glidergirl

• 4 miles to the gym, avg pace 9:25 (walked every 6 minutes)
• weightlifting at the gym
• barely missed the bus to catch a ride home, so I ran a mile up the hill to the next stop ;)

I did not expect to be running this much this soon, so I am very happy.  Everything is feeling great as long as I keep it safe.  I've been pushing it past what the recommendations are, only because I have yet to feel any pain or tightness (I should still only be at 20 minutes and at a slower pace). I'm going to keep it to every other day through next week and then go from there.  I have my eyes on the Spectrum 10K on March 19th (2.5 weeks).  As of right now, I'm hoping to run straight through all 6 miles at about 8 or 9 avg pace with no achilles issues.  Can't wait! 

Splits, elevation, HR details

• 2 mile walk
• 20 mins elliptical
• weightlifting

Here's a summary of a physician's OB/GYN conference I went to today:

I started my maternity rotation today.  The didactic portion is taught by a midwife and she mentioned running a few times and she also looked like she could be a runner so I went and talked to her after class and asked if she took care of patients who were runners and she said "oh yes, lots."  She used to be a runner herself but has a bad knee and can't run anymore, poor thing!  I asked her what she thinks about running while pregnant and she said that it was funny I should ask that because there was a Ground Rounds conference titled "To Run or Not To Run: Exercising While Pregnant" being held today by the U of U's School of Medicine (basically where doctors and residents gather to hear one of their colleagues present the most current research on certain topics).  So I went to the conference and it was great to enjoy the fruits of someone else's labors of combing through research. 

Not surprisingly, it is recommended that all pregnant women (with exceptions of course) exercise 30 minutes or more at least 5 times a week.  The issue of high heart rate is NOT an issue.  Fetal heart rate barely increases, if at all when maternal heart rates increase.  Blood is not shunted away from the fetus.  And then the issue of high temperature is not really an issue either.  It is recommended that pregnant women stay below 39.5.  However, tightly controlled tests (using rectal temperatures.. which is close to core temperatures) shows that pregnant women exercising at maximal levels don't even come close to 39.5 degrees.  It's just really hard to do.  Things to keep in mind, however...pregnant women need to keep hydrated and need to consume enough calories during a workout.  Also, pregnant women who exercise regularly usually have lower weight babies, but it wasn't by too many grams (I can't remember the exact figure).  This can be a risk factor to the baby, but it seemed like the benefits outweighed the small decrease in the weight of the baby (controlled maternal glucose levels, controlled blood pressure, lower anxiety levels, etc.).  Then at the very end, she said "what if a patient is at 14 weeks gestation and they ask if they can continue to train for a marathon."  The conclusion was that IF the mother has already been training at a certain level, it's fine to continue as long as she stays hydrated, eats enough and listens to her body.  They ended with this saying: "Nature has it's limits."  So it's not like the woman is going to be able to run exactly like she did pre-pregnancy anyway.  Interesting conference! 

• 6 miles to the gym (added 2 miles along 11th east)
• Weightlifting

I was originally going to do my 6 mile loop, but half of it is a fairly steep and steady incline and my achilles just wasn't ready for it today.  I still wanted to get in 6 miles, so I ran downhill to 11th east, turned north for 1 mile then turned back south the 1.5 miles to the gym and it worked out great.  I weightlifted for about 30-40 minutes and then rode the bus back home.  I can tell weightlifting has made a difference, so I will definitely keep doing it even when I'm back up to speed.  I used to do it over 10 years ago with my track and cross-country teams as mandated by our coach, so it's good to be back in the swing of things! 

My achilles still feels a little niggley towards the end of the run, so I still need to be careful.  I only have 11 Saturdays left until the Ogden marathon, so I'm trying to think of the best strategy.  I'm also still trying to decide if it's even wise.  We'll see how it plays out. This is what I have so far.  Please offer any advice or tips!!

• Back out if it's too much!
• Only run 3-4 times per week
• Increase each Saturday run by about 2 miles (next week 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 20-22 three weeks before, 18, 14, marathon)
• Stay around 9 or 10 min/miles, NO speedwork
• Stop and walk periodically
• Avoid hills, only run downhill and flat
• Midweek runs 4-10 miles each, no more
• Play it by ear, no pressure for time, just miles 

Splits, elevation, HR details here

• 7 mile run, walked every 7-9 minutes, mostly downhill, some uphill, achilles feels great! 
• weightlifting (which includes achilles lifts with weights, sorry Paul, just got lazy in putting that...I always remember to do them thanks to your encouragment - I won't let your injury be in vain!)

