Day 23

Just keep swimming...

I need to figure out some way to keep track of laps...like a bead counter thing they used a hundred years ago in math..haha.. but no joke, I need something because I can't keep track.

Anyways, I swam laps...quite a few. If I got out of breath, I changed to a kick-board to recover for a lap or two, then went back to freestyle. I also combined an additional upper body work out in with the swim. I was in a side lane on the pool so, every couple laps, I would stop and use the corner of the pool to do the equivalent of pushups on the side of the pool(2 sets of 15), then I would hold a pike position for 10 or so seconds, and repeat. A little abs, a lot of arms and shoulders. I was happy at the end of the workout. My arms were dead, everything else felt good. My knee did loosen up in the pool, but by the end of the evening(just walking to and from my car) it had gone back to the normal pains of the last couple weeks. I'm over this knee. Of course it took a $1700 plane ticket for it to finally go. I'm a little angry about it.

Day 22

I'm a slacker. We had a 3 hour open house at the school I work at. I got to school at 8 and didn't get home until after nine and had no energy to go swim. Lame excuse, I know, but owell. Workouts continue on day 23.

Day 21

Pretty sure the 1/2 on Dec 31st is not going to happen, but I guess I can still hope, right?

Yesterday was bitterly cold...okay, maybe not that cold compared to other places in the world, but for here, it was cold. I wish we would actually have a "Fall" season so we could get acclimated to the changing weather - but, no, Texas like to go:
100, 100, 100, 95, 65, 32, sleet and ice....really, Texas?

Anyways, long story short, I couldn't convince chilled self to go and get in a pool yesterday. My knee was pretty painful all day at school, so I just went home and iced and heat it.

Appt w/the Orthopedic is scheduled for Monday. Fingers crossed for better news.

Day 20

Had my appoitment with the sports rehab guy. I wish I could say the prognosis was better, but it's not. He referred me to an orthopedic surgeon to get an MRI done. Everyone else has been saying IT band, he thinks it is actually a meniscus issue. Either way, I'll get the MRI done and hope for good news. Until then, I'll swim, which I did not do today, but I will continue with it tomorrow.

Day 18 and Day 19

Last night I swam again. Did about 500m of freestyle. I'm so out of shape. haha. I tried the treadmill for just for kicks and giggles. I took about 3 running steps and said, no thanks. This is starting to get really depressing.


Used the foam roller to help stretch/massage my IT band. That thing is the devil, but from what I've heard, it's the best way to get it to loosed up. Almost put me in tears.


I took today off. Mind and body needed a break.


Appointment with the rehab guy tomorrow at 1. I'm looking forward to it.

Day 17

Yesterday brought more IT stretches. Talked to Wade(the tri-athlete/marathoner) and he said to just continue with what I'm doing.

I got in the pool again. Swam for about 20 minutes before getting kicked out of the pool by the LT kids swim team. Lame. I have a hard time keeping track of laps in the pool, but I think I did 600 or so meters. Not to much, but by the end of it I could feel my knee start to hurt and I didn't want to push it to much. I was trying to get a 1000 in, but owell. I'll go again tonight and see how it goes. I think the breast stroke puts more strain on my knee than freestyle, so despite my out of shapeness, I guess I'll just have to deal with my pathetic performance freestyle wise in order to reduce the strain on my knee.

I got in touch with my friend, Sunshine, again last night. He's a big time runner as well and has had this same issue except his was a true injury. He's going to try to help when he can with the recovery and rehab outside of the gym. It was good to talk to him again. We worked out together for almost a year back in college. It was a good time.

Music...Joshua Radin. I may have already mentioned him. I don't remember

Day 16

Did my fitness eval today. Was more of a 'lets see how much we can sell to this chick' eval rather than a fitness eval, but I was sort of expecting that. I've been advised not to run at this point in time and that is half of the normal evaluation. The guy was impressed with my low BP and high pulse though. Go me...breaking trends. He actually didn't believe me when I said I had a fairly high pulse(around 65 bpm) rather than a normal athlete's pulse rate of mid 40s to low 50s. I'm over it.

I definitely felt as though I was on the chopping block though. I know I eat like crap. I know I don't take vitamins and I should. I know I don't drink as much water as I should. Guess I need to start changing that, but it's a hard thing to watch this super personal trainer guy just sort of give you a look of 'are you kidding me? you want to run a what? and you eat like this?' Don't get me wrong, he was a very nice guy. He is there to help me and I understand that. In the end, I'm probably more critical of myself then any of these people are. I know what I'm doing wrong and I choose to not fix it, which is a problem.

