on his toes, just like Mama.
After my hilly 14-miler with Jill on Friday, I felt pretty good. Before we parted, I asked, “Is there a McDonald’s on my way home?” She knows the route better than I do.
She told me there was.
“Yay! I’m so getting a chocolate-dipped cone.” Man, I love those and, guess what? They taste even better after a sunny 14-mile run. I scarffed that thing on the way to pick up T Junior from day care.
And even though I told Jill while we were running that I could not wait to take a cold bath when I got home, I ended up skipping it. My legs felt just fine, and I was cooled off by the time I got home and didn’t feel like shivering for 10 minutes.
DAY 292
Saturday, I still felt fine. My calves were a little tight, but lately, that’s normal. I wished I was running, though, because me and Mr. T had a date scheduled to celebrate 8 years of being married. We were going to El Gaucho for dinner. Neither of us had ever been, but had heard it was good and worth the price.
I wore my new black size-10 (yay!) skinny jeans and an orange flowy top printed with a large black, tan and army green floral print I bought from eBay – my new favorite shopping destination. I slipped a black short-sleeved cropped cardigan over that and slid on a pair of brown leather flats I’ve basically never worn. And I actually blow-dried my hair and set it in Velcro rollers!
It was fun to get dressed up and feel good about my body and myself even though I knew I was about to indulge in more calories than I needed at the end of the day. But it was worth it: smooth red wine, a spicy shrimp appetizer, Ceasar salad prepared from scratch table-side, filet mignon and wild mushroom risotto. We rolled out of there, our stomachs heavy and our wallets light – figuratively speaking anyway.
But it was fun. It was an experience. And as I told Mr. T, it really only cost us half as much because last year (or was it the year before? or both years?) we had pizza and watched TiVo on our anniversary.
DAY 293
The weather was so beautiful on Mother’s Day. I knew I had to go for a run. Especially because Mr. T made monkey bread and I ate a big piece of it and had two cups of coffee. And he was making cornbread and slow-cooker chili for dinner, and brownies for desert that night. Evil!
Just before T Junior’s mid-day nap, I got dressed for a run. I wanted to do 5 or 6 miles. As I left, T Junior started crying for me and Mr. T made a comment that, as I found out later, didn’t mean what I took it for. But those things combined with some other thoughts and emotions going on in my head that morning caused me to cry for the first mile. *breathe, sniff, breathe, sniff*
Actually, it was more like: breathe, sniff, ouch, ouch, breathe, sniff, ouch, ouch. My calves were so tight I could snap them in half like a carrot. I hoped they would warm up, so I kept running carefully, wobbly, sort of half-walking-half-running. I’ll quit at 3 if they don’t warm up.
But I was getting a little better as I went and knew that I could go farther. The pain was getting less and less even though my calves still felt stiff. And it was so nice outside! I just kept running. I was almost at 3 miles at the corner of my street, but I ran by my house and on to the dirt trail.
It was so gorgeous out. The lake looked beautiful.
Around Mile 4, I started to feel good. Maybe it was the softer surface or maybe it was that I’d been running for about 40 minutes. Finally, the pain went away and I could focus on just running. I decided to stop at five, stretch outside and then go home.
Later, we went to the arboretum near the lake and let T Junior pick “dandeewions” and point out bees and ants. We walked on the bustling beach and T Junior played at the busy park for a bit before we headed home.
That night, I ate a huge bowl of chili and had a beer, too. A brownie and milk topped off a very nice Mother’s Day.
5/9/2010 – 5 Miles – 53:37
Average pace: 10:35
Mile 1: 11:19
Mile 2: 10:45
Mile 3: 10:30
Mile 4: 10:21
Mile 5: 10:07
DAY 294
Mr. T has had a stressful few weeks at work and, since he has more vacation time than me, decided to take a few days off to unwind and get some things done at home. So he was around on Monday.
So were those brownies. And I wanted one. Problem is, I’d been eating out of control the entire day and had not worked out.
It was late afternoon and I decided I would take T Junior for a run in the BOB so that I could have a brownie. Seriously, whatever gets you out the door, right? T Junior was so excited when I told him we were going to go running. I didn’t know he liked going for a run so much. I felt guilty about my hatred of the BOB.
Just like Sunday, I had very tight calves. It didn’t help that I couldn’t swing my arms because I was pushing the massive, toddler-carrying stroller.
After ¾-mile, I didn’t feel any improvement and I stopped to stretch them out. I started running again and knew that hadn’t helped. They hurt so bad, I knew something was not right, and did not want to injure myself more if that, in fact, what was going on.
I stopped running at 1.11 miles and walked the rest of the way, crying quietly (so T Junior couldn’t hear me) and pushing the BOB.
But T Junior did hear me. “A Mama a cwying.”
“I’m okay, buddy. Mama’s just worried.”
“A Mama a woowied.”
“Yeah.”
5/10/10 – 1.11 Miles – 13:20
Average pace: 12:04
Mile 1: 12:08
.11: 1:12 (11:30 pace)
COMING UP:
-I am meeting with a running coach Thursday. I contacted him to be a source for an article I want to write, but he read my blog, saw my posts about my calves, and is insisting on talking to me about that first. We chatted on the phone for a bit on Wednesday and I am really scared he’s going to tell me I can’t run the marathon. I will let yo
u all know how it goes.
8 comments
I am on pins and needles waiting to hear about your calf. Hope it's all good.
This post makes me HUNGRY!! You are doing so great with your miles and balancing everything. PROPS to you my dear.. Mid week speed workjout with Tall Mom?? Huh?
Crossing my fingers for you that your meeting goes well. I'd be interested to read your article… it got me thinking about just what a running coach would do. I was thinking he would come up with a program and make sure you stick to it, but I guess if he thinks he has some input on your calves maybe they analyze your stride etc? Hopefully he wouldn't tell you not to run your marathon but would give you some direction as to a medical specialist you could see if he thinks it's necessary.
Mmm, nothing better than McD's soft serve! They don't come in chocolate dipped here, though! Glad you had a great anniversary and Mother's Day!I hope Coach can help you out with your calves.
Just go in there with some positive thinking! I bet he's just going to tell you you need a LITTLE rest which maybe means a little extra training or something so maybe you'll lose a few minutes off your marathon time, but I bet you'll be able to do it… I hope so anyway I know you've trained SO hard!
I hope you are ok!
Late Happy Anniversary! Strong work! And good luck with those calves!
T. Junior is adorable. I love the picture of him using the Body Glide. That sounds like a great Mother's Day.