Gravity

Yikes! I thought it was humid yesterday. It was HORRIBLE today. I was out at 6:00am and it was thick. The dragonflies were just floating in one spot. No breeze and so thick they may have been swimming in the air. My face was just wet with sweat, it was nasty. Oh and today there must have been something wrong with gravity. My running shorts and my running tank both kept going up. I spent more time wiping sweat from my face and pulling down my shirt to cover my stomach, then pulling the athletic spandex part of my running shorts down from my upper thigh. Thank God it wasn't going up my rear! Since running I have lost weight and the spandex of the shorts are a bit loose. It does not make for a good running experience. Mental note: do not wear either item again. Especially not for a long run. I might come home with my shirt wrapped around my neck like a scarf and my shorts looking like a thong.

Mid week run

It was hot, humid and great. I ran my 6 miles this morning in this thick, humid and hot heat. Running didn't offer me my own breeze that I had hoped for throughout the run but a couple of times I did get a warm breeze brush past my face. I am actually looking forward to Saturday's run. Looking forward to running 13.1 miles! I must be insane. I have yet to really look forward to running these long runs but I am actually excited to do this. I wonder if it is because it is half a marathon long. I just hope and pray that the weather is nice and not raining and hot and sticky. I know I can do this. I know it will not be easy but I KNOW I will feel accomplished by just completing this long run.

I am going to try to find a new pair of running socks. I am thinking that my prosthetic and the running socks are making a slip and slide in my shoes. I never had any real pounding issues before but when I am wearing those socks vs. the cotton socks I was using before, I find myself moving around in my shoe more. I just don't care to have toe and feet issues while training. So, maybe I can find another pair of running socks that will not jeopardize my training.

This past weekend

I was not in a good mood Saturday morning when I woke up. I didn't get a good night sleep and have no idea why I just couldn't sleep. But I woke up at 6:30 and knew I had a list of things to do before I hit the pavement. I had to throw into a slow cooker, 6lbs of pork and BBQ mix. As I was making the BBQ mix, I decided that I couldn't substitute 3/4 cup of ketchup with BBQ sauce. So, I drove to the Kwik Trip one mile away from my parents house (as we were there to celebrate my daughters 2nd birthday) to buy ketchup at 6:40am. They must have thought I was insane. Anyway, I drove back and finished putting everything together in the crock pot. I then woke up Greg and finished getting dressed to run. I saw that my mother was up and informed her that the kids were still sleeping. As I was ready to get the car keys to go, Greg told me he thought we should just run around Hokah for our 12 mile run. I was annoyed. I was planning on running the trail again. Running on CTY 7, CTY 26 and CTY 16 would be hot. But I gave in with a bunch of grumbling and we walked down the hill to the road.

County Road 7 wasn't bad. Greg wore his GPS Timex watch which told us the mileage and how fast we were running. It was very peaceful and scenic. We had a couple of dogs bark at us and one goat "muahhhh" at us on our run. It was shocking how easy it was to run. I was even running with my new water bottle and had no problems. In fact, I would recommend Ultimate Direction Access Water Bottle for anyone looking for a water bottle and pocket. http://www.runningunlimited.com/asp/product.asp?pid=594 The run was very uneventful and traffic was really light. We saw lots of dead frogs along our way and at one point I thought a blackened banana peal was a frog carcass. It helped keep the run light and entertaining. The whole route from my parents driveway to Cty 26 to Cty 16 to Cty 7 and to their house again was 7.5 miles. So we ran back down toward Cty 26 and over the bridge and back to round out 12 miles. We finished 12 miles in 2 hours 11 minutes and 11 seconds. So we were running between 10 minute to 10..50 minute miles. Not bad for a long run.

We got back to the house to find out the kids had just woke up 30 minutes before we showed up. Why do they not sleep in when we all could sleep in? Anyway, we ran our errands and celebrated Marissa's 2nd birthday the rest of the night. The bad morning turned out to be a great day and fantastic night.

