Running Buddy + Race Recovery

Something fabulous has occurred.  I may have met a running buddy sole mate for realsies this time. :)  I joined the Daily Mile a few weeks ago.  A girl added me as a friend (or I added her, either way it was FATE hah).  After looking at her training runs and race times I realized we were pretty much exactly the same speed.  Of course she was coming to this same realization at the same time and sent me a message letting me know that very information.  :)  After reading through her blog secretly (while she was also reading through my blog secretly) we deemed ourselves new best friends, without meeting, or actually speaking in person.  My god runner's are odd, no?

She was one of my best cheerleaders from afar during race weekend, and Monday night we planned an ice cream date to talk all about the race as well as her upcoming Fargo marathon (May 22nd).  Uh...ice cream....running talk?  Jenn, if you didn't have a hubby, I probably would've proposed to you right then and there!  If you aren't already reading her blog, here's another Jeri-endorsed-read-this-blog-yo!  PurpleShoe Runs If anything head there to read her race report from Fargooooooooo which I'm sure will be up soon if it isn't already!!  I can't wait until we're both recovered from our 'thons and can actually do the running buddy shiz. :D  [If I was a good blogger, I would've brought my camera and there'd be a smiling picture of us inserted right here, but I'm not, so use your imagination.]

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Recovery has been not so fun.  You mean you can't run during recovery, wth?  Ok, I knew that, but I had this strange idea it was because you wouldn't want to run, not because you were physically unable to.  I spent some major time with Mr. Ice Pack Monday through Thursday.  I also did some mad stretching especially in the mornings when I felt like a creaky old lady.  Thursday I decided to take out Miss Polly and ride my bike to work (since I would be unable to on Friday which is actually Bike to Work day in my city).  Conveniently I live a nice 5k from work.  Yes, I know I'm blessed to live that close, hence why I drive like 10 miles/month. :p  By the time I got to work my quads were tiiiiiiired.  I think they were still in recovery mode plus biking into the wind with one gear is never an easy task. :)  Biking home was a breeze.  Literally, I had the wind at my back.  Did you know everyone smiles at a girl with a bright yellow bike?  It's fact.

I finally got my first run in Friday after work in holy crap it's hot weather.  Seriously.  I thought I was wearing pants and a jacket last week on my runs???  What's with this 80-90 degrees?  When I started out, I immediately started to feel all the places that were aching the latter parts of the marathon.  My hips felt like they needed replacing and my IT bands didn't take long until they were tired.  I stuck with the plan and did an easy 2 mile route, stopping at .75 to stretch stretch stretch, and stretching really well when I got home.  After stretching round 1, everything felt really great, except the IT bands were still pretty tight.  When I got home I had a nice little date with my rolling pin (which I had forgotten to bring to Green Bay with me, UGH!)  Hurts. So. Good.

I did 2 miles in 18:52 for a pace of 9:26.
1. 9:33
2. 9:19

A Ninja Recovery Run

It's cold here.  Sunday when I was getting ready for my recovery run, I realized I needed to bundle up.  Since the long sleeves I had wore for the long run the day before were still wet (eew.) I had to find something else to wear.  Look what I found!  An under armour long sleeve that I nabbed at TJ Maxx for $16 (back when it was still 95 degrees here).  Score.  I put on my black capri tights and was throwing my hair up in a pony when I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror.  Whoa!  Where'd the ninja come from?!?!  Of course, that prompted me to take some ninja-inspired photos.  I'm such a loser.  :)  Thank God I had pink shoes on to counteract the ninja-ness.  

Disclaimer:  After I realized how ridiculous I looked, I threw on an old school (we're talking summer before senior year of high school 2001) tye dyed green shirt over the top.  Fashion crisis averted!

Disclaimer #2:  I'm really not this skinny.  It is definitely the all black that everyone claims is so "slimming."  Because, eew, I look groooooss.

Ok, seriously, the face in picture #2 is amazing.  :)  Anyway, the run.  I did 3 easy miles in brrrr cold weather.  I did the 3 miles in 27:57 for a pace of 9:19.

1. 9:29 
2. 9:21 
3. 9:05

Alright, I'm going to go fight some bad guys, or whatever it is that ninjas do.

Did you miss me?

Sorry for the extreme neglect in the blog world. I've felt pretty uninspired to write, but luckily, extra inspired to run, so my apologies for that. My world's been a bit crazy. Anyway, moving on.

When we last met, I was limping through 1/2 mile. And pouting about it. After spending some time rolling my IT bands with a rolling pin, I felt soooo much better! Thursday morning I woke up, did some more rolling and stretching and headed out for a run. I did a 3 miler at an easy pace. When I first started out I had some pain, but once the legs warmed up I was golden. I was letting myself cut it short at 2 if I wanted to, but leggies wanted 3, so I gave it to them.

3 miles in 28:40 for a 9:34 pace.
1. 9:35
2. 9:29 (whoopsidaisy, need to pull the reigns in a bit)
3. 9:36

Friday I was toying with skipping my run after work, because I just didn't feel like running. Then I remembered how BADLY I wanted to run on Wednesday and couldn't, and decided to take advantage of my legs feeling good.

