We did it and forgot to blog

Yeah.
Sorry.
We suck. :)

I did not run the week I posted the map. I chickened out. I'm man (ahem) enough to admit that. Kellie texted me early in the morning that she wasn't feeling well and when I knew she wasn't coming with me, I chickened out.

No, I don't need reminding that I ran 9.5 miles by myself when I was in Indiana. Kellie and I even talked about that this week, and why I didn't chicken out of that one, but I did with last week's. I don't know. Maybe because KH drove me around Fishers, Indiana until we found a long enough run? Maybe because I talked and talked and talked about it, so I couldn't back out? I don't know. It was my best run, most enjoyable, etc. by far. But still, I backed out last week.

Then this past Saturday, Kellie and I planned our long run. Kellie's long run wasn't supposed to be as long as mine. My run was 11. Hers was 9, I think. I'm not sure. But we did the whole thing. Both of us. We did 11.

It was hard. I'm not going to lie. It was really tough. I was breathing REALLY heavily at the last 2 miles or so. I blame that on having to take a full week off when I got back into town, from the stomach flu I caught. Either way, it was hard. But I'm not going to ignore the fact that I did it and I am proud of myself and I'm proud of Kellie and we rock. We do. :)

Kellie and I don't always run together. We'll start out together, but we don't always run at the same pace. But for me, just knowing she's there with me is enough to keep me going. It's nice to know I have one of my best friends there the entire time, chugging along with me, ahead of me, behind me, beside me. It helps more than I can say.

It's especially nice to run beside one another for the first few miles, especially in the case of this past Saturday's run.

Um ... I bit it. I did. Mile 2, I'd say. I was on the right, Kellie on the left. I was annoyed at something and I was talking it out with KLK and I wasn't paying attention to the sidewalk so I completely missed the raised sidewalk in front of me and went flying. According to KLK, I was rather graceful as I took flight. Apparently, my arms did graceful circles. Unfortunately, the graceful circles weren't enough to keep me upright. I landed on my hands and knees, bloodied and shaken up (all shook up, uh huh).

Luckily, there was a gas station caddy corner to us and we stopped in there. I blotted my bloody knee with some paper towels and sat for a few minutes to "gather" myself, and then we were off again.

KLK is out of town again this weekend so I'm on my own. Unfortunately, I'm running with semi-restriction because of my right shin. My insurance won't cover the MRI I was hoping to get for what may or may not be a stress fracture. I'm just going to pretend it's the shin splint it probably is and move on with things. I'm going to do my long run on the treadmill, though, so if I need to stop, I won't be far from home. And no, I'm not offering myself allowances already. I'm just planning. :)

Ibuprofen, amen.

Longest long run

Here is Saturday morning's run.
Think positive thoughts!!!

I'm alive too.

Welcome home, Kel!

I've been equally absent since my last blog.
I told you all about the stomach bug I caught. I blogged about it last Tuesday. I ran 2 miles last Thursday. And that's it. I was so sick all week I couldn't run, work, eat, anything. It was awful.

I finally got back on the wagon this Tuesday, when I ran about 2 miles, I think, with my friend Erika. I felt like I was dying. Not running for over a week really really has an impact on your training. I've been nervous about what it would mean for my overall training, but I'm still hopeful. I'm currently dealing with shin splints again (but these don't feel like the ones I usually get, so I'm a little concerned, but not overly so), and my knees are feeling old. But other than that, I feel great! It's nice to eat again. I think I ate maybe 3, maybe 4 meals last week. Total. Awful.

I did lose almost 7 pounds from it, though I'm not recommending the bug as an aid for weight loss. Trust me. There are better ways. Like running! So far, I've lost a little more than 20 pounds from this training, and from generally eating better and taking better care of myself. That's definitely more rewarding than a stomach flu.

Today's run was great. I started out with a goal of 4 or 5. I was hoping for more but I was trying to be realistic, what with not having run in so long.

I ran 7 miles, punks! Woohoo!!!!!

