Crawlathon ?

Yesterday’s run was really painful. Sharp acute pain on the top of my right foot. I ran on it regardless… I know very stupid of me.  After 40 minutes though I decided to walk the rest.  When I walk it’s really ok. It hurts when I move my foot certain ways, mainly sideways  Also of course the impact caused by running is pretty painful.

Today the high heels have been kicked to da curb.  

I need to see a doctor.  Maybe some orthotics are in order ?  My foot is pretty arched (oversupinated)

If I press on the area of 1st and 2nd metatarsusssess, where it meets the ankle, it hurts, and there is slight swelling as well. .

I do not like the treatment: REST. Ugh ! Marathon is less than a month away !! I'm gonna crawl my way to the finish line if I have to.

I. AM. DOING. THIS. 10K.

Google search result : Metatarsal Stress Fracture.

• Foot metatarsal pain which comes on gradually.
• Pain is located towards the mid/front of the foot.
• Pain is aggravated by weight bearing activities such as walking, running or dancing.
• Pain to touch the bone at the point it is broken.
• Swelling is often present.
• An X-ray will often not show the fracture until two or three weeks after it has started to heal.

What causes stress fractures?

• Over use!
• Too much training, too soon without enough rest!
• Oversupination  (very arched foot)
• They are common in army recruits (often called a march fracture), runners, ballet dancers and gymnasts.

Treatment

• Rest from weight bearing activities as much as possible.
• For those whose job requires them to weight bear, a walking boot may be used.
• The rest period should normally be around 4 weeks to allow sufficient healing.
• Recommence activities only once all pain on touch and walking have cleared.
• Start with a very slow return to activity and a gradual build of duration and intensity.
• If the stress fracture may have been caused by abnormal foot mechanics such as overpronation or oversupination then orthotics may be required to correct this.

The twins got quite a ride tonight !

5 min running and 1 min walking.

After a 4-day self-imposed break from running, I decided to hit the road even if I was scared. Yep you read right: I was scared about this run. After last run where my body couldn't keep up, I actually thought that I'd hit my wall and that I wouldn't be able to improve anymore. I even had thoughts of quitting this whole thing. I know I know, I can deflate pretty quick - and I don't mean gas.  Luckily this 3-day weekend was lovely and relaxing and I just worked outside around the house and took a break from everything.

So tonight I decided to get back to my first route, i.e. the neighbourhood one.  I associate this route with "starting", with square one.  Went for the late-evening run, so fresh air, no traffic, it got dark outside while I ran.

Went like a CHARM !!

I don't know what's up with my cardio but it's never been this good. In. my. LIFE. The 5 minute runs didn't get me out of breath at all ! I could have went on, but stick to the plan I choose to. 

I'm so happy and proud of myself.
Nothing is ever perfect so tonight, the thing that was less than perfect was the a-hem... support part. remember how I mentioned earlier in this post that I was so relaxed all weekend ? Well I forgot to put on a bra when I went running. Ouch, my poor boobies. Needless to say that the twins got quite a ride !

Queen of the Lake

Tonight's run was hard on me. Cardio was ok, legs felt semi-ok (but quite heavy). But the worst thing was : the heat !!

Sun directly hitting my head was NOT good. I became SO hot and dizzy, I had to stop. My head felt like it was gonna explode, I felt my heart beat through the skin of my face and in my ears.

I tried walking a little longer than 1 min between the 5 min runs, but the heat got the best of me. So I decided to listen to my body and walk the rest of the route.  This all sums up to 30-40 minutes training and 20 min walking. 

I felt really disappointed in myself at first and Aunt Guilt pulled in the driveway "Is THAT how you want to do it ? Is that REALLY how you want to do it ? Then you can just forget about this whole marathon thing".  But then as I cooled down a bit, my sanity settled back in slowly and forgave me ;-).

I'm really super tired. It's 8:27 PM and I'm hitting the sack soon. Just have to wait for my son to go to bed.

The heat also made me SO irritable; so not enjoying the run at ALL. You know that feeling of freedom and empowerment that comes with running and reaching higher mental ground ? You know the one ? Well I didn't feel it.

