Health upate

Well, I had my CAT scan today. I will be having endoscopic sinus surgery on January 27. He says I can put it off until then since I've basically had this problem for a long time. I opted to put it off because I need to get a massively important project finished at work by then, and I would really like to get through the half marathon as well.

I'll be completely down for a week after the surgery, and then it will be about 6 weeks before I am actually healthy again (and that is 6 weeks of no physical exertion). Joy. But, after all the healing, I am supposed to feel much better, and I am all for that. I just want to feel normal again. I miss normal (though, apparently my normal is a little crappy compared to most people - who knew?).

So, that's that. Sinuses will be dealt with after the run, and I'll just have to push through until then.

As for my foot, it's still a mess. My sister and brother-in-law (physical therapists, the both of them) had a look at it when I was home, and they say I've irritated a tendon or something (they were more specific). There's a bump, it's uncomfortable, and there's an awful creaking when I move my toes. There's some pain when I walk - nothing serious, but it's still not good. I worry about it, but I figure I'll somehow limp through come race day.

For now, I am trying to ice it and rest (as prescribed by the sis and bro), and I'll have to see how it feels for the long run Saturday.

I am a mess.

12 Miles

So, I'm a bit behind on posting this, but it's the holidays so what can you expect? I hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday season and has a fantastic beginning to the new year.

So, last Saturday we had our big 12-miler. I was not excited about the run at all. In fact, I was a bit terrified. It definitely didn't help that I have been so off of my schedule because of the illness.

I didn't run all week leading up to the run. I planned to, but things just didn't work out that way. We had to be out at Terry Hershey Park by 6am, and it's a fair drive from home to get out there, so I woke up at 4:45am. WAY too early. I had to leave a holiday party really early the night before in order to get enough sleep.

They make a pretty big deal out of this run, and I'm glad they do it that way. It is a scary distance, so the support helps out a lot. All of the separate Houston area training groups come out for this run (we all generally train closer to home), so it is a pretty large group. We got there, signed in, and milled around for a bit. Then we had an awesome inspirational message from Kelli (she makes me cry every time), warmed up, and headed out.

I liked running the trails at Terry Hershey better than our normal routes. They are away from roads and much more peaceful and spacious. We never had to run single pace to let people by, which was nice for us.

We did managed to make it through 12 miles. We definitely didn't run the whole way, but I think that we ran more than we walked. I don't know what I would have done without Kelli - it really is easier to get through these things with her there.

We made it to the first water stop without too much trouble, but the second water stop was WAY further than I think it should have been, so we had to stop and take our gels without water. We were crashing without them, so we really didn't have a choice. Knowing how far we had to go on the way back, we took the gels earlier, which wasn't so great on my stomach.

I was already feeling pretty exhausted by the halfway point, but it was nice to know that we were on the way back. At some point, I became focused on just getting through the distance somehow. 12 miles is a really, really long way.

It was nice to have people out cheering us on, and it made us run when we maybe wanted to walk because we didn't want them to see us walk.

I started feeling a pain in the top of my right foot about a mile from the finish. It lasted for quite a while after, hurting every time I put my foot down. I'm a bit worried about what is going on with it.

We did somehow manage to finish. For the last couple of miles, we just couldn't believe we weren't at the end yet. We came around every turn expecting to see the end and seeing only more trees and more trail. It was tough. Finishing felt really fantastic, though. They had a big tent with lots of snacks and drinks at the end.

It took us over 3 hours (including stops) to get through it, but we were happy with that. We came in behind some of the insane people training for the full marathon (they did 21 miles).

I was so happy that we managed to finish. I wish that I could have hung around and talked to people longer, but I needed to get myself home. I was starting to crash, and I hurt in so many different places. It was really rough.

Recovery had to wait, as I had to pack and clean up and do laundry the rest of the day in order to drive 7 1/2 hours home the next day. I did get to rest some over the holiday, though.

I had a pretty frustrating attempt at a long run this morning. I decided to do my weekly long run today (Friday) instead of tomorrow since I've got a long drive back to Houston on Sunday, and it's not fun to drive when everything hurts.

I knew it wouldn't be good when I started out. My health seems to be declining again, and I woke up feeling pretty questionable. I decided to attempt the run anyway.

There's a roughly 3 miles loop around the lake in my parents' neighborhood, so I planned on running around it 3 times, with rest stops at the bottom of the driveway (I left Gatorade and gels in the mailbox). It was a good plan, and should have been a fairly nice run. It was nice outside - the ground was wet form last night's rain, but the rain had passed and the temperature was just slightly cool. Great running weather really.

It is really, really hilly here. I felt like the entire loop only contained one small distance of flat road - the rest was either up or down. It wasn't exactly an easy route, but hills are good for training, so I thought I would do the best I could and walk when I needed to.

Well, it didn't go well. It wasn't far in before the pain in my foot got pretty bad - a stabbing pain right at the top of my foot whenever I stepped. Then my sinuses started pounding. It wasn't a heavy pounding, just a light, dull one far in the back.

By the time I made it around once (walking several times), I had decided to call it quits. I have my CAT scan on Tuesday, and it wouldn't be smart to do anything to make myself more sick before they take the scan. The doctor wanted me as healthy as possible for that, and I definitely seem to be getting worse. So the sinus issues, paired with a bit of worry about what's going on with my foot, put a stop to the running for this weekend.

I am pretty frustrated with the fact that I needed to stop. A little under 3 miles is at least something, but it is definitely not the 10 miles I was supposed to do. I guess I'll see how this week goes and then try to get through the 8 miles next weekend.

Really, though, the big frustration for me is that I was on track to be able to run the full distance. I made it through the 10 miles without having to walk, and I was getting most of the assigned runs in. Then I got sick, and that all got really screwed up. I feel like I'll be lucky to finish at all now, and I will definitely be walking a chunk of the distance. It's just really frustrating to me. I was so close.

Oh well, I have to get healthy. Hopefully this week will be full of answers.

Thank you all so much for all of your support. So far, you have helped me to raise $2250 to help fight blood cancers. We are so close to my goal of $3000, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. You are all amazing.

And we're back...sort of

I didn't run all week. It was actually a huge relief to come home after work and not have to run. I've been slowly feeling somewhat better. I still don't feel good, but I don't feel as bad as I have. I finished the antibiotics on Thursday, and I'm almost done with the steroids. It is a relief to know that the effects of the drugs will be gone soon, but I am also a bit worried that the symptoms will come back. Here's hoping.

I went out to Memorial this morning for the group long run. I was a bit worried since it had been so long since I got a decent run in, but I really felt like I needed to get back into it.

Luckily, Kelli was there this week, so I had company. It really is so much easier to run with someone there to distract you.

We did somewhere between 8 and 9 miles this morning. It was pretty rough, and we definitely walked chunks of it, but we finished. It wasn't fun, and my knee started to hurt about halfway in, but it felt good to get through it. It made me think that I will actually finish in January, one way or the other. I don't feel bad about the walking, because my body is still not healthy, and I need to make myself take it easy. I can't push myself as hard as I would like right now.

But I got through it, and that's what matters. We'll see how this week goes. I'm going to try to get 3 daily runs in, then Saturday is our big 12-miler. Crazy!

Aaaaannnd...sick

Well, last week definitely failed to go as planned.

I ran roughly 20 minutes on Tuesday. It almost didn’t happen at all – it was chilly and wet and dark outside when I got home, but I forced myself out there anyway. I had to stop and walk a couple of times, as my body just didn’t seem to want to do it, but I didn’t do too badly, considering. I was red-faced and breathing hard when I got home. It reminded me more of my earlier runs than my more recent ones.

I actually pulled off a decent 30-minute run on Wednesday. It didn’t feel great, but I ran the whole way, with a stop half-way through for water (the meds dehydrate my pretty badly). It felt like I was getting back on track.

Thursday didn’t go so well. I intended to run 35 minutes, but 10 minutes in I felt really rough, so I turned around and part-ran, part-walked back home. So, I only got in a little over 20 minutes.

I did some serious soul-searching Friday night. I’ve been really sick, and I’ve been pushing my body to do something more physically demanding than anything I have ever done before. I am not someone who takes quitting lightly, but I also don’t want to cause any serious damage to my health. I think that Friday night was the first time that I seriously considered giving up. I mean, it would be one thing to quit because I was tired or cold or just didn’t want to anymore, but I am sick, and this whole thing is taking a fairly serious physical and emotional toll on me.

I decided to head out to practice on Saturday morning and talk to the coach about what I should do. She told me to skip the long run (that’s 2 in a row I’ve missed, now – I haven’t done a long run in 2 weeks) and go home. She says that I got through the 10 mile fine 2 weeks ago, so I should be able to finish the half in January. I am supposed to take it easy (especially while I’m still on the meds) and run only when and how far feels ok. I’ll show up for the 12-miler in 2 weeks and see how that goes, and I will make my decision from there. She thinks that I should be able to finish the half, especially if I am willing to walk part of it, without too much more work on my part.

So that’s where I stand. I am taking it easy this week and trying to let my body heal. I will try to work in a couple of short runs after work depending on how my body is feeling, and I will either show up for the long run Saturday morning or plan on doing my own, shorter long run on Sunday. I am taking things as they come, and I will plan on at least walking the half in January. I will see this thing through, one way or the other.

My CAT scan is scheduled for December 30th, so whatever comes of that will eventually have to be factored into this plan.

The best laid plans…

sick sucks

I am SOOO sick. Seriously, it’s a bit ridiculous.

