Contemplating Many Things

   I should be getting excited with the Half Marathon coming up next Sunday, but I am a little nervous with my leg acting the way it is. I am hoping that with this rest from running until next Sunday, my leg/s will be healed enough for the race, I have gotten back to doing my squats to strengthen my legs, I haven't done them since June and I am beginning to think that could be partially the problem. Right now I am looking for other Half Marathons with in 3-5 hours from here, starting from November and on just in case I can't run the Evansville Half. Indianapolis has the Monumental Half Marathon on November 3rd, my birthday which would be pretty cool if I think about it. I don't know if Cameron will go for it or not, I mean we could book a hotel for Friday night, the race is at 8 a.m and then we could find breakfast afterwards and then head home or stay another night.
   I have 33 days, but I am giving myself a couple weeks (probably less) before I decide. I think it would be cool to do two Half Marathons this Fall (year) and then run the Indiana Classic Half in April next year and then the Evansville Half again, and the Indianapolis Monumental Half again; averaging 3 a year. I don't want to focus my running passion on Half's, although I don't see myself doing full Marathons anytime soon. My main goal is to focus on trail races more than road races, but since there isn't a whole lot of those around here (within a couple hours drive) and I enjoy races. This winter I plan on focusing on picking up in speed, mainly out of curiosity on just how fast I can get.
   Well.... I guess we will just have to wait and see.

Bought New Shoes, Excited to Try them out Tonight

   Last night I finally decided to go out and buy a new pair of shoes, I was going with Brooks Ghost 5 in mind, but when I got to Dick's Sporting Goods I liked the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12 more. They seem to have more cushioning and a softer landing than the Ghost 5. I am going to try them out tonight, haven't decided whether I am going to run 5 miles or 3 miles though, we will have to see how I feel when I get going. I really hope things are healing, I don't know if I'd be able to accept not running and finishing the Half this year, I want that finisher's medal dang it.
   I guess we will just have to see how tonight's run goes, Shauna won't be running as she isn't feeling good so I am on my own tonight and probably this weekend with an 8 mile run (if all goes well tonight).
   (Continued) The run sucked, all 3 miles of it. The shoes felt great but apparently I haven't given my leg enough time to heal. I had to actually pick up my pace to help ease some of the pain but it was still there and still noticeable. I made a tough decision and decided that I won't run until the Half next Sunday AND I am going to set up an appointment with a Sports Medicine person (or whatever they call them) which hopefully I can see sometime next week. I am going to keep foam rolling and stretching, next week I might walk a little but we will just have to see. I will be really upset if I have to miss this race so hopefully things will begin to get better soon. My average time was 10:52 for the 3 miles.

Feeling a little Better

  I did not run last night, I didn't walk Monday or today and yesterday I began using my foam roller 4 times during the day, and I am already beginning to feel better. I am barely limping, though still sore but nothing like Monday or Sunday. I am still debating whether or not I will run tomorrow night, wondering if I should wait until maybe Friday and run an easy 3 miles. This weekend I need to run 8 miles, and then taper down to 3 miles twice next week before the Half Marathon. I want to run tomorrow night, but I am worried that 3 days is not enough time for this injury to rest so I am not the happiest camper right now.... I guess I could walk my 3 miles tomorrow morning and see how my leg feels with that and if everything seems good then run 5 miles Friday evening with the 8 mile long run on Sunday (depending on how things are feeling Thursday and Friday).
   It's a bit nerve racking really, I want to run, I am feeling better but I am scared that the moment I get out there then the pain will start up and I will have to start all over again. I am not sure how long it normally takes for any kind of overuse injury to really heal and be ready to get back into training/running. I guess, after going on in this blog I will take Dorian and try to walk 3 miles tomorrow morning and see how things go.

Another Crappy Run, and...

