2-a-Day

Workout:
Morning: 2 mi. run outside 19:47
Evening: 7 mi. treadmill .5 incline 68:47

Um, hi. Let's talk about this for a second. I ran TWICE today. I'm not going to lie, I'm pretty impressed with myself. Now, it should be noted that I absolutely did NOT intend to break my workout this way. I had 7 miles on the schedule for this weekend. I may or may not have been too hungover yesterday to manage (sometimes martinis are too delicious to pass up) so I knew I was going to have to get it in today before I had to be at a training session at 10 am. I carbo loaded with some delicious pasta (the first time I've had pasta in a really long time) and a little red wine (not the first time I've had red wine in a really long time) and was tucked into bed by 1030 pm. Excellent ...

Except. I meant to set my alarm for 645, be out the door by 7 and by home by 830 or so - plenty of time to shower and get ready. Well. You can, therefore, imagine my surprise when my alarm went of at 745, not 645. Crap. That would definitely NOT be enough time to run 7 miles. Knowing that I was technically still "injured," even if I felt awesome, I didn't want to push too hard and hurt myself. I decided to run 3 or 4 miles and finish the rest when I finished training. Well. As soon as I started running I knew that wasn't going to happen. My legs felt heavy, my chest was burning and I just did. not. want. At 2 miles I passed my house and bailed. I was hoping to get 5 miles in when I got home but I wasn't optimistic.

By the time I got home from training it was after 5 (yes, it was absolutely the longest day ever. ugh.). I didn't particularly relish the idea of running outside and ending my run in the dark, but I didn't want to run 5 miles on the treadmill. By the time I carefully weighed my options (aka stalked facebook for a while) it was already dark out. Since I'm a magnet for cars in the dark (I have the scars to prove it!), my only real option was the gym. I reluctantly headed out, figuring at least it would be empty while the Oscars were going on. I hopped on the treadmill, figuring I'd run my 5 as fast as I could and be out of there. But while I was running I got to thinking. I was supposed to run 7 consecutive miles today. If I was really serious about running a half in May (and I'm 90% certain I am) I wasn't going to be able to run half of it in the morning, take an 8 hour break, and then run the second half in the afternoon. So I decided to just stay on for the whole 7 miles. This was definitely easier said than done. The time limit on the treadmill was 60 minutes (are there treadmills in this world that go longer? There must be, right?) and I knew it would take me longer than that to run 7 miles. I thought about splitting it up 3 and 4 or 5 and 2 but I kind of wanted to see that 7 on the display. I figured if I could average a 10 min. mile I could finish in under 70 minutes (the 60 minute limit + the 10 minute cooldown). I did a 1 mile warmup at 5.5 and then just took off. Everything about the run felt amazing. At the start of the last mile "One For My Baby (And One More For the Road)" came on my iPod and I knew I'd finish. The cooldown period was less than awesome because I had to keep fiddling with the speed, but I finished it and it was amazing. This was the run I wish I had had last weekend (and absolutely no leg pain at all! I may or may not want to marry my physical therapist).

It looked a little something like this (for those of you keeping score at home).

I really couldn't be more pleased with my run tonight. It makes me feel so strong and accomplished and awesome, which is what I really needed after a bit of a demoralizing, confidence-busting sort of week (I may or may not have had an existential crisis about what I'm doing with my life). The decision to do the full 7 miles was the best one I've made in a long time. Now I'm enjoying some left over pasta, some red wine, a very much needed foam roll and the dvr-ed Oscars.

Have you ever done 2 runs in one day? How do you feel about breaking up long runs?

Like Today Could Get Any Better!

I came home from a long (and obnoxious) night of class to find 2 glorious packages with MY name on them! There is nothing I like more than packages!

Inside package #1, I found:

My very first pair of Nike Tempo Shorts! I am a recent convert to the whole "running in shorts" thing and when I saw these on sale, I snapped them up. Can't wait to wear them on my run tomorrow morning!

And in package #2, we have the new love of my life:

My amazing sister bought me this fabulous Kate Spade purse as a "Keep your chin up, law school's almost over and have I mentioned you're definitely the prettier twin" present. Thanks sister!

(Also, yes, that is a smaller, black version of the same bag next to it. I may or may not be a Kate Spade addict. Thankfully, I have a very generous family that supports my addiction)

What was the best part of your day? How much do you love surprise packages?!

Mountain Out of A Molehill

Workout: 3 miles – 31:00

I’m not dying! I can keep running! Yes, I 100% now fully admit that I overreacted. Hi, my name is Gidget and I’m a worrywart. I went into my physical therapist appointment expecting him to tell me that there was something structurally wrong with my legs and I’d never be able to run again. Neither of these things are true (yay!). My pain is also not cause by my IT Band. Now, I know what you’re thinking: Whatchu talkin’ bout, Gidget? (said in Gary Coleman voice). My pain is apparently due to my sciatica. Yes, I am a 97 year old Jewish woman who lives in Queens and complains about her sciatica. Apparently I did it by sitting on the edge of hard chairs toon often (aka I have to sit on the edge of my chair at work because I’m too short to reach the keyboard otherwise. I know, I’m midget). The PT did some massaging and used a laser to reduce my inflammation and that was that. He told me to only sit on soft surface for 2 weeks. This will make me be the super cool girl at work sitting on a cushion. Excellent. He also suggested steering clear of hills for a few weeks. Not a problem, doc, I don’t like ‘em anyway Other than that, I am good to go.

