Training stress, house stress, so much stress!!

Apparently I didn't take any pictures this week. Well, at least no pics from my runs! Lots of pics from the new house. Some I'm not too happy about but I don't want to talk about it.

I should've learned my lesson by now - if you have the time to run, go run! I didn't run on Monday in Detroit because it was hot and I was exhausted. Ended up skipping my 5 mile run on Tuesday as well because I was even MORE exhausted. Even though I stayed in ACY Monday night after my trip, I was still just beat all day Tuesday, especially after starting to move our stuff over to the house in earnest.

Wednesday was better - 3 solid, fast miles, even though it was late in the day and super hot out. Rest day Thursday, and a pulled back long run of 7 miles this week. How funny that 7 miles feels like a short run now!! It was a nice day - a little bit lower humidity and a breeze. A breeze!

This week is another build up week. 3 miles each on Monday and Wednesday, up to 6 miles on Tuesday and 12 on Friday. TWELVE. *DIES*

I'm actually not sore today - but of course getting 3 miles in tomorrow would be difficult because I'm laying over in Oakland. Maybe the hotel gym isn't terrible. No matter what I'll be running on the treadmill in ORD - luckily I do really like the hotel gym there so slogging out 6 miles wouldn't be terrible. Just have to schedule it with something on TV. But I have no idea how to get 3 miles in on Tuesday because I work all day and then drive home. But I'd rather miss that 3 mile run than miss the 6 miler, and honestly I'll just go for a slow 3 miles (or walk it) on my rest day.

Trying to train while moving into the house has been so hard. Luckily I have David yelling at me to go run.

I'm trying to decide if I want to do my 12 miler (once again, eek!) on Thursday or Friday this week - may not have a choice if work calls me out when I'm on reserve. We'll see. Hopefully heading to Tampa on Thursday so maybe I'll knock out those 12 miles down there on the Trail.

Starting to see why half marathons are so popular - I feel like I could have already solidly trained for a half marathon, and I'm not even halfway through marathon training. I'm not fatigued all the time but my legs are always tired. On the upside I've managed to not injure myself so far (knock on wood!), which is a miracle in itself!! Marathon training is definitely not for the faint of heart, it takes a lot of planning and dedication. Hopefully I'm up to the task.

#AirForceMarathon

90 days and counting!!

I can't believe that I'll be running a marathon in 3 months. Training has been going really well. The long runs have mostly sucked but I haven't been terribly sore, much less running injured. I'm not excellent at getting all my mid-week runs in, mostly because all these back to back days are hard for me! But I'm making up the miles one way or another.

Landis Run - a stream near my house and a favorite part of my runs.

I was so upset about not journaling before my first half, so I'm trying to avoid that mistake this time. Instead of trying to write after every run, I'm going to focus on writing on my weekend rest days, when I'm super restless and just want to go run! So here's the recap of last week:

Week four was awful: my trip had 3 short Boston layover in a row, and I missed two of my midweek runs. However, my 9 mile long run went pretty well later that week!! Hopefully there won't be many weeks like that going forward.

Monday/Tuesday runs went well - 3 and 5 miles respectively. It's been super hot and humid at home, so even on the 5 milers I'm bringing my 20 ounce Nathan belt and nearly finishing it.

I've also been using the Powerade concentrate. I really want to find a natural alternative, but the Nuun tables fizz too much. I even set one out the night before and STILL had issues with my bottle trying to explode the next morning. At least the Powerade isn't bothering my stomach. I'm also learning that I just can't tolerate a lot of food close to my morning runs; at most I can eat half an english muffin with a tablespoon of almond butter and even that gives me some minor GI discomfort. Another reason I prefer afternoon runs - I've had plenty of time to digest whatever I've eaten that day!

