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June 13, 2006

Frustrated

Before I launch into a frustrating account of the past week, I want to thank everyone who has commented on my blog, and everyone who continues to read it in spite of my inconsistency in posting and my inactivity. I am leap years behind in my blog reading, but I plan to catch up this week (I am anxious to read about how things are going for Dawn, Paige, Beth, Alison, Carrie, Amanda, Blondie, Barb . . . and so many more!).

So I have been wallowing in a pool of frustration lately. I have also been getting extremely lazy on the rehab front. While I understand that icing, drugs (anti-inflammatories), massage, etc. are all necessary in order for my ITB and hamstring to heal, I have been slacking. I seem to find a million excuses not to ice, or I simply forget. I don't like drugs (D.A.R.E. was useful for at least one proud graduate). I don't have time for a massage and I HATE - with a capital "H" - using the stick and foam roller. The speed bumps in my right leg are fairly amazing and they are the recent bane of my painful existence - they need the foam roller on a daily basis. Okay, so I am being totally dramatic!

I miss running and racing right now, and I know I need to get myself motivated to do all of the above things in order to get myself back out there. Every day is valuable rehab time and doing nothing will not relieve this injury/injuries. Of course, "testing" my leg 3-4 times/week with 1 - 1.5 mile runs is NOT helping, and I am publicly vowing to quit testing my leg for at least the next 5-10 days.

I am cross training, but I have not been as consistent as I think I should be - except for the past 2 days. I was a super star in the gym . . . some might even say that I looked like an "after school special" on TV with my compulsion to move from the elliptical to the stepmill (this thing ROCKS) to the bike. I performed my homemade 77-80 minute cross-training circuit with vigor and excitement, which, I must admit, could become quite addictive. Once I start running again, I plan to incorporate more cross training (maybe run 5-6 days/week and cross train the other two). My body seems to respond really well to cross training (all of my 5K and 10K and marathon PRs have come after months of cross training with only 6-8 weeks of real running thrown into the mix).

I am rambling and mumbling . . . I will try to update more often. Since I am finally getting into a cross-training regimen, I mise well write about it :) I can also blog about the fascinating things that occur off the roads and inside the gym . . .

Happy running to all!

Posted by bridget at 7:50 PM | Comments (8)

June 3, 2006

TEAM B.E.L.C.H. (and an update

Today marked Chicago's Girls on the Run "Wondergirl 5K." I had planned to join this race long before I injured my hamstring and IT band . . . and being the stubborn woman that I am, I ran it anyway. And I am sooooo happy that I did! Below is Team B.E.L.C.H. (B is me, E is Erin, L is Lisa, C is Carrie, and H is carrie's stepdaughter, Hannah). The "L" in our team didn't actually run the race, but she gladly cheered us on and took lots of pictures. Lisa is Carrie's older sister, but she could be my older sister since she and my older sister are practically the same person (i.e. they buy their little sister tons of clothes, take them out to eat and see movies, etc).

Meet our team:

And a photo of me and my two new almost 12 year-old best friends (I am proudly "Aunt" Bridget):

I am excited to report that Hannah, Erin, Carrie and I ran negative splits: we kicked it off with a leisurely 12 minute mile, passed mile 2 in 11 minutes and hammered it home in 10 minutes. The original plan was to walk after every mile since this was Hannah's debut in the 5K, but Hannah and Erin decided at mile 1 that there would be no walking. I was fantastically proud of them. The funniest part of the day, though, happened on the way to the race in Carrie's car. Carrie pulled out an old race tape she made from high school. One of my favorite songs came on . . . it goes something like this: "Cecilia, you're breaking my heart. You're shaking my confidence daily. Oh, Cecilia, I'm down on my knees I'm begging you please to come home ..." Hannah and Erin had never heard of the song and I suddenly felt . . . OLD.

Aside from the magnificent Wondergirl 5K, I have not been running, and my ITB and my hamstring flared up around mile 2 and reminded me why I am taking time off. I haven't been cross training much, but I have been doing a lot of walking (as Corrado suggested). I am actually enjoying the walks quite a bit, especially when I take my 1.5 year-old niece, Rosie, with me. She likes it when we go "1.2.3 ZOOOOOOM" and we pick up the pace to a fast walk. She sits back in her stroller and shouts, "oooooooooooohhhhhhh." She keeps me on my toes :)

I am still sad about not running, but I am trying to keep things in perspective, and I plan to hit the cross training hard this week since this week would have marked the beginning of my build up to Chicago. So long as I am running toward the end of July, I will be happy :) However, I am hoping to be back on the road by the 3rd week of June.

My sister, Katie, turns 32 tomorrow - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! Katie rocks :)

Posted by bridget at 9:51 PM | Comments (6)