Week 11, Day 2 - Stopping to get Lost in the Roses

Just when I thought I was finally all better, this morning I woke up with a sore throat and a voice like Kathleen Turner.  Either I have the cold that keeps on giving, or I contracted yet another virus :( Luckily, today was my day off from work, so I got to spend at least part of the morning being quasi lazy.

Today was yet another 3 miler.  I'm starting to get bored of this distance which isn't too good b/c I'll be running 3 miles 4x this week (not to mention another 25 times on top of that before the marathon!), but I suppose I should be thankful for shorter distances while I have them.....especially if my immune system is going to continue allowing these nasty colds into my body!

My mother was kind enough to watch the kids for me while I ran today which was great.  The only quasi-downside was that I was running in her neck of the woods and wasn't quite familiar with the area.  It was easy enough to map out the run on-line, but my mom's neighborhood is a newer walled neighborhood which with a lot of dead ends and little paths with only one way road in and out.  I would have had to run around the neighborhood 15 times to equal 3 miles, so I just basically ran down the road from my mom's neighborhood and back.  A hard part about not knowing the area is being unaware of sidewalk issues.  Luckily, the sidewalk only ran out once (and it luckily continued on the other side of the street), but there were A LOT of driveways where the sidewalk dips down to meet the road which made the route feel like I was running moguls.

The other downside of running in unfamiliar territory is the probability of getting lost!  I'm sure any of her neighbors who are reading this will laugh themselves to death over this.... but I got lost!  When I got back into her neighborhood, I hooked right to finish the last part of the run on the outskirts of the neighborhood before finishing in the middle.  However, I ended up literally running in circles for the last .2 of the run because the roads are all dead ends and I didn't realize there was a path connecting them all!  OOPS!

Here's a map of the last portion of my run.  My path is is red:

So..... my time today ended up being 3.01 miles in 31:30 which comes out to a 10:30 mile pace... which I think was totally zonked by my running in circles for the last few minutes rather than gunning it for the last 1/4 mile which is what I usually do :(  I wasn't really pushing myself today b/c I'm still feeling pretty phlegmy, but I do hope there is a time in my future where I will feel 100%... as in healthy AND well rested.... hopefully.

I'm looking forward to my 3 miles tomorrow with a gal from the new job.  Like I had mentioned, the only way I'm going to be keeping up with her is b/c she had knee surgery recently.... although it's hardly keeping her from running several times a week and playing basketball. I'll let you know how it goes!

Week 10, Day 6 - Zombie Running...it's the new trend!!

I had NO sleep last night...maybe not 'no' sleep, but very little.... with lots of interruptions :(  Lilah's been a little under the weather, so my night went as following:
10:45 - Sleep (we had company until 10:40)
11:30 - 12:30 - Lilah up, gave her Tylenol, eventually pull her into bed with me
1:45 - Lawrence finally comes to bed
2:30 - Finally bring Lilah back to her own bed b/c 3 in the bed wasn't working!
3:30 - Ari up b/c the cat woke him up
4am - Ari finally back to sleep after a prolonged fight about another glass of milk(which I lost).
4:30 - Lilah back up, give her another dose of Tylenol and wait for it to take effect
5:30 - Finally back in bed
7am - Up for the day :(

I had been a little nervous about today's run because I had missed 3 of my runs over the last 2 weeks and today was another new distance for mileage.  However, once I realized how tired I was, I became VERY nervous.   However, consider I had already missed 3 runs in the last 2 weeks I couldn't skip out on my long run.

Once again, I decided to follow Marie's advice and focus on the distance rather than push myself for time, so before actually running out the door I chugged a cup of coffee to help me with my energy levels for the new distance.  Surprisingly enough, once I really got started I actually started feeling pretty good with some nice energy!  It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and a sky of blue.  I wore only some capris, a synthetic t-shirt and took off to some good music :) 

I took the hills nicely and really had no troubles for most of the run.  Around mile 3 my legs started feeling a little tired, but I didn't feel any need to stop.  Some Weezer and Cake did wonders for my temperment :) Around mile 4.5 my hips started hurting which made me a little nervous.  I haven't really had any hip pain on my runs before and since it was in both hips rather than one, I think it's more of an issue of forgetting to stretch and being very tired.  Hopefully I'll get better sleep in the future and start remembering to stretch beforehand!