This is my "holy crap guys, it's hot out" face

I ended up skipping Wednesday's 3 mile run to use it as a rest day so that I could do my long run a day early. I had an early show in ACY Friday morning and I knew by the time we got to MYR I wouldn't be in the mood or awake enough to pull off 10 miles. Additionally it was about 1,000 degrees in Myrtle Beach this weekend!!

I'm not sure how I managed to get out of bed Thursday morning so my long run, but it had a lot to do with the fact that my husband is amazing. Even at 6am he manages to convince me to get out of bed and go run! And he's right, once I get my shoes on and get out the door I feel so much better. I was dreading this run - even for my 1/2s I never managed more than a 9 mile training run for one reason or another. It was pretty brutal - I'm not sure if it was the heat, or fueling issues or just being tired from a busy week but I'm glad I did it! The honey stinger gels are working out really well, however about 7.5 miles in, I was starving. So maybe I need to carry something solid like fig newtons. Still managed to keep a decent pace, too. If I can keep up this 12:10-12:20 training pace then I should have no problem finishing in under 5:30!

It was very exciting to reach the Hunsicker Road covered bridge - it's several miles from our house and I have always hoped I'd reach it on a run!!

Covered bridge!! From my 10 miler.

Today I'm in Detroit on the last day of a 4 day. I've been kind of inexplicably exhausted this trip - spent most of my long MYR layover lounging around and napping, recovering from Thursday's miles and the 2:30am wakeup call. Then a super-late night getting out to LAX - although I did manage 3 nice miles yesterday on the Long Beach bike path to make up for last week's skipped miles.

I can't not go out and run when I'm on a L.A. layover. 

Today calls for 3 miles but I'm just not feeling it - I didn't get much sleep again last night. Tonight we should land before 11pm (if LGA cooperates) but as David won't be getting home until tomorrow morning, I got a hotel room in ACY tonight. That was I won't be totally wrecked tomorrow. Scheduled for 5, but I think I'll bump it up to 6 and then bump Wednesday's 3 miles to 4 or 5; that'll make up the miles! Friday's long run is 7 miles - thank God for Hal Higdon and his drawback weeks!! They give me courage for the next two!

PR day!

Haven't been updating much but really have been meaning to! I've had a couple wonderful runs in the last month that I wish I had written about. That'll teach me!

Anywho today I ran a 5K that I found through the Pretzel City Sports website last week. Sometimes it seems that every 5K around here is funding a cause I'd rather not give money to, being such a religious area. I just don't feel comfortable funding a mission trip as I don't agree with proselytizing. But we do have plenty of fire house and school fundraising raises, which I love! Today's race was in Myerstown, about 20 minutes north of downtown Lititz. Beautiful town! I even passed a farm on the way in with a ton of baby lambs and two yaks! Yaks!!

The race was funding the local high school's post graduation bash - a party hosted by the school where the kids can go celebrate safely! Love it. It was a super small race; I think there were only 40 runners! I got excited when I saw the small field, since I thought I could rustle up an age group award. Unfortunately out of those 40 people, about 10 were women in the 30-39 age group! Doh!

The race director was super nice and she did a really good job marking the course - there was really only one point where I had no one in front of me and wasn't 100% sure where to go, but it worked out in the end. The weather was freezing when we started, so I wore a long sleeve top over my shirt, but got rid of that about halfway through the race when the sun came out. This is when I love having my Nathan bib holder. It's nothing fancy, just a strap with two toggles for the bib, but it's so nice to be able to get rid of a layer and not have to worry about safety pins.

We finished the first mile in just over 9 minutes, which is SUPER fast for me. But I could see who I thought was the #3 woman in my age group about a minute ahead of me and I desperately wanted to catch up with her, so I tried to keep the pace. Eventually I had to let that pace go and even had to walk a couple times in the 3rd mile to catch my breath, but I still managed 10:35' miles after the first and finished in 31:53. That's like a 55 second PR, y'all! That broke my middle school 5K time, haha. So happy!!

