Update.

How to recap the past few months.

During training for the Ogden half, managed to overtrain somewhat, then caught the spring flu from my kid.

Made it to the start line with a brand-new inhaler.  Coughed two minutes before the start; threw out back.

Ran ("ran") the race anyway.  It was 40 degrees, and rainy, and miserable, but I'm glad I managed to get to run down the canyon; the race is usually sold out so it's no guarantee I'll get to do it next year!

Took a week off; returned to building a base.  Became more and more tired.  Still wheezy.

Appear to have developed anemia, and more worryingly, asthma.  Working with docs for a solution.

TL;DR: this sub-2 is going to be harder than I thought.

Trying to run while having a job

Last week I had to travel for work.  The hotel where I stayed had a nice exercise area, but I know from experience that my personal limit on the treadmill is about an hour, plus time would be somewhat limited.  

So I planned this for last week, meaning to move the long run forward a couple of days:
Monday: easy, 50-60 minutes.
Tuesday: easy, 50-60 minutes.
Wednesday: easy, 80-90 minutes.
Thursday: off (travel day)
Friday: 50-60 minutes
Saturday:  8-10 hill repeats on the treadmill. (Wednesday's workout from the following week.)
Sunday: off (travel day)
Monday: 90-105 minutes (the long run)

Wednesday would get the fartlek run originally scheduled for today.

What actually happened.
Monday: 6.2 miles, easy (treadmill)
Tuesday: Eight inches of snow meant no chance to get to the road, trails, or gym.  Half an hour of Jillian Michaels, half an hour of weights.  Good workout, but not a run.
Wednesday:  So I woke up at 5AM to get to the gym.  I figured the roads would be slick,but they weren't, but I was already committed to the treadmill.  I should have come home and changed and run outside.  I wasn't feeling motivated, my body was stiff and sleepy, and by the time I managed to get out the door and warmed up, I would have had at best 70 minutes for an easy run, so I pushed a hard 50 minutes instead. 5 or so miles, with hill intervals.
Thursday: My flight got in at midnight instead of 2PM.  I got to the hotel by 2AM.
Friday:  hahahahahaha run wasn't happening.
Saturday: 3 miles + weights.
Sunday: 3 miles + core.  Flew home

Today: screw it.  Warm-up, 10 x 1 min fartlek 1 one minute recovery, cool down.  5.4 miles total.

Best laid plans gang aglee up in here....

So, I'm just pretending the weekend didn't happen.  Trying to make up mileage is a recipe for injury.  For whatever reason, the long run is the "workout" that bothers me the least.  I missed this weekend.  But I really have no fear that I'll pull two hours on Saturday with no trouble.  Long runs are mentally easy -- you just run gently, and don't stop till you're done.

Week Three: Keep on Shufflin'

Monday
Planned: 50-60 minutes, easy.
Actual: Big fat zero, zonk..

Honestly not sure what happened here.  Maybe the race caught up with me; maybe I'm underfueled.  But in any case I couldn't manage to get up at 5AM to get the run going, and then work was just too busy.  By 5pm I was dragging; by the time the baby was asleep and I zombie-walked through the dishes, I just decided to call it.

Tuesday
Planned: 40-60 minutes, easy,
Actual:  56 minutes (11:15)

The weather here in Northern Utah has been unseasonably warm, which is creating a total #firstworldproblem for me.  I always wear my reflective jacket when I'm out in the dark; it's a bright neon yellow reflective shell with wide reflective strips. The delicate piping on most gear doesn't strike me as enough protection, and I have too much going on to have time to get hit by a car.  I also have  headlamp and two handhelds as I like to see where I'm going and don't have the best night vision.

Nerding it up, yes.  Anyhow, the trouble is that at 40 degrees (in #$%^ing February!) it is not warm enough to wear the jacket alone over a sports bra, but putting it over a shirt means sweating to death.  At least I'm a visible ball of grossness, but honestly, if this weather continues I'll have to find a harness instead of a jacket.

Wednesday
Planned: 70-90 minutes, easy; strength program.
Actual: 72 minutes (10:20); completed strength program

Hey, look at that!  I hit a respectable-for-me easy pace!  I ran along the mostly flat trails up on the bench, and the loop I chose happened to be seven miles.  I'd hoped, initially, to run closer to 90 minutes but I didn't get out of work quickly enough and eventually just wanted to come home.

Friday:
Planned: 50-60 minutes, easy
Actual: 57 minutes (11:14)

5:30 AM start again.  It was a nice morning for a run, and I'm feeling a bit more confident running in the dark.  Near the end of my run I saw two charming gentlemen also decked out in headlamps and handheld lights; they shouted hello and I was warmed by their greeting and by our light-up fellowship.

