On my running mind...

When my mom was visiting for my sister's wedding at the end of February, we talked about her running days- a topic I like to get on with her.

I've probably shared before, but my mom was quite the track star.

When she was in high school (in the 1960s in Tucson, Arizona), her school didn't yet have a girls' track team. But when they saw her run the mile during P.E. class, they knew they had to have her.

So they asked her to join the boys' track team. 

She joined and she was good.

She said it wasn't long before a couple of boys quit because they weren't going to be beat "by a girl."

Hahaha..

They did eventually create a girls team, so she was a bit of a woman pioneer in that aspect. :)

She ran and trained a lot.

Kind of scary, but my mom said she only weighed 98 pounds her senior year.

She is 5'7".

She said she did not try to be that skinny. She was adopted into her uncle's family (at age 5... she lost both of her parents at that age which is another story for another day and very tragic/traumatizing) and there were 10 kids altogether so they were not allowed to just eat whatever they wanted. She said she had a good breakfast (her grandmother lived with them and cooked for them), every day had a bag of chips and an apple for lunch, and a normal dinner. But they weren't allowed to have seconds of anything except vegetables. Anyway, I just can't believe she was that skinny. No wonder she was so fast!

She practiced every day after school. She was very fond of her coach. (When we were growing up, she took us to the track and the running trails at the park and taught us the running techniques that her coach had taught her). 

In high school and college, she competed in national competitions and against women from all over the world. She once beat a woman who was the national champion from her country (somewhere in Europe, I can't remember which country). She said she had no idea that woman was a national champion and that she was neck and neck with her for most of the race. She was glad she didn't know who she was, because she said she's sure she would have given up. But to her, she was just another competitor and she was going to beat her! And she did.

My mom said her greatest running moment was when she broke the 5 minute mile. I know everybody and their dog beats the 5 minute mile these days, but back then it was a bigger deal, especially for a girl! She was a little disappointed though that it was the first mile of a 2-mile race, so it never got recorded.

One other story of note that I always remember hearing as a kid was a time when a girlfriend of hers on the track team got the idea that they should tie their next race. My mom was much faster than her, but I guess for the sake of friendship she agreed to do it. She stayed with her friend the whole race, and right at the finish line, her "friend" stuck her elbow in front of my mom and pushed ahead to beat her. What a little...!! My mom said her coach was very angry at my mom for agreeing to do that.

The best part though? They took a picture of the finish and my mom has a nice, big crystal clear 8x10 (black and white of course) :) of the girl doing her nasty trick. Busted! Everybody knew what she had done.

And lastly, my mom participated in the Olympic trials for the 1968 Summer Olympics. They didn't yet have her event. I believe my mom's event was the 2 miler and they only had the mile or something like that. So she was out of her league in that race. She didn't make it to the Olympics, but she said being in the trials was an unforgettable experience.

My mom has had a very difficult life in so many ways, and I love that she had this shining moment in her life to hold onto.

*****

The other thing I keep thinking about is a high school track invitational in St. George that Justin supervised last month. A boy from their school ran a 4-something mile and didn't even place. He was like 8th place or something. Can you even believe that?? I couldn't. I really think it was 4:36. Just crazy.

Anyway... just some things I've been thinking about lately and wanted to record!
 That's all. :)

Time for truth...

Alright.

The Utah Valley Marathon is just 8 weeks away and it probably seems weird that I haven't talked much about training. 

And that would be because I'm not running it.

Because at that point, I'll be 23, almost 24 weeks pregnant!

Yup!

So for the two or three of you who read my running blog, you're the first to know before I announce it on Facebook and the family blog.

We decided it was now or never and so... my marathon will have to wait.

But not for long.

The Utah Valley Marathon gives you the option to defer your race entry to the following year and that's what I'm doing. I was really trying to talk Justin into running it instead of me, and he finally agreed, but it was too far into training and with his crazy job and all the yard work he's been doing lately, we decided it just wasn't an optimal situation for training for your first marathon.

So.

