glidergirl

• 4 mile run to the gym (avg pace 9:25, walked every 5 minutes)
• weightlifting (James picked me up on his way home from work)

I work the 7pm-7:30am shift 2-3 times a week.  One of the things I missed most about running has been my usual jog after waking up in the afternoon to get my brain back online and get me functioning in the land of the living again.  I got to do that today and it felt so good.  Oh how I missed you, Running.  Running takes a lot of the perils of night shift work completely away.  I have more energy, I feel good through my whole shift, I get back onto a normal schedule quicker, my sleep is more efficient, I eat better, I don't have as much brain damage so I can study better, ETC! 

Splits, HR info, elevation details here

• 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