On Her Way

I'm almost afraid to say it. So maybe I won't. But then what's really the point of all this? So let's just say I have been following a running plan for two weeks. No more than that and who is counting, anyway? Last week I did a long run, albeit in soup, of 15 (and some )miles with my running pal Christine. I seriously don't know how I would have done that run without her. I got home, after two hours seven minutes of running, talking, laughing, and whining, and wrung out my skirt. Then I wrung out my top. And then I headed straight for the ice bath and it was one of the most refreshing things I have ever done. Who knew? (I've never ice bathed before. Way too cold for me.)

This week we're enjoying much clearer, crisper air which makes my morning runs Grand. Fall is on it's way teasing us runners with these crisp mornings. I know humid hot days are still coming, but at least for now we can enjoy this taste.

This week also marks the kids going back to school. Camille headed off to her first day of kindergarten yesterday and thankfully, loved it. Not that I had any doubts, but kindergarten is different than pre-school and we've been prepping her for this all summer. More rules, less play, more learning. She's already told us that you have to "raise your hand before you talk. Just in school though. At home you can talk when no one else is talking." Also that recess is her favorite part of school.

As of last week, she was placed in morning kindergarten. This meant I would have to leave to drop her off at school by 8:35. Now let's consider; I run early and my husband and I have a "rule" that I need to be home from my run, workout, whatever by 8 am. So this 8:35 business was a little daunting for me as well as for Camille who is the only one in our family who inherited the ability to sleep in. The girl can sleep until 10 am. And she's FIVE.

Anyway, I just figured I would need to leave the house to run or whatever about 15-20 minutes earlier so that I wouldn't be as rushed to get out the door. Not that I need to be all glammed out for drop-off, but a shower and dry hair would be nice. Add getting the baby dressed and installed in the stroller equals not much time. So as Camille's world was soon to be turned upside-down, so was my running schedule.

How can I possibly leave 15-20 minutes earlier? I already get up at 5:00 with the baby.

Then. Chaos strikes at the elementary school. They needed to cancel one morning class because of low kindergarten enrollment at our school and combine four classes into three. So 16 morning kids were moved to afternoon kindergarten. Da- da - da. You can imagine the uproar from parents. No one wants afternoon. I sure didn't.

But all of Camille's friends from pre-school, thus all of my mom friends, got moved to afternoon. We were feeling pretty left out. So I got to thinking... this afternoon business might not be all that bad. Not only will Camille have more friends already in the afternoon, I'll have more mom friends, quiet time while Daphne naps in the afternoon, and most importantly, my running schedule remains the same! What was I thinking with the morning?

So I requested she move to afternoon. I called up the principal and told him we'd gladly move to afternoon, if that works, and I know how many parents need morning for various reasons and don't, really. (And yes, it's kinda cool to know I'm on his list of favorite parents.) He was thrilled to have us move and I was relieved it worked out. For Camille. And for me.

And as you know, it's always about me and always about running.

Here we go

Two months after my last entry, I've again been inspired. To run and to write.

The running will last. We'll have to see about the writing. I'm usually inspired to write but time runs away from me as I try to catch my 10 month old before she grabs my coffee, spills the recycling, or eats Comet.

I've decided to run a marathon. I know, I know, those of you who know me well remember how I profusely stated I would not run a marathon until Daphne was at least 18 months old. I really do believe it takes at least that long to get the body back together after a pregnancy. Especially for me, miss loosey goosey 2 hour labors.

I decided to run one while we were visiting Portland. I ran with some old pals, one of whom was in her first week of marathon training. She was so excited to be starting the structure and building up the miles, recovering, suffering, being elated after a good run. All that. And then, finally marathon day arrives and she gets to show off all that work. "What a lucky gal," I thought. I got jealous. I wanted a marathon too.

So I found one for fall, 10 weeks off. Just long enough to train for the distance but not long enough to raise expectations of running a PR. Barry was on board, sort of. He said he was just waiting for this to happen.

Just as soon as I decided this, injury struck. Right ankle. I iced, ellipticalled, rested. Then I remembered I had this injury the first marathon I ran and what fixed it was Graston. So I called up my Graston guy and got in there to fix it. Sure enough, after 2 treatments I am pretty good to go.