Time to go pick up husband from the train station - our 2nd anniversary is in 2 days! <3

Rain rain go away!

March, that bitch, has seemed to transition right into April. Growing up in the Sunshine State, I never understood the adage "April showers bring May flowers." I always thought "but flowers grow year round!" HAHAHAHA how blissfully unaware I was.

It's rained now for the last 2 days with more rain tomorrow. I wanted to run today, and honest, I don't mind running in the rain. However, I do mind how waterlogged my shoes get. It's miserable. And today's light drizzle would go to steady rain without warning. It just wasn't going to happen.

Luckily yesterday everyone favorite yogi (Brad) sent out an email saying that this morning's vinyasa class was going to be hot vinyasa!! There's nothing better for a misplaced Floridian than yoga in 90 degree heat, yo. Nuh-thing. It was great! I was soaked and I'm pretty sure I hair-flipped some sweat on to the girl next to me, but whatever. You know what you're getting into when you go to hot yoga.

I always feel like a cheater when I only go to yoga during the day, so I hung out, played some video games, went grocery shopping and hit the gym for some more swimming. I went yesterday after the elliptical but was so tired/hangry that I only got in 15 minutes.

Rediscovering swimming has made me really happy. It's so easy to forget how cold it is outside when you're in a bathing suit! Management said the heat is on the fritz in the swim area but you couldn't really notice. I'm learning that Friday nights/weekends aren't great times to try to get a workout in, as the gym puts up their (totally boss) inflatable for the kids to play on. This thing is seriously about 60 feet long - NFL combine meets water slide. One of these days I'm totally going to get on it. The downside is that when the inflatable is out, the pool is down to one lap lane. When I arrived tonight the lane was already being used by two people, but I hung out for a few minutes and grabbed it when they were done. 20 minutes and 800m later I'm exhausted and trying to figure out how I can run for 13 miles but can't swim a 1/2 mile without taking 152 breaks!!

I do love swimming, though. It has the same great exertion and "zone out" qualities that running does. It's becoming my go to "hip hurts today/shin splints acting up/it's rainy out" running substitute. And at least now I'm getting use out of that $80 speedo I bought last year!!

namaste, y'all.

It's Spring! Or..not.

I decided against doing Saturday's 5K because my hip flexor pain seemed to be coming back and I had been dealing with some shin splints. I think that was the good choice for me - I'm trying to not put any pressure on myself in March so that I can ramp up my long runs and weekly mileage safely.

Today's 5 mile long run went well - I held a 11:36 average pace, which I'm happy with. I didn't feel like doing my spur out to the museum (which requires crossing a busy road twice) so I decided to loop around the middle school. I was just about to do that when I realized that it was Monday and school was still in session, and I'm so worried about getting in trouble! Instead I ran through their great XC area. It's uneven as heck but I like trail running, it makes a humdrum run exciting!!

The temperature today was brutal - 26 degrees! I had to dig out all my winter running clothes AGAIN. At least there's no snow on the ground and all the fauna are out. I saw robins, sparrows and what were either Carolina wrens or titmice. It's a reassuring sign that spring may actually be coming after all.

We've got a lot going on tomorrow but eventually I'm going to get into some more strength training and swimming. For now I have a date with a yoga mat and my Grid foam roller!

Coming out of hibernation

Today was an absolutely gorgeous day that begged me to slip on my shoes and hit the roads. While I typically avoid going out during "rush hour," I chose to just stick to my local neighborhoods and enjoy the last couple hours of daylight before the impending bad weather and cold of the next two days.

It was like the entire world had come out of hibernation. I chatted with a woman walking her two dachshunds that she thinks used to belong to a runner because they always bark at runners. Doug and Brodie (a neighbor and his sweet-as-sugar yellow lab) were also out - I haven't seen them in months! An adorable spaniel jumped on me to say hi as his owner and her parents were out for an after-schools walk by the pond. So many people were out walking, running, biking and just enjoying the sunshine. It was a wonderful change after the last few months of darkness and cold.

