THOU SHALT BE A COMEBACK

Decent run today.  I took it easy for most of the run, had to stop and walk for about 200 meters because a large dog was harassing me and I didn't want to get bit again.  It kept its distance and barked at me but I was afraid if I started running I would trigger it to chase and bite.  Anyways I got away from it and started running again.  I ran hard the last mile because I felt good.  Feet felt fine during the run, but now that it's over both my feet and ankles feel stiff and sore.  I think all of this is just my body moaning and groaning about being active again.  The Run for the Roses 5K is only 10 days away!  I'm pretty excited about it!  After that there is the Wichita Turkey Trot in November, with the options being a 2 mile or a 10 mile.  I will be in no shape for a 10 mile that soon, so I guess it will be the 2 mile!  I do want to start getting into some longer races though and try them out when I get in better shape....there is a half marathon in April....

Good run today!  I decided to run two miles in the middle at a tough pace to practice mental discipline, and timed it out of curiousity.  16:32 for two miles.  Yeah!  That is faster than it felt!  Two weeks ago one 8:30 mile about did me in so I am encouraged by the improvement.  I do think I am going to be sore tomorrow though.

4.5 with Vanessa in the stroller.  Took it easy but still felt as if I was struggling.  Both my ankles and feet seem sore from yesterday.  I am tired Vanessa was up all night(molars coming in) and could not be soothed.  The boys are ROWDY today I am about to tear my hair out.  I can't wait for  naptime/quiet time.

5 miles nice and easy.  Feet and ankles still sore.  51 minutes.

5 miles easy in 49:30.  I got this weird cramp in  my l foot where the whole thing just seized up about halfway through.  I had to stop and walk and stretch my calf and then the cramp went away.  I am going to see about getting custom arch supports today.  I really don't want to get injured.

Very windy today so my easy run was not as easy as I would have like.  50:30 for 5 miles.  I am taking it pretty easy all week to rest up for my first 5K on Saturday.  I hope it's not too windy that day!  Feet did will--no show-stopping cramps or anything.

5.4 easy in 55:30.  Felt sluggish this morning--probably because I ate so much last night but it was GOOD.

5 miles very easy although I could have gone faster--felt really good.  I probably won't run the full 5 miles tomorrow the day before the race.

I just jogged two miles easy today with 2 short(less than a minute) bursts of race pace to "practice."   Immediately after put Vanessa in the stroller and walked about half a mile.  Some horses were out in one of our neighbor's pastures so we stopped to look at them and to play with Alexandra, a neighbor dog.  My mother is going to come and spend the night this evening since the race is at 8am so we can get up early together, eat some breakfast with time for it to settle before running and go down to the starting line.  My husband took tomorrow morning off so he can be at the finish line with all the kids to cheer us on!  I am so excited that my family is going to be there!  It's an annual festival in our little town so after the race there is a pancake feed, then a parade for the kids, and a bunch of other festivities throughout the day like a tractor pull and a turtle race, among other things.  Tomorrow is going to be a BLAST--the kids are excited too.

Well I am pretty excited!  I was all ridiculously  nervous for the race and jogged around a lot warming up.  I kinda scooted towards the back of the starting line and when the gun went off I just tried to go straight for a good pace and hold it.  I passed a lot of people for the first mile and then ran in the same pack the rest of the race.  First mile, 8 minutes on the dot, and I still felt pretty good.  Second mile, 16:02, and now it is getting harder to maintain the pace.  In the third mile I get passed by some girl in pink shorts that is flying and I try to speed up but she is gone.  I get over the crest where I can finally see the finish line and pick it up some more.  Then I hear my husband screaming at me to sprint to I take off as fast as I can.  Next thing I can see the clock and it is ticking 24:41, 24:42, 24:43.  It hits 24:48 the last time I can see it before passing it and crossing the finish line so I'm estimating 24:50 since no one ever really yelled my time at me or I didn't hear it.  I was so relieved I walked through the chute and was suddenly very nauseated.  Some lady tore the bottom off my number and then I came out of the shoot and the lady took the bottom tag and looked at my age and then handed me a medal off the table and told me I was first in my age division.  SERIOUSLY?   It was a really awesome feeling and I am pumped to break 25 minutes.  Next up, the turkey trot on November 22nd.  I will be running the 2 mile I think.  I ran the two mile in cross-country in high school so I am curious what kind of time I can get.  Thanks for all the support from the blog my first 5K exceeded all expectations!  Sasha is right on with 6 days a week I think that is the key to getting back into shape.

