Baby It's Cold Outside

An ode to my bed. (Complements of Bing Crosby)

Baby It's Cold Outside

I really can't stay
Baby it's cold outside
I gotta go run
Baby it's cold outside
This night has been
Been hoping that you'd stay
So very warm
I'll wrap you up, you're cold as ice
My buddies will start to worry
Beautiful what's your hurry?
My friends will leave with out me
Listen to the warm kitty's purr
So really I better change
Beautiful please don't hurry
Well maybe just a half hour more
Darling, put your shoes by the door

But Meghan might think
Baby it's bad out there
Say.. what was that dream? 
To much ice out there
I wish I knew how to wake up
Your eyes are feeling heavy now
I'll hide your hat so you won't leave
I ought to say no, no, no sir
Mind if I fluff the pillows?
At least I'm gonna say that I tried
What's the sense of hurtin' my pride?
I really can't stay
Baby don't go out
(Both) Ahh but its cold outside!

It was a little chilly out there this morning! I fought the hard fight with the bed and I'm pleased to say I won! 6 miles 1:34:03. (Not the 13 as I had previously stated but I've decided its better to rest from now until race day which is now less than two weeks away.)

I hope you and yours had a very merry Christmas filled with lots of GU, trackers, shoes, clothes and what ever other gear Santa has decided to bring you!

Company

Today I had a little company on the trail. I ran 6 miles with a friend that I met through the =PR= training program. Jackie was able to push me a little harder than I had been able to push myself for a long time. It helps a lot when you have someone to distract you along the way. After 6 Jackie ran up ahead of me to do a total of 9 and I ran past that to do a grand total of... *drum roll please*

11!

I ran 11 miles today! That's double digits! Huge milestone for me. After going home and pluging in my nike+ I realized I had set a few more records on top of that.

Today I ran my fastest 1K, 5K and 10K. I also clocked my farthest, longest, and most calories burned. Over all I'd say it was a pretty great run. 11 miles, 2:48:57, pace of 15:18.

Now on a scary note... I'm feeling a fair amount of pain in my hip... I'm really hoping Its just sore from all my epicness. If that's the case, 13 next weekend.

How Did That Happen?

So I've been in a fair amount of pain all over since Sunday's epic distance run. So I really wasn't expecting a lot of this run. My hip has been sore, my heel has been doing its thing and there's a slight pain in my left leg too... But I got up and went out for 2 miles this evening.

Despite all these little aches and pains, I still managed to pull out 2 miles in only 30:18. Not sure how... But I did it with a pace of 15:09. I know that sounds incredibly slow, (and it is) but for me its a pretty good pace. Not sure how it happened but I'll take it and move on.

Runch

This morning I attended a Runch. A run followed by brunch at =PR= in Ashburn. I loved being able to run with my old running group again! Even if I'm slower than slow at this point. But I'm really glad I went because of the bit of free swag I got.

Free reflective jacket courtesy of Brooks Running! Its really exactly what I need for my night runs.I no longer will have to worry about being visible to traffic as I run.

Of course that meant that our running group was rather bright out on the trail on this gray morning. I may have been one of the last one out there but I'm almost cirtian that no one went as far as I did today. I ran 9.25 miles in 2:23:23. Pace of 15:30! I'm very pleased with myself. And the best thing is that this evening, I'm able to walk.

I was incredibly nervous for this run because the last time I attempted a 9 mile run I wasn't able to walk right for two whole months. So today I took it very slow, no shame in walking. But I am still pleased with my pace because it's well under the 16:00 minute requirement.

I also picked up a little something for my plantar fascitis.

They're a set of wooden massage balls that come in different sizes.

They were cheap ($10) and very easy to use. I'm hoping to get rid of this minor pain before it starts getting worse.

With Disney quickly approaching, I have laid out what I feel is a good training program for myself given my short time span.

Next weekend's long run: 11 miles
week after that: 13 miles
next week: (taper period) 6 miles
week after that: DISNEY 13.1

Runner's Feet

One thing that I'm learning through all of this is that runners don't have cute feet.

Calluses. So many calluses... My poor dogs are all tore up from forming calluses and losing them during my break from activity and now reforming them. A pedicure may be in my near future.

Not to mention the fact that I think I have developed this. It's a very common runner's condition and I'm starting to feel it in my left heel. Not to worry though. It hasn't affected me during my runs. Yet... I am beginning to stay more on top of it though as I'm seeing that as much as I want to ignore it, it's not going away.

Also, Santa... if you're reading this I have one more major thing on my Christmas list... I hate to admit it... but I need new shoes...

I'm starting to roll my ankles inward when I run again which is what led to my major knee issues earlier in the summer. This is a sign that I'm loosing support in my shoe.

