Another freezing day in Atlanta.  Daniel has a field trip, Katie has a science test..its been a nightmare morning, to say the least. Even though its cold, I have an easy run so I’m just going to run an easy 10 miles and skip on my second run because I’m so behind on life.  I’m planning a shower for one of my girlfriend’s daughters, we’ve got to pack for the Cayman Islands, I’ve got to work on some PR for a sponsor of mine, I have tons of stuff for the kids’ schools, pay bills, orthodontist check ups… it never ends.

So to say the least today is my big catch up day.

Fun run this morning with Steph, I did about a 1 mile warm-up, it was freezing about 24 degrees! Really stupid-you need about 3 miles to warm your body up, but I just did 1 mile so I could be done with my tempo… I did a 5 mile tempo; I didn’t even look at my watch time because I just knew it wasn’t going to be good.  I was so stiff and tight, which really reminds me how I need to focus more on hydration so I can get through these cold days coming up. I rounded it off at 10 miles, and felt good overall.  I’ve had some achy arthritis feelings especially as I’m getting old, so I’m taking lots of vitamins to deal with it: B-12, iron, folic acid… in hopes of getting through these cold weeks of winter.

Its Daniel’s VIP week at school, so I get to eat lunch with him every day this week!  I stopped at Caribou Coffee and got him a donut and chocolate covered graham cracker… try to make it a little special

We’re officially going to the Cayman Islands for spring break so any free second I have in my day I’m making mad dashes to get ready for spring break next week. The kids still have all their sports and activities, although when it gets below 40 degrees, Daniel’s baseball practice is canceled (I’m secretly hoping it will drop below 40….)

I went long run yesterday,my running partner Jim canceled today so I’m running with my friend Steph.  I think I might just take it easy and run 9 easy miles with her. It’s a crazy day, I’ve got a chiropractor appointment, my back is a little off and it’s affecting my run. Westminster is the worst because it’s extremely hilly and it really does a number on my back. I’ve got my Gatorade endurance with me, took vitamins and am ready to go!

My hope is to run 9 miles this morning, then 3 this afternoon- we’ve got a busy day! We’re trying to get rushed passports for the kids to hopefully go to the Caymans for spring break, kids have all their activities and we’ve got a presentation in Daniel’s class today… gotta run!

As I clean up the froot loops, Katie is upstairs sick- she is a diabetic and I don’t know if her blood sugar is low or she’s actually sick, but either way I’m calling her in sick from school today. I’m going to try and do my hard run today in hopes that I’ll have a running partner tomorrow. I’m trying to make an effort to start doing my runs faster again. Eventually, when you run with other people there’s a tendency to talk and start running at other people’s paces so its hard to still get a good workout yet use your easy days to visit at the same time.

My close-to-perfect running partner is out of town until Wednesday so we can only get 2 days of running together this week, which makes it hard.. I’m finding that I’m doing my hard runs by myself which is difficult because it always helps to have someone there to push you

Today’s Sunday, my one day off a week, and it is a weird feeling!

I had two good runs yesterday- I ran outside on the road, something I really never do anymore, and it was so wonderful… but my mileage isn’t as fast- I ran about 7:30 minute mile. I ran Friday at the river with Jim and had a better pace going… I need to get as many runs as I can with Jim because we run a little faster pace, and on my 2nd run of the day, I need to increase my pace to get more miles in.  Other than that, everything is going great- I’m taking my vitamins and I go in tomorrow for more blood work. The results from that will be a good indication on how my general health is going.

Great run this morning, I ran just 9 miles at the river with Jim. We ran so much faster and it was a good realization that I just need to be running at the river- I have such a long stride, I just can’t execute it at Westminster where the trails are tight (my legs don’t recover when they can’t stride out… )we get in the habit of visiting and goofing around and therefore run a little slower, which isn’t the best. My new objective is to run more at the river (which is what my coach has always asked me to do).

My kids are off of school today, so I don’t think I’m going to do my 2nd run.  I’m still having all kinds of hormone issues, so my doctor will probably reduce my mileage even more- I’m going to the doctor today for hopefully more blood work to see what I can do to get my system back in order.

I have my tempo run this morning- I think I’m going to cut it down to 20 minutes with a mile warm-up, 20 minute tempo, then meet my girlfriends to run for 45 minutes.

Yesterday I did my long run with Steph, we did 14 miles. I didn’t want to do the hills of Westminster, but we did. Mental note: when it gets warmer outside I’ve got to do my long runs on the flat surface and do them much faster. On the hills, you just can’t go that fast and the combination of the cold weather and the hills is demoralizing, and I’m running slower each day…not the best venue to run fast and I can tell from my legs that they’re getting lethargic and not doing well becuase I’m not getting all the junk out of them and just not doing my recovery runs fast enough… this morning should be fun though, my friend Tuba is back from being out of town and its always fun running with her!

Rest of today’s schedule: Pilates this afternoon followed by my 2nd run.

My foot is really tight today. I had a great workout yesterday- 3 mile warm-up, 6 x 1 mile with a 2:30 rest (normally I do a 4 minute rest) and I did them at 6:10 with the last 2 at a 6:07 pace and the workout went great, my warm-down was even great….until about halfway through, I ripped my plantar fascia again. I don’t think it’s a bad rip, but it does feel like a rip. My 2nd workout I could barely get 2 miles in, I was limping so bad.

Last night was horrible, my foot was so swollen.  I taped it, but I don’t think it helped much. I’m debating whether or not I can even run with this pain-I’m hobbling. It’s getting to the point where I’m so old, that if I have a hard workout the day after, I really struggle to recover. I’m supposed to meet my friend to run at least 9 miles, but I may have to push it off until Friday because I just am hobbling too much.

On a lighter note, Daniel just won his first basketball playoff game last night, so that’s going well, Katie practices gymnastics with varsity tonight so she won’t get out until 6pm and I’ve got a 3pm interview with Runner’s World so it’ll be a tough day to get both workouts in and get everything ready for, well, life.

A day in the life of Stephanie- an incredibly hectic morning, I almost left Daniel at home this morning when taking the kids to school.  I have tons of errands to run and this week we have baseball, basketball, gymnastics, speed & agility, and I have a parents meeting tonight for Daniel’s first communion.   Today is Fat Tuesday, we’re talking about what everyone is giving up for lent this year… I’m giving up drinking on weekdays. Daniel says he’s giving up eating healthy food (which I believe he has that one down already), Madeline and Katie haven’t decided yet….

Its 24 degrees outside, I’m definitely running inside today! I’m going to try and do my long run tomorrow.  I can’t believe I used to run outside on the track in weather like this-that was insane. I remember running with Steph Orman on Christmas Eve and the track was frozen over, yet we were still out there….. times have changed!