The duck pond is still mostly frozen but the snow is disappearing fast.

I ran for 40 minutes - sometimes when I don't feel like committing to a distance I'll commit to a time. I enjoy the change of goals. It wasn't an easy run - I haven't slept well the last few nights and am dealing with a lot of personal anxiety, so my whole body felt heavy. But even these hard runs are amazing considering that a month ago we were dealing with snow piles taller than me! And I know my endurance will be back and I'll drop the few extra pound I put on while in Florida. I want to Run for Fun this month and it's going swimmingly.

Reclaiming the pavement, one day at a time.

Finally!!

Today was shaping up to be a complete waste of a day off! I got home at 2am from work, didn't go to sleep around 4am, and was up around 9. I lazed about most of the day, doing laundry and watching Once Upon a Time and Modern Family. Around 5 my husband (who is at work) asked why I was inside all day when it was so gorgeous outside. Duh!

Even though I hadn't really intended to run today I threw some tights and one of my shiny new Gasparilla shirts on, grabbed my shoes and my iPhone and said "ok! No more than two miles!"

Is there anything better, more freeing, more gleeful that those first few strides on a gorgeous, sunny day? I felt like my inner lab was coming out, as I started out WAY too fast. Oh well, right? March is Fun Run month. I'm just going to run for fun and no worry so much about training paces and distances.

WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

2 miles in just over 22 minutes, which felt great after 2 weeks of grumpy nothingness. Even the ol' fitbit was excited. There was barely any snow left on the paths - just a couple sections to tiptoe through. Overall, a great run. The hip started bothering me around 1.5 miles in but we're working on that. My foot felt great, though. No pain at all during the run and only a little nagging after. 

Whee! I might go out again tomorrow!! 

Frustrated

I was so excited about my ankle/foot being pain free for two days..until last night.

Yesterday was a longish day at work: 3 legs and about 6 hours of flying. It was a busy day as we only had about 40 minutes in between flights. This leaves just about enough time for a bathroom break, to review/enter the new flight plan and maybe grab some food. I had a bad moment and decided to "share" some McDs french fries with our lead flight attendant, which basically meant he had 4 fries and I ate the other 8,000 calories. Oy. I miss having my cooler this trip; I'm not starving but I'm not eating terribly healthy.

My sprain was feeling great but between the long walk from the gate in Detroit to our hotel van combined with my completely exhausted loafers, by the time I got to the hotel my ankle was killing me again. I think I'll retape it with some KT Tape for extra support and down some ibuprofen for lunch.

I was really looking forward to getting back on the road by Wednesday - now I'm not so sure. It's been 2 weeks since Gasparilla so I'm getting impatient. I'm trying to not let my 1000 mile goal push me out the door too soon - I figure with marathon training I'll have plenty of time to get in some crazy mileage. It's so important that I let the sprain heal so that I can increase my milage to be ready for those long runs starting in June!! I could honestly not run all of March and still be in good shape for a gentle milage increase to 10 miles by the end of May.  I miss the serotonin, though.

In ACY tonight with a late RSW turn tomorrow night; then home for a day and possibly working Tuesday. There is a RSW turn in open time for Tuesday but I can never figure out their rationale behind assignments - I swear a dartboard is involved.

I'll leave you with a picture of Lake Michigan from yesterday...cannot wait for winter to be over!!

Lake Michigan from the (VEECK no wait now it's the WATSN) arrival into ORD.

Back at work...

I'm on a 4 day trip for work right now - it's so good to be back! While it's certainly wonderful to have 2 weeks off from work, the return is always stressful. It takes a couple flights to get back into the flow of things. Today was a 3 leg day and a Myrtle Beach overnight. I haven't had a MYR overnight in so long and we're now at a beautiful hotel in the tourist area called the Boardwalk. Unfortunately it's cold and pouring down rain; I had dinner with two of the flight attendants but I have no idea if I'll venture out of the hotel again tomorrow.

