That went by quick!

It's been a whirlwind couple of months and here we are already in August. Where have I  been? Where haven't I?

Here's a recap:

Surgery!  The lump on my next was a benign thyroid cyst. Sadly it blew up and made it difficult for me to swallow solid food. Lame! They drained it, gross, then it came back a few hours later, and the docs decided it would get the axe. In for surgery and out on bed rest for a week.

Running. Not much with the lump and surgery. I'm finally able to get back to running with all the time off. I'm sadly back just this week and it's a slow slow process. Like I'm up to 1.6 miles. I'm adding .4 (the loop in front of my house) to each day until 2 miles and then will increase a full mile each wee,k to give me time to readjust. I want to get back to 5 miles 3-4 times a week by the end of August.

Derby. I had to skip out on a game due to recovery and I had to work! I missed two full weeks of work. No bueno paychecks. But's coming along. We have our championship bout in three weeks and I have to say I'll be glad for a break. Last year we still had bouts on our off season and this year we will not.

Work. I've been working 4 shifts a week. Which is pretty brutal with having little kids. I work the night shift and get off anywhere between 2am and 5am. And my shifts are opposite my husband. So we have no days off together and see very little of each other otherwise. It kind of sucks. But starting this week I go back to 3 nights a week which means I'll have 2 days off a month with my man!

Kids. They've been serious troopers. Letting me chill while I recover from surgery and letting me sleep in on the mornings after my night shifts. Summer is quickly coming to an end, which I will very much miss. But the school year will have it's own benefits.

Crafts. I finished a few sweaters that were in perma-freeze during my recovery. They turned out awesome and I'm working on a few more already.

Cooking. Has been coming along. Trying to cook real food that the kids will eat is not always easy with my work schedule. I think I'm doing well when I make dessert a couple of times a week. Good benchmark!

That's pretty much been life lately. I'm going to try and start sharing photos more and make the blog a bit more interesting. Thanks for tuning in!

May challenge recap

So the May challenge went really well. I did not actually make the total challenge falling short by two 5 mile runs. And I am very ok with that.

Sadly the last week of the challenge fell during my preparation for tournament, being sick, going to 4 night shifts from 3, and finding a thyroid cyst. So two missed runs are more than ok. And I did a few long runs that more than make up for the missed 10 miles.

Anyways the challenge got me back to my running shape. My plan now is to run every other day and do whatever distance I feel like. If I want a 3 miler, then I'll do a 3 miler. But I hope to keep most runs in the 4-7 distance. Yeah for goals and yeah for accomplishments!

It's not a toomah

Or at least I hope not.

Been fighting the "not getting sick" fight all week, running my miles, working the night shift and going to derby. Finally after a sore throat afternoon I figured it was time to take a break. I had 3 days off before work and I wanted to finally kick whatever this cold/flu thing was.

So three days of lying around (yeah!) come to an end and I prepare to hit the sack early again. But while brushing my teeth I notice a weird lump on my throat. Fast forward 24 hours. I saw the doctor and got a mixed bag of news.

I have allergies! Yeah, the "I'm not getting sick" feeling was just allergies. Take one claritin and call it good. That's a relief, I was getting tire of almost being sick.

Second news is I got a goiter. Well not really. It's likely a cyst on my thyroid. Not uncommon, but as it popped up so quickly I'll need to have it aspirated to make sure it's not thyroid cancer. Which yes is freaky. But in the land of cancer, apparently thyroid cancer is the one you want. Easy treatment and excellent prognosis. My mom had it and she's still kicking around.

Anyways, it's probably not cancer. Not a toomah. (In my best Arnold voice)

Finishing week 3

This week was lame. I got all my runs in, and all the miles. But the long run at the beginning of the week and Sunday's supposed to be long run was plagued with the side ache/ab pain again.

I persevered and made the minimum five miles. I wanted to enjoy my kid free morning running a good 9 or 10. But I gave up after five and my abs wouldn't let up.

I'm starting to think maybe my slow runs are messing with my form. I never seem to have this problem on speed, hills or runs with strollers. Hmmm.

Anyways week three was finished up and onto week four. I'm really really glad this is almost over. I'm tired and want to take more than 2 days off. Also I'm looking forward to running 3-4 times a week instead of 5. Way easier to fit into my schedule.

