Even though we got a light dusting of snow last night and it was only 27 degrees on my run, I still felt a slight excitement of Spring because I could hear birds chirping.
Stopped to stretch twice to loosen the hip. Trying my best to listen to what the hip is telling me. Seems to be agreeable at a slow pace. Doesn't get more aggravated as long as I keep the pace above 8 min/mile. In fact I think the hip felt about 1.6% better today compared to yesterday.
Last week I couldn't find my ipod for a few days. Then as I was folding laundry I felt something clumpy in the pocket of a jersey I had run in at the gym. Ipods don't really like being washed and dried with laundry. Its dead now. I know I could buy a $10 ipod replica from China on Ebay but I am actually really enjoying the peace and quiet of my runs lately. I hear enough noise all day from my kids. Its kinda nice to just listen to birds chirping and my own breathing and heart beating. Leaves me in a very peaceful mood.
Our forecast says we'll be in the 50s for a few days this week. Time to get the kids out to the park and go on bike rides in the sunshine!
My hip felt 1.68% worse today than it did yesterday and since I am completely opposed to any digression at all in this healing process, I decided to cross train today. Went to the gym for some ellipticarific fun and lots of stretching.
After taking the kids to the park yesterday and today, I think I have sufficiently absorbed enough Vitamin D for the week. Now I need to find some aloe vera. And tomorrow I will lather the sunscreen. We may touch 60 degrees tomorrow!!
Kinked my upper back yesterday so I went to the massage therapist last night to get some work done on it. She worked on my legs quite a bit too. I felt pretty beat up when I left there. The back is relaxing quite a bit. I did some yoga this morning after my run and that seemed to help too. My kids were doing yoga with me. It was funny to watch them so focussed yet so wobbly.
I read an article yesterday that said Denver now has more medical marijuana pot shops than Starbucks coffee shops. That statistic really got my attention. Apparently its quite an economic boost to the city. And I'm sure the competitive marketplace has put a few dead head drug dealers out of business too.
Felt a TON easier than yesterday since my upper back was tied in a big huge knot yesterday. My hip feels slightly better too. Yesterday I was powering through the discomfort, today was much more effortless. That is a good sign.
The weather was unique. 35 degrees with a light fog like it was threatening rain but never did. Got sunny the last couple of miles.
I'm definitely on my way up out of the bottom of the trough on this roller coaster of injury and feeling crappy. I'm hoping to have some fun riding the higher rollers now.
My run this morning felt GREAT!! 37 degrees and wet. It didn't snow last night, it RAINED. Wahoo! I would be very pleased if we were done with snow for the year. I love the fresh, clean air and moist, nourished earth that rain brings. Saw a coyote around mile two. He walked across the trail a few hundred feet in front of me and literally disappeared into the weeds. Those guys really are camouflage in the bushes and weeds.
I'm still really enjoying the peaceful quiet of no music while running. My mind wandered a million different places this morning. Focused on my running form, light on my feet and quick cadence. Right adductor still just letting me know its there, but not intervening too much. I'm icing it now.
Hip and legs felt a little tight this morning so I took it nice and easy and just enjoyed the 40 degree sunshine. Woah, what a beautiful day!!! Did lots of stretching, rolling, core/hip work afterwards which felt divine.
I love it when kids enter the "imitate everything Mom or Dad does" stage. As I was getting ready this morning my 19 month old daughter grabbed my mascara, lifted up her shirt, and pretended to rub it under her armpit. (Obviously confusing the mascara for deodorant.) Its a good thing the lid was one or she may have ended up with some sweet looking painted-on armpit hair.
UPDATE: I just had to add a photo of the cute lil' one as I'm going through 2009 photos, this one jumped out at me. How distinguished she is!
Elliptical Wednesday!!! After two good days of running I thought I'd give my hip a rest today. Did an hour on the elliptical with intervals. 1,2,3,4,5,6,5,4,3,2,1 with one minute rest in between each. Pretty much felt like a 45 minute tempo push. Had the machine on level 10 and it said I went 8.5 miles which is a mile or two more than I usually get in an hour. Then I stretched really well and lifted weights for 20 minutes (would have been 30 minutes but a very talkative guy chewed my ear off about his wife's lifetime of running since he could see that I was an avid runner and naturally would love to hear about every race report, injury, and training run of his wife, whom I've never met.)
And HERE is a pretty unique idea. Looks kinda fun, actually. It would definitely be more exciting than the stationary elliptical and you wouldn't get the saddle soreness of biking.
Hip felt pretty good. Stopped to stretch twice. Ran past a kid smoking pot while he was walking to school. He looked pretty happy about life.