The plan is for me to run the marathon next summer, just 8 months after having my 4th baby.

I'm not so convinced I can pull it off. Really, I don't think it's very realistic but I'm going to try.

Justin really thinks I can, but I kept a good log of how long it took me just to get back to normal after having Kyle and I was just up to a 10k at 6 months. Yeah...

But the good thing about this plan is that it's really motivating me to stay in shape for as long as possible and it's a major motivator to not gain too much baby weight. I just won't have any time to lose extra weight.

I've been running a lot and I'm feeling great. I'm 15, almost 16 weeks, and tomorrow I run 11 miles. I have a half marathon coming up on May 5 in Provo. You better believe I contemplated still running my full since I'm feeling so good, but I just can't... marathons are so taxing on your body. And even though lots of women are doing it these days, if something were to go wrong with the pregnancy, I would never forgive myself, sure that I caused it with all my running.

I have a new OB and she is awesome with a great attitude toward running during pregnancy. She said she's never seen running cause any problems in a pregnancy and she has had many patients who ran all the way through their 3rd trimester!

I won't be doing that, but I'm really glad that I'm feeling so good for now! It takes a while for me to get big, so I'm enjoying that while it lasts. 

I know we said Kyle was going to be our last, and yes I'm aware we will need to change the name of our family blog :), but this was the right decision for our family and we're all very excited! And in case you're wondering, I'm due October 1st.

_____________________

Update- I did my long run so I wanted to record my miles for the week-
Monday: 8 miles. 9:08 pace.
Tuesday:  Off.
Wednesday: Craziest day EVER. No workout.
Thursday: 3 miles. 8:57 pace. 30 minutes of weights/resistance on arms, abs, inner thighs and butt.
Friday: 3 miler. 9:31 pace. Followed by some indoor swimming with the fam.
Saturday. 11 miles. 9:36 pace. Half of the run was uphill and that really got my pace. But I felt fantastic and so grateful that I can still run!
Week total: 25 miles.

Finally back to double digits

Here's an update of my running, starting with last Saturday:

Saturday 3/17: 9 Miler outside with absolutely, hands down, the craziest wind I have ever run in. It even swept my feet out from under me at one point. It felt like a miracle I was making forward progress at all at some moments. Good challenge, though. And some decent hills. 9:14 pace.
Monday 3/19: 3.2 on the treadmill. 9:05 pace.
Tuesday 3/20: 2 miler on the treadmill. Legs felt bad, but I was planning on a short run anyway and doing some weight resistance. Worked my calves, hamstrings, butt and quads. Ouch.
Thursday 3/22: 5 miler on the treadmill. 9:35 pace. I was absolutely exhausted that morning and had to force myself to go. Feels good beating your laziness like that.
Today/Saturday 3/24: 10 miler on the treadmill. We had a beautiful 70 degree day, but Justin was in St. George for a work trip, so I had to take the kids to the gym and run indoors. It wasn't too bad. To be honest, it was kind of nice not to have to face the wind and hills of Daybreak today! 9:28 pace. I found these new treadmills at the gym that are fabulous for distance running. I've been using the main treadmills that only have a 60 minute time limit, so I have to restart them when doing long runs... kind of annoying. These other treadmills will let you go as far as you want, and they have this cool touch screen that will show you a visual of your run in different ways. I was watching myself go around a track. I thought, "every distance runner's nightmare- a long run on a treadmill, but pretending your on a track!" I only had to go around 40 laps... haha.. Really though, not too bad.

And that pretty much wraps it up, just an update on what I've been doing lately.
And oh yeah, I've also been logging my runs and workouts on dailymile.com. It's way easier for me to remember what I've done when I can record it every day, instead of just trying to remember for my weekend blog post. :) So far I really like the site.

Magic

Something crazy and magical happened last week. 

I was reading Becca's blog and commented something or other about how I might be babying my shins too much. And after I wrote that, I thought, "No really. I might be babying them too much!"