Running plan for last week:

Monday – 30 minutes
Tuesday – 35 minutes
Wednesday – Travel to Iowa, no run
Thursday – 35 minutes on treadmill at hotel (i.e. the “not running in sub-freezing temperatures” plan)
Friday – 40 minutes on treadmill
Saturday – Travel back to Houston, miss scheduled long run
Sunday – Make-up 9 mile long run


What actually happened:

Monday – I was still in so much pain from Saturday’s 10 miles that I decided I needed another rest day to let myself heal.
Tuesday – I got home from work feeling a bit sick and still hurting a lot, so I decided on a 15 minute short run to try to stretch everything out. Nothing felt right.
Wednesday – I woke up at 3am incredibly sick, drove to the airport, flew to Denver, then to Omaha, where I met my family for the 3 ½ hour drive to Emmetsburg, Iowa. I arrived in terrible shape.
Thursday and Friday – I struggled through remaining upright through our family visit. I was way too sick to run, and I probably would have considered myself too sick to even get out of bed if there weren’t places I felt I really needed to be (a story for another place).
Saturday – Another really rough travel day – flying is painful if you have sinus issues.
Sunday – I was still too sick to even consider running.


So, yeah, last week was a complete failure.

Monday I went to see an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat) specialist. He told me that I am a mess, that it isn’t normal to get sick as often as I do, and that I bled into my eardrum during the flight (which explains some of the pain). He needs to do a CAT scan to determine the source of my troubles, but he wouldn’t be able to see anything useful in my current state. So, I am on yet another regimen of medications. He put me on a stronger antibiotic (I was still on the last course of “strong” stuff when I got sick last week), and a course of steroids. I will be on those for a couple of weeks, then I will wait a couple of days after finishing them before going in for the CAT scan. It looks like that will be scheduled either right before or right after Christmas. Hopefully, a solution to my problem will soon follow.

The drugs are really screwing with me. Antibiotics always mess with my stomach, and the steroids make me jittery and blur my ability to think straight. I don’t like feeling this way at all. Of course, my sinuses do feel MUCH better, but the rest of me feels off now.

The doctor did say I could keep running, though. As you might imagine, feeling the way I do doesn’t make me really excited about the running.

I didn’t run Monday (scheduled run: 30 minutes), because I felt awful after my appointment (the first does of steroids came in a massive shot). Yesterday (Tuesday), I wasn’t feeling so good when I got home from work, but I didn’t want to skip another run, so I decided to shorten the recommended run a bit (scheduled: 40 minutes) and see how my body reacted. I wanted to at least start adjusting to running again, so I set out to do 20 minutes.

Running sick is even less fun than running. I made it through about 7 minutes before my body started to disagree with the running idea. And that annoying side cramp managed to come back. I ended up walking a couple of times for about a minute each in the middle of the run in order to alleviate the pain. I did most of the return run without having to stop, but by the time I got home, I was terribly out of breath and just feeling awful. But, hey, I ran.

Part of me really wants to quit this whole thing right now – I am sick, I am miserable, and I am struggling to keep the rest of my life in order. But I refuse to give up. This cause is important to me, I have put in so much effort, and so many people have donated money and supported me through this mess. I intend to do everything I can to cross that finish line in January. And right now, that means running sick.

Tonight is supposed to be track practice, and tomorrow is supposed to be a 45 minute run. I am going to attempt 30 minutes tonight, and I will probably shorten tomorrow’s run to 35 minutes. We are scheduled for a long run of 10 miles on Saturday. I intend to go out there and attempt it. I might end up walking part of it, since I don’t know how I’ll be feeling by then. I did miss a week and a half of runs (including the last long run), so I don’t know how my body will react. I know I can do 10 miles, though, so at least I have that.

A month and a half left, then I can do whatever I need to fix this sinus problem and be healthy again. I can’t wait for the end of January.

10 miles??!?!

Well, I am feeling better. There's still a bit of icky-ness holding on, but I really do feel more human than I have in a long time.

I won't wait until the end of the post to include the big news: I ran 10 miles yesterday!

Now, to the beginning. My runs during the week were pretty uneventful. Since I did my long run on Sunday, Monday was an off day. Then I ran 30 minutes on Tuesday, 35 on Wednesday, and 40 on Thursday. I didn't have any trouble doing then runs, but they weren't enjoyable. I just can't seem to get into running.

All 3 of the runs were my "normal" route. I am definitely further and further at the 15 minute mark each time, so my pace is improving. My legs are fairly constantly sore, and they complain a lot at the beginning of the run before just numbing into acceptance.

What makes running so difficult to me is that lack of distraction. Running really is a fairly boring activity for me. Music wasn't doing it for me anymore, so I followed Kelli's move to podcasts and books on tape. It's a little more distracting, but I still find myself spending a lot of time just wanting the run to be over.

I am also having a lot of trouble with daylight. If I rush out of work at 4, come directly home, walk and feed the dog, change, and head out, it is still dark by the time I finish my run. And it is dark when I leave in the morning for work, too, so I can't just move my run to the morning. Silly short days!

So, anyway, yesterday was our 10 mile long run. I'll admit that I went into it totally terrified. I wasn't convinced I could do 10 miles, especially with the disaster that was last week.

The route began with the loop at Memorial, went down Memorial to Waugh, crossed over to Allen Parkway, went down to Sabine (basically I-45), and turned around and went back to the park.

When we started out, I really didn't think I could do it, and I definitely started to flag around 3 miles, but I pushed on. I kept telling myself that once I got through the run, I had the whole weekend ahead of me to enjoy.

I did eventually make it through the whole 10 miles, and I didn't walk any of it. I made several short stops: once to use the restroom, 4 official water stops, and 2 stops at water fountains along the way because I definitely needed it. I'm not really sure how I made it the last 2 miles - I just wouldn't let myself stop.

My knee held up a lot better this time. I have been really good about rolling my IT Band all week, and I had my massage therapist work on it a lot Friday. I still had some pain this run (and plenty of it after), but nothing that I couldn't run through. If I keep up the routine, I should be ok.

I forgot to start my watch when we started out, so I can't tell you what my pace was. I did finish ahead of someone who says her pace is a 13-minute mile, but she might have been having an off day or something.

It was really cold out yesterday morning. Somewhere around 40 degrees. I started the run in one less layer than I showed up in because I was comfortable in what I was wearing, and I knew that it wouldn't take long for my body to warm up. I felt ok the whole run, temperature-wise, and it is definitely better than running in the heat. When I got home, though, it took forever wrapped up in my covers to bring my body temperature back to something reasonable - I was cold to the touch.

The important thing here is that I made it through 10 miles! I should totally be able to get through 13 when the time comes.

10 miles!

It gets better now? Right?

I went to the doctor Thursday. I have a sinus infection. Joy. She put me on some stronger antibiotics and told me that if I'm not completely better when they run out (2 weeks), I need to see an ENT specialist. Fun times.

On the up side, I really am feeling a bit better with the antibiotics. Better than I have in over a month, actually. Still not healthy, but hopeful that I am on my way.

I felt really, really awful Friday. I decided to put my long run off until Sunday because we would be at Ren Fest all day Saturday, and the antibiotics meant that I would not be drinking, so I wanted the extra day to let the drugs work.

I waited until it warmed up a bit to go run on Sunday (I was not about to run when I woke up and the temperature was in the 30s). At 1pm, the temperature was in the low 60s, and I decided that was the best possible temperature for running. It really was a good temperature.

The assigned distance was 8 miles, but I went ahead and mapped out a route where I could turn around and just do 6 if I wasn't feeling well. I mean, I've been really sick, and I hadn't run in a week, so I wanted to be careful. The 8 mile run left my apartment, headed to Memorial Park, did the loop there, and headed home. The 6 mile turned around without doing the loop.

At 3 miles, I felt like I could force my way through the full 8, and I really wanted to try, so I stopped to fortify myself with a gel and kept going.

A little after 4 miles, I started to feel some serious pain in my knee. I stopped and readjusted the IT Band strap and started again. The pain came back, so I slowed to a walk for a little bit before trying to force it back up to a run. Ten steps in, the pain was back. I repeated this set up steps several times before admitting that I might not be able to finish the run.

The pain was pretty severe, or I would have tried to run through it. The best I can guess, it was caused by a combination of not rolling out my IT Band often enough, not running for a week then doing a long distance, and doing a LOT of walking the day before the long run.

When I started this journey, my biggest fear was not being able to finish because of my knee, so you can imagine how much having to stop because of the pain freaked me out. The idea of trying to get through 10 miles next Saturday scares me for enough reasons without worrying that I'll be forced to quit less than halfway through because of my knee.

Anyway, back to the run - I was 4 miles from home and definitely not running, and I didn't have a phone with me, so I walked. Every so often, I would try the running again, but the pain always came back. Serious, stabbing pain.

I did eventually make it home. I have a nice blister on my heal because, apparently, the shoes that are great for running are maybe not so happy for long distance walking.

Today is my rest day, and I hurt all over. I've got runs planned Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, and then the big 10 miles on Saturday. I hope I don't die.

Still feeling totally crappy.

Still not running.

Seeing the doctor again tomorrow.

8 miles Friday afternoon is going to suck.

Whine-y me

Ugh.

It is gross outside today.

The bad weather made traffic messy coming home, so I got home about 20 minutes later than I wanted to. And when I did get home, it was cold and raining and looking icky out. Since I'm still feeling pretty sick, I decided that running might not be the best idea. The weather was making it dark even earlier than usual, too.

