Cherry Blossom Week 2 Wednesday

My knee was a little sore, so yesterday I skipped the 2-4 miler in favor of 30 minutes on the exercise bike. Today, I put on the knee brace and hopped on the treadmill. Wednesdays are interval days. I stuck with my 5% grade hill intervals. Today called for 3-6 miles with 1-3 miles of intervals. I figured I'd get to 3 miles with the intervals and see how I felt. Well, I got to the 3 and felt fine. I continued with the intervals until I hit 4 miles and then just ran at a normal, slowish pace until I hit an hour of time. My total mileage was 5.52 miles. I kept my pace intentionally slow to watch my knee and to get in the miles. It was a good day. My knee feels okay, even though my back has hurt all day. 

Oh, Monday I decided to try the Bounce class at my gym again. I had a lot more fun this time. This is not why my knee hurts. My knee actually started bugging me after my Sunday run. I had more fun doing it this time. It was definitely a great low-impact workout. I'm not sure that their claim of 10 minutes of bouncing is equal to 20 minutes of running, but taking the class will certainly help my core strength.

Tomorrow is 2-5. I'm going to aim for 4. I might get my lazy butt up and do it in the morning. I teach on Thursdays, so normal gym times aren't available. My other option is to take my running clothes with me and run around the college campus. I can always go to the gym when I'm done, but I feel like I should take advantage of the hills and decent weather available to me on the campus.

Keep on chugging!

3 Days Until Ragnar / Trying to Balance It All

So, it's 3 days until Ragnar! Let me tell you that I am terrible at trying to balance everything. I was supposed to run 4 days a week, still try to use my gym membership, work this summer, and hang out with two small children all day. Making it all work has been stressful. I had to get up at 5am to go run, particularly on days that required more than an hour of running. My house is a permanent mess, but I blame that more on having two kids. I haven't been to the gym at all this month because I'm too afraid to get hurt. I am in awe of the people who make it work all the time. Here's to all of you!

On another note, yesterday morning, I woke up with a pinched nerve in my shoulder. It feels better today, but is still kind of painful.