I will start this post by giving kudos to my friend Keith who ran a hard race at the Christie Clinic marathon yesterday. The weather was less than ideal with wind and rain. He ran the marathon in 3:12:02 and while this was 2 minutes short of his ultimate goal of qualifying for Boston, it was still a PR and one step closer. Had the conditions been right and had he not gotten an injury just a couple weeks ago, I know he would have done it. He will reach his goal this year. Next attempt is in Cleveland in 3 weeks.....
As for me this was my last hard week before the Cleveland marathon. The rest is a taper. Here is what I did:
Monday: Rest day. Work. Call.
Tuesday: I ran 5 miles on the Tmill. Finally I was able to run all 5 miles without stopping. Lately my treadmill workouts have been horrible. My compartment syndrome usually forcing me to stop after every mile. I was was very happy to have beaten that darn Tmill.
Wednesday: I went to the gym and rode the bike for an hour while finishing Fifty Shades of Grey. I then moved on to Fifty Shades of Darker.
Thursday: This was my 20 miler with Jaime. Already wrote all about it. Proud that I survived this run but I gotta admit that I was not expecting it to feel so hard. Instead of giving me any confidence for my marathon it sort of put me in my place a little. I am gonna die after mile 18! Nate has been trying to warn me of this all along. I really question my ability to make 26 miles, but I am sure going to try. I do enjoy my long run days b/c of the sense of accomplishment I get after it is all said and done. The extra calories I get to eat that day are nice too:)
Friday: Normally I go to the gym but I worked an extra day to help out. This became a rest day.
Saturday: It was raining much of the day so I did 5 miles on the treadmill. This was a hard recovery run. I ran very slow with a pace of 9min/mile b/c my legs were still so sore and my toes, with blisters on nearly every one of them, still hurt. Still I managed to once again do my 5 without stopping. Happy enough with that.
Sunday: Went to the gym and rode the bike for 30 minutes while reading my book. Then since I was already at the gym, I went ahead and did my scheduled 5 mile run on the T-mill. It has been a VERY long time since I have been on the gym Tmill. It went okay. I started telling myself that I was just going to do 3 miles and call it a day but once I got close to 3 I knew I would be mad at myself if I did not just do the scheduled 5. I started out slow at just under a 9min/mile and then increased the speed by one every mile. The last mile I increased the speed every .2 miles. I mostly just do that to pass the time faster. I almost never go to the gym on Sundays. I realized today that it is very male dominated on Sunday.
This coming weekend is the Indianapolis mini marathon. Normally I would be super excited b/c I love love love races. I am not feeling it this time. I think I am mostly nervous b/c I just really don't want to push myself during this race and screw my chances to cross the finish line of my marathon in 3 weeks.... running. That has been my number one goal all year. Clark is running the mini with me this year. We planned this long ago and he even arranged his trip to California around it. He doesn't care about the mini at all and is only running it b/c of me (then promptly hoping on a plane and leaving me alone with 5 kids for a week:( Sounds like a good plan but after our last run together, I am not so sure we make great running partners. No matter how many times I try and stress to him that I do not want to run this fast b/c I don't want to risk further leg injuries (my legs are already hurting) he just doesn't get it. He makes comments of, "oh once you start you will run just under an 8 min mile." If I did that would be a PR and that is NOT my goal. Honestly I wish I were running with Jaime. I have done every long run with her. She IS trying for a PR and really wants to come in at 1:49. That would be a good pace for me I think, and I would love to experience that with her. Still I will run with Clark and hope that instead of trying to kill me, we can just enjoy the run (not worrying about time) and have fun. I did warn him that I will be weaving in and out of people with no regards to him and he will just have to find me. I hate the start of the mini for this reason. I am probably more excited about the mini b/c several of my good friends are trying for a PR. Cathy would like to be under 2 hrs. Jaime as stated above wants under 1:50. Shane I think wants under 1:50. Finally Keith wants under 1:30. I really really hope they all reach their goals next Saturday.
Nothing too exciting to report for the family this week. The kids have been putting Lego's together today. Nick started the $400 Death Star. The triplets had some Cars Lego's that Clark put together but they are playing with. Alexis put together a couple of the Friends Lego collection. Clark started a new project in the dining room (well the should be dining room but since we have no dining room furniture is just a playmobil room). Finally the triplets had their KG assessments this week. I can't believe I will have 5 kids at the same elementary next year. Unlike all the other moms who stand at the bus stop with tears streaming down their face when their kids go off to KG, I will stand there with a huge smile on my face thinking..... I SURVIVED and we are moving on to the next phase of life with 5 kids. While many things are easier now that they are older, life is about to only get insanely complicated with school and sports. I think this phase is going to make the baby phase seem like a piece of cake!!
Happy training everyone........
Sunday, April 29, 2012
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Week 15 Long Run....DONE!!
Oh my...where to start. Week 15 long run was a 20 miler. It kicked my butt. I could just end the story there. Okay I guess I can share all the fun details. I was so nervous for this run. Not sure why b/c I had done 19 miles just 2 weeks ago and from a pain standpoint, I am feeling pretty good after the steroids last week. I didn't sleep well. Alarm was set for 5am but all I did from 4am to 5am was look at my phone to see how much more time I had. Finally, I got up and got everybody ready b/c I had an early physical therapy appt meaning the triplets needed to be at their preschool as soon as the doors were unlocked. They were not pleased at all with this early awakening. Adam was crying the entire morning..."I am tired." Then we had a little back and forth. I said, "you wouldn't be so tired if you actually went to bed earlier." He says, "you didn't tell us to go to bed." Ummmm....RIGHT!! I believe I say that a million times a night before the party in the triplet room dies down. I had little to no sympathy for his tiredness this morning. I made it to PT on time (which if you know me.. being on time is VERY important to me...okay it is an obsession so when Shane wanted me there at 7:30 and I had to drop the boys off at 7 you can imagine my anxiety to be on time). Actually my friend, Keith (who happens to be a PT..but not my PT...all in thanks to one former PT...oh am I still bitter....moving on) was there b/c he had just ran with Shane who is my PT and probably the most perfect PT for me and all my craziness. Keith brought me back which was fun b/c we got to talk running (my favorite subject). Keith is the one I keep talking about who IS going to qualify for Boston this weekend at the Christi Clinic marathon in Ohio. Shane used the tools for my shin pain and plantar fasciitis and stretched my hip. Our usual pre long run routine. He also told me I have one fat leg......
After PT, I headed up to the Monon. The plan today was a little different than my other long runs. Normally I start with Jaime and then finish on my own. Today, she had something to do early, so I started on my own and hooked up with her the the last 10 miles. I was so glad to see her at 10 miles but so nervous that I would never be able to keep up with her. That was the case today. I basically did the first 10 too fast and then struggled thru the second half. I now know what the wall is that everyone talks about. Sadly it hit me way too early today. I will say Jaime was an amazing friend today. She was feeling great and our pace was super easy for her. I was feeling so bad b/c I was holding her back that I probably told her to leave me at least 10 times (I also said I was never going to make it at least 10 times). She was not going to leave me. In fact, she did a wonderful job trying to encourage me that I could in fact make it and that even if she had to drag me along I was going to finish my 20 miles today. I love that girl!! My favorite thing about this marathon training is that she has been by my side encouraging me and pushing me for every long run. It will be very hard for me to not have her by my side on marathon day. Some day I can't wait to run one with her.
Okay so here all all the details that I imagine are really boring to anyone but me and Jaime. Keep in mind I stop the garmin when I stop at a water fountain, etc. My overall running time was 2 hours 43 minutes and 42 seconds. I did exactly 20.0 miles (I am NOT an overachiever). My overall average pace was 8:11 (Jaime you got this wrong on facebook....I was much slower than an average pace of 8:10:)
Mile1 7:43 This might have had something to do with the horrible way I felt at mile 18. I suck at pacing myself. I went out too fast. Plain and simple....this killed me. Thank God for pacers during the race. I am staying with a pace group that will keep my overall pace in the 8:40's.
Mile2 7:55
Mile3 7:58
Mile 4 8:04
Mile5 8:01 My first water and gel break (I did not wear my fuel belt but used the water fountains)
Mile 6 7:55
Mile7 8:09
Mile8 8:07
Mile 9 8:09 Took a gel.
Mile10 8:03 I felt fine for the first 10. The first 5 felt easy b/c it was with the wind but the coming back 5 was so much harder for me b/c I was going into the wind. I don't like wind. My average pace for the first 10 miles was exactly 8 min/mile. Again.....TOO FAST and why I think I my second half was sooooo hard. Took lots of drinks before Jaime and I started.
Now Jaime has joined me and when I started to feel like I might die.....
Mile11 8:15
Mile 12 8:20
Mile 13 8:18 Stopped for drink
Mile 14 8:07
Mile 15 8:12
Mile 16 8:24 Stopped for drink and gel
Mile 17 8:18
Mile 18 8:37 THE WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a very big wall that I hit HARD!! This is also when I started saying I was NOT going to make it at least every minute.
Mile 19 8:38 Lead legs were just not going to move. Stopped at water fountain.
Mile 20 8:29
My water breaks were a little random but I had no choice in the matter since there were only so many water fountains.
Here is Jaime looking like a million bucks and like she could go out and run some more!!! LOVE YOU GIRL!
