Cross Training

Friday a.m. – I was planning to run today, but yesterday I did some cross training, and my knees were not too happy with me when I woke up this morning.  I took a body conditioning class with LeAnn yesterday, and even though I try to modify the squats and anything involving the step, I know my knees still take a beating.  But overall, I still think it’s a good thing to add into the training mix, because it builds up my other muscles, and man, did we work on the quads and the calves yesterday.  They are still feeling it!  Still, I have to admit, after I took Kieran to school, I stopped at a right turn to let a runner pass and as he waved thank you at me, I felt a pang of jealousy.  I thought about going for an easy run when I got home – I could run, shower and be back to life within an hour, but I had to write a quick email before I could get ready, and as soon as I sat down, Duncan came up and curled himself around my leg.  Now, this may seem like a small thing to most people.  This would be a small thing if this were Reilly.  But this is Duncan.  Duncan is the most anxious, high-strung dog I’ve ever met in my life.  He has never been a snuggler, never been able to relax enough to enjoy our company.  This is not to say he’s mean or bites or anything like that – he’s actually incredibly sweet – he’s just so uncomfortable with the idea of us holding him or even giving him a great deal of attention.  From the time he was a puppy, when one of us tried to pick him up, he would become frozen in this awkward, back arched, wild eyed expression of terror.  He is so uncomfortable being carried that his claws dig in to the carrier’s skin – he’s not scratching, just holding on for dear life.  He actually still, after seven years, pees himself routinely when we pet him.  So for Duncan to just come up, curl up next to me, and put a paw on my hand to ask for affection, well, that required a moment.  And now I don’t want to move because I don’t want to break the spell.  Because I know the moment I get up, he’ll jump, he’ll make his huffy noises, find a stray Kieran sock and hoard it under the coach for hours.  Even though I said I wasn’t going to sacrifice this goal for anyone, today was an iffy proposition anyway, so I don’t mind.  Maybe tonight, I’ll take them on their walk – that will be a good thing.

Friday p.m. – This weekend is a swim meet weekend, as will be next weekend and the weekend after that.  I love swim meets, so this is a very good thing for me, just I need to find a way to keep the mileage going.  Scouring the mall looking for pieces of Kieran’s Halloween costume rather unsuccessfully was exhausting, but not exactly the marathon training I was looking for.  226 days.

Running in the dark

This morning my internal alarm clock woke me at 5:05 (well, that and a car alarm helped).  But rather than try to fall back to sleep, I reminded myself it was a run day, and I needed to run in the dark.  So I stood up and stretched, asked my knees how they felt about the idea, and they answered noncommittally.  So I had a cup of coffee while I iced them, and then I got ready to go.  I thought I was going to escape without notice, but Reilly heard me – it must have been the shoes – and came running down the stairs.  Ever since that first walk with her, she gets very excited about those shoes.  I wish I could take her every day – I really do.  I know she would get so much benefit from it.  And I know she’d probably be able to keep up with me if I kept it to a 13:00 or 14:00 mile, but not today.  The only way to leave and not have her cry the entire time I’m gone is to go out through the garage, so I left her at the top of the stairs, looking ever so hopeful.  Maybe later Rei Rei – not now.  This is my time.  Whenever I feel really guilty, and think eh, I don’t need a run today, I’ll just take them for a walk instead, it’s still three miles, and they need it, that’s when I have to remind myself that the whole point of this was to do something for myself.  I still remember when the girls were really small, my one treat for myself was going to Starbucks on Sunday morning by myself.  I told myself I went because I wanted to score all of the coupon inserts people left behind, but it was also a chance for me to get a little break, just a moment away from the chaos of little ones.  But one day, Brenna was awake when I was getting ready to leave, and she begged me to take her with me.  When Ailish discovered this, she said it wasn’t fair, and that I had to take her the next week, and then, like that, poof, my Sundays at Starbucks became Mommy/Daughter dates, and the respite was gone.  I’ve repeated that same kind of scenario several times through the years, so when I think I’m being selfish, I have to remind myself that sometimes that’s okay.

With the garage door closing behind me, I set out on my run.  I considered what path I would take.  I knew I wanted to run less than I did on Monday, because, according to the marathon plans I’ve found online, that is what I should do, so I was shooting for four miles.  My normal loop is 3.2, so I thought about adding just a small jaunt through one neighborhood to add up to four.  But then when I got to the light where I normally turn right, I turned left and decided to head for the college.  I knew it would be longer than four, not quite five, and the back half is a challenge because it’s hilly, but I liked that too, because it uses different muscles, and because I need to throw that into the training mix as well.  As I started down that road, I thought to myself yes, the darkness is so much better.  It was chilly, and I could see my breath puff out in front of me, but it felt good.  Remember this, I told myself.  Remember why you can’t turn over and go back to sleep.

