Another Busy Week (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Two weeks ago I had a crazy busy week.  Last week I was out of town.  And then another crazy busy week.

Monday I got back from Florida in the afternoon.  I had to work a few hours, but thankfully I was able to work from home.  I was able to unpack a little, but enough to empty the suit case and put into piles of dirty laundry, items reused for travel that needed to be reorganized and put away, and items that just needed to be put away somewhere.  I was so tired from the week away that I just went to be really early.

Tuesday I got up and went to the gym.  Nothing really exciting there.  After work I went to another User Group.  As I explained in another post, in IT there are user groups which focus on different aspects of IT.  There are ones for .Net, Database, Networking, and of course Agile.  There are two different groups for Agile in Richmond and this second one I have never attended.  They decided to do drinks, networking, and a Q&A.  So basically it was like a happy hour where you could submit a question and those questions were discussed in smaller groups or the group as a large.  It was a nice night were I met some people, had some good beer, and talked Agile (not everyone would enjoy that last part.

Wednesday I didn't get up and go for a run.  My knee was still bothering me a little and really, I need at least a week of rest before I start running again.  I really hope I do enjoy getting back out there when I don't have to do longer runs.  After work I went to physical therapy.  While my knee had been feeling better, I knew I needed some straitening done.  He ended up needling my IT band and it just kept jumping.  If you have had needling you know what you mean.  Knowing most haven't, it's like someone shocked you.  It usually means that things are very tight and it's getting loosened with the needle.  It doesn't hurt much, just a weir sensation.  And I know that things will feel a lot better in a day or so.

Thursday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Again, nothing special.  Than after work I went out to a happy hour with a couple of ladies from my contracting company and someone that I used to work with that also got a job through them.  As I walked in I saw a running friend of mine.  I said hello and went over to my group.  The three of them are in their twenties and there was more then once that I felt old.  It was a good time, but more then once I had to date myself and had to remind myself more then once that they really needed a few more years to really understand things. :)

Friday I didn't run again.  It was nice to sleep in a little.  After work I met my parents for dinner and then we had tickets to see Rent.  I walked into the restaurant and who did I see?  My running friend that I randomly bumped into the night before at my happy hour.  It was Restaurant Week, so a lot of restaurants have special three course meals that you get for a set price.  A few dollars of each meal goes to the Food Bank.  It's win win.

We headed to the theater to see the play.  I went to get some water and who do I see again?  Yes, my running friend.  Granted, I knew they were going by at this point, but it is a big theater.  I know I saw Rent when it first opened on Broadway.  I remember that I didn't like it, but for the life of me I couldn't remember why.  I did enjoy it this time around.  A couple of songs reminded me of TV shows that have used them, namely Big Bang Theory and The Office.


On the way home from the play I got a text from a coworker.  His wife had their baby earlier that day.  He is such a sweet guy, I know he will make a good dad.

Saturday morning I woke up early to one cat in my face, one on my leg, and the other kneading my back.  I wanted another hour of sleep and they just wanted snuggles.  I guess I really haven't been home much in the last few weeks.

I got up and knew I had to clean.  I still had my piles of stuff from unpacking and my house was a mess.  So what did I decide to do?  Let's make a bigger mess by rearranging furniture.  I rearranged my CD and DVD shelving, which meant I had to pull everything out, which meant that I needed to wipe everything down individually cause everything was so dusty, which meant I just made a bigger mess.

I got most of that done by early afternoon, and really I am happy with the change.  But before I could finish I headed out to the movies to see the new Avenger movie.  I really enjoyed it.  The first part, I was unsure as it was a lot of characters and they quite hadn't fit all the pieces together.  But by the time they got to the Guardian of the Galaxy guys I was rolling.  They really stole the whole movie.  And yes, there will be a squeal to finish up the story line.  We only have to wait till May of 2019 to see it.  Very excited to see the conclusion.  Oh and I got the best shirt to wear to the movie.

Sunday I did all of that laundry from my trip and cleaned more with the rearranging of the furniture.  I still have to put back all the DVDs and clean the kitchen (and a few other odds and ends), it is still better then it was.  I would have loved to take Monday off and finish what I started.

How was your week?  Ever randomly bump into the same person more then once in the same week?  Have you seen Rent?  Did you see Avengers this past weekend? 

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

Weekly Update (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

It's been a crazy week for me!

Monday I was supposed to run before work but it rained.  I even saw snow flakes in the air as I drove to work.  I don't run when it rains and it's below 50 degrees.  Too miserable.

Someone at my work has gotten a standing desk.  I was going to wait till I was full time to ask about it, but she said that she could get one, but the company wouldn't pay for it.  I had a standing desk for years and loved it, so I checked Amazon just to see what they had.  I wasn't planning on buying one right away, but I found one that had a 25% coupon.  That deal was too good to pass up.  It arrived Monday and got it all set up.  Love it!

Tuesday I went to my FT class at the gym.  Just a normal class.

