November 2012 in Review

11 months down, one to go!

Mileage Recap

A year ago - November 2011: 148

January: 181.21

February: 86.84

March: 6

April: 89.59

May: 128.43

June: 137.72

July: 200.1

August: 177.48

September: 230.85

October: 270.09

November 2012: 152.91

Interesting thing #1: I ran more miles this November than last November even though this month I only ran 17 times and last year I ran 21 times.

Interesting thing #2: A third of this month's mileage was done in a single day. Crazy.

Cross Training Recap

109.55 miles road cycling
1 boxing class

A pathetic month of cycling for sure but for good reason! For one, its not worth putting the extra strain on my knees. Secondly, its freaking cold out man! Do you know what you don't do when you cycle? Warm up. 30 degrees, no thank you.

I finally had the energy to go back to boxing. I went three days before JFK, which meant that I was monumentally sore the next day and even still a bit sore at the starting line. I think I needed the extra core strength though.

What went well

Um duh, I ran 50 freaking miles! Looking back JFK still seems so surreal, like an out of body experience. I wish I could ingrain it in my memory more, but when I think about the last five months I start thinking less of the actual race day and more about all of the training miles I put in. That's where the work comes in. Waking up early 6 days a week to run in the summer humidity or the crisp fall breeze. Trudging through 20+ miles every weekend. Sure, I'm proud to have crossed the finish line, btu I'm also proud of the 20 weeks leading up to it.

What didn't go well

The knee thing. Luckily I have actually "enjoyed" not running much in the past two weeks. I put that in quotes because I'm actually not sure if I really don't care about not running or if I'm just too busy to care. I have a feeling that next week after I turn in some of my papers and have a breather that I will be dying to run again and be super dramatic if I can't.

The rest has been good though, both mentally and physically. Imagine if I trained for two big races a year and put in five months of training for each. That's 10 months a year in training. So a break is nice every so often and I appreciate not feeling like I have to get up and run at 5 am before work.

That said, I did run one whole pain free mile this morning. I diligently rested my knees all week. I even stopped crossing my legs when I sat down to remove any stress on the knee cap. I iced, I stretched, and adding quad strengthening exercises. All in all the knees feel good. Running one mile probably isn't enough to tell whether they are really good to go, but its a start!

December 2012 Goals

I've got nothing planned for December. Its wide open, which I really think I will like. I think I am going to start a new training cycle in January so I want to relax this month as much as possible. Goals are to:

• Continue resting when I feel my body needs it
• Core work, stretching, and PT exercises every night
• No specific mileage goals
• Start finalizing spring 2013 racing schedule
• Enjoy many holiday treats
• Get to the pool
• Go to a yoga class

High Word Count Not High Mileage

So I'm having some knee issues. Surprisingly (or fittingly) its not the knee I effed up at JFK and continued to run 40+ miles on. That knee feels great. It's the left knee. It's always the left. Silly weak left side.

Anyways, I had my first post-JFK run last Wednesday, four days out from the race. I ran 4 super slow miles (11+ minute miles for real son) and felt pretty good other than some fatigue in my legs. The next day, Thanksgiving, I set out to tackle 6 miles at no particular pace. The first 4.5 felt incredible. The last 1.5 I wanted to die. Both of my knees where screaming with sharp pains and it even hurt to walk around the rest of the day. On Friday I tried to run and made it half a block before turning around. On Sunday I felt better and I was having no problems walking so I tried to run again. I felt pretty good until mile 1.5 and then the discomfort started, which turned into more discomfort, which eventually turned into pain. FAIL.

Normally not being able to run irritates the shit out of me. My mood goes to crap. I start threatening in my head to quit my job and sit home and sulk. Luckily this is not my first time to injury ballpark. I think the first injury is always the worst. I was out for a full six weeks in the spring, gained a bunch of weight, got depressed, and overall was not a happy person to be around.

Obviously I hope that I'm not sitting out for 6 weeks this time, but if it ends up being one or two I can't get that upset about it because 1) I did just run 50 miles and should give myself a break and 2) "Luckily" for the next 14-15 days I have some other things that need attention. Things that really have not been getting attention due to JFK training. Those things would be homework. Specifically two 25 page papers, a 30 minute powerpoint presentation, and a final exam that needs studying for.

