Michelle's Running Blog

My neighbor and running buddy has been out of town this week but she got back yesterday.  It was fun to have someone to talk to this morning, but I also enjoy being alone and listening to music.  She wasn't on board with adding a Wednesday run because she doesn't want to wake up early 4 days in a row.  So I guess I will get one day a week with alone running and conversation the other days.  I think it is a good way to break it up.

The run today felt great.  It was a little cooler then yesterday but still very pleasant compared to a month ago!  

I almost forgot until Carolyn called to ask.  I had my ultrasound yesterday, it's a boy!  The baby looks healthy and everything is going well.  It is exciting to know the gender, the baby seems more real and I look forward to a new son. 

Today was an easy 6 miles.  Our Easter bunny comes on Saturday morning so I wanted to be home early for Easter festivities.  It was nice to go for a run and be home at 8:20 before all our kids were up.  

I was thinking today that I felt like a little bit of a slacker for only running 6 miles on a Saturday "long run".  Then I realized how humorous that was because a little over a year ago I had only ran 6 miles maybe 3 times.  I have been running for many years but only 3 miles for exercise and fitness.  It has only been the last year that I have increased mileage and gotten a bit better at running.  I am glad that I feel like a bit of a slacker for "only" running 6.

I went to bed later then I wanted to last night and then woke up at 5:00 thinking it was time to get up.  I went back to sleep for an hour but it just doesn't count the same.  I am going to be tired this evening.

The run went fine, not great but fine.  The last couple of runs my ankles hurt at the beginning about 2 miles, then they feel better.  Any suggestions for what to do?  I don't know if I need to stretch them more, or if it is just because of pregnancy with weight gain and loose ligaments.  Mostly I am just glad to get the run finished today.

I don't know what is up with my sleep lately but I keep waking up too early.  This morning I was up at 4:40 and the alarm doesn't go off until 6:00, but I couldn't go back to sleep.  I was worried my run would be difficult.  But it wasn't, it was an awesome run! 

Yesterday I decided to try on some of my maternity clothes.  I am not terribly skinny but I am smaller than I have been in the past.  I was shocked to see how huge some of my clothes were.  There is no way I can wear most of my pants, even at 9 months pregnant, they will still be clown like on me.  This is a good problem but now I will need a new maternity wardrobe.  Better then actually fitting into the giant pants.

This morning I feel great. Yesterday I worked like a crazy lady cleaning my house. It is spotless from top to bottom which I love! Consequentlly, I slept really good last night. My run felt easy and went by quickly. It is the start of a great day.

During the run I saw a friend of mine out walk/jogging her dog. She was going up a hill(glenneagles). It was nice motivation to run up the hill and try and catch her. I finally caught her at the very top. She ran up some of the hill and I mean ran. She is starting to run a bit more and doesn't understand slow down and keep going. She runs fast for a minute or two and then can't run anymore so she'll walk. It was funny to chase her up the hill and not be able to catch her as fast as I wanted to. But good motivation to run faster.

I've spent the morning bathing kids, and doing last minute packing.  We are off to visit my family in Utah for a week!  Yeah, except for the 8 hour drive today.

Very sick.  I couldn't keep anything down and didn't even think about running.  I took a nap instead.  Luckly it was a one day bug.

It is nice to be at my parents house and have someone avaliable to watch my children while I run.  I didn't run until 7:15 and was able to go further than normal because I didn't have to rush home.  It was a nice run.  I noticed there were less hills but the two hills I ran up were a bit steeper then the hills I usually run in Colorado.  One thing that I noticed on my run was how much garbage and junk was in people's yards.  I guess I have gotten used to living and running in a covenant community where yards must be kept clean.  A ton of yards I ran passed, looked like they could start a local junk yard collection.  I guess that's what you get with country living, open spaces and no covenants. 

This morning when I opened the door to run it was pouring rain/sleet.  I decided to wait a few minutes to see if the weather would lighten up.  Luckily, after 15 minutes it looked a lot better.  Today I ran the opposite direction of yesterday and the yards were a lot cleaner with less junk, that was nice.  It was a good run, I am lucky to have help with my kids this week so I can run a little more and later in the morning.

Just another run this morning.  There was nothing too eventful.  I did wear shorts and it was really cold in the shade, I wished I had worn pants.  

I didn't really feel like running this morning but I had to take advantage of my last day of babysitting and running later in the morning.  So off I went for a bit over 6 miles.  It was a good run.  I am always glad I chose to run after, but sometimes it is just hard to get out the door.  Tomorrow will be a nice sedentary day, alone in the car for 8 hours with 3 kids.  I hope it goes well.  

I wasn't planning on running this morning because I had some earlier meetings and I wanted to sleep in after driving home on Friday and just relax a bit.  However, I woke up earlier than I wanted so I decided why not go run a quick 4 miles.  Well, they weren't really quick miles but that OK.  It was a nice run.

Two weeks ago I wrote about my ankles hurting when I ran for the first couple of miles.  When I was in Utah, I had no pain while running but when I ran today my ankles hurt again.  I don't know if it is because there are more hills, elevation difference, or maybe because there is more concrete here instead of pavement.  I wish my ankles didn't hurt and I hope it doesn't continue.

I don't have a garmin so I think I added about .2 to my normal 4 mile run.  I wanted to even the week out and not be left with a .8 in my total.