I didn't get to swim today because I was in such a hurry to get to my appointment I didn't grab my suit, but it won't happen again. I'm getting way to antsy about not being able to do impact work to not get a good workout in.

31 Days til the New Years Double Half Marathon. Yikes.

Today brought the music of Joshua Radin. I'd never heard of him, but as is the case with a lot of things, it appears as though he's fairly well known. None-the-less, he came up quite a bit in my Eric Hutchinson pandora station and I have come to really enjoy his voice.

Inspirational

If this guy doesn't give the motivation to Never Give Up, I don't know who would.


Running Marathons While Fighting Cancer at 70

amazing.

Day 15

Swimming!

I did a ton of IT band stretches, trying to get this taken care of as quickly as possible. It's a little nerve racking not being able to run when I have a half marathon in 6 weeks, but I'm sure it will all come together.

I did swim for a little bit. I'm really out of shape when it comes to this particular activity, so it'll be a slow and gradual build up. I am anything but a natural swimmer.

I get a fitness evaluation today and will be scheduling my personal training sessions with a rehab specialist, so hopefully things will get back on track here in a week or so.

Music: Simplistic Duplexity (Michael Henry and Justin Robinett.) A pair of guys from Texas Tech who do covers of popular music using only piano(well, one or two songs may bring an acoustic guitar in, but the majority of the time it's just a piano.) Absolutely beautiful voices, truly talented guys. And, I'll ignore the fact that they are from Tech. You can find their music on YouTube or iTunes.

Day 14

I talked to a marathoner/tri-athlete today and discussed the IT band issue. He highly recommended that I stay off of it. He said I'm still early enough in my program for it to not be that huge of a deal, but to definitely not push it right now. Stretch, stretch, stretch, cross train, stretch, stretch.

That being said, with my heart a little on the broken side because I was making some great progress, I joined Lifetime Fitness again so I could get back in the pool and get some cross training done. I also scored some free Personal Training sessions, so I'm getting scheduled with a guy who specializes in sports rehab...this will not beat me! I already have plane tickets!!! haha.

That's about it.

Music wise, check out Johnny Stimson! My friend is the guitarist/fiddle/piano player and the band is flipping awesome. I just went to their concert in Dallas and I'm a little stuck on the music right now. It really is great.

Day 13

I'll go ahead and call for a Mulligan today. 7 miles tomorrow. I got about 2.5 done today and my knee said no more, so I hobbled in. We'll have to see how it feels tomorrow. This is concerning, but I'm hoping I just torqued it weird on Thursday during the race. It was hurting a little on Thursday night and Friday. Since it's still so early in my program I really don't want to push it and really screw stuff up.

Bad day. The hardest thing about training by yourself is getting through the hard times with no encouragement from the outside.

Time to listen to some music and re-focus.

Day 11 and Day 12

So, to catch up for Friday and Saturday. Friday was an off day. Saturday was supposed to be a long run of 7 miles, but I was out of town, so I moved the long run to today. I just ate lunch and while it's settling, I'm going to try to figure out where I'm going to do this run. It's also 45F/8C outside and crazy windy...I'm not really looking forward to it.

Day 10

I completely deleted this and had to start over. Day 10, take 2.

YMCA Fort Worth Turkey Trot
Distance: 5k
Time: 32:01
Temp: 49F/9C

Despite the chilly start, today went great. I'm not much of a fan of below 50F temps(thanks for making me stand in it for an hour, Rachel, Sydney and Megan), but once I got moving I had a very nice run.

Looking at the chip results(which I did not partake in because I have a handy watch that will time me for free, when I can actually manage to work it), I would have ended up 46th out of 100+ runners in the female 25-29 age group. I was also 5 minutes faster than the average female finishing time of 37 min, so I was very happy with that.

This was a personal best time for me. It a little victory!

The way they had the last 100 yards set up was very unfriendly if you had any desire to push through and finish strong in the last chunk of the race. A little frustrating, but all-in-all it was a great race.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving Thursday. Go Aggies! BTHO TU!

Day 9

Distance: 5k
Time: 32:23
Next time I run this route I'll pay more attention to my actual Min/Mile. I mapped it out using the US Track and Field website. It's a really nifty mapping program and I'll definitely be using it to map my runs from now on. I guess I kind of wasted the 1.99 on the 'mapmyrun' app that drains my phone battery and freezes up. owell. live and learn.