Crossing over

So, I have been true to my training schedule. I haven't missed a day and have been putting in at least the recommended mileage if not a mile more. I just found out yesterday that my 3 mile run is actually .05 miles shorter then a 4 mile route. So that is nice to know that my easy 3 mile is actually an easy 4 mile and my 4 mile is actually 4.65 miles. This weekend, Greg and I will be running our 12 miles together in LaCrosse. I hope my allergies don't kill me. We will also be celebrating Marissa's 2nd birthday that afternoon. So far, the weather looks perfect.

The weather this morning for my 6 mile run was perfect. It was seriously, cool and sunny and clear. There was a small light breeze and the path was super friendly. I really think that running outside is much better then on the treadmill. I remember when people asked me where I would run and I would say on the treadmill and then they would look at me like I was nuts. So, I have officially said it. I prefer running outside then on the treadmill.

My Uncle is preparing for his fifth marathon. He has given me a new website to help plan my routes and mileage: http://www.usatf.org/routes/map/ . I have been using http://www.walkjogrun.net/ which is nice too. He also suggested that I really look into my nutrition, as it is very important. I have been eating well but I know that I can do better. So, today I attempted to look up marathon training nutrition and all I get is generic statements about being sure to drink plenty of water and be sure to drink Gatorade for anything over 60 minutes. It also says to stay away from fried food and greasy foods. These to me are no brainers. I guess I was hoping to find some awesome recipes and a sample meal plan. I guess I will have to do more research on this.

And last but not least. I may have started to have my first toe injury. It is all too common for marathon runners to get black toe. Sounds beautiful doesn't it. It is when the blood in your toes basically gets pushed forward and breaks capillaries under the nail bed. The last few sites I have visited regarding this says if you have black toe, you must be training for the marathon. So I guess I have crossed over. Yikes. This is not the celebration and congratulations I was looking for to join the elite MARATHON TRAINEES. I would have rather enjoyed a toast with the ol' water bottles.

How NOT to recover after a long run

Greg and I went out for dinner Friday night to celebrate our 7 year anniversary which will be Monday. We had hoped for a movie too, but this was the opening day for The Dark Knight which basically sold out all theaters in the whole Chicagoland area for the day. It was a chaotic mess one block around any theater. So, we made the best out of having a great free babysitter and hit a restaurant without kids. By the time we decided on a restaurant, finally seated and ate it was late and we headed back home with our stomachs packed with food and drink. I went to bed around midnight.

I actually fell asleep and didn't worry about my Saturday "Long Run" because it was a measly 7 mile run. That was my shortest long run since I began training. Now all long runs will be over 10 miles except for the week before the race when I will put in 8 miles. It was really not a bad run but I had to do it on the darn treadmill again. I woke up at 5:30 to rain and went back to sleep. I woke up at 7:00 and still rain. I put on the weather and saw that it "may" be letting up in an hour. I fell back to sleep for another hour. Finally at 9:00, I made my way to the 28th floor gym. It was humid and hot up there. I jumped on the treadmill and ran. I finished 7 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes (10 minute mile). It was not a fun run at all. I was bored and found myself fixated on the red LED numbers of miles and time slowly moving on the display panel. Even my music wasn't helping as I would glare at the digital read outs. The windows were so hazed up and rain just ran off each pane that I couldn't even stare into the neighbor building to get my mind off of the sticky heat. When I hit 5 miles I had taken off my shirt and was running in my saturated sports bra. I didn't care who came up to see me at that point. My legs felt a little tight and a few spots of straining or twinging that I knew it would be a good day to ice them.

I got downstairs and immediately stretched and iced my legs elevated while I flipped through the channels. I was still sticky and wet from my run and knew a shower would feel good. However, with Greg home, I thought, a bath would feel even better. So, I set off for my nice peaceful bath. I ran the water to a nice warm temperature and settled in. Between 5-10 minutes, Julian was the first to come in. He laughed at me since I take up the whole darn tub and that is the tub that he bathes in. He asked me if he could pour the water on my hair and wash my hair in the tub like I do to him. I told him that when it was time for that I would let him. He then left and I am guessing he then conspired with Marissa.

