« September 2006 | Main | November 2006 »
October 25, 2006
Running again
Yesterday I started in on improving my running again. I ran 4 miles in the morning and 6 miles in the afternoon with the girls I coach, so I actually had a good training day. This morning I was too tired to get up and run before my husband left for work and it's really dark in the mornings, so I took Ryan to the YMCA and did the elliptical trainer and a good stretch while he was in child care. The sun is actually shining today, so I am looking forward to the girls practice since it should be nice to be outside for a change. They have a speed workout, but I am hoping to get through the workout fast enough to do some running of my own before I need to pick Ryan up from my in-laws (who live much closer by than my parents where I normally leave him).
Posted by Ann at 11:21 AM | Comments (0)
October 23, 2006
A little inspiration
It's been a while since I updated. I ran with the girls I coach, 4 miles Wednesday, 3 miles Thursday and 4 miles Friday at their meet. Saturday I did a woods loop of 3.5 miles and Sunday I did the elliptical trainer. Today I ran 4 miles at practice. My running is starting to frustrate me. I am really ready to be training hard again, but I have been letting myself settle for not much more than I fit in with the girls I coach. I haven't done a long run, speedwork or increased my mileage in over a month! Doing what my girls were was fine when I was first starting back to running after having Ryan, since I needed to build back slowly and the girls were running more mileage earlier in the season. But now it is getting me nowhere. I am going to get up and run tomorrow morning, so I can get some decent mileage in and start being more self motivated. I have been reading a biography of Bill Bowerman, the Oregon coach and co-founder of Nike. Reading about all the great training and racing of his athletes makes me remember how great it is to be in shape and running fast and to the best of your abilities. I know there is nothing wrong with just running and I have been enjoying it and my new life as a mom, but I have so much been looking forward to being able to push myself again, that it seems a shame to not see what I can do again. Can I really run faster post-baby than I did in college and shortly after? It is at least a question I should have fun trying to answer...
Posted by Ann at 10:11 PM | Comments (0)
October 17, 2006
Rain, rain and more rain
Yesterday I ran 6.5 or 7 miles on trails with the girls I coach in the rain. This morning I ran 4 miles in the rain. This afternoon I ran a few more miles surrounding my girls speed workout in...you guessed it, the rain. I am not tired of being wet and cold, not at all, espesially not since I have trouble getting showers in quickly (Ryan needs to eat right away after practices) so end up spending half the day in damp running clothes. Yesterday I wimped out on heading back out to lift in the evening, and just enjoyed bundling up at home and watching an adventure race on tv with my husband and the little guy. This evening I did get to the Y with my husband and we lifted upper body and core. My ab muscles are SO much weaker than they were before I had Ryan. I can't get do some exercises that I use to think were easy!
Posted by Ann at 9:20 PM | Comments (0)
October 15, 2006
Life as a new running mom
Friday I went to the YMCA and dropped Ryan off at their child care and worked out on the elliptical and lifted weights. In the afternoon I ran 3 miles with the cross country girls at their practice and hurried home so I could pick up and feed Ryan and still make it to their pasta party. Saturday I ran quite a bit at the girls race, but did not get anymore running in that day, although I went hiking with my husband and Ryan after the weather warmed up in the afternoon. I really miss being in good running shape, but am having trouble getting past where I am now...running about 30 miles a week and without much in the way of workouts or long runs. The girls I coach have 3 weeks left in their season, and in some ways I am looking forward to having the extra time for my own training, but I am also a little concerned at being able to get enough babysitting time to really increase my training. I guess I will just have to see what happens and work on improving what I am doing little by little until I find something that works with my new life as a mom. I am trying to be more flexible with my training goals and life in general right now, but it does not come naturally to me. I am not very patient with my goals or myself and tend to have an all or nothing approach to life. I just need to keep focused on the long term and enjoy being a mom to a wonderful little boy and being able to run again at all.
Posted by Ann at 12:13 PM | Comments (0)
October 12, 2006
Snow!
We got snow today! Not just a little snow in the middle of the night that melted when it hit the ground, but real snow all day that is still on the ground, houses, my car, etc. The only good thing I can say about snow in early October is that is looks really pretty when there is snow sticking to leaves that are changing colors. Driving home looking at how pretty it was helped motivate me to go back out into the snow to get my 6.5 mile run in after standing outside in it for an hour and a half at the girls practice. I enjoyed my run and felt good about taking advantage of the fact that my husband was picking Ryan up today and getting a run in, but there were a few point when I was running into the rather strong and cold wind that I was feeling still out of shape.