I got a call the day before from my eye doctor who said that I was going to have to reschedule my May appointment I made last year.  Either I could go Tuesday to the office across town or wait till the end of June.  Since my contacts have been crazy dry, I opted to go on Tuesday.  I schlepped across town in the middle of the day for my appointment.  He has me trying new daily contacts (my last ones were monthlies).  These are of the latest technology and a lot more expensive then the ones I've had for years.  We will see how they work for me.

That evening I went to a meetup for those that do the same thing I do.  I don't know if they have it for other industries, but in IT there are monthly meetups for everything from .Net to SQL to Networking.  Mine is about the Agile community.  Each month there is a different speaker to discuss different aspects of the community.  The topic interested me, and while I didn't feel like I learned anything new, it made me feel better that I was on the right track.  I also saw someone there from my last job.  It was interesting to catch up and hear what's happening over there now.

Wednesday I got out and did my 5 mile run.  It was around freezing again and I wore my new fleece tights I had gotten a couple weeks ago and it hasn't been cold enough when I ran to wear.  I was worried that the waist was a little loose and I'd just spend the run pulling them up, but it never did that.  They also had a draw string that helped as well.  These are definitely a keeper.

While my knees started feeling better on my runs last week, Wednesday it felt tight again.  No sharp pain to make me stop running, but it nagged at me the whole run.  I probably shouldn't have done the full 5, but I haven't been running much lately and felt like I needed to get them in.  I had a PT appointment that evening and he worked a bit on the same area as last week and found some interesting spots around the same place, but on the outside of the leg.

Wednesday night I had another bad night's sleep.  I hadn't been able to sleep through the night and am up for 2-4 hours in the middle of the night.  My mind is just racing so much that it wakes me up and I can't get it to stop to be able to fall back asleep, even with all my little tricks.  I still dragged myself to the gym for my class.

With the Ukrop's 10k on Saturday the Expo is held Thursday and Friday with no packet pickup the day of the race.  I headed there after work on Thursday.  They had changed venues and I had to go across town to get there.  I understand why they changed venues as the race has grown and where they normally have it, there isn't enough parking.


Of course I got there after work with most people, and I knew it would be a pain to get in and park.  I have done several events there and knew that there was plenty of parking.  What I didn't understand was, with several entrances, why they had the cars come in where people had to cross the traffic to get into the building.  So there was a lot of stopping to wait for pedestrians as well as when you were walking to the building a lot of waiting for cars to pass.  That could have been done a lot better.

The expo itself looked identical from the last venue.  I got my bib, shirt, and shuttle ticket.  I ran into a running friend and said hello.  I didn't see anything interesting at the official merchandise section.  And all the other booths were the same.  I dropped off a pair of used sneakers.  Looked to see if anyone had my shoes with a good discount (they didn't).  And then I couldn't find my way out!  This was not a very big Expo, just everything was high enough not to see any doors.  And there were no signs for exits.  I asked a volunteer and he pointed me in a direction.  I still couldn't find it and eventually after looking around a corner I saw a door.  I was free!

Thursday night was another horrible nights sleep.  It even got to the point where I just got up and started getting things ready for the race on Saturday.  Awake for another 3 hours in the middle of the night and falling back asleep just in time for the alarm to go off.

Friday I did get up for my run.  It was now in the mid 50's which meant shorts and a shirt.  So different from Monday and Wednesday.  I wanted to get another 5 miles in, but I told myself that if my knee hurt I would stop.  And if it was tight I would only do 3 miles.  Within the first 100 feet it was tight, just like it was on Wednesday.  So 3 miles it was.  As I was heading round to finish the second mile I kept thinking of the fact I had a 10k the next day and a weekend of running next weekend.  I looped around the block and called it quits at 2 miles.  This close to races I'd rather rest then get the miles in that I need and hurt myself further.

That afternoon I had to take my old lady cat to the vet for more blood work.  While a month ago we found her kidneys are doing wonderful, her liver numbers were very low.  She doesn't act like a cat that has something wrong, as she has just been her normal self.  The vet has her on a daily pill and wanted to see how the numbers were as well as check her thyroids.  Well the pill was helping and the issues is definitely her thyroid.  So she doesn't have to take the daily pill anymore, but has a daily liquid now.  We will be back in a month to see how that is doing.


After the vet I dropped her off and headed downtown to meet my parents for dinner.  We have a yearly subscription to local plays around the city.  This play was Romeo & Juliet and it was at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, which also has a really good restaurant in it.  We had a good dinner and a wonderful bottle of wine.  We were taking our time as we thought the play started at 8 and by the time we made our way down a little after 7:30 we found that it did start at 7:30.  Thankfully the people there know us and there were no assigned seats so we made our way down the side to some vacant seats.  I've seen this play many times, but I have to say the lead actors were very good.  And looked very young.