(I'm really starting to sound like I know what I'm doing when I hit that pavement.)

In other news: I ran 3 miles tonight.

Twelve

I ran 2 miles on 12/12/12.

It would have been cool if i could have made it 12 miles but I'll take what I can in this case.

Tonight I wussed out and ran on the treadmill. It was just too cold and windy out for my taste. But at least I got out there and did it. I didn't skip the run completely. I swear though, I do worse on a treadmill than I do in the real world. Tonight I ran 2 miles in 32:31 which I know I was able to do better last week. Oh well. Maybe that will help motivate me to suck it up and run outdoors?

You also may have noticed I added a new picture. Its a photo taken by yours truly of a frosty sunrise. 

Predawn Fog

With the holidays just around the corner, my weekend was filled with family festivities and I completely ran out of time to do my long run for this week. I had to make a desion. I could either skip it and not worry about it and move on, or I could wake up crazy early Monday morning and run.

I chose to run.

I was out the door by 6 am on Monday and decided to start running towards my parent's house. The distance from my apartment to my parent's house is exactly 1.5 miles.

My apartment to parents and back =3 miles

I was hoping by the time I finished those 3 miles that it would be light enough to finish the last 4 on the trail. It was incredibly foggy that morning so I decided to run to my parent's house twice.

Photo taken at 6:20 am

I ended up running the 3 mile loop on the street twice and finished the last mile on the trail for a grand total of 7 miles in 1:55:12. Its not my best time but at this point that doesn't even matter. What matters is that I got up and did it. Tomorrow marks the 1 month mark until Disney. January 12th I'm getting up predawn and running 13.1 miles. Whether its cold and foggy or not.

Friday Night

Its Friday night.

And what did I do?

I ran 3.2 miles. My own 5K in 47:58. Pace of 15:33.

Pretty pleased with myself. So I'm doing my own victory dance.


Even if my Friday nights aren't as exciting as Katy Perry's.

What?

I want you to read today's date.

I'll wait here.




Its December right? You sure? I just ran outside in a tank top. Its 68 degrees. Its December. What the hell mother nature?

That's my Christmas tree. I'm in the Christmas spirit. I want it to be cold out...


Okay, I'll step off my soap box now.

In other news, I ran two miles tonight. My time was pretty super, 30:16, even through some tough times. I was really torn on weather or not I should go run tonight. I got held up at the grocery store and was generally feeling lazy. But due to working late the rest of the week I wouldn't be able to make it up and Disney is in 36 days weather I feel like running that day or not.

So I manned up and went at it. Things were going swimmingly until the last half mile. At this point my stomach started making some grumbling sounds. Now I was smart and I didn't eat dinner or have a big cup of coffee before running so this seemed to really come out of no where. I started to wonder if I ran fast enough if I could make it back to the comforts of my own home. I decided I couldn't.

Let me tell you dear readers, I have never been so happy to have decided to run on the streets. I quickly ducked into McDonald's, did what I needed to, and continued running. I don't want to think about what the outcome could have been if I had run on the trail during an episode like that. Let's just hope Disney has port-a-potties along the way.

Slow and Steady

I "ran" 5 miles yesterday.

I say "ran" because it was mostly walking with little bursts of running. I didn't quite make the incredibly slow goal pace but it doesn't matter because 5 miles is 5 miles no matter how fast you go.

Ya Win Some, Ya Lose Some

So today I woke up early and hit the trail just before sunrise!

I was proud of myself for getting my ass out of bed and out there in 28 degree weather. I ran the first mile and then started having problems.. My hip started hurting so bad i was limping again. So instead of struggling through three I ended up walking the last mile for a grand total of 2 miles.

Sunday I'm hoping I'll be more awake and ready to tackle 5 miles.

Hitting the Streets

So I woke up once again and was planning on running. Once again, I went back to bed.

So tonight I was faced with a desision to make. I could either go run on the treadmill at my parents house, (which I hate) or go run in the dark on Main Street.

I ran on Main Street. I'm not sure if I ran 1.9 or 2 miles though... I'll have to double check it in my car tomorrow. Either way I did it in only 27:54.

Even though street running is better than treadmill running, it still doesn't beat the trail. To bad the trail isn't lit or else this wouldn't be an issue. Streets don't have mile markers and you have the added hazard of traffic.

Maybe next time I'll remember all of these minor issues of running at night and I'll actually get up off my rear end and run in the early morning daylight before work.

Next run's game plan: 3 miles
Weekend long run: 5 miles
10K goal December 8th.

BRING IT.

Let's Start Adding Some Miles

T-minus 45 days until the Walt Disney World Half Marathon!