We snapped a mouse in the mouse trap in our kitchen and as I was throwing it away my 19 month old threw a HUGE fit. I can understand why; in her head I was needlessly throwing a cute little soft stuffed animal into the garbage without even letting her play with it first...I'm such a mean Mom.
Wasn't sure what time Aaron had gotten to bed last night, so I didn't want to wake him since he was dead to the world and I figured he could use a little extra sleep after his midnight run up Green Mountain a couple of days ago. Did laundry, vacuumed, and cleaned the house like a mad woman this morning and finally got to the gym at 10:30 am (the first available time they could fit my 3 kids in child care). Ran an easy 6 miles and had to leave right after to take my 5yo to kindergarten. Then I came home, took my shower, got the girls something to eat, put them down for naps, and ordered out a Sushi lunch to enjoy with the three ladies working in my basement today (Aaron's Personal Assistant, Shawna, our Accountant, Judy, and Shawna's Mom, Marcella who has been helping Shawna with filing and what not). The sushi was delish and its always nice to have adult company for lunch. Of course, my 3yo woke up during lunch and joined us. She was a good sport and tried a few different things; even raw Salmon. Go Breanne!
8 miles in 14:02 pace with 2,578 ft elevation change
Haha, I love it. I will call it hike-jogging. Got a babysitter and went with Aaron to Boulder for a jaunt around Green and Flagstaff Mountains. Explored a few different trails and Aaron was still asking for more, but my hip started getting aggravated so I just hiked the final two miles down while he added on another couple. He is definitely a strong mountain climber; hard to keep up with. And its as if I'm following "Big Foot" through the woods when we run across snow. I just have to follow the barefoot prints from his VFF Treks. There was lots of icy snow pack on this trail, which added another component of challenge. The steep grade and constant rocks in the trail are the primary challengers. SUCH a glorious Saturday to be out in the Mountains with my best friend!
My quads are still thrashed from Saturday's mountain climb, so I cross trained on the elliptical for 30 minutes and lifted weights. Gotta love that first hike/climb of the season when your quads get so sore that you cant even do stairs without putting 80% of your weight on the railing. Reminds me of the first track workout of the season in college when my calves got so tight I could barely walk. Speaking of track, I had a bunch of crazy dreams last night. In one of them I was competing at some world class event in the 100 M dash but had forgotten how to start in starting blocks so everything felt really awkward. As the gun went off it was as if I was in slow-motion and I had no fast-twitch muscles at all. All the other black sprinters with huge strong hamstrings and gluts were 30 meters in front of me at the finish line.
Happy Birthday to my little 3, now 4 yo! For her birthday she got a Radio Flyer red wagon with a one year family membership to the Zoo attached. We went to the Zoo today and enjoyed seeing the animals. The lions were growling at each other. It was exciting.
I didn't run today because my quads were still super sore. But I'm hoping all the walking around at the zoo loosened 'em up a little. I also pulled all three kids in my bike trailer/toddler seat to the park by my son's school to play and drop Abe off at school. Then pulled the girls back up the hill. The weather was gorgeous today! High 60s!
5 miles around Countryside. Quads starting to loosen up a bit, but downhills are still very painful. Hip is okay, but not 100% yet. We got new shingles on our roof today. Lots of pounding and noise in the house, so I tried to stay out of the house most of the day.
Snow. Went to the gym and did 30 minutes pretty hard on the elliptical and ran 4 miles. Then I did some core work, lifted weights and took a shower. 2 hours later....finally done.
Hip is feeling quite good now! This is the first day all week I've actually felt motivated to work out. I figured since I'm mentally dragging and my hip still isn't recovered fully anyway, it wouldn't hurt to just take an easy week. I'm hoping to get my fire back soon and simultaneously feel 100% in my hip so I can get out there and get into great shape again. Right now I'm still feeling like an injured, out of shape athlete.
Set a goal to wake up at 6:20 a.m. every day and run from 6:30-7:30 a.m. before my day gets away from me. As the sun continues to rise earlier and I feel the need to lengthen my runs, I will wake up earlier. But for now, its the perfect time to run because its just starting to get light and the sun comes up while I'm running. Also, if I leave at 6:30 everyone else in the house is still asleep so it is a peaceful way to start my run. This morning when I got home the kids were awake, happy as clams, just playing in the girls' room. I woke Aaron up and told him it was his turn to run. I really love the fact that my 5 yo gets my 1 yo out of her crib and the kids play happily together in the mornings. Morning is the best time of day!
Sore throat and congestion is trying to creep in but I refuse to submit. Nothing like a 7 mile early morning run to clear the sinuses. I'm pounding the Emergen-C too.
