Moon Over My Hammy

So I've got so many things to tell you about, but first and foremost, I am sick to hear about Prince's performance at Coachella over the weekend. So he brought out Morris Day and Jerome to do "Jungle Love" and Sheila E to do Glamorous Life. !!! And if that's not enough he pulls out my two all time faves: Little Red Corvette and 7. And then he covers Radiohead's Creep (crazy) and of course tops it all off with Purple Rain. Makes the Portland Show with the two Stacey's look so tame. I love that little man. (again, anyone having a copy of my Prince Report from many years ago, please send it. I'll pay you 2 bucks). There are tons of videos on YouTube but none contain audio. It's KILLING me.

My running suffered another set back as I tore up my hamstrings earlier in the week after trying to be a superstar and run that 8 minute mile. My hamstring on my left leg hurt so much I could barely walk or use the clutch in my car. This is obviously a result of taking way too much time off and then coming back way too hard, too fast. I also developed runner's knee in the right leg.

So, I turn to my trusty "Pain Free Runner." People. This book is the shit. Period. It's all about trigger points and working the stuff out on your own. Pain in your legs and knees is all coming from muscle spasms in your butt, back and quads. That's all there is to it. Go to this message board if you ever have an ache or pain you need help with.

I bought a three pack of tennis balls. I rolled my ass on those balls (nice!) for hours over the weekend, and it fixed things right up in about a day. I was able to run on Saturday and Sunday with about 75% less pain than the day before. I'm a believer, big time.

Hopefully this will help me stay on track with the running and the stalled weight loss. It's so ironic that as soon as I have a good run and am excited to get back to it, I hurt myself and then get depressed I can't run. So stupid.

And finally, the Eagles. The most talked about pick was WR Desean Jackson from Cal. He's TINY at 5'10 and 170 pounds. We'll use him for kick returns. BORING.

Hell Freezes Over

Why? Two runs in two days, that's why! Unbelievable how far I have fallen from my previous devotion to running. It's just way too easy to say "NO RUN." Work, kids, life, TV.

Can we please talk about one show? The Real Housewives of New York City? Oh my god. Crack cocaine anyone? Ok, my favorite dialog from the last show. The big obnoxious strawberry blonde wife is talking about how she doesn't understand "Girls' Night Out." She says that whatever girls need to talk about she can talk about with her husband there.

She says: "Vibrators? So what? Just plug 'em in and go!" Cut to another wife who says: "Plug it in? What are we in, 1970?" Good vibrator times(TM).

Anyhoo, I digress. Sunday Jeffy and I ran the Esplanade, and I have to say, we killed it. I took inventory during the run of all my body parts, and they all came back with a unanimous thumbs up. And yet again I wonder why I skip the runs all the time.

I ran today in the hood and I totally have runner's knee in my right knee and a very stiff left hamstring. I used the foam roller and the stick, but we'll see. During my run I wondered how a person who runs once a week can have so many injuries.

Prideful moment of the day: my neighborhood run usually includes running a mile on the OES track (who, by the way, I now hate as they kicked my son and baby sitter off their wooden play gym during the day WHEN NO ONE WAS EVEN ON IT AND IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO THE SCHOOL. Obviously I'm writing them a letter. Stupid Episcopaleous bastards. ) Anyway, sometimes I like to push it on the mile to see how fast I can really run a mile without dying, and today I'm happy to report that I logged an 8:15 minute mile. Elf inspired me. But I will never be as good as the Elf. I'm coming to terms with that.

And that's it from the West Side.

The cuteness hurts sometimes.

"Good Day For It"

So, I had great intentions to write all about my runs last week, because, some were just epic. Let's review:

Sunday--Don't Call It A Comeback Trail Run
Great run with Jeffy in Forest Park. I felt great. I told myself that two weeks off was a drop in the bucket and I should do it more often! See previous run report.