I love Myrtle Beach because it has some wonderful hard packed sand for running. I learned quickly to check the tide charts and to schedule my runs at low tide! But it really is great for running. I suppose it's fortunate that the weather is bad because I have my Brooks and my running clothes in my suitcase and it would be so tempting to go!

Today was my first day where I wasn't thinking about my ankle. It twinged a bit this morning while I was getting dressed but as soon as my muscles warmed up and the tendons stretched back out it's felt very solid. I haven't even worn the KT tape since day before yesterday. I'm very hopeful that I'll be able to return to running by Wednesday. And just in time for some warm(er) weather...and most importantly, the return of Daylight Savings Time!!

I started reading Running & Being by George Sheehan last night - I am so struck by his description of the soul of running. I know why his book is so popular; most runners must have felt like he was writing just for them. I can't wait to read more.

Thinking happy thoughts for some very special people this week. The end to my hibernation cannot come soon enough!

Cabin fever!

I think there's nothing worse than being in Florida during the most beautiful part of the year and not being able to run! Woke up in pain today. I think I walked too much yesterday, or perhaps it was venturing out in flip flops, which I rarely do.  I suppose I'll have to take it extra easy today.

While it's incredibly frustrating for me to not be able to run right now, I'm focused on one thing and one thing only:

I have to make sure that I stay injury free from June 1 on. So while it's March and I can't run, when I get back into it I'm going to be very cognizant of how quickly I increase my mileage up to the 10 mile long runs needed to start marathon training. I'm nervous about the race but also excited - I don't want to say that 1/2 marathons have become easy because they're NOT but I've always been the person who says "ok, I've done that, what's next?!" I'm also hoping that the distance running is going to help increase my times for 1/2s in the future. 

Until I can run I'm concentrating on getting healthy and on continuing to lose weight - being in Tampa has not been friendly to the waistline. I did buy a Fitbit yesterday; any bit of motivation helps!

Gasparilla Distance Classic

It's a week late but I'm finally getting around to my race recap for the Gasparilla Distance Classic.

Being from Tampa I love the GDC. I ran the 5K here back in middle school before I gave up running (the first time) and it was a blast. Two years ago, when I had finally started running again, I ran in the 8K, my very first "distance" race. I think at the time I had only run 5 miles once before, and it was hard but tremendously rewarding. The race that started the Crazy, perhaps?

Gasparilla used to have a marathon; however between a combination of low turnout and whining from folks who hated having their streets closed all day, they pulled back to a 1/2 marathon. GDC weekend there are 4 races: 15K and 5K on Saturday and the 1/2 marathon followed by the 8K on Sunday. The 5K this year had over 14,000 participants! 

It's a great time - typically you'll see people dressed up as pirates all over the place. Myth debunking: some of my friends thought that the race is pirate themed because of the Buccaneers, our NFL team. Not so! In reality the Gasparilla festival has been celebrated in Tampa since 1904. Jose Gaspar, the pirate captain, invades the city with his pirate mates, and the mayor surrenders the key to the city. "Sacking" ensues - basically a lot of parades, bead throwing and plenty of drinking. So the GDC takes place during this time. 

GDC also offers three different "challenge" options. Since Michelob is the big sponsor for the races, they're all named after beers. I did the middle challenge, the *takes a deep breath* Michelob Ultra Amber Challenge. This meant I would run the 15K and 5K races on Saturday followed by the 1/2 marathon on Sunday. The other two challenges entailed running the 15K/8K or all four races. In retrospect I should have probably signed up for the 15K/8K so I wouldn't have been so stressed out about my training during the worst part of the winter in PA. Oh well, lesson learned! 

Race Day #1: Saturday. 15K/5K.