I signed my 4 and 5 year old up for a track and field mini camp yesterday.
Me: "Hey guys, I signed you up for a Track and Field camp!!"
5 miles on the treadmill at the gym. I was going to do 7 or 8 miles, but started feeling pain in my left hamstring around mile 4 and it kept getting worse, so I decided to stop at 5 miles. I also felt very lightheaded and started seeing spots. Maybe due to my sinus infection? Sat down and stretched for a while and started to feel better. Did some core/hip/weight lifting afterwards which felt great!
5 miles of sinus clearing hacking. I used to think it was completely unacceptable to blow snot rockets because I was the only girl on my high school cross country team and I thought I ought to keep at least some level of decency to differentiate me from the guys. Then I went to college and ran with 30 other girls who were blowing snot rockets left and right and ever since then I never think twice about it. Especially when I am so congested I can hardly breathe. It felt good to clear my head (literally). Strangely, I started wheezing during the last mile of my run. It wasn't because of increased effort, my throat just decided to start constricting a bit. I don't know if it was allergies or just the congestion, but it felt similar to the exercised-induced asthma I experienced one year in college.
Went to a pilates reformer class at the City Park Fitness Center where I used to go last fall. The pilates reformer instructor, Trudi is light years better than any other instructor I've found at my own gym, so it is worth it to pay extra to go to her class. The class was excellent and I felt so good when I left. Pilates reformer helps my entire back, neck, hips, shoulders, and core get a nice deep stretchy, tension relieving workout. I think I'll start going every Friday morning since that is the only time Trudi teaches that works with my schedule.
Such an amazing run this morning! As usual, I did not feel at all motivated to get out the door and start running due to this agonizing physical and mental slump I've been in. Aaron encouraged me to get out and gave me his iPod to listen to. I decided to run around Standley lake because then if I started feeling like I wanted to stop half way though, I would have no shortcuts home (other than swimming across a recently thawed mile wide lake) and would be forced to finish the route and get at least 8 miles. After the first two slow miles (8:17 and 8:35) something amazing happened. The clouds literally parted, the sun came out, and it felt as if a dark heavy cloud cleared from my brain as well. I just started smiling and picking up the pace! Every drum beat of the music seemed to beat out each self-deprecating thought. As I started to see the sun through the clouds I looked up and ran towards it. It took me into this mental nirvana where I felt as if I could run forever. Miles passed and felt effortless. After I got around the lake I did not want to stop running so I added on another couple of miles around my neighborhood. I never started to feel tired at all until the final hill close to home when I was feeling SO grateful for the 10 miles of euphoria. My injuries were hardly noticeable at all and my form was fluid. This run would not have been so unique or appreciated 4 months ago but considering the past few months and especially the past few weeks of injury and mental drag, it was a HUGE breakthrough. WAHOO!!!!!!!!
Beautiful early morning run! Felt slightly sore from Saturday, but mostly just glad to be out there running and enjoying it.
Busy morning of scheduling flights, hotel, and rental car for our trip in 3 weeks to Disneyland! Wahoo! I haven't been there for over 10 years and it'll be our kids first experience in the "Happiest place on Earth" so I'm pretty excited.
75 degrees this afternoon!! I took the kids to the zoo and it was SO crowded but fun. We had to park in the Denver museum parking next door and walk a ways. Thank goodness for the wagon, my baby almost fell asleep in it on the way back to the car. Then we stopped to get ice cream cones on the way home and that kept her awake (and messy) for the drive home. Now the girls are taking naps and Aaron is removing our appliances because we've decided to upgrade one notch to slightly better appliances and put our current appliances in one of the fixer uppers we're selling. Not much different really, but the fridge has the French doors with freezer on the bottom and our range is now gas instead of electric. Maybe the dishwasher will actually dry my dishes now too. Yeah!
3 miles around my neighborhood. Legs pretty tired from yesterday. Hip okay.
Finally broke down and bought a used iPod shuffle on craigslist for $20 so I don't have to use Aaron's anymore. It is 2G which is TWICE the memory of my last one so now I'm adding lots of songs to my playlist. I'm pretty happy about the fact that I just added a Milli Vanilli song. Remember them? Lip-synching. Awesome. And in honor of Burt I also added Winds of Change by Scorpions. I figure I'll let that song burn 5 minutes of strides every now and then. If I find myself skipping it more than twice I'm taking it off though. I also added some more Black Eyed Peas, Dashboard, old-school TMBG, and many more random songs from our vast music folders. Anyone have any favorite must-haves for my workout playlist?