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Here I am at the end of 20 (she insisted I let her take this picture) looking like I could die any second!!! My entire face and upper body was caked with salt!! Could I possibly look any bigger...OMG despite what it looks like in the photo...I am not pregnant!!
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I wish I could say that now I can crash but it is almost time to pick up kids and start the crazy Thursday evening driving!!
After PT, I headed up to the Monon. The plan today was a little different than my other long runs. Normally I start with Jaime and then finish on my own. Today, she had something to do early, so I started on my own and hooked up with her the the last 10 miles. I was so glad to see her at 10 miles but so nervous that I would never be able to keep up with her. That was the case today. I basically did the first 10 too fast and then struggled thru the second half. I now know what the wall is that everyone talks about. Sadly it hit me way too early today. I will say Jaime was an amazing friend today. She was feeling great and our pace was super easy for her. I was feeling so bad b/c I was holding her back that I probably told her to leave me at least 10 times (I also said I was never going to make it at least 10 times). She was not going to leave me. In fact, she did a wonderful job trying to encourage me that I could in fact make it and that even if she had to drag me along I was going to finish my 20 miles today. I love that girl!! My favorite thing about this marathon training is that she has been by my side encouraging me and pushing me for every long run. It will be very hard for me to not have her by my side on marathon day. Some day I can't wait to run one with her.
Okay so here all all the details that I imagine are really boring to anyone but me and Jaime. Keep in mind I stop the garmin when I stop at a water fountain, etc. My overall running time was 2 hours 43 minutes and 42 seconds. I did exactly 20.0 miles (I am NOT an overachiever). My overall average pace was 8:11 (Jaime you got this wrong on facebook....I was much slower than an average pace of 8:10:)
Mile1 7:43 This might have had something to do with the horrible way I felt at mile 18. I suck at pacing myself. I went out too fast. Plain and simple....this killed me. Thank God for pacers during the race. I am staying with a pace group that will keep my overall pace in the 8:40's.
Mile2 7:55
Mile3 7:58
Mile 4 8:04
Mile5 8:01 My first water and gel break (I did not wear my fuel belt but used the water fountains)
Mile 6 7:55
Mile7 8:09
Mile8 8:07
Mile 9 8:09 Took a gel.
Mile10 8:03 I felt fine for the first 10. The first 5 felt easy b/c it was with the wind but the coming back 5 was so much harder for me b/c I was going into the wind. I don't like wind. My average pace for the first 10 miles was exactly 8 min/mile. Again.....TOO FAST and why I think I my second half was sooooo hard. Took lots of drinks before Jaime and I started.
Now Jaime has joined me and when I started to feel like I might die.....
Mile11 8:15
Mile 12 8:20
Mile 13 8:18 Stopped for drink
Mile 14 8:07
Mile 15 8:12
Mile 16 8:24 Stopped for drink and gel
Mile 17 8:18
Mile 18 8:37 THE WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a very big wall that I hit HARD!! This is also when I started saying I was NOT going to make it at least every minute.
Mile 19 8:38 Lead legs were just not going to move. Stopped at water fountain.
Mile 20 8:29
My water breaks were a little random but I had no choice in the matter since there were only so many water fountains.
Here is Jaime looking like a million bucks and like she could go out and run some more!!! LOVE YOU GIRL!
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I wish I could say that now I can crash but it is almost time to pick up kids and start the crazy Thursday evening driving!!
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Week In Review
I have so neglected this blog lately. I hope to get back to posting pictures again... but not this week. Only 4 more weeks until marathon day. Not soon enough if you ask me. Here is how my training week went.
Monday: Rest. 4th night of call in a row and tired.
Tuesday: I was supposed to run on the Tmill when I got home from work and picking up Alexis. I was so tired that this never happened. I made up for it on Wednesday.
Wednesday: I got up early and ran 5 miles on the T mill. Possibly b/c I was in the middle of a steroid dose pack or possibly just b/c I now HATE the T-mill but I felt horrible during this run and it became one mile intervals b/c I had to stop for 1-2 minutes after each mile until the compartment syndrome went away. I did manage to do miles 4 and 5 without stopping but that is b/c after mile 4 I not longer have that problem. Shortly after the run I still went to the gym and did my one hour on the bike. It was a good sweaty work out. Since I finally finished The Bronze Horseman and the girls at work are all into this other trilogy I decided just to start that. Now I had no clue what it was about but figured if the work girls are all sooo into it, it must be good. The first book is called Fifty Shades of Grey. Oh my, I so did not know what I just bought.....
Thursday: I already blogged about this. I ran 12 miles with Jaime with an average pace of 8:37.
Friday: I went to the gym and put another hour on the bike while reading. Speaking of books, on Friday night during Bible Study, when I complained to Jenny that I hated the ending of Bronze Horseman she informed me that it is one of a trilogy as well. Who knew I still had 2 very long books to go. At least it explained the horrible ending. Guess it gets better. When I told Jenny I had to now finish this other book first, she turned red and laughed (as did Stephanie). I guess everyone knew what this book was about except me:)
Saturday: Hooked up with Cathy and ran 8 miles on the Monon. It was a great run. I don't know why, but I enjoyed it a ton. It was a comfortable pace for me at 8:39min/mile. I was thrilled for Cathy b/c it was the fastest she has ever run 8 miles, and she was talking much of the way. It was just a fun run. I will say I was terribly jealous b/c I could see the signs for the Carmel 1/2 and marathon. I had no clue they ran some on the Monon. I really wanted to do that race and had I realized they ran on the Monon some I might have even been willing to do it myself. Jaime did text me yesterday saying she wished we had run that race. I told you so!!!!!!! I was pretty excited to see my friend Alvaro running on the Monon in the opposite direction.
Sunday: I ran 4.6 miles. I was scheduled for 5 but I was back to my car at 4.6 and had a bad headache so I just stopped. Aside from the wind (and headache), I felt really good for this run. My average pace was 7:38. My splits were (7:39, 7:45,7:49,7:24, 7:33). Finally I did not have to see anything in the 8's. I miss those runs but realize that I am training for a marathon and not a speed race. I also realize today that 50 degrees is my perfect running weather (except I HATE wind).
This coming Thursday is my last long run. It will be my longest to date at 20 miles. Already nervous.
The rest of the family is doing well. Nick made the Silver Indy Junior Ice for goalie. Clark didn't mention until last minute that he was going to have him try out for this, and I thought it was a long shot, so I never really gave it much thought. Then he made it and well, I freaked out. It is a travel team and it is entirely different that the IYHA league he was on last year with All Stars. Likely their practices will be at a rink even farther from our house and again did I mention it was more travel. I can't figure out how this is next hockey season is going to work. The triplets will be in their first year and they will have 2 practices a week and games on weekends at Carmel ice rink. Nick will have 2 practices per week at a different rink and a lot of far away games on weekends. Then Alexis has practice 4 times a week and a meet season that is the same as hockey. Clark can't stand that I am freaking out about this and is more of the "we'll figure this out as it comes up" person. We work a lot of weekends and I won't travel far without him. Not only do I have a phone phobia but I have a social phobia as well and new things are really hard for me. Ugh...this stresses me out so much I would rather just not write about it right now. I am having a good day. No need to ruin it.
As for Alexis there was a parent meeting for gymnastics that also had me stressing out. The gym is closing for one week this summer and that made me realize there would be 4 weeks that Alexis would miss gymnastics b/c of vacations and Bible camp in a row. One week out and I feel like the girls are rusty. 4 weeks....NO WAY! So now I am frantically trying to change her Canada travel plans with my parents to see if it can overlap the week the gym is already closed. Bible Camp obviously is a priority so I am fine with her missing that week.
The triplets had a good week. On Thursday, I took them for their 5 year check ups. I was totally expecting lots of tears for the Kindergarten shots. They were great. Adam was the only one who shed even a small tear and that was probably b/c he went last and had to watch his brothers get shots before him. Really they were wonderful. Everybody is growing well. Adam is huge and Ryan and Landon are little. I think Adam weighed 46 pounds while Landon was 38 and Ryan 39. Ryan is my shortest but only by 1/2 inch. Adam is like 2.5 inches taller than his brothers.
Clark has been on call this weekend. We hosted Bible study on Friday and while he was home for that shortly after everyone left, he had to go back in the hospital and I didn't see him for the next 12 hours. The rest of the weekend has been fine. We even managed a date night last night. We went out to dinner and then rented a movie to watch at home. Today we went to church. The Pastor was totally speaking my language today b/c he started by talking about the Boston Marathon!! I don't know about anyone else but he had my attention..hahaha! It was another great message! Alright. I have spent enough time with this update. Laundry still needs to be done.
Happy training and in the words of Pastor Steve, "keep running the race and encouraging others along the way."
This is marathon week for my friend Keith! Thinking happy thoughts for him all week and hope and pray that come next Saturday he is able to pull off a 3:05 marathon thereby qualifying for Boston!!!!!!!!!
Monday: Rest. 4th night of call in a row and tired.
Tuesday: I was supposed to run on the Tmill when I got home from work and picking up Alexis. I was so tired that this never happened. I made up for it on Wednesday.
