Run and Fun

I went into this week pretty confidant I wouldn’t be able to get up for a single run. After waking up this morning to an alarm that started with a 4… I am happy to say I actually made it through. I have been having a lot of fun since last Wednesday, like real life non-running fun, but that also means sleeping less and not eating as well as I should. For me it isn’t about cutting out all the bad as making sure I get all of the good, which I haven't been doing at much... 

Anyways, here is a recap of some of my runs and some of the fun starting with last Wednesday.

Run: I did 12 miles. They were just “general anaerobic” miles, but I threw in a few hills and did the last mile at GMP. Lately in the mornings I’ve been watching Dogs 101 while I’ve been running. I could probably write a whole post about how awesome that has been. I want a dog more than ever. 

Fun: Ben and I went to our friend Jordan’s wedding!

Chase may or may not have been present.

Ben and Jordan have been best friends since High School and I’ve had the chance to spend a lot of time with him over the years. Just for some perspective on what an awesome friend he is he has not only helped us move before but also on a separate occasion used his parents SUV to pick up a couch for us. We were really excited for him and his new wife Katie! 

They had an awesome Ice Cream bar at the reception. I am pretty sure that day my food ratio was 50% normal food, 50% ice cream. 

Friday was another great day.

Run: I did 10 not so fun miles. They weren’t the hardest ones I had ever done, but I was verrrrry sleepy, which made them not enjoyable.

Fun: I left work a little early because of some extra comp time I had from doing weekend events. It was beautiful out so I treated myself to a diet coke, and planted myself on the couch for a while. 

This is the actual picture I sent my sister because I was so excited to get a Diet Coke. True story.

Ben and I ended up going to Wal-Mart to look at flowers to plant in our little garden area outside our apartment. Then in a spur of moment decision we met Ben’s parents for dinner! It was so much fun and something we should really do more often. They treated us to Outback, and while the service wasn’t the best, the company really made up for it.

When we got home Ben and I were craving something sweet (it was almost 10:00, which for me is practically 2am) and I made us some spur of the moment chocolate chip cookies. I only had 1/3 stick of shortening so I had to play with the recipe a little, but they turned out okay.

Saturday morning didn’t start out great, but it got better.

Run: Was awful. Worst. Run. Ever. I was supposed to do 15 and I barely clawed my way past 9. Not even watching Hitch could keep me going. I don’t think the fish for dinner the night before helped. I told myself I’d go back and finish my run later, but my body needed food and rest more than miles.

Fun: Visiting with Brooke and Remy! 

My sister-in-law and my lovely niece are in town (and my brother gets into town today!) so we met Brooke, her mom Rosemary and her brother Colton for Zupas – mine and Ben’s favorite. We went back to Rosemary’s after dinner and had fun sitting around, talking and catching up. We ended up stopping at our favorite pizza place on our way home to pick up a pie. Unfortunately, the place changed ownership and the pizza just wasn’t the same. Still good, but just not amazing like it was before.

Sunday was my dad’s birthday!!

My dad is awesome and wonderful and the coolest dad ever. Not to mention my run-spiration.

Run: I somehow pulled out the 15 miles I was supposed to do the day before. Thank goodness Mondays are my rest day, because I was more than ready for a rest.

Fun: The rest of Sunday was pretty standard. I bribed my Sunday School kids with brownies to make them participate, called my parents to wish my dad a Happy Birthday, watched too much TV and ate too much food.

This week I thought my runs would be really hard, but they have been going much better. Monday I rested – no physical activity for me! I had a great tempo run Tuesday with 5 miles at my 15k pace, easy recovery run yesterday and an awesome 10 mile run this morning with hills and speed pickups included.

AND I have another excited weekend ahead of me.

Run: Tomorrow is another easy recovery, Saturday is a long run of probably about 18-20 miles depending on how I feel and Sunday is another recovery run before my rest day!

Fun: Friday I am getting my hair cut and colored with Abby; hopefully either Friday night or Saturday sometime I’ll see my brother Philip, Remy, Brooke and her whole fam again; Sunday I am going to church with Philip and Brooke and to a reception for her brother, who is leaving to go on a mission for our church for the next two years in England. I’m also planning on some Ben time in there somewhere! 

What is something fun you did this past week?

The Good (and bad)

It’s been a while. When I last wrote I was struggling with an unexplained cloud hanging over my athletic ability caused predominantly by my anemia. I am happy to say that those problems seem to be resolved. I haven’t had a blood test or anything, but I have made drastic improvements in my fitness and am slowly clawing my way back up to where I was before.

I wish I could tell you exactly what helped, but I don’t know if it was any one thing. I have been taking iron pills, trying to eat more green and leafy things and just trying to eat more overall (more healthy things – eating more sugar was never a problem). I’ve been more conscious of getting rest that I need and taking a day off when my body or mind is too tired. I think more than anything I have just been DETERMINED. I love running. Even though it was hard I never stopped exercising and I think that has made bouncing back a little easier.  As with most things running has been a battle of good and bad. Here are a few running related items I’ve had some polarized feelings towards:

GOOD: I was able to have a REAL run outside for the first time this year. I tried a few weeks ago but most of the sidewalks were still covered in ice and snow so I ended up just running to the gym and doing the rest there. It was an enjoyable run and went much better than I expected my first non-treadmill run in quite some time to go. I did 6 miles in a little under 55 minutes (9:09 pace). I even threw two hill repeats in there! 

BAD: I tripped and fell a half mile into my run.

After falling, I got up, brushed myself off and kept running not realizing I was bleeding somewhat badly on my knee (I spared you the bloody photo). I also shattered the corner of my phone. So – that sucked. 

GOOD: My brother Philip is training for a marathon and is just doing absolutely amazing. He is hoping to run the Minneapolis Marathon in June as long as he doesn’t get injured.  I am so proud of him and so happy that I finally convinced someone to run a marathon. 

BAD: I won’t be able to run it with him like I originally planned. With the cost of a plane ticket and marathon entry as well as the time I’d need to take off work I just can’t make it happen. It makes my heart so sad that I won’t be there to see him cross the finish line, but maybe I’ll convince him to run another with me one day? 

GOOD: I ran 18 miles Saturday with a 9:21 overall pace. I was even able to go to a work event afterwards where I was on my feet for 3 hours and felt really good!  

BAD: They were treadmill miles and outside miles are so much better for training. Sometimes I feel like they don’t count as much when it comes to running that distance because really all I’m doing is watching TV. 

GOOD: Did you hear me throw in the bit about training? That is because I maybe just signed up for another marathon…

I ran this marathon last year and it was great. It is much smaller than the Chicago Marathon, but has just as much course support and an awesome finish line party (Creamies!!!!). I like the idea of running a course I know, because I can prepare better for it. Last year I thought the course was entirely downhill and was not ready for the few big climbers there were. Additionally, my quads were totally trashed after all the downhill running so I have to not only add it a lot of uphill running, but a lot of downhill running, too.

I should also mention that the decision to run this marathon did not come lightly. After watching me suffer through my running dry spell Ben was not anxious for me to start training again so soon. He saw me come home from the gym crying almost every day and complain about chest pains, difficulty breathing and dizziness. I’ll talk more about our decision that I would be ready in June later, but it was something we have been talking about for a long time before I registered.

BAD: I could say the weeks and weeks of insane training, early wake up calls and the actual running of 26.2 miles, but I’m looking forward to every second of it. 

Now that I am training for another race and have actually returned to training I am hoping I’ll be motivated to post more.  June 8 still seems so far away, but I know that in no time at all I’ll be at the starting line in Wallsburg, UT ready to run a marathon.