Weekend warriors.

This morning my husband and I did a 9 mile run together.  The past few days I have been having an annoying pain in my knee, but not enough to slow me down...much.  Today during our run, the pain extended up into my hip, but I pushed through, because, well, I had to try and keep up with my husband!  Now I'm (kind of) regretting that decision, as I've spent the rest of the day trying not to put too much weight on that leg because when I do, my hip makes a little, painful popping sound.  Good thing tomorrow is a rest day, although I will probably try to do a 1 mile walk with my family after church or something, just so I can keep on track with the RW Summer Running Streak Challenge.

After our run, we showered, had a protein smoothie, then packed the kids up in the car and drove to the location of the mile 32 aid station of the Pocatello 50 Mile Trail Run that was going on today.  It was super hot for us, just standing in the sun, cheering a few of the runners on as they passed through the aid station and on to the last 20 mile leg of their race.  I can't imagine how tough the heat was for the runners!  It's inspiring to see great people doing such amazing things.

Making the most of my time.

This morning I got up at the crack of 5 with my husband, as he got up and ready for work.  After I made waffles for breakfast, I changed into my running clothes and headed out for a quick run.  I did just over 4 miles in about 41 minutes, then I showered and got ready to go to cub scout meetings.

At scouts today, the 9 year old boys were their usual "spirited" selves, but a couple of them were really in prime form.  Apparently, the answer to every question is either "poop" or "butt", and sitting still and listening actually means jump up and down and bang your hands on the metal picnic tables while screaming "I want candy!"  Who are these little people?  Hahaha!  After an hour with them, I was ready to stick a fork in my eye.

I came home and fixed lunch for my kids, then realizing I still had time to make it to the gym for a noon spinning class, I decided to go for it.  Maybe the endorphin release would help me regain my sanity.  And yes, it worked. :)  I even felt so much better that I came home and mowed the lawn to surprise my husband.

Run, Spin, Read.

This morning I went to the gym early again, and immediately jumped on a treadmill.  I did a quick 1.25 miles in about 13 minutes, to get my heart rate up and also get in my "daily mile"  - see, two birds with one stone?  After that, I got busy lifting some weights.  I did that for 30-40 minutes, then I went down to catch a spin class.  I went into the classroom about 15 minutes before the class was actually supposed to begin, but the bikes were already filling up, so I claimed mine and started riding.  I was sweating pretty good before we even officially started the class.  Another hour after that and I was done with my workout.

Today the mail was good to me, bringing me the first of the two books I ordered.  Unfortunately, as you can see in the picture, someone* else got their hands on it first...

5.14 miles with my buddy.

My boy Sam has been on a bike riding kick lately.  He had me download MapMyRide.com onto his iPod so he can keep track of all of his miles.  :)

This morning he decided to join me on my 5 miler.  It's really a win-win situation: he gets to go on a bike ride on roads I normally don't allow him to ride on, and I get to have a "pacer" who motivates me to go faster!  I skipped the walking breaks today, since it was only 5.14 miles, and I did it in 52 minutes, which is a 10:07 min./mile pace.  I still have some tightness in my hamstrings, but for the most part I felt pretty good.  I'm definitely starting to notice the heat, especially since we didn't get out there until about 9am because I did about 40 minutes of Pilates before we left.

Gym workout and running-streak challenge.

This morning I left the house bright and early, heading to the gym for some weights and a spin class.  I spent about 40-45 minutes doing weights.  It's kind of lonely doing weights without my husband, but since he is on day shift now, he spent his time at the gym today even earlier than I did!  After I finished with strength training, with trembling arms and abs, I went down to the spin room to catch the 8:30am class.  As always, it was another great sweat-fest.  I literally have sweat dripping into my face in a continuous stream. Does anyone out there have any suggestions for their favorite sweat/headbands?  I know some people like Bondi-bands, which I haven't tried, but are there any others?  I have a Sweatbands brand headband, and although it does well holding my hair back, it doesn't really absorb much sweat.  I'm tempted to go with the traditional, circa 1980's terry cloth sweat band, but I just don't know if I can pull off the Olivia Newton John look. ;)

When I came home from spinning, I sat down at the computer to enter in my workout on the various websites I use for that stuff, and came across an entry from one of my blogger-friends concerning a challenge she read about in Runner's World to complete a Summer Running Streak from Memorial Day until the 4th of July.  That means running at least a mile everyday, hence the "running streak" classification.  Even though I normally only run about 3 days a week, doing all kinds of cross-training on the other days, I figured it shouldn't be too difficult to throw a mile in there on my normal non-running days as well.  Yep, I'm going to give it a shot.  So far, so good.  Yesterday was the first day and I did that 9 miler, and today I just jumped on the treadmill this afternoon and did 2 miles.  Anyone else want to join us??

