to bring you up to speed

So, according to my husband, I have been slacking with my blogging.  You see, little Adel (as she was named by her cousin) and I went on a little vacation last week, so I'll admit, I didn't exactly stick to my training plan, but I'm okay with it really.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation:

First time in a lake with Uncle Matt helping to keep her afloat.

First Oreo.  She wasn't so sure about it, so she decided to share with her cousin.  I'd rather eat a chocolate chip cookie, I think she would too.

 With her sweet cousins, well one is sweet, the other is very ornery, just like Adel.

 First boat ride, this was the happiest she was on the boat the entire week. I think we're more alike that I'd like to admit sometimes; I too prefer the land to sea.

So here is my confession, I only ran twice, that's 2 times people, while on vacation.  My first full day, I ventured out with my bother in law Matt to brave the hills of TN.  I couldn't even make it 2 miles without stopping for air.  Crazy, how can I run 8 miles in Ohio without a problem?  Running hills is no joke, that is all I have to say about that.  The next day I set out on a hill run, part of the training program.  I ran 1 hilly mile to the biggest hill I could find, then I ran 1/2 of that hill 4 times and ran another hilly mile back home.  It was an awesome workout.  I fully expected my thighs to burn the next day, nope, my ankles.  What, ankles?  Yeah, after researching I guess those downhill runs will get you too.

I'm happy to be back to the flat terrain of Ohio.  But after a 6 hour drive and lots of coffee, my run Sunday was anything but pleasant.  I was dehydrated and hadn't eaten enough to run 8 miles, but I pushed on anyways.  And boy did I pay the price that night.  Lesson learned, I need to keep track of my caloric intake and increase my calories with all of this running I've been doing.  I also need to make sure I drink plenty of water before, during, and after a run (which I'm normally really good at).  Disclaimer: I didn't drink much water in the car ride home, here's why:  have you ever done a 6 hour car ride with a infant/toddler by yourself and had to stop every 2 hours to use the bathroom?  It's a process.

Okay, so last thing, since I haven't really given much of a shout out to my amazing husband, here it is.  Brian hates, I mean HATES, to run long distances.  He thinks its the craziest thing.  Actually he said, "you can't even really win.  I mean you're always going to win because you're only really running against yourself."  God love his crazy competitive nature.  Anyways, he does like to sprint and he's actually pretty good at it.  I say that like I'm surprised, I'm not!  Have you ever heard of Brian not being good at something athletic? It's sickening really! So last night he helped me with my sprint workout.  He was such a good motivator, even when I tempted him to let us stop at 5 sprints instead of 7.  I'm surprised he didn't make me run an extra sprint just for the thought of quitting early.  That's the coach in him, I'm pretty sure that thought went through his head.

Anyways, that brings you up to speed with where I am in my training and what I've learned.  If you can't tell, this has really been an adventure.  I've learned to much already, it's crazy!

7 miles, yep, thats over half of the half.

Half of the half, that sounds like a fourth, and a fourth sounds like nothing.  But I'm pretty sure that 7 miles isn't nothing

My husband thinks there is something wrong with me, "Why in the world would you want to run 7 miles, especially when no one is chasing you?".  I'm asking myself why it took me almost 27 years to realize that I actually might be a distance runner.  I feel so in my element when I'm running longer distances, it's craziness I tell you!

So here are my lifesavers for the week.  Sweet new kicks, an inhaler so I can finally breathe in this crazy humidity, and Ice, Elevate and Compress for my foot.  See details on each of these below!

So after last weeks 6 miler I had some right foot pain.  After consulting some running friends, I've found that rolling a golf/tennis ball under my foot works wonders.  "Writing" the alphabet with my foot also feels pretty fantastic.  I've also been doing Ice, Elevate and Compress after every run and sometimes twice a day.  Please note the Similac ice pack; good for more than just keeping bottles cold. I guess a perk to being a running mom?!?

But even with those stretches, I still felt some pain.  So on my trek to Columbus on Friday to see sweet baby Sam and her awesome mama Megan (from my previous post), I went to Front Runner to get new shoes.  After trying on many pairs, I left with a pair of trusty Mizunos.  I've heard that once you start wearing Mizunos you'll never want to leave.  It's the truth people.  Although I found that with some foot pain, I like the cushion of the Inspire better than the lightweight Elixir.

Still having a little foot pain late in the week, I took it easy yesterday and did some p90x.  I remember when I first starting running about a month ago, I read a blog of a running mama, she had a list of tips:  Number 1: Training with a baby means that things don't always go the way you planned, it's fine, just adapt.

Yep, she was right!!  Try kick boxing with a 20 pound teething "weight" on your side.  Anyways, it wasn't the workout that I hoped to get in, but that's okay, I still kicked 7 miles of running in the butt today!

So I have also been having some breathing issues, thanks to some sports induced asthma that I blame on my father and a very humid summer.  I got an inhaler this week, omg, awesomeness!

Here are the stats for todays long run:
Miles: 7
Time: 1:06
Pace: 9:29

Even with some minor foot pain, I felt this run was my best since we started running a month ago.  Sami also informed me that we ran 7 miles with a better pace than we did 6.  I hate to admit it because I fear that Sami will make me do more sprints (I HATE sprinting!!), but maybe they did actually help our pace.

Booyah!!

Booyah: an exclamatory statement, often said when someone is extremely overjoyed.


Overjoyed to say the least; I think I finally figured out how to run with a stroller.  Thanks to my dear friend Megan and all of her awesomeness, I was able to successfully run with a jogging stroller today. Sami still helped out, but I can honestly say that it felt awesome.  

This here is Megan, she is basically a godsend; seriously, she is an amazing woman, wife, mother, friend, runner, crafter, coffee lover ..I think God put her here just to keep my sane really.


So after a few frustrating stroller runs earlier this week, Megan suggested that I let the front wheel swivel and try running off to the side of the stroller a bit.  Magic!  It worked and it felt totally natural and comfortable.  I will be forever grateful for her advice.  Today's advice from Megan was not to get discouraged about a slower pace while running with the stroller, it's actually good that on non pace run days I keep my heart rate down to recover faster.  Seriously, don't you wish you had a friend like Megan?


On another note, you won't see me post much about weight on here, but I do want to note that 10 months after having a baby I was about 5 pounds under my prepregnancy weight.  Most women would be saying "booyah!" to this, but not me.  You see, I'd rather feel incredibly fit and weight 10 pounds more than my prepregnancy weight than weigh less and not be fit.  So, in the last 2.5 weeks, I have put on about 2 pounds, even with all of this running and working out.  Am I upset? Noway! I know that those pounds are muscle and that makes me one happy girl!  For the first time in a long time, I am so incredibly aware of my body and its strength.  Now that right there is motivation for the next 11.5 weeks.