catherine's running efforts

In the morning at the gym with Eric. Mr. and Mrs. Smith is an excellent treadmill movie. Eric and I should be super hot assassins-for-hire.

I think the 4:45 am wakeups are catching up to me. I really wanted to stay in bed this morning, but I figured it wouldn't help that much since I was already awake. Two very slow miles and one at 8:00. 

Eric said on his blog that I'm pregnant, so it must be true. At least I'm not getting fatter for nothing. Maybe you want to read my "I'm pregnant" blog? puffyrunner.blogspot.com

I slept in until about 6:45 and had a great plan to run at Liberty Park with Tigger after work. But I was *so* tired after work that I just went home and was in bed by about 6:30. 

5 miles running a little bit slower than normal, and 2.5 miles walking at 15:00. I feel a little weird counting my walking miles, but it was on the treadmill and gallowalkers do it, so there it is. 

We got to the gym at about 5:15, a little later than normal. I decided to slow my miles down by about 30 seconds this week and see if that helps me feel more motivated to run. If losing ounces on shoes is associated with tiny increases in speed (according to Eric), it makes sense that gaining pounds of fat (or baby...whatever) should be associated with a little bit of decrease. So today's 5 were at 9:05 (or 9:04 or whatever is 6.6 on the treadmill), but with the last half of mile 4 at 6:00 to help me not feel lazy. The faster part was kind of hard, and I'm glad it only lasted 3 minutes, but it was nice to shake out my legs. 

Five miles, all at about 9:05, in the Cardio Cinema. What Women Want made the time seem to go by faster.

I've been doing the stairs at work (29 flights) every day with a couple of coworkers, and I'm looking forward to not having sore calves. 

Eric wasn't running this morning until after his final (his first law school final!), so I slept in with him until about 6:30 and got to the gym at about 7:00. The first two miles were at 8:00, and the last three were at 9:05. My legs and feet felt more sore than normal today, and I thought about bailing early, but I knew I wouldn't come back after work and I didn't want to be bummed at myself for not getting 5 for the day. 

Good luck today, Eric!

My calves and feet were sore for the whole run this morning. It's either from having the most consistent week I've had for over a month, or from doing the stairs at work, or from not eating/sleeping enough (and not recovering like normal), or from losing fitness due to weight gain/pregnancy. I'm voting for the first two (but probably mostly the stairs because it feels exactly like I've been running barefoot). 9:05 for all. The girl next to me doing 7:30s made me feel a little wussy, but just because I'm not there now doesn't mean I won't ever be. 

No running today. Kind of on purpose, kind of not. 

I was planning on 8, but then I figured there was no reason I couldn't do 2 more. 9:05 for the first, 9:13 until the last half mile, then 7:30 for the last half. It was a little painful at the end because I haven't run that far at once for awhile, but the pace was nice and easy so that helped. Though maybe it wouldn't have hurt at all if I had finished sooner? I don't know. 

Limited time between when the gym opens and when we had to leave so that I could catch the bus, and there was also a moderate bathroom break after about a mile. 9:05 for all. No soreness from Saturday, and not even that tired from not having slept much last night. Side-sleeping sucks. So does waking up to find a pile of dog puke (Eric promises that it's puke and not something else) on the bed. 

No running today. I threw up yesterday for the first time in over a year (yes, that was me at the American Fork park and ride), and then I had GI problems all night long. Now I weigh less than I have in about a month. I'm pretty sure it's a bug and not pregnancy-related. I hear something's going around. I think the probiotics I took on the way to work are helping, though. 

I felt a lot better this morning, but since I was down to (what I consider to be) my pre-pregnancy weight I didn't think it would be right to go burn a whole bunch of calories. Just a mile, pretty slow (but still running). 

Probably no running again today. Still feeling better, but not 100%, and plus we're moving today. I guess having 1200 miles for the year is out, but it'll still be the most I've ever run in a year. Or two years. And maybe even three. 

This is Eric. Catherine didn't run today. We were very, very busy.

