Training 12/07 - 12/13

Running last week went fairly well. It was tricky with the snow. Last Monday the snow was melted enough that I was able to run with the running stroller, but then on Wednesday we got slammed with another eight inches of snow. The fuzzy photo to left was taken with my phone mid Wednesday morning. Thursday it was about 40 degrees, but there was too much snow to run on my narrow busy road. I wound up driving to a wide quiet back road and used the stroller there.

My days of running stroller use are numbered. I've been lucky that there have been a few warmer days. I don't feel comfortable running with Kaylee if it's under 40 degrees. Without the stroller, it's hard for me to run much more than 28 miles a week, but...we went treadmill shopping last week! I'm excited to report that we ordered a treadmill. I knew which one I wanted before we went to the store. I called ahead of time to make sure they had a floor model to look at and run on. And I ran on a few others too just to make sure! I'm crossing my fingers that it will be in before Christmas, but not holding my breath.

I know as runners the treadmill is a last resort, but where I am in my life without a treadmill my running is going to be severely limited. I'm really excited to have one. I've been slowly trying to make my up to 40 plus miles a week, but the weather, lack of stroller use, and early darkness are getting in my way. It's ridiculous because I'm not training for anything right now, but thinking about how I'll get in my miles actually stresses me out.

Do you get stressed if you can't run the miles you'd like to (even if you're not technically in training)?

Training Journal Summary
Miles run: 36.4 (14 with the stroller)
Time running: 5:19
Average pace: 8:45
Time on stationary bike: 4:00
Pushups: 4 x 20

I Found a Garmin in my Dresser

True story. Hmm, where should I start. I'm hopeless. That's a good start. When it comes to gadgets I can be utterly hopeless. I did in fact find a Garmin Forerunner 101 in my dresser drawer a few days ago. I'm not sure what I was trying to find, but out came a Garmin. And I remembered immediately that my little brother (who's nearing the end of his training to be a helicopter pilot in the Marines) gave me that Garmin four years ago! And at the time I thought, "Oh that's cool." But then I never wound up using it. Like I said hopeless. Now since I've been doing an abundance of running blog reading, the whole idea of a Garmin has started to intrigue me. So when I found it in my drawer I was all "Oh look at this! I have a Garmin! Woo hoo!"

I immediately looked it up, and found even though it's the oldest of the models it works just as well. It just doesn't have the bells and whistles. Things such as a PC connection option. Needless to say I was excited. From what I've read, the biggest complaint of the Garmin Forerunner 101 is the batteries. They take AAA's, and only last approximately 13 hours. When I opened her up, there were no batteries inside. A great stroke of luck for me given that four years of old AAA's could have been a complete disaster!

And we had AAA's in the house (score)! I just threw in some batteries and went running! I didn't even need to read any instructions. Well, I don't read instructions anyway. Whenever I get something new I just pull it out of the box, turn it on, and go from there. This is not the way Nick works. He does read instructions. I'm not allowed to setup gadgets for the home. He says my methods are...less than ideal. Usually I just stand over him giving him friendly encouragement like "just turn it on already!" and "is it ready yet!" Anyway the Garmin worked as soon as I turned it on.

I was so excited because for the first time last week I had to run on a route that I hadn't mapped out. It snowed again on Wednesday and this time we had eight inches, so my street isn't safe to use with the running stroller. People drive fast on my narrow road and with the snow I can't just jump into a neighbor's yard when someone comes at me fast. Thursday I drove to a set of quiet back roads and ran there. I had no idea what the distance would be, and here is where the marvelous Garmin came into play! It told me I ran 6.9 miles at 9:07 pace, which I thought was very considerate of that Garmin especially considering how I've ignored the poor thing for the last four years.

I took it to work on Friday and ran my usual 7.5 miles, curious to know how accurate Mr. Garmin would be. The Garmin reported 7.6 miles at 8:10 pace. Hm, pretty darn close. And it's not like my work loop is a certified course. We drove the car around the complex to figure out how long a loop was (not the most accurate method perhaps but good enough for training purposes). Nick and I have also figured out where the 1/4 mile mark is (we did this through trial and error no measuring at all). The Garmin says it's actually 0.24 not 0.25, which is too close to even argue. We've also identified the 5K spot. Again, we didn't measure it. You just a get a feel for things running the same loop over and over. The Garmin said we were being a little conservative there and identified our 5K spot as being 3.2 miles rather 3.11 miles.

In short, Garmin passed the test. I'm so excited to run all my home loops with it now. When I run at home I'm so much slower, but home is also a lot hillier. I'm wondering if I was too conservative when I figured out the distances (which I did using Google maps, but I'm not sure that tool was made with runners in mind). We'll see!

Hey little brother, it took a while for me to figure it out, but I love your Christmas present! Thank you so much!

Do we have any Garmin lovers out there? What do you like best? Have you found it to be accurate?

Winter Running

This was the view from our kitchen window on Sunday. New England is so crazy. The fall has been so temperate that I forgot winter was coming. And boom December comes in with some snow right away! This particular storm was fairly mild. We only had 3 or 4 inches, but it was that wet heavy snow that stuck to everything. I did go running on Sunday. It is hard to run in the snow. The streets were clear, but people drive like lunatics, there aren't many sidewalks where I run, and it's slippery. So there you have it...not my favorite for running. What really irritates me, though, is that once it snows the running stroller isn't safe to use. I did manage a run on Monday with the stroller, but only because most of the snow had melted. Now without the flexibility of the running stroller, my running becomes trickier. Sigh.

