I’m Back!

When I had the feeling that my latest pregnancy wasn’t going well and things started going south, I stopped running.  I bled for over a month and, subsequently, had very little energy.  Plus, if there was ANY chance that slowing down would help save the pregnancy, I wanted to do that.

So I stopped running.

Recently, I started back again, which I was NOT looking forward to because I knew it would be hard.

I have NEVER been one to have any stamina when it came to things like running any distance over 50 yards.

I could go all day with spurts here and there on the basketball course or at a track event but running longer distances, my body does not do.

So getting back into it was a killer.

I am still not there and it’s depressing.

That and the hair-falling-out thing from my hormonal Scream Machine.

(The Scream Machine was the first real roller-coaster I ever rode.  I was in high school and our youth group went to Six Flags.  I forced myself to go on it, LOVED IT, and rode it 17 more times.  I know.)

So now you understand the Scream Machine reference.  It’s what my hormones have been on but I’m HOPING they don’t want to ride 17 more times!!

I am back to Week 5 of the Podrunner First Day to 5k series and the resentment I feel for having to go BACKWARDS on this training program is a clearly-felt thing.

Tomorrow night’s assignment is the dreaded 20-minutes-straight-running thing and I don’t like that one.

I can do 8 minutes here, 10 minutes there, but 20 minutes?

Come on!

But if it doesn’t leave me a sobbing mass of sweating hormones then I will ROCK!

But I’m not really anticipating ROCKING, ya know?

I’m anticipating crying and whimpering a lot, struggling to leave my iPod in my pocket so I can’t see how much longer I’ve got, and praying for the Lord to help me through the next 19 minutes.

It’s a sad thing to behold.

Which is why I don’t run in public places.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

Try not to fall off the edge of your seat.

First 5k!!!!!

It was a last-minute thing.

I had thought of running this race earlier in the year but then I had some sick days and my stamina suffered and I was working on getting past the 2-mile mark but was struggling.

Then one of Yummy Man’s guys told him about this race and I remembered that I had wanted to run it but was afraid I wasn’t ready.

But it looked to be a good family thing.  The race organizers encouraged kids and families and bikes and rollerblades and strollers.  And I thought what a great thing this run would be for us to try.

It was a “fun run” so no hard-core-ness to worry about.

10-Year-Old had been training for a 5k also but had slacked off.  He had just begun to get back to it when I told him that we were going to do this race on Saturday.

He was nervous that he wasn’t ready but I told him we WERE going to do it and we would just do the best we could.

Three minutes into the race, he turned to me and said, “This is fun, Mommy!  I want to do this again!”

And that was just what I had been thinking too.

We pretty much sailed through the first 2 miles.  I had to stop once to tie my shoe (note to self….DOUBLE KNOTS next time) and we paused one other time to gulp down some water.

But we ran the rest of the entire way.

It ROCKED!

I can’t tell you how great it felt to complete a “long distance” race AND to do it with my most favorite 10-year-old in the world!

It was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment!

The results were just published and here is how we fared…….

Our official time was 35:51.  10-Year-Old placed 7th out of 19 in his age group.  I was number 263 out of 703 runners.  I was the 132nd female runner and the 28th one in my age group (out of 76).

So I don’t think we did too shabbily for our first time.

And if you are now turned off because you think I’m bragging, well……HECK YEAH, I’M BRAGGING!!!  WE ROCKED!

The Olympics won’t be calling anytime soon but I wasn’t trying to be fast and win.  I wanted to be able to train for and run a long-distance race.   I wanted to get back into shape.  I wanted to love running.

I did all of that and more.

And I’m already planning our next one.

By the way, Yummy Man walked the race with eight of our other children, 3 in strollers and/or the front carrier.  Our oldest son rollerbladed the race.  He said that four RUNNERS passed him!  My oldest daughter carried my youngest daughter in the front carrier the entire 3.1 miles!  That’s really something!

This was a first for our whole family and we all loved it!  We plan on doing one of these a month until the weather turns bad.

AND as long as  we can afford the entry fees.

Donations accepted.

And here’s the shirt I had made to run in any races I’m in…….

All you running mothers of 10 out there? My idea. Back off. =)

All-Caps Post. Because I Don’t Have My Phone Completely Figured Out Yet.

TODAY WAS A RED-LETTER DAY.

