That Felt Great!

This morning I got up and went for a run.  It's my second day in a row and it felt good!  No pain at all and I held a nice easy pace, but each mile increased it to see how I would do.  I could have kept going if it weren't for the fact I had to get breakfast before it closed. 

I ran on the treadmill at the hotel so I flipped the TV on. The end of Starsky and Hutch was on (Ben Stiller version) so I left it.  When that was over Blades of Glory came on and I probably could have ran the whole movie and not realeased I was running.  I love that movie!  It cracks me up everytime I watch it.  When I'm running on the treadmill I have a rule that I can't look at the display until the commercial.  I had run over 2 miles before I looked down!  It felt so good!!!!!!!!

After running I grabed some breakfast and brought it up to the room to relax, eat, and watch the movie.  After my shower I will be heading to the pool.  I got a new camera that I'm going to try and figure out how to use during the older kids session.   I'm hoping it will get some great pictures.

Well, I'm off to get ready for day 3 of the meet.  Have a great Saturday everyone!

Friday in Ottawa

This week has been one crazy week!  I worked on recruiting packets for the University to set out at the meet.  I am currently at Provincials and trying to get some other work done in the evenings.  It does help that I don't have to be at the pool until the afternoon though.  I'm 2 days into the meet with 2 more to go.

I haven't run since Tuesday so I made it point to run today.  After my swimmer was done, I had an early dinner and came back to the hotel to let it digest.  I decided to go on the treadmill since I'm not sure about this area and the traffic is really bad since it's Canada Day weekend and I am in the capital. 

I did some speed intervals this evening. Not a lot of distance, but I did try to push the speed a bit to see how my knee would take it.  While I didn't go as fast as I normally would, I did kick it up.  My knee was fine.  I had no pain at all.  I was so glad.  Tomorrow I'll go about 4 miles as a nice easy pace to see how it holds up on a longer distance.  I'll do it on the treadmill again and I'll try to get a shorter run in on Sunday before I check out and head to the pool.

I'm so glad that I can run again.  I have found that it is my time to destress.  This past month has been hard for me emotionally.  I haven't had the physical outlet that I needed to clear my head to deal with everything.  Now I feel like my head is clearing and I can process everything again.  And, bonus, I'm not feeling like I could cheerfully stab someone.  That's always a good thing.

On the swim side, my little guys have been doing well.  I have one 11 year old girl that is just kicking butt in the pool.  She has really become a good little swimmer in those longer events that 11 year olds normally don't like to swim.  I'm so proud of all my swimmers though.  They have really worked hard all year and I'm glad they get to show how far they've come at this Provincial level meet.

Two more days of the meet and then its home to pack for Winnipeg!  We are all excited about that!

Enjoy your Friday night!

Inspiration Tuesday: Back on Track!

Yes!!!!!!!!  I finally felt really good running!!!!!!!!  It was awesome!

I have been struggling with knee and then back issues since the end of May.  I have been on edge for a few weeks now.  About 2 weeks ago I got some news that wasn't exactly the best and ever since then I've been in a funk.  I was struggling with motivation, injury, and a complete feeling of being overwhelmed.  Mike was traveling and I just couldn't get out of the funk.  Today I came home from the Universtiy and was just spitting nails.  I'm not even sure why, but I was ready to kill someone. 

Mike went out for his run (yes, he's now running!) and I stayed home with James and got changed for my run.  When he got home I went out for my run.  I just plugged my ear buds in and got lost in the feeling of the wind and concentrated on my foot strike.  I almost always have the radio on, but at a very low volume.  I just like the background buzzing.  It gives me a feeling of a conversation.  Before I knew it I was almost 2 miles into my run!  My knee did get a bit tight around 2.25 miles so I let up and walked and stretched for a few minutes, but when I started running again it felt okay. 

I ran just shy of 5k and was about 2 minutes off my best 5k time.  After not running on a consistent basis I haven't lost a lot.  I feel so good right now!

