TexasLindsey

5.2 miles at 3pm pushing Ryan in the running stroller on the hilly route in my neighborhood.  Perfect running weather=50ish with 10-12 mph wind, cloudy.  Average pace=9:35/m.

Ryan slept the whole way.  Fun, fun!   Stupid plantar fasciitis still bugging me on my left foot.  I guess I just am supposed to live with this forever.  I have taken all this time off and I still can't get rid of it.  Too bad...  I can't take anymore time off.  

The married couple that I run with all the time around my neighborhood, Tim and Ashley, just ran a marathon in Galveston, TX on Sunday.  They had to deal with 20-30 mph wind.  Ashley pulled a 3:33 with her last mile being 7:45 pace. She was first in her age group. Tim did 3:06 and got first place masters.  Also,last week a girl from my running group named Emily who I used to run with until she got extremely, extremely fast... she ran a 1:22 half marathon!! 

My friends are PR-ing all over the place and I'm just sitting on my butt.  I've got to get myself back in shape or I'm going to go crazy.  Plus, I'm gaining weight.  I think I need to start getting up and running in the morning again.  It's the only way I've ever been consistent.  I'll just have to deal with 30 degree weather in the dark and alone.  Ashley and Tim don't want to run in the morning until it gets warmer.  They are running in the evening hours when I can't because I have kids.

4 miles at 6pm.  Weather=45F, 8mph wind, cloudy with sun at start but dark at end.  Average pace=8:27/m.

A quick little loop around the neighborhood with a couple of pretty good hills.  Felt good!  

 What a weird winter we have had in Texas... and by weird, I mean hotter than normal.  Today's high was 48 which was just about the coldest it's been all year.  We've been having 60's and 70's for highs most of the time.  T-shirts and shorts during the day.  Mornings are 30's-40's though.   We haven't even had freezing weather at all this year.  The grass is greener now than it was in July.  Normally, it seems we have at least one snow per season... and normally we have at least one month where the highs are in the 20's to 30's most of the month.   I guess coming off the summer we just had with 60+ days in a row of 100+ temps I shouldn't be surprised.   I wonder what this means though for the summer of 2012.  I'm worried it'll be hotter than 2011.

6.5 miles at 3pm at the Trinity trails pushing the double running stroller.  Weather=45ish, partly cloudy.  Average pace=10:40/m

 I haven't run with the double stroller in a while.  It is much more difficult than the single stroller.  Jake is about 40 pounds and he bounced his feet the whole time and Ryan is about 30 pounds and he leaned forward for most of it.   I had to hold it with both hands the whole time to keep it going straight.  There were many twists and turns and short little hills along the river.  At first I was pretty frustrated with running like that but then I decided to not think of it as running.  Instead think of it as an arm/cardio workout.   It was an arm workout for sure!  My arm muscles were on fire!   Eventually, I got into a good rhythm and it was fun.  Boys did very well.  

9.25 miles around my neighborhood at 4pm.  Weather=40ish, 10mph wind gusting to 20mph, cloudy.  Average pace=9:17/m. 

3 miles on the treadmill.  Average pace=9:00/m.  Then 6 miles around the neighborhood.  Weather=49F, 12mph wind, cloudy. Average pace=8:48/m.

My husband has the flu so he was home from work today.  Hopefully no one else in the family will get it!!   When my two year old went down for a nap and my four year old was watching a video, I got dressed to go run.  I stepped outside and the misty cold and said, "uh...I don't think so."   I came back inside and ran on the treadmill instead.  However, three miles into it, I was burning up! I decided I could run outside afterall.  I even wore a t-shirt and felt fine. 

4.6 miles at 1pm around the neighborhood pushing Ryan in the running stroller.  Average pace= 9:55/m.   Came home and dropped him off and went immediately back out for another 4.6 miles (same route) by myself.  Average pace=8:48/m.   Weather was perfect!  55-60F, 10mph wind, sunny.  

 Great day!  My husband is still home sick again so I got to run during the day.  Now Jake is coming down with it.  I hope I don't get the flu too.  I'm just starting to get more consistent with my running again.  Ryan and I so far are not sick yet.  Fingers crossed!!!

6.4 miles at 6:15pm.  Weather=60F, 8mph wind, dark.  Average pace=8:25/m.

Met up with Ashley and Tim.  It was a challenging run for me because we talked non-stop and there were a few hills.  The 8:25 pace felt like 8:00 or 7:50 did a few months ago. I'm still trying to get back the fitness that I lost after taking so much time off.  It was fun though!  I love my running partners!  Tim and I got our official notifications for NYC Marathon!  Woo Hoo!   

No worries.  I'll get there.  My feet are all banged up though.  The bottoms of them feel bruised!  I guess I'll be building back up all my caluses. 

12 miles at 11am.  Weather=49F, 8mph wind, cloudy.  Average pace=8:17/m.

mile 1- 8:20

mile 2- 8:16

mile 3- 8:10

mile 4- 8:09

mile 5- 8:06

mile 6- 8:04

mile 7- 8:04

mile 8- 8:12

mile 9- 7:49

mile 10- 8:57

mile 11- 8:41

mile 12- 8:46

Well, I ended up catching the sickness that my husband and four year old had.  It hit me Thursday night. Turns out it was strep throat.  I started taking antibiotics and I was feeling better by Sunday when Ashley called and invited to run 12 miles with her and Wendy. 

The first couple miles were hard on me.  I felt like I couldn't catch my breath, but that might have had something to do with me just getting over this sickness.  I was having a hard time talking and running.  I told the girls that the only way I was going to make it was if I put in my ipod earbuds and concentrated.  Once I did that I started thinking of the run as a tempo run.  I kinda got ahead of the girls slightly.  They were just talking the whole way.  It was just an easy run for them.  They are in much better fitness than I am right now.  

Mile 9 was fast because I was really thirsty and there was a water fountain at the end of that mile.  After this water stop though, I was wiped.  I decided to just run it easy the final 3 miles.  Ashley and Wendy passed me by and I told them I'd see them at the running store.  My left IT band started acting up during this time.  I ran through the pain but it wasn't easy. 

It was kinda funny when we finished Ashley noticed that my shoe was all bloody.  It turns out one of my toenails had cut the skin on the toe next to it.  It looked alot worse than it felt.  I didn't even notice it that much.   I've also got a big toenail that is about to come off and a black toenail and a blister the size of a quarter.  When I take time off from running, my feet really pay the price when I start back up again!   

4.75 miles at 6pm.  Weather=73F, 34% humidity, 18 mph wind gusting to 24mph, sunset.  Average pace=8:56/m (8:33, 9:03, 9:09, 9:04, 8:51)

 The wind made it tough.  I kinda had a stitch in my side the last part.  I think it was because my breathing never got into a good rhythm because I was fighting that wind.  Oh well, at least I ran.  It was 80 degrees today!  All the trees and flowers think it's spring already and are blooming.