Next, Marissa was in the bathroom. She looked extremely concerned and left. Next she came in with a red walrus bath toy that she over hand threw at me. I told her "thank you" and she smiled and left. She then came back with a Discovery Toys Sub, three piece tub accessory that sits across both sides of the tub, Diego, a foam camel and a purple elephant strainer. She then starts to take off her clothes. I actually found it cute and funny. I haven't taken a bath with my kids for months, maybe even a year and now Marissa is excited to take a bath with me. So, I let her join me. She played for about 5 minutes and was enjoying her time playing on her end of the tub, as I was now sitting upright and smashed to the left of the tub. I tried to relax. It wasn't easy as she thought splashing me was fun. I splashed her back and she told me NO. I tried to shave my legs but it was too cramped. So, I attempted to relax. Next thing I hear is a grunt from my sweet daughter. And then, I witness the nuggets. I jumped out of the tub as fast as humanly possible. How could my daughter sabotage my relaxing bath like this. Heck, she had no real idea what was happening either. When she saw how fast I exited the tub she turned around to be horrified by her own creation and tried to leap out of the tub too. I sat her on the potty while I drained the tub, took out the toys and disinfected them in the sink, cleaned out the tub, scrubbed the tub, rinsed the tub, cleaned the sink, all the while Marissa was telling me about Dora and Boots on her potty ring in her limited English of "Doorahhhhh, Booooooots, Mom~ Mah". I then ran the shower and put her in with me to wash her down. She HATES showers. She may hate showers as much as I hate soaking in poop baths. I finally got her washed down and sent out of the tub and I finished washing myself in the shower. I am not positive but I believe I had sweated through my bath and my shower. Could my attempt at a relaxing bath to help soothe my achy muscles be more of a work out then my 7 miles an hour before? Quite possibly...

Mental note, "Don't leave the bathroom door unlocked when trying to take a peaceful relaxing hot bath." Ahhh, the joys of motherhood.

What a sunrise

This morning started out a bit rocky. I had to share my bed with Julian who was up throughout the night asking me for some water. He refused to drink any of the pedialyte and he had last been sick around 6pm on Tuesday. So I am sure I got about 4.5 hours of sleep total and was up at 5:20am. I should be somewhat used to getting 5 hours of sleep or less since getting pregnant with Julian back in February 2004. However, within the last three months, my kids have actually been sleeping and running has really helped me sleep at night. I have been getting about 7+ hours of sleep lately and I am still trying to make up hours from the past 4 years. But, it was nice to wake up and watch the sun rise again this morning.

There is something about watching the sunrise in its blazing red glory that helps pump you up for a run. Or maybe it is the fact that I knew that this sunrise meant that I had to get in gear since the temperature was already in the mid 70's and the heat index was also in the high 70's. With the sun out it would only get more difficult to run my 5 miles. So I set off for my run and enjoyed the last of the cool morning dew.

I am very impressed with the amount of people out at 6am running, walking and biking. I guess I would have thought that since it was so early that many people would still be home in bed. I think I saw more people out this morning then when I run an hour or two later. It is also nice to be able to run the trail with other people who share some sort of goal. I like to think that the majority of people I see and recognize each morning will be joining me at the start of the Chicago Marathon. That we will all try to conquer our minds and body and run 26.2 miles together.

