Slushy Fun

Thank you everyone for offering me suggestions on what could be causing my knee pain. After reading all you comments, I decided:
1. To retire my Brooks
2. To roll my IT band more

To start the week off right, I went for a run despite the slushiness of my route.

It was gorgeous, but super slippery. 

I got in an easy 5 miles at a 9:59/mile pace. For a while, I freaked out, because holding the pace felt hard. But I decided to let it go and just enjoy being outside. Also, I really should be doing my easy runs slowly anyways.

Other than not being able to hold a faster pace, the run itself was good. There was no knee pain. The only bad part was stepping in a huge mud puddle and ruining my sneakers. I then made a series of bad life decisions:

1. Oh no mud! I'm going to wipe it off with snow.
2. I'm going to grab the snow with my bare hands and try to rub it on my sneakers
3. That didn't help. And now my hands are covered in mud.
4. I'm going to break a trail to the lake to break through the ice to wash my hands in it
5. Oh wait, snow's too deep for my sneakers, I'm just going to use fresh patch of snow to wipe my hands off.

All the above resulted in super frozen hands with no gloves.

It was too hard to get down to the bank through the snow. 

Luckily, the day wasn't too cold and my apartment, only a mile away. 

Not that bad. I have no idea why I freaked out and started rubbing snow all over it with bare hands. 

After the fiasco, I conveniently ran into the bf and made him take photos of me fake running. If only I had camera men waiting for me all over my running route. 

Yay! I love running! (What my pose and expression was supposed to convey) Looks more like I'm being blinded and going off the sidewalk. 

On the knee front, it didn't hurt during my run. But about an hour after, while I was lying on the bed, I noticed some pain. Enough to make me feel nervous, but not enough to take drastic measures. I think I will keep on foam rolling and not wearing the worn out shoes and see where I am at the end of the week.

On the training plan front, I am going to make a training plan soon, I swear. My friend who ran a 2:45 Boston told me that he'd virtually coach me. Well, he agreed to give me some advice, which I took to mean, "I'll totally be your coach. Please e-mail me tons of questions about everything."

All in all, life is good. 

Happy Monday! And of course, in addition to my friend, I will be relying heavily on you guys as my training progresses for advice. How are your runs going? 

Happy Friday

Making lists are fun. The only problem is that I don't make them nearly often enough. One of my non running related goals are to make more lists and become organized with things that I have to do. Not to mention, all these to-do lists in my head seem way more daunting in my brain. So I am going to try to make a list of all the things that make me happy to get in the mood for the weekend. Sort of like Ali's Thankful things post. And I'm inspired by my non internet friend, Gina, who has lists of her lists. (Hey Gina!)

Here are the things that are making me happy.

1. Double running days. 
Yup, today was the double running day. I went in the morning for a quick 4.1 miler at 9:59/mile pace in between classes. I had originally wanted to get in 5 or 6, but I didn't want to have to rush home at a non-easy pace. Even though it was an easy day and I reminded myself to run slowly, I died slowly inside as I watched the numbers on my garmin go up past 10:00/mile pace. I really need to stop being stupid and get with the program of running my easy runs slowly.

I got over the slower pace, but the less mileage was bumming me out. As a result, when my bf decided to head out on his 6 miler at night, I tagged along. Unfortunately, my knee started hurting (not exactly painful, but uncomfortable) again. It's been happening during my runs lately. I have a few suspects in mind. So I just cut it short and ran 3.3 miles at his 10:28/mile pace.

My suspect number one is my old Brooks. They only have 335 miles on them, but the treads are worn through where I pronate.

Possible suspect? Maybe. Looking at the soles make me happy. It shows me how much hard work I put in pronating and wearing my shoes down unevenly. 

Suspect number 2 is that I've been breaking in a new type of shoes. I wanted to try a different brand, so I am currently breaking in my Asics. Maybe it is the Asics, since the treads on Brooks have been worn down since about mile 250. And I just started breaking in the Asics. 

Suspect number 3 could be increased mileage (although I had a good base from training for the half), or maybe I gained weight. It's hard to tell since I haven't weighed myself in forever. Whatever the reason, I'm taking a rest day tomorrow and coming up with a plan to narrow down the suspects. 

2. My new waterbottle

I have a really hard time drinking water. I just forget my thirst really quickly. With all this running, I know that I have to make hydrating a priority. So I preemptively rewarded myself with a new giant waterbottle. I will bring it to class and hydrate throughout the day. 

It's has obnoxious logo everywhere, but I love it. 

3. The way that light hits the clock tower near sundown. 

I was sadly in the basement working on projects, but then I came outside and saw this gorgeous view. It made me all excited about life and stuff. 

So pretty. I didn't even have to instagram it. 

4. My bf signed up for a marathon with me even even though the longest he's ever run before was 6 miles. 

After months of nagging/begging, he finally agreed to give up his weekend mornings, therefore some of his weekend nights of partying, for a marathon. 

This sadly did not involve any alcohol. We were all sober and he wore my jacket . . . while not being drunk. 

5. Human bonding class

So far, we've watched countless videos of babies interacting with their mothers. It's just one long warm and fuzzy session. 

6. Brownies that I earned from a friend

My friend bet me that if I can teach him to skate without the wall, he'd bake me brownies. I really wanted those brownies. So with threats of skate up his a** if he grabbed the wall, I turned him from this:

He's literally crawling to the wall here. To a person who can skate across the rink without the wall. I know, I'm pretty amazing. Maybe that's my calling. Threatening people so that they learn how to ice skate.

Now, tell me about your happy things. And while you're at it, if you can shed some insights or your suspicions about my knees, that would be great! Happy Friday!