catherine's running efforts

I've been feeling bummed about stuff and letting it keep me from running. But today's a holiday and we had extra time in the morning, so I went to the gym at around 9:30 and decided to see if I can run 5 miles every day this week. I don't know when I'm going to run tomorrow; running in the morning is a lot better for me, but we're meeting some people for breakfast at 7:00 and then Eric has class at 9:30. I guess I could wake up to run before then, but I'm also not great at getting out of bed so early these days. 

It was really really nice to run this morning, though. I know 8:00 isn't fast by very many people's standards, but for only my second time running in January I was happy that it wasn't too hard for me. I was ready to be done by the end, but it was a manageable and mostly enjoyable pace. I did most of the run at 0.5% incline (I decided to do the Rex Lee 5k in March, and that one is about half uphill), and at 4.5 I did 6% incline at the same pace for 0.25. That was pretty hard. Then I did the last 0.25 at -3% and it felt awesome. 

After the treadmill I did the pullup machine. I would feel so cool if I could do a pullup. I set it at 60 pounds (so I was pulling up about 45 pounds) and did 10 pullups (or 7...the last 2-3 I couldn't completely pull up) and 5 dips (the last one was in about 5 stages).

So far I feel fine - just some soreness on the bottoms of my feet. That always happens when I start running again, though.  

Same as yesterday, but today I got to the gym at about 5:20. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be - kind of cold on the ride over, but not cold on the way back home and very nice to get it all done so early (home and showered before 6:45!). 

5 miles, 8:00 pace, 0.5% incline. At 4.5 I switched the incline to 6% for .25, then I switched to -3% for the last .25 and 7:00 pace for the last .1. My feet are getting blisters since I'm not used to running, but that (and the leg soreness that I started feeling today) should go away within a few days (right?). 

Third morning in a row of going to the gym and doing my 5 miles. I'm really happy that I've been able to do it. It's kind of a big deal for me - I don't usually make myself get out of bed earlier than I have to. Even though I like doing it after I've done it, I haven't done it for months and months (I think). I'm also glad that I've been able to make myself do the full 5 miles each time. 

Today was harder because I was so sore. The soreness on the bottom of my feet is going away,  but my legs are just generally tired and sore. All of that would be fine, but my right tendon has been hurting pretty bad. I don't want to back off - if I just do 3 more days, I can rest on Sunday. And I'd like to have a 30 mile week. But if it's something that's starting to be injured, I don't want to have to lose more time than just taking it easier for a couple of days. I think this happened last spring - I'll look up my entries and see how long it lasted and what I did. 

I looked it up. I kind of hurt my achilles (I will not capitalize that, even if it's the right way) on a Saturday. I ran 5 on Monday, 5 on Tuesday, nothing on Wednesday, and it didn't hurt on Thursday (thanks, FRB). I think tomorrow I'll start off on my normal run and see how it feels. If it feels like it's going to get injured, I'll stop or switch to something else or something. If it feels like it's working in, I'll keep going.  

Spin class. It was okay. The instructor was kind of princess-y. My bum bones got sore. 

Elliptical for 30 minutes. Because of my tendon. 

Elliptical for 20 minutes. Because of my tendon and because we had to go to a birthday party. 

No exercise because I puked last night and Elliott woke up three times. 

I was excited to be back on the treadmill again (really) and was on the path to finishing my intended run. But after about 1.5 my tendon started hurting again, and by 4 it was pretty bad and just getting worse so I stopped. 8:00 pace, 0.5% incline. 

I'm super bummed that I've got the motivation and don't feel like 5 a day is too hard - it's just this tendon. I think that for the rest of the week I'll run until it starts hurting and then switch to the elliptical. And be lamesauce. Because the elliptical sucks.  

My tendon hurt pretty bad at the end of yesterday's run so I'm backing off again. 30 minutes on the elliptical. I played around with speed and resistance more, though, so hopefully it wasn't a complete waste of time. 

Happy birthday, Eric!

0.5 on the treadmill (8:00 pace, 0.5% incline) until my heel/tendon started hurting, then 26 minutes on the elliptical.  

No gym today. Elliott was up until about 1:30, and I just don't care enough to make myself get up and go to the gym after only 4.5 hours of sleep. I like feeling healthy and getting up early, but honestly it just isn't more important than getting enough sleep. 

30 minutes on the elliptical again. My tendon still hurts - sometimes when I'm walking, and almost always when I'm going down stairs. 

1 mile on the treadmill until my achilles started to hurt, then 22 more minutes on the elliptical. 

I could only spend 20 minutes at the gym this morning, so I did 1.25 on the treadmill at 8:00 until I decided that my achilles was starting to hurt more, and then I did 7 minutes on the elliptical until the treadmill called me back for .5 at around 6:40 (?). My achilles didn't hurt at all for that last .5, so maybe the slower speed makes it hurt. Or maybe it doesn't hurt under a mile. Or maybe I need to warm up and then it won't hurt. Also, I need more time at the gym. 20 minutes isn't really a workout. 

A half mile at 8:00 until my achilles hurt a bunch, and then the elliptical for a bit and then another half at 6:44 to finish up my 30 minutes. 

I've been ellipticalling about 5 days/week, but I haven't been posting on here. 

Tonight I did 22 minutes on the elliptical and 1 mile on the treadmill at 7:30 and 5%. It felt great. I felt happy and healthy and strong. But I worried a little - I'm a few days over 6 weeks pregnant, and in October when I had the miscarriage at 5 weeks I had run hard that morning or the morning before. Someone a few years ago who had had a miscarriage wrote on her blog that logically she knew that the running hadn't caused the miscarriage, but she had run on that day and so she worried about it. That's how I feel - logically, it was just an early miscarriage that was bound to happen regardless of what I did. But I don't want it to happen again, and since I *did* run I'm afraid of running again.

