Helped My Husband Complete His First Half-Marathon!

Not a race, just a run but we did it together and it was super exciting as it was my husbands first. I never thought the day would come, but he's come so far as a runner and I'm quite proud! We agreed to have 10 miles be the longest (which may be too long already) for the babies to come on a run with us. So we were prepared for this run by traveling up to my parents house in the 'burbs and leaving the kiddos with them while we set out in one of the long-running (30 miles or so of trail that connects town to town in the suburb). It's more corn fields and prairie than forest (which is my husbands favorite type of trail to run in), but it was a nice change. Beautiful day! The sun was just warm enough and there was a gentle breeze that really made us seem like we were surfing it while running, as we were on a lot of open prairie with nothing to block the wind and sometimes on top of a hill. There was nothing between us, the land and the sky - it seems perfect and surreal. The trail started off paved for about the first 3 miles, then went to a smooth dirt trail that was quite fitting once we hit the prairie and corn fields. Really made it feel like we were running some lonely back country road. When I used to live with my parents, I would use these trails quite regularly and I remember always going South on the trail instead of North (the way we were running today), because it was too secluded. Today, there was a sparse amount of people; just enough to keep things moving and keep with a nice isolated feel at the same time.
I was feeling great from start to finish. I had to check up on my husband a few times as he started out with some ankle issues in the beginning and low energy about 7 miles in. I was getting a bit worried when we met our turn around point as I could really see him struggling. I knew he made 10 miles a few times and I knew he had the determination in him - he's never quit anything he's set out to do yet  and probably won't. I knew we would make it. I love running with him and today, without the babies, sparked my love in running even more. I felt back in the zone and really felt the run today. However, I do have a bit of a type A personality when running (especially when not with the babies). I try to motivate and support my husband, but admittedly, sometimes it's of selfish intention. I know he can run a fast 5k now and I think some part of my brain was ready for him to run this whole distance at my pace. However, we started out at his pace (floating between a 9'20 and a 10'), but then he started to slow down at mile 6 or so and I was obliviously running ahead of him (just maintaining that pace we started out at). I was pausing and running back to him when I would get too far and did this pretty much the whole way back more than a few times. I felt bad, but at the same time, my brain and legs kept telling me that he'll catch up; I shouldn't slow down. He didn't really seem to mind this, so I kept doing it; making sure not to leave him too far behind. I wasn't running at a fast pace, just one I thought I could keep a goal for him to do (it was around a 10' or so). His Garmin did not work for this run; I guess when I packed it up, it was accidentally turned on and it ran the battery out. Oops! Thankfully, we had my Nike p.o.c. and used that for both of our times. As I was ahead of him, I would shout out our miles and when I went back to him I would try to give him little pep-talks and went into cheerleader mode enough to support but not too much to annoy. Then I would run ahead.
A great first half-marathon together. I'm looking forward to the next one and hope we get just as awesome of a day. This run will be a great memory; the gorgeous day, the relaxing run and an accomplishment of my husbands I'd like to say I had some part in influencing him on. :)

Dat Heat

The last weeks or so of not blogging have just been running in the park with the babies in tow on our usual park run of ~4 miles. The heat was pretty horrible, but we've been running after I get out of work so it isn't as sweltering. However, the last few days I actually had to say no to my husband in taking the babies out in this heat. Even with our breakneck speeds that provide the babies with enough of a breeze to cool them (Ha!), it is still way too hot for them. There is a little splash pad in the park, but I'm always a bit reluctant to let them go near it; seems a little dirty.
Anyways, so the last day we ran together was on Monday and my husband actually took the stroller the whole time (first time ever!) because he seemed he was still revved up from his race and had tons of energy. He actually tried to hand the stroller over once and I urged him to keep going, as he was doing so good. >:)
The last two days (after sitting out Tuesday and Wednesday; with Wednesday a sit out because I had to wait for the gas company to come reconnect our gas - long story) but I skipped morning nap with the babies and ran a ~7 miler on the treadmill on Thursday and today I only ran a 6 miler today because it was still so hot and humid in the workout room. The treadmill is located upstairs and we don't have the AC vents on in that room (only the babies bedroom and ours to save) and the vent is practically on the ceiling, so I just dealt with it.
This Sunday had better be a cool one, as my husband and I are going to the burbs and dropping the babies off at the g-parents house and attempting our first 13miler together. There is a long trail connecting town-town in the suburbs where my parents live, so we're going to try and head out early and get our half-marathon in (my husbands first and who knows what # this one is for me).
Until then, here's some pictures of the babies in the pool having fun and keeping cool:

Babies playing nicely.

Evander learning to kick, while holding on to the fence!