I also think it may be time to start experimenting with gel packs and sport drinks on my runs.  If anyone has any tips about which ones to try and how to do it, it would be much appreciated!

Finally, I came back to my neighborhood with only 1/10 of a mile left and something a big scary happened.  When I was approaching the street to enter my neighborhood, I noticed a man standing on the opposite side of the street I was running down.  He had greasy looking hair, scraggly beard, shorts, and an old track suit jacket on.  Immediately he struck me as a guy I wanted to stay away from me, but as soon as he saw me, he crossed over to my side of the street and started walking towards my direction.  As I approached, he slowed down as if he was waiting for me... which made me even more nervous :(  I was cautious on my approach and slowed a bit to see what he was going to do.  As soon as I was within a few feet of him, he started talking to me.... I have no idea what he said b/c all the 'red flags' in my head were going off!  I just yelled, "Sorry I can't hear you" and took off as fast as I could around the corner until he was out of sight.   It was a good reminder that running alone as a woman can make me into a target and it's essential to keep my guard up at all times.

My end result was 5.5 miles in 56:43 which comes out to 10:22 min/mile pace... which is a-ok with me :)

It's now about 6 hours after my run finished and I have to admit my legs are a teensy bit sore.  I could be because of the tired or lack of pre-stretching, but I'm guessing it's because of the slacking off of my runs over the last few weeks.  Now that I'm going to start my second week of the new job and I'm feeling a little more comfortable,  I'm going to do a better job of sticking to the training schedule!

Week 10, Day 4 - 1/3 Way Through Training!

Wow... I'm in week 10!!  When did that happen?!?!?!?.... oh yeah... while I wasn't blogging... oops!

Well, this past week has been C-R-A-CRAZY!  The abridged version is that I got sick, Ari got sick, it rained cats and dogs and I started my new job. 

Now for the backtrack:
I DID, in fact, run my 3 miles last Wednesday. I don't remember anything about it other than knowing I ran it, but that evening my throat started getting a little sore, so I decided not to run on Thursday.  By Saturday morning I was feeling much better and since the sun was shining and it was warmish, I decided to go for another 3 miler. It was good right until I hit mile 3 and the heavens opened up with rain.  I felt like I was running under a waterfall the rain was coming down so hard and plentifully.  I guess I should have been happy I didn't get pneumonia, but instead I was upset that my cold came back full force and totally zonked me all day Sunday :(

Monday I started my new job!!  They have a gym which I thought would be good over the next few months!  Tuesday I skipped my run again (bad bad!!) because it was raining hard again and I decided against taking the kids out in the rain.  The shades on the double jogger are much better at protecting the kids frun sun than rain :( 

I was VERY much looking forward to running at the new job (even though I realized I had forgotten deoderant).  However, it turned out the gym was for employees only and I am technically a contract worker :(  So..... once again, no run :(  For a moment, I thought I might have to give up the marathon b/c they're no way I could train properly if I wouldn't be able to run 4 days out of the week - right? However, just as I was going to give up hope, I asked if I could still use the showers if I ran outside.... and they HR rep said YES!  He even sent out an e-mail to some other runners in the company who gave me some routes around the neighborhood :)  They're all MUCH more serious runners than I am, but one nice lady just had knee surgery (so it looks like I may be able to keep up with her) and we're going to go for a run together next week. 

FIIIIIIIIINALLY, I got out today :)  There's a 1.5 mile park loop around a field nearby and it was really nice.  I doubled back, but accidently turned off the MapMyRun on my phone at 2.19 miles, so I don't know exactly how far I ran or my pace per mile. 