Saturday:
Planned: 105-120 minutes, easy
Actual: 112 minutes (11:06)

Apparently my body's new thing is to have no speed but maintain nearly perfectly even splits (11:16, 11:16, 11:20, 11:06, 10:58, 11:18, 10:55, 10:54, 11:22, 10:40) for ten miles.  I really have no idea how I managed just over (just!) two hours for a half in September.  But the run was easy, with no pain or tightness, and I wrapped it up with a strength workout with my toddler as a coach: ONE, TWO, FOUR, FIVE SIX SE'EN AYCH NINE TEN.

Total Mileage: 27.3

Race Recap: Striders WRC 5K

Event: Striders Winter Race Circuit
Date: 2/7/2015
Distance: 5K
Field: 692.


Map:  Oh, hell.

Why yes, that is ~300 feet of elevation in about a mile.  Yes, yes, it is.

Every runner I know warned me about this course.  It's straight up the hill!  Just when you think it's done, it's not!  It is not a PR course.

Oh, indeed, they are right.  The first hill starts gradually, and then you think you're done, and then you make a turn, and up, up, up you go.

The Winter Racing Circuit was started by the local running store, Striders, ten years ago.  It's intended in part as training for those that are planning to take on the Ogden Marathon in May, so there are many seriously talented runners out there on the course.

It was an unusually nice morning.  This winter has been so mild that as of the first week in February, my tulips and daffodils are poking up their heads.  February, guys!  It was nearly 60 degrees at 8AM on race day, but I fully expect Mother Nature will be all "fooled you!" and we'll probably have six feet of snow in June.

Anyhow, the race.

Personally, it wasn't great.  This past week I added in my weights routine and I was surely feeling the effects of being two weeks into a mileage build-up.  I wasn't fast, and I had to walk part of the hill.   I finished in 30:06, which is quite a bit over my PR, but I'll take 29/92 in my age group given how sluggish I felt.  I joked at the finish line that I'm counting this race as a separate race than a normal 5K.

I'm the one that looks like she's going to die if she doesn't pass Stripey Pants.

The race non-personally, however, was great.  Striders sold the circuit this year to the GOAL foundation, which also runs the Ogden Marathon, and support was fantastic.  The course was on the open road, and the Ogden PD kept everyone safe.  At the finish there was coffee and hot chocolate provided by Daily Expresso, and bananas and orange slices and granola bars.

I also really appreciated that the course stayed open until the last finisher came through, and the announcer gave everyone a heads-up about ten minutes beforehand so people knew to stay and cheer. Heather's experience in her half really gave me a great appreciation for how important it is for the back of the field to have the same experience as the front of the field.  And while it's less of a safety issue with a 5K, a 5K is also often the first distance a newer runner does.  Not good if the experience is being alone on a road after everyone's gone home.

So, props to the GOAL foundation, and the next race is the 10K, on the 21st.

Yes, there's another hill.

Week Two Recap

Health: Hey, look at that!  I can breathe!
Injury: Hip feels pretty good; right big toe is acting up a bit.
Sleep: Good, but I am feeling beyond worn out.

Monday
Plan: 50-60 minutes, easy.
Actual: 53 minutes, easy (10:15)

A quick five+ after work today. My usual route in winter, when I'm stuck on the roads, is reasonably hilly, and today I added an extra hill just for the variety.  I'm not great at climbing hills, but they're very good for you, like broccoli, and I think they help my form.

My form is still all over the place.  I'm not in any pain during or after the run, but I feel like I'm cheating my stride length, running choppy instead of smoothly.  It's already so much better than it was three weeks ago, so I'm trying to be patient, but I really liked having 9:40 feel easy and it's been mentally a bit rough to see my leg speed so far off.

Tuesday
Plan: XT or 40-60 minutes, easy
Actual: 39:52, on a treadmill, with no music (9:52)

The run did not want to happen. I was going to run from work.  It's been unseasonably warm, so I packed for a 50 degree run, but as I changed into my gear, it started to drizzle.  So I decided not to tempt fate and instead headed over to the treadmill, whereupon I discovered that a) I had not packed my iPod and b) that the weather was just going to threaten rain for an hour.

Wednesday
Plan: 70-90 minutes, easy
Actual:  82 minutes, easy (11:37)

Man, this day.  The kiddo woke up, so the run before work didn't happen.  Sometimes I sneak in a few miles after work, but I had meetings and so I didn't make it out until after dark, running around with my lights like, a passerby observed, a bionic woman.  Very tired legs and no leg speed, but a gentle, easy run, followed by weight training.

Friday
Plan: 50-60 minutes, easy
Actual: 58 minutes, easy (11:24)

Another slow run in the dark.

Saturday
Plan: Striders WRC 5K race!
Actual: Race (30:06), then weights, then another hour of easy running.

I will recap the race soon.  Suffice it to say that I had a hard but disappointing run, but the race itself was fabulous.  Since I didn't feel like I managed a good effort in the race, I tacked on the miles I would have had scheduled for a long run.  Might have been a teensy bit of a mistake, but it was an odd 70 degree day in February and it did me good to get outside.