Read about it at Jan's blog, Running On Fumes!

Memorial Day, back in the saddle...

And no, this time I'm not referring to spinning (you know, the saddle, haha!), although Chris and I did end up going to that spinning class on Saturday morning, which made it three days in a row of spin class for me last week.  Yesterday I enjoyed a nice, rainy rest day.  This morning I woke up, the sun was out and I felt ready to get back out on the road.  First I did 45 minutes of Pilates, then I went out and I did my favorite 9.2 mile loop, which took me about an hour and 40 minutes.  It felt good to run again, since it's been a week since the marathon and I've been taking a break from running.  My hamstrings were feeling kind of tight, but other than that I felt pretty good.  This looks to be a promising week of good weather, so hopefully the kids and I will get lots of time outdoors.  Hope everyone has been enjoying this holiday weekend with their families.

Another busy Friday.

The kids had their last day of school yesterday and I didn't have scout meetings to worry about today, but I did have a lot of other things on my agenda.  I needed to fix the kids their breakfast before I could go grocery shopping (which involved multiple stores for specific items), return some items to another store, go to the bank, and somewhere in there, fit in a workout.  I decided to hit it all in one trip into town, the gym being my last stop so I could be there for the noon spinning class.  I actually got everything else done and made it to the gym with time to do about 20 minutes of walking on a treadmill before spin class, which got me good and warmed up.  Spinning was awesome, as usual.  I try to put my all into every class, and today was no exception, but for the first time I felt like calling it good when there was still 15 minutes to go in the class.  I was completely spent.  I didn't though.  I just kept pedaling.  I know I would have felt worse later for quitting early, so I'm glad I finished.  Tomorrow morning my husband and I are either going to go on a run (our first since the marathon), or another early spin class.  We'll be deciding based on how we feel in the morning.

I'm finally starting to feel a little more like myself, almost one week post-marathon.  For a little motivation and inspiration, I've ordered a couple of new running books: "26.2 miles of Blisters and Bliss," by Dean Karnazes and "Running for Women," by Kara Goucher (thanks Jan, for the recommend)!  I am eagerly awaiting their arrival because I need a new focus, a new perspective and some fresh training ideas for a new schedule.

Back to spin.

I made it to a spinning class this morning and was granted my wish of a good sweat-purge.  Gosh, I love that class.  It's hard, but fun and such a good workout.  I was surprised I had enough energy to make it through the whole hour.  The first 10 minutes or so, I was feeling weak, especially in my lower legs.  Once I worked past that blood-is-just-starting-to-flow-to-the-extremities tingling stage, I felt pretty decent and was able to put in enough effort to get my heart rate up into my upper zone for most of the class.

Now I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with the rest of my day with my husband home.  Maybe I'll get out and do some yard work in between rain storms, and I'm pretty sure a date later this evening at the newly opened Buffalo Wild Wings in Pocatello is in store for us.  I also need to start working on a plan for the next couple of months.  The next marathon I will run is in just 14 weeks.  Should be a fun summer of training!

Running funk.

I'm allowing myself an excuse not to run this week, so I guess I can't really call it a "funk".  Recovery from this marathon has been tough.  On Sunday and Monday, my quads and hamstrings were so sore that I was barely able to go up and down the stairs.  On top of that, my digestive system has been all out of whack and I also think I pulled a muscle near my ribs because it's sore when I breathe or move a certain way.  With my husband out of town, I've been struggling to keep the household running smoothly while I feel miserable.  Thankfully, he returns home tonight.  Unfortunately, tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids and I will be thrust into that time of chaos known as summer vacation.

Yesterday I decided to start gradually working my way back into the world of the active.  I can't stand not being able to workout every day.  I think that's harder to deal with than the physical pain I'm feeling.  I started with 25 minutes of Pilates, then I rode the recumbent bike for about an hour and a half, not fast or hard, but just enough to work up a little bit of a sweat and get my legs moving.  In the evening I did about an hour of easy walking on the treadmill.  When I went to bed last night, my head ached and my shoulders were sore - I really needed my husband here to give me a back massage!

This morning I was feeling just a bit better.  I walked on the treadmill for almost an hour and a half, about 5.25 miles.  While my leg muscles finally feel like they're starting to recover, I felt completely sapped of energy just from walking.  I finally took a 5-hour Energy drink thingy this afternoon just to feel human again.

