I am still running!

Just not as much as I would like to!  My feet have been healing and I have been working with a personal trainer and getting muscles!  Here is my mileage chart over the past few weeks:

Week of	Total	% Difference
10/18/2009	6.63	-6.2%
10/25/2009	1.99	-70.0%
11/1/2009	0
11/8/2009	0
11/15/2009	2.72
11/22/2009	2.55	-6.3%
11/29/2009	1.4	-45.1%

So, as you can see, I didn’t run for a while, and I have slowly begun running again.  I also have been running mostly in the mornings and the winter is beginning to get to me.  I will most likely move to treadmills during late Dec through the end of snow (~early March). So far only faint inklings of pain occur now and then.  Nothing near as bad as it was.  I am taking it one day at a time and hope to run in a race once the snow has come and gone!

I ran today without pain!

Yay!  I got up, ate breakfast and was out the door and running around 9 am.  It was about 45 degrees out!  The run felt great!  No pain, no troubles!  I did feel close to worn out by the end.  Afterward Mike and I went to our session with our trainer.  It was leg day!  I am weak!  It felt great though, and I can’t wait to build more leg muscle.  I hope to run again sometime soon.  I don’t want to overdo it, and I am unsure of how not to do that since 10% of no running for almost 3 weeks is 0 miles!  I am thinking I will start with 4-5 miles per week max and build from there.  (If my feet keep not hurting that is!)

Run Notes:

Physical Difficulty: Easy (only some soreness in my arm muscles from working out on Thursday!)
Psychological Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 1.7 miles
Pace: 11:34
Method: 5 min Warmup, 20 min run, 5 min Cool Down
Duration: ~30 min

Strength Training: Arms

Last night Mike and I had an arms work out.  I would like to say either it sucked or that it rocked, but it was somewhere in the middle!  I was surprised with how well I was keeping up with Mike, but I was also frustrated at how my triceps couldn’t even pull down 15 lbs!  (Neither could Mike’s!)  I also learned that I tend to squeak and speak in my own language while working out!   (My own language is gibberish that I tend to speak when I am suddenly frightened or surprised or don’t have time to think of actual words to say, but gosh darnit!  I want to vocalize!)  I am also not terribly sore today, but I have suspicions that I will be more sore or tight tomorrow!  I just know!

We are also getting into the world of protein!  We now own two different types of powdered protein: vanilla flavored whey and isolated cafe mocha flavored.  I am falling in love with smoothies (currently with vanilla protein, a banana and strawberry yogurt).  It is interesting, but I don’t know how much protein I should take!  My diet is mostly focused on calories and getting the proper amounts of fiber, fruit/vegetables, and milk products.  Now I am feeling a bit confused on how or if I should overhaul my diet which is part of my daily routine!

I am excited today because tomorrow morning I am planning on going on a 1.5 mile run!  (First run in 3 weeks, and I am hoping that my feet are completely healed!) I am sooo excited!  After that we are working on our legs with the trainer.  Yikes!

Personal Trainer!

Mike and I will be getting personal training on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.  I went last night and did mostly cardio on the Elliptical.  It felt great!  I also tried running on the treadmill for a few minutes and found no troubles.  When stretching my right foot, it felt slightly sore where it once hurt.  Yay!  I think I might try to run a mile either tomorrow morning or Sunday morning!  I’ll be sure to post after Thursday night’s session.  I am sure I will be ungodly sore and will just have to post!

Ellipticals Are Fun!

Last night Mike and I went to WTF and I got to try out an Elliptical.  I have been on one before, but only a few times and I wasn’t into running at the time.   This time it was interesting!  It felt like I was doing the Elaine Dance at first!  I got used to it eventually, but it wasn’t an exact replacement for running.  (Mostly because it was easier than running and I didn’t feel like I was beating myself up enough!)  It was fun though!  I tried going backwards and almost fell off it trying not to laugh at myself!  Mike got on and he had a hard time figuring out how his posture should be!

All in All: My feet felt fine during the whole thing!  It was fun and I got close enough to my fix!  Happiness!

Personal Trainer and My Feet

Last night Mike and I went to tour We’re Talking Fitness.  I have never been to a gym other than the big fancy ones that demand a monthly membership and seem to have loads of equipment and smells.  It was a pretty cool setup, although all of the machines were still a bit intimidating.  I liked that they did not have any TVs.  There is nothing more depressing than getting on a machine and staring like a zombie at the TV .  I think it makes being on the machines harder!  (When I exercise I don’t want to be a zombie!  I want to be a dancer!  I need music to keep the body in motion!)

I spoke with the owner about getting into shape and whatnot.  Sounds like he knows what he is talking about.  I am hoping to try out some sort of program there.  I mentioned my foot struggles and he offered for me to try out the elliptical tonight and I am hoping to do just that.  I have missed running and I am hoping that getting cardio in another form will help.

In other news, my feet are feeling about 95% better and only vaguely hurt (in the arches) when I go on hikes!  I have been icing them and stretching the calves after hikes and in the evenings.   I am hoping to get back into running either next week or the week after.  I might try to talk Mike into doing our own Turky Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  Of course, it will probably be a short trot, but it should help make up for my not making it into the official race!  I am hoping to find a similar length race in the Spring and work towards that during Winter.

Completely Unrelated:
I think Tank! by The Seatbelts (Theme to the Anime Cowboy Bebop) would be a great song for running!

I haven’t ran in a week

Not by choice!  Since last Monday’s run I decided to take a break and let my feet completely heal.  So far I have only walked a few times with some pain.  The plan is to walk until there is no pain.  Then I plan to slowly start running again.  I might just restart Couch to 5k depending on how long it takes and whatnot.  Which is frustrating, but I keep reminding myself that if I did it once, then I can do it again!

Monday Morning Run!

My feet have been iffy all weekend, so I wasn’t sure about this morning.  I planned to run a bit over 2 miles.  My right foot started aching at almost the 2 mile point so I turned back home where I stretched and iced the feet.  I got to thinking and I am probably going to rest longer and try to slowly start up running again.  Ugh.  I hate this, but what can one do when one is injured other than slooooow dooooown!?

Run Notes:

Physical Difficulty: Easy (right foot pain towards the end)
Psychological Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 2 miles
Pace: 11:04
Method: 5 min Warmup, 22 min run, 5 min Cool Down
Duration: ~30 min

Mike is back!

Mike went running with me today!  The run went well, but Mike is still faster than me even though he took about 3 weeks off due to 2 different sicknesses!  My feet were sore yesterday due to my being a tour guide at a Community Haunted Trail two nights in a row.  My feet were only somewhat hurting today, I am icing them and crossing my fingers!

Run Notes:

Physical Difficulty: Easy
Psychological Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 2 miles
Pace: 10:48
Method: 5 min Warmup, 21 min run, 5 min Cool Down
Duration: ~30 min

Wednesday Run

Last night I felt a weird earache and headache coming on so I went to bed early. I was worried that it was a cold/flu coming on, but luckily when I woke up this morning I felt fine which led to a… Great run this morning! It was only 44 outside with no wind. I felt like I was going a bit slow even though nothing was really bugging me. I figured I wouldn’t push my speed just yet though!

Run Notes:

Physical Difficulty: Easy
Psychological Difficulty: Easy
Distance: 2.5 miles
Pace: 12:12
Method: 5 min Warmup, 30 min run, 5 min Cool Down
Duration: ~40 min

Completely Unrelated:
I have been watching season 2 of Flight of the Conchords and keep getting this song stuck in my head!  It’s a great song to run with in your head, let me tell ya!