Monday, August 31, 2009

Weekend Workouts....

Saturday

Ken was busy with work on Saturday, so I had quite the workout! I walked Miss Kya three miles, ran seven miles, biked 8.5 miles, and lifted arm weights at the gym. I ran my seven miles in record breaking time of 1:02:40. I was a little proud and impressed with this time!

Sunday

I walked Miss Kya three miles again. This husky girl is getting so excited for fall! Soon she will be running almost every run with me! I skipped out on running and road 12 miles on my bike with Ken. It was a nice ride.

I am still leaning toward starting triathlons next Spring. This gives me all winter to start training. I am 90% positive that I am going to participate in the Half Ironman in Lawerence next June. This is a huge goal for me, but I am sure that I can do it!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Behind on Posting...

I am not sure what I have been busy doing, but I have not had time to post any of my runs lately!


Over the weekend, Ken and I bought bikes! I mentioned to him that I wanted to train for a triathlon, and he must have been excited because we bought bikes the next day! I was a little rusty on the bike. I had not ridden a bike in about 10-15 years. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to long bikes rides. I was a little disappointed that I could not get a pink bike, but I was able to get a pink helmet!


Here is a run down of my activity lately:
Wednesday, 8/19 - Ran three miles on the treadmill since it was raining when I got home. I did a little hill training. I ran 3 x 400 hills. What fun...
Thursday, 8/20 - Had dinner with a friend and ran three miles after dinner (boy was I stuffed). It was cool enough that Miss Kya was able to run with me. After we ran, I went to the gym and did arm weights. Kya also got to walk a mile afterward.
Saturday, 8/22 - Road 10 miles on my new bike with Ken. My brother came over for a BBQ and I did not have time to run.
Sunday, 8/23 - Walked Kya three miles, road my bike 7.3 miles, and ran six miles outside on my hill course. Trust me, my hill course is really not that hilly, but you take what you can get in Kansas.
Monday, 8/24 - Ran 3.5 miles, biked 7.5 miles, and walked Kya one mile.
Tuesday, 8/25 - did not feel well and only walked Kya 1.25 miles.
Wednesday, 8/26 - Ran six miles at the gym, lifted arm weights, and walked Kya one mile.
I am going to sign up for the Lewis and Clarke Half Marathon in St. Louis. I am running this with my friend Laura who lives in St. Louis. I do not think I am super prepared, but I think it will be fun and good training!

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Could the Knee Pain be Gone?

I ran four miles last night on the treadmill and did not have any knee pain at all! I was so excited. I think I am daring enough to head back out on the road and run. I had been a little nervous to before, I was afraid I would get out too far and have knee pain and not make it back to my house and have to do the walk of shame! Pending no rain tonight, I am going to run outside.

After my run I went to the gym and did arm weights and then took Miss Kya on a two mile walk. I will be so glad when it cools off so that she can start running with me again. I know she will be excited too. It is hard to burn off that husky energy when it is so hot!

I am keeping my fingers crossed that my knee pain will not come back!

Monday, August 17, 2009

Weekend Running...

I ran a total of seven miles this weekend, all on the treadmill. I slept in both days and was not able to beat the heat and was forced to run on my treadmill in the basement. I ran four on Saturday and three on Sunday. My three on Sunday was at a 9:05 mile pace, so I was a little happy about that and I cannot remember my pace on Saturday.

My knee, well it has felt fine and has not been hurting at all. I decided to wear a pair of shoes today that have a one inch wedge heel and now it is killing me! It is strange that wearing flip flops feels better for me than other shoes. I guess I will be wearing flip flops to work for a few more weeks.

