My First Guest Post - and Things I Hate Thursday!

The sweet Marjorie from For Two Fitness recently contacted me to do a guest post on running during and after pregnancy for her new blog.

Go check out all of their cute maternity workout gear and my guest post:  Sidelined! One Runner's Complete Exercise Hiatus !!!

It's been a pretty good week for running so far.. I'm having a little shin pain, but I'm hoping it's just shin splints and not my tendonitis flaring back up.  Either way, I'm going to dial back the runs a bit.  Had a GREAT track workout on Tuesday, and as soon as the kids go down for their nap, I'll hop on the TM for a 3 miler.  Any day I can be running is a GREAT day ladies and gentlemen!  :)

And now...

I hate that my kids take a dump in the middle of the night, every night. Seriously, what's more fun at 2:00 in the morning than changing a hysterical toddler's poopy diaper? I'll tell you. Waking up a half hour later to change his hysterical brother's poopy diaper. So if my morning posts ever seem a little tired and cranky, cut me some damn slack.

My Milkshake Brings all the Boys to the Yard...

Something that I miss about my boys being babies is breastfeeding them.  Not only did I have glorious, perky, stripper-esque D-cups, I loved the bonding I got with my kids. 

Nourishing your babies from your own body is a super primal satisfaction...  although nursing twins can be a more circus sideshow than peaceful bonding.

Anyway, I haven't felt anything like that since I weaned the monsters... until this:

Our first strawberry harvest of the year!

Feeding my toddlers food grown in our own garden.  It is a wonderful, wonderful thing. 

It isn't quite as satisfying as breastfeeding, but feeding my kids strawberries doesn't make my nipples bleed, so I'll take the trade off. 

Oh, and if any of you find anything that has more sex appeal than a man in the garden, go ahead and let me know.

Seasonal Allergies Can Be Hazardous to Your Car

Yeah, I wrecked my car during my blogging hiatus.

Do you ever sneeze in your car and think, "Oh balls, my eyes were closed for a good second and a half.  Good thing some dumbass driver didn't just stop right in the road!"

Well, that's pretty much exactly what happened to me, only it was like, "ACHOO!!  Oh balls, my eyes were closed for a good second and a half.  AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"  Then I crashed into some dumbass driver that stopped right in the road. 



Yeah, I blurred out the license plate.  You can't stalk me, I'm the gingerbread man!!

 Guy was driving a big dually pickup truck, and my car went right underneath his.  I hit him going about 50 mph, and luckily I walked away with only some pretty good whiplash and bruising on my legs where they hit the dash.  I am super, super lucky on this one folks. 

Maybe I should jump on the frivolous lawsuit train... maybe I could sue Claritin, for not controlling my sneezing?  Dodge, for making a truck that will crumple my sweet little Corolla?  My eyes, for not having the strength and dignity to stay open and focused during a sneeze?

Hope everyone has a super Tuesday!

Too legit to quit.

Happy Monday all!

Last week was my first "real" week of training since my ankle injury, and it was glorious!  Very low mileage, but I'm getting there!

Monday - 1 mile pushing double stroller (I think this is equivilant to a 20 mile uphill trail run... with an ipod playlist full of yelling baby noises)

Tuesday - Drank maybe just a couple more beers than was absolutely necessary for a Tuesday.  Also went disc golfing... does this count as cross-training?

Wednesday - Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred

Thursday - 3 mile run - average 8:45 pace.

Friday - rest, and awesome dinner date with one of my most favorite couples.

Saturday - Big ol long run... FIVE MILES!! haha.  I'm at that stage where I'm past being mad that five miles used to be a short run, and just enjoyed all 45 minutes of it.  For some reason, I am having trouble slowing down my long runs... anyone else have issues with this? 

Sunday - Beer Belly Two mile race.  It was hot, I had two cups of beer during the run, and I ran a bit slower with some friends, but all things considered, I was happy with my time.  Garmin put the course at 2.15 miles, and I averaged right around 8:00 minute miles... but forgot to stop the watch so have no idea of my official time. 

That puts the mileage for the week at 11 miles!  First double digit week since April 16th... and that makes me smile.


