The Knot, the Pull & the 15 Miler

9/11/11. IDC. ("i was over it 9/12")

but i *do* care that i ran 15 miles in less than 2.5 hours today! weeee!

i skipped a few days (weeks?) of writing because i didn't really do much. after that 13-miler, i had a bit of an injury, so i took it easy that whole week and didn't run at all. i guess my muscles didn't like the 13 and thought if they all balled up together in my right thigh, they would feel better. well, as it turns out, it's not helping me *at all.* i've had a HUGE knot in my thigh for two weeks! and apparently NO amount of foam rolling or Tiger-Tailing is going to give this thing the slip.

this has put my strength on a standstill as well, since now travis can't really give me any leg exercises, and he has to spend 30 minutes (or more) rolling out my knot. my arms are starting to look mannish, since all i can do is arms, chest, back, and abs. my abs are totally starting to carve out, too! the damn lower belly fat won't budge though. i think it should get in cahoots with the thigh knot and go somewhere far away together. forever.

back to the fun stuff: training! i kept up my basic conditioning runs all week. did 45 minutes on monday, but that really hurt, so i was forced to skip TKB on tuesday (horror!!!). i ran again on wednesday after a 1-hour strength workout, which was awesome. and then friday night i did an almost-full-out 5k, where i clocked in at 24:43. weeeeee! under 25 minutes! that's practically high school time. if i remember correctly, my PR in high school was in the 22-minute mark, and my PR for Mt Sac was around 23-something. (i didn't keep meticulous notes on my high school races like Lisa. weirdo).

speaking of Lisa and high school - this was us in 1999! not sure if this is XC or track, buuut i AM sure i was making her listen to the Backstreet Boys here.

Lisa is the best runner i know (running is to Lisa as soccer is to Missy -- i always aced those on the standardized tests), so i drove down to san diego and forced her to do 15 miles with me. ok, i didn't "force" her. i bribed her with cupcakes. what a trooper!

night before nosh: basic pizza and salad. and a cupcake. maybe two.

morning fuel: whole-wheat waffle with chunky peanut butter and a G Step 1 (totally loved this morning fuel. i will use it for the next long run)

mid-run perk-up: clif shot blocks. these tasted like medicine. 

after-run energy: gatorade, protein bar, protein shake

run breakdown:

Lisa did this route when she was training for her marathon. she had it all worked out. it was a mostly-flat loop with lots of scenery. i was never bored, which is always great when running over 10 miles!

we ran the course in 2:28:44, which is just under 10-minute miles (9:40ish). kinda slow, but it was great because we didn't tire out and, since i was nursing a pulled groin AND a huge knot, and Lisa hasn't run that long of a distance in awhile, it worked out perfectly. we were never exhausted, was able to converse the entire time, and finished with a strong push. i, naturally, had to take like 3 bathroom breaks (which ended up being 5 bathroom breaks. apparently, ALL the public bathrooms from mission bay to pacific beach get cleaned at exactly the SAME TIME, 6:30 - 7:00am. ugh.) note to self: do NOT drink 32 ounces of water before a long run. maybe 16. not 32.

boy, does my groin hurt something fierce. it has cleared that knot from my mind completely. i think this groin pull showed up during soccer, and it's getting worse. i rolled it out and iced it, iced it, iced it, stretched it, rolled it (you see the pattern). still hurts. TKB will be interesting on tuesday. and forget squats. travis is gonna be maaaa-aad!

ok, so i've got two weeks to prepare for 17 miles. i should kill that one too, since 17 is my favorite number. isn't that how it works?