Saturday morning I got up and headed down to the Ukrop's 10k.  I met up with friends before the race.  I ran it on my own and while it was very hot, I felt very strong for the whole race.  My knee was a little tight the whole time, but nothing like it was Wednesday or Friday on my training runs.  There might be hope for the knee next weekend.  We all met up after the race for brunch and to catch up with everyone. 


I went home and showered and took a nice nap.  After a long week, a hot race, and a few mimosas at brunch I really needed it.  Then I went out to dinner with a friend.

Sunday I did nothing!  Well I did get my laundry done, but really that was about it.

See what a busy week I had?  I get to turn around and do it all over again, but this time heading down to Florida for a runDisney race weekend.  I'm going to need some time off when I get home just to rest from these last couple of weeks.

How was your week?  Did you run the Ukrop's 10k?  Was it hot or what?  Have you seen Romeo and Juliet before?

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

Weekly Wrap (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

With the time change yesterday, I felt like the whole day got away from me.  It didn't help that while I knew the time changed, I didn't bother changing my clocks till the evening.

Last weekend I took off running so that I could rest my legs after Princess.  I ran a couple of times but just felt blah and my legs were heavy.  It was a good decision just to skip my long run on Saturday.  Monday rolled around and I had 4 miles on the schedule.  Well I didn't realize that I also had a conference to go to for work and I had to be there at 7.  That meant that I would have had to get up a couple hours early just to get my run in and that was not going to happen, especially on a Monday.  I deserved another rest day, didn't I? :)

Tuesday I want to the gym for my FT class.  We are still in that area out in the open and no one is using the classroom.  We still don't understand why we were kicked out.

Wednesday I got out for a run.  It felt good and I enjoyed being out there in the morning when it wasn't dark.  I knew this was the last week for that.  When I got back I realized that I had 4 miles planned and I only did 3.  Oh well.  I did get to see this very pretty sunrise.


Wednesday evening I went to PT and while nothing really was hurting for him to work on, my quads were still really tight from the Princess Half Marathon.  He worked my right glut, which really needed it and then my left hip area.  Right at the joint on the side.  And OMG, I haven't felt that kind of pain from the PT in quite awhile.  That one area radiated down to my quads, IT band, and glut.  I knew that the pain would make everything feel better once it was worked out.  It just needed to be worked out.

Thursday was another gym day.  Nothing too exciting there.  It was a good opportunity to work out my hip from PT the day before.

Friday I was feeling good, so I added a couple extra miles.  I was already up a little early and had 3 planned.  I got out and decided that I would start my 4 mile loop and see how I felt.  I could always cut that to 3 miles if needed.  My IT band bothered me a little from PT two days before but it wasn't a pain I felt like I needed to worry about.  I ended up doing an extra mile for a total of 5.  By the end my IT band was feeling better.  It really was a good run.

Saturday I planned on doing at least 9 miles.  After a good run the day before, I thought I would be motivated for another really good run.  Well I talked myself out of it.  And it really wasn't that hard.  It wasn't the weather or any pain I was having.  I was just tired and didn't feel like going out.  Maybe on Sunday.  I did get my benefits for my job done, as well as my taxes filed.  So I was productive somewhat.  A friend came over and we went to Fuddruckers.  They had closed the one near my house years ago and they opened one a little north of the city awhile ago.  We wanted to check it out and see if it was as good as we remembered.  He said the burger was good but the turnkey burger was not.  We probably won't be back any time soon.  We did end up watching Office Space after dinner.  We haven't seen that movie in ages and it still makes me laugh.

Sunday I thought I'd try to get my missed run in from Saturday.  Even if I didn't get the whole 9 miles done, I thought I would get some.  I got up and got dressed and went downstairs and just couldn't get further then that.  The thought of running was just something I didn't feel like going out to do.  I'm not sure if I'm getting back into my running rut or not.  I hope not as I had such a great couple months of getting back in the swings and really enjoying it again.

I thought maybe if I had a treadmill I might have run.  It just seemed to take so much energy to get outside.  I really don't have the room as is, and would have to move a lot of furniture around, including a huge desk in my office.  I did do some research and did find a couple that I liked, but I'm not sure if I really should spend the money on it.  Do I buy one used?  And is it really safe to have something like that upstairs?  I might be able to put it in the front room, but that's where all my knickknacks are.  Would they be safe or would they rattle with the running?  A lot to think about.

How much time do you take off after a race?  Have you seen Office Space?  Do you have a treadmill?  How did you change your living area for it?

I am linking up with Holly and Wendy for their Weekly Wrap!

First Week of Freedom (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

So this was my first week of no work.  Honestly it has been great.  I've had so much to do this week that I was so glad that I didn't need to go to work on top of everything.  I got all my Christmas shopping done.  All the wrapping done.  Saw Rouge One twice (yes, I'm a Star Wars geek).   I even got my hair cut. 