As I run, I am constantly being passed. I started to think, who are these people who pass me when I run. I know that I am not running my absolute hardest, especially on such a hot and humid morning as today, but some of these people are flying past me. There are different types of people passing me by. You have tall and slender men, sometimes in packs of two or more, built rock hard ab women who sport their midriff in a sports bra and short running shorts, and many cyclists with or without helmets. Some of these cyclists are completely decked out in bike race gear. I think many of them are in a race for their life every morning when they fly past people with no regard to the runners who are on the gravel shoulder. I wonder if the handful of them that show no regard to runners ever realize that they are doing exactly the same thing vehicles do to them by braising past them when they have plenty of room to actually go a little wide around the others. I think it gives them their morning rush for speed and danger when they don't share the trail. I am all about bike safety and see many cyclist who enjoy a fast and fun ride and also share the trail with others without putting lives at risk, so it is possible. Anyway, I digress, those are the ones that pass me by when I run. I am not upset that I am passed because when it comes to the marathon, it is all about endurance and not how fast I can accomplish it. Yes, I would like to be done sooner then later but I first and foremost, I want to finish.

As I came up to my condo after my five miles, I looked around and saw that the sun was now high above the horizon and the bus stops were filled with sleepy eyed people who have yet to finish their first cups of coffee. And I thought, "I am so glad that I got to watch the sun rise and wake up to such a magnificent sight of the lake and nature in all its beauty. Unfortunately for many of these people, they will be waking up, face to face with strangers on a packed bus." I am very fortunate and I thank God for it everyday.

Good morning vomit

Nice way to start out a blog huh? I was up early for my run today and was just getting my shoes on when Julian says, "Mommy....Look". He was pasty white and there was vomit all over the place. All over his stuffed monkeys, pillow and blankets. This is not how you want to prepare for your morning run. Especially since the weather today is heading into the 90's quickly. So, I cleaned him up and gathered up previously mentioned items, set him up in our bedroom while Greg got ready for work. I threw everything into the washing machine and continued out the door for my quick morning run. It was a good run because I had to do it at a much quicker speed then I am used to for a short morning run. I wanted to get back home to care for my little man. I put in just under 4 miles, even though my training schedule only suggests 3. I prefer to run a loop instead of running to a marker and back, so it is always closer to 4 miles for my 3 mile run. I even give myself a little longer run on the 4 and 5 miles runs to be sure I am working up my endurance.

Well, I have to make this short since I am sitting next to the sick one with my lap top. At any given moment I may end up grabbing a pail for him.

Mind Games

Ahhhh... I love mind games. Really, I am kidding. But that is what these runs are starting to become. First of all, I wake up to thunderstorms at 5:00am, fall back to sleep only to wake up on my own at 6:15. It was still raining and that means I can't run outside. It was REALLY coming down too. So, I laid in bed for about 30 minutes hoping to fall back to sleep. My mind was just racing on what to do. If I can't run outside, then I will run on the treadmill upstairs for 10 miles. I can't start running in the gym until 8am since the people who live below the gym just moved in and don't like the pounding. The gym has always been there so if you didn't like it, you shouldn't have bought it....sorry, that is a rant for another day. So, I would love to go back to sleep for an hour but I keep thinking about how I just want to get this run out of the way. I checked the TV stations and they said that the weather this morning is, "wait and see". So, there is a possibility that it will clear up and a possibility that it will rain off and on. I got up and checked the windows and it looked like it was easing up. With that on my mind, I couldn't just go back to sleep. I would hate for it to clear up and I missed an opportunity to run outside. I sat in the kitchen eating my banana and keeping my eyes peeled on the sky. It was still raining at 7:15 and I decided that I would do my run upstairs in the gym. I got dressed, rubbed myself down in body glide and put my new running socks on. For a moment, I felt like an experienced runner. :D I kissed the kids good bye and woke Greg up to watch them. They had already snuggled into the bed with him and started to watch cartoons. I was off.

I started to walk the stairs to warm up but I became winded and decided that I needed to conserve my energy at the task on hand. I jumped on the elevator on the fourteenth floor. Yes, I only walked up 6 flights of stairs. My mind decided at that moment that I am not cut out to be an athlete. I tried to focus on what I was about to attempt but the sappy old music system had me humming to "careless whisper" by George Michael. I jumped off the elevator and was in the gym at 8:05. No one was there. This pleased me. I jumped on the east treadmill since that one doesn't automatically shut down after 32 minutes. I hit play on my IPod and I started my long run.