The first mile was sub-10 min. I was very happy. I did the new breathing technique I read about yesterday to help with the rib cage cramping. It completely worked. It took a ton of focus to continue breathing like that the entire time, and once I got tired(the last 2 tenths of a mile) I lost focus and crashed and burned within sight of my house. BUT, it was very encouraging!! I only walked 3 minutes out of the entire thing. And...Sub 33 min!!! Improvement! I'll add more later. Heading out to meet up with some friends.

Day 8

Distance: 5k
Time: 35:14
Min/Mi: 11:38
Min/K: 7:02
Temp: 58F/14C
Pandora: Hutchison, again. I'll change it tomorrow. It does give a great playlist though!

Today felt great. *insert long drawn out rant about timing here* -- moving on.

Sucha went to the vet this morning to get spayed so she'll be out of commission for a couple weeks. That's okay though, because as much as I love the company, I need to focus on technique and well..everything. She will re-join after she has recovered.

Today really did go well. I have read up on some tips for relieving this nasty rib cage mess. I'll try it out tomorrow and see how it goes.

I had a sub-34 min goal today, but didn't make it. I'm hoping with this new breathing technique which *might* alleviate this cramp from hell, I'll be able to break into the 32/33 min range. My legs feel great. I had a little bit of muscle stiffness today in my right quad, but it wasn't anything terrible.

Today marks the 'no turning back' day. My flight is BOOKED! Get fired up!

Day 7

Off day.

Went and got a physical today, the last thing I wanted to do before buying my plane ticket. I got the go-ahead from my doctor that everything looks great and she sees no problem with me pursuing this adventure.

My sister and I have an ongoing competition of 'who's blood pressure is the lowest?'. I think I win. When the MA takes your BP, then looks at you to make sure you are in fact still alive and sitting there, I'd say that's low. Read it and weap, Sara, 74/34. You can give me my blue ribbon later. :-)

Tues, Wed, and Thurs all bring 5ks. Thursday's run will be the Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot in Fort Worth. I'll be running it with two of my friends I worked with at camp. Go Rachel and Sydney! We'll rock it!

Have a fantastic Monday/Tuesday...what ever time zone you may be in.

Day 6

Distance: 5k
Time: 39:06
Avg Min/Mi: 11:49
Avg Min/Km: 8:21
Temp: 55F/13C windy...texas weather...sheesh.
Pandora: Eric Hutchinson, again. I couldn't think of anyone to change it to, though I'm liking the sound of Ben Folds. I realize he has been around for awhile, but I'm the first to admit my ignorance towards music and artists.

As for the run. I'm tired. haha. The outing wasn't particularly bad, other than being slow, I could just really tell that I'm tired. I need to get a better eating schedule figured out, as that was probably half the problem. I don't have much 'stored' energy for my body to use, so I should definitely be feeding it more carbs and such. I need to do some research...yep. anyways, moving on.

Sundays are supposed to be cross training. Since I haven't really figured out what I'm going to do for XT yet, I just focused on running the hills in my 5k route. I typed this out earlier today and then my Internet crashed and I lost everything. I think I had more stuff written, but I can't remember what it was.

ramble ramble. Tomorrow is an off day. The Aggies won yesterday. Whoop!

Have a good Sunday night..or Monday night/Tuesday Morning for those in other countries.

Day 5

Distance: 6 miles, just under a 10k.
Time: ~1:11:39
Min/mile: ~12:29
Pandora: Okay, It's alright With Me by Eric Hutchinson (thanks, Reimers)
Temp: 80F/27C w/insane head wind.

Time may be a tad off. I'm apparently incapable of using timing gadgets correctly, but that's a pretty close estimate of what it should be.

I said a few days ago that I'd have good days and bad...today was bad...real bad. Though, time wise, it wasn't horrible, it felt awful none-the-less. This dang rib-cage cramp is a beating. I had one of those little side cramps for a few minutes, sheeze, I'll take one of those any day over this wonky mess of a muscle seizure I have going on. I'm sure it'll get better with time, but until then, I'll go ahead and keep complaining about it. haha.

Anyways, I ran the Trinity River in downtown Fort Worth. I did my best to stay off the concrete, giving myself a slow introduction to off road running. I also got a new pair of shoes to do the trail portion of my training. I went ahead and did today's run in them to start the break-in process.

I really enjoyed the run on the grass and gravel. It was much easier on my knees and ankles then the curvature of a street.

