My knee is still giving me problems, so I've decided to stay off it another week or so.

So I went swimming, instead. I think I almost drowned. You never realize how much you love breathing until your head is submerged under water for four-fifths of your workout. And I thought running was hard! I was gasping for air every opportunity I could, and still had to stop at the end of each lap to take a breather. And I thought that running long distances helped my cardiovascular fitness out a lot. Good lord! I guess not nearly enough to be able to swim well. I am afraid to go back.

But in all reality, this will be good training for running. Developing my lungs more and working on my cardiovascular fitness can only help me. I am still worried that I'm losing muscle strength in my legs, though. The Helvetia Half is inching closer, and time is running out. If I want to get back to where I was, and continue training beyond that, I'm going to have to get better within the next couple of weeks. If I am not better (which I'm thinking I may not be) then I'll just have to cancel the Half and wait for my knee to heal and try again. Oh, the agony! Such hard work...and my goal slips further and further away...

Here We Go Again

After two weeks of drought, I have attempted to start running again. I went to the gym and rode the bike, then ran 1.5 miles before my knee began to hurt, so I stopped and came right home to ice up. Running on a treadmill always used to piss me off, but today it wasn't that bad. My calfs were hurting, it was hot, I was sweating, and I couldn't keep from looking at the display every 30 seconds. But It was glorious. I was running again! It actually felt good. Like all my problems faded away and all I had to do was stay on that belt. Too bad it was short-lived. But it gave me hope that I may be able to get back to where I was before the shamrock run. I will see how I feel tomorrow, and maybe try for 2 miles (how exciting)!

My favorite workout song right now is "Ali in the Jungle" by The Hours. Look it up, listen to it. it's very motivating, especially when you have an injury. And yes, I did hear it from the Nike commercial on during the Olympics. I'm not very original.

I seem to have misplaced my ice packs...so I am sitting here with a frozen bag of corn on my knee. Dinner, anyone?

Injury

I guess I injured myself more seriously than I had originally thought. It's been almost a week since the shamrock, and I still can't run. A coupe days ago I attempted to do just a mile or two. I took 5 steps and had to stop. Haven't tried again since.

It's a big wake-up call for me. I haven't been cross-training or strength training nearly as muh as I should be. My minor muscles are very weak, and I guess I figured injury wouldn't happen to me. But when I did the shamrock, I was running a lot harder and faster then usual, and I was dodging lot of people, too. I'm not used to the side-to-side movements at all! Thus, I ended with an injury, and now I'm a little regretful.

So now I'm creating a dedicated strength and cross training routine. If I have to cut my running back a little to fit it in, I'll just have to suck it up. I want to swim twice a week to get some good non-impact cardio work, tennis once or twice a week to strengthen my sideways muscles, and strength training in the gym or at home three to four times a week. My friend taught me a couple of moves that might strengthen my problem muscles. One of the moves is called the "Fire Hydrant," where you basically pretend you are a dog pissing on...you guessed it...a fire hydrant. This is my favorite. =)

Hopefully I will be up and running again soon, but I'm beginning to get anxious. Every day that goes by makes me feel like I'm losing my endurance I've worked so hard to obtain. I can ride a bike without pain, so I guess I'll just start with that, and at least try to keep my cardio going.

I Came, I Ran, I Conquered!

After reviewing the race results over and over and over, I have decided that the math is right. I actually did run 5 miles in 44:22, just less than 9 minutes/mile! I still can't believe it. That's by far the best I've ever done!

It was definitely fun running along downtown streets packed with 21,000 runners! In my event alone there were 5,000 runners who all started within about 5 minutes of each other. Talk about herding cattle! Our starting group (9-10 minute/mile pace) was so big that it got split up into two...right before Chris and I were about to go across the starting line! So we actually got to be at the front of the line for our group! Very first people to cross in our group! It was actually a big advantage because there were so many people on the road that you almost can't run. So we waited about 45 seconds for the group in front of us to leave, then we were cleared to start. And off we went! For that brief 3 minutes or so before we caught up with the back of the other group, we were alone on the road. It was great! Knowing that everyone was behind me and very few were keeping pace was invigorating! The only people in front of me were a couple of guys that were obviously in the wrong start group (they were booking!), and, of course, my husband.

Now, days before the race, Chris told me he wanted to run with me for a bit. He wanted to keep pace with me, and then finish the race as well as he could. So I left the starting line thinking we would be running together for at least a little while before he got antsy and left me. We didn't even get five feet past the start before he took off! Guess he forgot about me! It ened up working out, though, because I didn't have to worry about keeping up with him or slowing him down. I was able to concentrate on my own race.

So there I was, approaching the back of the adjacent start group, having fun! Then the game completely changed. From the minute I hit that wolfpack all the way to the end of the race, it was all I could do to just get around people! The streets were so packed with runners that people (including myself) were running up onto the sidewalks and curbs just to get around people. And it never let up. Just to pass someone, you would have to either swing way out to the side, or throw a few elbows. I did both. Nobody seemed to care, everyone understood that it was tough to pass.