Today was a bit of a sad realization but inevitable.  I usually run with my neighbor, Michelle.  I was out of town last week and we both ran alone.  She is getting faster, and I am getting slower.  Typically, when I am not pregnant, I have a little more speed then she does but we still run well together.  This morning, she was fast, I could not keep up.  She said she increased her speed last week while running alone and realized she could go faster and enjoy it.  Not the same story for me.  Anyway, I kept up with her for 3 miles but knowing the 4th mile was all uphill and already feeling beat, I told her to run ahead.  I was surprised how much distance she put between us in the last mile, good for her.  So, I think I am running alone most of the time now.  I can still definitely continue running, maybe more jogging, just not at 9 mm.  I am 22 weeks in my pregnancy and an easy comfortable pace for me is 10-10:30 mm.  I hope to keep that up for a few more months still.  But if I am going to continue running/jogging, it has to slow down so I can do it and still enjoy it.  It is time to embrace slow running.

Today was a nice run.  My neighbor and I walked out our doors at the same time so we ran a few blocks together and then she took off.  It was nice to listen to tunes and settle into a nice pace and enjoy running instead of too much exertion.  I really did enjoy my run today, it was great weather as well.  I think I am going to try to get out the door a couple minutes earlier each morning so we will finish our run about the same time, then we can do a cool down walk together and talk for a few minutes.  It would also help to not watch my neighbor run away from me and never be able to catch up.

I had to fight myself to get out the door today.  As always I am glad I ran but sleeping felt really nice at 6:00.  The doughnuts I ate last night were good motivation to get moving.

I love the weather this week, spring crispness with a bit of overcast skies.  I think it is perfect running weather.  I lived in Pennsylvania for 9 years and Michigan/Ohio for 3 years so I love the overcast rainy weather.  My family thinks I'm crazy but there is something cozy about stormy weather that I prefer to bright sunshine.  I am sure I would get sick of it if it was like this all the time, but a week is nice.  

This morning I was supposed to get out the door 3 minutes early and my neighbor was leaving a few minutes later.  We thought this would allow us to meet up at the end of the run and walk a cool down home together.  I hesitated in bed a few minutes too long and left maybe 1 minute early but probably not even that.  At about mile 1.5 I could see my neighbor behind me in the distance, so I tried to keep up the pace so she wouldn't pass me too soon.  She caught up to me around 3.5 miles, then passed me and I couldn't keep up.  She did awesome today!  Her AP was 8:45 which makes me feel good because that means I was at least in the 9's and not the 10's which is a good pace right now.  I was more tired at the end of the run because I had run harder then when no one was chasing me.  I guess it is good motivation for her to catch me and good motivation for me to not get caught too soon.

It was cold and rainy in the morning so I went to the rec center and ran on the treadmill.  It seemed a bit long and boring compared to outside.  It was nice to get 6 miles in on a rainy day.  

I left a few minutes earlier today so my neighbor didn't catch me as early.  At the end of the run, maybe .3 miles left I could see her behind me and decided that if she was going to pass me she was going to have to work for it.  I sped up and she never passed.  I ran to the end and then ran back to her and ran in to the end again.  She still did the whole 4 miles faster than me but it was nice not to be passed at the very end.  It was too cold this morning, I am ready for warm weather not cold with snow on the ground.

I had a tough morning today.  It started last night when I realized my ipod was missing.  I had it sitting on my piano after a piano lesson.  The neighborhood kids were over and then in the evening the ipod was gone.  There is a family with three kids on our street, the kids are often at our house.  They do not have a good home life and I feel bad for them.  They are always hungry and I feed them all the time and treat them really well.  The thought of them stealing my ipod made me so made because many people on our street shun them a bit and I have been nothing but nice.  And then they steal from me.  I did not know for sure if they took it, but it was the logical conclusion.  I went to bed mad and woke up still a bit angry about it. 

When I woke up I was sleepy and didn't feel like running but I thought I better drag myself out and get some exercise.  Without music the running was not even close to fun.  Add to the sleepiness being angry, and my body was tired because I did a ton of work yesterday around the house.  Plus we are planning on hauling rocks this evening.  It was all too much.  So I only ran/walked 2 miles.  I decided to just run if I felt like it and walk when I was tired.  I didn't push myself at all which does make me a slacker today but it was good mental/emotional rejuvenation.

When I got home I stained some cupboard doors that needed one more coat and then when it wasn't so early, and right before the neighbor kids went to school I went over to inquire about my ipod.  Sure enough, they had it.  I was really nice to them but I do feel bad for the boy who took it because his mom was there for the conversation and I think he is going to be in trouble, and she doesn't seem like a very reasonable punisher.  I am glad my ipod is back, I need it to keep me going.

This morning I had a nice surprise, as I as getting ready to run, Carolyn called to see if I wanted to run with her.  She was close to my house and running a recovery run so my slow pace wouldn't slow her down.  It was a nice change of pace to have someone to run with.  It was also nice to run with Carolyn because we haven't ran together much lately because of my slowness and her intense marathon plan.

It was great running weather this morning.  I was too hot at the end of my run and wish I had worn shorts.  Now tomorrow I will compensate and wear shorts and it will be too cold.  Gotta love spring.  I felt much better about running today then I did yesterday.  

This morning I woke up two minutes before the alarm feeling rested and ready to go.  I love that feeling in the morning, it doesn't happen very often.  It was a lot warmer and nicer outside then I expected because apparently it is supposed to rain/snow today.  Right now, there is sunshine and blue skies.  The run was nice and slow but I did it all. 

During my run I was thinking I really need to start swimming.  Running is the path of least resistance right now because I know how to do it, I get dressed and head out the door, simple.  Swimming is a bit scary because I don't really know how to swim.  I do know the basic strokes and how to swim but swimming laps, I have never done that before.  As running gets more uncomfortable I would like to make the transition into swimming to continue my fitness level.  I am writing all of this so that in the next few weeks I get myself to the pool and try it out.