All it takes is all you've got

9 miles easy around Countryside.  7:53 pace

Nice and warm outside today.  Supposed to get up into the mid-50s!

Last night around 7 pm I was SOOO tired.  I could have gone to bed and slept 12 hours.  Aaron and I got the kids to bed early and did some calendar sync and family planning and resolved to go to bed early.  After the kids were in bed I seemed to get a second wind though.  Something about the peace and quiet of no kid responsibility rejuvinates me.  I did not feel tired again until almost 11 pm and finally fell asleep around midnight.  Then I ran at 6 am today because Aaron has jury duty and had to leave early.  Neither of us have ever had jury duty, so I guess the government is finally catching up with us.   

Ali just climbed up on the kitchen table to get an orange out of the fruit basket.  She is now dangling her legs off the edge of the table and I just sent my 3 year old over to help her down.  Not working.  Better go. 

Went to the gym this morning and ran for 20:30 (2.5 miles at 8:12 pace) then lifted weights. 

Was going to run with my group in Boulder, but Aaron had too much to do and didn't get home until 5 pm (I usually leave around 4 pm to make it to my group in time) so I left him with the kids and did my workout around my neighborhood when he got home. 

20 minute warm-up, stretching, strides. 

Fartlek: 1, 2, 3, 4, 4, 3, 2, 1 with 60 sec rest between the 1 and 2 and 90 sec rest between the 3 and 4

My pace was as follows: 5:14, 6:00, 6:13, 5:52, 5:56, 6:24, 5:53, 5:20

Total evening run was 8.5 miles at 7:15 pace 

For some reason I had issues during the 3 minute intervals both times. The first 3 minute interval was uphill and very dark on a muddy trail with a short steep uneven hill near the end.  The second 3 minute interval brought bowel problems and I ended up stopping right after to do some business.

I probably would have run these faster had I been with my group and people to push me, but as it was I felt good about my effort and had enjoyable time with my friend Mr. Ipod. 

Drove to Littleton to run with Carolyn.  Traffic was a little slow due to the snow so I got there a few minutes late but still under an hour of drive time.  There wasn't much snow, maybe just a few inches on the trail.  Made for a nice soft running surface.

Ran 8 miles in 8:37 ave pace.  Felt good for me to take a good recovery day and loosen up my tired legs.  And of course its always enoyable to visit with Carolyn.  I met a couple of her kids, saw a third sleeping on the couch.  Her 7 year old daughter is remarkably cute!  Also enjoyed some of Michelle's wheat bread.  YUM!

When I got home I worked on my legs with a Thera Cane.  Never heard of it?  Me neither until a couple of days ago when Aaron told me he found one that was left in a house he just bought.  If it were me rummaging through dirty, junk-filled houses I wouldn't have recognized this strange device as anything useful but he recognized it since his massage therapist has showed him one before.  I tell you what, Aaron has brought home a whole TON of junk from houses he's bought (which always ends up in our garbage can) but this Thera Cane is a diamond in the rough.  It will be a nice compliment to the foam roller in keeping my legs adhesion free.

I got to bed early last night since I'll be up late tonight playing Mrs. Clause.  My run today was on the treadmill at the rec. center.  We got a pretty good amount of snow last night and I didn't really want to trudge through it.  Our gym's child care wasn't open today and I wanted to take the kids swimming afterwards anyway so  the Paul Derda rec. center is a great option because they have an awesome kids pool.  I put the kiddos in Child Care for an hour while I ran and then we swam together for an hour and a half afterwards.  I could tell my Thera Cane work yesterday broke up some serious adhesions because my legs felt pretty hashed today.  As in sluggish, tired, beat-up overly worked from all that pressure point pushing.  I just couldn't get enough of it!  I pushed in the morning and then again in the evening.  We watched Avatar (the Japanamation kids shows) last night with our kids and I sat there for a good hour pushing on my legs with the Thera Cane.  I'm sure they'll feel better by tomorrow.

We're going to our friends house (the same friends we had Thanksgiving dinner with) this afternoon/evening to enjoy Christmas Eve with them and let the kids play.  Then Christmas Day will be a fun family day and the day after Christmas we're driving to Utah to visit our parents and siblings.  The kids are looking forward to seeing their Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles, and playing with their cousins

Merry Christmas Eve!!! 

Merry Christmas, everyone!

Got out for a 10.5 mile run in the 25 degree windy cold.  Didn't dress warm enough because I stopped feeling my hands, face, and forearms at some point.  It was nice to get out for some fresh air though.

I was going to go for 12 miles but at mile 10 my left knee suddenly had a spasm.  It was strange.  I didn't twist my ankle or step on any big awkward object or anything, but my knee just told me it was done for the day.  I did not feel any tightness in this knee the entire run until suddenly at mile 10 when it literally stopped working.  My direct route home was still a little over a mile and I was really cold so I walk/jogged the rest of the way home.  It didn't hurt when I walked and jogged very very slow but if I tried to pick up the pace at all it twinged severely again.  NOT GOOD.  Has anyone else had this experience?

I may have pushed too hard with the thera cane two days ago and damaged some tendons near my knee?  I had been feeling a small bit of tightness in that knee since Monday but I thought it was just because my quad was tight and the tightness was nothing compared to the severity that I felt today at mile 10.  My other theory is that my legs were just not liking running on the uneven cruddy ice that was out there today.  I ran on the clear road for as much as I could but there was still plenty of slipping and crumbly chunks of ice to get through.  Maybe I'll take tomorrow off and ice my knee on our drive.  We have a long day of traveling and need to be in Utah by 4:00 p.m. for a party anyway.  That will give me some extra time to heal over the weekend.  Please let it be better by Monday!