first two days back!

I got cleared to run on Monday...so I hit the road for the first time in about 4 months. Yesterday I just did a two mile loop in my neighborhood. The hardest thing to adjust to was the cold air. My lungs felt like they were frozen! I haven't been outside much in the cold in awhile, and I'm sure I was breathing a lot harder than usual...so that added up to some discomfort in the breathing category. Other than that, things felt ok. I was slow, heavy, and felt kind of awkward...but that is what I expected :)

Today I met up with Katie for a run at town lake. We did the 4 mile loop. We just walked a bit by the water stops, but it was probably 95% running and 5 % walking. I was happy with that. I still feel ridiculously out of shape, but that's ok. The way I feel now makes me have a lot of respect for people who have never been runners and are starting out for the first time. I have a feeling that's similar to how I am feeling now. Pretty much for as far back as I can remember, I've been playing some sort of sport. I've always been in "shape" even if it's not running shape. So when I start back up with running, I've usually been playing a lot of basketball, softball, swimming, biking, or some other sport. Since I've done NOTHING but walk since the summer, my fitness is worse off than it's even been before. I guess the thing to keep in mind is that it's only been 26 days since I had a baby, so I just need to be patient!

pluses: great Baucher family Christmas last night

minuses: sister in law and brother in law are moving

hike

Brian, Skylar, and I went on a hike yesterday at my parents house in the hill country. The land is pretty rocky and there are some nice hills, so it was definitely a workout for me. I'd say we walked around for about 45 minutes or so. Skylar tried out her new Jeep front-pack carrier so I actually had both hands free! We decided Brian would carry a gun and I'd carry the baby :) It felt great to be outside (it was really nice in Mason) and enjoy the weather, scenery, etc. It's not as nice in Austin, so I'm thinking I may do some treadmill walking this afternoon!

pluses: lost 25 pounds in 2 weeks

minuses: think i lost all muscle i may have had

skylar is here and i'm ready to run

So I am officially not pregnant (haven't been for 2 weeks) and have a beautiful baby girl to show for it! Skylar Jane was born on Nov 20th at 12:06pm. I know I have a very biased opinion, but she's kind of the cutest thing ever. After a short, painful, drug-free delivery, I'm on the road to recovery to start running again. I'll spare everyone the details, but the doctor is asking me to wait at least another week (maybe two) before I start running again. I'm ok to walk, so it's back to that for a bit. The only tricky part is going to be figuring out how/when to start running again with Skylar's schedule. Right now she likes to eat at 1:30am and 5am. Hopefully she'll be able to spread those times out as she gets a little older so I can just feed her once in the middle of the night. She's only 2 weeks now, so I'll cut her a little slack. We do have a sassy bob running stroller so she can go with me in Dec as I start gradually running again. I'm hoping to join back up with Rogue in January once I go back to work and get on a regular schedule. It'll be interesting to figure out how to get in my run and get myself and Skylar ready to go and get to Lakeway at a decent hour...but we'll see how it goes! Right now I'm just enjoying time with the little one and looking forward to getting back on the road!

pluses: baby :) , lost 22 pounds in 2 weeks

minuses: tired!

i can see the finish line!

So it's been about a month or so since I completely gave up on running. Too much SI pain to make it worth it. Also, I don't "love" running when it always involves feeling out of shape. I like running to feel fast and competitive. Running while pregnant doesn't really give you either of those things. The good news is, the end is in site! Skylar should be here in about 3 weeks. The plan now is to induce on November 20th if things are still looking good. If that's what ends up happening, then I only have 23 more days left!

Post-baby, I'm really looking forward to getting back out on the road. I know life will be much different, but I know I'll find a way to fit running in, even if it's a modified version of how it fit in my life pre-baby. I did pick up a nice BOB jogging stroller yesterday from Angie, so I'm looking forward to using that. I really want to get a race on the calendar so I have a goal and a focus, but it's a little too soon to do that. While I want to come back as quickly as possible, I do need to be realistic and listen to my body. I don't want to end up sidelined with another injury (hamstring) like before.

pluses: things are settling down at work

minuses: tired, sluggish

i miss running

105 days left until baby is here.....then a few weeks recovery....then CRAZY running will begin. i miss it so much!

it'll be a slow and gradual comeback, but will have potential for craziness as things progress.

i want to race!

team breakfast

Yesterday I was planning to meet up with Angie for breakfast after the team's long run. I'm not really in "long run" shape now, so I did 4-5 miles and met Angie and barton springs after her 20 miler. I was glad to see everyone from the team, but was sad that Mike, Ken, and Damon were missing!

We ended up going to Austin Java with a group of 12 or so. It was really nice catching up with everyone!

Good news as far as the run, my back felt good, and I actually felt kind of quick for the first 3 miles are so. Quick meaning closer to 8 minute pace as opposed to 10 minutes pace. I don't wear my watch anymore when I run, so I don't really know what pace I was going, but it felt better than normal :)

pluses: pool time today, relaxing weekend with Brian

minuses: drive to Galveston tomorrow

cravings

So one of the most common questions I've been asked about being pregnant is what weird cravings I've had. As far as food goes, none really. I guess I'm not that exciting when it comes to different foods. That's probably a good thing, otherwise I may be a bit larger :)

The one thing I have been craving like crazy is running! I've had a lot of people around me talking about running. Although I don't see my Rogue friends as much, there seem to be more people around me who are getting into running. A few women i my office decided to train for a half. I have some other friends who have been calling to ask questions about running or see if I want to meet up with them to run. While I'm not totally disabled at this point, it's just not the same as before! I'm craving a 20 mile long run on a sunny Saturday morning, a run through scenic and balcones, maybe even a run where I look down at my watch as we finish and realize our last 4 miles were around 6:40 pace. I've also really been craving the race environment. Walking up to the starting line with the nervous butterflies, checking the pace band, my watch, goo, electrolytes, etc...just waiting for those last few minutes to pass by before the gun goes off and the work begins. I really want that! I guess for now I'll have to settle for my treadmill at home and my walks in the neighborhood.

The plan is to be back racing in April. Maybe, if things go well with the pregnancy, I'll enter the Austin 1/2 or Full....obviously I wouldn't be in "pr" shape, but it'll be good to be back out there. To those of you who are working hard and putting in many many miles, enjoy it!

pluses: dinner with Laura tonight

minuses: can't chaperon work camp next week

update

The last few weeks have been pretty crazy. We have a big trip coming up this weekend so I've been kind of busy getting ready for that. Over the 4th, Brian and I went to Mason to spend some time with my parents. It was really relaxing...at least for my mom and me :) Brian and my dad did quite a bit of work out in the pasture, so I'm sure they didn't get in as much r and r as we did. We did take a few nice walks. It's always a nice change of scenery. I will say that I was having really strong desires to go on like a fifteen mile trail run...but I don't think that would've been the best idea :) I have done a few more runs with Katie J which has been nice. When I went on Tuesday I had a lot less back pain which was very encouraging. I also got some orthotics so I am working on getting used to those. Today was another intense walk around the neighborhood. I didn't go until 11am, so it was pretty warm.

In other super exciting news, we did find out that we're having a baby girl :) It was so cool to see the sonogram. Last time we had one you basically were looking at a little blob with a heartbeat. This time you could see her little feet and hands and face. It was really neat! Also, her little legs were going up and down like crazy. I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that she was running in place....just getting in some early miles :) I'm super excited about being able to start getting her some things (and letting other people spoil her) now that we know it's a girl. Name wise, we're almost 100% sure we're going with Skyler Jane.

pluses: baby is good, Steubenville trip this weekend

minuses: 12 hr bus ride

booooo

I've been doing a whole lot of nothing lately, or that's how it seems. I've been going to the gym 2-3x a week which really isn't enough. Running has been about 2x a week. Again, not enough. It's been so hard to keep myself motivated to be active when I'm not really capable of working as hard as I want to. I guess I can attribute that to the fact that in general I like to go 110%, and when I can't...well I just don't get anything done. It kind of reminds me of the quote "Go hard or go home." It seems like I've opted with the "go home" mentality. The only issue here is that I still have 5 more months until I can run hard again, so if I do nothing between now I then I have a feeling the comeback will be a little hard. The last few days I've felt pretty crappy, so I haven't been doing much. This weekend I'm out of town, then I'll be gone another week and a half in July. Then 3 weekends in a row in August....so the question becomes when will I get back into a routine?!?! Even if it's a super-modified, low intensity, routine.

The one positive thought is that last time I was chatting with Steve he reminded me that up until June of 2008, I did next to nothing to train for marathons. Then in around 8 months I already had my goal time down to 2:55....so hopefully the same pattern follows and I can get back into running quickly.

Ok, time to quite complaining. Good news is I think I'm going to get a treadmill this afternoon so then I can run even if it's 110 degrees outside. Other good news, we find out in 6 days if the baby is a boy or a girl!

pluses: above

minuses: further up

last few days

Last Thursday I met up with Katie J and we did a 6 miler. It was pretty humid, but overall I felt good. It was nice catching up with her too, so I was glad I got up early to get the run out of the way before the second to last day of vacation bible school.

Friday was an off day. I was beat from VBS, and directly after it was over I drove to Houston for some family time this weekend. We had a bridal shower for my sister, and also ended up getting to spend some good quality time with my dad for Father's Day.

Saturday was a short 3-4 miler with my sister. It was pretty hot by the time we got started so it wasn't the most pleasant run. We also did some lunges, squats, and core work after the run.