Madeline is a hard baby to take a pic of, but she's actually looking in this one!

First 10 Mile Run with the Baby Stroller

On our weekend runs, my husband and I try to pick out a location to go to that we can get a long stretch of trail with little stops (unlike our usual running path by our house that is riddled with stop lights, alleys, etc.). My favorite place is the Lakeshore path, so we decided on that for todays run. It's usually a safe place for a long run because it's a long stretch and there's a lot for the babies to look at and people to see along the way. Plus, if they grow too bored or upset, we can take them out at one of the many playgrounds along the way or even let them loose by the water on one of the beaches (which we haven't done yet). However, once we arrived at the lakeshore and after we got the babies settled in the stroller and took our first few steps on the path we both realized the wind was blowing pretty strong. It wouldn't be too much of a problem, other than slowing us down some, but with the baby stroller; we'd probably be slowed way down and exhausted well before 10 miles were completed. We decided to go to our other favorite location, at Miami Woods. I was a bit apprehensive, because the last time we went (a few days ago), the trail was swamped and parts were so flooded over that we couldn't pass. We've had a few warm days in between, but nothing I thought would dry up the massive pools of water. My husband made a point that, because the floods were from the river overflowing and not stagnant water, the flooding should've receded quite a bit if not completely. So we tried our luck and ventured out there.
Once we arrived, we noticed there were a lot of people using the trail, so we figured that was a good enough sign. Once we were off, both of us were feeling pretty good and the babies were content and smiling; I was doubtful it would last, but I had backup snacks and beverages for them and there was always sticks to play with that worked well last time that we could use. My ankle was feeling pretty good and my energy was high also, as I actually had breakfast before our run (I usually don't have breakfast). I actually did not run in my VFF's today and instead, was running in my regular running shoes thinking it might offer more support to my ankle). My husband agreed to taking the stroller up hills and if I needed a break. We were running at his pace, so between that and the breaks with the stroller, I think my ankle should be fine and my endurance would make it as well. Throughout our run, I would push for 20 and my husband would take it for 5 or 10 minutes after my 20 minutes were up. I was a bit disappointed in our run out, because I had the_worst side stitch that I couldn't push through. So I took a minute to walk it off while my husband took the stroller and kept running. It was somewhat better before I decided to try to catch up to him. The sprint up to him actually (coincidence or not), made the side stitch go away completely. I guess the burst of circulation might have helped?
Once we hit our halfway mark (at 52 minutes or so), I was still feeling great and so was my husband. On the way back though, the hills were really zapping us. We passed a few other running parents with strollers that seemed happy to see us out there as well. An older man, that I believe we saw out there on one of our other runs with the baby gave a hand wave and that made me happy. I love the older couples or older people in general that are out and getting some kind of exercise. They always seem the most friendly and happy to see you.
I am happy for my husband for completing his second 10 mile run (the first one without me). He thinks next weekend he'll go the full 13 miles. I don't think we'll be bringing the babies for that one and it does make me sad to leave them behind. It won't be the same. :(

The babies actually slept on the last part of our run!

Sharing their first chocolate milk! Cheers to daddy and mommys 10 mile run! :)

Back Again!

Yes, I'm back again from another running hiatus from the Peroneal Tendonitis flare up. My previous injury seemed to have healed up and I was back to feeling normal/not feeling the ache in that ankle. So, after I've been running regularly again with my husband (close to a month since my last injury) and everything has been going well on our runs together, he comes home one day and suggests we switch things up and go back to the trail that presumably gave me my first injury.  He offered to take the stroller through the choppy parts and this sounded good enough to me. I know I was going to hate it, but I also knew I would like a change of scenery and that my husband wanted to go back there. Well, it turns out the trail wasn't as bad as the last time we were there, as that time, it was mainly muddy from the rain and the sand they had poured over the mud had seemed to 'absorb' or wear away from being huge sinking piles in the trail. However, the mud pits were still there, but hardened and the hard-rocky gravel parts were still there. These parts create the dip and uneven parts in the trail that you have to jump over and dodge. Everything seemed "fine" until the last mile of that run. Guess what started hurting? Yep, that same ankle. I thought my body was playing a joke on me. My body is such a troll. Well, it was the real deal. I actually started limping when my husband and I next to him, started sprinting to our stop point. Once we started walking on our cool-down, I let my husband know about my returned pain and I think part of him thought I wasn't being serious.
My ankle was hurting way worse than the previous injury and on my lateral side of the foot, instead of the back of my ankle. I remember reading that the Peroneal Tendon runs on the lateral side of the foot/lateral aspect of the ankle, below it and lateral/outside of foot. That's exactly where it hurt and it was a deep pain, unlike the ankle part (where, when I massaged it, it would feel some relief). Massaging, icing, rolling out and stretching did not seem to relieve this injury at all. So I knew I wasn't going to mess around with the elliptical and I was going to be serious and rest it. I did not want this becoming a chronic injury and I was just going to blame it on the trail for now.
Thankfully, about a week and a few days of actual rest - it is feeling better. It still aches, but I am trying to go easy on my runs and stay on even ground trails (there will be no trail running for a long while, I think). My husband, for this run and the last two (which have been my first three runs back since my injury) has taken the stroller for some of the run to help me take it easy. It still amazes me how much of your muscles, mentality and endurance deplete after a week or so of no running.
So, I've handled up to 4 miles now on my healed injury and feeling OK about it, but still slightly hesitant. My husband wants to do another 10 miler on Sunday (which he did his own 10 miler when I was resting - so congrats to him!). I am feeling apprehensive about a 10 miler with the stroller, but I think if we switch off, it may be doable. The month is almost over and I am hoping to still get in my 13 miler, but we'll see.

