Sunday, March 28, 2010

Change in Routine

I infected our computer with the Trojan virus. The wicked virus has been removed and I am glad to be back online with an update. We had to have our computer restored and had to buy another copy of Windows 7.
Sadly, I am not running right now. The flesh on the inside of my knee is sill inflammed. I refrained from running last week. The jury is still out on what I will do this week.
I have been walking; doing sit-ups; doing push-ups off the wall; lifting 3 and 5 pound dumbbells;riding on our stationary air recumbent bike; walking; doing water aerobics; and Sunday morning at 3:30 AM I shot some hoops from court to court at work on my 30 minute break. I ice my problem area as needed during this time of not running.
I love riding the stationary bike. I am able to ride about seven miles on it in 30 minutes and I can ride up to 21 miles an hour. I think that the use of the stationary bike on my non running days has been very good for my stamina. Perhaps that is why I unexpectedly shaved three minutes off my race time last week.
My troubled area does seem to hurt more when I get off the stationary bike though so I ice it before and afterward. My husband advised me to take it easy on the bike but that is so hard. I love cardio!
I don't know how to swim and I had a hard time trying to exercise in a jacuzzi. I thought the warm water would be good for my troubled area. I tried to kick off the side of the jacuzzi and it was very difficult for me. It felt like my thighs weighed a 1000 pounds. I'm thinking about taking swimming lessons this summer.
I purchased a basketball last night so I can keep shooting hoops this week without having to share my sons' basketball. I'm going to take the baseketball to work with me too. The basketballs at work all need air. Fortunately, we have a gym in the psychiatric hospital where I work and I can do something besides walking in the gym on my break at work. When you have months of running behind you it's a little boring to just walk around a gym. Ha.
I purchased some eight pound dummbells and a foam roller. I'm not sure but I think I have a tight IT band in my right leg. I'm planning to use the foam roller to relax that band and other areas of my body.
This week I plan to continue with weights, shooting hoops, and doing intervals on the stationary bike. Thereafter, I hope that I will be able to run again.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

March 18, 2010, Friday

I attempted to run two miles but was only to do one mile. I was up two nights in a row with my daughter during the early morning hours. She had an intractable cough.

Jimmy and I ran a 15 minute mile.

Another One Bites the Dust 3/20/10



We received this carry keepsake bag/backpack before our race. The bag has a small hole on the front where you can put a cord through the bag from your ipod. Sweet. It's very light and would be great to take on long runs. We received four of them since both me and kids were running.
We had a great time at our race today.
We did something different before this race. We got up at 5 AM and we ate breakfast. I think that was a very good move. I ate too much of a breakfast. Even though the race started at 7:15 AM I got a side stitch about 2 1/2 miles into the race so next time I will eat a little less.
My son and I finished in 38:56 and our pace was 12:32. I never thought I would see numbers like that next to my name. At home, we have been running 15 minute miles.
Our last race results on January 9, 2010 were 41:55/13:30. We were very pleased with our score.
To my astonishment we had to go up a hill twice. Who knew there would be a hill in FL race? The hill was a bridge. We walked up the bridge most of the time on the first loop. On our second loop we ran up that some hill.
The temperature was about 70 degrees.
We took about 6-9 walk breaks. That included three stops at water stations.
The venue was spectacular. We ran thru beautiful a beautiful neighborhood downtown, passing yachts and exquisite cars.
There were quite a few dogs running too.
One of the highlights for me was the 5 mile racers who started 15 minutes ahead of us and were looping their way back to the finish line after 24 minutes.
Another highlight was a dad encouraging his one year toddler to make a few more steps across towards the finish line.
We stopped at a Publix booth after the race and also received very nice weekly activity logs and some great coupons. At Publix tonight, instead of $9 in coupons I had a total of $17 in coupons. It pays to be in shape, out and about at community events.
A lot of people were encouraging our 10 y/o. One lady explained to him that we would have finished more quickly but the Gator jacket I was wearing slowed me down. Ha. You see Jimmy got too hot and I donned his Gator jacket around my waist during one of our walk breaks.
Bruce and Bekah ran a 1/2 mile Kids' Fun Run. When Bruce realized that this Kid's Fun Run was more formal than the one he ran in January he became very frightened and said he didn't want to run. I had to pay for this Kids' Fun Run and told him to get ready because he WAS going to run. Bruce and Bekah did a great job and they both finished more quickly than I thought they would. Bruce was delighted that he went ahead and ran the race.
In the late afternoon at home I ran one mile to try and prevent stiff muscles.
Our 10 y/o and I mused that we both felt we could have continued running after the race. I reminded him that I'd tried to get him to sign up for the 5 mile race instead of the 5K race and he smiled.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Tendinitis?