So of course, off I went. I just had to test it, because that’s the kind of girl I am. I ran for 3 miles (well, really 2 miles with a .5 warm up and a .5 cool down) and it felt great. Not even a faint hint or twinge of pain. Considering how lingering and obnoxious my old IT Band issues were, I absolutely can’t complain! Spring ½ Marathon back on!

All in all, I was super pleased with my first experience with a physical therapist. I’m usually very wary of doctors. I was completely freaking out last night (see post below) and Moondoggie definitely had to talk me out of canceling my appointment this morning.  Now, there’s definitely the possibility that I’ll head out for my long run on Saturday and die, but for now, I’m going to be cautiously optimistic.

Have you ever been to a physical therapist? What has your experience been? If you need a great one in LA, I’ll hook you up!

I am not ...

I am not afraid of the physical therapist ... I am not afraid of the physical therapist ... I am not afraid of the physical therapist.

I am secretly TERRIFIED of the physical therapist. Eep.

Gimpy McGimperson

Workout: 3.1 miles – 36:03 – treadmill, no incline

I was desperate to test my knee out today but nervous that if I went running outside and it started to hurt I’d still have to make my way back home. I decided I’d head to the gym and hop on the treadmill. If my knee hurt, I’d just stop and switch to something else. I ran my 3 miles very slowly but with no pain. I stopped twice to stretch when it felt like my IT Band was starting to get stiff. It didn’t hurt, exactly, but there was definitely a feeling of almost hurting. It felt good to be running but I was just so frustrated at how hobbled I felt that I ended up leaving the gym disappointed.

Good news, though! I made a PT appointment for Wednesday. The therapist came highly recommended and when I called to make my appointment, he said “Oh, bring your shorts and shoes and we’ll take a look at your stride.” That’s super encouraging (right? It’s totally encouraging). I have a great dislike of doctors in general, so I’m not looking forward to the appointment, but hopefully he can get me back on track.

In an effort to not gain unbelievable amounts of weight while I’m sidelined, I went to the grocery store tonight to get tons of yummy salad ingredients. I also got 3 bottles of wine and a very large can of icing. So close and yet, so far.

Anybody have any experience with PTs? Am I making a mountain out of a molehill?

Also, true story, I call my Grandma Gimpy. She's has 2 bad knees and a bad arm that never set right after a break and I joke with her about it. It sounds awful and cruel, but it's meant with all of the love in the world. As I've mentioned, she's kind of hardcore.

Debbie Downer Diets

Finally got the alliteration down, thank you very much. I know you're all impressed.

There was no workout today, hence no workout recap. I spent the morning being truly lazy, convincing Moondoggie to rub my knees and icing. I spent the afternoon learning about determinate sentencing schemes (don't be jealous about how exciting my life is). I've been trying not to be too down about my knee - I've left a message with my doctor to get a referral for a PT and I've been doing an unbelievable amount of research on the internetz re: stretching/rolling/icing/generally fixing my IT Band. Hopefully I can get this taken care of sooner rather than later and be quasi-back on my (running shoe clad) feet. Until then, I'm looking at lots of short slow runs in my future.

One good thing to come out of this weekend was a pretty lovely (and surprising) weight loss. I'm down about 4 pounds since this post. I had suspected said weight loss for a while now, but wanted to see the lower number a few days in a row before making it "official." I've only got about 5-10 pounds to go now, so that's something. Hopefully my decreased mileage won't adversely affect my weight loss. Time for more weights/elliptical/dance classes. It'll be fun to switch things up a little bit, but I'm not convinced anything is quite as effective as running.

Another thing that may or may not have affected my weight loss was my deliciously glorious apple walnut french toast that I inhaled ate at brunch. I'm ok with that, though. Gidget's #1 Rule: Never skimp on brunch.

How do you deal with injuries? Anyone have any awesome weight loss secrets?

Bad Run But Good Brunch

So I couldn't think of another adjective that began with B besides "Badass" and I thought that might be inappropriate. Sorry in advance for the lack of alliteration.

Workout:
6.63 mi - 1:20:20

There's really not much to say about this run, or at least not much that I'm willing to think about right now. It was really disappointing. After banging out some awesome runs these last few weeks, I was anticipating this run being AWESOME. It was decidedly less so. I was scheduled to meet the super stellar Skinny Runner and some other speedy blogging ladies down in Newport at 9am for my very first group run! However, after getting off to a late start and realizing I'd have to stop for gas, I figured I'd never make it in time. I sent off an email letting the ladies know I'd be a little late and to start without me. I made it down to Newport in record time (especially considering the gross traffic Moondoggie and I sat in to get there last weekend). I got a little lost and ended up in the middle of the loop (I think). I had planned 2 outfits - one for rain and one for no rain - and brought both down with me. The sun appeared to be shining so I made the executive decision to wear the non-rain gear. That was, in hindsight, a mistake. After a quick stretch, I headed to the path. I ended up parking pretty much in the middle of the path (again, I think. There was definitely some confusion as to where the path started/ended/went at all). I decided I'd just go right, run a nice easy 1/4 mile warmup, run for 3 miles, then turn around. I wasn't sure if I'd pass SR and the other ladies, but I figured maybe it was for the best - they're all in such better running condition and I really didn't want to slow anyone down! The path looked gorgeous and I was really excited to get out there and run.