It really was kind of impossible to run in Mammoth. I could have driven to where there were some clearer sidewalks, but everything still would have been snowy and icy and I probably would have fallen down at least a couple of times. I did go snowshoeing one day for about an hour, but since I don't like to ski that's about all the exercise I got during the trip. 

When we got back to La Crescenta it was cold, dark, and rainy. I was grateful for a husband who was going out no matter what. Two miles around the track where Eric went to high school. I hadn't forgotten how to run, but it was hard to make myself do it. 

A little over 3 miles with Tigger around the Rose Bowl. It's nice to be able to run in shorts, even if it is a little drizzly. I thought about doing another lap, but I'm still kind of getting back into it after over a week off and I thought it'd be better to leave myself wanting more. 

The traditional Sacred Heart run with Eric and his sister. I was kind of stressed about going because I feel like I'm not at all in shape, and Eric's sister isn't super fast but she's been consistent for like 8 years, and they told me it was 6 or 8 miles with a great big hill. I walked for about two blocks of the hill (that, at that point, really was super steep), but the rest of the run was fine. Probably around 8:45 until the hilly part, then I think they slowed down for me to about 9:30 on the way back. I *hate* feeling like I'm out of shape. I hope I can remember that on the days I don't feel like running. 

At the track at Eric's old high school with Eric. The second mile was at 7:34, but the rest was a bunch slower. 

One of the things I dislike the most about being pregnant is not knowing what all the random pains are. (Oh, and having the random pains in the first place.) Do I need to poop? Pee? Am I just stretching? Having early fake contractions? I wish I could just lay an egg. 

At the Cardio Cinema at the gym in American Fork. It's kind of a nice gym. It makes me want to swim or something. I went pretty slow (but was still running), so no random pains. I'm looking forward to the Beat the New Year 5K this weekend! It definitely won't be a PR, but I think it'll be fun. 

It was a little easier to get up this morning than it was yesterday morning. Mostly because I had to go to the bathroom. Three slow miles to Dream Girls at the Cardio Cinema. I don't think Eric was a fan. 

Three slow (running) miles on the treadmill. Actually, I did walk for about a half mile because I was having some sort of random pain, but it turns out I just had to go to the bathroom. Fortunately I was able to time my break for just before the dog died in I am Legend. I really really really hate that part of the movie. 

At the Cardio Cinema to Rush Hour. Excellent treadmill movie, and Eric had never seen it. He and I should watch that one and the one about the cops and some money (or a diamond?) that's hidden in the heating/cooling tubes in a building. Something about a blue line? 

I'm getting pretty worried about tomorrow night's 5K. It's later than I ever stay up, it's going to be super cold, and it's probably going to be treacherously icy. What if I fall down? What if I can't beat the new year?

I wasn't feeling it at the Cardio Cinema today. And I accidentally lied and told Eric the movie was Independence Day, and really it was Shall We Dance. Maybe it got him excited for the ballroom dance class we're starting this week. 

I'm kind of dreading tonight's 5K. It's *SO COLD* outside.  Eric says it'll make me tougher. I think I'm okay with my current level of wussiness.

*The "Race"*

It *was* really cold at 11:30 at night. I felt okay at the start in my warm tights, snow pants, long socks, under armor base layer, hooded warm layer, snow jacket, balaclava, hat, and snow gloves, but about a third of a mile in I was way too warm and I unzipped my jacket. There was also packed snow on the ground, but it wasn't slippery/icy. After about a half mile I must have slowed down because from then on I got passed continually. That was kind of depressing. After the first lap I stopped to remove the jacket and snow pants. After that the fronts of my thighs and my elbows were a little cold, but I felt like I could run faster. Or maybe it was just that I was passing some of the people who had passed me while I was undressing.

Eric came back for me and met me with about a half mile to go. It was nice to have the company, and as we talked I realized that I hadn't been working as hard as I thought I was. I was still embarrassed at how slow I was, though. It was my slowest 5K in like 4 years, and I wasn't really happy being at the same pace as the people I saw around me. It makes me rethink doing the races I thought I'd do this spring. I thought I'd be okay with just going out and doing them for fun, but it's a huge bummer to be back at the back of the pack.

Happy New Year!