All I could focus on was counting the seconds until the damn 5 minutes would be over, hoping that my giant purple head wouldn't explode, all the while trying to make my way through all those people walking around the lake and being startled by cyclists, rollerbladers and other runners passing me.

People just do NOT get out of the way !! Can't they see that *I* have priority coz *I* am training for a marathon and *I* am Queen of the Lake?? ggrrrr. Beep beep !!! Coming through !!! Stop enjoying yourselves and make room will ya ?? Even my music kinda started to irritate me.  Rammstein, just shove it.

Bottom line : when it's sunny outside let's opt for the late-evening run, which offers cool air, less people and no direct sunrays on my head.  Then I shall be a better person.

Self-control 101

Tonight after a light supper, my son had his swimming lesson and it was super nice weather outside so he asked for a caramel sundae from McDonalds.

So we went there.  And I actually bought only ONE. And even better, I didn't accept the few gooey bites that Ian offered me. *sigh*.

Pretty happy with myself. Kicking that nasty sugar binging habit is a hard one.

Here's Ian super satisfied with his delightful desert

Rain, rain, rain

Tonight's run was great.   My last 4/2 run/walk interval. Next run will be 5/1.

I can really handle this, my body is adjusting SO good.

I had my music, so time really flew !!

Only thing is... Where do I need to sign up for nice weather ? I mean really.  Joke's over, kay ? 

Running Socks

Followed advice and bought myself 3 pairs of Asics running socks.  I love the support.  Never knew that socks could be so comfy and adapted.
However since the blister on my left foot is not healed, well you guessed it, my beautiful Asic sock was drenched with blood.  It's in the washer now and I used Stain-away stuff on it, hopefully it will vanish. If not then Ah well.

At the runner store I also bought myself some Adidas shorts (believe it or not I did not own a pair of sports shorts) and an Asics cami with built-in bra. Not that I have much to wobble around, but still, I felt the difference.  Bought on the liquidation rack so I spent even less than I would have at Zellers or WalMart.

Pouring rain for today's run.

Oh and my husband helped me figure out how to play music while using my couch-2-10k Blackberry application. It wasn't very complicated but his help helped. :-)  Something went wrong though coz I ran 1h00 with the same song looping over and over. lol. At least it was Rammstein so it didn't matter so much and I didn't dare take out my BB in the pouring rain, so I just went with the flow.
Figured it out when I got home.
So next run : Music variety !! I already can't wait to go ! Makes a world of difference.
I have 3 Rammstein albums on there. Love their raw energy.

Legs are a bit sore.

Food for thought

I was thinking while running "I really need to watch what I eat".

When I started the journey at the very beginning I started to eat healthy (i.e. LOTS of fruits and veggies, no evening snack), then when I had to stop for 10 days to let knees heal, I fell off the wagon. And never jumped back on...

I did not loose one single pound these past 3 weeks so the math is quite simple here. Calorie intake = too high.
If I'm gonna do this, might as well do it right.
Food for thought !

I'm too sexy for my socks

Tonight my training partner went to his friend's house. Busy socialite that kid.
I, on the other hand, don't have a social life. So I focused on my training. Beats the hell out of staying at home cleaning or watching tv or Facebooking !
 I went back to the Lac des Nations to burn some rubber. 4 min running, 2 min walking. 10 times. Finished my training at the middle of the route, so had to walk back to car.Total distance this evening (including walking) = 10,5km.

Why is it that the first 15-20 min are always difficult ? Maybe I don't warm up long enough ? Anyways. The first stretch was so hard ! I was thinking The batteries on my BB must be dead ! Four minutes my ass !!! This feels like 10 !!! But 4 minutes it was... and, as usual, I reached my peak 20 minutes in.
It was pretty warm outside so I became lobster-faced.
Here's me looking annoyed with my own self for taking a pic while running

This is the Lac des Nations, so flags of different coutries hanging about on poles around the lake. I took time to stop by the Dutch flag for a high five ! Next to Sveeeden ! Yaaaa ! (Arnold accent even if he's not Swedish)

Oh and last, here is the surprise I got when I took off the runners. I say surprise coz I felt no blister pain ? Weird shit - let me mention that this is a pic of my heel + achilles tendon. Sock looks really weird with the grey heel all bunched up (hubby's socks, so too big).

