Forty-something, married with two kids and two dogs. Trying hard to live every day to the fullest with multiple sclerosis, impaired vision, and deafness. Couldn't make it without my Savior, Jesus Christ.
So. This week was all sorts of upside down as far as training goes. I only had two runs planned. A “short” run of 4 miles and a long run of 12. I also had hoped to do strength training, but it did not happen the way I expected.
Instead of doing boring Fitbod exercises, I helped my husband sand and restain our deck! He had done a bunch of prep work over the weekend while I was out galivanting over sand dunes with my girlfriends, so what was left was sanding and spraying the new stain on. The first day we sanded and I got a really good arm workout. The second day was staining, which he did with a sprayer (pictured left) while I followed as much as I could with a paintbrush and smoothed it out. This second day was more fun for me than it was for him. It turned out great, but we are still waiting for it to dry completely so I don’t have any after pictures to share.
Working on the deck took up Tuesday and Wednesday, and I was ridiculously worn out from all that manual labor, so Thursday I rested. By Friday I was ready to shake out my arms and legs with a 4 mile run, so that’s what I did! All my muscles were feeling sore and stiff, so it actually felt really good to move. Check me out here in my neighborhood, sporting my nerdy clip-on shades. I left a little late in the morning and the sun was in full force, so I was glad to have worn them.
I made the executive decision to postpone my Saturday 12 mile run so that I could attend my son’s tennis tournament. I don’t get a lot of chances to see him play, so I had to take this opportunity. I can always run another day. At this point I stil don’t know when I’ll do that 12 mile run, but it’s looking good for Tuesday. Fingers crossed!
I’ve been taking my stairs at home two at a time, trying to work those hill climbing muscles, and I imagine it is helping. We’ll see when I actually get out there. I feel good. Strong even. I’ve also been trying to eat better, increasing my healthy carbs, decreasing my processed foods as much as possible. Lots of fruits and veggies. That seems to be helping me too. Not just with physical health, but emotional and hormonal health as well. Just a theory, so it may not be true but it helps me sleep at night. Ha!
I hope you are doing well out there where you are. I wish you all health and peace. Shalom, friends!
Well, where was I? I don’t even know what happened last week. Monday was Labor Day so the rest of the week was just… off. All week felt like I was playing catch up. Which means my training suffered, and I’m honestly very nervous I’m going to pay for it on race day, but I’m pressing forward regardless. I’ll have my guide runner with me, so if anything happens and I am unable to run, she can drag my a$$ to the finish line. Kidding. I’m really just hoping to finish without dying first.
So what training happened this past week? I ran 5 miles on Wednesday. That’s it. No more running, no strength training. However, late in the week I did start doing more leg exercises randomly throughout the day. Step-ups, squats, stuff like that. Because I need to get these legs ready for hills, and if I don’t have time to run, the least I can do is work my legs. So, I’m trying not to look at the week as a total loss.
As if to back up that assumption that the week wasn’t a total loss, last week was also my “fatigue week”, yet I only had one day of extreme fatigue, with the rest of the days feeling pretty normal energy levels (read: not struggling to move). That was definitely encouraging.
I finished the week with a trip up north with some of my closest girlfriends. We take this trip every year, and it’s such a great time of relaxing, laughing, chatting, all the things. We did a really fun thing this year and ended our time with a dune buggy ride! There are dunes near where we vacation and they run tours during the warmer months. I have lived my life in Michigan and never been on one, so it was a pretty cool experience. I am a little scaredy-pants, especially going down the hills but I survived and also really enjoyed the adventure.
The ride over the hills of the sand dunes had me thinking a lot about this race I’m training for, because it’s also over sand dunes. The Sleeping Bear Dunes in northern Michigan. I won’t be running on sand, thankfully they’ve built trails for people to trek, but the hills will be quite similar, I’m sure. I have my work cut out for me. Hopefully this coming week I’ll have more to report. We’ll see. So far it’s not looking great, but I do hope at a minimum to be able to complete a long run. I’ll let you know how it goes 😉
These weekly updates are starting to get really messy, but we’re hanging in there folks, I promise.