But I am so very glad I did this challenge. My legs now feel like 5 miles is no big thing. 10 miles is a nice easy challenge and running with a stroller is great. The hard work has paid off and is no longer hard work to do!

The worst and the best

Monday was my long run day. The hubs was at home with the kids, I wasn't totally wiped from work, la la la. Well it ended up the worst 9 miles of my life. I got the most awful side ache. It started at about mile 2, and it was so severe I actually had to stop completely.

I ran and walked trying to work around it. Which wasn't working. Finally I got it to a point where it hurt but I could keep running. And it was hot. I ran too late in the day and the heat (only about 75-80) combined with the side ache made the whole run miserable. I probably walked at least half a mile of the whole thing. So freakin lame.

Side aches really bug me. Each time I get them I think that maybe this it. I'll get a side ache every run and my running career will be over. I know it sounds a little ridiculous, but when they seem to come on for no rhyme or reason it's hard to be rational. Fortunately there were some clues that indicated this would not be the case.

On Sunday I started adding in weights. I didn't do very much, but I did a smidge of weighted ab exercises. And the rest of Monday and most of Tuesday the ache continued to hurt. Side aches don't do that. Side aches are crampy little bitches that make you stop running, not twingy muscle pain that lasts for days. So the verdict is, I strained my ab muscle. Lame, but ok!

I took a day off, which was remarkably frustrating, and tried again today. I was very nervous and almost bagged the whole run. But... It was absolutely awesome! No pain. Yeah! And I was sooo much faster than I have been!

Me and my girl took off in the jogging stroller, which strangely I've come to love more than running solo, and made great time. I felt so strong and so much fast than I have been.

Yeah running!

More goals

Having finished the first two weeks strong I am now adding more items to the goal list.

Lift weights 2 -3 times a week. I'll start with focus on core and upper body strength and only do lower body on my off running days.

I'm really pleased with my running progress and I don't want sore legs to slow me down. I'll slowly build on the lower legs over the next month or two and get back to my old (last year) body!

Ending week 2 on a good note

Today's 5 miles came at the end of the day.

I was planning on waiting to do these on Saturday, but an untimely child accident (scraped chin, no ER necessary) causing me to be late to a meeting, and then a second accident with my other child during the meeting (garden cultivator to the eye, only a shiner with scratches), left me frustrated and annoyed. I definitely needed to run to work out the agitation.

So glad I did.

The sun was going down and it was just a beautiful evening. I did a speed workout, which in average wasn't so fast. But it was a good effort and felt really good to do. Speed will come, I'm not worried about that.

I'm already planning my next long run. I'm thinking of Monday. Two days off of running this weekend should get my legs good and ready to tackle 10 miles.

So nice to be back!

Long run success!

This week I've included the "key workout" into my runs.

Sunday was a hills run. Short but difficult. 5 miles on the nose.
Monday a recovery run, slow and five miles.
And Tuesday was an awesome, slow and easy 10 miles!! Super stoked I made the full 10.

Today I'm taking a day off from running, well mostly a friend is coming over for a short run/walk. My knees are sore and me feet a little uncomfortable, but otherwise I'm doing great!

May challenge week 1!

Yeah I finished week 1!
5 miles or a bit more 5 days of the week.
I hit the pavement or treadmill Mon-Fri and made at least 5 miles if not a bit more.

They definitely get slower towards the end of the week. Today's was pretty slow. And sore. And tired.
Anyways, I did it though. Funny thing is I wasn't working very hard on the last run, but it was really hard. Cardiovascularly it was not a challenge, I didn't push hard, but it was still such a challenge to do. My feet and pretty much my entire lower legs are exhausted.

Two days off are going to feel great! Well except for the game I'm skating in tomorrow. Details.

Oh and to make next week more interesting I though I would start adding in the key workouts; hills, tempo and the long easy. And with 2 recovery runs, read short and slow.

I'm thinking the long easy would add on 1 to 2 miles to start and see how long I can get them by month end.

