Three Thing Thursday

1.      4 miles done, and I didn't die...

Or at least I haven't yet. My shins and calf held up pretty well for this run on Tuesday. I have found that a water bottle with frozen water in it is the best massager/icer for my shins and calves. This Propel Fitness water bottle was the perfect shape.

Me icing my giant calves

2.    Yesterday was our first day of school.  

It's like having a newborn all over again. You feel like you haven't had any sleep (even though I have) and your body does weird things...I've had some crazy stomach issues, I guess getting used to eating early in the morning again, instead of after 9 am when I rolled out of bed this summer. I am SO sleepy between 2pm and 8pm, then I get this weird second wind around 8 and can't sleep when it's actually bedtime. I hope by September, all this has ironed itself out...

3.   I Got Up Early This Morning to Run!!!   

Anyone who knows me, knows I am not a morning person. This was the first time EVER that I have gotten up before work to run. My legs hurt ALL DAY. It became worse as the day went on. I only ran a freaking mile!!! What's up with that???

I have been so used to running at night or late afternoon when I can lounge around afterwards or sleep while my legs recover. This was a shock to my system. The run felt great, it was cool with a good breeze. Problem was, when I got back I went straight to the shower instead of icing or taking a lot of time to stretch. Since I only did a mile, I thought I'd be fine. WRONG!

I didn't allow enough time to run and do all the necessary after-care. For me, I have realized, icing and stretching are necessary for every run because of my shin splints and calf strain.  And warming up before I run outside on the harder surface is SO important. That's another reason I'm in pain. I rushed out thinking it would be quick and easy. For me, no run is quick and easy. At least not yet! I hope to get there one day.              

An Unexpected Day Off

Working and blogging apparently don't work well together for me...hence the last post being from last Wednesday. I started back to work last Thursday, and today was suppposed to be the first day of school in my school district. BUT IT WAS CANCELED! How often does that happen? First day of school...canceled!

Saturday we had a pretty mighty storm that literally blew through the city (70 mph winds) and 150,000 people lost power. That included about 48 schools. As of last night, there were still around a dozen schools without power, so classes for the first day were canceled. I got an unexpected day off. What to do, what to do??


Running

Over the last 4 days, I have been taking the dog out for a quick 1 mile run at night. Thank God the weather has been cooler and actually bearable to run in. I have taken my iPhone with me and used several different apps with GPS to track my mileage and time. Here's my last 3 runs:

Thursday - 1 mile - 12:00  (really fast for me!)

Saturday - 1 mile - 11:14  (fastest time thus far!)

Sunday - 2 miles - 27:58  (what the heck, Cindy?)

What the heck happened last night? Shins were screaming, so I stopped at 2 when I was supposed to do 5. I knew from the first few seconds of that run that I wasn't going to make it 5. I know my body and can definitely tell when it's going to be a crappy run early on. I'd rather have a slow, short run than no run at all, I guess. 

Ripped in 30

I am on week 4 now, and I am just going to continue a few times a week, mixing up which week a do from this point on. I really, really love this workout. And I really, really hate this workout. 

I love it because it has changed my body. Running has done a lot for my confidence and cardiovascular endurance. But I never lost weight. And I really didn't build much muscle. Ripped in 30 has given me a weight loss boost (just a few pounds, but still good for someone petite like me) and I can see a difference in the muscle tone in my arms and legs. I feel stronger. I have "slimmed down" as my husband has told me. He says I've lost weight in my face. That's interesting. 

I think a combo of running and this workout have been the 1-2 punch that I needed to build strength and lose a little weight. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a quick strength workout for cross-training. I hope now that I'm going back to work I can keep it up. 

Today I guess I will do a Ripped in 30 workout, take the little one for allergy shots and run some errands. I need a running break today to let my shins rest. I will try to run again tomorrow, hopefully completing the 4 miles on my schedule. Today is one of those days I think that a half marathon is not in the cards for me. But a big part of me says don't give up. Only time will tell...