Wednesday: I got up early and ran 5 miles on the T mill. Possibly b/c I was in the middle of a steroid dose pack or possibly just b/c I now HATE the T-mill but I felt horrible during this run and it became one mile intervals b/c I had to stop for 1-2 minutes after each mile until the compartment syndrome went away. I did manage to do miles 4 and 5 without stopping but that is b/c after mile 4 I not longer have that problem. Shortly after the run I still went to the gym and did my one hour on the bike. It was a good sweaty work out. Since I finally finished The Bronze Horseman and the girls at work are all into this other trilogy I decided just to start that. Now I had no clue what it was about but figured if the work girls are all sooo into it, it must be good. The first book is called Fifty Shades of Grey. Oh my, I so did not know what I just bought.....
Thursday: I already blogged about this. I ran 12 miles with Jaime with an average pace of 8:37.
Friday: I went to the gym and put another hour on the bike while reading. Speaking of books, on Friday night during Bible Study, when I complained to Jenny that I hated the ending of Bronze Horseman she informed me that it is one of a trilogy as well. Who knew I still had 2 very long books to go. At least it explained the horrible ending. Guess it gets better. When I told Jenny I had to now finish this other book first, she turned red and laughed (as did Stephanie). I guess everyone knew what this book was about except me:)
Saturday: Hooked up with Cathy and ran 8 miles on the Monon. It was a great run. I don't know why, but I enjoyed it a ton. It was a comfortable pace for me at 8:39min/mile. I was thrilled for Cathy b/c it was the fastest she has ever run 8 miles, and she was talking much of the way. It was just a fun run. I will say I was terribly jealous b/c I could see the signs for the Carmel 1/2 and marathon. I had no clue they ran some on the Monon. I really wanted to do that race and had I realized they ran on the Monon some I might have even been willing to do it myself. Jaime did text me yesterday saying she wished we had run that race. I told you so!!!!!!! I was pretty excited to see my friend Alvaro running on the Monon in the opposite direction.
Sunday: I ran 4.6 miles. I was scheduled for 5 but I was back to my car at 4.6 and had a bad headache so I just stopped. Aside from the wind (and headache), I felt really good for this run. My average pace was 7:38. My splits were (7:39, 7:45,7:49,7:24, 7:33). Finally I did not have to see anything in the 8's. I miss those runs but realize that I am training for a marathon and not a speed race. I also realize today that 50 degrees is my perfect running weather (except I HATE wind).
This coming Thursday is my last long run. It will be my longest to date at 20 miles. Already nervous.
The rest of the family is doing well. Nick made the Silver Indy Junior Ice for goalie. Clark didn't mention until last minute that he was going to have him try out for this, and I thought it was a long shot, so I never really gave it much thought. Then he made it and well, I freaked out. It is a travel team and it is entirely different that the IYHA league he was on last year with All Stars. Likely their practices will be at a rink even farther from our house and again did I mention it was more travel. I can't figure out how this is next hockey season is going to work. The triplets will be in their first year and they will have 2 practices a week and games on weekends at Carmel ice rink. Nick will have 2 practices per week at a different rink and a lot of far away games on weekends. Then Alexis has practice 4 times a week and a meet season that is the same as hockey. Clark can't stand that I am freaking out about this and is more of the "we'll figure this out as it comes up" person. We work a lot of weekends and I won't travel far without him. Not only do I have a phone phobia but I have a social phobia as well and new things are really hard for me. Ugh...this stresses me out so much I would rather just not write about it right now. I am having a good day. No need to ruin it.
As for Alexis there was a parent meeting for gymnastics that also had me stressing out. The gym is closing for one week this summer and that made me realize there would be 4 weeks that Alexis would miss gymnastics b/c of vacations and Bible camp in a row. One week out and I feel like the girls are rusty. 4 weeks....NO WAY! So now I am frantically trying to change her Canada travel plans with my parents to see if it can overlap the week the gym is already closed. Bible Camp obviously is a priority so I am fine with her missing that week.
The triplets had a good week. On Thursday, I took them for their 5 year check ups. I was totally expecting lots of tears for the Kindergarten shots. They were great. Adam was the only one who shed even a small tear and that was probably b/c he went last and had to watch his brothers get shots before him. Really they were wonderful. Everybody is growing well. Adam is huge and Ryan and Landon are little. I think Adam weighed 46 pounds while Landon was 38 and Ryan 39. Ryan is my shortest but only by 1/2 inch. Adam is like 2.5 inches taller than his brothers.
Clark has been on call this weekend. We hosted Bible study on Friday and while he was home for that shortly after everyone left, he had to go back in the hospital and I didn't see him for the next 12 hours. The rest of the weekend has been fine. We even managed a date night last night. We went out to dinner and then rented a movie to watch at home. Today we went to church. The Pastor was totally speaking my language today b/c he started by talking about the Boston Marathon!! I don't know about anyone else but he had my attention..hahaha! It was another great message! Alright. I have spent enough time with this update. Laundry still needs to be done.
Happy training and in the words of Pastor Steve, "keep running the race and encouraging others along the way."
This is marathon week for my friend Keith! Thinking happy thoughts for him all week and hope and pray that come next Saturday he is able to pull off a 3:05 marathon thereby qualifying for Boston!!!!!!!!!
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Week 14...Taper Long Run..Done
I know that I want this blog to be more positive, but today just let me vent. I won't post it to facebook so if you are reading at least it wasn't thrown in your face. Today was a bit complicated b/c I had to take the triplets to get their KG check-ups and shots. They did great. I will update their stats later in the blog. Because of this appointment I could not hook up with Jaime on the Monon until 12:30. That seemed a weird time to start a run. I knew I would be eating lunch in the car on the drive and since we haven't been to the store in forever, I had very few choices. So I ate 2 strawberry pop tarts and some sweet and salty granola bar. I know, I know but it was very slim pickins. Today it was warm. Jaime HATES warm. She likes it to be 40-50 max. I don't mind as much but I have gotten used to cooler weather. Still, for me, it shouldn't have made a big difference (which other than drinking more, I don't think it did).
Anymore I HATE the first 4 miles of any run I do. HATE HATE HATE IT! That is when I hurt the worst and think about nothing but giving up. My compartment syndrome is bad right now (probably b/c of the steroids). My hip (or actually this time more my femur) was killing me. Finally as a result of the two previous mentioned issues my back is flaring up. Really the first mile was fine. I don't get the compartment syndrome until almost the end of the first mile. Then it hits, and it hurts. During it, I can't ever get a normal stride and my feet (this time just on my left) slap on the ground b/c I can't bring my feet up anymore until it has resolved. That was what started hurting my back. Jaime even gave me the okay to stop if needed, but I know that I just have to keep going and it WILL go away. By mile 4, no more compartment syndrome. Today it didn't even last that long. I think it was gone at mile 3. Then by mile 4 either I just get used to the hip pain or it gets better and I finally felt like my running stride was not a limping stride. I am convinced that I need to program into my music a little pep talk between miles 2-4 reminding myself that it if I just keep going it WILL get better. I know that but man what a way to start and always so tempting to just quit.
While I shouldn't really be speaking for Jaime, I know she was worried about today's run from a pain standpoint as well. Her foot has been bothering her and she (exactly like me with my femur) freaks with every pain b/c she has had 2 stress fractures in her foot and any pain makes her think it is back. It is funny b/c we really are opposite with our running. She always feels great at the start and then wears down a little at the end, and I do just the opposite. Probably makes us good partners b/c she pushes me when I want to quit, and I push her when she wants to stop. So about the time I started to feel good, she started to hurt more and never felt great from a cardio, stomach, foot, heat standpoint. So we finished out our run without paying any attention to pace. I enjoyed it. It wasn't terribly hard after we slowed down. Here are our splits:
Mile 1: 8:10
Mile2 8:30
Mile 3 8:29
Mile 4 8:26
Mile 5 8:22
Mile 6 8:27
Mile 7 8:40
Mile 8 8:53
Mile 9 9:02
Mile10 8:46
Mile 11 8:51
Mile 12 8:53
Overall average pace of 8:37! Not too bad considering my hard start and her hard finish..and the heat. We were both fine with that.
The venting more comes in b/c I am telling you my legs/back are dangerously close to screwing all this up. My pains are getting worse. My pace is getting slower. I am starting to doubt myself and my ability to make 26 miles. I am doubting my very simple goal of just finishing. I don't care about the pace anymore (although it was soooo depressing to look back at my old running blog and almost never see splits above an 8 min mile and many short runs with miles in the 6's/low 7's).
I am very also very stressed about the kids and their sports. I will need at least one more venting post all about that at some point this weekend. It is nothing bad but more just hard to figure out how to be in so many places at once:)
Anymore I HATE the first 4 miles of any run I do. HATE HATE HATE IT! That is when I hurt the worst and think about nothing but giving up. My compartment syndrome is bad right now (probably b/c of the steroids). My hip (or actually this time more my femur) was killing me. Finally as a result of the two previous mentioned issues my back is flaring up. Really the first mile was fine. I don't get the compartment syndrome until almost the end of the first mile. Then it hits, and it hurts. During it, I can't ever get a normal stride and my feet (this time just on my left) slap on the ground b/c I can't bring my feet up anymore until it has resolved. That was what started hurting my back. Jaime even gave me the okay to stop if needed, but I know that I just have to keep going and it WILL go away. By mile 4, no more compartment syndrome. Today it didn't even last that long. I think it was gone at mile 3. Then by mile 4 either I just get used to the hip pain or it gets better and I finally felt like my running stride was not a limping stride. I am convinced that I need to program into my music a little pep talk between miles 2-4 reminding myself that it if I just keep going it WILL get better. I know that but man what a way to start and always so tempting to just quit.