Week 9 did not go quite as planned, but I’m still here. Still looking forward to this half marathon. It’s only 31 days away! One more month of training to go!
Monday – 42 minute Fitbod, Shoulders, triceps, chest and abs. I had to be careful with this one because I could feel where my shoulder is still healing. I just did a smidge fewer reps than what it called for and so far, it seems to be okay. I haven’t had any pain in my shoulder in awhile and I hope to keep it that way.
The rest of the week was a blur. Seriously. According to my records I did no more Fitbod workouts, yet I did run. Wednesday I did a base run of 5 miles. I still find it so unbelievable that 5 miles for me is a “base” run. Wild, just wild. And this particular one I must have been feeling pretty good because my running pace was consistently faster than it used to be. And that makes me super happy and pleased. I did another base run on Thursday of “only” 2 miles, which was also super duper fast (for me).
Saturday was my long run. I had 11 miles scheduled, but since my last long run was 11, and because I my base runs went so well this week, I decided to up it to 12. But at 10 miles I was struggling. I walked for half of the 11th mile, and half of the 12th mile. Still doing my Jeff Galloway run/walk intervals, of course. So I technically completed the 12 miles, but it wasn’t in a way I’m bragging about. It was just okay.
Week 10 started out weird because it was the Labor Day weekend, so I was a little off schedule to start. Also, it’s my fatigue week so when I am trying to catch up I find myself tiring quickly. But it’s fine. I have plenty of grace for myself. I’m still feeling strong and fit and that’s what matters most here. I really am just doing this for my health. Races and medals are just a bonus. I’ll have the week 10 recap for you next week. I’ll try to get it out in a timely fashion next time 🙂
Okay, here’s the recap of week 8 (I feel like I’m really slipping on getting these out in time):
Sunday – Rest and stuff
Monday – Some medical stuff, helping prep kids for school starting on Wednesday. Basically all the family management tasks that wear me out. But it was a good day. Lots of steps (Also there may have been a donut or two).
Tuesday – 5 mile run, all the hills in my neighborhood and the one north of us. I need to kick up the hill training cuz these hills are getting too easy for me. Might mean a trip out of the neighborhood!
Wednesday – school started! I had the whole house to myself all morning (it was a half day). I did a 35 minute Fitbod workout: quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes, and abs.
Thursday – I ran 2 beautiful, glorious miles. It was the first full day with kids at school, so I’m sure that was a factor in my enjoyment lol I’m pictured here with my two doggies. They love to greet me after every run and love running around in the yard while I stretch and rehydrate.
Friday – I ran 11 miles! I decided to move the long run from Saturday because the weather looked better (cooler) and also I had some afternoon plans on Saturday I didn’t want to be feeling half-dead for. This second try at a selfie near the “Trail Ends” sign was successful. The trail ends, but the low traffic side street begins, so I continued on.
Until that road ended, and you’ll see another selfie here of me being slightly disappointed I had to turn around sooner than I anticipated. It was fine, I still got my miles in. And I still might find a way to go farther. Hubby says we can take a look at it from Google Earth and see how it might connect because he’s pretty sure there’s more trail to run.
Can I just say though, how *aware* I am of the muscles in my legs when I’m running? Wednesday’s workout was short but effective, and I was feeling the burn, for sure. But also, I could really sense that those muscles are getting stronger and it really is helping add more ease to my running. On my long run this week I chose to play my 180 beat playlist so it would keep me on a steady pace while I focused on my form and breathing. I’m still amazed at what the human body is capable of. Focused breathing really helped with my stamina, especially with those later miles on the long run. It’s nice to have these good runs to remind me on the harder days that it’s still worth it.