   I am really wondering if I've got a serious injury going on, the top of my right thigh is hurting, enough so that most the time I am limping. It has gotten like this since the 10 mile long run, and I am a little nervous and scared. The Half Marathon is 2 weeks away and this morning's 9 miles blew, I mean I have to be happy that I at least ran 9 instead of the low target of 3 miles, but I think I am going to take a break until Thursday, maybe ride my bike Tuesday for 6 miles or more. My time was 1:45:38, and the pain in my leg didn't let off until around 7-8 miles. I ran it though, but it wasn't very fun. I had to talk myself into every mile after 3, once I reached 4.5 then I had no choice but to turn around and run the same 4.5 miles. It is frustrating, thinking that the Half Marathon could suck.... a lot, I mean I wasn't aiming for anything spectacular this time, I just wanted to run my 2nd Half 6 months after giving birth and then worry about my time next year, using the winter to train and improve on my speed. Now I am wondering if I should take the remaining 2 weeks off, maybe small mileage or at least wait until Thursday and see what happens and how I feel.
  I been trying stretches, the foam roller but it is not going away.... it is right where I believe my piriformis is.... the pain goes from the front inner thigh (very top) around the front and to the side of my butt cheek. It causes me to limp.

A Crappy Run

   Yesterday sucked, normally I plan my eating schedule according to my workouts so yesterday was supposed to be my 5 mile run so I ate a Fiesta Lime Chicken from Applebees for lunch (no rice) which was almost 900 calories right there. At 3:00 p.m my mom texts me saying she has to clean from 6 p.m to 10 p.m.................. and Cameron couldn't watch him because he is extremely busy getting a new product up and going, and then his mom who works occasionally here at the shop got really sick so he had stayed with her at her house for a couple hours after 6 p.m. I was really upset, running is my therapy and it sucks even more if I eat the majority of my daily calories before  4 p.m thinking I was running and then it doesn't happen. And for those who think I have issues or need help, I don't.. I have goals and I do my best to stick to them, and I like a schedule without too many spontaneous changes, because that is just how I am. I like and feel safe and happy when I have control over situations in my life, my situations not others' situations. Sudden changes in my schedule can disrupt my peace and "center of self" (haha but seriously), maybe I do have issues but they work for me and have kept me going in the direction/s I want to go.
   This morning I said screw it, and took Dorian for my 5 mile run. Let me mention that my right butt cheek muscle has been hurting since the 15k race, like there is a knot or something. Dorian threatened to throw a fit for the first 1.8 miles while I contemplated turning around and then he fell asleep. I did not run all of it, I walked some if not a lot and it was not a good run for those reasons... it made me debate on running this weekend or taking the week off with MAYBE a 5 mile run, but I don't think I am going to run further than that.... I think.
   The last time I ran with Dorian was in May, he was around 8 lbs and it was only 2 miles....then the heat/humidity wave hit. Today he ways 8 lbs more and my butt cheek hurts. Oh well, there will always be the occasional bad run, at least I got out there. 

Trail Running Craze

  After last night's 3 mile trail run, I am fighting to stick to my plan with the Half marathon, which is 17 days away now. I mean, after the Half then all gloves are off, I want to focus the majority of my runs this Fall on trails and half of them on trails during winter. I love running trails, there just isn't anything that can compare to them, the feeling, the serenity, being one with nature is just amazing. John James Audubon is the closes park with great trails, but Lincoln State Park has some trails that I have never actually ran on and even though it is 30 minutes away I am seriously thinking about running 6 miles this weekend on some of their trails....... maybe more than 6 miles who knows. I know I need to do my 10 mile run this weekend, but I really want to get out there on the trails, this 60 degree weather is so gorgeous and begging me to get out in the woods.
  I really need to get my head back in the game, I am only 17 days away from the Half Marathon, but my heart is swaying towards the trails, I mean 17 days isn't to far away now.....after the Half I can run on the trails all I want dang it, but last night was like a drug, or tequila, maybe rum actually.... the feeling out there in the dark with only my knuckle light guiding the way on this single track of dirt; the roots, the twists, the turns and the uphill and downhill, soaring over fallen logs and racing around the tight turns.... I felt so alive, more alive than I have since.... well since Dorian was born actually (but I was really tired too). The trails bring me so much closer to feeling like an animal, free and apart from society and so much closer to nature.
  Okay, I am going to force myself to stick to the last 2 weeks of my training dang it, tomorrow night is 5 miles (maybe 6 since I only ran 3 last night), and then this weekend I will aim for my 10 mile run. Next week will be the usual 6 mile run on Tuesday, and 5 mile run on Thursday, then Saturday will be the 8 mile taper run, Tuesday 3 miles and Thursday 3 miles.