I WAS ACTUALLY ABLE TO RUN OUTSIDE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE MOVING TO ALASKA!

IT WAS WEIRD.

I HAVE BEEN TRAINING FOR A 5K NOW SINCE JANUARY AND HAVE BEEN DOING IT ON A TREADMILL. IT HAS BEEN BORING BUT DOABLE.

TODAY I FOUND OUT, HOWEVER, HOW REAL HILLS FEEL WHEN YOU RUN UP THEM WITH THE WIND IN YOUR FACE.

THEY HURT.

BADLY.

THE TREADMILL MADE ME FEEL LIKE I HAD ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING REALLY SPECTACULAR BUT I FOUND OUT THAT IT WAS ONLY PSEUDO-SPECTACULAR.

ALSO? ASPHALT IS HARD!

OUR HOUSE SITS ON 51.8 ACRES BUT NONE OF THAT LAND IS RUNABLE. THERE ARE NO SIDEWALKS OR BIKE PATHS OR WALKING TRAILS WITH MARKERS AND WATER STATIONS.

SO I HAD TO GET HARD-CORE.

I WALKED DOWN OUR LONG DRIVEWAY WHILE SINGING LOUDLY TO WARD OFF LARGE WILDLIFE. WHEN I GOT TO THE STREET, HERE IS THE GEAR I WORE OR HAD IN MY POSSESSION FOR THE RUN. ON MY LEFT BICEP, MY PHONE WAS ATTACHED TO MY ARM WITH A VELCRO HOLDER THINGY. ON MY LEFT WRIST WAS MY GARMIN WHICH TOTALLY ROCKED, BY THE WAY!! IN MY RIGHT HAND I CARRIED MY IPOD AND IN MY LEFT HAND, I CARRIED A SMALL CAN OF BEAR SPRAY. 

SEE? HARD CORE.

OR JUST REALLY STUPID. 

OUR STREET, WHEN YOU TURN OFF OF IT FROM THE HIGHWAY, IS AT RIVER LEVEL.

THAT’S KINDA LOW IN CASE YOU DIDN’T CATCH THAT.

OUR HOUSE SITS ABOUT 400 FEET UP FROM THERE WHICH TELLS YOU THAT THE ROAD I RAN ON WAS DOWNHILL UNTIL I HIT THE TURN-AROUND POINT. AFTER THAT….WHEN I WAS THE MOST TIRED…..IT WAS UPHILL THE REST OF THE WAY BACK HOME.

I WAS GASPING LIKE A GIRL. 

OH WAIT. 

I AM A GIRL.

I RAN 2.89 MILES AND HAD TO KEEP MYSELF FROM CALLING YUMMY MAN TO COME PICK ME UP.

I DO HAVE DIGNITY, YOU KNOW.

NOT MUCH, BUT SOME.

WHEN I GOT BACK HOME, YUMMY MAN ASKED IF I SAW ANY WILDLIFE.

YOU MEAN THAT BIG, UGLY DOG, STANDING IN HIS FRONT YARD BARKING IN A BORED TONE LIKE…..”Y’ALL! HUMANS IN THE HOUSE WATCHING TV! YOU MAY WANNA COME SEE THIS. CHICK IS SO LOWER-48 IT’S NOT EVEN FUNNY! MATCHING RUNNING CLOTHES AND NO HANDGUN…….FUNNY! OH…..AND SHE’S GASPING LIKE A GIRL!  (SNORT!)”

30

It’s weird.

I think I’m in the best shape of my life.

I had a baby 3 months ago and last night, I ran 30 minutes straight for the first time in my life.

Ever.

Oh, and it’s not just “a baby 3 months ago”.  It’s my TENTH baby 3 months ago.  Which makes me old AND feeble.  And questionably sane.

My dad wants me to say that I JOGGED for 30 minutes last night but that’s an outdated term now which suits me fine because “running” sounds like I’m going so much faster and harder than I am.  And that makes me feel good.

But really?  My mile time is just sad.

SO sad that I won’t even tell you what it is.

Walkers may pass me when I finally get to jog run a 5k race this summer.

It’ll be embarrassing but I’m not going to let it bother me.

Too much.

I won’t be running it to be fast and win.

I’ll be running it to accomplish something challenging that I am hooked on.

And 10-Year-Old will be running it with me, albeit probably WAY ahead of me, snickering under his breath and not wanting to be seen with me.

