Three Things Thursday

1. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've hit every run on my training schedule this week. All that's left is the 8-miler this weekend. I can't think of the last time that's happened. Probably never. And the runs this week? They've felt good. And knock on wood, that crazy leg pain I was feeling Monday? It hasn't returned.

2. Las Vegas is getting close. It really hit home today when I was sitting in a planning meeting for work. We were talking about budgets and what stories needed to be written and when deadlines are. Let's just say I've got A LOT to do before I take off for my Las Vegas vacation on Dec. 1! Eek!


3. I was held captive by the city's Christmas holiday parade tonight. I got out of work a little bit later than usual but with 7 miles on the schedule, I figured I'd be at the YMCA long enough for the parade to go through and the streets to open up to traffic. Nope. I ended up having to take a really roundabout way to get home. Going super far north just so I could cut over a few streets to turn south. And by the time I got back to where my office was (and the parade mess), I was hitting all of the post-parade traffic. Ugh. It took me almost 25 minutes to get home. On a normal night? It's a 7 minute trip.

Thanks for the input!

Thanks for the advice on the IT band issues guys.

I admit. Me and any kind of strength training? We don't get along very well. I always have good intentions, but never seem to follow through. I think I might look into the fitness class options offered at my YMCA and see if I can find some kind of class that will help me out. Or just suck it up and stop avoiding the weights section at the gym. And yes, my foam roller and I have become friends the last few nights.

On a positive note the leg isn't hurting today. I don't know. Maybe I just tweaked something during Sunday's 10-miler. Or maybe I was just stiff. Or maybe my legs forgot what it felt like to run double digit miles. Who knows. There's a short 3-miler on the schedule tomorrow, so I'll see how it feels. And maybe venture into the land of weights after.

I do know that I followed through with my planned rest day today and enjoyed being lazy. I was done with work early, hit up the grocery store and made a decent dinner. One that provided me with leftovers! Afterwards I crashed in my recliner and lost myself in a book.

Now it's time to pack a gym bag and crawl into bed for the night.

My legs probably don't like me very much right now

My legs were a little angry with me this morning when I rolled out of bed.

OK. Not both legs. Mainly my left one. It was kind of screaming at me when I took a step. The three flights of stairs I have to take to get to my office? Ouch. I'm not exactly sure what it is. It's on the outer side of my leg from mid-thigh to just above my knee. After doing some scientific Google research, I think it might be in the area of the IT band. But I could be wrong. I wasn't sure if I was going to do my run tonight. Since the thought of running kind of made me cringe. But the pain went away after lunch. I'm not sure if it's because I took some ibuprofen and used some BioFreeze or what. But by the time I left the office at 5 p.m., the stairs didn't hurt anymore.

Anyone have any advice on how to deal with an IT band issue?

So after a quick stop at the library, I headed over to the YMCA. I wasn't planning on anything long. Maybe just an easy 3 miles. But once I started running, it felt good. So I finished up with 4.3 miles - just like my training plan called for. So far tonight it's not hurting, but I think just to be safe, I might pull out the not-so-friendly foam roller and torture myself. And of course totally enjoy that rest day that I get tomorrow.

Oh and I almost forgot. As a result of tonight's run I hit a milestone. I finally broke 500 miles for the year. Officially I'm at 503.1 miles. Yeah, it's a little late. But it's a milestone I've never hit while running. So I'm a happy Badgergirl.

Gettin' it done

I had absolutely no desire to run today. Even though it was World Run Day.

I got up semi early. Read the Sunday paper. Watched way too many episodes of TLC's Say Yes to the Dress. Thought about going for a run around noon since the Packers were playing on Sunday Night Football. Ultimately decided to take a shower.

I was dressed. Clean. Then my Mom comes home, mentions it's absolutely beautiful out. Asks me if I went running. Ummm. Beautiful outside? It's November. And way to make me feel like a slacker Mom.

So I decided then and there, even though I had just gotten out of the shower less than an hour ago, I would go for a run. I wasn't sure how far I'd go. Maybe 3 or 4 miles. That way I could switch out Monday's 4-miler with the 10-miler I skipped this weekend.

I started running. At first, running into the wind, it was a bit chilly. I'm sure it didn't help that I had loaded up my handheld water bottle with not only water, but also ice. Yes, my right hand was freezing. But I kept running. By Mile 2 the ice had melted and it was time to shed the long sleeves. I stopped to do the shirt switch and when I was done, I started running again.

And it was actually feeling good. So I thought I'd go a little farther than I originally planned. Maybe 6 miles. But then I started thinking. I was feeling good. It wasn't painful to run. And it was perfect running weather. I'm not sure how many more days like this I'm going to get. And then there's the thought that Las Vegas? It's less than a month away.

So while I initially set out with the hope to just sneak in 4 miles, I ultimately decided I just needed to git 'r done. So 10 miles it was. I wound through some neighborhoods, tacked on the miles. Of course the first two miles were my fastest and then I got slower as the miles added up. No surprise there. I have problems pacing myself. But the splits stayed somewhat consistent, even once I started adding in the short walk breaks. And most of them were kind of in that 11:30/mile pace that I'm aiming for in Las Vegas. The "outlier" would be the last mile, but I was getting tired, took an extra long walk break. I ended up finishing 10.05 miles in 1 hour, 52 minutes, 30 seconds. Not too shabby.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with the run. Especially considering I had absolutely no desire to run when I started.

