The Road Ahead

I had a dream last night that I was running. Outdoors, in gorgeous weather, free. Even in the dream I was surprised that it felt so easy, because I knew that I've been in recovery mode. Here in reality I am still some time off from running so free and easy. The road ahead is a bit longer. This is the first in what is to become a weekly post about my progress toward recovery, weight loss, and getting back on the road.

Weight Loss: I'm not going to fixate on this too much until I get the all-clear to return to exercising, but I decided yesterday that I am going to start tracking what I eat again. No excuse not to eat healthy, right?!? I'm willing to bet I will be shocked at how badly I'm eating once I really start writing it down (more on this next week!). Of the ~30lb. I gained during the pregnancy, I've lost ~12. How can I possibly not have lost more than 12lb?? On the positive side, I'm only 4lb. over my Christmas 2010 weight, which is my initial weight loss goal. Also, I have 2 pairs of pants I can successfully button and zip! 

Exercise: Our weather has been gorgeous and I have been getting out frequently to walk in the park. I've tried to take my Garmin a few times, but the first time I tried the satellite signal was too weak. The second time I forgot it, and yesterday my Garmin FAIL happened again. I used mapmyrun and figured out that I've been walking about 1.5 miles at a time. I have some miles posted again!! 

Work: My maternity leave has technically ended, but since faculty are on 9-month contracts ending mid-May, I'm very thankfully able to stay home a little while longer. I'm back to at least staying on top of work-related email and putting out the raging fires, but for all intents and purposes, I'm still home with baby. 

Baby's Milestones: He started smiling about 2 weeks ago and the smiles have gotten more frequent. They just light up the room! He's also doing well holding up his head and chest during tummy time and he is becoming ever so slightly more responsive to us and things going on around him. 

Countdown to O-Run-thirty: Hopefully in 16 more days!!

March recap

this will be my last transmission from Earth's Central Time Zone, er, this will be my last blog post before the Martian Half. The kiddo and I head out tomorrow and we're ready for an awesome weekend. Mr. Joanna is ready for a long weekend of mostly yard work at home, sadly. But before heading out, the March Recap!


Miles planned/ran: 141/128.9
Rest days planned/taken: 5/6
Highest mileage week: 36.8
Long runs planned/ran: 4/3.5 (because this happened)
Pace workouts planned/ran: 3/3 
XT days planned/done: 5/5
Tempo or interval runs planned/ran: 5/5
Favorite run: I'm going to have to say my 16-miler. I had some fun and confidence-boosting tempo and pace workouts, but the 16-miler had gorgeous weather and I got my pacing right FTW. 
Current goal: sub-2 half on Saturday!!
Current obsession: see Current goal.
Current need: new dress pants, because nothing I own fits. See "current excitement," and no, I am not pregnant. 
Current excitement: too many to choose from~the trip this weekend, my continuing weight loss (thank you, sparkpeople!), and a visit from The Beastie next week!!
Current bane of my existence: the big toe on my right foot. Yep, still hurts. 
Current wish list: Crabtree & Evelyn lavender shower gel. I'm almost out and I always feel like it's a luxury to buy it. 
Current indulgence: As an early birthday present, my Mom bought me a necklace that I fell in love with while we were strolling around a boutique a few neighborhoods over. It's gorgeous and I love it! 


Special March Addition to the recap:
I've finally picked a name for the new Garmin: Clepsydra. This was a nomination from RunningFirst and I really like it. It's Greek for water clock/water thief. What better name for a running accessory could there be?!? Thank you for all the name suggestions! 

On Training Eve

So here I sit, on the eve of my spring training cycle, with some concerns and some things to admit. 

Concerns--that I don't have the time necessary to train for a full marathon. That the pain where my left hammy attaches to my butt bone will get worse (the doctor wrote "buttock pain" on the MRI order. I can't make this stuff up. And I'm skipping the MRI). That other injuries will surface--which every, every runner worries about. 

Things to admit--I love my job. LOVE it. But I'm also pretty overwhelmed with my current workload. I am more than a little bit stressed out. And I hate to even blog this because I hate not to be upbeat. Negative Nancy I am not. But it's what has kept me from blogging here recently. I definitely need you guys--to tell me that no one hits their training plan perfectly, that I *can* get through this. Even, and this is my real hope, that all the running will help me deal with the stress. 

On a lighter note, my brother had a job interview here last week. He flew in a day early so we could hang out and I could show him the city. We had lunch at a fantastic place in my neighborhood. He liked his sandwich so much that he wrote down its description from the menu to read to his wife. While on the phone with her he says, "If we move here, it's pretty much going to be for this sandwich." 

And to answer a question from The Black Knight, no, I am still on the dreadmill! I am super impressed by all you Michiganders and Canadians (wait, what's the difference??) who are running outdoors still. Y'all are crazy. This was my street this afternoon. Completely gorgeous, but since the park rangers don't shovel or salt the paths through the park, I'm inside for a while. 

Two last things to leave you with before training starts tomorrow. First, I joined sparkpeople about a month ago and am quite proud to announce that I've lost 4 pounds! Six more to go to reach my goal. I am *so* excited to get back to a race weight I'm happy with. It makes me feel better, look better, and will help me lower my race times. Updates to follow.

Second, a while back I said that a goal of this training cycle is to re-incorporate XT into the week. Well, I signed up for an hour long PowerFlow Yoga class on Tuesday mornings. I am pretty excited about it. Can't wait to get some flexibility back and work on core a little bit.

I am so much better positioned to beat the hell out of my training cycle than I ever have been before. I'm more experienced, I'm not pregnant, postpartum, or breastfeeding, I'm not defending a dissertation, moving, or starting a new job. And for the first time, I have a training schedule that I put together with help from RunningFirst that's personalized for little old me. Are you ready? I'm as ready as I'm going to be. Let's do this thing.