What Can Make You Run Faster?

I set out on my "long" run this weekend - about 6.4 miles. At a point when I was about three miles away from home, I got a call from my husband, saying that he had managed to lock himself and our toddler out of the house. They had left for the park when I set out on my run and he forgot to take his house keys with them. Whoops!!!! Unfortunately, I was three miles away, with no way to get home quickly! I just had to run! :) At least it made me pick up the pace a little bit (that and being chased by a bee during the last mile!). What a workout! Not my longest run -- but definitely some of my quicker miles there at the end! Now if I can just do double that, I should be ready for August!!! :)

8 Miles!

Although it still seems partly unbelievable (but is true ... I have witnesses), I got up early to run EIGHT miles this morning. I woke up feeling not too hot -- but told myself I should just get out there & do the best I could. Most of the routes I've been running are there-and-back routes, so I figured if I wasn't feeling up to the whole eight miles once I got going, I could always turn back early. Not so. Once I got there I found out we were running a big loop around part of Mission Bay - through Tecolote Shores, past Sea World, up Ingraham Street and then back through PB. So once I started, I would have to finish. I expected to fall waaaaaaaay back -- but surprisingly, I was able to keep up! I was ridiculously impressed with myself! (Let me remind you that I'm the girl who, six months ago, would have balked and said "no thanks!" to any suggestion of running a single mile.) I think I owe a lot to the jogging stroller I spend most of my runs pushing. It's clearly been adding some oomph to some of my shorter runs - because I'm feeling MUCH better after my 8 mile run than I did after my 7 mile run a few weeks back (I even spent the next few hours trucking all over Sea World!). What a fun way to start the weekend!!! It feels GREAT! :)

Lake Murray Kicked My Butt!!!

I naively assumed that because I was able to run 7 miles the other weekend, that I would have no problem whatsoever with a 6 mile run around Lake Murray. Let me just say that a totally flat 7 mile run on my own is a LOT different than a 6 mile run on a more hilly course with a toddler in a jogging stroller. A LOT different. Granted, there aren't enormous hills around the lake path -- but they sure FEEL pretty enormous after five miles of running with a stroller.
The first two miles of any run aren't really fun for me. By the third mile I'm a little more into the running groove. When we hit the turnaround point in the run, I was feeling pretty good -- we'd run the whole way at a good pace (considering the uphill jags) - stopping only twice really quickly: once for me to take B's sweatshirt off & once for me to give him a juice box. The way back was pretty rough -- my legs and butt were in PAIN from pushing B up the hills (which I admit I was probably trying to do too quickly just to get to the next blissful downward turn). And I will reiterate for anyone who says the hills aren't very big and shouldn't be a problem: try it with a stroller. ALL of it. ALL six miles. Ouch, ouch, ouch. If I didn't have my jogging stroller, there's no way we would have made it. We'd probably still be sitting out there, me collapsed on the side of the path while Billy chased the ducks around.
Billy did great on the run. I think he started to get a little restless towards the end -- but it had been more than an hour of running -- so he was a GREAT little companion. The juice box entertained him for awhile - -as did all of the dogs we passed and all of the other runners & walkers out at the lake. He would wave and say "hi" to everyone we passed & everyone thought he was just adorable! We saw a few other kiddies out in jogging strollers -- and lots of little old couples going for their morning stroll, and plenty of super-fit athletes springing past us like gazelles.
I think we'll definitely attempt it again...... someday......... after my body forgives me for putting it through the agony. I had to cut my Tuesday run down from 3.5 miles to 2 miles (not all of which I ran) because my legs were still just SO SORE -- they didn't want to run.
But we did it -- last time I attempted Lake Murray my sister & I walked (with B in his regular stroller) and we turned back around the 2.5 mile marker -- this time B & I ran all the way. :)

MUST. HAVE. JOGGING. STROLLER.

