)

Monday - Stretch

Tuesday - Rest

Wednesday - Trainer appointment and cycle class

Thursday - 10 mile run

Friday - Weights (Will be traveling.)

Saturday - 6 miles (Funeral and travel home.)