Almost a 12-miler.

I set out this morning with the intent of doing a 13 mile long run.  Things started out pretty good.  I ran the first 6 miles, taking a walking break at around mile 4 so I could remove my jacket and tie it around my waist.  The weather was cool and foggy, but not too bad at that point.  When I reached mile 6, I had to stop at railroad tracks and wait while a train passed.  I used the opportunity to stretch for a minute.  After the train was gone and I was clear to cross, my run came to the loop around point, and also the dreaded "wind tunnel" that I have referred to in previous posts.  The wind was blowing so hard and cold against me, I decided to walk a little until I got through the worst of it.  When I reached the top of a hill, I started to run again.  I ran for another 2 miles, then took another 1 minute walking break.  At this point I was starting to realize I needed to go to the bathroom, but I still had almost 5 miles to go before I reached home.  I did a walk/run thing for the next few miles, and I actually made pretty good time on my walking, too.  I felt better when I was walking, if I ran I felt like I wasn't going to make it home.  I considered calling my husband to come get me, but he is on night shift right now I didn't really want to wake him, if I thought I could make it the rest of the way.  Once I made it to mile 11, I figured I was good, I would just walk the rest of the way.  But just as I was reaching the center of town (11.87 miles into my run), I saw my husband driving up the road to check on me.  Obviously with all the walking it was taking me a little longer than he had expected, so he was starting to get worried.  I just went ahead and got a ride home.  I figure, it's Christmas eve, and I can always jump on the treadmill later if I feel the need to finish up the 13 miles.

4 mile run.

I managed to get out the door this morning for my run.  I ran 4 miles, and actually had a pretty decent time, too.  I finished in 42 minutes, and my average pace was 10:43 minutes per mile, though my legs were feeling tired at the end.  It's funny, I've been using the treadmill more frequently for my runs, so when I run on the road, it almost feels like I haven't run for a week!  I don't really get it.  It feels completely different to run on the treadmill, maybe I'm doing something wrong.  Oh, well.  When I came home, I also did 20 minutes of Pilates and then I did 45 minutes of Yoga.

Mid-week workout.

This morning we woke up to a couple of inches of fresh snow, and it's still falling, so I once again wussed out and opted to use the treadmill.  I started out with 20 minutes of walking, then did 30 minutes of running, then did another 30 minutes of walking.  My training schedule said to do a 3 mile run today, but I just threw all that extra walking in there so I could watch an additional episode of Lost.  :)  When I finished on the treadmill, I did 20 minutes of Yoga.  I wanted to do more, but my kids are all home for Christmas break and they are already fighting and saying they're "bored"...it's going to be a loooonnnggg two weeks.  I'm hoping that after Saturday they will be occupied with their new toys, and maybe that will distract them from fighting.  One can hope.

6 mile run.

Lately I've been having a hard time getting myself outside in the cold to run.  As much as I prefer running on the road to the treadmill, that cold chill all over my body pushes me to stay inside where it's warm.  But today, I forced my way through that initial inclination to stay in the house, and I went for a 6 mile run outside.  It took until about mile 2 before I started to feel "warmed up", but after that, it was a really good run.  When I got home, I did 45 minutes of Yoga with a space heater blowing on me...but I still feel cold.

Keep moving.

This morning started out on a not-so-great foot...I woke up at 5:30am to my 4 year old throwing up...again.  What is this weird illness, the stomach flu with 3 or 4 day respites in between bouts?  At any rate, once he threw up, he seemed to feel better and has been fine since, but I figured since I was up I might as well make use of my time.  I did 45 minutes of Yoga before heading downstairs to make the kids lunches.  After I ran them over to the school and realized how cold and icy it was outside, I changed my plan from doing my run on the road.  Instead, I headed back to the treadmill, where I did a total of 80 minutes - that's two episodes of Lost; yeah, now I'm addicted.  ;)  Anyway, I broke up my time on the treadmill into a walking warm-up of 20 minutes, then increased my pace to a run for 40 minutes, then slowed back to a walk for another 20 minutes to cool down.  Even though my toe looks terrible, it doesn't actually hurt at all while I'm running.  I'm so grateful that it wasn't worse.  I have been drinking freshly juiced apples and carrots like crazy, and taking extra vitamins, hoping to speed healing.  Aside from a little soreness in my back from the new Yoga routine I've been doing the past couple of days, I'm feeling really good.....knock on wood!

Rest day.

Today is a rest day.  It felt good to get a workout in yesterday, after taking a couple of days off, but this morning I was feeling some tension in my shoulders and neck.  I did 90 minutes of Yoga this morning to help my body relax and loosen up my tight muscles.  I think I might try and do an easy run tomorrow, but I'll have to wait and see how my foot feels.

Lost!

