"I Don't Walk Wit a Limp"

Alright, so I haven’t posted on this blog in a week….and it’s not because I’ve been so busy running I haven’t had time. Wouldn’t that be great?

It’s because after the Monday that I ran 4 miles I was SORE. Not like the good sore that comes after a tough workout, more like “Whoa, I’m definitely not at the point where I can do this a few times a week.” Bummer. And REALITY check. The good thing is I love Reality TV, so it looks like I’ll have more free time to watch that the next couple months.

What happened was that after last Monday I realized I’m not going to be able to run a half in June. Attempting to train for that is too much, too soon. And my next long race is going to be in September. I might as well rest up and take some time off because I’m sure that’s all I really need. In college my IT band gave me so much trouble I limped around campus for a couple weeks and was NOT running. Being dramatic I questioned if I’d ever run again… after taking some time off…I got back into running, and went on to train for 3 half marathons. Just to reiterate: After sharp pain, I managed to train for 3 halves injury free.

What I’m dealing with now is not excruciating pain. Like 50, “I don’t walk wit a limp” but I’m running wit [a lil'] one. Which means I’m sticking to 2 mile runs until that goes away. (Side Note: Non-censored version of In Da Club is one of my favorite songs to run to!) I’m jogging at a pace that is sub 10 min/mi. What I’ve been doing on the treadmill is a mile and a half in 14:something. A short walk break then half a mile in 4:something. Or 2 miles in under 20 minutes (no break). I'm not sprinting as fast as I can on the last lap or anything fun like that.

I’ve been following the 2 miles on the treadmill up with 6 miles on the bike. And doing lots of stretching/foam rolling before and after the run. I’m stretching my IT band and hip flexor, because I’m starting to think my hip pain may be a result of a tight IT band which I have dealt with before.


And it can’t hurt to increase my IT band flexibility. After runs I’ll ice my right hip and knee (when I have time.)

The amount of running I’m doing doesn’t seem to be making anything worse and is keeping the sport from becoming entirely foreign to my body. I’m not too worried about losing endurance, because I’m not losing speed. I figure if I do the shorter runs at a pace faster than 10 min/mi, the endurance should come back pretty quickly. Mentally, I know what it takes to train for a half marathon. And when I slow down my pace a little I should be able to run at least four miles without stopping.

Four quickly turns into six or seven. And I'm back at the base I want to start increasing my weekly long runs by a mile per week. It's weird to me that this is all just an equation now. There's a lot less anxiety/anticipation/doubt in my mind about ability to complete long runs. Weird, I've now ran 9 miles more times than I can count.

I hope to do two halves in the fall. Until training for that starts I'm focused on full recovery and getting faster at shorter distances. I’m running a 3k this weekend. I'm not going to push myself beyond what's comfortable. But I better run faster than 10 min/mi pace. Sore hip or not. NO EXCUSES.

Also Adam (who comments frequently on this blog) is giving away a $50 Gift Card to Road Runner Sports! If you haven't already checked out his blog, you should, it's hilarious. If you wait until after May 3rd, I'll have a better chance of winning ;) Just sayin'.

Fourrrrrrrrr!

I'm currently icing my hip as I write this....but I ran a total of four miles today! I felt fine; I think I'll continue with the icing post runs for a while though.

I told my dad I couldn't wait to start training again. He took that to mean I wanted to go on a 10 mile run this week and freaked out. YES, I'd love to go on a long run. NO, I'm not that stupid.

I did not do all four of these miles together. Timing any of them was a lost cause. But to know I still had the endurance to run four miles in a day without being super exhausted at the end of it is really exciting.

Today, I "ran" the first two miles with the eight year old I babysit. She was on a bike and I was running after her. Until we got to hills, then she would tell me to sprint up them, and wait for her at the top (She walks her bike up hills.) I'm pretty sure this is NOT what most people do when they are getting back into running. After we finished she told me she wants me to do this workout with her three days a week. Yes, you read that correctly, I now have an eight year old personal trainer and she's kicking my ass! (All from the seat of a pink Schwinn with streamers.)