Today I went for a 7-8 mile bike ride with my dad. I rode my mom's hybrid bike which was pretty funny. I guess I've gotten to be a road bike snob :) After the bike ride, we went to the neighborhood pool and I swam some laps and did some water aerobics moves with my mom :) It's funny how much my workout life has decreased in intensity, but it's probably a good place for me to be right now.

pluses: dad

minuses: time away from Brian

trail run!

I met up with Karma, Flyer, Mike, Bruce, Meredith, and Bruce's friend (Michael?) for a trail run today. It was really good to see everyone and I enjoyed being back out on the trails. My back was a little stiff when is started but it loosened up alright. It doesn't feel very stiff now which is a good signed.

The run wasn't too bad. I am hoping I didn't slow Bruce and Mike down too much :) The climbs seemed a lot harder than I remember (surprise surprise) and I was slow on the downhills because I was really trying to focus on not falling flat on my face (or stomach) for that matter. Mer had a fall which was a bummer. She's tough though so I'm sure she'll be ok.

All in all it was a good day!

pluses: productive morning

minuses: registration issues for summer conference

town lake run

I met up with my friend Molly today to run around the lake. We were planning on going around 9 minute pace so I figured it'd be a good test to see if my back is any better. After the first 4 or 5 miles, it wasn't too bad...but by the time the 7th mile came around I was pretty sore. I guess this is at least an indication that maybe I can get back to some running, but just shorter distances. I'd be ok with running 3-4 miles twice a day. The sad part is this probably means no more Team Rogue stuff for awhile. It just doesn't really seem to make sense for me to get up at 4:50am to go run 3-4 miles when everyone else is out to do 10-14 miles. I may still try to go to some workouts, but I have a feeling that it won't be long before I'm running with some of my more laid back running friends :) There doesn't seem to be to many people in our group who are "laid back" about running. I guess that's why I'll miss them!

pluses: catching up with old college friend

minuses: lots of small projects to do around house

16wk check-up and weightlifting

Today Brian and I went to the doctor for the baby's 16 week checkup. Everything seems to be going well so far. We got to hear the heartbeat again and it's at 140. I always start laughing when the doctor tries to find the heartbeat which apparently makes it harder. Apparently a lot of women cry the first time they hear it....maybe somethings wrong with me :) I talked to the dr. a bit about my lower back pain when I run and she suggested wearing running tights up to my bellybutton....ha ha ha ha. Now that would be HOT! I'm not sure whether I'm willing to give it a try. I guess she was just saying it would offer more support. We also scheduled our ultrasound for July 6th. So that's when we'll know the sex...woo hoo!

In my exercise life, I've been good about going to the gym. I've been doing my workout from Marc every other day and trying to focus on strengthening my abs and back...and everything else too. I've also been walking. I feel lame saying that, but oh well. I walked about 3 miles yesterday. It was like 100 degrees outside (at least it felt like it) when I went, so I at least broke a sweat. I'm going to walk again this afternoon and meet a friend to go for a slow jog tomorrow. I'm hoping that goes well.

pluses: good appt

minuses: no running :(

finding a balance

I'm having a hard time doing that. In reality, I really want to just run, run, and run some more right now, but my body isn't really allowing that. Since the hamstring injury I have had little success at getting into a regular running routine. I tried to come back a few times and my hamstring wasn't ready. Once that was healed, there was baby to deal with. Slow comeback...but I was at least running. Then I had the sinus/upper respiratory infection that lasted over a week. No running. Finally last week I was at it again, and now my back is really bothering me. It seems like if it's not one thing, it's another. I think my body is trying to tell me I need to balance things out and not just run. Perhaps the best approach now is to lift 3-4x a week, swim, do some yoga, and maybe run when I can. I really want to get back into running 50 miles a week, but I'm just not sure how realistic of a goal that is. I'm not racing this fall so it isn't the end of the world if I don't run right now, but I really wanted to use this time to add miles, build a base, and then come back strong and run Boston 2010. I'm concerned that if I don't run now, Boston 2010 won't happen. I'm not sure how much of a time crunch I'll be on to try to knock 20 minutes off of my current marathon PR. I think the first 10 minutes won't be too too hard, but after that I'll probably be fighting for every minute...maybe every second. I guess I just need to take each day as it comes and realize that November will probably be here before I know it.

pluses: lunch with my sister today

minuses: inconsistency

10 miler

Angie and I ran 10 miles on a pretty hilly route. Somehow with the new morning stretching routine and everyone starting at different times, we ended up being the last ones to start. We missed the first water stop which was also a bummer...so we went about 7 miles with no water. It wasn't a big deal since it's not super hot yet, but we'll have to be more careful to not do that in the future! The run was good. Not too hot, nice pace, enjoyed the company.

My lower back has been pretty sore the last few times I have run. It feels like the same pain I had in my back right before the San Antonio marathon last year. I'm just going to continue with the stretching routine and maybe get a massage in the next few weeks if it doesn't loosen up.

pluses: group run, teammates

minuses: back pain

short run

I am back on the road. Finally. I think I got this sinuses cleared up. I ran a short 4 mile run this morning after taking yesterday off because I was still coughing up a lung. The weather was a little cooler because of the storm last night, but it was still pretty humid. Looking forward to running with the group tomorrow.

pluses: free lunch and dinner

minuses: have to be in lakeway from 8:30am-9pm

still sick

I can't seem to get over all of the crap in my nose, throat, and chest. I didn't run yesterday and felt pretty horrible all day. Today I felt better, but was still coughing a lot, so I decided against running again. I'm going to go ahead and show up to the group work out tomorrow and see how that goes. Hopefully it'll be better because I feel pretty useless when I'm not running or doing anything! I did watch like 4 espisodes of Law and Order today...really productive.

pluses: enjoy time at SoCo

minuses: lazy

saturday run

So today was my first time to run since last Saturday...and it felt like it. I kind of felt like forgot how to run. I have had a sinus infection all week and I am not supposed to take antibiotics, so it's taken a little longer to get rid of. I felt pretty good on Thursday and Friday but I decided to give myself those days to rest too to make sure everything was cleared up. I felt fine when I got started today, but as I started running, my sinuses got worse and worse :( I finished the ten miles, but haven't really felt good since then. I didn't sleep well last night either, so I bet that didn't help. I took a pretty long nap this afternoon so I'm hoping tomorrow will be a better day.

I did play some basketball and slowpitch softball on Thursday night, so I was a little sore from that today too. I think I'm just getting old :)

pluses: relaxing day, got to watch a lot of softball (go Bulldogs)

minuses: still not feeling good

sick :( and baby :)

So I think the news is finally out to most people on the team about my current running plans. They've come to a bit of a halt because I'm pregnant :) I'm at 14 weeks now and the baby is about the size of a lemon. That may seem pretty small, but it was a snow pea not that long ago :) So obviously this changes some things with regards to running, and life for that matter. My running plan is to just keep running as long as I can. The only real difference is that my heart rate gets elevated much quicker, so I have to run at a slower pace than before. So if I'm running around 8 min miles, it tends to feel more like a 7 min mile. For the first few weeks, everyone kept asking me about my hamstring because I wasn't up to par...but the hamstring is good. Hopefully I'll be able to run for a while long, the other thing I need to be careful about is not getting my body temp too high which can also be a challenge in the Austin heat. May have to switch to a treadmill at some point. But for now, things are good. I'm happy to be running again and excited about Baby Baucher!

On another note, I'm sick now which sucks. Boo on sinus infections. I woke up yesterday feeling pretty crappy and it's only gotten worse, so I went to the dr. today. I was hoping to get an antibiotic, but apparently that's not good for baby so I'm sticking with over the counter stuff for the rest of the week and we'll see how that goes. The sinus infection has made the running not happen for the past few days, but that's ok. I had a nice long run (well, not really long) on Saturday with Angie. We started off the first half with Ruth, Zane, and Julia and then ran the 2nd half with Nedra. I was a little cranky on the first half but felt pretty good on the way back. I'd say we were just under 8 minute miles. I haven't run since then, but if I'm feeling better tomorrow or Thursday, I'll be back at it!

pluses: productive day

minuses: fever

5/20 & 5/21

I was good yesterday and followed through on my plans to go to South Congress and get in my workout. After the workout, I ran 8 miles with the afternoon group. It was pretty hot, but not too bad yet. I'd like to continue to run with them until it gets unbearable. I was a little curious to see how running in the evening and turning right around and running in the morning would affect my body, but there were no problems. After yesterday's run I attempted the "big 12" which is 12 push-ups, 12 sit-ups, 11 push-ups, 11 sit-ups, etc. According to Steve my push-ups were sub par, but hey it's a good start. Maybe next time I'll work on going down further :)

Today I ran 6 miles with Angie. It was nice weather and I was feeling pretty good. Afterwards, I had a few minutes to hang out with some of my teammates that I haven't seen much of lately, so that was fun. I also told them about the big "secret" :)

pluses: nap

minuses: mail-outs

really falling behind

I can't keep up with blogging these days :) I guess there's just too many other things going on right now. Last weekend I was in Michigan, so with the exception of one trail run...I have no running news to report from there.

On Monday I met up with Marc and got a new strength program which I'm looking forward to. I'm starting to learn how important this part of my workout routine is...so I'm trying to be better about making it a priority. After my workout with Marc, I went for an easy 30 minute jog.

Tuesday I ran the 8 mile St. Ed's out and back with Angie. The weather was great...and besides a few bathroom breaks, it was a nice run.

This afternoon I'm hitting up SoCo for the strength routine, then going to run with the afternoon group.

pluses: Church semester is done

minuses: too much to do

catching up

I guess since I stopped running 70-80 mpw it's been a little harder to keep up with my blog :)

Last week I did my long run on Friday and managed 10 miles. I started at 11am (smart I know) so it was pretty hot. It was a tough 10 miles at around 8 minute pace. After that run, I had hit my 30 miles for the week...so I took off Saturday and Sunday.

