Productivity

I love those weekends where you seem to get everything you need to get done, done. This was one of those weekends. Of course, I don't work on Fridays, but this week I had a huge list of things I needed to do, and luckily, I pretty much got them all taken care of. Here is what I did on my "day off" on Friday:

• Made my dog a grooming appointment.

• Made my myself a grooming appointment for next Friday.

• Had Maintenance come look at and try to fix our water heater (we have to shower in the empty condo next door until the part comes in. Yesterday as I got out of the shower and headed out to leave, the leasing agent walked in with someone he was showing the condo to. HELLO!?!?!? That could have been awkward!)

• Called about consolidating more of my private student loans. Didn't work. Need to try and refinance.

• Walked Zero to the dog groomer and dropped her off for her grooming

• Changed my registration for the National Marathon to the Half Marathon. Thought twice before hitting send.

• Left the dog groomers and ran 5.5 miles in 60 degree temperatures...beautiful out! But I was a bit overdressed.

• Stretched.

•Vacuumed and dusted my house.

• Cleaned the kitchen.

• Hand washed six sweaters.

• Finished ALL our laundry.

• Picked Zero up.

• Went grocery shopping for the week.

• Came home and prepared some chicken for a dish I'm making later in the week.

• Read blogs :)

Yesterday wasn't quite as busy as far as chores go. But we were pretty active all day.

Yesterday was the last 20 mile run of our training before we started to taper. This is another reason why switching to the Half was such a big decision. I mean, I only had ONE more long run to do.

But I have to tell you, knowing all week that I didn't have to do 20 miles, really changed my outlook. I felt relieved and relaxed all week about running. Suddenly it didn't seem so much like a chore and I actually got out for four solid runs this week instead of my usual 2-3. I just let myself take it easy and not worry so much about time so that I could run without letting my foot/ankle flare up. I even did a couple of shorter runs instead of doing my normal 6.5 run. I realized, sometimes it's ok to just run 5 miles after work. This new approach is really helping me realize running doesn't have to be so regimented. My training was turning into a scene from Groundhog Day and I was totally not into it anymore.

So yesterday, Jeremy ran out 3 miles towards Valley Forge and then back for 6, then I met up with him and ran the 14 mile loop around Fairmount Park. The run went better than I expected and I felt pretty good the whole time. My legs felt strong and I wasn't too tired. Around mile 10 I had started to wonder if I had made a serious mistake about switching to the Half. While I was enjoying not running 20, I knew I could have easily done it. It was only ONE more long run...

Then, as if my body was totally in tune with my brain, it let me know why I was smart to cut it back. My foot started to flare up. Every time I bent my big toe to push off, I got a searing pain in the ball of my foot under my big toe, which would then cause pain to shoot through my ankle and eventually make it numb.

THEN, I suddenly got a sharp pain in my LEFT foot, a pain I had never experienced before. This pain was in the inside arch of my foot and felt almost like I had pinched or broken something.

The tendonitis in my right foot, I have learned to run through, but this new pain in my left foot was different. I ran for about 2 minutes and had to stop. I was really scared.

J said it was probably a muscle spasm or a cramp, but I had felt those before, and this was nothing like that. I walked for about two minutes and then slowly started to jog again. After about 2 minutes the pain mysteriously went away and I ran the last mile home.

After that, I realized I had definitely made the right decision about the race. I need to take a little time to let my body heal for sure and if I got out there and at mile 19 ended up injuring myself so badly that I screwed up my time (and J's) and couldn't run for a few months, I would have never forgiven myself. You know how stubborn runners can be. :)

After our run yesterday, we took the train into Center City again for another day of wandering the city and eating. (Dutch pretzels for lunch, red velvet cupcake and hot chocolate for a snack and chicken pot pie and a mac-n-cheese appetizer at Jones for dinner, COMFORT FOOD, anyone?) We ended up walking around for FOUR hours. Needless to say, by the time we walked home from the train last night at 7:30pm, we were totally beat. I passed out at 11pm and slept till almost 9 today to the smell of Jeremy making blueberry muffins. Can you tell by our eating habits we are getting close to a marathon taper? We're insatiable.

Today, I have a few more chores to do and even have some work I brought home with me to get done before tomorrow (ggrrrr). Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Monday, 2/22 - 4.83 miles/43:01 - 8:54 pace
Tuesday, 2/23 - off
Wednesday, 2/24 - off
Thursday, 2/25 - 6.5 miles/59:01 - 9:04 pace
Friday, 2/26 - 7 - 5.54 miles/50:11 - 9:11 pace
Saturday, 2/27 - 13.75/2:06 - 9:10 pace
Sunday, 3/1 - 30 minutes stationary bike/weightlifting

Total Weekly Mileage: 30.62 miles
Total Monthly Mileage - February: 115:32 miles