Oh How I've missed the Trails!!!

  Tonight I ran 3 miles on the trails, oh how I have missed it. The only time I really prefer running on trails at night is during winter (no trees) and full moons or a lot of the moon out. I did have my knuckle light on, but it was still dark around me which made things exciting and also a little nervous as I ran into a large buck before the run (he didn't want to be the one to run first). It was great, it was an amazing change of scenery. 

Looking forward to AFTER the Half Marathon

  Yes, I am excited about my second Half Marathon and knowing that it is only 18 days away has me jumping off the walls BUT I am really, truly excited about finishing it and getting it out of the way. The first run after this half will be on a trail, and I am going to treasure it. I haven't ran on a trail since....the very beginning to 2011 during winter and spring, I will not run on Audubon's trails during summer or any temps above 65 because there are demon horseflies out there, but Audubon State Park in Henderson Kentucky is amazing and has killer hills that makes you feel like you've conquered the world afterwards and it is just a different atmosphere all the way around when running on trails. I might be lying...I think I did run a little back in March at Wesselman's Nature trails here in Evansville Indiana but only because those trails are really flat and there aren't really any horseflies there.
  I've stuck to my training all summer, even though this beautiful weather is begging me to come out and play on the trail.......... the trails I am talking about are 1.5 miles long with a .5 mile long road to it so 2 miles total, right now my heart is debating on whether I run tonight's 6 miles on boring road or take it to the trails for 2-maybe 3 miles of trails??? I don't know, but I want to. These trails are amazing, and many people who train for the Appalachian trails will hike these trails because they are so tough... oh I am stuck between a rock and a hard place now. Would it hurt my training at all, if I choose to run 4 miles on trails tonight rather than 6 miles on a road? The Half is 18 days away, it couldn't be that big of a deal could it? Or would it help, would it be a nice breath of fresh air to do something different?

The 10 Mile Long Run

   My legs still freaking hurt from Sunday's 10 mile run, I don't know how Tuesday's 6 mile run will be....I think I might take it down to 5 miles but we will see. My legs started to hurt around 6 miles, I think the 15k race really kicked my butt and my legs are still trying to heal. This weekend I am going to run 10 miles instead of 11, maybe though I am not very sure yet. Shauna is running the Race for the Cure 5k so I don't know if she will run with me on the long run. Our average pace was 11:51 mpm, I was hoping for an average 10:45 pace but eh, it's better than no pace at all.
  The splits/laps were:
Mile 1 - 11:35
Mile 2 - 11:34
Mile 3 - 11:39
Mile 4 - 11:34
Mile 5 - 11:35
Mile 6 - 12:03
Mile 7 - 12:31
Mile 8 - 12:31
Mile 9 - 11:53
Mile 10 - 11:37

   I really don't have much else to say, I found my other USB stick for my watch........I really need to clean out my purse lol. The Half Marathon is 19 days away, less than 3 weeks and I am excited though I have other things on my mind. Crap going on internationally, our business not doing so well on sales, I am worried about what the future holds for us all, some people might say it's the tin foil hat syndrome, fearing about war but there is a good chance for a big war and this world is due for it.. I just hope it doesn't happen within the next decade. I don't want to imagine someone coming in and hurting my little boy, but it is a fear that lingers in my mind. Humans are destructive creatures, and what's worse is that they are self-destructive. Most species of animals have a strong sense of self-preservation, and will try not to spill blood with another of their species.... humans on the other hand look forward to it and can't stop it. More blood has been spilled "in the name of God", or religion period than for anything else... Okay I am done freaking out on here, this is my running blog, not my "everything else" blog.

