Misheru

On a BIKE…

Well, I’m not sure how I managed it, but I beat my 10K time on the 5-mile trail run (pace-wise, anyway). Of course, a 10K is 6.2 miles, which is quite a bit farther, but I thought I was training more last fall. I hurt more, that’s for sure. Regardless, I ran the trail run in 1 hour, 4 minutes exactly, with a pace of 12:48 per mile (my 10K was 13:04/mile). I think part of it was that I ran into an old friend and we ran together; the other part was that I took it easier the first part of the race and thus had a much better finish.

I ran my 5.85 miles on Tuesday and although I was worried that it might aggravate my plantar fasciitis and make the run more difficult on Saturday, it actually helped. I’ve also started swimming and biking more, which I think is helping my overall fitness because I am not in as much pain. My goal is and has been to run a triathlon every week in parts, so one day I run 5K, two days later I swim 1K, and two days later I bike 20K (theoretically). I’ve been doing fine except for the biking part. I usually break it up into a couple days, primarily because I think cycling is boring and it makes me want to poke something sharp in my eye. I’m not sure why this is. I loved biking as a kid and used to ride 3-4 miles out into the countryside when I was 11 and 12 years old. Maybe it’s because I have a mountain bike and it seems like I spend all my time pedaling the damn thing (there’s no “glide” on a mountain bike). Or maybe the thrill of riding with no hands is just gone. Regardless, I have to force myself to bike.

I’ve decided that I need to slow my running down — a lot. I mentioned to my running friend Jen that I keep my heartrate around 175-180 on my runs, and she was shocked. Almost simultaneously I read an article in Runners’ World about watching your heartrate as you get older as a good way to avoid injury. I still have the mentality I had as a 19-year-old on the college rowing team — to push myself to 95% for part of every workout — and I guess that, at 31, it is doing nothing but causing me injury and slowing me down. This race was a good indication of that, because I took it easier at the beginning and finished a lot stronger.

I’m not sure what I want to do next but I am thinking of the International Triathlon at Tempe next month. It is a little intimidating, and I need to fix the hybrid bicycle someone loaned me so I can ride it, but I think it would be fun. I’m excited to see how I’ll do on the swim now that I am actually swimming for training. Now if I could just lose these last 20 pounds…

Anyway, the Catalina State Park Trail Race was a great run and really beautiful. We crossed two streams and ran up 92 steps to the top of a bluff that overlooked some beautiful desert. It rained 2 nights before so the Sonoran Desert had responded by greening immediately, as usual, and I have to tell you, I’m a little in love with the desert in a way I never thought I would be. I would encourage anyone who can to run this race next year. It is limited to 301 people because of the impact on the desert trails, but it was a really fun and relaxing race.

Is the distance from my work to my home, and tonight I ran it. Did I do it? Yes. Did it take me a really long time? Yes.

This weekend I am running the Everyone Runs 5-mile trail run, and I wanted to get a long run in before my taper, so I had my husband drop me at work and after work I changed into my running shorts, took my cell and some ID and ran the nearly 6 miles back home. It felt a little crazy — heck, it was a little crazy! — and now I would like to go lay down.

We have good news! We have a place to live, starting the second week of May, and we will put our house on the market that week. We are subletting a small apartment near the university for the summer. It’s going to be hard but I think we’re ready for a change. We’re not sure what we’ll do yet — rent or buy again — but we’ve done our best on this place and some happy family can continue where we left off.

Last but not least, hello posties! I am website of the day for Pay Per Post, so thanks for stopping by to check me my site out!

So the San Diego Half Marathon is just a figment of my imagination and there is only a marathon. Do I feel like killing myself? Should I attempt the insanity? I’m going out the door to bike the kids to the coffee shop this minute…getting exercise when I can…

(Ummm, this is not me, by the way. It’s a teaser photo from the San Diego Marathon. Note the washboard stomach…definitely, definitely not me.)

Here’s a pic of me crossing the finish line last Sunday. How scary is this? Oh, and just for the record, the time is not correct — it is the time for the marathoners who started about 30 minutes prior to the 5K race. I did not take 54 minutes to run 3 miles!

The update is this: I hobbled around Sunday, screamed in pain while jogging it out Monday, moaned in misery Tuesday, ran again Wednesday, went to the podiatrist Thursday and…guess what? I shocked my foot back into alignment somehow and my plantar fasciitis is gone. The doc recommended a few weeks of physical therapy but said that it’s possible I just pushed through it during the race. Since it feels like I reorganized several muscle groups it’s possible something fixed itself…but whodathunkit?

So, I am back! I have run twice this week. It’s pretty sad, but it’s happening. I plan to run the San Diego half marathon in June and I hope I can do some more triathlons this spring.

Yoo hoo! Nothing like a little insanity to fix the body.