4 miles in 37:27 for a pace of 9:22.
1. 9:25
2. 9:25
3. 9:20
4. 9:16

Friday night was not-so-fun and resulted in me getting a whopping 2 hours of sleep before my Saturday shift. I may or may not have been prompted to sprint a 1/2 mile or so barefoot for reasons that shall not be revealed. The one thing I thought the next morning, "dang, I wish I would've had my Garmin on. I was bookin it." :p

Saturday was less than stellar and my stomach was KILLING ME. I couldn't eat or really even drink much, so doing a run was not even an option. I did go on a loverly walk with one of my favorite people in the world to talk/vent/brainstorm life ideas. We also may or may not have cut down fabulous spirally branches for her wedding centerpieces. I kept watch. :)

Sunday (is this play by play boring or what? this is what I get for not posting for a week. so sorry!) I finally had some food for fuel in preparation for my 9 miler. It was such a beautiful run. The leaves have started to fall so every step was a crunch-crunch. There is something just so blissfully beautiful and calming about fall. I think my 9 miler served as my therapy session for the weekend, and I'd be lying if I said some tears weren't shed. But there was also a lot of smiling and a lot of thinking.

I took the pace slower than I had been taking my long runs while training for the half, mostly because the legs still only feel about 95% and there's no sense getting hurt running 9 miles while training for a 5k. :p And yes, in case you were curious, it was happy couple evening on the bike trails apparently, and it was quite annoying. :)

I did 9 miles in 1:24:25 for a pace of 9:23.
1. 9:33
2. 9:23
3. 9:25
4. 9:31
5. 9:32
6. 9:27
7. 9:12 (chasing down a couple of runners here. stupid competitiveness. :p)
8. 9:14
9. 9:03

Somewhere in the aftermath of the long run, I forgot that I typically ice bath for runs longer than 8 miles, and just jumped in the shower instead. My legs were quite sore on Monday. Arrgh. Stupid Jeri.

Monday I did an easy 4 miles to loosen up the legs. I did a different route than normal and ended up doing a really hilly route. Lame-o for a recovery run. It helped me to keep my pace slooooow which I'm grateful for.

4 miles in 39:12 for a pace of 9:47.
1. 9:46
2. 9:51
3. 9:45
4. 9:44

It was ridiculously cold yesterday. Oh my. I had to bust out the running tights and a long sleeved shirt!! Unfortunately for me, I couldn't find my running underoos, so I spent the whole run freaking out about the possibility of splitting my running tights for the whole city to see. Ay ay ay, that would be no good. :) Beautiful fall weather, where did you go? The cold weather did prompt me to watch Elf, which always leads to a happy Jerbear. I love me some elf & Christmas.

Today the legs actually feel 100%. I might still do an easy run and then tackle a speed workout tomorrow. I've desperately missed my speed workouts. I feel the need for SPEED! Wow, that was the lamest thing ever.

In exciting news, I have a HUUUUUUUUGE list of crazy crafty-ish projects that I'm going to be working on in the near future, so keep your eyes out for some pics and sweet ideas. When life throws you lemons, make a list! :)

Why do the weekends fly by?

This weekend seemed to just zip on by.  After the race, we came back to take a well-deserved nap.  Unfortunately I was on a ridiculous runners high and almost went and ran another 3 miles to tire myself out.  Instead I cleaned a little bit, and then the exhaustion hit me like a wall (I had about 4 hours of sleep, and it was very restless sleep at that).  When we finally woke up I had a delicious post-race celebrtaion meal of shrimp fajitas from Chevy's.....YUM.  I thought about a margarita, but realized it would probably zonk me out again.

Saturday night, Taylor played in an alumni basketball game to raise money for a family with some serious medical bills.  It was fun seeing him in his HS jersey, yes I am a jersey chaser at heart.  Ha.  After the game, we went out for a drink and then back to town with a couple of his high school friends.  It ended up being a fun night and I managed to get the two worst pick up lines ever AND in the same night.  SCORE.  Taylor just thinks it's funny when guys hit on me, and rarely steps in to save me.  Sweet life love.

Sunday we went to Taylor's mom's for an amazing brunch and lounging around.  Then we came back to his place to lounge somewhere.  The theme of Sunday was truly lounge and I loved it.  However, my quads were sore.  Not tired/tight, but downright sore.  A couple of minutes after the race ended on Saturday my right quad seized up on me, and apparently this was the remnants.  I decided to go for a 4-6 mile recovery run, depending on how horrible the legs felt.  The first mile was pretty rough, but picked up pretty well after that.  I ended up doing 5 mostly because I was STARVING and looking forward to the leftover shrimp fajitas.  :)

1.  9:25

2.  9:30

3.  9:20

4.  9:17

5.  8:50

We tried to watch a couple of movies post run/shower, but man I was just exhausted.  10pm I was out like a light.  There really isn't a better way to spend a Sunday then a lazy day with the one you love.  Wait.  Scratch that.  I'd rather spend a Sunday at the water park on the lazy river with the lover boy.  Summer cannot come soon enough!!!

Oh.  And I'm bummed, I don't think there were photos for the race on Saturday.  And stupid me, forgot to charge my batteries, so the camera was dead.  We're 0-2 on race photos.  Time #1 with exploding gu on camera and time #2 dead batteries.  Sad day.  :(

P.S.  Special thanks to Kristin at ChasRunner for helping me fix my race photos on the side of my blog.  I've spent waaay too much time redoing it incorrectly, so I'm glad she shared some of her blogger smarts with me.  :)