This week I'm going for 35 miles. Yesterday, I didn't run in the morning, so I did 30 minutes on the treadmill. I decided to avoid the heat :) This morning I met up with the group for our first team run in the new training season. I was a little apprehensive because I feel like I'm really far behind where I was when I left off, but oh well. I ran 8 miles with Angie and really enjoyed it. I am going to be travelling on Thursday-Sunday so the mileage may be a little off, but hopefully I'll get it in.

pluses: felt good this morning

minuses: stupid budget

it's hot

It's officially feeling like summer...only more humid. Yesterday I ran from the mopac water stop up to the congress bridge on town lake. It was about 5:15 when I got started and man was it hot! I ran with Tim and we held about 8 minute pace, maybe a little under. Effort wise, I felt like I was going 10k pace...not a good sign :)

This afternoon I'm planning on going on an easy 4-5 jog with my sister. We're going shopping for my bridesmaids dress for her wedding in Sept and we thought we'd try to squeeze in a quick run first. The only downside is it'll be really hot again :(

pluses: good date night last night

minuses: didn't get my run in this morning

today's run

Today I ran 7.75 miles from Barton Springs. It was a nice pace and I enjoyed the company. The only bummer is that it was pretty humid. I felt a little better fitness wise so I'm hoping I'm on the upswing. Tonight I'm playing in a slowpitch softball game with some people from Brian's firm...so that should be fun. I haven't played softball in forever, so I'm looking forward to it. I'm also planning on going to the team happy hour beforehand...so it should be good to see everyone. Feels like it's been forever.

pluses: fun afternoon/evening planned

minuses: still struggling with fitness

easy 5

Today I ran an easy five from Barton Springs with Cindy. I guess it's wasn't too "easy" because we ran rollingwood which has some nice hills. The weather was nice and I enjoyed the company. May try to run with the group in the AM...we'll see!

pluses: productive around the house

minuses: ironing :(

400s baby!

Yesterday I got greedy and did a 400 speed workout. It's not at all part of the current plan, but I had a friend as me to do a 5k tomorrow in Houston that benefits the school district I grew up in. I want to do it, but I figured I really needed to test my leg because I know myself well enough to know that even if I went out "easy" I'd eventually get greedy and go hard. I figured some 400s would be a good way to test if I'd end up hurting myself. I went over to a neighborhood track, did a nice easy mile work out...then set out for 8 400s on the 3 minute interval. My goal was to do them around 90 second pace so I could have 90 seconds recovery too. This is how I fared:
1: 83
2: 82
3: 86
4: 86
5: 83
6: 86
7: 85
8: 84

A little faster than necessary...but no pain! Woo hoo! The bummer is that the race is probably going to get cancelled because of the swine flu. They've cancelled everything else in the district...so I am sure this is next. That's probably a blessing in disguise because I really have no business racing a 5k now...but I thought it'd be fun :)

Today I went out for an easy run with an old neighborhood friend. We went for about 6 miles at an easy pace. No watch...but the pace felt nice for a recovery day and I enjoyed the company!


pluses: lunch with Mom at school, Brian's coming back tonight!

minuses: humidity is really kicking in!

day 3 of lydiard

Consistency, here I come. 3 days of running in a row. Total mileage...13.5 :) That's just over a 1/2 marathon...I must be Ethiopian or something..ha ha.

In all seriousness, it may not seem like much but it feels great to be running regularly again! Paces are slow...and I still feel really out of shape...but I'm hoping that will come back in a few weeks. Today I ran 6 miles at around 8 minute pace. Afterwards, I did some drills and strides. My hamstring is still tender from the massage, but it doesn't bother me when I run. It's more just beat up (tender to the touch) but on the strides I felt like I was getting to a pretty high speed and I didn't feel any pain at all, so that's a huge plus.

pluses: time with old friends

minuses: lazy!

lydiard build

I finished up last week with a great trail run with Mike on Friday. After that run, I had met my weekly quota for running (three days a week). Everything has been feeling good...so while I'm hesitant to say so, I think I'm recovered from the hamstring injury. This week I am beginning my lydiard build back to 60 miles per a week. I'd like to move up from there at some point...but that's a great goal to start. I'm starting at week one which calls for 25-27 miles. It seems really low, but I think it's pretty accurate for where I am at fitness wise. I am feeling really out of shape on the short runs...so I think starting with low mileage and easy paces will be the most beneficial thing for me now. Today I ran the prescribed 30 minutes with no pain. I don't know what my mileage was, but I'd guess I was around 8:30 pace. I went to see Lisa today too so I could get "clearance" to begin my build phase. This was really just more of a mental check for me. I needed her to tell me my hamstring felt better than before and I was ready to roll. That's pretty much what she said...but she said it is still a "problem" area for me so I need to be religious about rolling it out and streching, otherwise I'll be right back at the same place. I'm ordering a foam roller today to help me out with that. I'm pretty sore after the massage, but hopefully I'll be ready for my 6 miler tomorrow. I'm off to Houston for the rest of the week which means lots of flat, hot, humid running!

pluses: time with family in houston

minuses: rain

trying to get back in the saddle

I ran two out of the last three days...not too bad :) Because I'm not on some crazy running schedule, it's been hard for me to fit it in. When I know I have to run a 14 mile run...it's easy to get up and get it done because I know I won't have any other time during the day to fit it in. Since I'm running super low mileage now, I feel like I keep putting it off and not getting it in...like today.

On Tuesday I had my longest run since March 21st. I ran a whole 7 miles. Woo hoo! It really sucks how long it takes to get in really good shape, and then how quickly you lose it. I felt like I was struggling the whole 7 miles. The only plus was that it was around 95 out...so I'm hoping some of the suffering was attributed to the heat. Yesterday my legs were pretty sore from the run. I ran at about 8 minute pace so it wasn't too slow...but not too fast either. My hamstring is sore, but both of them are so I think it's just because I'm not used to running...not because I'm still hurt. Yesterday I did an easy 3.5 shake out run. It was a bit slower, but still hard because of the heat. I need to start running in the mornings again! I wasn't feeling too good this morning so I slept in...and got pretty busy in Lakeway so I didn't get to run. Oh well...there's always tomorrow. After this week I'm back on the lydiard build...starting with 25-27 miles in week one :) Hey, you gotta start somewhere!

pluses: dinner with friends tonight

minuses: still not feeling 100%

greenbelt run

I ran with Tim for 40 minutes on the greenbelt today. I felt pretty good. Obviously I'm not feeling "fit" but as long as nothing is hurting, I'm a happy camper. Perhaps I'll do a 7 milers with Mike & Co. on Friday :)

pluses: great weather, dinner with Sissy and CHall

minuses: nutrition, out of shape

back running...kind of

I went on two easy runs in the last two days. Yesterday, I went for 20 minutes around my neighborhood. I hadn't planned to try to run for another week or so...but it's honestly making me crazy not too...so I decided to test it out. I felt pretty good. Brian went with me and we kept the pace really slow. It was nice to just get out and jog and break a sweat. My hamstring didn't hurt...so that was good. I definitely don't feel "strong" at all, but I think slow easy jogging for short distances is a good start. I'm hoping that if I keep this up, and work hard on strengthening exercises, then my hamstring will continue to heal.

Today I ran on the greenbelt for 30 minutes. This is always nice because I'm not a great trail runner... so the terrain forces me to slow myself down. Again, no pain. I don't feel like I could just start running really fast. I'm still timid, cautious, and scared about hurting it...but that's probably a good place to be because it should help me come back slowly.

pluses: exercising!

minuses: nutrition

no boston :(

I finally decided to cancel my flight to Boston. I kept holding out, hoping my hamstring would get better...but I just don't think I have enough time. The race is only two weeks away, and I am still not running...so no Boston in 2009. I have gone through a lot of ups and downs in the last few weeks and I am pretty bummed out about not racing, but I know it's the right choice. As of today, I have not done a run over twenty minutes in 15 days. Even if something miraculous happened and my hamstring suddenly felt 100%, I'd be really lacking in fitness and Boston really isn't a course that's "fun" if you're not super-fit. It's a tough course when you are fit, so doing it when you're not 100% would probably suck.

I am a little upset about not being able to race, but really the biggest struggle has been not being able to run right now. I can handle missing Boston. It's one race, one day. Having to change my every day routine is what is killing me. I have heard of runners experiencing a sort of depression during a taper or after a big race, and I haven't really felt that before. I guess the "taper" before San Antonio didn't feel like much of a taper physically, and I was so excited about the race that I never felt crazy or anything before the race. Then the week after the race was so crazy getting ready for my wedding, that I had no time to miss running. But now...wow...totally different story. I feel like I'm going crazy. For the last year or so, running has been the thing that has been a constant in my life and that I've built in as part of my routine. It's my stress reliever, my thinking time, my workout, the beginning to my day, my chance to hang out with friends or just get away from everything. Geezer made a comment in an e-mail to me, and he hit the nail on the head. He said not running is much harder than any work out Steve could put together. That's totally where I am at now. I'd rather do a soul-buster every weekend then sit on my butt and feel completely useless and feel like I've lost a sense of my identity. Ah!