So officially, this is my first week of training. I have 38 miles this week. I end the week with a 15-16 mile run (depending on if my running friend wants to push on) and during the week I have an 8 with tempo, a 5 recovery, and a 10 general. The tempo today was good - 1 mile warm-up (I know, but I get antsy) 5 mile tempo (avg 7:32) and a 2 mile recovery. Way fast for my 9:00 marathon goal pace. Next time I'll be better. Probably won't be that hard to slow down since I won't be fresh like I am now.

Oh, I guess I should add, I'm running the Grand Rapids Marathon in Grand Rapids, MI on October 17.

Oh Lordy

It's been way, way too long.

Let's see... what has been happening...

Little miss is 8.5 months old. She's crawling, pulling up, speaking lots of babble, and getting into absolutely everything. Camille "graduated" from pre-school. She has a new BFF and they speak daily across the fence. She is starting morning kindergarten in the fall. And she has a very, very loose tooth.

I've completed 8 weeks of physical therapy for low back pain. I'm starting to run on a fairly normal basis with some amount of confidence. Two years ago there's no way I would have done PT over seeing a chiropractor. But after the amount of pain I was in, something different had to be done. And seriously, I think this was one of the best things I have ever done for my body. I'm so much stronger and so much more aware of how my core is working.

I can't believe how busy I am. I used to think that with determination, you could get everything done. And I actually used to be able to get everything done. But now, with the baby's nap schedule (some days lack thereof nap schedule) and Camille's schedule, I just don't get it all done. I make sure to get in my run, get to the grocery store, clean (sort of), do a reading/letter exercise with Camille, and work. But accomplishing much else is challenging. Most days I'm ok with letting the weeds take over the yard. Or the flowers going dry in their pots. Or simply giving up on planting anything at all. Or needing to paint the bathroom and our bedroom. But other days this drives me crazy.

Calmly I try to remind myself that I take care of everything that needs to be taken care of. Everything else can wait a couple of years. I'm not one to do things half way, so when I have time, I'l head into these projects full on rather than half way.

Here's Camille's dance recital from this past weekend. The footage isn't the best, but I think you can get the idea of how cute they were.

Easter baby

The baby doll is 6 months old. Time is seriously going by so fast. It's hard to believe that this little monkey has been a part of our everyday lives for half a year already.

Today we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for Easter dinner and the girls got some baskets filled with fun stuff. Camille got a cute little bunny - perfect to help fill her pretend animal shelter - and a new bathing suit. Daphne got some new bath toys, perfect for her since she needs to take a bath almost twice a day since she's so messy after eating solid food.

Six months also brings good news for me. I officially fit into all my old pre-pregnancy jeans. I still have 3 more pounds to loose before I'm at my pre-preg weight, but I really think that it's all in my boobs! My mirror may tell lies though - one woman this morning told me I was "hippy". So that may be, but I really think she needs to take another look. I'd say I have strong thighs and am really quite curvy. And whatever lady! I had a beautiful baby 6 months ago. My hips are there for a reason.

15 miles today. The longest I've run since January 2009. Take that hip lady.

Speed Workout #2

We're having Indian Winter here in fabulous Chicago. Or so I hope. After last week's taste of spring this week is colder than normal. The temps are even too cold for me in the morning to head out for a run. Which isn't saying all that much since generally, I don't run outdoors when it's below 30 degrees. To most runners around here that's not that cold. But to me, having sprouted my running roots in Portland, OR, that is damn cold for a run and it leaves my hamstrings like guitar strings.

Friday morning I headed to the gym to run on the DTM. On Tuesday I did a speed workout on the DTM and my plan was to do the same workout again today. I don't think at this point in the year I can do any run on the DTM without it being a speed workout. I need intervals to help pass the time.