:)

Elevation, avg pace, HR details here

• 7 mile easy run, walked every 7-9 minutes

Decided to try the regular ol' route today and do some incline on the loop back towards home.  It went great!  In fact I believe it's at the point now where it needs some incline to continue to get stronger.  It seems as long as I  keep the pace easy, I keep doing my achilles lifts and I do a good foam rolling session (or marathon stick or softball), my achilles really has no problems except for feeling like it needs to be massaged (which also includes my calves).  I think I have only had to take NSAID's 3 times since the injury in December and I've only iced it maybe 3 or 4 times.  Things are good!

**Saw The Running Professor on his way home from class today...what do you want to bet he was listening to NPR or some sports or running talk show?

Splits, Elevation, HR

• 9 elliptical miles, 5 at 'marathon pace', 4 miles recovery
• Some weightlifting...still a little tired/sore from Monday and Wednesday 

Tonight was a good workout, although it's just not the same as running!  I have been so happy in the last few weeks just to be running a little bit, but now I'm spoiled and three days of running in a week is NOT enough!  But I still need to keep it safe.  My achilles was niggley several times and tight a couple of times today after those 3ish miles of incline last night.  Although it may have been from sitting due to class and homework all day, which never helps anything the day after a run. I got it nice and warmed up with the elliptical and after a good foam session at the gym, it feels great.  Trying to rest it up and keep it loose so I can do 7-10 miles on Saturday if it will let me (flat and downhill)...can't wait to run again! 

Elliptical mile splits and HR info

Hello Vitamin Deeeeeeeeeeeeee!  All 8 miles and 2.25 hours worth!  Walked from my house to Sugarhouse Park and then walked around the park until James got off work and picked me up.  What a beautiful day! 

Splits and HR

• 10 miles with down and uphill (walked every 9 mins)

Wow, it's amazing how 24 miles running/17 miles x-training in one week can wipe ya out so easily when you're just getting back into things!  However, I was so happy to be running "long" today, so I'll take it.  I was dragging; the avg pace was very slow (10:25).  The achilles was tight at times and it's tight after I stand up from sitting for long periods of time today (along with LOTS of other muscles).  For the past couple of weeks, I've been periodically checking my achilles for the bad signs (crepitus, swelling, warmth, sharp pain), but they are never there, so I hope I'm doing OK!  It's just a little tight on the bottom of my foot every now and again and my calf and achilles needs to be rolled out religiously.  My thoughts are I'm pushing it just enough to strengthen it, but not too much that it's injuring it.  Hopefully that is true.  I'm almost certain if I were to go out at my previous paces, do speedwork, and do the long runs I normally would be doing 9 weeks before a marathon, it would get injured again.  So I just need to keep easing into it and be patient!     

Splits, elevation, HR details here

• 10 miles: 8 easy miles, 2 MP miles, steep uphill/downhill, walked every 9-10 minutes
• Weightlifting at the gym

Wanted to run to City Creek today and check it out.  I felt much better today than Saturday energy-wise.  It was a fun, beautiful run. :)

Splits, elevation, HR info

• 10 mles: 7 easy, 3 MP (walked every mile or so for one minute after the first 3 miles)

How is everyone liking this headwind today, eh?  Still running about a minute slower than my pre-injury paces, but I'm happy with the progress so far.

Splits, elevation, HR info here

• 4 easy miles to the gym (walked for 1 minute at 2.5 miles)
• Weightlifting

Today was the first day I ran 2 days back-to-back without any problems.  I figured it was OK because last night my achilles gave me NO niggles, even after my 10 mile run, 1/2 of it being uphill.  Usually I have to roll it a few times afterwards AND James has to do the marathon stick for about 15 minutes while we're watching TV at night for it to be OK.  I *almost* forgot that it was once injured! 

Planning on a good 10K race this Saturday at Spectrum. Hoping to get about 49:36 (8 min miles), but I'll do whatever the achilles wants to or doesn't want to do!  I'm mostly just running it to gaurantee my spot in the St. George marathon and...to watch some of my friends get amazing PR's! 