Saturday & Sunday – These two days I just really focused on resting and visiting with friends. It was a wonderful respite for both my body and soul. I was ready to hit the ground running come Monday, and you’ll hear all about that in next week’s update! Have a great day y’all! Shalom…
I want to share something that I learned this week, in case it might resonate with you as well. The other day I found out some bad news. A horse that my daughter had loved riding had passed away. I was feeling quite emotional about it, and debated when to tell her. I finally decided to just rip the band-aid off and do it right away. I went up to her room, opened the door, and said, “I have to tell you some bad news.” And then I stopped. I couldn’t get the words out. Tears were welling up in my eyes. She sat there waiting. Then, jokingly, “Mom, just say it!”
I had to keep looking away. Swallowing my spit in hopes of stopping the tears and getting my voice back. After several bizarre seconds, I finally spit it out. “Trixie passed away over the winter.” And then I waited for my daughter’s equally devastated response.
I got nothing like that.
She was not devastated. Not overcome with sadness. Not the emotional wreck that her mother was appearing to be. She was calm. She explained to me, sounding so grown-up, “It’s fine. Horses die all the time for lots of reasons.”
I was stunned. She was so calm and pragmatic about the news. Who is this kid? She is not me.
Here I was, trying to shield her from the hurt, protect her from the sadness that I only assumed she would feel. Why? Because when I was her age, I would have felt those things, and this type of news would have crushed me, leaving me in a cloud of sadness for days.
But she is not me.
This had me thinking about how often I have done this with her, my daughter who looks so much like me and yet in personality and emotional makeup is so different. She has grown up in an entirely different home environment than I did. She has experienced different things. She has learned how to process her big, upsetting feelings and has come out stronger. When I attempt to shield her from these sad scenarios, what I’m really doing is doubting her strength. I’m saying I don’t believe she can handle it. But that’s not for me to decide, is it?
She is not me.
I am learning that I need to give her more credit, and this has me thinking in broader terms. How many times have I done this with other people? How many times have I tortured myself and put off having difficult discussions with family, friends, even coworkers (I’m going way back here; I haven’t worked a job since 2013). Why were these discussions so difficult? Or rather, why did they *seem* so difficult? I think there are two equally valid theories to answer this question. Some would say that it’s empathy, that I’m thinking of others’ feelings, and being courteous of how they might feel about the topic of discussion. Fair enough. But the other theory, the one that was a lightbulb moment for me, is that it might be projection. I am projecting onto others when I assume they would react the way I would. And I think in the aforementioned discussion with my daughter it was definitely the latter. I was assuming her reaction would be like mine.
But she is not me.
I am in awe of this. Humbled and amazed. How can a 14 year old be smarter than me? Well, I believe she watched carefully those first few years as I worked through trauma therapy. She paid attention to my changing reactions to every stressful situation that came my way. She learned from watching me. And she’s not afraid of her emotions the way I used to be. She can feel sadness and knows it won’t destroy her.
I am so grateful to see this emotional resilience in my daughter, but I am also grateful for the greater lesson I’m learning here. I am learning to allow other people to have their reactions, and I am not so acutely affected by them as I once was. We all have big feelings. I can handle mine, and you can handle yours. This has been one of the many great outcomes of trauma therapy, and I wish I could share it with everyone who cares to listen. That said, I’m hoping to write more about it here on the blog, especially since the kids are back in school and that allows me more headspace for it. So stay tuned for that, my friends.
This week, I’m pretty sure *I* was the sleeping bear. I’m gonna warn you right here, this is more than a running post. I’m gonna detour and touch on family matters and a little on perimenopause. If you can’t handle that, please move along. Thank you very much. If you’re game, please continue.
Sunday – I slept 8 hours, 43 minutes the night before. Not a lot of activity. I think I went to church. Yes, yes I did and I went to Planet Fitness afterwards to use the hydromassage beds. That was needed. I was still in a lot of pain from last week.
Me and the husband, hanging out in the parking garage like a couple of dorks in love. Scene behind us overlooks Detroit: Little Caesar’s Arena, Ford Field, etc.