Surprise, Surprise, Surprise

    Tonight I decided to take a chance and try on my size 7 jeans that I was wearing a year ago, hoping for some good news and I didn't get any bad news thank god. It was a bit snug and tight, and I did have a slight muffin top BUT I was actually able to wear them. It is pretty exciting, I think I was able to finally fit into my size 9 jeans about 2 months ago and I am now actually able to fit into my size 7. I am down to 147 lbs, and this weekend I am running 10 miles which makes me nervous but also very excited for many reasons. My running has helped me lose the baby weight, it has helped to keep my sanity AND I love forcing my brain to go blank. This weekend it's 10 miles, next weekend it is 11 miles then the following will be the 8 for the taper and then the Half Marathon! Hopefully, just hopefully I can keep my long runs between 8-11 miles after the Half Marathon... at least during winter, it'll be nice not having to start at 1 mile in May to train for the Half next year. This winter I plan on training and increasing my speed, while reaching my goal weight of 135 lbs, blah blah blah.
    That reminds me, I was wearing my size 7's and 9's last year and the crappy old scale was reading 134-135 lbs......... I am about to be wearing my size 7 jeans comfortably and I am at 147 lbs.......... very strange and now I really hate that old stupid scale and am a little curious as to how I am going to reach 135 lbs without getting a little more devoted to my fitness because last year I could have sworn I had about 5-10 lbs left to lose. Of course I could just stop worrying about the scale and watch my waistline and thighs trim and tone up... and my arms.

Last Night's Run.....

   I was really expecting the 6 miles last night to be easy, or at least comfortable. I could have sworn we were running at a pace below 11 minutes but every time I looked at my garmin, it said we were closer to 12 minutes instead of 11 which was hard to believe. My legs felt like they were trying, but maybe they were still sore from Saturday's race....who knows. Our time was 1:09:28, averaging an 11:34 pace and our splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:35
Mile 2 - 11:29
Mile 3 - 11:40
Mile 4 - 11:58
Mile 5 - 12:02
Mile 6 - 10:42
   I will definitely say that it was a very strange run, and my mind still wants to say the garmin was going nuts or something. My legs were sore after the run, especially my quads, I just hope it is still from the race and not some underlying injury beginning to show it's face. Thursday we are going to run 5 miles, and take it easy then we have our 10 mile run coming up this weekend, I am partially nervous but also excited. I lost my USB Ant Agent after last Monday's 8 mile run, I cannot remember where I placed it but I went ahead and bought another one off of Amazon and am hoping they are universal.... I've become anal about loading my runs onto the Garmin.connect.
    Tomorrow Dorian will be 5 months old, he is getting closer to crawling now. It is so cute how he rocks back and forth on his knees now, he's not yet comfortable moving his hands, every time he does he loses his balance and rolls over and it always in slow motion. Then he tries to "hop" forward with his knees and feet, while inching his hands along the way, it is so adorable. His two teeth are really coming in now, and he's not always so happy about it but he is still a very good nature, happy little boy 95% of the time.

Beautiful Weather Finally

  It looks like the heat has finally let off it's hold on the area, I am trying not to get my hopes up that we are finally diving into Fall and out of this ugly, humid summer. I am going to really enjoy the temperatures, running in the evenings and walking either in the mornings on the days that I don't run or in the evening if Dorian will tolerate it. He prefers morning walks over evening walks, but we are able to do 3 miles though I am thinking about upping them to 4 miles.....not sure yet. I can't wait to see the leaves start changing colors,  I wait to see Dorian playing in the leaves, of course I'll make sure there isn't any poop or sticks around him. I hope we have a mild winter like last year, I didn't really get to enjoy much of it running since I was pregnant and feeling like I had to pee all the time.
  I went ahead and bought a USB Ant Agent Stick for my garmin, somehow the one that came with the watch disappeared and I have no idea where it went. I normally keep it on my dresser but now it is gone, I know it went missing sometime early last week as I haven't been able to load any runs after September 3, last Monday when I ran that horrible, awful 8 miles lol. Since then is has completely vanished and I have no idea where to look, but if it does turn up someday, at least I have two. I just hope any stick will do, hopefully there aren't certain ones for each watch. I should have it by Friday, hopefully Amazon won't take forever in getting it shipped.
   Tonight Shauna and I are going to run 6 miles at 6:30, we're going to meet at the same spot that Team 13 does which is funny but they will be running at 6 and are only doing 5 miles so we shouldn't get caught up in with them hopefully.

A Great Race Overall!

