Marathon Mom

The past week has not been good for my running, I have felt sluggish, had a sore hamstring and my ankle pain returned for a short time. I decided to bike 45 minutes on the trainer Saturday, which I think was bad for the legs the day before my 17 miler on Sunday. I only convinced myself to do this run after making the deal with myself that I would stop for coffee on the way home, bribes work well :) Monday ended with a massive headache and no running or workout of any kind. I attempted 8 miles on both Tuesday and Wednesday without success. Tuesday I managed 5 very slow miles and felt terrible the entire time. Wednesday I managed a big fat 2 miles before my hamstring cramped and forced me to alter my stride. I guess I am getting wise in my old age and decided it was better to stop then risk further injury. Today was my third attempt at 8 miles and finally success! 8.25 miles done at an average 8:30 pace, with some speed intervals in the middle. This is still slower then my normal speedwo...

Last week Matt and I spent a week on a cruise in the Caribbean enjoying the sun, warm weather and great food. I even managed a few runs during the week and we are proud to say that we never stepped foot on an elevator even once during our trip. Some of the views during our trip... I was so happy to be back running on ground not covered by ice and snow and see something other then bare trees and dead grass while running. Despite this, we had some tough days to run. The first 2 days were at sea and it was windy, 60+ mph on the second day. The winds made things a little tough, I almost felt like I was running in place at times. Things finally improved by the 3rd day it was nice to run with the sum out and just a slight breeze. Such a great way to start off the day. And it made it a little easier to eat all the big meals and drink the wine.

I know, I am a little late in this post, but I was so excited about this past weekend that I needed to write it. The past 2 weekends I have been outside running my long runs with Matt and between the 2 weeks there was a temperature difference of at least 40 degrees. Last weekend I ran 12 miles bundled up in as many layers as possible and even had hand warmers in my mittens. This run included a fall on the ice with 3 miles to go and a right hip that still has an ugly, huge bruise. This past weekend the temperature was in the 40s and sunny. I headed out with pants and quickly turned around to wear shorts instead. I was able to wear my thin jacket and light gloves. It felt so nice to not be weighted down with all the extra layers. We were even able to run the majority of the 13 miles on open asphalt. This run wasn't all perfect, no falls on the ice, but it did involve soaking feet after inadvertently stepping into a puddle the size of a small lake, once again this happened with 3 mile...