Total mileage: 29.7

The exhaustion is pretty severe, so I've switched to a multivitamin with some iron just in case I'm running a bit low.

Onward!

Almost Hansons. Almost.

While I was out with an injury, I read running books voraciously, mostly with an eye to finding a plan that would facilitate my stepping up from a plan where the goal was to finish the half upright, to beginning to race it.  More mileage, but something that's sensitive to a beginning runner's lack of speed.

I started with Hansons Half Marathon Method, which is a version of their popular marathon training program aimed at the half.  The first part of the book explains their training philosophy, which centers on running, running, and more running, because they argue that the non-cardio benefits of running are what really improve a runner in the long run.  Hansons marathon plan became known as the plan that demanded only a 16 mile long run, but what the buzz failed to mention is that the long run topped out at 16 because all of the rest of the mileage comes during the week.

They build their training program on the principle of cumulative fatigue; throughout the training cycle, the runner's legs will always be tired and never fully rested, which will not only simulate the last leg of the race, but also ensures that the runner has to take the easy days easy.  It's hard to race your training accidentally if your legs are always a little heavy.

I liked a lot about the plan.  The "Beginner" plan, aimed at beginning racers at the distance, tops out at 48 miles a week, which would be a challenge.  Every run is planned, with intervals and tempo runs included every week.  Best, the book includes all of the pace charts that you could wish for to get you through training, and it's extremely well-organized and edited.

Here's the problem.  I want to do this plan so badly, but I don't think I can handle six days a week of running.  I know I can manage five without an injury.  Every time I've pushed it to six, the sixth run of the week is horrible and I wind up hurting.

I want to destroy my half marathon, but I also want to keep from losing hours a week to PT.    So this cycle I'm sticking to three principles:

1. Run no more than five days per week.
2. Off days are off.  No weight training or extra core work.
3. Mobility work every day on hotspots.

So I've shelved Hansons for now.  Maybe next time.

Week One Recap

I decided for my second half to increase my mileage somewhat.  The Another Mother Runner basic half marathon plan was great, but I've read some research that suggests that about 40 miles a week is optimal for fitness (beyond that is necessary for small improvements, but there are diminishing returns.)

I wanted to run more, so I shopped around a bit for a plan.  I read the Hanson's Half Marathon book, which I'd highly recommend, but I don't think I'm up for running six days a week yet.  I know I can manage four or five and keep the injury bug at bay.

So, McMillan's plan from You (Only Faster) was the winner.  I think the book will be more useful once I have a little more experience.  I don't know how to tailor a plan to my strengths, because I don't know whether I'm oriented more toward Speed or Endurance.  I'm leaning Endurance right now because my half time way out performs the predictions based on my 5K time.  But I do  like interval workouts, so we'll see.

Week One is the first of eighteen weeks, and designed to begin the process of building up a mileage base.

Health: Meh.  Last week I had flu symptoms which resolved into a sinus cold that has clogged my head.  Not awful, but not ideal.

Injury Status:   Hip gets tight during runs but I am no longer having troubles with extending it.

Sleep:  The kiddo has decided that he needs to sleep touching me.  He wakes shrieking in his crib and then comes into bed.  I haven't been this tired since he was nursing twice a night as a newborn.

Monday

Plan: 40-50 minutes, easy.  Actual: 54 minutes, easy (avg: 10:21/mile)

Easy paces for me are supposed to be between 9:31-10:27; barely kept that one together over all the hills.  And it went a little long because I was conservatively shooting for the lower end of the range to keep my weekly jump in mileage reasonable, and completely misread the chart.

Tuesday

Plan: 40-60 minutes, or cross train, easy.  Actual: 49 minutes, easy (10:29)

Wednesday

Plan: 60-70 minutes, easy.  Actual: 61 minutes, easy (11:15)

I changed at the office, ran, and came back, where I ran into a colleague with whom I run occasionally.  She asked how it went.  I said, "Some days, it's just time on your feet."   The run was a slog from start to finish.  I would not recommend not sleeping and a head cold as a training regimen.

Thursday

OFF.  The plan also has running as an option but my preference now is to run Tuesdays, and take Thursdays off completely.

Friday

Plan: 50-60 minutes, easy.  Actual: 56 minutes (10:38)

I changed, ran, came back, toweled off with Wet Wipes and ridiculously fruity deodorant, and headed to an afternoon of meetings.  Dinner was an excellent New York strip prepared by the husband, and it was delicious and needed.  Then he decided to stay up with the toddler at night so I could get an uninterrupted eight hours.  I slept in our guest room.  Absolute bliss.

Saturday

Plan: 75-100 minutes, long.  Actual: 78 minutes (8 miles, 9:49)

Sleep works!  I ran with a friend along the gorgeous Ogden River Parkway.  It's very flat and great for just cruising along.  She had eight on her training schedule so I just ran with her as it met my time goals for the week. Long run paces are supposed to be from 9:33-10:51, so I was glad I nailed it, even with a large positive split.  