My IPod has many songs but over half of them are crap. I need to reformat my song lists. But I do have one saved play list that is better then ok and less then great. My play list features: Uninvited by Alanis Morissette, I'm a Slave 4 U by Britney Spears, The Power of Love, A New Day, It's All coming back to me, That's the way it is by Celine Dion, Fix You by Coldplay, Here with Me by Dido, Escape, Hero and Don't turn off the lights by Enrique Iglesias, Unwell and Back to Good by Matchbox 20, All You Wanted by Michelle Branch, You wanted more by Tonic and All I Want by Toad the Wet Sprocket. I just realized that the last three songs are different forms of WANTING. I guess that is pretty fitting because when I get to these songs I just WANT to be done. I try to find myself listening to the songs and not thinking about the sweat streaming from my pores. But I am not going to sugar coat this, it was hard to run in one spot with my IPod. With each song, I knew where I would be if I were running outside. And looking out the window 20 minutes into my run I could see I should have sucked it up and ran outside. It didn't look so great in the beginning but it was clearing up. I kept thinking in my mind that if I just run 5 miles on the treadmill, I could jump off and run downstairs and run another 5 outside. But then when I got to 5 miles I thought, the elevator will take forever to get here and I will have to ride it down 28 floors, probably with other people all the while I was drenched with sweat. So I pressed on. I then thought, maybe I should just run 7 miles on the treadmill and 3 outside. I run three miles outside during the weekdays and it is easy enough. And then as 7 miles came up I realized that I was making awesome time. It took me 69 minutes to run 7 miles and the treadmill stopped. It went into cool down mode. Whoever heard of a treadmill quiting after 69 minutes or 7 miles? So, my great pace was suddenly stopped and I had to reset the treadmill. I did all this while taking a few drinks from my water bottle. I started up again and felt glad that I didn't try to go outside as my legs started to feel tight in those 30 seconds of resetting the treadmill.

Those last 3 miles were hell! I slowed my pace down to 5.8 and felt as if I was finally waking up. I am not sure if my body clicked on some sort of endorphins that mimic caffeine but I felt like my eyes were wide open. I began to wonder if I was overdoing it and then I started thinking that if 10 miles was this tough how the heck am I going to do 12.2 more in 13 weeks. I also decided that I will not run another marathon in my life after this one. I was glad that I only had 3 miles left but they felt like a lot longer then the previous 7 I had just ran.

I had made great time running on the treadmill. I was running at 6.2 which was almost at my pre injury pace and a bit faster then running outside with the elements. I ran 10 miles in 100 minutes which is 1 hour and 40 minutes. Last weekend, running with Greg I ran 9 miles in 1 hour 35 minutes. So overall, I did really well. I also had no injuries and no pain. I made sure that I iced my legs after my run. The anti chafing stick worked as I had no wounds. The running socks were ok. They took the sweat from my feet and I think pooled it into my shoes. That is how it felt to me half way into the long run. I will still use them and hope that this is a just getting used to them feeling. :)

In conclusion, I did it. It was not fun and it was not terrible all the way through. I feel great NOW knowing I can do it but a few moments I really questioned my sanity. I think there are going to be many more mind games between me and my inner me. I am beginning to think inner me is the most logical one. The stubborn me says stick to this goal and complete it. The inner me says that I am a nut case. So far, nut case is winning.

'Twas the night before

So, tomorrow morning is my 10 mile run. This should be exciting and fun and yet, I am sitting here worrying and dreading the day. What ifs are crossing my mind. What if it is raining. What if my leg hurts. What if I am too tired. What if it is too hot. I can run upstairs on the treadmill if it is not nice out but there is apart of me that still worries. I love getting the run out of my way early in the morning so I have a full day to not dread or worry over it. Why must I make this such a production?

