Snow

I am having an unexpected day at home with my youngest today. Gotta love waking up to vomit in the morning! Being a mom is so glamourous some days.

We have gotten over a foot of snow in the last two days. The kids are loving it, and honestly, so am I! Normally snow on March 1st would make me sad, but we have not had much in the way on snow this year and it is pretty. I love where our house is, accross from a vacant field where the deer hang. Oh, and it is the perfect sledding hill. Joy all the way around. Last night we got to eat dinner watching the deer ripping bark off the trees, then start bedding down for the storm. Pretty cool.

Anyways, running. I am still running, but I am not loving it right now. I'm not sure why. January was a really low mileage month at 39, but I knew it would be. 39 isn't terrible considering I didn't run for 3 weeks, and had to come back slowly.

February came in at 110 miles. Not bad, but not really where I wanted it to be. Some of it was life happening, some of it was migraines happening, some of it was an unwillingness to push farther. I don't know. I am just not as proud of that 110 miles as I probably should be.

Yesterday's run was an adventure. There was 8-10" of new snow, plowed in places and not in others. I wore my Yaktraks which worked well if the snow wasn't too deep. It felt like an obstacle course, leaping over piles of snow and running with high knees in the deep drifts. I had forgotten that snow is tough on the legs for any distance. 7 miles felt very long. I made a questionable choice to take the trail home, knowing it would be pretty. I figured it would be slow, but I had time. I thought. Except, no one had been on that trail at all yet. And the snow was over a foot deep because of the snow drifts. And it is all uphill. Whew. it was a very long 2 miles home, and I discovered my nifty Yaktraks don't work so well in deep snow. The snow was actually pushing the chain up and over the top of my toes. After stopping to correct it a few times, I just took them off and slipped and slid my way home. The miscalculations on time left me hauling up the BIG hill to my house since it was most direct, and needing to drive to the preschool in dripping running clothes. (They probably think I don't own real clothes since this is often the case)

Lessons learned? Snow slows you down-a lot. Plan for that next time. It is a lot of fun, but hard work. maybe cutting it a little shorter would have been good.

I have to admit, I kind of like the strange looks I get from people running in the more extreme conditions. It makes me feel bada@#. I have been feeling rather down lately, so it is nice to have that pick me up.

Feels so Good!

I got to go for a run yesterday, for the first time in almost three weeks. I got the tenative okay from the surgeon on Thursday, with a warning to take it easy and see how it goes. I went to ballet on Friday afternoon, figuring that would be a great test of how much my stomach muscles were ready for. It felt great! Except my feet-big ouchie there. They are always the first casuality when you stop dancing for a few weeks.

I was all jazzed to run on Saturday. The funny thing was, not running and laying around instead is a habit now. So weird! It took me until 4pm, (and after eating half a bag of candy orange slices) to get out the door. I was really sore from dance, (just muscles, not from surgery), so the run would either help or really hurt already sore muscles.

It felt great to wear my running gear. I had forgotten that my shoes are on the verge of dead and needing to be replaced. The wind was cold, and I was already having second thoughts. I have been dreaming of being able to run again, and I was not in the mood.

Then it felt great! Running, I love you! I've missed this! I'm flying! Until about mile 1.5, then ugh, why does this hurt? Why am I out of breath? Please tell me I didn't lose ALL my fitness in three weeks!

I finished the three miles. Since my Garmin had been set aside at forgotten the last few weeks, it wasn't charged. It was probably for the best that I ran without it anyways. I am so glad I was able to run pain free, but somewhat discouraged how hard 3 miles could feel.

The plan for this week is to run every other day, as long as I am still feeling good. I'm glad to not be running today since it is blowing some crazy snow out today. Honestly, tomorrow won't be much better, but I can hope.

3 Things Thursday

Happy Thursday! So this is me blogging on drugs. It could be entertaining, or just incoherent.

1. My surgery yesterday went well, and they were hopefully able to fix something. I don't know. The doctor told my husband what all the did, since I was still out with drugs. And him being him-he doesn't remember everything. I guess I will find out more at my post-op appointment in two weeks.

2. It feels so weird to just lay around in bed. I mean weird. It is hard to imagine doing this for the next two weeks. Right now it is easy because moving is seriously ouch. When it isn't so painful, I'm guessing I will need some reminders to take it easy.

3. Drugs are good. Sleep is good. I had a very random running dream, (that the drugs had something to do with). I've got to say, having wings on my shoes would be pretty cool. Of course, the outfit I was wearing looked kind of like an american gladiator outfit. That was definitely the drugs.

2011 Recap!

Happy New Year! This past year has alternately flown by, and seemed like forever. Isn't that always the case? So here's a brief recap:

Miles Run in 2011: 1442

Total Miles including swim and elliptical: 1511

Highest mileage month: December 159!

Lowest month: July 82

It was not a great race year, I struggled to find my speed after injury. I struggled with injury and illness, (shin again, knee and wisdom teeth removal). My only PR for the year was the Pear Blossom 10 miler, because I had not run that distance as a race before.

What am I proud of for this year? This fall and early winter, I built up my base and feel STRONG! I am injury free, and anything up to 9 miles feels easy most days.

September: 140

October: 148

November: 151

December: 159

I streaked all through the month of December, and have not taken a rest day since November 26th. I ran at least one mile each day. I expected to feel burnt out and tired, but I feel fantastic and wish I could keep going. Unfortunately, today is my last running day for a while. I am trying to look at my time off as a positive break, and I'm sure it will be. I just need to ban all things sugar from my house. My willpower with Christmas goodies=not so good.

Looking into 2012, I have no idea what is next. That is a first. I raced the Hangover Handicap on New Year's Day, (recap to come), but other race plans are on hold due to surgery tomorrow. It could be just 2 weeks off, it could be 6.

If my time off is short, I might due the Eugene Marathon. If not, Portland. After maintaining a strong base this fall without injury, I am ready to tackle my first full marathon. (eek, it's out there now!)

Other goals: Sub-2 half, 10 mile PR, more strength training-and sticking to it!

I'm off to run a few, and enjoy my last run for a while!