4 days in

4 days into my May challenge and things are going well. I knocked out another 5 miles today on the treadmill. I'm definitely beginning to notice the fatigue and soreness of continuous running. But nothing major that some time laying around on the couch won't cure.

But oh am I glad tomorrow is my last day for the week!
And I have a game on Saturday. Only skating in 2 of the three bouts!

So far so good

May's month of 5 milers is going strong on day two!
Yes I realize it's not hard to stay committed two days in. But I ran my 5 today with one kid in the stroller!
Yes I know, how bad ass is that? Almost as 2 kids in the stroller. That won't be happening for a while though.

May goals!

Ok May goals!

I'm officially in the 5 miler runs! Not a fluke, and they've been good for a couple weeks now.

So I'm upping the runs. 5 miles 5 times a week. Cake right?

Another 5 miles

Why yes I did just knock out another fabulous five miles. Back and forth in front of my house. I like to think of it as my own personal running track.

It felt good, it wasn't hard, but I didn't push that hard. Slower today 10.24 pace. Just fine with me!

5.37 miles of awesome!

Or at least good. It felt good. It wasn't too hard, though it didn't reach awesome level just yet.
So pleased with my progress. And it was all under a 10 pace. Average was 9.68 min/mile. I'm pretty much stoked at anything under 10, even 9.99 is just fine for me.

We have our next game coming up and I'm back on skates! I've been Head Ref for the past 3 or 4 games and I am just over it. What a pain in the ass it is. But now I get to just count points, watch for penalties and whistle call offs. Totally happy about that.

Now if I could just get my stops and starts back up snuff. hmmm...

Back to 4s!

It's really been a long time since I've been a consistent runner. Winter killed it for me. But next year the goal will be to maintain that awesome running average with my new running partner! My husband!

Anyways I've been doing 3 milers pretty consistently 4 times a week for the past month. I figured as soon as I get to that "I can go another couple miles" feeling, which took a surprisingly long time, I'll start doing 4-5 miles a couple times a week with a long 8-10 mile run once a week.

That's my comfort zone schedule. My happy place. The fitness level that encourages me to lift weights more. To eat better. And helps me fit into my clothes better. Now I have my man to do it with too!

Today I feel like I broke through the 3 mile barrier. I ran for 35 minutes of killer hills, at a fairly slow pace, then finished up with another mile on the beach. It felt awesome and I really never wanted to stop or  start walking. So nice.

Coming back

Today I am enjoying a relaxing spring break with my family. Kids, beach, hubs and running!

We're staying at a beautiful cabin just a short distance from home right on the water. The kids have caught lizards, searched for shells and rocks and searched the seaside. The adults have napped, herded children, ate an awesome steak dinner and spent an inordinate amount of time on the couch.

Two goals I've had for the weekend were to start a knitting project, check, and to do some running. The last week has been difficult to get any time in. Thursday was a nice 3 miles. Friday was lazy. And the Friday night/Saturday morning was spent with food poisoning after Fridays lazy lunch at the food court.
Lame.

Needless to say Saturday was not a running day, and I had to work that night. Fortunately I felt pretty much normal by noon and napped until work time. This morning we got up way too early for the amount of sleep I'd had and headed to the cabin.

After laying around on the couch looking at the beautiful view I thought it might be nice to hike the steep hill from the cabin to the beach and back. Then I decided to continue up the hill to the road. I think one lap is about half a mile. It's hard to say as my gps doesn't register under the heavy trees. But it's very steep.

On the second pass of the cabin I changed into actual running clothes (jeans just don't work) and starting running it. I really really really like doing hills. You work your ass off and then when you are about to puke you get a break running back downhill. I think when I get to the point of running hills I can say my base fitness level has finally returned. I did about 3 laps. Yeah I know, not much to brag about. But I still feel nauseated after the short run.  Oh how I wished there was a semi flat trail to follow!

Tomorrow I'll try to do another 6 laps then run on the main road. It's very pretty here and hopefully I won't get lost.

Yeah hills!

Goals: Back to running 4-5 miles by May.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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

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.

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!

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.

Respectable

4 miles in 38 minutes. 9.5 pace.

I'm not competitive. But I do have self standards. I want to run anything less than a 10 minute mile until I'm 75. Then I can run slower.

