Monday, September 14, 2009

Work, Marathon Training, and Blogging don't mix really well

We have a diagnosis! I went to the podiatrist last week and it's official, I have platar fasciitis. I also have high arches and the bones in my feet are at a slight angle. So we ordered custom orthotics. They should be in in about 3 weeks. I'm hoping that 3 weeks is enough time to get used to them for the marathon. The nurse showed me how to tape my feet and arches for better support until the orthotics come in. I did that for my long run on Sunday.

Of course, I woke up 20 minutes after the group had already left and ended up out there by myself (and about an hour behind schedule since we had lunch plans with old friends). Back to the tape....I taped my feet and also added a moleskin cut out to provide extra arch support (as directed by my doctor and nurses), but the tape lost its stick and started sliding around and gave me a big blister....problem #1. Then my iPod died.....problem #2. Then my hip started hurting.....problem #3. I'm not sure if the hip issue is from me running funny to try and make the blister feel better or if its from the extra arch support and tape that I'm not used to or if it is from something else all together. The blister actually felt better if I ran, but the hip felt better if I walked. I did a little bit of both and decided that the hip hurt more than the blister and it was better to walk.

I haven't done a whole lot of running since my last post.
Friday 9/4 - I tried to run 18 miles, but my arches were really bothering me. I ended up with 10 miles in 2:18:22.

I took the following weekend off because we were in the mountains of NC for a wedding. My arches started bothering me at the wedding, so I decided to take it easy until I could get into a doctor.

Wed 9/9 - Saw the doctor

Then my daughter got sick and wasn't sleeping at night (and I don't function well without sleep) so running got put aside for a little bit.

Sat 9/12 - Ran an easy 3 miles, pushing the jogging stroller for just over a 12 min/mile pace

Sun 9/13 - Was supposed to be 14 miles, was the above mentioned 8.5 miles with blisters, hurting hips, and dead iPods.

I'm supposed to meet my girls tomorrow for an easy 3 miles to see how my hip is doing. If I'm not feeling up to it, we are going to walk (hey, something is better than nothing, right?!).

I'll try and be better about posting! Oh, any suggestions on how to get used to new orthotics? How long did it take you guys?

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

2.5 weeks of catch up

I've been so busy.....trying to catch up on sleep. Haha! These 4am wake up calls and long runs have me a little tired. Of course, if I updated regularly it wouldn't be such a big deal or take too long.

So, here's what I've been up to.

Wed 9/2/09 - 3 Miles - 40:08 (soooo tired, looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow)
Tues 9/1/09 - X-train walk
Mon 8/31/09 - 3 Miles - 37:52
Sun 8/30/09 - 16 Miles - 3:47:01 (we were the walking wounded....between my falling arches, Michelle forgetting her knee brace, and Heather's calves cramping up we were a hot mess and walked back the last 3-4 miles)

Fri 8/28/09 - 3 Miles - 37:01
Wed 8/26/09 - 4 Miles - 46:16
Tues 8/25/09 - 5.7 Miles - 1:09:08
Sun 8/23/09 - 13.1 Miles - 2:48:55

Fri 8/21/09 - Walking
Wed 8/19/09 - 3.7 Miles - 48:59
Mon 8/17/09 - 4.9 Miles - 58:21
Sun 8/16/09 - 12 Miles - about 2:30:00 (the running coach said no electronics!!! didn't wear the Garmin or iPod)

Thur 8/13/09 - 3 Miles - 33:59
Tue 8/11/09 - 6 Miles - 1:15:48

Tomorrow is a rest day and them I'm going to run 18 Miles!! by myself on Friday. We are going out of town this weekend and I won't be able to get the mileage in while in the mountains of NC. Wish me luck!!

Monday, August 10, 2009

Worst 12 miles ever!

Maybe that's an over statement, but they were not fun!

Ok, since last post.....