Holy Trail Batman!

Today we set off thinking we were going to have a long "easy" run. An 8 miler in mind. My husband found a naturey type trail out in the suburbs and from the pictures on the internet; it looked awesome. When we got there, we thought it was too good to be true. Too many good signs; it stopped raining and it looked like the sky was clearing, the babies were able to walk by some Canadian Geese and walk up to a pond, the trail looked smooth and well-maintained AND(!) the trail we parked by was exactly an 8 mile loop. It had to be fate... right? We started off running with a guy and his dog on the trail ahead of us and then a youngish looking guy coming in from his run at the speed of light. By the looks of him (not too beaten up looking, but nice and peacefully focused), we thought this was probably going to be a pleasant run through a nice looking forest. The FOOLS we were!
This is a deceptive looking entrance to the forest we were about to start running in. Note: the monstrous hills were hidden fairly deep into the forest, already laughing at us and some of them, maybe shaking their heads in shame.

The deceptive entrance

Babies enjoying some grass

Daddy and babies milling about in a field

One of the lakes the trail loops around

Closer look at the serene lake

Once we were on the go into the forest, the hills started forming, but we were in such good spirits about our awesome find of a trail we were totally getting into them. It just felt right. The fresh, clean forest air invigorating us and the floral smell enticing us to trust the forest. After about a mile in, we went down our first unfathomably steep hill. I had to have my husband take over, because I just did not have the body weight to feel secure enough that the baby stroller and myself would not be sucked into gravities laughing hands and tumble into a helpless ball feeling every jagged rock on the way down. I wish I would have taken a picture of this hill after my husband took the stroller, but my mind was in awe and also fearfully thinking: if we go down a hill like this, there must be it's sister hill on the other side that we have to go UP.
We carried on and were still in absolute euphoria on how cool of a trail this was. It was super challenging, but in such a good way and that point, the babies actually were loving the bumps and hills. The trail was a quintessential of what one would expect when they think of a nature trail. It was immaculate to the eye, but to the foot, a series of different landscapes from smooth dirt, to rocky to mud to some fine gravel with peaks and troughs. All respectably "doable" with a jogging stroller (at this point). Although part of me was worried about the hills and what they would do to my ankle, I was trying to stay aware of it and keeping light on my feet with shorter strides, so I would be able to recover quickly if my foot fell into a dip in the trail. All was fine though.
About halfway in, it started to rain. Oh Great! I told myself not to panic and covered the babies up. The day was a decently warm day, so when the rain did start, it didn't bring a chill with it. However, once we rain out of the forest and into a prairie type field with tall meadow grass, it became somewhat surreal. I was actually enjoying it! What a Fathers Day Extreme Trail Run Adventure we were having! Hills, forest, and rain! Whee! (No really, it was actually kinda cool and I felt a little hardcore about it.. now if it was cold out, that would be a different story!). We had to tromp through some mud and water that was ankle deep, my feet were soaked and I was a bit leery of the fact that we still had about another 40 minutes of running to do and the rain might not let up and the trail might actually get worse. My mental attitude started to darken and then it hit - Maddy started to scream! Oh NO! Not here Maddy, not now! What were we thinking? There really was no where to let her out or if we did let her out, the thought of carrying her the rest of the 4 miles? I was starting to mildly panic in my head, but tried to keep my cool (as it was still our fathers day/weekend run, so I didn't want to ruin it). My heart was sinking with every hill we had to slow down and walk up (mosquitoes congregating around the stroller). And when I say hill, I really (with not much exaggeration) should say "mountain". They were SO steep! We had to keep going though, there was no turning back and time was only going to go slower if we took Maddy out and into the rain. We needed to make sure she was hydrated and safe, but to get her back as quickly as possible. Who knows what we were thinking starting an 8 mile run with a probability of rain still, but we had to finish it up. I hate to say it, but our long forest runs may have to stop for a bit and just continue on with the longer runs that are closer to home or have a park midway or something.
Anyways, we eventually came to the road that our parking lot was on. The trail went on another mile or so around that lake that is pictured above, but we cut it short and ended around 7 miles. Wow! Our pace was slowed from the hills and mud, but with all of the forest challenges, we really felt whipped. How did that one guy we saw coming in look so peaceful? Amazing.
What a crazy experience. Mixed with such elation to start with and then such dread at the end. I loved being out in the forest and running on the trail though. I loved being with my husband and babies and experiencing it, but we'll have to come back another time either when they're older or we're more prepared or have a backup plan for disaster. When you're in the middle of the forest and 4 miles out from your car with crying babies, it really does feel like a never ending trail in a nightmare. My husband and I already agreed we were going to go back soon to do the trail sans babies/baby stroller. It's a must; a technical trail and great for running with a beautiful environment - we couldn't say no to another try.
Thankfully, we made it out unscathed and hopefully Maddy wasn't traumatized. I doubt she was, as once I picked her up from the stroller, she started pointing at everything and hooting at it. Her crying stopped immediately and was only left with those little after-cry hiccups babies get. So cute, but I still felt so guilty to put her through it. Stupid running parents!
Till' next time Palos Hills Trails of Doom! We will conquer you yet with you're gargantuan hills and 8 miles of exciting trails!