When I run my midweek runs, 3 or 4 miles, I like to play a game.  Sort of my way of doing speed work.  I run the first mile however I feel.  I don't slow down if I feel I'm going too fast and I don't speed up if I feel like I'm going slow.  Then the second mile has to be faster then the first and then the third has to be faster then the second and the forth faster then the third.  To throw in some fun, I don't look at my pace on my watch, I try to do it by feel.  I need a name for this game.

I was able to get all of my midweek runs in.  Monday I got up early, even though I didn't have to go to work.  I wanted to get out before it started to rain, plus I had an early PT appointment.  The news said that the rain would start around 7, so I was right on time to get out there and back before it started to rain.  Then as I walked out the door, the news changed it's mind and said it would start about 6.  I was out 10 minutes before it started to drizzle then it started to rain 10 minutes after that.  I stuck it out and ran one of my fastest runs in a very long while.  I just wanted to get done and out of the rain.  I really don't mind running in the rain, but when it's cold out I hate it.  I wouldn't have gone out if it started before I ran, but since I was out there already I might as well finish it.  Monday I won my game.

Wednesday was a really good run.  I didn't win my game but I was even faster then Monday without trying.  I couldn't believe that I had two runs this week that were amazingly fast.  Not only that, but no real aches or pains, well for me.

Thursday night I was able to go and see the opening of Rouge One.  I really liked it and loved how it fit right into A New Hope.

 

Friday I really didn't want to go for my run.  It was 22 degrees and COLD.  It took me awhile to get out the door but I was glad I did.  I missed the last mile to beat my game, but even a faster then the other two runs this week.  Woot!  Then I went to see Rouge One in 3D in the afternoon.  I think both 2D and 3D were great.  Loved the movie so much I came home and watched A New Hope to really see how it all fit in together.

Saturday I got my hair cut.  I didn't think it needed it as I'm back and forth on if I want to keep it short or grow it out.  I made my hairdresser pick and she said I should grow it back out.  Though I think she is a bit biased on long hair.  I really didn't care one way or the other and I trust her with my locks.  But the way she trimmed it up made it look really nice and made me realize how much it needed a cut.  Maybe to be washed as well (I only wash it every 2-3 weeks, yes you read that right). 

Then I headed to Virginia Beach for the Surf-n-Santa 5 miler.  I really wasn't looking forward to this race as I was tired and really didn't want to drive all the way to Virginia Beach.  But I went cause the race was trying to beat a Guinness Book of World Records for the most Santas in a race.  I thought being part of that would be fun, no matter my mood.  I'll have more on it in my recap, but Spoiler Alert! - we beat the record (pending Guinness Book of World Records verification).

 

Then I had dinner with Lacey.  We went to a local place and had these really good Tuna Nachos and crab puffs.  I would have never thought about putting Tuna on Nachos and they were so good.  It was really good to catch up with Lacey as we haven't seen each other in ages.  Then I drove all the way home and showered and hit the hay.

Did you see Rouge One yet?  Do you run in the rain (even if it's cold)?  Have you done the Surf-n-Santa?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

The Most Challenging Aspect of Running (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

So the topic of Tuesdays on the Run this week is: The most challenging aspect of running right now is...... for me it would be patience.

This training cycle has been hard for me.  First the heat and my slow speed.  Then one injury or another.  I have to remember that training is just that, training.  Not everything will be perfect. 

The Richmond MTT had noted that this summer was the hottest training summer they have had in 15 years.  I have also been trying to run via my heart rate and not by time.  With the weather so hot, that makes training by heart rate harder.  It may not have been the best time to start that, but I'm glad I did.  I know it has helped me get through the hot summer.  I just had to remember all summer that my times will go down when it finally cools done.

As with the heat, I have dealt with injuries.  Most small and not a huge ding in my training.  Only missing one or two runs here and there.  And then I slipped and hurt my back.  The hardest part of all of that was that I have been doing everything right and I got hurt by walking to the shower in the locker room.  It took a month before I felt good enough for a long run.  I had to make sure I didn't start things up too soon.  I've needed a lot of patience in the last couple of weeks when all I wanted to do was run. 

MCM is in a month.  I have one more 20+ training run to do.  I know that I will have to be patient over the next few weeks.  I think some fun times and yoga and meditation should help me. :)

What has been challenging for you lately?  How do you battle patience?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Heart Rate Training Week 9 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

This week has been much better then the last few.  I actually got some runs in (with quite a bit of walking), including my long run.

Monday I decided to at least get out there and walk my miles.  I just tried to run every now and again just to see how things felt.  The few times I ran really wasn't a run, it was more like an old lady shuffle.  I'm glad it was dark out so people couldn't see it.  While the walking felt fine, the few times I tried to run my back felt tight.  My hip and glut hurt by the end, but I was happy to have a PT appointment later that day.

Wednesday I decided to try again.  I ran a little bit more and while it was a little faster, it was still a shuffle.  The back felt better, but still tight.  No real pain, just tight.  I knew that was a good that there really wasn't any pain.