So I started reading my posts from when I got way bad shin splints before my marathon. I did take some time off, but it wasn't like I was 100% when I started running again. I ran a 17 miler with my leg wrapped up in an ace bandage and I was still able to continue training and run an entire MARATHON without being 100%.

So I decided to stop being terrified of the slightest hint of shin pain and just go for it.

The next day I ran 5 miles.

I swear the mental change made a physical change.

It felt like I was completely fine.

I did somehow notice on that run that my right foot overpronates a bit more than my left, so I very slightly adjusted my pronation to be a little more neutral. I knew I had to be careful, because if I overcompensated, I would end up with some other wacky injury.

I iced and iced when I got home even though I wasn't really hurting.

I took the next day off, and the next day was this beautiful, sunny Saturday and I just went for it. I ran 8 miles with hills and wind and it felt awesome. I did a 9:18 pace overall, but half of it was uphill so for a good chunk I was running my normal 8-something pace. It was fabulous.

This week I did a 3-miler and a 4-miler (today) and I'm planning on 9 for Saturday. Feels great to be back in the game. Just icing, icing, icing, wearing my compression sleeve on the right leg for long runs, and making sure I keep that pronation slightly neutral.

Next race is most likely a half on April 28th. Can't wait!

Lately

Alright, just a quick update on running of late.

So in my last post, I mentioned I took two weeks off running. 

That was SO hard. I was sooo tempted to run that Saturday but I didn't.

But by Monday, I thought I might die if I didn't run again so I went for a little run- SLOW and short... I can't remember how long. The left leg was definitely completely healed, and I could only barely feel my right shin, and didn't have any shin pain whatsoever after the run. Good sign.

So since then I have been taking it really easy. I can still feel the shin a little while I run (no post-run pain) so I'm babying it like crazy. Yeah, it is kind of discouraging and sometimes I find myself thinking things like, "Maybe I need a new hobby... maybe I should get a bike." But when it comes down to it, I just love running. I really do crave it. So for now... I'm doing what I can do and taking it super easy- only running a few days a week 2-4 miles at a 10 minute or slower pace. I know ideally I shouldn't run at all until the thing is completely healed, but I'm trying to keep some sort of aerobic base. And it feels really close. Let's hope I can move on soon.

Quick update...

Tomorrow will mark 2 weeks without running.

I'm pretty bummed out about it, but I jammed my leg when I missed a step in the cycle room 2 weeks ago and it just... did something.

I was feeling okay after my 9 mile run 2 Saturdays ago. I could feel my right shin a little but it was okay. And then when I jammed it... it just felt like something ripped. Just enough. 

A couple of days ago I parked my car  and ran across the street to give this poor homeless old man who was shaking like he had Parkinsons some money and just running across the street caused my shin to ache for a good half hour. Not good.

So... I'm resting it. I don't know how long this is going to take, but it's all I can do!

And I'm back

Well, our tax return looked pretty good so Justin gave me the go-ahead to get some new shoes.

I think I'm a Mizuno girl for life.

I've always preferred Mizuno's, especially since they helped so much with my shin splints while training for my first marathon.

But after a few pairs, I was wondering if maybe there might be an even better shoe for me that I have yet to discover.

If there is, I still haven't found it.

I love the way my foot rolls in the Mizuno's, they just feel so natural.

So I am loving my new Mizuno Wave Alchemy 11's. 

My shins are doing better already.

I got the shoes on Wednesday and ran 3.2 on Wednesday, 4 on Thursday, 1 + a high-intensity elliptical workout on Friday, and today I ran 9 miles. I think that's the furthest I've gone since the Halloween Half and my legs felt good. Absolutely no shin pain in my left leg and some in my right, but manageable. I picked up some compression sleeves, too (thanks for that tip, Becca). The guy at the running store said he never runs a long run without them (2+ hours), but I decided to run in them today since this was a long run for me. The combination of new shoes and the sleeves helped a ton, my legs haven't felt that good in a while.

But because the right shin is still bothering me some, I'm icing and elevating, too, and hopefully it will go away soon.