Monday:
Recently Bryce came to live with us. His sister Brandi has been living with us for over a year. I don't want to violate their privacy too much (although if you live with me, I blog about you) so I will just say that they needed a place to live and we said they could live here.
Bryce is running cross-country. You know I love that! This morning I woke up early to take him to practice. Norm and I alternate weeks getting up in the middle of the night to take him to practice. I got up and made my coffee, but didn't hear Bryce. I went to his room and he was sound asleep. I woke him and told him that we needed to leave in 10 minutes. Bryce told me that he had emailed his coach to say he wouldn't be there. I informed him that it would have been nice to know because I could have slept in. He tends to be a bit reactive so I got a high-pitched, “it was midnight and I didn't want to wake you” before he flopped back down. I could have lectured him about responsibility, but I have always been a believer in letting school problems stay at school. Unless there is an extreme problem I think the two should stay separate, even as a teacher I believe this. And trust me, later in the morning the coach took care of the problem.
I finished my coffee and headed out for a run. I decided to ignore my watch and just run. It was so humid this morning. At Granada Park I was about to say “it’s so miserable this morning” to a lady but before I could speak she said, “It’s lovey today isn't it?” Uhm no, but how do you argue with that? I was happy to get home and realize that after my warm up I ran a pretty even 7min mile average for the last 5 miles. I have got to be better about stretching so I did an hour of yin yoga when I got home. I hate admitting that I am getting older, but I am. I need longer to warm up and I can’t get away with not stretching.
Today started day one of focusing on Desert Solstice. When looking at the USATF records I was very excited to see my name. I know some people will say, ‘they are just age group records” and to those people I say, “how many American age group records do you have?” Don't rain on my parade, it’s exciting!
I haven’t been writing every day about my running. To be totally honest, I come home exhausted and drink too much to deal with the work situation. When I say drinking too much I mean I have 2 sometimes 2.5 glasses of wine instead of 1, no need to bring me the brochure on Promises just yet. Although a restful trip to Malibu sounds nice. Anyways, I’ll try to recreate the last week.
Recently Bryce came to live with us. His sister Brandi has been living with us for over a year. I don't want to violate their privacy too much (although if you live with me, I blog about you) so I will just say that they needed a place to live and we said they could live here.
Bryce is running cross-country. You know I love that! This morning I woke up early to take him to practice. Norm and I alternate weeks getting up in the middle of the night to take him to practice. I got up and made my coffee, but didn't hear Bryce. I went to his room and he was sound asleep. I woke him and told him that we needed to leave in 10 minutes. Bryce told me that he had emailed his coach to say he wouldn't be there. I informed him that it would have been nice to know because I could have slept in. He tends to be a bit reactive so I got a high-pitched, “it was midnight and I didn't want to wake you” before he flopped back down. I could have lectured him about responsibility, but I have always been a believer in letting school problems stay at school. Unless there is an extreme problem I think the two should stay separate, even as a teacher I believe this. And trust me, later in the morning the coach took care of the problem.
I finished my coffee and headed out for a run. I decided to ignore my watch and just run. It was so humid this morning. At Granada Park I was about to say “it’s so miserable this morning” to a lady but before I could speak she said, “It’s lovey today isn't it?” Uhm no, but how do you argue with that? I was happy to get home and realize that after my warm up I ran a pretty even 7min mile average for the last 5 miles. I have got to be better about stretching so I did an hour of yin yoga when I got home. I hate admitting that I am getting older, but I am. I need longer to warm up and I can’t get away with not stretching.
Today started day one of focusing on Desert Solstice. When looking at the USATF records I was very excited to see my name. I know some people will say, ‘they are just age group records” and to those people I say, “how many American age group records do you have?” Don't rain on my parade, it’s exciting!
I haven’t been writing every day about my running. To be totally honest, I come home exhausted and drink too much to deal with the work situation. When I say drinking too much I mean I have 2 sometimes 2.5 glasses of wine instead of 1, no need to bring me the brochure on Promises just yet. Although a restful trip to Malibu sounds nice. Anyways, I’ll try to recreate the last week.
Tuesday:
It’s a climbing day. My goal has been to run 8:30 average pace for climbing days. I was a bit off, but not bad with an 8:38 average. It’s still just so freaking hot. I was feeling sick to my stomach again. It’s so annoying. I came home saying I didn’t care what box I had to live in, but I what I would not live here again after this summer.
(We had hoped I would find a job in another state this summer. I interviewed at a few places, but no luck.)
Wednesday:
It’s so early, I am so tired. I tell myself I will run in the afternoon, knowing that is a total lie. It will be too hot in the afternoon and I will not run. And guess what? I didn't run.