I am going to try to settle in to another routine with cycling or swimming...but there's a reason I'm not into tri's :) I'm not bad at either, I just don't really like them. To get an equivalent of a Saturday long run I'd need to ride for like 6 hours...and I don't have that kind of desire. Maybe if it warms up I'll motivate myself to get in the pool...but we'll see. I am going to meet with Marc today to get some ideas on strengthening work I can do for my hamstring. Hopefully I can strengthen it and fix any imbalances I've developed so this isn't a problem in the future.

pluses: supportive family and friends

minuses: no running

massage results

Well I'm really sore from Lisa working on my hamstring today. The good thing is she said it released quite a bit in the belly of my muscle. The issue is really in the tendon area. Lisa said my tendon is pretty inflamed and that is what is hurting so much when I run. She worked on it a lot too, and I'm hoping that causes some relief. Tendons don't really heal quickly, so it's not looking good for Boston. I'm going to stretch and ice for the today. Tomorrow will be stretch, ice, short jog, and ice. I'm sure that'll be a painful run just because of how hard Lisa worked on it today...but then Friday will be the big decision day. I'll ice, stretch, and jog again and if for some reason I notice a massive improvement, then Boston will be a possibility. As of now, it's looking like an 85% chance I'll be staying home on April 20th. I am trying not too focus on it too much because I know it's not the end of the world, but I have to say it's pretty depressing. I've run 973 miles since the San Antonio Marathon in November. My frustration is two fold. One, I can't run now and it's driving me crazy. Running has been the common thing each day that I have built my other activities around. I love it. It makes me feel good, fit, healthy, fast, etc. So not being able to do that it pretty hard. The second frustration is that I know it's just one race, but I can't seem to convince myself that it isn't the end of the world to miss it. Lots of hard work seems to be going down the drain. I also feel a sense of guilt that I'm letting down my coach and my team. Everyone has been so supportive of me and so excited for how well things were going, and I just kind of feel like I'm not living up to expectations and I hate that feeling. I guess I'm just not in a very good place right now, but I'm sure things will look up eventually.

3/30 short run

I tried going for a run again today for the first time in a week or so. I went to a chiropractor this morning to check out my spine and make sure none of the hamstring issues were coming from anything spinal. Good news is that isn't the case. She said it just felt strained. Obviously I don't want to deal with any spine stuff, so that was good. Then Marc did a brief massage this morning and he said that my hamstring felt a lot looser so this was a good sign. I made it for about 15 minutes and those first 15 minutes felt pretty good. Then all at once I felt the tearing/stabbing pain in the tendon and I was done. I did a little walking and a little jogging back to my car, came home, and stretched and iced. I'm going to resort to my last hope on Wednesday which is a deep tissue massage targeting right where it hurts the most. That'll take place on Wednesday, and if Lisa can't work miracles, I'm out for Boston. I'm hoping it'll go well and loosen everything up, but if not I'll be taking off several week and then just going back to base building which will involve many high mileage weeks until I get as fit as I possibly can.

pluses: things are going well at Emmaus

minuses: run didn't go well

25 miles and Cap 10K

Today I rode my bike from my house to the Cap 10K race. Brian ran it, as did many of the Team Rogue folks, so while I was bummed to not run I was excited to watch everyone else. It was about a ten mile ride to downtown and it was cold! Once I got there I met up with Brian to wish him luck. Then I rode to Lavaca and 15th to watch everyone come through. After I saw Brian I headed to Mopac and Lake Austin Blvd, then to the finish line. It was good to see everyone race and it seems like everyone had a good day...especially considering they're coming off of a 24 mile long run. My ride back to the house involved warmer weather and a lot more traffic, but it was fine. I am going to the dr. tomorrow am to get a potential diagnosis on my leg, so we'll see how that goes. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

pluses: great weahter

minuses: missing bball games

20 miler

Bike ride that is :) Since I'm on my non-running recovery, I decided to go for a ride this morning. Brian and I went out Old San Antonio Rd and rode through Buda. It was a great ride and really nice weather. Although I was a little envious of my friends doing the 24 miler this morning, I really enjoyed mixing things up. I have to admit that at first I was really frustrated about the possibility of not running Boston. It was the last thing I wanted to hear when Steve mentioned it last week. But I think I've had some chance to gain a little perspective and realize it's one race in the long term plan. It'd be great to go out and there and run well, but if it's not in the cards then that's not the end of the world. I have been going to South Congress Gym lately and they have a program called Roll 2 Walk. They rehabilitate people with spinal chord injuries to try and help them learn to walk again. Everyday I go to the gym there's someone there working there butt off trying just get out of their wheelchair, so me not being to run for a few weeks is really nothing in the big picture. I think it's just helped me to realize that I am so freaking blessed in life, and while this may be a little bump in the road of my running life...it's not a big deal.

pluses: Katie's bday party, ride with Brian

minuses: not prepared for talk tomorrow

still no luck

I tried running again today and failed. After about 2 minutes it felt like my hamstring tendon was going to rip in half. The hamstring pain used to be just a general tightness, and if I slowed down it would go away. Now it feels like something more serious and I'm worried about doing more damage. Looks like I'll be out for a least a few more days....maybe longer. I feel my insane fitness level that I reached just slipping away. 26 days left. It's not looking so good.

back on the IR list

No running today. Missed out on a warhurst...but oh well. Looks like there won't be any more quality work for me at all...and maybe no Boston. I'm still not comfortable with making that decision at this point because in my mind 27 days is a long way away. I'm going to try to run again tomorrow and see how that goes. Basically I'll be taking it one day at a time and hope I can get back to at least a lydiard build routine by Boston. Even if it's just easy mileage, I think it'll be enough to help me run decently at Boston. Probably not a 2:55...but hopefully at least a PR. The easy mileage is what had me feeling so fit before any hamstring issues. If I can get back to how I felt in late December and early January I think I'll be fine.

pluses: lunch with Brian today

minuses: no running

failed attempt on greenbelt

I tried to run on the greenbelt today. I made it about 9 minutes. My hamstring tendon was really sore. I was hoping it'd loosen up, but that wasn't the case. It just got worse as I kept going, so Tim and I changed the run into a walk. Looks like I may be out of action again this week unless Marc can work some miracles. Going to see him at 4:00pm.

pluses: productive around the house

minuses: running

long run

I joined up with Bruce and some of the north group today to take part in the easy miles of their soulbuster. Bruce and I ended up missing a turn and we put in 16.2 easy miles before their faster pace started. I actually felt better than I had in awhile. I ate well and hydrated yesterday, and got a decent amount of sleep. I think those things all added to a pleasant start. My foot is kind of bothering me. I have a pain on the top of my foot, about an inch from where the ankle meets the foot. I have no idea what it's from. It could be from the birkenstocks I wore a lot the past few days, or from the crappy old tennis shoes I wore all week at workcamp. I also played basketball for a few hours in old shoes. I'm hoping some ice will do the trick. It's not super painful, just an annoyance. After the first 16.2, I decided I'd do some of Bruce's mgp work. He was shooting for 6:52's for 5 miles. The first mile felt great and we were right on track. The second mile felt long, but again, we were right on. Shortly after that, I got a really sharp pain in my hamstring tendon. It was enough pain to make me pull up and stop...and walk/jog in the rest of the way. So that definitely isn't a good sign for the upcoming week. If 6:52 pace causes problems...then hitting 6min pace on the track for the warhurst could be rough. The good news is it's already feeling more lose than when I finished. So I'm hoping ice will relieve this as well so I can be ready for the week ahead. My plan is to run on the trails tomorrow to see if that works things out.

pluses: 4 runs over 18 miles and 5 runs over 20 miles since SA

minuses: body seems to be falling apart

the last couple of days

I've been pretty MIA with regards to running with the team the last two weeks. I've done one run with them since March 7th which was the SB II. It seems pretty crazy because for awhile there I was running with the group basically everyday. I had a mandatory break, then this last week was spring break. It wasn't a running break, but I did take it easy and laid off all quality. I ran everyday except Wednesday, but was either by myself or with other running friends outside of rogue. On Thursday I did an 11 mile run from the camp we were at in Marble Falls. I felt pretty good, just had some knee pain when I finished. Then on Friday I did a 10 mile run on Slaughter. I was a bit more sluggish, but it was a long week at work camp so I wasn't too surprised. Today I ran 13 miles with Tim at the lake. I could've run with the group (they were doing 14) but I didn't have much interest in running the hills of Scenic. Instead I settled for a nice flat course. Tomorrow I'm going to meet up with Bruce and the North group to run their Soul Buster II. I'm not doing any of the fast mileage, I am just looking to get a good long run in. They're doing 15 miles easy, 5 miles at MGP, and then some track work. I'll do the first 20 with them but probably won't bring it down to MGP. I'm thinking if I feel good I'll bring it to 3hr MGP with Bruce. My mileage has been relative low the past several weeks so that's why I want to get in a 20+ mile run this weekend. Hopefully it doesn't hurt me too badly for the warhurst, steroid rollers, 24 miler, and CAP 10k that are coming up in the next 7 days....

pluses: great weekend with family, boat ride tonight

post soul buster II

It's been a busy few days since the SBII and unfortunately I haven't had much time to recover. After the run on Sunday I set off for a busy afternoon of wedding stuff with my sister and parents (she's getting married in Sept). It was all successful, but really all I wanted to do was to hang out on the couch on Sunday. Then I was up early on Monday, got in a quick 4 miles (actually it was a really slow four miles) to try and loosen up my legs before heading out towards Marble Falls for the rest of the week for Work Camp with my teens. We've done a variety of jobs from cooking and cleaning to moving rocks, digging trenches, etc. I'm completely wiped out from it. Today I went for a run from the camp that totalled about 8-9 miles. It was really hilly but I kept up a pretty good paces. My running still feels more labored than I think it should and I don't feel like I have a fluid stride. I'm sure some of that is not fully recovering from Sunday's run yet. This is my last week away from the team...then a have a month to get back on track before Boston. Good news is  I get to sleep in a real bed tonight and not work in the morning (I'm back in ATX for a funeral...then back to work camp after that). My plan is to run for an hour tomorrow, Thur, and Friday...and then I'd like to do an actual long run over the weekend. We'll see.