5.4 miles in 48:52, which comes out to 9:05 miles if I did my math right.  I meant to run easy today but there was a thunderstorm approaching from the west so I was running with a sense of urgency as I did not want to get caught up in a Kansas thunderstorm.  The wind picked up and it was drizzling started the whole last mile so I was booking it although feeling very tired!  It was good to run that pace though, as I seem to run 10 minute miles mostly in training, so now I know what 9 minute pace feels like.  Sometime next week or maybe later this week I want to time a fast, hard mile in the middle of my run and see if I can even get anywhere close to 7 minutes.

Miserable weather today!  I had to talk myself into going out.  It was just a constant downpour of rain with no relief, about 50 degrees, and just enough wind to drive the raindrops into your skin, but not enough to be "fighting" the wind.   I didn't really know how to dress for the downpour, but finally figured anything I wore would be soaked and heavy soon so settled for a t-shirt, running skirt, and baseball hat.  I meant to run a little longer and easier today, but was so cold the minute I stepped outside that I took off at a pretty good clip.  I was soaked within the first mile and my shoes were waterlogged.  My t-shirt was all twisted around me like a heavy wet rag.  I did notice, though, that the running skirt really did seem to wick moisture away and never got real sopping wet or heavy. I ran a route where I go to the housing addition north of us, run 3 loops and run back.  Anyways heading north on the loop I would be in the wind and get really cold and the rain would sting my skin, and then coming to the south of the loop I would warm up a little bit.  I couldn't make myelf slow down and take it easy because I was so miserable I just wanted the run to be over with, so I ran 5 in 45 minutes.  Now I'm cuddled up underneath a blanket while my husband cooks eggs and bacon!  It's going to be wet and rainy at work all night tonight so I guess I better get used to this cold wet stuff.

6.2 miles in 63 minutes.  It felt so good to run slower and just relax.  It was chilly, in the 40's, but no pouring rain so I was happy and comfortable!  Tomorrow will probably be a shorter run early in the morning, I have to be at a disaster drill at the airport at 8am and then after that my regular shift until midnight.  I work until midnight tonight too.  Ugh.  Oh well, at least I am off for 3 days after the long day tomorrow!

5 nice and easy very early this morning. It was easier to get up than I had thought it would be! It was nice that my husband had hot coffee waiting when I got back--it was pretty cold out this morning!

5.9 very easy.  It felt good so I did an extra loop in Sienna Ranch.  Cold again today but still dry!  It's good to have a day off after yesterday's long day.

This is an estimate on the distance.  I packed up Nick, Ian and Vanessa and drove to the park.  Nick and Ian played on the playground while I ran a loop around the playground with Vanessa in the stroller.  It was a hard loop with a steep downhill, some even sidewalk, and lot of uphill which was really turning into a challenge with the stroller after a while.  Anyway I ran 22 loops and it took 53 minutes, so I'm guessing around 5 miles since I have no way to measure it--I measure my other routes with the car. Beautiful day outside! 

7.4 miles in 1:09:00  I did one hard mile on a stretch of gravel road that starts uphill for the first quarter mile, then rolls along for the rest of the mile.  That mile took 7:10.  I would VERY MUCH like to see that sub-7 in the near future!  I will probably try it again next week.  Running hard I felt very jerky while I was running.  I think next week when I try it I while try to loosen up and relax and concentrate on leg turnover, and perhaps that will push me under 7.  Someday in the future I would like to see sub-6 but I am a long ways from that!  Anyways it took about half a mile of very slow jogging to recover from that mile before I could pick it up again and run a little faster.  The rest of the run I felt pretty good with breathing, but that jerky feeling while running lingered.

5 miles easy today--I felt like going faster but forced myself to take it easy, reminding myself that yesterday was further than normal and had a hard mile in it.  Tomorrow I will let myself run hard!  So, I've been thinking about this for a while, and have tentatively decided to do the Topeka to Auburn half marathon on January 17.  I will have just started nursing school and won't be in the thick of it yet.  I am really wanting to try some longer distances but with a year of nursing school ahead(one year bridge program from paramedic to RN), I don't think I will have time to train well for a marathon or half next year, so, since I have time the rest of this year I might as well go for it now!  This half marathon is supposed to be brutal and conditions tend to be poor, as the website warns.  It's the only one anywhere near me though in January!  During nursing school my plan is to maintain basic fitness and mileage and run 5ks and 10ks to stay in shape.  Then, when school is done, I would like to train for a marathon and BQ.