Splits, elevation, HR info here

This time is according to my Garmin, not sure what the official chip time is yet. It's a 8:14 avg mile pace, about 1 min 5 sec slower per mile than my last 10K.  To be honest, it felt like a half marathon!  My lungs have cobwebs! Considering the 2.5 months I had to take off running, I'm pretty happy with these results.  I only had to stop and walk once around mile 5.6 (and it was due to stomach issues, NOT achilles issues woot woot!).  I was on pace to get my goal of ~49 mins until the stomach issues hit, so that makes me feel even better.  Now I'm just excited to get going on some real training.  I'll use some caution, but I think I'll be able to start picking it up, especially next week or the next.

Good job everyone!  It has been so good to see you all! 

Splits, elevation, HR info here

• 10 mile loop at 9:23 avg pace (no walking, just stretching at stop lights)

Thank you Mr. Garmin...now that is more like it. :)

Splits, elevation and HR info here

Definitely a rest day. Every now and again my work schedule detroys me and I don't even feel like running.  Now that's when I know I'm tired.  I am taking all afternoon/evening to catch up on rest and homework...and then sheer laziness when James get home from work. :)  I love spring break.   My self won't let me sleep any longer, so it's a "still in my PJ's with no plans to get ready, will be in my bed with my laptop or watching TV the rest of the day" kind of day.  We were going to go see Tangled for the Dollar Theater's discount Tuesday (isn't that funny that they have discount days? :)), but I don't even have it in me to pick out an outfit!  I still haven't even unpacked from St. George yet, that is so embarrassing!  It will have to wait until tomorrow.  

Hope you're all doing well.  Happy Running! :)  

• 7.6 easy miles

Saw a few students a couple times along the loop at the U who must have been doing some sort of blindness awareness activity (they had those white sticks and their eyes were blind-folded).  They were having difficulty knowing when to cross the street and you could tell they were scared out of their minds of getting hit by a car that wasn't paying attention (heck, I'm scared of getting hit by a car because I wasn't watching well enough and I can see).  Real blind people make all of that seem so easy!!  But these guys made me realize how hard it really is and I am even more grateful for my sight!

Splits, elevation, HR info here

• 6 miles to the gym (up around the zoo then down 21st south)
  • mile 3 we'll call marathon pace since it was downhill (8:00 mins)
  • mile 5 was tempo pace (downhill) at 7:35 mins
• Weightlifting until James got off work and came to pick me up!

Felt great!  No achilles issues whatsoever during or after the run.  Can't wait to start building up my speedwork now that I know it can handle it.

*I'm writing this at work on my lunch break tonight.  We were almost out the door to go see Tangled (finally) when I got a call from work asking if I could come in.  This is my 2nd overtime shift this week...things are REALLY busy here right now, lots of babies.  We decided that we'd split my overtime money from tonight's shift and buy whatever we wanted, what a rarity!!  I immediately knew what I was going to buy with my newfound money... NEW RUNNING SHOES!  We'll try again for Tangled tomorrow night.

Splits, elevation, HR info here

• 14.75 miles on the JRP w/ Matt, 9:34 avg pace
• quick 30 min weightlifting session afterwards at 24 Hr Fitness

Good to be back on the JRP after 3+ months!  Super excited for bigger mileage weeks to come as we get closer to Ogden.  I think my achilles will be fine as long as I keep it on the slower side.  It was a little tight in the last half of the run, but it feels great now after some stretching/rolling/eccentric lifts. 

Thanks for sticking with me Matt, I know it was a really slow pace!  I feel honored that I was with him on his biggest mileage week ever!!

Splits, elevation, HR info here 

• 6.5 mile loop, 21st south to Sunnyside

Splits and elevation info here

• 10 miles, 1 MP, 1 Tempo, the rest were just enjoyable.

So liberating to get out in the sunshine and blue skies and just run. :)  I did a very similar run 10 days ago.  My tempo mile today (mile #3 @ 7:19 avg pace) is 27 seconds faster than 10 days ago (7:46).  My overall average pace is exactly the same (9:23), but I find it interesting that my heart rate was 6 average beats per minute slower today even though the temperature was much warmer than the same run 10 days ago and it was at the same pace.  My heart is getting strong again!

Splits, elevation and HR info here