Carmel Week 17: Why Is It Still Cold?! WHY?!

Why Is It Still Cold?! WHY?!


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Selfie fun with Grandma!

I'm feeling a little more positive this week. My runs haven't sucked too bad, and we are inching closer to race day! I did start the week off with some horrible thoracic pain. After three nights of bed building, my upper back was killing me. I was hoping I'd sleep it off Sunday night, but I woke up in pain! I was able to run without it bothering me. I focused a lot on stretching and tennis ball massage. That seemed to help a lot, but the hubs wanted to put together the entertainment center! This aggravated my back a bit, but I knew I wanted to just get it over with so I could focus on rest the week of my race. After another couple of days of stretching and massage, I felt hopeful that it wouldn't be a problem.


Although it hasn't affected my running, I have my chronic piriformis syndrome issues. My right piriformis gets so tight that it compresses my sciatic nerve and refers pain down through my calf. It's a more irritating pain than anything. I usually only get it when sitting in the car (which I have to do ALL DAY LONG). Of course, it is made worse after a run. A year ago, I had it pretty bad and decided to get a massage a few days before the Little Rock marathon. It helped tremendously! I decided to go ahead and do it again before Carmel. I also had them address my upper back and neck.

• 3/19: 6.13 miles, 8:59/mile; Bis/Tris, 30 minutes. Sarah met me at my house for an early run. It was nice rolling out of bed and not driving somewhere! I found a nice 6 mile loop from my house and around the Lambton Park neighborhood in New Albany. After work, I went to the gym to stretch my back and see if I could tolerate a lift session. I stuck to bis and tris to slightly eliminate the involvement of my thoracic spine. At the time, I was having pain with shoulder motions great than 90 degrees.
• 3/20: 9.5 miles, 8:19/mile. Today's speed session included a 2 mile warm up (9:13/mile), 3 miles at marathon pace (8:13, 8:06, 8:00), 0.5 miles at half marathon pace (7:30), 3 more marathon miles (8:00 x3), and a 1 mile cool down (8:57). All went well, and my legs felt good. I did have to run on the treadmill because of the weather. I decided against a lift session to continue resting my back, but I did practice some yoga.
  

  

  Coffee is the best post run treat.

• 3/21: 7.28 miles, 8:56/mile; Shoulders, 45 minutes. I took my efforts back to the treadmill again today. I had my usual Gahanna Wednesday run planned, but the roads were icy from the snow/winter mix over night. We decided to skip the 5 a.m. run. After some easy miles, I did the same shoulder workout from last week. My back is continuing to feel better! I'm hoping I can tolerate a chest/back workout tomorrow for cross training day.
  

  

  Just flexin' our shoulders.

• 3/22: Chest/Back/Abs, 45 minutes. Cross training day. I decided against a yoga workout in an effort to start resting my legs for race day. I decided to lift my favorite muscle groups...chest and back!
  

  

  My mom came across some old high school t-shirts.

  
  

  

• 3/23: 12 miles, 8:36/mile. Minus the company, today's run wasn't my favorite. I was supposed to do 5 warm up miles, 6 at marathon pace, and a cool down mile...that didn't happen. I technically only ran two of them in my pace range, two about 10 seconds slower, and the others easy. I just wasn't feeling it today. Not only was I sleepy, my legs were fatigued. I just kept telling myself I shouldn't feel that tired a week from race day. That's why I gave myself permission to slow down. My overall pace was great so I'll call it a win. I was glad to have Sarah and Britt to distract me from everything.
  

  

  Solid run. I just didn't hit the intended paces.

  
  

  

• 3/24: 3 walking miles, 17:13/mile. I met Meg at Schneider's for a cold walk through Westerville. I will never get tired of these moments with my buddy!
  

  

  Always gotta have some donuts. [ME, Meg]

  
  

  

  Peacock pose. This was a new one for me.

• 3/25: 5.59 miles, 8:57/mile. I had a slow start to my morning. I could have sworn I had the flu or something. I had the most awful sore throat last night into the morning. Swallowing was so painful. Throughout the night, I kept waking up in a pool of sweat. Of course, that was followed by freezing cold chills. This happened probably 5 times in the second half of the night in addition to getting up twice to pee. This was combined with an awful migraine that I've had since yesterday. I was a mess. Fortunately, between my mom and husband, I was able to sleep until 8 a.m. When I got out of bed, I felt guilty for sleeping because I could hear my sweet kids playing and having a good time. I woke up and tried to spend a little time with them and my mom. By 10 a.m., I mustered up enough energy to run. I took some ibuprofen just before starting my run which helped a bit with the headache. The run felt great, and the sunshine was beautiful.
  

  

  I love these moments with my pains in the ass.