Soft or Sane?

Back in the day I would laugh in the face of rainy weather. I would say "Haha nice try Mother Nature but you can't stop me from running!" (in my I am invincible laughing voice). This morning I woke up to get ready for a group long run, saw that it was raining, and my first thought was "I just stopped coughing through the night", followed by "This is why I need a treadmill at home", followed by "I wish I could run on a treadmill" (for more than a mile and without getting dizzy). There were similar "should we cancel?" thoughts among the other group members because let's face it... nobody wants to start running in the rain.

We decided to push back the start time by 30 minutes and hope that the rain stopped by then. To be fair, it was a light rain. But I just started getting better and I really didn't want to relapse into all night coughing spasms. Then I started wondering... Have I gotten soft? What's a little rain right?

Plus, when you consider the rate at which I sweat, I normally look like I've run through heavy thunder storms. So whether the water comes from external or internal sources at the end of the day the result is the same: I'm soaking wet (well maybe not "soaking" but you get my point).

On the flip side maybe I'm just being more reasonable now and approaching my training and recovery with a certain element of sanity and common sense. But what are the odds of that?

As I headed out the door for the new group run start time, outside was wet but it wasn't raining. But then the rain started again lightly during my drive. In all likelihood the weather would have been fine for a run. The rain seemed to last for a few minutes and would then stop. However, I, in the spirit of sanity (and maybe a bit of softness) decided to skip the run and head to the gym. I just wasn't in the mood to get wet in the rain and really didn't want to risk it.

The gym was pretty empty when I got there (just how I like it)...

Jumpstarting The Weekend...

I was able to find my way to the gym this morning! I actually woke up around 3am and could not go back to sleep, so I figured it would a good idea to get a strength training workout in. Initially I was going to run after the gym but the air was nice and cool outside so I used the one mile run as my strength training warm up...

(not a bad pace for a 3am run 😊)

I was exhausted after and gasping for breath, so I did a cool down walk and was finally able to take a post-run selfie...

And then I went to the gym. I have a routine that I normally do on the leg press that's based on this...

Running, Strength Training & Putting The Pieces Together

Today started with a 10K training run with my running group...

(We had a new member today... Welcome Mimi!!!)

After the run we had a quick group meeting/strategy session to discuss our 2017 running goals and current scheduled races. Post-run meetings like these are best conducted with the assistance of Starbucks...

Our group is definitely growing and evolving, and as it does the delicate art of balancing competing priorities becomes even more important. Especially for our group because we took a very grassroots approach to starting it and recruiting members. One of my main priorities for 2017 is getting a half marathon PR. Fortunately most of the group is hoping to improve their pace also. Our biggest challenge will be getting everyone to their ideal pace at a rate that will facilitate all our race goals. 

For example, I have a half marathon every month (for the most part) up until June; however my training for Berlin is supposed to start at the end of May. Since there will be some overlap between my half marathon race schedule and my Berlin training, I want to get my half marathon PR before the latter starts. Which means I have a little less than four months to achieve this goal. It seems like a lot of time... but it's not. It's certainly doable, but the time frame doesn't allow for much room for error. 

5Ks & Weights...

Since I ran on Sunday, Monday was a mandatory rest day. And then apparently so was Tuesday. I was tempted to take another "rest day" yesterday (not because I needed it, just because I didn't feel like doing anything) but I got up (at the crack of dawn) determined to do a 5K run. When I got outside yesterday morning and started my warm up walk (1/2 mile lap around my complex) I saw that most of the street (sidewalk?) lights were out. I immediately got nervous. It's weird because sometimes I'm out there running at crazy early hours in the morning and I feel fine. Like I'm invincible. Like I dare anybody to come mess with me! (I'm totally kidding, that's not an invitation). But yesterday I was nervous. Whenever I get that gut feeling that I should not be outdoors, running, in the dark, alone, I stop and go back inside. I live in a safe neighborhood but still... you just never know.

So instead of a Wednesday morning run I ran in the evening...

(Why can't all my runs be like this?)

The Week Behind & What Lies Ahead...

In the past week I've been to my Chiropractor three times and my Sports Medicine fellowship trained Orthopedic Surgeon once. They both have given me the "ok" to run (yay!). My Chiropractor said "just don't overdo it" and when I responded with a blank stare he clarified and said "start with 3 miles and slowly increase from there". My Sports Med doc said "no long runs". He didn't catch the blank stare so he offered no further clarification...but he did say I could run every other day.

In addition to mileage reductions I have to start "intense physical therapy" for my current injury diagnosis: Right Trochanteric Bursitis and IT Band Syndrome. That starts on Wednesday of this coming week. And there was also a change in my prescribed anti-inflammatory medication. Sigh. It sounds like a lot doesn't it?

I'm approaching this whole thing with renewed focus and determination. I will be running in the Chicago marathon this October. End. Of. Story. In keeping with my renewed focus I was trying to find motivating stories of marathon runners to keep me from getting discouraged and came across this one...

**If Fauja can do it at age 89, then I can do this at age 35 right?**

A Change of Plans...

As much as I really wanted to run my 10 miles this morning (or at least walk them) my ankle was not back to 100%. It wasn't even in the high 90s. So I decided to be a good athlete and take a "running rest day". It wasn't a complete rest day because I went to the gym instead.

I absolutely loved the motivational messages that were posted around the gym this morning...

 I was calm... but I don't use free weights so that was probably why ;)

Going to Bed Satisfied...

{I wonder how many people clicked on the blog title thinking this post was going to go in an entirely new direction? Hmmm...}

A while back I posted that I was going to implement a new bedtime for myself (read all about it HERE). It isn't going well. The bedtime still exists, I just find myself distracted with a million things and as a result end up going to bed way past it.

And of course the likelihood that I will skip my gym workout is directly proportional to how late I stay up the night before. Needless to say I was up late last night (blogging and reading other blogs) and completely skipped the gym this morning...

Going to bed satisfied means waking up determined

Not even one?

The humidity was already more than 90% by the time I got up to go to the gym at 4am this morning (did I already mention that I'm not looking forward to training in the Summer?? The humidity is going to be dreadful!) Since I haven't done any significant strength training in a while I decided to focus on that this morning. As always I did a leg workout. I plan to incorporate upper body strength training into my routine, but probably not with the weight machines. Instead I'm going to try and do push-ups.

Sadly, I can't do a proper push-up. Not even one! It's very distressing because the fitness gurus that I see on social media make it look so easy. But when I try and do it there is some type of invisible anti-gravitational force preventing me from "lowering my body in a controlled manner"...

I do more of a "stay up on wobbly arms until I collapse face first on the floor" movement

Finally! A Friday Morning Victory...

There has been a raging battle between my desire for more sleep in the morning and my desire to get up and go to the gym. Sleep has been winning. A lot. But this morning the gym finally had a victory...

source

I was up early (really early by recent standards, but at the "regular" time based on my typical gym sessions)...

But I wasn't the only crazy person in the gym at that time. It only looks that way in the pictures because they don't really want you to take photos or videos in the gym (so my compromise is: No photos with other people in them)...

Keeping things in perspective...

Nothing has changed at the gym since the last time I went. Not the equipment and not the usual "regulars" that get there before the moon drifts off the sleep (I think some of them might not have left since the last time I was there). Well, there's comfort in consistency I guess.

My workout for today...

(yes, I did the leg press 3 times...it's one of my favorite weight machines)