The 15K started at  7am so I was up around 4:45; the usual sneaking around the house trying not to knock anything over and waking everyone else up. I was excited to rock my Moon Joggers Voyage to Venus shirt and gunmetal Sparkle Skirt. I recently bought some Brooks Glycerin 2-in-1 shorts which worked out wonderfully. They have a boy short liner with grippy hem so I can rock the shorts without getting any wicked thigh chafe.

My requisite pre-race bib selfie: Husband affectionately referred to my bib as "the Civil War bib."

Getting to Tampa on Friday had been a nightmare. Woke up that morning to fog but no apparently flight delays in PHL so I drove there expecting my noon flight to TPA to be on time. WRONG. Long story short: I ended up driving to ACY to jumpseat down on company. This ended up with a very very rushed Friday - barely any time for packet pickup and dinner, much less my normal hydration/yoga/foam rolling pre race rituals. And I was still organizing for the race at 10pm. *head desk*

Even though I knew it would be hot and humid, the race packet swore there would be aid stations nearly every mile, so I decided to forgo my bulky Nathan hydration belt for a SPIBelt with gel pockets that I picked up at the expo. The race support was so excellent at the race that I never regretted not bringing my own water. I never had to wait for water; there were at least 10 volunteers at each aid station for the 15K and even more for the 1/2 marathon. I can't say enough about how wonderful the race support was all weekend!

The Tampa "skyline," which was pretty invisible all morning due to fog.

The 15K course was wonderful; out and back down Bayshore Blvd. If you're looking for a flat race course, look no further. Besides the Brorein Street bridge that you cross immediately after the start, there was not a noticeable incline for the entirety of the race. Gotta love Tampa for that!

Running on Bayshore is like an architecture tour - the houses on and near Bayshore run the gamut from small ranches to magnificent Spanish style homes that list for millions of dollars. Bayshore is prime real estate.

After about 5 1/2 miles we had our turnaround. Some blessed souls were passing out Krispy Kreme donuts to all the runners - I wish I could've partaken but when I'm hot and sweaty the last thing I want is an uber-sweet donut!

Since it was hot and I felt massively undertrained I ran the race with a 4:1 interval - 4 minutes of running with 1 minute walk breaks. It actually worked out pretty well! I never got so tired that my form became sloppy. Judging from Nike+ my running portions ran about 11:15-11:30/mile so I averaged a 12:10/mile pace for the 15K with a time of 1:54:19. Not bad!

Unfortunately at mile 7 I started to feel an ache in my left foot. By the time I crossed the finish line it was hurting quite a bit. Oh no!!

A medal makes everything better for a little while...

The 15K medal. Yay booty!

At this point David and I finally found each other and we hung out for a little while waiting for the 5K start. Hubs had registered for the 5K the night before so I wouldn't have to walk it myself - Mom had originally decided to do it with me but came down with a nasty cold that weekend. 

I don't have any photos from the 5K for two reasons: I was in a lot of pain by this point and about a mile in it started to POUR. Torrential rainfall!! The rain would stop just to start up again about 2 minutes later. Doh! By the time we finished we were soaked and my shoes were all squishy. Gross. But we finished (55:24)!! After the race we had a quick photo op at the pier where we got married.

Hey look! We got married here! 

Saturday afternoon/evening I spent with my foot on ice. I was panicked that there was no way I'd be able to run the 1/2 marathon. This is why I always feel weird about getting race shirts/premiums before running the actual race - I already had the (really cool) 1/2 marathon shirt and the challenge finishers jacket at home...staring at me...telling me to not be a wimp. Pain is temporary, pride is forever, right? Right. So Sunday morning I roust myself at 4am to go "run" a 1/2 marathon. *head desk*

The weather, thankfully, was a bit cooler than the day before. I walked to the convention center/start line in some pain but no so much that I didn't think I'd finish the race. I even risked some ibuprofen that morning, even though I never take medication before I run.