Honestly, hills are probably an element I should have added to my workouts but didn't in the winter because I was running inside. Hills suck. But, they make flat runs seem that much easier. And it's only between two and three miles. I get to stop and wait for her a few times. And I'm pushing my pace just trying to keep up with her on the bike. She's going to look back on her childhood and think how crazy her baby-sitter must have been, and I'm more than okay with that.

So the above was Unplanned Workout #1. Workout #2 was also pretty random. I asked my friend Rebecca if she wanted to hangout tonight, and she asked me if I wanted to go on a run. I felt pretty good after the first run, and said yeah if it was 2 to 3 miles. And we could drink a beer after it [ha].

Rebecca lives in Arlington (Where I used to live when I had a higher paying job.)

"I go jogging at a reasonable pace, when I get to intersections, man I run in place."

But we didn't do much jogging in the part of Arlington with all the intersections. We ran across Key Bridge, down to Georgetown (an area of DC with shops and restaurants near the university), and down by the Waterfront. We turned around at the Kennedy Center. Ran back through the park. Walked from Georgetown back to Key Bridge, ran across that bridge again, then walked to her apartment. So we ran at least 2 miles.

Here's a random video I found on YouTube that gives you an idea of how great this area of DC is for running!



Where I used to live, this run would have required a metro ride to get to it, but I'm sort of embarrassed I had never done it before. Tons of people were out jogging, and IMO it really doesn't get any better than jogging by water. (Or over bridges). The streets/bridge/path were pretty flat and made me realize JUST HOW HILLY the neighborhood I've been running in is.

I'm not sure what pace we were jogging at. Probably 10:something/mi. But, I made a point of finishing strong/picking up the pace on the last part of our run by the water. And our second run on the bridge. This felt good!

I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED having a running partner. Not sure we'll do this a ton. But maybe, hopefully, again sometime. I think I'm definitely on a mission to get faster as a runner, but I also want to try new things. I don't want to limit myself to the treadmill any more now that it's nice outside.

I still think a half in June may be too much, too soon, but I want to find some shorter races at the very least. Today was the first good run I've had since the Shamrock Half! And that's something to smile about!

IDKMyBFF.... Rose!

It's funny, holidays seem to lead to very similar holiday themed posts in your Reader. In the world of Running Blogs, today brings post after post regarding the Boston Marathon.

In order to show that I too am aware the Boston Marathon took place today, I'll say that:
I WANT TO ATTEND PATRIOTS' DAY BEFORE I DIE!!!! [Preferably, sooner rather than later.]

I'm never going to qualify for the Boston Marathon. (I guess the senior citizen age groups are a possibility, but at this point running ONE marathon is still a lofty idea. Me doing two in a pair of Depends sounds pretty ridiculous.)

I love spectating. And I loved Boston the one time I went. And I'm in awe of fast runners. So, this is something I'm very serious about wanting to witness. It's likely my emotions will be moved to tears. But to laugh, think, and cry in a day is a full day. A heck of day.

In other news, you know how I've referred to the great Hal Higdon as my BFF? Today I was reading his book Marathon and he mentioned his wife, Rose. I'm over 200 pages into the book, so I doubt this is the first time he called her by name. Either way, today I realized that Hal actually has a wife he can say "IDKMyBFF Rose" to!


He just got that much cooler!

And I have to say I think it's fate that I had this realization on the day of the 2010 Boston Marathon.

SPECTATING--2011 OR BUST!
[Well, I hope!]

Long Run Playlist #2

Not sure if anyone noticed, but I added a link at the top of my blog that lists all of the music I've mentioned in posts. These are songs that I personally think are good for running to. It's always nice to browse the playlists of others, and I thought this was a lot easier than trying to find music posts in the archives. My taste is pretty random...so...maybe you'll see something that works for you :)

Before my first half marathon I made a playlist that I listened to on every training long run. I knew how far I was into the run based on the song, and could tell you what song would follow the one currently playing. Occasionally I'll still use this playlist. But, a lot of new music has been released since then.

