new shoes

I ordered new running shoes last night--it has been on my list of things to do for awhile. I got the same exact ones I have been wearing because they seem to be working fine. Tonight I think Karrie and I are skipping our speedwork (Yasso 800s) and doing a regular run around Mason. We are both dealing with injuries. On that note, I have an appointment at Oxford Physical Therapy on Thursday so we'll see what they say!

pain

Today I was set for the run. I was planning to do the 8 mile loop and then the 5.75 mile loop for a total of close to 14 miles. The only problem was that about halfway into the first loop my knee (IT band issue from last Saturday's run that sidelined me a few days this week) started hurting. I ran through it and surprisingly the pain lessened. Then I stopped to get a drink of water and thought I would be doing myself some good to bend the knee. OUCH! Apparently that was NOT what I was supposed to do. The rest of the run was slow, and limping. I also talked to a girl who has the same problem and asked her about the band on her leg and physical therapy and got some good answers. The second loop did NOT get completed. Running-wise I felt like I could keep going. Knee-wise I did not.

On a good note, there was conveniently a free injury clinic at our group today and they had all sorts of people on hand (physical therapists, massage therapists, etc.) to help us out. The complaint I was hearing from everyone all around was the same as mine. Looks like I'm not alone! I had a physical therapist massage and stretch out my leg which left it feeling quite good and if I did not have to get home to Madison I may have gone out for the second loop. It quickly stiffened up again and I have been icing it on and off since I've been home.

I will likely call a local sports medicine place on Monday and see what can be done for me. I will rest it until then (if you call chasing after Madison rest!).

I had forgotten...

how wonderful yoga is. Also how hard it is for me, a very unflexible person, to do the simplest thing like a downward-facing dog. But it felt good to get really stretched out.

The running? Well, on Wednesday I set off to do my 3 mile easy run. I ran about .5 miles when the outside of my right knee started killing me--the same spot it hurt after I did my long run on Saturday (although it hadn't hurt at ALL since then). So I slowed it down to a walk and proceeded to go around my loop, trying to run at various points in time, only to be forced to walk after a few steps of running. It was a bummer.

I went home and R.I.C.E.d it for the rest of the afternoon. Stairs were impossible. It was almost comical to watch my try to chase around my puppy. But, by Thursday morning, no pain! So Karrie showed up at 8am on Thursday morning for our longer run of the week. Same thing--about a half a mile and then pain! I didn't push it though and I'm totally resting today for tomorrow's long run. I have to do about 12 miles tomorrow and I'd really like to get through it with no problems.

From researching, talking to Ryan who works with a lot of sports medicine people and Karrie who knows about this sort of thing, I think it might be my IT band. I've been doing some stretching and massaging of the area as most sources tell me to do. I just hope it's not something I will continue to have a problem with. Hopefully it will go away as suddenly as my achilles pain during training for the last marathon!

Long run tomorrow--let's hope the showers and thunderstorms are few!

hell repeats

Oops, I mean hill repeats. Same thing. Tonight's group run was from the Spot and we went to the Rookwood mansion area to do some hill repeats. For those of you that don't know, that means we run up and down the same hill over and over again. In my case 3 times. With the warm up and cool down (which were just as hilly I might add...) it ended up being about 4.5 miles but a 4.5 that was tough on my butt! I will be feeling it tomorrow!

I forgot to mention my next running wish list item. I would like to get a running skirt. I had a small problem with chafing on Saturday (anyone who has seen this will argue that it is no small problem) that I would like to avoid this Saturday. It is on my inner thigh and I could feel it happening but there was nothing I could do and now it's a bunch of scabs that looks like no other chafing I have experienced. Lovely, I know but this is my marathon journey after all...

On a pooch note, Madison and Marley are now the best of friends, sharing/stealing rawhide and running around together all day long. I also got about 30 pics of Madison developed tonight so I can make a little scrapbook to bring home to show my family when I go home in August. I am looking forward to some relaxing at the beach, nighttime campfire sits, and nice scenic runs (hopefully some with my dad and/or sister). Of course I will miss my pooches (and Ryan)!

long run+gorgeous weather=best feeling

So I didn't quite make it to yoga on Friday--it was my first night alone with the puppy and I did not sleep much at all. I will plan to go next week though.

Yesterday was our long run down at the New Balance Glendale store. It was at a new time of 7:30 which, due to the little pooch, I was awake at anyways. It was a beautiful day--dry and cool. We did a 6.6 mile loop with water at about 3 miles. I also ate my Clif Shot then which was very warm and gooey. I was way towards the back of the pack but with a group of about 5-6 girls. Then we were back at the store for water and did another 2.4 mile loop to total 9 miles. I missed Karrie who slept in accidentally, but luckily I had my ipod to keep me company! I felt really good afterwards and happy that I completed all 9 miles without a problem. Last night I was sore, mostly my knee, randomly. I am taking today off although we did do a lap around the block with both pooches early this morning.

I found my ipod!

Here's another one of Madison and I found my ipod! It was in Ryan's office--go figure! Now, if only the weather would cooperate--it's been thunderstorming all day! Tomorrow morning I head to Mason to do yoga with Karrie which is one of the things I told myself I would do differently this marathon...stretch!