While I shouldn't really be speaking for Jaime, I know she was worried about today's run from a pain standpoint as well. Her foot has been bothering her and she (exactly like me with my femur) freaks with every pain b/c she has had 2 stress fractures in her foot and any pain makes her think it is back. It is funny b/c we really are opposite with our running. She always feels great at the start and then wears down a little at the end, and I do just the opposite. Probably makes us good partners b/c she pushes me when I want to quit, and I push her when she wants to stop. So about the time I started to feel good, she started to hurt more and never felt great from a cardio, stomach, foot, heat standpoint. So we finished out our run without paying any attention to pace. I enjoyed it. It wasn't terribly hard after we slowed down. Here are our splits:
Mile 1: 8:10
Mile2 8:30
Mile 3 8:29
Mile 4 8:26
Mile 5 8:22
Mile 6 8:27
Mile 7 8:40
Mile 8 8:53
Mile 9 9:02
Mile10 8:46
Mile 11 8:51
Mile 12 8:53
Overall average pace of 8:37! Not too bad considering my hard start and her hard finish..and the heat. We were both fine with that.
The venting more comes in b/c I am telling you my legs/back are dangerously close to screwing all this up. My pains are getting worse. My pace is getting slower. I am starting to doubt myself and my ability to make 26 miles. I am doubting my very simple goal of just finishing. I don't care about the pace anymore (although it was soooo depressing to look back at my old running blog and almost never see splits above an 8 min mile and many short runs with miles in the 6's/low 7's).
I am very also very stressed about the kids and their sports. I will need at least one more venting post all about that at some point this weekend. It is nothing bad but more just hard to figure out how to be in so many places at once:)
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Training week in review
Not much in the blogging mood this week. This has been a so so week. I missed a run day, so that was bad but I did my long run, so I am still satisfied. Here is the run down of the week.
Monday: REST=work and call
Tuesday: Ran 5 miles on the treadmill. Painful stopped a lot.
Wednesday: Went to the Y and did the bike for 1 hour while reading The Bronze Horseman.
Thursday: See the last blog post. Ran 19miles (11.5 with Jaime and 7.5 myself).
Friday: Went to the Y and did the bike for 1 hour. Read more of the Bronze Horseman. Before I started the bike my right hip was hurting quite a bit from the long run. The bike made it feel soooo much better. Not sure I understand that, but it does help. When I get off that bike my hip does not hurt. Doesn't last but for awhile it does not hurt!!
Saturday: Was totally supposed to run 5 miles. I am on call this weekend so it was going to have to be on the Tmill since I couldn't take my work phone in the rain. I think that is maybe why I never got it done. All day I just kept saying I was going to do it soon. By 10pm I realized it wasn't going to happen. So this was a rest day.
Sunday: I had good intentions of doing 10 miles to make up for the 5 I did not do yesterday. Both Nick and Alexis went with me, and we just did my old one mile loop b/c I never wanted to be more than 8 minutes away from easily being able to answer a patient/hospital phone call. Alexis carried my phone, and we stopped after every mile to check it. After the first mile I informed the kids we were only doing 5 miles. I just didn't have 10 in me today. My legs were sore. My right hip is not feeling good. My shins hurt. Besides all that pain, it was windy. I figured pushing it just to make up yesterday was not worth it. Instead I just tried to push myself a little during the 5 one mile intervals that I was doing. Mile 1: 8:06. Mile 2 7:46. Mile 3 7:46. Mile 4 7:50. Mile 5 7:34.
In other sports related news. I didn't realize Jaime had already gotten her bike. I am a little behind and need to get one here soon, so we can go riding together. Other than the bike at the gym (which is not a spin bike) I know nothing about riding. I know the thought scares me, and I am sure I am going to get hit and killed by a car in the process. Still I am a follower so if Jaime is doing it, so am I....hahaha!! Well...that and the fact that my husband is into riding now more than running. I can assure you that I will never like riding more than running, but it might be fun (or so Jaime says).
Also, I don't think I mentioned this yet. Keith and Shane are in fact doing the Cleveland marathon as well. Clark is acting as chauffeur for the weekend (getting us to Cleveland and back and getting us to the start of the race:) I learned a huge lesson to not wait until the last minute to find a hotel when doing a big race. There was NOTHING in the downtown Cleveland area by the start. I mean nothing. Clark called lots of places to see. We ended up having to book a cheaper hotel outside the downtown area and Clark will drive us in. Keith and Shane are there as well. They are super excited to be sharing a king bed together!! Nate and Kimberlee originally booked a different hotel, but when I reminded Nate just how bad the reviews for that place were, they changed to ours. Nate decided that maybe his wife Kimberlee should be near an OBGYN since she will be very pregnant at the time of the race.
Next, I am not going to do the Carmel half next weekend b/c I can't find anyone to do it with me. I was just going to do it as a training run but not fast. It just fell on a taper week so I thought it sounded fun. None of my friends want to do it b/c they are all doing the mini in 3 weeks. Actually if you remember my 2012 running goals, Stephanie was supposed to run the Carmel with me but then she had to go getting preggo for the 4th time::)) Excuses! Excuses!
Finally I forgot to mention I went and saw my sports med doctor. I just love him! I think after a few years of seeing me, he understands me well. He kind of always walks in the room with a little apprehension and if I could read his mind, I predict him to be saying, "okay lets see what kind of issue she is going to have today." Not in a 'I don't believe her' way but more in a 'please don't be anything that means I have to tell her she can't run way. I put his fears to ease right away and the first words out of my mouth (after the usual hello) were, "don't worry....this is an easy one." He confirmed I have plantar fasciitis and we discussed treatments. He also agrees with Shane that my shin pain is related to the plantar fasciitis and probably not a stress fracture but that if it gets worse we could do imaging. I informed him only would do plain film b/c unless bad enough to show up on that, I was running no matter what. Actually I told him I would run even then so really probably just something we wouldn't want to know. He laughed and agreed and said the worst that could happen is your leg just breaks at mile 16. To which I said that is a risk I would be willing to take b/c I AM running this race. He just says, he knows. As for the plantar/shin issue that I actually do have... we are doing steroid dose pack. This is what I wanted but I was worried about the timing. He said we do one now and we do another the week of the race if needed. I like that. He said I need to find that foot brace thing I once bought Clark but that he never used and sleep in it. I need to make some ice cups. I need Shane to be doing therapy to help. I need to stretch. See that was an easy appointment. I didn't end up asking him about the chest pain. Seemed like he was having a busy day and that just seemed silly and cruel. If I drop dead someday while running, it was my heart but no worries b/c if I was running I was happy!!
Well, I need to end this hear b/c the kids just came in for cheese b/c they have found a trapped mouse outside. I must investigate.
Monday: REST=work and call
Tuesday: Ran 5 miles on the treadmill. Painful stopped a lot.
Wednesday: Went to the Y and did the bike for 1 hour while reading The Bronze Horseman.
Thursday: See the last blog post. Ran 19miles (11.5 with Jaime and 7.5 myself).
Friday: Went to the Y and did the bike for 1 hour. Read more of the Bronze Horseman. Before I started the bike my right hip was hurting quite a bit from the long run. The bike made it feel soooo much better. Not sure I understand that, but it does help. When I get off that bike my hip does not hurt. Doesn't last but for awhile it does not hurt!!
Saturday: Was totally supposed to run 5 miles. I am on call this weekend so it was going to have to be on the Tmill since I couldn't take my work phone in the rain. I think that is maybe why I never got it done. All day I just kept saying I was going to do it soon. By 10pm I realized it wasn't going to happen. So this was a rest day.
Sunday: I had good intentions of doing 10 miles to make up for the 5 I did not do yesterday. Both Nick and Alexis went with me, and we just did my old one mile loop b/c I never wanted to be more than 8 minutes away from easily being able to answer a patient/hospital phone call. Alexis carried my phone, and we stopped after every mile to check it. After the first mile I informed the kids we were only doing 5 miles. I just didn't have 10 in me today. My legs were sore. My right hip is not feeling good. My shins hurt. Besides all that pain, it was windy. I figured pushing it just to make up yesterday was not worth it. Instead I just tried to push myself a little during the 5 one mile intervals that I was doing. Mile 1: 8:06. Mile 2 7:46. Mile 3 7:46. Mile 4 7:50. Mile 5 7:34.
In other sports related news. I didn't realize Jaime had already gotten her bike. I am a little behind and need to get one here soon, so we can go riding together. Other than the bike at the gym (which is not a spin bike) I know nothing about riding. I know the thought scares me, and I am sure I am going to get hit and killed by a car in the process. Still I am a follower so if Jaime is doing it, so am I....hahaha!! Well...that and the fact that my husband is into riding now more than running. I can assure you that I will never like riding more than running, but it might be fun (or so Jaime says).
Also, I don't think I mentioned this yet. Keith and Shane are in fact doing the Cleveland marathon as well. Clark is acting as chauffeur for the weekend (getting us to Cleveland and back and getting us to the start of the race:) I learned a huge lesson to not wait until the last minute to find a hotel when doing a big race. There was NOTHING in the downtown Cleveland area by the start. I mean nothing. Clark called lots of places to see. We ended up having to book a cheaper hotel outside the downtown area and Clark will drive us in. Keith and Shane are there as well. They are super excited to be sharing a king bed together!! Nate and Kimberlee originally booked a different hotel, but when I reminded Nate just how bad the reviews for that place were, they changed to ours. Nate decided that maybe his wife Kimberlee should be near an OBGYN since she will be very pregnant at the time of the race.