So, that's my rationalizing a skipped run.

I hate skipping runs. I just feel so bad about it. I know the weather isn't supposed to get better for the next couple of days, too. I guess I'll force out a run tomorrow regardless of the weather.

I really need to get runs in tomorrow and Wednesday since I will be skipping Thursday's run in order to move my Saturday long run up to Friday. Trying to work a running schedule around the rest of my life gets interesting.

I need to get healthy, and the weather really needs to get better.

Yet more running...

Well, I think that this week went ok. I am definitely starting to get frustrated with having to fit my running into the rest of my fabulous life, but I am getting it in. I am not one to give up on something, so I will be trying to shape my life around running through the rest of the holiday season.

I had to take care of a couple of things when I got home from work on Monday, so I was a little late starting my run (but, we're talking like 5:30 here). We were set to do 30 minutes, and I am really not having trouble with those anymore (aside from the boredom). I got 10 minutes into the run, and it started to get dark. I decided to shorten the run to 20 minutes in order to get home and minimize my time running in the dark. I just really am not comfortable running in Houston in the dark by myself. I can't believe how early it gets dark now. Silly time change.

I was in a seminar on Tuesday that didn't start until 9am, and I had plans that evening, so I decided to get the run over with in the morning (I think I would do all my runs in the morning if it wasn't still dark when I normally go to work - it's nice to have the run out of the way first thing). We had 35 minutes scheduled, and I didn't really expect to have too much trouble.

It actually ended up being a really bad run. I meant to take a gel before starting, because I can't eat before running, and I figured that I would need something. I guess some combination of forgetting the gel and running just 13 hours before hit me the wrong way. The run was just hard. I slowed to a walk several times, but never let myself walk for more than 30 seconds. It was just a rough and annoying run. I did manage to get through it, though.

Seriously, getting the run over with was awesome. It was great to come home and not have to run and shower before doing anything. I wish I could run in the morning all the time.

I skipped track night on Wednesday again. I am getting really bad about that, but I am so burnt out on running right now that it is a much needed break. I will definitely have to get back into a Wednesday run of some sort, but while I am still trying to get healthy again, I think the rest is a good thing.

I had a meeting at 8am at another site on Thursday, so I was actually able to squeeze in a run before work. This time, the morning run went really well for me. I did 40 minutes with no trouble at all. I was really pleased with the run. I am not thrilled that the weekly runs are getting longer, but I am happy to see that I am managing to get through them. I might not enjoy the running, but I am getting it done.

This week's Saturday morning long run was schedule for 10 miles, and I was very afraid. As we were warming up, the coach told us to just do 8, as he thinks it is a little early for us to be doing 10 (I hope you didn't do 10, Kelli!). I was really, really happy to just have to do 8. Putting off the 10 miler for another couple of weeks sounds like a really good plan to me.

It was pretty cold out this morning. I actually wore a jacket, and my hands and legs were pretty cold. The legs stop bothering me once I get running, but I think I need to get gloves. I saw a lot of runners on the loop this morning in shorts, t-shirt, and gloves. It looks funny, but I totally understand why they do it.

The run itself went fairly well. It was the same route as our last 8 miler - do the park loop, follow Memorial out to Chimney Rock, turn around, and head back to the park.

I definitely missed having someone to run with this morning. Running for that long alone is just so BORING. And 8 miles is a really long way.

I did manage to run the whole way, with 2 stops for water and one to get a rock out of my shoe. I also ended up running an extra 1/2 mile because I needed to use a restroom about halfway through, so I needed to take a detour. So I did 8.5 miles today, making it the furthest distance I have ever run =)

The run took me about 2 hours and 5 minutes (including the extra 1/2 mile and rest stops). I am still definitely slower than I would like to be, but I still have time to improve. I mean, I am running the whole distance, I just need to up the speed a bit. I am sure I can do it.

I wore the band for my IT Band this morning, and it seemed to help. I still had pain, but it wasn't as bad. I really, really need to get better about rolling my legs several times a day, but I really hate doing that. Silly body objecting to the torture I am putting it through.

Tomorrow will be a must needed rest day. I have come to really appreciate those...

AND parking garages?

I would like to stress that I am still not a runner. I am a person who forces herself to run 5 times a week in order to raise money and awareness for a good cause. I don't like running. I spend most of the time I am running wishing that I was anywhere else doing anything else. But I am getting through this, and it will feel amazing to cross that finish line in January.

You guys, running is HARD.

I got up just after 5am this morning to head out to the park for this week's long run. I now get up earlier on Saturday mornings than I do during the week to go to work. There is something seriously, seriously wrong with that.

Anyway, at least the weather was nice - it was chilly without really being cold, so weather never really factored into the run for me, and that is the best possible situation with weather. I know it's going to start getting colder, and I need to get some layering clothes, but for now, it's really nice.

We ran a 7 mile loop this morning. We left from the park, ran to the corner of Allen Parkway and Montrose (you can see my apartment from there - so evil!), then turned around and headed back to the park. On the way back, we stopped at the parking garage on Detering and ran 2 parking garages (up and down is about 1/2 a mile).

I guess the run went well. We ran the whole thing without any serious issues. The parking garages were really, really painful, though. I am already flagging at that point in the run, so it seemed mean to have us run garages at that point, but I'm sure it was good for us or something.

My body has definitely started to voice some complaints about the whole running thing. I have a couple of aches that just won't go away and flare a bit when I run, and my knee problem is getting worse. I know it is an IT band issue, so I just bought a strap to wear above my knee and put pressure on the IT band. It arrived this afternoon, and I tried it on - the leftover pain from the run just seemed to go away. I hope that running with the strap will help a lot with the issues. Of course, I also need to be better about stretching it and rolling it on the evil rolling thingy.

My stomach also acted up a bit this morning. I'm hoping it was just something I ate last night coupled with not enough sleep. I guess we'll see.

This week is busy outside of the running thing, so it'll be a pain to get my daily runs in, but I'm sure I'll work something out. They get longer this week. Sigh.

And more running...

This week wasn't really that exciting when it comes to running. I ran 20 minutes Monday, 30 Tuesday, skipped the track night Wednesday, and ran 30 minutes Thursday. All of my runs were the same route, really - the one I've been running a lot lately. I leave my apartment, run to the bayou side of Allen Parkway, and run down the bayou. I need a new route, but that one is just easy, and I like ending the run at home. I'm getting bored, though.

I am still not totally healthy, but I'm at least not crazy sick anymore. I just feel kinda yucky and down.

It is getting harder to make myself get out and run. I still don't really enjoy doing it, but I am stubborn and so afraid of not being able to finish the half marathon that I get myself out there and get through it. I will be relieved when this is over, though.

I am sore everywhere. I start out every run wondering if my legs are going to make it through. I mean, it's nice that I no longer feel totally nauseous whenever I run, but it is still really, really hard.

Tomorrow we're doing 7 miles and 2 parking garages. I think it's the garages at the end that are going to kill me. Also, I am not a fan of the 5am wake-up call. Bah.

getting back into it...

Well, yesterday was my first serious run back since the sinus infection, and it went pretty well.

I decided not to do the group run so I could sleep in - I figure that I really need the rest right now. Plus, I didn't think that 8 miles would be a good plan for me since I am still trying to recover.

I slept in until I woke up (basically when the sun came up), then headed out on a 6 mile run - from my apartment into Memorial Park, and back.

It was cold out when I started, and the temperature stayed pleasant for the entire run. I really think that the temperature is a huge factor for me, so I was really pleased with the weather.

I used my new water bottle belt for the first time this run. It looked really dorky, but, once I got used to the feel of it, it was a big help. I filled one bottle with HEED, and one with Gatorade (I hadn't used the HEED before, and I didn't want to take the chance of it not working for me and being without anything). That combination actually worked perfectly, and combined with the gel that I took before the run, kept me at a decent energy level.

Anyway, the run was a little rough at first, but I pushed through and settled into it. The first half felt like it would never end, but once I was headed back towards home, I brightened up a little. It really is a motivation to be running towards your bed.

I made the mistake of not taking any tissue with me. Considering I've been sick for 3 weeks, you'd think I would have thought of it, but no. I ended up grabbing leaves off of trees as I ran to blow my nose. It was really pretty gross. Of course, having to hold onto snotty tissues the whole run would have been pretty gross, too. I guess you really can't win.

So, yeah, I finished 6 miles without too many issues. I mean, my knee started to hurt (I'm considering buying a band to take some of the IT Band pressure of my knees), and my lower back was a complete mess all day yesterday (still not sure what caused that), but I made it without feeling like I needed to stop. And it doesn't seem to have made me more sick.

I think I maybe could have made the 8, but I really didn't want to push it. As it was, I finished somewhere around 6 miles in about 1 hour, 15 minutes. That's roughly a 12:30 mile, which is way better than I have been doing. I am hoping that I can keep that speed going. I was happy with the run.

I guess we'll see how this week goes...

Still sick...

I decided to try to run on Tuesday because I was feeling a little better, and I really wanted to get back onto my training schedule. I set out to do 20 minutes instead of the assigned 30 because I was still not feeling so great, and I really didn't want to push myself too hard while I was still sick.

I managed to get through 15 minutes running before I started to worry about how awful I was feeling. I ended up walking the 10 minutes home from there. I felt really bad about not doing a longer run, and the one that I did manage to do was so slow and pathetic.

I felt awful on Wednesday, so I didn't run, and I am still a mess today, so it seems that running is out. I don't want to make myself more sick by running when my body can't take it, and the way I felt on Wednesday made me feel like the run Tuesday wasn't the best idea. I mm getting terribly behind on my training.