Friday I decided to work from home, which meant that I didn't have to start my run till the sun came up.  Even though there was more traffic out at that time, it was nice to run in the day light.  After my PT appointment on Wednesday, my back finally really felt good.  No pain or tightness.  It was so nice.

After a good run on Friday I decided to do my long run on Saturday.  I didn't run with the MTT since I wasn't sure if I would be able to do all 20 miles.  I decided to do my favorite 10 miler and then I can figure out if I could do it again or a shorter loop after that.

I saw this sign in someone's neighborhood and I was very confused by it.  Did someone that lived there put it up or did a neighbor put it up?  It was still there when I did my second loop.

There was a guy that saw me on a walk break and said that I had a lot of stuff for a walk (I had my vest on with my two big water bottles).  I wish I could have said something before he drove off, like it's a walk/run or that it was 20 miles.  I thought it was really kinda rude.

The first 10 miles felt good.  No back pain or really any at all.  I decided to do the second loop of 10 miles.  I refilled my water bottles and started off again.  It was starting to get more warm but I was feeling good, so far.  By mile 15 though the heat was getting up there and I was getting tired.  I haven't done anything more then 5 miles in a month so most of the last 5 miles was walking.  I thought that maybe 20 was pushing it, but I was so excited to be out there.

By the end my hips and my feet hurt, but I did it.  My back didn't hurt at all.  I bruised both of my big toe nails which sucks.  I'm very excited to be back into the game.

How was your week?  What do you think that sign meant?  Have you ever had someone say something rude while you were out for a run?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Heart Rate Training Week 8 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

So this week really wasn't a good week training wise or really any other wise.

I don't have a running theme picture, so I thought I'd share one of my kitty

I think and hope my trifecta of bad new has hit me.  First was my back, which I still haven't been able to run because of.  Second, was issues with my dad and needing help while my mom is at work.  And now, this past week, I found out that I'll be losing my job at the end of the year because of outsourcing.

So my back is a little better, but it still hurts to run, so I haven't.  PT and the dry needling has helped, but I wish it would work faster.  I did a 5 mile walk on the treadmill on Monday and a 3 mile walk around the neighborhood on Friday.  Both hurt a little, but it's good to keep moving.  I did go to the gym twice this week too, but really haven't felt like I have done anything.  I'm hoping to do a long walk (and maybe a run here and there) this next weekend.  MCM is coming up and I'm getting nervous.

My dad's situation has gotten better.  My mom found a neighborhood kid (well not a kid, he's 21) to help out.  I went by on Tuesday and Wednesday to be there just in case anything happened.  Things seemed to mellow out and I think he will work out.  At least I really hope so.  We will see how things go on his own this week.  Fingers crossed.

As for my job, they are outsourcing some things and about 60 of us will be gone in 3-6 months.  I have a nice severance package which I only get if I stay till the end of the year.  I've already been looking for a new job so this really isn't the worst news.  I now have a chance to try something new in IT or get out of IT all together.  Right now the sky's the limit and I'll be trying to figure out what I want to do in the next month.

And then last night I had a dream that my car was stolen.  Really?  I don't need something else right now so I'm glad it was only a dream.

So now things can only go up and get better.  Right?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Heart Rate Training Week 7 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

OK, so there wasn't much training going on this week.   I was still having issues with my back and a lot of other things came up.  So let's start it off.....

So the week started out with Labor Day and me on the couch icing my back.  I had taken the week off to spend some of my vacation days (if we don't use 'em we loose 'em).  My back wasn't feeling any better and I was starting to get agitated.  I didn't even go to the gym for my strength training class on Tuesday.

Wednesday I finally got in to see the main therapist.  He said I was really misaligned and my pelvis was twisted all wrong.  He said I really did a job to myself.  While he manipulated me and did some needling, I still hurt.  Hurt less, but I wanted a miracle right then and there.

Then my week went all wonky.  My dad, who has dementia, is starting to get worse.  Twice this past week he went for a walk with the dog and couldn't find his way home.  Both times the police were called to get him home.  Everything is fine with him, but we have found that we cannot leave him alone when my mom is at work.  Thankfully I was off work, so it was easy for me to head to their house to help out while my mom was at work.

Thursday I actually made it to the gym.  I felt like I didn't do anything during the class, but it was good to move some and catch up with everyone.  I headed to my parents house so my mom could teach her afternoon class.  Because the police were called, social services had to check in on him that afternoon.  We talked and she gave us some resources that we didn't already have.  Things are fine in that department too, just a routine visit.

Really, everything is good with my dad.  It was just a lot of decisions have to be made and we need to find someone that can stay with my dad while my mom is at work.  It's stressful and it sucks, but my dad is always in a good mood and happy.  We even took the dog for walks and had a nice time.  The cat even joined us on a couple of the walks.  

