Running Thoughts

Tomorrow is the day! It's both my 21st wedding anniversary and the day I will run the "Freedom Half." Here is my post on today's date of last year: Aaah, Freedom! Well, I've tried planning my Freedom Half. That hasn't worked. So, today I thought, "Hey! How about right now???" So, I did it. This afternoon, I shirked all responsibility and ran my Half Marathon on a whim. I will post more about it with pictures, but tonight I'm tired and tomorrow is my 20th wedding anniversary. :) So, you'll haffta wait. I will say this: I had a great run. The whole thing was really great for many reasons and my favorite miles were miles 9, 10, and 13. I can only hope tomorrow brings as much happiness as last year's Freedom Half. Here is another post about last year's freedom run... Freedom Run Highlights There I am, running along. I first took my dog-buddy with me for the first 5 miles. We took it pretty easy, walking and running. After ...

For your reading pleasure: An 8 year old wins Dipsea! http://dean.runnersworld.com/2010/06/small-wonder.html

I haven't felt just right for the past few days. I went to the doc yesterday for hip xrays and found out that I had a low fever. I decided that i was running today whether I felt perfect or not. I ran a slow, easy 5 miles and now, I feel better, so I've determined that I must have had Running Fever, induced by lack of runs. My hip looks pretty. :) No bone fracture! YIPPEEEEEE! In fact, the doctor remarked how nice and strong my bones are and attributed it to running. :) The bad news is that I still don't know what is causing the pain in my hip. The good news is that the doc says to keep running! That's good since I was going to anyway.

Today, I will lift. Tomorrow, 5 mile run. Then, Freedom Half on Thursday, July 1. It's our 21st wedding anniversary, and what better way to celebrate? Hubby will be working anyway, and we will go out to dinner that night. Might as well burn some calories first! At least these are my tentative plans. I will talk with Sara to find out when she is running...but I won't be able to run on the weekend very easily, so I'm guessing we may be running separately. I went to the chiropractor yesterday for my hip pain. He told me to come back if it was still hurting, and of course, it was. So I went back for a free adjustment. He wants me to stretch this weekend, which I've been doing, and if it still hurts this week...xray. So far, I'm headed toward the xray. The xray tech is in town at our med center on tuesday and wednesday. I think he's thinking of a fracture. And if so, then it was fractured years ago and healed wrong, so that's bad. But maybe it will...

Guess what?? I've lost 6.5 pounds of the 15. Nearly half! Yippeeeee!!!!...and I'm gaining muscle, I do believe! On the workout front, I lifted on Tuesday...chest, shoulders, triceps, chinups (which I still can't do!) Monday I did yoga along with my 10 mile run. Yesterday, I did yoga and ran a short (2 mile) run with accelerations. And today, I ran sprints and jumped rope and then did yoga. I've had this Shiva Rea DVD for a long time, but have never tried it. I like that you can choose what you want to include in your workout and then play the entire workout that you chose. What I like about Yoga is that it is strengthening and builds flexibility. I forgot that today should be a lifting day, so I'll do that tomorrow. And the long run this weekend is 5 miles. I'm not sure what day I'll run my Freedom Half. But here are my ideas: July 3 or July 5. I'm in charge of a parade float on the 4th, so I doubt it will happen that day. But I also hav...

I found myself completing 10 miles of hard trail today with my new shoes covered in mud and grime and soaked completely through. The report is that they could have drained water better, but they did ok. My feet were still very tired, and my right foot kept feeling as though it was overpronating...maybe the trail, but strange that it was always my right foot, never the left. I felt a little like the shoes were "clumsy"...maybe that's just ME! But overall, they survived the day and brought me home. One thing they didn't do, repel mosquitoes....there were swarms of mosquitoes even though I had mosquito repellent on. At a few points, I had to be sure to breathe through my nose or I got a mouthful of mosquitoes! Yuck! I came upon several creek crossings and stepped in deep sludgy mud...whole shoe, covered. Now, that's how you break in new shoes! Beautiful day on Larsen Lakes Trail

Whoooooooooooo-hooooooooo! I'm getting these! I ordered them this morning and they arrive tomorrow. I love amazon.com! I wish they came in green like the men's, but since they don't I ordered the brown and blue!! My feet hurt so much after my 8 miles that hubby told me to order the ones I want! It was nearly a toss up between these and some great Salomons cuz I'm not crazy about the way these look. But I think they will transition from trail to road and cushion my forefoot more. I woke up this morning with the realization that I have yoga this afternoon and that I had a hike planned, so I slept in! The hike was a portion of the san juan solstice race that happens the weekend. We crossed the creek 3 times, and had such a fun time. Kaegan even reached for my hand! If you know anything about autism, you are impressed with my little mountain man. I am set to help with an aid station on Saturday morning and can't wait to cheer for my brave ultra-running frien...

I got up this morning and did a little yoga and mostly rested today. I did my push ups, though. The kids and I played at the lake with some friends...picnic, raft...fun. Lots of sun. :) Tomorrow, we plan to hike my favorite trail and take a picnic. I found this today , and I plan to take a closer look at it. My plan is to get up and do some yoga and go for a short run.

