Running Mom's Motivation

I don't like this "rest" thing. It makes me edgy. I went running last night for the first time since last Wednesday. I did an easy 3 miles to warm into it. I felt great all the way through, but had some slight pain right at the end. I am trying to work on this mental imagining stuff to prevent me from heel striking. It seems to work if I concentrate. But when I try to pick up the pace or if I am getting tired I seem to loose it. All in all, my run was very nice and I did it in a respectable time.

I hope that I can stick with the running and not injure myself again. My sister-in-law and I have made a commitment to run a half marathon in Florida in the end of February. And David is training to run his first 5k. Hopefully by sticking to my training plan and not overdoing it I will be okay. Today is a rest day so as not to jump back in too fast. I am hoping to start my official training for the half in a couple weeks. In the mean time, I need to make sure I am fully healed and keep at my exercises...wish me luck.

Total Miles Last Night = 2.88 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 567

Posted in: on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at at 2:26 PM 0 comments  

I am taking a week off just so you all know. I have an injured knee (both are actually bothering me). In order for me to continue running I need to take some time off . I think a weeks should do it. In the mean time, I am doing some exercises that I got from a PT to strengthen my hips and legs in order to keep my knee healthy. See you all in a few.

Posted in: on Friday, October 12, 2007 at at 4:57 PM 0 comments  

PR is short for personal record. Last Friday I went for a short run and decided to push myself a little bit. While I was out on that run, I felt like I was flying. I could tell that I was running fast (for me) and there wasn't one part of the run that felt hard. I loved it.

I was so excited to get back and look at my time on my watch. That was until I realized that I had somehow screwed up my watch and it read 24:29. I knew there was no way that I ran that fast. I was so bummed out to not know how I had actually done.

Tonight, I decided to take the same route as last Friday and push myself again. It was a good run again, but It was definitely not easy. The route I ran was 5k. My race time for the 5k ( I have only done one) was 34:25. I have run this route in probably 33 minutes a couple of times. I don't know for sure because I didn't keep strict time. Tonight I ran it in 30:59!!! During the last 1/2 mile I was really dragging the dog behind me, it felt so good. So, slowly but surely I am getting there. I am sure tomorrows run will probably suck now ;).

Total Miles Tonight = 3 Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 542

Posted in: on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 at at 9:46 PM 0 comments  

I want to run a half marathon. Now I have said it and can't take it back. So now I have to do it or else everyone will think I am a quitter. I was thinking of running the Bayshore Half. That makes me feel like a real runner since I know what that means ;). It is the half marathon in Traverse City, MI in May.

But there is a part of me that would like to do a half marathon in a warm climate during the winter. It would give me the motivation to keep up the training this winter. And I was thinking with a big race like this it might be nice to do a destination race. Now I would have to do it where I have relatives because I already don't think we can afford the travel. So if we have any chance of doing this, it would have to be in Arizona, Florida, Nevada (probably still too cold in the winter), or Texas. I was looking at the Sedona Marathon, half and 5k because then David could do his first 5k. Alas...how to get the money. Obviously I have to think about this a little harder. What do you all think?

Planning to run today = 3-5 miles Approximate Miles Since Starting = 539

Posted in: on at at 1:09 PM 1 comments  

Maybe we will get there one day. Maybe we will be one of those active families. I don't ever expect to be a thin family, but maybe, just maybe my plan is going to work. David is starting to get out and walk/run more frequently. And Grace is showing quite a bit of interest herself. We have started logging her miles for the Martian Kids Marathon that will finish in April of next year.

Yesterday I went with Grace and bought her some new shoes. Talk about a bad mom, I felt horrible after we got them. I realized that she has been wearing shoes that are too small for her and are falling apart while running. But now armed with her pretty pink running shoes she is all set. So far she has logged 2 miles...only 23 more to go before the big day. She does seem to be having a good time. I don't want to push her. I want her to want to do this on her own. And if she doesn't end up liking it, at least she tried.

Grace was so darn cute running yesterday. And, Rachel was not about to sit in that stroller while her sister ran. Grace would run up ahead of us, wait for us, and then her and Rachel would hug each other when we caught up. At the end I had Grace running short distances like she was sprinting in a race. She really loved it. And I think Rachel did somewhere between 1/2 mile and 3/4.

So I don't want to get my hopes up too much, but maybe we will be a family of runners. I will just be happy if my kids are active and healthy!

Total Miles Yesterday = 3 (one with Grace) Approximate Miles Since Beginning = 523

Posted in: on Friday, September 28, 2007 at at 4:17 PM 1 comments