quick update

A quick post to update my previous post. I neglected to tell you, dear readers, about Monday night's experience at the gym. I stepped on the treadmill (once one was free...and rebooted) and ran 4mi with NO SHIN PAIN!!!! On the TREADMILL!!! As you can tell, this is very exciting news. It must have been simply staying off the thing for over a week that was the trick to healing the shin splints. Here's praying they're gone for good!

Last night was a 12miler and boy, was it rough! When I began it was 40 deg. The first lap around the lake was great, uneventful. The second lap was a bit harder and I tried to mentally prepare myself for "just one more time around." The third lap was rough. I was exhausted, it was cold - the temp fell 10 deg and with me being a sweat monster, I was wet and that made me even colder. I struggled through it, even walking a few times and ended up with 11.71mi in 1:56:45, just under 10/min miles. I do believe that part of the problem was that I did not eat well at all yesterday. I hardly had any protein all day and just didn't eat a whole lot. So, by the time I got home, not only could I not move my hands (they felt just like they did when I finished the marathon...it was weird), but my stomach was very upset and queasy.

I felt much better after a hot shower and a good dinner and a big glass of milk. No miles scheduled for today, instead a giant snowstorm is supposedly heading our way. Tomorrow I'll try to get 5 or 6 in at the gym in preparation for Saturday's 10miler with a friend. Big mileage week!

3 hrs of sleep

This past weekend was our High School Winter Retreat! It was awesome and sooooo much fun. I went up early on Friday to help get everything organized and set up. And once the kids arrived off the buses there was a crazy amount of energy and fun in the room...it totally set the right tone for the weekend. The speaker/worship leader was great and the kids really connected well with him. The main theme of the retreat was Standing Firm based on Hebrews 6:19. I believe the kids really got it and took hold of that message and that God was changing lives over the course of the three days.

Now, I am used to going on retreats. I've been on a great number of Middle School retreats and other various ones for adults. However, a High School retreat is unlike any other in regards to "lights out." Saturday night, especially! I had to leave the retreat early Sunday morning in order to be back to Grace for Middle School as the parents were joining us. So, I went to bed "early" around 1am. The 5 girls in my room, however, stayed up until 3:30 chatting with friends in the common area. Being the person that I am, I couldn't fully fall asleep until all my girls had come back and they were in bed. Therefore, I didn't fall asleep until 3:30am. And my alarm went off at 6:30am. It was rough getting up and driving 2hrs back to Grace. In fact one person said to me, "Ang, are you okay? You look awful!" Gee, thanks.

All this to say, I did not get my longest run in this past weekend. I needed to get 12 in and it just didn't happen. So, tonight the plans I have include going for a 12miler, shower, dinner and LOST. Sounds like a great night to me...

Just two weeks from Saturday is the half marathon! I am getting very excited to run with lots of other people again. I haven't done a race since the beginning on November...it's been quite a while. It will be so fun to have lots of friends there too. Can't wait!!

marathon man returns

Guess who I ran with (well, okay, behind!) on Tuesday night?!?!?! You'll never guess....okay, you will because it's the title of this post. Marathon man! He came up behind me just as the pretty side of the lake was starting and I kept pace with him until I turned off to run through town. Kinda made my night. :)

For those of you who don't know about marathon man, he is someone I see every late winter/early spring running the lake. I don't see him any other time of year. He is very slender, light on his feet and fast. For these reasons I believe that he is training for the Boston Marathon each spring. I could be totally wrong...but each spring, there he is. This year is no exception.

Another funny thing happened as I was just beginning my run. I was in town and a mother was trying to get her two children out of her van, the younger one (maybe she was 2?) was first. She was walking down the sidewalk, sweet as could be, while her mom was trying to get her older sister out of the car and keep an eye on her as well. The mom kept saying, "Bethany, stay here!" Finally the older sister (prob around 4) says, "Bethany Marie, you come back here!" just as I was passing the scene. Well, Bethany Marie thought it would be fun to join me in my run so she started running after me! I heard the mom say behind me, "No, you can't run with her!!" Too funny.

Now onto the training update/shin splint update: Tuesday night was GREAT!! I got all ready to go to the gym after work but changed my mind when I realized how nice it was outside (this is relative, I know. By nice here I mean, 30deg, no wind). When I got home I quickly changed my clothes again and went for a 6.5miler. (9:30min/mile - thanks, marathon man!) Wednesday I went to the gym after small group. It was an internal struggle to even get there...I SO just wanted to go home. I hopped on the treadmill and only a mile in realized that my shins were hurting...again. When I'm outside they don't, when I'm on the treadmill, they do. I sense a theme. Well, I was only able to get 2miles in (12min/mile) before I called it quits and headed home.

I had every intention of getting up early this am to run before work but forgot to turn my alarm on. Coincidence? Hmmmmm. Planning to get another 6.5 or so in tonight before having dinner with a friend. Tomorrow is another day to try and get up early. I'll keep you posted. Literally.

picture pages

I've talked a lot about running the lake in Wakefield and I thought it was about time you got to see what I get to see. Granted it's somewhat bleak and brown...it is after all, January. But the sun is shining the sky is a beautiful clear blue! Now just imagine it's 20deg with a 15mph wind... :)
To see a bigger picture, just click on it.

mile .75, heading toward the "ugly side" of the lake

mile 2.5, on the left is an office park but to the right is the lake.

around mile 3.25, the "pretty side" of the lake. in the summer, the sunsets are amazing

mile 4, heading towards town. if you look closely, you can see the gazebo.

mile 4.3ish, heading into down town Wakefield. i love my town.

