I had no idea that Lumpy was posting what he did. I’ve been thinking about The Banana a lot lately, measuring my growth, thinking about where she would be in her life right now, wondering about Salma and Andrew. I keep in touch with them sporadically…
Today I ran a “6 mile pace run,” which became a 5.25 mile bust-ass run. The sun was out, I didn’t need my trail runners, and there were so very many cute doggies. I thought about Banana. I thought about this possibly being my last marathon-my knee was a little click-y-I thought about how fun it is signing up for a series of races, knowing that I’m getting a kick-ass set of medals for completing each. I listened to my iPod. I enjoyed sunshine and 30°F. Man that feels hot when you’ve been running in sub zero!!!!
I would say today was just what I needed. Thanks, Banana, for coming along.
…it also thrust our Banana squarely to the front of my brain. Will the U.S. ever get it????
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8537591.stm
Sometimes I miss her so desperately. We need her here. The world needs her. I still don’t know why she’s gone.
That’s the most positive adjective I could find for today’s run. I switched today’s 6 with tomorrow’s 3. Neither Guinness or I could get it going today. It was gorgeous outside, however, even though I thought I might die from overheating when I got to the west side of the lake with the wind at my back. No one is supposed to be that sweaty when it’s under 20° outside…
“Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast” – W. Shakespeare
(yeah, right.)
…feel AWWWWWWWesome. No really, they do!
Friday was an off day for me, and by “off” I mean no WERK. I snuck in a Chiropractor appointment and Oh!, how wonderful it was. I know that some of you are diametrically opposed to Chiro treatments. I was there at one point myself. I would prefer to go to an Osteopathic doctor, however they seem to be few and far between here in Minnesota. Given all that, I had a treatment and it was timely. The Chiropractor did my knees and I have to say…touché…that seems to have done the trick. Ached for a few days as the muscles and tendons acclimated to correct alignment.
But my six miler today (yeah, my schedule is off by choice) was the best my knees felt in a while. And I did my six without much more than a 1 minute break at 3, when I stopped for water at the Jeep.
Woo Hoo!
is how a friend of mine terms that February/March near-panic. You know, the ‘none of my pants fit’ panic. The ‘I’m so sick of snow and cold and ice but we still have a ways to go’ panic. I’m using OEH to remind myself not to have chocolate mousse for dinner too often, and as motivation to get outside when the afternoon highs are still not above freezing. But oh, it is hard. I love the sound of robin song when I’m trekking around Lake Harriet, but I’m usually too distracted by the wind slapping my knees and chin to pay much attention.
Shin splints update: the slight thaw we have had (yay, pavement!), along with Ace bandages and stepping back to mostly walking, has made things tons better. Of course, it’s disheartening not to be running a lot, but I decided to be lazy over the semester break and now I have to pay the price. Slow, gradual progress isn’t fun for us impatient folk, but it’s either that or give up. No brainer.
The number. The date. It’s official, I am registered to run the Chicago Marathon. Finally!!!
Let the training begin! Ok, maybe not…it’s still too early.
Let the running continue! 
Still running 3 to 4 times a week, really just “maintaining” and keeping it to short, easy, fun runs. I’ve had excellent running weather and my little Punxsk8erdude has been able to join me on my runs more frequently. I enjoy running with him even though he always feels he must race me to the end and of course he always “wins”….
Still hitting the gym twice a week for strength workouts focusing on my upper body and core which up until this past year I had totally neglected. I still have quite a way to go to where I want to be, but I swear it’s making all the difference in the world for my running, in a good way of course! I’ve also recently purchased the Jillian Michaels’ Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVD. I’ve only done the “routine” twice and even though I survived all 7 circuits, it totally wiped me out both times. I’ve only been able to fit that in to my couch potato time once a week. I’m curious about her the “Shred” workout too, maybe we can trade off DVD’s sometime, Sally?
Guinness had accoutrements…
Yep. Lego child’s headlamp. It was perfect. We had a slow, comfortable, well-lit run tonight. 6 tomorrow.
your dog looks at you as if running with you is better than chasing squirrels…
That’s the kind of run I had. 5 miles at an easy pace, and do I mean easy. I stopped a few times so that “Guinness could say hi to some other dogs,” and just to enjoy being out. I have 11 tomorrow. Youch. At least tomorrow is Champagne Sunday. Sometimes it’s the only way I can make myself get out the door.
I saw Claudia on the path yesterday! I was doing a three and Guinness was bringing me along to be Welcomer and Greeter. So, we know that at least 2 TAS-ers are running! Peep, you’re excused, however, so we will not bring the wrath down upon you. We won’t even smite you.
Runs are going somewhat smoothly, but mostly I am glad to be outside. I love snow and the sun has been out a few days recently, so it’s a great combination for me. Today I did 1600 repeats. I had some doubts about it, but everything went somewhat smoothly. I didn’t puke once!
Next profile to come…“The British Runner.”
That’s today’s run, number 7 of 30! (I skipped yesterday, more on that in a minute.)
The big bell curve there is when I ran into Sally and Dawg. Yay!
Anyway, I’m showing you my uber-slow pace not to shame myself (I can do that on my own), but to give a question some context. See, in the last couple of months, I ran….maybe four times. And I gained upwards of ten pounds. So I’m going slower than ever, plus…
SHIN SPLINTS.
They’re bad, people. The pain isn’t constant, only at the end of my runs, but still, holy cartwheels. Definitely didn’t think this would be a problem when I decided on that 30-in-30 plan.
I’m now icing and stretching, doing heel and toe walks, etc etc. But in the interest of 1. running and 2. not getting a stress fracture, here’s my question: What would you do if you had wicked shin splints?
I’m continuing to research online and think that, in addition to the ice packs, I’ll take this next week off, and then cut back to running every other day. Thumbs up? Thumbs down?
Thanks, y’all.