As I was talking on the phone with my husband last night, comparing race "wounds", I mentioned that I don't really get why I'm feeling so crummy after this marathon, when I've run the marathon distance several times now and never felt this bad afterward.  He reminded me to keep in mind all of the factors involved: going faster (than I usually do) for a longer period of time, the heat, the excitement of the day and not getting enough sleep, a different course than my muscles are used to running - so many variables.  I'm trying to not be so hard on myself, but I'm starting to realize this trend after all of my really long runs.  It's all part of the marathon experience, I suppose.  The actual race day, long runs, speed work - all of those things break us down, even cause micro-tears in our muscles - so that as our muscles rebuild, they are stronger.  I think the same thing occurs mentally and emotionally as we endure the hardest parts of our training.  Hopefully that means that in a week or two, I will feel stronger than ever.  I just need to keep moving to get to that point.

Tomorrow is a new day, Chris will be home from his trip and since he said he'd stay home with our youngest (who is already finished with his school year), I'm going to attempt a spin class and maybe some weights in the morning.  Maybe a good sweat-purge will boost my spirits!

Guest post: Chris' thoughts on the marathon!

I would love to tell you my Ogden Marathon experience, but it wouldn’t be complete unless I gave you the back story and the great inspiration that led me on this journey.

Just over six years ago when we had our 4^th and last child, Priscilla and I were both over-weight and totally inactive.  I’m still overweight; it’s a work in progress.  I watched in amazement as Priscilla took up walking everyday to lose that weight.  It didn’t matter the weather or the situation, she made sure that she got her walking in every day.  She walked all that weight off until she was smaller than when we got married.  I on the other hand, remained in my sedentary lifestyle doing nothing to better my health.  I weighed 290 lbs, but would always use the excuse that I was tall and carried it well.

Then Priscilla did something more amazing.  She took up running and committed with her friend to run the RimRock Marathon in Colorado.  I thought she was crazy.  Being a police officer and going through the Police Academy, I did my share of running, including a 12 plus mile run.  Running was painful, I hated running with a passion.

As I saw Priscilla start training for a marathon, I started feeling motivated to run and lose weight.  I didn’t want to race; I just wanted to be healthy.  One day I stepped on the scale - I weighed 293 lbs, my highest ever.  I thought to myself, why should my wife work so hard to be healthy while I do nothing?  I decided to start losing weight.  Priscilla ran the Pocatello Half in the fall of 2010, then she ran the RimRock Marathon that November.  I never knew Priscilla was so mentally tough that she could complete something so difficult.  I lost around 30 lbs or so that summer and fall but then something happened.  It was called a southeast Idaho winter.  I hate the treadmill.  I gained most of my weight back that winter since I stopped running.

The next spring, Priscilla ran her second Marathon in Ogden, UT.  I watched as Priscilla crossed the finish line and they put the biggest medal I have ever seen around her neck.  I was never so proud of her mental fortitude in doing such great things.

Watching that stirred something in me.  I wanted to run, but I didn’t want to run to just lose weight.  I wanted to run with a purpose, I wanted to run to compete.  Being a three sport athlete in High School that competitive fire was already there, but was now starting to resurface.

So I started running.  I signed up for the Pocatello Half Marathon that September.  Now when I ran it wasn’t just about losing weight, it was about training to do something that would make me feel like I had accomplished something.  I remember those 7 mile “long runs” where I would come home and feel like my legs could fall off.  I had a purpose and a goal that I had committed to, so I kept at it.  I finished that Pocatello Half Marathon and signed up for another Half Marathon in November and finished that as well.  Both of those races felt very tough and I struggled during the last three miles.  I had gotten my weight down to 260 lbs at the time and was starting to feel so much better and had so much more energy than before.

At this time I had no goal or desire to complete a full marathon.  Priscilla and I had discussed the idea but I still thought running 26.2 miles was the craziest thing someone could do.  Well, somehow I got talked into signing up for the Ogden Marathon in 2012.  It was one of those things where you basically have to sign up the first day to get a spot and Priscilla was on the phone with our dear friend who said he would sign us all up and pay for it – I had to decide if I was I in, or out.  Talk about pressure!  Well I said yes and immediately regretted it, although I’d never admitted it to anybody.  I’d committed and so I was going to do it.

Since Priscilla and I were doing the same race, we tried to stay on the same training schedule and started training together.  I’ve never had more fun than going on long runs together and being able to just have fun and talk and be together.  I did notice a trend when running though.  I would always start out strong and energetic and urging Priscilla along and then as the distance dragged on, I would fall back and watch Priscilla put up with my slow drawn out pace.