Next, I am not going to do the Carmel half next weekend b/c I can't find anyone to do it with me. I was just going to do it as a training run but not fast. It just fell on a taper week so I thought it sounded fun. None of my friends want to do it b/c they are all doing the mini in 3 weeks. Actually if you remember my 2012 running goals, Stephanie was supposed to run the Carmel with me but then she had to go getting preggo for the 4th time::)) Excuses! Excuses!
Finally I forgot to mention I went and saw my sports med doctor. I just love him! I think after a few years of seeing me, he understands me well. He kind of always walks in the room with a little apprehension and if I could read his mind, I predict him to be saying, "okay lets see what kind of issue she is going to have today." Not in a 'I don't believe her' way but more in a 'please don't be anything that means I have to tell her she can't run way. I put his fears to ease right away and the first words out of my mouth (after the usual hello) were, "don't worry....this is an easy one." He confirmed I have plantar fasciitis and we discussed treatments. He also agrees with Shane that my shin pain is related to the plantar fasciitis and probably not a stress fracture but that if it gets worse we could do imaging. I informed him only would do plain film b/c unless bad enough to show up on that, I was running no matter what. Actually I told him I would run even then so really probably just something we wouldn't want to know. He laughed and agreed and said the worst that could happen is your leg just breaks at mile 16. To which I said that is a risk I would be willing to take b/c I AM running this race. He just says, he knows. As for the plantar/shin issue that I actually do have... we are doing steroid dose pack. This is what I wanted but I was worried about the timing. He said we do one now and we do another the week of the race if needed. I like that. He said I need to find that foot brace thing I once bought Clark but that he never used and sleep in it. I need to make some ice cups. I need Shane to be doing therapy to help. I need to stretch. See that was an easy appointment. I didn't end up asking him about the chest pain. Seemed like he was having a busy day and that just seemed silly and cruel. If I drop dead someday while running, it was my heart but no worries b/c if I was running I was happy!!
Well, I need to end this hear b/c the kids just came in for cheese b/c they have found a trapped mouse outside. I must investigate.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Week 13 Long Run...DONE
I have to keep this short b/c I really need to close my eyes for at least 30 minutes before the big kids walk thru the door and we take off with hours of evening driving. Every Thursday starts early. I am up by 5:20 to get myself ready and then wake the triplets early to get them to school so I can make my 8am PT appointment. It was good to see Shane again. I basically just see him before my long runs now. We discussed my shin and plantar fasciitis. He thinks the shin is more related to the foot and nothing serious. That's what I had started to think and went back and forth on cancelling my appointment with sports med tomorrow, but I still want the script for a steroid dose pack so will keep it. I also need some reassurance that I am in fact crazy from my doctor on something else. Will get to that later. In therapy, Shane stretched my hip and reassured me that my hip seems to be holding up great this go round. Then we did tools to my leg and foot. The foot part did not hurt, but I hate tooling of the lower leg. That ranks right up there with laser hair removal of the lower leg. Still I got thru the run and if it might help, I will endure!! At least Shane knows how to distract me with conversation while he is using the torture tools. We laughed hard reliving the awesome (NOT) hotel we stayed at for our Vegas running trip. His room had leaky loud toilet that he tried fixing multiple times and backed up shower water. Keith never gets to pick the hotel for any group running trip again!!
After therapy I headed up to meet Jaime on the Monon! Her plan was to run 11 or 12 miles. I of course was doing 19. The weather was great for running. Not too cold, but cold enough I used my arm covers for awhile. No significant wind and yet somehow parts still seemed windy, and no matter what direction we were running it seemed to be head on. It was weird. Again it was not more than 4mph wind, so I can't complain. I was very nervous for this run. After last week, I wasn't sure I would even be able to do it. I was worried Jaime would try and kill me at the start. The first 4 miles to me felt very long. I just kept thinking I had a lot to go. After that, I did finally start to warm up and things got a little better. The goal was to run out 6 miles and back 6 miles. We were close. At 5.73 miles we would have had to cross a major intersection and Jaime just wanted to turn around. Speed wise we were not doing bad at the start but slower than our last long run. On the way back we slowed down even more. Just wasn't a fast running day for either of us. She was doing fine cardio wise but kept saying her legs felt like lead and she couldn't push thru it. I thought my legs were holding up better than expected (at that point) but cardio wise I was tired despite the slow pace. When we got back to where we started, we had done 11.5 miles. I had some garmin issues somewhere between mile 5 and 6 and it simply wasn't working for about .75 miles. That annoys me but Jaime's garmin was still working and our average pace was not that far off (my just figured for less mileage than we really did but average pace still figures out okay). So our average pace for the first 11.5 miles was 8:25 (Jaime's garmin said 8:23 but I go with mine).
I spent my usual 5 minutes or more (with the garmin stopped) telling Jaime bye, refilling my drinks, going to the bathroom. I am really going to miss this long mid run break that will NOT be happening during the race. Sadly I really look forward to it. Finally she left, and I was ready to go back out. I turned on the music and off I went. Those 7.5 miles were tough. It was all I could do to get thru them. Lots of mental games and breaking down the distance in a million ways. On my 3.75 miles back (toward my start and car) I really started to feel my feet. While I thought it was a tear of some sort on the bottom of my right foot I realized once getting home I just have another big blister but this one is on the bottom of my foot right where my big toe attaches to the rest of the foot. Crappy location b/c you feel it with every step. Ouch!! My last 3 miles I got to feel Jaime's pain. My legs at that point felt like lead and were not moving that fast. Normally I like to have a little kick at the end. There was nothing today!! The average pace for that 7.5 miles was 8:06. Trust me it took everything I had in me to get that. At the end I felt sick. The 45 minute drive home was rough.
So here is the specific breakdown (keeping in mind that somewhere I lost .75 miles)
Mile 1: 8:04 (way way way too fast for my liking)
Mile 2: 8:23
Mile 3 8:24
Mile 4 8:16
Mile 5 8:14 (I think this is where I started to feel better)
Mile 6 8:19
Mile 7 8:30 (this is where Jaime's legs were feeling like lead and cardio wise I was more than happy to slow down)
Mile 8 8:42
Mile 9 8:44 (I was really hoping at this point we did not hit the 9 minute mark)
Mile 10 8:32
Mile 11 (part of it) 8:25
Again there is a missing 0.75 miles in there (but didn't matter b/c according to Jaime's gamin it didn't change the average)
My 5 minute break.....ahhhhhh!!!
Mile 12: 7:44 (my first mile back out is always fast....this was a little too fast and I paid for it the rest of the run)
Mile 13 8:04
Mile 14 8:13
Mile 15 8:04
Mile 16 8:10
Mile 17 8:13
Mile 18 8:10
Mile 19 8:08 (here is where I started with chest pain that I am sure is nothing but just need my sports doc to remind me that I am crazy and fine). Seriously though I was having chest pain and back pain between my shoulder blades for a good 10-15 minutes after my run. I had just run 19 miles. I am sure my chest, back and every other part of me is supposed to hurt!
So if you figure all that up I think my overall average pace was 8:16! NO chance I could keep that up and I will be going with a MUCH slower pace group on race day. I think I will try and stay with the 3:55 pace group and try and enjoy the run instead of kill myself on the run!
Happy training and quick healing for all those who need it!!
After therapy I headed up to meet Jaime on the Monon! Her plan was to run 11 or 12 miles. I of course was doing 19. The weather was great for running. Not too cold, but cold enough I used my arm covers for awhile. No significant wind and yet somehow parts still seemed windy, and no matter what direction we were running it seemed to be head on. It was weird. Again it was not more than 4mph wind, so I can't complain. I was very nervous for this run. After last week, I wasn't sure I would even be able to do it. I was worried Jaime would try and kill me at the start. The first 4 miles to me felt very long. I just kept thinking I had a lot to go. After that, I did finally start to warm up and things got a little better. The goal was to run out 6 miles and back 6 miles. We were close. At 5.73 miles we would have had to cross a major intersection and Jaime just wanted to turn around. Speed wise we were not doing bad at the start but slower than our last long run. On the way back we slowed down even more. Just wasn't a fast running day for either of us. She was doing fine cardio wise but kept saying her legs felt like lead and she couldn't push thru it. I thought my legs were holding up better than expected (at that point) but cardio wise I was tired despite the slow pace. When we got back to where we started, we had done 11.5 miles. I had some garmin issues somewhere between mile 5 and 6 and it simply wasn't working for about .75 miles. That annoys me but Jaime's garmin was still working and our average pace was not that far off (my just figured for less mileage than we really did but average pace still figures out okay). So our average pace for the first 11.5 miles was 8:25 (Jaime's garmin said 8:23 but I go with mine).