Monday--Speed Work Day
So I met Shaunmarie (SM) at the Lincoln Track and quickly realized that trying to do speedwork while 17,023 elementary school children are being taught "track" was not the best idea (SM's by the way). SM seemed intent on it, so we ran one warm up lap and then one "speed" 400 and we were practically run over by the herd of children. Not to mention I almost turned to stone when one of the "teachers" (with the worst highlights on the planet...really, if you're brunette and want blonde highlights, make sure you have a good hairdresser. Tiny streaks of peroxide blonde and GREY really does nothing for you. Bitch.) gave me the Medusa look from Clash of the Titans. So that was speed work, day one.

Tuesday--THE WORST RUN EVER AFTER BABY #2 (TM)
I'm not sure how to explain how horrific this run was. First, it was probably the least scenic route I've ever taken, and the most dangerous. We started at SM's gym off Karman Drive (the freeway!) and about 83% of the road travelled didn't have sidewalks and SM is the type of person who thinks she'll never get pancaked by a car so she tried to run double decker. GOOD LORD woman! I was terrified half the time and sucking carbon monoxide the other half.

At the 8:13 minute mark I decided that I'd had enough. But SM had taken us on the 6-mile route and "didn't know how to do the 3-mile route!" Jesus! So we walked about 234 times so I could just make the run even longer. I felt so crappy--just tired (baby's getting molars and not sleeping) and fighting the cold-that-wouldn't-die. We finally finished in 55 minutes and 342 snot rockets later.

Tangent: I enjoy the snot rocket so much I want to do it at home. It would save a lot of kleenex. Yesterday I took Owen to the Zoo and I had to stop myself at least twice from just snot rocketing on the path. I mean, I had my finger covering my nostril. Just keeping it real.

Wednesday--Be Kind to Yourself Trail Run
I parked at a different trailhead so I wouldn't encounter killer hills at the end of the workout. I went as slow as I wanted and tried desperately to think positively. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good.

Thursday, Friday, Saturday--Make as Many Excuse as Possible Not To Run

1. Needed a day off.
   
2. Knee felt tweaky.
3. Too much work to do.
   
4. Knee still felt tweaky.
5. Allergy medicine knocked me out. Need to nap.
6. TOO HOT! I can't run in this STIFLING HEAT!
7. Could it be runner's knee?

Sunday--Good Day For It!
Yes it was. Practically perfect as I ran 45 minutes in the hood without too much knee pain. And it's always nice to get a "Good day for it" from a perfect stranger as I'm sucking wind going up a hill.

Here's to another week!

The First Cut is the Deepest

Hello. My name is Sarah and I am once again a runner.

Two weeks off due to sickness, weather, windows and apathy. But there's no turning back when you have a willing running partner who always pumps you up and is supportive. The running partner is key. I'm going to try and rope someone in to at least two of my runs per week.

So Jeffy and I went up to Forest Park (side note: got my little Forest Park Conservancy car sticker and newsletter where my name is proudly displayed as a supporter. And they sent me two pages with the entire Forest Park trail system. I'm going to laminate it. It's so much nicer than having to squint at my little box set. Anyway, go and give them some money. It's tax deductible. Someone's gotta keep that shit up.)

Anyhoo, as an omen I got the new Runner's World yesterday with all their Boston crappola. I get the Boston Marathon thing. I do. But sometimes I want to say "HEY! Shut up already, Boston Marathon. The Red Sox have won the World Series and the Patriots are still a big pain in the ass, so could you please not make such a fucking big deal out of yourself with your Heartbreak Hill and your college girls and your Patriots Day and your noon start and all that crap?"
That said, if I ever realize my dream of running faster than 9 minute miles, I would die to run it.

Today Jeffy and I ran the archery range to Magnolia back to Wildwood loop. It's typically a 32 minute run. And it was again today, which made me very happy. I felt strong, I didn't want to kill myself and I made it up the last set of hills. I'm back in the saddle and devoted to losing these last 10 pounds and running the Helvetia Half.

So, another resolution is to post every run if possible. It's a new year over here and please, if you want to run and need a partner. Let me know.