I'm looking forward to running 5.5 miles on Saturday, although having missed so many runs inthe last week, I'm also a little nervous :\

Week 9, Day 2 - Running in the Snow

Well.... I suppose that title is a bit misleading.... I ran in what was previously snow... or may have been snow if it had been warmer!

This morning we woke up to the Oregon version of a winter wonderland... meaning there was about an inch of snow on the cars, none in the streets and the temp was around 38 :)  Although it was legitimate snow coming down from the heavens!  We had a great time at 8am putting the kids in warm clothes and running around outside. 

As for the actual run, it was only a 2 miler and my stats were 'ok' at 10:32 min/mi.  It was about 17 seconds slower than my run exactly 1 week ago.... I'm not sure if I can blame it on the rain, baby? Although Lilah did drop her Toy Story Woody doll and I had to go back, but I can't imagine that would have taken more than 10 seconds.  I know, I know... I hear many of you saying, "Nomes, you're being too hard on yourself again!" and I understand that, but for a measly 2 miles, I thought I would see some improvement.  Oh well. 

The run actually started out with my ankles feeling a little funky..... It didn't hurt, but it felt like I was running on rubber for some reason.  Luckily the issue resolved itself about 50 feet into the run.  Overall, it was a decent run and I felt pretty good.  It was VERY wet outside. I used my new jacket and it worked just fine protecting me from the rain, yet not letting me get too hot.

As for my diet... I'm already getting frustrated.  I kept to the diet now for 5 days now and haven't seem much movement on the scale.  On one hand, I'm glad it stopped going up... but I wanted to see a little more come off.  My biggest problem so far seems to be the evening hours.  I eat well all day, then for dinner I want to eat a lot and then have a snack afterwards (you're supposed to have a snack on the diet).  Last night and tonight I did a little better with the portions, but last night after dinner I ate a jello and put whipped cream on it... which would have been ok, but after I finished the jello I filled the container up again with more whipped cream which I ate by itself.  Tonight I did ok again at dinner, but now it's been less than two hours and I'm trying desperately not to oversnack.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see about tomorrow.

Week 8, Day 7 - Finally getting to the X.T.

So, I finally honored my Sunday workout commitment!  raahhhhh.....

As I mentioned yesterday, I wanted to do some kind dancy video workout b/c I thought 1) it would be fun for the kids, 2) it would be fun for me and 3) it would be better for Lawrence than me leaving for an hour to go to a gym.

As it turns out... none of the above reasons proved realistic :(

I tried a couple of stores to find a decent dancy work out video and I was floored by how nearly all the videos are either Jillian Michaels from The Biggest Loser OR Dancing With The Stars people - neither of which really appealed to me.  I finally settled on one CD which promised Hip Hop, Belly Dance, Salsa and Jazz Dance.  It sounded promising and was reasonably priced so I purchased it.  However, the on-line reviews were TERRRRRRible..... So I'm going to take it back :(  Then, I discovered Netflix actually has a few exercise videos which I could stream from our PS3!  Most of them were either Yoga or Pilates (which I'm not interested in), but I found one cardio dance which had decent reviews, so I gave it a shot.

It was the Crunch Cardio Salsa and it actually started off just fine.  The instructor was peppy w/o being too annoying and the steps started off nice and easy.  As I had planned, Ari started doing all the dancing with me and we had a good time :)..... for about 4 minutes.  Then, the steps got a little harder he laid down on the ground to try to intentionally trip me up... which he thought was hilarious.  Lawrence ended up having to take the kids upstairs while I 'danced the fat away' thus zonking intentions #1 & #3.   Then when the steps got a little harder than doing a vine step with a shimmy, I started getting lost and there went intention #2 :( 

I guess it was kind of fun and I worked up a little bit of a mist (not quite a sweat) - definitely low intensity.  Maybe I'll start pairing the video with some strength training.  I'm going to try the video again next week... but mostly because I've always wanted to learn how to salsa, samba and meringue :)

