Back At It

After two weeks of strict rest and taking care of my knee I'm back on my feet. It's a well known fact that I don't like getting up early if I can avoid it, and I was so anxious to get back to some activity again that I've gotten up early the last two mornings in a row to go jogging! I'd like to hang on to this new-found motivation as long as possible, since these spurts tend to be very short-lived. The first morning I went out with the dog - calm, sunny, and a whole 28 degrees F with snow on the ground (which is a bit odd for Alabama!). The following morning found me comfortably indoors on the treadmill downstairs ;-)

Still some minor pain in my knee if I twist/turn it at odd angles (no pain when running though; very good thing!) - I'm hoping a new stretching/yoga routine will strengthen that up and take care of it.

I had an 'Idiot Operator' moment this morning. First time out with the new Nike+iPod sensor I got for Christmas. I strapped the sensor bean on, setup all the settings in the iPod, and then hit the treadmill. About half a mile later, it hadn't made any noises or flashy notifications to let me know it was tracking, so I stopped and played with it some more, and realized that I hadn't actually turned the Nike app ON. *face-palm*

The Bucket List

Complete a Marathon: Check!

Despite being the middle of December when we usually have nasty winter storms (where it settles right at 32 degrees and we get a combination of cold rain, sleet, and ice on the bridges), the morning of the RocketCity Marathon was the most perfect running weather possible. At race start, 8:00 am, it was in the low 40's and overcast (no sun in the eyes), and it warmed up to the upper 40's with just a tiny bit of cold drizzle threatening at around 1:00-1:30pm, just before they closed the course (by which point you couldn't tell if the runner's were wet from the rain or from sweat, so it was all good).

I finished in 5 hours, 32 minutes.
The Play-By-Play: I started out feeling great; my knee started reminding me it wasn't exactly at 100% yet around mile 6; I really hit my "stride" where I felt like I could run forever between miles 6 and 11; Mile 13.1 - Halfway - was at 2 hrs, 31min, which is right where I wanted to be; I walked most of mile 15 as a "recovery" mile where I drank more water and ate the apple slices I packed and stopped to stretch for a bit; I missed a water-stop somewhere between mile 21-22 and at Mile 22 I was up against The Wall until I got some more Gu and Gatorade and a couple pretzels in me, those few miles between 20-24 is where I tacked on most of the extra time; Santa and some elves were at mile 24; My running buddy (who was 200-300 yards behind me most of the way) finally caught up to me at mile 25.5 and we finished together; Ross and Nancy were at the finish line to steer me toward the food and a place to sit down.

Most importantly, I didn't re-injure my knee! Yes, it hurt alot, but not nearly as painful as the original/initial injury. I'll stay completely off it for a week or two before slowly going back to walking/jogging a couple miles a week (not like last time where I started back by going for a 7.5 mile run *roll eyes*), and not go back to hard training for at least 4-6 weeks to make good and sure every thing's healed properly.

What's next? A couple of half marathons and some triathlons in preparation for the Georgia Half Ironman - end of September, 2011. Having run a full marathon, I want to train hard to run a Half Marathon quickly/comfortably, so I know I'll be able to run it as the third (very tired!) leg of the triathlon. Swimming I already have the muscle memory for, just need to get my endurance back up. Biking is going to be interesting... not much experience there. But I have a bike and I have places to ride/train so as soon as I finish repairing the bike I'll start toughening up my backside!

1.5 Weeks To Go

My physical therapist still thinks I'm crazy but she says my knee is mostly healed up, and if I don't biff it, I can still run my marathon inless than two weeks; Yay!
I was teasing some running friends - who are much older than me - that one of the main reasons I'm doing this is because I'm young and crazy and my body will let me get away with stuff like this. And when I see Eighty-Something year olds out on the course (yes, sometimes PASSING me on the course), all I can think is how I'll be greatful if I can still move that well when I'm that age!

Training Program: Week 4

Ran a 5K three weeks ago - that went okay, 00:33:14. Actually, give myself credit, it went really well for my first race in many many weeks of minimal activity, but I felt awful and know I'm capable of racing much faster when I have been training properly.

Weekend after that was a 10K that went VERY well, 01:10:58 - only 2 minutes slower than my PR. BUT when I set that PR, I ran the whole thing and was wasted at the end of it, this time I ran a 2:2 run/walk interval and had energy after for an additional 2 mile jog with the training group to round out my mileage for the week.

Then there was a week in Houston on business with no treadmil and not a good place to go out by myself. I rediscovered that I really do NOT care for elliptical machines, and spent some time on the bike - not ideal but at least it's something.

Which brings me to this week trying to get back in my training groove. And I discovered that my neighborhood is not nearly as scary as I thought it was. This might sound strange, but I don't know most of my neighbors and we all keep to ourselves, and I'm within easy walking distance of some not-so-nice neighborhoods and until now I just didn't go out alone in the dark of the early morning or evenings. But if I keep that mentality the rest of this training season there's no way I'm going to get my mileage in. So, armed with my cell phone and my little guard dog Franklin, I went out Monday morning for a 3 mile run, and discovered that all was quiet, the few other people I saw out and about were other runners or friendly neighbors stepping out to grab the morning paper, and I was silly to be so terrified all this time.

I will continue to take the dog with me, I like the company and Franklin likes the chance to get out for a while, and I think running in the morning will become part of my regular routine.
Again, that sounds perfectly common place for most people, but for me it's a big step.

Marathon Training Group

So, the past year and a half has left me staring at one undeniable fact: I do not train well by myself. It's plain and simple, and I can't argue with it anymore.

The time has come to give up and commit to some good old fashion coaching. The kind that keeps you motivated with lots of teammates (misery loves company at 6am) and a coach that has maybe one infinitesimal smidgen of sympathy for you on a REALLY bad day, and everything else is just "suck it up and keep moving!"

To my logic this completely defeats the purpose of running as a cheap sport that only requires some decent shoes and a sidewalk. On the other hand, the mental abuse one is capable of heaping on one's self when month after month brings little to no improvement because [insert excuse here] - that is well worth paying for a training group to mute the sinister little voices.

Jillian's 30-Day Shred

Beautiful spring weather has me back in gear to start running again.
What can I say - I'm a "Fair Weather" runner and not afraid to admit it.

10K I ran with Nancy two weeks ago left me with several sore spots, which I interpreted as the spots that must need the most work to get back in shape. Isn't it great how your body can give you such simple and blunt feedback?! Now if only more things in life would give me feedback that clear, maybe I'd stick my foot in my mouth a little less often.

So, a couple weekends of beautiful weather had me cautiously poking my nose outdoors, only to have it get cold and rainy again, so I went back to my new morning workout routine.
Those who know me, know I am not a morning person, so the fact I am voluntarily getting up at 5:15am every morning for the past week and a half should say a lot in and of itself. I'm doing the "Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred" DVD and so far I like it a lot. The workout is intense, but only lasts 20 minutes start to finish, then I can hit the shower and have breakfast with plenty of time before work.

Trying to eat better, and taking vitamins regularly... I'm trying to do my own Fitness Thing in response to the weight loss thing at work for the past 10 weeks. Not the least interested in participating in a weight loss competition because I don't put much stock in my overall weight, I'm more interested in my fat/muscle ratios. I guess it's my way of retaliating at the stupid half of the fitness world that only looks at BMI (strictly height:weight ratio, with no consideration for muscle weight), according to which I am Overweight. (But for our company health assessment they did the body mass analysis with the little electrodes on your hand and foot and according to that I am well within healthy range. Take that, stupid BMI!)