I really felt like my training was going well and I was starting to see it was possible for me to complete this whole marathon thingy.  Yea, I would experience a little IT Band pain, but nothing I couldn’t fight through.  About 7 weeks prior to the marathon I started off on a planned 23 mile training run with Priscilla.  My longest run yet.  About 19 ½ miles in I experienced a sharp pain in my right knee.  It felt like I was literally being stabbed with a knife.  I could hardly even take steps to walk.  I told Priscilla to just run ahead home and come back and pick me up.  I just walked as best I could.  Eventually I just forced myself to start jogging and would stop and walk when needed.  I was so determined to finish that run that I called Priscilla and told her not to come pick me up because I wanted to finish it.

I did finish that run.  The problem was I was unable to walk for two days.  I called in sick to work and felt pain for a week.  Now I had this internal dialogue going on about whether I could finish this marathon.  I was scared.  I had committed to do this but wasn’t sure if I could.  From that point on, I only did short to medium length runs.  If my knee started bothering me I would stop.  My only hope was that if I let it rest I might be able to complete the marathon.  My longest run from that point on was only 12 miles.

Two weeks prior to marathon day I caught a bad chest cold.  I’m talking the kind of cold where it hurts to eat and talk and you can’t sleep at night.  In fact, I still had a couple coughing fits during the race.  The only exercise I did was a 1 hour spin class on the Tuesday and Thursday the week of the marathon.

There I was, facing a marathon with my last long run 7 weeks prior and coming off a sickness where I hadn’t been able to run for two weeks.  I had only one goal, I wanted to finish.  In my head I was thinking, “5 ½ hours would be great and I just hope I’m under 6.”

We were at the starting line an hour before the race start.  We used the restroom first thing, but since I had been hydrating so well the last two days, as the race was getting started I was feeling the urge to use the restroom again, but the lines were way too long.  As the race started, I ran with Priscilla for about a quarter of a mile but then I told her I was going to run ahead to the first port a potty.  When I came out of the bathroom, Priscilla was nowhere in sight, so I just started running.  I knew Priscilla was utilizing her 4:1 ratio of run and walk.  I figured if I used a 5:1 ratio I could likely catch her.  At about mile 3, I saw her and our friend’s distinctive gloves that they had been wearing lying on the side of the road, which confirmed to me that they were definitely ahead of me.

Trying to catch up to Priscilla, I was running at a pace I probably would not have chosen to start a marathon but I figured she could not be that far ahead of me.  As the miles passed by, I was getting disappointed that I had not caught up to her.  At mile 10, I started getting cramps in my right calf and I knew my pace was way too fast.  I was not wearing a gps watch and could only estimate my pace with my regular watch, mile markers and knowing when the race started.  When I reached the half way point, I looked at my watch and realized that as I was running my first marathon, I had just beaten my best half marathon time of 2:18.  My split was actually 2:20 but as I said, I couldn’t tell my exact pace.  At this point I thought that there was no way Priscilla was ahead of me because she had never run a half marathon that fast.  Those gloves I saw had to have belonged to someone else.

I knew I had to consciously slow and let my calf cramp go away.  I slowed to a 4:1 run walk ratio but continued to run at a fairly good pace.  Cardiovascularly I was feeling great and as I slowed my cramp went away.  At mile 14,  I stopped and posed for a picture with the Ogden PD and Weber County Motor Officers that were conducting traffic control.  This was right before the only big uphill of the race.  While on a scheduled walking break, I was observing a runner passing me exhorting a lot of effort to run up this hill but he was barely going faster than me.  I told myself that if running up this hill is that slow, I was just going to walk and save some energy.  It only took about 5 minutes to finish walking up that hill and all the runners I had been running with were still close and I easily caught up to them on my next run because I was so rested and they were exhausted from the hill.

By then I was wondering several things: where’s Priscilla, I ran that first half so fast and I feel pretty good, can I actually finish this thing in under 5 hours and at what point is my IT Band going to act up because I’m getting into the upper teens in mileage?  Some of these questions were answered at the 17 mile mark.  As I crossed the dam and was getting ready to head down the canyon I heard someone call my name and I looked and saw our friend Kent.  Kent took my picture and told me Priscilla and Marsden just went by about 5 minutes ago.  I was in shock, I couldn’t believe Priscilla was on such a fast pace.