*** Note to dear readers:  Yes, I've been gone awhile.  Yes, I know you probably cried yourself to sleep all those nights wondering if I had gotten sucked into the Bloggy Black Hole.  Rest assured, I'm back, and maybe one day I'll regale you with the tales of all of the crazy (and mostly awful) things that took precendence over blogging last week.  I'll be catching up on everyone's billion blog posts this week... :)

Heart Rate Training Part III

Missed Parts I and II? Find them  here and  here.

Training Zones

OK guys, here's where we put all of the numbers we gathered about our tickers and apply it to training.  There are a lot of different charts and variations for the different training zones, but basically, heart rates can be roughly grouped into three cleverly named zones:

Easy - 60-75%

Moderate - 75-85%

Hard - 85-95%

Important:  Here's something I never knew about these zones... they are NOT a percentage of your max heart rate, they are a percentage of your working heart rate... which is a calculation involving both your max and resting heart rate.

Here is an awesome calculator that takes your Max HR, Resting HR, age, and sex to find your personal training zones.  The percentages are a little different than the easy, moderate and hard above, and the names of the zones are schmancier, but it saves you the legwork.

Once you know your heart rate zones, you can start to use them for workouts.  My Garmin has a feature that alerts you if your heart rate goes out of the predetermined range... so I could set it at 60-70% for a long run, 85% and above for a tempo, etc.    There is a ton of information out there on specific workouts using your heart rate, and it's interesting stuff folks.

Here's something cool to remember:

The ultimate goal of training is to be able to run the same distance/speed with a lower heartrate.  I think it is AWESOME to be able to actually see your heart getting healthier. 

Here are some links I found particularly helpful:

http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/general/big-heart-rate-training-index/177.html

http://www.marathonguide.com/training/articles/HeartMonitorTraining.cfm

http://www.runnersweb.com/running/hr_calculator_new.html

Stay tuned for Part IV:  The Double Jogger Heartrate Experiment....

Things I Hate Thursday

OK, today I'm taking a break from inundating you with heart rate information, so on to my favorite day of the week...

Oh, and thanks so much for all of the feedback on my heartrate series.  I find it super interesting, and it's good to know some of you do too!  Or you're just playing nice... either way, I'm cool with it. 

 For those of you that missed it, you can find Parts 1 and II here and  here.  Parts III and IV coming soon!

I hate those stupid word verifications you have to type in to verify you're not a computer or whatever.  In fact, I hate them so much, I tried to find out what they were called to see if other people hated them too.  After ten minutes of fruitless Google search terms ("scrambled up letters to verify identity", "mixed up letters to prevent spam", etc) the search term that did it was "stupid letters you have to type".  I love Google.

Anyway, turns out they're called CAPTCHAs (did everyone know this but me?), and it stands for "Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart".

I was delighted to learn that there are whole websites devoted to funny ones.  One time I got "dicks" as a CAPTCHA, but failed to recognize the glorious ScreenPrint opportunity.  Luckily, other people have had the sense to immortalize the funny ones they've seen:






and my personal favorite:












Well, how bout that ladies and gentlemen?  This would be the first time T.I.H.T. turned into something good.

Heart Rate Training Part II

Getting Started With a Heart Rate Monitor

There are two variables you need to find to start using a monitor, and then you're off!

First is resting heart rate.  To do this, strap on your monitor while still in bed in the morning, and lounge around for a few minutes.  The lowest your heart rate goes is your resting rate.  This number is super cool because as you get fitter, this number is going to go dooooooooown.  That's because your heart gets large and strong with training and is able to swoosh more blood around with a single pump than a less fit person.

Average resting heart rate is from about 60-90 beats per minute, with well-trained athletes closer to 40 BPM.  (Source)

Check out this awesome chart to see how yours stacks up:

Second is maximum heart rate.  There are a ton of formulas out there to calculate this, but when I was in school, it was 220 minus your age.  The newer formulas are gender specific, but they're only accurate for a portion of the population, so your own max rate should be found by doing a fitness test, (as long as you've been cleared by a doctor, blah blah blah.) 

There are are lot of different suggested workouts to bring out your max heart rate, but what I've gathered is that you should have a good warm-up, run as hard as you can for 400m or so, rest, repeat a few times.  The highest number you see is your max heart rate. 

Something interesting about that number - it's genetically predetermined and is not an indicator of fitness. 

I haven't been able to do this test yet because I'm not cleared for hard running, but I can't wait to get out there and try it.  Soon....