  After a pretty severe storm last night, I woke up to the temperature being 61 degrees and it felt amazing to be out there, the 15k was great, at the very beginning I feared my bowels wouldn't cooperate but after going everything was fine. Shauna did pick up the pace and keep it until around 3 miles when I finally got her to slow down a little. We stayed under 11 minutes, with the first 3 miles being under 10:30 I think. I was nervous in the beginning, wondering how I would do and if I would run it all with no walking but I kept reminding myself to take every mile as it came. We averaged a 10:24 pace and finished 1:36:30 and our splits were:
Mile 1 - 10:12
Mile 2 - 10:23
Mile 3 - 10:36
Mile 4 - 10:49
Mile 5 - 10:56
Mile 6 - 10:44
Mile 7 - 10:18
Mile 8 - 10:01
Mile 9 - 10:12
.3 - 8:29
   I really wanted to keep the 10:01 after mile 8, but I am not really frustrated about because I am just happy to have ran under 11 minutes. I think if Shauna and I keep around 10:44-11:00 minute pace for the Half, at least the majority of the half then we should do pretty great. When we had the .3 left I tried to sprint after Shauna to keep up with her but suddenly my capri's decided to give me a severe camel toe which I could not help but focus on and it slowed me down. Shauna was about 2 seconds ahead of me, and I am pretty sure my finish didn't look awesome but oh well.... 4 more miles won't be much especially if we stick to a 10:45 pace.
    Last year there wasn't a 15k race, but during the Half Marathon they had those blue mats at 3.1 miles, 6 miles, and 9.3 miles as well as the finish. Last year's Half I averaged a 11:32 pace, my pace at each blue mat was:
   5k - 10:47 / 10k - 11:02 / 15k - 1:45:47 and my finishing time was 2:31:05. I am hoping that this year's Half will be a little better, maybe 5 minutes less.

Last Night's Run made up for Monday Night's Run

   As I blogged about Monday night's run being so awful, but being glad that I ran 8 miles.... I am pleased to say that last night's 6 miles went pretty dang good and really made up for Monday's run. I do appreciate that one quote I am always seeing on Facebook about all the bad runs help make the good runs feel really great. I am going to hit 23 miles this week, a little concerned that I am jumping ahead but I keep telling myself that I've been running for a while and my body is begging for it now, and I didn't mean for 23, last week I was supposed to run one 6 mile on Tuesday, a 5 mile on Thursday and my 9 miles Saturday and that made 20 but the vacation had me skip the 9 miles which I ended up with only 11 miles last week so I tried to make up for it Monday by running 8 and then last night's 6 miles, this weekend's race will be 9 miles so yeah..... Next week will be a 6 mile run, a 5 mile run and the 10 mile long run (if everything goes well, no more spontaneous plans)... I might drop the 6 mile run to 5 just to be on the safe side which would give me a 20 mile week and that is my goal after the Half Marathon (a month from this Friday!!!!!!!), weekly mileage between 15-20 miles during the winter and possibly increasing it to 25 mpw in spring and throughout next summer (we will have to see though). Anyways.... to the run last night; it was going to be 87 degrees with 55% humidity around 7 p.m but a storm came in at lunch time and knocked the temperature to 76 degrees with 55% humidity by the time we ran which was AMAZING!!! The high this Saturday will be like 74 but I am hoping the morning temp will be in the 50s for the race, if it is then I will cry tears of joy. Anyways..... I am blabbering again, my time for 6 miles was 1:05:38 which was 3 minutes off last week's 6 mile run (awesome) and about 5 minutes away from last year's 6 mile time, our average pace was 10:56 so I am good. The splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:10
Mile 2 - 11:14
Mile 3 - 11:34
Mile 4 - 11:11
Mile 5 - 10:31
Mile 6 - 9:57
and for 40 feet after mile 6 we were doing 5:08, which I thought my legs were going to run off without me; I cannot see how some of these elite runners can keep close to that for any length of time, 9:14 was almost impossible for me for a whole mile just a couple runs ago. Anyways, I am hoping Fall will set in soon, I am being mentally and emotionally drained by all this humidity and heat, but I am hoping that my training in this humid weather will really help me during the Half (as long as the weather is cold and nice). I just keep repeating that to myself.