Posted by Ann at 9:10 PM | Comments (0)
October 11, 2006
Rainy runs
Monday I ran 4 miles at my girls practice and did 30 minutes on the elliptical and core exercises in the morning. Tuesday I met 2 of my varsity girls who were not running in the meet at 6am so they could do a speed workout. It was kind of fun since it was really dark and felt quite intense. I also was able to leave Ryan sleeping, since I was back before my husband left for work. Ryan was even kind to his daddy and let him sleep while I was gone. I ran another 3 or 4 miles at the girls meet in the afternoon. Today I ran 4 miles in the morning and 6 miles at the girls practice, both in the rain, but at least the cold front had not come through yet so it was in the 50s. We might get snow tomorrow! It is way to early in the fall for that. It feels so good to be dry and bundled up in warm clothes right now. Ryan just went to sleep and now it is time for me to get a snack and go check and see how the Tigers are doing the their game.
Posted by Ann at 8:52 PM | Comments (0)
October 8, 2006
I love fall weather
We have finally had 3 days of beautiful fall weather in a row. It's been so rainy this fall it has been hard to enjoy what is usually the nicest time of the year. My running week finished a lot like it started without me getting much more than minimal runs in. I ran 3 miles with the cross country girls on Friday, 4 miles at their meet on Saturday and 5 miles with my husband and Ryan in his jogging stroller today. I only got in about 25 miles this week, but the good thing is that it looks like there should not be too much out of the oridinary going on in the next month or so to keep me from getting my training going again and if the recent fall weather continues motivation should not be a problem either. My in-laws are baby sitting tonight, so my husband and I are going on our first real date since Ryan arrived. We are leaving him a bottle and going to both dinner and a movie! I am really excited.
Posted by Ann at 2:50 PM | Comments (0)
October 5, 2006
Just getting in what I can
Tuesday I lifted weights in the morning (the muscle groups I did not do on Monday) and ended up taking the day off from running because my husband was having a minor surgery and I felt like I should be there with him instead of at the girls practice. Wednesday I ran 4 miles in the morning with my dad while my mom watched Ryan and 2 more miles warming up and cooling down for the cross country girls speed workout. I thought I could run some more miles after, but my mother in law told me when I dropped Ryan off that she needed me back as soon as possible. Today I ran 5 miles at the girls practice. Probably the most interesting thing that happened to me (and this is very sad) is I learned just how much liquid a 12 pound baby can have in him.
Posted by Ann at 8:50 PM | Comments (1)
October 2, 2006
Quick update
Today I just ran 3 easy miles at my girls practice. My girls were doing a tempo and I did not think it was a good idea to do even part of it with them, since I raced yesterday. So not much to report about running for the day, but I did start back into a real lifting program today. My husband I and used to lift regularly, but we have not done that for a long time. I kept up a light lifting program while I was pregnant and have tried to lift a few times since Ryan was born, but nothing tough. Today we did some exercises that I have not done in a year and it made me realize how much strength I have lost, but it felt good to be working towards fixing that.
Posted by Ann at 9:57 PM | Comments (0)
October 1, 2006
My first post baby race
To catch up to date, I ran 6 miles on Friday with the girls I coach and 3 miles yesterday. Today I ran my first post baby race, a local 5k that I have been running for years. I was pretty nervous about it, since the last couple of weeks have not been the best in training and I have only been running for 1.5 months since having Ryan. I really did not know what to expect, but I figured I would not be too ashamed of a 21 something 5k, as long as my husband handed the little guy to me as soon as I crossed the line. That would at least keep me within 4 minutes of the last time I ran it. I am happy to report that I not only ran that fast, but I also hit what was my secret goal, breaking 21 minutes. I ended up with a 20:54 and 6th place for women in the race. I am happy with that for a starting place. Now it is time to get back into my training plan and get that time down to pre-baby times by spring/summer. I went out a little faster than I should (6:32 first mile) and ran 6:50 for the 2nd and 3rd, averaging 6:44. I am okay with that pacing considering I was not sure what I should be aiming at and that is not a pace I am very familar with to know how to hit it exactly.
Posted by Ann at 5:45 PM | Comments (1)