WEEK 5: JAN 29 – FEB 4, 12.1 miles

2/4/07, Sun: 2.5 miles, 27 minutes. Although my cardio conditioning suffered slightly for not having run in three days, I felt great otherwise. For the first time in a very long time, I had NO toe pain. So I’m glad I had the procedure done, even though it was totally gross. I actually could have run the last two days, but I had so much going on in my life that there was no time to run. I’m just glad I got three runs in this week. That’s one of my running rules – three is the bare minimum times that I can run per week, and I try very hard to run four or five times.

2/3/07, Sat: NO RUN.

2/2/07, Fri: NO RUN. My toe was a little sore still today, but it really doesn’t hurt much at all. Most of my pain is imaginary – I’m just so grossed out by the sight of it and the knowledge that nail bed is exposed. In addition, I’ve been protecting and favoring this toe for over six months. Old habits die hard.

2/1/07, Thur: NO RUN. Today, I had my toe operated on to remove the ingrown toenail. It was just as bad as I thought it would be. The numbing shot was horrific, nearly making me pass out. I really wanted to watch the procedure, sort of like a final goodbye to the infection that had become routine to my life. But I started becoming hot and woozy at the numbing shots; everyone in the room emphatically urged me to not watch the actual procedure. I tried to look, but something internal compelled me to keep my eyes closed. Oh well. The doctor bandaged my toe so that it looked like a goofy giant light bulb. I am tentatively planning on Saturday to run again.

1/31/07, Wed: 4 miles, 38 minutes. I didn’t have a chance to run during the day today, so after putting the kids to bed, I drove down to the Y to run around the indoor track. Tomorrow I have my ingrown toenail procedure, so I wanted to make sure that I got a run in today because I don’t know how long I am going to be out of commission. Each mile consists of 12 laps around that dinky little track. Talk about monotonous; but at least it wasn’t as boring as running on a treadmill. In addition to the monotony, I kept tripping over the cant on the corners of the track. John would call it a floor ninja, but whatever is was, I kept tripping over it. We have determined that clumsiness runs in the family; dad’s excuse his size 14 feet. My feet aren’t boats; I don’t have a good excuse. I also found it very difficult to keep track of the laps. Forty-eight laps is a lot of counting for someone who has an approximately ten second short-term memory.

1/30/07, Tue: NO RUN. I actually could have run today, but today, studying for tomorrow’s math test absolutely had to come first. I had one window of opportunity to do something for myself, and studying had to be done. I have realized that running sometimes has become an excuse to not do homework.

1/29/07, Mon: 5.5 miles, 60 minutes. With great trepidation and nausea, I called a podiatrist to schedule an appointment to get my ingrown toenail fixed. It just keeps lingering; I mean, I’ve had the thing for over six months. Sounds deranged, but I’ve almost grown fond of it. Anyway, the toe was particularly puffy and painful today, even after recent concentrated efforts at soaking and cleaning it, so I am going to throw in the towel. Sigh. In other news, today was the longest run I have completed so far this year, and I am happy to have run the entire distance comfortably.

WEEK 3: JAN 15 – JAN 21, 9 miles

1/21/07, Sun: NO RUN. John worked a day shift today. By the time he got home, of course, it was dark, and I won’t run my usual routes in the dark. (With Margie not sleeping well last night, I didn’t have it in me to get up early and run before he left.) I begged John to let me just run around our block a bunch of times, but he put his foot down on that too. “You know what kind of people live in this subdivision!”

1/20/07, Sat: 2.5 miles, @25 minutes. After running in temperatures in the 20s and below recently, today’s early evening run at 35 degrees felt downright balmy; I was definitely overdressed in my fleece scarf and thermal shirt. Although I felt tired, as usual, I tried to push my pace, and although most “real” runners would scoff at 10 minute miles, I am quite happy with them. So I can’t complain about a sluggish pace – my contention today was with my nemesis, the pesky ingrown toenail. (I apologize for the picture – it’s mainly for Big Marge’s benefit.) My left big toenail became ingrown about a month after Baby Margie was born, so as Margie turns seven months old, my festering infection turns about six months old. Charming. And I beg anyone out there who wants to warn me about the dangers of infection or to implore me to go to the doctor to NOT.