Total mileage: 28.7

Lessons learned:  One should not despair when one can't keep up an easy pace with a head cold on three hours of sleep.  One should instead, shake it off and take a nap.

So, it's been a while

Six days until the race!  I've been wildly busy with work and life, and once I added physiotherapy for my creaky SI joint, I've had no time to blog.

Fortunately, I have basically negative two readers at this point, but for you, I apologize for keeping you hanging.

Training has been going well.  I never thought eight miles would feel like an easy, relaxing run, but nevertheless, there it is.  

Rehab's been interesting.  The problem is that my lower core is weak, despite my efforts, and my left hip rotates forward, and then my tailbone pulls out of alignment.  This makes everything hurt, and screws up my stride.

So, part of the work is for the nice physiotherapists to pop my hip back into place.  Today, that involved also realigning the symphysis pubis joint, which cracked painfully and loudly, like a bunch of firecrackers went off in my pants.    I saw stars, and then yelled, and then apologized.  But then, when I stood up, I felt lighter and straight.

This is apparently what normal feels like.

The rest of the work is retraining the glutes and core so they can stabilize my pelvis when I run.  Lots of marching bridges and variations on leg lifts, and lots of getting my tired hamstrings to stretch just a bit further.

I think it's helping, but I also think it will be a while coming back.  The PT says essentially we have to retrain my body to recognize normal as normal, instead of settling back into the misalignment that I've had for months.

The race is Saturday!

NOW BEGINS THE TAPER.

I did it!  13.2 miles in around 2:20 today.  This morning there was the most beautiful rainbow over the valley, and the sky was pink.  A friend and I ran a point-to-point course starting at the top of one trail, running along the Bonneville Shoreline trail, down the Birdsong trail, and then looping along the Ogden River Parkway.

It went well -- my only goal for this run was to make the distance without aggravating my back too much.  The initial climb on the trails always slows me down, and I'm an extremely novice and inefficient trail runner, so it was easy to keep a relaxed pace.

Around mile eight I ate some Extreme Sport Beans.  These are quite literally glorified jelly beans. They're made by Jelly Belly and have caffeine and vitamins.  I was experimenting with refueling on the run.  Usually I don't bother, but I figure I might need to during the race and I didn't want to find out in three weeks that they upset my stomach.  Not bad, but hard to get down quickly, so perhaps I'll stick with Gatorade at the water stations.

I do think I didn't time the Beans (MAGIC BEANS) right.  Around mile 11 I started to struggle a lot, and my legs felt dead, but half a mile later my energy levels returned, so I either got a second wind or the sugar kicked in.  (Wondering if "second wind" just marks the body's transition from burning glucose to burning fat stores.  Anyone know?)

After walking a mile for a cooldown, we headed home, where I drank chocolate milk, stretched, "rolled some foam", and then had a nice relaxing day of mowing the lawn, doing laundry, going grocery shopping, and picking up the toddler, which at this point is basically a workout with a 21 lb, wiggling, kettlebell.

I'm just going to call it active recovery.

It's a month away!

I ran a nice easy 4-miler with a friend today.  Our half is only a month away, and from our conversation I think our feelings are mixed.  On the one hand, we're both in the hardest part of our half marathon training programs, and so I think we're a bit ready to be done with training.  I'm really ready for tapering just so some of my nagging non-injuries have a chance to heal.

But I have to decide which shoes I want to wear for the half:

• My workhorse Nike Pegasus 30s.   I have nearly 200 miles on these now, and they're still holding up great.   They're a bit squishy, however, and I find myself wondering how much energy I lose compressing the sole.
• Pros:  I know I can run twelve miles in these without trashing my legs.
• Cons:  I think they force more of a heel strike than I'd like, and I think they might slow me a bit.
• My Saucony Mirages.  These are sort of the stability version of the Kinvara, with a plastic insert on the medial side and a stiffer, less flexible sole.   They're very light and they feel fast.The uppers don't fit my feet as well as the Nikes, but I ran 6 miles at an 8:48 pace in my last race in them, and they are extremely responsive.
• Pros: Quick, light feels.
• Cons:  Worried the lack of cushioning will trash my legs if my longest run in them is six miles.

So, I'm really not sure.  I'm tempted to take the Mirages on a longer run, but I'm worried that I'll introduce an injury before the race.

What should I do?

Too much Radiolab?

I think I've hit the point in the training cycle where I am wondering why on earth I thought it would be fun to have running as a hobby.  The 12-mile run last weekend was a slog from the very first step, and while the week improved, I've been dragging all week.

The seven miles I was supposed to do on Tuesday turned into 6.68 on Wednesday.
The interval workout on Thursday went great, even though I had to do it on a treadmill.  Ten minute warm-up, 8 x 1min with 2 minutes of recovery, ten minute cooldown.

I switched the speeds between 4 mph for the walk breaks, and somewhere between 8mph and 9mph for the run intervals, with most of them hitting in around 8.5mph, which I think is about a seven-minute mile.