I could care less what anyone else is running. I'm in it for the long haul.

Familiar routines

Running is not going awesome right now. It's not stellar, I don't dream about it. I don't spend my afternoons wondering how far and fast I'll run tomorrow.

Nope, right now my running is the tender and familiar arms of mediocrity.

I ran 3 miles, kind of slow, and it wasn't a terrible effort. Which sounds fairly unimpressive. But for my line of thinking it's just wonderful.

I show up, I do the work, it's a nice part of the day, and I'm done.
Yeah me!

Jogging stroller!

Today was the first day back with the jogging stroller since.... maybe October?

Back in October I remember it being almost no effort at all to run the kids to school. Two of them. It was only 2.5 miles, so it's not really a major effort, but when I first started it felt like a freaking marathon.

Fast forward to today. Just getting back into running. It was really only a month or two off, but that's enough. Now that the weather is warming the jogging stroller calls.

When I started running with it before I recall pain, burning lungs, nauseating spit, and beet red skin. Today was not so bad. It was a freakin effort I'll say though. But the only pain was really the cardio effort. It was actually really good.

So here I go back to the great outdoors! Hoping for some decent weather to keep on running!

Spring into running!

The running swing is officially back! Yeah! I had two runs this week that were short, but included the all important "this feels kinda good" period.

And today I hit 4 miles, ran really well and parts of it kind of fast! I did 7.5 mph for over 5 minutes. It was a tempo run and I just kept going up and up!

The Newtons really do feel like miracle shoes. No foot pain at all, like zero. Super happy with the purchase. My only issue is that they run super duper small. I wear a 9.5, ordered a 10.5 and I think I should have gone with a size 11. They feel fine during the run, but afterwards the tips of my longer toes are a little chafed. Next pair I get will be bigger.

Spring has sprung here, which is usually when I get my workout "shit" together. Winters burn me out and I just want to snuggle up and knit or hang with my babies. Next year I'd like to try to keep up with the running, even if it's toned down. But either way, it only took 6 runs to get back to 4 miles. Pretty sure I can get back to my usual 5 milers by next week. Which is just fine for me.

Yeah!

Newtons

On the long and often interrupted journey back to some sort of fitness level.... I'm trying some new running shoes. Newtons.

These are listed as minimal shoes, which is kind of weird cause they are super duper cush. Anyways, the heel is lower and the ball area has more cushion. Which is hopefully going to work for me.

I have a fairly forward strike, which is supposed to be good for my knees, but is awful for my big toe and the ball of my foot. I got no natural padding. Skinny white women feet. Well at least the feet are skinny.

Anyways, they say to start slow to adjust. This is kind of timely as I'm starting slow to adjust back into movement in general.

First day run, alternating 5 minutes of easy pace running 5.5-6pmh with 5 minutes of walking. Felt a little weird and significantly less stable. Had to really think about using my feet. But otherwise pretty good.

Fast track, slow track

So I guess I'm taking the super slow route back to the gym and running thing. I went once last week and called it!

I did achieve ridiculous soreness that restricted my ability to sit on the toilet without holding onto the sink and towel rack, though. Which is totally great in my book. I tend to grade my workouts on how sore I am the next day.

So the goal is to run for 5 minutes and add 5 each week. So each day at the gym, hopefully 4 days, I would work up to the normal 30 or minutes I previously was running and then add in a long run once a week.

Today I ran 10 minutes, and could have done way more, but hey I'm lazy! I guess the whole lung bleeding sensation really was a chest cold I was experiencing last week.

Anyways.

I bought new running shoes, Newtons, lower heel. Will post details when i get them!

Happy New Something!

So my 2 months of slackerhood have sadly and happily come to an end. I slowed down on workouts and runs for a month and half and then completely stopped all physical movement for 3 weeks while my husband recooped from foot surgery.

Today was my first real weights day and yes I believe I have accomplished some serious noodlehood! Yeah!

I've done a little bit of running and am having some serious knee pain so will be taking that ramp up super slow. Just 5 minute increases each run. I want my strength training to catch up first.

AND!!! my man will be starting walking in the next month or so, which will be ramping up to light running over the springtime! So I'll have a running man to forward to this summer! Yeah!!!