My Week in Runs

I had another great week of running.  I love that I'm loving running again.  This is by the far the most consistent I've been since Pete was born.  I love that I'm looking forward to running and not dreading it.  What a difference attitude makes.  It really is so mental!

Tuesday was a late afternoon 4 miler that I can't recall much of other than it felt fast and good.

An 8:50 stroller mile!!!!!

I should have run Thursday, but for some reason didn't.  Pete was up at my parents house and I took full advantage of sleeping in. And then I had to get a new phone and I had dinner with my friends and running took a back seat.  So I ran Friday morning at my parents house with Bailey.  It was chilly!!  I only brought shorts with me, which was fine, but after Tuesday's warm weather, I was a little taken aback.  A good run nonetheless.  I felt fast(er) and I think it was my fastest run to date.

8:25.  Woo hoo!

Sunday was my "long" run.  My training plan called for 6 miles, and I was trying to think of a place that I could run that without doing the same loop in my neighborhood over and over again.  I ended up doing 6.5 along the Charles River and it was great.

Boston is pretty.

It was HOT out.  I brought a tank top to wear, but realized that I forgot sunscreen, so I ended up wearing my long sleeve shirt with my new running skirt(!) ... I'd like to think that the heat made running feel so hard.  The first three miles felt great, but I kinda knew I was going out too fast.  By mile 4, I was thinking uh oh.  But then at mile 5, I was amazed that I was almost done.  I needed two walk breaks though.  I walked from 5.25-5.35 miles and then again from 6.0-6.1.  And I hate that for some reason.  I know it shouldn't matter, and I'd probably be better off walking at the beginning before I get super tired, but I wish I didn't need it at all.

Hate seeing that 10:05.  Oh well.

Overall though, a good week of running!  Hopefully this week is good too!

I Should Not Be Left Home Alone

P is away this week for a bachelor party in Tahoe.  He's having a great time, and I am so happy for him.  He needed a break from work and he deserves to have fun with his friends and not worry about home for a change!  However, I think once he finds out what's been going on, he's never going to leave me again.

I started off the week without P by dropping my phone in the toilet.  So Pete was on his first overnight, P was flying across the country and I was unable to be reached because my phone was sitting in a bag of rice.  I ended up having to get a new phone, which because I'm addicted to my iPhone, was not cheap.

Yesterday I was out running errands when I realized that I left my wallet at home.  I detoured home, pulled halfway up the driveway and ran into the house to grab my wallet.  I ran back to the car, put the key in the ignition and ...... nothing.  The car wouldn't start.  No matter what I did or how many times I tried.  Of course I park in the driveway we share with our neighbor.  And because I only pulled in halfway, she wouldn't be able to fit. So I had to put the car in neutral and push it up the driveway.  P's car was at the office, parked in a gated lot.  I tried to call the people he works with, but couldn't get ahold of anyone.  So I frantically called my friend Amanda, who picked Pete and I up and we went to Pat's office.  We waited for someone to leave the lot, I snuck in and as I'm running across the lot I hear, "hey, aren't you Laurie - P's wife?"  I wanted to say no, but of course said yes and then tried to play it cool that I was sprinting across the gated parking lot ... in the rain.  I get the car, stop at the store for either a bottle of wine or chocolate (I opted for M&M cookies) and head home. Where I discover that Bailey ate part of a plastic bag. I panic, but realize she is fine and google tells me it happens all the time, she'll poop it out.

So then I decide to check the mail and find this:

Really?  As if I'm not paranoid enough ... 

Great.  I hate being home alone as it is.  Most of the time it doesn't bother me, but I'm definitely more on edge at night, which in turn makes Bailey more on edge.  Which means she barks at the littlest thing, which then freaks me out more.  It's a good time in my house, I swear.

So today, I try and start the car again but no luck.  AAA comes to check it out, they assume it's the battery (despite me telling them it's not), they can't start it either so call for a tow truck and there goes my car:

Please come back soon car.  I miss you already.

So, I'm pretty excited for P to come home.  Nothing that happened was a big deal, but it seems magnified when you're the only one dealing with it.  I don't know how single moms do it - I give them so much credit and admire them so much.