What I tend to do is make playlists that have songs I like and play them on shuffle for any run 7 miles or less. I don't know what I'm going to get, but I like all of the songs that could end up playing and that's all that matters. When I start running more than 7 miles it's nice to have more predictability and I never put my iPod on shuffle. I've decided that I like slower/more "chill" music at first and songs that pump me up at the end. It took me 3 half marathons to figure that out...

Here's the playlist I used for every long run while training for the 2010 Yuengling Shamrock Half. (I didn't make a long run playlist for the OBX half...not sure why, I just didn't.) This takes you on a musical journey through Country Music, Rock, Running Songs, College Football Songs, and Pop Hits. This playlist was helpful to me because at the beginning of an 8-11 mile run, I just needed to take a deep breath and zone out; the songs at the beginning served as a constant reminder to pace myself.

1. Thunder Road-- Bruce Springsteen
The Boss+Running=Amazing. I like how the excitement builds in this song which is pretty symbolic of what happens on a long run.

2. Still-- Tim McGraw
Okay, I couldn't add this to my Playlist.com playlist, but it's definitely the second song on my iPod. This is a powerful song of Tim's. I especially like these lyrics:

"When the road gets crazy
And tries to break me
And I've had all I can stand
I can close my eyes no matter where I am
And just be still"

3. I Love Your Love the Most-- Eric Church
I LOVE THIS SONG!!!
Verse 1: "I love sleeping in on Saturdays, and I love College Football Games, and I love not acting my age, and good barbecue." YES PLEASE to all of those things. He's coming to DC in June...unfortunately, a lot of people here don't like country and I'm not sure I'll find someone who wants to go.

4. Already Gone-- Sugarland
I like this song because it's about growing up.

5. Fearless-- Taylor Swift
I'm a girl, what else do I need to say about this? The feeling that she's singing about is awesome. And I like that this song is about not being afraid to follow your gut/heart.

6. Hwy 20 Ride-- Zac Brown Band
A lot of people hadn't heard of Zac Brown Band before the Grammy's?! Not me. This is their current single and for me long car drives are very similar to long runs, so this is a perfect long run song.

7. Chicken Fried-- Zac Brown Band
"You know I like my chicken fried, cold beer on a Friday night, a pair of jeans that fit just right, and the radio up." Well said ZBB.

8. Toes-- Zac Brown Band
The radio edit of this song is: "Toes in the water, TOES in the sand" and LAME. The correct lyrics are "Got my toes in the water, ASS in the sand, not a worry in the world, cold beer in my hand. Life is good today."

(It's really a toss up for me about which song the radio killed more. This one or "Sexy Bitch.")

9. Today Was a Fairytale-- Taylor Swift
I think she really just released this one to "hold her fans over" until her 3rd album comes out. I liked Valentine's Day.

10. Snow ((Hey Oh))-- Red Hot Chili Peppers
This song is so amazing. It also was fun to run to when DC kept getting pounded with snow over the winter.

11. Red Dirt Road-- Brooks and Dunn
I know I've mentioned this before, but this is such a great song to run to!

12. Over My Head (Cable Car)-- The Fray
Sometimes I'd actually listen to this two or three times before going on to the next song. The weird thing is I actually don't like The Fray that much. I think all their songs sound alike. BUT, I like this one. Probably because the girl is on the guy's mind in overtime. And I've ridden on a cable car in SF. Or maybe because this is the first song I ever heard by The Fray...so everything else sounds like this one to me.

13. Breakeven-- The Script
Another really good song. I was usually kind of in pain when this one came up, so it helped to know I at least didn't feel as shitty as the singer of this song ;)

14. Don't Stop Believing-- gLee
I also would usually repeat this one. I love the Journey version of Don't Stop Believing, but I have to say the gLee version is even better. If this isn't on your running playlist, it should be!

15. I Run to You-- Lady Antebellum
Wooo. Running Song.

16. Need You Now-- Lady Antebellum
This song is the reason I love Lady Antebellum. It's now crossing over into pop... Who can't identify with this song?