One thing that did not feel so good was my foot.  I guess my foot was a little offended that I did not mention it in my initial post.  Maybe it feels left out, so it needs to make sure I remember it.  Of course I remember you, foot!  You actually are the entire reason why I started this whole thing!  Remember?  The physical therapy wasn’t working, so Andrea said hey, maybe that walk we’ve been talking about will help.  If I don’t mention you, it’s only because I want to believe in the best of you – that even with the bone that healed crookedly, even if you are imperfect, I know you are going to carry me through all of these miles, right?  So it’s okay foot, no need to throb like you did this morning.  I remember, I promise.

I wish I had a way to write down my thoughts while I run, because it seems like I have some really great ones, but so many of them and they all come flying at me – it’s hard to remember them all by the time I get home.  As I made my way through the college parking lot and started up the hill, a thought came to me about the book that I have been tossing around for a couple of years.  In its current state, it is rather dark, with not much hope, but with this twist, it could actually be inspirational, or at the very least, helpful.  I realized, even as I was running up that hill, that I had a big smile on my face, and for a brief second, I thought how silly I must have looked.  It’s all good – I’m quite adept at looking silly, and this was with good reason.

I reached home at the 4.7 mile mark – 54 minutes.  A little slower pace than Monday, but I had those two miles of hills, so they brought down my overall.  The other two miles were both ten minute ones, so I felt good.  I was sweaty, but not hot.  I still had the whole day ahead of me.  Kieran’s alarm was just going off as I climbed the stairs.  Don’t forget how good it feels to get that run in before the sun comes up, I told myself.  I won’t.  I promise.

228 days.

Five Miles

As I predicted, I wasn’t able to get anything (well, fitness-wise) done this weekend, so I was eager to get out this morning for a run.  My knees weren’t hurting too badly, so this seemed like a good day for it.  But what I should have done was go when my body automatically woke me up at 5:00.  Instead, I forced myself back to sleep for two very fitful hours of weird dreams until I woke up to get Kieran to school.  It would have been much more productive of me to get my run in then – not to mention, I really do hate running with the sun beating down on me, even if it was a really nice high 60′s/low 70′s today – I need to remind myself of these things as I try to roll over and go back to sleep.

Once Kieran was dropped off at school, I drove to a nearby park with a trail that runs along our river channel.  There isn’t actually a river in it right now, but when the rains come, it fills up, and if the dam were to break, it would be the channel through which the waters would hopefully flow – that is the hope of the thousands of people who live there, I’m sure.  It is the prettiest run I know of around here – one day as I went through that area, I saw the tiniest frog hopping across the trail.  Other days, the fog banks across there and you feel as if you aren’t in suburbia, you’re actually in a nature preserve.  It  really is a great run.  So I did five miles, the longest land run I’ve done since I ran my own personal 10K in August.  I’ll admit, the last mile, I really had to inspire myself to keep going, but that was in large part due to the sun getting to me.  I just cranked LMFAO and Fort Minor and that really helped.

I was happy to see once I got back to the car that I had managed a 10 minute mile and two very low 11 minute miles.  The other two were high 11 and low 12 – I know I need to get better, but I’m feeling stronger, and I know the elliptical does help me get faster, managing my cardio output better.

There were some important reminders for myself, though:

1. When going on a trail run, if you refuse to buy a waist pack, you have to wear something with pockets.  Carrying your cell phone and Zune in your hands gets old.

2. Ditto carrying keys in your bra – that’s not fun after a few miles.

3. If you’re going to run in the sun, black may not be the best choice.  Yes, you look hot in it, but you also feel hot.

4.  Don’t wear your running shoes to the beach, even if you’re only there for an hour or two. That sand is impossible to get out, and it somehow makes its way into the space between foot and sock – not good.

5. You know how there is more sun after 7:00 a.m.?  There are also more bugs, and they like to fly into your mouth.  Seriously, you need to get out there before the sun comes up.

Going to ice my knees today and tomorrow and hope they aren’t protesting too much on Wednesday.  230 days to go.

