Quick 9 mile run!

Yowza, I don't know how I did it bu I ran 9, 10 minute miles last night!  WOW.  I ran 9 miles twice last weekend when I was doing 18, and they both took me 1:45, this took me just 1:30! Must have been the stars aligning.

Virtual Easter Race!

Living in rural America certainly has it's blessings, but access to lots of road races is not one of them.  Tom and I almost managed to coordinate a 10K race in Rome, NY when we went to visit his sister, but it just didn't work out.  The only other race in the area is over an hour away, so I started looking for virtual races to participate in.

Here's a quick primer on my understanding of virtual races:

There seem to be two types; free (no medal) or only paying for your medal and shipping, or races where you pay more (some have shirts and medals) but your entry fee is donated to a cause. 

I think virtual races appeal to different groups of people.  There are people that might not like to go to races but still want to participate in an event and compare their times to others.  You can do a virtual race on a treadmill. Some people may only have a treadmill as an option due to child care or a fear of running outside.  Then there are people like me, looking for a reason to push the envelope a little but and compete with other people but without the inconvenience of travel.

A couple popular sites hosting virtual races are:
www.willrunforbling.com
www.usroadrunning.com

I found a virtual Easter 5K at US Road Running that was quite inexpensive.  Last night for the first part of my 5 mile training run I timed a 5K (3.1 miles).  I think this may be my fastest "official" 5K race.  I think if I wasn't still getting over being sick I could have gone a bit faster.  Once I saved this I continued on my way and completed my 5. 

Phew, race is April, DONE. 

Long run fun!

(Before and after a super early-morning run)

I think it's been a while since I could describe my long run as fun.  I had two excellent 9 mile runs on Saturday the 19th.  Because of Easter and house guests I performed my long run on Saturday (instead of Sunday or Monday) and broke it up into two runs.  The first run I started at 6 AM so that I could be back for breakfast.  The second 9 I ran on the treadmill while Darren napped, Tom and Jer were at the mall and my house guests were out for lunch with my parents.  (Splitting the run in half was MUCH easier than doing it all at once.  When I run my 20 I will do it all at once)  While my treadmill run was uneventful, and went really well despite being pretty gassed, it is my early morning run that I will focus on.  

The week prior to Easter weekend our snow melted.  We went from several feet everywhere to nothing over the course of about 7 days.  The dramatic melt caused equally dramatic flooding around the region.  I was amazed at the amount of flooding I saw while out on my run.  

Below is the view of the Oswegatchi River just before it meets the mighty St. Lawrence.  I could not believe the rapids on the otherwise very still waterway.  In the summer the river is lined with pleasure boats ready to take on the cool St. Lawrence at a couple of marinas.  Good thing they take in the slips in the Fall or they would be halfway to the Atlantic by now!

My destination was the jog trail that runs along the Oswegatchi, but as you can see below it was closed due to flooding.

Not to be deterred, I ran the upper ridge along the river to see the extent of the flooding that was keeping me off the trail.  It was flooded all right!  Looking below you can see the light posts that illuminate the trail are surrounded by swirling water.  Typically the trail is at least 10 feet or more from the edge of the river.  There is a retaining wall and the water is at least 5 feet below the height of the wall.

At a dam barrels were caught in the swirl of water cascading over the berm (below).  I don't think anyone will be sitting leisurely watching from the benches anytime soon...

I continued on to where the trail is situated on top of an old railroad bed and gladly this was (barely) above the water line (below).  

Evidently some of it was below or too close to the water line because I eventually came up to this barrier (below).  Thankfully I was at almost exactly 4.5 miles and I turned around and continued to enjoy the views on my way back home. 

What a fun run!  :)  Thanks for reading and have a great week. 

Getting better!

Here I am after a slightly truncated run outside on Thursday.  I was supposed to do 5 miles, but I got to 4 and that was enough.  After an entire week off my run week looked like this: Tues-2 miles, Weds-6 miles, Thurs-4 miles instead of 4-9-5.  I'll take it.  I'm back!

I'm still sick! Eeeek!