I spent my usual 5 minutes or more (with the garmin stopped) telling Jaime bye, refilling my drinks, going to the bathroom. I am really going to miss this long mid run break that will NOT be happening during the race. Sadly I really look forward to it. Finally she left, and I was ready to go back out. I turned on the music and off I went. Those 7.5 miles were tough. It was all I could do to get thru them. Lots of mental games and breaking down the distance in a million ways. On my 3.75 miles back (toward my start and car) I really started to feel my feet. While I thought it was a tear of some sort on the bottom of my right foot I realized once getting home I just have another big blister but this one is on the bottom of my foot right where my big toe attaches to the rest of the foot. Crappy location b/c you feel it with every step. Ouch!! My last 3 miles I got to feel Jaime's pain. My legs at that point felt like lead and were not moving that fast. Normally I like to have a little kick at the end. There was nothing today!! The average pace for that 7.5 miles was 8:06. Trust me it took everything I had in me to get that. At the end I felt sick. The 45 minute drive home was rough.
So here is the specific breakdown (keeping in mind that somewhere I lost .75 miles)
Mile 1: 8:04 (way way way too fast for my liking)
Mile 2: 8:23
Mile 3 8:24
Mile 4 8:16
Mile 5 8:14 (I think this is where I started to feel better)
Mile 6 8:19
Mile 7 8:30 (this is where Jaime's legs were feeling like lead and cardio wise I was more than happy to slow down)
Mile 8 8:42
Mile 9 8:44 (I was really hoping at this point we did not hit the 9 minute mark)
Mile 10 8:32
Mile 11 (part of it) 8:25
Again there is a missing 0.75 miles in there (but didn't matter b/c according to Jaime's gamin it didn't change the average)
My 5 minute break.....ahhhhhh!!!
Mile 12: 7:44 (my first mile back out is always fast....this was a little too fast and I paid for it the rest of the run)
Mile 13 8:04
Mile 14 8:13
Mile 15 8:04
Mile 16 8:10
Mile 17 8:13
Mile 18 8:10
Mile 19 8:08 (here is where I started with chest pain that I am sure is nothing but just need my sports doc to remind me that I am crazy and fine). Seriously though I was having chest pain and back pain between my shoulder blades for a good 10-15 minutes after my run. I had just run 19 miles. I am sure my chest, back and every other part of me is supposed to hurt!
So if you figure all that up I think my overall average pace was 8:16! NO chance I could keep that up and I will be going with a MUCH slower pace group on race day. I think I will try and stay with the 3:55 pace group and try and enjoy the run instead of kill myself on the run!
Happy training and quick healing for all those who need it!!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Easter 2012
I kind of forgot I had not blogged an Easter post yet. Of course now I really don't have the time to say much. Busy week! I will mostly post a few pictures. In short, we went the the Saturday Easter church service instead of Sunday (b/c our church kept sending out so many emails about how busy they were thinking Sunday would be). It turned out great b/c tons of the kid's friends went that night and Stephanie and Matt were there to sit with us just as if it were a normal Sunday morning. Alexis wore her Easter dress, and I forgot to take a picture. Oh well. We didn't color eggs or anything here at home. I just had a small Easter basket waiting for each kid when they woke up. Nothing big. Lots of candy. The triplets got a knight/horse and pokemon cards. Alexis got American girl craft kit and legos. Nick got football game for Xbox 360. In the evening, we went to my mom's. This is where the kids hunt eggs. It was very organized this year. My mom hides plastic eggs and inside the egg is just a number. In both the back and front yard everyone has to find one of each color eggs. So in the back you are looking for 6 different colored eggs. Then we go out front and kids do the same. This prevents anyone person from finding too many and makes it fun for everyone. So you might see two yellow eggs but you can only get one and someone else will get to find the other. It worked great b/c there were no tears that so in so got more, etc. Then once all 12 eggs are found kids go inside and we open them one by one. Inside is just a number but that number means a certain bag for my mom. Once a number is called my mom gets the bag and hands out what all the kids get. In many bags there is just candy (like bubble tape gum, pack of Skittles, etc). Some bags go with toys which you can see in the pictures. A couple of the eggs have money. One has 4 quarters. One has a dollar. One has a 5 dollar bill. Finally one has a 10 dollar bill. This system is a great one and really decreases the chaos that can happen with 7 children.
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Week 12 Training in Review
This will be short. Since I have blogged every day, all this info has already been written down. I will just summarize.
Monday: Went to gym and did bike for one hour.
Tuesday: Ran 8 miles in the morning. In looking back at my garmin it looks like I ran 8.12 miles with an average pace of 8:11.
Wednesday: Got my new shoes so instead of going to gym I ran on treadmill for 5 miles. This was a pathetic run with a pace of 8:57 and stops after almost every mile.
Thursday: Rest day. Since I worked the second half of the week this was my call night.
Friday: Rest day. I worked and didn't feel like going to gym when I got home.
Saturday: Would like to forget this run. Just kidding. I ran 13 miles with Clark with pace of 8:13. It is not at all the pace that upset me so much. It was just how horrible I felt the entire time. If my marathon was yesterday I would have been walking much of the second half. That is why I am frustrated. I just had nothing in me and it makes me wonder if I will really be able to even finish the 26 miles (forget the speed of things and my desire to at least come in under 4 hours).
Sunday: I ran 5 miles while Nick was rollerblading. Pace was 7:55. The wind was crazy. You could tell the miles when I was running more into the wind. Here are the splits: 8:11, 7:56, 8:01, 7: 42, 7:44. Interestingly my leg foot and shin did not hurt as bad during this run but my right hip was acting up.
So here's my final thoughts about week 12. I think my legs/feet are starting to feel the effects of training. I think I peaked when it comes to speed and am now going to have to settle for slower speeds if I want to make it the remainder of the 6 weeks until the race. I think I have to get back to the just finish mindset! Last week was probably my best week of training. I was kind of on a runner's high. This week has been a bit of a runner's low. That is the way it goes. Considering today is Easter, trying to focus on what is really important. Clark had a good point this morning. When I was dreading going out to do 5 miles and making comments about how I just want this marathon to be over, he just looked at me and said, "I thought you loved running." It was not so much what he said but the way he said it. I need to remember that. I do LOVE running. I am so happy that I am even able to run after all my various injuries. I need to stop getting so stressed out about this marathon and just love the runs. Easier to write, harder to actually do!!
This has been a tough week for a running friend of mine as well. This person is one of the strongest runners I know but they are having to deal with a hip injury just a couple weeks before their marathon. Only runners can understand just how devastating it is when training is going great and then comes to almost a screeching halt literally overnight b/c of in injury. Will be praying for all my running friends that are trying reach certain goals despite injuries.
Happy training. NO QUITING!!!
Monday: Went to gym and did bike for one hour.
Tuesday: Ran 8 miles in the morning. In looking back at my garmin it looks like I ran 8.12 miles with an average pace of 8:11.
Wednesday: Got my new shoes so instead of going to gym I ran on treadmill for 5 miles. This was a pathetic run with a pace of 8:57 and stops after almost every mile.
Thursday: Rest day. Since I worked the second half of the week this was my call night.
Friday: Rest day. I worked and didn't feel like going to gym when I got home.
Saturday: Would like to forget this run. Just kidding. I ran 13 miles with Clark with pace of 8:13. It is not at all the pace that upset me so much. It was just how horrible I felt the entire time. If my marathon was yesterday I would have been walking much of the second half. That is why I am frustrated. I just had nothing in me and it makes me wonder if I will really be able to even finish the 26 miles (forget the speed of things and my desire to at least come in under 4 hours).
Sunday: I ran 5 miles while Nick was rollerblading. Pace was 7:55. The wind was crazy. You could tell the miles when I was running more into the wind. Here are the splits: 8:11, 7:56, 8:01, 7: 42, 7:44. Interestingly my leg foot and shin did not hurt as bad during this run but my right hip was acting up.
So here's my final thoughts about week 12. I think my legs/feet are starting to feel the effects of training. I think I peaked when it comes to speed and am now going to have to settle for slower speeds if I want to make it the remainder of the 6 weeks until the race. I think I have to get back to the just finish mindset! Last week was probably my best week of training. I was kind of on a runner's high. This week has been a bit of a runner's low. That is the way it goes. Considering today is Easter, trying to focus on what is really important. Clark had a good point this morning. When I was dreading going out to do 5 miles and making comments about how I just want this marathon to be over, he just looked at me and said, "I thought you loved running." It was not so much what he said but the way he said it. I need to remember that. I do LOVE running. I am so happy that I am even able to run after all my various injuries. I need to stop getting so stressed out about this marathon and just love the runs. Easier to write, harder to actually do!!
This has been a tough week for a running friend of mine as well. This person is one of the strongest runners I know but they are having to deal with a hip injury just a couple weeks before their marathon. Only runners can understand just how devastating it is when training is going great and then comes to almost a screeching halt literally overnight b/c of in injury. Will be praying for all my running friends that are trying reach certain goals despite injuries.