Day two

I had every intention of actually running this morning, but when I began to climb the stairs to get ready, my left knee protested rather loudly.  Both knees are what my rheumatologist has delicately described as “crunchy,” so I have to give them some extra attention.  If I push them too hard, I’m never going to reach my goal.  On particularly crunchy days, I opt for the elliptical instead.  I know it’s not the same, but it does give me a good cardio workout, I do get some of the same movements in my legs, and it’s a lot easier on my knees not having to pound the pavement the whole time.  Considering I’m trying to build myself up to longer distances, I opted for an hour on the machine, rather than my usual 45 minutes.  I pushed myself to maintain an 8 minute mile pace, which is at the top of my capability right now.  I know I won’t be able to do that in a marathon, but again, just trying to get myself to push my legs, my heart, everything to get stronger.  I was able to watch a replay of the Tigers-Rangers game, so that kept me occupied.  I still can’t decide who I’m rooting for – I like Texas because I love to root for Josh Hamilton after everything he’s been through, but Comerica Park is by far my favorite baseball park in the country, and I’ve been to quite a few, not to mention Detroit needs a feel good story (and it doesn’t need to be the Lions!  They can stand to lose a game or two! As a Bears fan, just saying…) By the end, I almost hit 8 miles, which is the furthest I’ve ever gotten, either on the elliptical or on the ground.  I was tired, but I felt good too.  And my knee was not worse for the wear, which was important.

After that, I hit the weight room and did some work on my arms, then did 100 crunches and two planks.  I always think of Kieran when I do this part – she’s not allowed to do weight work yet, but the rest of it, she’s totally unimpressed by what I do.  It’s not that she isn’t proud of me – she’s actually very proud of what I’ve done, and she pushes me all the time to do more, but she does so much more during her dry land workouts than I could handle right now.  She is one of the few kids in her P.E. class who was *so* excited to have the Fitness Challenge.  She embraces fitness, and I love that about her.  It’s so difficult for her right now to be on the sidelines during class because of her broken arm, but hopefully in just a couple of weeks, she’ll be back in the swing of things.

I was happy that I got a really good, challenging workout in today because I most likely will not get anything done this weekend.  We have a swim meet in Santa Barbara this weekend – I’ll be working, and she hasn’t yet decided if she’ll be swimming.  Knowing her, she will – this is, after all, the kid who swam through pneumonia, a concussion, and numerous sinus infections, so what’s a broken arm?  She was cleared by the doctor, so it really is up to her, I just don’t want her to overdo it.  She doesn’t really know that word, though – overdo?  Seems like she performs best when all odds are against her, so I’m just grateful I’ll be in the admin tent, otherwise occupied, with no time to worry about her.

Last for today, I’m going to share my run/workout playlist, because I know I’m always on the hunt for good, fast music.  I will warn you it is mostly explicit, but I tend towards hip hop and I am listening for the beat rather than the words, so just know that going in  That being said, here’s the list:

Get Low Merengue Mix – Lil Jon
Blah Blah Blah DJ Skeet Skeet Radio Remix – Ke$ha
Ain’t No Other Man Shape UK Radio Remix – Christina Aguilera
Gifted (Treasure Fingers Epicwave Remix featuring Kanye West) – N.A.S.A.
Sorry for Party Rocking – LMFAO
Technologic Radio Edit – Daft Punk
Where Do We Go – Pitbull
Walcott – Vampire Weekend
My Turn Stonebridge Radio Edit – Basement Jaxx
Come N Go – Pitbull
Rocket Scientist – Teddybears
Mr. Brightside Big Room Edit – Jealous Guys
Barbra Streisand – Duck Sauce
Down Bottom – Ruff Ryders
Canned Heat – Jamiroquai
Hit the Floor – Twista
Higher Ground – Red Hot Chili Peppers
Shake Senora – Pitbull
Crank That Travis Barker Remix – Soulja Boy Tellem
Take Me Back To Your House Balti Skool mix – Basement Jaxx
(Rock) Superstar – Cypress Hill
Hip Hop is Dead – Nas
Radar Bloodshy & Avant Remix – Britney Spears
Give Me Everything – Pitbull
Double Vision Wiz Khalifa Mix – 3OH!3
Hi Friend! – Deadmau5
Midnight Hour – Reflection Eternal
Super Bass – Nicki Minaj
Writer’s Block – Royce da 5’9″
Ode to the Bouncer – Studio Killers
Girls Girls $ – Theophilus London
Remember the Name – Fort Minor
I Go To Work – Kool Moe Dee
Take it to the Hole – LMFAO
Mr. Saxobeat – Alexandra Stan
Save the World – Swedish House Mafia
Ghost on the Dance Floor – blink-182
Devil’s Music – Teddybears

And pretty much the entirety of David Guetta’s new release (at least the singing portion) – I’m going to be adding several of those to my list.  There’s way more on there than I’ll hear in one day, but I have it on shuffle, and that guarantees I won’t get tired of a song for at least a few months.

Hoping that Monday I can get an actual run in – as long as the pool deck is kind to my knees, that is the plan!  232 days until Ojai 2 Coast. I’m going to make them count!

I am not a runner

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That’s what I wanted to name this blog, but every variation on the name was unavailable.  I got a little depressed at my lack of originality, and then maybe heartened as it seemed that there were a lot of us out there who claim not to be runners, all while we breathe in rhythmic patterns, [...]