Each Day Is a Gift

No matter how late I went to bed, I automatically woke up the same time, no sleeping in, but did lay in bed thinking wonderful thoughts and dreams of a promising 2011.  I truly have a lot to be grateful for.  Finally got up to make breakfast, lunch and dinner for David who's driving 10 hours back to college. 

Hubby's foot and ankle is more swollen today.  After getting him up, wrapped his foot/ankle, and situated nicely in front of the TV.  I text my SSF and RAD to see if they have already left for the Olympic Oval, a place I've never ever been to before.  Just as I was pulling out of the garage, RAD called and arranged to meet me on Bangerter and she would drive me to the Oval.  HALLELUJAH!!!!

RAD is right: good things come to those who sleep in!  We got to the Oval just as Maurine was leaving.  Sweet Maurine loaned us her "counter", a very efficient way to count laps.  THANKS Maurine!  Although RAD had conjured up a very clever "loose your marbles" system to count laps.  She figured we would need to run 55 laps to complete 15 miles.

We got there in time to see Teena and Matt running effortlessly and speedily by.  Thanks to their expert math skill, we were confirmed that 55 laps indeed make 15 miles.  SO FUN to chat and run w/ Rachel and my SSF!  I cannot think of a better way to run the first run of 2011 than with these two special special special friends!  THANK YOU RAD & SSF!!!

Update on grand baby:  He is still in NICU but improving.  He is off tube feeding and taking breast milk in a bottle.  Hopefully he'll be able to nurse tomorrow and off TPN.  His respiration is stabilized!  I hope he'll be home when I arrive next week! :)

15 in 2:09:20.  1 min on @ 6:58 1 min off @ 10:00 x 30.  AP: 8:37

Dentist first thing in the morning:  Steven had 4 wisdom teeth extracted...one tuff boy!  :)  I have zero cavity!  :)

14 miles in 2:10:01.  AP: 9:10.  Very very tired!  Right knee complained at mile 10. 

Baby Jett is still in the NICU! :(

Hubby's friend at work gave him a walking cane to limp around with!  :D

Flew out to Houston in the morning.  Spent the rest of the day at the Kingwood Medical Center NICU enjoying Baby Jett and visiting w/ my daughter and her family.

Ran w/ Luke in double stroller/bike trailer on north pond park x3 and south aquatic center loops x 2.  Luke slept most of the run.  At mile 4.5 I turned around and found Lex at the trail head looking for me in his barefoot.  Took him home and since Luke was still asleep I ran for another mile.

6 in 59:02 AP: 9:49.  Splits: 10:40, 9:36, 9:14, 9:32, 9:45, 10:14. 

Baby Jett came home at noon! YAY!

AM:  Ran w/ Luke in double stroller while Lex rode his bike.  He was riding so fast that I lost him.  I stopped by corner of house where the 2 trail heads intersect to wait for him.  By then everyone was hungry so we quit.  1.5 miles in 16:16

PM:  After lunch the boys wanted to watch TV, baby was asleep, mommy was awake; so I went out for a run by myself.  A lot easier w/o pushing the stroller.

6 miles in 52:06.  AP: 8:42.  Splits: 9:45, 8:33, 8:36, 8:20, 8:26, 8:27 

Ran all over the Kingwood Greenbelt Trail system.  The first couple miles ran w/ two groups of ladies.  One girl told me about the Kingwoodfit.com site for group runs...might check it out for next week. :)

Ran to Kingwood Lake (part of Lake Houston), to trail north of Kingwood Dr.(Royal Forest) to Golf Course to Woodland Hills Dr. to Deer Ridge Park to River Grove Park to KingWood High's FFA Science Center and baseball fields to trail south of Kingwood Dr (Trailwood Village) to Royal Forest Dr with last mile on King Manor north loop.  Beautiful paved trails in wooded forest of oaks and pines and lake view.  Took about 11 pics w/ my cell phone.

Perfect running temp (high 40s/low 50s, but feel cooler in shaded forest) saw lots of local walkers and runners all wearing tights, l/s tops and jackets.  It is winter here afterall. I, the Utah, wore running skirt and s/s top.  Hand carried one water bottle, gu'd at mile 9 and 14.

18 in 2:54:54.  AP: 9:42.  Splits: 10:44, 10:45, 10:04, 9:45, 9:22, 9:40, 9:38, 9:19, 9:36, 9:54, 9:05, 9:15, 9:20, 9:45, 9:40, 9:41, 9:44, 9:24.

Going to Jade's first b-ball game!  :) 

Couldn't go down the stairs w/o knee pain this morning; so decided to NOT run.  Went to Gold Gym, a first EVER for me!!!  