The last half mile or so I ran at about a 9-minute mile pace, which is mad fast for me. On a treadmill, I'm at about a 10-minute mile, or 10:10; I run more slowly on the road.

Anyway ... this weekend's long run is 10.5 for me. I would love to do 11, but I'm not making any promises. Kellie needs to do 10, so I'm hoping we can do this one together. I'm happy to keep running a half-mile and meet her at our end point after, if she's up for that. We'll have to chat and get back to you. :)

As always, please consider supporting Kellie financially, as she raises money for Dana Farber (cancer research). There's a link in the header at the top of the page.

Be a star!

I'm Alive! (post by KL - with sexy pictures too!)

This is a picture of me eating ice cream.

I was not running or thinking about running when this picture was taken.

No runners were harmed during the making of this picture...

Well, I'm alive, folks. I had a few crazy weeks with travel and work and I let my physical exhaustion get the best of me. I also gave up my car and started biking everywhere, and that has certainly taken a toll on how much energy I have left over for long distance runs.

I return most recently from working for 10 days in Montana with Baron Baptiste. The trip was amazing, the altitude was over 5,000 feet, and there was very little sleep to be had. I ran the first day there, and then did a 2 mile hike up the mountain. The rest of the week was power yoga while working (a pose or two here, a pose or two there as I worked during the yoga sessions).

I ran two miles earlier this week and found it was much easier to run faster for those two miles. Today I go for 5 miles and this weekend (Lord only knows when) I go for 10.

In the interest of full disclosure, I give you my running chart. I believe in holding myself accountable, and in the power of making new choices for every moment in spite of any past mistakes or shortcomings. This week I choose to run.

Here's a shot of Carrie and I just after running 8.28 miles.

And since I promised there would be sexy pictures in this post,

I give you a glamorous shot of my pal, Woj, in all his birthday glory:

9.5 miles

I did it. :)

I was out of town for several days, so I had an opportunity to run in an area that was unfamiliar to me. We mapped out a run the night before, after several passes of trying to get the correct mileage, blah blah blah.

I parked down by the marina (who knew there was a marina in the Midwest?!) Saturday morning, ready to go, Camelbak and all. And I did. I did every single step of it, plus a little bit. The run was supposed to be 9.4 miles but I tagged on a little at both the beginning and the end to get to a clean 9.5.

I think this is perhaps as good a time as any to talk about an issue that may affect many of you who run. I have a tendency to develop stomach cramps at the 6 or 7 mile mark. I always do. It's normal for me. I just keep running and, so far, have not been forced to stop. We can keep the conversation focused on the actual run itself and not delve into the land of bowels, but suffice it to say, the stomach cramps I started experiencing around mile 7 were not surprising to me. I just kept running and they faded. They came back and faded, etc. All of that is perfectly normal for me.

What is not normal for me is feeling so overwhelmingly nauseated after a run that I literally cannot function. I got back to the house after the run and the stomach ailments just hit. At first I thought it was dehydration (which seemed unlikely, as I'd taken good care to stay hydrated). Then I thought it might be just the exertion that my body had to get used to. After hours and hours of non-stop nausea, I figured something else must be going on. It has continued on and off since then.

Yesterday, the nausea waned for several hours and I ate a little more normally. It returned today with a vengeance and I'm sitting here typing this having already popped 3 Pepcid Complete tablets, and after an afternoon of doing nothing but lying in bed.

Wash your hands, folks. Whatever this is, it's not fun.

I didn't get to run today, for obvious reasons, but I'm hoping to wake up tomorrow and feel fine. We shall see.

Kellie is away right now as well, and I'm hoping she can get some running time in, but even more than the time factor will be the altitude factor. My run this weekend was essentially an even altitude with Boston, I think. Hers is absolutely not. Not at all.

Oh, and since it wasn't advertised here last week:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KEL!

8.28 miles means too tired to blog

Kellie and I ran 8.28 miles last Saturday (not this past one, but the one before).
We then both had a zillion things to do to get ready to leave town and we neglected to blog.

Please forgive us.

We ran a beautiful path, and I hope to do it again soon. We both kicked ass.