I took Tuesday off to spend with Ryan's parents and then ran another 3 yesterday but didn't get out at all today. I think we were spoiled having Ryan's parents here to watch the pooch and today I just couldn't find time between the storms and watching Madison. I'm worried about Saturday's long run!

short and sweet

After a night of getting up at 1am and 4am for an hour each time to bring Madison out and then play with her until she was tired enough to fall back to sleep without crying, I got up at 8:30 for my morning run. The weather was great but it was getting warm...I only did 2.8 miles (cut it short due to a fence crew which I had already run past 2 times and didn't feel like doing a 3rd) but it felt good. My blister is taken care of but my toenail is still really bothering me. Also I couldn't find my ipod (still can't, which drives me crazy!) so the run was a little boring. But I took along a water bottle and sipped every 1/2 mile which seemed to keep me hydrated.

Instead of coffee this morning I tried the new smoothie from Caribou Coffee which supposedly has electrolytes as well as caffeine. I'm not really feeling the effects quite yet but we'll see...

see my pooches!

You can now visit Madison's dogster page and Marley's dogster page!

saturday's long run and Madison

Well, Madison is here! She's been a lot of fun so far and Marley has even started warming up to her.

Saturday's long run was from the Spot at O'Bryonville and there were 5 choices for routes. Karrie and I chose the 7.4 mile route and I did pretty well. I went SLOWLY because I knew I had to in order to make it that far (which is not that far really...but now it seems it) and walked up hills about 4 times but other than that kept it going the whole time. The weather was great--it was probably about 60 degrees and sunny which was excellent. Greg was there at our Gatorade stop at about mile 3.5 and I carried a water bottle with me until then, sipping about every 1/2 mile or so. After that no water till the Spot though so I was kind of thirsty--and HUNGRY! I had my standard Panera cinnamon crunch bagel afterward as usual.

I am taking today off and possibly Monday too...I'll have to see how I feel. I have a huge blister on my right foot on the side kind of near the ball of my foot. Also my problem toenail is seeming to be problematic again!

Here's a picture of Madison--many more to come! Also you can visit her webpage at dogster.com as soon as I have it set up! I will put a link here then. And, I have a new computer--a laptop! I love it! My computer crashed on Friday the 13th and there was no recovery. I wasn't planning on buying a new computer but I was going crazy not being able to check email and blogs so...

morning runs

Despite the fact that I would have rather stayed in bed this morning, it was only about 60 degrees for my run and there was even a little breeze. I did 3 miles total, walking for 1/10 of a mile every mile while I drank water (as though I was hitting water stops in a race) and ran at "marathon pace" which I equate with slow (5.5 mph or so) or about 11 minute miles. I did a 1/2 mile cool down walk and polished off my water at the end. My route was up through the "old" neighborhood and I did 3 loops up there before coming back down to my neighborhood. I reasoned that it was flatter and if I wasn't running past my house there would be no temptation to walk.

I will take tomorrow off (says so on the schedule) to be with the puppy and in preparation for Saturday's long run. We are picking up Madison at 10am tomorrow and Ryan's parents are coming into town on Saturday.

Here's a little dog humor for you!

sweat

I am so far thoroughly not enjoying training in the summer. I had these great ideas about how I was off from work and could devote extra time to training, etc. Well, it's just too darn hot.

Last night was my first running spot training group run. Karrie and I chose the 4.5 mile route (the other options were a bit longer) and I really struggled. I am used to running in the morning so running in the 7pm 85 degree heat was rough. I was discouraged, and even more so after I saw July's training schedule. But Karrie and I talked to Coach Joe F. and he's going to make us a special schedule because we're, well, special. I also met one of the mentors who will be working with us and she ran at about my pace and was really helpful. And towards the end as I was struggling up the hills of Madison Ave I met a fellow Chicago-bound runner who was feeling about as exhausted as I was. It was inspiring to have some people encouraging me to finish the run.

Today I just did my "3 miles easy" on the treadmill. The morning escaped me and I wasn't about to run outside at 7pm if I didn't have to. The climate-controlled environment of my house was slightly less sweat-producing and I watched Friends as I ran to pass the time.

Tomorrow I will try to wake up early to run.

Buttonwood Park

Today was supposed to be the first group run for the Running Spot training group but since I am in Massachusetts I wasn't able to make it. I did, however, take a little jog this morning around Buttonwood Park in New Bedford along with Ryan and his parents (they walked, I jogged). I ran a total of 3 miles at a pretty fast pace (my watch/pod said I was going between 6.5 and 7 mph which is MUCH faster than my usual 5.5-6) and then walked another mile and a half. It was a far cry from the 7-8 that the Spot group was doing today but I'll get back into the swing of things when I get back to Ohio.

Things I spotted on my jog that reminded me I was in Massachusetts:
* Red Sox hats
* Dunkin Donuts (ran by it twice and wished I had some money with me for some iced coffee)
* LOTS of dogs--including a chocolate lab!

Today is our friends' wedding and then we head back to Ohio on Monday. Madison arrives on Friday--we can't wait!

Cape Cod Rail Trail

I had a fabulous run yesterday morning on the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Orleans. The weather was sunny and dry and about 65 degrees and it was a good change of pace running on a different route. I only went about 4 miles total and the last mile or so was walking because I stopped at CVS to get a gatorade and couldn't run with the huge bottle in my hand. I'm at Ryan's parents' house now and I'm hoping to run tomorrow morning. Today we're off to Boston to see the Red Sox! The weather is so beautiful out here and I'm sipping some good iced coffee...