17. 5k-- Matt and Kim
This is where things start to get more upbeat for me in terms of music.

18. Ready to Run-- Dixie Chicks
I put this song here because I'm getting to the point in the run where I'm ready to "do this."

19. Seven Nation Army-- The White Stripes
If this isn't a pump up song I don't know what is.

20. Hang on Sloopy-- The McCoys
Sorry if I got anyone's hopes up, Seven Nation Army wasn't in ANY WAY a shout out for PSU.

21. This is Our Moment-- Kenny Chesney
He finally released this as a single! I really liked this intro to College Gameday and now I can listen to the whole song whenever I want. I think it would be pretty hard to stop and walk while listening to this.

22. Bad Romance-- Lady Gaga
Until Bad Romance, BoysBoysBoys was my favorite Gaga song of all time. This one surpassed it, and will always be a workout song in my mind.

23. Tik Tok-- Ke$ha
One of my good friends is obsessed with this song. She's running a marathon in October; I decided she was onto something with her musical preferences!

24. Blah Blah Blah-- Ke$ha
Nowhere near as good as Tik Tok, but the other single of Ke$ha's that was out at the time.

25. If You're Going Through Hell-- Rodney Atkins
One of my top running songs. But you probably knew that.

26. Baby-- Justin Bieber ft. Ludacris
Another song I'm obviously obsessed with.

27. Break Your Heart-- Taio Cruz
Everything Luda touches is golden.

28. You Belong with Me-- Taylor Swift
The frustration in this song pushes me to run harder.

29. Stronger-- Kanye
I pretty much always listen to Kanye and Taylor in a row. This is my favorite song of his. Even if he says dumb things in real life, my workouts would not be the same without him.

30. Party in the USA-- Miley Cyrus
I really don't think I ever made it much past this song. I think a lot of times my run stopped around Bad Romance. If you've been following my blog...duh.

31. I Don't Want to Lose Your Love Tonight-- The Outfield
Besides a song that people get really excited about in bars, it's also great for running. Or maybe memories are what makes this song exciting to run to?

Anyway, I'll soon be posting more upbeat songs I like for shorter runs!

Oh--and yesterday I ran 2 miles on the treadmill in 19:38! My stomach felt pretty bad again, but hopefully it was because I had greasy food on Friday night and not a new theme of my runs longer than a mile.

Rollout

Man I love Luda. Rollout is one of his older songs that just never gets old for me.



This week I discovered what it means to "rollout" my hip, thanks to a trainer at my gym. I told her my hip flexor had been sore and what stretches I had been doing. She asked me if I had used the foam roller yet...and I said, "No. I saw that in my Google search but I haven't tried it." [I guess because I didn't really know what I was doing and it didn't look like it would be all that helpful.]

Ladies and gentlemen I'm here to tell you I was WRONG. The foam roller did so much more for me than the pigeon stretch and hip flexor lunges. The trainer told me to position myself as this woman is in the video, but shift my weight so that I'm targeting one hip at a time. My right hip is the one that is bothering me. She said to roll around until I felt a deep stretch of this hip then hold the stretch for 20 seconds. For the maximum stretch I should twist my upper body in the opposite direction of the hip I'm stretching. (So when I have the right hip on the roller I should twist my upper body to the left, and vice-versa.) I'm stretching both hip flexors out on the roller because it's important to stay "even."



She recommended that I roll out each hip twice before running, as well as stretch my calves, hamstrings, quads... blah, blah blah ;)

For some reason I'm anal about stretching. That's one positive impact that taking ballet in high school had on me. Warming up was really important with dance...and I carried that idea over to running. I RARELY take off on a run without stretching and walking .25 of a mile. If I'm Exhibit A, it obviously can't prevent all injuries, but if you're one of those people who takes off running without stretching at all. Please try to change that habit. Maybe if I had known about this hip rolling I could have even prevented my hip flexor soreness.

