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Showing posts from February, 2010

Running is Hard

Running IS hard. I was reminded of this last night during my tempo run. My calves were still sore from Tuesday's speedwork and my feet felt heavier than usual as I plodded along on the treadmill. I worked for all five of those miles. No matter how long you've been doing it or how fast you are, there are still days when running is hard. I think the fact that running is hard is one of the things that unites us as runners. My husband has commented more than once on how strange we runners are - that we share every detail and statistic about our runs, that we are loud and proud about being runners, that we have this community of people we have never met but consider friends. While running is something almost anyone can do, being a runner is a totally different thing. A hill isn't just a hill when you are a runner. Seconds are more than just seconds to a runner. "The touch, the feel of cotton" has a whole different meaning to a runner. But as hard as running is, there

What a Girl Wants

Have I mentioned I love speedwork ? I think I have, but I can't say it enough. I look forward to my speedwork more than any other runs. And Tuesday's run lived up to my speedwork expectations. I ran 1/2 mile easy, 6 x 800 with 90 second recovery intervals, 1/2 mile easy. Here are my 800 times (which are more accurately 1/2 mile times): 4:17 4:10 4:03 4:00 4:10 3:56 (pretty sure this is a record) Speedwork is the one time I actually love the treadmill because it is easier to force myself to push a little harder. I am also enjoying my treadmill a little more lately because I made it's home a little cozier. Now I have a place to hang my marathon medal and my training plan. I used to keep my training plan on the treadmill where you would normally put a book (still haven't mastered reading on the treadmill), but the paper often flew off and ended up rolling down the belt, nearly causing me to roll off with it as I tried to rescue it. So this is not only more convenient bu

Alicia Runs ... with me

Life has been seriously busy the past little while, but there has been running. Not just any running though. I can finally count myself among all you other lucky bloggers that have met and run with other running bloggers . Alicia and I talked about getting together to run after we realized we live pretty close to each other, but I was a little chicken when it came to making solid plans. Luckily Alicia is a little braver and invited me to do a 10K training run with her (and a local running club) on Saturday. Once I committed, I was so nervous I would slow her down or try to chat with her when all she wanted to do was run. I know it has been a while (a long while) since I was part of the dating scene, but it reminded me of the anticipation of a first date. However, I was much happier after this first date than most of the ones in my memory. When Alicia first walked in to the running store where we met, it took me a minute to realize it was her because she was with her husband. I didn

Big Dogs and Little Guns

Between this blog, my family blog, reading all of your blogs and writing (including another blogging job) for work, I spend a lot of time on the computer. However, I schedule a lot of my computer time when my girls are asleep. Otherwise this is what happens... ...my oldest child entertains herself by doing things like taking pictures with my phone and my youngest child either wants to sit on my lap and "help" or just stands and whines until I redirect my attention to her. It is safe (on your part) to assume my girls are now sleeping. Yesterday I did speedwork . I am mixing and matching the runs from the first six weeks of my training plan until I work up to the mileage it would normally have me running. I did week 16's speedwork , which was: 10 minutes easy 4x 3 mins fast/3 mins recovery 10 minutes easy (which I cut a little short because I was really hungry) I did the fast minutes at 8:34 pace and recovered around a 10:00 pace (after first slowing enough to take a drin

Craving a Run

Me: I'm planning on running five or six miles, depending on how the little midge is doing. Hubby: Or less. Me: Less? Oh, right, if my knee hurts. Hubby: Remember, don't be a hero. Be a wuss. With that parting conversation ringing in my ears, I headed out for a run with my littlest midge in the jogger on Saturday. I was an obedient spouse and kept it slow, added a loop at the end rather than a complete out and back to avoid any downhills (doctor's orders), and walked back through the door at 5.25 miles. It was a great run with perfect weather around 45 degrees. My little one fell asleep one mile in and started to wake up less than a mile from home. My legs were a little sluggish at first but felt better and better as the miles passed. One of these days I'll plug the G-man into the computer so I can share more specifics, but for now I am okay with not knowing. I'm just enjoying the run. I smelled a skunk around the two mile mark; then on my way back there was a d

Randomness and Running

A few weeks ago, Libby tagged me to share Seven Random Things about myself. Here goes... I hate it when my fingers get wrinkly (like in the bathtub). I couldn't remember how old I am the other day. I actually had to do the math to figure it out. I don't like tomatoes, but I love homemade tomato soup (none of that condensed stuff in a can though). I love homemade tomato soup so much that it was my requested birthday meal every year while growing up. I love when my dog licks my feet. I have strong love/hate feelings when it comes to Facebook and blogs. I went by Candi until my high school boyfriend said it sounds like a stripper name. I haven't gone by Candi since. My dog's middle name is Bono. I'm shooting for 5-6 miles tomorrow. With that and my other miles this week, I will be around 10% higher than last week. Figuring out my training for the next 13 weeks is at the top of my weekend "To Do" list. Happy Friday! Run Happy!