My non-rain decision turned out to be misguided. Within the first 1/4 mile, the rain started again. Now I had a tough decision to make: I was still close enough to the car to go back, grab my windbreaker and a hat and be none worse for wear. As the rain came down harder, I decided I'd turn around. Bad choice #1. By the time I got back to my car, the heavy rain had stopped, so I decided not to stop and just keep running, but this time heading for the path to the left. Bad choice #2. The path to the right seemed nice and flat. The path to the left was full of rolling hills that my knees just did. not. love. The rain continued on and off and I definitely regretted not getting my windbreaker. My first 2 miles were perfectly lovely. Then my left IT Band decided to read its ugly head. Yes, you read that right. The LEFT IT band. As in, not the one that made me cry during the half. As in my good leg. As in kill me now. I stopped at the turn around and sent some pretty pathetic text messages to Moondoggie about how I was hours from home (not really) and 3 miles away from my car (almost true) and maybe crying (definitely true). As I hobbled painfully and slowly back to my car, I passed the adorable SR, Megan and Pam. They were running so effortlessly I didn't have the heart to stop them and tell them that this pathetic bundle of IT Bands was the person they were supposed to meet.

So I finished up my miles, tearing up the whole time, stopping every once in a while to stretch, got to my car and seriously debated finding the nearest grocery store and drowning my sorrows in as large a vat of icing as they were willing to sell me. However, I realized that that was just going to make me fat AND sad, so I head to the blogger brunch over at Mother's Market. I'm so glad I did! All of the ladies were so inspiring and fun and gorgeous. Not gonna lie, kind of jealous and their awesome running abilities! I may or may not have been tempted to trip them on the way out in an attempt to level the playing field :) Thanks for a great day Sarah, Monica, Nicole, Megan, Pam and Bri!

Shamelessly stolen because I'm obviously not fancy enough to take pictures for my blog yet.

Today's run really got me thinking. I was so disappointed and frustrated to see this injury pop up again. It was really disheartening, especially considering how well my runs have been going lately. I had these beautiful visions of running a half before bar studying really got under way, then putting in some serious training for a fall/winter first full marathon. Now I just don't know if that's going to happen. Maybe my body just isn't cut out for long distance running. That's a really sad thought for me. I love distance running but my knees may not. For now, I think I'll try to scale back my mileage and little and see what happens. My knee began feeling worse and worse as the day went on. I convinced Moondoggie to massage it a little, I did a ridiculous amount of foam rolling and now I'm just trying not to aggravate it (I may or may not be blogging in bed and drinking wine with ice packs on my knees. May or may not.). I really don't want this to snowball into another 3 month forced hiatus, so I'm going to be extra careful. I'd rather lose some milage now, maybe have to forgo the spring 1/2  and be able to keep running.

Have you ever been sidelined with an injury? How do you deal with the mental pain?

And You Wonder Where I Get It From

Text I just received from my Dad:

You should be running your warmups at 9:30 with your runs at 830/845 - 930 for the long runs.

Bad influence much?

Identity Crisis

Workout:

2.5 miles - 23:24 [aka super fast awesome all star]

How do you know you’re a runner? I’ve been asking myself that question a lot lately. Yes, I’ve completed a ½ marathon (slowly and with an unbelievable amount of IT Band pain, but I finished). Still, even crossing the finish line, I don’t know that I’d have called myself a “runner.” I’ve never been athletic. I fall down. Like, a lot. I never really played sports or was particularly active. When I first started running almost 4 years ago, a friend of mine suggested we run a 5k together to lose some of our post-college chub. I ran the 5k in a whopping 39:45. But I was hooked. I started training for the Brooklyn ½ Marathon but then got sidelined by bronchitis halfway through my training and never recovered.  After that, I kept running my short runs, but didn’t really increase my distance in any measurable way. Then I started law school which, in case anyone was wondering, completely takes over your life. I pretty much stopped running altogether for about 2 years.

After a bad breakup last year, I was looking for something to keep me occupied. A friend of mine was training for a fall ½ marathon and suggested I run it too. I remembered how awesome running had once upon a time made me feel and gave it a shot. But I definitely cheated my way through my training. I focused almost exclusively on long runs and completely skipped my weekday runs. As a result, I really aggravated my IT Band. It first started flaring up about 2 weeks before the race, but I was determined to run anyway. So, I carried my right knee through the last 8 miles, finished in just over 3 hours and was sidelined for almost 3 months. Gross.

Now I’m back to running 4 days a week, feeling great, getting faster – but I still wouldn’t call myself a “runner.” Runners are tall and skinny and fast. I’m short with some junk in my trunk and SLOOOOW. Runners feel confident running their short weekday runs, I get nervous I won’t finish my 2 miles EVERY. TIME. I have all the running gear – Henry the Garmin, my amazing compression socks/leg warmers – but I feel like a sham every time I open a Gu packet. Real runners need Gus. I’m not working hard enough to require that kind of fuel. I cried crossing the finish line of my 1/2 marathon – partly out of pain, but mostly out of disappointment. This wasn't the triumphant feeling of "Finally, I'm a real runner!" I had expected. Maybe I'll feel it after my next 1/2 marathon (Oh, I didn't tell you about that? Yeah, more later). Maybe I'll feel it after my potential-possibly-to-be-run full marathon. Maybe I'll never feel it. Maybe that's ok.