The canyon is 5 miles down hill and I took off trying to gain some ground on Priscilla.  I went too fast because I started to get side cramps and at this time my legs were beginning to get heavy and I could feel the fatigue and pain in my legs starting to grow.  Around mile 20 I looked ahead and saw the most beautiful female figure up ahead of me that I have grown to love and appreciate.  I called out her name, but she was still a long way up and couldn’t hear me.  At this time our friend Kent was driving by on his way down the canyon to go wait at the finish line.  I saw him pull up along Priscilla and then I saw her turn around and make eye contact with me.  I was visualizing her pulling up and waiting for me but nope, she turned right around and started running again.  I knew Priscilla was trying to PR and I knew she was just strictly keeping to her run walk ratio.  I took off trying to catch her knowing she would take a walk break in another 4 minutes and I could catch her.  As I caught her I gave her a soft pinch on the back side and smiled.  She and Marsden asked how I was doing and I admitted I was not feeling well and my legs were hurting.  I had exerted so much effort catching up, that as they took off on their next run I fell back behind them again, feeling tired.

When I watched them pull away from me something clicked.  I don’t know if I was just lonely from 20 miles of running by myself and I wanted some company or maybe it was a little competitiveness - likely the latter.  I just took off as fast as my tired legs could go and passed Priscilla.  In my head I had no expectation of staying ahead because as I mentioned before when it came to long runs I would always fall back as Priscilla charged on. 

As I reached the bottom of the canyon and entered Ogden at about mile 22.5 I was somehow still ahead of Priscilla.  Both my calves were starting to cramp bad and the entireties of both my legs were in severe pain.  As I ran through a park portion of the race there were gentle short up hills and as I stepped up the hill my calves would cramp and force me to walk until the pain subsided.  I had really started to slow and figured Priscilla would catch and pass me at any point.

Looking at my watch I knew I had slowed considerably in the second half and that the 5 hour mark could slip away if I did not stay motivated and strong.  I left the park and was now on the last leg of the journey.  At mile 25 the race made a left hand turn at a busy intersection.  Ogden Police would stop traffic as runners turned to cross.  As I did I felt a sharp pain in my right calf causing me to stumble and almost face plant on the roadway.  An officer asked if I was alright.  I didn’t look back I just mumbled that I was fine, it’s almost over.  As I turned the next corner I was on the final stretch of road.  I couldn’t see the finish line but I could see the large crowds down both sides of the street indicating the end was near.  Soon after making that last turn, the 5 hour pacer passed me.  I was disheartened, but knew I started near the back of the pack and that my actual time would be faster than the pacer because I had passed them near mile 8.

A couple of things occurred to me then.  As I looked behind me and couldn’t see Priscilla, I knew she had to be close.  I thought it would be really cool to wait for her and cross the finish line holding hands.  I also thought, I was really close to the 5 hour mark and I wanted to make that cut off.  If I waited, I may be over 5 hours.  I passed the 26 mile marker and saw the finish line ahead.  I took off as fast as I could and almost stumbled and fell a second time with a sharp calf cramp pain. 

I crossed the finish line by myself and saw the gun time above my head at 5:01.  I waited only a minute to see Priscilla cross.  I gave her a big hug.  She showed me her Garmin and it showed a time of 4:58.  I was elated; we both broke 5 hours and she PR-ed. 

I cannot describe the emotions at the end of that race.  I was in so much pain and so exhausted I could hardly function.  At the same time I was so happy I had accomplished something so difficult that seemed, at one time, impossible.  To add to it all, I had never run at such a pace for such a long distance.  My 23 mile training run took about 5 ½ hours and I had just run 26.2 in under 5 hours.  I had no idea at the time how I was able to do it, but as I sat down and wrote about it, I think I’ve discovered the reason for my strength.

Priscilla is the love of my life and my inspiration.  She inspired me to do something I never would have considered on my own.  She showed me impossibilities are possible with hard work and determination.  I spent the first 20 miles of that race running harder than I ever trained for trying to catch Priscilla.  If I hadn’t seen those gloves lying on the side of the road, I am not sure I would have run as hard as I did.  Once I caught her, that loving competitiveness that we developed on our long training runs together took over and allowed me to move my body even though my body didn’t want to move.  Maybe that two weeks of rest let my body and IT Band heel and rest to allow me to perform but it was Priscilla who pushed me that day and continues to push me.

I may or may not run another marathon in the future but will definitely run more half marathons.  I weigh 245 lbs and will continue to run and lose more weight.  I will always credit my beautiful Priscilla for making me a better, healthier person and for pushing me to do great things, whether in running or other endeavors in life.  I LOVE YOU!