Week in Review, 10/24 - 10/30

I'm gonna start making this a weekly blog feature. It's good for me to look back at my training and analyze what works and what doesn't, track my progress, and keep myself accountable to the rest of ya'll. Usually only stuff with actual mileage goes into Daily Mile, so this will be the place where I list EVERYTHING I've done for the week. Sunday is the last day of the week in my head, so Sunday will be posting day.

So here goes:

Monday: Ran 1.5 miles on the treadmill (15:00), hour long spin/abs class (50-ish minutes of spin followed by ab work)

Tuesday: 30 minute tempo run. 3.1 miles in 30:05. Not shabby at all for three days post-13.1. Even splits. Hard effort.

Wednesday AM: 1 mile swim in 45:43. PM: hour long rocket yoga class. (Similar to Ashtanga, but a little faster paced. Love it.)

Thursday: 4 mile easy run in 41:34. Wind was killer. Then drove right to the gym for an hour long circuit class. Eating a 6" subway sandwich on the way was a huge mistake, even though I was starving. Came dangerously close to puking during class, in a room with no trash can!

Friday: REST, woot. (Although huz and I went to see some haunted stuff and ended up walking a lot.)

Saturday: 6.2 miles in 1:00:47!! It didn't feel EASY but it didn't feel all-out either. Splits were awesome. Thrilled with that one.

Sunday: biked 17.61 miles in 1:05. Was going to do more but I was underdressed and freezing! Then ran 3 miles in 31:33 immediately afterward. Holy crap, that was hard. My legs were burning after the great run Saturday.

Totals:

Running: 16.8 miles, 3 hours. (Rounded off, I'm not that anal!)
Biking: 17.61 miles plus spin class, 2:05.
Swimming: 1 mile, :45.
Strength/flexibility: 2 hours.

Total: 7:50. Close close close to that 8-10 hour range I want to hit, but I was recovering from a half marathon so I'll cut myself a little slack there. Trying to run more frequently at shorter distances to see if that helps cut down on injury and keep my legs fresher. That's the theory! Would like to average about 20 miles a week for the time being. Wanted to bike more but kept getting hit with craptastic weather on the days I wanted to go. Once it gets dark earlier, that'll cut way down on available bike hours. Plus it's getting cold. Booo. And yes, I know that as a triathlete I should swim more, but I hate swimming, ok? I'll do more this winter. Plus I'm looking into swim lessons.

OH YES I DID.

Rev3 Cedar Point

140.6 miles.

I just totally signed up.

BRING IT.

Good news

Mental funk is starting to go - a little. And today, for the first time in FOREVER, I ran with NO calf support. NO sleeves. NO tape. NO brace. Ok, ok, so I forgot the brace, but I decided to try an easy run anyway (had stopped at a park on my way home from work) and it was all right! It hurt a little, but nothing more than it's been doing lately. Quite tolerable. 4 miles.

I've had at least some kind of extra something since February. Tape on my right leg. Then the stress reaction. Then back to running, with a pair of calf sleeves for the shin splints. Then extra tape on my left leg since August, then I let the right sleeve go but I've been wearing the new strappy brace for the past month. I'm a little sick of artificially holding my legs together! It's freeing to run unsupported!!

Air Force Marathon pics!!

I just realized, after posting my horrific Cincinnati Half pics, I never did post my (much better) marathon pics!! These are pretty much the only race pics I've really liked, ever, but some of them are great!!!

First of all, not a race pic, but long overdue: me outside the expo with Mary the Bear!! Mary belongs to another blogger, Little Miss Runshine. She's being passed around to other bloggers for their first marathons, for luck and encouragement, and everyone does a short writeup in Mary's passport. RB had her for the Pig, and I was actually a bit excited that I DIDN'T run the Pig, because I got Mary all to myself for my first marathon!

Awwww!!

And...the race pics!!

I love this one!! I saw the camera way back, so I was cheesing. I look like I'm running in slow motion!

I also love this one. I look like such a badass. (Marathon buddy Katie is behind me!)

CHEEEEESE!!

Aaaand then we have 18 or so miles later. Not quite as happy!

But as tired as I was, they still got me in midair!! My first airborne running pic - yay!!

This is just funny. I managed to do a victory pose. I just forgot to make my face convey the same emotion.

OK, really. Aren't you done taking pictures yet? (Check it out - the photog is at the top of a hill, in the hot sun, about 23 miles in. That's just a cruel place to be creating permanent memories!)

