Saturday Long Run

Got a nice run in this morning with my Canadian friend, Reg. I keep calling him Reggie but he doesn't really like that. He told me that the first time we met. I keep forgetting until the last syllable is out of my mouth, then I make a point to say "Reg" the next buncha times I say his name.

So anyway, me and Reg did a 10 miler this morning and here are the stats...

Run time: 1:44
Run distance: 10.12 miles
Avg pace: 10:20
Best pace: 6:50 (no Jim, we didn't run down a big hill, hardy har har)

Good news: We're done with long runs since our half marathon is a week from tomorrow.
Bad news: I got a bra burn. Yep. Right in the middle. In between. You know....THERE!

Here's what happened, and I blame my oldest daughter for this. You'll see why.

She's mad at me so she stopped "helping" me with the laundry, so the best running bra I own (which isn't even a running bra) was still in the laundry pile from Wednesday's run. I never even gave it a thought until 10 minutes before I was headed out the door. No special bra. Shoot. I grabbed the first one out of my drawer, strapped 'em in and took off without a thought.

About two miles out, I was thinking about 'em again. In fact, I was thinking about 'em for the next 8.12 miles. I had a tank top under my shirt so I tried pulling that up through the bottom, but forget it. Bra burn is here people. And I felt it in the shower worse than ever.

Doesn't hurt now though. But see if I buy HER those blueberry poptarts she loves so much. Not this week ladies and gentlemen. She'll be sorrrreeeeeeeeee

The run was a good one. We talked the entire time. Me with a lot more effort than Reg. Also, here's the thing about Reg: he likes to be about 8 inches ahead of me AT ALL TIMES. I have figured out (finally) that if I speed up so I can HEAR WHAT HE'S SAYING...he just speeds up. That's why we've been running so freaking fast. But I caught on last week so now I don't try to catch up anymore. I'd rather be able to talk. This little bit of info is what's gonna get me a new PR for a half marry folks. Cuz in that half, I'm not going to speak to Reg. I'm going to wear my iPod so I can't even hear him if he tries to talk to me. And guess what else??? Yes. You are quite correct everyone: I am going to try to run BESIDE Reg. YEAH BABY.

I'm thinking I'll just keep an even sub 9 minute per mile pace until 7 miles, then go for it. This could be a joke, who knows. I'll find out, won't I? As long as my legs don't start ignoring commands, I should make it just fine. Our leisure runs have gone well, my feet didn't get numb until about 9 miles this morning. The stabbing pains in my legs came and went but I'm learning to ignore that. The mind is a very powerful thing.

My friend and coach is runing his marathon Sunday morning. Originally he wanted to Boston Qualify but that particular race is full, registration has closed for 2009. What a ripoff!!! Jim said he feels like the pressure is off, so I think he might be doing a joy-ride marathon Sunday. I know a few friends have asked me if I would post Jim's results here and OF COURSE I will...as soon as I get them. Jim's wife, Bethany and her brother (who came down from Massachusetts) will also be running this race. I'll get all their results posted...PROMISE!!!

Ok, I need to go clean the house so my husband doesn't know I spent 3 hours in the hot tub today. WHAT???? It was so cold I was afraid to get out!!! It's like 62 degrees here in SW Florida. That's like 30 degrees for you Northerners. Ya, chilly! Our plants are even dying. Imagine trying to get out of a hot tub????

Have a fun weekend!!!
xxooxxooxxoo

Make That 10 Mile Run A 9 Miler!

Oh I'm so happy!!! Lalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalalaaaa!!!

I met Reg and Mike at the gym at 3pm for our long run. Within moments, my prediction of angel vs devil became evidentally correct! Mike asked if we were still doing 8 miles, I said no. We're doing 10. He said 10!! I said "8....10....what's the difference??? LOL He laughed and said ok. Then he asked what pace. I said 10 minute pace. He said "10 minute pace!!" I started laughing because I knew he'd want to do a 12 so we could chat. Mike and I have great runs together, we can talk about anything. I so enjoy our runs together, honestly.

But today I was on a mission. My running history has been so off the wall. I'm slowly getting control of my leg muscles back. A few weeks ago I could only get 2-2.5 miles out before my legs did that numb/weird thing and I'd have to walk back. Then I got to 5 miles before it happened. I was hoping the timing would keep doubling and I'd get to 10 miles this time.

Nope. I started feeling that leg fatigue at about 6 miles. I ignored it. By mile 7 my feet and lower legs were numb. I had to do short walk breaks for like 15-20 seconds every 4-5 minutes. By mile 8 I felt like from my hips down were detached. I pinched my quads real hard and didn't feel a thing. I was running a little sideways. I told Reg this and we switched sides so if I fell I wouldn't fall on him...haha! Kidding, we switched so I'd be closer to the grass. I let him know I was going to stop at 9 miles. Which I did. Reg kept running the last half mile back to the gym. Mike had just arrived there when we walked in too.

And HEY!!! I almost forgot to tell ya....we put our drinks on a fence post and when we got back to them someone had taken my Gatorade!! Hahahaha!!! Little monkeys at the skatepark, I bet.

Here's the run history off my garmin:

Run time: 1:31:58
Run distance: 9 miles
Avg pace: 10:13
Best pace: 6:01

I showed my coach, Jim, who was at the gym when we got back and he said I did a great job! Nothing like hearing that from your coach!!!!!!

