St. Peter's Fiesta 5k - Gloucester, MA

So much fun!  It's been YEARS since I ran in a 5k race.  And it was just really fun to meet up with friends and also have my cuties on the sidelines cheering us all on.  They made me smile so big.
UPDATE: Results!  Time: 31:40  Not too shabby!

Just spotted my boys!

Fisher, Erin, Becky, Micah, Phoebe & Me

The route

After the race we hit up the Cape Ann Brewery (of course!) and had some delicious brews, good food, and great company.  My big guy recently announced that he wants to be a drummer in a rock band when he grows up, and the band that was setting up was awesome enough to let my guys play around on the drums.

The big guy living the rockstar dream!

Gotta be just like big brother!!

I said it's been forever since I ran a 5k, but I did do the Warrior Dash last summer.  That was about getting as muddy as possible and the fun obstacles (and beer)...so I don't really consider that a "running" race (although the BEST running races always involve beer somehow!)  I definitely didn't care about my time.  I just wanted to have fun, actually do all the obstacles and get some cool photos.

Stuck in the mud!

FIRE!

(This was pure photo op - the fire wasn't even that high, so it wasn't even a real 'obstacle', but still awesome!)

Another muddy photo op.

FINISHED!

(That giant hill in the back was SUPER fun to slide down in the mud!)

I definitely want to do more obstacle/mud races, but yesterday reminded me that I also enjoy just the simple challenge of a straight up 5k.  I'm kind of looking forward to when marathon training is over, just so I don't have to be so concerned with getting an(other) injury and can sign up for more of the fun stuff!  I don't think it would be wise to attempt the Warrior Dash or Spartan Sprint or any of the rest prior to the marathon because I got pretty pretty banged up doing the Dash last year (also got a nasty case of "Dash Rash" all over my legs that was NOT pleasant!!)

But hopefully I'll get a chance to run another 5k or other race as part of marathon training because it definitely adds an element of fun to training.  And maybe I'll sign up for the Rebel Race since it's a month after the marathon and only 10 minutes from my house!  Or maybe the Spartan Time Trial at Fenway!  That just sounds so fun!  And there's an event my 4yo can do AND just to have access inside Fenway Park is awesome!  Hmmmm, decisions decisions!

The hip is angry

Well, I rested my hip over the weekend.  I felt like crap missing my long run.  It's hard to shake the voices in my head yelling "slacker!!" even when I know it's the smart thing to do.  Looking back over my training log I realized that because I missed a run when I went to CA to visit my sister a couple weeks ago (again, slacker!) I went from running a total of 10.7mi in week 3 to a total of 15.5mi the next week - an increase of almost 50% from one week to the next.  And by week 5 is when I started noticing a twinge in my hip.  Everything I read about training strongly suggests not increasing mileage more than 10% from week to week, so I suppose that wasn't very smart on my part.

I've been trying to think of everything I could have done to make my hip angry again.  It's probably as simple as coming back from an injury and pushing it too hard too fast.  I just had been feeling so good the past month with training, I was totally on a high.  It felt really good, and I finally felt like I was starting to get stronger and running better.

Could it have been switching out my orthotics?  Did that change my gait enough while running that it bothered my hip?  I somehow doubt it, but it was also these orthotics that I was wearing when I injured myself last time too (hmmm, my bad luck orthotics?)

Could it have been increasing my running interval time?  Maybe 3:2 is my magic interval.  It seems unlikely to me, but I had just tried 4:2 for the first time right before my hip really started to bother me.  Perhaps the extra minute per interval of high impact on my hip was just too much.  I hope not because I actually preferred the 4:2 intervals.

Did I do something wrong during spinning?  This also seems doubtful to me because I was definitely feeling a bit of a twinge even before spinning, but I did have a bit of a problem with my left pedal strap.  My first choice bike (decided after having it for all of 2 classes) was already taken when I got to the spinning studio.  It's a bike way in the back and directly next to a fan.  I'm actually surprised I was able to get it the first 2 times!  Anyway, the left strap on the foot pedal of the bike I had on Friday was super loose and I couldn't figure out how to tighten it.  I didn't think it was that big a deal until I realized well into the class that because my left foot was perpetually about to fall off the pedal, I definitely had a slightly uneven pedal stroke, but after I realized it I concentrated on pedaling evenly and didn't think it was that big a deal.

E suggested it's the crazy humidity that was bothering my hip.  Well, with these thunderstorms we've been having the last few days...maybe it's just another example of me already being a crazy old person whose arthritis acting up means I can predict the weather.

Ok, well, that's my slightly neurotic over-analysis of my hip not being happy with me at the moment.  Hopefully the rest I allowed myself, continuing to take it a little more easy than I have been (I'm thinking elliptical tomorrow instead of pounding pavement), and possibly scaling back a wee bit will allow me to ease right back into training and not affect me big picture.