Friday was an easy quick 3 miles.

Today was eight miles following a night in which my son decided that night-time was for shrieking, and a morning full of thunderstorms.  I managed a good workout but I felt awful from beginning to end.

It didn't help that I somehow managed to put only one episode of Radiolab on my iPod Shuffle.  Most days, and most runs under an hour, I don't bother with music or any audio, unless I'm on a treadmill.  But today I knew I was feeling a little off, so I figured I'd listen to Radiolab, and This American Life, and that would carry me through a workout that I didn't feel like doing.  

The episode was a short, the Robert Krulwich birthday episode.  This was a lot of fun, as most of the episode was a retrospective of some of the more hilarious events in his career.  But at the end of the segment, I heard the familiar pop-hum of the Radiolab opener. My shuffle was repeating the episode!

I have no idea where the This American Life episode got to.  I suppose I must have forgotten to load it.  But here's the thing.  It takes me about an hour and twenty minutes to run eight miles.  The birthday episode?  Only about 28 minutes long.

So I listened to the birthday episode three times, because while I am fine with running without audio, I am not so fine with running without audio while my headphones dangle and bounce.

I have to remind myself that I'm doing this voluntarily, and only two more weeks before tapering starts, and that I've come so far in the ten months that I've been running.

Still, it's one of those days where I think my next hobby will be competitive napping.  Who has the most comfy quilt?  Who can sleep the longest?  What teddy bears provide the best performance for your long nap?

Maybe there's a niche here.

The running philosopher.

What would it mean to take a philosophical attitude toward running?

Here is the Stoic Sage Epictetus:

In every affair consider what precedes and follows, and then undertake it. Otherwise you will begin with spirit; but not having thought of the consequences, when some of them appear you will shamefullydesist. "I would conquer at the Olympic games." But consider what precedes and follows, and then, if it is for your advantage, engage in the affair. You must conform to rules, submit to a diet, refrain from dainties; exercise your body, whether you choose it or not, at a stated hour, in heat and cold; you must drink no cold water, nor sometimes even wine. In a word, you must give yourself up to your master, as to a physician. Then, in the combat, you may be thrown into a ditch, dislocate your arm, turn your ankle, swallow dust, be whipped, and, after all, lose the victory.

When you have evaluated all this, if your inclination still holds, then go to war. Otherwise, take notice, you will behave like children who sometimes play like wrestlers, sometimes gladiators, sometimes blow a trumpet, and sometimes act a tragedywhen they have seen and admired these shows. Thus you too will be at one time a wrestler, at another a gladiator, now a philosopher, then an orator; but with your whole soul, nothing at all. Like an ape, you mimic all you see, and one thing after another is sure to please you, but is out of favor as soon as it becomes familiar. For you have never entered upon anything considerately, nor after having viewed the whole matter on all sides, or made any scrutiny into it, but rashly, and with a cold inclination.

Thus some, when they have seen a philosopher and heard a man speaking like Euphrates (though, indeed, who can speak like him?), have a mind to be philosophers too. Consider first, man, what the matter is, and what your own nature is able to bear. If you would be a wrestler, consider your shoulders, your back, your thighs; for different persons are made for different things. Do you think that you can act as you do, and be a philosopher? That you can eat and drink, and be angry and discontented as you are now? You must watch, you must labor, you must get the better of certain appetites, must quit your acquaintance, be despised by your servant, be laughed at by those you meet; come off worse than others in everything, in magistracies, inhonors, in courts of judicature.

When you have considered all these things round, approach, if you please; if, by parting with them, you have a mind to purchase apathy, freedom, and tranquillity. If not, don't come here; don't, like children, be one while a philosopher, then a publican, then an orator, and then one of Caesar's officers. These things are not consistent. You must be one man, either good or bad. You must cultivate either your own ruling faculty or externals, and apply yourself either to things within or without you; that is, be either a philosopher, or one of the vulgar. 

Epictetus aims his counsel at anyone who would seek achievements, but there's a lot here to think about as a middle-aged weekend warrior.  More on this later, but here's the question I wish to entertain.  Is the pursuit of physical excellence, as an adult, valuable?  If so, why?

Twelve miles a-runnin'

So, I would not recommend a two-day car trip plus subsisting basically on caffeine and sugar as preparation for a twelve-mile run.  My lungs were fine, but my legs decided that they were going to hang out on the slow end of my easy run pace and refuse to turn over any faster.  After three miles in I figured out that it wasn't that I wasn't warmed up, but that I wasn't going to go anywhere quickly.  GI tract was not happy after a week of junk food, and halfway into the run I had to search for a bathroom.

But all twelve miles got done in a little over two hours.

I'm starting to wonder if my sub-2 goal is too ambitious.  It's really hard to say.  I'm an inexperienced racer, but I can run a 10K in around 54 minutes, so if everything goes well, I should be okay.  Huntsville is a fast course.