Oh!  And my fellow twin mama Amy over at Mommy Isn't Here Right Now posed this question:

I have a heart rate monitor that pairs with my Garmin (a 405CX), and I've worn it once or twice. I usually do it just to get an accurate calorie count. What I've discovered? In my first mile, my HR is 180ish. Then it falls to 160, where it remains for the remainder of my run, then returns to baseline within 5 minutes of stopping.

OK, this is exciting stuff guys.  Amy's heart rate (and mine on my run yesterday) is higher at the onset of the run, and then settles into a more normal range.  Two possible explanations:  numero uno - tech issues.  The electrodes aren't making good sustained contact and it's causing goofy HR readings until we get sweaty enough to make good contact.  I don't buy this reason. Reason numero dos - because we haven't really warmed up well enough.   When we run, we need more blood pumping action, and before the heart is fully warmed up to pump the most blood with each pump, it compensates by increasing the heartrate. 

Amy, up for a little experimentation?  I wonder if you did a good solid warmup - brisk walking, jumping jacks... whatever floats your boat if your heartrate would always be in the 160s during your run.

Second part of the question is about Recovery Heart Rate (RHR).   Recovery Heart Rate is an excellent indicator of cardiovascular health.  The healthier your heart is, the more quickly it returns to normal after exercise.  In the information I found, there is a lot of variability regarding exactly how to measure the recovery heart rate, but this is what I'm going by: 

Measure your heart rate while exercising, then walk slowly (but don't stop), and measure it again in two minutes.  Folks who see a decrease of less than 12 BPM should see a doctor, as this is abnormal.  12-25 BPM decrease is considered in the normal range, and over 25 BPM is excellent.

Stay tuned for Part III...

Anyone still with me?  :)

Questions/Comments?

Heart Rate Training Part I

As a lot of you probably know (from my numerous whiny posts on the subject), I've been rehabbing an ankle injury that started in December of last year.  I ran on the stupid thing until April 16th, then finally went to see a physical therapist in May.  I wish I would've gone to see the PT sooner - I lost a LOT of time running this year.

But, all of this time off has forced me to contemplate the way that I train, and all of my introspection and research has led me to a cool discovery.

Heart rate training. 

 I knew NOTHING about heart rate training - I always found it super boring to read about - I definitely skipped over those articles in my Runner's World.  But, now that I know something about it, it is incredibly interesting and I think it'll be part of the way I train from now on.  So, over the next few days I'm going to dole out a bit of info on it, and hopefully someone else out there will get some good knowledge out of it.  But, I totally won't be offended if you treat these posts like I treated the RW articles....

Disclaimer:  I've not an expert, and there is a lot of information out there about heart rate training.  I'm just going to talk about the very basics, along with a few tidbits I find interesting... so this is NOT a comprehensive guide to heart rate training.

So here is Part I of my four part series of posts on heart rate training...  (you don't want to miss part four... I'm going to use myself as a guinea pig for the enjoyment of my dear readers)..

Why Use Heart Rate Training?

Using a heart rate monitors eliminates the guessing game of using perceived effort to pace a workout.  And that, my friends, is awesome. 

It seems like most runners I meet can be classified as "overtrainers" or "undertrainers", and using a monitor is just as valuable for each group. 

For the people that tend to not push themselves enough during a workout, the heart rate monitor allows them to see that they're not actually working very hard, and can push them to run at a faster, harder pace.

And for the people that have a harder time slowing down (especially when overtrained or injured) the monitor can let them know they're working too hard on easy days.

 I think I fall into both of these groups.  Sometimes I need a reminder to slow down on my easy days, and sometimes I need a little something to give me that extra push.. especially on a long tempo run.  Cannot wait to strap on the monitor when I can finally run fast!

Tune in tomorrow for Part II....

Do you do heart rate training?

Anything specific you'd like me to find out pertaining to HRT?

Is this the most boring blog post EVER? 

Perfect Pace

Hey again.

Whoa, two posts in one day?  Crazy mama, look out!  Kiddos are napping like such good boys, and I realized something awesome, so I had to share. 

So, I wanted to see what my pace was for my run this morning.  It was an easy, conversational pace - not quite long-run slow, but not near tempo-hell.  I ran for 25 minutes exactly and covered 2.73 miles.

Put it into my favorite pace calculator, and presto change-o...

9:09 miles.  That's cool.

Wait a minute, isn't that right around what I need to get my coveted sub 2:00 half marathon?

