Thursday, March 29, 2012

The latest and greatest

So running is coming along. I took a really long time off, and I have finally realized it was too long and not for a good reason. It started with burnout. Which is a very good reason for taking a break. But sadly it just turned into laziness.

But the great thing about loving running is that eventually you get back into it. So here I am, 2 runs into my week and feeling pretty good. I've been doing 3-4 mile runs, which is kind of my jumping off point. As long as I do 3 miles 3 times a week I know I'm only a couple of weeks away from 5-6 miles 3-4 times a week. Which is pretty much where I like to be.

Food was also an issue. I've been varying the food thing, back and forth, trying different stuff, trying different diets and non-diets and have figured out the good and the bad. Pretty much normal food with carbs just don't work for me. They are my bad foods that I will overeat and gain weight on. If I avoid them, I do fine. Sad but not that sad. You gotta figure out your weaknesses and work with them.

So I'm back to a nice "fairly" low carb diet, a reasonable exercise routine and feeling pretty good. And my husband has joined me with running. Life is pretty good.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Rookie

Today's scheduled 5 miler turned into a 3 and 4 miler. The man foolishly ate a huge pasta lunch just before we ran. He hasn't learned about the power drain digesting food can cause.

So that didn't help. And finally his surgery foot started to get sore. I think his form was bad because of the drain, which made him run like a clodhopper. That eventually was too much for the foot.

It's no major surprise. He was so excited about running that we were pushing too soon for him to run every other day. We'll increase a little more slowly next time.

I still got in a little extra though. 3 miles for him, and 4 miles for me. Yeah family!

Monday, March 19, 2012

He ran! He ran!

First run, a week ago, was a whopping quarter of a mile. We kept planning to do it again, but the whole snow, hail and torrential rain put a damper on things.

Anyways, three days later.... .8 mile!!! Yeah he had the stroller with both kids and it kicked his speedy ass. He cannot run far, but he is annoyingly fast. He made it the first lap ok, then the second lap started to take him down. Man has no cardio fitness. That's what a year with a broken foot will do to you.

It was kind of cool, he's very strong, but I had to push the stroller the second lap. That won't last long.

Yeah family!

I left him at home and went out for a little longer and finished out at 3.17 miles.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Newtons on my man

So the man wants to run. He has never run, though is naturally athletic as hell. Like annoyingly so. He has the washboard abs and hulking arms and shoulders and hasn't exercised a day in his life.

A year ago he broke his foot. A matchbox car took him down. And it took him year to realize it was broken. (I mean seriously! A matchbox car?!) After the confirming CT and unsuccessful 6 weeks in a boot (apparently waiting a year to deal with a break is not ideal for bone healing) he had surgery to remove an M&M sized bone called the seismoid from his foot.

That was 3 months ago. About 6 months ago he told me he wanted to start running with me when his foot healed up. Last week he told me he was ready to start running.

Yesterday his running shoes came in the mail. Newtons Motion. Minimal shoe. So lower heel but still very cushy. He put them on and freaked out.

I had the same experience. I had been running in Asics Kayano for over a year and I had been having foot pain. Ball of the foot, feels like it's sprained most of the time, pain. I thought it was my other shoes. I tried wearing the running shoes to work and I almost couldn't walk by the end of the shift.

I did some research on metatarsal pain, ball of foot pain, and came to the conclusion that I have skinny white girl feet. Bony as hell and no cushion. One of the articles recommended the Newtons.

Bought em, tried and have never looked back. There are a lot of low heel shoes out there and I will likely be trying more of them. What I notice is the main difference for me is the lack of pressure on the front of my foot. In regular running shoes I feel like I am running in high heels.
I naturally land on the ball of my foot. Most of the cushion in my Asics is on the heel. Sucks to be my feet.

But the low heel shoes don't push me farther forward, and have awesome cushy in the front. From the first step the difference was amazing. Like seriously the difference was huge. My knees felt better, my shins and most importantly my feet.

Enter man o' mine. He's got front of foot issues, ie no seismoid bone in the ball of his foot now. He wears regular sport shoes at work, with cushy thick heels, and is on his feet all day. That's a lot of pressure pushing on the front of his foot. When he got home from work he put on the Newton's and was in near tears in the way his feet felt. I thought he was fucking with me. But he was totally serious. We went out front and ran a quarter mile. He felt awesome.

Being that I want his running career to last we're taking the smart and safe route and will be adding a quarter mile to each run for the next several weeks. His ankles are weak as hell and as I've mentioned, dude has never run. Though I found him to be annoyingly fast. That's ok, he can push the two kids in the stroller.

Stay tuned. This may become a wonderful family affair.

Monday, March 12, 2012

My man

Yesterday we were lying in bed when my man said the sweetest thing.

Man "I want to run..... a mile with you"
Me "Really?"

He's 3 months out from surgery and has never run a mile in his life.
We'll be starting slow and probably run much less than a mile.
But I never thought he'd really do it.

Pretty cool

Thursday, March 8, 2012

4.5 and a jogging stroller

Me and my wee man went for a nice, flat, 4.5 on the burke-gilman. So nice and un-intimidating. Third day in a row and I was not into it. But he kept hassling me. Such a good son.

We did it, I'm happy and on to tomorrow. 2.5 super short and easy.

Oh my happy running life, you are returning to me.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Successful run to school

Oh the sun! Back and kicking it!

Ran the kid to school to pick up the other kid. Adding in a little extra to make it a full 3 miles. A bit challenging, as it's the 2nd time in at least 4 months.

Did ok on time! 10 min mile average!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Mud run!

It was brief, it was slow, it was muddy!

Beautiful sunny day at the mud track. Managed to convince my 5 year old to putter around the bushes and mud puddles so I could get a few miles in.

Worked like a champ! 3.3 miles and he was done. Which is pretty f-ing amazing.

If the days can stay even a little dry I can finally get back into the regular swing of things. Thankfully I managed to eek along a basic fitness level, so 3-4 miles is not big thing.

Tomorrow, stroller, and a 3 year old. Oh yeah.