Thursday:
Climbing day. 8:46 average pace today. But that was better than I expected, but not goal. I was close to finishing when I see a lady on a horse coming close toward me. This is a lady that I see all the time. I always step off the trail for her. We have actually had conversations before. I am picking a spot to stop in my head, she is still really, really far away and she puts put her hand in the international sign for stop. “Stop, stop, stop!” she yells at me. “I am,” I say back with an attitude as I was about to stop. She keeps coming and says, “I just want to be safe. I don't want any one to get hurt.” I know I should have let it go. But I have a lot of pent up anger from my work situation and I talk to this lady all the time! I basically wear the same outfit every time I run, she had to know it was me. “Fine, but I was stopping!” I say with a lot of bitch in my voice. It could have been worse, but I could have just let it go. I guess the good news is if she didn't recognize me today maybe she won't remember me in the future either.
Friday:
Nice and easy day getting ready for the long run tomorrow,
Which was good because my actual day was insane. I needed to get by the kosher grocery store (always a bad idea the morning before Shabbos starts), get a birthday gift for one of my students and get the food for Shabbos so I could get in the crockpot.
I am trying to observe full Shabbat but in a modified way. I will do no work. I won't write lesson plans, answer emails, clean house or cook. I am not running errands. I did use my phone a bit, but mostly that was to play games. We did also watch tv. But I did a lot of reading and trying to relax. Of course, I am still running. And I will race. This is part of the reason I don't convert. I am only willing to give up so much. I am not sure how relaxing it was because I spend a lot of the time stressing about how much work I am going to have to do when Shabbos is over.
Saturday:
My long run started out just fun. I got the warm up miles down. The goal was to run at least 10 miles of the 20 miles between 6:50 and 7:00 min mile pace. It would like to run faster, but I adjusted for the heat. When I started running I felt a bit of a pain behind my knee. Not bad, just there. The pain definitely grew more noticeable, but never something that made me think I should stop. At about mile 10 I stopped at the gas station (if you run the canal in Phoenix, you know this spot) to get water, eat some nutrition and use the bathroom. I was here for a good bit of time. When I went to run again it was incredibly painful. Of course I really wanted to finish the workout and so I pushed through the pain. I finished up right past the Biltmore and thought about going inside to see if I could use a phone to call Norm to pick me up at Granada. But I was barely covered and soaking wet with sweat. And I could smell myself, it wasn’t pleasant. I decided to walk to Granada Park and see if I could find someone to let me use a cell phone. I saw Nadine on the other side of the canal and I chatted with her and her boyfriend across the canal. She asked if I wanted to come back to their house about a mile away. I wasn’t sure I could run a mile so I said no thanks, but I promised to text when I was home safe.
Walking takes a long time! I finally got to Granada Park, but every person at the park looked like a serial killer. I would pick someone and get close to the person only to change my mind. In the end I decided to jog it home the 4 miles. It was slow and painful, but I made it home. Almost home I see Norm out front of the house. He starts walking towards me. Nadine had texted him and he was going to drive down to the canal.
I chatted with my PT Charlie. We agreed no hills and I could try to run on Sunday.
It’s a climbing day. My goal has been to run 8:30 average pace for climbing days. I was a bit off, but not bad with an 8:38 average. It’s still just so freaking hot. I was feeling sick to my stomach again. It’s so annoying. I came home saying I didn’t care what box I had to live in, but I what I would not live here again after this summer.
(We had hoped I would find a job in another state this summer. I interviewed at a few places, but no luck.)
Wednesday:
It’s so early, I am so tired. I tell myself I will run in the afternoon, knowing that is a total lie. It will be too hot in the afternoon and I will not run. And guess what? I didn't run.
Thursday:
Climbing day. 8:46 average pace today. But that was better than I expected, but not goal. I was close to finishing when I see a lady on a horse coming close toward me. This is a lady that I see all the time. I always step off the trail for her. We have actually had conversations before. I am picking a spot to stop in my head, she is still really, really far away and she puts put her hand in the international sign for stop. “Stop, stop, stop!” she yells at me. “I am,” I say back with an attitude as I was about to stop. She keeps coming and says, “I just want to be safe. I don't want any one to get hurt.” I know I should have let it go. But I have a lot of pent up anger from my work situation and I talk to this lady all the time! I basically wear the same outfit every time I run, she had to know it was me. “Fine, but I was stopping!” I say with a lot of bitch in my voice. It could have been worse, but I could have just let it go. I guess the good news is if she didn't recognize me today maybe she won't remember me in the future either.
Friday:
Nice and easy day getting ready for the long run tomorrow,
Which was good because my actual day was insane. I needed to get by the kosher grocery store (always a bad idea the morning before Shabbos starts), get a birthday gift for one of my students and get the food for Shabbos so I could get in the crockpot.