I have been sitting here plotting out my path. I have run this path many times but not there and back. I have taken the kids on this path to the park that was near my previous address. I usually sit there for at least an hour before walking or maybe jogging back in the past. Plotting my path has taken about 30 minutes of my time, or just about 3 miles in a run. I am wondering if my leg is going to hold out for this run. I have been feeling a lot of pain in my ankle of my left leg and I have no idea why. I hope I don't get any new injuries, aka chafing.

I bought some new running items today. I returned my amphipod running belt. I attempted to use this last weekend. I thought that I needed 4 ~ 5oz water bottles attached to my back to slow me down. Yes, to slow me down. LOL! The damn bottles did hula hoops around my waist. I thought for the first two miles that I was going to just throw the darn thing in the bushes and if it was still there, I would count my luck. However, my running partner, aka Greg or my camel carried our four pack water bottles. And they came in handy since there is no water fountains or bubblers to drink from along the trail in LaCrosse. So, I returned it today and exchanged it for a smaller, cheaper one for my next venture on an unfamiliar trail. I also picked up body glide and will be using it tomorrow. I have also stepped over the line from recreational runner to trainer when I bought my very first pair of running socks. No more cotton socks for me. 100% cotton socks can cause blisters to your feet when running long distances. So Running socks are made of two lightweight, moisture wicking material. It helps prevent blistering by absorbing the friction between the layers. Feet stay dry as the inner layer wicks the moisture away from the foot and into the outer layer for evaporation. Interesting right? I had no idea until Greg mentioned this to me a month ago. After my very minor brush with chafing last Saturday, I will really try to be more proactive in my injury preventions. So, tomorrow I will wear my first pair of running socks while lubed up on body glide. I will leave the water bottle at home since Lake Shore Drive has many water fountains (blubblers for all of you Midwesterners). :D

Tune into tomorrow when I let you know how it went. Here is to a blissful evening, and a great sleep. *Fingers crossed* I am home alone this evening watching my two minions running crazy in the living room. Come to think of it... I think they created a running shrine in my honor and are chanting good luck vibes....

The training schedule

Since I was given the go ahead to run it has been a slow go. My leg has yet to feel 100% pain free when I am running. It concerns me. However, it feels better after I run about a mile. When I am at home, I don't have real problems with it. Sometimes, I feel a pull or a twinge in BOTH legs but that is about it. I try to ice it after each run and I do stretches after I run. Before I start my run I have a routine. Wake up at 6:00 AM, eat a nutrigrain bar, drink water, pop a Zyrtec and two ibuprofen. This is the one constant so far in my morning. I have started to walk down the stairs instead of taking the elevator to help my legs and feet warm up. So far, so good but I really don't know how much that is helping. I am afraid of stretching before I run because I really do attribute most of my first injury to my stretching. So, I am at a loss as to what I should do to loosen up my soleus muscle so that first mile isn't so difficult. I also have found that since I started running outside and not on the treadmill, I have slowed in my pace. I used to run 6.5 miles in 1 hour. Now I am down to a 10 minute mile or 5.75 to 6 miles an hour. What that means in the larger picture is that *if* I can run the race with a constant speed pace I could have finished the marathon in approx. 4 hours 10 minutes or so. Now, I can run it at 4 hours 30 minutes or so. And when running that distance every minute matters. I hope that this training schedule that I have fallen upon works wonders for me.