Friday I went back to the PT and finally started feeling better.  It's been over a week and I was starting to get in that slump when you start to think you will never feel better again.  Weather it's mental or physical there always seems to be a point where you will feel like you will never get better.  I always have to remember that the pain will eventually pass.  And by Friday afternoon, I finally started to feel better.  Which was good as I was taking a friend out to Texas de Brazil to celebrate his birthday.  Yum!

Saturday I finally felt good enough to do something.  The PT said no running, but I could walk on level surfaces like a treadmill.  If I tried to do any hills, I would feel it.  So to the treadmill I went.  I decided to use the gym at my work.  It's usually quiet and I like that.  I decided to try and do 5 miles if everything felt good.  Things were tight in my back, but no sharp pain like I was having.  I set the treadmill to 2.9 which is about a 20:40 minute mile.  To say the least, I was so very bored, even while I was watching Netflix.  They were repaving our parking lot, so I did have something to watch, even if Netflix wasn't completely entertaining me.  I finished the 5 miles and after stretching I didn't feel too bad.  I was glad to get moving some.  That afternoon I got my hair cut.  I'm keeping it short and cute.

The removal of the pavement.  Interesting process.

Sunday, I decided to do the same thing. 5 miles on the treadmill at work.  My back was feeling so much better.  It was still tight but not as bad and not as often.  I bumped it up to 3.0 which was a 20 minute mile.  I was still bored, but I knew it would pass.  They were all done with the paving, so I just had to rely on Netflix to keep me entertained.

I even two books this week.  First was was "The Silent Sister" by Diane Chamberlain.  While I guessed the end pretty quickly, it was still a fun read.  The other was "The Forgotten Girls" by Alexa Steele.  It seemed like a short book cause I flew through it, but maybe just cause it was a page turner.

So this next week will be just as busy and stressful, plus I will have to work.  I know I can have a flexible schedule and can work from home or my parent's home.  I hope that I will be back to running soon.  I will also be really looking forward to next weekend (already).  Have a great week!!

Have you missed 2 weeks of training before?  What do you do to keep entertained while on the treadmill?  Have you ever had a cat that liked to go for a walk?  Have you read any good books lately?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Dry Needling (Tuesdays on the Run Edition)

I have had on and off issues with my left IT Band and knee which started during my first half marathon years ago.  I have done everything from cortisone shots to PT to resting.  Last fall my ortho mentioned to me about dry needling.  I have never heard of such a thing and thought I would do some research on it.

What is dry needling?  How I describe it to others is that its like a combination between a massage and acupuncture.  Basically the therapist will stick a needle and get deep into the muscle to loosen up the knot.  Instead of doing that by massage which can cause damage, like bruising, to happen to the skin area.  It gets deep to the knot itself to loosen it up.

Dry Needling

Last fall I found a place that not only did Dry Needling, but also offered massages.  I checked this place out and decided to give them a try.  My first appointment I described the issues I've been dealing with and did an assessment of my flexibility and what hurt.  He then did some needling on my left glute.  At first I was confused as my pain was in my IT Band, but the more I went the more I understood that where your pain is, really may not be the cause of it.  I have to say that first needling HURT, like really H-U-R-T.  He then had me go to the back area and walk on the treadmill to work out the area and then ice.  All night and all the next day my glute hurt.  Hurt like a sore muscle. But the next day it felt better.

On the next visit, he worked more of my glute and had me walk on the treadmill and then added a few stretches and exercises before I iced.  I now have a page full of exercises and stretches that I do after the needling.  As time has gone by, he has worked on many other places on my body to try and help my cronic IT band issue, including the opposite lat.  As I have learned, with my very tight lat, it pulls the opposite leg out of alignment, causing issues with those muscles.  Who knew that everything was connected in our body. :)

A lot of people ask me what it feels like and if it is a lot of pain.  It does hurt, but not really bad. The closest thing I can relate it to is a very deep tissue massage.  It hurts, but it's a good hurt cause you know you will feel a lot better in the long run.

Different places give me different feelings and sensations.  When he finds a big knot in my glute it feels like he is trying to pop a big nasty bubble.  When he needles my shin, I swear I can feel each needle stick directly in my ankle.  And there was one time when he was needling my hip and I felt an electric charge go down my leg.

They also do pressure point therapy, but I personally prefer the needling.  The main reason is that I bruise easily and every time it's done, I leave looking like they took a bat to me.  But there are times they have to do the pressure point as there might be a nerve cluster in that place and you can't needle near that.  I also feel like the needling gets to the issue and works things out quicker.

I thought that after I did Dopey in January I'd be done with it.  I would be over the hump and not in high mode of training that I could stretch and exercise on my own.  Then shortly after I was walking down my stairs and pulled my calf.  It was completely out of the blue and I could barely walk on it.  A few weeks later he had most of it under control and figured out that a muscle in my shin caused the misalignment and the pain in my calf.