Happy training. NO QUITING!!!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Week 12 Long Run...HORRIBLE
Week 12 is a taper week for me. My long run was only 13 miles. One would think that since I just ran 18 miles last week with an average pace of 8:09 that 13 miles should be a piece of cake....right?? WRONG!! This was the hardest long run (that wasn't even that long) that I have had so far. I ran it with Clark. That may have been the problem. I am not sure we make the best running partners. We ran his usual long run loop around here. All I confirmed from this run is that I SUCK with hills. It was just one hill after another. That is how I felt anyhow. Clark likes hills obviously. I do NOT. I just felt horrible on this run. I kept waiting to get past the 4 mile mark when normally I start to feel better but it didn't happen b/c we just kept hitting hill after hill. Actually I think the first half went okay. Not great but okay but I DIED on the second half. It wasn't even my legs so much. It was just that I felt terrible. Cardio wise I guess. Clark would say I became EVIL after the 7th mile. He made the mistake of lying to me saying there was only one more hill. 4 hills later and I was cursing him out like crazy. I just kept saying I was "dying" and that he was "trying to kill me." I really did not think I could make the 13 miles. I was having chest pain and for once I thought I was going to just fall over and die on the spot. At least I was with someone who should know how to do CPR:) Clark just kept telling me to quit yelling at him b/c all I was doing was wasting my energy. I felt like I had no energy so cursing seemed appropriate. I do kind of feel bad now b/c I was "EVIL." I was just so frustrated that I simply could not move and all I could think was if I am having this much trouble doing 13, there is NO WAY I can do a marathon. As for my legs, my left heel is killing me. Really didn't start to feel it until mile 10ish but feel it a ton now that I am done. My shin not as bad as the heel/foot but feel it more now that I am done. Still have my appointment with sports med next Friday. Think I will be keeping it. Also hoping that when Shane told me not to worry b/c he taught my old PT everything he knew that included issues with feet. My old therapist likes feet and it is sort of his area of expertise. Never understood why anyone would like feet. Personally I find feet disgusting!! Now however mine seem to be causing some issues.
Okay so here are the crappy details of today's run. Ran 13 miles. Overall average pace 8:13
Mile 1 8:07
Mile 2 8:23
Mile 3 8:08
Mile 4 8:10
Mile 5 8:14
Mile 6 8:12
Mile 7 7:54 (must have been the one flat stretch)
Mile8 8:12 (here is where EVIL Christy appeared)
Mile 9 8:13
Mile 10 8:18 (around here is when I started complaining of chest pain)
Mile 11 8:21
Mile 12 8:31 (I told you I was about to die)
Mile 13 8:03 (came to the realization I was actually not going to die and the run was almost over)
Okay so here are the crappy details of today's run. Ran 13 miles. Overall average pace 8:13
Mile 1 8:07
Mile 2 8:23
Mile 3 8:08
Mile 4 8:10
Mile 5 8:14
Mile 6 8:12
Mile 7 7:54 (must have been the one flat stretch)
Mile8 8:12 (here is where EVIL Christy appeared)
Mile 9 8:13
Mile 10 8:18 (around here is when I started complaining of chest pain)
Mile 11 8:21
Mile 12 8:31 (I told you I was about to die)
Mile 13 8:03 (came to the realization I was actually not going to die and the run was almost over)
Friday, April 6, 2012
Staycation: the rest
Okay this blogging about spring break week started out fun, but now I am getting bored. Really I am just running out of time or energy to do this daily. I will write about the last 3 days all in one.
Day 6: I guess this would be Wednesday. I got up at 3:45am and rounded on 5 babies. Never can tell how long it is going to take. I got to hospital at around 5:30 and I was done by 6:30 so clearly I got up too darn early. Oh well. Then I worked. Wondered when I got to work why my office was rearranged. Found out shortly thereafter that the plan was for me to give up my office to the front office staff and share with Julie. Neither of us really use our private offices much except to dump our belongings for the day. I am warming up to this idea but have really enjoyed messing around with Sassy who is convinced I hate her for kicking me out of my office. Shh....don't tell her that if this were really a big deal to me, and I was actually terribly upset, I would still be in my office. She doesn't actually have the power to kick me out...hahaha:) It is going to take some getting used to. I keep walking into my old office several times a day looking for my things. While I was gone all day the kids were hanging out at home with Clark. Wednesday seems so long ago I am not even sure what they did. Oh I know...Wednesday was an expensive day. Expenses for us always seem to come all at once. First when driving home from my mom's on Tuesday a rock flew at my windshield and formed a nice crack. Then Wednesday Clark got the nearly 400.00 water bill suggesting that obviously we had a leak somewhere. Plumber came out but didn't find a leak. No clue really, but the water people said it is not still running and yes we have to pay all that. The plumber also said that all our pipes have a bunch of deposits on them b/c we don't have a water softener, and we are crazy b/c we don't have a back up sump pump and the originals only last 5-7 years and we have been here 5. Absolutely none of that sounds cheap. I think the kids mostly played at home while Clark was trying to sort that all that. In the evening, I ran a very painful 5 miles on the treadmill. I haven't run on the treadmill in awhile and boy did I suck at it. The pace was 8:57 and I thought I was dying. So much harder than outside. Clark was making fun of me because I think I came upstairs at least 3 times during that 5 miles. It was rough.
Day 7: Thursday: I got up early again (but not quite as early) and rounded on 3 babies. Then I worked. Painfully slow day. Literally 4 hours of no patients (okay some of that time was lunch, etc) but then come 4:30 walk ins show up. I was frustrated b/c we had soooooo many open appointments during the day there was no reason I was still there until after 5:45. Okay that is all I am saying about that. I would much rather have all scheduled appointments. Start early. Have much shorter lunches and go home at a better time. That is just me!! The triplets went to preschool for the day. Clark hung out with the big kids. I think he went to the grocery store and I think kids played outside some. Nick spent much of his day playing a new computer game called Mindcraft (I think). On Wednesday this caused quite the fight with Clark and I b/c Nick had been really wanting this game and was totally willing to pay the 27.00 out of his money to get it. I thought that was fine. Clark just kept saying he had to think about it and was totally against it b/c of the cost. He felt like the only reason it was so much higher than most other computer games is b/c people keep paying for it and therefore they jack up the price. He had this entire argument that I disagreed with entirely. I felt like if Nick wanted to use his own money, so be it. I kept trying to use examples of things Clark spends money on that I think are a waste but yet something he enjoys (going to hockey games...400 for 2 tickets...ummm that seems stupid to me and only happens b/c people keep paying for it). Eventually Clark gave in and by Thursday he was willing to get the game for Nick. That night all I wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired. Still I was on call and got a call at 12:45am. Once awake with that, I could not go back to sleep b/c Clark was downstairs screaming at the TV while watching a hockey game. After 1am I marched downstairs and told him to STOP yelling at the TV. The players can't hear him BUT I CAN. Then at 2am he decided to burst thru the bedroom door to go to bed. I just burst into tears at that point b/c I so badly wanted to be sleeping and couldn't. He eventually went to sleep on the couch but not before making his usual comment of, "you weren't asleep anyway." True but I really wanted to be. I am such a light sleeper!! Got another call at 4am and never really went back to sleep. Bummer.
Day 8: Friday (today). Went to work. Painfully slow...again. I am not saying I want to be killed at work, but I would like to feel like I am missing my kids spring break for a reason and at least make it worth my time. The day felt like forever. I did enjoy going to Meijer with Amanda at lunch. Got a few things for Easter. I am working on being more productive during down time. I read medical articles. Some of which made me laugh out loud but are not really appropriate for the blog. The kids went with my mom to my grandma's house so they could get their Easter stuff from her and visit. I think this was nice and got them out of the house. I am sure Clark was thrilled b/c he finally got some free time and started yet another project in the garage. He is building an area for shoes and coats. I am sure it will be nice when done, but if like many other projects it will be months before completed. After the boys were dropped back off at home, my mom took Alexis out to get an Easter dress. I just suggested she wear the one from last year b/c it still fit, but she thought differently. She is the only granddaughter right now so she sometimes gets spoiled by my mom when it comes to clothes. She ended up with 4 dresses, 2 pairs of shoes, one purse, one hat and one swimsuit. I know...I know.... Considering how hard it is for me to get her in a dress these days (except for church), I question the practicality of all that but she felt special, and I am sure my mom enjoyed it! I didn't have to pay, so I can't complain. Tonight Clark fixed a nice fish dinner and now the kids are getting ready for bed. Not the big kids. They stay up forever. I personally want to just crawl in my bed and continue reading my book but Alexis just asked if we could start her 750 piece puzzle. Umm..there goes my reading time but...of course I will do this with her.
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Day 6: I guess this would be Wednesday. I got up at 3:45am and rounded on 5 babies. Never can tell how long it is going to take. I got to hospital at around 5:30 and I was done by 6:30 so clearly I got up too darn early. Oh well. Then I worked. Wondered when I got to work why my office was rearranged. Found out shortly thereafter that the plan was for me to give up my office to the front office staff and share with Julie. Neither of us really use our private offices much except to dump our belongings for the day. I am warming up to this idea but have really enjoyed messing around with Sassy who is convinced I hate her for kicking me out of my office. Shh....don't tell her that if this were really a big deal to me, and I was actually terribly upset, I would still be in my office. She doesn't actually have the power to kick me out...hahaha:) It is going to take some getting used to. I keep walking into my old office several times a day looking for my things. While I was gone all day the kids were hanging out at home with Clark. Wednesday seems so long ago I am not even sure what they did. Oh I know...Wednesday was an expensive day. Expenses for us always seem to come all at once. First when driving home from my mom's on Tuesday a rock flew at my windshield and formed a nice crack. Then Wednesday Clark got the nearly 400.00 water bill suggesting that obviously we had a leak somewhere. Plumber came out but didn't find a leak. No clue really, but the water people said it is not still running and yes we have to pay all that. The plumber also said that all our pipes have a bunch of deposits on them b/c we don't have a water softener, and we are crazy b/c we don't have a back up sump pump and the originals only last 5-7 years and we have been here 5. Absolutely none of that sounds cheap. I think the kids mostly played at home while Clark was trying to sort that all that. In the evening, I ran a very painful 5 miles on the treadmill. I haven't run on the treadmill in awhile and boy did I suck at it. The pace was 8:57 and I thought I was dying. So much harder than outside. Clark was making fun of me because I think I came upstairs at least 3 times during that 5 miles. It was rough.