But there are so many examples on this blog of people running (and running hard) while pregnant.  I tell myself that they're in better shape than I am, and that I was in better shape with my last pregnancy (both of those are true), but still...if exercise/running caused miscarriages, I think we'd all know by now. 

A half mile after some elliptical time. 7:40 pace. 

A mile after 30 min elliptical time. 7:40 pace, 1% incline. 

3.5 with some new friends from the ward and Elliott in the jog stroller. Super mellow pace (probably 10:30), so a good way to ease back in to something longer than a mile. 

30 minutes elliptical, .5 on the treadmill at 7:41 and 1%. I've lost some fitness. But it'll come back. Goal this week: 30 minutes elliptical, 5 days (though 6 would be awesome). 

30 minutes on the elliptical

With women from the neighborhood. Slow (probably 10:30-11:00), but kind of relaxing and enjoyable. I enjoy running. 

30 minutes on the elliptical. Had to switch after 13 minutes because someone took the machine next to me (though it didn't bug me as much because he was just trying to be next to his friend). 

We're in California - best place ever to run when it's cold in Utah. One lap around the Rose Bowl running (that's the 3 miles), another lap (took *so* long) walking. Definitely one of my happy places. 

9:59 AP 

Around the Rose Bowl again. 10:40 AP

Rose Bowl. 9:42 AP. 

Rose Bowl. 9:26 AP

In St. George - from Eric's Grandma's house to down the bike path and back. 9:25 AP. 

I just realized I've been entering my miles on the wrong shoes. Maybe I'll fix that some other day when I'm bored. 

We're back in Utah. 3 miles up and down the parkway. 9:40 AP. 

School starts tomorrow. Eric's working full time over the summer, and I'm having all kinds of anxiety about leaving Elliott with a sitter while I teach my class. Even though it's just for 12 hours a week for 7 weeks. It's just that if anything happened to her, I would absolutely die. 

Stayed in bed too long and only had time for 2 before Eric had to leave for work. Up Canyon and back. 9:13 AP. 

Three miles with a neighbor. Up and back on the parkway. 

3 miles with a neighbor. Out and back on some road. A little slower than normal, but still enjoyable. 

A few hours later I'm feeling like I want to run some more. Maybe I'll go out with Elliott later today. Maybe I should bump things up to 4 a day. Maybe I should just shoot for every day. 

Didn't get out of bed in time to do more before Eric needed to leave. Felt good to be outside, though, even if it was short. 

Got new shoes - the New Balance Minimus that Eric loves. Decided on a size last night (after letting two pairs sit in the unopened box for about a month and a half) and ran in them this morning to solidify my decision. Got out of bed a little earlier this morning than yesterday, so had time for two miles before I had to be back. Maybe tomorrow I'll be even better. Since I knew I was just doing 2, I pushed a bit and was about a minute per mile faster than yesterday. It feels nice to feel my leg muscles. 

I went out for 3 with my neighborhood friend. She had a stroller so our pace was pretty slow, so when I got back I asked Eric if he wanted to go out for another 3 (he had already had his hard run this morning and had just showered, so he was really nice to come out (and push Elliott in the stroller!) with me). That pace was faster (embarrassingly hard for me) and it was hotter outside. The last mile was pretty hard for me, and when we got home I felt sick for a bit (probably dehydrated...and also there's the pregnant thing). I felt better after a couple of bottles of water, though. 

Started with Eric, so first half pace was about 9:10. Finished with pace of about 9:44, so...I'm pretty slow on my own. I'm okay with that. I wonder if I ran every day if I'd get faster or if I'd stay the same as the pregnancy progresses? I'm glad I went this morning, but I wish I had gone earlier (it was a little too warm for me). 

A half mile on the track at the rec center after 30 minutes on the lateral machine. 3:30. 

On the track at the rec center after 30 minutes on the lateral machine. 9:05. 

On the track at the rec center after 20 minutes on the lateral machine. 9:11. 

This was the longest I've run since having my baby about 7 weeks ago. I had only run a mile a few times, so I wasn't sure about how things would go after the first mile. I was pretty happy with the run, though. I maintained a consistent pace throughout and beat my 5k times from a few weeks after having my first child by over a minute. 8:23 ap. 

On the track at the rec center after 20 minutes on the lateral machine (I'm hoping the lateral machine will strengthen my hips so that I don't have knee problems this year.) 9:21 ap. 

Barre class. 

At the rec center track. 

Barre class

Barre class

Barre pilates class

4 minutes on the lateral trainer, one mile around the track. 

Barre pilates class. Kicked my butt. I'm pretty sure Amy is the hardest teacher at Xtend Barre. (First class free - try it! But Pure Barre in Draper is better.)

Sore from last night's class. 20 minutes on the lateral trainer, 1.5 around the track. 

Class at Pure Barre in Draper. I wanted to cry while it was happening, but I'm glad I went. 

Later I made chicken chili, pretzel rolls, and nutella fudge (and that's why I've weight the same since we came home from the hospital). 

On the track at the gym. 

Barre class in Provo. 

On the track at the gym. 

On the track at the gym. 

Barre class in Provo. 

Track at the gym. 

Track at the gym. 16:52. 

On the treadmill at 24 hour fitness (free for the week). 

Around the track at Eric's old high school. 

Around the Rose Bowl in shorts and a tank top. My favorite place to run in the winter. 

On the hills around Eric's parents' house.