Summer's Over

Even though I'm working fulltime now, summer's over now that my fall semester class starts tomorrow night. The calendar may say it's still summer, but the "free time" part of summer is officially over.

While my exercise time may be limited (what's new lately?), I have been working on eating better, especially in the Fruits & Veggies Department. Not matter what I do or don't do, exercise-wise, I aim to work on better nutrition this fall, as well as other things (like sleeping better).

I do miss running, and hope to work my way back to it. The ankle is still bothering me a bit. :-( I have a physical next week, so that's on my list of things to mention.

Picking Up Swag for a Race I'm Not Running

I visited the City of Oaks Marathon and Half Marathon Expo today to pick up my number, shirt, and other stuff for tomorrow's half, only I'm not running! :-/ As I've mentioned earlier, plantar fasciitis and grad school have gotten in the way in recent months, so it's the right decision, for sure. Still, it ended up feeling a little odd walking out with this stuff I'm not going to use tomorrow. I went with George, who's running his first marathon tomorrow, though, and it was nice to be there with him! I also saw several runners I know, so it was fun to be able to wish them luck in person, rather than on Facebook only!

Ahhh, Massage!

I had a professional massage a little while ago, my first one in several months! It feels like I have a new upper back! Holy cow!

Meanwhile, I've gotten a little more exercise this past week, and that feels good too. Here's hoping there will be more of that soon. Grad school continues to eat up a lot of free time, but that's definitely a priority right now.

Meanwhile, George is gearing up for his first marathon a week from today! Yippee! I won't be running the accompanying half marathon that I paid for, but it is what it is. I stopped running because of plantar fasciitis in my left foot, but classes and studying have quickly filled the void I've felt in the past when I stopped running to heal. So, I'm really looking forward to supporting George during next Sunday's marathon. I'm sure he'll do great!

New Shoes Ordered

I finally ordered some new running shoes. I've been needing some new ones, but have been putting off buying them, between giving the foot some rest and the hectic pace of grad school. I read a blog post this morning that reminded of the importance of making time for exercise, though, and it inspired me to make worn out running shoes an excuse of the past!

Stay tuned!

More Crosstraining

I'm still taking a break from running as the plantar fasciitis in my left foot heals. Meanwhile, I've been to the gym two days in a row now to crosstrain on the gym equipment, and it's been a surprisingly refreshing break from running. I think part of it is that I've been able to concentrate a little more on grad school, now that I've let go of my running training plan for a bit.

In some ways, I feel like I've traded in my identity as a runner for a new identity as a part-time grad student. I'm definitely enjoying grad school, though it's a lot of work and has wiped out much of my free time. I'm not ready to totally ditch running, but it could be that I need to adjust my goals for the next few years and concentrate on different ones. For instance, in my quest to run more half marathons, I have missed running the 5K races that I ran when I first started running again. One of the bright sides of training for shorter distances is that I'd run less chance of having the recurring pain in my right toes at distances of 3-4 miles (due to extra long metatarsals, not interested in bone-shortening surgery, thank you very much).

So, we'll see! Meanwhile, I'm back on the elliptical and the stationary bike, plus some weight lifting and other things. Maybe I'll plug into a fitness class or two for the social thing that I'm missing with the running group.

Plantar Fasciitis Strikes Again

I've been in denial, but now I've got to admit that plantar fasciitis is back in my left foot! I've been feeling the twinges for a while, but I wasn't able to finish my run last Thursday because of the pain. I ran for 20 minutes this morning, and while not as bad, I decided to stop running and hop on the bike before it got worse. *sigh*

I'm not sure what this will mean for my half marathon training, but meanwhile, grad school has me busy and distracted a bit from running. Maybe this is a good time to let my foot heal up a bit. I'll work on keeping up my crosstraining in the mean time.

On a side note, George and I went to Savannah for the weekend and had a really nice time! Check out my pictures here.

This Week's Training and Life Outside of Running

I've continued my training this week, although it's taken me a little longer to recover from Saturday's 9 miler. On Monday, I ran 2.45 miles in 50:04 minutes, for a 20:27 average pace. I see a pattern now where I slow down the week after a longer weekend run. I wonder if it would help if I changed my runs to Tuesdays and Thursdays before work, instead of Mondays and Wednesdays. Maybe.

This morning, I hit the gym and rode 5.15 miles in 35:01 minutes. I felt like I worked harder than the clock and mileage indicated, but I did ride on a different stationary bike today, and am still a little tired. Huh.

Meanwhile, my laptop got wet on Sunday night (rain from leaky roof came through my home office ceiling and soaked my computer!!), and while it booted up last night, it wasn't as happy this morning. I was able to turn the laptop on and putter for a few minutes before it shut down on its own, and wouldn't come back up at all. I'll try again tonight, but I'm not hopeful.

[On a side note, I haven't been able to sync my Garmin Forerunner to my online training logs to update them with my runs, but as soon as I get set back on a personal computer, I look forward to doing that. I'm at my geekiest with numbers about my runs!]

On a happier note, I'm starting graduate school today! I'll be working on my Master of Library Science (MLS) at North Carolina Central University in Durham, and my first class is this evening! This has been a goal of mine for over 10 years, so I'm feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness today. :-) I'll have a class on Tuesday evenings and every other Saturday, so I'll have to be creative with my half marathon training, for sure.

Small Running World

I'm in the process of getting many of my medical check-ups out of the way before I start graduate school later this month at North Carolina Central University. Yesterday I had my annual physical with a new-to-me gynecologist, and it just so happens that he just ran his first half marathon, the Inside-Out Sports Classic, back in May! He's signed up for the Outer Banks Half Marathon in November, and I did that one last year, so we really hit it off with the running thing! I liked his bedside manner as well, and also enjoyed talking with the nurse who assisted.

Although "going to the doctor" isn't my favorite thing to do, it feels good to be getting my health ducks in a row.




Clipart from Clipartheaven.com