Fri 7/31 - 3 miles - 43:18 (just Ethel and I and she needed to walk, I'm not about to leave her behind, especially at 5:30am)

Sun 8/2 - 10 Miles - 2:02:47 (it rained!!!!)
Mon 8/3 - 3 Miles - 36:58 (legs felt like lead from previous 10)
Wed 8/5) - 3 miles - 36:15 (actually ran after work instead of before, mosquitoes ate me up! and it was hot)
Sat 8/8 - 3 miles - 35:58

Sun 8/9 - 12 miles - 2:38:55

Yesterday's 12 miles were the worst miles I've run in a really, really long time (the only thing I can think of that is remotely close would be the Rock N Roll Half in VA Beach in 2006). And no it wasn't the heat! Although it sure didn't help. Both Michelle and my new friend Heather were not at the group run. I was kinda looking forward to running by myself and slightly dreading it. We were to run 3 miles westbound on the trail and come back to the starting point, then run 3 miles eastbound and come back to the starting point, for a total of 12. I ended up running with another lady for the first 2, 2.5 miles (shortly before the first turn around) and that was nice. Then, she pulled back a little and told me to go ahead, so I did. I was drinking water (at water fountains) and watered down G2 (in my camelbak) the whole time because I was worried about dehydration and heat exhaustion (it got into the 90's yesterday with a very high heat index). Between miles 5 and 6 I stopped to walk and eat some sport beans. I also planned to walk 1-2 minutes for every mile after 6 miles. Around mile 7, I started having some serious stomach issues and had to walk a lot more than planned. And of course there are not many bathrooms along the trail. At one point on the trail, I was less than a mile from my house. I really thought about just giving up and going home from there. I'm also having shoe issues. I can't put my finger on it, but my shoes just don't give the same warm and fuzzy they have in the past. These are the newer model of the same shoe I've been wearing for 3-4 years now. I don't know if I'm the wrong size or got a fluke bad pair of shoes or the latest reformulation just isn't for me. The problem is, none of the other neutral, cushion shoes feel as good. (Yes, I've been evaluated for running needs twice, and I need a neutral shoe.)

I don't know how I finished those 12 miles, but I did. I'm actually quite proud of myself for sticking it out an finishing it even when it was really tough.

I've been playing it over in my head, I didn't do anything different than normal. I ate the same thing I normally eat before a long run with about the same amount of time before the run. I ran with G2 last weekend, and Sport Beans have been my go to "food" for quite awhile now. I was talking with a co-worker and fellow runner this morning and she said her doctor wrote an article on this. Now, take this with a grain of salt since it's word of mouth....but, apparently these horrible stomach issues and bathroom needs plague about 20% of runners and it can come on for no reason what-so-ever. My co-worker recently ran a marathon, almost qualified for Boston but had all these stomach issues on the course. She'd never had anything like it in any of her training runs. Go figure. I know I'm sensitive to dairy when I put in high mileage. I definitely can't eat it a few hours post run. I think I'm going to lay off it pre-run too (ie. no pizza that night before for dinner). The other thing it could be....my daughter had a horrible diaper while we were out Saturday. Horrible! If she had a 24 hour stomach bug, she could have (and probably did) share it with me, as she likes to share all her illnesses with me.

Tomorrow morning I'll be meeting Michelle for 6 miles. Hopefully, my legs won't feel like lead. They are still a bit sore from yesterday.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Runner Chick

I saw this at Frayed Laces and just thought it was too cute not to share!



Ran another 3 miles yesterday (~37 minutes). I think the 6 from the day before really wore me out. I feel asleep on the sofa just after 8pm last night.

My friend Ethel has been joining us this week, too. She is getting ready to wean baby #2 and wants to burn some extra calories. I was super impressed with her ability to hang with us for the 6 mile run and then a 3 mile run the next day (she's been going to the gym, but not really running and building up mileage like Michelle and I have been doing). She is still doing middle of the night feedings, not used to getting up that early, and its been awhile since she ran that far....since before baby #1. We went a little slower and did some walking for both runs, but honestly, I was so worn out, it was definitely welcome!

