mmm waffles!

Today was kind of a turning point. I need to decide if I will be running the Police Half Marathon at the end of the month and I haven't run more than 4.5 miles consecutively in weeks. Every time I get past 4 miles I have terrible pain in my knee, thanks to my IT band.

My plan for today was to go out with my group for 4 miles and then turn around and head back home. I figured that if I could run 8 miles today, 10 next week, 12 the following, then the police would work nicely as a training run for the Fargo half.

Well, it went great!!! It was so nice to run with the group again. The first 4 miles flew by, before I knew if I was waving goodbye and heading back home. I managed to complete the run with very little pain. I did stop on a couple of my walk breaks to stretch. This seemed to help.

The river is already looking scary high. I'm hoping to get some better photos this week.

I probably would have felt a little sad about leaving the group if I didn't know about the delicious food waiting for me at home! It was my mother in law's birthday so we had a brunch at our place, pot-luck style. It was my first time making waffles from scratch and I even made a traditional Mennonite "white sauce." This sauce has been part of our family Christmas tradition for as long as I can remember. It's similar to a vanilla custard. SO GOOD!

Thanks mom for lending me the waffle irons and recipe's.

My sweet family eating yummy brunch.

Stats:
1:35 min
8.63 miles
11:03 min/mile (maybe going slower IS the key?)
+3 degrees

A date with Dr. Spencer Reid

I have not had much time to blog these days. I decided that this was the year to finally go back to school. I've been taking an Intro to Inclusive Education course since September. It has been a ton of work. I have one final project left and I have been working on it for months. The general idea was "Make a change in one of your student's lives." Well, I tried and now I have to write all about it and create a power point presentation to tell all my peers about it. I am seriously hoping to be finished with this assignment and course by Friday night. Watch out MTS centre, I may feel the need for some crazy fun this weekend!

Tonight however, I was able to justify a 4.5 mile run. I figured it would help clear my head and give me some energy to work. This is the farthest I've been able to run in weeks and it went quite well.

The last quarter mile of the run my IT was starting to tighten up so I took it easy and and headed towards home. Time for a good stretch session followed by some ice :)

I will be spending the remainder of my evening with these two friends. Thank you Dr. Spencer Reid for being so darn cute. You make working long hours on my project just a little bit easier.

The SSR

Short slow run, this is becoming all too familiar. Today I was "allowed" to run 3 miles at a slow pace. It was not too cold out but definitely dreary. However, I thought about all the days I have been bummed that I can't run, and got my butt out of bed and into my fancy new tights.

I have finally made the switch to running tights!

Wow, this city is ugly right now! Usually I have only really positive things to say about Winnipeg but at the moment the sky is gray and everything else is BROWN. I'm hoping that soon all the muck will be washed away and we'll be back to the beautiful city I know and love :)

The lovely train that went back and forth across this intersection a couple times before I could cross.

Mini-muck mountains that are melting to reveal treasures garbage.

Stats:
3.19 miles
34:02 min.
10:41 min/mile
163 BPM

slow and steady

Day 2 of spring break is going nicely so far. In attempts to procrastinate on working on my portfolio assignment I have baked cinnamon buns, ate various snacks, went to the bank, watched some tv, went on facebook, ate some snack, went on facebook, and just ran a SLOW 2 miles.



The athletic therapist suggested I run at an 11:30 pace for no more than 2 miles. The good things about this run included, taking in the sun, saying hi to people I passed and running with no pain in my knee. The annoying, funny part was when a man in fleece pants, work boots and a Jagermeister parka ran past me! I wish I had my camera!

I am out of good excuses, time to get back to work on that assignment.


Stats:
2 miles
21:21 minutes
10:41 min/mile (faster than I wanted to go)
bpm 154

Day by day

Last week I was trying to be optimistic, this week I'm on spring break and enjoying the sun. Here's the recap:

Friday - I took the advice of my clinic instructor and went to see an athletic therapist. He used a metal rod to "strip" my IT band. I'm pretty sure I left fingernail indentations on the table. It was incredibly painful but my IT actually felt a lot better when he was done. He also gave me a series of stretches to work on.

That night I opted out of running but went to the track to watch my friends do their 5k prediction runs. Though it was a little hard on my heart, it was really awesome to see most of them come in way faster than they thought they could.

