I have heard that many runners will take one or two weeks off from running. They are pretty smart for sure. Especially when they might be harboring a virus. Let me back up a bit. On my last post I hit send before I made the decision to get out and wog for a bit with Melly. While I wasn't feeling very good, all the congestion was in my head and I was not running fever, so I was given the green light to do a super easy run. The weather was perfect and we were talking and talking and talking. Then this happened.
I fell. On a piece of rebar that sticks out of my running route that I have run on and jumped over or ran past for years. Every time I run past it, I seriously say to myself, don't trip Michelle. Not sure if it was my head cold or the great discussion that I was having with Melly, but all of the sudden I was seeing the sky and then I was on the ground. Mel immediately grabbed me and pulled me up, and I just needed a hug, so I clung to her like a kola bear. She wanted to walk all the way back (~1.5 miles out), but I figured we should use the adrenaline coursing through my body and run back before it wore off. As soon as we got back, I cleaned it with hydrogen peroxide and then took a long hot bath in epsom's salt.
After my long bath, I put neosporin on a big bandage and bandaged up my knee. I was pretty sore, but more from the impact and the lack of skin thanks to the rocks. I didn't seem to have any gravel in any of my wounds, including my hands. I had planned on running back on a semi normal schedule this week, including a turkey trot on Thanksgiving day. So much for that idea I guess.
Tuesday was my 40th birthday and I had a BIG day! My hubby had me a Garmin 235 first thing in the morning and then roses and cheesecake post work. I also had meal number 2 of my freezer meal class and we added mashed sweet potatoes, corn, and green beans. Cranberry pork roast was amazing!!!!
I decided to play it safe and wait till Wednesday to get out on my knee. The swelling was pretty much gone, and the only issue was the rubbing of anything on the raw skin and scabs. I covered it and headed out to test out my knee and my new watch. While I feel very out of shape right now, I got four miles in. I almost tripped several times though looking at my watch. So many cool things to look at! I was fascinated at my heart rate and how long it told me I needed to recovery for. For just a 4 mile easy run, it told me I needed to recover for 34 hours, YIKES! It also said my heart rate was through the roof, though when I checked my pulse, it was NO WHERE NEAR what the heart rate monitor was claiming to be. Any ideas of how to make sure my heart rate monitor is working correctly?
We also had the annual cutting of the hair prior to wrestling season. It always makes me cry a little to see all of the curls get cut off, but I know they will always grow back.
Thanksgiving morning meant some Turkey Trotting! And BONUS, they allowed dogs and there were TONS there. Next year we need to dress up for sure.
I am still on cloud nine from this race. I got a HUGE PR for my 5K distance and 3rd in my newly minted age group. I am just SO happy with my performance. I got two miles under 9, 8:20 and 8:34 and the final one at 9. I will take it!!!! Of course the conditions were perfect for a PR, super duper flat course, cold but not too cold temps, and lots of other peeps to keep Stella pulling comfortably hard. Chip time was 26:55! My first time breaking into the 26s!
We hadn't really planned on doing any black Friday shopping, as we order most all of Andrew's Christmas via Amazon these days or shop small business as much as possible. We did plan on getting out to see Coco, since it was finally out at the theaters.
We had our first mishap at the movies. I think the popcorn + coke icee was just not a good combo for Andrew's tummy that day. About half way through the movie, he freaked out and we had to rush to the bathroom. He dry heaved a few times and then declared himself fine. We did that two more times before I just gave up and took him to the car. He never did throw up, just burped and freaked out. We saw most of the movie or at least the important parts:) . That was one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen and I can't wait to finish watching it once it comes out on DVD.
Post movie we opted outside. Full disclosure, I had kind of wanted to stop at Academy on our way home, but little man couldn't tell if he was really going to barf or not. When we got home, he seemed fine, and the 70 degree day was still calling our name. We loaded up and headed out to Mt. Mitchell, which is not very far from our house. I have never noticed before, but there is a trail that leads to the top via going around the mound from the bottom up (The normal trail winds right up the side). We decided to check it out, and other than some falls and some naughty dogs, we had so much fun! Of course neither of us looked at our watch, so not sure how long it took us to get to the top, but I am going to go back and run it and see what the mileage may be.
Later that night we wrote our first official letter to Santa. Boy does this kid want a lot of things! We explained that a list is a suggestion, not a guarantee, and he seemed to have understood. Although he still hasn't forgotten that Santa forgot a stuffed Picachu last year LOL!!!
The little town near us, Manhattan, does a Festival of Lights in the Blue Earth Plaza. We never go to the big tree lighting, but we try to go by a few times when they have events. We headed out Saturday night to check out the tree and mail off our letter to Santa. The best part? They had glasses that you put on kind of like 3-D glasses but instead every where there was a light, you saw snowmen. It was the COOLEST thing EVER!
Oh and I forgot, Stella and I headed back out to Mt. Mitchell for some running. Unfortunately, the trail is only about 1.5 miles, so my long run that I had hoped to get in didn't happen, but we had fun running and re running the trail again to get more mileage and got some good elevation gain, which is non existence mostly on my running route. I think we finished up with 4.5 miles, with some serious back tracking to even get that much, but again, I didn't mind.
I was in shorts and a tech T....In November. This is weird weather for sure!
On Sunday, same thing. Shorts and a tech T. Did 6 miles with both pups and called that a long run.
Next week, I will be back on a more regularly scheduled program. I am going to be loosey goosey till official time for training to start, but I did ask my coach to give me guidelines of mileage that would be beneficial to keep me in shape. I can tell this week that I am still recovering or slightly out of shape because running hasn't been the easiest, even low mileage runs. My hip is still a little sore at times but not near what it was so hoping the stretching and exercises will keep that in check. Have a great week!!!!
For the HR monitor, make sure your watch is a little higher on your arm and not too tight. Matt has issues since he wears his too low over his wrist bone... It might take a few runs to get it worked out. Also, you might just be running your easy days a little harder than you think ;)
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