A little bit of hope

Sooooo this was supposed to publish last week & apparently it didn't & I didn't notice?? Fun times! :D . Just wanted to let you know I'm not dead yet & have been doing *some* amount of running, though this fall has not worked out exactly at all as I'd hoped. So, yeah. Not dead yet. Still trying to run when I can. Hopefully things will get easier after the holidays.

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It's been a busy few weeks (as I write this I am at the airport for the 5th time in the last week, GOOD TIMES) but I just wanted to pop in with a training update. Last we spoke I was having some super annoying problems with my right foot/hip/hamstring/lower back, but things are MAYBE kind of-sort of starting to improve a little.

Other life stuff: My sisters and I are planning a surprise 60th birthday party for my mom on Sunday Nov. 11. [Spoiler: We pulled it off & she was TOTALLY shocked!! It was awesome & I highly recommend throwing your loved ones surprise birthday parties.]

Yes, they fixed the peace sign but I didn't get a great photo of it after that. I hope someone else did!

Currently reading: Vicious, by V.E. Schwab (OMG GRAVITY'S RAINBOW IS DONE!! More on that later.)

Currently listening to: The Consuming Fire, by John Scalzi. (Book #2 of The Interdependency)

Currently watching: Dr. Who. Am I the only one who just loves loves LOVES Jodie Whittaker? I never had any doubts about a female doctor, but I am loving just how much she's clearly The Doctor. Just. AGH. *The best*.

Currently looking forward to: A week with my family and BRAND NEW niece in Texas, a week with Don's family at Christmas, and a week in Mexico with friends over New Year's.

Current challenge: Travel. So much work and non-work travel lately. It's all for good stuff but one of the things that makes my life go is having a nice routine and crazy travel schedules really throws a wrench into that.

~*~*~ Fall '18 Speedfest: Week 10 of 18 ~*~*~ Grand Total: 2.25 easy + 3.1 race

Monday 10/22: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate

Tuesday 10/23: .25 miles shuffle of sadness

I didn't even bother trying the speedwork on Tuesday. Instead I thought I'd just try jogging a few easy miles and see how it felt, but my foot hurt so bad after just a few blocks that it was obvious it was a no-go. At that point I decided to go the nuclear route of aggressive rest in hopes that a week off would give my foot and hamstring time to heal up enough that I could still run the 5K in Redwood City on Sunday, even if it wasn't fast.

Wednesday 10/24: a.m. strength work / p.m. karate

Thursday 10/25: Rest

Friday 10/26: Rest

Saturday 10/27: Rest

Sunday 10/28: 2 miles warm-up + 3.1 race

It's a race day miracle!! During my warm up my foot & hamstring didn't feel 100%, but the discomfort was maybe 1.5-2 out of 10, so I felt pretty sure I could get through three more miles. And I did! Yes, it was my slowest 5K race ever, but only by about 23 seconds, so reasonably respectable still.

My first-ever costume race!

~*~*~ Fall '18 Speedfest: Week 11 of 18 ~*~*~

The 5K was encouraging enough that I felt confident trying a little easy running the next week. I was also traveling for work so it was never going to be a super huge mileage week, but I wanted to try a few easy runs & see how they felt. And, it went pretty well.

Grand Total: 33 miles, all easy

Monday 10/29: a.m. strength / p.m. karate

Back in the gym! I don't know if my lack of strength work in the last month is related to the foot & hamstring problems, but it certainly cannot be helping so I'm trying to be consistent about it at least twice a week whenever possible.

Tuesday 10/30: 8 miles

Took it easy and legs felt a bit flat, but got through it with just a little discomfort.

Wednesday 10/31: a.m. strength / p.m. karate

Thursday 11/1: Travel day

On a plane to Palm Springs for an annual math conference. I would have preferred to run a little on Thursday but there was just no time.

Friday 11/2: 5 easy

Daylight running in Palm Springs is utterly miserable, but a pre-dawn 5am run can be absolutely lovely. Which works out well because the rest of the day was pretty much packed to bursting. I could tell that my leg wasn't 100% normal yet, but both my foot and my hamstring felt significantly better.

In general I HATE early morning running but the desert makes it almost kinda-sorta okay.

Saturday 11/3: 6 easy

Wash/rinse/repeat. This run in particularly felt just so, so good for the first three miles, one of those rare runs where you feel like you could just run forever. I probably ran faster than I should have but I didn't care--in that moment I just needed to enjoy it. The last couple of miles felt like a bit more work, but leg and foot clearly still on the road to recovery.

Sunday 11/4: 14 long

Holy crapsticks, I actually managed to do a 2+ hour long run for the first time in weeks and it wasn't awful! Again I probably ran it a bit faster than I should have, but I felt so good and was just enjoying running a bit faster than my usual easy pace that I didn't want to slow down. Again by the end I could tell that things still aren't totally back to normal, but the discomfort was staying in that 1-1.5 out of 10 range, which felt tolerable.

So, yeah. I know I've caught up on this whole training log only to immediately fall behind again. I suck. We are in Texas currently and things have just been too crazy and packed to prioritize running, so I'm trying to not beat myself up about it & just get back to it when we get back home (air quality permitting...ugh).

Hope you all are doing well!