(start music here)

I'm too sexy for my socks.

Best training buddy EVER

So last night I went running around the Lac des Nations, a 3,5km route around a lake in the town where I live. I ran around it twice.

3/2 run/walk interval again.

But the BEST part is that I found a training buddy. He is a cyclist and he is my son. We first went to his swimming lesson, then went training. It was end of the evening so it was dark when we finished and the view was awesome.

Beautiful weather with beautiful company for 7km. Who could ask for more ?

I had 10 min left on my training plan so I could have done 8km but Ian was tired, complaining that his bum hurt from the bike seat.

We are going again Friday.

Then the run/walk interval will increase from 3/2 to 4/2.

I can totally handle it.

Last night my right shins were giving me a hard time but 30 min in, they were better.  Iced them up good when we got home and I'm fine today.

Is it a bird ? Is it a plane ?

No it's a gazelle !

I can not even BEGIN to say how stoked I am with myself. :-)

I ran last night, and it went so well. Ran 1 hour@ 3min/2min run/walk intervals. Total of approx. 9km.

Today, NO pain. AT-ALL.

None whatsoever.

Woot woot !!!

9,15 km !!

Since Tuesday's run went so well, I skipped to week 5 training right away. No time to loose !
So 3 min running/2 min walking intervals.
I did 9,15 km that way... and I feel GREAT.
This is crazy. No knee pain, no shin pain.
Also no picture.
G'nite !

Ice Ice Baby !!

Today's late-evening run (9:20PM to 10:30PM) was very good.  Cardio was up to what it should be, knees were a BIT uncomfortable but really and totally bearable, and shins ?? They kept quiet !!

It was dark and raining a bit (hence the runny mascara), but I actually liked it, I felt like I was invisible.

I think the secret to my success will be : being anal about my post-run stretching and also icing up my knees (or any sore part) right after running.

I'm still not sure if I will reach my goal of running through the whole 10k on marathon-day, considering time is running short now, but I'm still motivated.



ICE, ICE BABY !!! (yes the song)

Here is a random pic of some retro-Pepsi bottles I saw at the supermarket while waiting at the cash.  I love them !! Retro stuff makes me feel all warm inside.



Knee replacement surgery ??

I was dreading the getting-up part this morning !
But I feel GREAT ! Have I gotten knee replacement surgery while sleeping ?? They are oiled up and purring like a kitten.
The muscles behind the knee (you know the "leg pit"... (the leg equivalent of the armpit) are a bit sore, but my oh my, this is NOTHING !
Last night after my run I stretched big time and then iced up my knees for 15 min, and popped an Advil.
This feels like a miracle, I was certain that my knees would refuse to cooperate during this journey.
Motivation : 10/10 !!

I'm back to Square One.

It feels a bit ridiculous to have a blog now. I feel like I'm back at square one. What am I gonna talk about ?
Let's see.
Today was my first run after 10 days off to let my knees heal.
Wow. I got the works : shins, knees and terrible cardio. Oh oh BUT the weather was aaawesome.
So anyways I still did my hour but decided to turn off that training-app on my BB (actually just wanted to shut that stupid computer ladie's voice up).  "run nooow.  Walk nooow"
Shut up !! I can't even breathe  !!!
So I decided to follow my body and it went "ok" considering that I had stopped for so long.
The journey is really not turning out into what I had foreseen, i.e. a nice gradual eventless training where my body would beautifully develop muscle fiber and red blood cells packed with oxygen...NOT !!
Lol, I am still going to that marathon if it's the last thing I do, but let's just say that my motivation is pretty moderate now.
We'll see what this week brings.
I feel like an old lady.

So for the mandatory picture.
Here I am, bloated face and all, in front of the cemetary that is part of my route.  It's "that" time of the month... well of the year for me since I never have my period but still. I'm a regular Humpty Dumpty!!! Oh... *blush* and let's not forget all the fat I've ingested during my time off. *sigh*. 
LIke I said... back to square one !!