Summer

 It's been a busy summer over here with lots of time spent with him:

(Dancing at an outdoor concert)

     (down the slide during a camping trip)

And his friends:

  (Making waterslides with marble works in my living room....and not cleaning up, of course:)

I find that the older my son gets, the more he needs me - perhaps a bit different than how I thought things would turn out (but most of what I thought parenting would be, parenting is NOT:) - and the more interesting and difficult parenting gets. I love being kept on my toes by a 7 year old blond boy - particularly since those toes have needed to be kept busy since there has been very little running during the past month. My shin splint turned out to be a sore spot and perhaps a stress reaction. I wouldn't know because I did not see a doctor for it (I believe in a good PT, but tend to stay away from doctors - I believe that they cause more trouble when it comes to running injuries). But now I am "all better" and ran 15 miles this week keeping the pace easy at my aerobic pace minus 5 beat (which is 8-8:30 these days). I am taking things super slow because I want my legs to get used to the impact; I kept in pretty good shape aerobically with high intensity elliptical and more recently 5 or so hours of spinning a week, so I could easily run a bit faster now, but this would not be good for the legs. If I can give one advice to keeping in shape when injured is to use your HR monitor and train at your aerobic zone, with intervals going up to 95% HR. These are much tougher to do without the impact from running, but they worked for me. I feel strong.

I missed running at times, but honestly not as much as I thought I would. I really dislike summer running and having to wake up at the crack of dawn to run. The AC at the gym allowed me to keep a schedule that worked well for me. But, the main reason why I did not miss running was probably because I did not allow myself to miss it; I simply embraced the bike and the elliptical and stopped reading running books for a bit (I still read blogs though:). I focused on the benefits of not running, and reminded myself that I tend to come back stronger after a break. I also reminded myself that the injury gave me an out - I did not have to run a Fall marathon, phew, because I really do not like the marathon.

So what have I learn during this bout with injury?

1. 80 miles is my top mileage for now. Going above it = potential for injury.
2. I need the hard/easy methodology. Running the same pace, even during base, stresses the legs in the same way, and leads to injury for me.
3. I may not be able to handle doubles. I may be able to run 15 miles at once, but not as 10 and then 5 later. I used *may* because I am not convinced yet about this.
4. I can't log high mileage or do lots of high intensity training during periods of high work stress. I cope well with stress, but nonetheless, when stress is there I either need to sleep even more (ha!), or cut the mileage or intensity.
5. I enjoy training myself. I love training logs, numbers, paces, reading about anything running related.
6. I need to be true to what running means to me during the present moment. This has been changing for me over the years. I rely on running less and less (a good thing!). I am attached to goals less and less (another good thing!).
7. You can work the bike and the elliptical and get endorphins just as much as you would from a run. This requires a mental shift, however.
8. I absolutely love to cheer on my friends training for marathons, especially Jenn and Katie, and am secretly happy I don't train for one myself (though I terribly miss running with Katie!).

Run/Cross train Happy:)

Bloggers in real life

When I started this blog many years ago I was not interested in followers (I still am not, sorry!). I was not interested in making connections. I simply wanted to write anonymously, document my training, and have a record of my running(s) and living(s). It took me over 4 years of blogging to even consider responding to a comment; when I received a couple of emails after my first marathon in 2009, I thought it was kind of weird. I felt perfectly content in my personal life, with enough friends and family to consider letting anyone from the blog in. Ha! How things have changed. I am now emailing almost daily with 2 women I met via this blog, who have become very close friends.

I virtually trained with Jenn for Baystate 2011 and rapidly became able to share private details of my life that typically take me years to share. Perhaps because we are so similar. I am looking forward to the time when we will be able to both train for something without one of us getting injured. I am also looking forward to our sweat contest - you see, she think she actually sweats more than I do, ha, ha, ha!   Jenn is someone who puts a lot of thought into every aspect of her life. She is a no nonsense, no excuses super busy person who somehow always makes time for those who are important to her. Oh, and she is also very hot.

 Sometime early 2012, I think, I started to exchange emails with Amanda. It was Boston 2012, however, that really sealed my friendship with her. Amanda and I are very different in many ways. She carries emotions on her face while I  often choose not to show my emotions. She is a free spirit while I am more of an analytic thinker. But Amanda won me over with her big heart, genuineness, and incredible ability to connect. She is a ball of energy and sexy muscles. You think you know her from the first meeting, but girl's got layers and depth and wisdom beyond her years.

After many many emails we finally met in Boston 2 weeks ago. Amanda arrived earlier and she and I waited for Jenn (whom none of us had met before) pacing around the airport. And then we got home and talked nonstop in my living room from 12 noon to 2:30am. Boom! It was easy conversation, and we covered topics from G to NR17 and more. There were no hang ups. Everyone was comfortable getting food, sleeping late or waking up early, emailing or talking. It was truly perfect. We walked the streets of Boston, shopped for jeans, ate a few bags of chips and a pound of dark chocolate, ran some, ate some more.... Several bottles of wine and some beers disappeared in the process. Sometime Saturday night I fell asleep on the armchair while these 2 played dress up and took pictures for a dear friend who could not make the trip (sorry, none of those will be posted!). We went to bed at 4am.

In no particular order:

                                                                    Jenn and Amanda!

                                                            Jenn and I - the dark circles under my eyes clearly show that I    
                                                               need my 8hs of sleep!

                                                             Jenn and I

                                            Amanda - this little bundle of muscle - showed us some of her talents!
                                            She can also do 10 pull up in a row, thank you very much!

Monday morning came too soon and I feel that there were so many topics I wanted to cover and did not get to. Next time for sure. In the meantime, really thankful for this little blog and for the email to continue our friendship!