I think I figured out how I can run the marathon in the required time (6hr 30min). I just need a psychotic maniac wielding a machete to chase me. Or zombies, maybe I need zombies like the Zombie Run. So I'm calling for volunteers. Forget passing out water with all the other volunteers - CHASE ME!! PLEASE! Today I was able to shave a little time off what my normal pace has been, but I'm convinced it's because I was running for my life. The crazies in the sketchy house on the road next to mine were shooting very loud guns in their yard (only in NH...) and I was quite reluctant to become a moving target.
According to the Chicago Marathon rules and guidelines there will be an official Pace Van driving along the course at a 15:00/mile pace. Mark my words, I'll be the runner the Pace Van accidentally drives over.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Memorial Day
We hosted the hubs' fam today for (another!) birthday BBQ party for the boys. This marks the end of what feels like birthday "month" since both the boys have birthdays this month (10 days apart) and they somehow managed to score 3 separate (although joint) parties.
I always forget what day it is on long weekends, and this weekend was no different. I usually live through Sunday, and totally behave like that day doesn't count, and then without fail Monday arrives only I think it's Sunday and it's like the last 24 hours never even happened. It's not like I go on a huge bender and have a legitimate reason for forgetting the day, I think I'm just crazy. Or old. Either way. So like always, I was totally convinced it was Sunday today and that it was my "rest day" in my training plan, but then had a moment of clarity somewhere in my 3rd beer of the BBQ and realized that I had already enjoyed my rest day and that unless I was ok getting off schedule I was going to have to muster up the motivation to run or at least do something. (Getting off schedule because I'm "too busy" I still have guilt about, but can live with. Simply for being a moron and forgetting the day, I can't live with). Luckily, we had time to hit up Cedardale post party and before they closed, so I decided to try some outdoor lap swimming. Also luckily, there was a man swimming in the next lane that I got to "race" (not that he was necessarily aware that we were racing). That always makes it at least a little more enjoyable. My goggles are failing me big time though, and for my last swim and this one I had to stop several times to adjust and get the water out. My eyes are killing me now! So I just ordered some really funky looking ones (Aqua Sphere Kayenne's) that got awesome reviews on Amazon. Hopefully they work as well as is claimed.
Had to juggle my workouts around this week since I forgot that yesterday "counts". And I was supposed to run today, so technically I finished Week 2 Day 2 of the program, but tomorrow I have to do Day 1 (run) and I want to try a spinning class on Friday, so now that will be a cross-train day. I don't want to run 2 days in a row, so I guess this week it's going to be:
Monday- cross-train
Tuesday- short run
Wednesday- rest day
Thursday- short run
Friday- cross-train
Saturday- long run
Sunday- rest day
I really don't know how I'm supposed to fit the strength training in, since that's going to take an hour minimum every time and it's just sneaked in on the schedule on cross-train days. I haven't really done any strength training yet though and Friday is my next cross-train day, so I might have to get some in before then. Plus I really need to find time for extra stretching, icing, foam rolling, my back strengthening exercises....Man, this is complicated! And time consuming! Sheesh! You'd think trying to run a marathon is a big deal or something...
I always forget what day it is on long weekends, and this weekend was no different. I usually live through Sunday, and totally behave like that day doesn't count, and then without fail Monday arrives only I think it's Sunday and it's like the last 24 hours never even happened. It's not like I go on a huge bender and have a legitimate reason for forgetting the day, I think I'm just crazy. Or old. Either way. So like always, I was totally convinced it was Sunday today and that it was my "rest day" in my training plan, but then had a moment of clarity somewhere in my 3rd beer of the BBQ and realized that I had already enjoyed my rest day and that unless I was ok getting off schedule I was going to have to muster up the motivation to run or at least do something. (Getting off schedule because I'm "too busy" I still have guilt about, but can live with. Simply for being a moron and forgetting the day, I can't live with). Luckily, we had time to hit up Cedardale post party and before they closed, so I decided to try some outdoor lap swimming. Also luckily, there was a man swimming in the next lane that I got to "race" (not that he was necessarily aware that we were racing). That always makes it at least a little more enjoyable. My goggles are failing me big time though, and for my last swim and this one I had to stop several times to adjust and get the water out. My eyes are killing me now! So I just ordered some really funky looking ones (Aqua Sphere Kayenne's) that got awesome reviews on Amazon. Hopefully they work as well as is claimed.
Had to juggle my workouts around this week since I forgot that yesterday "counts". And I was supposed to run today, so technically I finished Week 2 Day 2 of the program, but tomorrow I have to do Day 1 (run) and I want to try a spinning class on Friday, so now that will be a cross-train day. I don't want to run 2 days in a row, so I guess this week it's going to be:
Monday- cross-train
Tuesday- short run
Wednesday- rest day
Thursday- short run
Friday- cross-train
Saturday- long run
Sunday- rest day
I really don't know how I'm supposed to fit the strength training in, since that's going to take an hour minimum every time and it's just sneaked in on the schedule on cross-train days. I haven't really done any strength training yet though and Friday is my next cross-train day, so I might have to get some in before then. Plus I really need to find time for extra stretching, icing, foam rolling, my back strengthening exercises....Man, this is complicated! And time consuming! Sheesh! You'd think trying to run a marathon is a big deal or something...
Saturday, May 26, 2012
Guess who's back!?!
So it's been a while, but I'm happy (more like ecstatic!) to report that I'm back in action! I can't say that I'm 100%, but I'm feeling good enough that I've jumped right back into training and so far so good! The last few months have seen a lot of tears, a lot of temper tantrums (I just want to get back to the gym! Wah!), a lot of physical therapy, a couple trips to my hip surgeon, and a lot of being impatient...