I am worried that being sick is going to destroy all of the work that I have done towards my training. I was finally starting to settle into things, and now I haven't run in a week. I've also been sick for 3 weeks (that's all of October, so far). I am worried and upset and unhappy right now.

So, I won't run today, and tomorrow is a rest day. That leaves the long run on Saturday. It is supposed to be 8 miles, and I'm not sure I feel great about that. I am really hoping that I will be feeling well enough by then to force myself through a long run, but I might consider shortening it to 6 miles in order to "ease" myself back into the running. I guess I will wait and see how I feel Saturday morning and make my decision from there.

I need to get better soon.

A cold front came through last night, and it is GORGEOUS outside. I hope it stays this way for a while.

Blurg

I haven't run since Thursday, and that run wasn't a good one.

I was incredibly sore from the sprints I did on Wednesday, so much so that I was a bit worried about my legs when I started the run. It didn't take long into the run for me to realize that the pain wasn't just normal soreness. My legs weren't going to get me through a full 30 minutes.

I ended up deciding to shorten the run to 20 minutes in order to try to preserve my legs for the long run Saturday. I also went really, really slowly, even for me. It still hurt, a lot. I think I need to be more careful about my speed work. I need to do it, but I can't destroy my legs like that. I'm still a weakling.

I wasn't feeling good at all when I got home Friday, but I had been suffering from that cold for over 2 weeks, and I had been out late Thursday night, so I thought I was just run down. Unfortunately, things just got worse overnight.

I woke up to go run on Saturday and realized that there was no way I was going to manage a run. My cold had apparently managed to work its way into a sinus infection, and I was a mess.

I've been really sick since then. I did somehow manage to drag myself to the fundraiser that we hosted on Saturday. It went really well (big thanks to everyone involved), but I felt awful the whole time.

I skipped work (and my run) today because I was still not doing so well. The antibiotics appear to be helping, but functioning normally is still rough. I'm guessing this post isn't great because I'm just trying to get stuff written so I can stop trying to think.

I need to get back to work, and I need to get back to running. I hate missing a long run, and I am really worried about the 8 miles next Saturday. Let's hope I'm at least some form of healthy by then.

Sigh.

Another week...

I wasn't feeling great Monday, so I opted to give myself an off day. I was still waking up feeling so sick, and my knee was still a little questionable. I hate skipping runs, but if I am sick or injured, I miss more. I really didn't want to take a chance at hurting my knee worse. So, Monday I rested. I like resting, but I can't get used to it.

The soreness in my legs from Saturday's long run still wasn't gone when I set out for my Tuesday run. My legs always complain at the beginning of the run, but this was on another level. The soreness melted a bit as I went. Of course, a little over halfway through the run, it felt like my legs themselves were melting. It was almost as if there just wasn't anything left in them. It was a pretty surreal feeling. I managed to push through it, though.

The run, for the record, was 30 minutes and followed what has become my "regular" 30 minute run down the bayou. The last 5 minutes are always tough on me - I start to totally give out right around then, plus it's slightly uphill back towards my apartment.

The runs are starting to become a bit easier, but I still wouldn't call them fun. People keep saying that I will start to enjoy them, but I am still not there yet.

Tonight was supposed to be track practice, but, with the storm rolling in, I was worried they would decide to run a parking garage. The up and down seems to be rougher on my knee than running on the flat, so I really wasn't up for running a garage this week.

I still wanted to do some sort of speed work today, both because it is nice to have a change in pace and because I feel like I am starting to get the distance in, so I want to improve my stride and speed.

James was willing to head out to Spotts Park with me a little later in the day, so we headed out there together. It's always nice to have some sort of company. He spent the time kicking around a soccer ball with his roommate while I ran sprints.

I started out on the grass, but the rain had soaked the ground pretty well, so I gave up on that idea pretty quickly and moved to the path.

I did what I guessed at as 100m sprints. I'd sprint the length, walk back, and repeat. I kept that up for 20 minutes.

I felt like my sprints went really well. I felt fast and strong. Towards the end, of course, my legs started to feel like they were going to give out - my quads were just screaming at me. I am going to hurt all over tomorrow.

I am starting to feel healthier. Hopefully, my knees will still feel good tomorrow. At least I "only" have to run 6 miles Saturday =)

Wooo!

I ran 8 miles yesterday. I hurt EVERYWHERE, but I ran 8 miles!

Thursday's run went really well. It was basically the same run as Tuesday, and I felt really strong. The last 5 minutes of the 30 was a little rough, but it really wasn't too bad. I am really happy with how my shorter runs have started going. I do need to find some new paths to run, though - doing the same run several times a week will get old really, really soon.

I did learn something about this stupid cold that I just can't seem to shake: running does seem to make it worse the next day. I skipped Wednesday's track practice to try to give myself time to heal, and I felt a lot better Thursday. Then I ran when I got home on Thursday, and I didn't feel as good on Friday. Bah! Stupid cold!

Anyway, on to yesterday. Our long run was scheduled to be 8 miles, and I was definitely scared (and not feeling so healthy) going into it. I was glad to have Kelli's company again, though.

So, we headed out. The route, for those of you familiar with Houston, started out with half of the Memorial loop, then went up Memorial to Chimney Rock, turned around, and came back into the park with the second half of the loop. It was FAR.

We ran into Cassie part of the way through the loop, and she decided to run with us. I know we were way slower than she is used to running, but I definitely appreciated the support.

Most of the run was shaded, and it didn't get TOO hot, but the humidity was still pretty stout. Silly Houston.

So, the first half of the run went pretty well. I was amazed at how far it actually was. The water break on the way to Chimney Rock was definitely welcome, and it was my only stop for the first part of the run.

Cassie did manage to tell me at one point that Chimney Rock was the next street and was totally wrong. I forgive her =)

Turning around and heading back felt good, even though I knew how much I still needed to run. I stopped for water again, and I took a gel. I think that I took too much water with it. I definitely needed the energy boost at that point, but I didn't feel fantastic afterwards. More experimentation needed, for sure.

I did start to slow a bit on the way back. 8 miles really is much longer than I should be forcing myself to run.

Sometime around mile 6, my knee started to hurt. It was familiar pain - a sharp pain that is caused by tightness and knots in my IT Bands. I guess I haven't been stretching and rolling them often enough. Anyway, I ran the last 2 miles with pain in my knee. It came and went, but by the last mile, it was starting to wrap itself around my knee.

Yeah, I know I maybe should have stopped, but I actually had the ability to finish 8 MILES, and I wanted to get through it. And I did finish the 8 miles. I was really slow by the end of it, but I finished.

I did the 8 miles in around 2 hours. That is a really slow pace, but, to me, the important part is that I ran all 8 miles. The increased pace will come. I still have 3 months to train. I can do this.

I had trouble walking the rest of the day. The pain is mostly gone today, so I will use the roller thingy tonight, and we'll see how I feel tomorrow before I make a decision on whether or not to do my short run.

Of course, I feel pretty sick today. The cold won't go away, and running yesterday can't have helped (also, I went to a wedding and a house warming party, so, yeah =)). I might be better off taking tomorrow off. We'll see how I'm feeling. I need my health back.

But, seriously, 8 MILES!

Well, yesterday's run went really well.

I tried a bit of Hammer Gel before the run just to see how my body reacted to it before taking it on a long run (having it hurt me on a long run would be BAD). I couldn't get the whole serving down (it DOES taste just like chocolate pudding, but I could only take about half of it for some reason). It seemed to help. The important thing is that it didn't cause any negative reactions. I think I am going to get some of the Raspberry one - for some reason, I handle fruit flavor better when I work out.

The run itself was good. I did 30 minutes, leaving from my apartment and running down the bayou. I was actually really surprised by how far I got before I hit 15 minutes and needed to turn around. And I felt pretty good the entire time. I didn't really have any trouble with side cramps or anything like that. It was nice to see where the path goes past where I usually turn around =)

For being as sick as I have been this week, I have been surprised by how good I have felt when I run (the short ones, at least - Saturday was just bad). The best I have felt this week has been the couple of hours immediately after my runs. It's just weird.

I went to the doctor today because my boss told me I should. She told me what I expected to hear - it's a cold, it hasn't turned into a sinus or bronchial infection, and it might just take up to 2 weeks to get rid of it. Fun times. At least it's nothing serious, right? She also told me that I can run as long as it isn't making me feel worse, and that I should maybe take a break and see if it helps.

So, I decided to skip track practice tonight. It makes me jumpy not to run, especially with our first 8-mile run coming up on Saturday. But, I do want to get better as soon as possible, so I have to try to take care of myself. I will do my run tomorrow, enjoy the rest day on Friday, and try go into Saturday with a good attitude about it. At least I'll have my running partner back on Saturday.

You ready, Kelli?

I left work about an hour early today because I was still feeling really sick (it was a ROUGH day at work). I didn't expect to get a run in at all; I just came home and collapsed.

After a couple of hours of just resting, I was feeling a bit better, so I decided that I should try to get some sort of a run in. The plan was to just take it really, really easy, and to start walking as soon as I stopped feeling good. I assumed that I would walk a good bit of the 20 minutes, but at least I would be on my feet, doing something towards my training.

Things actually went a lot better than I expected. Besides the predictable sluggish feeling in my legs (first run after a long run does that to me), I actually felt pretty good. I kept a slow and steady pace through the entire 20 minutes. I didn't feel at all sick, and the pain in my side was very slight. 20 minutes actually felt easy for once. Weird.