Monday – Slept 9 hours, 36 minutes. I had planned to do strength training but according to my records, I did not. I did take a wicked nap in the afternoon in preparation for taking our daughter to her first concert. She was going with a friend to see Pierce the Veil and Blink 182, and hubs and I had a dinner date while we waited. I got a little teary eyed seeing her walk off towards the venue, knowing how much this meant to her. It was a good day. My babies are growing up so fast (more on that to come).
Cornfield behind me, this is one of the dead-ends in my neighborhood. This was just after I hit 4 miles and I so badly wanted to quit early and go straight home.
Tuesday – Slept 7 hours, 44 minutes. Ran 5 miles with hills. We’ve got a couple gnarly hills around our neighborhood and I was very pleased to see that my lungs and legs are handling them much better! This is growth, and great progress. It can only get better from here, if I stay consistent with the strength and hill training.
Wednesday – Slept 10 hours, 30 minutes. Took my daughter to the doctor for a well child visit. She’s doing well. Very healthy. Could use some improvements in her diet, which I’m sure is true of most teenagers (she’s 14). Right after getting a mom-requested lecture from the doctor about getting more fruits and veggies into her diet, she stood up and a package of Little Debbie Zebra Cakes fell out of her pocket. And, thank you for making my point, my dear! It was quite comical.
Thursday – Slept 9 hours, 40 minutes. I guess I didn’t do any training on this day. Probably more napping. I know I did have a lot of family management stuff I was working on so that’s probably what took all my time and energy. That and we took my daughter (Zebra Cake girl) shopping for some back to school clothes. I don’t remember what time we got home but I remember going straight to bed.
Friday – Slept 10 hours, 13 minutes. More family management stuff most of the day. Fitbod workout, 58 minutes. Triceps, shoulders, chest and lower back.
Saturday – Went to bed just before 8 pm the night before, which put my total sleep at 11 hours and 37 minutes. I was so tired. I did wake up around 4 am, read a book for about 10 minutes before going back to sleep. Because why not? This has been the pattern, and I believe it’s why I can “sleep” so many hours and still be tired the next day. It’s not great. I am blaming hormones and perimenopause, and have plans to see my ob/gyn doctor about it, eventually.
I say eventually, because I’ve been super preoccupied with managing my family’s schedules and clerical needs lately. I have one teenager just about to start driving and the other one entering his senior year of high school. And yes, the older is fully capable of doing many things on his own, but he is still living here and still in school and can always use some guidance. That and many things still require parental approval because he’s under 18. I don’t talk about my kids much here mostly because they have become their own people and they don’t need mom blabbing about their lives. They have social media, if they want to blab about their lives they can. But I will say that I am super proud of both of them.
My son is growing and maturing so fast I can’t keep up. Between his sports, friendships, and various jobs, he moves through this house like a hurricane and I barely get a chance to sit down and have chats with him. But when I do, I’m always blown away at who he is becoming and I’m excited to see where he goes in life.
My daughter is almost the polar opposite of her brother. She is an introverted homebody, and we always know where she is. I suspect that may change when she starts driving and working, but I’m enjoying having her around while I can. We have the best conversations, and I love hearing how her mind works. She is confident in who she is and I love that. I wish I had that at her age.
As we look to starting another school year, I’m reflecting on how far we’ve come as a family. We’ve been through so many challenges over the years. What I am proud of is the fact that we fought through all of our challenges as a unit. When one of us was falling, the other three were around to catch them. We work together to support each other, lend a hand, and let each other know we are not alone. Sure, we argue from time to time but overall we know we are loved no matter what. I hope we never lose that.
And that concludes my weekly training/life update. I imagine once the kids are back in school I’ll put more effort into writing more frequently. But still, I make no promises.