pluses: teens seem to be enjoying work week

minuses: poor nutrition, not enough sleep

soul buster II

Today was the infamous soul buster II. I've been nervous about the workout because I haven't run much at all this week. I put in 7 on Friday and 7 on Saturday...so that's pretty low mileage for the week :) Been nursing a hamstring/hip/lower back issue that doesn't seem to be getting any better. The workout was a 20 mile run that ended with about 7 miles of hills. Then at the end of the 20 miles you were on the track at Austin H.S. The portion on the track was supposed to be 2 miles at marathon goal pace (6:40), 2 miles at half marathon goal pace (6:20) and 2 miles at 10k pace (6:00). I wasn't too far off, but definitely have some work to do. My miles were as follows:
mgp1: 6:39
mgp2: 6:38
hmpg1: 6:19
hmgp2: 6:16
10k 1: 6:12
10k 2: 6:14

In the fall when I did the workout my splits were as follows:
mgp 1: 7:15
mgp 2: 7:15
hmgp1: 6:48
hmgp2: 6:48
10k 1: 6:23
10k 2: 6:18

So I have gotten faster, but my goal this year is 15 minutes faster than what I was training for last year....so obviously things on the track need to be faster this time around. I really didn't feel good at any part on the track. I worked really hard to not let my hamstring or anything give me an "out" on the workout. I wanted to try and hit the 2:55 goals, and I didn't want to get through half of it and say "oh that hurts, I should stop." And while I didn't hit my goals, I never let up. I was pushing as hard as I could the whole time. My problem was just that I never felt loose or had a fluid stride so it was really hard to get down to 6min pace. I had that pace for the first 800m or so of the first 10k mile, but I couldn't keep it there. The good news is I didn't die too much....but I still have work to do.

pluses: time with family, nicer weather

minuses: my body hurts!

two more days..then I'M BACK

Two more days of no running. I've been on a mandatory break from Sunday until Thursday. I cheated on Monday (I know, I'm weak) and went out for an easy 4 on the Greenbelt. About a mile and a half into the run I stepped on the edge of a rock and twisted my ankle. It wasn't bad, but it was enough of a sign that my body is saying STOP (and my friends, coach, husband, etc). I've had enough twisted ankles in my basketball life to know this isn't a bad one. It was just a little swollen and sore the past few days, but I think it'll be fine by Friday. I have been going to the gym everyday to work on strengthen my core. Marc has decided that is the root of all of my problems. The weaknesses I have allow my pelvis and hips to not give me an even amount of support on each side, so when I stride out hard or fast with my right leg, it's pulling on my hamstring. I think this break along with continued work in the weight room should take care of the problem. The good news is my attitude about running is becoming positive again, which is much needed. I had some other personal/health issues last week that kept me really preoccupied and I think that added stress made my emotions towards running a bit more out of control than usual. The good news is I had a good doctors appt yesterday and everything is fine...just a minor herniated muscle in my abs. It doesn't hurt, so it's no big deal. I was just freaking out because I didn't know what it was. The rest of the week is going to involve eating right, getting and staying hydrated, and getting enough sleep to have a pain free and hopefully successful 28 miler on Sunday!!

pluses: lunch with C Hall

minuses: traffic, bad driving weather

travis country LAB

We met at Central Market this morning for a 4 mile warm up to the Travis Country 5 mile loop. The plan was to do three of these loops at MGP, with a 2 minute break between each one. My plan was to do one, see how my hamstring felt...and then decide how to proceed. The warm up was fine. Humid and a little stiff, but not bad. I've been training at 2:55 pace which is a 6:40 mile..so that was my goal for the loops. I managed to be inconsistent, at best. Last season when we did this workout, I remember I didn't wear a watch but just latched on to the "train" and was right on every mile. This year I'm kind of in no man's land and I'm really struggling to hit paces. I'm either too fast or too slow. When I go out too fast I end up paying in the end. I've learned this lesson but haven't figured out how to prevent myself from repeating the same mistakes. The splits for each of my loops is below:
loop 1 loop 2 loop 3
6:31 6:30 8:08
6:28 6: 31 6:34
6:34 6:27 6:47
6:50 6:40 7:04
6:56 7:07 7:23

I have a couple of conclusions to draw from this....first of all, I wasn't smart on the first loop. I went out too fast, and wasn't "fit" enough to finish at the same pace. The out and back and hill on the last part of the loop were tough and I paid because of the fast start. The second loop is actually the only one I wasn't too far off. I went out fast again (which was stupid) but I actually felt pretty strong. I felt like I was in a comfortable rhythm and when I thought I was fading I was actually right at MGP. Going up the last hill on the 2nd loop, my hamstring really started to hurt. I intentionally let up at this point and took it in easy (hence the 7:07). I thought about calling it quits, but after talking to Steve I decided I needed the mileage so I'd go out easy on the third loop and just jog the whole thing if necessary. After a mile of letting my leg loosen up, I tried to push it again. I was relatively successful, but when it started tightening up again towards the end I backed off. The good news is I got in a full 23 miles and my actual average for the MGP miles was 6:50...which includes the 8 min mile. So while I wasn't consistent, I wasn't too far off overall.

On the cool down I was fine. I actually came back in faster than I went out. The big question mark in my mind is how much of my inconsistency and inability to nail workouts right now is fitness vs. mental vs injury. I'm sure it's some sort of combination of the three. The possibility of readjusting my Boston goal came up which I really wasn't happy to hear. 2:55 doesn't sound too crazy for me and 6:40 hasn't felt hard...but I'm not running 6:40, I'm going out too fast and running harder than that on most of the workouts. The ease of the cool down made me feel like my fitness is not the problem, but I'm not 100% convinced of that. If it is part injury, hopefully the next few days will take care of that. I'm going to back off and stick to some easy trails or just off days. I have to get my hamstring 100% so I can figure out what the real issue is. If it's mental, that's a different ballgame and I'll deal with it one work-out at a time.

pluses: kids enjoyed middle school retreat

minuses: not enough sleep

recovery/easy day

I went out for two easy runs today. This first was on the greenbelt with Robin and Mindy. They hadn't run there before and wanted to check it out. We went for an easy run around 4 miles. My hamstring felt pretty good. The run was nice because it was great weather and I enjoyed the company. It was a good reminder of why I love running as opposed to yesterday's debacle. The rest of the morning I didn't have any pain walking around...just a little stiffness. Then this afternoon, per Marc's instructions, I went to the gym to do some of the new exercises he showed me yesterday. After those, he wanted me to do a shake out run and see how my leg felt. Initially, it felt pretty tight. I'd say about a 5 on a pain scale of 1-10 (10 being I can barely walk and 1 being feels like a million bucks). After about 10 minutes it loosened up and the rest of the run was ok. My legs were a little heavy, but all in all it wasn't bad.

pluses: weather, salt lick

minuses: traffic

discouraged

And the trend continues...one great workout, followed by a sore hamstring, followed by me blowing up at the next workout. From the get-go I felt tight. Started off with the front pack on the rollers. They got a little quick when Steve started rolling will them, and I quickly feel behind. Tried to hang with Kamran for awhile, but struggled there too. Then Mike and Damon flew by...then I started getting pissed. Not at them, of course, just mad at myself...actually not mad, just frustrated. I can't keep yo-yoing back and forth and expect to run well in Boston. I need to be able to consistently work hard...and while my I'm not suffering from a lack of effort...I just can't do what I need to right now and stay healthy. The 2 min on 2 off was decent for the first part...then I fell apart. I went easy and gradually picked it up on the "tempo" part back. Total mileage 13.3. Total pace, including warm-up and cool down: 7:17. Boo.

pluses: time with family

minuses: crappy mood, irritated hammy

semi-off day

I knew today was going to be a busy day so I figured I'd make it my "off" day and just run on Friday. I had an early mtg at Emmaus, followed by another mtg, followed by picking up my mother-in-law and sister-in-law. I wasn't sure what there plans were, but I knew we had about 3 hours together until I had to head back to Emmaus. Lucky for me, they wanted to run. We did an easy 4 mile loop at the lake. They're from MI where it is cold, so they were anxious to spend some time outside. I think it was actually a good shake out for me. My hammy is pretty tight from yesterday. It just doesn't seem to be fully healed yet. It was feeling pretty good last week, but then when I pushed the pace yesterday it seemed to revert back to how it felt before. Not horribly bad to the point that I can't run...just sore and tight. I'm meeting up with Marc from SoCo again tomorrow, so maybe he'll have some insight. Looks like my mileage is going to be plenty high this week. Robin and Mindy want to do the 4 mile loop again on Thursday and Friday...so if I do that, tomorrow's rollers, and the Saturday long run...I'll be at 70 miles. Followed by a short shake out run on Sunday, I'll be set on mileage. Hopefully my body takes it well because I'd really like to keep my mileage at 70+ during the quality stage. I don't want to chase a number...but it seems like that'd be a good workload to shoot for!

