Room for Improvement...

        

Me!

Does Speed matter?

I am a slow runner… I am not ashamed, but not happy or proud either. Whenever I am below the 10 m/minute range I feel as is somebody is chasing me and I am running for my life, which is tiring and not fun. I can sprint, but just for one minute top four, more than that and nope, is not fun.

But I do want to run faster, so I am trying different approaches, following some advises from experienced runners and hopefully I will get there.  

 My goal right now is to keep a 45 minutes run at a pace that is less than 10:30… so far I am at 10:22 but hey, is less than 10:30 right?

Here we go again... inspired.

SHHH…HALF-MARATHON TRAINING IN PROGRESS….

Well I started, for the third time and some say third is the charm, my Half-Marathon training.  I don’t have any scheduled Half-Marathon, but I am doing it anyway. There are several beginning next year that are close by so that’s is my motivation.

I started Monday with a 2 mile run, Tuesday with cross training (weights) and Wednesday with a 3 mile run. Both runs where done around the neighborhood and will try to keep it this way for 4 and below. More than 4 mile run will be done at the park.

So how is it going? Great!!! Yesterday run was great, I did I new route which is further from my house, but it was a nice change of scenery. Truly enjoyed. Today I am running 3 more! And I am thinking… levy?

So, so far I have:

Monday: 2 mil run ( I did 2.5)

Tuesday: Cross Training (45 min at the gym)

Wednesday: 3 mil run (I did 3.69)

Back and hopefully to stay!

Many things have changed since the last time I posted.

1. We sold our house
2. I am officially working from home (still trying to figure out if this is a good thing)
3. My youngest son, Andrew, turned 1 year old
4. I drop 5 lbs

Regarding  my running there a few issues that I am still working on, I guess once you start making 20 to 30 miles a week, a few things we come to the surface:

First, I started having a pain in my calf that just kept getting worse and worse, to the point that walking was a chore and going up and down the stairs was a real agony.  I kept on running, and it will hurt so bad the first few strikes, but 5 or 10 minutes later I was able to get the pace and keep it. The pain obviously returning a the moment I would stop for cooling down. My husband is a Physical Therapy Assistant which can be a blessing, but he considers running a dangerous sport that can deteriorate your joints, so to have an injury because of running comes with the “I told you so”, but at the end and under his insistence I kept on a 3 mile top and every other day or so.

Dear husband say you may strained your muscle, but I kept thinking no, is something with my running so I did research and research and finally hit me… I am an OVERPRONATOR. With this in mind and bought a pair of running shoes with more stability, a Brook pair (vs the Nike I was using) and got some insoles  for extra comfort.  The result? Yeah, that is what it was. I am running better than ever, and even though I get sore on the same leg, at least the horrible pain is gone and I am actually enjoying my me moment (running). Oh… Brook running shoes rule!

So, now that my life has more or less stabilized more, and my routine is slowly but surely coming along, I am back on my blog and continue to write about my running progress.

So.. Where are we?

Oh yes, I am still running. Defenitely I think that my love for running has been put to the test… there are many things that have been going on in the last  two weeks lets recap:

v     We packed our stuff and move out of the house one week and half ago, uff, only on that one I am feeling tired

v     We sold the house! Yep, last week we closed on the house and therefore we are officially HOMELESS!

v     We move with my mother-in-law, which we love dearly but we are cramped in a 300 sqft room (the four of us) and there are another 6 people living in the house, so yes, crowded and lacking privacy is an understatement… but very thankful!

v     My oldest got sick

v     My oldest got my younger sick

v     My younger got so sick he developed an upper inflammatory infection which included nose and eyes…

v     My younger got me sick

On all of this, I kept on running. My weekly miles decreased but is picking up again. I also got a running buddy! My 10 year old niece and I love it, its great to spend some time with her and she is also very good.

Oh well, next week is about to get as hectic or more than the last two so…. Yep. I will keep on running!

Running = Therapy

Yes, running has become my therapy to channel all my stress. In the past few weeks me (us including my family) has made important decisions that affect our future. We have decided to move to Houston, due to the relocation of my company. This brings me joy because we are making decisions so that I can “climb up” the corporate ladder, which makes me feel very proud and appreciative of my husband, on the other hand it scares the crap out me…. What if things do not work out… what if we do not like Houston… what if... I get fired tomorrow? My income as the sole income for a couple of weeks (or months) worries me and a lot.  There are many questions with no answers and just a big gulp of hope, faith and patience.

In the process of moving to Houston we sold our house.  In the housing market today we were extremely lucky to be able to sell the house with virtually no advertising… (our neighbor wanted it), and at a very good price. It was meant to be. But of course now we are in the “fun” part (being totally ironic here), we are living our of boxes, putting our furniture in a Pod and moving this weekend to my mother in law’s house, which already have three grown ups and three kids living there, plus us four… well that is five adults and five kids, yes a total of 10 people under the same roof.   Again pass me the glass so I can take another gulp of patience…

Nevertheless, I am appreciative to my husband’s family for making the move way more subtle while offering a home between homes… priceless.

So, the moving, the selling of the house, my demanding job, my two kids (3 y/o and 10 months), my fore coming living arrangements with 10 people, my little one upcoming surgery (supposed to be ok but surgery is surgery no matter how you see it)… well is taking a toll on me and this is when RUNNING has come handy.  I run so can release myself apart from my day and focus on me, me, me and more me.  Running is my therapy (and a good one like dear hubby would say).  I am looking forward every time for my next run, I am happier on my running days and my mood after a run changes from being all serious to relax.

In other words, RUNNING is keeping me together…

And I want an Oakley sporty sun glasses too.

Today I stopped and smelled the flowers and I realized that…

-         I have more patience that I think I have and is put the test every single day my 3 y/o ask me to put the same song over and over and over and over and over again…

-         The power of coffee can never be underestimated

-         A full time working mom that gets sick… is screwed but nobody notices…