I also just noticed that today is August 17. Exactly one year ago today I broke my left foot walking out the front door to take Kya for a walk. Yes, you have to be highly skilled to accomplish such a task, so please do not be too jealous. :) This broken foot kept me from running in the Chicago Marathon last year, boo! I will consider the whole thing a victory since I managed to not break anything else on my body while using the crutches. I was lucky enough to only have to use them for a week and was approved to hobble around and walk on my heel. What an ugly week it was. On the first day, I fell trying to get out to the garage to get a popsicle out of the freezer. A girl has to have her priorities and I am a little stubborn to let Ken wait on me. Oh, did I mention that after he took me to the ER, he left for Chicago for a business trip? It was probably best, because I did not have the best attitude. I did manage to a lose a little weight that week, which seemed odd since I was not exactly mobile. I found it to be dangerous and just not worth the effort to make it to the kitchen for M&M's like I ordinarily do. Oh, did I mention that I have a two story house and our bedroom is upstairs? Yeah, Ken tried to teach me how to use the crutches on the stairs, and I was not going to chance it. I had a bucket that I would hook on my crutches and scoot up and down the stairs carrying items such as my cell phone, yogurt cups, and Diet Coke. I also found that doing repeats of this motion could be considered cardio, so I would go up and down up and down trying to burn off a few calories and keep from going stir crazy. I was approved to start running on October 6th and ran the Memphis Marathon on December 6th, so it could have been much worse!

There you have it, one broken bone walking out the front door with my dog, nice!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Runners Knee...

I have been having a little bit of knee pain the last week or so. I did a little Googling and feel pretty confident that I have Runners Knee. Plus, my running buddy is a physical therapist and I shared my symptoms with her and she thinks it is the same thing. I am so fortunate that she shows me stretches and gives me tips on what to do to help heal. I need to work on strengthening my quads and ice my knee and take it a easy. I also am taking a break from wearing my four inch heels for a while.

I was able to rest for two days and ran three miles last night without it hurting. I am glad I am really not training for anything right now, so I should be good! I am attributing the injury from all of the down hill stretches during the San Francisco Marathon. I always say what goes up must come down and there were a lot of ups during the marathon!

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Success...

Wow, I finished the San Francisco Marathon in 4:23! This was my personal best! I was so excited.


I started the race off at 6:18 am. Yes, I said 6:18 am. The early start was not because of the weather, rather they can only close the Golden Gate Bridge early in the morning to keep traffic from backing up. I set the alarm for 5:05 so that I could get up, put on my super cute outfit, drink some water, and eat my Luna bar and hail a cab to the start line. I ended up tossing and turning all night and did not sleep well. I finally woke up at 4:30 and could not go back to sleep. I went ahead and got up and got ready for my long day ahead. I am not sure that Ken appreciated me talking to him, but he got over it.


I ended up sharing a taxi with four really nice ladies from LA. They were all running the half and were amazed that I was running the full. It was still dark with the race started. We ran along all of the piers before heading up to the bridge. I knew a big hill was coming up, but I had no idea how big. It was the steepest, longest hill I have ever seen! The Golden Gate Bridge was flat and very foggy. The fog did a number on my hair! I looked like Medusa at the end! I was thinking that since there was a huge hill before the bridge that there would be a down hill at the end of the bridge: WRONG! We had to go up another huge, steep, long hill! Finally, after the mambo jombo hill, a two mile stretch of down hill came. I think this is what made me so sore the next day. I was not used to using these down hill muscles!


We ran six miles in Golden Gate Park and then the second half marathoners joined us. I was not a huge fan of this part, but it was fine. At mile 22 was the "surprise" hill that the course warned us about. You can bet your socks that I walked up this hill! I did catch a glimpse of myself in a store front window somewhere near mile 23. Wow, talk about looking rough! This is when I first noticed my Medusa hair! The premadonna in me tried to run my fingers through it to make it look half way decent! We ran past AT&T Park where the Giants play. What a beautiful stadium! I could not believe how close it was to the Bay. I was reminded of the kayakers trying to catch home run balls hit by Barry Bonds.

For the last half mile I was looking to see if I could find Ken. The finish line is set up differently than the Memphis Marathon which finishes in a stadium and allows you to spot your loved ones before you cross the finish line. I had no idea what he was wearing, since he was snoozing when I left, so I did not spot him. He saw me though! I guess it is hard to miss a 4'10 girl in a bright pink top with crazy hair! All he could say when he found me was Wow, you look a little rough!

What a great race! I would run it again in a few years to try to get a better time on the hills. I think the main reason I was so sore afterwards was all of the down hills. After the race (and a much needed shower) we headed out to wine country! What a great trip!