pluses: time with family

minuses: lots of driving

warhurst

I was pretty scared coming in to today's workout. Ever since I ran the SA marathon, Steve's been talking about the warhurst and how hard it was going to be for me to complete. I hadn't run it before, so I didn't know what to expect. The only good thing I had going for me was that I've completed some pretty tough track workouts in college...so I knew the mental toughness was there. The workout was 5 (yes that's right, 5) sets of 1 mile at tempo pace, quick recovery, 1200 at 10k pace, and a quick recovery. The recovery was about a 400 meter jog. The recovery saved me. I think that my ability to recover during each set was a true testament to the fitness I'm acquiring. Anyways, according to McMillan (not Mike's iPhone app), my tempo pace is about half marathon pace, or 6:20. My 10k pace is 5:59. For the sake of easy math, I gave myself the extra second to make it an even 6 min mile pace for 10k. So for a 1200, I should've been coming in at 4:30. We were instructed to take the first mile a little bit slower (b/t hmgp and mgp) and then settle in . My sets looked like this:

set 1
mile: 6:28
1200: 4:15
set 2
mile: 6:16
1200: 4:26
set 3
mile: 6:16
1200: 4:27
set 4
mile: 6:15
1200: 4:25
set 5
mile: 6:17
1200: 4:18

I was really happy with the results. I ran the first set with Larry, Ken, and Kamran. After the first one (which was too fast for me on the 1200), Larry & Ken stopped for water and Kamran and I kept going. It was easy to lock in with him and keep a consistent pace, which we did on the 2nd and 3rd set. He stopped after that because he's nursing an injury...so I was on my own for the last two sets. I was a little concerned because I'm not the best at keeping a steady and consistent pace...but I was right on the money. I guess I'm actually learning how different paces are supposed to feel. My last 1200 was fast because I was chasing Larry and Ken...but it was intentionally fast, so that's ok. After the workout we had a slow cooldown back to barton springs and I enjoyed a nice/freezing soak with Mike. Today was the first quality workout and I'm off to a good start!

pluses: confidence, nice weather

minuses: tight hamstring

easy saturday

Today we did 14 "easy" miles instead of the usual 20+ mile long run. Mike created a fun tourist route for us. The run wasn't bad...I was just dragging as usual. I'm so tired now! I don't know if it's too many miles, lack of sleep, nutrition...or everything all together...but I'm beat. I bailed on the 10 mile trail run tomorrow and am going to just do 5 on the trails. Hoping to go to bed early tonight too.

pluses: time w/ teens

minuses: lack of sleep, wind

2/26 steady state

Today may have marked one of the worst runs I've had in awhile. I've been having a hard time "recovering" this week...but then looking back I realized that nothing about this week has been a recovery. I'm at the same point mileage wise as I was last week. The only difference this week will be a rest day tomorrow and a shorter run on Saturday. Hopefully after those days I'll be "recovered." We did a 7 mile steady state this morning. Things started out ok for the first mile or so of the steady state. Steve and Ken passed me and I thought about trying to stick with them for awhile. After about another mile I realized my legs felt like crap. I decided to slow it down a little bit because my breathing was erratic and I couldn't find a rhythm. It pretty much went down hill from there. Got lost a few times, suffered on uphills, and spent the last 4 miles or so just wanted the run to be over. The whole run, with warmup and cool down, averaged out to 7:03 pace. It's not that 7:03 is horribly slow or anything, but I've done long runs (20+ miles) at a faster pace than that and felt way better than I did to day. Doesn't make much since, but oh well. I guess it's good to have really crappy work outs sometimes. Supposedly it's supposed to make you stronger. We'll see.

pluses: dinner with friends tonight

minuses: really tired, moderately cranky

2/25 recovery run in lakeway

I met up with Cindy and her friend Lorena today in Lakeway. I hadn't met Lorena before but enjoyed getting to know her and chatting with Cindy on the run. The weather was pretty nice, a little humid though. I've gotten into a good Wed routine of getting to South Congress in the morning to get my weight workout in, then coming out to Lakeway to run before heading in to Church for the rest of the day. Wednesday always seems to be my hardest day to get motivated to run. I feel like I hit a slump in the middle of the week and usually want to take the day off, but so far I haven't given in to that temptation this season. Knowing that I have plans to meet someone makes it a lot easier to make sure I actually do run. The only downside of Lakeway is that there are a lot of hills. It's pretty to run out here because the houses are awesome, you can see a lot of Lake Travis, there are greenbelt trails, and it's a different scene than the regular Rogue routes...but the hills get a little old on recovery days. We ended the run right under 8min pace. My legs are feeling better. My hamstring feels fine now but I haven't really "pushed" it. I don't think I'm going to until I need to.

pluses: great weather, UT bball game tonight

minuses: have to go to HEB today :(

ML run

I met up with the team this morning for a 14 miler. I was a little worried about how it would go because I slept really bad last night. Not sure why, just a lot of tossing and turning. Anyways, the first 7 or so miles of the run felt hard. I felt like I was barely hanging on to the train for most of the first half of the run. Finally, after a pit stop behind a building, I felt a little more alive. I really started feeling good over the last few miles and even had a little bit of a "close" left in me. I haven't really done that on a workout (with the exception of Saturday) in awhile, so that it was nice to know I could still pick it up a bit :) Finished the workout with a 7:12 overall pace.

pluses: pretty weather, puppies

minuses: annoying paperwork

2/23 town lake run

Today I ran around the lake. Sometime I get really tired of town lake but sometimes it's a nice recovery run because of the soft surface. Tim is still in recovery mode, so I ran the 7 mile loop on my own then I met up with him for 4.5 mile. I actually felt better than expected. I ended up right around 7:40 pace which is a good pace for a recovery run. This week is going to be a slightly low week mileage wise which I'm ok with...and I talked to Steve a bit to get insight on whether it's better for me to take 2 days off and run 20 on Saturday or take 1 day off and go 14 on Saturday. I was looking forward to keeping up the 20+ mile runs....but I don't think I'll get two off days in this week because I already having running plans for the rest of this week except Friday...so I'll stick with 14 on Saturday.

pluses: awesome weather, lunch at whole foods

minuses: laziness

2/22 recovery run

I ran 6.3ish miles in the neighborhood I grew up in today. It was kind of cool because there were a ton of people outside in their yards...playing with their kids, dogs, etc. My legs are pretty tired but I'm glad I made myself work out a lot of the crap that was built up yesterday. I loosened up pretty well after the first few miles. I hit a new PR for mileage this week at 80.55. For a lot of people on my team this may not sound like too much, but this is the 4th week I've tried to hit 80, and it's been my only success. The other weeks, for one reason or another, I ended up closer to 75. Also, I completed my 3rd run over 22 miles this year...compared to last training season when I only ran over 22 miles once in the whole program. So it was a good week...and all of this has been on not so fresh legs. I'm looking forward to a bit of recovery this week then I'll get back at it. Only 8 weeks until Boston.

pluses: nice trip to houston, great weather

minuses: missing out on cook-out tonight

Soul Buster Lite

Today was supposed to be the first of the Team Rogue Soul Busters. Last season was my first experience with the Soul Busters, and I only ran one because of an injury and because my race was 3 weeks earlier than everyone else's. I was really excited to run the planned SB, which was 3 miles warm up, 1 mile all out on a track, 20 mile cool down. After the pulled hamstring issue last Sunday, I knew that SB would not happen for me. There is no way I could go all out on a mile right now. The good news is plans changed for the whole team. A lot of people had a super hard run last week, so the SB became "lite" for today. It was an 8 mile descent, followed by an 8 mile ascent, then 4 miles at marathon goal pace on the track. I met up 30 minutes early with Ken to get a 3 mile warm up. It takes me forever to warm up now with my hamstring issues so it was a nice thing to get that it. Then we started the descent. At first, there wasn't too much of a descent...it was all rollers. We did hit some nice downhills before the uphills. The uphills were rough. We ran on Pecos over to Mt. Bonnell all the way across 2222, then hit some nice hills in there...include Mountain Villa and Mountain Climber. It was like one massive uphill after the other. This part of the workout was the real soul buster for me. My legs were dead, my hamstring was tight, and I just didn't think I'd make it up the hills. I feel like I'm doing a better job recovering on the smaller uphills and flats, but I still don't feel very strong on the hills. It's either that or everyone I'm running with kicks butt on hills :) After the hills it was straight to the track. At this point I was a little worried about holding MGP for 4 miles. Originally it sounded easy by my legs were trashed. According to mcmillan, my MGP is a 6:41 mile. I dropped that to 6:40 to make the math easy, so each lap on the track needed to be 100 seconds. No one in our group was shooting for that (some faster, some just a bit behind) so this was a good experience for me to lock in to a pace by myself, something I struggle with. I got so spoiled last season running with the 3:10 train there were times I didn't were a watch but I knew I could just lock in with them and be right on. My mile splits were pretty consistent. On the last 800m Steve told me to pick it up and try and gain ground on Larry and Ken. I knew there'd be know throwing down the hammer because if that happened I probably be sidelined with the hamstring. I did gain ground though, so that was good. Here are my splits: 6:37 6:40 6:37 6:13 All in all I'd say it was a successful day. I'm exhausted but pushed through it enough to hit my goals on the track. pluses: good workout, time with family minuses: sitting in a car driving to Houston

2/19 tempo run

I was a little disappointed to find out we'd be doing the Enfield 4 mile loop for the tempo run. It was basically a repeat of the course from Sunday...but oh well. I wasn't sure what pace I'd be shooting for because of the current hamstring issues. My splits were as follows:
6:28
6:06
6:41
6:06
Not exactly consistent, but consistent with the course and the way I feel. The first mile was slow...basically taking time to warm up the hamstring. The next mile I felt a little more in the grove, then I hit the Enfield hills. They weren't bad but I was a bit hesitant to take them too hard. Then I picked it up again on Expo and back to the lake. Partly because I felt better, and partly because Ramon was coming up on me :) Then we did some 200s which were sub-par. The big question at hand now is if I need to take some time off to let me hamstring heal. It doesn't feel like it's getting worse but I can say with certainty it is not getting better. I am going to see Mark today at South Congress and see what he suggests and then I'll go from there.

pluses: low key day, time with Brian this evening

minuses: lost the spring in my step (or run)

lakeway run

I've gotten into the routine of meeting up with Cindy in Lakeway on Wednesdays for a nice change of scenery and good company. This morning we did a different route where we ended up on trails for most of the run. It was nice because my legs are not feeling great. They aren't bad, but my hamstring still feels really tight. We ran for 80 minutes and we did about half trails (Lakeway portion of the greenbelt) and half roads. I'd guess we got in around 9 miles. I'm hoping my hamstring is in the process of recovering, but I'm not feeling too confident about that. I'm going to see Marc at South Congress tomorrow so we can work on some different exercises to help strengthen my hamstrings and then maybe I'll get some massage work done too to see if I can nip this thing in the bud. I don't want to miss out on too many team workouts but if I don't get this taken care of I know I'll suffer more in the long term.

pluses: awesome weather

minuses: volunteer issues

2/16 & 2/17 recovery

Yesterday I went out on the greenbelt for an easy 5 with Mike and Karma. It was easy as in we ran slow...but that was the only easy part about it. I felt like I couldn't stride out at all b/c my right hamstring is pretty jacked up. I enjoyed the weather and the company, but other than that there isn't anything positive to say about the run.