Sucha joined me as well. She held her own, kept me moving, and was one tired pup when we got back to the car. We both sat on the concrete in front of my car, back-to-back for a good 5 minutes after we finished. It probably would have been a funny picture if a camera was available.

Day 4

Today is an off day. I went to the LA Fitness down the street to see what the membership would be to use their pool for X-training...30 bucks a month...no thanks. So, I'm not really sure what I'm going to do yet, x-training wise...if anyone has any ideas, I'm all ears.

Starting after week 4, I'll be doing my long runs(Saturdays) out on trails at the LBJ Grasslands in Decatur. Its a pretty good drive, but the trails are great and very well marked. I'll also study up on Lake grapevine's trails, so maybe I can cut the driving down when I need to stay closer to home.

Also, My mom signed up for the New Years Double with me. Fun. She'll be doing the 1/2 Marathon on Dec 31st and the 5k on Jane 1st.

10k tomorrow.

Day 3

Distance: 5k
Time: 34:49
Min/Km: 6:89
Min/Mi: 10:77
Temp: 55F/13C
Pandora Station: The Decemberists (Thanks, Duncan.) Gave me a great mix including Hey Jude and All the Lonely People, which set a nice beat to finish my run. Fantastic.

..use your imagination on the min/mi and min/km...it should be lower than yesterday, but its not converting right, and my brain is not wanting to figure it out right now.

I did my 5k course backwards to mix the hills up a little. The course is definitely more up hill going backwards. The first half of the run went fantastic. I think my soreness finally caught up to me in the last quarter, but I finished strong and better than yesterday. I know I will have good days and bad, but I'm happy that I have made small improvements during these first few runs.

Sucha went with me again today, she absolutely loves it. I should snap a couple pictures during our next run...she's Sucha happy dog!

I almost have all my flight logistics figured out. I should be booking a ticket before the end of next week.

I also got my bid numbers for my 1/2 Marathon on December 31st and the 5k on Sunday, Jan 1st. I'll be sporting #595 for the 1/2 and #3090 for the 5k on Sunday. It doesn't mean anything, just random information to type down.

Day 2

Distance: 5k
Time: 35:52
Min/Km: 7:10
Min/Mi: 11:10
Temp: 55F/13C Windy
Pandora: The Script Radio

Great Run. Felt much better than yesterday and I was a little disappointed that the time wasn't more improved, but I remembered that I forgot to start my watch right when I started yesterday, so the time was probably a minute or so off.

Either way, today went well. No major issues other than needing some reflective clothing as to not get hit by a car...there were a couple close calls tonight.

Sucha came with me today. She loved it and was a great pace setter. She'll definitely be a running partner for my shorter runs!

If any of my Biology students are reading this, congrats to my 3rd period class for knowing what type of cellular respiration my muscles where carrying out and what type of by-product is being produced. You guys are so smart. :-)

Tomorrow is another 5k, then I have Friday off. My first 'long run' is Saturday with a 10k.

Day 1

Day 1: 5k (3.2 Miles for those of you who don't follow the metric system)
Time: 37:27
7:45 min/K
12:04 min/mi
Pandora: The Script Radio

I haven't ran more than about a 1/4 mile in over a year, so I went out with a pathetically set goal of a sub-40 min 5k. It was ugly, but I did it.

Normal problems. I get a massive muscle cramp in the top right set of my abdominal muscles. It always happens...a mile in...every damn time. If I could get rid of it, I think I'd be able to run a 5 or 10k straight. No other major issues though.

The Plan

(note: I will be running..not biking..and it is an off road marathon)

Here's the deal. I decided to start training for a marathon. The program is an 18 week novice runner's training regiment with a Half Marathon in week 8, ending with, yeah, you guessed it, a marathon. Simple enough. Week 18 will be March 10th.

A couple weeks ago I had some changes in future travel plans which enabled me to look towards finally visiting Australia, as I have been wanting to for 10+ years now. Well, spring break starts March 9th. See the coincidence?

So, the plan is:

Train, train, train.

Run the New Years Double 1/2 Marathon on Dec 31st and 5k on Jan 1st in Allen, TX

Train, train, train.

March 8th: Board plane to New Zealand.

March 10th, 5:00 AM: Land in Auckland, New Zealand. Take a shuttle 3 hours to Colville, New Zealand, where, at 10:00 AM, the marathon will start.

March 11th-19th: Fly to Sydney, Australia. Gallivant around. Then fly home.

Go Big, or Go Home. Right?