Tomorrow I'm running in the arboreteum and doing some interval training.  I'm not on my half marathon training program right now, but I have on a sub-30 5k program.  I figured I had better ease back into the mileage. 

Thursday I leave for Ottawa for Provincials.  I will have the mornings to go for my scheduled runs.  The area where my hotel is is a nice newer area so there will be a good place to run.  Next Wednesday we leave for Winnipeg for a week.  I am taking my running clothes and have my runs all planned for the trip.  I am so glad that I'm healed and feel so much better now.

This is my inpiration for the week, especially tomorrow when I'll be doing my interval training.

I know I'm not the fastest runner out there, not even close, but today I felt like everyone was trying to catch me.  I felt like I was in the lead.  Tomorrow I'm going to remember that feeling.

Have a great week!

Inspiration Tuesday

I thought this was fitting for Inspiration Tuesday.

I'm facing having to get up to where I was before my knee decided to be a pain.  I'm not where I want to be or where I was.  That stuff frustrates me.  I have to keep reminding myself that I will get there I just have to be patient and go through the hard stuff all over again.

This also applies to some things I'm going through in my personal life.  Life isn't always easy, but in the end it's almost always worth it.  It seems like the past few weeks have just been one hit after another.  I just have to keep reminding myslef to just keep going forward and lean on Mike when I need to.  It's okay to ask for help and support. 

As I keep moving forward, it will get better both with running and life.  "Hard is what make it great."

Have a great day!

Waterloo Classic

Today we all ran a race for Father's Day.  Mike and James ran the 3k and I ran the 10k.  After almost 3 weeks off, I was certain this was going to be a disaster, but it wasn't that bad.  It was a great way to spend the day together and have a lot of fun.  I asked Mike if this was a good Father's Day and he said that it was.

We got up and took our traditional family picture in our race shirts.

We got the starting line and James did some warm-ups.

We took a few pre-race pictures together per James' request.

All the races started at the same time.  James took off like a shot and Mike had to try to catch up to him.  I stayed with my pace.  I had my knee brace on with a cloth under it so I don't break out.  I felt pretty good after about 2k.  That's a bit longer than normal, but it was to be expected. 

My knee did pretty good, but there were tears at the 5k when I was afraid that it would not make it and I would have to quit or be the very last one across the finish line.  I did NOT want either of those to happen.  I had to walk up the hills as my knee would pull a bit.  I walked a lot more than I thought I would and that was upsetting me as well. 

I did finish and I wasn't dead last.  Mike had ice for me at the finish line so I iced it right away.  I only added 5 minutes to my time from April.  I'm not super happy about that, but it's okay.  I know I will do much better at my next 10k in September.  In between I have several 5k races to fine tune.

Here are a few pictures from after the race.

Tomorrow I'm starting my half marathon training program over from the start since I've been out for so long.  I want to slowly build my mileage back up and work the weights back into my routine.  I really want to get back to feeling like I was before I hurt my knee.  I was feeling really good and running well.  I just have to wear my brace and be cautious.  I will be okay.

My next race is a 4k mud run.  I ran it last year and had such a good time.  I can't wait to do it again!

Haven't been feeling very Inpirational

I've been taking some rest time due to my knee.  I did get a short run in last week and felt pretty good.  Today it wasn't the same result.  I'm icing my knee right now.  The pain wasn't sharp, but it was still there.  I know it's healing and I just have to give it time, but I'm having a hard time being patient right now.

I have focuse a lot on our swim meets the past few weeks and this past weekend was fun.  Today just kind of killed that.  I had to search for some inpiration today.  Here is what I found.

I have to just keep doing what I know is right and be patient.  I can do this I just have to allow myself to heal.

Sunday I'm running a 10k and I've altered my plan for the race.  I know the course is not flat so I have to take that into consideration.  I am thinking of what could go right and not what could go wrong.  I have to just take it one kilometer at a time.