Day 7: Thursday: I got up early again (but not quite as early) and rounded on 3 babies. Then I worked. Painfully slow day. Literally 4 hours of no patients (okay some of that time was lunch, etc) but then come 4:30 walk ins show up. I was frustrated b/c we had soooooo many open appointments during the day there was no reason I was still there until after 5:45. Okay that is all I am saying about that. I would much rather have all scheduled appointments. Start early. Have much shorter lunches and go home at a better time. That is just me!! The triplets went to preschool for the day. Clark hung out with the big kids. I think he went to the grocery store and I think kids played outside some. Nick spent much of his day playing a new computer game called Mindcraft (I think). On Wednesday this caused quite the fight with Clark and I b/c Nick had been really wanting this game and was totally willing to pay the 27.00 out of his money to get it. I thought that was fine. Clark just kept saying he had to think about it and was totally against it b/c of the cost. He felt like the only reason it was so much higher than most other computer games is b/c people keep paying for it and therefore they jack up the price. He had this entire argument that I disagreed with entirely. I felt like if Nick wanted to use his own money, so be it. I kept trying to use examples of things Clark spends money on that I think are a waste but yet something he enjoys (going to hockey games...400 for 2 tickets...ummm that seems stupid to me and only happens b/c people keep paying for it). Eventually Clark gave in and by Thursday he was willing to get the game for Nick. That night all I wanted to do was sleep. I was so tired. Still I was on call and got a call at 12:45am. Once awake with that, I could not go back to sleep b/c Clark was downstairs screaming at the TV while watching a hockey game. After 1am I marched downstairs and told him to STOP yelling at the TV. The players can't hear him BUT I CAN. Then at 2am he decided to burst thru the bedroom door to go to bed. I just burst into tears at that point b/c I so badly wanted to be sleeping and couldn't. He eventually went to sleep on the couch but not before making his usual comment of, "you weren't asleep anyway." True but I really wanted to be. I am such a light sleeper!! Got another call at 4am and never really went back to sleep. Bummer.
Day 8: Friday (today). Went to work. Painfully slow...again. I am not saying I want to be killed at work, but I would like to feel like I am missing my kids spring break for a reason and at least make it worth my time. The day felt like forever. I did enjoy going to Meijer with Amanda at lunch. Got a few things for Easter. I am working on being more productive during down time. I read medical articles. Some of which made me laugh out loud but are not really appropriate for the blog. The kids went with my mom to my grandma's house so they could get their Easter stuff from her and visit. I think this was nice and got them out of the house. I am sure Clark was thrilled b/c he finally got some free time and started yet another project in the garage. He is building an area for shoes and coats. I am sure it will be nice when done, but if like many other projects it will be months before completed. After the boys were dropped back off at home, my mom took Alexis out to get an Easter dress. I just suggested she wear the one from last year b/c it still fit, but she thought differently. She is the only granddaughter right now so she sometimes gets spoiled by my mom when it comes to clothes. She ended up with 4 dresses, 2 pairs of shoes, one purse, one hat and one swimsuit. I know...I know.... Considering how hard it is for me to get her in a dress these days (except for church), I question the practicality of all that but she felt special, and I am sure my mom enjoyed it! I didn't have to pay, so I can't complain. Tonight Clark fixed a nice fish dinner and now the kids are getting ready for bed. Not the big kids. They stay up forever. I personally want to just crawl in my bed and continue reading my book but Alexis just asked if we could start her 750 piece puzzle. Umm..there goes my reading time but...of course I will do this with her.
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Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Staycation Day 5
I think we should have a wordless Wednesday like a friend of mine has on his blog. In my case it will be "almost" wordless (and while I am writing it on Wednesday it is about Tuesday). Basically I got up and ran 8 miles then came home, and we all went to the museum. Then once we got home I took 4 kids to my mom's house for a little swimming. Adam was too tired and didn't want to go (and now has complained hourly since we got back that he didn't get to go swimming). We ate a nice home cooked family meal. I love hearing the kids pray before we eat. They have no concept that one person can pray for everyone so with 5 kids it can take awhile:) I tried to go to bed early but it didn't happen. That is about as "wordless" as I get!!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Staycation Day 4
I am going to make this one short b/c I think given the fact that tomorrow is going to be another one of those crazy early rounding days (b/c lots of babies) I should go to bed soon! Trying to remember what happened yesterday....
Clark and I were bad parents. The triplets still have preschool this week (well at least Monday and Thursday) and so we still took them. Actually I don't feel bad about this b/c they love school and this week is basically a play week. Clark then went out for a 10.6 mile run. I think his pace was in the 7:30's. It has been a long while since he has done a longer run. My husband is weird. He listened to some sort of news show for the first half of the run. Talk about boring someone to tears. He said he enjoys it and doesn't think of his runs and runs but more "me time" so listening to that doesn't bother him b/c he doesn't care about pace. I think he sounds like the biggest nerd ever. He did admit his splits were faster the second half when he switched to music...duh! While he was gone, I took pictures of Alexis sleeping b/c I thought she was never going to get up. She hardly ever has the chance to sleep in but when she does, she takes FULL advantage. I think it was almost 10am before she got up. Crazy. I could never sleep in that late. Once she was finally up, we continued to work on our Playmobil organization (reality is we were just creating one huge mess).
Once Clark got back, I headed to the gym for a one hour bike ride. I watched the rest of Limitless and started some crazy movie called Precious. That afternoon I had to drive to Carmel for an appointment. I make that sounds like something important right? Not really. Just another one of those torture appointments that Stephanie roped me into buying (laser hair removal). Most painful 10 minutes of my day for sure! I picked up the triplets on the way home. While I was gone, Clark did some yard work while the big kids played outside.
That evening Clark and I took the kids to the depot and went on a date to Rick's Boatyard. Probably our favorite restaurant around here. I am still shocked at how much food we ate. We had an appetizer and wine (Clark had beer). Then bread. Then the meal. Then dessert. It was a lot of food but it was very good. It was the perfect night to sit outside and just talk. What did we talk about?? One guess? Running!! He was giving me all this advice on what I need to do during my marathon. What pace group to start with. How I should not even consider wearing my fuel belt and just rely on drinks that are provided b/c it will slow me down. What to fuel with. How I need to be figuring this all out now. What miles I will drink. What I will eat the night before and morning of, etc etc etc. We talked about how he is going to run with me from mile 14 to 24 if he can find me. I keep having to remind him of my goals....to finish. He is starting to stress me out a bit.
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The rest of the evening was spent taking care of kids, reading a little more of my book and going to bed.
Not a very exciting day for the kids but we made up for that today (which I will blog about tomorrow if I have any energy left after work...which is unlikely). Totally depressed about the next 3 days of work...........
Clark and I were bad parents. The triplets still have preschool this week (well at least Monday and Thursday) and so we still took them. Actually I don't feel bad about this b/c they love school and this week is basically a play week. Clark then went out for a 10.6 mile run. I think his pace was in the 7:30's. It has been a long while since he has done a longer run. My husband is weird. He listened to some sort of news show for the first half of the run. Talk about boring someone to tears. He said he enjoys it and doesn't think of his runs and runs but more "me time" so listening to that doesn't bother him b/c he doesn't care about pace. I think he sounds like the biggest nerd ever. He did admit his splits were faster the second half when he switched to music...duh! While he was gone, I took pictures of Alexis sleeping b/c I thought she was never going to get up. She hardly ever has the chance to sleep in but when she does, she takes FULL advantage. I think it was almost 10am before she got up. Crazy. I could never sleep in that late. Once she was finally up, we continued to work on our Playmobil organization (reality is we were just creating one huge mess).
Once Clark got back, I headed to the gym for a one hour bike ride. I watched the rest of Limitless and started some crazy movie called Precious. That afternoon I had to drive to Carmel for an appointment. I make that sounds like something important right? Not really. Just another one of those torture appointments that Stephanie roped me into buying (laser hair removal). Most painful 10 minutes of my day for sure! I picked up the triplets on the way home. While I was gone, Clark did some yard work while the big kids played outside.
That evening Clark and I took the kids to the depot and went on a date to Rick's Boatyard. Probably our favorite restaurant around here. I am still shocked at how much food we ate. We had an appetizer and wine (Clark had beer). Then bread. Then the meal. Then dessert. It was a lot of food but it was very good. It was the perfect night to sit outside and just talk. What did we talk about?? One guess? Running!! He was giving me all this advice on what I need to do during my marathon. What pace group to start with. How I should not even consider wearing my fuel belt and just rely on drinks that are provided b/c it will slow me down. What to fuel with. How I need to be figuring this all out now. What miles I will drink. What I will eat the night before and morning of, etc etc etc. We talked about how he is going to run with me from mile 14 to 24 if he can find me. I keep having to remind him of my goals....to finish. He is starting to stress me out a bit.
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The rest of the evening was spent taking care of kids, reading a little more of my book and going to bed.
Not a very exciting day for the kids but we made up for that today (which I will blog about tomorrow if I have any energy left after work...which is unlikely). Totally depressed about the next 3 days of work...........
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