I'm still sick.  I have been stuffed up with nasty cold-like symptoms for an entire week now.  I have not run for 7 days.

I did go to Zumba on Saturday.  I thought I was not going to make it through class.  I was exhausted and clammy sweaty.  When I got home we spent the afternoon outside because it was so nice out.  I felt pretty OK.  By late evening I was really dragging, but I was hopeful I would be able to at least do part of my Sunday long run the following day.

I woke up in the middle of the night with a really sever earache.  Tom went to the 24 hour grocery store to buy Mucinex in an effort to get my ear un-stuffed and to hopefully relive the pressure and pain.  A couple hours later, still in the middle of the night, my eardrum ruptured and drained.  Fun Fun.  Sunday I felt really horrible and spent most of the day on the sofa.  My ear continued to ache and drain.  I can't remember the last time I spent the entire day in my pajamas, but that is how I spent Sunday.

So Monday rolls around and I felt much better than Sunday, but still by 2 PM I ended up on the sofa with  no energy.  I had this delusional idea that I would get up and go to Zumba at 6 PM (it's a new time! so excited about Monday night Zumba), but instead I went to the after-hours clinic.  I'm really thankful there is an after-hours clinic, but seriously there can't be a way to get medical attention that is much slower than it is there.  Because of the continuing pain and drainage they prescribed antibiotics -the Zpack.  I JUST made it to the pharmacy to pick it up before they closed.  When I got home I took my pills and plopped into bed.

Today my ear is still draining but not as painful as it has been for the past few days.  I feel a bit better but the Zpack is making my stomach hurt.  I'm probably still delusional, but I would REALLY like to try and get a teeny tiny run in tonight.  Getting REALLY nervous about the marathon coming up.  I have missed 4 runs now.

One day at a time, that's the best I can do.  Guess I had better focus on getting better or I won't be running consistently for a while.  Very big sad face.

Thanks for reading!

It's been a slacky-sick week

My last post was about  my 16  mile run on Monday night.  I woke up Tuesday morning with a tickle in my throat and lots of stuffiness in my sinuses.  As the day progressed it was obvious I was coming down with something.  I wasn't going to run Tuesday anyway so that wasn't too big a deal.  I would have done some cross training but I just didn't feel like it.

On Wednesday I was actually more sore than I was on Tuesday.  I also felt pretty crappy.  I spent a lot of the day on the centrally located sofa trying to keep the boys occupied and fed (and the house from moving to complete chaos).  My calves were very stiff but when I rolled them on the foam roller it wasn't painful and I didn't think it was doing anything.  At bedtime I put my calf compression cuffs on in case it was swelling.  I wore them all night and then Thursday morning my calves felt great when I peeled the cuffs off.  I rolled my legs out really well again.

I probably could have run a quick 3 miles last night, but I didn't get the boys completely asleep until almost 9 and I really didn't want to run, take a shower, and dry my hair and end up in bed at 11 (Tom was doing work stuff last night so the boys and house were all my duty -otherwise he would have put them to bed so I could run).  Instead I finished picking up the house and was in bed, probably asleep by 9:30.

I'm still pretty stuffy today, but other than a little dizziness -that I'm attributing to the pressure in my ears, I feel pretty good.  Hopefully I'll get to do a quick run tonight.

I ran onto this Chinese fortune the other day.  I saved it quite a while ago.  It's reminding me that 16 miles is really far and even though the last 3-4 miles were pretty ugly that I used to think 5 miles was really impossible just last August.  I'm really thankful that my body can do what it does and I'm hoping there is still some left to give!

16 miles

(Here I am before the run.  I'm really not sure about this one...)

On Monday night I set out to do my 16 mile long run outside!  YAY I've been stuck on the treadmill for most of my long runs, both for convenience and weather related issues.

I mapped out a nice trek starting at my house and running along back roads to Jacki's house.  What I asked her if I could run to her house she even offered to bring me water, my reflective vest and headlamp when it was getting dark.