There was loud music at the start, a band playing halfway (at Pioneer Square), and lots to stimulate your mind. As a result, I wasn't really thinking about running too much! I was watching other people, looking at their fun St. Patty's attire, thinking about passing them, attempting to pass them, being proud of myself for not being the guy on the side that has stopped running, listening to my music, watching all the cars piled up at the intersections and knowing they've probably been stuck for a while now (all our fault), and the list goes on and on. I wasn't even thinking about how I was running, or how fast my pace was. Then, around mile 3 or so, my left knee started to give me a bit of trouble. I started to hobble, but then remembered a quote I had read from someone's running blog the night before: "Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional." Reflecting on this, I decided it would be best to just listen to my music and run like normal, not with a wonky-leg. It didn't change the pain level much, so I figured it was all right. By mile four, though, I was in a considerable amount of pain. I couldn't help but hobble anymore. So I ducked my head down, knowing there was only one mile left, and sucked it up. I probably looked pretty funny out there, like one leg was longer than the other or something! Nevertheless, I finished the race as best I could! I was very proud of myself for finishing well.

STATS
Division: Female 20-24
Distance: 8k/5 miles
Net Time: 44:22 minutes
Pace: 8:54 min/mile
Standing in division: 76 out of 342
Standing in Female group, all ages: 547 out of 2,966
Standing in 8k race, all racers: 1569 out of 5,080
Standing in 8K female racers with the last name Baker: 1st place out of 6!

After the race I spent about half an hour looking for Chris, who told me he would meet me at the clothes check tent. So I limped down to the tent, and waited. And waited, and waaaaaiiiiitttteeeeddddd. Getting concerned, I limped back to the first-aid tent, wondering if something had happened to Chris. Nothing had happened, he just wanted to watch me finish, so he was standing in the huge mass of people at the finish line. Well apparently I was too fast for him, and I finished before he even got there to watch! Go me! So we both limped back to our car at Good Sam hospital (I have a parking pass there) and went home to lick our wounds.

Chris had an excellent run as well! He ran an average pace of 7:40 min/mile. He was very proud of himself, as was I, except he didn't feel that great afterwards. He was afraid of puking in the garbage can at the finish line where all the cameras and news crews were standing! But he held it back, and finished strong. Go Chris!

I have walked away from this race with a greatly improved sense of what type of runner I am, and how I compare to other people. My motivation has been refreshed, which was much needed. Noticed I haven't been blogging quite as much? There's a reason for that. It's called a 'lack of giving a crap about running.' I feel more excited about improving now.

The hardest parts of this race were the last mile, because my knee hurt quite a bit, and the second mile, because I always have trouble the second mile of a run, and because it was the hilliest.

I look forward to the 2011 Shamrock run! WOOOOOOOOOOO!

Waiting...

The Shamrock Run was a blast!!! 21,000 people all crammed onto Naito Pkwy to bump and shove each other...great fun! I am waiting for official race results from the website before I write a complete Blog. But unofficial results say that I ran 8k (5 miles) in 44.22 minutes!!!! That's around 8:55 per mile! WOW! I've never come close to a time like that! GO MEEEEEE!!!!

I'll post more later when I get official results and a photo downloaded. Unfortunately, no photos at the race because we had nowhere to put a camera! But at home afterwards is the next best thing=)

Final Playlist

All right, my playlist for the Shamrock Run tomorrow is complete! Here are the lucky winners:

Andy Hunter - Go
Bloc Party - Helicopter
Fedde Le Grand - Put Your Hands Up for Detroit
Foo Fighters - New Way Home
Foo Fighters - All My Life
Gnarls Barkley - Storm Coming
Incubus - A Crow Left of the Murder
OK Go - Here It Goes Again
Owl City - Hello Seattle (Remix)
Modest Mouse - Dashboard
Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat
Rancid - Time Bomb
The Hours - Ali in the Jungle
Underworld - Born Slippy
Underworld - Push Upstairs

Race Day Tomorrow!

The Shamrock Run is tomorrow! We just went and picked up our t-shirts, bib number, and timing chip at the Adidas campus. We also enjoyed 50% off at the Adidas store. I got myself a nice new running jacket for only $25! Chris got a new pair of shorts for even less. But the line we had to endure just to get these items made it almost not worth it.

I've been kind of nervous about this race ever since last Saturday. I ran 9 miles that day, and it was by far the most difficult run I've had. Remember what Saturday was like? 62 degrees, sunny, beautiful day. Well, I decided to run right around noon, and it was hot! I discovered I have a fear of heat stroke. I must have been dehydrated, because I got really hot really fast. The mind trip I was having was almost unbearable. I couldn't stop thinking about how the more I run, the hotter I'm going to get, and I might die! It was all I could do to jst keep putting one foot in front of the other. But by about 5 miles, I was starting to feel a bit better (probably beause I wa chugging my water), and I was able to finish the whole 9 miles. It was not my best time by any means, but I didn't care at all! I was so relieved to be done.

Ever since then I feel like I just can't run well. I've cut back my miles this week because of the shamrock run, so I've only been running 2 or 3 miles at a time. But it's a challenge to go even 3 miles. My calfs have been really stiff and sore, and I just feel like I don't have the energy. So I decided I have to eat very healthily and stretch lots until the race. Hope that helps.

I am more excited today, though. Picking up my shirt and reviewing the course map was fun. And now I have a schnazzy new jacket to wear!