This is actually halfway cute, except that I have exhaustion written all over my face...and my shirt was bleeding!

<3 Husband <3! And <3 shiny things! <3

And of course, running buddy!!!

run happy?

I now have a new future goal: to run a 13.1 and finish happy!! All three halves I've ran, I've struggled with at least the last three miles and dragged myself across the finish line.

Let me draw your attention to Exhibit A. My shirt says "Run Happy". HA.

Go ahead, shoot me. It's ok.

The rest of the pics from that one aren't much better!

Oh look. The finish line. Yay.

I kinda like this one - look, I actually have hair - except that I'm stopping my garmin!

Yeah, the face says it all.

Stopped running as soon as I hit the mats. Yep, over it!

Thinking....

Training plan idea, based on current work schedule and gym/yoga studio class offerings:

Monday - short (2-3 mile) easy run, spin class
Tuesday - short easy run, 30ish minute swim
Wednesday -  tempo run or speedwork in the AM (~45 minutes), either a bike ride or yoga class or swim in the PM
Thursday - pilates (AM), circuit training class (PM)
Friday - NOTHING, ZIP, NADA, OFF (Fridays are a really good day for me to be unmotivated!)
Saturday - long run (keeping this at 6-8 miles for now)
Sunday - long bike ride, yin yoga if schedule permits; I'm honestly not sure what I'm going to do when it's too cold to bike outside. Probably pout. Maybe start doing some long swims And pout. Heehee.

That's about 10 hours of workouts a week, which is good, because that's probably about what I'll need to dedicate to half ironman training. The strength and flexibility stuff will probably be phased out at the peak of that training, just because there are only 168 hours in a week, and I need time to sleep and socialize and relax and keep the huz from feeling neglected. Oh, and my boss likes me to work sometimes too. But I'll hopefully have a decent strength and flexibility base that I can maintain at that point.

I found a 13 hour a week full ironman plan and I'm not sure whether to trust it or not, but 13 hours a week sounds completely doable. And hey, I'll be training to complete, not compete, right?

I want to try 4 runs a week; some of them are just much shorter than I'm used to running. I think that'll keep my running legs fresher and let me build some speed. That's the theory, anyway.

It sounds great now because I'm super motivated. Imma see how it looks in a couple of weeks. :)

race report - Cincinnati Half Marathon, and planning

First of all, the injury update: it's doing better. It's still there and annoying, but I've had a few sessions with my husband's chiropractor and I think they've helped. They've done some electro-stimulation on my tendon and muscle, and I've had two 30-minute massages entirely devoted to my lower left leg. However, I'm looking at the end of my PT insurance benefits, so I'm going to go it alone now and hope things continue to recover.

I'm able to run on it ok. I have some pain, but not enough to alter my running form, and it's pretty tolerable. I don't feel nearly as bad as I used to post-run, and recovery is faster. The chiropractor actually told me not to run. I was feeling awesome, so I ran anyway. I went back to see him, and he said if he knew my leg was going to feel as great as it did, he wouldn't have told me not to run. He gave me his blessing to run the Cincinnati Half.

I made some mistakes in this one. One of those was telling myself I wanted to run it because I knew a ton of people running it, but that I would run it purely for fun, not for time. I was deluding myself. Most of the people I knew who would be running it are faster than I am, and I am just not capable of doing a run for fun unless there are obstacles involved or it's otherwise an event I've never done before. Forget that. Of course I wasn't going to run it for fun. I was going to run it for a PR. I always run for a PR.

Except....I've been injured. I've been running twice a week since the marathon. I've been cross-training, but I've only been RUNNING twice a week. I signed up a week before the race, and the next day I came down with the cold from hell. So it's been a week of being exhausted the minute I wake up, coughing and sneezing everywhere, and collapsing on the couch. I took one day to work from home and catch up on paperwork, in my pajamas, kleenex by my side. I was starting to recover, but still not 100%.

Neither of those things sets me up for a PR, to say the least.

In theory, I should've been able to do it. My 13.1 time during the marathon was a PR, AND I ran 13.1 more immediately after that. So I figured it should've taken minimal effort to blow that away.

And when I didn't blow it away, when I didn't PR at all, I was pretty significantly bummed.