Argh!

Went to spinning again this morning (3rd time) and I'm loving this class for how it fits into my marathon training schedule:

Monday- Cross-train

Tuesday- Short run

Wednesday- Weights

Thursday- Short run

Friday- Cross-train

Saturday- Long run

Sunday- REST

I've been swimming on Mondays, so spinning on Fridays makes for a nice, totally different type of cross-training to change it up.  My hip has been feeling slightly funny this week, but not painful.  Well, right toward the end of class today I started to feel a bit of a twinge.  I honestly couldn't determine if I'd possibly just gotten a slight pull in my upper quad or if it was my hip or what.  But it wasn't really that painful and we were just a moment or two from the end of class, so I didn't really think about it too much.  After class I did a ton of extra stretching, way more than I usually do, and then hit up the locker room for a shower.  It really still didn't even bother me that much, but once I got the boys home for some lunch I definitely started to notice it getting more painful to walk around the house.  I've now iced my hip and inner thigh at least 5 separate times.  I've tried massaging all around my hip and upper leg.  I've used my foam roller.  I've taken ibuprofen, and it's still quite painful.

<Sigh>So, now I'm sitting here the night before I'm supposed to run my long run of the week (9mi), and I'm having to seriously consider having a rest instead.  Logically I know it's the safe/smart thing to do because I don't want to further injure myself, but I find it SO HARD to stray off my plan.  And if I do stray off my plan, where do I jump back in?  Do I alter it so I still fit in my 9mi and then do my 10mi less than a week later? (guess that doesn't sound like the best idea), do I just skip my 9mi and do 10mi next week?  Or do I make my long run next week 9mi and alter mileage later on?  Should I do some light elliptical tomorrow or totally rest?  How long should I wait before I try running again?  Ugh, I HATE when my body doesn't behave the way I want it to.  WAH!

Maybe, just maybe, I'll ice a couple more times tonight and when I wake up tomorrow I'll magically feel better!  (Wishful thinking...)

A milestone day!

So my total logged training miles today entered the triple digits!  Woo-hoo!  I actually thought today's run kinda sucked, but now that I realized that I'm pretty psyched.  Although I just checked out B's, E's, & M's miles and they're lightyears ahead of me in mileage.  I guess they were pretty busy during those 3mos when I was injured!

Speaking of injury, my right hip has been bothering me a teensy tiny bit since my 8mile run.   It's not so much pain as it is just funny twitches all throughout my groin and especially my inner thigh.  My PT told me that when the hip is unstable the inner thigh muscles feel like they have to go into overdrive to help maintain stability.  Maybe I need to concentrate a little more on building the strength in my hips with some simple daily exercises.  Mental note: let's get on that Kate.

Wellness Program Swellness program

For health insurance we use the family plan through the company the hubs works for, and it's a pretty good plan.  I'm extremely resistant to change, so I generally tend to bitch about just about anything that changes from year to year within the plan.  A $5 co-pay increase? Bite me!  Now we have deductibles? Kiss my ass!  You need to send new cards to add our middle initial?  F you!  Ok, maybe I didn't have quite that reaction to the third example...but needless to say, when they decided to roll out the (not really required, but if you don't do it your monthly premium goes up 200%) Wellness Program, I definitely had a few words to say about it.

With the Wellness Program you have to fast and get your blood tested (for all the regular stuff, cholesterol, glucose, etc) and if you "fail" any of the categories tested they require you to work with a Wellness Coach to improve your health.  Incidentally, the night before the hubs and I both got our blood tested the first time, the hubs thought it would be an excellent idea to drink a bunch of wine and an entire pan of Rice Krispies treats until our fasting time had to start.  Yeah, guess who failed the glucose test the next day??  Luckily they let him have a redo with our primary care physician later on, so he didn't have the added hassle of working with a coach.  I honestly thank my lucky stars for that, because, no doubt, it would have been me making sure he completed whatever added tasks were required of him by the coach...

Without having to work with a coach, you have to complete some kind of required "health" task each quarter (and yes, I'm generally completing 2 each quarter...), and it's never usually that big a deal, it's just kind of annoying because it's something we HAVE to do and it's just in my personality to resist anything I'm told I HAVE to do that I don't want to.

So, since we're getting into the second half of June, I've started getting my reminders that the Quarter 2 health task is due.  Usually, it's log in and quickly find the one task that will only take me a few minutes and just get 'er done!  I just logged into my account to look at the options and I had to laugh a little bit.  Now that I'm well into marathon training, I actually am interested in pretty much every option and find myself pondering doing one to complete the task for credit and then going through them all anyway.  What is happening to me??