I think the weather really is a big factor for me. Since I ran a bit later in the afternoon today, the route I took was mostly shaded, and there was a nice breeze. I think that was another factor in how badly Saturday went - we didn't start running until almost 8:45am (I'm usually done with my long run by then), and it was hot and sunny. Ugh.

Anyway, I had a nice run even through I've been sick. I needed that.

Disappointment

Yesterday was my birthday. I started my birthday by getting up early to go run. And it went very, very badly.

I left home as soon as it started to get light out (no running in the dark when I'm on my own), and headed out to run 2 miles before the Komen Race for the Cure 5K. I could tell things weren't going to go well less than a mile into the run. I just felt awful. I honestly haven't felt that bad since our very first long run. I felt nauseous, I had an awful side cramp, and nothing seemed to feel right.

On another note, it was interesting running along the route for the race as things were getting set up.

Anyway, I got through roughly the first mile before having to stop and catch my breath. The second mile was pretty rough - I had to walk bits of it, and I was really happy to make it to the staging area for the race so I could sit down and try to regroup.

Of course, I then had over an hour of standing around waiting for the 5K to start. I started to feel a little better, but my body had gone into recovery mode, and I started to get the awful feeling in my stomach that comes on when I don't get something into my stomach after my run.

Eventually, all of the race hoopla started. It was pretty interesting to me, since I've never participated in a race like this one. There were so many people there! We listened to several speeches, and they released birds. It was pretty. Then they started the family 1K, followed by the competitive runners.

I was in the non-competitive running group, and we started about 10 minutes later than we were supposed to. It was so weird to start out in the middle of a huge group of people. I was near the start of the group, so that was good because things got moving fairly easily. It was bad because tons of people passing you doesn't feel great.

I felt ok at the start. I set my pace and tried not to let the people passing me cause me to speed up. I mostly just tried to take in the feeling of the run. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for my body to just start shutting down. I was miserable. I'm sure I looked awful as I tried to push myself to run as much as possible.

I really wanted to finish the run, so I just kept pushing myself. I did have to start walking bits of it, and I was really frustrated by that. By the time the finish line was in sight, I was running and walking almost the same amount. I managed to run across the line, and I sat down under a tree to try to quiet all the different parts of me that were complaining.

The original plan was to run the 1.5 miles back to my apartment after the run to finish out the 6+ miles assigned for Saturday. Unfortunately, there was just no way that a run back was going to happen - I ended up having a terrible time just trying to walk back.

Seriously, it was a bad morning, and I collapsed when I finally got home. I was really, really depressed about the failure. After the high that came from a strong 6.5 miles last week, having a run go as badly as my first long run just hurt. I started to worry about my ability to get through this process for the first time in a while.

So, I spent some time going through what I think went wrong. Honestly, I think the problems all probably stem from being sick the last part of the week. I mean:
1. I was still sick. Bodies don't work as well when they are fighting off germs.
2. Because of being sick, I skipped 2 weekly runs - so I hadn't run since Tuesday. There's definitely a reason that our schedule has us running as often as we do.
3. My nutrition had been really, really poor since I started to get sick. I wasn't eating well, or much, so I wasn't even close to properly fueled.

Of course, the break in the middle of the run didn't help at all, either.

Still, it hurt my confidence to have a long run go that badly. Especially since we have an 8 mile long run coming up next Saturday. I guess it's back to running tomorrow. Hopefully it goes better.

I woke up this morning with cold symptoms even worse than last week, so I'm just hoping I get healthy soon.

Well, the week started out decently enough...

I took my running clothes to work Monday so that I could go straight to the park and run after work (a sports bra is about the only thing that I can't change into in the car =)). I ran my 20 minutes at Spotts Park without too much trouble. Don't get me wrong, it was hot, and I didn't feel great. But I did get through the run. My body felt weak and sore, but I expected at least the weakness since I gave blood on Saturday. Whatever, it was a Monday run, and Monday runs are never the best.

Tuesday was similar - I took my clothes to work and ran at Spotts (I needed to get the run over with early because I had Book Club that night). Instead of running the loop there like I usually do, I took lots of random turns, including a bit of a run along Memorial. I tried to stay in the shade as much as possible, because it was hot out. I made it through the 30 minutes, but it was really difficult not to just stop early.

So, I got through the first 2 runs of my week without too much drama, then I went and got sick. I've apparently got some sort of a cold. It's been going around at work, and I failed to avoid it, of course. I'm hoping that it's just something short and quick, but I worry about how long I'll be down. I don't want anything getting in the way of my training.

I skipped Wednesday's track practice because I got home from work feeling awful. I hoped to be well enough today to get my run in, but I ended up coming home from work early because I felt so bad, so I'm guessing that a run is out.

Hopefully I will be feeling better Saturday, because I plan to do my long run unless I am physically unable to get out of bed. I am signed up for the Komen Houston Race for the Cure, and I'll be doing a run before it and a bit after to turn the 3 miles of the race into the slightly more than 6 that I need to do. Fun times.

More of the week

I decided not to go to track practice on Wednesday. That does not mean that I didn't run. Since I am still working on getting my body adjusted to the idea of running, I felt that the run I missed on Tuesday was more important than the speed work that we do at track practice, so I opted to do a 30 minute run instead of practice. It turns out that none of the coaches showed up at track practice, so I guess it was a good choice.

Of course, I won't pretend that my decision wasn't a bit influenced by wanted to get my run out of the way so I could go play Bocce with friends, but it really was better to get a solid run in.

The run really didn't go so well. I mean, I made it the 30 minutes without stopping, but I felt awful. The stitch in my side was acting up a lot, and trying to change my breathing tends to speed up my pace, so I started to wear out pretty quickly. When I finished, I felt worse than I have after running in a long time. I'm sure running right after work in the heat doesn't help at all, either.

Thursday's 25 minute run went a lot better. I also did it right after work because of a concert we were heading to, but it was a little cooler. I had to take it easy because I rolled my ankle a little bit on Wednesday, and I wanted to be sure that it was ok before pushing it.

I ran directly from my apartment both days. I have found lots of different paths that I can take, and it's easier not to have to drive somewhere and back (especially when I have somewhere I want to be fairly early in the evening).

Saturday's run went much better than the weekly runs. I'm not sure why, since the Saturday runs are much longer, but I am happy to have my long runs go so well.

This weekend's run was somewhere around 6.5 miles - that's half of the distance of the half-marathon. I am really, really excited that the run went so well for me. My confidence is definitely on the rise.

The weather was fantastic Saturday morning - at 6:30 in the morning, we were chilly waiting to start the run. Once we got going, it felt great. I can't wait to have weather like that more often.

Our route left Memorial Park (which is still dark from the hurricane), ran down to Waugh (where there was a water stop), ran down Waugh to Spott's Park, ran a loop there (including a set of stairs), and headed back.

My lower back hurt a little bit as we started out, but it seemed to work itself out as I went, and I made it to the water station with no real problems. The water stop was decorated because the fall training group was doing their longest run of the training season (12 or 21 miles), and they had a big support group there cheering them on. Of course, they also had tons of things like candy at the stop, and it took a lot of self-control not to eat any of the candy. I know it would have given me problems on the run, though, so I stuck to Gatorade and a really short stop before moving on.

It was interesting to do a loop at the park as part of the run. I actually do some of my weekly runs there (James introduced me to the place), but it seemed like a much shorter loop as part of a longer run. The set of stairs wasn't fun, but it didn't seem to hurt me too much.

The run back went surprisingly well. I actually felt at my best a little over halfway through the run. I felt strong, and my pace felt decent. I actually felt happy to be running. It was a little weird.

I managed to finish strong (no walking!), and I actually felt like I could have gone longer (it would have been rough, but I could have pulled it off).

I didn't have too much trouble with the side stitch on the run, and I wasn't really concentrating on my breathing. I need to figure out what makes my Saturday runs go so much better than my weekly runs. I'm wondering if it's just mindset starting out. It might also have something to do with the time of day I run.

I had some oranges and Gatorade at the end of the route, then I picked up kolaches on my way home. I definitely ended up feeling a lot better since I managed to put food into me, but I still don't enjoy eating after a run. I am working on the fueling aspect of this running stuff, for sure.

I did manage to get a blister on the bottom of my big toe. It didn't hurt at all when I was running, but it gave me trouble for the rest of the day. I am really glad that today is an off day so I have more time to heal before running on Monday.

In other news, the fundraising is going pretty well. I want to thank everyone who has donated - it means so much to me that you guys are helping me support a cause that I really do believe in. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy to go to my page and look at how much money you guys have helped me raise. I still have a long way to go, though. If you haven't had a chance to donate, please visit my page at http://pages.teamintraining.org/txg/houston09/khughesw0s

Yay for off days!

Confession time: I didn't run today.

I had every intention of running - I even put on running clothes. Then I ended up spending the evening dealing with some personal things that were much more important and have no place in this blog. By the time I was done, it was dark out, and running wasn't going to happen.

I missed one run, and I feel terribly guilty. I know it's not important that I make EVERY run, but I really feel like I am improving right now, so I don't want to do anything to slow down. Silly guilt. I'm sure it won't screw up all of my training or anything, but I don't like skipping runs.

I did run yesterday. It wasn't great, but that seems to be a trend with my Monday runs. They really never seem to go well. But I got through it.