I feel a little worried about how far I'll get during the half marathon. It's 3 weeks away, I'm hoping to condition my muscles by then. I'll be potassium loading while everyone else carbo loads...lol. Reg gave me some pretty fantastic news. He said he's going to run with me for the whole half! I was very surprised since he can easily do it in wayyyyy under 2 hours. He said he didn't care about his time, he is going to run with it me. I'm very touched. Very happy. He kept me motivated through out today's run. I was feeling really nervous at the 6 mile mark when that old familiar heaviness began, but we kept going. Every time he said I was doing well, it gave me a surge of energy.

This 9 miler is the longest run I've had since October. A very long time. It feels so fantastically wonderful to sit here and write this post after only 8 days after hearing my doctor tell me to run with my feet side to side. I knew when he said that I was NEVER gonna run from side to side. I'd fall first. Maybe get a pretty pink cast, but NO running side to side for THIS CHICK.

And I was right. I love when that happens.
Lalalalalaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!

EDIT FOR MELANIE: No...lol...but I'd be willing to visit in the summer....hahaha!!!

Friday Already???

This week flew by!
I'm back to my classes and feeling so much better. It's weird to do the spin class and actually feel my legs. I still have a little weakness on the right side, arm and leg, but I'm going to get back to machine workouts. I totally feel it in yoga. My balance seems to have improved though. Maybe the seizure meds?? Not sure. I'll see the doc soon.

I'm meeting Reg (from Canada!!!) at the gym this morning for a little 3-4 miler. We have an 8-10 miler planned for Saturday. I need to see where I'm at since that half marathon is only 3 weeks away. Reg even said it was freezing here!

The only half I've done is the one I "ran" with that IT band yank. So my PR is 2:30. As painfully ego bashing as that felt that day, I'm kinda happy about it now because I can probably beat that at least by a minute or two...LOL

I tested my coach the other day to see if he "yeses" me about my abilities. I asked him if he thought I could go for the full instead. He gave me that "coachy" look that only they can give and said "don't be ridiculous". Ok, ok. I was kidding. Kinda. I don't know what it is about the marathon that pulls me in.

I'm Baaaaaack!!!!!!

Yep, it's true!! I can tell you I am once again, a RUNNER! I have run 2 days in a row without that debilitating pain....yippeeeee!!!!

I have been spit on twice though. Chris spit INTO the wind Tues morning and it came back and got me on the arm. Yummy. I woulda thought it was raining, but I happened to be looking in the direction of which the spittle came from. It was clear and minute, so I let it go. Today I got spit on by a new runner friend. In the face! Yeah.....LOL...I guess you could say WE BONDED! What's a little saliva between running buddies, huh?????

So Tues morning Chris and I ran about 2.5 miles. He had a sore achilles, which sucks, and I was so worried about my knees that we did a nice easy run. Very enjoyable and light. No pain and I felt fine after. And he ALLOWED talk time. I know! How sweeet! He read my blog and decided he didn't want to be known as my "fuddy-duddy-running-buddy. LOL...He's a good guy!

Today I ran with Steven and Reg. Reg is from Canada. I guess people REALLY do live there! I thought it was way too cold for human habitat, especially in December, but Reg seems relatively normal...LOL. Kiddin'....Reg is a great guy. He's here in Florida because Canada is freakin freezin. He kicked my woe-begotten ass this morning, may I add.

We started out talking and running easy. Withing 2 minutes, I peeked at my Garmin to find us at an 8:20 pace. Geez! I thought I was going to kill my knees at that pace! I was wrong....we kept going....Reg talks in the METRICS. Sigh. He must not know we Americans revolted against that particular type of measurement. Yeah, we PRETEND to know metrics when we talk about distance AT TIMES. But that's only in reference to races. In our everyday talk, no metrics are used. So we spent a goodly amount of time going back and forth with figuring out distances and paces. Blah. I hate math.

I did need to do some walking, that pace was pretty fast for me as I haven't really been able to let loose for 2 months, thanks to the IT band. But guess what?? I loved it!! It felt like such an awesome workout! I could feel my heart racing, blood pumping, legs eager for the next turnover! Not the blueberry turnover, I mean the leg turnover....anyway....

I was very happy to find out I could really, truly run again. Oh JOY!!!! I'm not sure I would have pushed myself if Reg hadn't led me along. I was still in that euphoria 2 hours later!

Steven decided to wear his cleats for the run. Yes, you read that correctly. CLEATS! I said to him, that he was crazy! He said he hopped into his truck and headed over, forgetting he only had his cleats in the truck, not his sneakers. OMG. He ran in the grass beside us, I was worried the whole time. He's 21 yrs old though. You know how those crazy kids are....LOL. Love that kid.

I have a new goal. I wanna do a sprint triathlon. There's one on April 9, 2009. Chris is interested too. We will begin adding in the training for that very soon. Swimming and biking are great cross training for the marathon, so it should work out well. We're very excited!!!!!! My husband is thrilled I'm adding biking to my menagerie of exercising. This is something we can do together. I look forward to kicking his beautiful ass soon.

Now all I need to do is learn how to breathe while I swim. And keep my legs straight. Oh, and the bike part should be a blast on my Schwinn 21 speed. HA!!!!!