35 min elliptical (resistance and incline at 6)

25 min bike (moderate hills)

10 min abs and adductors.

***Been having pain at the insertion point of the right tibial tuberosity for the last 4 weeks.  The pain would come mid run and get worse post run.  Decreasing mileage has helped some.  My son, Eric drove down from Dallas (where he's having his Residency Interviews) today to spend couple of days with us! We're sooo happy to see him!!! :).  Haven't seen him for over a year!!! :) :) :)  Between his and my daughter's exam/assessment, we all concluded that I have patella tendinitis.

Conservative treatments may include REST, DANG IT! :(, adjusting body mechanics, strengthening the quads, patella tendon strap, iontophoresis, corticosteroid injection, massage.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/patellar-tendinitis/DS00625/DSECTION=treatments-and-drugs 

Guess I better be a good girl and listen to my son who advised NO running or any activities that cause pain/more damage to the patella tendon! :/

Nada, zero, zilch, nothing today!  The tibial tuberosity still tender to touch!

Had fun going to the movie (Chronicle of Narnia) w/ Eric in the afternoon.

Sunny blue sky, temp in the 40's.  Patella tendon still tight!  Another nice running day down the drain...gone, gone, gone! :(  

Took Eric and the kids to lunch at Jason Deli...good stuff! :)  

Had fun taking Baby Jett to his first check up.  He gained 6.5 oz in 6 days!  YaHooo!!! :) :) :)

Evening:  3 circuits of core strengthening exercises ~ abs, abductors, adductors, front & side planks, wall sit, calf raise, bicep and tricep while the family watched Batman Begins.  

45 min elliptical (resistence 8-10)

30 min bike (level 10)

10 min abs, leg lifts,

My heart heart barely got up to 150.  The sound of people pounding on the treadmills behind me made me want to go outside and run soooo bad.  The weather here in Kingwood is perfect for running, darn it!  Injury stinks! :(

Eric drove back up to Dallas for more Residency Interviews.  Hope everything goes well for him!  

The weather is so NICE!!!  Did a no-no...went out for a test-run!  The right knee complained almost immediately!  STINK!!!  Finished up the loop in snail pace feeling dejected! :(

50 min elliptical ~  intervals 2 min ON (resistance 10) , 2 min. OFF (resistance 5)

30 min bike at level 5

That's all the time Brandon and I had at the gym and child care time for the little ones!

FUN day with the grandkids.  

Larissa and I went to meet Flatlander and his sweet wife at Chimichurri by Lake Houston for a very nice dinner! NICE to meet a fellow blogger who has so much in common (family, kids, church stuff)!  GOOD TIMES!!! :)

*****

Right knee was fine, just a tad tight!  But the next day, Sunday, the left hammie was quite sore!  STINK!!!   May be I need to do so yoga!   

Overcast sky w/ a misty precipitation.  The grandkids have no school so they wanted to go to the park.  I jogged w/ Luke in the stroller while Lex rode his bike and Jade jogged along.  When we got to the park, the playground equipment was still wet so we didn't stay to play! 

The right knee is still tight, left hammie still sore!  What am I going to do?  I may have to revise my training schedule for Boston which is 12 weeks away!  Aaaaghhh!!!  Meanwhile I'm enjoying my time w/ the grandkids and sweet tiny baby Jett! :)  

Evening:  30 min core while watching Lost on the iPad

PM: 

60 min elliptical ~ cross-train-program: tried to keep strides/min @ 180-200 at low resistance forward, 120-140 at resistance 8 backward.  Max HR 160

20 min bike @ level 5.  HR 130

Sweat fest!!!  Right knee feeling better w/ movement but the right tibial tuberosity insertion area still tender to touch! 

Evening:  30 min. core while watching Lost. 

80 min elliptical ~ variety program: resistance varies from 6 - 16 every min.

20 min bike.  Another sweat factory!

My bags are packed.  Dinners are cooked.  Stupid flight is delayed.  Steven received his mission call this morning!  BUT he has to wait till I get home tonight, like 11pm, so we can skype and watch him open his call.  Testing his patience! :)

******

Got home at 10:30pm and immediately skyped Steven!  I videoed him opening his call via web cam.  Guess where he is going??? 

TAIWAN TAIPEI 

You should have heard the shouts and cheers!  YAHOOO!!!  FINALLY, after 4 sons, the Lews have one son going to Chinese speaking mission!  :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

Hubby has a meeting in SG at 11am so we got up bright and early for our drive down to SG.  After two weeks of granny duty in TX, it was nice to have a little get-away w/ my honey. 