With that in mind I've started trying to gain back some of the mileage I've lost. Meghan and I went out on the trail for 4 miles today. I haven't been able to do that since before the injury.

I'm the first to admit that I'm not fast. I'm not fast by any stretch of the imagination. With that being said, I'm lucky that Disney is a very forgiving race as far as pace requirements go. So at this point the main goal is to add up the miles. My next goal is to be able to run a 10K in two weeks. I feel great after running 4 today so I'll easily be able to go 6.2 in two weeks.

Doing the math, I'll be able to add 2 miles to each long run each week and still have a week of rest before the race. It's a tough training schedule.... But I have to start making up lost time somehow.

Frosted

Since my return to running the weather has turned much cooler. Wednesday, I finally got up out of bed early to go run. I step outside my door and I'm greeted by this:

It's cold outside.

But I'm proud of myself for going out there early and doing it. I ran 2 miles under my 16:00" mile goal pace. With the Thanksgiving holiday and all that I wasn't able to blog about it.

So today I went back out and ran 3 miles in 45:27. That's the furthest I've ran since my injury and I'm damn proud of it. It's not fast but at this point I'm just looking to gain back some of my distance endurance. I assume speed will come with that. So far my pace has improved drastically since my injury so I'd say I'm just about on track for Disney.

Do I still feel pain? Yes. Most of the time. But It's a much more manageable pain now and it's more of an annoyance than anything else.

Well I Tried

So I woke up early fully intending on running out on the trail this morning. The alarm went off and I rolled out of bed. I looked out the window and what do I see?

Yeah that's sleet.

I'm going back to bed... zzzzzzzzz

But I made up for it and hit the treadmill tonight. I ran 2 miles! That's the furthest I've gone since the injury so I'm pretty pleased even if I did have a crappy time.

Taking a quick vacation the the west coast this weekend so hopfully I can squeeze in some Seattle runs!

Shoes are packed.

Bordering Bare

Today I ran a mile. This is pretty important for many reasons.

1. I haven't been able to run a mile for months. And I find it awesome that I did.
2. I did it nearly naked.

That's right folks. I ran today's mile nearly naked, bordering bare, essentially exposed, virtually vulnerable.   And I looked fabulous doing it.

As nearly naked as I felt, I really wasn't as naked as some brave souls bared today.

Most of the men were fairly close to nude.

Because this was only a mile race, runners were separated into different waves by expected running times. Needless to say, my cousin and I ran in the last wave.

Here we are waiting patently for our time.

The goal of today's race was to raise money for the Medstar Burn Center in Reston. The run was all about feeling comfortable in your own skin while freezing your bums off. Although Mother Nature decided we were going to have a fairly warm run, we did get a chance to feel comfortable being ourselves. I loved this group of guys who decided to paint the word "insecurity" across their chests.

 

We got lined up for our nice slow group and I have to say I'm fairly proud of my results. I ran the entire mile (no walking!) in 12:21. That's pretty impressive considering I could barely walk a few weeks ago.

Afterwards we celebrated with free booze and pizza from a pizza place appropriately named Naked Pizza.

Now I know dear readers you're begining to wonder.... What does the newest free shirt look like?

Well, I didn't get a shirt. :(

I got a pair of the worlds smallest boxer shorts. :)

They even have a picture of a naked fireman on them!

We also helped collect clothes to donate to the burn center.

And as always, =PR= photographers always seem to catch me at my best and I will share with you all my running shot.

That's genuine nearly naked happiness right there guys.

Let's Get Back Baby

Since I've stopped running its gotten awfully cold out. I woke up early fully intending on running on the trail.

Lemme tell you... Its cold out there. One look at the clock and another look at the grey day out side and my decision was made easy for me.

So I went right back to bed and ran on the treadmill at my parents house tonight. Much warmer. I don't have any cold weather gear yet. That's my excuse. Tonight I ran 1.8 miles in 30 minutes. I shaved about a minute off of my average pace from Sunday. If I can just keep that up for 13.1 miles with out curling up in pain then I'd be set.

Now, that's not to say I'm not pain free now. So far I haven't injured myself further and I promise you dear readers, I will stop if that happens. But at the moment I'm not feeling any worse so I may as well play through it.

Glow in the Dark 5K in DC on Friday.

Welcome Back

Its been a while.

Its been a long while.

Two months since my last real attempt at running. I've been to the doctor and he believes that I pulled my hip flexor muscle. Click here for more information on it. 4 weeks of physical therapy and I'm still in pain.

Last weekend I came to the realization that my half marathon is in 2 months. I need to get back on it now or risk loosing it until next year. So today I was finally able to get out and run.

