8.5 Miles.

Wind, oh wind...why must you torture me so?  (Queue Christina Aguilera's "Fighter")  Because, dear running girl, it's the resistance that makes you stronger!

This morning's run was 8.5 miles.  I will never understand how I can have the wind fiercely blowing against my face when I'm going one direction, and when I turn and head back in the opposite direction, there is no wind at all?  The thing that kept me going for the first 5 miles was knowing that soon I'd be heading back home and would have the help of the wind pushing me forward...no such luck.  Nevertheless, it was a decent run.  The sun even came out for a few minutes near the end of my run.  I averaged about 11:40 min/mile, so I finished in a little over an hour and a half.  Not too bad, considering yesterday afternoon I had a cold hit me like a ton of bricks, and woke up this morning with lymph nodes the size of golf  balls and nose that wants to run faster than I do!  After my run, I did 10 minutes of Pilates while I filled the tub with ice water for just a little more self-torture.  ;)  Well, that's my longest run for this week of recovery.  Up next week: a 22 miler, then I start my taper!!

Aahhh...dreaming of Sunny St. George (or any other warm and bright place)...

Recovery week continues...

This morning I did a cross training workout, since tomorrow will be my "long" run day.  I started out with 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by 30 minutes walking on the treadmill.  For the first 15 minutes on the treadmill, I used 5 pound hand weights to do bicep curl reps.  I finished up by spending about 15 minutes with my friends foam roller and exercise ball.  The past couple of days my hip pain has seemed to flare up again, but after my workout this morning, it's feeling okay and I'm looking forward to my 8 miler tomorrow.

6 miles.

Do I look like the Dog Whisperer??  The past few weeks I've experienced on several of my runs, random dogs joining along side me and sticking with me for the duration of my run.  It's very annoying, to say the least.  It's not that I'm a dog-hater, I mean, we have a family dog that I love, but I don't like strange dogs approaching me while I'm out running.  You just never know what to expect.  Even when they're friendly enough, they are a nuisance; I'm sure people driving by who have to swerve to avoid hitting the dumb dog that runs down the middle of the road think I'm the annoying runner with the dog not on a leash.  Anyway, today's six mile run I had a Benji-type dog pacing me.  When I arrived back at my house, it came right up to the porch with me, despite my demands that it "Go home!"  I checked it's tag, went in the house and called city hall with the dog's name and phone number and asked them to call the owner and tell them to come get it from our property.  Then I went upstairs and was doing my Pilates workout when I heard a weird screeching noise coming from outside, and my husband heading out, yelling at something.  I went downstairs and found that the dog had killed one of our chickens on our back porch, and when Chris had opened the door to shew it away, our little dog "escaped" and was chasing down the road after Benji!  Well, Chris was able to get our dog, Zipper, to finally come back (he had to carry him), but now we're down another chicken, thanks to the dang stray dog!  Attention dog owners:  Keep your pets tied up or contained!

Enough on my rant against dogs and negligent dog owners...I warmed up this morning with 10 minutes of Yoga, then did my 6 mile run in just over an hour.  I also did 30 minutes of Pilates.

Miscellaneous workout Monday.

This morning, since this is my "recovery" week, and since it is snowing outside, I decided to stay inside for my workout.  I started out with a warm up of 10 minutes of Yoga, then 10 minutes on the elliptical.  Then I did a 30 minute interval run on the treadmill, followed by 30 more minutes on the elliptical.  After that, I cooled down with an additional 10 minutes of walking on the treadmill and 15 minutes of Pilates.

4 miles.

This morning I did a 4 mile run, in the dark!  I was awake and out the door by 6am, went to the park and did a four mile run using a flashlight to guide my way.  Now I'm rushing out the door with all the kids to make it in time for a niece's baptism.  Enjoy your Saturday, everyone!

Rest day (sort of)...

Today is a rest day after yesterday's long run.  I did do 30 minutes on the elliptical and then I walked on the treadmill for another 30 minutes.  I should probably also do some Yoga or Pilates, and maybe I will still get that in before lunch...

13 miles...

Ahem....I'm hoping no one notices that I said 13 miles, instead of the 14 I posted yesterday that I would be doing.  As I said earlier, I had to switch my long run day to Thursday because of my husband's work schedule.  Then wouldn't you know it, he got called in to go to court today, on his day off, and I had to rearrange my run again so I could take over with Nicolas.  As soon as I dropped the older kids off at school, I headed out for my run.  I got in about 7 decent miles before heading back home to put Nick in the jogger and go to the park to finish the rest of my run.  My plan was to do another 7, but my legs just weren't cooperating today.  I started out feeling great.  I mean, I ran those first 7 no problem.  But by around mile 12 I was really feeling it - my legs were just out of power.  I had fueled on an energy bar and electrolyte drink, but I just couldn't find it in me to do that last mile, especially trying to push 50 pounds worth of kid and jogging stroller, so I headed home and took an ice bath.  Normally I would feel like it was a failed run because I didn't do exactly what was on my schedule, but today I am taking into account that my recovery from my last long run was too short, and 13 miles is still a great, long run!  So, today I'm cutting myself some slack.

Cross-training day.

This morning I did a varied workout.  I started out with 30 minutes on the elliptical, then I moved on to the treadmill.  I did 25 minutes, walking for 5 minutes, then pushing the pace up to a sprint for 1 minute, then back to walking for 5 minutes, repeated 4 times.  Then I got back on the elliptical and did a different 30 minute program on there.  Starting this week I've had to switch up my schedule again, because my husband's work schedule has changed which are his days off.  So now, he is off Tue - Thurs, and he works on Saturdays, which means I need to change which day I do my long run.  Thursday will now be my long run day, at least until his schedule changes again.  :)  That means that tomorrow I will be doing a 14 miler, and for some reason it doesn't quite feel like enough recovery time since my 20 miles last Saturday, but I'm actually feeling pretty good physically, so I think it will be fine.

4 miles, then retreat.

This morning I woke up sore and stiff, and I have two toenails that are hurting bad since my long run a few days ago, but I was determined to get out there for my run and keep a positive attitude.  Then I looked out the window and saw this...

Okay, no problem.  I strapped on my YakTrax and hit the road.  I thought maybe it would be refreshing to run in the snow, that is until the wind started blowing and the snow that was falling turned into ice pellets pelting me in the face.  I made it four miles, then I decided to call it good and go home.  I mean, being positive is great and all, but let's face it...running in this stuff sucks.  I am so ready for warmer weather.  Ugh.  When I got home I did a 45 minute Pilates/Yoga blend DVD.  Now I'm going to go do an ice bath ~ thank you, Rebecca!  ;)



6 miles, and my legs are so mad.

I have been very sore since my 20 miler on Saturday.  Yesterday I could barely walk up and down the stairs, my quads were hurting so much.  I wasn't too sure how this morning's run would go, but I did 10 minutes of Yoga stretches before heading to the park.  I really had to push myself at first, but once I got going I didn't notice the soreness any more.  After the 6 miles, I came home and did 15 minutes of Pilates.