But that’s okay.  I’ll just wave at the grandmothers passing me in their walkers and smile at the babies crawling past me in their diapers and know that I can run a 5k without stopping.

Also?  I make milk too, so my superhero costume is coming in the mail.

Should be here soon.

Stuck

So I’m kinda stuck on Week 6 of the First Day to 5k training podcast.  Basically, I’m scared to move on because I don’t think I can run the 25-minutes that’s required soon.

That’s 25 minutes without stopping.

Last week, I was under the weather and felt like I kinda lost some ground.  I got back up on the horse, so to speak, this week and it has gone well but I’m still intimidated by that 25 minute thing.

Ten-Year-Old is training for a 5k too and he has almost caught up with me.  He’s on Week 5 and pretty much flew through the 20-minutes-of-running part that just about killed me a few weeks ago.

But then I remembered that he’s ten and I’m…..um…..not so I should give myself a break.

Plus, I’ve had 10 babies and he’s never even been pregnant.

Get it?

Wow.  Even knowing that no one reads this blog, I am still able to crack myself up.

I’m so talented.

Anyway.

Seven-Year-Old was asking about the race that we’re going to be running this spring/summer.  I haven’t decided which one we’re going to do and there are LOTS of them up here, so plenty to choose from.

But she was asking what the winner got as a prize.

And I told her that I didn’t think they got anything.  That it’s more for fun and a challenge but that maybe they got a medal or something.

And she said, “So…..no pony?”

And the cute little thing was deadly serious.

Win a 5k and get a pony?

SCORE!

Why?

Last night’s run was hard.

Five minute warm-up as always, 2 different 5-minute running intervals, and one 8-minute one.  Just about killed me.

Kinda felt like I had sand in my legs.

Like, my legs were hollow and someone mean had come along and poured sand in them up to my thighs.

Wish I could figure out why some runs are easier than others.

I’m thinking it has to do with what I eat or drink during the day.

Not enough water?  Bad running night.

Just a little protein throughout the day?  Bad running night.

Absolutely no chocolate or sweets of any kind?  REALLY bad running night!

Yep.  Gotta get more sweets and chocolate.

What Running Has to do With World Peace….and Other Very Important Musings

I finished Week 5 of Podrunner First Day to 5k this past weekend.

The last day’s schedule was to do a 5-minute warm-up walk at the beginning, a 5-minute cool-down at the end, and 20 minutes of running in the middle.

Like….without stopping.

I really didn’t think I would be able to do it.

I WANTED to do it but my body was already tired by the time I got onto the treadmill at the end of the day.   We had had company earlier and I just wasn’t feeling the running-love.

But I had read a really short but amazing quote earlier that said this, more or less……

Have you ever felt WORSE  after a run?

(Here is where Yummy Man will yell “HECK, YEAH!” but that’s because he’s built like the opposite of a Kenyan elite marathoner and hates, hates, HATES to run.  Did I say he hates it?)

So I strapped on my Five Fingers shoes, got my iPod set, fired up the treadmill and got moving.

And I didn’t let myself stop.

Also?  I decided to think about stuff that I’d been discussing with a friend.

Deep, serious stuff.  Stuff you can’t ponder when you have 10 little bodies around all day, needing help with math and daring to expect food at meal times.

So making the decision to ponder the deep stuff helped the time go by faster.

My dad always used to say that he couldn’t figure out what 2 + 2 equaled whenever he ran.

Weird.

I could TOTALLY solve world hunger when I’m running.

Course, he has also told me that he never had one moment of pain the entire 30+ years he ran.

So I guess we’re even.

‘Cause shin splints and world peace are on the save level of importance, right?

I’m SO Excited! AND a Dork!

Another week into this Chirunning thing and I think I’ve finally got it!

I’ve definitely found the “sweet spot” where my stride is feeling almost natural without me having to concentrate hugely on how every muscle in my legs is working and feeling.  It’s not the running that exhausting….it’s the concentrating!

I am on week 5 of Podrunner Intervals.  Last night was the first run of the week and it was not bad at all.  There were two intervals of 5-minute running each and I could’ve done more.

Again, I know that 5 minutes is like Running Preschool for REAL runners but I’m pretty proud of myself.

In a humble, Christian-like, good-parent-example kind of way.

I am running only in my Gorilla Feet Vibram Five Fingers now and it’s going well.  My feet are sore after coming off the weekend but it is getting better the longer I keep at this.