Shoes! The progression goes from right front corner over to the left, up and over to the right back corner.

The two newest editions: on the left are my Ascics Gel Kayano 15s, on the right are my Nike Lunarglide+

Nike+ is really cool

Yesterday began with 9deg temps and lots of wind. Of course, the day of my long run it's the coldest its been all season. After enjoying breakfast and some quality time with my friend, Dawn, I stopped by the sports store to see if I could pick up another pair of running tights. I got distracted by the shiny new shoes as they were featuring the Nike+ Lunarglides. These were the shoes that were featured at the Marathon Expo as Nike was one of the sponsors. I decided I might as well try some on, just to see... I ended up purchasing them. Eeeee!

When I got home, I got ready to head out for my 10miles. I put on my new Lunarglides and headed out the door. Not only did they feel great, they have a special place for the Nike+ sensor that corresponds with my Sportband. The Sportband records the pace of each mile, your overall distance, calories burned and overall time. It's pretty awesome. The sportband has a usb connector that plugs right into the computer and brings up the Nike+ website to log your run. It also connects to dailymile.com which is where I log all of my runs.

I think I may have underestimated the temp when I headed out...it had "warmed up" to about 20deg with a little less wind. I saw someone else running while I drove home and she wasn't that bundled up and looked warm enough. So, I put on a pair of tights, a winter shirt that was a little looser than I should have worn, my down vest, gloves and earband. It was about a mile into the run when I began wishing I had worn another pair of pants and another shirt as well as a full hat instead of just the ear band. It was COLD!!!! I could have turned back and gotten more clothes on but decided to just keep going.

Around mile 3.5-4mi my right shin started acting up again with the shin splints. I knew that I needed to keep going to get these miles in. So around mile 4.5 I stopped to rub it out, which helped. It became a dull ache for the rest of the run instead of a sharp pain. Ugh, I am so frustrated by this!

When I got home, I was SO cold. And before I could get a nice warm shower, I had to ice my leg...which of course made me colder. To take my mind off that, I plugged in my sportband to find that I ran my 10.23miles in 1:37:15. That's 9:32min/miles! I feel good about that. Also found that a few of my miles were run in 8+ min/miles. Who am I? :)

My shin is still a bit sore today. Still, I'm hoping to get a short recovery run in today since I won't be able to get any mileage in tomorrow.

daily runs are like devos

As my alarm was going off this morning at 4:55am, I began thinking how getting a daily run in is often like getting a daily devo in. For the record, I did NOT get up this morning to get to the gym. Instead I reset the alarm for 2hrs later, got up at my typical time and skipped the early workout. I hate to say it but it's because my leg is beginning to hurt again. :( But two days rest, icing, and ibu are helping and with a 10miler on the schedule for tomorrow, I didn't want to risk it getting inflamed today.

Okay, on to my analogy. So, I was talking the other day with someone about when he typically runs. Always in the morning. Can't run any other time. Me? I always run in the evening. It's hard for me to run any other time. Just like each runner needs to find the perfect time of day to get miles in, we need to find the best time of day to get our time with God in. Some stress that it must happen in the morning to start your day off right. Some stress that it needs to happen in the evening to wind down their day. Others find various times through out the day to get their quiet time with God in.

For me, no good things happen in the morning prior to my first cup of coffee. No good runs, no good devos. I have found times that these work best for me...later in the day. You may be different. Maybe you're a morning devo and a morning runner (or maybe just a morning devo-er). ;)

Anyway, this was my great revelation at 5am this morning as I reset the alarm got some more shut eye. Thanks for listening! For training purposes, this week I've logged only 13 miles. With 10 tomorrow that will be 23, and I'm hoping to do a slow recovery run of about 3 on Sunday so that will make my total for the week 26. Not too bad.

not all gyms are created equal

I am a member of Planet Fitness. What lured me in was the fact that it was so stinkin' cheap...as far as gyms go. Well, and the fact that when the weather is such that I don't want to run outside, I don't have to. Planet Fitness has two different options when it comes to membership. You can get the "White Card" that allows you to utilize just your gym, the one you signed up at, for only $10/mo. Then, there's the "Black Card." This type of membership allows you all sorts of extra stuff: free tanning, half off cooler drinks, free use of massage chairs (um, no thank you!), unlimited guest passes (one at a time), and use of any PF gym you care to attend. I have the Black Card since I really wanted to take advantage of most of these perks. The one I've most taken advantage of is the use of other PF gyms in the area.

Planet Fitness is a franchise gym. So, they are not all the same. Yes, they are similar and have the same branding ("judgement free zone", yellow and purple EVERYthing) but other things vary. Here's a brief assessment of a couple that I've been to:
Woburn - this is my home gym. it's small but clean, not overly crowded, friendly, only 6 channel of TV to choose from.
Wilmington - lots of entertainment choices, flat screens are close to cardio (read: you can see w/o squinting), a good amount of cardio machines, very clean, my friend is a member here.
Burlington - old building, little parking, locker room was reminiscent of one you'd find in a HS in the 80's, not very friendly.
Danvers - HUGE! lots of parking, clean, busy (even at 8pm at night), lots of young people, very nice locker room, too hot (seriously, the temp was around 75 with no air circulation...).

What I have come to conclude is that while they are all PF's gyms, they are not all the same. Some are better than others and I'm glad I joined Woburn instead of Burlington, where I considered joining... And, hey, that guest pass is always on the table if anyone wants to check out the Woburn gym. Just let me know.