Just Plodding Along

 Hilarious...sorry rest of the country (except for California cause, like really most perfect weather on earth). You all can laugh at me when El Paso is 110 degrees this summer. There was a fair amount of this situation this week.... but I eventually got it together and did cardio in a different form and lifted and felt better about life. The good news is my injury feels significantly better so I should be back to my regularly scheduled calm the crazy exercise soon. Which is good because..... I find out soon whether or not I made it into NYC marathon. Fingers crossed!!! Also almost time for MCM lottery. And St. George or Twin Cities ahhh I can't decide...and how about Big Sur for spring 2016.....RUN ALL THE RACES! In other exciting news I have two new running groups I will be coaching, a beginner and an advanced 10K group, starting next week. Can't wait to get started on that! I have really enjoyed training the C25k and half marathon training peeps. ...

Not gonna lie. When I started training for this four months ago the race I ran was not what I had in mind. After many weeks of speed, tempo and long runs I was hoping to be closer to two hours or even PR. But a strained adductor derailed the PR train. This was the first half in a fairly long time. I used to just bust these babies out like every weekend but I realized on Sunday that I had not run a half since last March. Crazy. The finish line reminded me what I like about running- the excitement, everyone is happy and exhausted all at the same time, free food....medals....Mile 8 reminded me what I don't like about running. If you do half marathons or full marathons at some point it seems like a long freakin way regardless of how fit you are. Oh and also if you run with an injury you will over compensate on your other side and end up injured on both sides. Tada magic. At least I am evenly injured I guess. Yes husband of mine you were right. Running while injured is not the best idea...

So Sunday is the El Paso Half that I have been training for for months. My original goal was to PR. Now my goal is to do it. My right leg is still not 100% so my plan is to not wear a watch and just run by feel. If my hip hurts lay off. If I feel good push it. No pressure. There will always be another race. Now this may sound all zen but don't be fooled I have not been totally zen about being injured. My super awesome first world running dilemmas/ stupidity of the past week: 1) Freak when I realize that my 2015 goals is going to be thrown off which means the world will probably end. Never mind that it is only February and there is still time to get it together and plus I was ahead of schedule. WORLD IS ENDING. 2) Tally up all the money I have spent on races thus far for near future and freak out about maybe not being able to do them if I am injured. Then go ahead and throw my name into NYC marathon lottery anyway because that is a long way off and I WILL BE FINE. 3) And ...

So went to the doc to ask about my killer hip/groin pain cause I have a half marathon coming up like tomorrow and would really like to run it but I have been an idiot in the past and run through serious injuries and then ended up really, really hurt so wanted someone else to tell me it was okay to be an idiot and run on it even though it hurts.....you are welcome for this never ending sentence. Basically their best guess is I just have a killer case of adductor tendonitis most likely brought on by running a lot of hills and/or the millions of lunges and squats I have been doing. So that means yes I can run through it but it is gonna hurt. And of course the caveat of if it doesn't get better come back in. General plan is taking it easy and walking until the half this weekend and then we might be taking a few weeks off. Hello pool, hello bike, hello me going insane. But better that than muddling through the next couple of months until my hip falls off or something which is what...

Entered the lottery for this because sometimes you just gotta go for it. Seriously Kanye- Beck all the way.  My life working at a running store. I don't even know what normal clothes are anymore. Start doing this and I  will be able to do a hundred in two weeks. Best money spent in awhile. Hurts so good. This is why I can't get injured.....the crazy. It is hard to fight the crazy.

First things first- I have pulled something in my right leg so have not been running for five days now and am slowly but surely going insane. So frustrating. Trying to stretch and take it easy and hope it gets better before the half. Even scheduled the longest massage on earth for later today in an effort to get back 100%. Ain't no one got time for this. Monday:  Track workout. 6 x 800 with an average time of 7:59 per mile. Six seconds faster average than last time. Yeah baby. Total of 6 miles. Lifted legs. Tuesday: Full body lifting, pilates, hilly evening run with group for 6 miles. Wednesday: 8 mile easy run in the morning. 2 miles with my C25k group. Thursday: Full body weights. Walking. Pilates. At some point destroy right leg/ hip flexor but just don't know it yet. Friday: Wake up to a super sore right hip flexor. Walk 4 miles. Partly at the zoo because two of my favorite people came to visit. The fact that they are game to get in the prairie dog exhibit is ...

Last week was a bit off with training. Travel and a different schedule kinda threw me off. Very little cross training was accomplished. Couldn't find a weight to lift to save my life apparently. But I did put in quite a few miles walking around Vegas if my sore feet were any indication. Monday: Treadmill workout. 5 miles. Tried to be fast. Didn't work very well after running hard at the 5k the day before. Ran 1 mile around 8:30. 1 at 8:45 and 1 at 9:45ish and then almost died. Tuesday: My one and only cross training this week- 30 minutes of pilates. 6 miles with my half training group. Wednesday: Tried a new long run style. Ran for two hours instead of for mileage. Got 11.2 miles in. Was a fun way to explore and get some hills in. Thursday: Vegas Happened Friday: More Vegas and Vegas Recovery happened Saturday: 8 miles with my half training group. They are doing so awesome. I am excited for them! Sunday: 6.5 miles of trail running/hiking with a friend...

The two main reasons for Vegas. Anne and Britney. Saw both. Mission accomplished! So much fun packed into two days. We get asked if we are sisters a lot. We kinda look alike. Plus we are both loud and animated around each other so then we probably look exactly alike.   Britney was just an excuse to finally get together. It has been about 4 years too long. That being said Britney was pretty awesome. She is so dang tiny.  The best part was when she descended from the ceiling with giant white angel wings. ANGEL BRITNEY. For some reason we thought it was hilarious and every time we saw a poster for the show we had to yell "It's Angel Britney!" Overall the concert was super fun. Lots of dancing and singing along. I would see it again. The rest of the time was spent wandering the strip and stuffing our faces. We had to explore the Bellagio because it is my absolute favorite. So pretty and decorated for Chinese New Year. FYI it is the year of the goat in...