Does this sound like a really stupid person talking? Yes, yes it does. Because I'm that crazy person.

I'll save you the gory details but it was a LONG race. A really long race. I still maintained my 4:1 ratio, but by mile 9 I decided to throw it out the window and just keep running, just to get the damn race over with. I was very thankful to get so many encouraging Facebook messages from my friends and running group - it kept me going. I'm glad I did the 1/2 but I never want to run injured again. It was stupid and not enjoyable.

It wasn't all terrible - by the 10K mark I realized that I was running really slow (over a 13'/mile pace which is slow for me for a 1/2) but that I was at 1:30 - which meant if I could negative split the last half the race I could get a sub 3 hour time.

Aaaaand the crazy person is back.

What is it about running and goals and times that make us absolutely insane? All I know is that around mile 10 either the serotonin kicked in or I was just tired of thinking about my foot because the pain went away. I actually pulled a decent pace for the last 5K of the half and finished in 2:59:17. Husband was even there to high five me right before I crossed the finish line (that's love right there, folks).

Nothing makes you happier about running 13.1 miles on a sprained ankle like a damn idiot like getting two shiny medals when you cross the finish line.

This doesn't look like the face of a person who just ran a 1/2 marathon on a sprained ankle, does it?  It because this is the face of a CRAZY PERSON.

The 1/2 marathon medal immediately became my New Favorite Medal.

Super booty, arrrr!!

It was nice to realize, after the race was over, that this was my 4th half marathon and that my first was exactly one year before that (at the Princess 1/2 Marathon in Disney). It's been a crazy awesome year.

Post race pic outside the Tampa Bay History Center - my favorite wedding photo was my husband and I sitting on this gator.

So. All in all I'm glad I decided to run the 1/2 on Sunday. Most of it sucked but I didn't die and I didn't break anything. So I call that a win. I could barely walk the rest of the day (or the next three) but at least I finished. You may think that it's irresponsible and crazy but it's just the way my brain works.

We're gonna need a bigger medal rack.

The sad thing is that I had to call out sick to work all week because of the damn sprain - I could barely walk around, much less use a rudder pedal or assist in an evacuation. So that was pretty stupid, professionally. But at least I was on reserve so they didn't have to cover a trip for me or anything. And yes, I went to the doctor. Rest, ice, take it easy for a week and NO RUNNING until it feels 100%. I can deal with that. There are worse things than convalescing in Florida before heading back to the frozen wasteland that is the Mid-Atlantic. Yesterday I finally had the bright idea to KT tape my ankle; it still hurts but feels a lot more supported than it did on an ankle brace and my shoes fit better to boot. At least I should be able to go to work Thursday, even if I'm not running yet.

Next race: I doubt I'll be doing the Run4Luck in Lancaster in 2 weeks; April 13th is the Hershey 10K. Going to try to get a time of around 1:05 so I can get a better corral placement for Disney Wine & Dine in October. Better corral placement = more time in Epcot post-race, woo!

Stay thirsty, my friends.

Abuse therapy and race prep

My inattention to my weak right hip is really coming back with a vengeance. Tonight I had an hour session with my stretch therapist, Brad. I was nearly in tears when he was working on my adductor and illiopsoas. Groan. Hopefully I'll be a little less out of whack tomorrow and this weekend. Plenty of pigeon pose in my future!

I'm finally packed for my trip to Tampa; if I don't get called I'm off reserve at 11am tomorrow (crossing fingers) and trying to get on a noon flight to Tampa. Then it's off to the Gasparilla race expo with Mom and David, who I'm hoping are both walking the 5K with me on Saturday! It would be so cool for them to both have race Ts and medals.

I finally sat down and wrote up a generic packing list for races, since I seem to travel for them so much. Of course the next 3 races I'm scheduled for are local. This will be a nice break.