I'm staying true to the diet which has been a little hard.  I'm definitely noshy rather than hungry,but it's been hard not to finish off the kids' lunches or have a few morsels of Pirate's Booty.  The scale went a little up from yesterday, but as I mentioned yesterday, I knew I had to do a better job of eating actual meals and then spacing the snacks 2 hours later.  I really think I did that today.  I was very careful and I hope I'll see results tomorrow.  The one terrible thing I do to myself when I diet is to weigh myself every 20 minutes.  I literally run upstairs every time I have to pee to weigh myself before and after... it's nuts and I know it, but right now I'm not going to do anything about it!

Tomorrow's a rest day and I'll hopefully be able to eat decently.  I also finally got a multivitamin which I'll begin tonight.

Week 8, Day 6 - 5 Big Ones

Hit the 5 mile mark today :)  It's been a long time since I've run 5 miles and it felt like a real achievement.   I ended up running the 'hill' that always makes me a little anxious, then around the Nike campus, past Popeye's (coming from the East rather than the South, there's no smell!), down Walker to 170th and home.  Most of the run I felt really good and am happy to report that after running the OHSU/Terwilliger hills, my local hills aren't so bad! The end of the 5 miles was welcomed, but I certainly wasn't ready to collapse at the 5 mile mark.... which is pretty awesome :)  I'm now nearly 12 hours post-run and still have no achy-ness!

It was very cold in the beginning and drizzling a little bit.  Once again the wind was blowing really hard against me which made it a little hard to breath as well as giving some unwanted resistance against my running. I didn't want to wear my regular rain coat b/c I know it would get real hot real fast, so instead I wore my fleece which may not have been the smartest move either.   About 1/2 way through the run, I ended up taking the fleece off b/c I got too hot, but then my belly got all numb under my shirt!  It was a really weird sensation to have most of my body all revved up, but not have any feeling in my belly :/  It was almost like wearing an undershirt.... but not.  HOWEVER, this afternoon, I happened to stumble upon a really nice water resistant running shell that happened to be on super sale! I haven't been able to find them for less than $70, but this one was on sale for $50 AND I had a 20% off coupon.  I'll be super excited to try it out on Tuesday - especially b/c the iPhone arm band thing is a bigger pain in the butt than I thought and my new jacket has a special pocket JUST for my iPhone!  Wahoo! :)

Cool tidbits of the run are that I actually used the "Pause" function on the MapMyRun app.

Annoyances of the run are that my earphones kept falling out, I had to stop to retie my shoelaces 2x, and my pace per mile today was a whopping 10:43 :(  I'm going to say having to retie my shoelaces probably added 40 seconds onto my time (I tried counting while tying)  which would drop my PPM down to approximately 10:39.... I guess I'll take it. 

I keep telling myself that long runs are about distance, not time and I shouldn't be worried about a 10:39 PPM on my long run - right?  Also, I know I didn't push as hard as I could because it was a new distance and I didn't want to burn myself out.  There were several times that I was actually singing along with my music while I was running... which means my heart rate wasn't too high.  According to Monique, having the lower heart weight is actually better for weight loss... so I'm ok with that.

Speaking of weightloss....I'm trying really hard to stay on this South Beach Diet.  I only really started on Thursday and have lost 4 lbs so far, which is probably just water weight.  Supposedly, the pounds just melt off during the first two weeks in which all carbohydrates and sugar (including fruits) are prohibited, but you can eat pretty much as much lean protein and veggies as you want.  I don't know about melting pounds... I also thought that was supposed to happen with breastfeeding, which totally didn't happen for me :(  A big part of the plan is to eat actual meals and then have a snack 2 hours after the meal.  Mostly I've been grazing throughout the day, then having a good dinner.  Tomorrow I'll try to focus more on eating 3 solid 'meals' and then snacks 2 hours later like I'm supposed to.  I guess I'll just have to check the scale again in the tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow... For the last 8 weeks, I've been ignoring my 'Sunday Walks' that I'm supposed to be doing with my training.  I think the smarter thing for me to do, is just jump into the cross training that I'm supposed to be starting in week 13.  I'm considering getting some Zumba or dancing videos that I can do with the kids... they love music and dancing :)  My biggest problem with exercise videos in the past is that the kids want to jump all over me while I'm doing it... so I'm thinking we'll have more success if I can find a video where they can participate - right?

