Run Jen Run: February 2019

Thursday, February 28, 2019

Weekly Roundup 2.18-2.24

Week 9 of 16

Another week on the IR but things are looking up!

On Monday I got on the elliptical for the first time and was completely pain free while doing it. I only did 5 minutes then jumped in the pool for 30 minutes of deep water running.

I had to work the opening shift on Tuesday—which meant I had to be at work at 5:15am. This gave me major anxiety all week and I barely slept the night before. I kept waking up every half hour or so jumping up in my head screaming WHAT TIME IS IT?! I made it to work on time and survived the day. Kathy came over from Osterville to meet with me after work. I did 8 minutes on the elliptical then continued with more exercises, e-stim, massage and stretching. That night I was in bed at 8pm.

Wednesday more deep water running then I attempted 10 minutes on the elliptical. All good! Craig let me borrow his portable e-stim unit so I went home and started using it regularly for 30 minutes 2-3x per day. So far that seems to be the best thing for the nerve pain/tingling I’ve been dealing with in my foot.

I had to work for a few hours Friday morning then met with Kathy again. I got up to 15 minutes on the elliptical with permission to try 30 minutes over the weekend. Elliptical feels great. It’s just SO BORING and I have a hard time getting my heart rate up.

Saturday morning Georgie and I met my parents at the beach for a walk.

Later I did my 30 minutes on the elliptical then got in the pool to lap swim for the first time in about 2 years. That’s always humbling. You think you’re in shape. You’re marathon training. Then you can barely make it through 30 minutes of freestyle swimming. Swimming used to be my life before I started running. I spent 2-3 hours per day in a pool with the Cape Cod Swim Club. Lap swimming—as boring as it is—always makes me happy.

Other highlights:

· Friday was National Margarita Day! I don’t drink tequila but I couldn’t pass up a trip to Anejo with Run Club friends Jason and Mike. Raspberry mojito and fried ice cream FTW.

Upcoming events:

· 7 weeks until the Boston Marathon!

Monday 2.18.19

5’ elliptical

30’ deep water running

Burdenko H2O

Tuesday 2.19.19

8’ elliptical

Wednesday 2.20.19

10’ elliptical

30’ deep water running

Thursday 2.21.19

Power Water

Friday 2.22.19

15’ elliptical

30’ walk with G

Saturday 2.23.19

30’ elliptical

30’ lap swim (1,840 yards)

48’ walk with the fam

Sunday 2.24.19

Burdenko H2O

ICYMI

Week 1 of 16 Week 5 of 16

Week 2 of 16 Week 6 of 16

Week 3 of 16 Week 7 of 16

Week 4 of 16 Week 8 of 16

This week’s mileage: 0 miles

This week’s G mileage: 0 miles

February Totals: 49 miles

2019 Totals: 159 miles

Thursday, February 21, 2019

Weekly Roundup 2.11-2.17

Week 8 of 16

So Week 8 did not go as planned. I have been putting off writing this week’s post out of frustration and embarrassment. After 7 solid weeks of training, I got injured. And honestly, all my injuries are the same. I spend the first week doing absolutely nothing except sit around feeling sorry for myself. That was Week 8.

I’ll backtrack a bit. The week before I ran long on Saturday. I taught spin class Sunday morning then about half way through pool class, I bent down to hand out equipment and I felt a sharp pain in my left hip/glute area. I was able to shake it off, finish class, shower then hop into the NormaTec boots which is part of my normal Sunday routine. I felt fine.

Now this week. Monday started out good. I stayed after to lift. I could feel a very mild, dull pain in the hip/glute but it wasn’t enough to stop what I was doing or modify any of my exercises. I got home and took Georgie out for an easy 3 miles in the dark. We had a great run but as soon as we stopped I knew something wasn’t right.

Tuesday morning I taught spin—it was our Valentine’s Day class! By the end of class I was in a lot of pain. I sat on an ice pack for a while hoping the pain would go away. Sitting hurt. Driving… the worst. I was feeling numbness and tingling in my left foot. That night I had Jodi B took a look. I was afraid to tell my PT Kathy. She worked on me a lot about a year and a half ago when I was dealing with hip issues. This was the same area, different injury.

Craig helped me a ton on Thursday then Friday morning I got a text from Kathy—someone told her! She had me come in to see her Friday morning for a brief evaluation, ultrasound, e-stim and she taped me. She gave me some exercises to work on and told me I could try water running in the pool on Saturday.

I did just that. 40 minutes. So boring! But I got my heart rate up and was even sweating a little bit. Kathy met me at the clinic after my pool session and did more of an evaluation. She called me out for not doing any upper body or core work all week. She even used the term “lump” to describe me. That was the kick in the butt I needed. Enough feeling sorry for myself. It was time to get to work!

Upcoming events:

· 8 weeks until the Boston Marathon!

Monday 2.11.19

2.90 miles with G (27:38)

Burdenko H2O

Tuesday 2.12.19

Taught spin class

Wednesday 2.13.19

Thursday 2.14.19

Power Water

Friday 2.15.19

Saturday 2.16.19

40’ deep water running

Sunday 2.17.19

Burdenko H2O

ICYMI

Week 1 of 16 Week 5 of 16

Week 2 of 16 Week 6 of 16

Week 3 of 16 Week 7 of 16

Week 4 of 16

This week’s mileage: 3 miles

This week’s G mileage: 3 miles

February Totals: 49 miles

2019 Totals: 159 miles

Sunday, February 10, 2019

Weekly Roundup 2.4-2.10

Week 7 of 16

Spring is here! Just kidding. But it sure felt like it at the beginning of this week.

On Monday not only did it get up to 50 degrees but the sun set at 5:01pm! What a treat! I was still feeling a little sluggish from last week so I went outside for 4 easy miles. Even though it was warm, it felt pretty damp but Tuesday… Tuesday was perfect. Perfect running weather. I ran outside for the second day in a row. This time I went for 5 miles and added in 2 miles of Fartlek running. It was so refreshing. I felt great but I did feel a bit guilty. My original plan was to go to run club but I couldn’t pass up running at 4pm when I got out of work. Maybe next week…

I lifted on Wednesday. Part of me wanted to take G for a short night run after, part of me was just lazy. Lazy won and I convinced myself I needed an extra running rest day.

I got up Friday morning to rain and I debated going to the gym to get in my 5 miles. As the morning went out, the rain seemed to stop so I grabbed G for a mile and a half before finishing up the rest of my mileage on my own. Throughout the run we experienced mist then a heavy mist to a light rain then back to cloudy again. Oh well. At least I avoided the treadmill this week!

Saturday was back to long run day. Last week after my 16 miler I was so excited to know I only had 12 miles this week. I don’t know why because in reality 12 miles is still a lot of work, especially when you want to run well and it’s less than 30 degrees with wind over 25 mph.

I decided to run in Falmouth even though all of my Falmouth routes take me by the water. That probably wasn’t my best decision but Georgie was happy that she got to hang out with grandma and grandpaw. The wind was constant my entire run but there were 3 spots in particular where the wind was so strong that I was brought to a standstill. I had to change up my route in order to survive the run but that meant I was able to take a detour to see Lola and Parker!