I am happy to say I'm the proud new owner/operator of an awesome jogging stroller.
I had previously been taking Billy along on my runs in his regular stroller. While it's a pretty cool stroller - it's not a jogging stroller. Since I'd already made a hefty investment in my running shoes (and super custom insoles to support my ridiculously high arches), I wanted to put off spending more money on a second stroller until I really convinced myself (and my husband) that I was serious about this new running hobby.
I was starting to get frustrated running with Billy's stroller. I felt like 4 miles with it was my absolute MAX. It was heavy, cumbersome, bumpy -- the weight of it made it impossible to get enough momentum going to actually run uphill, and I always walked down any inclines too, worried that I would trip & fall & the stroller would go flying down the hill with little B trapped inside. So it was partly an argument in favor of my increasing fitness and partly an argument in favor of our son's safety that finally won me my own jogging stroller.
Since I was a little uncomfortable spending $300 or more on a stroller that could end up being only mildly better than the one I had been pushing so far - I started checking out Craigslist to see what we could find. After a few days of searching, I found one that was decently priced that looked like a good find - and my super-nice hubby drove halfway to Arizona to pick it up for me ("halfway to Arizona" = East County).
The night he brought it home we put B in it after his bath and took a spin around the living room. Billy LOVED it. He was giggling and laughing the entire time. He spent the rest of the night climbing back up into the stroller ask asking for more rides around the house. I think the fact that he's seated further forwards in this one & the fact that it doesn't have the little tray for his snacks & toys makes him feel like he's really flying full-speed ahead -- like an "extreme" stroller ride. :)
I spent all day yesterday looking forward to our run. I had a 3.5 mile run planned on our traning calendar. It took me about a mile to get used to the fixed front wheel - but after that it was smooth sailing. And I mean SMOOTH!!! Wow. The stroller literally glided across the pavement. It was amazing. I hardly even felt like I was pushing it. It's balanced perfectly. I was truly amazed to discover that I could actually run uphill with it too..... it's so much lighter than the other stroller! It also has a hand-brake that completely enables me to control the stroller running downhill. Amazing. I feel like I've hit the stroller jackpot! The stroller even came equipped with a pedometer that tracks my mileage & my speed -- no more need to take the same familiar routes each day because I've calculated the distance on each different loop around the neighborhood. I love it. We actually ended up going five miles yesterday (well.... 5.6 if you include the trip back from the park to our house at the end). I felt like a super-star!!!
Bill told me that he got to chatting with the guy selling the stroller when he picked it up & both the seller and his wife are former Navy veterans who each served two tours of duty in Iraq. So I feel like I totally got an EXTREME stroller. How can I not kick-butt when my stroller has awesome vibes like that?!
I'm also totally jazzed because I honestly thought I wouldn't be able to do anything more than a 4 mile run with the B-monster. But with the jogging stroller I feel like I could do ten! :) Providing he doesn't get totally bored, of course.....
YAY! :)

There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly....

..... and she and I have a lot in common. While running with Binky in the stroller the other day, I was racing along and all of a sudden a BUG flew into my MOUTH (although I'm sure he'd argue that my mouth ran along and snatched him up)!!! ICK!!
My first running casualty.
I immediately started choking and spit the little bugger out! Fortunately Billy had a juice box he was sipping away on in his stroller (which I always bring along in case he gets fussy --- he loooooves juice boxes). I grabbed it and swished some juice around in my mouth to rinse out the buggy-ness (blah).... but to anyone driving by, I must have looked like some horrible shrew of a mother, stealing my son's only juice box on the side of the road.
Whoops.
:)

7 Miles! Yay!

My longest run ever (again!). I had the chance to run with some of my "serious" running friends - and I took the challenge, not quite sure I'd be able to keep up OR to keep running the entire distance. We met up at Harbor Island at 7 a.m. Saturday morning and ran along San Diego Bay into downtown. I remember being totally exhausted, keeping a lookout for our halfway point as we passed the cruise ships & docking areas .... but had to remind myself that the halfway point was just that -- HALF way -- and I still had to run all the way back.

I was seriously worried I was totally going to embarrass myself and have to stop and walk & be left in everyone's dust (not to mention the fact that I LOOKED like a total beginner with my cotton jogging clothes, my husband's baseball hat & my VitaminWater in hand).

But I made it! Granted - I did slow down a bit near the end - especially the last mile -- but I didn't stop & totally made it! I still can't really believe I did it (although my super-sore legs & butt remind me that I definitely did!). It feels awesome to be hitting new milestones & accomplishing new goals. It definitely boosted my confidence & made me feel like I can TOTALLY be ready for a half marathon in August! :) I'm feeling good!

Oh.... and I actually said the following sentence in all seriousness earlier this week: I only ran 2.5 miles.

I ONLY ran 2.5 MILES!!!!!

Amazing that those words came out of my mouth given than two months ago I don't think I had ever even run 2.5 miles at once! :)

I'm awesome!

I ran 6 miles last Sunday -- AFTER a day strolling around the Wild Animal Park. Personal best! Whoo Hoo!!!! What a difference running without the stroller makes! I had just enough energy left afterwards for my (also awesome) happy dance!!!!!

So, let it be known -- it's official: I'm awesome!!!

The whole time I just kept thinking that if someone had told me two months ago that I'd be out on a six mile run I would have never believed it -- not when the prospect of actually running the whole way around the block would have made me want to keel over!!!

So...... go, me! Awesome, awesome me!!! :)

On a related note: my butt hurts!!!!!!