I found online and a few people recommended it to me, Hal Higdon's novice marathon running training schedule. It is basically a schedule starting 18 weeks out. He basically sets the schedule at resting on Monday and Friday, short runs on Tues, Wed, Thursday and your LONG run on Saturdays, while you cross train on Sundays. This works out PERFECT for me. Since I signed up for the marathon, I took a part time job at night(6pm-10pm) Sunday-Thursdays from home. So, running at night is not an option at all any more. So, I must wake up at 6:00 to prepare and get myself out for my morning runs before Greg goes to work. So far, this has worked well. And since it is summer, I am able to get out there before it is too ungodly hot. For my long runs on weekends, Greg can watch the kids while I commit to an hour or more for my long runs. So here is the schedule:
Week 1 ~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 3 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 6 miles
Week 2 ~ Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 3 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 7miles
Week 3~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 4 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 5 miles
Week 4~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 4 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 9 miles
Week 5~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 5 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 10 miles
Week 6~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 5 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 7 miles
Week 7~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 6 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 12 miles
Week 8~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 6 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 13 miles
Week 9~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 7 miles ~ Thursday 4 miles ~ Saturday 10 miles
Week 10~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 7 miles ~ Thursday 4 miles ~ Saturday 15 miles
Week 11~Tuesday 4 miles ~ Wednesday 8 miles ~ Thursday 4 miles ~ Saturday 16 miles
Week 12~Tuesday 4 miles ~ Wednesday 8 miles ~ Thursday 5 miles ~ Saturday 12 miles
Week 13~Tuesday 4 miles ~ Wednesday 9 miles ~ Thursday 5 miles ~ Saturday 18 miles
Week 14~Tuesday 5 miles ~ Wednesday 9 miles ~ Thursday 5 miles ~ Saturday 14 miles
Week 15~Tuesday 5 miles ~ Wednesday 10 miles ~ Thursday 5 miles ~ Saturday 20 miles
Week 16~Tuesday 5 miles ~ Wednesday 8 miles ~ Thursday 4 miles ~ Saturday 12 miles
Week 17~Tuesday 4 miles ~ Wednesday 6 miles ~ Thursday 3 miles ~ Saturday 8 miles
Week 18~Tuesday 3 miles ~ Wednesday 4 miles ~ Thursday 2 miles ~ Saturday 0 miles SUNDAY RACE!

Last weekend was my 9 mile run and we were in LaCrosse, Wisconsin for that. We ran the Great River Trail and it was awesome, perfect and beautiful. I was concerned about mosquito's and the humidity because they have been dealing with a lot of rain lately. I didn't need to worry because there was minimal gnats and no mosquito's as I ran. OH! And I had a running partner. Greg ran with me. It was nice to run with him. I have been training by myself and he has been doing his own training by running home from work. He was really impressed that I could run the 9 miles without stopping. I was also impressed that I was able to do it. He is 6'4" and I am only 5'7" so his stride is a bit longer then mine and he used to be a runner. We ran the 9 miles in 1 hour and 35 minutes. We had a 12 minute mile in the mix when we ran up a bridge with no shade and the sun beating down on us. I coined it the bridge of death. We survived and I was thrilled that we ran together. The only injury from my first real long run... chafing. Let's just say I will not be wearing those shorts again on a long run. I will have to go out and buy myself some body glide. I guess many runners swear by it. I will NOT go another long run without that, that is for sure.

So, there it is. My training schedule. So far so good and I have not missed one day yet. *knock on wood*

In the beginning....

Here is my first post or blog. I think that it would be helpful to me to see my accomplishments if I were to track them. In order to track them I will have to start at the beginning. So here I go...

