Will Run For Ice Cream

So, when did that happen that overnight Lil Man went from jumping and dancing in his jumper while I ran on the treadmill to screaming non stop, as if his very life depended on getting him out RIGHT NOW! I thought this morning that surely he would settle down. After 10 minutes, I decided it wasn't doing either one of us any good and gave up. Then I thought, why I don't I try the pack n play. I set it all up, gave him some toys that I KNEW he enjoys playing with and the screaming began again. Defeated, I gave up. What changed? It was just a couple of weeks ago he was jumping and playing and at least tolerated with a smile 20 minutes or so while I ran. Now, he refuses totally. It's really not  that  big of a deal (however frustrating) at the moment because I am running most runs outside. But once the weather changes, I will be using the treadmill more and more.  I don't have a solution for this problem yet.

Today's scheduled rest day has been a nice break.

Wow, what a difficult ugly run. It seems like this entire day just started off rough. Lil Man woke us up at 3:10. I was just falling back to sleep when the dog started puking at 3:45. My alarm was set for 4:00am. I drove to where we were supposed to meet, and the parking lot was gated off.  WHAT?!?  I had planned our route from this parking lot and now basically my entire 'plan' for the run was trashed. On top of that, I had to pee. I mean I really had to pee, and they had locked the bathrooms also. DOUBLE WHAT?!?. I called my running buddy to have her meet me at an alternate spot. I drove to the spot, took care of my issue of needing to pee, and started getting my gear ready. The moment I put my running belt on, it started to rain. I will pause a moment for you to snicker.  It was one of those moments that just for a second I paused and said, "should I really do this today?" But my running buddy was there; we got up super early so we might as well get our run in. I s...

So, after Monday's 4.5 hilly run, my foot has been tender. During the middle of the run on Monday, I started feeling where my stress fractures were. I think a lot of it had to do with the slant of the road, and the force at which I was hitting the ground as I was trying to get over the hills. Instead of running yesterday, I did Spin class. Today I wanted to get in a short slow run to test out the foot. I ran 2.5 miles outside. The temps were amazing and it was great to be out. I could feel my foot though which unnerved me a little. My pace was slow (10:48) so it wasn't like I was really slamming it too hard on the ground.  And I was running a fairly flat surface without much slant to the road. After my 2.5 miles outside, I got on the treadmill. The treadmill was easier on the foot. I didn't feel 'it' as much. I finished out the rest of my 5 miler by doing 2.5 at a 10:00 pace on the treadmill. Yoga was also on the agenda today. I'm so glad that I started doing yo...

Yesterday's long run (8 miles) was not necessarily the confidence boost that I needed before the Half next weekend. It was great to meet a friend to run so I didn't have to run alone. But I did not expect the heavy tired legs that I felt. I know that I didn't eat right last week (and I'm hoping that was part of the reason), but I was hoping for a 'wow, that was great' instead of 'wow, that was extremely tough'. This week is a taper week.. I only have 2 short runs before the Half on Saturday.... I'm hoping for a strong run..

This was supposed to be a 13 mile run for me, but my running partner wanted to do a little over 14 today. Instead of having her run ahead and me turn around early, I decided why not just do 14. It was supposed to be a slow run with a pace of 11:30-12:30. We hit our overall target pace. Near the end, we were pressed for time and had to run the last 2 miles in the 10's. I tried "GU" for the first time today. It was super sweet, made me a little nauseous and it intensified my stomach cramps a little, but  I do believe I could felt a difference in my energy level. I will try it again. I know with these longer runs, I have to find a way to fuel and hydrate. Thankfully our route allowed us a bathroom stop. We saw lots of wildlife along the way - deer, skunk, rabbits, birds, squirrel (with no tail), ground hog and on the way back, I stepped OVER a snake that was still very much alive. Today was my longest run so far...

I'd been tossing the idea back and forth that I wanted to complete a marathon this year. I had said (last year) that I wanted to complete a marathon before I turned 40. Well..... I'll be 40 in March. I was considering doing the Harrisburg marathon, and was trying to talk a friend into doing it with me. She wasn't convinced that she wanted to do it. The River Front  is a nice place to run, but (said with a whine)   we run it all of the time. The thoughts of running a marathon there, especially our first marathon, was not something she (or me either) really wanted to do. So, I found two other Marathons within our time frame. One was Baltimore and the other was Philadelphia. We both wanted to run Baltimore, but it was in October (a month less training) and the date really didn't work for either of us. So we took a look at Philadelphia. After an evening of looking it over, clearing it with our husbands that they could watch the kids, we decided to register. Step by st...