So freaking annoying....ugh.

These past few runs have not been very good. It's been really freaking hard to get through just 2 miles. I ran the day the pollen count was over 5500 and it was like the yellow brick road outside. My shoes didn't even make an imprint in all the pollen. It was pretty intense. And I'm pretty sure I ate some. Now I can go pollenate some flowers.

The Rose City Run is this weekend and I'm not ready. But I have a plan - stick with Matt and I'll make it through! Running with him pushes me and I really think that if we stick together, we can get a good time and run the whole time. :) When we did the 15k we were timed at an hour and a half for a 10k so I'd like to make that time or under. So we'll see how it goes.

I came to the realization that all this stress from school is really affecting me and my running. When I'm doing well and mainly stress-free, running is good and it usually ends up pretty well. But lately I've been so busy with school and this dern exit paper that every time I am able to relax and don't have to work on anything, it's really difficult for me to get out the door and run. Like today. I wasn't very motivated and it took every thing I had to get out the door and run. And during the run it was hard for me to make it a continuous run. I just could NOT get my body in gear. Fail.

Hopefully once this whole school/job search/move gets done things will go better, but that's still what feels like a LONG TIME AWAY. Even though it's only about 3 weeks. Hopefully. But here's to hoping! HONK!

Finally!

Yesterday's run wasn't easy, but dag gummit, I was determined to hit that 3 miles. It took some pushing and lots of heavy breathing, but I did it dang it. I wanted to run today, but I woke up sore. So yeah, running wouldn't have worked out very well haha. My pace is still slower than I'd like, but I'm getting there so that's positive. It was funny because mile 1 and 2 were horrendous and then the last mile was pretty nice. Not really sure how that happened, but yeah. I'm glad it did! Tomorrow is my long day at school so I'm not really sure if I'll feel up to running by the end of the day, but if not tomorrow, then definitely Thursday. Gotta get these legs ready for the next run! :)

HONK!

Not too great....

Every run since the 15k has not been very exciting. I was hoping to be back up to my pace and hitting 3 miles, but it's been hard to get up to just 2 miles every time. So yeah, that's been a bit of a bummer. I'm really hoping that this week I'll be where I want to be, but we'll see. If not, I'll definitely be behind my goal time for the Rose City Run back in the ole hometown. I haven't really been disappointed about how hard it's been; I think it's more of a learning curve for me. I know that taking time off reduces your athletic prowess, and week isn't (for a normal person) supposed to be that detrimental. But for me, it's definitely been difficult to get back into the swing of things. I think that until I get really fit, taking time off will cause me more of a set back than normal people haha. But I'm okay with it at this point.

But yeah, every run has been hard to get through and even harder to get my body in gear. My body just doesn't want to move haha! I'm gonna definitely try to make this week the turning point and hopefully it'll be on the up and up from here! :) Gotta get ready for the next run! :) HONK!

W1D2

its a little weird to be back at the beginning. especially since i feel like i've got old wounds i'm trying to overcome. the knee is still an issue. but i found some really good IT band stretches online:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9aJtO0VCqw (a video is nice to actually see what is going on)

http://coastalsportsmedicine.com/patient-info/articles/iliotibial-band-syndrome/ (this one has some good exercises to strengthen the surrounding muscles)

http://www.thestretchinghandbook.com/archives/knee-pain.php

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2005/0415/p1545.html

http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/flexibilityexercises/ss/ITBstretches.htm

hopefully i can actually be consistent about these, since i found a couple that don't seem too awkward, so i'll be more likely to do them. I started having pain around minute 11 or 12 i think. i'm hoping that i can get that to be later and later. (because if not, it would seem i'd have to take a serious break from running-- on purpose this time). oh i also ran in normal shoes today, just to see if my beloved toe shoes were the cause of my troubles. turns out it doesn't seem to be the case. i think i'm going to try to wear my toe shoes all week at the beach to get used to walking in them, and then start running in them more regularly (if all goes as planned with my running in general). it was a strange feeling to be running in warm weather, but an awesome one.

my ankle is jacked up

Ankle: "oh hai! You thought u were going 2 be able to walk 2 nite?? Me: "why the eff are you doing this to me?!?" Ankle: *shrugs*

That was my facebook status last night. After my wonderful Saturday morning run I came home and laid down and slowly and surely my ankle started to hurt, so much so where I had Amanda get me some frozen corn (not whole ears) to put on it. But when I got up I couldn't hardly walk, like I really could have used crutches. After some sage advice from Liz W, I wrapped it up in an ankle brace and tried to stay off it as best I could. It feels much better this morning but still not ready to run on it.

Keep me and my ankle in your prayers.

Till next time

Matt

Saturday morning run

Nothing particularly special about today's run other than it happened on Sat morning which i never get to do because we are usually out of town or doing something. It went well. 2.27 miles. or so Nike+ says. Sometimes I feel like Nike+ is off a little. I still have leg pain after running for a long time, which seems like a no duh statement. But my right leg especially from the knee down. My foot gets kinda numb feeling, which is probably bad. The weather was nice. I'm taking a break until Tuesday though, maybe Monday...we'll see.

Till next time

Matt

Yep. True story.

I spent the past couple of days at Lake Blackshear and goodness gracious I didn't want to come back. But this means that I ran in BEAUTIFUL weather both times I ran this week. :) Yesterday's run went pretty well. It kinda made me realize that even though I may not always run the fastest or look the best when I run, or even look like the typical runner, but I am RUNNER. I had yet to make this realization, but I think running in the awesome weather provoked this thinking haha. So yeah that was a pretty proud moment. :)

I didn't run very far yesterday - I'm still trying to work up my mileage for the 10k at the end of April in the hometown. :) Later in the day and last night my left knee and shin was in a lot of pain, though. Not really sure where it came from, but it definitely didn't feel good. It was bad enough that it kept me up last night. I had a really bad night of sleep. :( But today it doesn't seem that bad. I was going to try to run today, but I really think I should wait until tomorrow.

Anyway, I'm on my way to building up my mileage for the next race and I'm excited about it! HONK!