If it weren't for the snow (leading to my inability to use the beloved running stroller), I would love running in the winter time. The way I see it, you can always put more clothes on when it's cold out, but there are only so many you can take off when it's hot. But alas, I can't control the weather (shakes fists at the heavens).

So what's a running girl to do? This running girl has asked for a treadmill. I used my sweetest voice and said, "I would really like to get a treadmill and here are my completely logical and sane reasons for needing wanting one...blah blah blah." It might interest you to know that somehow I included less likely to get injured on my list. To which Nick replied nervously (because one must be delicate with a running fanatic), "Ah, really? Because I thought that running less would lead to less injuries." Silly man! "My logic is sound," I replied. "I don't disagree with your logic...it's just that sometimes, you, ah, have control issues when it comes to running." I smiled, "Don't worry about that! I'll make sure to increase my mileage appropriately. And it's all I want for Christmas!" Ultimately, he agreed. So it looks like we'll be adding a treadmill to the basement to go along with the row machine, stationary bike, and weight bench!

Oh, and look at that...it's snowing again. I wonder if I can get that treadmill before Christmas...

Running at Work

Okay, the picture has little to do with the post, but it's cute, right? And I did take it this week after a run. Alright back to the topic...

Some of my best running days are at work. Work can be flexible (obviously as I only go in two days a week). As long as I can work around any meetings I'm free to go nuts running at lunch time. Of course, this is only made possible by the gym and locker room we have. Yes, I am spoiled. Anyway, for me, it's the best time to run. I don't have to worry about the weather or the running stroller. This week, however, I had a class. I had exactly 55 minutes at lunch. What to do, what to do...Eat lunch? Check email? Visit the hubby? Go running? I opted to run a quick 4 miler, which was tricky given that I had to change, run, shower, and eat something in 55 minutes. I made it back to class with like two minutes to spare and a gross protein bar from the vending machine.

A few co-workers noticed my lunch fare and the questions started rolling. I'm one of five ladies in my 60 person department, and I'm probably 15 years younger than the average. As a result, I have a tendency to get noticed even without the running factor. Running, though, really piques everyone's interests. They talk to me with awe in their voice like I'm a member of a new species of humans that...run. It's cute really. They asked how far I ran, how fast, how often, what races I do. Of course, starting that line of questioning was their mistake because I love talking about running (and myself) so good luck getting me to stop fellas! I do find it funny that they're so interested. For instance, the how fast do you run question, I'm just not sure what a pace actually tells a non-runner? I certainly don't mind the discussion and generally enjoy being the center of attention (for things like running anyway), but I don't think they really understand.

There are also the guys at work that go to the gym. Now those guys are hardcore. Some of them do an IronMan every year, others do the half IronMan, a few run marathons. These guys are more like 20-25 years older than me, but they're awesome and so much fun to talk with! Because I'm one of the few ladies around, I attract a lot of attention there too. They're always so impressed with my times, which is funny because many of them run about the same times as me or faster. For whatever reason though, they think I'm crazy. Nick tells me that he has street cred now that he runs with me at work. People feel bad for him. He tells me this is a compliment. I trust him.

Anyway, I'm so lucky to work at a place where there are runners to chat with! And even the non-runners show interest. Do the people you work with show an interest in running? Do you ever run at work?

Training log:
Monday:

• Stationary bike workout
• Warm up
• 8 x 3 minutes hard
  
• 3 minutes easy between intervals
• Cool down
• Total time: 90 minutes

Tuesday:

• 4.4 mile run at 7:39 pace
• 60 minutes easy on the stationary bike
• 2 x 20 pushups

Wednesday:

• 4.4 mile run 8:18 pace
• 60 minutes on the stationary bike (6 x 2 minutes hard)
• 4 x 20 pushups
  

Thursday:

• 7 mile run at 10:10 pace (with the running stroller)
  

Friday: Rest

Saturday:

• 7 mile run at 8:45 pace
• 2 x 20 pushups
  

Sunday:

• 7 mile run at 9:45 pace (snowy and icy translates to slow)
• 1 x 20 pushups

Total Running Miles: 30
Total Bike Time: 3:30
Total Pushups: 9 x 20

Ode to my Running Stroller

One of my absolute favorite baby contraptions is the running stroller. In fact, it's on a short list of baby devices that I believe are essential to my standard of living. It's right up there with the car seat and crib. Obviously I could live without it, but I'd probably be grumpy. Up until recently, I was running with the stroller three days a week. And last year I was using it five days a week. Most of my marathon training was done with Kaylee keeping me company in the stroller. She has dutifully aided my training by continuing to grow big and adding the essential weight I need for better training (or so I've convinced myself).

Recently though, my love of the great running stroller has waned. The groin injury I have seems to be exacerbated when I run with it. Nick and I did a seven miler with the old stroller today (family run day is imperative). I haven't used it in two months, and immediately noticed the groin twinging when I started pushing it. Nick and I took turns pushing. I noticed that when Nick pushed, his form changed. He started landing on the inside of his foot, rather than the outside. I'm not sure why, but pushing the stroller causes some gait change that bothers me now. It's so sad...I think I'll have to retire the stroller. Sniff, sniff...