About those 12 miles

I ran 11 miles on Sunday but because of soccer and birthday parties and our crazy lives, I knew I wasn't going to be able to do my long run on the weekend. So I asked my MIL to watch LightRunner and just 5 days after running 11 miles, I ran 12 for the first time in a year. 

Now, I have gotten to the point where I am thinking that I will never run another half marathon and I'm tired of long runs and why am I doing this? I'm doing most of my runs alone so there's no girl power sisterhood feeling like last year. Jen is nursing a baby, Sara is doing the marathon instead, Tracy has gotten pretty speedy and will probably finish a good 10-15 minutes before me. So the motivation is a little low. And after running 11 miles just FIVE DAYS AGO I was pretty nervous about this run. I knew when I was doing the 11 that I would have to do 12 pretty soon after so I tried to be smart and ran pretty slow. Which wasn't hard because I had to pee the whole time until I finally found an unlocked portapotty in front of a house being built and it was the best pee EVER. I planned on doing today's 12 pretty slow too because the last thing I need is another injury. 

I had a plan to cut the 12 miles into thirds. For the first 4 miles I would run really slow, even walking when I didn't have to, just to make sure that I was really warming up and not starting too fast. I did this no problem. Then I wanted to run the next 4 miles at my race pace (10:00) and then slow down a bit for the last 4 and hopefully wind up with an 11:30 average pace (I just read that your long run should be 30-90 seconds slower than your goal pace so I was shooting for 90 secs.). But when I hit mile 4 there was a bit of a problem. My left foot--the supposed good one--started cramping up for no stinking reason but even more than that I had to pee again!! Argh with the pee!! So I spent the next couple of miles focusing on not peeing and not focusing on running faster. Such is life. I finally found a spot to pee in the woods and it was lovely. I decided to just try to make sure my second half was faster than my first since my overall plan got messed up. 

I did it.

My average for the first 4 miles was 12 which was right where I wanted it to be.

Splits: 

1: 11:04

2: 12:25

3: 11:53

4: 12:49

My next 4 was not 10 minute miles but they were faster with an 11:23 average time.

5: 11:46

6: 11:29

7: 11:01

8: 11:17

My last 4 miles were my fastest with an average of 10:43. I kind of wish I had reversed mile 11 and 12 for true negative splits, but I'm pretty happy with the outcome. 

9: 11:17

10: 10:37

11: 10:27

12: 10:31

My overall pace was 11:22. I am stoked. I still feel like this will be my last half marathon, but I am really happy that I did what I sent out to do. These 12 miles were FASTER than the 11 I just did and yet I feel so much better than I did after those 11 miles. If I could just turn off my bladder everything would be so much easier. 

My Beloved Bia knows me so well.

The back.

One of the reasons my bladder is fuller is that I went ahead and bought myself a Nathan hydration vest so I don't have to use the belt anymore. The belt was getting too irritating and just not working out for me. I looked at both the CamelBak and the Nathan vests and decided on the Nathan Women's Intensity Race vest. The reviews were pretty good. I liked that the bladder is removable and easy to clean. It can hold 70 ounces which is more than I need but I like the option. I need to drink so much more than most people because of the whole kidney stone thing so I really can't get away with just a handheld. The first time I ran with it I forgot to suck the air out so it sloshed the whole time, but it wasn't as annoying as I thought. Today I sucked it out and there was no sloshing. It's comfortable and so much easier than the belt. I tend to drink less if I have to grab a bottle out of a belt, but I don't run anywhere that I could easily refill a handheld. The pockets are so much easier to use too. There's a big pocket in the back that can hold my keys and tissues and spare money and whatever. My favorite though is the pockets on the front. There's a bottle pocket on one side and then a zippered pocket for your phone on the other. Because I have an otter box on my phone and I don't need an extra bottle, I put my phone in the bottle side. It fits perfectly and is in easy reach. I put my honey stingers in the zippered pocket and my pepper spray in the outer one on that side. It's the perfect setup. I think I might wear this for all my runs regardless of distance! It was reasonably priced and I haven't had any problems with it. No chafing anywhere, no unusual shoulder pain. I've only used it twice so I don't want to jump the gun, but if you're looking into a hydration vest I would recommend looking into this one.  