David's currently at jetBlue U for his first recurrent; he's in the box tonight for his checkride until 3am. I know he's going to do amazing. I'm back on reserve Wednesday and while there's a nice 3 day trip with a wonderful MYR overnight in it, I'm hoping I don't get assigned as David will be home Wednesday/Thursday. It's been a really rough month. That the more time we spend together, the harder it is to be apart. We should be used to being on our own, as it's been 6 years since I started at Spirit, but it's honestly more difficult. Being married has made us even more attached to each other. I love him more every day and I know he feels the same way about me. But it's been a challenge since he's started at jetBlue, and worse since I chose to become a captain and lost most of the control I had over my schedule. Add Part 117 making schedules more troublesome and it's been a long winter so far. We're doing fine, it's just that neither one of us have any "B" plan. Well, David does. And we've always promised that we'd rather quit our jobs than endanger our marriage. Let's hope it doesn't come to that.

Oh...all this thinking about what to do that's not flying the line just makes me stressed out. Oy.

More about the race this weekend.

Let's try this yet again...

I suppose I will yet again attempt to blog.

My problem continues to be the realization that no one really wants to read what I do workout or work-wise, and that's okay with me. I don't really read a lot of other blogs, to be honest. What I want to do is keep a journal, and I type much faster than I write. I would prefer, actually, to not have folks reading this. A lot is probably embarrassing. I'm not into giving advice. It's probably going to be boring. But I always seem to regret not keeping a journal, so here we go.

This weekend is the Gasparilla Distance Classic. I first ran Gasparilla when I was in middle school, with my bestie Amy. I remember having so much fun! This was before medals were a thing so I'm not even sure I have the tshirt laying around. That was the 5K in probably 1996 or 1997. Then in 2012 I ran the 8K (named the 5+3K after the sponsor, 5/3 bank of whatever they're called - it took me 2 years to figure that out). It's such a gorgeous course I couldn't wait to run more races.

Unfortunately last year Gasparilla ended up being on the same weekend as the Princess 1/2 marathon! However after the absolute craziness of the Princess I decided that I'd much rather run my hometown race. Sleep in my own bed? Not have to pack food? What the what?!?

My training was going so well in late fall (after being woefully under prepared for both the Bird-in-Hand 1/2 and the Disney Wine and Dine 1/2 I was SUPER motivated to not suck for this race) that I registered for one of the three challenges. Honestly I can't even remember the name - all the challenges are named after beer (yep, sounds like Tampa!). This Saturday I run the 15K followed by the 5K and on Sunday the 1/2. I had originally started training via the Dumbo Dare schedule but quickly fell behind on mileage. The winter has been absolutely horrible. I didn't know that running too fast on the treadmill is Bad For You and ended up aggravating a hip flexor that I pulled slipping on ice (ironically enough while heading into the gym). Being Mikel, The One Who Never Rests Injuries, I continued to run on it until I was limping every day. Sigh. So I haven't run in a month. Instead I've been hitting the elliptical as well as weight training and swimming.

Cardio-wise I feel prepared. Running-wise? Well, let's hope there's enough KT tape to go around. I slipped on ice AGAIN yesterday so my hip twinges a bit today. I'll hit up stretch therapy Thursday afternoon and continue to practice yoga and foam roll like a crazy person.

And that, my friends, is a huge slacker.

After Gasparilla it's on like Donkey Kong. I keep reminding myself that running is a lifelong journey. I do not need to Run All the Races this year. I've banned myself from signing up for anything more than a 10K until Bird-in-Hand in September. I need to be able to ramp my mileage up safely to get ready for marathon training June 1st. And then I have to pray that work will cooperate enough that I can train effectively. At least I'm learning that the elliptical is just find for short run/cross training days. And once the hip flexor heals up at last, I can return to the treadmill - but only for running slow. Like, turtle slow. 5 mph slow. 

That's enough for tonight, I think.

Today's workout:

Elliptical - 40 mins

Swimming - 30 mins, 1000m