So I plug that number in.....

Ha!  That brings me to a 1:59:57 finish.... doesn't get much closer than that!

I've just kind of thrown my sub 2 half goal out the window for this season because of the injury and stuff....

And of course, I couldn't have kept that up for 13 miles this morning, but I have nine weeks until my next half, and 12 until the one after that, and 14 until the last half of my season....

And assuming I can really start training in a few weeks... seems possibly doable for one of those races, right?  right?  Maybe?

I think it might be a sign from the running gods...  Or, maybe it's just a funny coincidence that will set me up for a too-fast start and a crash-and-burn finish at an upcoming race...

Either way, makes for a funny story!  :)

I'll be MIA til Sunday guys, hope you have a super awesome weekend!  

Personality Flaws.

Morning friends!

Had my dreaded PT appointment yesterday... and it was awesome. 

See, something you should know about me is that I only have like two personality flaws.  One of them is I convince myself I really don't want to do something that I have to do, and then I dread it, and I get all worked up about it.  This is the reason I still have my impacted wisdom teeth 8 years after I was told I had to get them out. 

Anyway, while I was all busy dreading PT,  I forgot that my therapist is AWESOME.  He is super understanding... and he has something torn is his knee and hasn't been able to run since December, so he understands my crazy frustration with lack of forward motion. 

I told him about the pain I've been having, and he said it's from hill running.  Yeah, I probably should not have been running on hills while rehabbing, but that's my only option when I run from home.  So he did some ultrasound therapy on my leg, showed me a new exercise, massaged the calf for a while, and sent me on my happy way with instructions to run for 25 minutes, every other day. 

25 minutes!!!  So that's what I did this morning.  And it was great. 

Oh, my second personality flaw?  I guess I'd say it's that because I'm so cool some people might feel intimidated to even be in my presence.  It's kind of a liability.  ha.

Off to spend the weekend with my buds!  Rachel here I come!!

Lying to the Teacher & Things I Hate Thursday

For those of you that are lucky enough to have escaped the evils of physical therapy, let me explain something to you.

It's like being in school.  School where they hurt you.

You have homework, tests, lectures. 

The homework is my stretching, strengthening, foam rolling, icing, etc.  The tests are all of the crazy things he makes me do during my appointment to test my range of motion, pain (which is great fun), and flexibility.

The running is like... a science fair project.  It's really awesome, and I just want to work on it all the time by myself so I can be done with it.  And then I can start running however I want to.   Er... science-fair-projecting however I want.  Here's where the analogy starts to fall off a bit.

Anyway, today, the teacher is going to want to know how my science fair project is going.  Well, honestly, it's not going great, but do I want to tell the teacher that?  No!  I want him to think it's going awesome so I don't have more homework, and have to stay in class over the summer... and so I can RUN!  Are you guys still with me here?

Yeah, my ankle hurts.  So does my shin, my calf.  My ankle actually hurts to the touch, which worries me.  Although I'm not entirely convinced it's not due to the frostbite I sustained a few weeks ago.

But seriously, I don't even want to tell this dude, because my runs are going to get chopped down, and I'll be in PT for the rest of my life.

Since I know how much you guys love hearing me kvetch this early in the morning... it's time for..........

I hate it when I'm cruising on a medical website, reading about what to do if your kid happened to eat a bag of the silica gel that comes with shoes and stuff (just an example, that probably didn't even happen), and the most DISGUSTING pictures come up on the side of the site.  Seriously, who needs to see a disgusting yellow toenail all curled up and gross... or a close up of a brown recluse spider bite.... or an avulsed eyeball, or any number of disgusting skin infections.  Seriously!  I'm shuddering just thinking about it.  Ugh.

You're welcome for this pleasant post. 

Where I Run.

Happy Wednesday!

This is a great day so far!  Popped out of bed at 5 am and got dressed in my favorite running clothes, strapped on my brand new Garmin (yeah, I was totally able to sweet talk my friend into buying my fancier, but crappier 405.  I squeezed my camera into my handheld water bottle pocket, and took off.  Had a great little run in the heat and humidity, and snapped some nice pictures along the way.

