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March 30, 2011

WiW: Week 53

Weight: 145.6

Waist: 29.5
Hips: 37
Thigh: 23

The big news this week is that instead of upping last weeks run by 5 minutes, I upped it by 10. And I even felt pretty good at the end! My pace was a bit slower than what's become my usual, but not by much. I'm fairly confident that I'll be able to kick the 10k's ass, if I can keep it up.

The bad news is that by this morning, it was pretty clear that I'm coming down with something, and my hip didn't recover today the way it did last week. I was already trying to decide if I'm supposed to do a single longer run, then a medium run and the three shorter C25K runs, or keep pushing the two longer runs. This decision gets harder every week as the C25K runs get longer.

Posted by me at 10:08 PM | Comments (0)

March 29, 2011

He's already slipping away from me

"Who's Mama's sweet boy?"

"Me. But I'm also Daddy's golfing boy."

Posted by me at 11:49 AM | Comments (0)

March 23, 2011

WiW: Week 52/One year wrap-up

Weight: 144.0

Waist: 29.5
Hips: 36.5
Thigh: 23

I've officially hit one year! For some reason, I'm not as excited about that as I should be. Maybe it's because in a whole year, I haven't managed to make a fairly attainable weight goal. Or maybe it's because I still don't feel like I have more energy than I did before. Or maybe it's the constant nagging and sometimes screaming pain from everything from run-of-the-mill sore muscles to whatever the hell this hip thing is.

I thought all this exercise was supposed to make me perkier, thinner, and healthier.

On the up side, I'm in considerably better shape. I mean, I can run for 45 minutes straight! I feel a little less blubbery, can sing in the car without getting short of breath, and I'm on track to run a 10k in a couple months. I feel like I can't just give all that up, even if I can't definitively say that the benefits outweigh the pain.

Posted by me at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)

March 16, 2011

WiW: Week 51

Weight: 145.0

Waist: 30
Hips: 37
Thigh: 23

I've been doing pretty well bumping up my runs. I mean, I managed a 40 minute run, with a better than 10 minute pace. I'm not sure how long I can keep up all these workouts, though. I mean, I'm only doing two hard runs instead of 3, but then I have 3 other days where I C25K, and Shredding those days, too. I worked out six days in a row last week, and it seems a little overkill. Heck, Tuesday I just plain ran out of time to do my Shred, and I'm having a hard time feeling too bad about it.

Posted by me at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

March 9, 2011

WiW: Week 50

Weight: 146.0

Waist: 30
Hips: 37
Thigh: 23

This week, I restarted doing the Couch to 5K with a group of friends. Obviously, I don't need to do the build-up, but it's nice to get out with a group of girls and stay motivated. So I'm doing the C25K three days a week, and then on the days in between, I'm doing my longer runs to stay trained for the Warrior Dash in April, and the Firefly in June. I did the Firefly last October as a 5k, this year they moved it up and added a 10k. I'm fairly sure I can train up to the distance, but they have a stipulation that you have to complete the first half in under 30 minutes so they can clear the course for traffic. Since I've only once in my life run a 5k in under 30, and that was only by 7 seconds, and I got to stop after that, I'm not really sure how this is going to play out. The long run I did this week was pretty fast, so that bodes well, but it was also nice and cool.

I'm also still going to throw in some Shreds, so far on the days that I C25K, since the runs aren't that strenuous yet. I'm really impressed with how easy the first week of the C25K is this time around. I mean, I know I'm in way better shape, but it's nice to see just how much better. I remember feeling like I was going to die last time, and now I can talk through the whole run, and it doesn't feel much worse than a fast walk.

Posted by me at 9:39 PM | Comments (0)

March 5, 2011

Mardi Gras 5k

I woke up this morning and it was 44 degrees and so windy the flapping of the flag across the street had repeatedly awoken me during the night. Pretty much the exact conditions that I normally give myself permission to puss out of.

I'm too cheap to back out of a run I paid for, though. Besides, how could I ever wear the t-shirt if I didn't do the run?

I'm so glad I went. In my head, I've had this fantasy of running in under 30 minutes, knowing that I'd be thrilled if I finished in under 31. When I crossed the finish line and saw the clock at 30:32, I could have jumped for joy. You know, after I could breath again.

Then I checked the website for my chip time, and I've been floating ever since. 29:53!

Even better, my hip felt great during the run, and it still feels great now. Dr. Dukes had warned that I might want to run/walk this race after what he did to me, but I felt AMAZING. I could totally kiss him right on the mouth!

I finished 23rd out of 103 in my age group, and 312 out of 907 overall. My pace was 9:37/mile. (Results here.

Posted by me at 8:29 PM | Comments (0)

March 3, 2011

Hopefully healing

Aside from my Ob/Gyn, I've never made an appointment with a doctor with the expectation that they would put my hands on me in any significant way.

Today I saw a sports doctor/chiropractor/ART specialist, and it took me until now to realize why THIS appointment with THIS doctor felt so different from any of the other many appointments I've been to over the years. I was also a little nervous because a lot of my pain disappeared the day I made the appointment, much like when you take a car to the mechanic and it suddenly stops making that strange noise you hear every day.

He found a few places that were tight right off the bat, places that I hadn't known were sore until he pushed on them. It was deeply uncomfortable for me when he worked on those place, but nothing compared to the hot poker feeling I experienced when he dug into some other muscles later on. I can't keep track of all the muscle names, or even exactly what was wrong with each part, but I do know that I have some tight muscles, some rotation in one hip and probably some damage that's resulted from everything from pregnancy to carrying kids on my hip.

How much he really helps remains to be seen. From what my friend who recommended him has said, I'll be more sore tomorrow and maybe beyond. Not sure when the feeling better part is supposed to start, but I'm willing to give this a few more visits/weeks and see where it goes.

Posted by me at 10:01 PM | Comments (0)

March 2, 2011

WiW: Week 49

Weight: 146.8

Waist: 30
Hips: 37
Thigh: 23

God, I hope I'm ready for my run on Saturday. I've managed 5k's since last week, in spite of wind and wildly varying temperatures. My hip has gone from Yeow to just uncomfortable. I'm pretty sure I scared the pain away by making an appointment with a chiropractor/sports medicine doctor that a friend recommended. In exchange, what seems like the nerve pain I've had in the past in the back of my leg has come back. Ah, well, either way I have something for him to treat.

I'm planning a short run for Thursday, then taking Friday completely off.

Posted by me at 9:26 PM | Comments (0)