On Wednesday, March 10, 2010, I ran five short miles. My eyes were stinging and burning after the run. I'm allergic to some flowers from trees all over our neighborhood and outside my bedroom window. The flowers also fell in my hair while I'm running.
I had to take Benadryl after my run and was so sick I went to bed short on calories for the day.

On Friday, March 12, 2010 I ran in barely noticeable drizzling rain. I ran a 15:30 minute pace which is a personal best for me. I ran two miles in 31 minutes.

I noticed on Friday or Saturday that the tissue next to one of my knees is tender and ever so slightly swollen. I used an interactice website called iVillage Health and all of my sypmptoms match up with tendinitis.

I did not run today as I wanted to rest my inflamed tissue for three days. I did rid my stationary air recumbent bike for 5.7 miles x one half hour, burning 349 calories. Isn't that a sweet number?

Being the lazy person I am I didn't bother to wear a knee brace I purchased last night nor did I take ibuprofen nor do I use heat or ice. My leg felt great until now so late in the game I am now icing it.

I had planned to run one mile one day this week and then two miles another day and then take off until race day. I'm wondering now if I should just take off altogether and just ride the stationary bike. Decisions, decision, decisions. I will watch and pray.

Five days until race day...

Monday, March 8, 2010

Fartleks

Today was our first time doing fartleks. The first fartlek was difficult. I thought the other three were more bearable. Our 10 year old had a different opinion. He says the first, second, and third fartleks were equally difficult. The fourth fartlek was more bearable for him.
We ran an easy half mile. Next, we did four sets of fast 400 meters followed by 200 meter recovery runs. We finished off the fartleks with another easy half mile. Our ten year old did a great job. He skips some of his runs during the week so he isn't as conditioned as I am yet. I'm not bragging as I know that he will leave me far behind one day soon. I encouraged him to walk on the last two recovery runs. He loves running and I don't want him to hate it some day. We gave each other high fives, drank water, and had our lunch. It was a fun but hard and energizing exercise. I had a buzz for the remainder of the day.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Friday, March 5, 2010

Today I ran my two scheduled miles. My pace was 17 1/2 minutes. I ran without walking and was full of energy the entire day. Jimmy wasn't able to run today. He told me his knee was hurting. On that note I went to the LRS to pick up his new shoes that I'd ordered. They look very cool. I will post a photo of them when I get a chance.
Jackie, the associate at the store is very kind. She's 20 years old and she has been running since she was 14. Jackie says she wishes that she had started at 10 like Jimmy. I thought that was a little funny. I guess I don't see much difference in four years. Now, of course, I wish I had started at 10 or 14 or 20 or even 30 years of age. Ha!
I reviewed my running schedule with Jackie and asked her how she thought I should plan my runs the week before the race. She is a very humble young lady and hesitantly gave me her opinion. I loved her suggestion. She suggested that what some do is to run one mile on my first running day of that week, two miles on the next run and then reserve the next run for race day. I think that makes sense and hadn't thought of it. She pointed out that everyone is different and that I should make a note of whatever schedule I decide to follow. If the schedule works out well she suggested that I follow the same schedule before my next race.
I bought some fun stickers that I'm going to stick outside our van. I'm going to put one next to our daughter's seat which reads, I Love Swimming. The one that I am going to place near our 10 y/o's seat reads, I Love Running. The one near my seat has a girl running and reads, Runner Girl. If there had been an appropriate sticker for our eight year old's seat it would have read, I Love Baseball. First, I need to clean the dirty van windows. :)

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

Today was my long day. I was supposed to run eight miles. I was so proud of myself for getting up early enough to use my bronchodilator, have my cup of green tea, and head out on the road at 6:54 AM.
In the afternoon my sons asked me how many laps equaled the eight miles I ran. I hesitated and was taken aback. I realized that I had only ran 14 laps. Each lap is 1/2 mile and I was lacking two laps. I'd gotten mixed up with my run from last week which was 7 miles:14 laps.
Our 10 y/o hadn't gone out for his run yet so I told him to lace up and I would finish my run with him.
My error worked out for my good. My hips were stiff and the afternoon run tremendously loosened them up. In fact I think I will always save my last two laps on my long days for the afternoon.