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!

I am an athlete

Dictionary.com defines an athlete as "a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill."

I am not gifted in exercises of contests. I'm not very fast. I'm not coordinated at all. Heck, I've been known to trip over cracks in the sidewalk. I'm not very strong. I have to have my husband open jars for me on a regular basis. I am not very agile, as is evidenced by the fact that I refuse to take a step aerobics class at my gym because the first two times I went, I fell flat on my face. I get out of breath while I run or climb up and down the stairs a lot.

Even with all these facts showing that I am in fact not an athlete, I will argue that I am. 


I train. I train hard. I run 6 miles on days when all I really want to do is to take a nap. I drag myself out of bed and run in the dark with a headlamp and reflective vest. I am a Floridian who hates the cold, but I run when it's 25 degrees and windy. I run 3 to 5 days a week, sometimes multiple times a day, depending on for which event I am training. 
I have injuries. Last spring, I switched types of shoes and hurt my knees. This fall, I switched back to a type of shoe I prefer, and injured my IT band two weeks before my race. I have had shin splints. During a race, I hurt my foot and finished the race running, but could barely walk for the next week and had to take a couple of weeks off from running. 


I participate in races. It isn't very often because I'm on a limited racing budget, but I have run a couple of 5Ks, a 10K, a half marathon, and an overnight relay race. I am scheduled to run in the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler in April. I am hoping to run my first full marathon in the fall, with the Marine Corps Marathon as the goal. I'm trying to improve my speed and get some new personal records. Running these distance races requires a lot of stamina. Most people can't just roll out of bed and run 10 miles. I did 6 this past weekend and and I was zonked and sore. 


I may not be thin. I may not be fast. I may not be agile, strong, or gifted physically, but I am an athlete. 

Cherry Blossom Training Week 1 - Intervals

I didn't manage a run yesterday or get my lazy butt up at 5:30 to run this morning. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I dragged myself and the boys to the gym for interval training. The intermediate training plan called for 3-5 miles with intervals for the middle miles. Since I was running on a treadmill, I didn't like the way their intervals were planned. You were supposed to run fast for 15 seconds and recover for 45 seconds, alternating until you get the 1-3 middle miles of your run completed. I like longer intervals and a little bit of a hill. I set the treadmill at 5.6 mph. For my intervals, I increased the grade for a minute. So I'd do 1 minute at a 5% incline and then 3 minutes at the normal incline. This works better for the way I train. I was thinking I'd do the lower end of the training, but ended up doing the full 5. I feel great, but I forgot the Body Glide and have some ouchie spots.

I'm going to get back on the plan tomorrow and get in 2-4 miles in the morning. My goal is to aim for the middle mileage on most days.

I *NEED* to run

Yesterday, I did the bike instead of running. I did it at 8pm, so a little too close to bedtime for my taste. Then, I couldn't sleep. I tried to go to bed at 10:30, but I think I finally went to sleep over 4 hours later. Yeah, there went getting up at 5:30 to run. 6:30 for taking Squirty to school was bad enough. I'm in a terrible mood and really need both a run and a nap. Once again, the possibility of the gym is out because of Milk Dud's yucky nose and cough. 

I gave up soda on January 1st as a resolution, but I *REALLY* want one right now. I settled for a Starbucks drink since I was out and about running errands this morning. I also want to eat my weight in pretzel chips. 

To quote Legally Blonde, "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." I won't finish the phrase, but let's just say I could really use some endorphins right now. I good mind-clearing run down a nature trail would be fabulous right now, especially considering the weather is gorgeous. Sigh... I *NEED* to run.

How much does exercise improve your mood?

Day 1 Cherry Blossom Training part 2

Like I said in my previous post, I knew a run wasn't going to happen this morning between the rain and the snotty-nosed kid. I was scheduled for 2-4 miles according to the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Intermediate Training Plan, so I put in 30 minutes on the exercise bike this evening at a moderate effort for me. That was 7.25 miles. I HATE the exercise bike, so this was a struggle for me. I hate the way my butt hurts when I get off of it. I always feel like I walk weird up and down the stairs. 

So, I don't like a training plan where I have to run 5 days a week. I prefer to run 4 days with a long run on Saturdays instead of Sundays. I might have to alter the plan a little bit. I want to do Zumba and kickboxing once in a while. 

Will altering my training plan screw me up too much?

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler Training Day 1

So... A little over a month ago, I found out I won the lottery... figuratively. I had applied for the Cherry Blossom 10-Miler lottery and my name was drawn as a runner for the race. I also signed up for the intermediate virtual training plan. It starts today. I'm supposed to run between 2 and 4 miles at an easy pace. This morning, we had lovely freezing rain on top of the snow we got Friday.

This is what it looks like outside. My wonderful husband has already shoveled our sidewalk, but they community association doesn't shovel unless we get at least 3 inches of snow.

I could go to the gym. Except Milk Dud has a snotty nose and looks like this:

I'm not one of those parents who dumps a sick kid in the gym childcare. I took my well kids there last year when there were sick kids and they brought home several colds and the norovirus twice. Vomiting small children isn't fun for anyone and with the new super bug that is going around this year, I don't want to take them unless I have no other choice. 

So, my choices are to run on the ice in the dark when my husband gets home from work, skip the training run, or to find some alternate training. We have a little-used exercise bike. I hate the exercise bike, but I am thinking that doing 30 minutes on there tonight while watching TV. It isn't the same training, but it is cardio and will be less pain on my joints. I know I need to work out or I will go crazy and look like this:

What do you do for alternate training when your plans don't happen the way you want?

Bad sleeping patterns and not training

So, between the boys and myself, my sleep patterns have been all over the place. I'm having a tough time working in my training plans. I did great all summer training for Ragnar 4 days a week, but 3 days is killing me, now. I can't seem to get up to run in the morning and I hate running in the evenings. Some nights, I go to bed WAY too late to get up at 5am to run. I hate running in the dark. I haven't been able to go to the gym because Milk Dud has a yucky nose and I'm the good parent who doesn't take their sick kid to the childcare area.

What are your solutions for training when you can't get out the door early?