Well, not me.  But I have found a new impetus for working out on the treadmill and the elliptical...Lost!  I finished the Biggest Loser season 10 and needed a new show to keep my interest.  Everyone and their brother had talked about what a good show Lost was, but I had never seen even 1 episode, so I decided that would be my new "thing".  I put all the seasons in my Netflix instant queue and started watching this morning.  I watched the first two episodes while I did 45 minutes on the elliptical and another 40 minutes walking on the treadmill.  I also did 30 minutes of Pilates before all of that.  My toe is now black, but the pain isn't as bad.  I have been icing it and resting it...mostly, so I decided I needed to do a workout today.  I haven't run since Tuesday, and it's really starting to get to me mentally.  I know that I'll be able to maintain my fitness doing other things, but I really just want to get outside and run.  I really don't want to sabotage myself or my training, though, so I'm going to take it slowly.  I have found a new training schedule that I am looking forward to starting, and since it's an 18 week plan and I have 21 weeks until the marathon, I can easily use the next 3 weeks to let my foot heal, and slowly work back into my long runs.  Don't expect me to lay low too long - I'm just not that patient.  :)

Sidelined.

I am very sad to report that I was unable to go on my long run today.  Yesterday I was so excited and anxious, we even had a nice spaghetti dinner, and I got to bed at a decent hour.  Unfortunately, at around midnight, I was awakened by the sound of my 4 year old (who was asleep on the floor near the foot of our bed) whimpering endlessly and coughing...and I could tell what was coming.  Yep, he started to vomit, over and over and over.  Each time I would get him cleaned up and then settle back to sleep again, only to wake up a few minutes later to those preemptive sounds, hoping I could get him to the bathroom in time or at least catch it with a bowl.  One of those times, in my half asleep stupor, I jumped up hurriedly to get to him, and somehow smashed my left foot against the wall.  I knew immediately that it was not good; I heard cracking, and holy heck did it hurt!  No time to even assess the damage, though, I had to deal with my sick child.  Once he finally seemed to be at the tail end of the dry heaves, we both settled in to what only allowed us a couple more hours of sleep before I needed to get up with the other kids for school.  When the alarm went off at 6am, my oldest son came in to tell me that he had also been sick in the night.  So he stayed home from school today, and has been in and out of the bathroom for about 3 or 4 hours now, poor guy.

And as for my foot, I'm pretty sure my little toe is broken.  It's not pretty.  With the swelling, discoloration and pain, I knew my long run for today was out the window.  When I showed my husband and I told him I was glad I had enough leeway in my training to allow me to take a couple of days off for it to heal, he took one look at my toe and said: "Uh, a couple of days?  You may be looking at a couple of weeks."  I guess I'm obstinately optimistic, though.  There's no way in heck I can take that much time off.  I will find something else to do until I can run again.

A little of this and a little of that.

This morning I did a little cross-training.  I started out with 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill.  Then I moved to the elliptical and did a 30 minute program, followed by another 20 minutes of walking on the treadmill.  Following the cardio stuff, I also did about 15 minutes of upper body strength training.  Thankfully my legs don't feel so lethargic today, and I'm hoping to get enough rest tonight so that I will feel good for my long run tomorrow.

I'm running with a friend and we're planning to do at least 22 miles; we're just going to base our distance on how we feel.  This will be my longest run since the marathon.  It's not really part of my current training schedule to do that distance right now, but I've been feeling like I'm in a very transitional period anyway.  The new training schedule I had picked was a 20 week plan, with the idea that I was considering doing the Salt Lake Marathon, which is April 16.  After one week post-marathon recovery, I had exactly 20 weeks to train for the next one.  I hadn't signed up for the SLC Marathon, though, and was also contemplating doing a marathon held in Boise, ID in May, since we have family in the Boise area and we though it would be a fun trip to combine doing a marathon with visiting them.  For some reason, neither of these two options were really clicking for me, though.  I mean, I was having trouble getting excited about doing either of them, for various reasons.  The only other spring marathon that is local enough to be feasible is the Ogden Marathon.  The friend I am running with tomorrow had signed up for that one with the people from her running group several months ago, as it had become so popular that it fills up very quickly.  After spending lots of time online looking at my marathon options, pictures, reviews, etc., I was wishing I had known sooner that I would want to do another marathon so I could have had time to register for the Ogden one before it filled up, but since that wasn't the case, I'd kind of been dragging my feet on committing to one.  But, about a week and a half ago, I received my January issue of Runner's World.  In this issue is an article about the 10 best races for first-time marathoners across the country, and the reasons why people like to run them, and the Ogden Marathon was featured in the article.  At the end of the piece on Ogden, it said: "The 2011 event is sold-out, but space has been exclusively reserved for Runner's World readers.  To register online, use this code: "runnersworld".  So, I immediately jumped online and registered...and now off we go!  I have something I am excited about and very much looking forward to doing - May 21, 2011!  Now, I need to look for a new training schedule that suits me better, and fits my new timeline.  :)

5 mile run.

This week I swapped my cross-training day, which was supposed to be today, with my mid-week run of 5 miles.  I wanted to get my run in today, then have tomorrow to "rest" before I do my long run on Thursday.  My run went okay, although I'm having trouble shaking that "heavy legs" feeling.  It's actually quite annoying.  I would so love to be at a point in my running where I feel light on my feet and I don't think about how my legs feel during a run, at least once in a while.  I haven't reached that point yet.  Anyway, after my run I did 35 minutes of Pilates.