Saturday - I went out for an "easy" run and ended up going faster than I thought I would. About 1 mile in I decided to turn it into my own little 5k predictor. After tip toeing around some puddles and icy spots I managed to complete the 5k in 27:05. This was much faster than I thought I would do at this point and the whole run felt great!

Sunday - I was feeling VERY optimistic. The plan was to join the Manitoba Marathon group and do 12 miles. The run started out with great conversation, sunshine and a new route. Sadly, after 4 miles I was in pain, again. At Assiniboine Park I decided to call it a day and head home. I assured my group that I was fine and would do a slow jog home. Little did I know that running would soon become completely impossible due to pain. I tried calling my emergency pick-up but there was no answer. I ended up walking 3 miles home and freezing. Let's just say the afternoon involved crying, McDonalds and movies with my mom and sister. I have a great family who puts up with the emotional roller coaster I've been on in the last month.


Monday - The sun was out and it was my first official day of spring break! I spent 90 minutes water jogging with a running buddy and fellow teacher. It was an awesome workout and great conversation. I will definitely be visiting the pool on a more regular basis.  I also went back to the athletic therapist who was able to work wonders on my knee. Again, incredibly painful but SO worth it!!! He has advised me to try 2 slow miles tomorrow and see how it goes.

My options at this point are either the Fargo Half Marathon or the Manitoba Full Marathon (in June). I'm not changing my registration to Fargo just yet but the pressure is off for now. It's time to slow down and focus on getting better.

I'll keep ya posted :)

Trying to be optimistic

It's been a while since I blogged. I really just didn't want to write anything negative or depressing and that's kinda the head space I've been in since Sunday.

After such a great week of running I was thoroughly pumped about Sunday's run. It was going to be a celebration of spring and Joanne and I were going all out!

We dressed up and brought our cupcakes to the event. Thanks "best calves" for making me the sweet shirt and crown!

The run started out feeling pretty good. The roads were crazy slippery and we were forced to tip toe around huge lakes puddles. There was a lot of stopping and starting. By the time we got to the Forks (5.5 miles) I was excited to stop for a minute and stretch out my IT.
After a quick stretch we were back on the roads but my knee/hip/IT band were tighter than ever!

Had I been smart I would have stopped and called for a ride. Instead I pushed through and made it back to the Running Room to eat my well deserved cupcakes. By the time we got there I was close to tears and feeling completely defeated.

I spent the rest of the day icing, stretching and massaging my leg.


Since then I've seen my chiropractor and physio therapist. They are still giving me conflicting advice but both seem to be helping. I had a good cry at the chiropractor when she advised me to adjust my goals and maybe hope for the PB at the fargo HALF marathon.

I still haven't decided what I will do but there is a good possibility that I will not be running the full marathon in Fargo.  I'll keep you posted :)

Coming back strong-ish

I am so happy to say that I actually got a full 4 runs in this week!

It's been an insane week filled with visits to the chiropractor and physiotherapist, parent/teacher interviews, and cupcake baking. I feel like I haven't seen the husband in forever and I think he may be getting a little annoyed with all of this.

I have definitely got to find a better balance. I am hoping that in less than a month when my university course is done I will have a little more down time. I am still hoping to take another short course in the spring but hopefully not as time consuming as this one has been. I have also been a lot more selective about the cakes I choose to take on. This is maybe the hardest part because I miss baking and decorating a ton!

As far as training goes though, my week was fantastic!
-Sunday was my first run back after a week off. I blogged about it, wasn't the best run ever.
-Tuesday I ran a tempo run with the group and actually kept up.
-Wednesday Joanne and I went to the Y and did a hill workout on the treadmill. It was crazy hot in there but the running felt great. I was also happy to be running inside as it was raining and icy outside.
-Friday our whole group went to the Max Bell Centre at the University of Manitoba to test out some track drills. We did a 15 minute warm up, 4/5 drills, and the started the 800's. I always dread running 400 and 800 meters. It's too long for me to sprint and I have trouble pacing without being way too conservative and slow. Yesterday however, I was able to keep up with Joanne and our times were very consistent from the 1st 800m to the 4th.

I forgot my watch and I really lost track of time and distance so I have nothing official to report for stats :(

hmm...

Stats:
Temperature:warm and DRY
Bathrooms: Disgusting
Views: Weird rhythmic gymnasts practicing, odd
Highlight: Running with friends!