January 2012 Running - Snow, stay away!

[limewave]

5 miles. Feels good to have 'em behind me.

[Selkie]

Got in a chilly/cold 3.5 miles on Wednesday at work--27 degrees but little wind (waited until after lunch instead of my usual mid-morning run). For once, my tendency to layer up paid off---I was comfortable.

Trigger point issue in my left calf is irritating my ankle a bit. I've been doing deep massage on the TP & stretching. Need to work on relaxing my calves.

[limewave]

Rarely do I see such courtesy from a driver whilst out running or biking: yesterday I was running on a busy road. Normally I don't run on it, but it had dry and wide shoulders. The side roads were all covered in slush and ice. About a 1/4 mile ahead a garbage truck pulled out onto the shoulder to continue his route for the day. Noticing that I was coming and that there was no way around him other than to blindly step out into the road, he backed up and pulled onto a side street. He waited for me to pass before pulling back out

[skhill]

Week 1 of my unstructured training plan is in the books! Today's long run of 9 miles took me to 29 miles for the week. The plan: between Jan 1 and the HM on March 31, do a long run (8+ miles) 3 out of 4 weeks, stretching the length out to 14 miles. Also, increase the weekly mileage from December's 25ish to 35. And do some kind of speedwork at least every other week. So far, so good.

[OakLeaf]

I did 16 today and actually felt reasonably good, though I was tired before I'd even finished 13. My mood was about 1000% better than it was for my last long run, and I even threw in a little bit of a kick for the last mile. It was just about 68° and this is the weather the DeSoto arm coolers were made for - they totally kept it from being uncomfortably hot.

I swear, if I'd remembered how hard it was to ramp up mileage past 14, I'd never have let myself get so out of shape.


BikeChick, good luck at Disney tomorrow!! (Isn't someone else from here running, too??)

[emily_in_nc]

I have not been able to run in January yet due to a bad cold that has finally departed. Today is the first day since around Dec. 29th that I've felt like myself. I will start back running on Monday am (my usual running days are MWF) and hope for no coughing. I am sure I will be slow as mud and have zilch endurance, but gotta get back to it. I am really sad that I have started the new year with such a whimper!

[7rider]

Today was my follow-up gait analysis. I had the initial done in October. Lots of issues. The trainer gave me a whole bunch of exercises - mostly focused on hip and hamstrings. I did them great for the first 6 weeks or so, but them...um...kind of slacked off. I was worried that today things would look pretty much the same and I would confirm my suspicion that I am a hopeless case when it came to running. (Told DH I felt like I was taking an exam for which I was ill prepared).

But...

Things looked very much improved and Doug, who did the analysis, said he noticed it right away and that he's jealous because he couldn't run because of an ankle injury. So, my hip drop was not as noticeable, I had better arm movement, better leg movement (stride length - which showed better flexibility and hamstring strength). I was pretty stoked. So I went home and did a 4-mile training run. Felt great. Was very happy...it was a big boost to my confidence. Yay!

[Selkie]

Ran 3.5 miles on the rolling, windy trail at work.

I ran in the morning, before the SNOW started! Yes, SNOW. It was 36 degrees out when it started, so it wasn't sticking to pavement, even though the flakes were thick and coming down steadily. Regardless of the just-wet roads, the hordes decided to flee work at my normal quitting time. Doofi (plural of doofus).

[Bike Chick]

I DID IT!!! I completed my first marathon at Disney! What a feeling! My time was slow but I don't care. DH was running the Goofy Challenge and ran the marathon with me at my pace. We took our time and took advantage of all the photo ops with the Disney characters. These folks really know how to put on a race and I would highly recommend it to everyone--especially for your first marathon. The hip I had been nursing behaved itself and wasn't really a factor. I'm now a firm believer in physical therapy. The only issue I had was a blister that started early and decided to break at mile 24. I know this is a bad place on my foot and had a nice callous built up but I hadn't ran much the past 3 weeks and the area had gotten soft. I am amazed what happens to your body over 26.2 miles and how unbelievably bad your body smells when you are finished. It's so different from a half marathon.

DH and I crossed the finish line together and spent yesterday at Epcot
"refueling.". We are packing now and heading home. It was truly a magical experience.

I will post a photo when I get home. Thank you everyone for your support and encouragement.

[Crankin]

Congratulations, Bike Chick. I know you started running at the same time as me, so I really can appreciate how hard you have worked.
And yes, PT is the best.

[OakLeaf]

Congratulations Bike Chick!! Way to go, I'm so glad you and your PT were able to get your hip worked out.


FWIW, if your blister isn't too big, I've had great luck with Band-Aid Advanced Healing blister cushions - both to get me back on my feet on existing blisters, and to prevent new ones from forming.

Enjoy your recovery!

[7rider]

Congrats, BikeChick!! Well done! (but ouch on the blister....that must have been a painful final 3 miles)

I just found out, I won entry into the Blackwater Duathlon in June. I had been hoping to get in - but dreading it at the same time. Is that strange or what? Running 20K in a single day (broken up over 2 runs) will be my biggest challenge. I'll need to get some serious running in this Spring. The longest I've EVER run was 7 miles.