“There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues, the most dominating virtues of human, are created, strengthened and maintained.” ― Winston S. Churchill
~ Sunday – Planned rest day. I stuck with this day’s plan and rested, sort of. I went to church and worked in the nursery, but there were only 5 toddlers so between myself and the other helper, it was a pretty laid back morning. When I got home I did spend some time vacuuming, which is not resting obviously, but I can’t help it. I enjoy vacuuming, and clean floors, so I felt better mentally even if it tired me out a little. No worries.
~ Monday – 4 miles. I did not think I was going to be able to get these done! I had a doctor’s appointment in the morning and I failed to get up early enough to run beforehand. However, I was able to run in the evening before it got dark. I happened to have a quick urge to go, and I quickly got dressed to run before the urge left me. I headed out to run the nearby gnarly hills on Huntshire and Holbrook and it worked out great. My calves and glutes were feeling it for sure, so I know I’ll be sore tomorrow. But I did it! And when I got back and saw my average speed of 12:15 minutes per mile I was stunned. I don’t expect to be able to maintain that pace for longer runs, but for a 4 mile run I was surprised. And with hills! So it’s fun to see evidence that I’m actually improving as I continue to train.
~ Tuesday – Rest! I had strength training planned, but pushed it to Wednesday. I was pretty fatigued the last half of this day as I was busy doing stuff with/for the kiddos, so rest was necessary. Also, note this is my “fatigue week” because my infusion is coming up on Friday.
~ Wednesday – Even though I had an appointment in the morning I was still able to knock out a Fitbod workout in the evening: 50 minutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, and glutes. I’m working the lower body more and am curious to see how it affects my uphill running. I know I did some hard work because for the remainder of the night I was actually having trouble moving my left leg. An unwanted symptom I experience often but it’s usually only after I’ve been sitting for too long, and it always resolves itself quickly. This time it was slightly different in that I could still move the leg, but it felt like it was full of Jell-o, and I was nervous about putting weight on it, for fear it would give out entirely. Thankfully, a good night of rest resolved the issue and I didn’t have any more trouble with it.
~ Thursday – I walked around the block with a friend (first loop with my constipated golden retriever). Roughly 2 miles.
~ Friday – Infusion Day! And man, was I feeling the effects of Wednesday’s Leg Day. I was glad to have a little pampering at the infusion center (recliners, free beverages and snacks). This was another rest day, this time with no vacuuming.
~ Saturday – I saw that it wasn’t going to be terribly hot on this day so I didn’t worry about getting up too early. 7 am alarm was just fine, and I was out the door just before 8. I fully intended to run 9 miles, but about 3 miles in I started thinking I would turn around at 5 miles instead of 4.5, just to see how far the trail goes. And I did! I had some glute pain early on but I stopped, grabbed a signpost for balance and stretched it out and it was fine the remainder of the run. I ran past the signs that said “Trail Ends” and found that it basically just continues on a side street that gets zero traffic on Saturdays. I thought I took a selfie with the sign but got home and realized I had failed (I’m epically bad at taking pictures). So, all you get is a selfie of me turning around at 5 miles, and a pretty picture of the sun rising over the field.
After Wednesday’s Leg Day and Saturday’s 10 mile run, all my muscles are feeling the burn. From my glutes all the way down to my toes. Seriously. But I’m reminding myself that it means I’m getting stronger, and that is always good. I am really excited for fall, and cooler weather. And I’m really looking forward to this race I’m training for. It’s going to be a challenge, and in a completely new area to me. It will be a memorable adventure, I’m sure.
Next week my training looks about the same, but without all the appointments. I’ll just be preoccupied with making sure the kids (teenagers, they are almost adults so “kids” sounds weird now) are ready for school starting the following week. And one of these weeks I might find time to write about something other than running, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?
~ Sunday – You will not believe this. This was supposed to be a rest day but I woke up at 6 am and could not get back to sleep. I had just woken up from a dream in which I was running, and so that’s where my mind went. I thought to myself, maybe I could just run a couple miles around the block. I would still have plenty of time before church. And then once I got dressed I figured, I have more than two hours, why don’t I just run the 8 miles I skipped yesterday? And so I did. I ran 8 miles and then showered and went to church. What?! I don’t even know who this woman is.
