Connersville, IU, and Trails, Oh My!

The last few weeks of training have been better than I would've anticipated several weeks ago!

Connersville Spartans or Indiana Hoosiers? 

Two weeks ago, I was at my parents' house for the weekend for a high school basketball game at the Spartan Bowl.  I intended to run Friday, but it was super windy and I knew that wouldn't make for a pleasant 7 miles. So, I held off until Saturday morning. I could've ran down some of the county/country roads right from their front door and incorporated some pretty good hills, and I have at times. But, honestly, I was a little concerned about doing that for 7 miles. In the past when biking or running in those parts, I've had some pretty close calls with cars and dogs. I mean, I honed my driving skills on those roads when I was 16 and 17, I know how people drive on them! 

So, instead I started and finished my run from my old stomping grounds at CHS. I started off with the 1/2 mile loop we used to run for gym class (and which I hated - people can change, I guess). Then, I ran through town, which is not particularly hilly. To get in at least one good hill, I made myself run up 3rd street hill. If you are from

Post-run photo at CHS

Connersville, you know what I'm talking about. Uphill, into the wind, toward the end of my run. Whew. I had to take a break at the top! 

Last Saturday, I did 8 miles in Bloomington. Most of my long runs in Btown have not involved running near or on campus. Now that I'm getting up there in mileage, I've had to be a little more creative on my routes - especially since I'm trying to incorporate hills in preparation for the Hoosier Half (aka Hilly Half). I ran from my apartment, over to Indiana Ave, north to 17th St. Once there, I realized there aren't really sidewalks on that stretch of 17th St. Oops! So, I ran back down to 13th St, past the SRSC. I finished up my run by going toward the mall, and then back through Bryan Park, and onto my apartment. It was basically a nice big loop - with me checking my Garmin every so often to figure out where to go next to get in enough miles. 

Then, today! Today was great. I ran with a group for the first time in ages and ran on trails for the first time in over 2 years! Fairly recently, a fellow IU grad student started a trail running group for women. I stumbled upon the group FB page purely by accident. Expressly for women because it seems many of us are not particularly comfortable hitting the trails on our own. I sort of fall into that category - maybe if I knew the trails better I wouldn't mind going alone. But, I'm not super interested in getting lost in the woods, so.....until I know the trails better, I'm a little leery of going at it by myself. The group meets about once a month - today was the first time I could meet up with them. We ran the Lake Trail at Yellowwood State Forest (~5.5 miles) and then tacked on an extra 4 on the road around Yellowwood. That means I actually ran a little over my intended 9 miles. It was so nice to have the company and the trails were really fun. The time passed so quickly, I think due to the company and new(ish) terrain. If you're a female runner in the Indy/Btown/Columbus area who wants to hit the trails with the group, check out Indiana Female Fellraisers on FB. 

AND. AND. I was really worried my SI joint/back would flare up because it felt a little off on the treadmill Wednesday morning, but it did not. I'm so, so, so thankful to my body for not giving out. But, I will take it fairly easy the rest of the week until I see the chiropractor on Friday. Seriously, the glute bridges and lateral leg raises have been lifesavers. I've also started lifting my legs one at a time while doing the glute bridges. I think the whole "strengthen your core" advice is holding true for managing this injury. 

Lots of running talk, not so much on anything else. When I go to Michigan for a field campaign this summer, my academic work might become more story-worthy. ;) 

A Real Runner

Well, a lot has happened since I last posted. 

Bernie Sanders won the New Hampshire primary. 
The Clean Power Plan was stayed by the Supreme Court.
But, looks like Obama will be appointing a new justice after the passing of Scalia.

I put in a 6 mile run last weekend (after a night out to send-off my roommate!). And, that's the farthest I've ran since February 2013!

And, probably most importantly, Beyoncé dropped a new single, "Formation". 
And, if iTunes were selling the song...
And, if I still had an iPod to run with...
Then, I probably would've had that ish on repeat while I ran (a very cold) 5 miles today.

Instead, I had to settle for repeating "Cause I slay, cause I slay" over and over to myself for the last couple miles.

3 of my 4 top layers!

I was supposed to run 7 miles today. I knew it was going to be really cold today, so I decided in advance that I would run in the early afternoon. Honestly, I prefer running first thing in the morning. Some days, though, that's just not realistic. 

It was 9 F when I woke up this morning. So, I waited for it warm up to 18 F at 1:30. Then I looked at the "feels like" part of the weather app.

Feels like 9 F! 
So much for waiting for "warmer" temps.

At that point, I decided to do my cut-back mileage this week and switch my 7 mile run to next weekend. I wore 4 layers on the top and 2 layers on the bottom. It might have been overkill, but I'm really not a cold-weather person, so I was playing it safe. I've ran in colder temps, but not in a very long time. And with the El Nino weather this year, I've been quite spoiled with decent running weather.   