I am trying to observe full Shabbat but in a modified way. I will do no work. I won't write lesson plans, answer emails, clean house or cook. I am not running errands. I did use my phone a bit, but mostly that was to play games. We did also watch tv. But I did a lot of reading and trying to relax. Of course, I am still running. And I will race. This is part of the reason I don't convert. I am only willing to give up so much. I am not sure how relaxing it was because I spend a lot of the time stressing about how much work I am going to have to do when Shabbos is over.
Saturday:
My long run started out just fun. I got the warm up miles down. The goal was to run at least 10 miles of the 20 miles between 6:50 and 7:00 min mile pace. It would like to run faster, but I adjusted for the heat. When I started running I felt a bit of a pain behind my knee. Not bad, just there. The pain definitely grew more noticeable, but never something that made me think I should stop. At about mile 10 I stopped at the gas station (if you run the canal in Phoenix, you know this spot) to get water, eat some nutrition and use the bathroom. I was here for a good bit of time. When I went to run again it was incredibly painful. Of course I really wanted to finish the workout and so I pushed through the pain. I finished up right past the Biltmore and thought about going inside to see if I could use a phone to call Norm to pick me up at Granada. But I was barely covered and soaking wet with sweat. And I could smell myself, it wasn’t pleasant. I decided to walk to Granada Park and see if I could find someone to let me use a cell phone. I saw Nadine on the other side of the canal and I chatted with her and her boyfriend across the canal. She asked if I wanted to come back to their house about a mile away. I wasn’t sure I could run a mile so I said no thanks, but I promised to text when I was home safe.
Walking takes a long time! I finally got to Granada Park, but every person at the park looked like a serial killer. I would pick someone and get close to the person only to change my mind. In the end I decided to jog it home the 4 miles. It was slow and painful, but I made it home. Almost home I see Norm out front of the house. He starts walking towards me. Nadine had texted him and he was going to drive down to the canal.
I chatted with my PT Charlie. We agreed no hills and I could try to run on Sunday.
It hurts right about here.
Sunday:
I got up, had my coffee and took Hank for a walk. It was clear to me on the walk that I wasn’t going to be running. While there still wasn’t any pain while I was walking, I could feel a little pain walking up hill. I did try a little tenth of a mile jog, but there was pain as soon I started. So, as much as it killed me I skipped my run. Funny how easy it was to skip a run when I felt tired, but when I have a injury or a small “issue” it feels like the end of the world to skip a run.
Walking Hanky tonight my knee actually feels good. I think I will give it one more rest day tomorrow and hope that Tuesday I am pain free. I am meant to be pacing Del this weekend and I would be bummed to miss that. I also want to make racing plans and that is a little difficult when you aren’t sure what is going on with your body.
Monday:
Trying to make the right choices I didn’t run today. My knee feels fine but I decided that I should give it one more one day to be safe.
Tuesday:
I did a bit of a jog across the yard last night with Hank and there was no pain so I am looking forward to my run this morning. I get ready to go and immediately when I start running I can feel the pain in the back of my leg. It isn’t excruciating, but it’s there. I only made it about 2 houses up the street before turning to come back home.
I chatted with Charlie and we decided no running or weights and a visit with Charlie. It’s so frustrating. I was starting to feel like my running was headed in the right direction. I was making plans for training and racing. Setting goals for my races. It is also not looking good for pacing this weekend.
This is clearly not the year of Kristina. I really need this year to be over. The good news is that Jewish New Year is right around the corner. Let’s hope that’s a turning point!
I got up, had my coffee and took Hank for a walk. It was clear to me on the walk that I wasn’t going to be running. While there still wasn’t any pain while I was walking, I could feel a little pain walking up hill. I did try a little tenth of a mile jog, but there was pain as soon I started. So, as much as it killed me I skipped my run. Funny how easy it was to skip a run when I felt tired, but when I have a injury or a small “issue” it feels like the end of the world to skip a run.
Walking Hanky tonight my knee actually feels good. I think I will give it one more rest day tomorrow and hope that Tuesday I am pain free. I am meant to be pacing Del this weekend and I would be bummed to miss that. I also want to make racing plans and that is a little difficult when you aren’t sure what is going on with your body.
Monday:
Trying to make the right choices I didn’t run today. My knee feels fine but I decided that I should give it one more one day to be safe.
Tuesday:
I did a bit of a jog across the yard last night with Hank and there was no pain so I am looking forward to my run this morning. I get ready to go and immediately when I start running I can feel the pain in the back of my leg. It isn’t excruciating, but it’s there. I only made it about 2 houses up the street before turning to come back home.
I chatted with Charlie and we decided no running or weights and a visit with Charlie. It’s so frustrating. I was starting to feel like my running was headed in the right direction. I was making plans for training and racing. Setting goals for my races. It is also not looking good for pacing this weekend.
This is clearly not the year of Kristina. I really need this year to be over. The good news is that Jewish New Year is right around the corner. Let’s hope that’s a turning point!
Cute picture of Hank for no reason other than I love him and it's my blog so I can do what I want.
