Well I have achieved my first goal of the year, 50 miles in January.  I didn’t think I’d get there a few weeks ago when I took 4 days off in a row.  And then I had the IT band thing last week so I couldn’t do my normal Saturday long run so I thought it was in serious doubt.  But I ran 3 miles on Sunday, Monday and Wednesday which left only ¾ of a mile for today.  Easy…right?  Well I’m not feeling the best.  My eyes are in so much pain, I didn’t even wear my contacts today.  And my body just overall aches. I’m not sure why…I hope I’m not getting sick. :( I also wanted to run today so I could get the Chinese New Years and Gold Trophy (50 mile).

So here is my month preview.  16 runs with an average distance of 3.2 miles.  My pace was ok. I would like to get faster.  I’m not sure if I’ll get to 50 in February.  You know 3 less days and all.

Training Recap

Miles ran in 2014: 51.26 miles (only 348.74 miles left to go)

Week 20 Mileage:      Swim =   0 miles;   Bike =   0 miles; Run =  14 miles; Total =   14 miles

Total Mileage so far:  Swim = 11 miles;   Bike = 68 miles; Run = 182 miles; Total = 261 miles

Well this will be the first Saturday I won’t get to run in over 4 months. I am very sad. :(   I want to run, I really do, and I may go walking later (and possibly run a litle). But I should really take the day off.  I did 3 miles last night very fast and I think that has finally aggravated my IT band to the point it really hurts to walk. Darn! So for those who aren’t familiar, the IT band is a sort of tendon (?) that runs along the outside of your leg from your pelvis to your knee.  It is important for stabilizing the knee during running.  Apparently, I’m not alone, this injury affects 12% of runners.  My pain is above my knee, almost right in the middle of my leg. I have been told to get a foam roller to stretch it out and hopefully ease my pain. Later tonight I’m off to Sports Authority to get yet another training tool. I’m disappointed that I will miss a Saturday. Saturdays are typically been my long run day and I do between 4-6 miles. Not today. If I do any running it would be 2 miles at most.  I don’t want to make it worse!   Swimming would have been a good activity to do today to cross train but, I worked today. Blah. I got home just in time for our new coach to be delivered.  Yay!  I love it. It is very comfy to sit on, I’m so happy!

Assuming I don’t run today here are my weekly training recap:

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 29 (almost to 30) :)

Miles ran in 2014: 40 miles (only 360 miles left to go)

Mileage:  Week 19:  Swim = 0 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 11.1 miles; Total = 11.1 miles

Words I thought I’d never utter but it is true.  Because of the super cold weather (polar vortex #2), Eden Prairie didn’t have school today so we didn’t have band practice.  Don’t get me wrong, I love band but this week has been so busy with work that I’m looking forward to an evening with nothing to do.

Sunday I went for a 4 mile run outside it felt great. My first mile was very fast and then I slowed considerably. I don’t know why I keep doing that. ARGH!  But anyways here are my splits:

It might be a while before I can run outside again. Look at the forecast for Sunday-Wednesday.  I wonder if they will have school on Monday.  LOL! 

We worked really late Monday so no working out for me.  Tuesday was volleyball at 9:15pm. I hate 9:15 games.  I have a hard time staying away for these games. I went to the community center for a run but I forgot my shoes and by the time I got home it was too late to go back before my game.  I was so upset, I came home and threw my hat and gloves and boots and keys on the floor and had a little temper tantrum. I laugh now because I was so upset because I culdn’t run.  What is wrong with me?  I can’t believe that I was mad. The old me would be “Yay, great excuse for not working out.”  I survived the volleyball game but didn’t fall asleep until almost midnight.

That means Wednesday was a long tiring day.  Another late day at work so I missed swimming.  :( I made up for it by going running at the community center. I did 56 laps…4 miles. It seemed slow but my average pace was pretty good.  I really miss the outdoor running…it so boring running in circles. On an exciting note, the Gophers killed the #9 Badgers last night. It was electric, it would have been fun to be at the Barn last night…I was running instead.

Today was freaking cold.  The low this morning was -15 degrees. The high never got above zero, weather.com says the high was -6 degrees.  That is why I don’t have band tonight.

The good news is I lost 2 more pounds so I’m almost to 30. I will probably gain a bit this weekend but I’m happy.  Funny thing is according the one website I was on today. I still need to lose close to 70 pounds to reach the “normal” weight category. Ya right!

Time to veg on the coach…I’m so excited…by the way we are getting a new coach…also very exciting.

I don’t say those word lightly and I know “hate” is a strong word but I really don’t know how else to describe my strong dislike for this month. I’m so glad my birthday is in December.  There are many reasons why this month is so horrible.  Firstly, it is always so cold and this year especially.  We had the polar vortex a couple weeks ago and guess what we are getting another one. Yay!  I love below zero “highs.” Secondly, the days are short. I go to work it is dark, I come home from work it is dark. I know it isn’t as bad as say Alaska but it sucks! Thirdly, work is busy.  I mean really busy, nights, weekends, blah, blah, blah.  And January is just the start, I have 4 more months of this to look forward too and that is just depressing.  But my vacations keep me going and that is why I book them so far in advance…I need something to look forward to!

OK enough of my bitching.  On to my workouts. Sunday was a good run.  I did 3.4 miles and my pace was under 13:30.  My first mile as you can see was fast for me…the fastest in a very long time. Mile 2 was good too but the last one I really slowed down. I’m not sure why.

After work on Monday, I dragged Eric out for a run. It was the last “warm” day before we went back into the deep freeze. Tuesday was volleyball. We had playoffs and played a doubleheader. We lost the first game but won the second game. Wednesday was a swimming night. I’m happy to say I’m back to swimming. I couldn’t go last week because I had a cold so it was out. Stuffed up nose and water = disaster! I’m happy to be in the pool, slowly swimming my laps. Thursday was band so no workouts. Friday was swimming again and yesterday I trudged through the snow and ran 3.15 miles. I had planned on 4 miles but we got 4” of snow and not all the paths were clear. My time was very slow but I’m blaming it on the snow. 

I had a setback on my weight loss. I somehow gained over 2 pounds in a few days which was a major downer.  But I got back on track so I’m back to about 27 pounds lost. It is very discouraging but I will press on.

Training Recap

Pounds lost: 27 [after gaining 2]  :(

Miles ran in 2014: 28.9 miles (only 371.1 miles left to go)

Mileage:  Week 18:  Swim = 1 miles; Bike = 0 miles; Run = 9.3 miles; Total = 10.3 miles