Treadmill Day

When I started running last winter, the deal I made was that if I stuck with it we would get a treadmill for this winter. The mill was delivered today. I hate that it takes up so much space, but I am so happy to be able to keep running without having to worry about darkness, cold temps, and ice.

10-10-10

I watched my first marathon today. I went out to cheer for my friend Josh, to take in the atmosphere, and to get inspiration by watching all of these amazing runners.

I'm so impressed by anyone who goes out to run a marathon. That will probably never be part of my running quest, but it certainly is inspiring. It was amazing to watch the elite and fast-paced runners. (I wasn't able to stay too long, so I only saw the wheelchair racers through the 3 hour pace group.) I was fascinated by the wheelchair racers, both by their strength and by all the different race chairs they used. (Yes, I am the daughter of a mechanical engineer.) The most moving part for me was watching the racer with prosthetic legs running. I don't even know how to put into words how or why that choked me up, but it was quite a moment.

Congratulations to everyone out there running today!

Cape May Beachfront Run

I was very excited about the Cape May Beachfront Run to run a race in one of my favorite places (and in my home state) and to run a race with my parents and siblings there to cheer me on. It's always great to run a new distance (read: automatic PR), and a two mile race meant that I would be able to run the entire race without taking a walk break, which was a good feeling. But the best part was having my family there. Not only did I have a personal cheering section, but it turns out I have a crew!

I highly recommend running a race with a crew. I will never be an elite athlete (my time for the 2 mile run was 23:52), but I sure felt like a rock star with my own coach, warm-up team, photographer, cheering section, and post-race massage therapist. Thanks to my family for all the support!

Coming down the home stretch in lucky number 22!



Post-race with the Sister Division of my crew. They kept me supplied with plenty of water and bananas while I recovered.

Mixing It Up

Today was my first track workout and my first attempt at speedwork. I’m pretty pleased with how it went overall. Of course, I went a bit too fast in the 800s and ended up cutting the last one to a 400 (I was supposed to do 3X800). I did my recovery 400s as walks with an average pace of 14:24. My average per mile pace on the 800s was 11:10 (10:58 on the first one and 11:22 on the second). Next time I will slow that down a bit. My training schedule has me doing speedwork in a couple of weeks and I’m supposed to do the 800s at just under a 12 minute/mile pace. I’ll try to be better about hitting that next time.

I really enjoyed running on the track. I’m sure it might get boring on a regular basis, but I liked the feel of the track and the fact that I could run without having to think too much about distance or crossing streets and alleys. After having a bus almost run me down the other day, I could really get used to not having to worry about vehicles on my runs. Too bad there isn’t a track close to our house.

Family Race

Tomorrow we are doing the one mile walk at the Chicago Lung Run together as a family. A friend of ours was recently diagnosed with lung cancer, and we are walking in a group with her. All of the runs I've done have also been fundraisers for good causes, but this is the first time in about ten years since I've participated in an event where the connection to the cause is more personal.

Alex is beyond excited to be doing a race. He knows that Mommy runs and has been to some races, so he has an idea of what the event is. When we told him that we were doing the "race" together the first thing he said was "Me too?" His face exploded into a huge grin when we said yes.

Back on the Road

Today was my first run after the hip injury. I waited a bit longer than I intended due to the flaming heat and oppressive humidity, but the time off paid off. I made it a short easy run, but it actually felt good. I got off to a slow start because my Garmin wasn't connecting, but I was impatient and started walking. It finally hooked up and I started running. The run had a terrific flow to it, and even though I went a bit faster than I should have it all felt great. Wish they all could feel that good!

Ouch!

Yesterday, I tweaked my back picking Alex up. While I could pretend this is just the result of picking up a toddler, I really have to admit that this is a running injury. My left hip has been bothering me off and on since I started running, and the injury is to my left gluteus medius.

When I looked up the gluteus medius this morning, the first site I found said this:

The gluteus medius should be considered in every running injury. So many athletes with running overuse injuries of the lower limb present with poor gluteus medius function that I have come to the view that the strength and function of this muscle is probably the most important active component in the achievement of a biomechanically efficient running technique. This is not so surprising when you consider that during running you are always either completely in the air or dynamically balanced on one leg.

Fortunately, it is just a muscle injury, and I have some exercises to do to help the muscle. However, I'm really bummed that I have to ease off the running a bit, just as I was looking forward to my new training program.