My intention today was to go pretty hard for the whole route and see how fast it turned out.  It started out good and I got set into a rythm and was just running along and concentrating.  It was definitely not a comfortable pace but I wasn't miserable either.  My plans got ruined, however, by a dog right around the 3.5 mile mark.  I have never been harassed by this particular dog.  I am so paranoid about getting bitten that I had to stop and walk while the dog ran around me and harassed me.  It took 5 minutes of walking before the dog went back home and left me alone, and when I started running again the rythm was lost and my legs were stiff.  I battled a side stitch the last half mile.  Yuck.  5.4 miles in 48:02, then .6 of jogging to cool down and work away the side stitch.

5.9 in 58:33.  I took it nice and easy today--a very pleasant run.  It was cold and windy--33 degrees and 15mph wind, but I was bundled up and not in any way pushing the pace so I actually enjoyed the feel of the wind pushing on me as a I ambled through.  I ran a loop so I enjoyed the changed of headwind to tailwind and everything in between.  

5.7 today in 50:40--8:53 pace on average.  I started out slow, then worked into a more tempo-like pace, and held on to that for the rest of the run.  I hope to get these tempo runs down closer to 8:00 pace and will be trying for that the next couple of months.   I ultimately want to run the half marathon in January, and I would like to stay safely under 9:00 pace for that race, although the course is rumored  to be wicked hilly and could foil my plans!

5.4 again.  I was supposed to take it easy today, and did for the most part.   I decided to do that hard mile again, but just run and concentrate on good form and staying in control.  Jogged 1.7, then the hard mile.  7:10 again, same time as earlier this week.  Bad news, didn't break 7 minutes, good news, felt much more in control then when I went all out on Monday.  It will come in time, I am telling myself.  I took it very easy for the rest of the run.

First 10-miler ever today! 1:30:27 with about a two minute negative split, so I am happy about that. Had water at mile 5 and at mile 7.5. I had planned to eat a few jelly beans when I swung by mile mailbox at mile 5, but the jellybeans were frozen so I just drank water.  My husband met me at 7.5 with some more water, and then on home.   All in all I felt pretty good the whole time, but really had to push to keep the pace up the last two miles.   It was pleasantly chilly today, 33 degrees with a slight wind causing a 24 degree wind chill factor.  The wind didn't bother me until about the 8th mile when I was running north right into it--it wore me out and maybe that is why I struggled a bit the last two miles.

5.8 nice and easy today. I am surprisingly not sore from yesterday but I forced myself to run slowly and enjoy the run. The weather was beautiful and I used a route I do not run often because there is a mile stretch of road with big rocks and big loose gravel that does not pack down--very tricky footing and hidden potholes so I have to run looking down quite often. I was approached by one dog so I had to stop and walk for a few minutes while he ambled along curiously and eventually stopped and watched me for a while before going back to his land. There are lots of free-roaming dogs around here so I am quite used to having my runs briefly interrupted by curious and sometimes playful or hostile dogs. I don't take any chances and always slow to a walk--one dog bite was enough for me to learn my lesson. On the routes I use more often the dogs have gotten used to me coming by and often don't even bother to run down and harass me anymore.

7 miles today at a comfortable but not leisurely pace. Toward the end I had to run in long grass in the ditch to get away from traffic and rolled my l ankle. It doesn't really hurt much but I could tell I was limp-running the rest of the run. Now I can't walk without limping no matter how hard I try. The pain is on the l lateral side just underneath and behind the bony knob. I'm hoping ice and rest today take care of it. Time for run was 1:04:09--about 9:10 pace.

I didn't run today and it stinks.  I was limping around on my ankle all night at work last night.  It is not swollen or bruised so surely it is a minor sprain.  I iced it at all opportunities.  Today I got up and still could not walk without limping.  I tried jogging down the hallway and it was a no go.  So here I am taking a day off that I do not want to take off.  The pain seems to have moved more toward the back of my ankle.  I read online that you could run on a mildly sprained ankle with proper support after 24-48 hours.   I'm going to get an ace wrap today and ice it as much as I can and maybe tomorrow jog a few miles...I hope.  If not, I will have to air up the tires on my bike and hope it doesn't ice over the roads anytime soon!  I am loathe to lose any of the conditioning I have worked so hard to get--I think that is my big fear right now!