I have a mild cold so breathing was a little difficult but I managed to run a mile and a half. In those two short months the trail has really changed.

66 days until Walt Disney World marathon weekend. 66 days and I feel as though I'm basically starting from scratch.

Will Run for Color

 So here is today's shirt. Pristine and clean. Ready for a 5K.

This isn't your average 5K.

Meghan, her son and I got out bright and early and headed to the National Harbor for a little color fun.

 Things started out innocently enough.

 Everyone was looking rather pristine and angelic by the water.

 I even had a little fun and gave myself a color run themed manicure.

We started lining up. All 6,000 of us.

And then the fun began...

 Each kilometer the runners and walkers were pleasantly dusted with a colored corn starch solution

I didn't run for very much of this 5k. My hip is still giving me a lot of trouble so I ended up hobbling through this one. I'm going to be headed to the doctor sometime this week. But if anyone were to walk 3.1 miles, this would be the race to do so. No one was in a hurry.

They don't call it the happiest 5k on the planet for nothing!

Time

Woke up this morning. Fulling intending on running. I took some Advil and made my way out to my group run meeting. When I got there I touched base with my coach regarding this new terrible pain. We started walking out to the trail and I asked her how far I should try for. She started saying not to go out more than a mile then stopped, pointed back at the store and said, "Actually, no. You're not running today." She told me that I could hardly walk to the trail so I really shouldn't be going out at all.

I guess she could see the disappointment in my eyes because then she tells me that I'm my own adult and that she can't make me do (or not do) anything. But I guess I'm kind of paying her to give me advice. She told me to take the time off now so I'm not still injured in January for my race. So I walked out the the trail and watched everyone go on their own epic journey and then walked back to the store.

At this point in my training I still have the gift of time. Taking two weeks off at this point can only help me when I can't lift up or put weight on my right leg with out feeling pain. The coach said that I'm not going to lose any of the fitness I have gained this summer by taking a little bit of time off. I can only lose it by being a total couch potato for a few months.

In the mean time, the color run is next Sunday. Its a good thing I signed up to go with Meghan and her 5 year-old so there won't be a lot of running.

So dear readers, you will not be hearing from me for the next week. I will not be running or even trying to run. I will kick this before it becomes something worse.

Tears

After 9 miles of epic on Sunday, I can't seem to walk straight. I've got some pretty intense pain on my right hip. My coach seems to think that maybe after a couple of months of left knee pain, my right side is sore from over compensating. The good news? My knee doesn't hurt.

So I tried running again on Tuesday, went a mile, lots of pain. Tried again today, even more pain. I thought I was at least able to walk with out a limp so I should try and run. Wrong. Two steps of running shot pain through my hip.

Then, on the defeated return home, I ran into my building's maintenance man. And what does he say? "What are you doing up this early limping around?" I guess I wasn't quite limp free yet...

So I wanted to let you know dear readers, do not mistake these tears for weakness. These tears are from anger and frustration. I have no idea what Sunday will bring but I hope it won't end this way.

Mooove Over!

The one training run Meghan doesn't make it to turns out to be one of the most exciting! First off, it was wet and nasty pretty much the entire run. Started out fine, then it started pouring after the first mile. At this point I was chatting with another lady from the program so I hadn't noticed that my phone wasn't playing music anymore. After stopping for Gatorade and she ran up ahead, I realized my phone was thoroughly soaked and is now dead. I'm hoping a trip to the store will fix it but if not I'll be switching to a back-up.

So there I was, soaking wet, three miles into a run, alone, with no music. Now I know the biggest thing at races is that headphones are strongly discouraged. I don't need that lecture. I usually only run with one ear phone in and the music is turned down low anyways. I can deal with out music for a single run I suppose. I was more worried about my phone being completely dead since I don't have a land line phone to keep in touch.

Then around mile 4.5 one of the coaches decided to graciously slow down his epic pace to keep me sane over the next 4.5 miles. You'd think that the run could go on normally then right? Wrong.

Here's a little of how the conversation went:

Me: What the hell is that up there? A Cow?
Coach: No way. I think that's a horse.
(Makes sense. People ride horses on the trail all the time.)
(As we get a little closer)
Me: No way that's a horse.
Coach: Maybe it's a really big dog?

COWS. Yup. Those are cows. Yup. They're just casually crossing. THE ONE DAY I DON'T HAVE A WORKING PHONE TO TAKE A PICTURE! These pictures were sent to me by one of our fellow runners.

A lady on the side of the trail, who also didn't have a phone, was desperately trying to get someone to call her husband to tell him "Crazy Mike's cows got out!"

After all excitement, I ran 9 miles in 2:12:34. Pace of 14:43/m