Anyway, I was kind of sore before she showed me how to use the roller. After doing it, I felt AWESOME! Like I had finally released the tension that had been there for the past few weeks. And Awesome enough to go on a two mile "run" that afternoon. Run is in quotation marks because the first mile... was something kind of like this:

Except I was fully clothed and the dog at times was pulling me. The kids I baby-sit wanted to ride their scooters on Thursday afternoon. So we decided I would run along-side them with their dog on a leash.

Really this mile was a bunch of sprints with pauses...(the dog had a couple bathroom breaks, the kids had to walk their scooters up a hill, etc.) I alternated running ahead and behind the kids on their scooters. At one point when we were going downhill the eight year old raced up behind me and the dog and was like "Hurry up! You don't want me to run into you!"

Definitely a "What is My Life?" moment. One day that's going to be me as a parent. With my kid yelling at me to run faster. I can see it now. The eight year old was not taking into account two weeks ago I was too sore to run at all...and besides the downhill, I was for the most part running faster than she could push herself on the scooter. I found it hilarious so that's all that really matters. She also made a comment when we were going up hill "How are you running? I can't even scooter up this." EXACTLY ;)

So after I was done baby-sitting I ran another mile in 9:59. That's pretty decent, I guess. And I was excited that in two days, my weekly mileage surpassed last week!

Glorious Running Cramps!

So for the past two(+) weeks... I haven't gone on a run longer than a measly mile. My hip has been bothering me enough that any more than that seemed like I'd be "pushing it" beyond what was conducive to recovery.

I did take an ibuprofen before I ran today, but I've kind of been taking those every-so-often and while it minimizes pain... it doesn't do enough for me that I'm unaware if something is "off." I can still tell and that's why my other runs were cut at a mile.

Today I ran 2.2 miles around the neighborhood! My neighborhood is kind of hilly...so I actually got to a point past what felt like a walk [er... run?] in the park. I felt like I was pushing myself... and I ran long enough that my stomach started to hurt! To a normal person or even to a runner... that sounds miserable. But, to sidelined little me...Oh, it was GLORIOUS! Granted, I was glad I was only on a 2 mile run. If I had been trying for something really far, I would have had a problem. I probably would have had to stop to walk/ find a bathroom. But, I was able to push through the stomach cramps and was thrilled to have something else bothering me other than my hip.

When I started on this run I did a mental "OhMyGosh! My hip doesn't hurt!" then had the most ridiculous smile plastered on my face for the rest of it. Stomach pains and all. (Oh, and Meghan just to give you the full visualization, I was wearing my Minnesota T-Shirt!) I left my watch at home....like time mattered to me [at this point]... but I just realized I can calculate how long it took me based on my iTunes playlist:

Baby-- Justin Bieber (x3)...
Yikes. Might be a little obsessed with this song and the symbolism.

Dinosaur-- Ke$ha (x2)
Oh ladies... if you've ever been to a bar and HAVEN'T heard this song, listen to it immediately. It's so true. Basically an anthem for every old guy whose hit on you.

Kiss and Tell-- Justin Bieber Alright, I realize this could very well be the playlist of an 11 year old... which is why the next song has enough profanity to make up for it.

I'm On a Boat-- The Lonely Island
Sssh-sshh-shortie. Yeah yeahhh yeah.

Party in the USA-- Miley
And duh.

I didn't get too far into Party in the USA...so I think I did this run in around 22-23 something minutes. That's quality. If I continue down this path of less pain, I'll start taking a watch. It's too soon for that.

I iced my hip and right knee after I got home. I want to be back SO BAD! In other news, I've signed up for my next race: The Spring Hill Elementary School Fun Run 3k on May 2nd (Again with the Baby Steps.) The kids I babysit go to that elementary school. I figured if I had to crawl across the finish line, it's still less than two miles. It's more of a fun run/walk...I don't think I'll get an official finish time. (I saw nothing when I Googled race results.) I may try to get the eleven year old I baby-sit to run the whole thing with me. One of these days I'm going to run solo and try for a PR at any distance.