I take absolutely no pleasure knowing that I will definitely be spending at least the next 8 days of my life sitting in front of a computer working on these (goodbye weekend), but I'm treating it like an unwelcome 25 mile run: It will suck. It will feel like its taking forever. I will get frustrated and want to take a break. But I will do it.

Hopefully after all of thats over my body will feel fully recovered and allow me to start racking up the miles again. Until then its research, write, ice, stretch, roll, research, write, and repeat.

Weekend Playdates

I wouldn't say I'm the most social of butterflies. On an average Friday night I'd prefer to stay at home with Mike and the pups and curl up watching a movie. That said it's nice to get out every once in awhile and actually try to talking other human beings, which is exactly what I did this weekend.

Saturday evening we made a date with our friend Amy to have dinner and see her new place. This meant I actually had to wear something other than tech gear and put on some real people clothes.

Sophie was really jealous of my shoes. I told her she could borrow them next time.

Because we felt the girls needed to socialize too, we brought them along for their own playdate with our friend's dog Lucy.

While they were hanging out (probably sitting around a table playing cards), we headed to a nearby restaurant for some drinks and grub.

Mike's veggie flatbread pizza from which I stole a few bites

This morning I felt like keeping the playdate going and met up with Shannon and Sally from my Ragnar team for a nice run.

Ragnar girls

9.5 miles goes a lot faster when you're yapping the whole time!

I'm going to spend the rest of my Sunday doing some homework, hanging out, and enjoying these lovelies that I picked up at TJs.

A perfect Sunday if you ask me!

Getting Back in the Game

After what has been a pretty stressful week (which led to pessimistic posts like yesterday's) I finally feel like I'm getting back in the game. The combination of a demanding class schedule, approaching final exams, and looming work deadlines has led me to feel quite overwhelmed, and when I feel that overwhelmed I tend to shut down all together and try to hide in a hole.

Of course, "shutting down" now is not the same as how I would have "shut down" five years ago. Back then I probably would have skipped all of my classes, called out of work, and not left my house or pajamas for a whole week. In comparison to that, this week was actually quite productive, but it's all relative, and this week I just wasn't on my game like I have been recently.

While it felt really good to finally run on Wednesday morning after 24 hours of  trying to make it happen, I was still feeling really unproductive. Doubly so when I slept through my alarm on Thursday morning and missed my swim session at the pool. Time to get in gear girl!

First thing I do when I'm feeling out of it? Find some motivation. NYRR registration opened yesterday at noon for their first quarter 2012 races. I spontaneously signed up for the Manhatten Half in January as something else to motivate me and look forward to in the dead of winter.

Feeling a little more motivated after that, I got my homework done during lunch instead of leaving it for later and headed out promptly at 4 pm for a run. No specific distance in mind. No particular path to follow. I ended up doing about 10 miles at a little over a 9 min/mile. I was a little shocked when I realized my pace because it felt really easy the whole time and I felt like I could have run forever. 9 min/miles might not be the best I've ever been, but lately, since my injury and the marathon, I've been slow as a snail. Could I possibly be regaining some of my speed?

Feeling better after my run I actually enjoyed my class, which usually feels neverending. When I came home Mike had dinner ready for me: brown rice and tofu/veggie stirfry. That put a nice smile on my face.


Yay for colorful meals!

Determined not to let my good vibes disappear just as soon as I'd found them again, I forced myself out of bed this morning at 5 am to run with Back on My Feet. It's been a few weeks since I got out to run with them and as much as it sucks getting up that early, I never ever regret going and I never get back home afterwards wishing I had stayed in bed. It will certainly be challenging to keep it up over the winter. Not only is it pitch black out, but it's also getting super cold. This morning was 30 degrees!

Time to pull out the Lule hand warmers

I have to work super late tonight because of an event, but I'm not going to let it get my weekend down. I plan to get in two more runs Saturday and Sunday plus a trip to the pool and, of course, several hours of homework. The important thing is to hang on to this good mojo I've found again. I'm starting a new training plan on Monday so I will certainly need it!