My wet feet/shoes that were full of mud earlier.

Looking Forward to the Weekend to Run with the Family and Nature!

Well, now that we are all officially over our sickness, I hope the weekend is a healthy one full of running (and Father's day fun too, of course!). Yesterday, both my daughter and I were still sick and on Advil regularly for her fever and my sore throat. Thankfully, I felt OK but we still decided to keep the babies out of a long run and I would just run on the treadmill again while my husband ran outside. It worked out in the fact that he can get out of the house for a few and I can work on my sub 25 min. 5k. So, the night before I was at 25:20, last night I hit 25:01 and tonight's run was 24:37. I'm going to keep trying to and get this down to a science. I still don't have the endurance to run faster than an 8' pace longer than 10 minutes I think. So I start my first 10 minutes out at an 8'30" pace. My stupid Nike Sportswatch kept jumping to a 9'30 or so pace, which made me rage and then I tried to run faster. It's silly because I'm on a treadmill - there's really no way I could slow down that much at a set pace. Anyways, a few minutes after 10, I gradually push my pace up until I hit a pace of 8' by 15 minutes. I run that until 20, then I gradually push those last 3 or so minutes to a little over a 7' pace until I hit my 3 miles. I don't know if I will be able to work on my 5k timing this weekend, as I hope we'll be running family-style outside for a 6 or 8 miler on Saturday or Sunday, but next week I hope to make the last 10 minutes at a steady 7'30 or lower.

It's been a while since I last ran a 5k under 25min and it's not often that I do, but since I've been running with my husband and the baby stroller, I'm afraid my endurance and speed may suffer. I think by doing one 5k a week and pushing to get faster times, I shouldn't suffer too much.

Sick Again?!

Tuesday after work we were planning on another 40 minute run. My daughter and I were both sick that day, so after enduring work, I pretty much was done with the day (after the baby stuff was done, of course). My husband was feeling a bit off too, so there was no run for neither of us.

Today I was feeling way sick and knew I wouldn't be able to as well. However, thanks to my husband, I was able to get a two hour nap with my son (who also might be sick again), while he stayed up with my daughter (who was refusing to nap even though she was sick/feverish as well). Between sick kids and weather, we decided not to run again tonight. BUT! Later tonight, after the babies were asleep, I decided I felt better and to just jump on the treadmill and train for my sub 25 min 5k. 

It felt great to be running and at a nice pace of 8'30" consistently, up until I ramped it up to a 7' for the last half mile or so. Apparently, I should have ramped up sooner, because I was over my goal. 25:20, but I'll do better next time when I'm feeling 100%. 

I've been reading a little on the MAF 180 and might give it a try. I don't have a heart rate monitor on my sports watch, but I know my treadmill has one. Maybe on my next treadmill one, I'll give it a shot. Hopefully we're all feeling better tomorrow so we can go for a family run again. We've acquired a bell for our stroller, so that should add an entertainment value to our run. I know I'll feel a bit silly, but hopefully it will be effective and not offensive.