The weather during the day was mild (it got up to 60!) and I was really psyching myself up to do the run. Right before I started out at about 5:45PM it started to mist and rain lightly.  Jacki offered to pick me up if I was too wet and wanted to continue on the treadmill at home.  So I set out.  By this time it was about 45 out.  I was hoping it would be a bit warmer. Ah well, such is running in the early Spring outside!

I packed a two 8oz of water, a chocolate brownie Larabar and some salted mixed nuts (also complements of Jacki -to try something new).

The first couple of miles felt like torture.  I almost turned back, but I just couldn't.  I felt really heavy and discouraged.  All the sudden I had gone 3 then 6 miles!  I held a nice 11 minute/mile pace.  I stopped after 3, 6, and 9 miles to have a small bite of the Larabar or the nuts and little drinks of water.

I kept thinking about how awesome my post was going to be about my amazing outdoor 16 mile run through the country.  I would snap a great pic of my smiling face on Jacki's porch and slap that into my blog.
I also had a list in my head of the animals I saw while out running.  I saw: ducks, geese, turkeys, and a deer.

After the 9 mile stop Jacki showed up with my gear and I topped off my water bottles.  It was hard to get going again, but I kept up the pace.  I started to get pretty cold after the sun went down, even though it was overcast to begin with.  I kept up the 11 minute/mile pace until I got to 12 miles.  When I stopped to walk while I had a snack I was pretty whipped.  It was really dark at this point and (wouldn't you know it) my headlamp stopped working.  All I had was the red safety lamp.  I was starting to get really stiff at this point and it was VERY hard to get going again.

I walked again at 13 miles and I started to cry.  Oh my, I was only at the halfway distance of the marathon... I am going to be in a world of hurt at the real marathon.  Thankfully I pulled it together and started running again, in the dark and the rain.  I was much slower at this point.  It was harder and harder to get my legs to keep moving.  It wasn't even easier to walk.  I don't remember at what distance Jacki met up with  me to run me back to her house. (BLESS HER FOR DOING THIS! I think otherwise I would have been limp-walking myself to her house in the cold rain- it was about 35 by this time, while crying the whole way)  The end of the run was not fun AT ALL and poor Jacki had to "run" with me back to her house.  I think I was pulling 12+min/mile times at this point, maybe more from all the walk breaks.

I was in a lot of pain, not just in my legs, but my entire body.  I think I was cold and all of my muscles started to cramp.  I felt like when you  have the flu and your whole body hurts from the fever, but I was frozen instead.  It felt like I had labor pains in my lower back.  I couldn't really feel my hands and fingers by the end.   I'm not really good at gauging what to wear when it's raining.  I need a waterproof shell.  I think that would have helped a lot.

By the time we got to Jacki's I dragged myself into her car and we set off for my house.  My legs were very uncomfortable on the ride home.  I didn't get that triumphant picture of myself.  Instead I was too miserable to care about pictures or my blog.

Amazingly I was not sick at all while I was out running.  I started to feel nauseated at the end, but I made it home before I threw up...Sigh.  I am starting to realize that nothing seems to leave my stomach once I start running, so I think I'm nauseated because I'm so full.  On the upside I don't feel like I need to urinate at all while out running! HA!  I think the Larabar and nuts were a hit so I'm planning on packing them again for long runs.  I had also taken special care during the day to eat a very bland diet (no dairy) of oatmeal, smoothie, quinoa patty, plain brown rice cakes with natural peanut butter and cream of wheat with honey.

I felt pretty awful after the run, but by 2 in the morning I felt pretty good and I was only minimally sore in my calves the next day.  It's amazing how well your body can recover from such intense activity!

I'm almost there!  I have only two really longs runs left before the taper begins. This makes me very happy and very nervous.   This weekend I only have to run 12!  YAY then it's 18 the next weekend.  I'm hoping for good things.  Hopefully it won't be raining and cold and I will do better.  I'm hoping that the weather was at least partially to blame for my dramatic fall off and misery after 12 miles this past week.

Cheers all! Thank you for reading!

Happy Blogversary to Me!

And there you have it everyone...

It's my blogversary!

I'm very happy that I kept up with the blog quite faithfully.  There were definitely months that did not get much attention, but I stuck with the blog and more importantly the running! 