I was so sick and tired of how I looked after I had my second child. I was always a slender person and I have genetics to thank for that. But after having two kids within 2 years of each other can really send a body into a funk. I tried to do random things to help me get back my figure but I wasn't seeing the best results. So, I set a goal to start exercising and made it my New Years Resolution. I never keep a New Years Resolution and thought, I better do this. So I started to get to the gym upstairs in my condo at least twice a week. I loved it! I was never a runner prior to this and now, I loved the freedom of going upstairs away from the confines of my home and all the people in it. It really refreshed my mind and reset my mood. That was the first noticeable change in me since starting on the treadmill. I then saw the love handles slowly diminish and the sway under the arms start to firm. After a few weeks, I was in the gym at least 3 to 4 times a week. I would start with 20 minutes on the eliptical to warm up and then run for 30 minutes on the treadmill. The room was usually empty and the view of the Chicago skyline and the Lake were so beautiful that I found myself lost in my music and pace. Many times in my run I felt that it was easy to run and that if I could run 3+ miles and feel this great that I should consider the Chicago Marathon. That would be an awesome goal to accomplish for myself. Running a marathon has always been one of those things people say they wish they could do or would like to do in their lifetime. Many people don't get the opportunity to do it because life happens. So, I mentioned it to my husband. He thought it was an awesome idea, but he also said that it isn't as easy as running 5 miles at a time. I knew that this would be a huge deal and took it to heart. I would really need his support since training would really be difficult with two children, both under 4 years of age. I would have to rely on him to watch the kids at night so I could get upstairs and run when he came home from work. He was on board. So, I was ready and mentally decided I would sign up for the marathon.

On February 1, 2008, my husband sent me a message from his work. It was one of the most frightening messages I had ever read from him. The header read "2008 Marathon", the message, "I signed up. I encourage you to think about it. I will help you find time if that's what is holding you back." And he added the link to the registration. My heart raced as if I was int he midst of my first race. A hot wave of heat seared through my body and my hands shook. Here is the moment *I* had wanted to do. That *I* thought would be an awesome task to accomplish. Carpe Diem! It was the day to sign up for the marathon and yet I was scared. I got up from the table and had a bazillion thoughts race through my head. I loved running but could I do 26 miles and 385 yards? I never finish goals and this is the first one that would have a tangible deadline. I sat back down and clicked the link. I registered at 9:52 AM and received my confirmation. I was signed up to run the longest run of my life in 8 months. I felt relieved and refreshed and inspired. This inspiration sent me to the gym nightly for a good hard run for the next few days.

I was shocked at how fast I started out and kept trying to go further and faster. To me the marathon was 8 months away and I was already doing so well that this training stuff was in the bag. This was my first mistake. As I was running on February 8th, I felt a twinge in my left shin. I thought I was having a shin splint but I was still able to run but not as fast. I slowed down a little and finished the last mile in my exercise. I got off the treadmill and had a hard time walking. I made my way back to my condo and told DH that I needed to get off my legs because they hurt so bad. I had stretched for the first time PRIOR to running that evening. I used to just jump on the eliptical and warm up with that and then hit the treadmill running~ sprinting. But I just felt like I should stretch for a change to get the best work out. That was a mistake in itself. I sat on the couch and iced my leg and complained about the pain but kept referring to it as a shin splint. I went to bed about an hour later because it hurt so bad and felt that if I stayed off of it, it would heal. Saturday morning was HORRIBLE. I could not put any weight on it at all. It was so bad. I was bummed that I hurt myself but assumed it would heal in time.

Time did not help at all. I had not been able to get a good exercise in since the fateful day. On my birthday, March 1st, I still had a hard time with steps and any tip toe action. I finally went into my physician. She sent me for an x-ray and assumed it was a stress fracture. The x-ray came back normal. She suggested that I get a hold of my physical therapist and see what she thought. I called my PT Loren at Athletico. She is great. So down to earth and really sweet. I told her about my pain and how it happened and I was off to see her. She gave me some exercises to do at home and said that an injury such as this usually runs its course 6-8 weeks. I continued to do my stretches for the next 3 weeks with no relief. I called her again and we set up a few appointments. She figured out that I had strained my soleus muscle pretty bad. In fact, it was trying to heal but my fabulous flat feet were making it difficult. I was fitted with prosthetics and I started my twice a week visits to Athletico. For one month we worked to strengthen my soleus and my feet and I could feel some relief, finally. She gave me the go ahead to start to run again, on May 21st. She said to start out slow. I was so thrilled. I was so depressed that my body was falling back into a slump and my mind was so beat up at the fact that my body was failing me but not my will. And so, I was on my way to make it back to the gym.