While hubby went to the meeting I went to the hotel's fitness center.  I was really tempted to run outside as it was sunny w/ temp in the 50s.  I hindsight I should have.  There was one elliptical which looked like it was going to fall apart, the roughest, most pathetic thing I've ever seen.  After 5 min of attempting to pedal that thing I gave up and got on the one bike which was no better.  So I got on the treadmill which sounded like a train wrack.

The patella tendon started to complain after about 30 min into the run.   It didn't seem to matter whether I run fast or slow.

Then I went to the pool to do some resistance exercises for the legs.  That seemed to help.

There was no knee pain when I woke up.  Was really tempted to go for a run; but went to the Gold's Gym instead.  I was impressed with the Gym.  I tried out the ArcTrainer.  I like the LifetimeFitness ellipticals better than the Precor.   Also tried out the strength training machines for various muscle groups.  I don't think they make equipments for a 4'10.5" person! :)  I think I was there for 3 hours, another sweat fest! :)

Hubby got done w/ his work early so we went to the movie, Tangle.  I really liked the movie, love the part about *dreams*!  Hubby usually doesn't care for animation movies.  But he liked this one.  Then we went to the Dixie Center for the Expo and packet pickup.  The Bank has a booth there.  Then we went to Red Lobster for dinner, long wait.

I debated over and over many many times the last few weeks whether to run this.  My hubby happened to schedule work/branch visits/offsite in SG and Hurricane for Thur, Fri and Sat.   RAD convinced me (not in a Helga way) to sign up!  I would at the least have a mini vacation and a $40 race shirt (which btw never fits me).  My son had advised me not to run if there's any pain at all; or just jog the 5K.  Even my SSF text me to be careful!  Did I listen to the voice of wisdom and reasoning?  NO!!!  Stubborn stubborn me!

Plan was to run w/ my friend, Karen, who ran her very first half marathon at Snow Canyon in 2:04.  We met at 8am in the Dixie Center where we saw RAD, Kelli, Tom & Kim, Pron8r and others.  We walked to the start w/ 5 min before gun time.  Temp was in the high 30s, partly cloudy and no wind, perfect race weather.  I had shorts, s/s top, compression sleeves and gloves on, a bit cold...imagine my joy when I saw Kathie who's always at races' starts to keep me warm. 

It was a bit crowded, within a hundred yards of crossing the start, I lost Karen.  I took comfort that she was running with her sister Kathy (her first half) and Kathy's husband.  Kathie does a wonderful job dodging the crowd and kept track of me; we soon found ourselves running side by side at a comfortable pace.

The first couple miles felt easy although it took awhile to warm up my arthritic joints in the cold.  I love running with Kathie so I just hung with her for as long as I could.  At about mile 2.5 we saw Canyon (MarcieN).  The 3 of us ran together at conversational pace.  It was so fun to catch up with what our families been up to.  Marcie found her friend around mile 7 and took off with her. 

Kathie does a great job keeping a constant pace! I really appreciate that.  I just ran w/ how I feel although my strides did not feel smooth at all, I was trying to be careful with my knee.  At around mile 9.5 Kathie said we were on pace for 1:52 but fading.  I had Gu'd at mile 9 and felt no sign of fatigue.  Breathing was easy and legs felt fine, even the knee was ok.

It was at one of those turns that the first sign of cramping showed up.  I slowed down a bit, while Kathie walked up the little hill at the aid station I caught up to her.  As we made the turn, her friend who was supposed to run w/ found her.  At that instant, my left calf cramped up.  With fear and sadness I watched them run off.  It was like dejavu...the first year we ran Painters, it was on this part of the trail that I watched Kathie and her sister Kimmie passed me and took off and I longingly wanted to run w/ them! :)

The next 2 miles (12 & 13) were agony fighting off charlie horse which would start at the toes, then crept up the calves, then the shins.  I HATE these involuntary muscle contractions, it's creepy snake like convulsions, sooo scary!  If it seized up I would be DONE, collapsing in a heap of ugly agony!  I was running with REAL fear!  I tried to relax by thinking of all the wonderful blessings and happenings in my family lately...didn't help!