I think part of it definitely has to do with how many running blogs I read. It's definitely amazing to see all of your achievements and I'm completely in awe of each and every one of you! But every time I read about your super speedy, super long, super easy runs, it definitely makes my "fast" or "long" runs seem pretty insignificant. I just have to keep remember that it's TOTALLY awesome that I ran an 8:48 mile tonight and it's TOTALLY awesome that I'm going to run 6 whole miles this weekend. And it's TOTALLY awesome that my Bic Bands came, so I'll look adorable doing it :)

Also, let's talk about how I'm going on my long run on Saturday with a GROUP of beautiful fabulous ladies I met on the internetz who can run circles around me. Um, eep much? Yeah, let's not think about that right now.

Are you a runner? How do you know?

EEP!

I may have just convinced myself to run a 1/2 marathon the day before my law school graduation ... crazy or awesome?

Discuss!

Don't Rain On My Parade

Workout:

2 mi. 19:12

I woke up this morning to the pitter patter of little raindrops on my window. In Los Angeles. Ew. This is not why I moved to southern California. Hear that weather gods? Not ok. I was casually aware that it might rain this morning and I had sort of laid out my running clothes accordingly. I thought maybe, just maybe, I’ll be hardcore and go running outside in the rain. My sister is training for her first ½ marathon in New Jersey and has been fighting the cold and snow all winter, so I totally understand that I am very spoiled living in SoCal. If she can run in snow and ice, I can run in rain … right?

Well. When I woke up, the rain was pounding my window. Now, admittedly, there’s a very large tree right outside my window that tends to make the weather seem more severe than it is. The leaves and branches rattle against the window and kind of freak me out. My bed was warm and cuddly, Moondoggie was over and my body just wasn’t having it. I snuggled back in bed and decided I would head to the gym in between classes. It was great – I got to sleep in extra late because all I had to do to get ready for school was throw on gym clothes. Score!

Fast forward 3 hours and 2 cups of coffee later [Hi, I’m Gidget and I’m a coffee addict]. As I was driving to the gym(and literally passing the exit to my house on the freeway), the clouds parted, the rain stopped and the sun came out. Sign that I should get off and run outside? Absolutely! I raced home to take advantage of the break in the weather. I already had my running clothes on, so it should have been as simple as grabbing Henry and heading out the door … except that I’m the world’s greatest procrastinator. I mean, I had to do my stretches. And tweet about my fabulous luck. And maybe read a blog or 2 for motivation. So, 30 minutes later, my beautiful weather window was fading fast. I had been hoping to run this at about a 10:30 pace, but as I stepped outside and same the ominous black clouds closing in fast, I made the determination that maybe I should just run as fast as possible. I was feeling pretty good for a while, but then it started to rain. Not awesome. And get windy. We’re talking really windy. I was having a really hard time catching my breath, but I hadn’t dressed for the rain (because not only am I a procrastinator, I’m an idiot). I didn’t want to be out any longer than I had to. So I just kept running – and running fast. Henry says my first mile was 9:48 and my second mile was 9:11. I’m unbelievably shocked at how fast I ran this. AND my knees didn’t hurt at all! My calves are kind of sore, not in a shin splint-y sort of way, but in a holy crap, I pushed myself! sort of way. This is actually the first time in a long time that my muscles have hurt from running, so I’m pretty pleased with it. I kind of love that I’m going so far out of my comfort zone!

It’s supposed to rain for the rest of the week [Again, weather gods take note, not ok] but there seems to be another small window of sunshine tomorrow morning, so I’m hoping to get in 2 miles in the morning. If not, it’s going to be another late night treadmill run [gross].

Has the weather ever motivated you to run faster? How do you push yourself out of your comfort zone?

Exercise Induced Apathy

Workout:

35 min. elliptical

25 min. bike

Various arm/leg/ab strength thing-a-mag-jigs

Today felt like a really long day. I had no motivation to be a real person at all. I woke up feeling super anxious (it probably had to do with the 3/4 box of chocolates I had last night ... or the half bottle of wine). I felt like I sleep walked through work all day. But I knew I'd get to go to the gym later. That was only thing that kept me even halfway sane.

The gym was pretty phenomenal. I was actually dripping sweat by the end and it felt like all of my anxiety was gone, at least for a little bit ...

Then I cam home and finished my box of chocolates and let the roommate convince me to have Taco Bell for dinner. I've been pretty frustrated lately about my weight loss (or lack thereof) and I think I've found the culprit - exercise induced apathy. Whenever I go to the gym, I feel like it gives me license to be lazy. It's ok to eat that extra piece of bread - I went to the gym today. I can take the elevator instead of the stairs - I went to the gym today. Two glasses of wine? Why not, I went to the gym today. As I write this, I'm popping chocolate and drinking wine. It doesn't seem to really happen when I workout late in the day - I very rarely give into prospective apathy. But when I run in the morning (which is what my schedule has been requiring lately), I take it as license to go nuts. I'm really going to have to try to reign that in!