Hasta Manana!

Week 8, Day 3 & 4 - Game Changer

So, not only did I forget to blog yesterday, but I didn't run today!  OY VA VOY!

We'll start with yesterday:
Yesterday was VERY cold and windy.  The temperature was supposedly 44 degrees, but all I know is yesterday's 44 degrees felt a heck of a lot colder than Tuesday's 37!  The clear blue sky, shining sun and the weather channel's "44" degrees duped me into wearing only capris and a long sleeve shirt, and it was SO cold and windy it took me a FULL mile to warm up.... not to mention my nose was dripping the whole time :(

My mile/pace for yesterday's 3 miles ended up being 10:17, which at first glance seems pretty crummy considering I ran a 10:15 min/mile with Lilah on Tuesday..... however... I did get stopped at BOTH lights that I usually jaywalk on.  In fact, the 2nd light didn't seem to recognize that I had hit the stupid button and it took an entire light cycle for me to be able to finally cross.  I'm not sure exactly how long I stood there, but it was most of BEP's "Shut Up."  So, considering my extended light stoppage combined with the blistering cold wind seeming to blow against me for most of the run... I'm not going to put too much stock into my 10:17 time... In fact, I'm unofficially considering it as 9:17 which is an improvement ;)

On the plus side, I felt really powerful during the whole 3 miles.  I was especially proud of how I felt on the hills.  I think running the Terwilliger/OHSU hill has really helped with my general fear of running uphill and I look forward to my Saturday 5 miler!

Now, Today:
I got the news yesterday, but mostly it effected today's news..... I am (almost) officially employed!  I've taken on a "too good to be true" Part Time Long Term Temporary position at an awesome company for a great salary with NO billing!  YAHOO!!  The only bad part is that I have to schlep to Wilsonville, but from the sound of it, the commute won't be all that different from schlepping into Portland except I won't have to pay for parking or walk 7 blocks to work :)  So today I had to schlep into Portland to fill out paperwork for a background check and tomorrow will have to take a drug test, hence the 'almost' referenced above.  Today ended up being such a michigas of a day that by the time I got home (after being out with both kids for over 5 hours!), I simply couldn't find the energy to run with both of them for 2 miles. 

Dont' fear... I'll get 'er dun tomorrow :)

Game Changing:
A new job will be testing my commitment to my running.  I'll now be working on 2 of my 4 run days which might make it difficult to run the mileage I need to commit too. The new job has a nice gym and seems to have some cool running trails in the area, but I'm not sure how I'm going to finagle my longer Wednesday runs once they get into the higher numbers.  I've been running a solid 3 miles on Wednesdays since the beginning of the training, but in another month I'll be bumping it up to 4 miles, then every 2 weeks it goes up another mile until the apex at in May where I'll need to find 2 hours in the middle of my work day to run 10 mile and then take a shower :( 

I know at my old firms we had plenty of Marathoning people...if they can find a way, I will hopefully be able to run too.... we'll see!


OH YEAH... The Diet:
I nearly forgot to talk about the diet.  I was going to start yesterday and actually did pretty good job, until Lawrence took out a bottle of wine we had been saving to celebrate my new job :)  So, yesterday was my practice run!  Today was my first official day on the diet.  It went well... especially considering my headache from drinking too much wine, Lilah being up at 3am, and the craziness of the day itself!  Hopefully tomorrow will go well too.

Week 8, Day 2

Today's run was a quick 2 miler with Lilah.  I had some tummy problems which made me a little nervous before the run, but luckily they cleared up by the time I got out... which ended up being about an hour after I was initially planning on going.