Three Things Thursday

It's Thursday again, so why not make it easy with another Three Things Thursday? Here goes: Had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon today. Something is wrong under my kneecap, possibly with the cartilage (which would explain the popping noise). For the next three weeks, whenever I have pain I am supposed to stop immediately what I am doing and rest my knee. I also have to avoid things that will aggravate my kneecap, such as squats. I got the go ahead to run though, with no limitations other than to stop if I feel pain. The doc also said to STOP going to physical therapy, which is very possibly what aggravated my kneecap in the first place since my physical therapist had me doing an exercise that involved a lot of squatting. According to the ortho , the only reason for PT is limited range of motion (found out I have perfect range of motion) or muscle weakness (found out I have excellent muscle strength in the muscles surrounding my knee). The ortho also recommended I take gl

Reminders

I was never baby hungry or in a hurry to have kids. When we got married, my husband and I agreed we wanted children but there was no timeline. When we realized we didn't have any more reasons to continue putting off having children, we decided it was then or never. Apparently it was meant to be "then" rather than "never" because I was pregnant the next month. Fast forward four years and I now have two amazing little girls that call me "mommy." I could list a hundred clichés about being a parent and how it changes you or how you don't know what it's like until you call yourself a parent, but I think you get the idea. Yet there are days when it is not easy or I just can't wait for bedtime and I forget for a minute how lucky I really am. Then I get a few reminders. It's only Wednesday, but this week has already been packed with reminders of how precious those two little girls are and how lucky I am to get to watch them literally grow up a

Jump Up, Jump Up and Get Down

Just a quick postscript to Thursday's post: I am going to Kauai, so let me know if you have been there and know some great spots to run! Alicia is my new best friend since she said I look younger than 25. I might not be able to fool her once we meet in person though; we are going to plan a blogger meet-up as soon as I can run more than 3 miles at a time. I can't wait! So Saturday we went to Jump On It, a 10,000 square foot room full of trampolines. I tried to tell myself it was a good idea since I do some exercises on the mini-tramp at PT (totally the same thing, right??). I was pretty cautious and didn't do anything crazy. It was fun and uneventful. Until later. As soon as I got home, my knee started making this awful, crazy-loud popping noise when I go up or down the stairs or when I squat down. My knee doesn't hurt, but it is a little uncomfortable off and on throughout the day. And it feels like my kneecap is being heated from the inside out. So I have an appoint

Three Things Thursday

I am going to Hawaii. In 30 days. For a week. After using my fancy new Olay anti-aging eye roller for the past two weeks, I still don’t look 25. I pretty much look the same as I did two weeks ago. My big toe, which has been numb since my foot surgery 11 months ago, just decided to come back to the land of the feeling, one spot at a time. It feels like there is something in my sock under my toe while I am running. Have a happy Friday and a great weekend. Run happy!

Running and Reading (but mostly reading)

I have noticed there isn't much substance to my last few posts. I don't know if it is the lack of running or the fact that I keep writing on here after I get my girls to bed when my brain is trying to shut down. So I am going to attempt to add some substance, although it is admittedly not really running related (OK maybe a little at the end so feel free to skip ahead if you get bored by the end of the next paragraph) . So we all know I am not doing that well with my "run more" goal for 2010, but that is somewhat out of my control so I decided to focus on one of my other goals, to read more, which is going pretty well. There hasn't been more than a day between finishing one book and starting another so far. Yet that isn't quite as amazing when you consider I am only on book number three, but it is what it is. The two books I completed are: Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult (I have read several of her books and like how they make me think.) That Old Cape Magic

Cupcakes

I love morning and mid-day runs because they leave my evening W-I-D-E open. I get almost giddy at the thought of a completely free evening. I mean there is laundry I could fold and dishes I could do but nothing pressing that I must do before my head hits the pillow. My run today was great other than the lack of mid-day TV. I'm sorry but Hoda and Kathie Lee just don't pass the time quickly enough. However the tennis ball size chocolate truffles and the marshmallow-topped chocolate pizza they were making captured my attention for a few minutes. Other than that, I spent most of my run realizing it is time to update my playlist and to keep my iPod close at hand during my treadmill runs. For the record, I have been running around 9:30 miles. Not too speedy, but I'm trying to keep things nice and easy until I know I am back to 100 percent. It was interesting to hear all your comments about your “happy place.” I was surprised at how many of you don’t get there until four, fi

Energizer Bunny

Since my sheets are in the dryer and I can't go to bed until they are dry, I decided to spend my spare time here, with you. I realize it is time to buy another set of sheets; my other set fell apart a few months ago and I have yet to buy more. Having more than one set of sheets is a good idea when you have two little kids who end up in your bed every now and then (which means pee, puke and other bodily fluids could accompany them). But I actually didn't sit down to write about needing to buy new sheets. I am up to running two miles per day this week. Woo-hoo! My knees are feeling great, my abs are getting stronger, and I have learned some awesome (in other words I look like a TOTAL dork doing them) new moves to get and keep my legs strong in places that running doesn't target. So it would seem the physical therapy is doing the trick as far as getting my knees to their happy place. I only have physical therapy once this week and once next week. If all goes well, I'll be