How was your workout today? Do you take a workout as the go ahead to binge eat?

Speedy McSpeederson

Workout:

2 miles – 19:40

Potential dance class later (?)

I was more than a little sluggish this morning after a weekend of too much food and too much wine and too much sun. I realized that I had never turned my Garmin off after Saturday’s “long” run and it was out of battery. Crap. I knew that if I waited for it to charge I’d never make it out of the house. So, off to the gym I went.

I used to love doing my runs on the treadmill. I’m mildly [read: exceptionally] anal about distance and pace and knowing exactly how fast and how far I’m going. For a long time, the treadmill was the only way to ensure that my numbers were accurate. Sure, I had a digital watch with a timer to determine my overall time and Google maps to get my distance, but I knew it wasn’t 100% accurate. Then, I met my friend Henry. My sister gave me Henry, my Garmin, for Christmas this year and let me tell you, I am obsessed. I love tracking my pace and distance in real time, seeing the various different graphs when I sync him to my computer and really just everything about him. I’ve run almost all of my runs since I got him outside and it’s been pretty awesome. My knees aren’t hurting as much (I think this probably has to do with the way I change my form on the treadmill) and I feel like I’m becoming a much stronger runner.

Which leads me to this morning’s run. I thought I’d love being back on the treadmill again. Thursday night I ran on the treadmill and it felt great to just run and not think – not look for cars or stop lights or yappy dogs. Today was nothing like that. I knew that the gym in the morning was going to be more crowded than I wanted it to be. I knew I was going to be annoyed by the old ladies who walk on the treadmills and talk on their cell phones while I wait (not so) patiently for one to open up. Maybe it was this mentality that was the problem. Maybe it was that I spent an awesome weekend outside in gorgeous southern California weather and I didn’t want to be inside. Either way, I was in trouble. I hopped on the treadmill after a 10 minute wait and immediately, I was bored. Like, really bored. Like, counting the seconds bored. I really wanted to be running, I just didn’t want to be running on the treadmill. I knew I wanted to get 2 miles in, but at the rate I was going, I wasn’t going to make it for .2 miles. So I decided to go fast. Really fast.* I ran my first mile in 10:15 and my second in 9:25. What’s that? You think that’s a typo? Nope. That’s a 9ish minute mile. The great thing about it was that I didn’t feel bad. I wasn’t exceptionally out of breath, my legs weren’t super tired. I felt like I do after every 2 mile run – a little sad it’s over so soon, a little pleased it’s done, a little red in the face (it’s a thing – I get really red when I exercise, even a little bit. People stop and ask me if I’m ok. Yes, I’m fine, I’m just very pale). I’m not sure where all of this speed is coming from, but I’m definitely not going to complain!

*Note: Yes, I realize this is not actually really fast. No, I do not care. It’s really fast for me, and that’s what counts.

Tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Workout: 5 miles, 53:50

5 miles down and it feels pretty great! I had originally planned on running this nice and easy, hoping for about an 11:40 pace. After my last treadmill run I decided I'd be ambitious and aim for an 11 minute pace - still slower than my weekday runs but faster than I had been running. I am a new convert to the idea that you really don't know how fast you can run until you try. Then, I talked to my dad. While you'd never know it to look at him now, my dad used to be a pretty good cross-country runner. He suggested I run my first mile with an 11 min pace and then see if I could kick it up to 10 for the middle miles and back down to 11 for the last mile. At first I was really unsure. Me? Run more than 2 10 min miles? Surely you jest. He reminded me that I didn't think I could run one 10 min mile, let alone 2, so maybe 3 wasn't completely outside the realm of possibility (hence my new speed philosophy above).

I got up and out this morning at around 8, which is probably still too late to start but is a vast improvement over last week's 11:15 debacle. I decided to go running at a park by Moondoggie's house because a) I was there and b) his neighborhood doesn't have sidewalks. Now. I have done all of my running, ever, almost exclusively on streets. I have a hard time working up motivation to drive somewhere to go running, so I just map runs from my apartment. It's not always awesome, but it gets the job done. So I was both excited and nervous to run on an actual running path. What if it was really empty and I got raped by a crazy man? I tried to convince Moondoggie he wanted to come with me, but he not so politely declined. Then I got nervous about the actual stopping. I usually end up stopping once or twice per "long" run to wait for lights. Would I be able to cover the distance without these 15 second breaks? My knee hadn't been loving me all week, what if it hurt in the middle of the loop and I couldn't just hop a bus back to my car? These are the ridiculous things I think about.

Well, all of my fears were unfounded. In fact, the park was PACKED! This was both awesome and frustrating. I love people watching so I never got bored, which was awesome. I loved running on the path because I knew it was a 5 mile loop, so I didn't have to worry - I could just follow the curve of the road! There was a Team in Training group run going on, which was both great to see and really obnoxious. I think TNT is a great organization. My sister is training to run her first half with them and she loves them. They raise money for an amazing cause and teach people some really great things about running. In that respect, it was inspiring to see so many TNTers out and running. But. There were a couple of things about the way they had organized their run that really bothered me. First, they were running in fairly large groups. I'm more of a solo runner myself but I can understand the benefits of running with a group. However, it sucked that they were 4 or 5 abreast. This made it really difficult to pass. I was also taken aback by their attitude. They set up some sort of checkpoint/finish line area about 1/2 way around the loop. They had a canopy set up with gatorade and a cheering section. I think that's great. I'd love it if every long run felt like a race! As I approached, I noticed they were cheering on all of the TNTers who passed. When I passed, the leader (maybe?) said, "Oh, not HER. Don't cheer for HER, she's not one of us." Um, thanks, lady! I certainly wasn't expecting them to cheer for me, but I was very put off by her holier than thou attitiude. I wanted to respond, "Hey, I've given tons of money to your organization, lady!"