I ran 20 minutes without stopping, though I definitely wanted to stop. The route was the same one I took Thursday, and I think that I started out too fast. I spent most of the run concentrating on my breathing. I still can't seem to get it right, even when I am concentrating. I will keep trying, though, as it seems to help when I do get it right.

I felt incredibly sick after the run. Stupid Mondays.

Track practice tomorrow. Fun times!

Woo!

I am proud of myself today. I like that feeling.

I guess I should start with a quick summary of Thursday's run. I decided to run from my apartment again, but I took a slightly different route. I basically ran down Allen Parkway on the non-bayou side. It was actually a nice run.

I did the run first thing in the morning, so it was nice and chilly (I am going to miss the chilly mornings as the cold front weather passes). Houston was still a bit eerie post-hurricane, and I found myself dodging lots of debris and branches. It was actually fairly pleasant, though, and my run went really well. I did my 25 minutes fairly easily (and at a faster pace than I have been).

I spent a lot of time trying to concentrate on changing the foot that I breathe on in order to help with the side cramps. I can definitely tell the difference, but it is hard to train myself to breathe differently. As long as I am concentrating, it goes really well, but as soon as I turn my attention to something else, I'm back to the "wrong" way. Of course, as soon as the side cramps start, I can concentrate on breathing better, and it tends to go away. Good thing, for sure. I am hoping that I can eventually train myself to breathe the better way naturally, but we will see.

Anyway, on to me being proud of myself.

We had a long run this morning. We are now meeting at the park before the sun comes up - 6:30am. Today's run was around 5.5 miles, and we had to do it mostly out of the park since the lights in the park don't have power yet.

The run was actually similar to the run that I did myself last week, but it was from the other direction. We ran out of the park, all the way to Waugh, and then back. It was a little hard to be so close to home at halfway through the run =). The weather was still nice and cool, but we still have plenty of icky humidity. Oh, Houston.

I kept the side cramps at bay with the method described above, and I was thrilled to be running with Kelli again. It really is amazing how much a little company helps.

We made it to the water stop at the halfway point with no problems, and our pace has increased a little bit. We took a quick break, got some water, and talked a bit with some other runners, then we headed back. I'm not really sure how I managed it, but I made it all the way back without walking.

That's right! I ran 5.5 miles this morning with no walking, and just one water stop! And I didn't feel like I wanted to die afterward. It was awesome, and I rode that high for a good bit of the morning.

I am still slow, and I still spend most of the run wanting it to be over, but I actually think I can finish this thing.

Yay for tomorrow's off day!

Ike and Running

Well, I survived the hurricane. I’ve finally got everything other than cable back at my apartment. I’ve been living at James’s for the last several days, enjoying the hospitality and all the amenities that they still have there. With the mess that the hurricane has made of my schedule, I managed to only miss one run.

Wednesday night was track practice. I guess it went fairly well. We ran 200s – basically, we ran half the track at an “uncomfortable” pace, then walked half the track, then did a series of lunges, followed by a set of push-ups. I was hurting by the end of it, but I made it through at a fairly reasonable pace, so I was happy with that (my arms and legs would continue to hurt for days afterwards, though).

By Thursday morning, Hurricane Ike appeared to be headed in our direction (with landfall occurring very early Saturday morning), so I decided to skip my Thursday run in order to use Thursday as my pre long run rest day. That made Friday my long run day since Saturday was going to be far too much of a mess for running.

I headed out for my run Friday morning as soon as it got light enough for me to be out. I let a friend of mine know where I was headed since I would be out running alone and wanted to be sure someone knew where I was, and then I headed off. It was really eerily empty and quiet outside (hurricanes will do that, I guess).

I could feel the change in weather – it was cooler, and there was a nice breeze, but it was still pretty humid out. The temperature did help make the run more pleasant, but the humidity kept it from being nice.

This week’s long run was scheduled for 5 miles – the most I have ever done. It was really, really hard to do the run on my own. I missed running with the team and with Kelli. I managed to pull something off, though. I didn’t want to have to drive anywhere, so I decided to map a run from my apartment. One of the other runners recommended a site to me last week (http://www.mapmyrun.com/) that allows you to map out a run and tells you what the distance is. The run I ended up taking was basically the drive I take every Saturday morning to Memorial Park. For those of you who know Houston, I basically ran from my apartment, up W. Dallas to Waugh, down Waugh over to Memorial, up Memorial to the park entrance, and then back. The run mapped roughly 5.25 miles.

It was a pretty rough run, but I think I handled it pretty well. I had to carry a water bottle with me since there would be no TEAM water stations, and the extra weight wasn’t a lot of fun. I think I ended up carrying more water than I needed.

The run actually started off pretty well – I managed to make it to Detering (roughly 2 miles) before I needed to slow to a walk to work out a side cramp. I kept the walk to under a minute, and I made it the rest of the way to the turn-around point without too much trouble. I took another (very short) walk after turning around, and then I was off again.

When I reached the turn-around point, I had 2 conflicting emotions at once – I felt really proud to have made it to the halfway point, and I felt unnerved that I had to do it all over again. The run back actually started out better because I was heading closer to home instead of farther away. Running towards home is just a happier thing =)

Setting out on the second half of my run, I set my goal at making it back to Detering without walking. When I reached Detering, I was still feeling pretty good, so I kept going. I was back to Shepard before I had to stop for a short walk (I guess I was at 3.5 miles by that point). Once I reached Waugh, I was really suffering. The last mile or so was really tough – I alternated between walking and running, just hoping to get home as soon as I could. I got a last burst of energy when I turned onto my street and could see my apartment complex, and I managed to run that last little bit.

It was rough, but I made it through.

The hurricane hit Friday night. It was actually pretty bad. My area suffered a lot of damage. I had no power or water for a little over 4 days. It’s weird to drive down the street and see all of the big trees that are down and the long lines at the gas stations.

Since I was staying at James’s place, I decided to do my runs on Monday (20 minutes) and Tuesday (30 minutes) around a couple of blocks there. The weather was pretty nice due to a cold front that came through after the hurricane.

Monday’s run went pretty well. I did the 20 minutes fairly easy. Of course, I was on 2 days of hurricane rest, so that helps. It actually almost felt good.

Tuesday’s run was a little more difficult on me. The side cramp came back, so that made me need to stop for a short walk about halfway though. I can run through the cramp most of the time, but it is really uncomfortable. I really need to get that problem worked out. I did manage to do the run at a faster pace, though, so that was happy.

Tonight, I wasn’t sure if we were going to have a track practice or not, and the traffic was looking pretty yucky, so I decided not to try to drive out to Memorial. Instead, I did my own version of a track practice on the top floor of my complex’s parking garage. I did close to the same thing we did last week – I ran a length of the garage at an uncomfortable pace, walked a length, did a series of lunges, then did it again. I kept it up for 20 minutes. It was pretty tough, but I made it through. Lots of aches and pains.

Back on schedule…

Struggling...

I looked at the course map for the half-marathon the other day. Maybe that was a mistake. It’s a little scary to be able to put an actual route to the 13 miles we will be attempting in January. I think that the only thing that made me feel a little better was looking at the insanity that is the marathon course and being glad that I am only attempting half of that. Of course, the half-marathon course goes directly past my apartment around mile 7, then again at mile 10. I can’t imagine it won’t be terribly painful to actually run past it at that point instead of heading upstairs for a nap.

Monday’s 20 minute run was pretty awful. It started out well, but it turned ugly pretty quickly. Instead of driving somewhere to run, I just headed from my apartment down towards the bayou and ran along there for a while before heading back. I started out at a decent pace, but at around 7 minutes into the run it started to feel like someone was stabbing a knife into my side. I slowed to a walk for about a minute to try to work out the cramp, then started again. Unfortunately, the cramp would go away and then come back in a couple minutes, just as strong. I ended up needing to slow to a walk every couple of minutes to work out the pain.

It was a very frustrating run, and I felt pretty awful when I finished. James was kind enough to remind me that I am still really new to this, and that sometimes there will be setbacks. His support really did make me feel a lot better.

I was a little worried starting out on Tuesday’s run, but I had done some research about how to keep the “side stitch” at bay (I found all kinds of interesting information on why it happens and how to deal with it when it occurs – yay for the internet!). Kelli and I met out at Rice to do the loop. I started out feeling ok, and when the cramp did start to come back, it was at least something I could deal with. Instead of the stabbing pain, it was a much more manageable pain that I could run through. It made for an unpleasant run, but at least it didn’t force me to walk. I think that some of the breathing techniques and whatnot that I tried were effective, and I can only hope that things will continue to get better. I need to work out my core muscles a bit more, I think.

Anyway, Kelli and I made it to our 30 minutes without walking, making it the longest we’ve ever run without stopping. I didn’t feel great at the end of it, but I have definitely felt worse. I actually managed to eat afterwards, which is an important improvement for me.

I am a bit worried about hurricane Ike. We have a 5 mile run scheduled on Saturday, but I am guessing we won’t make it if we’re being hit by a hurricane. I don’t think I want to miss a run right now, so I guess I had better come up with a contingency plan.

Track night tonight!

Long run

Yesterday's long run went surprisingly well. It was our second go at a 4 mile long run.

I think the major factor for the good run was the weather. It was almost chilly when I stepped outside in the morning - I think it was somewhere around 70 with really low humidity. It felt so good compared to what we have been running in.

Of course, I slept roughly 2 1/2 hours the night before (boyfriend's birthday), so I started out the run tired, but I woke up as we went. At least I had the self control to limit myself to water when we all went out, so I wasn't hungover as well.