Cherry Blossom Ten Miler [Spectator Report]

Anyone else getting semi-depressed by this blog? I just scrolled through my past four posts and there's not much running to discuss. I guess I didn't expect to be so sick during the 10k, or for my hip to bother me for so long. I'm doing my best to stay upbeat and not turn this into a bitch-sesh. The last good run I had was the Shamrock Half Marathon on March 21st. Ironically, I've never felt so good on a long run in my life. Talk about going out with a bang.

Obviously, even though I'm not doing much of it currently, I still love running!!! I'm also doing my best to keep up with other running blogs while taking a break from training because people are doing great things! I have to give a shout out/plug for her blog to Allyson for completing her first half! I've been following her blog since she started training and she did awesome in the Go! St. Louis half this past weekend!

Although I missed the formal race registration, [before my hip started bothering me] I was considering running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler if my friend Craig could hook me up with a race bib. I haven't spectated a long race since I started running them, so I figured what better opportunity than this weekend. Side Note: I doubt I'll be ready to run the Marine Corp Historic Half in May...and if I can't do the Zooma Half in June... I may spectate both of those because... spectating is actually a great way to check out a race for the future. In addition to cheering on strangers, I'm secretly "shopping around" ;)

Now that I've seen it, I've decided I want to run the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler at some point.Shocked? I'm not. It would probably take a lot for me to not want to do a race at least once. But, the more fun the atmosphere, the more apt I am to pick it over a different race. DC is pretty good at offering 10 mile races... with the Army 10 in the fall and Cherry Blossom 10 in the spring. I wish that DC had a Rock n' Roll Half/Full...maybe this will eventually happen. It seems like the races here have slightly more serious themes... but good crowd support.

The race was in conjunction with the Cherry Blossom Festival in DC. Something I still really haven't been to, but if I'm being honest, the race is probably the only part of the festival I cared about. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. Not humid. And around 60 at race start. That's a huge appeal that this race has, besides seeing the blossoms in bloom, the weather is more than likely going to be comfortable. All finishers received a medal! I spoke with one runner after it was over and she said there was less crowd support than in the fall at the Army 10. This may be because part of this race goes through a park that is not metro accessible.

My friend, Meghan (who also ran the Shamrock) and I decided to go all out in terms of spectating. We had hoped to stand around the Mile 8 or Mile 9 mark, but it was kind of hard to walk around with the posters and boom box we were carrying...and we both had to leave as soon as the race ended... so we settled on standing at the bottom of the final hill around mile 9.5

I was in Richmond Saturday night for my friends birthday. I left Richmond at 5AM to get back to DC around 7AM. Traffic was great (obviously)...and the lack of sleep was totally worth it! I made two posters for us. If Meghan and I were ridiculous enough to hold signs like this, of course we took pictures on our metro ride to the race! Besides the poster I'm holding changing...let's play a little game of one of these photos is not like the other.

First person to comment on what changes gets a Cliff Bar! Seriously. I'm beyond excited that I have documented proof of how early it was.


So, I was really rushed in making a CD...
but the songs I put on it were:

1) I Gotta Feeling--Black Eyed Peas
2) Low-- Flo Rida
3) Don't Stop Believing -- gLee version
4) Down-- Jay Sean
5) Baby-- Justin Bieber ft. Luda
6) TikTok-- Ke$ha
7) Bad Romance-- Lady Gaga
8) Glory Days-- Bruce Springsteen
9) Party in the USA-- Miley [duh!]
10) Sweet Caroline-- Neil Diamond
11) Kokomo-- Beach Boys
12) All Star-- Smash Mouth
13) Hey, Soul Sister-- Train
14) This is Our Moment-- Kenny Chesney

We played it through once...until we got to Kokomo and decided it wasn't upbeat enough of a song. We then did a 7x repeat of Don't Stop Believing. Which was AWESOME. And then I think the lack of sleep hit me and I was just like OMG I have to listen to something else... so we played songs #4-7 and Party in the USA. We repeated Baby, TikTok, and Party in the USA more than once.