And at the end of the day, this is the only thing that matters ... 

love that sweet face.  L.O.V.E.

Hopefully the luck o' the Irish is treating everyone else better!  But please tell me, does anyone else feel like sh!t hits the fan when they're home alone?  Or is it just me?

Weekly Recap

I had a great week of running.  I ran almost 20 miles, which is definitely a high for the last two years!

After my long run Monday, I worked 16 hours on Tuesday and didn't get home until 4AM.  I debated running on Wednesday, but my sister (wisely) talked me out of it.  So I ran on Thursday with Pete and B:

Not bad for a stroller run.  And yay negative splits!

I also ran on Friday.  I never run two days in a row.  When I trained for my marathon, I was convinced it was the only way I'd be able to finish.  So I just told myself I couldn't do it.  Now that I'm a firm believer in stretching and foam rolling, I wanted to try it.  And I needed to get the miles in for training.  So I set out to do an easy 3 miles with the stroller.  I literally didn't even look at my Garmin until after it chirped 3 miles.  I was at 3.2, so figured I'd just do 3.5.  I ran entirely by feel and had a decent run with my two buddies:

Really, what's with the negative splits?

I worked 12 hours on Saturday, and despite the fact that I was super busy, all I could think about was my run on Sunday.  I was equal parts nervous and excited.  I knew it would push my mileage for the week, but I really wanted to get in a good run.  I thought my training plan called for 6, but it really only called for 5.  I woke up not feeling the run.  It was "feels like 28" and windy.  When I stepped outside with B (no stroller!) I thought I was way overdressed, because it didn't feel that cold.  Then the wind kicked in. And I alternated between freezing and sweating.  And for miles 2-4.5, I was cursing the wind, running and everything in between.  I felt like I was literally fighting for every step, let alone every mile.  Again, I chose not to look at my Garmin.  I needed to run by feel alone.  So when it chirped at 5 miles, I was relieved.  I was kinda far from home though (I was too lazy to walk that far), so I figured I'd run to the end of the street.  When I got there, I'd hit 5.4 miles so I figured I'd just make it 5.5:

All things considered?  Not too shabby.

I was happy because the run ended on a positive note.  But I'd like my happiness not to be so pace-dependent.  I kept telling myself that I'd be happy no matter what because I pushed through a tough run and finished.  But I was also relieved to see sub-10:00/miles.  And yet I'm also disappointed that I know I won't PR at the half in May.  I ran a flat 9:00 pace and that was only because I'd ran a marathon 3 weeks before and had some serious mileage (for me) built up.  

Either way, I'm happy about my week of running.  I'm petrified my IT band is going to give out at some point soon.  But I managed the 5.5 on Sunday with only a little discomfort.  And after 3 miles, I barely noticed it. Foam rolling is key, I think.  In fact, I should go do it right now!

Long Run!

I was such a slacker yesterday and skipped my long run.  The training plan called for 5 miles, but I had wanted to do 6, since I did 5 last weekend.  I ended up doing 0.  My legs were a little sore, but I think it was more laziness than anything else.  Anyway, I made up for it today and decided that I'd try and run 6.  I found a 3 mile loop in a nearby park, and figured doing it twice would be perfect.  When I got there, I realized that my Garmin battery was dead.  I wasn't happy.  Luckily, I have the RunKeeper app on my phone and was able to use that instead.  And it's a good thing, because the marked 3 mile loop wasn't quite 3 miles.  When I finished two laps, RunKeeper showed I'd run 5.2 miles (I looked after 1 lap and saw it wasn't 3 miles, so I knew I'd have to extend a bit) ... which is exactly what I did and ended up doing 6.25!

Garmin splits are so much cooler.
But this got the job done, so I really shouldn't complain!

