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!