We left the park this time to add some variety into our run. We started where we usually do, then ran out of the park and down Memorial. When we reached Shepard (halfway), we ran hills, then we ran back.

We made it to Shepard without stopping (that's 2 miles without stopping - I'm fairly sure that it is the longest I have ever run straight), and I still felt pretty good at that point. We stopped for a little water, then ran our hills and started back. I had to walk for a minute a couple minutes into the run back because my side cramped up badly, and I needed to work it out. After that, I maybe slowed to a walk once or twice, but never for more than 30 seconds.

It really was the best run I have ever had, and I think that the weather was a huge part of that. My pace is still really slow (the run took about an hour), but my body is starting to adjust to running, so speed can be worked out later. I can't wait until the weather is nice more often - yay winter!

I actually got through the whole run without feeling any nausea (again, I think the weather played a huge part, there), and I didn't feel like I was going to die at the end of it. I was tired, for sure, but I felt ok.

I drank a fair amount of water and Gatorade and had some orange slices and bananas at the end of the run, then I headed home and collapsed. I didn't manage to sleep well, though, because I started to feel sick about an hour later - I definitely think I still need to figure out my post run refueling strategy.

But, seriously, it was a great run for me. I am excited that I am showing improvement. I'm still not enjoying the whole running thing, but I do like the feeling of finishing what I set out to do.

Off days are awesome.

Yesterday's run wasn't great. I finished the 25 minutes (Ha! I typed "miles" here =)), but I didn't make it without having to walk for a short distance.

I think several factors contributed to my failure:
- I had to run right after work because I had plans that evening. So it was 5:00 in the afternoon, and it was hot and sunny (less humid, though, so that was good). And the trail is only shaded about 1/3 of the way.
- I started out at a faster pace (when I finished the 4 laps that took me 20 minutes on Monday and looked at my watch, I had been running for about 16 minutes).
- My body was a bit worn out from running all week.

I did eventually make it through, and I finished 6 laps, so that's something.

Today is a rest day to prepare for the 4 mile long run tomorrow. I'm hoping that will go better than last week.

Speed! (sort of)

Tonight we had a track practice, and we did some speed work.

We started by running out to the track (roughly 1/2 mile). I am impressed that I can handle these shorter runs fairly easily now. It's nice to see my body adjust, even if it is doing the adjusting really slowly.

Once we got out to the track, we stretched as a group and then ran a "ladder". It went like this:
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 1/2 minutes
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 1 minute
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute
Run 30 seconds
Walk 1 minute

We were supposed to be running as fast as we could. We started out pretty fast (the 30 seconds felt great), but our pace definitely slowed as we worked through the runs. I had some trouble during the second 1 1/2 minute run (painful side cramp), but I managed to make it through the time and get rid of the cramp during the walk.

Even if our pace slowed, we managed to keep up a faster pace than our regular runs - we definitely couldn't carry on a conversation while we were running. Overall, I thought it went pretty well.

Slowly improving...slowly.

And longer...

I ran out at Rice with Kelli this afternoon. It really is so, so much easier to run with someone else. Especially if you can carry on a good conversation.

We managed to show up wearing almost exactly the same thing - bright pink shirt (the SAME bright pink shirt), black shorts, hat. I am sure that we looked pretty amusing running along together.

I've never run the outer loop before, but it is definitely a popular running location, and the shade is nice. It was pretty overcast when we ran, too, so that was a good thing. Overall, not a bad place to run.

We managed to make it the whole 25 minutes without walking. The first look at a watch happened at 19 minutes and 30 seconds, so that was a big accomplishment for both of us (and a bit of a relief, too).

The loop is 3 miles, and we estimate that we were somewhere between 1.5 and 2 miles when we stopped running and walked the rest of the way. So, good for us.

I didn't feel quite as bad when we finished as I have been, though my legs are definitely feeling it.

I've started to plan everything around when I am running. It's weird.

Small Victories

The weather was actually pretty decent when I woke up this morning. It was a little overcast (doesn't hurt that it was 7am, either) and a nice breeze seemed to be keeping the temperature bearable. I decided to take advantage of the weather and get my Monday run out of the way.

I went to the little park down the street where James took me on Thursday and ran there. I like the path there, and it's close, so I'll likely run there regularly.

When I finally allowed myself to check my watch to see how long I'd been going, I had already managed to make it 16 minutes. Since I usually think I've gone at least 10 when it turns out I've only gone 5, it was a nice surprise.

I managed to push myself through the last 4 minutes, so I actually made it the assigned 20 minutes without stopping. My pace is still really, really slow, but my system is at least starting to adjust to the cardio workouts, and that's a good thing.

I am still pretty pathetic and out of shape, but I think I am slowly improving. I can do this!

Pain

Saturday's long run was 4 miles. I was actually excited about getting out there and running. Ha!

We did the same loop the 3 mile runs have been on, but going in the other direction (for variety), then we turned around and did 1/2 mile back up the trail, then turned around and finished again.

In typical Houston fashion, the humidity coated everyone in sweat within minutes of being outside (even at 7am). I think I am finally getting used to just being completely soaked at the end of a run, but I can't wait for fall to get here.

The run itself was pretty painful. We definitely walked parts of it, but I tried to keep running as much as possible, even if it was a really, really slow run. We stopped for water once, and once for Gatorade. I think those stops actually made me feel worse, so I really need to work on training my body to accept that I will need to hydrate during longer runs. I just felt a bit sick for a good part of the run. It's a good thing that I am stubborn.

I felt pretty crummy when I finished (though I was proud to have made it through the 4 miles). I didn't feel good again until later in the afternoon. My body appears to still be working on adjusting to the idea that I am actually intent on doing this whole running thing. It currently appears to be trying to talk me out of it, but I am sure it will eventually come around.

Coming up: the first week I will actually be able to follow the entire training schedule. Fun times!

Wow, I am really out of shape.

Last night was supposed to be a 20 minute run. James was kind enough to head out to the park with me after the sun started to go down. His company was definitely a plus, though I think I ended up starting out at a faster pace than I should have. I am definitely running a lot slower than he is used to =)

I made it a bit over 9 minutes before having to walk for a little while. James insisted that I do the last 9 minutes without walking, and I somehow made it. I felt pretty awful afterwards, but I feel like I at least accomplished something.

I don't know how 4 miles is going to go on Saturday, but I am sure I will get through it.

Run!

I hurt a little bit today. In lots of different places.

But I got to run!

When I left my apartment, the sky looked pretty stormy. It was really dark in one direction, and the wind was starting to pick up. I briefly considered not going to track practice, but I really wanted to be able to run since my doctor finally gave me the go-ahead, and I know that the team practices rain or shine. So, I headed out to Memorial. Some of the streets were a little flooded on the way out there, and that’s never really a good sign.

A smaller group than usual gathered around the picnic table, but there was still a decent-sized group there. It turns out that while they have no problem with us running in the rain, lightning is a different story, and the thunder in the distance wasn’t on our side. So, they had us all pile back into our cars and drive over to a nearby parking garage. I didn’t like the sound of that.

We ended up running up and down the 6 floors of the parking garage. It was really tough. Each “loop” was roughly ¼ mile, and we did 4. Kelli and I managed to make the first 3 with minimal walking, but we had to walk up and run down the 4^th one. It was definitely rough going, and it got pretty stuffy in the garage.

Of course, it didn’t manage to rain at all while we were there. When we got to the roof of the garage each time, it was nice, fresh, windy air. It would have actually been pleasant to run outside yesterday. I guess things work out like that sometimes =)

We ended the practice by doing lunges down the last ramp of the parking garage. I did a couple before I felt some pain in my mouth, and that’s when I stopped. I was really happy that I managed to get through the running without having to give up, though. It was a good start to getting back into things.

Good News

The weekend was pretty boring for me, and I couldn't make it out to the Saturday practice because I was still such a mess from the surgery. So I wasn't a good teammate on Saturday, but I was a very good invalid.

I saw the surgeon again today. He said "wow, you look a lot better", took the tube out of my sinuses, said to keep taking the antibiotics and applying heat and pressure, and asked me to come back Friday just to make sure everything has healed up properly. We also talked a little bit about what happened, and he said we can leave the next stage of the process until after the marathon.

And I feel so much better. My face is still a bit swollen and stiff (when I try to smile it just looks off), but the pain is mostly gone and I just feel so much less down. I feel almost like a real person for the first time in a while.

Best of all, he says that he thinks I can start running again on Wednesday. He says that I need to wait and see how I feel then, and that I need to be really conscious of how I am reacting to running for a while. But I can run! I need to be really, really careful about it, and I probably will take it easy at first, but at least I will be doing something.

So, yay for that!

Update

I went to track practice Wednesday even though I couldn't run. I wanted to check it out and be there to support the team and whatnot.

The practice was far less intimidating than I expected - the track is a simple, shaded loop without any stands or anything. I guess I was expecting more of an athletic track where people could watch us run.

The group ran 400s. They went one loop at speed, then walked the amount of time it took them to run the loop as a cool-down, then ran the loop again. They kept it up for 20 minutes. The point was to keep their pace even - to run the last loop the same speed as the first.

I couldn't run, which was frustrating, but I did get to talk to the coach about my fears of getting behind. She assured me that I should have no problem catching up, and that I would much rather be missing runs now than later in the season. She really made me feel better about everything. I want to get back to running, though.

Even though I couldn't run, I didn't see any harm in walking the cool-down laps with Kelli. At least I could do SOMETHING.