I found this podcast to be really interesting.  Greg McMillan (yes, that one) talks about, among other things, whether a sub-2 goal is reasonable.  My takeaway for myself was that it's really hard to say.  It's my first one, and I have almost nothing to judge my speed or preparation.  I think right now I'm hoping for sub-2, but I'll be pleased with anything under 2:15.

Achievement is weird, isn't it?  Here I am, a beginning runner with no discernible natural talent, and running thirteen miles is almost already something I'm willing to regard as not really an achievement unless it's under a completely arbitrary time.  Keeping this in mind is important, I think.  A year ago, four months after a rough labor and delivery, I wasn't sure I'd be able to run at all.  And now, I'm wondering how fast can I go?

Probably sub-2.

Unless I fuel with Timbits for a week first.

Oh, ew.

Hey, look, pictures of a doofus from Skirt in the Dirt!

Is it possible to like your own race pic, ever?  I think not.

Yesterday we had a massive cloudburst-style thunderstorm.  Rivers of water pouring down the streets, poor little xeriscaped plants not knowing what to do with themselves with all this water.

After the storm ended and everything drip-dried a bit, I went for an easy 5 mile run.  Usually I'm in my Nike Pegasuses on the trails unless I'm doing hills, but I grabbed my actual trail shoes due to the puddles and the mud. (Saucony Peregrines -- review on them after I have 100 miles on them, but man, these are a great light shoe.)

The humidity was not bad compared to places that actually have humidity, like the armpit that is the East Coast this time of year.  But for northern Utah it was a swamp, and within a few minutes I had a sheen of sweat covering me instead of the usual instant salt wash resulting from a normal evening run.  I dodged puddles and kept a good pace, even when I had to run through a cloud of little flying ants that swarmed the wet trails.

I arrived home and prepared to stretch, when I noticed a couple of little flying ants had stuck to me.  Ew.  I then looked in the mirror.

It turns out curly hair doubles as an excellent bug catcher.  Screw stretching.  Hit the showers!

I sometimes hate nature.

Back to the bar!

The last two weeks I've slacked off on strength training because after the trails caught on fire and I missed my long run, I felt like I should take the run options in my training plan instead of crosstraining.

Yeah, enough of that.  I think right now I do a bit better if I run four days a week and strengthen train for two, keeping one day as a rest/yoga day.  

So today I hit the gym with some friends for a leisurely weights workout, by which I mean Coach taught us some new ways to be completely exhausted by the end of it.

First up, the Turkish get-up.  

(That's not me.  This is Neghar Fonooni, who is evidently a badass.)

 Second, the push press. A push press is a regular overhead press, but instead of standing still and beginning the press with your arms, you bend your knees slightly and then explode up, transferring the force from your legs to your arms, and then you press it up.  The idea is to use your legs to power the weight above your head -- it makes the press significantly easier.

Once that was done, it was onto maxing the squats.  110lbs for me!  It was a soft 110, but I didn't really want to push it as my IT band is a bit achy after last week's adventures.  We closed out the day with some push-ups, dips, and split squats, and some well-deserved stretching.

Not sure what to make of this set of lifting standards, but it's interesting.  I'm solidly in the novice-intermediate range on all of the lifts that I've done.  Maybe I've got the wrong sport prioritized as I'm clearly in the turtle range on distance running...!

Who else here strength trains?

Oh, Snap!

I've loved snapdragons since I was a kid.  Squeeze their cheeks and they open and close their little mouths!  Snap, snap, snap.  So when a friend offered me some of her volunteer (read: self-seeded) snapdragons, I jumped at the chance to use them to fill out my garden.

Snapdragons are supposed to be annuals, but in northern Utah, it's just warm enough that it's possible for the seeds to winter over.  As a result, what were originally ordinary solid-color snapdragons pollinate each other, and turn into gorgeous tie-dyed, ombre manic dragons.

There's probably a halfway decent metaphor in here about hybrid vigor and friendship and beauty and strength, but the last thing the Internet needs is some hobby jogger trying to squeeze a metaphor out of some pictures of some flowers.

Yesterday's run was a comfortable, tentative five miles, in which my main goal was not to fall on my face again.  Achievement: unlocked!  Today I hit the Birdsong trail again, because not only is it so pretty, but it's sufficiently challenging that I have to take it as an easy run.

Eight miles tomorrow, in which I hope to explore a new (to me) trail!

Protip: Don't faceplant!

I'm feeling much better after Tuesday's adventure.  My chin is still swollen and my jaw is still tender at the right TMJ, but it's getting better.  Yesterday I went for a walk and took it easy.  The schedule called for cross-training or a rest day, but I figured that my body had enough going on trying to repair my face that I didn't need to stress it.

So, first rule of injury prevention: don't fall down.

Second rule:  your hips are weak.

But I run fast, you say.  But I am healthy, you say!  But I've been doing this longer than you have, emmbee, you say!

That is true.

