My first run back

Ok, I've done a little on the treadmill, but this was my first "real" run back. 

And it was highly unpleasant, but oh so wonderful.

I made a couple of critical mistakes.
1.  I ran in the middle of the afternoon.  Which is never a good time for me.  Just after lunch, too.  And I had milk at lunch (yay acid reflux!  yuck!)
2.  I was under-hydrated.
3.  It was 80 degrees.  My face was SO red!!  I looked like a clown.
4.  I ran my hill course.  It's one of my favorites, but it's a tough route on a regular day.
5.  I went WAY too fast.  I finished 2 miles in about 24.5 minutes... oops.  It's like I forgot how to run slowly.  Gonna have to work on that.

But, the good news is, my leg feels fine.  I'm going to give it 2 days of no running and then try a 3-miler with Alisha on Saturday.  Flat course, greenway, should be good.  Also, it will be a lot cooler which is always welcome.

So, despite the side stitches (wow - been a while since I had those!) and the red face, I still had a great time, and I'm very happy to be running again! 

Sarah

Yo yo!

Hey gang!  I'm back!  Things have been wild so I havent been too inspired to blog.  Also, this injury thing kinda got me down - hard to write a running blog when you can't run!

That said, I'm back to it.  So, I sort of spaced and missed my check up to get cleared to run.  (Doh) but, never fear, the interwebz are  here!  Let's face it, I knew what he was going to tell me...

"Well, it looks fine on the xray, and it's not hurting you, so just take it easy getting back into it."

And, let's also face this, that 10 minute appointment just wasn't worth $250.

So.  I ran a couple of laps at the YMCA to test it out.  1/4 mile.  Nothing serious.

Then, a mile of mostly walking on the treadmill.

Then, 2 miles - 2/1 intervals.

It still feels great.  No pain!  Not even after the fact after (more facing it) putting a lot of pressure on the spot - just to be sure!

So, things are looking good.  I'm going to try an easy 3-miler with Alisha on Saturday.  I'm about to bust to run the thanksgiving race in charleston again this year - it is one of my favorite 5ks of the year - I will not miss it!!

Still loving spin class, weight-lifting, and the new ellipticals at the YMCA.  Alisha put together our half training program for the spring, and it's very heavy on cross training - yoga after long runs (I thought that was a genius idea!) spin class for maximum cardio, and weight lifting to make us infinitely stronger.  It's intense, but diverse.  Excited!

Enough about me - let me tell you that you have to go to my friend Regan's blog... she just finished her 2nd half-marathon - and PRd it by 29 minutes!  She's pretty damned inspirational.  Way to go, R!!

Happy Fall!
Sarah

PS, my thanks to North Carolina for the AMAZING fall weather.  It has been glorious!!!

A couple of random things...

That wouldn't have happened before.

Today I talked myself out of the gym.  I was totally resolved to skip it and take a nap.

But I went and did 60 minutes on the elliptical.  My fitness pal tells me it was about 600 calories.  And since I had it set on level 10 hills, I believe them.  So tonight I'm having thai food.  yum.

Also, the other night we went to the theater.  (Rock of Ages - super-fun!) I decided to get a brownie.  They're usually pretty tasty.  Well, I took a bite and it was only, well, meh.  A little dry, nothing special.

So I bailed on it.  I abandoned a perfectly good brownie.

And finally, I forgot my coffee before the gym last week, so I was going to hit starbucks for a latte.  Looked up the calories... so not worth it.  So, I went to Panera for a good cup of hazelnut with a tiny bit of half and half.  Delish.  I bought Halloween cookies - 3 of them.  One for each of the people in my suite in the office... but not one for me. 

Here's to making small decisions.  They matter.

Sarah

Spin class - a report

Well, add that to the list of "things I never thought I'd do a year ago"...

I started spin class in my new bike skort, which is super-cute, so that made it all the more fun.

I met Alisha and Rob at the Y, and we jumped right in.  We started out pretty fast, and then, the instructor said, "Oh yeah, this class is hills."

*gulp*  I shot a nasty glance at the architect of this plan - Alisha.  (Sorry, A!)

The theme was movies, and it was pretty intense.  The idea was to stay with the cadence of the songs while increasing the resistance and coming out of the saddle as instructed.  There were more than a couple of times that I wished I had started at the bottom of the hill a little easier!  I was glad I didn't have to back off though.  A few times I did have to slow it down a smidge.

I can say that spin class was definitely a challenge.  My heart rate was super-high, and I think that's a good thing.  I sweated like crazy.  My butt is sore. 

According to My Fitness Pal, I earned 763 calories.  Not bad.   I'll definitely do spin again, but probably not every week.  It was a nice change up from what I'm used to!  And thank god I got all those calories - we visited my grandmother and she insisted I eat a dove ice cream bar... 250 calories later... eep.

This hurt leg thing isn't so bad!

Sarah

Two weeks down...

Two to go.  Thankfully, my stress fracture doesn't hurt much anymore, so I think the rest is working.  In the mean time, I've been rocking the bicycle, elliptical, and upper body/abs weight lifting.  Fun?  Ok, maybe not, but it'll do.  It's gorgeous outside and I keep thinking how nice it would be to head out for a run.

Today I'm trying spin class - I'll report back later.  I'm super-scared.

Also, I cancelled weight watchers today.  It isn't working.  I'm going to try My Fitness Pal for a while and see if it works.  Since I'm in the habit of tracking already, I'm hoping it'll just be a slight change, but will make me more aware of what kind of balance I'm eating. They have these great pie charts that show the breakdown of carbs/fat/protein.  It also shows other nutrients - something WW kind of ignores. 

The good news is, if this doesn't work, I can rejoin WW without the joining fee.  I feel a little strange abandoning it, but I'm realizing that WW isn't really made for people that are as active as I am.  I just don't think the activity points balance out and I think I'm eating a lot more calories than I should.

Of course, I'll keep you posted!

Sarah

This is feeling less scary already.

I'm thankful for friends and the encouraging words I've gotten in the last 24 hours.  I feel like folks get it - it's not really about the injury.  It's trying to make sure I stay with my healthy habits since the one thing I've been able to stick with is off the table.

Since I'll be experimenting with alternatives to running, I'll share them here.  It's really a good thing... if zombies strike, I'll be able to swim, bike, and elliptical away from them in addition to running.  :-)

Also, when I'm cleared, I'm going to be really careful about getting back into it.  I hope you all won't have to do that in your running lives, but we'll all know how to reintroduce running into our routines.  Guess that makes me the guinea pig!

So, runners, if you couldn't run, (or walk, for that matter) what would you do?  Anything I have to try during my hiatus?  I want to try yoga (great suggestion, Jodi!  I'm in!) and maybe some pool aerobics at the Y.  Why? Because I can.  And switching up a routine is a good thing - even when it's forced.

Many thanks, all!

Sarah

ARGH!!!!!

Balls.

So. I've had some shin pain. Very localized.  I just thought I was being a wimp, but it's been going on for kind of a while.  Like, 3 months while.

Yesterday it hurt a whole lot.  So today I went to the orthopedist.

And I have a F&#%ING STRESS FRACTURE.

I cried all the way home.  It felt like getting punched in the gut.  Here I am, 25 lbs lighter mostly because of running and weight training, both of which are completely off limits for 4-6 weeks.

My awesome husband pointed out that I can still bike and swim, which I needed to work on anyways for a possible run at a tri.

But it STILL SUCKS.

Sarah