Anyway, the run went pretty well! As you can tell from the timing, I didn't quote make my 11-10-10-10-11 plan. I haven't uplaoded Henry's data yet, but I know I was in the 10s for the middle miles which I'll 100% take. When I was training for the half, my 5 mile time was around 62 minutes. The fastest I've EVER run 5 miles was 58:32 about 4 years ago, so this felt pretty amazing. The path was a little hillier than I anticipated and my left knee didn't love that, but all in all an excellent run!

Now I'm off to enjoy a beautiful 80 degree So-Cal weekend! How'd your "long" runs go?

Edit: Holy typos, Batman! Sorry about that, that's what I get from trying to blog from my phone in the car!

Carbo Loading

It's ok to carbo-load before a 5 mile run with past ... and red wine. Right? Right??

I thought so.

Victory?

I have kind of a million things going through my head right now ... I believe this calls for some bullet-points!

• I had a sneaking suspicion that I wasn't really very fast ... that either Henry the Garmin or the dailymile map or both were lying to me, that I was still a 12 min. mile kind of girl. To test this theory, I tried to run fast on the treadmill - and it worked! Mile 1: 10:45. Mile 2: 9:45. Whoa. I think it's time to admit that I might actually be an 11 min. mile girl! [NOTE: I am painfully aware that this is slow to other people. Whatevs. It's blistering fast to me!]
• Tonight was one of those runs where I just did not want to stop. I ran my 2 miles then hit the cool down button on the treadmill and kept upping the speed because I just didn't want to walk. As long as I was running, I didn't have to think about anything or deal with anything (see previous post about my love of this feeling).
• I know that exercise produces adrenaline and that's supposed to rev you up, but for me, nothing calms me down quite like running. I feel like I can breathe again and I'm not quite as anxious.
• Why is it always so hot in the gym? Seriously, Bally's Total Fitness.
• You should not attempt to run and cry at the same time, you will end up with a side stitch.

I'm so glad I ended up going on this run. While it didn't necessarily heal my heart or solve my problems, it made me feel better (and, truthfully, after the end of my night, it was either this or eating icing out of the can).

Have you ever used running to relieve stress? Does it calm you or just make you more edgy?

Slacker

I’m feeling a little guilty right now. I’m sitting in class after a 12 hour day that was chock full of activity. Except running. I shamelessly snuggled in and skipped my scheduled 2 mile run this morning. Didn’t shorten, didn’t run half-assed. Just did not run. And now, I’m feeling pretty guilty about it. I have a 5 mile run scheduled for Saturday and between shortening yesterday’s run and skipping today’s, I’m worried I’m just going to die on Saturday. I won’t get out of class until after 10:15 pm. I’m so tempted to run home, grab my running clothes and race to the gym (which closes at midnight – how dumb is that).

Edit: While writing this post, my very enlightened quasi-running sister said I should go to the gym. To the gym it is!

In other news, I’m supposed to run 5 miles on Saturday. I’m beyond excited and beyond nervous about it. When I was training for the ½ marathon, I loved running my long runs [which is probably why I did them so often and why I didn’t do my short mid-week runs and why I hurt myself etc. etc. etc.]. While 5 miles is by no means long, it’s long for me! Every time I start start a long run, I’m tense and worried and concerned about ridiculous minute details – what if I didn’t put on enough sunscreen? Did I remember Body Glide? How much battery does my iPod have? Why didn’t I drink more water last night? I should start before noon, is it always this hot? But by a mile or two in, I’m not really thinking about anything. Skinny Runner [who I totally want to be when I grow up] over at skinnyrunner.com asked the other day why we love to run. I run because it’s the one time a day when I don’t have to think. I spend 12-14 hours per day thinking about the briefs and demurrers and habeaus and other difficult vaguely  Latin sounding things [totally random aside: I studied Latin for 8 years and HATE when lawyers and law students mispronounce Latin terms. Hate. It.]. I love running because I don’t have to think about anything. I just have to concentrate on not falling on my face which, admittedly, is more of a challenge than you’d imagine. That’s why I can’t wait to get back out there this weekend. I’m not sure why, but there’s something about 5 miles that makes me feel like I’m back!

Also, head over to skinnyrunner.com, who’s giving away a bib for the LA Marathon and runningrambles.com where Aron is giving away an entry into the SF Marathon. Free races? Sounds good to me!

Brighter Than the Moon, Moon, Moon

True life story: Even though I tend to generally not love Katy Perry, I love the Glee versions of her songs. Darren Criss is my Teenage Dream and I may or may not be listening to Lea Michele's Firework on repeat. May or may not.

