Michelle's Running Blog

Today was the first Monday I have run in awhile.  I have decided to up my running days from 3 to 4.  So I am now running Mon, Tue, Thur, and Sat.  I ran a standard 4 mile route in 38:14.  My legs were a bit more fatigued than normal because of a 10 mile run I did on Saturday.  I am excited to start running a bit more.

Today was a slow run, 40:27, I felt tired.  The start of my run is uphill and the entire last mile is gradually uphill with a steep hill in the middle of the mile.  The hills wore me out today.  I am glad I did it and glad to be done.

Today I was supposed to do a P90X workout with a friend but she got sick.  So I decided to ride my bike instead.  I have a bike in the basement and I haven't ridden it very much lately because I have been running instead.  I rode for 40 minutes and went about 8.75 miles(my display is a bit broken and the distance is off.  I think it doubles the miles, and said I rode 17.5)  

I rode the last minute as hard and fast as I could, it tired me out but felt good.  After the bike, I did 20 push-ups on my feet.  I know that is not impressive but I used to only be able to do push-ups on my knees.  It is exciting to see improvement. 

I have to brave the post office today with two of my kids.  I have been putting it off, but today it must be done.

My total time was 40:50.  It would be nice to have a Garmin and have my splits but I don't so I just have a total time.  Today's run went well.  It was warm outside and while I was taking my jacket off my new hat fell out of my pocket.  I was at the bottom of a hill when I realized it was gone, so I ran back up to get it.  I guess a little extra hill work is a good thing.

Today I did a P90X workout with my friend.  It was the Kenpo workout which is a kickboxing style of workout.  This workout is my favorite P90X video so I enjoyed it.  I almost kicked my friends 15 month old daughter when she walked behind me.  Luckily I saw her out of the corner of my eye and was able to balance instead of kick.

 I just spent a half hour cleaning glue stick off of a closet door only to come downstairs and find a quart of eggnog spilled half in the kitchen on wood and half in the dining room on carpet.  Why is there even carpet in a dining room?  We need to change that.

I had to get up early to run because I had a choir practice at church.  I went running with my friend Carolyn and Michelle.  The total time was 1:29:40.  We did the same route last Saturday with an extra half mile.  I noticed the hills more last Saturday than I did today so that was nice.  I get pretty tired around mile 8.  I ran quickly at the end and it felt good to run fast and stretch  my legs out.  All in all a good run.  I liked getting back at 8:00 while half of my family was still in bed and knowing I had already ran 9.5 miles.

Today I ran a little bit earlier because my neighbor that I run with needed to get to work early.  We did our standard 4 mile route then I added 2 after.  I usually only run 4 miles because my husband needs to leave for work but I had extra time today from waking up early.  I really enjoy running 6 miles because I usually don't get into my run and start feeling better until somewhere between mile 3 and 4.  Running 6 allows me to run for a longer time while feeling good, but isn't too long that I get tired or use a lot of time.  

When I got home I was feeling really sleepy so I took and shower and then got back in bed.  My kids left me alone for 1.5 hours and I feel much better now.

I had a nice run this morning.  I was able to get more sleep last night which was nice.  My friend Carolyn came running with me and my neighbor Michelle.  Michelle cut her run short so she could get into work early so it was nice to have Carolyn to talk to when Michelle split off.  I felt good and wasn't tired on the run, that is always a plus.

Thanks Carolyn for running with me.  I always enjoy running with you and having good conversation!

Today I ran on an indoor track with my husband, Ben.  We got quite a bit of snow yesterday so we opted to run inside.  I ran a bit faster with him then I usually do, but still an ok pace.  I am a pretty competitive person and enjoyed the fact that Ben and I kept lapping other runners and no one passed us.  When we were nearing the end of our 4 miles a guy was closing the distance between us but I didn't want to let him pass so I sped up.  I finished the last half mile at a quick pace but I didn't get passed at all.  I no it is silly to be competitive during an easy 4 mile run but I just can't help myself and it makes me run faster.

I went on a nice afternoon run today.  It was nice to run after sitting around for awhile and it was exciting to wear new shoes, new socks, and new pepper skins to keep me warm.  I ran alone and went pretty slow.  I wasn't worried about pace I just wanted to enjoy the run.

There was still quite a bit of snow on the roads/sidewalks so it was tricky to switch back and forth between which was the least snowy at the time.  A few times the sidewalks were dirty and I ran in the road that had a lot of snow and my feet sunk into the snow which made each step a little more labored and difficult.  I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Carolyn, thanks for the magic socks, they were wonderful!

Today was a tough run.  I never really found my stride so it was a battle all ten miles.  My neighbor, Michelle, and I ran 1.35 miles to meet Carolyn and Carly.  We ran with them on a 7 mile loop.  Caroline kept running with us after the 7 miles.  When we were getting close to home we had ran around 9.7.  I knew if I ran 10 my total mileage for the week would be 30 so we kept running a bit more until we hit 10 miles.  It felt SO GOOD to be done.  I am excited to rest today and tomorrow.  I think my body needs a bit of a break.

I was thinking of running 6 miles today but my body was still really tired.  My muscles are sore, which they haven't been for awhile.  I guess it is good to be sore once in awhile and get stronger.  The easy 4 felt good and hopefully I will feel a little better tomorrow. 

There is still quite a bit of snow and ice on the roads and sidewalks.  It makes a run a little slippery and a bit like an obstacle course.

I ran my standard 4 mile loop again today.  I felt a little stronger then yesterday, which is good. 

Last year I used to run in the evening and I would often get side aches.  I always thought it was because there was more food in my stomach.  About six months ago I switched to running in the morning and I haven't had to deal with side aches, until this morning.  Around mile 2 I got a bad side ache and had to run in pain the second half.  I tried breathing out really hard which has seemed to help but I am not sure why I got a side ache at 6 am when I hadn't eaten since the night before.  Any ideas?  

My left hip has been hurting me a little for awhile.  I thought it was my old shoes.  I got new shoes for Christmas and this week my hip seems to be hurting even more.  I don't know if I don't have the right shoes or if I need to take a little break to let my hip heal.  Today I didn't run, I did a 35 minute yoga video.  It felt good to stretch out and loosen up.  I am debating whether I should run tomorrow or give my hip some rest.  I guess I will see how it feels throughout the day.

I took the day off from running.  I hope my hip gets better quickly because I really missed not running when it was a scheduled running day.  I rode the bike instead.  However, the bike was out of batteries and we didn't have any replacements.  I rode the bike anyway but did not have any resistance because no batteries.  It wasn't a great workout but at least something.  

 My brother and sis-in-law are coming today and should be here very soon.  I need to clean the upstairs bathroom, I hate cleaning bathrooms.  Happy New Years Eve!