Just learned that Joan Benoit hated running so much when she first started and was so embarrassed by how she looked running that she would actually walk every time a car was driving past her.  That's pretty awesome.  I'd like to think of her flipping the bird every time a car passes her too, but somehow I doubt that.

And WOW!  This looks MUY DELICIOSO!!  Can't wait to try!

Baked Avocado and Egg

                                                             -preheat oven to 425, have cast iron pan in there
                                                             -halve avocado, remove pit
                                                             -pour cracked egg into avocado halves
                                                             -top with cheese and/or desired spices
                                                             -place in oven and cook until egg is cooked to your desire

This recipe came from a presentation (one of the tasks) in the Wellness Program (they took it from Foodbeast.com).  I seriously cannot wait to try this!!  I wonder what other delicious delights I've missed from never taking this seriously before?

Blister in the Rain

So today's theme song would be Blister in the Sun by the Violent Femmes, only instead of Sun insert Rain.  Actually insert torrential downpour.  But we did it!  Erin, Michele & I deserve a gold star each for today's performance.  It was "long run" day and the distance for today was 6mi.  It literally started raining the second we got to the rail trail (at 6:45am...on a Saturday just for the record).  Gold stars all around for sure.

Blister in the Sun also brings back floods of memories of Jill too.  The progressively singing quietly part to then all of a sudden really loud "LET ME GO ON" (which I totally sang "Let me go wild" - whoops!) was just far too fun not to over exaggerate and sing to ourselves over and over (and over and over and...)

Well, at least it's on my "ugly" foot anyway...

REST DAY TOMORROW!!  WOO-HOO!!

Broken Cooch

If I had a daily theme song, (which I really should!) sidenote: start compiling list for daily theme song selection, then the song for today would be Broken Face by the Pixies, only instead of face it would be cooch.  And having a discussion with myself about substituting Face for Cooch in any context sounds extremely dirty.  (I'd say like 50 Shades of Grey dirty, except I technically can't draw that comparison based on any real observation seeing as someone needs to hurry up and finish The Hunger Games trilogy and board the mommy porn train!)

And why does someone have a broken cooch you ask?  Oh well, only because I decided to try spinning for the first time today.  I decided that they must make the spinning bike seats as uncomfortable as they are because it's the only way they can get you to do the hard core stuff standing up off the seat...  Very good workout though I have to say.  I actually really enjoyed it and plan to go again, so that's something anyway.

I wonder how bad it is for men?  There were quite a few men in the class this morning and now that I've given it some thought, I'm quite curious.  I had to do a fair amount of repositioning, leaning forward, backward, weight on the sitz bones, standing up, just to preserve my lady parts as much as possible!  But I imagine that men may not have quite that range of motion to work with...

So the daily theme song got me thinking about how I really need to work on my iPod playlist for the marathon.  If you consider that the average song length is probably 3:30 to 4:00, then I probably want in the range of 100 songs in my marathon playlist.  That would be about 5hr 50min to 6hr 40min of music.  Although I'll probably want to rock out to Kelly Clarkson's What Doesn't Kill You (Stronger) more than once (or 3 or 10 times), so I guess I should probably aim for slightly fewer songs to allow for some motivating repeats.

<Sigh> Of course, like my theme song for today, anything Pixies reminds me of Jill and makes me sad, especially Where is my mind? we used to listen to that on repeat over and over in high school trying to figure out what the F- were the lyrics in the verse that started "I was swimming in the Carribean..." and then we'd continue "Animals were hiding behind the rocks.  Except for a little fish.  And they told me he's swimming, trying to talk to me Kuai Kaui", which didn't exactly make sense, but it was all sort of tropical related (except Hawaii's obviously not in the Carribean...but whatever poetic license, right?)  Only now (thanks internet!) looking at the actual song lyrics do I see that it's Coy Koi.  I'm positive I had never heard of Koi in high school, so I definitely would never have figured that out anyway.  In fact, I'm pretty sure I can thank Scott Baio (as in Scott Baio is 45...and Single), and yes, I'm serious, for familiarizing me with Koi with his Koi pond.  Although I'm pretty sure I always knew what they were, just not that they're called Koi.  

Speaking of getting song lyrics wrong, I always loved that Cingular Wireless (omg, remember them?) commercial where the guys are debating the lyrics to The Clash's Rock the Casbah, and the one guy thinks it's "lock the cashbox", but the other guy actually convinces him it's really "stop the catbox" because that makes sense!  Note to self: add Rock the Casbah to marathon playlist.

Nobody in the world has ever been able to memorize song lyrics like Jill though.  Her brain was like a human hard drive of song lyrics...and movie quotes.  I'm pretty sure she was the only person I knew who knew all the weird lyrics to Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.  I'm glad she only ever used this incredible talent for good and not evil.