The trouble started after I got home from the practice. My face started to hurt a bit, so I decided to go ahead and take my pain medicine before bed. The medicine helped a lot, and I managed to get to sleep. But I woke up at something like 3am in a lot of pain, with a face that was much, much bigger than before.

So I went back to the surgeon yesterday. I assumed that he would have a look, tell me I needed another surgery, and have me come back the next day (this has happened to me before). Instead, he decided to do the surgery right then, without putting me to sleep (he definitely put me to sleep before).

He gave me shots to numb the area, as well as a couple of drugs for pain and swelling through an IV (nothing that would make me drowsy, though), then he went in to drain out the infection and clean out my sinuses (the infection was severe sinusitis). Let me tell you, this procedure is definitely not one that you want to be awake for. I am not sure I can think of anything less pleasant. It was an awful, awful experience.

Afterwards, he ended up having to give me a shot to calm the nausea so I could drive myself home.

So, I spent the rest of yesterday and all of today curled up on the couch. I spent a good bit of today dealing with intense nausea, but I think that has finally passed. I am pretty lucky to have a sweet guy who comes by to take good care of me, or I am not sure what I would do.

This will be a blog all about my running again soon.

Frustration

So, I had my post-surgery check-up today. The surgeon says that my face isn't healing as well as he would like. He put me back on antibiotics, told me to put heat and pressure on the area, and almost laughed when I asked if I could start running again. Sigh.

I guess it makes sense - there's still a fair bit of pain, and the swelling isn't gone, so I can't see running being a healthy thing. But still, it's annoying.

I see him again on Monday. I really hope I get the all clear by then. 2 weeks off is way too much.

I worry a bit about getting behind. I don't worry about whether or not I'll be able to finish in January - I can be pretty stubborn when I set my mind to something, and I'm really set when it comes to this challenge. I am more worried that I am getting behind the people I am running with and will have a really rough couple of weeks catching up.

We train on a schedule for a reason. And I am definitely a person who loves schedules. Getting off of the schedule makes me nervous. It will all work out in the end, though. I have to get better eventually, right?

Tonight is the first track practice. I can't run, but I intend to go out there and see what it's all about while supporting the team. They are doing 400's today. This practice is more about speed, and they say that the little bit of speed is really good for you. I'm sure I'll have a rough go of it at first (once I am actually allowed to start), but I'm sure I will eventually pick it up.

Think healthy, normal-sized faces for me.

Hydration

Something that I have learned about hydrating yourself properly: it makes you need to pee in the middle of a meeting even if you went before the meeting. Even if you went several times before the meeting. Bodies are fun.

I see the doctor tomorrow. Hopefully he will take off the "no working out" restriction. *fingers crossed*

Still not running

The pain is subsiding a bit. It still hurts if I move around too much, and it starts throbbing after I talk a lot or eat, but it is way better than it was. And the nausea is calming down,too.

Even though I'm not allowed to run, I got up this morning and headed out to Memorial for practice. I can't run, but I can at least support the rest of the team. I talked to several people, went through the stretching exercises, then headed home when everyone else started out on the run.

I really wanted to run. That's not a familiar feeling for me. I think these team runs are going to be key for me - it is so much easier to keep going when you are distracted by talking to someone else. Music will only take your mind off of so much. The more runs I can do with other people, the better.

I am pretty impressed by how icky it manages to be outside at 7 in the morning. It was already 80 degrees (which really isn't so bad) when I got out to the park, and it didn't take more than a minute outside to find myself drenched in sweat. It really is the humidity that kills you. I think that 80 degrees without the sun bearing down on you wouldn't be so bad if the air wasn't so wet and heavy.

I am also impressed by how many people in Houston get up really early on Saturday morning to run. The park and the area surrounding it (basically my entire drive out there) are pretty crowded at 6:30 in the morning, and I am assuming the crowd starts much earlier. I find it hard to believe that I am choosing to become one of those crazy people.

I should be allowed to work out again by Wednesday's first track practice. I am actually looking forward to it.

Two months ago I definitely wouldn't have expected to find myself sitting here today being frustrated because I am not allowed to run. Seriously, me wanting to run? No. But here I am, annoyed that I can't continue making progress. At least it's just a week.

The surgery went fine, I guess. I am recovering. My face is swollen, and my body is hating the medication, but I am slowly feeling less crappy.

I did manage to get to the fundraising clinic tonight. Raising so much money is a daunting task, but I am lucky to know so many awesome people, so I am sure that reaching my goal will be no problem. I am definitely committed to making sure that it happens. The Rice contingent (woo!) has some great ideas for events, so it should be an exciting year.

Back to running soon.

Argh!

This afternoon I found out that I have to have yet another oral surgery (this will bring the total for the year to 4) - and that it has to happen tomorrow. The implant he put in about a month ago to replace the tooth he had to take out in February (there's a long story involving a bad root canal that pierced into my sinus cavity, ask if you want to cringe) has come loose. It is basically about to fall out, and there's an infection below it. So, tomorrow morning, he is going to go in and take it out, clean up the infection, and do another bone graft to replace the bone that the infection has destroyed. There will be another surgery in like 3 or 4 months to put the implant back in. Joy.

So, I am not in Los Angeles right now like I am supposed to be for work. I had to cancel my trip last minute. I also won't be allowed to run for a week after the surgery. It's lucky that we're not too far into training yet, or a week off could be bad. As things are, I will rest for a week and get right back into it.

Instead of moping when I got home (though I do intend to do a bit of that), I decided to at least go ahead and get today's run done. We were assigned 20 minutes, light. I set out with a goal - I wanted to get through the whole 20 minutes without having to walk. And it seems as though disappointment agrees with me - I made it! I would call what I did a slow jog as opposed to a run - but I made it 20 minutes without stopping! Wow, is it ever hot outside, though.

In other news, I dropped the dog's heavy crate on my big toe. Ouch!

First "Official" Run

Today was the first Saturday morning run for Team Memorial. I got back home sometime after 1am last night, went to sleep, and promptly woke up at 6am to go run. We met at the park, went through information and announcements, warmed up, stretched, then started out on our 3 mile run.

The point of this run was basically to determine each person's current pace. They asked us to only run (or walk) at a pace where we could also converse with another person. Everyone got a color-coded shoe tag at the end of the run to note their pace group.

A couple of people I know from Rice are also running with Team in Training, and it was really exciting to see them. One of them (my freshman Emily) ran a faster pace than I could have managed, but Kelli and I are both new to this whole running thing, so we ran together. Kelli is currently in remission from stage IV Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Her story is a big part of what finally convinced me to take on this challenge. It was really nice to catch up with her as we ran (it definitely helped keep my mind off of the running).

We walked a bit here and there, but we definitely ran far more of the distance than we walked. We finished our 3 miles in about 43 minutes - a little less than 15 minutes a mile. That puts us right at the top of the slowest training group. I think that's a good place for me.

After the run, we went to a shoe and apparel clinic, and I bought shoes and socks and other useful things. Now my feet are protected from the running, and I have made a significant financial contribution to this madness. Too late to quit now...

In other news, I let my brother-in-law (who is a physical therapist) work on my IT Bands while I was in Florida. I've had trouble with them before, and the trouble manifests in my knees. Since I don't want my knees quitting on me during this process, I thought it wouldn't hurt to let him try to clean them up a bit. He was pretty impressed by how tight and knotted they are, and he managed to cause me quite a bit of pain. They feel a lot better now. I will be spending a lot of time with the evil muscle rolling device (I can't explain it better, but people who have used them know exactly what I am talking about).

The important thing, though, is that I made it through 3 miles today. And I didn't feel completely awful after (hot, sweaty, and gross, but not awful). I might actually be able to do this thing.

I ran again this morning - we were assigned another 20 minutes today. How many people do you know who get up at 6:30am on their vacation and run? (I guess if you know some of my friends, the answer is "too many".)

I am definitely sore from yesterday, and my legs screamed their way through the run - I don't expect to be able to move too much tomorrow. It was nice to be out before the sun was really up enough to bear down on me. It was still hot enough, though.

I didn't make it as long without walking today - I did 5 solid minutes, then I had to switch over to intervals. I did longer intervals this time, though - 2 minutes running to 1 minute walking. I think that I covered almost the same distance, too.

I have been told that the best part of running is the high you feel when you finish. Right now all I feel when I finish is nausea and intense heat all trying to leave my body through my face. I am looking forward to the high, though.

My next run will be in Houston on Saturday with the team. Yay for off days!

When I told my family last night that I intended to go for a run first thing in the morning, my little sister offered to come with me. She's been a soccer player her whole life, so she can actually run a little without feeling like she might die, and I figured that I could probably use the company, so I agreed.

It was probably a little after 8 when we started, and it was already pretty hot and sunny. We planned to just run up the street for 10 minutes, and then we would turn around and come back to get to my suggested 20 minutes.

My sister was intent on getting me to make it to 10 minutes without stopping to walk, and she pushed me pretty hard. I don't think I would have made it to 10 minutes without her "encouragement", but I made it (feeling a bit like I might die in the process).

After the first 10 minutes, we started doing 60 second walk/run intervals. At that point, I was struggling to breathe and pretty sure I would throw up at any minute, but I managed to make it to the full 20 minutes.

We made it back to the condo, and I collapsed on the tile floor (yay for cold tile!) and attempted to convince my body to stop trying to turn inside out. My sweet mother, of course, took pictures.
Estimated distance: 1.8 miles (we measured with the car on the way home from dinner)

I am assured my body will adjust to the torture. I hope this adjustment happens soon.