~ Tuesday – 4 miles. Decided about a mile in that I would detour to the local Rite-Aid to check out the closing sale and picked up a small notebook to keep in my purse. Rite-aid is just over 2 miles from our house so it worked out perfectly. Of course, I had to run the remaining 2 miles holding the notebook, but it wasn’t much of an inconvenience. And miraculously, this run erased all the soreness I was experiencing from yesterday’s Fitbod workout. It’s kind of like fighting fire with fire, I guess.
~ Wednesday – Fitbod workout, 35 minutes: Shoulders, triceps, and lower back. This one was a test to see how my right shoulder would do. I skipped the pushups but I did the arm raises with 3 pound weights and though there was some pain still, I was able to do them. I hope I didn’t overdo it. It felt fine the next day, so that was a good sign.
~ Thursday – Cross training – Rode bikes with my daughter! We had a couple errands we wanted to run, and the husband and son (aka my drivers) were both at work so we took the trike and bike out of the shed and rode the 2 miles into town. We hit the bank first, to open up a new checking/debit account for her. Second stop was the local Rite-Aid because they are closing the store and I wanted to buy up all of the hair dye my daughter uses for 40% off. That stuff adds up, especially as her thick hair is growing longer. And finally, last stop was Quality Dairy to get a cold beverage and donuts (my trike has a large basket for holding all the precious cargo). It felt great to get so much done. Errands plus cross training is always a win. I forgot to track with my Garmin but Google maps says it was a 4.4 mile round trip, so we’re going with that.
Post treadmill run, sweaty selfie. The incline kicked my butt!!
~ Friday – Hill training day! This race I’m training for is super hilly, so I have incorporated hill training into my plan, every other week. On this day though, I slept in too long and missed my window for cooler outdoor running. Temps around here have been in the upper 80s (Fahrenheit) and with humidity it gets pretty nasty. So I did my hill training in the basement, on the treadmill. I set the incline to 5% and walked/ran 2 miles. It took me so long to go that distance with the added incline! But it was a good workout for strengthening those hill running muscles, and I’ll have to keep this in mind as an option when I can’t get outside for it. I am excited about this race and don’t want to show up unprepared.
~ Saturday – Long run day. I was scheduled to run 9 miles today but I opted to make it a rest day. I had been diligent at hitting the rest of my training plan this week so I felt like the rest day would not hurt me. And in a way, I think I needed it. I spent the day lounging, drinking coffee, reading books, and ran a couple errands with the hubby. I hadn’t felt like I had a “day off” in awhile so this really was a sweet relief.
This coming week 6 I have three medical appointments, and it’s my “fatigue week” so I will try to do as much of my planned training as possible but as usual, I’m going to work at listening to my body and be careful not to burn out. We’ll see how that goes! And let’s hope I have gas in the tank on Saturday so I can actually complete my long run of 9 miles. I think temps may be coming down a little here in Michigan so that should help. Stay tuned!
Week four! We are just moving along, folks. This week was interrupted by a quick family trip to Chicago but it didn’t hurt my fitness in any way because we walked everywhere. And you bet I’m including that walking into my week 4 recap. So here goes:
~ Sunday – 10,869 steps. A good chunk of this was a brisk half mile walk to Wrigley Field and then another half mile to the site of my mother-in-law’s old house, and then the mile back to the apartment we rented. We kind of took the long way, and determined the whole trip was closer to 3 miles. And since it was continuous walking, I counted it as a “base run”. Close enough, right?
~ Monday – 16,661 steps walking around Chicago. Some near Wrigleyville but most was after taking the L downtown. We explored Millenium Park and then took the L back to our rental to rest up before the Cubs game later that night. (The Chicago trip really deserves it’s own post but I don’t know if I’ll get around to it.)