OK, here is the deal. I've been feeling bummed to a pretty significant degree lately anyway. I think it has to do with a lot of things - work got insane, post-marathon blues, not following a training plan anymore, less daylight - but ultimately, it's affecting my running and how I think about my running, and I've been doing more dwelling than I should on how I'm not as fast as I want to be. Heck, I haven't been able to recover the speed I had when I was training for the Pig. I get bummed that lots of people who have been running for a shorter period of time than I have can run way faster than I can and I wonder what's wrong with me.

It's time to end that. I'm not as fast as I was because I'm not training the same. I'm training enough to more or less maintain, but not improve. Of  course, it's fun to say that right now because I'm not 100% healthy, which is the best time ever to increase training, right?

So I've figured it out. Much as I would love to do a sub-60 10k in a month, and much as I can get pouty when I allow myself to because there are people out there who have never NOT done a sub-60 10k, not even as a beginner....again, I'm trying to end that. I'm going to train for it as best as I can, after I go easy this week (to recover from the 13.1 and kill the end of the cold). I want to go up to running 4 times a week, but most of them easy pace, shorter distance runs. I want to *try* speedwork, but I'm gong to try that with a shorter 10k pace tempo run on the treadmill to test the waters there.

December is going to be for maintenance and for playing around with different combos of workouts to see what works for me. Next year I'll be hitting the triathlon training hardcore - especially if I DO sign up for a 140.6 - and I need to figure out what kind of multisport schedule is good for me. Two a days? Swim followed by run? Morning? Evening? How many rest days? Do I like running two days in a row, biking two days in a row, swimming two days in a row? Etc. and etc. However, with the holidays, I get to cut myself lots of slack for parties and entertaining and visiting because I won't be following a plan. Hmm...maybe I'll do swimming lessons in December, too.

January starts Pig training, and I'm going to figure out where to put the swimming and biking in there, too. I'll probably be doing some strength training that will taper down as other training increases.

Oh yeah. I planned to make this a recap. Sooo...the Cincinnati Half. It was freezing at the start, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that a trash bag actually keeps in a lot of body heat, so I tolerated the sub-40 temps. They also had coffee, which is AWESOME. I mainly carried it around for warmth, because I'd already had my ritual morning coffee and didn't want to get too jittery, but the half a cup I sipped on pre-race tasted awesome too.

My goal was a 2:15. I had a pretty decent pace going, but it was accompanied by a sinking feeling that I wouldn't be able to keep it up. I ran with an older guy named Bob for the first seven miles. He was nice, but I honestly got tired of talking after a while, and he kept going ahead of me (even though he said he wanted to go SLOWER than 2:15 as this was a training run for him.) So I let him. I'm so sick of shot bloks that I broke the cardinal rule - nothing new on race day - and had two gus instead. The vanilla orange one tasted awesome. The chocolate outrage was good, but waaaay too rich to be eating while running. I was happy with my pace, but 10 miles in, I knew I was done for. I SLAMMED into the wall at that point. I wasn't happy to be out there, I was getting annoyed with fellow runners (although to be fair, I had a right to be at times - like the one who was in the middle of the road right in front of me and suddenly stopped to walk, or the group of 8 run/walkers who would pass me, then stop to walk and force everyone to maneuver through their walking wall of people). It was just a bad time for those last 3 miles. I was pretty close - 1:45 at the 10 mile mark - but I ended up doing an 11+ pace for the last three miles and finished at 2:20:28. (Big note to add here: the course was .1 miles too long. That time was for 3.21 miles!)

I realized something, too - I don't think I like racing!! Last weekend, when I went out for a 10 mile run alone, and I genuinely had NO reason to feel one way or another about my time, so I was pleasantly surprised...and I cleared my head and enjoyed the weather and felt AMAZING - THAT is why I run. To be trying to hit a goal, and feeling like that is my ONE shot, and people are passing me and people are everywhere and I burn out too fast and barely make it across the finish line - that's just not enjoyable. Now, I know some of that has to do with the mental funk I've been in and my currently crappy attitude, but still - the pressure isn't fun. Now that the race isn't about being able to complete the distance, every one feels like it needs to be a PR, or what's the point? And it's just not fun right now.

I should mention that the last two races I've done (aside from the duathlon) have not been PRs at all. This is the first time since I started running that I haven't PR'd every race. It's not at all a good feeling to me.

