Application Sent

My dad informed me last week that the hotel we usually stay in for the Boston Marathon was already booked, so we had gotten a room at another hotel at the finish line. He then told me that three of the hotels right at the finish line were all booked. Sounds like the marathon could reach its maximum number of entrants. So, despite not running for the last eight weeks and not making it through a training program in the last year, I sent my application today. I want to make sure I get in, just in case I might actually make it through training without breaking another bone. Watch out Boston! Here I come!

Return to Running with the Group...Sort Of

Saturday I ran with the group, sort of. I attended the group run, but I'm still on my "Return to Running" schedule so I did the workout by myself. I did approximately 3-1/2 miles in 30 minutes. It was a 5 minute walk, 20 minute run, 5 minute walk. I did the first loop at Highbanks and then around the parking lot. I felt fine and I was really surprised to see the group at the turn-around at the observation deck. Dad told me I looked good running. Saturday afternoon/evening I had a lot of shooting pain in my shin, but it was not present on Sunday. It might had to do with the fact I did a lot of walking and Christmas shopping on Saturday afternoon. Sunday I took the day off. Today I will do another 5 minute walk, 20 minute run, 5 minute walk. I just haven't decided if it will be outside in the ice and freezing temperatures or on the treadmill in the basement.

Big Giant Hippo

Yesterday was my first day I was able to run. I did the workout at the high school track, 10 minute walk, 10 minute jog, 10 minute walk. I was able to do just over three laps in the first 10 minutes of walking. When I started my jog, it felt like a big, giant hippo. Nothing seemed to be clicking together. My arms and legs felt weird and weren't insync with each other. It took me a whole lap before I finally felt like I was running. I was able to do about 4-1/2 laps during the jog and then did another three laps in the last 10 minutes of walking. It felt good to be running again. Today I'm going to do my workout on the treadmill because I hope to do some swimming afterwards. I'll just have to wait and see how crowded the gym is or if my boss lets us go home early from work. Highly unlikely.

It's Freakin' Cold

Wouldn't you know, the week I'm allowed to return to running the weather switches from 50 degree to 20 degrees in the blink of an eye. Yesterday I was able to do a 20 minute walk and I chose to walk outside. I put on a base layer long sleeve shirt with a T-shirt over it and a fleece on top of that. I also wore tights and leg warmers. Yes, I wear leg warmers underneath my running tights sometimes. Well, they're not so much leg warmers as they are socks I've cut the toes out of and wear them like leg warmers. Lastly, I wore a hat and gloves. The walk was freakin' cold! It's not like running where you warm up quickly; I was pretty much cold the entire time. And this walking stuff sucks. My shins are sore from ankle to knee. One more day of just walking and then I can finally do some running.

Dave and I also attended a spinning class last night. Here's my issue. There's several people in the class who are obviously bikers. They've got the padded shorts, the fancy shirts, and the clip-in shoes. The thing is, these people come to the class and then do not follow the directions of the instructor. Why come to the class then? If you've got all that fancy stuff, I'm sure you've got a bike at home sitting in a trainer and could do your own thing at home. Plus, all these "experts" are bigger people and they always sit in front of me and they're butts jiggle around. Just kinda grosses me out.

In really good news, Mandy and Junior (Brian) had their baby on Tuesday. His name is Miles. How appropriate. The running group is making miles a great gift. I'll take pictures later on this week and post them, hopefully.

Return to Running

Well, I'm kicking off "Return to Running" for the second time this year. I've made it through 7 weeks of recovery for my stress fracture. Now I'm allowed to return to training, but first I have to do about six weeks of walking/slow running. This made a lot of sense for my last fracture because I was in the boot for 10 weeks and spent 4 weeks on crutches and was not allowed to do anything. But this time I've been swimming and using the elliptical machine. I just don't feel that out of shape to have to spend the time walking. Also, I've been out of the aircast for about 4 weeks and have been walking. I just don't think my doctor knows how much waling I have to do at work. Oh well. I'm looking forward to getting back to running. Here's the schedule I have to follow. I started it yesterday. Each step has to be done a minimum of two times with no pain before moving on to the next step.

Step 1--10 minute walk
Step 2--20 minute walk
Step 3--10 minute walk, 10 minute jog, 10 minute walk
Step 4--5 minute walk, 20 minute jog, 5 minute walk
Step 5--30 minute jog, 50% intensity, every other day
Step 6--30 minute jog, 75% intensity, every other day
Step 7--40 minute jog, 75% intensity, every other day
Step 8--40 minute jog, 100% intensity, every other day
Step 9--50 minute jog, 100% intensity, every other day
Step 10--60 minute jog, 100% intensity, every other day
Return to Full Training

Feeling Better

I've been under the weather for about a week now, but I'm finally starting to feel better. And, now I'm able to start getting back to training because I'm not coughing every five seconds. Yesterday I went to the gym and did a mile on the elliptical machine and then went to the pool and did about a 1/4 free swim. Even better. I've lost two pounds and have maintained that weight loss for the last two weeks. Three more pounds to go.

The Gym

A few months ago, my husband and I joined a gym. Personally I chose to join the gym because there was a dispute between the citizens of the town we live in and the high school where we swam at. We decided not to get in the middle of it, especially since I am both a taxpayer and an employee of the school. Joining the gym has worked out great since I've been injured and have needed other options of working out besides running. We joined a very popular gym, Lifetime, which is nice because it's got everything, but has it's drawbacks too. First of all, it's always super-crowded. Secondly, there's big, bulky women there who scare me a little. And lastly, it's a bit of a fashion show and beauty contest for many of the women I see there. Anyway, last night we decided to take a spinning class at 7:00pm. We had gone to a spinning class last Thursday and really liked it and wanted to start being consistent in our attendance. We got to the gym with what we thought was plenty of time to spare and got up to the studio with five minutes to go until the class started. We could barely walk into the room! It was completely packed and we could not find an empty bike anywhere. So, we put in a workout on the stationary bikes. It was awful. They weren't comfortable and it didn't offer enough resistance. It was a waste of time. Guess on Thursday we'll show up to the spinning class with at least 15 minutes to spare.

Progress

I went to the doctor again yesterday. I actually went to the doctor for my sinus infection I've been sick with for a week, but he checked out my shin in the process. He thinks I am progressing well. I've been doing the physical therapy every other day and have progressed to spinning class twice a week and doing swimming the other days. Yesterday I started on the elliptical machine. I did 10 minutes, which was about a mile. I plan on doing that three times a week, with swimming also, and the spinning twice a week. Well, this week anyway. Next week I can start to follow the "Return to Running" routine, which involves a lot of walking and very little running. At least it's a start. I'm hoping to do the Reindeer Run 5K next weekend just for fun. Hopefully I'll be back to full training by January.