1/19/07, Fri: 3.5 miles, 37 minutes. I started this run today with absolutely NO desire to run. But since running comes above “sitting on the couch like a lazy slug” on my life’s priority list, I had to run (in addition to the fact that I hadn’t run for the previous two days – that’s another rule: to never go more than two days in a row without running). So I donned my shoes, hat, gloves, scarf, sunglasses, cell phone, and pedometer – I would have strapped on my watch too if that six degree day hadn’t killed it – and headed out into the beautifully sunny, frigid morning at my patented “Emily Shuffle” pace, which I estimate to be about 11 minutes per mile. Today, I ran my normal route in reverse. This change was invigorating, and made me feel like I was running a completely different route. I need to do that more often. I am getting so bored with my usual route. This run would have been slightly faster had I not taken a phone call as I was finishing the run – I hate talking on the phone, so sometimes it’s just easier to take care of a phone call right then, rather than bothering with calling the person back. The poor woman probably was wondering why my breathing was labored and my speech was slurred (my lips were partially frozen). It was about 22 degrees this morning, which didn’t feel too bad, except for the stinking wind. I started this run with the intention of running 2.5 miles, just to say I ran, but by the time I got to the point where I had to turn and head home, my body was in a trance-like gait, and I pretty much unintentionally “shuffled” through another mile or so. So even though I totally didn’t want to run, I was, of course, glad that I had done so.

1/18/07, Thur: NO RUN. John’s schedule didn’t allow me to run today unfortunately, and “life” got in the way of running. I had lunch with some friends from church, an event that comes above running on the priority list.

1/17/07, Wed: NO RUN. We slept in late this morning (until 10) and then I had to go feed the llamas. This was my last morning to do that. By the time I got back, John was leaving for work, and I didn't have a chance to run. However, I did wear Margie around in the backpack for an hour and a half while cleaning today. It wasn't a cardio workout, but it's definitely a leg-strength builder! I would challenge anyone to squat repeatedly to pickup toys off the floor and to walk up and down the stairs with 20 pounds of baby on their back.

1/16/07, Tue: 3 miles, 34 min. I set out to do 2.5 miles, but once I got into the run, my body just got in a nice rhythm and I kept going around to the three-mile loop. When I set out to run today, the temperature, with the wind-chill factored in, was six degrees. SIX. It was cold. By the end of the run, ice had built up on the inside of my ninja-scarf. It was so cold that my watch is dead now. It was working fine until I went to stop the time at the end of the run. I saw "34" and then the display just went caterwampus. Bummer. Drawbacks to running in the cold: my legs were as stiff as boards, so I was moving along at a brisk shuffle, even though I felt great. Also running into a headwind half the way definitely was a barrier to a speedy time as well as a barrier to any semblance of warmth. Even the half with the tailwind didn't help my overall pace (rigor-mortis-like leg muscles). Even though the drawbacks may be more obvious than the benefits, I did notice some benefits to running in the cold: even through the pink and green leopard scarf, I could faintly detect the smell of rotting apples at the “idyllic” house; the cold air has a distinct numbing effect that pretty effectively eliminates those nagging little aches and pains that would normally be there; and people I ran by, mostly utility and construction workers (no body else was stupid enough to be out in this weather without being paid for it) seemed to be extra-friendly, giving little nods, as if to commiserate. Cold aside, I had a different, and altogether more annoying, issue to contend with: WRINKLED SOCKS. In my haste to rush out the door for a run in that small moment of opportunity, I left on a pair of tube-like sport socks instead of putting on running socks. That was a mistake. I think Big Marge will appreciate my abhorrence of the wrinkled socks. That, paired with the consistent untied nature of my right shoe, made my right foot a very unhappy camper. Altogether, it was a great run – the sky was cloudless and sunny, my body felt good, and I am able to run.

1/15/07, Mon: NO RUN. Today, my morning before John went to work consisted of picking up dad's truck and driving to Meridian to pick up dad's moose rack at Yellow Transportation. That was a fun little adventure, but the rack was fully crated, so I didn't get to see it. I'll have to wait for dad to get back from Atlanta.