Well, anyway....2:20 isn't bad. It's super close to where I was for Little Miami, and like I said, I've really been running to maintain and not improve, whether I like it or not. It wasn't all bad, not at all. Seeing friends on the course (two out-and-back parts) is awesome. Plus, Girls on the Run was doing one of the water stops and I said hi to all them. Running Buddy's mom was spectating and she cheered for me. Some of my coworkers were volunteering at the finish line. I got a medal. The river at sunrise, with fog sitting on top, was beautiful. And we all had a lot of fun hanging out afterward. That all made the race worth it, really.

And, as soon as I stopped running, I was coughing up half a lung, so I felt validated in my lack of PR, knowing that I'm still sick.

Now, I just can't wait until the stars align and everything is in a good place for me to start working on getting better, again.

Race recaps: Warrior Run 5k and Fall Freedom Dual

As you're probably aware, my left calf has been giving me its share of grief lately. So what did I decide to do? Oh yeah. Two races in less than 24 hours. Ha.

The Warrior Run 5k was last Saturday evening. While I love not getting up at asscrack'odawn:30 for a race, I also struggle with running in the evening. Whatever I do in the morning kinda sets the tone of the day, ya know? So if I run in the morning, I have a happy, energetic day. If I sleep in and chill, I'm not quite in the mood to run fast later in the day.

Plus, running this one was kind of a last minute decision. I have barely run since the marathon, due to the calf issues. The plan was not to run at all and then wing the 5k, but Thursday, I decided that was making me too nervous, so I ran 3 miles to make sure I could do it. To my surprise, it went really well. It hurt, but not in a debilitating, gait-changing, dragging my poor leg behind me kinda way like it had before. OK, so I may have come back into the house and collapsed on the stairs, wondering how the heck I had ran 26 miles just a couple of short weeks ago, but I could run 3 miles. Even more surprising, the pain all went away after that, completely, for the first time since the marathon. Running must've loosened it up.

The next day, though, was pretty owie, not gonna lie. Race day, I was still a bit owie. I decided to run it anyway. Originally, I had planned to run this race as a huge PR opportunity - after all, it was flat, the weather should be perfect in October, and I'd have a 26.2 under my belt so my 5k should've picked up tons of speed. Except, ya know, my leg hurt. So I decided to just run it because it's for a good cause (teen suicide prevention), and because I ran it last year (its inaugural year) and there's something about saying you've done a race every year that it's been available.

Except, like most runners, I can't totally run a race just to run it. I still wanted a PR.

Running Buddy noticed that, while we had timing chips, there was no mat at the beginning, meaning that they must just be using gun time. She started at the very front for that reason. I, knowing that I would probably be run over, started back a few rows. That turned out to be a bit annoying, though, as the crowd around me started moving at snail speed. I accidentally kicked the guy in front of me. I dodged and weaved around people until I was free to run....and then I may have taken off like a bat out of hell. I was trying to avoid looking at the Garmin, but I looked down and saw an 8. WOAH, slow down. I did, and numerous people that I passed started passing me. Sigh. I did my first mile in 9:05, but at the time, I thought it was just under 9. (Regardless, it's still my fastest mile in a race to date.) I felt pretty decent. I thought maybe I was gunning for a nice little PR. But about halfway through....crash. My lungs didn't want to keep up - obviously they're not used to me running that fast - and then the leg seized up like a fiend. I watched the pace crawl into the marathon pace region at times.

Plus, it was HOT. I had missed the first water stop because they didn't have enough water poured for everyone. I am not at all a fan of running in the heat - I was just starting to get used to it being a little chilly, and then we had 70-whatever temps for this race. Someone had a table full of cups set up in front of her house. WATER!! When I got there, I realized they were cups full of cookies and goldfish crackers. I have NEVER been so disappointed to see a goldfish in my life.

They did have water a little while later, and I did manage to get some to pour on myself. By that point, though, my leg was fighting with me and I just had to get through the rest of the race. I determined not to look at the Garmin anymore. As I neared the finish line, I passed a guy pushing a double stroller and joked, "Yay, I beat the stroller!" I was disappointed that the first number on the red LED read 30. Damn. My time was 30:17, which isn't horrible, considering. It was under a 10 minute average pace. I was still a bit grumbly about it. I know the circumstances weren't great, but I'd love to be a sub-30 5k runner on a regular basis.

I found two pics they got of me running. Not my best - I look decidedly less than thrilled!

source: warrior run facebook page

source: warrior run smugmug page. EEK. But you can see my neato Cheetah Run shirt and obnoxious yellow shorts.