The front

January stats

I'm pretty happy with how January has gone as far as exercise and running is concerned. The weather has sucked big time, but I'm sticking to the positives here. I only missed two scheduled running days. One of those was weather/busy day and the other was an easy day I just had no motivation for. Most of my "long" runs have had to be on the treadmill because of the weather and I just can't do more than 4-5. Oh well. My tempo runs are getting better and my intervals are getting faster. For not having a specific race I'm training for, I'm pretty stoked about it.

I've also done really well sticking to my cross training schedule. I discovered I can log those in my running log too! If I can track it, I usually stick to it a lot better.

Stats:

Mileage: 62
Runs: 16
Cross Training Days: 17

Last year's January was 24.8 miles! Once the weather stops sabotaging my long run I think I can get even higher. I haven't had a 60 mile month in quite some time, so I'm pretty satisfied.

One area I've fallen short with is stretching. I plan to do it but if things get wonky (early wakeups from naps, homework problems, etc.) I skip it. But I've noticed that I'm having a hard time keeping my legs straight in the air when I'm doing floor work. So I've been more diligent about the stretching the last couple of days. Last night I did a full 30 minute routine and today I did a shorter one after my easy run. I need to make sure I do the longer full routine on the days I run hard. I already noticed a difference in my core workout today. I think my hamstrings are getting too tight and I need to work it out before it leads to injury. So, stretching it is.

I really miss running with friends, but it is too cold for me in the dark early hours. I've also noticed that if I run too early for my long run (like right after breakfast) I have more problems staying hydrated. I need to run later so I can make sure I have enough water in me before I go.

I have been super good about my water consumption as well. I am tracking it on my iPad with an app so I can see exactly how much I drink each day. Because I *thought* I was drinking enough and I totally wasn't. I count my morning cup of tea and the occasional glass of wine, but for the most part I just drink water now. I don't leave the house without my water bottle. Most days I hit my goal. I don't count any of the food I am eating, so on the days I'm short, I'm probably really not.

I obviously need to work on the strength in my left arm since I have been holding a crying baby while typing this (the after nap crying for no reason nonsense) and my arm is going to rip out of the socket.

Tonight I am going out for a much needed Girls Night with some good friends I haven't seen in a while. And since I successfully did my run and core workout I'd better shower so they keep being my friends!

The importance of hydration

Be smart. Drink water.

I've never been good at drinking water in the winter. I am constantly cold and drinking water doesn't help that... unless it is hot and comes with a tea bag. Since I've had to stop drinking my 10 thousand glasses of milk a day I've been drinking water with lunch and dinner.

But it's not enough.

Runners need to drink water. Breastfeeding moms need to drink water. Running breastfeeding moms need to drink LOTS of water. Do not underestimate how much you will need. Don't make the same mistake I did.

I wasn't going to post about this but I figured hey, when do I ever hold back?

A few months ago I ran intervals and when I went to the bathroom immediately after there was blood in my urine. I instantly thought, crap, I'm getting my first postpartum period. But it didn't happen again and I didn't think of it again. The last couple of weeks it's happened a few times--always after a hard intervals run or a much longer run than I usually do--and I realized that it's not like menstruation, there's blood IN the urine. I come from a family of kidney stone sufferers so this wasn't exactly what I wanted to see. In the past it would happen and that would be it. But this last time I had lower back pain too. Uh-oh. Long story short I had a UTI. And running with a UTI is NO fun. I caught it before it got too bad so I never got a fever or really bad pain. The back pain was actually the worst problem. I've been on antibiotics for almost a week now and should be all cleared up. When I peed after running my intervals today there was no blood but it was a bit darker than usual. This can happen from an empty bladder slapping against um, other organs I guess, while running. "They" recommend not emptying your bladder before a run. Which is the exact opposite of what a mama of 4 does... I'm not sure if that's it or if it's just plain ol' dehydration. I did pretty good drinking tons of water when I first had pain last week but the past couple of days I've been pretty busy and haven't been that good.

I'm back to drinking at least 1 liter of SmartWater (it has electrolytes in it) a day in addition to my lunch, dinner, and snack water (from our filtered water). I usually buy a 6-pack of SmartWater from Target but I might have to buy a whole case... I think I like the electrolytes... I can drink a lot more SmartWater than I can regular water. I'm going to be running a lot more over the summer and next fall when I start training for my first half-marathon. I can't be worrying about UTIs and bloody pee.

So, please, breastfeeding running moms, don't make the mistake of forgetting about yourself. Drink your water!

*No, SmartWater did not pay me to write this. But I would love some free water if they felt like sending me some. :-)