When I wasn't singing Beyoncé to myself, I was thinking about running because today's run wasn't spectacular. I felt a bit sluggish and heavy. Sometimes when the going gets rough, I start to question if I'm a "real runner", whatever that means. Especially when it's cold, and I'm not feeling very motivated to get out the door, then falling into the trap of "who do I think I am? I'm not really a "runner", I didn't run in high school or college, I'm not that fast, etc." becomes a little too easy. Sometimes, I forget that I've been running on and off (mostly on) for over ten years. 

Ten years.

How did that happen? 

And almost always, after the first or second mile, I find my rhythm and settle in for the run. About halfway through today, I thought, well I really should've just done the original 7 miles. Really, this is true for most aspects of my life. The "getting started" is often the hardest part for me.  
Overall, though the 5 miles went ok. More or less negative splits, though not as fast as previous weeks. But, I was wearing A LOT of clothes! :) 

Lou! Always ready for play time. 

However, my post-run stretching was pretty fabulous. My back was hurting a little bit, but glute bridges and side leg-lifts (I should really figure out the real name of these) seem to help a lot. The next step is to make them a nightly habit. 

And, of course, the moment I pulled out the foam roller and got on the floor, Louie thought it was play time. This always cracks me up. Maybe one of these days I'll get a video of his shenanigans. 

Tomorrow I'm planning to attend a yoga class and put in a recovery run at the gym (after putting in some time at the lab). Sometimes, in the winter, the treadmill is just a necessity, especially since I'm trying to avoid falling and injuring myself. 

Countdown to the Hoosier Half: 8 weeks

The Comeback Race

The last time I blogged was about 13-14 months ago. A lot has happened since then. I spent the summer in DC for a grad school internship, I graduated from IU's School of Public and Environmental Affairs with masters degrees in public affairs and environmental science in December, and I decided to stick around Bloomington for a few more years to pursue my doctorate in environmental science! eek!

Hoosier Half Marathon Route & Elevation Map
http://www.hoosierhalf.com/course.html

AND, I am trying my damnedest to get back to running like I used to. Right now, that means I'm training for the Hoosier Half. (Sometimes, I accidentally call it the Hilly Half - mixing up the names of the Hoosier Half Marathon and the Hilly Hundred bike ride...oops! But really, it could be called the Hilly Half because it is a super hilly race for this girl who took up running in the flat city of Indy!)

Today during my long, slow run of 5 miles, I thought maybe I would revive this blog in a new manner to talk all things related to running, PhD studies, yoga, and of course, more on my successes and (lots of) failures with trying to live sustainably.

Also, I've been writing a couple of papers with professors the last 3 weeks and my mom joked: well you did want to grow-up to be a writer. Research publications and scientific writing was not exactly what I pictured at 11 years old, but maybe writing this blog will fulfill the more creative side of the writing puzzle. Plus, I think the best way to be more comfortable with writing in a professional manner is just to write, period.   

So, this is a new, exciting, crazy time in life, though I can't imagine it being more so than quitting my full time job to get my masters degrees. Now that was a bit crazy. And I worked. All. The. Time. during the masters program (work = real work, classes, reading, assignments, etc). Honestly, yesterday when thinking about the kind of hours I put in over the last 2.5 years, I bet most weeks I was pushing 60-70 hour work weeks. So, while the PhD program is certainly going to have its own challenges, I am striving to maintain more balance in my life. Classes are finished - I am just doing research - and my intention is to make it as much like a "real job" as possible. Of course, it won't always work out that way, but I'm going to try. Thus, my recent push to get back into the saddle with running. 

A sacro-illiac (SI) joint injury stopped my running cold in March 2013. While I have ran a little off and on since, I haven't run a race longer than 5 miles. Sadly, the injury has not really been entirely resolved either (and I'm not sure it can be based on things I've read). So training for this half-marathon is going to require more work than training for my previous long races. I need to train smart and protect my SI joint to ward off lower back pain. That means I'm incorporating yoga at least once a week, weight lifting (especially deadlifts, squats, lunges) twice a week, and planning to visit the chiropractor once a month. Further, I need to make this type of training my new normal for...forever. I want to run like I used to in my mid-20s, but I can't get away with not stretching or strength training anymore. I also need to hold myself back a bit on my training runs. It's hard - this week I saw sub-7 interval paces and sub-8 on my long, slow run today. I have to remind myself that is not the point of this training cycle - these numbers are due to a fresh legs from less running the last several months and muscle memory. I do not want to provoke my injury by running too fast too quickly. This will be the hardest part - I usually just run by feel. I did not even wear a watch or Garmin to train for my first 6 half marathons! I think running without knowing my pace can be a good strategy, but sometimes I need to know empirically that I'm going too fast so I can dial it back. 

So it goes. 

And now here I am blogging about it. I'll try to blog once a week. A little check-in for myself on the running or other subjects I mentioned previously: yoga, PhD work, sustainable living. And maybe a few far-flung friends will get a little inside scoop of my day-to-day life. ;)