Chug-along-chica!

Nice nap.

Wow, I am sore EVERYWHERE. It is much simpler to list the places that I am NOT sore, which include the top of my head, my facial muscles, my hands and forearms, and the bottoms of my feet.

Now I'm off to my first session with this All-American track star turned personal trainer.

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Well, ########## was the personal trainer at this gym who supposedly is an expert runner. He was a track star in shorter distances, I guess. I was not that impressed in his theories on distance running. He tried to sell me on the idea that you really don't need to run more than 20 miles a week if your goal race is the 5k. He also said I shouldn't try to get a certain time in the Striders Half, I should just see if I could finish. He says I'm going to die with the altitude. I never thought of that. Am I going to die with the altitude difference? I train at something like 2,500 ft.

One thing ########### is an expert at is speed. I think he set a world record for the number of times a person has offended me in under 5 min. He expressed shock and disapproval that

1.) I got married so young (I was 20)

2.) I have so many children (3!)

3.) My high school 5K PR was so slow (I'll give him that one)

4.) I run 30 miles a week (excessive?)

He also told me that he has some kind of biophysical issue that prevents him from doing well at distance events. Evidence: he said that the first 2 miles of a 5K will be 5:00, and then his 3rd mile will be 7:00. I told him he just needed to up his miles a bit (I think he does something like 15 a week) and he'd be right up there. He laughed.

ANYWAY, I ran 4.5 outside tonight really slowly. I intended to do more, but my muscles gradually got tighter and tighter as I ran until I started to feel concerned. So we'll see how I do tomorrow.

3.1 Miles with Christine and then 2.1 more miles alone late at night.  

And I am exhausted!!! This whole day I don't think I've sat down for even 5 min. all day.   Thing to thing to thing to thing to thing to thing to thing all day!  Blech!  I'm gonna have to hang out in my pajamas all day tomorrow to make up for all this busy frantic running around I did.   That'll be so cool when I go for my run...

Running in pajamas--that's an interesting idea.  Anyone ever done it before?

3 extremely easy miles outside with my little boys and the dog. Time to put away the long sleeve shirts! It's getting darn warm out there.

3 more tonight with Christine.  Yea!  It seems like a long time since I've put in 6 in a day.  My right hamstring is still bugging me a little from the race.  All the other places I was sore went away, but this one little area has not. 

 We took a little family vacation today, but we didn't go anywhere.  James stayed home from work, and the boys stayed home from school.  We caught up on some together time and just did not stress about anything all day.  It was heaven.
 

2.1 With the whole fam.   2 little boys in the stroller, one running, and the dog tagging along too.  We're quite a sight when we all go out together. 2.9 More alone. 

I thought you guys would get a kick out of this... Guess what James got me for Valentine's Day?  A Stick! It's a therapuedic device for runners--for rubbing out sore and achy muscles. Romantic, huh? James is a great gift giver, always something I really want. He he he.

Groan... My poor little 3 year-old had croup really bad last night. He not only had the croupy, barky cough, but also that terrible stridor when he is struggling to inhale. Yucky scary stuff. We ended up taking him to the hospital after trying everything we could think of and achieving minimal improvement. They gave him steroids and a cool mist breathing treatment. One thing they really emphasized is the importance of cold in treating croup. My usual strategy is to steam up the bathroom and sit in there for 10 min. or so with him. Usually that works for us. But they said that the heat from the water counteracts the benefits of the steam. So when we finally got home I opened his window and let his room get really cold. It was raining, too, which was a boon. Cool moist air in AZ? What a blessing! Thankfully he is doing beautifully right now.

 Well it is raining outside, and the temps are glorious.  I love rain, and I love running in the rain (probably mostly because I don't have to do it very often.)  However, Christine doesn't like rain-running, so I did these 5  miles with my faithful training buddy, Sparky, who slows me down big time, but really makes it more interesting...to say the least.

I am on schedule to break my all-time weekly mileage record tomorrow.  I'm excited about that.

This is just my first run--I want to do another fiver when James gets back from his run. I know, I know, it's dark, but don't have a fit. I'm taking my attack dog, Sparky, with me to intimidate any possible trouble. I also have my pepper spray. Well, if I succeed in getting in my other fiver it will be a weekly mileage record for me at 36. Pretty good (for me) considering this week was kind of a recovery week from an all-out 5K last Sat. I've also had rough and interrupted sleep a couple times, so it's been a little bit hard. I think that what pulled me through it was just running really easy every day. I want to get up to 40 miles a week as soon as I can, so it looks like I'll be running easy for a while. When I adjust to the higher miles I will start running a little harder, methinks--at least, faster than the walkers who are almost keeping up with me right now! Well, some of those power walkers are darn fast! : )

My main thought whenever I run is just please oh please let me be triumphant in the Striders half in April! The race is just 2 days before my birthday. It is basically my last chance to make age 30 the best year of my life!

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Bleh.  I am finally done running.  5.13 outside.  Time to celebrate my all-time weekly mileage record by crawling into bed exhausted.