A secret about running I learned the hard way!

Okay I know the few of you that read this have been waiting to long to hear from wise old me. (HA! Ha! Ha!) I have decided to share something about running with all of you that read this (like 2 of you) that I learned the hard way. Okay, since I started running I have had three injuries that have sidelined me from running for awhile and let me tell you when you want to run and you can't it kills you. The first one I banged my knee and it hurt for over a year until I found a fabulous physical therapist who helped me figure out that my IT band was tight and that my quad had gotten weak. Next time I got hurt was last year and I was finishing up a 20 miler and I rolled my ankle on a curb five weeks before my marathon. Again a fabulous physical therapist helped me out again. The third time is right now. Crazy but my left big toe has really been hurting so I went to the PT to ask for help so that I can start upping my miles again. After seeing him and thinking about my other injuries and reading about this I realized that CORE WORK IS WHERE IT IS AT!!! You may ask why? Well you see had my core been in better shape my IT Band would not have had to work over time to compensate for weak hip muscles and me banging my knee just aggravated the whole thing. Second, after rolling my ankle I was given exercises for it but also exercises to help me control my core. Now with this last injury my big toe hurts because my foot is compensating for a hip weak muscle. CRAZY I know it. Well I am going to be doing some more homework. I am going to be dusting off my old text books and I am going to be taking an online class to dust off my old gray matter. (I have a degree as a physical therapist assistant but I haven't used it since my son was born 8 years ago. Sad I know) As I am learning again I am going to try and share with you what I learn. I am going to do posts about the certain muscles that make up the core and I am going to research exercises to help strengthen them. Now, really I am doing this for total selfish reasons because I want to help myself but I guess if you want you could benefit too. So the moral of this whole post is NOT TO NEGLECT YOUR CORE MUSCLES!!!! Go do some of your own research and share with me what you find and together we can help each other stay on the road to running.

Schedules, schedules

The last two days were beautiful! Sun was shining and it was near 45 degrees here. So I took advantage of running outside. It's a good thing too because today it's snowing! It was nice to be outside running. I'm a whimp and I don't like running in the freezing cold. I don't have all the right equipment, I dont' like being cold, and I'm afraid of falling on the ice.

As I said in my last post I needed some motivation especially in the winter to keep me running. Don't get me wrong I do enjoy running, I just get Cabin Fever so my motivation is very low. So I started looking into races to sign up for and found a friend who is willing to run it with me. We don't live in the same town but it will keep me going knowing someone else is expecting me to run. Then comes the second issue for me... the training. I dont' mind training, I really like it. I always imagine myself becoming this svelte runner who runs with ease. With that in mind, I get really annal about planning out the perfect training plan for me. For example, should I do P90X two days a week for my strength training, or log on to Runner's World and design the perfect strength training plan that will make me a better runner? Do I run three days a week or four? And on and on and on (really frustrates my sister because I call ALL the time. Remember, I consider her my coach!) Whatever I do I am always questioning if it is the best training plan for me. There is just so much information out there and everyone has an opinion as to what is best.

So I went to Hal Higdon and found his half marathon training plan. I Kept most of it the same but just adjusted it to my schedule. I decided to try the P90X and if it gets too time consuming (each video if 60 min.), or if I just can't seem to "Bring it!" I will change my strength training plan.

Does anyone else have these issues? Or are you just out there putting in the miles and not worrying about training and schedules?

I Run

I run
I run because I can.
I run with friends and I run alone.
I run without music most days so that I can hear myself think.
I run before the sun comes up most days.
I run when it is quiet.
I run in the rain.
I run in the cold.
I run in the sun.
I run because it makes me feel strong.
I run because it gives me confidence.
I run because it clears my head.
I run because it helps me get rid of stress.
I run for myself and nobody else.
I run to beat my own time.
I run to prove to myself that I can do hard things.
I run to keep my sanity.
I RUN!!
Corrine.

Why do you run? Finish this for me. If you don't run what do you do that is just for you?

Running to Keep OUR Sanity

"Running To Keep My Sanity" is adding another author! My name is Johanna and my sister Corrine started this blog to track her running workouts and her progress. She has been running for quite awhile and I always admired her for that. I started running after I had my first child 10 years ago and then had 3 more babies and a husband who worked a lot so running was put on the shelf. This past year I have taken up running again and found that I not only lost weight, I found sanity!

Last Spring I found a running partner and we started running. I was desperately trying to loose some weight, but found the harder I tried to loose weight the more the weight stayed on! I went back to visit a Dr. because my thyroid was enlarged and he told me that I must have gotten the fat gene in my family and I would probably be overweight the rest of my life. I should therefore focus on being healthy. I went home and cried a little, well a lot and then I got mad at him and decided to prove him wrong. So I decided to focus on working towards something focusing on "being healthy". I convinced my running sidekick that we should run a relay race. I told her that having other people that were counting on us would encourage us to keep going, and it worked. We worked hard and put in the mileage and ran our 5 mile part of the relay. We also had a great time. After we finished I was looking for another race or goal for us to complete. So I signed up to run a half marathon.

During my half marathon training I found out I really enjoyed running. I enjoyed the time with my sidekick as we hashed out issues we were facing in our lives. I also found out I like running by myself! Running is my "Time Out", it's my time to myself and I don't have to get more chocolate milk in the sippy cup, or referee a battle about who has had more time on the computer. Running became my thing and now my kids associate me with running. They even made me a character on the Xbox with workout clothes. Running gave me some sanity in my life. After a run I found I can think clearer and handle life better.

I decided to start blogging with my sister because I understood the title of her blog and what it really meant. She is my coach, wether she likes it or not, and I am ALWAYS asking for advise about running and what I should do next. I want to be as fast as she is some day so if I pick her brain and find out what she is doing I can become a better runner and why not share that with others? And I could share what I am doing that is working for me as a new runner. We are real moms trying to keep our sanity, and our common denominator is running.