Triumph and tragedy of this running lifestyle

  Well it has been an interesting week, still having most of my free time monopolized by my bathroom remodel. The end does seem to be in sight though, of course then the kitchen remodel starts. Ugh home ownership, it never ends. When I was a renter I would just move when I got tired of my kitchen or if I found mold in the bathroom.

    I had one of my best runs ever this week, it was just a little 3 miler but my pace was flying (for me at least). I felt so strong and powerful afterward. I had a few other good runs mostly in the 3-5 mile range. Of course with every up there comes a down. I have done something to severely tweak my right arm. I blame the seemingly endless stream of bathroom tiles I have to cut. I can't lift my arm above my waist or pick up anything. This is going to make running pretty much impossible. Today I am going to be permanently attached to the sofa in hopes to heal quickly. Wish me luck.

Running Coach Meeting

   I had another conference call with my running coach group last night. He gave the most interesting analogy about running form. You should think of your hips as a bowl of water. you should be running so no water sloshes out of your bowl. I tried to hold that image in my mind during my 4 miler this morning. It could have just been I had something else to concentrate on, but I did seem to feel better on my run.

    On a totally unrelated note I got a cute new little running outfit. It was a size 16. I am now officially down from a 28 to a 16. Lets give a little props to the girl.

On the road again

    I am so happy to have a few warm days to be able to run outside. On Monday I made it on the pavement for a nice 4 miler, it was so gorgeous. I think I am going to try to switch up my weekly long run to tomorrow since it is going to be in high 50s. Don't want to waste a minute of the early springlike weather. Hope it sticks around.

Bathroom Demolition

   I haven't posted the past couple of says because I have been dismantling my bathroom and removing mold. Saturday I did a 3 milers with my Miracle Mile at a 4.8 pace. I followed it up with a few hours of removing linoleum. Today more linoleum and some mold scrubbing.

Fantastic 5

     Today was such a great feeling 5 miler. I went really slow, since I was only supposed to run 4 according to my training schedule. I felt good though. I stuck to my 4:1 ratio until the end when I did a little sprint just to try to push my pace a bit. My treadmill has developed a weird squeaking noise, I think I am killing it with all the work it is getting this winter.

Wardrobe Malfunction and a Spin Class

I admit, I may not have chosen my spin class outfit based entirely on practicality. The padded shorts are practical, and pretty well required if I am going to be sitting on a bike over an hour and the bright pink dry fit shirt is very good at wicking sweat. Wearing them together was pretty much pure vanity. I thought I looked very cute in the combo. The part I didn't consider is how slippery both articles are. I must have spent at least 5 out of every 30 seconds pulling or tugging at some part of my outfit. Everything I usually try to keep under wraps kept trying to escape into public view. My poor instructor, I must have flashed her about 15 times.

   On the logging side, I got in about 70 minutes of a good spin class and burned about 800 calories. So other than everyone in the class getting to see a completely different side of me, it was a good class.

To windy to run

     It looks like the warm weather yesterday wasn't here to stick around. Its really windy here so it was back to the treadmill for me today. Went to the gym and did a little light  lifting and the ran 4 miles, with a 4:1 ratio. The run portions were 4.5 mph and the walks were 3 mph. Now I am refueling a little. Does anyone out there know of any really tasty protein bars? I have tried Detour and Balance and they are both eh at best.

   On the food note, is anyone else as addicted to zucchini noodles as I am. I use them to replace spaghetti and really lighten up a dish. I also helps control my husband's diabetes. I highly recommend them to anyone as a great way to slip a little more veggies into my diet. This pile became the base for a chicken parm last night.

Warm weather 4 miler

     It was fantastic day for a run today. We finally had weather above freezing so I was able to get off the treadmill and onto the asphalt. I did a 4 miler with a 4:1 ratio. Felt really good mainly just because I was happy to feel like I was getting somewhere.

New site, New coaches, New attitude

     Hello everyone. I am Heather and I am a runner, well sort of. I like to run, but the runs don't always seem to like me. Over the last 8 or 9 months, I have lost about 90 lbs and running has been a large part of that. So, in some ways running and I get along perfectly. The problems arise when you consider my speed. On more than one occasion, I am pretty sure I saw a snail speed past me and wiggle its antennae at me in frustration. Apparently it had somewhere to be and I was holding it up.

    I just signed up with a pretty cool running coaching group. Its called the Slow Runners Club, so it seems like it should be pretty perfect  for me. The 2 guys running it have a podcast by the same name, here is a link to it http://slowrunclub.blogspot.com/

     Basically, I plan for this site to be a running log, meeting spot, and discussion about the things that are helping, hurting, or pleasantly distracting from my running. If anyone is reading this and has anything useful to share please do so.