So you had a bad day

I want to say I had an awesome run this morning. I did not. All day Monday my knees hurt and they were still feeling a little wonky yesterday. Coupled with a broken elevator at work (seriously, multi-million dollar law firm?), I was toying with the idea of completely cutting out my run today. Then I remembered I’m fat and toyed with the idea that I’d just cut it to one mile. I hadn’t quite decided by the time I went to bed. Well, when my alarm went off and I snoozed it for 45 minutes, that pretty much decided it for me. As it was, I would have to haul butt to get even a mile in. I really wanted to just not go and take my time and look pretty and not feel rushed (like it seems I do every minute of every day lately). But I would really prefer not to be fat, so off I went. I ran my regular mile route and it SUCKED. S to the U to the CKED, sucked. First, there was a dog-walker walking 4 small yappy dogs who refused to move out of may way, forcing me to run on the grass which made my knees hurt (weird, right? Aren’t soft surfaces supposed to be better?). My sunglasses kept slipping down my face. I felt like I was working it only to discover that I was running pretty darn slowly.  Then I almost got run over by a delivery truck that was pulling out of a driveway. I spent a solid 5 minutes yelling at him about looking both ways before pulling out. I 100% used language that would make my grandmother blush (well, not MY grandmother, she’s pretty hardcore. But probably your grandmother). He stoically looked out the windshield and refused to look at me. Excellent.

When I got home, I proceeded to fumble with my keys. It looked like somehow my key got bent and it wasn’t fitting into the lock and I started to panic at the idea of having to wake up my roommate. Then I realized I was trying to open the front door with the mailbox key. Superb. I finally got inside, showered, put on fancy new jeans and fancy new shoes, looked almost skinny and sort of felt better. Sort of. However, I still can’t shake the feeling that the day started off crappy and it’s only going to get worse. I’m trying not to make it a self-fulfilling prophecy, so even though it made a few minutes late to class this morning, I put on makeup and got coffee on my way in. It’s going to be 80 degrees in LA today. I have a 6 hour break in between classes that I usually spend holed up in the libs, but I think today I will go get a manicure. It’s the little things.

Do you let a bad run get you down? How do you shake that feeling, or does it just haunt you for the rest of the day?

Fail.

Note: I did not start the 30 Day Shred tonight. My roommate had a bad day so we drank way too much wine and ate way too much chocolate and watched Greek. No, I do not want to discuss it.

A Nice Little Monday

I sat around for a solid 45 minutes this morning after Moondoggie left, in my running clothes, willing myself to get up and out. Last night while watching the Super Bowl, I ended up doing a ton of random exercises … abs, arms, legs, whatever I was feeling. I was in a bad place and felt like I needed to sweat it out (more on that in a later post, up today I hope!). I don’t usually do a ton of strength work, so that led to one sore Gidget this morning.

When I started my run, Henry the Garmin was being all wonky. I have it set to auto-pause if I go slower than 20 min. miles (because that probably means I’m stopped at a light somewhere) and it kept auto-pausing and auto-resuming for the first ½ mile or so. This is a route I run all the time, so thankfully I wasn’t really worried about screwing up my distance, but because it wasn’t registering my distance right it wasn’t registering my pace right either. I couldn’t figure out how fast I was going, but I knew it was too fast. I tried to pull back but I soon realized that I could finish the 2 miles in under 20 minutes. Now, most of you out there in the running blog world are super speedy (even if you think you aren’t!), but I really am legitimately slow. I have NEVER run a mile at a 10 min. pace, let alone 2! I kicked it up as high as I could and while my Garmin claims I did 2 miles in 20:46, the dailymile.com map says I did 2.11 miles in 20:46, so I’m obviously going with that number! Huzzah!

I was then uber-productive, going grocery shopping and buying fancy new shoes (that’s productivity, right?). Then I popped into the office for a bit (on my off day, because I’m that cool) and am now “reading” for class later. My left knee is feeling a little IT Band-twingy. I’ll have to ice/stretch/roll when I get home. I’m supposed to go to dance class tonight but I may skip it. Last week we did a lot of moves that made my knees not love me the next day and I’d rather not take that chance.

Also, I think I’m starting Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred tonight. Has anyone ever tried it? I’m sure it’s ridiculously hardcore. I’m trying to amp up my weight loss goals a little and I really want to work on adding some strength training into my routine. What kind of strength training do you do?

things to do that aren't watching the super bowl

Workout: 4.3 mi., 45:20

Finally got my 4 mile "long" run in today. Friday was a no good, very bad day which led to a very drunk Friday night and a very hungover Saturday. So I knew the run wasn't happening. Yesterday was a draggy hungover-ish sort of day. I took some Tylenol PM (read: several) and hoped to but up early to get my run in. Ah, the best laid plans ... By 9:30 I was awake but laying in bed playing on my computer and catching up on blogs. It was cold in my apartment and warm in my bed. I finally forced myself to get up and get dressed, then fiddled around with my music. By the time I actually got out the door, it was almost 11am.

And let me tell you, it is hot in Los Angeles at 11 am. I have to work on getting up and out earlier or there is no way I'm ever going to make it through the summer. It's only February, people! The first mile I felt tired and sluggish and I just couldn't get going. My right calf was stiff and my breathing was funny. I couldn't find shade and the sun was gross. I sort of settled in by mile 2, but I started getting some weird right ankle/foot pain. I think it's because the sidewalks I was running on were slightly slanted. I felt like my Garmin (whom, I believe, I have decided to name Henry. Apparently to be a cool running blogger you have to name your electronics? Ok.) beeped way early for the end of mile 3. that made mile 4 seem absolutely interminable. I just wanted to be finished and not hot and curled back in bed. But i finished and that's all that counts, right? Right?!?