Not sure, but I think my 8 mile run was more like 7.5. I saved my long run for today because Sunday and Monday were both rainy with hail up in the hills. Sunday, I did a very challenging yoga class with our former yoga instructor who now lives in another city but came here for the weekend. So fun! Then, yesterday, Sara, Gracyn, and I combined the poses from Sunday's class with the poses our new teacher has taught us to create our own practice since our teacher isn't here for the next 2 weeks. I managed my lifting workout yesterday too! This morning, I got up at 7:20 to run my long awaited long run. It took me so long to get out the door! I was so worried (sort of afraid) about the run. The last long run by myself, I sort of "bonked." I didn't have enough nourishment before or during the run. And I drank only water, forgetting that 7 miles is a big jump from 6. So, this morning, I was trying to make sure I had enough energy in me, plus water, plus power...

I really do. June is beautiful here. But it's also rainy. Which I like. Except that I want to run 8 miles. I'll get back with ya on that......

Report on workouts... Lifting, Running (sprints) and a trail for fun, jumprope, yoga, and turbokick with some friends this morning. I've been having fun and getting fit. I keep forgetting to post about my summer challenge. I've entered a summer challenge from BFFM . The summer challenge is a 98 day challenge, and I've lost some fat so far.....!!!!!! My muffin top is getting smaller, and I'm down from 149.5 pounds to 145.5 pounds! This is very exciting to me because I began this journey several years ago at 183 pounds. With Body for Life, I lost 50 pounds. Then, my thyroid medicine was changed and I got all out of hormonal whack! I've gained 15 or so pounds back even though I've continued exercise. I got kind of deflated about it and so lax about eating. I've tried several times to lose the weight I've gained, but to no avail, but now, I think my hormone levels are more back to what they should be and this time, it's working! I've als...

Workout yesterday included: yoga push ups chin ups clean and press with squat frog jumps Workout today included: hill sprint intervals alternated with jumprope intervals-with Sara while baby Brooks splashed in her playpool and Gracyn acted as lifeguard.

I have a few things to blog about: My hip and Chiropractic adjustment local 5k walk a trail or two transformation So, Item Number 1: My hip and Chiro adjustment..... I've had hip pain for the last 13 years. Yes, it has taken me 13 years to actually decide to spend the time and money on this problem. I have just ignored it. But running longer distances has made me think things like, "If I keep ignoring it, and it isn't going away, am I injuring myself to the point where I won't be ABLE to run?" So, off to the chiropractor I went. My sacrum was out of place and my left hip (the problem hip) was lower than my right. I got it adjusted, then was soooooo sore for the next few days. Then, better, then hurting again....back to the chiropractor for more adjustments.... Until, finally it stayed in place. I've been doing squats and one-legged squats and stretching to strengthen the muscles that have been out of place for so long....hoping that my body would adj...

I had a headache all day, but still managed a great day! It's testing time around these homeschooling parts. Gracyn and Braeden are taking their standardized tests for the year and are doing very well. We will end the schoolyear tomorrow with a trip to the swimming pool! So excited about that! Kaegan didn't have to test, but he gets to swim anyway! Before yoga, I ran just under 5 miles with Sara and Lydia. Great time! We live in such a beautiful place...I don't know how to stay inside and do testing...but we have done it anyway, miraculously. As long as we can get outside too, we'll make it through the last 3 sections tomorrow.

Our favorite kitty had kittens today! We have a little girl reserved. We plan to name her Juliet and call her Jules. I hope she likes mice! Odell hasn't said yes yet, but he will. On the fitness topic...I ran speed intervals yesterday (sore today). And today is a lifting day...so far, I've managed a portion of that workout: squats and lunges. I still have push ups and reverse sit-ups.

After running 4 miles Thursday, feeling completely exhausted, and talking with ruthie online, I decided to post some things about my health issues and how my thyroiditis affects my fitness. First, a little background on my own experience with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, then a definition of the disease and some symptoms. I went through my life with this disease, apparently, with it rearing its ugly head with a miscarriage. Not knowing the cause of the miscarriage, and carrying my next baby full-term, I still had no idea I had this autoimmune disorder. After giving birth for the first time, I began to feel the symptoms. I was manic, tired, unmotivated, gaining weight rather than losing it....but all of these are normal for a new and aging mom, right? My thyroid levels were normal. My doctor was arrogant. He told me that I just wasn't aware of how many cheeseburgers I ate...I told him the number would be ZERO....and he suggested I exercise...I've always exercised. There ...

Well, tomorrow is a new day, right? Cuz I ate everything in front of me today and didn't plan workouts for yesterday or today. I had to go to doctor appointments today, so yesterday's workout that I pushed to today didn't happen, nor did today's supposed workout. My long run on Sunday wore me out! My brain hasn't been able to grasp the idea of going for another run since that 7 miles. I just didn't nourish myself well enough for that distance, and I'd forgotten the huge jump from 6 to 7 miles. So, having run on empty, I was a little mentally fatigued as well. Plus, I skipped a lifting workout. I did do chin ups...or something like them. :) I've just had no energy since Sunday. No worries, though, because I think I feel the urge to run kicking back in for tomorrow!

Weight workout and yoga makes a girl sore.

Seven miles along the lake, across a trail, over the hills, home... It was a beautiful run, but I should have eaten more for breakfast! I needed some wheaties. And my hip bothered me. Imma be sore. So glad I went, though. A recurring thought: how in the world could I ever run a marathon? or an ultra? 7 miles was tough today. But then, some days are tougher than others and this run involved low energy, hip pain, and a headache which began about mid-run and persists. Favorite part of the run: the trail that took me waaay up above the world. :) Least fav: the headache...normally I feel better after a run. Hope I'm not getting sick....