Still, your hips are weak.  Especially if you're female, and especially if you've had a baby.

I'm a new runner, but I'm an old pro at starting running programs and giving up due to knee and IT band pain.  I knew my feet were flexible, and that I overpronated moderately, so I bought motion control shoes, and, well, I still had pain.

Then I had a baby who liked to eat, and I spent many hours nursing and reading books about running on my Kindle.  And I learned that many of the aches and pains of runners can be attributed to weak hips.

Here's the deal.  When you run, you take about 3000 steps per mile, give or take.  Your body is a marvelous machine, so imagine any other machine you like.  A bicycle, maybe, or a stand mixer.  Now imagine a tiny problem with its mechanics -- maybe a slightly wobbly tire, or one tooth on a gear slightly out of position.  How would it last after 15,000 repetitions?

Why would your body be any different?

Now, this is not all to say that we need to have the same form.  Your personal history and movement patterns are stamped on your body.  But if something small is out of balance, it can lead to greater problems down the line.

Think about your hips and glutes.  If they're not strong, or if they're not firing, when you stride forward powerfully, as you do when you run, your leg will cave in slightly.   Assuming you don't fall down (see protip #1), some other muscle and joint has to compensate to absorb the force.  That means that your foot rolls in more, and your quad and IT band have to tighten to catch you.  Do that 15,000 times, and you stand a good chance of injury.

Often, it's not a matter of pure strength.  If you want the easiest, no brainer fix, just find a trainer and learn how to squat and deadlift.  Once you can do those, you'll have sorted out your hip and glute issues.  But you might not be into cross-training, nor might you have time or access for a gym, and the thing is, there is no savings account in strength training.  You have to work these muscles all the time.

So, what to do?

There are so many things, but here's what I like as a starting point:

1. Stand tall.  (If you do yoga, think of mountain pose.)  Stand with your weight equally balanced on your feet, with a neutral pelvis, tail neither tucked nor popped.  Your weight should be over your heels; check this by wiggling your toes off the ground.
2. Now, think of rotating your knees outward from the hips.  You won't actually move your knees --- you're just trying to find that little stabilizing muscle.*  What you're thinking of is moving your glutes (buttcheeks) together without clenching them, rotating your femurs outward without moving your feet.  
3. Now, notice what it does.  Pay attention to your body!  You'll notice that your knees separate a bit, and your legs are straighter.  Your arches will lift slightly.  

This is what you need to get your body to do while you run.  Obviously, you're not going to be able to concentrate on that, so you do strengthening exercises to get those muscles to fire.

Here's my three favorite hip strengtheners.  

• Air squats.  Standing tall, squat down to parallel or just below, and then stand back up.  Here's what you need to think about while doing this:
• Remember that little stabilizing muscle in your butt?  Think about it.  Feel it push your knees outward as you squat and rise.  You want to keep your knees from collapsing in, and you want that to happen from your butt.
• Power yourself back up with your glutes -- you want to avoid tipping forward.  Keep your weight over your heels as much as you can.
• I like to do these after runs, maybe 20 or so.
• Monster walks.  For this one, you need one of those stretchy elastic flat bands.  Loop the band around both legs, around your calves or ankles.  Stand with your feet about hip width and bend your knees into a high squat.  Then, keeping tension in the band, step sideways.  
• Do ten steps in one direction, and then come back ten steps the other way.  You'll feel this in your hip rotators, too.
• Three sets of ten should do ya.
• Roll-outs.  For this one, you need that flat band again, a soccer-ball sized rubber ball (like the kind your kids want at the supermarket), and a chair or a stability ball.
• The band goes around your legs just above the knee.  Your butt sits on the big ball.  The little ball goes between your knees, feet about hip width apart.  Keep your hands on the little ball.
• Think about that little stabilizing muscle, and feel it work as you roll your feet to the outside -- your legs will part, and you'll feel the band stretch.  Then, return your feet to neutral, and squeeze the little ball between your legs.  You're basically doing a clam shell, but while sitting, with a little added resistance.
• Three sets of eight should be good.  If you Kegel as you squeeze the ball, and lift your pelvic floor, you'll get a good workout there, too.  (Important for us mother runners.)

And you're on your way!  Bulletproof.  Just don't fall on your face.

* Technically, it's all these little muscles.  But they're hard to tell apart, and you're looking for a feeling of rotation.

(Standard sort of disclaimer:  I'm not a medical doctor, just a hobbyist, so think critically when deciding whether to listen to some loon on the Internet.  Ta!)

Well, hell.

Today's run was going to be great.  Sunday's rest day followed by an invigorating yoga workout yesterday primed my body to be ready for a good effort.  My various aches weren't feeling too bad, and I slept in a bit, but as it's cool (well, 75 degrees) and rainy, I figured I'd be okay with a later start.

Because of the rain I figured I'd hit the roads instead of the trails, and I set off for an easy seven.