I'm going to try to come back with another post this afternoon sort of re-evaluating my life and where I want to go (to say that there are some major changes going on would be an understatement). I make no promises, though. Not that there's anyone reading this out there.

Morning runs and musings

Woke up extra early to run this morning before a big day at work. It was cold! I only had one mile on the schedule (lame, I know) but I ran it blistering fast ... for me anyway! I ordered fancy new compression sleeves that came last night! They seem super awesome and I'll try to get a review up soon. I wore them for a couple of hours last night and I'm totally rocking them under my suit today!

Moondoggie surprised me by coming over last night to watch Dexter and cuddle (we're 2 seasosns behind, dont judge). That made it especially difficult to get up this morning. I feel bad leaving him all snuggled in bed while I sneak out to get a run in. Morning cuddling is my favorite part and it kind of sucks having to sacrifice that, but with a 14 hour day ahead of me, I didn't have much of a choice. Moondoggie has been amazingly understanding about it and says he likes how dedicated I am, but still.

What are you sacrificing for your running?

Bibbity bobbity boo-yah

Whenever my alarm goes off, I always think of the line from Cinderella - "I hear you, I hear you. Get up you say. Time to start another day." Random, i know.

Anyhoo ... I actually made my morning run today! Go me. It was only 2 miles and it in no way made up for last night's binge-fest, but it made me feel a little better. I felt like I just couldn't get comfortable for the first mile. My garmin annoyed me, my shorts kept riding up, my mp3 player kept rattling and my legs just felt heavy. By the second mile, however, I was feeling much better and was able to finish strong.

You may have noticed in that last paragraph that I wore shorts on my run this morning. That's right. Shorts. Now. I am a not-so-proud, lifelong member of the TTC (Thighs Touch Club). I've never run i shorts before. Well, not since those awful Catholic school gym uniform days. The closest I'll come is my fancy schmancy (aka bought on sale at the outlets) running skirts with respectable compression shorts. Because otherwise I get some chafing that is NOT cute. But I'd been hearing amazing things about Nike Tempo Shorts and it is going to get hot in Southern California and I thought, welp, might as well bite the bullet. Except I couldn't find Nike Tempo Shorts. At least not ones that were on sale. So I went to Le Targe and bought some Champion temp shorts and hoped for the best. Today was their inaugural run. At first I thought I was in trouble. They were kind of riding up and I was doing that awkward skip/pull your shorts down/hope I don't get a rash dance. But about halfway through the first mile, something worked and they magically stayed in place for the rest of the run. Glorious! I don't know that I'd switch to running in shorts full time, as I'm still a capri girl at heart, but I'm excited to try the Nike ones and who knows, maybe I'll even buy another pair of the Champion ones in some ridiculous color.

Do you get chub rub? Do you run in shorts? Discuss!

I didn't just fall off the wagon ... I got run over by it

So I've gained 10 pounds in 6 months.

Now, in fairness, part of this is due to the fact that I lost 20 pounds in a super unhealthy, bad-breakup induced no good very bad diet. So I was bound to gain at least some of it back (and if I were at all optimistic, I'd say, 'Hey, at least I'm still down 10!' But I'm obviously not optimistic). The other part is due in large part to my stupid running. I ran the Rock n' Roll Los Angeles 1/2 Marathon in October and badly irritated my IT Band in the process. It basically forced me on a 3 month physical activity hiatus. Problem was, I was still eating like I was running long runs every weekend ...

But I'm BACK now. I've made it through 4 weeks of successful running and up to 4 whole miles (I know, it's not far, and it's not fast, but it's something!). In an effort to speed up the weight loss process I've been trying to eat super healthy. It's almost been working and I'm definitely feeling better. But Moondoggie has planned an adorable V-Day/Fake Anniversary trip to Newport Beach and there's a heated pool and a sauna and a potential bathing suit. In February. Aka 3 months from regular bathing suit season. That's just cruel. I've been trying to put in extra hours at the gym but that's just leading to me being more stressed out which leads to binge eating which leads to no change on the scale or my waistline.

Cue Well Intentioned Saboteur [aka Roommate]. She knew I was having a rough day (Moondoggie issues I'm not quite ready to verbalize yet) and that even though I was attempting to sweat out my problems at the gym, it probs wasn't going to work. So she planned a night of Real Housewives, wine and ice cream. My Holy Trinity. Two glasses of Muscato and some ice cream later and I'm that much further from being bathing suit ready ... maybe we should switch to a ski trip? Except, as Moondoggie so kindly pointed out, I don't ski. But I do look cute in chunky sweaters. Ok, let's not kid ourselves, I just look chunky in chunky sweaters.

Oh well. At least I'm a professional marvel. Or the best in a crappy group of interns. Whatever. I found out today I'm responsible for a deposition in a fairly high profile civil rights case that I can't talk about. Needless to say, as a law student, that's definitely a big deal. My boss marveled today at my productivity. I spent 90% of my day texting with Moondoggie and tracking my new compression socks on amazon.com. I must be doing something right!