An amazing thing happen, I looked to the horizon and saw the SG Temple.  The words of this hymn came to my mind:  "Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.  I'll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, Upheld by my righteous, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand."  I repeatedly sang that over and over (in my head of course) 'till I made the last turn towards Dixie Center where cheering friends and families sustained me.  I looked down at my watch and saw 1:54:11 and determined to come in sub 1:55.  I was elated to see that I made it and crossed the finish w/o collapsing.   Hubby and RAD was there to collect me and help me recover.  :)

This is my 5th year running Painters/SG Half.  I have come in 4th place in my AG every year.  I was ecstatic when I saw the posting that I was listed 3rd place.  Hubby said: "Oh darn, now we have to stay for the award!"  It was so fun to watch and cheer our FRB friends, MichelleL, AmberG, PaulP, JulieC, Kathie's mom, got on the podium.  Imagine my embarrassment when I was NOT called up.  O well, I'll just have to run this thing again to rid of this "4th place jinx"...5th place would've been ok! :) :) :) 

Splits:  8:51, 8:45, 8:33, 8:33, 8:29, 8:50, 8:33, 8:41, 9:09 (Gu'd), 8:36, 8:46, 9:58, 9:58 (I'm surprised to see the last 2 miles so consistent even in pain), 0.1 @7:13

********

I am glad that I've completed the Runner Series requirement garnering a guarantee entry to SG Marathon.  My legs are very sore today with occasional involuntary twitches, weird!  It will take some time to let everything heal.  I am going to take it slow and easy and hopefully make it to the start line at Boston in runnable shape!  Hubby booked our flights already while I was in Texas...so I better make it!  :)

Calves are swollen and tender to touch.  No running today.  Did yoga while Wendy hang out at my house.  After she left, I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house which had turned into a bachelor pad while I was gone.  There were things growing in the fridge, the pots and pans had major burnt spots, the house plants died.  It's a good thing I love my hubby and son so much! :)

Karen ran 11 yesterday to Alpine, just 2 days after she ran a 3 min PR at SG Half!!!  WOW!!!  She has no soreness!  This morning she ran with me for 7.5 and I was the SLOW one (my legs are still very sore especially the calves).  She is thinking about signing up for UVM, it will be her first marathon.  A light snow started mid-run, so peaceful and beautiful! 

Went to lunch w/ Diane, Holly, Cheri, Karen for Wendy's belated 50th birthday at Zupas.  Afterwards, Wendy came over to cut quilt squares while I did some core exercises. 

20 min arc trainer

60 min elliptical

20 min bike

Lower legs are still sore.  The tibia tuberosity area is acting up again.  Ice and ibuprofen per my SSF!

I heeded my SSF's advice to rest the legs today.  NO running, NO cardio workout!

Karen came by after her 10 miler.  She was debating on UVM, some self-doubt.  So we looked at some training schedule and I loaned her one of my running books.  I think she's going to sign up!

20 min P90X ab-ripper

Yoga

Calves are feeling better.  Knee was okay then started to hurt in the evening; icing it now.

Calves felt so much better this morning, I even lost the 7lbs that I gained after the race.  Sheez, it took 6 days to recover and it was only a Half.  Debated whether to run or not this morning  when Karen called and said she & Lauri wanted to run 4-5.  I decided to give it a test run, plus that's all the time I had anyway...my daughter-in-law & Emi are arriving around 1pm.  I am so excited! 

Ran w/ Karen (Sky) & Lauri around the bench for 5.6 mi in 53:12.  AP:9:32.

Icing the knee as I frantically get the room/beds ready and off to buy WHOLE milk and cheerios for baby Emi.  :)

Ran w/ Karen (Sky) to Alpine.  Stopped at *fountain of youth* for first drink; then north and east to mile 7, turned back to gu at *fountain of youth* (mile 9).  The bathroom at the park was LOCKED!!!  Thought I could make it to the church, another 2 miles away...nope!...had to make a VPB stop behind a giant rock and leave-bare-bushes!  Karen was laughing so hard at my dire-emergency!  :) :) :)

It was a nice chatty run, very slow!  That's the longest Karen has ever run and first time taking gu which she really likes.  She is going to run Salt Lake City Marathon as her first marathon.  This girl is tough and gutsy!  This means our training schedule will match more closely and able to do our long runs together.  Only bad part is I won't be able to run her first marathon with her as I will be flying out to Boston that morning!

My knee was sore yesterday later in the day and evening.  It was fine during the run so I am icing it now (after shopping and in b/t errands).  I am hopeful that I can resume training on a scaled down version...79 days to Boston!  Aaagghhh!!!  

Baby Emi is such a delight!  Her daddy is driving here, hopefully beating the storm!  I am so excited that they will spend February with us!  HAPPY TIMES!!!! :) :) :) :) :)

   Week 10 : 77 days to Boston

2 miles warm up.  1 min ON @ 7:30, 1 min OFF @ 10:00 x 30.  2 miles cool down @ mp.

11 mi in 1:37:45.  AP: 8:53

Right knee tight.  Will ice and stretch.