Another Week

I took the week off. The whole thing. Sunday, Monday, Tuesday... You get the picture. I just didn't feel like running. Bill also had a lot of coaching commitments and I had a lot of work to do with the end of the marking period approaching.

I ran five miles on Friday afternoon. I went out at about 4:30 pm and there was still some sunlight. I did a little over four 1.6 mile laps at a local reservoir. On one side of the loop, there was tons of wind and bitter cold. On the other, there was no wind and lots of sun. So for half the run, I was sweating and warm and for the other half, I was ffffffreezing.

My leg was sore the whole time.

On Sunday, I did ten miles. After barely surviving the outdoor 5-mi run on Friday, I opted for the treadmill. Better to be bored to death than frozen to death. With the warm up and cool down, it was close to two hours. This is the second time I've run a full ten-- the first was last week.

As brutal as it sounds, it wasn't that bad. I feel like I'm conditioned enough to do this mileage-- my breathing is good and my muscles don't feel overly taxed. The soreness on my left ankle/achilles is pretty consistent and although it was a nuisance, I was able to power through it. Towards the end of the run, my right knee started to bother me, but I think its because (due to the soreness on my left) I was starting to put more weight on that side.

Aside from the physical soreness, the toughest part is mental. I mean, between a full-time job, a house and two little kids, I have almost no time to myself. Spending two full hours on a treadmill takes dedication and drive when that's your only "free time".

Ups and Downs

Went to the gym again on Wednesday and managed about four miles on the treadmill. Halfway through, I hopped off to walk a little and assess the pain in my left leg. It was really more of a soreness than a pain.

I exchanged my sneakers at the store and am now running in a more neutral shoe.

On Saturday, I headed to the shore for my long run. Nine miles and it was a total bust. I measured out 4.5 miles with my car and parked. The plan was to run the 4.5 miles and then turn around and head back. After a good twenty minutes of procrastinating on FB and Twitter, I hopped out of the car and was off. Unfortunately, I was running into a very cold, strong wind. This, combined with the soreness in my leg and an uncharged iPod, made for an unpleasant one and a half miles. After thinking it over, I called it quits and jogged back to my car. With the wind at my back, this was a far easier run.

Sunday was do-over day. I found a new location-- with less wind and no snow-- and I managed a tough 9.6 miles. My leg was still sore, but again not pain exactly-- just an annoying, distracting soreness. About halfway through, I was going purely on desire. It was not fun and it certainly didn't feel good-- until it was over that is. I ran for almost two hours and as I expected, the soreness in my leg was worse a few hours later.

Starting to have second thoughts about the marathon distance. I'm not doubting that I can do it. I know that I can. Just starting to feel like I don't want to. Running for almost two hours at a clip and feeling sore all the time just sucks the fun out of something I used to enjoy.

Ow.

Left achilles has been sore for two days now. Although I suppose that rest is a good idea, the pain is at its worst after not moving around for a while. Stairs are also very unpleasant.

According to the Google Gods, there are two probable causes: either the wrong running shoe or over-training (too much, too fast). I think it's a little of both-- my new kicks aren't working out and are going to be returned shortly AND I did take almost two weeks off, so jumping back into the training schedule has been tough.

I put on my old sneakers and went to the gym with the intention of doing at least a mile or two, but once I bumped the pace up past 4 mph, the pain was pretty bad.

I hopped off the treadmill and headed home with a total mileage of 0.2 miles.

Going to give it another try tomorrow.

Eight

Went for an early run this morning. Tried to beat the little afternoon snowstorm and made it.

Ran eight miles along the shore. It was windy, cold and grey-- but after the first mile I was warm for the remainder of the run. There were so many people out running and the boardwalk was still full of snow and ice from the previous storm, so I was still on the road.

Before starting, my left leg was sore, but I did the run anyway. Afterwards, the soreness had turned into pain. I got home and Googled and I'm pretty sure that it's my left achilles tendon.

I'm resting for the remainder of the weekend. Taking some anti-inflammatories and using ice. Hoping the pain goes away in time for Monday's run.