The next day was a race I'd been considering doing. They called it a dual - I guess it's technically a duathlon, except a duathlon is usually run/bike/run, and this was just a bike and run. I had wanted to do another triathlon this year, and this was pretty much it, they just took out my least favorite part. Plus it was only $30, a steal compared to what it costs to do a tri. The downside is that it was a good two hour drive, and I had gotten maybe 5 hours of sleep, tops, the night before. At least it started at 11 am, so I could leave the house at a reasonable 8:00 am. I decided to do it - part of me wanted redemption for my disappointing (to me) performance the night before, part of me really wanted to race on my bike, and I had some anxious energy to burn off. Plus, I figured I could run faster with a bike warmup. Win on all sides.

The drive was actually nice - very rural for the last hour, with multicolored trees and cornfields and fall sights that reminded me of where I grew up. (Well, the race was only about 45 minutes from my hometown!) And the two hours of alone time, singing along with my radio, helped me out of my funk a bit.

The race turned out to be pretty small, but people were friendly. The guy at the registration table commented on my Air Force Marathon hat (they totally rock for having a running hat in the swag bag, btw) and as it turns out, he was the 5:00 pacer. Then I found out that the RUN was first. What?! There goes my idea of a nice bike/run brick. Argh. I had plenty of time to set up my transition area and examine the other bikes. There were some nice ones, but also a number of casual commuter bikes, and one tricycle even, and very few other people had bike shoes laid out. I guessed that most of the people there were avid runners and very casual cyclists. I devised my strategy - take the run easy, and go all out on the bike. At least the bike being last set me up for a pretty kickass bike ride.

It was quite warm by the time we started - we started at 11:10, not 11:00, and they explained that it was to avoid the people who were speeding to get to church on time. Not kidding! Again, I took off a bit too fast off the starting line, but caught myself pretty quickly. Hold back, hold back, I told myself, and settled into a spot by myself. I won't lie, I was a little annoyed when a guy who was significantly older and heavier than myself started running next to me. He commented on my shin brace and I explained my injuries, and that I had run a 5k the night before, as if to justify my lack of speed. After a few minutes, I ended up ahead of him. The girl in front of me commented that she used to run cross country but hadn't ran in a while. She would take walk breaks, but as I got closer, she'd start running again, faster than I was running. The heat was uncomfortable and we were on completely unshaded country roads. I decided to just try to have fun. I waved at kids, I yelled "who dey!" at a race staffer in a Bengals jersey. When I got toward the end, the older guy caught up with me! What?? He said, "Come on, don't let ME beat you!" and I laughed. He broke into a sprint to get to the transition area, though, and that wasn't my strategy, so he passed me.

source: www.speedy-feet.com. Don't I look like I'm skipping?

I grabbed a cup of water, sipped for a second, and dumped the rest on my head before trading my hat for my helmet.

source: www.speedy-feet.com I didn't even see the camera. I just wanted water! And PS - I love my new run happy shirt!

The guy who passed me had his bike right next to mine. I got out of transition before he did, and joked, "Try to catch me on the bike!" I could tell, though, that he was a cyclist - he was wearing all the cycling gear, nice bike, clip-on shoes, so I wasn't totally surprised when he passed me. I was actually kind of relieved when he did, because he was drafting off me for a few minutes and I was getting annoyed. Totally not fair, right? I put that out of my head pretty quickly when I realized that I was right about most of the others out there - I started passing a lot of people who had passed me on the run. I got my bike up to 19-20 mph and felt awesome. Unfortunately, there were some bumpy roads that slowed me down a bit, but I still kept picking off people to pass. Every time I saw someone, I assigned them a number and went after them. One...two...three...I ended up passing 13 people total on the bike. For a few minutes, there was a pretty strong headwind...and there was the fun of passing lots of manure-covered farms, which made breathing tricky. Overall, though, the bike was seriously fun. The weather was perfect and I had a great time.

Source: www.speedy-feet.com. We had to dismount and run across the finish line or the mats might not catch us. This is me trying to run in bike shoes without killing myself!

I didn't know how I had fared, but I noticed that there were quite a few bikes that were still gone. I ended up coming in exactly in the middle of everyone. After a while, they put out a printout of finishers, and I was pretty shocked to see that I was #1 in my age group! I didn't get anything for it, but I got bragging rights. There was a massage therapist giving massages for a dollar a minute, with the proceeds going to the Wounded Warrior Project (same as the race itself, which is another reason why I wanted to do it). I gave her $10 and told her to see what she could do with my very knotted-up calf.