My splits are actually semi consistent (for me) and I'm overall really happy with the run!  I sort of hated it while I was running, but had such a runner's high afterwards.  And it's the longest run I've done post- Pete and certainly the longest stroller run ever.  Pete was so good.  He got a little fussy with about 0.5 miles to go, so I stopped and gave him a cup of Cheerios (he had a sippy cup of milk with him the whole time) and he was pretty content to let me finish.  I am a lucky mama.  Still so happy, but have a feeling I'm going to crash later.  Also, I am gross because I ran in clothes I'd already run in this week.  I used the steam refresh option on the dryer before I ran, but I'm pretty sure the people in the grocery store hated me for smelling so bad!

A Tough Run ...

... is still better than no run at all!  I got an unexpected 12 hours off from work yesterday - woo hoo!  My dad was already here when I got the call, so he stayed and babysat Pete while B and I went for a run.  It was chilly out, but I think I overdressed.  My legs felt tired running and I felt like I was working hard.  I'm still trying to run by feel and didn't look at my watch until about 2.5ish miles in because I was ready to be done.  I didn't stop though, and am very glad for that.  I picked up the pace at the 3 mile mark and ended up finishing in just over 36 minutes.  That explained why it was hard!!  I haven't run that "fast" in a long time and almost never start my first mile at a sub-10:00 pace.  So in the end, I was thrilled. I pushed myself harder than I have been and am happy with the result.  Gotta start somewhere, right?

A sub 9:00 for my last mile - yay!!

Early AM Run

I had a great little early morning run today.  I woke up at 5 excited to run.  It's tricky because I couldn't just hop out of bed and head out the door.  I either had to pump, or wait for the man to wake up so I could feed him at least a little bit.  I decided to just get up and pump, but B ended up waking Pete up, so I got to feed him and then crossed my fingers that he'd fall back asleep so I could run. He did!  So B and I headed out for a windy run.  I love early morning exercise.  It sets the tone for the whole day and makes me happy.  Plus, I had all sub-10:00/miles today.  YAY!!!

I Heart Running

I had a really great running week and it makes me so ridiculously happy!  I started off with a little Monday Motivation and headed out the door early with B.  It was cold, and in the process of putting my phone in my sleeve, I somehow turned off RunKeeper and didn't realize it until the one mile mark. Oh well.  I ran a 3 mile route at about a 10:00 min pace.  Not bad and I loved being done by 7:15!

Thursday was gorgeous out.  I had plans to meet a friend in Boston for a run, but her daughter was sick, so we canceled.  I decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and drove down to Newport for a run with Pete and B on the Cliff Walk.  I wore shorts (in February!!) and had a mentally challenging run.  B was horribly behaved and I wished so badly I didn't bring her.  There were a few stairs to navigate on the cliff walk loop (which I didn't realize) and things got tricky with the stroller and B.  So after about .7 miles, we turned around.  I was so frustrated I debated just throwing in the towel because my plans didn't work out, but then I decided it was too nice to not run.  And that I'd driven 30 minutes, I might as well run for at least that.  So we ran along the streets of Newport and I ended up doing 4 miles.  I actually felt pretty good and despite all the stops in the first mile, had ok splits the rest of the time.  Also, I remembered why I love my Garmin:

I worked a double in Friday and woke up feeling pretty crappy on Saturday morning.  I had to really push myself out the door, but am so glad I did.  B and I braved the 20-30mph winds and I ended up having a great run. I wanted to run by feel, so I didn't look at my Garmin once.  I also didn't take one walk break.  And my IT band didn't hurt.  At all.  WIN!  The wind was pretty brutal, and at some points it felt like I literally wasn't moving.  I had planned on doing 4 miles, but at mile 3 was feeling good so extended my route.  I picked up the pace for the last mile and only looked at my Garmin when I was nearing home, which was at 4.65 miles.  I sped up for the last .35 and am psyched that with all that wind I still ended up sub-10:00.

Barely sub-10:00, but I'll take it.

I read all these blogs where the girls are running 50 mile weeks and I get jealous, but for me, I had a great week.  I felt like a real runner on Saturday (and I haven't since Pete was born) and the run made me feel confident that I can run the 1/2 marathon in May.  I am a happy girl!  I wanted to run today, but it didn't happen.  So my plan is an early AM run with B tomorrow ... fingers crossed it's a good one.