The topic of the week from the sweet  Julia is what all of us blogger folks see during our daily runs.  For some reason, I often think about this when I'm out on my runs.... I am lucky enough to live in a beautiful rural area in Wisconsin, and when I think of my morning runs, I have the same few snapshots of the scenery in my head... but what are you Utah girls seeing on your runs?  Or urban runners, or people in the mountains or along the water?  I just have this montage in my head of all of these runners from diverse cultures around the world, living in vastly different climates and terrain, all getting their morning run in.  It's one of my very favorite things about our sport - the universality. 

The road where I live is rolling hills surrounded by trees and farm fields...  the scenery isn't postcard-spectacular, but it's home for me.  :)



View from my driveway.



Sunrise on my run this morning



Furry friend.  I think he thought he was invisible...



Choo-choo! 

Wildflower prairie.

I only ran about two miles this morning so I didn't have too much to photograph, but had a gone a little further I could have shown you the loneliest herd of cows ever.  Whenever I run by their pasture, they all moo like crazy and stampede up to the fence and then run along with me until I pass their enclosure.  Ahh... Wisconsin.  :)

Oh, and exciting news.  Since I now have a Garmin I can actually figure out how to use, I'm going to start heart rate training.  I'll tell you all about what I'm learning... as soon as I learn something.  :)

Hope you all have a great day, and can't wait to see your home turf!

Smart Phone Angst

Morning my happy blogger friends!

No run for me today - I'm not allowed to run two days in a row right now with the tendonitis, so I'm just doing all my rehab stuff like a good girl... and busting out like a million pushups for the 100 Pushup Challenge.

OK, here's the issue with smart phones.

I hate them.

I hate them for a multitude of reasons.  I hate that whenever I go out to lunch/dinner/drinks with someone, they update their FB status a million times/ check the scores/weather/latest doomsday predictions... while I feel like my captivating personality and stunning good looks should be enough to hold someones attention for an hour. 

Here's another big reason I hate them.

I know that when all you cool kids are sitting down to take a crap and busting out your smart phone to play your fancy games, the only game I get to play is see how quick I can hit Start/Stop on the stopwatch on my phone.  .09 seconds baby.

But, I've found a reason to hate my "dumb phone" as I lovingly refer to it, even more.

My phone has this conversion calculator.... it'll tell you how many ounces in a gallon, square inches in a hectare.. you get the idea. 

So, I mistakenly wanted to know how much, in tons, I weigh.

Put my weight into this stupid device:

OK, it's hard to read.  But it says

122 lbs = .55336 tons

Half a ton?  F*ck this thing.

  I'm getting a smart phone.

Family Funday and Plan for the Week

Hey guys, hope you had a super awesome weekend!

We had a great family weekend - I spent time on the boat with my brother, had a great date with my handsome husband, and we took the kiddos to the zoo for the first time.  Prepare for the assault of photos. 

Self-timer family portrait

Bears! 

They loved the aviary.

Hubs and A-Bomb

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer....

No-lo tried to eat the baby bunny.

Making nice with a goat.

On the agenda for the week:

Monday - Run 15 minutes, Lunch date with my work buds!

Tuesday - Pushup Challenge - 18, 22, 16, 16, max (at least 25), PT appointment

Wednesday - Run whatever PT tells me (hopefully 25 minutes?)

Thursday - Pushup Challenge - 20, 25, 20, 20, max (at least 28)

Friday  - Run... and head down to Edgerton with my buddy Matt to visit my love Rachel and see my other love Nikki get MARRIED!!!

Quick note about the Pushup Challenge.  I started this back in April, but then bailed on it when I got injured and was all mopey and unmotivated.  I've been back at it for a couple of weeks, and only have three weeks until I do the 100 Pushup Challenge!   I am super nervous for that Thursday workout this week -  I know it's not that much more than Tuesday, but all those 20s look scary! 

Anyone else doing this challenge?  I am getting big ol biceps, and every time I flex, my husband pretends to be scared and tells me to put my "pythons" away.    :)

In other news, I'm a great-aunt today!  My husband's niece had a baby.... and though I'm still in my twenties, being a great-aunt automatically brings my real age up into the fifties I think..  Ah well.  Maybe I can use that explanation at races and sign up in the 50-59 age group.  Well, it'd be pointless anyway because I'd just be getting my ass kicked by 50 year olds instead of 20 year olds. 

Anyway, hope you all have a super awesome week!

Mail Order Goodies

Happy Friday all!

Don't you love getting stuff in the mail?  Especially pretty, useful stuff?