I have cross training today, rest tomorrow, and 3 miles on Saturday. I'm thinking of switching tomorrow and Saturday with the misguided hope that Sofie might sleep in Saturday morning and I might get to sleep in as well. We'll see if any cross training gets done tonight.

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

6 miles!

Whoo hoo! 6 miles done before work. Will recap soon....must run out to Target and pack lunches and I'm beat. Would love to be in bed by 9, but not sure I see that happening.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Lots of 3's

So, since my last post....arch/heel/self-diagnosed planter fasciitis is doing much better! Of course in that time, I did more 3 mile runs vice the 5's and 6's that were on the schedule. And last Sunday, I did not do the 8 mile group long run....I went to bed Saturday night with a wicked migraine and there was no getting me out of bed Sunday morning. Not to mention I had a regular headache until at least lunch time.

I've had 6 3-mile runs since I last posted. I had one run that was supposed to be 6 miles, it turned into 4.34 miles with a bit more walking than I'd like to admit. Michelle and I had the grand idea of trying to run 6 miles before work.....at 4:30am! Meaning I had to be up at 3:55 to get changed, drive over there, and be moderately coherent. I could not mentally get into it. That is way to early to be up and running. I told her that 4:45 is my absolute earliest before work. As the distance gets longer mid week, I think I will either have to split it up and do part before work and part after, or try and do it all after work in the icky heat.

One of those 3's I pushed Sofie in the jogger. That run was actually supposed to be a 4 mile run, but I was running late (had something else to get to) and I had Sofie. I figured the extra effort of pushing 30lbs of baby plus whatever the stroller weighs (since I'm not really used to it) made up for cutting it short by a mile.

This morning our group long run turned into a race. We showed up and Chip (the coach) said, "You can't plan for everything that happens on race day, so we are racing 6 miles today." It was overcast and drizzly (it had rained all night) and it poured on us from mile 2-4 (which was great, I loved it!). Maybe I should have someone tell me to "race" my runs more often, came in at 1:08:34 with an 11:27 pace (I've been averaging 12 min/miles on the longer runs). I'm always afraid I won't have enough left in the tanks to finish my run, so I hold back. And I think I hold back a little more than necessary.

Tomorrow is a rest day (thank gawd!), Monday: 6mi (before work, I'll give it one more shot before I decide if 5 is my limit before work or not), Wednesday: 3mi, Thursday: 1 hour of cross train (which I normally turn into rest, I know, bad Lauren), Friday: rest, Saturday: 3mi, Sunday: 10 mi.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

I'm back

I'm back! Good news is I've kept up the running the whole time I was gone. I just haven't been blogging. If you read my family blog, you already know that I've 2 different sets of out of town gets, my daughter was in a leg splint for 10 days (thought her leg was fracture, but it appears to just be a sprain). So, as I said over there....."I've been running at 4:45am and 5am, rushing home to get ready, drop Sofie at daycare, learning a new job (finally got to meet my client!) and commute. By the time dinner is done and lunches are made, all I want to do is go to bed and start it all over again."

Also, because of all aforementioned sh*t, I did not compete in the triathlon that I was considering. I'm still interested, though. Hopefully I can find one to do before the season is over.

Oh, and I'm fighting severe arch pain and slight heel pain. I've self-diagnosed myself with plantar fasciitis. I taped it this morning for my run and it felt tons better. I talked to my running coach last night and he suggested rolling my foot over a baseball while I sit at my desk. I think that the biggest issue is going back to an office and wearing heels after 2 years of Birkenstocks and working from home.

Check out my side bar for my weekly, monthly, yearly mileage totals. I'll try and be better about updating in the future. Off to bed, Michelle and I are meeting earlier tomorrow since we are starting to increase our miles. Coffee is my friend!!