On task was 2x [1200, 800, 400] with 400 rest between each. The 1200 and 800 were to be done at my 10k pace and the 400 at 5k pace. I set the DTM at 7:20 for the 1200, and increased to 7:10s by last .25 mile. Remarkably, this felt fairly easy. For the 800, I set it to 7:13 to start and finished up at 7:00. Again, not all that bad. For the 400, I started at 6:58, finishing up at 6:45s. The second set was a little better and still not super tough. I do fear doing this workout outside, sort of. But, becausue I set the DTM at 1% incline, I think I should be right on pace with these. My best interval of the day was my second 800, which I did at 6:40 pace. This puts me practically back to pre-pregnancy fitness. Or at least makes me think that by mid-summer I'll be able to run some of the paces I was running two summers ago.

Saturdays long run took me to the Arboretum to run with my friend Christine and her two running pals. They are training for Boston, which is in just 3 weeks, and were running their last 20 miler. I got to bail after 12.5 miles. Thankfully!

30.5 miles for the week, including two speedy days. Ya-hoo!

Ouch

I need sleep. Miss Daphne is not making this easy for me. The past 3 nights she has gotten up 3 times, once every 3 hours. This is not giving me much restful sleep. We've started to stuff her at night before she goes to bed (around 6:30) and this is at least allowing her to sleep a good 5 hour stretch to begin her night. But then once 11 or 12 hits, the waking every 3 hours begins. I'm breast feeding her at night every time she wakes up because it allows her to go back to sleep easily. I figure 15 minutes of feeding, a diaper change and she goes back to sleep without any problem. Maybe I should give her a bottle instead so that she perhaps gets a little more full, and doesn't get the satisfaction of the warm, comfy breast? Or, do we just let her figure it out on her own and let her cry? She'll be 6 months in another week. And I need sleep.

Yesterday I finally hit the weights. I have been slacking with weight lifting since it's been so nice outside to run. But yesterday I made time between Daphne's nap and Camille's swim lessons to do some core and strength work. Man oh man I am sore today. My hamstrings, chest and calves are really screaming. Even my upper abs are sore. And that's a rarity for me. (not that my abs are six pack... far from it... but I do some sort of ab work every day so this, I guess, helps to keep the soreness away.) So this is a lesson to myself: cross train 1-2x week!

I still need to pull myself out there to run this morning. My goal is 6 miles at an easy pace. If I do this, I may reward myself later with a little nap if I can squeeze it in between play dates and a Target run.

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6.4 miles completed. Not as easy as it should have been (8:10s) but I felt ok and really wanted it to be over with.

Testing 1-2-3

Today my lovely babysitter Angela was flexible enough to change her scheduled time to come so that I could run outside. Because we all know that everything, everyday, revolves around "the run." So for me, that was running after Camille's pre-school drop off and during Daphne's morning nap. Originally my plan was to take Miss Daph to the gym and run there while Camille was at school, thus sacrificing the morning nap, and running on the DTM.

So, after a great inspiration last night, and several text messages, I got my run time set up and Angela's stay arranged.

I headed out into a lovely damp 52 degree day with little wind. From home I ran to the Prairie Path and headed west. On tap today was a 4 mile pace run. The trouble is that I don't know what my pace is. Before I got pregnant my half marathon pace was about a 7:30 mile. Now, I just don't know. I'd like to run a 7:45-7:50 but I don't know if that is realistic or not. So, these pace runs are more like a test than anything. Last week's pace run on the DTM was much harder than it should have been at a 7:47-7:53 pace. So I was a bit nervous heading out today.

First mile I felt like I was dying. I kept telling myself to run like I could hold it for 90 minutes plus. I wasn't doing this. It felt more like mile repeats. Gut busting, not at all comfortable. But I was unable to slow the turn-over. It was one of those runs that felt slow so I figured it was and figured I just sucked. So I kept pushing. I reached the mile marker and to my absolute amazement I ran a 7:20.

Thank God.

Ok. So now I could run a more realistic pace. One that I can really hold for 90 minutes plus. I got my newbie stuff out and now I can come back to being a real runner who knows how to pace and realize the difference, and importance, of hard and fast runs and slow recovery runs.

Miles 2, 3, and 4 were better. Much better. 7:50, 7:51, 7:48. Me. Pacer extraordinaire.

After I did a 2 mile cool down towards Camille's school and picked her up all stinky and super-duper psyched.