So, I felt a little bit more validated after the Dual. I'm still not thrilled with my speed; I feel like I've plateaued a bit. The negative voice inside me wants to tell me that I only won my age group because it was such a small race. But, I've been fighting injury. I'm not 100%. I've barely been running, and I need to continue to let this heal. I'm a bit bummed that if I do the thanksgiving 10k, I may not do it in under an hour, even though plenty of people can do a 10k in under an hour. I'm also trying to be patient. I know if I heal completely by the time I start Pig training in January, I'll be able to step it up, run more, do more speedwork, and NEXT year can be the year my speed improves by leaps and bounds - like it was starting to do before I kept hurting myself. Patience is still not my strongest virtue.

The calf continues to get better, though. It's also trying my patience, and it does hurt in the aftermath of a run, but not as much and not for as long. Trying to run short and fast (aka 5k) is a little miserable, but it carried me for 10 glorious miles yesterday with very little pain. Today everything's tight but I'm planning on some yin yoga. Cross your fingers for some speedy healing!

recent race results

Official recaps to come. Feeling meh about these times, but my leg has been feeling meh with me making it run lately, and so it goes.

Warrior Run 5k - 10/8/11

30:17
9:46 pace
10/16 age group
198/357 overall
78/186 women

Fall Freedom Dual - 10/9/11 (yes, yes I did...17.5 hours apart)

total time: 1:22:58.9

38/76 overall
1/6 age group

3.3 mile run: 33:58.5 (53/76)
13 mile bike (plus transition): 49:00.3 (27/76)

Bucket list races!!!

Who else has them?? I've decided that mine include....

The Goofy Challenge - Disney World half marathon on Saturday, full marathon on Sunday. You get a special goofy medal (and, as I saw on a car the other day, a mickey mouse head silhouette with 39.3 in the middle!)

Detroit Free Press Marathon - you get to run across the bridge to Canada, a few miles in CA and then you get to run through the TUNNEL back to the US. How often can you (a) hit up two countries in one run, and (b) run in the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel?? Although I'm guessing that a Garmin would miss that part of the race!

New York City Marathon - I love New York. It would be so cool to see it while running.

Chicago Marathon - same reason.

Any race in DC - same reason! (Rock 'n Roll half *may* be my out-of-town race for my 30 while 30.)


Any other suggestions? Anyone else have bucket list races??

aftermath

Last night, my leg felt better than it has in weeks, if not months. Consistently pain-free when I walked on it. It was like running loosened everything up.

This morning, it hurt when I walked on it again. It hurt more than I liked, really, but as the day's gone on, I'm realizing something odd. When I first stand up after I've been sitting for a little while, it HURTS. After I take 5-10 steps on it, it's nearly pain-free again. We're talking the occasional twinge that's about a .5 on a 1-10 pain scale.

I can't even tell you what the pain is. It's not tight, it's not pinpoint, I can't find it when I try to poke at it. The entire inside of my leg just goes OUCH when I stand on it, and then it goes away, like it all loosens up again. As long as I stay on my feet, it's fine. At this rate, I'm optimistic about running on it anyway.

This has got to be the strangest injury ever. I'm not even feeling like messing with the message boards again, but has anyone else ever dealt with this??

I ran!

I just did a three mile run. It's the first time I've ran in a week, and the third time I've ran since the marathon (for a grand total of 8 miles since 9/17!!)

The calf still hurts, but I was planning on a 5k this weekend. I'm still not sure that's the best idea ever, *but* I haven't been told to stay off it. So I decided to see if how it would deal with being ran on. It did surprisingly well. But holy hell ,did my lungs burn and I wore myself out (did my cardio endurance really die that fast??),  so the leg was the least of my worries. It still hurt but it wasn't nearly as bad as it was when I ran before. I did make this route flatter, which meant a lot of back and forth and back and forth on the few flattish spots in my neighborhood, and I think that helped. The 5k this weekend is FLAT. I think I'll kt tape everything underneath the compression sleeve/brace thing.

So, 3 miles at an average 9:52 pace. It's not exactly lending itself to a new awesome pr this weekend like I wanted, but I'll suppose I'll be happy to be running it. I've missed running!! Plus, it was 77 degrees. Ohio missed the memo that it is now October.

The calf is feeling better. I mentioned I drive a lot for work, right? Lately I've been taking to rubbing/pressing knots out of my leg while I'm driving. It works. I cleared out two walnut-sized ones today, one on the back of the large muscle, one on the inside of my leg. Yes, I said walnut sized. Yes, they were owie.

