Roller Coaster of Running Emotions

I have been a blog slacker!

It happens sometimes I guess.  All I can say is that life has been busy, and most of my online time is now work time, which is a good thing.  At least it's productive and I'm making a bit of money sharing a product I love with others!  Plus, it's World Cup and that has been a big distraction!

Speaking of here's a look at my current nail situation...

  So much fun!

Mostly though I was on a bit of a running emotions roller coaster with the knee situation, and just didn't feel like blogging.

I think goals are a good thing so don't take this wrong...but I'm realizing the problem with setting a goal for a specific race and pinning the whole year's running on that one big race.  It makes it really hard to let go and do what's right/smart vs pushing harder than you probably should and making things worse.  (Even though my goal is to pr all my distances hitting the pr I want for the half was the #1 focus for me).

I had a strong talk with myself and reminded myself that I registered for a back-up race for a reason, that my goal was just a random goal I set for the year in order to stay focused and motivated, and as such life does not depend on me hitting that goal, and that my long term running ability and health are more important than some stupid numbers on a clock at the finish line.

It sure does seem that when numbers are involved in life it's way easier to obsess...numbers on a scale, numbers on a watch, daily/weekly/monthly/yearly miles etc.  I had to remind myself that there is a reason I don't own a scale...I can't use it in a healthy way, and if I can't run for the joy of it and stop obsessing about pace, and how my 4 or 6 mile time may translate into my 13.1 time then I'm going to have to not own a Garmin as well.  

It's kind of funny to me that after having a strong convo with myself and letting go of what I thought this race was going to be, and focusing instead on running smart and just making it to the start line healthy, things came together on yesterdays run!

  Ran with the watch mostly to keep track of miles, not pace.  I kept it fairly flat and ran what felt good and only looked at the watch towards the end so I didn't go over 6.

This is the first nearly pain free run I've had since this whole knee thing popped up.  I would say it was 85% pain free, and the pain that did twinge here and there was way less intense than what it has been...progress! I have let go of pushing for a PR pace and am just focusing on an easy'ish, sustainable pace that feels good for my breathing, cadence, and my knee.

I'm also adding on miles slowly.  Two miles a week to the long run and the shorter runs during the week are about half of what the should be at this point.  Two miles may seem like a lot, but I'm only up to 6 miles and at this point in the training I should be at 11...way behind.  I should still hit 12 before race day, but my taper time is going to be way less than normal.

After I get my knee worked on this week I'll start adding miles onto the short runs as well, provided everything feels good.  My new goal is to make it to the start line period, and finishing.  It stressed me out for a bit, but I'm letting go of arbitrary goals and just focusing on running smart, doing what works for my knee, and having fun.  I really love the Tacoma Narrows course, and Dad is going to race chase again, so I have a lot to look forward to!

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How do you set your running goals?  Do you have a yearly goal, monthly, weekly, race by race?

I tend to set a goal for the year, but out of my 3 years of running I've only hit my goal once.  Last year when I qualified for Half Fanatics, the first year I missed it (run a race a month for the year) and this year isn't looking so great, but we will see.  Clearly I may need to change how I set my running goals.  

Weekend Fun, and No Knee Pain!

We had a lovely weekend away, like totally away with no phone or wifi service, and I kinda love that!  I also kinda love camping! 

 Sparkling White Sangria and a good book!

 PB doesn't last long around our place/camp!  Foil wrapped banana, and Sky claiming her spot in Bob and Michelle's new trailer! 

Let's talk about the foil wrapped banana for a moment.  I didn't actually get to try it, because I made myself sick eating cookie dough bites, but Mark said that it was really good and highly recommends it!  Leave the banana in the peel, cut it down the middle (length wise) add some marshmallows and whatever other yummy stuff you would like (chocolate, PB, crumbled gram crackers or nilla wafers etc), wrap the whole thing in tinfoil and heat/melt by the fire.  Once it's melted open up and enjoy right out of the peel. 

 

 She is such a snuggle bug when we camp!

 She knows how to enjoy some ice cream! 

This was pretty funny, because I was actually in the outhouse (one of the things we love about the property...flushing potty!)  Next thing I see is Sky's face smashed up against the mesh vent at the top...was not expecting that!

Thank you Bob for making your chocolate chip cookie dough bites...so good!

I think my knee needed the break this weekend.  I didn't run, didn't hike, didn't really do much of anything other than sit around drinking wine and reading my book.  It's a borrowed book, so I was doing my best to blaze through it and get it back to it's owner.  

