May: 100 miles

Yes, I did it. Two runs today just so I could log 100 miles for the month. M thinks I'm crazy, but it's something I needed to do and it feels great. No run for me tomorrow!

new running pal

Another great motivator for me is to find new people to run with. This morning Thomas and I met a woman and her baby from our neighborhood for a nice run. It was great to meet her! We have a number of similarities and are a really good match for running together. We ran 5.25 miles at just under a 9 minute mile pace. Hopefully we'll meet up for another run again soon!

This morning's run put me at 95.75 miles for the month which means I'll be out circling the neigborhood this afternoon/evening to get those extra miles. I need to hit 100 miles for the month.

motivation?

Every few months I look for something new to motivate myself to run. Sometimes it is an upcoming local race, sometimes it is changing who I run with. I find that making some changes every once in awhile helps to keep things interesting.

Yesterday I tried a couple of new things on my long run. Instead of heading out the door to run the entire distance by myself, I took my son with me for the first half. M was home so I estimated my time for the first half and we did a hand-off halfway through my long run. I thought this worked really well. I enjoy taking him with me and 5 miles is about his limit.

The other new thing is tied into this first one and that was to run loops. I always run a single loop because to me it's all over once I see the finish. Mentally, I stop.

Yesterday's run was composed of two different 5 mile loops. The first through the neighborhood with a nice flat stretch in the middle miles and the second on a hilly route. The break between was very brief. M was waiting for us and came right out to retrieve our son so I didn't have to stop for more than a minute. Maybe it was this little distraction at the "finish" that helped me to continue on for a second loop?

It was a really great run.

trail running & toe update

Ran 7+ hilly trail miles this morning and I think all the downhill loosened up the toenail because tonight most of it came off. I couldn't take all of it off because some of it is still okay and pulling on it is causing it to bleed. Ugh. It's bumpy, multi-colored and not a pretty sight.

I need new running shoes.

Yes, the toe adjacent to the big guy has also suffered some trauma (though this was weeks ago). It's purple and will likely fall off eventually also. The third toe over was just trimmed too short.

The run was good though. Initally had planned for 5 miles but we ended up doing 7.25 miles total. The group pace was comfortable, but the hills were a workout!

5 miles

Five miles with the jogger in 42:47. Whoo hoo!

something is clicking

Two things are clicking: my left knee when I walk up stairs and something with my running this week. I think it's due to my runs with the jogger, but it may also have to do with running in the afternoon versus the morning. Anyway, I finished my 6.5 miles this afternoon in 56:35 which is an 8:42 minute mile pace. I hope these faster runs this week continue!

resistance training

I ran my usual 4 mile route this morning in 31:08. This is the first time I've run this route in under 32 minutes. A full minute is pretty substantial and I'm feeling awesome! I'm crediting this faster time to the runs I've been doing with the baby jogger. With the weather warming up, I've been doing some of my runs in the late afternoon pushing the jogger. The additional resistance, particularly on the route we run which curiously always has a headwind regardless of direction or time of day, must be paying off. [note to self: must continue training with jogger.]

my big toe

Since early February, my toenail has been changing colors. Over half of the nail has now separated from the nail bed, but the rest of the nail remains intact and there's no sign of this thing coming off any time soon. The white area is thicker than the normal nail from almost the cuticle to the end of the nail. I've been keeping all nails short since January, but this one in particular is kept really short so nothing happens to it. I would hate to return from a run and take my sock off to find no nail on this toe.

Note: This ugly toenail does not keep me from wearing sandals. Pedicure, yes. Sandals, no.