The weather was a perfect 39 degrees, although it felt warmer! Lilah luckily stayed happy for the whole run and wasn't even interested in her goldfish or juice, but was perfectly content to simply watch the world roll by. 

I never really felt the need to stop, but going up the Baseline ascent I did get a little tired and started doing some interval running.  This method of running has been really helpful!  I think it's really helping my time because the run seemed to fly by!  Today's mile pace was 10:15 min/mi with 1 little Lilah in the stroller.  I think an extra 48 seconds per mile when pushing a stroller with a toddler in it is acceptable.  Hopefully, my times across the board will start decreasing with my increased mileage.

However... one thing that is INcreasing is my weight :(  I've read in many different articles about how running a marathon is not really a good way to lose weight b/c when you exercise, you tend to eat more!  Well..... this has certainly been the case for me :(  The damage isn't terrible yet at just 2-3 lbs, but since I still had 15 lbs from my pregnancy with Lilah, these new pounds are making me even more annoyed.  I had to admit that I really haven't been doing much in the ways of watching my food intake though.  So starting tomorrow, I'll be trying the South Beach diet again.  I think I failed in it last time b/c I tried to use all their recipes rather than just adjusting my current eating habits to coincide with the SBD's rules.... so that's what I'll be trying to do starting tomorrow.  The diet works that I basically shun all carbs for 2 weeks (like a detox period), then start reintroducing some whole grains and fruits. 

So, starting tomorrow, I'll be logging my food and weight fluctuations along with my running stuff.  However.... for tonight, I'm gorging myself :)

Week 7, Day 6 - Shamrock Training Part Deux

Today Marie and I revisited the ginormous OHSU/Terwilliger hill from last week.  I was a little nervous b/c last week's time/pace was such a disappointment to me at 11:38 min/miles with  so many stops and no kids (and yes I know I was being too hard on myself).  This week, we did 3 miles instead of 4.5, but Marie also had her little boy with her in the stroller.  On one hand I was hopeful that b/c we were doing less mileage we could shave some time off last week, but once we added the baby in the stroller I knew we would end up adding time onto our pace :(  On the other hand, last week I stopped so many times on the ascent I thought maybe I should just forget our time and focus on my goal to be simply making the whole run w/o stopping!

The run itself was actually pretty nice.  Running through the hills has lots of forresty areas on both sides and the air feels clean and fresh.  The weather was in the 40's and felt like it could start raining at any second, but never actually did. I wore only my capris, a long t-shirt and my Ani hat.For whatever reason, there was like a thousand other runners on the road and they all seemed to be running opposite us so we got lots of smiling, nodding faces giving us encouragement :) 

I'm truly amazed by my friend who absolutely smoked me even though she was running with her son in a stroller (up a ridiculous hill) and I just had myself.  Towards the middle of the run I actually had to tell her not to wait up for me and not to talk to me b/c I couldn't chat and run at the same time!  The run was really hard, but I eventually got into a 'zone' and I didn't even notice the plateau which immediately proceeds the last ascent to the restaurant which lives at the crest of the hill, so our descent felt like a prematurely happy surprise.

Before we started today I was determined not to stop running of my own volition, but was secretly waiting for the one street we had to cross so I could take a quick stop to rest while waiting for the cross walk (this particular intersection is, in fact, simply too dangerous to jaywalk)... However, some other runner (not Marie) got to the light ahead of me so the flippin walk signal came on just as I approached.... so no rest for me :(  In the last 1/4 mile, I tapped all my reserve energy to run as fast I could possibly muster and was actually able to catch up to Marie.... literally as we crossed our proverbial 'finish line.'

When Marie pulled out her phone to check our 'stats' I cringed b/c the run felt incredibly long and I knew we were probably running 12-13 min/miles.  So, I was shocked when she told me we had actually been running at a 10:43 min/mile pace!!  Wahoo!  We had shaved 53 seconds off our time from last week WITH a child in tow AND I had made the whole run w/o stopping to run a single time.  Ummm....... WINNING!!