By the time we got home yesterday I had zero pain and felt ready for a test run...and it feels 100% fine today.  Granted it was only a 2 mile run, and the pace was very easy, a few seconds shy of race day PR pace, which is slower than I've been pushing my runs as of late. 

I'm hopeful that all is going to be ok, but won't feel like I'm out of the woods until I get closer to 10 miles on it and it doesn't hurt.  I was considering running again today, but opted for pilates and trigger pointing instead. 

I may be a little more cautious than I truly need to be, but I'd rather be safe than sorry, and I have a lot of wiggle room in meeting my PR goal.  Technically to meet my running goal for the year (PR's at all my distances) I only need to be 1 second faster than my current PR.  I've been training for a much bigger PR than that, but while I'm training to shoot for the stars I know that I have a lot of room to allow for a more moderate pace if need be.  So we will see how it goes.    

Tomorrow I'll get out there again and see how it feels.  Fingers crossed! 

Sadly Mark and Sky came home from camping sick.  Sky is down right miserable and is cranky as all get out, yet wants to be cuddled and held all the time.  She finally started crying and asking for her bed, so I'm hopeful she wakes up feeling a bit better.  In the meantime I'm enjoying World Cup and blogging while I have the chance! 

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Any campfire treats (other than the normal smores) that we should try out? 



 

Knee Update!

My knee feels better!!! It's not 100%, but the ice, ibuprofen, rest, and finally being able to foam roll and use my roller stick on it have made a huge difference.  I'm pain free this morning!  It's still a bit stiff, but at least it doesn't hurt!

I'm going to focus on resting it this weekend, while camping, and will probably do a test run Sunday afternoon after we get home.  I'm really hoping that I can pick up next week with the training schedule and only miss one long run (I have missed the 8 mile long run 4 out of the 5 times I've gone through this training schedule...interesting).

Ultimately while I would be irritated about paying money for a race I don't run an injury isn't the end of the world.  I don't get paid to run, it's not how I feed my family, it's a hobby/sport/form of exercise that I love, but am not dependent on.  I was stressed (really more irritated at the inconvenience of it)  for about 2 seconds when my knee flared up.  But, then I put it all in perspective and decided to not worry about it.

I will live to run another day.  Yes, I hope that day is sooner rather than later, but regardless I'm not stressing about it.

A few fun pics from the last few days...

She asked to play in her room, with the door shut, that should have tipped me off!  After a few minutes she started yelling at me to take her picture, and this is what I found when I walked in.

She hardly ever falls asleep in my arms anymore....I was in heaven!

We love Rock n Roll!

I love that I can work, watch soccer, drink wine, keep an eye on Sky playing outside all at the same time.  Got lost of Jamberry work done while resting my knee yesterday!

Funny convo with Sky yesterday:

I got down on the floor to help her with something and forgot to be careful of my knee...

Me: "Ouch, that hurt"

Sky: "What happened Mommy, I kiss it"

Me: "I bent my knee too much and it hurts"

Sky: "You run too fast Mommy, it hurts"

Sadly she may be right.  

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Anyone running Seattle Rock n Roll this weekend? 

Tell me your favorite song or band to belt out in the car!

Me - Aerosmith, Sky - Bruno Mars

It's NOT an Injury...It Is Not an Injury

I'm so irritated right now.   

I had a most awesome run last night...a sub 9 pace (very fast for me) and I felt great doing it.  Nothing hurt or bothered me.  It felt hard, but any pace that starts with an 8 should feel hard, but nothing hurt at all.  

So, I was not happy to spend my day like this today.  

About two hours after the run last night my knee started hurting...I couldn't bend it, and it was swollen.  It didn't feel any better today.  I figured stroller running was a bad idea, so spent the day in magic compression pants, icing, taking ibuprofen and resting as much as possible.  

It feels slightly better tonight, and I'm optimistic it's not a "real" injury, just some strange tweak that I can work out on my own.  Fingers crossed.  

The upside is I had a legit excuse to watch soccer all day!  

Hopeful that I only miss a run or two and still have 6 weeks of training to get ready for Tacoma Narrows Half! 

 

Running, Life, Weekend Catch Up - 3 Posts In One

I  hope everyone had a lovely Fathers Day weekend!  Things have been busy around here, which is why there hasn't been a new post in a few days.

It seems no matter how early I get up, to have some blog time before Sky's awake, it's never early enough. She is making a habit of getting up about 5 to 10 minutes after I do, even if it's 5:00 am!!  I just don't set alarms that start with a number lower than 5.  Mickey Mouse Club House is helping me out this morning though.  