Weekend Vacation kind of Threw me Off

   We got back from Tennessee yesterday afternoon, and after unloading everything and kind of relaxing a bit, I went for a run. Eight miles sucked more than I can describe it, the humidity was suffocating and making 78 degrees feel like a heat furnace. Over the weekend, my diet suffered and so did my body, I am not proud of what I consumed over the trip.... except at the Boathouse Rotisserie near the Chattanooga Aquarium, where I had Spit Roasted 1/2 Chicken (yum), a house salad with ranch and a Sweet Potato roasted in the Ashes (AMAZING), that was on Saturday evening, other than that it was cheetos and a hershey's bar, and water....and some dark chocolate. Sunday wasn't too awesome either, IHOP's Simply Fit Whole Wheat French Toast with bananas and blueberries, and some of the scrambled eggs, with water. After the aquarium, KFC's fried chicken leg and thigh, that night pizza from Dominoes. Monday made me hate myself even more, when we had to stop and feed Dorian, the only place close to us was McDonald's (kicking myself in the teeth right now), I scoffed at the fries Cameron thought I would want, but I ate the Double Cheeseburger and wanted to puke afterwards.... I don't think I have hated myself so much than I did right at that point. Then there was the Sun Chips Harvest Cheddar, but I can be somewhat happy that we stopped 3 hours later near Subway and I got my usual 6 inch toasted Honey Oat/oven roasted chicken breast/spinach/pickles/light mayo/bacon/shredded cheese and a chocolate chip cookie... I saved the other 6 inches for later that night after my run... Now to talk about the run....
   The first 3 miles wasn't bad, my plan was 6 but after the 3 I talked myself into 8 miles but after 4 miles I was feeling the toll that not eating too well all weekend had done on my body, and it was pretty miserable from there on out. I had passed the Tahoe at 5 miles and seriously wanted to turn around but I told myself 1.5 more miles on and then I'd turn around...it couldn't be that bad... it really sucked. Shauna had ran for an hour the night before so I was on my own, 8 miles in 1:31:34 and I am just glad I got through it without passing out. My splits were:
Mile 1 - 11:15
Mile 2 - 11:31
Mile 3 - 11:06 
Mile 4 - 11:35
Mile 5 - 11:35
Mile 6 - 11:19
Mile 7 - 12:01
Mile 8 - 11:11

   The 15k race is this Saturday coming up, so tomorrow night Shauna and I will just run 6 miles and take Thursday and Friday as rest days....I might walk 3 miles on those days but who knows. It looks like the high will be 73 that day and the low will be around 50something but all that can change in just a couple of days, although I am praying it doesn't. I am craving a race under 70 degree temps which will make the humidity irrelevant, I am so sick of these humid runs. This past week had the humidity above 85% and I am ready for it to end.

Run out of the question this weekend...........possibly Monday night??

   So at a spur of the moment decision on Friday, I decided to forego on my 9 mile run this weekend and hit the road with Cameron and Dorian to Chattanooga, TN for a weekend vacation away from the shop and home. Friday when we were headed to lunch Cameron looked at me and said "I need to get away from the shop, or I am going to crash", he put me in charge of where we were going an after doing some searching and talking...what started as just an all day trip turned into a whole weekend down in Chattanooga. We're going to go to the aquarium, and some other spots, not really going to stress about going anywhere as we just want to relax and have a good time not thinking or being near the shop. I wasn't sure about the hotel fitness center so I didn't bring my running shoes which after looking in there and seeing what looks like ONE treadmill, I kind of wish I did but then again I don't think my sanity could handle it on a treadmill. Maybe, just maybe when we get back Monday afternoon or evening I can go for a 7-8 mile run and then on Wednesday run 6 miles... if not Monday then Tuesday night run 7-8 and Thursday night run 6 miles. This coming Saturday is the 15k race so we will see. I am trying to relax and not worry so much about it, missing my run and just enjoying a relaxing break from everything and just spending time with my husband and my darling angel who has been such an amazing little guy on this trip. I don't hear of too many very successful trips where the babies/infants didn't cry, but so far Dorian has been in such a good mood. Right now we're in the hotel, tomorrow we're going to aim for the aquarium after eating breakfast somewhere night and then see what else is going on. We ate dinner at Boathouse Rotisserie & Raw Bar, which was AMAZING and DELICIOUS. This weekend other than what walking we might get, I am going to focus on crunches, bridge poses and what not.