And the shin splints are very close to being completely gone!

Nothing short of miraculous, really, and I owe it all to Chirunning.

I’m probably not doing it perfectly but as long as the shin splints are held at bay, I’d run on my head if that kept them away.

Run on my head.

Yeah.

I’m a homeschooling mom.

Why do you ask?

If You Don’t Enjoy Running, You’ll HATE This Post. You’ve Been Warned.

I have always loved the idea of long-distance running but was never able to actually DO it.  I tried but it just never happened for me.  I could run like the wind in a short race but long distances stumped me every time I tried.

But in October of 2009, I decided to give it one last try.  And really TRY the right way.  Not the normal, impatient, if-I-can’t-be-the-very-best-then-I’m-gonna-quit kind of try.

And then I found Podrunner and the combination of the two things….my desire and the podcast….made me actually able to get close to what I really wanted.

To run long distances.

I got up to 20 minutes straight of running, which sounds really wimpy to a TRUE long-distance runner, but was HUGE for me.

But the increasing shin splints stopped me.

I tried everything I could think of, spending hours researching online at night when the kids were asleep on how to treat the pain and prevent them.  I went to therapy, bought 2 pairs of new running shoes, and gritted my teeth while running through the pain.

And none of it helped.

Then I found myself pregnant and my body told me to stop the running insanity so I walked a few miles a day until we moved here to Alaska and I subsequently became a beached whale.

The pregnancy, as these things tend to do, ended in the cutest baby born in all of 2010 and, 2 weeks later, I found myself longing for the feeling that I get when I run.

So I started again, this time on a treadmill because running in the winter in Alaska is slightly different from running in the winter in Arizona.

Who knew?

But the shin splints came back.

And I may have cried a little because…..um…..I LOVE running.

Then I stumbled upon something online that I hadn’t seen before.

Chirunning.

I know.  It sounds like voodoo or something, doesn’t it?  Well, it does have some psycho-babble in it, but I just skipped that stuff and concentrated on the premise of it.

To change the WAY I run.

To land on my entire foot instead of my heel.

To keep my landing underneath my center of gravity.

To use the large muscles in my upper legs to do the work, relaxing my lower legs and basically just lifting my heels with each step instead of pushing off with my toes.

The idea is to change the way you run……to re-learn how you USED to run when you were a child.

I learned that when I landed on my heel, with my leg flung out front, I was essentially “putting on the brakes” with my legs, causing huge shock to my shins.  Pushing off with my toes was overworking my lower legs and causing my pain and problems.

I have been working on this new form for about a month now and I can tenatively say that it is working.

My shin pain is down about 70% and even though it has been hard to learn the new way of running, I believe that I will now be able to realize my dream of running long distances.

It’s always a good thing to find an exercise that you love.

One that makes you actually want to do it.

One that makes you feel good and gives you confidence and good health.

One that you can carry with you wherever you go and do even when you get old and gray.

When I’m 80 years old, and my last child has left home, I don’t want to sit in a rocking chair all day and knit.

Just part of the day.

The other part….the part when the sun comes up and the grass is damp and you can smell the clean air……THAT part…..

That piece of new day, THAT’S when I wanna RUN!

If You Don’t Read My Other Blog…..

then you’ll need to be informed that the name of THIS blog is now a misnomer.

Being newly pregnant with my tenth baby, I will not be running for awhile.

I found out a few weeks ago that running while I am pregnant does bad things. 

So I tried powerwalking but I had to stop that too.

And just so you know, powerwalking is almost as calorie-burning as running but, if you value personal dignity, you WILL NOT TRY IT.

Even seeing my shadow on the path embarrassed me.

And avoiding eye contact with people who pass you doesn’t work either because, I don’t know if you know this, but even though YOU’RE not looking at THEM……..

They can still see you!

Yeah.  That’s a new one for me.

So I’m walking.  Yawn.  It’s at a nice clip and fairly tiring, but boring.

I mean, REALLY boring.  Even with my iPod and my Garmin, both of which are designed to entertain me while I walk, which I’m very thankful for because, did I mention that walking-as-exercise is incredibly boring to me?

Yeah?  Okay then.

So now the name of this blog will be………Walks Like a Bored Pregnant Woman.  Yawn.

Boy, THAT’LL draw in the readers, huh?