There is so much I have been thinking about as I neared "April 2nd".  I have so many things that I want to write and directions that I could take this post.  Here goes...

Reflection:

Last year Easter was on March 31st.  We attended church and I could not find ANYTHING that looked nice that I fit into.  Typically I was wearing "nice" jeans and a nice top to services.  It isn't a fancy church, but I did want to look nice for Easter.  My typical go-to outfit when I want to look nice is my power suit.  If you have seen me in my power suit you know I mean business.  HA!  This is the suit I gave my Ph.D. thesis presentation in, I had job interviews in it.  It's a significant piece of powerful clothing to me.  I feel great and professional when I am wrapped up in its layers.  The pants to my suit used to be quite roomy and comfortable.  I wore control top hose and I could barely get them on and I was so uncomfortable and embarrassed.  Being "locked out" of a powerful piece of clothing is distressing.  

I spent April 1st last year in a depressive Easter candy binge feeling sorry for my lost anxious self.  Sigh, it's true. Thankfully the last of the Easter candy went into the trash that night.  What I remember about April 2nd is that I got both of the boys down for a nap and in a moment of inspiration decided that I was going to go for something, and not just anything, something downright amazing; I was going to run that marathon I had always dreamed of running and I was going to blog about it.  I started the blog page, I invited people to read it and I took a nap.  When I got up the old sad self was back and I lamented, "what have I done?".  But you know what happened next?  This is the part that is the most important.  People wrote back that it was a great idea.  "Go for it", they said.  "You can do it", they said.  I really cannot explain to you how much this support meant to me.  

For those of you that know me, I'm a really social person.  I love to help people and I enjoy the love and support I receive in return.  I just don't know a different way to be.  So if you are tired of reading my blogs or if you have never read one, that's ok, this is just who I am -I like to share my life with other people.  No worries.  You never know who you are helping when you reach out and tell people about your own life.  Thank you to the faithful that have been here for the past year cheering me on.  I'm so excited to tackle this marathon beast!  

Things that have changed over the past year:

1) I can run!  I ran 15 miles last week?  WHAT?  Seriously that is far! 

2) I have mad crazy muscles in my legs.  There is some serious tone on those puppies.  YAY

3) I have lost lots of extra baby chub.  I have not discussed the nutrition and weight loss part of my journey on this blog, but I will say that I have lost ~20 pounds in the last year and I'm right around my pre-pregnancy weight.  I am eating much better too.  I'm focusing on eating "clean" and I do eat a lot.  I'm sure if I tried to limit calories I would lose weight, but right now I'm more focused on going the distance and for me that takes a lot of food. HA! 

4) I have awesome balance.  I'm pretty sure this is from all the Zumba.  I still go twice a week.  It's still amazingly fun :)  

5) I have exercise friends!  This is really important when you are a stay-at-home mom.  Running races I see familiar faces at the start and it's nice to catch a 2 minute conversation and also, before and between songs, Zumba is just a crazy social hour for ladies. 

6) When I'm sick I get better really fast.

7) I still have occasional days where I feel anxious, but really compared to how I used to be I would say I'm  ~99.9% cured by exercise.  Only VERY rarely do I feel depressed.  I think they just call that "the blues" because it isn't persistent.  

8) I feel more confident. 

9) My suit fits! YAY All of my pre-baby clothes are in the closet and I fit in them.  

There you have it, a year well spent.  Thank you for spending it with me!

It's been a great year

I got to run outside today in daylight.  It wasn't even that cold! 40 felt like a real heat wave.  It was a very nice 4 mile run. I went to the recreation trail near the house to see if it had thawed out.  It wasn't too bad.  I pulled down a 10:01min/mile pace despite the terrain!  If you had told me a year ago on April Fools Day that I would be excited to run along partially thawed paved trails, stumbling over the still frozen and slushy parts, I don't know what I would have thought.  

Tomorrow is the 1 year anniversary of starting my blog. It's been an amazing year and I wouldn't have done it any other way.  A new year of adventures await.