First two miles were great.  The rain was misting gently. Warming up, legs feeling good, ready to push it a bit:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
1	8:58.2	1.00	8:58
2	9:14.1	1.00	9:14

Pretty cool, huh?

Then, WHAM!  I slipped while crossing a road and face-planted.  My chin hit the ground hard, and gushed blood.  Some construction guys came over to see if I was okay and offered me a towel and  a bandaid.  

I limped the two miles home.  Total time: 1:03.  No seven miles.  A tender jaw and chin, and various abrasions and contusions everywhere.

Not the medium length run I was hoping for!  I'm not the whiniest person in the house only because the baby has a fever.

I think I'm going to hunker indoors today, surrounded by soft pillows.

Check in, tune up.

As I'm beginning week seven of training, I'm nearly halfway there, and I thought it wise to take stock of what's well and what's whining:

• Left glute/hip
• This side has been the bane of my existence since about the 32nd week of pregnancy.  I can't quite figure out what's wrong, but it's as if the entire posterior chain on that side is just about half an inch too short.  Stretching helps, but a basic forward fold is really tough on that side right where the hamstring cups under the glute.  It does not seem to be worsened by running, but it's been frustrating for a while.  Interestingly, what seems to make it worse is sitting in my desk chair.
• Remedy: sitting on exercise ball, lots of stretching.
• Right IT band
• Just a tiny tweak and tightness right above the outside of the knee.  It's noticeable if I try hero's pose or squat deeply.  
• Remedy: It gets better with rolling or Sticking, but I need to keep on it.
• Right heel
• Some pain on the outside of the foot near the heel.  This started after I stumbled while trail running and stoved my foot hard.  It's tighter in the morning, but loosens as it warms up (which sounds like PF, but it's in the wrong place.)
• Remedy:  Eccentric calf raises (still not PF!), Foot Rubz massage ball.
• Right bunion
• This is just the worst.  I've had bunions since I was a kid, which just seems so unfair.  Where were the years of stilettos?  I have a narrow midfoot and flexible feet, and I think as a kid this meant just that my toes had to grip to keep shoes on, and over time, this forced out the big toe joint.  Anyhow, lovely hallux valgus, but no mobility limitations.  My left foot is visibly worse, but does not hurt.  My right foot, however, is driving me nuts.  It seems to be worse if I tie my shoes too tightly over the instep.  
• Remedy: Yoga Toes stretching, lacing properly, maybe look into taping.

Reflecting on this I wonder if perhaps I'd do better with a lower drop shoe or a stability shoe to help out that right leg a bit.  No knee problems, though, which for me historically is when I can tell a shoe doesn't work.  

I think I need to recommit to doing more core and hip stability work, and to doing a brief yoga session after runs.  (Too often I skip stretching in favor of showering, and too often I miss showering in favor of waking up the baby.)

But despite my whiny body, I'm actually feeling really good so far in the training cycle.  The long runs haven't left me as wiped or hurting as I thought they would; aches and pains are noticeable, but not to the point where I feel like I need Tylenol every day to function.  

Today's plan called for a fun workout.  I haven't done yoga in months as limited training time has been spent on lifting, but tonight called for a lovely yoga session in my living room as the evening breeze blew through the house, bringing the promise of thunderstorms (but maddeningly, as of yet, no actual rain.)  

Check out what I did!  Ron's classes are great.

Seven miles in the morning.  

Back to back.

It surprises me how much perceived effort can vary.  Thursday's workout called for another series of intervals 6@ 45 seconds with 1 min walking,  following a warmup.

Here's the pertinent details:

Split Time         Avg Pace

1 10:21.9 10:22

3 00:45.6 6:45

5 00:46.6 6:35

7 00:46.0 6:36

9 00:50.9 6:45

11 00:44.6 6:19

13 00:44.2 6:09

15 04:50.1 8:15

Something clicked on interval 3 (split 7) where while I was running fast for me, I also felt light, quick, and in control.   

But what is really interesting to me is how the cooldown lap, split 15 felt.  I was exerting myself, but it felt a lot easier than the warm-up, and I would have guessed I was running in the mid-9s.  All wasn't perfect, though, as I think I mildly strained my right quad.

This morning was a different story.  I could not force myself to run faster.  The good news is for an easy-paced long run, that's okay.  But the bewildering thing is just how much effort it felt like it was taking to run an easy pace.  My lungs were fine, but my legs just wanted to die.

Split Avg Pace

1 10:47

2 10:05

3 10:05

4 10:07

5 10:15

6 10:03

7 10:32

8 10:07

9 9:53

Clunk, clunk, clunk.   What I find interesting is how much harder today's run felt than yesterday's much faster cooldown lap.  The difference?  Today's workout followed an interval day, and yesterday's cooldown lap followed running at close to my maximum pace.  I think it's like the weightlifting phenomenon where a reasonably heavy weight feels much lighter after lifting an even heavier load.

Why were the runs back to back?  Because tomorrow is Skirt in the Dirt!