This weeks run really helped my confidence :)   After today, I really believe I might be able to do the Shamrock run w/o embarrassing myself... and hey, the 9.3 miles of the shamrock is over 1/3 the distance I need to do for the marathon.  I know there is quite a difference between 9 miles and 27 miles, but I suddenly feel like the marathon is a real thing which might possibly be within reach of a non-athlete mom like myself :)  Next week I do 5 miles and I'm really looking forward to tackling the hill again :)

Week 7, Day 4 - And then there were 3

Today I ran with both kids for 2 miles and it was SOOOOOO tough.  I set my MapMyRun app, but really wasn't sure what to expect.  It must have been a while since I ran with both of them (I'll have to check my previous posts), but I was suprised how hard it was to push them both for the whole 2 miles. 

There were a few instances running up Baseline in which the road ascends (I don't think it counts as a hill even under my terminology!) and I really considered stopping to walk.  However, at this point in my trainin, I really don't think I can give up on a two mile run - even when I'm running with both kids.   So, for the first time, I tried the interval running which Marie suggested last Saturday on the Terwilliger/OHSU hill.  I guess I naturally do a form of interval running where I run as hard as I can until I feel like my legs will give out, then I'll walk until I think I can run again.  However, my 'running' intervals generally get shorter and shorter until I just can't go anymore.  So today, I followed Marie's advice as to what Interval Runnins is supposed to be and ran in intervals of faster and slower... but NO walking.  So for 2 telephone poles I would run as hard as I could (while pushing 100 pounds of kids), then I would run as slow as possible for 2 telephone polls.  I was suprised how it really seemed to help improve my stamina, not to mention my time!  I really felt it was possible for me to tap that extra strength under my tiredness for 40 feet, then slowing down felt like a vacation without the need to stop!

So, for my stats for 2 miles with kids:

Duration: 23.12
Distance: 2 miles
Pace: 11:37 min/mile

It's interesting that my pace running with 2 kids is the same pace for running up gigantic hill last Saturday.... I think I can improve my running time with both the kids AND up the ginormous hill :) 

So, now that I have this fancy shmancy app telling my pace/duration/etc, I'm going to add another page onto my blog where I'll keep track of my distance, pace and how many children I'm running with that day :)

Week 7, Day 3 - Naomi, Princess Road Warrior Brite!

Today was another 3 miler.  After Saturday's sluggish time and not getting to run yesterday, I was REEEEEALLY looking forward to today's run.  However... Lilah's fever made a reprise in the middle of the night :(  My mom said she could come watch Lilah for a little while, but there was only a small window of time during which I could actually take my run.  It turned out there was only ONE available appointment among all the doctors at the Pediatrician's office, I had a few morning errands I simply HAD to do (sick kid and all) and my mother's had a few appointments around town too..... and I grabbed my window enthusiastically!

Getting out there felt G-R-E-A-T. The weather was in the low 50's and only slightly overcast.  I wore only a T-shirt and capri's, but never felt cold or hot.  I put my music on, walked out the front door and was in my own little world. 

Not to mention it was my 1st time using my new MapMyRun app on my new iPhone (Did I mention that I got a new iPhone??????).

Running makes me feel instantly stronger, healthier, faster, thinner... even my skin feels tighter and glowing-er.   Today I felt like a princess warrior transforming the depressing Oregon surburban winter landscape into rainbows and glitter!!  Unstoppable and awesome..... just like Xena.... or maybe more like Rainbow Brite.

When I finished my run and looked at my final times I was really pleased.  The MapMyRun app is SOOO awesome.  It tracks Start time, End time, Duration, Distance, Pace, Calories burned, a map of the route with mile markers and even elevation!  Apparently, if I log online I can access more stats, but I haven't taken advantage of that function yet. It even gives the option to pause the workout if I get stopped at a traffic light or something (although I usually jaywalk because I'm such a rebel).  