I have to say it was actually kind of weird/nerve wracking spectating at the beginning. Since those were the most "hard core" runners the majority of them weren't super amused by us have a boom box playing pop songs or our silly posters. A few laughed. But most were in "the zone." Some people standing on the other side of the street were staring at us funny. Not that we really cared. But, Meghan and I both realized we were cheering on people who run faster than we can dream of. The Kenyans were already done...they had a special start time...but some of these people probably ran track in college, have won smaller races, etc.

Once they all passed by...it got more fun. More people started standing around us. And I guess were either amused by our boom box or went somewhere that they wouldn't have to hear us. Meghan screamed a lot of "No Lie, Your Almost Done" "George Washington wouldn't lie to you!" "You're almost there!" and I screamed a lot of "Finish Strong! One Last Hill! You've Got This." and "Go Fast! Go Fast!"... with a couple "Make Ricky Bobbyy Proud's" mixed in for good measure.

We sang and danced some too! One funny moment was when I meant to say "You're so close!" but it came out "You're so cute!" and I wasn't really screaming at anyone in particular. Oops. Haha.

Some things I could have speculated, but didn't know for sure until I SPECTATED include:

• If you wear a piece of clothing that has something specific people can yell... you're going to get more cheers. (These race bibs didn't have names on them.) But it's easier to say "Yeah Yankees!" to someone in a Yankee's t-shirt then just scream a color shirt.
  
• The people who are really energetic when they are running are the most fun to cheer for. I realize everyone has moments when they get tired. If you have too much energy, you probably aren't running hard enough. When I run I tend to turn into a general goof...and get really hyper the farther the distance. I love high fiving people and will scream back if someone is really into it. The people who ran through cheering not only pumped up the people around them...they also seemed to pump up the spectators. Variety is the spice of life ;)
  
• Music really, really does help if you aren't using an iPod. Some people started clapping or singing with us. We got a few thanks yous for the music.
  
• Sometimes a little distraction is all you need to push yourself harder/to the finish. We saw people noticeably pick up their pace when I said "Go Fast! Go Fast!" or after laughing at the George Washington poster get a little more bounce in their step.

I wish we had been able to stay for the very last runner...but we had to leave around 10 because I had to baby-sit. We did get one shot with the Washington Monument/race in the background. Somehow I feel much more legit as a DC resident now that I have a photo like this. I really DON'T go to this area of DC all that often. But it's pretty cool to say I can.
.

Oh, and if anyone's wondering, I did save the posters. Ricky Bobby WILL be used again. The George Washington one is kind of specific to the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler. But, maybe I'll keep it an entire year. The only thing I actually wrote with a Sharpie was "No Lie, Almost DONE!" the rest was done by printing things off of the computer and gluing them onto poster board (including letters). I'd say using a colored piece of poster board/computer printer is the way to go if you are pressed for time!

IDunno, IDunno, IDunno

A girl I lived with in college always said her IDunno's quickly and in threes. I'll catch myself doing it sometimes and think of her. IDunno, IDunno, IDunno is pretty much how I feel about my running status.

Monday I went for a little jog around the neighborhood. It seemed to be an okay time to attempt baby steps. And I wasn't especially sore after. Maybe I should have iced my hip. Or something.

Tuesday I was all ready to do the same run again. I hadn't taken any Advil this time and...I was too sore to complete the run :( I made it to the end of my street and decided between my right hip and right knee if I pushed it... I would hurt something and went for a walk instead. I felt super cool with my iPod..walking. But whatever.

That night I iced my hip. And knee. (I don't think my knee is actually hurt but somehow with the compensating it's sort of sore. This could be a sign that instead of hip flexor problems its actually my freakin' IT band. I had trouble with that nerd in college. Not since, but it flared up randomly in college too...so whooo knows.



Wednesday, when I woke up my hip was very sore. I took two Advil and went to work. Amazingly I had no pain whatsoever all day... and that evening I did a one mile run outside, again. No real trouble.