Based on yesterday's run, I thought today would be pretty ugly. It wasn't great, but wasn't nearly as bad as I thought. I averaged about 8 minute pace on the way out. I was debating doing 10-14 miles, just depending on if my hamstring loosened up. It felt pretty bad at first but finally right before the turn around it started to loosen up. The second half of the run was all around 7:20 pace. It felt good to be moving a little quicker, but I did feel like if I picked it up any more than that I would've killed the hammy again. Good news is I got in a decent amount of mileage (13.75 total). Slow and easy for the next week and hopefully I'll be back to 100%. I feel like I'm in a little bit of a running funk right now but I don't think I'll be successful in getting out of it until my legs are 100%. It's hard for me to be patient with an injury when really all I want to do is work twice as hard as before to make up for my lack of execution on Sunday.

pluses: time with Laura

minuses: weather

Austin 1/2 Marathon Race Report

I have really mixed emotions about today's race. I definitely had some highs and lows. I wanted to start out conservative on Congress, try to break even on 1st street and then settle in to 6:30 pace until I closed around mile 9. That isn't really how the race went. I went out way too fast which is super frustrating. I was really not confident with going out at 6:40 pace because I just don't know how that "feels." I met up with a friend who had the same end time goal so I decided to just go out with her (big lesson on running my own race was learned here). I went out at a 6:15 first mile. Way too fast. Then I never settled in to a 6:40 rhythm. By mile four my legs felt like crap and I was getting kind of nervous. "Flying" down 1st street felt painful. The good news was I let my friend go after the first mile...I didn't try to hang on, which definitely would've ended bad. I was running mostly by myself at this point which wasn't much fun with the wind that hit on Caesar Chavez and LAB. I stuck behind a guy on the end of CC which left me with a slow 6:55 mile...ugh. The positive think was that after mile 7, I really started to feel good. I guess this is where my fitness level came in to play. I felt recovered from the miserable start and was feeling strong up LAB and into Enfield. Through this part of the race, I caught about 5 women (including my friend that I started with) that had passed me through the Congress and 1st St. area. I felt strong on the beginning hills of Enfield, I became more consistent with paces, and my confidence was up. Then I hit the BIG hill on 15th coming up in to down town. I really wanted to close this race hard and try to be sub 6 on the last mile. I don't know if it was the course or my stupidity at the beginning of the race, but I couldn't close at all. My last mile was right at 6:30 pace. There was no closing which is what I thought would be a strength for me given my plan. Here are my splits:
1 6:15
2 6:32
3 6:24
4 6:26
5 6:13
6 6: 19
7 6:23
8 6:55
9 6:34
10 6: 27
11 6: 29
12 6:24
13 6:31
.1 :42
finish time: 1:24:40

Overall I'd say I am not satisfied with the race, but I think it's important to look at some of the good things and what I can learn from today. The things I am happy about are that I didn't give up when I felt crappy at mile 4. I let myself recover and got my head back in the game. I'm also glad I raced well on LAB and Enfield. I'm also happy I finished 5th overall female and that I won my age group. Two of the women who finished ahead of me are already Olympic Trials runners...so I have to be pleased with my overall finish. When you log on to the results page for the half, I'm on the leader board...which is a cool thing to see. Also, I had a 4 minute PR which is always a positive thing. I think I showed some toughness, but I ran like a really immature runner at the beginning. My mantra for this run was execute, and I didn't. If I had stuck to the plan I would've most likely had better results. I am still beating myself up over that, but oh well....

pluses: good finish, time with family

minuses: poor execution, hamstring

a million bucks...

...that's how good my legs feel after my 4 mile shake out run. i'm ready to race!

2/12 on my own

I decided against the team steady state run this morning. I was worried about going too fast and I also was looking forward to a few extra hours of sleep. I slept in until 7 and then headed to Rogue to get my run in. I ran to the Austin HS track to do some 200s. Basically the purpose was just to stride and out and get some turnover going. Also, I wanted to test my hamstring out and see if it is going to be ok for Sunday. All in all, everything felt good. I didn't feel particularly fast, but nothing hurt. I did 8 200 strides with a 200 recovery jog between each one. Then I headed to the trail towards mopac and headed back to Rogue via the trail. I think I ended up with about 8.5 miles or so. I wasn't really going for mileage or time...just testing out the legs today. They passed and I hope I'm ready for Sunday!

pluses: house is clean, dinner w/ friends tonight

minuses: lack of motivation at work

early wed

I like sleeping in on Wednesdays because I usually don't head out to Lakeway until 12pm. Today we had a wonderful staff meeting at 8:30am so I had to suck it up and get my run in early. I met up with Mike, Damon, Ken, and Kamran for an easy 8 miler. I felt pretty good. I was concerned the run might be a little rough because of the aftermath from my massage yesterday, but my legs actually felt pretty fresh. I didn't do any strides or anything to test my hamstring...I'm going to save that for tomorrow.

pluses: nice weather

minuses: useless staff mtg; in lakeway until 9pm

2/10 ML run

I ran most of today's run with Mike, Steve and Sean. We ran on Kamran's course which wasn't bad :) We got a little off track towards the beginning so we added some extra mileage, so I'm not really sure what total distance/pace for the run was. We did the usual where we started out relatively slow then locked in around 7:15 pace. I had to slow up in the last several miles. My hamstring really locked up and I didn't feel like I could get my normal stride back. I'm a little nervous about how this could affect my plans to race this weekend (see below) but I am going to see Lisa today so hopefully she can work it out for me. Today's run was the longest of the week which is a nice feeling. The rest of the week is about getting ready to run on Sunday.

pluses: massage, UT game tonight

minuses: gloomy weather adding to my already crappy mood :(

rest day and Austin 1/2 plan

I went back and forth about running today. I woke up with a plan to run but it was raining so I figured I'd wait since I had all day to get it in. Then I thought about taking today off. It started clearing up so I thought about running again, but then it started raining again...so I made the final decision to take a rest day. My last off day was 10 days ago...so it is probably time. I am going to "race" the half on Sunday so this is a down week for me. I want to use this race as a way to wrap my brain around running faster times. Essentially, I'm asking myself to run a 1/2 marathon at the pace which I used to run 5ks and 10ks at...which is kind of a scary thing for me to be ok with. I know I'm more fit now and I'm ready for more aggressive racing, so I'm hoping this 1/2 marathon allows me to get comfortable with the fact that my goals times now are times which never used to register as potential paces for shorter races. With that said, I'm going to outline my plan for Austin. It still looks crazy to me, especially since the end of the course is going to be rough...but I think if I get it out there then I'll have more accountability to the plan. So here it is:
-start the race up Congress at 6:40 pace and hold this through mile 3
-heading down 1st, drop the pace to 6:20 (it's all downhill)
-hit 6:28 pace up Caesar Chavez and around Austin High School
-start to drop the pace gradually on Lake Austin Blvd back to 6:20
-survive Enfield at the same pace...GUT CHECK
-all out last mile...

So my pace band will look like this:
1: 6:40
2: 13:20
3. 20:00
4. 26:20
5. 32:40
6. 39:00
7. 45:28
8. 51:56
9. 58:21
10: 1:04:41
11. 1:11:01
12. 1:17:16
13.1: 1:23:45


There are going to be hills which will cause some bumps in the road at the end...but it's only the last 3 miles so basically it's just a huge gut check to see what I'm made of right now. If I stick to this plan then I should end at around 1:23:45 with my hard close. I'm excited to race and look back at this and see how close I can come!

pluses: productive day around the house

minuses: my puppies stink!

easy trail run

I ran about 5 miles with Brian on the greenbelt this morning. Overall I felt fine. I needed to get more mileage but we were running short on time. My "down" week ended up at 71 miles. I still haven't hit my goal of 80mpw but I have time to get to that. Since December 1 I've been avg 60mpw....some highs and some lows. Next week will be a true down week so I can get ready to hopefully have a good race next Sunday.

pluses: lunch with my dad

minuses: apathy

2/7 not so long long run

Today we cut back on mileage and went 14 for our long run. It's kind of funny because this was actually shorter than my medium long run this week. The next two weekends are going to be crazy hard so this was an attempt to prepare for that. I did a great job and held back today :) No closing. I felt kind of sluggish overall...but that's ok. I ended at 7:45ish pace for the 14 and then did some strides to loosen up my hamstring. Afterwards we enjoyed a nice team breakfast at Elsie's.

pluses: great nap, free cake

minuses: none, it's the weekend!!