When I did the Star Wars Dark Side Half in April and an old pain in my right hip came back.  Making it worse was sitting on an airplane not being able to move and stretch much.  I had this issue during training for my first marathon a couple years ago and never figured out the root cause.  Within one session he knew it was my glute that was causing the issue as there was a huge knot it it.  The next day my hip felt great.  I swear this man is a genius figuring out what the real issue is.

By then I was about to start marathon training for MCM this summer so I decided to stick with the PT through my training.  It's probably the best decision I've made in awhile.  Overall my IT band pain and tightness has basically gone away (knock on wood).  My knee pain came up last month and some needling in the front of my hip ceased that right away.  Again, another nagging issue that would have had me off from running for at least couple of weeks and I was back running the next day.  He took care of my pulled hamstring a couple weeks ago.  It has been nice to know that anything that might come up during training won't linger long and I won't miss a lot of training runs. And I am hoping that he will be able to take care of my pulled back when I see him this week.

While I hope to scaling back on appointments after MCM, I do plan on still seeing him.  How often will be discussed at some point between the two of us.  Overall I have found that it has been the best physical therapy I have done.  While I wish they had more of a sports medicine aspect, I know that any issue I have will be resolved.

Have you ever done dry needling?  Have you ever had a different PT experience?

I’m linking up with with MCM Mama Runs, Marcia’s Healthy Slice, and My No Guilt Life for the Tuesdays on the Run linkup.

Heart Rate Training Week 6 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Happy Labor Day!  For me this always marks the unofficial end to summer.  I'm happy to see a little cooler temps in the morning, but this time of year always makes me sad.  

First before I get into it, I want to say how excited I am about the changes for the MCM course.  It's great to see that they took an initiative on making sure that because of things out of their control, they are still going to make it a good event.  Basically MCM announced that because of the work being done on the Metro that everyone will have an hour for the start time, instead of 30 minutes.  This will allow people to get to the start with the late opening of the Metro.  They are also changing the course so that the hard cut-offs are at mile 15 & 18 instead of 17 & 21. This is good for me as I was worried about getting to these hard cut-offs.  Now I know there is very good chance that I can officially finish the course (knock on wood).

So this week didn't go very well.  Mostly because I hurt my back on Tuesday.

Monday was a great run.  Temperatures back in the upper 60's with the humidity around 80%.  I was only in Zone 4 for 31% and felt like I ran more then normal.  It was another morning where I was very grateful to be outside on such a beautiful morning.  I know not to take those mornings for granted, especially now.

Tuesday morning I slipped.  I didn't fall, but as I was catching myself I pulled my lower back.  I decided that I wasn't going to run on Wednesday, as the last thing I need right now is to miss several weeks of training.  I went to physical therapy later in the day and the main therapist was on vacation.  While the guy that worked on me did a good job, part of me thinks if the main therapist was there I'd be doing cartwheels after the appointment (though that probably isn't true).

I didn't go to the gym on Thursday and didn't run on Friday or Saturday.  I decided to take a walk on Saturday and went for about a mile, slow.  I hoped that moving a little might help, but it really didn't.  I've tried to do some stretching, but most just hurt my back.  I cannot wait till my therapist is back in the office on Tuesday.  It may be that I don't run again till Friday or even next week.  It makes me sad, but I know resting is the best thing to do right now.

P.S. I hope those that ran VA Beach had a good time.  I know it was windy, but the temps were probably the best that race has ever seen.

Have you ever missed more then a week of training?  What do you do to keep your spirits up?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Heart Rate Training Week 5 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Well last week didn't start out so good.  I did some gardening on Sunday and pulled my hamstring so I decided to take a day off on Monday.  Even with the extra hour of sleep, I was still tired and very grumpy all day long.  It was probably for the best that I didn't get up and run. Thankfully my PT guy was able to work out my hamstring.

Wednesday brought temperatures in the 60's.  Not only in the 60's, but the low 60's.  It hasn't been that cool since like June.  The run felt really good and I was very grateful to be outside on such a beautiful morning.  And my hamstring felt really good.  My last mile was even under 14.  I haven't seen that in months either.  My heart rate was a little high, and even though I was in Zone 4 for 49%, I felt really good.  A heck of a lot better then Monday.

Friday brought on the hotter temperatures again.  Back in the mid 70's and humidity in the mid 80's.  For the first time during this experiment I started to pay attention to my pace.  I think since I had such great run on Wednesday I wanted to carry that on.  Even though I was pushing it a little my heart rate didn't rise too much.  It was still a very good run, just hot.

Saturday was the long run.  The training team recommended doing the Patrick Henry half, but with the heat of this summer and a cut off of 3 hours, I didn't want to risk being picked up.  I don't think my pride could take it.  So instead of the half, I decided to run on my own.  With the half, the schedule called for 3 weeks of shorter runs.  So I took this opportunity to run longer, 17 specifically. I ran a 10 mile loop so that I could refuel at my car and then a 7 mile loop.  I knew it would be hot so I wore my vest, which made me hotter.