Getting Back Into It

Ran seven miles today. Due to the snow, was forced to run along the street. It was getting dark and tough to distinguish the wet pavement from potential ice.

Overall a better run than Sunday, but still not great. Feeling unusually sore and tired afterwards. Hoping that this is just a post-holiday slump-- too much cheesecake and Chinese food, not enough workouts.

Really need to start eating and sleeping better.

Running five on Friday and eight on Sunday.

The Break

I ran almost seven miles today. It nearly killed me.

I was supposed to run on the 23rd of December. But I had presents to buy and wrap, a house to clean, kids to make ornaments with and so on. I decided that I would take a few days off and make up for it after Christmas. Then came the snow storm and house guests and before I knew it, I was two days into the new year.

I signed up for today's group run and was encouraged to try for the scheduled 8 miles. Fueled with two weeks of junk food and inactivity, I was rightfully hesitant. The weather was warm and there was a light rain half-way through, so I only made it to seven.

I was huffing and puffing and my legs and arms felt like anchors. Every step felt tough and the idea of quitting crossed my mind on many occasions.

I'm not planning on skipping any more stretches of time in my next few months of training.

Next run is scheduled for Tuesday.

December Run

I couldn't do my long run yesterday. My left foot was way too sore and in need of an extra day of healing. So either I was skipping it this week or pushing it off to today.

I ended up doing it tonight. Running seven miles on a weekday isn't easy, especially after working all day.

Out of necessity, I had to stay a little late at school. By the time I got home and changed, it was almost 4:30. Driving to the beach (the only lighted area around), running the seven miles, stretching out and driving back would have taken nearly two hours when you add in time for showering and changing. I opted to eat dinner and spend some time with the kids before heading out at about 8:30. Between my running and Bill's coaching, it's not very often that we get a chance to spend the evening together.

It was about 28 degrees. As I ran along the beach, the view on one side was the ocean, beautifully illuminated by the full moon. On the other side, were the beach houses either dark and vacant or lit up with big screen televisions showing Monday night football.

Happily, this was a pain-free run. I had taken the inserts out of my shoes (haven't gotten to RRS yet) and the blisters were no longer a problem. It was freezing at first, but after the first mile I was warm enough. The wind was at my back for half the run and that was glorious. Running against the wind, on the other hand, was unpleasant to say the least.

The plan for the week is as follows: Tonight, 7 miles; Wednesday, 5 miles; Friday, 5 miles; Sunday, 8 miles. This would total 25 miles, which is LESS than the 26.2 miles I'll be running in one shot in May.

Oy.

Fa la la la argh

Woke up this morning to no clean clothes and no clean silverware. Also a basement full of unwrapped gifts and a list of things left to pick up in the next week. There are weeks where I balance teaching, housework, kids and running. This wasn't one of them.

Spent the day running around the house, trying to catch up on things around here.

We had a family Christmas party in the evening (where I managed to choose the most unhealthy food options possible) and now Bill and I are up really, really late watching a really, really, really bad movie.

This should make for an interesting long run tomorrow. Planning on seven miles. Hoping that my foot is healed enough.

Blood, Sweat,...

So the good news is that I have a pretty high tolerance for pain.

The bad news is that I threw a piece of my foot skin into the garbage tonight.

Bill got sick this morning and left work early. Then Will got sick at school and was sent home after lunch. I spent the afternoon getting Will settled and driving Liam to my mom's to put him into quarantine.

I spent most of the evening finishing a project two days post deadline. I was planning on skipping my run, but decided last minute to head to the gym. I did a quick three-miles on the treadmill and decided not to remove the inserts.

As usual, my feet and calves were sore with the new sneakers. However, I didn't fully realize the damage until I got home and pulled off my shoes.

I am done with 'breaking in' these shoes and heading back to the store this weekend for some help. Hard to believe that I didn't have a single pain or problem running in shoes that were nearly three years old. But now, in a pair of new ones, I'm hobbling around like a newbie.

Good Intentions

No running today.

Jeans starting to feel seasonably tight, so I did spend some time thinking about getting on a better eating kick in January. Thinking about finding a good nutrition book to read over the break. Would also like to find a good multivitamin.