2/6 recovery run

Met up with Ken and Mike (and Karma) for a 10 mile run. I am really glad that I got up and got the run in. We had a lot of good conversations ranging from quoting the office to making up a "soul buster" that included some of the obstacles from the tough guy competition. Imagine, getting poked with a cattle prod after your all out mile, before you drop down to "fire pace." I love it :)

pluses: relaxing day

minuses: hamstring is still tight

2/5 tempo

Today was my first attempt at speed since SA. I have run some fast miles here and there when I've closed on runs...but I haven't set out at the beginning of a run with a plan to run fast until today. I was thinking I'd try to run around 6:20 pace for the four mile tempo...but then decided the best plan may just be to sit behind Larry and Ken and get comfortable with their pace...and just hold it. I was semi-successful at that. I was a little slow on the 3rd mile. That's when I started to feel my hamstring tighten up. I should've been a bit more mentally tough then because in reality running a mile or two 10 seconds slower isn't going to prevent any injury on my hammy. Anyways, my best guess on my spilts is as follows:
mile 1: 5:50
mile 2: 6:10
mile 3: 6:16
mile 4: 6:08

Overall it was a good run. I didn't feel too bad at the end. This run does make 6:30 pace for the Austin 1/2 seem a little bit more reasonable...but it's a whole different terrain so we'll see.

I need to be careful with my hamstring and really take it easy between now and next Sunday. That means no more closing!!

pluses: time with 5th graders

minuses: tired

lakeway recovery run

I met up with Cindy again and we did a run in lakeway. The weather was awesome and we had a lot of nice views of Lake Travis. It was a really nice run. Great conversation, pace, scenery, etc :)

I hoping that it was a good enough recovery for the steady state tomorrow. My legs have been feeling pretty tired but I think that is normal. I'm still having a lot of fun with all of the running so I think I'm in a good place. I'm a little nervous about racing next week because I don't really know what to expect. I think Steve said it pretty well last night when he told me I really have no idea who I am as a runner. I still feel really new to all of this and I feel like I'm totally in an unknown realm with regards to my training and current fitness. I guess the Austin half should be a gauge of those things and help give me a little direction.

pluses: amazing weather

minuses: can't go to the UT game tonight :(

2/3 ML run

Today's run was tough. I felt like I was hanging on from the back the whole time. I started out kind of slow. I'm still feeling Sunday's long run/marathon PR run with Steve. I forgot my watch today so I didn't have any idea of pace. I do know that every time I was about to let the front pack go, we'd hit a light and I'd catch up and decide to stick with them again. I was able to close which was nice, but I am definitely ready for a real recovery day tomorrow. Based on Ken's GPS, I'd say I ran around 15 miles (a bit more) and averaged around 7:10-7:15 pace. Like I said, it was tough...but considering the paces of the last few runs I'm not surprised with how I felt. I am starting to get a little worried that I'm ramping mileage and pace too much. I'm about 90 seconds per a mile faster on every run that I'm doing compared to my San Antonio training. I don't want to try to do too much too soon and end up hurt so I may need to reevaluate. The good news is that I got my longest run of the week done today so there is some recovery in sight.

pluses: productive day at church

minuses: sore finger, tight hamstring

long run and recovery

Yesterday I met up with Steve, Charles, Jason and Kamran for a long run. Jason and Kamran were with us for the first 5 then they headed back. I didn't do my long run on Sat so Steve and I were set to go 24. Charles ran with us for the first half but took a different route back. Overall, it was a pretty tough day. From the get go I could tell I had run too hard on Saturday. My legs were feeling kind of heavy. I did start to get in a good rhythm after the turn around but then we hit some hills and Steve pulled away. After the hills we ran the rest of the way together (more or less). I felt like he was pulling me along the whole time. Everything felt really labored towards the end but I was trying my best to hold on. I was really happy to be done. Ruth brought us some chocolate milk for recovery which was much appreciated. I haven't felt that worn out after a run in awhile, but I think it's good because I know I worked hard and survived. After the run I figured out we avg 7:00min pace overall. That made me feel a lot better because although I was working hard I didn't really feel like I was moving at all. 7 min pace for 24.4 miles...I'll take it.

Today I ran about 5.5 on trails with Mike, Bruce, and Karma. It felt good to be on the trails and work out some of the aftermath from yesterday!

pluses: nice weather and good time on the trails

minuses: finger is sore from dislocation yesterday

the last few days

I was in GA for the last few days so there wasn't much to report running wise. I ran 4-5 miles on Thursday on Friday in the Georgia mountians and trails...which was fun. It was a good rest for my knee and a better rest for my body overall. I was in GA for a youth minitry retreat so I had some great opportunities to rest, reflect, pray, etc. I'm really thankful that I had the opportunity to go.

This morning I went out for 14 miles. I didn't want to go for a long run today because I figured my legs would be kind of sluggish since I didn't do much the last few days. I ended up at about 7:15 pace for the run which was faster than I needed to go...but I was kind of in a rush because Brian and I had other things we needed to get done today. I think I made a good choice to get that run on my legs before the long run tomorrow.

pluses: great time in GA, glad to be back

minuses: friend with cancer

ML run

It was hot and sticky out today. I started out running pretty easy but picked it up as the run went on. My knee is so so...just all of the stopping at the lights that was making it get pretty stiff. I ended up with around 16 miles. I didn't get my watch started so I'm not really sure what the pace was. I'd guess it was around 7:00. I ran with Kevin for most of it. I am sure it was super easy for him...and the good news is these paces are getting easier for me as well. Off to GA today so I think a few days rest will be good for my knee.

pluses: covecrest

minuses: weather

1/26 run in lakeway

I met up with Cindy today to run in Lakeway. I don't really run there much so it was a nice change of scenery. Cindy's mom and sister live out in Lakeway so she knew the roads pretty well and made up the route for us. We ran mostly on roads with a bit of trails mixed in. I really enjoyed the run and catching up with her. We didn't stop at all so I didn't have any of the problems I had on Saturday as far as starting and stopping. That was when my knee was getting the most stiff. It didn't feel bad today and the swelling was minimal. I think the day off yesterday was a good choice. I'm looking forward to getting another good run in tomorrow before I leave town for teh rest of the week.

pluses: productive at Church

minuses: still haven't finished thank you notes :(

rest day

I decided to listen to my body today and take the day off. Brian and I had planned on getting in about 5 miles on the trail for a shake out...but it didn't end up happening. He was out late last night and I was exhausted so neither of us moved before 9am. We thought about running when we woke up, but decided against it. I woke up a couple of times last night from moving my knee the wrong way...so that was a sign for me that I needed a break. I really wanted to hit the 80 mile mark this week because I haven't run that much in a week before, but I know it's more important to give my body a break than it is to chase a number. I ended up having a really good morning with Brian and then a good night with the teens...so all in all I'm satisfied with the day even though no running was involved!

I'm hoping I am ready to go tomorrow because I have plans to meet up with Cindy for a 10 miler in Lakeway.

pluses: good time with teens last night, good turn out tonight, record w/ mileage

minuses: Brian's out of town

1/24 long run

I went out for my longest run since SA today. I met up with the crew at 6:15am for an 8 mile route before joining up with the Austin half group at 7:30am for another 14. Overall, it wasn't a bad run. It was pretty windy which got tough at times but I felt relatively good for most of the run. We averaged 7:15 pace for the whole thing. I was pushing a little more than I maybe should have been for most of the run but I have kind of gotten used to doing that on long runs. When I was training for SA I ran my long runs significantly slower than MGP. I was hoping to run 7:18 as mgp for that race...and my long runs were probably about a minute or more slower than that. Now I'm hoping MGP is somewhere below 7 (maybe 6:45ish) and so I'm trying to keep my long runs within 30 seconds of that. I'm not sure where that plan came from...but for now 7:15 pace seems to be a pace which feels like an effort but I can hold it so it isn't bad. Anyways, now I just need to take care of my knee. It started to hurt after a few miles and tightened up at every water stop. Then it just starts to swell after I run which isn't a good sign. I'm going to talk to Mark again on Monday and see if he has any suggestions.

pluses: good run, time with teens today

minuses: not enough sleep!

1/23 recovery run

I went for a 2 mile out and back for a little recovery run today. I wasn't sure how far to go but I figured if I got 4 in today that would mean a shorter run on Sunday. My left knee has been acting up and I was pretty sure it was because of my IT band. Yesterday I went to South Congress Athletic Club to have Mark take a look at it and see if he could figure out what the issue is. Basically he thinks it has nothing to do with my IT band because the top insertion point of my IT band is loose as can be. He said my left ankle is really stiff (I didn't know that) and he did some work on that. It's funny how I could be totally clueless about a joint being that stiff but as soon as he started to poke around on it I realized how tender it was. He also said there was a slight imbalance in my hips so he yanked on my right leg a bit to try and fix that :) So I was hoping that today's shake out run would take away some of the problems. When I started running today it was just my ankle that felt stiff, but not bad. My legs felt really heavy but I was kind of expecting that. Then my knee started hurting after about a mile :( It finally loosened up and felt better when about 3.5 miles in to the run. As soon as I stopped it stiffened up and it's already getting swollen again which sucks. I really want to do the long run tomorrow so I'm going to just suck it up and see how it goes. I'm leaving for Georgia next Tuesday so I keep thinking I should suck it up until the trip where I'll have some recovery. Now I'm sitting in bed with a bag of frozen peas on my knee and I just popped some anti-inflammatory pills, so we'll see.

pluses: cupcake date, Dominican Joe's w/ Tim, dinner tonight

minuses: funeral, sore knee