Good news (scratch that, FANTASTIC news) is that I got official word (after an MRI w/ contrast in my hip) that I absolutely did NOT get another labral tear - or any other kind of tear for that matter - in my hip again. PHEW! That would not have been pleasant news as my surgeon made it painfully clear that second surgeries for labral tear do not have a very high success rate. So once again, PHEW! He suspects that I just made the labrum "angry". Ok, well, let's avoid that again ok? Apparently my hip has a temper similar to this Irish hot head... He also strongly suggested that I refrain from partaking in any more bootcamp classes because it's just asking for injury. That's actually a major bummer because I absolutely LOVED bootcamp. But if avoiding bootcamp = avoiding another hip injury then I guess that's just a smart decision.
I definitely did injure my back though, way back when I injured myself (Valentine's Day to be exact). I've been doing lots of back strengthening exercises, and I was going to PT consistently for a while, but I haven't been lately (it's getting harder to fit it in the schedule!) I still have some back pain and I still get some pain in my hip, but I think the benefit of training outweighs the pain, so I'm just going with it. I definitely need to ice a lot though.
We joined a new gym for the summer (Cedardale) as a family membership that has a bunch of outdoor pools, wading pool, shallow kid pool, playground and sprayground for the kids and the largest number of cardio machines I've seen in 1 place, plus an indoor track and indoor adult only lap pool, so I'm pretty psyched about all the different ways I'll be able to cross-train, plus the ability to run around the track on my run days if the hubs is traveling and I have to run at the gym for the use of the babysitting room (instead of only having the option of treadmill indoors). It also has a 2 bars, which I think pretty much rocks.
So today was the end of Week 1 of training (well, tomorrow is, but technically that's a rest day). I did my "long" run for Week 1 today - it was supposed to be 1 hour ~ 5mi, but I'm definitely slower than that. I've been following the 20 week Marathon Trainer Pro 26.2 for Pink training app on my iPhone, and I like it so far. When I say "run," I really mean walking/running intervals, which is the way this training program is designed. I don't want to run more than 3x per week because I think that will be too much stress on my hip, and I definitely don't want to run 2 consecutive days in a row. This program right now has me running 2 shorter runs during the week and then a longer run on the weekend, 2 rest days (for now), and 2 cross-training days. Pretty soon though (week 4 I think), one of the rest days is supposed to turn into another shorter run day (which will mean 4 runs/week AND running 2 days in a row every week), but I think I'll substitute that for another cross-train day.
I'm also loving my wireless headphones. The hubs had a pair and kept trying to convince me to try them, but because they look a little ridiculous and I thought they wouldn't be comfortable while running, I totally resisted. They're like headphones you wear around your neck instead of over your head and on your ears, and then there are wired earbuds that connect up from that. I thought the part that just hangs around your neck would bounce too much, but it doesn't at all, and I'm a big fan of them.
So...Week 1 down...19 to go!
Good news (scratch that, FANTASTIC news) is that I got official word (after an MRI w/ contrast in my hip) that I absolutely did NOT get another labral tear - or any other kind of tear for that matter - in my hip again. PHEW! That would not have been pleasant news as my surgeon made it painfully clear that second surgeries for labral tear do not have a very high success rate. So once again, PHEW! He suspects that I just made the labrum "angry". Ok, well, let's avoid that again ok? Apparently my hip has a temper similar to this Irish hot head... He also strongly suggested that I refrain from partaking in any more bootcamp classes because it's just asking for injury. That's actually a major bummer because I absolutely LOVED bootcamp. But if avoiding bootcamp = avoiding another hip injury then I guess that's just a smart decision.
I definitely did injure my back though, way back when I injured myself (Valentine's Day to be exact). I've been doing lots of back strengthening exercises, and I was going to PT consistently for a while, but I haven't been lately (it's getting harder to fit it in the schedule!) I still have some back pain and I still get some pain in my hip, but I think the benefit of training outweighs the pain, so I'm just going with it. I definitely need to ice a lot though.
We joined a new gym for the summer (Cedardale) as a family membership that has a bunch of outdoor pools, wading pool, shallow kid pool, playground and sprayground for the kids and the largest number of cardio machines I've seen in 1 place, plus an indoor track and indoor adult only lap pool, so I'm pretty psyched about all the different ways I'll be able to cross-train, plus the ability to run around the track on my run days if the hubs is traveling and I have to run at the gym for the use of the babysitting room (instead of only having the option of treadmill indoors). It also has a 2 bars, which I think pretty much rocks.
So today was the end of Week 1 of training (well, tomorrow is, but technically that's a rest day). I did my "long" run for Week 1 today - it was supposed to be 1 hour ~ 5mi, but I'm definitely slower than that. I've been following the 20 week Marathon Trainer Pro 26.2 for Pink training app on my iPhone, and I like it so far. When I say "run," I really mean walking/running intervals, which is the way this training program is designed. I don't want to run more than 3x per week because I think that will be too much stress on my hip, and I definitely don't want to run 2 consecutive days in a row. This program right now has me running 2 shorter runs during the week and then a longer run on the weekend, 2 rest days (for now), and 2 cross-training days. Pretty soon though (week 4 I think), one of the rest days is supposed to turn into another shorter run day (which will mean 4 runs/week AND running 2 days in a row every week), but I think I'll substitute that for another cross-train day.
I'm also loving my wireless headphones. The hubs had a pair and kept trying to convince me to try them, but because they look a little ridiculous and I thought they wouldn't be comfortable while running, I totally resisted. They're like headphones you wear around your neck instead of over your head and on your ears, and then there are wired earbuds that connect up from that. I thought the part that just hangs around your neck would bounce too much, but it doesn't at all, and I'm a big fan of them.
So...Week 1 down...19 to go!
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