So my stats for today were:
Duration: 29:48
Distance: 3.12
Pace: 9:37 min/mile
Calories Burned: 348

I feel like at this point in my training I should be running below a 10 minute mile when I'm sans kid & stroller. So, 9:37 feels pretty awesome.... however.... I don't intend to stay there.  I don't think I'm capable of running a 7 minute mile like my athletic husband, but I wouldn't mind bringing it down to a 9 minute mile by the time the marathon comes around..... Don't know if it'll actually happen.... just sayin it would be nice :)

Marie said something last Saturday after our run which only really hit me yesterday.  She said long runs are for distance NOT for time....Shorter runs are for improving time.  I think I'm going to take her advice to heart and push harder on my Tues, Wed & Thurs runs. 

Week 7, Day 2 - Little Sick One :(

One of the reasons I named this blog, "Running with Diapers" is to try to convey that this blog is not JUST about me, but my experience of trying to be a mother AND training for a marathon. That being said....I didn't get out for my run today because Lilah was sick :(

I was actually really looking forward to the run today!  Especially after gorging myself over the holiday weekend, I was pretty exciting about getting my body moving! (not to mention burning a few calories!)  The sun was shining, it was gorgeous and it looked like a beautiful day....BUT, I never made it through my front door :(

When my little Lilah gets a fever (even as low as 99.8) it can lead to a seizure, so we take any and all fevers extremely seriously. Last night's fever was the highest she's ever had at 102.3 so we were slightly freaking out.  I went to bed at 8:45 so I could give her a dose of Tylenol and pull her into bed with me.  It worked out fine until I woke her up for the 12:45 dose of Tylenol when she decided she didn't want to go back to sleep, but rather wanted to go downstairs to play. Luckily, my amazing husband took her downstairs to entertain her for a while so I could get some sleep. She woke up around 7:30AMish and her fever finally broke!  I may have slept for nearly 11 hours, but it was probably one of the most restless sleeps I've ever had.... probably second to the night in the hospital last month. 

Tomorrow I guess I'll just jump right into my 3 mile run.  It's supposed to be partially sunny and in the mid 50's :)  It should be nice.

Week 6, Day 6 - Shamrock Training

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!! 

Yesterday I ran the OHSU hill as my first step towards training for the Shamrock run 15K which is March 18.  I had done the run 3 years ago (right before Ari's first birthday) and I have to admit, the big hill up past OHSU was just as difficult as I remembered it. 

Since most of my runs so far have been rolling hills (if you can even call them that!) rather than steep inclines, I told myself to take the hill easy and keep a nice slow pace going up.  I didn't want to push myself too hard and knew long before I started that I wouldn't be able to run the whole thing without stopping.   I was lucky enough to run with my friend Marie again which was lovely :)  She used her MapMyRun app to record our time/pace/distance once we started.  I never usually time myself for my runs so I was really interested to see how we would do.

Throughout the run, I was pretty satisfied with my effort.  We made it about 2.5 miles (I'm guestimating) before I needed to walk and then we ran in intervals until we crested the hill.  Once over the big bad main crest, we ran for the rest of the trail without stopping.  Overall, I felt great and had a wonderful sense of accomplishment at the end......until Marie pulled out our stats. 

We had run 4.68 miles in 53 minutes which gave us approximately a 11:30 minute/mile pace.  .... I was tremendously dissapointed.  LOGICALLY, I know it was a very steep hill for which 11:30 is pretty decent, I'm still at the beginning of my training, and this was my first big hill in a good long time, etc. However, when I had done the Shamrock run 3 years ago, I ended with a 9:30ish pace.  Again, logic says the 2nd half of the run (which we didn't do yesterday) is all downhill which would have greatly improved my time - not to mention that was 1 baby and 15 pounds ago :(

So... The plan is that I'm going to download the MapMyRun app and for my long run every week I'm going to run that hill.  By the time March 18th is here, I'm going to kick it's ass.