The 11 mile run that nearly killed me

Sunday, December 27 was long run day and I did an 11 mile loop around my normal running grounds (Franklin Park, Arboretum, Jamaica Pond). The run itself wasn't bad, but I crashed afterwards. I suspect that maybe I didn't drink enough water earlier on in the day, but I was so tired and felt sick to my stomach. After several hours in bed, I did feel much better, but wow, I was exhausted. Definitely going to ask my running coach about that one today...

Why do my parent's have to live on Hill Street?!?

I was able to fit in a run Christmas morning (which was great because I didn't feel nearly as bad stuffing my face with all that food later in the day). I did 6.25 mile run around their house, which was supposed to be an easy run, except that my parents road is named "Hill" street for a reason - a Hill that they live right on top of. Holy hill workout! It was good because the marathon course has a lot of hills, but not quite the leisurely Christmas run I was expecting.

Best Christmas Present Ever!

If you've been following my blog, you've seen the ups and downs of my training - the flu, my knee pain. The challenge I've been having is knowing what to do in these situations and since my charity team is a team of 1, I've been feeling lost at times during my training. Thankfully my very generous family fixed this for me by giving me coaching through the Boston Running Center! I'm more than excited. I will have a coach that is going to give me weekly workouts including stretches and strength training exercises to help work on my deficiencies as well as be there to answer any questions I have and help fix problems I encounter. I'm super excited and have my first meeting with him Monday, December 28th.

Let it snow!

So my "long run" was supposed to be on Sunday - the Sunday of the snowstorm. I had every intention of being a real trooper and making it out for all 9 miles, but needless to say that didn't happen. We did take Addie to the arboretum for some XC skiing in the fresh snow, and then after the snow died down, I went out for a short 4 mile run. I do have to say it was a challenge with all the snow on the ground, but I made it through.

I left my long run for Monday and I did make it through all 9 miles that day. It was quite windy, which made it tougher than normal - I did have to power through. But it felt good to finish. My knee bothered me the night and day after the run, but today I woke up feeling pretty good without knee pain. Hooray!

Things on the up & up!

So far this week has been much better. I've decided to try to integrate cross-training more into my routine to lessen the burden on my knees, so I went swimming and to spin class this week. Yesterday I went out for a 5+ mile run and I actually felt great! Very little knee pain which made me quite happy.

I'm hoping things continue to go well tomorrow when I head out to do a nine mile run. Should be interesting - expecting 8-10" of snow tonight. In a strange way I'm looking forward to it because I bet it will be beautiful out and very quiet. We shall see...

Back, but not exactly better

After my last post I did actually test the waters with a short 3 mile run - not such a great idea. I should have listened to the advice online that said if you had any type of chest cold that running wasn't recommended. That run felt pretty bad.

I decided to wait until my chest felt all better and went out for a run today. The run wasn't all bad, but it wasn't all good either. The high points were:

1) Chest felt great and my breathing was 100% fine.

2) Got to try out the running gear that my husband bought me for my birthday. It was great!

The low points were:

1) Got bad side cramp - haven't gotten one of those really since the first week.

2) My knees

3) New shoes I got (to try and help my knees) don't seem to be working out so well. In addition to not really helping my knees, my feet are constantly numb. Very strange feeling while you're running. Think I have to bring them back to marathon sports and try for another pair.

I am thankful that I am no longer sick and overall feeling much better. Tomorrow is another day!

Where have I been???

For those of you visiting regularly, I'm sure you've noticed a lack of blog activity this past week. My last post where I mention starting to feel crummy - well that ended up being an understatement! What I ended up with was a nasty flu/chest congestion that kept me on the couch for three days and out of my running shoes all week. I'm glad it happened early into training, but for every little set back, I can't help but feel like I'm losing so much precious time (even though everyone just keeps telling me the important thing is to get better). I can only imagine what professional athletes must feel when they get injured/sick - it's the pits!

I've still got a bit of a nagging cough, but am feeling much better today. I think tomorrow might just be the day to test the waters again with a short run. Will let everyone know how it goes.