~ Tuesday – 5,059 steps because this was our last day in the city. We did most of our walking around the Chicago History Museum before heading home.
~ Wednesday – 2,425 steps. Did you read the first three days? You can’t blame me, admit it. We were all toast.
~ Thursday – 13,161 steps. This was primarily a 4 mile walk. I’ve been walking on Thursdays with a friend so that’s been nice to have the accountability. Otherwise Thursday would have looked a lot like Wednesday.
~ Friday – 2,416 steps. To be honest, this lack of movement was less about Chicago and more about the 4 mile walk on Thursday. I can’t make sense of it, but my legs just don’t do as well with walking. Running seems to make them the happiest.
This adorable kitty was rambunctious! Loved to get down on the floor and play.
~ Saturday – 2,118 steps. This was supposed to be an 8 mile long run day. I had everything packed up and ready to go the night before, but when my alarm went off at 6 am my body was really making it clear it still needed more rest. So I laid there in bed and thought about it, whether I would regret skipping this week’s long run or not, and decided I would stay in bed. It was a good move, because that extra rest gave me the energy I needed later that day to take my daughter to the cat cafe and hang out with some cute kitties. My husband and son are allergic, so this is our way of getting some feline cuddles in. And coffee too!
Overall it was a good week for training, even if it was quite different than what I had planned. It was no running or strength training, but I did a lot of walking and stayed active, resting when my body required it. One thing to recognize is that all the walking we had to do in Chicago, I probably wouldn’t have been able to do if it weren’t for my regular running. At 46, I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been and it’s an amazing feeling. Sure, I still needed some assistance walking around the city (my husband held my hand the whole time and kept me from falling no less than 3 times) but I was able to do it on my own two feet. No wheelchair required. When I was first diagnosed with M.S., I pictured a future in a wheelchair, and I’m grateful every day that I still don’t require that.
Week 5 is already off to a really strong start and I’m excited to tell you all about it once it’s completed! Stay tuned…
I’m a few days late posting my week 3 training update, but it’s for good reason. We took a family vacation to Chicago to explore and catch a Cubs game. I might post about that later this week. It was super fun and super exhausting.
So, for week 3 I did not do any strength training, but that wasn’t exactly a conscious decision. I had been stepping back from it when I was having shoulder issues (which are almost completely healed now) and it’s hard to get back in the habit. I did all my planned runs, however, so I’m proud of that. Monday I ran 4 regular miles. Wednesday I ran 2.58 miles of hill repeats. There are two streets in my neighborhood that are on decent inclines, so I just ran up those streets, walked down, and kept repeating until I had reached my planned 2.5 miles (I went a bit over because I was running up the hill when I hit my mark).
Then Saturday I ran my long run of 8 miles. It was a beautiful day, and at 7 am it was perfect weather. Sixty degrees with a slight breeze. I ran the same paved trail as the week before, and that was really nice. I don’t know how far this trail goes, so I’m kind of excited to see a little bit more of it each time I add more to my long run.
I am still absolutely loving having the freedom to head out my front door and run down these trails. For this 8 mile run I was able to remember to take it slow and steady. There was a point when my left knee started giving me mild pain, but I just slowed up a bit more and it went away. One of the things I’ve learned through regular long distance running is that it’s not only OKAY to go slow, it’s advisable. Pay attention to your body and it will let you know when you are pushing too hard. My first year of running I had lots of minor injuries to my knees and hips and ended up in physical therapy for it. It was all because I was trying to run too fast on all my training runs. So now I slow down, enjoy the scenery at a slower pace. Or as Martinus Evans calls it, “sexy pace”.
Week 4 is halfway over already due to our trip, but we did so much walking in Chicago I don’t think the hiccup in training is going to make any difference. I’m going to just keep moving forward. I’ll let y’all know how it goes!
Deaf and half-blind runner with multiple sclerosis
Little M.S. Runner 