I also jumped on a trampoline today. It's actually good exercise for an injury, because it's very forgiving. It gets to be not good, though, when you're on there with a kid and his numerous siblings get on, too, and then you land on your injured leg all funky 'cuz you're trying to avoid tripping over four kids. Ouch. I must say, though, I love the fact that I can get away with doing therapy while jumping on a trampoline.

The test is whether I can walk tomorrow. :) It's fun having to wait 12-24 hours to find out if a decision you made was a smart one!

Oh yeah, I re-discovered pilates this morning. I should keep that up. I think it'll help me improve in all three sports. It's one of two classes (the other being spin) that I really like at the new gym.

possibilities....

Ironman 70.3 Muncie  Saturday, July 7, 2012

Rev3 Cedar Point 140.6  Sunday, September 9, 2012

Totally doable, right??? 'Cuz if the world's gonna end, I'm gonna cross those two off my list first!!

I almost would've been doing a triathlon right now

...and it is 39 degrees. Holy crap. I can run in this, no prob - matter of fact, I'd love to be running in this. Swimming in it would be COLD, even with a wetsuit. Biking in this would be cold, and biking and running in this with wet hair?? Brrr. I'm sure it can be done - I used to have the same fear of running in snow, and now I love it - but I'm ok with not trying today. I'm not a fan of cold weather anyway, and I feel like I haven't had time yet to get used to the cold now upon us. Not that I have to - yet - I hear it's supposed to make its way back up into the 70's this week.

I'm being a wee bit lazy this weekend. Well, not lazy, just re-prioritizing. We have/had so much to get done around the house and I'm making that, and QT with the husband, top priority. Plus, this injury is really bugging me mentally and it helps to have my mind elsewhere. I did go to the gym yesterday, out of obligation, but it kind of sucked. I hate the eliptical. It doesn't feel as effective as running, it's repetitive, and the bouncing gives me a headache. My calf started to tighten up on it and I thought, hell no, I am NOT re-aggravating this injury for an elliptical workout. Made it through 10 minutes on the stationary bike before that drove me crazy. Ran one lap on the track (little over .1 mile) and it still hurt. Did some strength training and that was a bit more fun.

I may go for a bike ride today, but I'm doing it as I feel like it and if I get other stuff done. I'm just not really motivated to work out, and I know that will pass because I'm not like most people. That's not my natural state, or if it used to be, it hasn't been for the past few years. I have too much nervous energy that builds up.

I know I'm allowed to run, and I think that's the worst of it. *I* have to be the one to sideline myself, and I am, because I know that the more I run, the longer it will take before I'm running without pain. Obviously I can, and have, run through a lot, but this time it's enough of the ouch that it completely distracts me from the enjoyment I get out of running.

I guess it's a good thing, though. I'm making plans for what workouts I will do in order to NOT run this week, and then I'm going to attempt the 5k next Saturday. The good thing is that I'm still allowed to do such a thing. I'm not going to attempt to blow my PR out of the water, as was the original plan; I'm going to attempt to run a 5k for a good cause, enjoy it, and do the best I can under the circumstances.

Trying to focus on the positives here...and the other is that I am getting better. I've learned that intense calf stretching is NOT the way to handle this injury, and moving around, massaging it, keeping it loose is better. A lot of the gastroc tightness is gone. When I ran, it was different than before - before, I was dragging a stiff leg, now, I'm running on an ouchie one. The PTT stuff is intermittent, but much better. The soleus muscle pain is what wants to stick around, but I'm having some pretty good, pain-free moments with that. I'm hoping that I can manage to get this thing gone with minimal trouble if I just keep being nice to it. Hopefully, now that I have shoes that don't overstress it, it will stay gone.

I keep reminding myself that the happy thing is that I ran a marathon. That was my ultimate, forsaking-all-others goal for the year. If I had to sacrifice some running/PRing in the aftermath, so be it. Doesn't make it fun, but so be it.

I'm still madly jealous of all my peers who are back to running and planning their next races while I take it one day at a time over here. So this is the point where, again, I have to get very focused on myself and do what's right for me. I generally tend to know that when I don't get distracted.

And I will stay cautiously optimistic about the Cincinnati half marathon, even though that will have to be a last-minute signup and another just for fun race.

Next year will be the year of the PR!!