Three Things Thursday: The Vegas Edition

1. A month from tomorrow, at o'dark thirty in the morning, I'll be lining up at the starting line and getting ready to run the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon. I'm getting excited. My training's been going well. And I'm going to try to hit every run these next four weeks. That being said, I wish December would hurry up and get here!

2. The race has been registered for. The flight has been booked. The only big thing left to do is book a hotel. And I'm this close to doing that. I think I've made my decision. Let's just say I'll feel like royalty staying there.


3. In not so good news, my iPod was acting up tonight during my 6 mile run. It decided to die 1.5 miles before I was done running. The battery indicator was telling me it still had life in it, but it just refused to play. Not sure what was going on. Maybe it was cranky with me because I had basically been plugged into it all day at work and then didn't even give it a rest before my run. I guess iPods can get tired too. But it got me worried. What if it decides to pull this in a month in Las Vegas? I don't know if I can run 13.1 miles sans tunes. Yes, there will be bands along the course, but it won't quite be the same as my pre-determined half marathon play list. I might have to look into a replacement iPod. Maybe a shuffle?

I'm ready for the Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge. Are you?

Anyone up for a bootie busting challenge?

Then go over here. Because it's time for the 2010 Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge hosted by Run to the Finish. I had a chance to participate in last year's challenge and it was a great way to keep me on track during the crazy holiday season. I'm hoping it does the same this year and helps me avoid that spell of utter laziness I sometimes find myself in after a half marathon.

What are you waiting for? Come on and join the challenge! It'll be fun!

A different kind of Election Night

Tonight feels weird.

I'm a reporter. I work in the news business. So for the last eight years? When Election Night came around, whether it was a primary or a general election or in the fall or spring, I was usually pretty sure I'd be working. Either sitting in my office waiting for results to come in and make those hectic phone calls to touch base with candidates in the few minutes I had left before deadline or else I was out at a candidate's election night party, waiting to hear the candidate make a victory or concession speech.

Tonight was different.

Oh there were races. Big ones. Folks in Wisconsin were voting for a new governor. And we had a pretty high profile U.S. Senate race along with other races.

But me? I wasn't working. Huh?

I worked a day shift and was officially the "on call reporter." The one that would get the phone call from her boss at 2 a.m. if that U.S. Senate race went into the wee hours of the morning waiting for a winner to be declared. And that phone call? I'm crossing my fingers I don't get it, but the night's still young.

So as I left my office at 7:30 p.m. (had to stick around for the newsroom tradition of pizza on election night), my co-workers were heading out to their assignments. I almost felt lost. But I had thought ahead and my gym bag was in my car. So I headed over to the YMCA for a run while watching the election results start to pour in.

The run was good - 5.3 miles to make up for the run that I skipped yesterday. Thankfully there weren't many other people at the YMCA since they would probably have questioned my choice of socks. Somehow forgot to pack my running socks so I ended up wearing my black work socks. Classy.

And the results? Oh boy.

If you want to be a Badger....

Just come along with me.

It was a football bye week, but I still ended up going down to Madison on Saturday. Not for the football. Not for the annual Halloween chaos now known as Freakfest (there were no such things as police in riot gear, tear gas or mounted officers when I was down there - it was utter chaos when I was there). Nope. I was still going to be a Badger, but I was heading over to cheer on the hockey Badgers.

My friend Amanda graduated from Michigan Tech, so each year when the Huskies are in town for the weekend two-game series, we head down for the Saturday night game. I'm of course decked out in my cardinal and red and Amanda cheers for her Huskies. Each year she thinks they'll make a game of it, but the Badgers usually end up on the winning end after three periods. Although there was the one year they managed to win and I threatened to that she'd have to walk back home to Beaver Dam. :)

Anyway. Saturday night. Badgers. Hockey. Good times.

We got down to Madison a bit early and hit up State Street. They were putting the finishing touches on set up for Freakfest, and even though it was still daylight, plenty of people were running around in costumes. Great people watching. We also did a little window shopping. And I initially swore I was going to be a good Badger and not buy anything. But we stepped inside a corner store that is full of Badger gear. And I saw it.

The perfect shirt.

I tried to resist. I really did. But Amanda? She can be a bit convincing. So I bought it. I think it was an appropriate purchase. Don't you?

Purchase complete it was time to watch some hockey. The first period? Ugh. Sloppy hockey. Slow hockey. Not fun to watch. Michigan Tech would take the early lead in the second period, but Bucky answered with three quick goals near the end of the period and notched their final goal early in the third for the 4-1 win. Let's just say the hockey got a lot more fun to watch as the game progressed. And that's not because the Badgers started winning.

And you can't beat the pee wee hockey game that takes place between the second and third periods. Adorable!

So overall I'd say it was a good day to be a Badger. Iowa knocks off unbeaten Michigan State on the football field, I find a shirt that I swear was made especially for me and the hockey Badgers beat up on Michigan Tech. And I got a chance to catch up with a good friend.