Running... the answer to everything

Hmmm maybe this wonder week only lasted 3 days I thought to myself as I washed Little A's breakfast bowl. The little guy was playing happily in his high chair and after only waking for one feed the night before it was a nice contrast to the grizzly bub I had encountered on and off over the last few days. Little A was just shy of 23 weeks and I had put his grizzling and desperate need for mummy and cuddles down to a wonder week.

After the breakfast clean up, I took Little A in to Big A who was enjoying a snooze in. The two boys played and cuddled while I got dressed for my run. It was Sunday and I was due to do my long run. I was keen to crank out some Ks so I decided I would do a treadmill run. The plan was 90 minutes and my goal was 18km.

With everything in place for my run I offered Little A his pre-sleep feed. After a whole lot of fussing and not much feeding I decided it was time to wrap and settle the obviously over tired baby.

As soon as I laid the little guy on his wrap grizzling turned to screaming. I sat in the nursing chair cuddling and rocking confident that he was just over-tired and would settle soon...

10 minutes later and no sign of settling Big A came in to take over. I was happy to trade places by this stage. I paced the hallway waiting for my cue (silence) to jump on the treadmill... 10 minutes later we were no closer to having a sleeping baby.

The longer it took to settle the worse it was getting. I decided to bite the bullet and started packing the pram. I told Big A of my plan and he happily placed the "unsettleable" baby in to the pram.

By the time I hit the end of the street the little guy was fast asleep. Once we reached the river I plugged my hands-free in and called Big A to make plans. We hadn't managed to exchange a word over the screaming baby and I wanted to make sure he was on stand-by in case the miserable-looking sky decided to leak on us. I decided I would do an hour run (if the weather allowed) and meet Big A at Macdonalds for raison toast and coffee (we earned it!)

11km later I pulled off the track and started the recovery walk to meet Big A. The little guy was still fast asleep and stayed that way for another hour while we enjoyed our coffee and toast. Apparently screaming at the top of your lungs for 30 minutes is tiring work!

About a week later Little A's bottom 2 teeth cut through his gums. Was it a wonder week, was it teething, was it separation anxiety or was it just a REALLY over tired baby? I don't know. Either way I thank god for stroller running. The little guy settled and got what he needed (sleep), Big A got what he needed (caffeine) and I got what I needed (a run).

I know there will be a next time and when that comes around I want hesitate about getting Little A in that stroller!

A whole lot of good that REST did me!

I was expecting some great runs this week after an "easier" week last week but what I got was just the opposite. Even though I hit all my target speeds I really didn't feel strong in any of my runs this week. I think I must have caught a mild version of Big A's cold as I had the sniffles and was just NOT feeling inspired.

Suprisingly I still managed to do all my 5 planned sessions but today, after a week of feeling less than peak I decided to listen to my body and traded my 90 minute Long Run for a 30 minute Easy Run. I am so pleased I did because as the day has gone on I have started to feel much more myself. Hopefully I have kicked the "lurgy" to the kerb and wont be needing 10+ hours sleep every night anymore.

On top of all the extra sleep I have also needed extra food. Between breast feeding and running I was already an energy burning machine but add in the sudden cool weather and my poor body fighting a bug and I have had to eat like a monster for the last couple of weeks to keep up with what it is demanding. To keep my energy up I have introduced a new meal to the day and it fits in nicely between breakfast and morning tea! Its kind of "breakfast round #2". I've got to stop writing about eating, I am working up an appetite just thinking about it.

After Little A was born I set my sights on a half marathon. I chose the half because getting out the long runs required for a marathon was just not going to fit into my schedule with a newborn. I also decided that as I had such limited training time I would focus on speed and not distance and just have one token long run each week to build up to the half marathon distance. This week aside, I am LOVING the speed work. A 5 minute warm up, 20-30 minutes of flogging myself and a 5 minute cool down fits in perfectly with Little A's routine and these high intensity runs are just firing me up.

And now that I am reaping the benefits of all this speed work I am wondering if all my efforts are a little bit wasted on a half marathon when I am only doing one token long run per week. Should I be focusing on shorter distances in which I will be able to maximise my speed work training and focus on the longer distances when I am focusing my training more on distance?

Do I shoot for the longer distance or do I focus on achieving 5km and 10km PBs? There are pros and cons of both for me at the moment. For example the shorter speed sessions are easier to fit in but the longer slower sessions will be easier to do when I start running with the pram soon. Realistically I could achieve both this year but even then which should I do first? Should I peak my fitness and then build up distance or build up distance and then work on speed? Decisions, decisions!

Well at least I have something to think about on my training runs this week. Hopefully I can make a decision by the end of the week and adjust my program accordingly.

All in all it wasn't my best week of running but its not always going to be sunshine and roses. On that note here's my favourite quote for the week:

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning to dance in the rain"

That kind of run

On Wednesday I endured one of those runs where nothing goes your way and you wonder why you bothered trying! In a wee 40 minutes I had to contend with all of the following:


Mosquitos
A mosquito or two wouldn't usually bother me but I wasn't about to let the nasty things near Little A and his precious skin. I was pretty sure dowsing him in aeroguard wasn't a good idea so I raced inside looking for a solution. . . a "food throw"! It worked a treat at mosquito-proofing his little rocker. . . I thought it was a genius idea!

YAWN. . . Too tired to care that mum has decorated me in kitchen linen


Hair Problems
I finally got my warm up out and was re-tying my hair ready for the business end of the run and my hair tie snapped. There was no way I was getting off the belt again so I made do.


Lack of support
Once I was up to pace I discovered that I hadn't managed to put a proper sports bra on in my rush and was uh well. . . bouncing around. Again, I was not getting of this treadmill so I stuffed my shirt up the bottom of my bra hoping the extra padding would "lock" them in. (sort of helped. . .not really!)


Pit stop
Moments later I realised that I hadn't made a pit stop before I started. Pre-baby this wouldn't have been a big deal but a 40 minute run on a full bladder these days. . . not so good. But I decided to endure as long as I could. . . I really didn't want to get off again!


Chaffing
By the 20 minute mark I started to feel that horrible rubbing and stinging feeling that can only be chafing. Getting off the treadmill for vaseline or to change shorts wasn't an option so I tucked my shorts up into my knickers (yes I was quite the sight at this stage!) I was finishing this damn run and I didn't care if my inner thighs were red raw at the end of it!

So with Little A taking refuge under a food throw, my shirt tucked up my bra, my shorts stuffed up my knickers, my wild hair flying every where and a full bladder I pounded out my 40 mins.

Oh how my life has changed. There is no time to be a "princess" and get things in order for my run anymore. . . if Little A is asleep I start running and don't stop for anything. My running time is precious and not a minute of it will get wasted.