(Fyi, I'm not taking Advil around the clock. And I probably should be more diligent in having an
"icing schedule." Same for a non-running workout schedule...I think what happened is that I needed a break from all the training and rest was my main plan of attack. Call it lazy...but it is what it is.)

Today I did a one mile run on the tready in 9:22. I then did a mile on the elliptical. And seven on the stationary bike. I knew if I pushed it for more than a mile it would be a bad idea, since my hip still doesn't feel perfect. But I guess on the positive side of things, the short runs don't seem to be making anything worse. And I've felt good enough for 3 short runs this week. I really want to get to a point where I can just not worry about how my hip is feeling and run for a long time.

I guess I should be glad that I'm at least able to exercise, but I know I'm losing running endurance with each passing day, and it's pretty annoying. Another scary development...is that it's almost getting to the point where it's fun to be lazy. [Sigh.] For the first two to three weeks after the half, I wanted nothing more than to go on a pain free 8 mile run. I still do.

But it's kind of nice having all this extra time that I'm not training. I feel like a "normal person." I think I'll take one additional EASY week...then I'll have to look into a legit non-running workout plan IF my hip is still kind of meh. Which "meh" is pretty much how I feel about non-running workouts so hopefully I can soon start training again!

BABY Steps

Justin Bieber was in DC today for the Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn!



One perk to nannying is that I always know what's cool in the world of tweens. And because of this I may or may not have become obsessed with his song Baby ;) JB is the new JTT...or the JTT of their generation. I actually think the two are eerily similar looking. [Scroll down if you dare to compare!] I guess its reassuring that the taste of American teen girls hasn't changed much since 1996.

I say anyone who can get Luda to rap about when he was 13 and had his first love... is beyond legit as a musician. I mean seriously. The same guy who brought us "Move Bitch" getting nostalgic and emotional.

Aaaand then you have CONAN, who can't stop tweeting about Bieber. It will be interesting to see if JB can follow the path of the other Justin. JT.

Or if he falls off the face of this earth like JTT.


CLEARLY, I have WAY too much time on my hands. I blame my granny hip. Or that's what I'm now calling my sore right hip. I've been icing it. Taking Advil. Cutting back the amount of days I workout per week. And I took an entire week off of running. Last week I did the elliptical, cybex, and stationary bike. I'm not really sure what the best form of cardio is when your hip flexor is sore but these didn't seem to make anything hurt worse and there was no pounding. I only worked out TWO days last week. It's been a looooong time since I've said that. I stretched almost everyday though. The pigeon seems to be the most helpful.
This morning I woke up and decided the time had come. To take a deep breath and baby steps and attempt a one mile run around my neighborhood. There are some hills but it was only a mile and if I needed to, I'd abort mission. Cardio-wise I was able to run this easily. I never experienced any sharp pain. And when the run was done I was in no worse pain than before I started.

I think I'm going to attempt this same run tomorrow and a few other times this week. The weather is gorgeous and for my mental sanity... I think I need to.

I'm just going to throw this out there and see if anyone else can relate:
I'm NOT a crier....but I've decided the reason why is I run when I'm upset. Or because I run all the time things don't upset me to the point where I'll burst into tears. I have too many endorphins. And I just hate crying in general.

The CRAZY thing is... I think I turn into a crier when I can't run :-(

I've cried over petty things the past two nights. Last night I even did the "look at myself in the mirror as I was crying." Dane Cook would be proud. Patience is not something I'm gifted with. And not knowing how long I won't be able to run long distances starts to wear at me. If I stay busy I'm okay. But yesterday I missed my family on Easter...and I cried. Tonight my plans got canceled. And I...cried? Those weren't really the only things I was upset about...but even if I listed everything...if I was able to go on a long run I doubt I would have shed so many tears.

Anyway, hopefully by next week I can attempt at least a 3 mile run. I'm ITCHING to start training for another half. Or 10k. I'm so bored I've resorted to... watching myself cry?! Which is about as lame as an injury. What changes in emotions do you all notice when you can't run?