Plus, it's World Cup, so I find myself watching soccer all the time!  I'm trying to be responsible and get stuff done between matches, but let's be real...the house and everything else is sliding a bit.  Oh well, this could be the last World Cup I'm a SAHM, and therefor able to sit and watch, so I'm making the most of it!

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Anyway, we had a very nice weekend and an easy, laid back Fathers Day!

Saturday started with a visit to Tacoma's Relay For Life event to help celebrate 30 years of Relay!  It's been 5 years since I've been back at the Tacoma event, and you know it was really nice.  I got to re-connect with some people I have really missed, and that was nice.  It was also nice to be recognized, with the other past chairs, for the part we have played in Tacoma Relay history.

Chairing the Tacoma event was one of the hardest yet most rewarding things I have ever done...I'll admit I'm pretty proud of my involvement, and time spent on the leadership team!  I have to say though, it was fun to just be at the event, visiting with friends, and have zero responsibility!

   Those glasses!

Sky had a blast running around, dancing, and playing in the jump house for a few hours.  Great way to burn energy!  

Sunday was totally laid back.  Mark wanted to go to REI and get flip flops for Fathers Day (love how easy he is!), so we did that, grabbed lunch, and headed home to watch soccer, rest, and get a training run in.

PSA - Don't eat a 6 inch Subway Sandwich and then go run 6 miles (I actually only did 5.51 because that was what it was when I circled back to the car, and didn't really feel like trying to come up with .5 more given the subway in my tummy situation).  

While you can run with a tummy full of Subway Sandwich I just don't recommend it.  I mean I got my run done...it was 18 seconds faster and 1.5 miles longer than last weeks run...everything (except for my tummy) felt really good and strong...so it can be done, but it's probably not going to feel super awesome.  It's good training to run through discomfort though...I guess.  

I actually felt really good mentally after the run.  Training is headed in the right direction...adding miles and dropping the pace.  You would think that headed into my 6th 1/2 training cycle I would be calm, confident and trust the training process.  Yet, I always freak out a little bit the first few weeks, because it feels hard. I'm usually start over to some degree since I scale the running back a lot after race day, and don't pick it up again until training starts.  I'm finally feeling like I'm getting my race day legs back, so I'm feeling a lot more confident with the training!  

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Yesterday was play date day with Reagan.  Here's a tip...put parchment paper down on your table/counters when playing with play dough, so it's a quick easy clean up when done.  

    

Then it was time to come home and cheer on Team USA!  Let's just say I'm way more into soccer than Sky is.  

Thankfully she can watch movies/play games on her Nabi while I watch soccer, and we can still cuddle...which is all she want's to do lately.  Except for when I'm jumping and screaming for Team USA...it was an exciting match...Sky didn't think all the noise was needed though.  

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Tell Me: 

How much does your weekly mileage drop between races?  

How frequently do you have races on your schedule?

Worst pre-run/race meal ever?

  

    

Friday Fun!

Really I just have a bunch of fun'ish pictures to share from the week.  Today is being spent watching soccer, which is fun, but not really blog worthy fun. 

I did start my day with a most awesome run!  This training cycle I have felt off.  Things, not even sure which things, just haven't felt like they should.  I was starting to think that maybe this time around was going to be a complete disaster and I could kiss my PR attempt goodbye (a bit dramatic given I'm only 3 weeks in I know).

But, today was different.  I felt good.  The pace felt good and I felt like I could have kept going for as long as I wanted to.  Granted it was only a 4 mile run, but this weeks average pace was 20 seconds faster than last weeks 4 miles.  And, nothing hurt, nothing irritated me, and my mind felt like it was in the game!

  Goal pace race day is 9 even.  I'm getting there! 

Looking forward to Sunday's long run now for sure!  

Ok, on to some random, fun pics from the week!  

Looks like we may need to look into T-Ball for her!  She was really hitting it hard.  And, in cowgirl boots even! 

We had a very important book to pick up for her at the book store (Her very own copy of Princess Of The Potty) and we ran a Father's Day errand as well.  Her reward was a triple chocolate chip cookie bigger than her head!  

Giggles and snuggles...this is how she starts almost every day.  She wants cuddles and she is almost over the top happy every morning when she wakes up.  Love it! 

Really yummy summer beer!  It's going to be even better camping next weekend!  

Her absolute favorite thing to do in the whole world...swing on her swing.  It makes her feel like she's flying.  :)  

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend planned and Happy Father's Day to all the Father's out there!