The first 5 miles felt really good.  I felt strong and like I could run forever.  I know how quickly things can change so I tried not to get cocky.  The 10 mile route is one that I run a lot and feel good running it.  Because I started when it was a little dusky, I didn't run with my ear phones in.  I didn't notice that they were out for a few miles so I decided to run again without.  The sun started to rise above the trees so it started to get hotter.

I noticed that my shorts started to rip.  Yes another pair in the same place.  They were even a different brand then the ones that ripped a couple months ago.  I can't believe that it was happening again and on a pair that hadn't been worn as often.  I'm having such a hard time finding new shorts that I like.

When I got back to my car to refill my water I had a decision to make to quit because of my shorts or go on.  Thankfully I found some ointment that I could use to help stop the chafing.  So I decided to keep going.  I put my earphones in to start listening to a book on tape as I had a feeling with the heat rising I would need a distraction.

The last 7 miles were not bad.  Even though my pace doesn't show it, I felt better then two weeks ago.  I felt like I was running more then I did 2 weeks ago and my heart rate shows.  Two weeks ago my average heart rate was 156 (78% in zone 4 & 5) and this week my average heart rate was 151 (54% in zone 4 & 5).  I really feel like this week was a turning point in the heart rate training.  I feel like I'm able to keep my heart rate down even if my pace is not showing too much.  Probably has to do with the heat.  Not that I'm looking forward to winter, but it would be nice to have some lower temps in the morning.

I was running out of water by mile 14 and tried to ration it out, but it was getting very hot.  I should have dropped some water along the route, but that would mean planning ahead.  Thankfully there was a Starbucks on the route and I stopped in to get some more nice cold water.  Even then, I still finished up all the water right as I finished.

Temps at the end of the run

As for my shorts, they still chafed me, but not too bad.  I had to yank them down a few times, but since only one side ripped, it wasn't as bad as the time before.  My right hip hurt some as usual, but after some stretching it worked itself out.  It was a good run overall and I was glad to get some extra miles in.

How was your week?  Is it still hot where you are?  What's your favorite brand of shorts?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.

Heart Rate Training Week 4 (Weekly Wrap-up Edition)

Week 4 was a hard week for me.  I'm mentally getting exhausted of waking up early every morning to either run or go to the gym.  And the fact that I'm tired all the time doesn't help.  Somethings going to have to give soon.  On top of things my HR monitor is starting to act weird.  I really need to see if there is something that can be done about it.

Monday - Sucky run.  That's the only way to describe it.  The weekend before finally got to me.  Part of it was that I was still tired from the heat on Saturday.  I didn't eat a great dinner the night before, read a handful of almonds.  And the heat is just really getting the best of me.  I tried to get my 5 miles in but it got cut short to 3.  I was also trying out new shorts and they chaffed me badly.  Just a sucky run all round.  I spent 35% in Zone 4, which is good considering I just wanted to walk the whole thing.

Wednesday - Another very hot day.  Starting out at 78 degrees even before the sun came up.  My back and glute were bothering me from my PT doing pressure point therapy on me.  On top of trying to make it through the run, my heart rate monitor kept reading in Zone 1, which is not possible while running when it's almost 80 degrees out.  Was in Zone 4 only 29% and my HR was good, though I'm not sure how much of that I can trust.

Friday - A little cooler run on Friday.  Was a good run but still felt very slow.  My heart rate monitor acted up a bit again for this run.  But a good run overall.  Was in Zone 4 for 33% of the run.

Saturday - All I have to say if I had one more person ask me if I was doing OK on this run I was going to scream.  It wasn't a "how are you?" it was "you are walking so something must be wrong".  I started out about 10 minutes before everyone so that I would get in closer to everyone else.  As team by team passed me I had at least 5 people ask me if I was doing OK.  It's like it's bad for anyone to walk if they are on the intermediate team.  I'd explain that I was doing a run/walk and they'd say OK and keep moving.  I know they are just being good team mates, but I felt looked down on for doing a run/walk. 

The run started out good, but by the end I was done.  I'm really ready for some cooler weather to run in.  It was a weird run as the novice team was running the same course as us.  In fact they were doing 2 more miles.  If I weren't doing the MCM and need to get higher mileages quicker, I'd definitely run on the novice team.  They all just seem friendlier.  I ran a bit with a lady and we talked Disney and other marathons.  It was nice to be near someone on the slower end of the margin.  And there are a lot of run/walkers on the novice team. :)  Though I was really glad I was only doing 12 and not 14 with them.

It's just been a hard for the last few weeks.  I'm out the door by 6 and not home till after 7.  Just enough time to eat and get ready for the next day before I crash.  I really don't know how people do it with kids as I can barely get myself through the day.


What do you do when training seems to overwhelm you?  Do you take extra rest days now and again?

Linking up with Holly and Tricia's Weekly Wrap Up.