Usually the only things I lust over online are running related:  a cute new skirt, headband, whatever. 

Until I saw this gorgeous piece of sweetness on Etsy:



Drool.

 I've been needing a new strap for my guitar... but couldn't find just the right one.  Then I saw this, and the rest is history.  It came in the mail yesterday, and I hugged it for a long time and told it how much I loved it.  And bonus, when I tried it on, it is sturdy and comfy.  Mmmm.  Love it.

I was cleared to run 15 minutes today, so I'll be busting that out when my darling hubs gets home from work...  I'll let you know how it goes!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day today - can't wait to get outside with my bambinos to enjoy this gorgeous summer weather!

:)

It's a good thing they're cute... and Things I Hate Thursday

Because they really put a hurt on my running!

Well, it wasn't really the pregnancy that caused my issues... it was the surprise C-section that did me in.

This is what my PT told me:

I sustained some nerve damage during the surgery.  Boo.

Well, time out.   I did know this because about a week post-partum I literally couldn't get out of bed without crying out.... this led to my OB performing a "trigger point injection" - a HUGE needle attached to a HUGE thing of saline that she repeatedly stabbed into my incision area - (side note, when your doctor asks you to lie down for a procedure and then gets two nurses to come hold your hands, you know you're in for a very un-fun experience)

ANYWAY.  The damaged nerve(s) apparently supply my right quadriceps... and because they got all funky, it caused my quad to atrophy.  So actually my right quad is about 2/3rds the size of the left one.  Not sure how I never noticed this. 

So because my quad is puny on that side, I don't have proper shock absorption when I run, which leads to my foot/ankle/lower leg taking a POUNDING.  This caused the posterior tibial tendinitis, which in turn caused me to become whiny and mopey for a few weeks of no running.

Weird, right? 

This is why I love my PT.  I hate going to doctors because they just treat the symptom and don't address the underlying problem.  This guy takes time to figure out the root of the issue - he said that 90% of the time, whatever the symptom that people come to him with is not the actual problem.  Super interesting stuff guys.

So not only did I get stretch marks, crappy eyesight, bigger feet, and pigmentary demarcation line of pregnancy (look it up, it's funny), but nerve damage too!  ha

I'd do it again in a heartbeat.. have you SEEN how cute my kids are?  :)




And now...

I hate when you're talking to someone, and they keep glancing right above your head.  Does anyone else get that terrifying panic that there's a big spider descending on your head?  ugh.  I can't even count how many times I've done that involuntary freak out move... you know, the duck down, while simultaneously backing up, covering your head, and looking up to see what is attacking you.  Try explaining that maneuver when you meet your future father-in-law for the first time.

Deer celebrate National Running Day too!

Happy National Running Day everyone! 

What a glorious day.  I woke up early and snuck out of the house before my kids got up.  I headed out the door with my shorts and tank top (extra awesome because the last time I ran before injury was 30 degrees and raining/snowing)...  The weather is PERFECT today.  Breezy, maybe 55 degrees, sunny.... so anyway... I start out on my super long (ha) 8-10 minute run (which was totally a ten minute run, thank you very much)... and guess what bounded RIGHT out in front of me?

OK, this totally isn't the actual deer... but this is what it looked like!

Bambi!  Seriously, she was about 6 feet in front of me and leapt almost all the way across the road in one stride... it was so beautiful and perfect it brought tears to my eyes. 

Running is such a beautiful and natural thing, and I never feel more connected with nature than I do when I'm cruising on a wooded trail.. no tunes.. just the sound of the wind in the trees and the birds singing.  Well, and sometimes my choking and gasping for air, if it's a tempo run.  :)

I swore I'd never take running for granted again after being on bedrest for the last few months of my pregnancy... and I don't think I did take it for granted, but I don't think my perspective on running changed much either during my long hiatus.

But after this most recent layoff, I look at running differently.  I feel so much joy now from the act of running... whereas pre-injury, most of my running-related euphoria came from PRs and negative splits and mile times.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm still going to get my sub 1:50:00 half, and my sub 23:00 5k, (c'mon, you didn't think I'd changed THAT much, did you?), but I'm not in so much of a hurry anymore.  Hopefully, I have another six decades or so of running ahead of me, so I figure I've got some time.  :)

Sorry to get all philosophical on you this early in the A.M.  Blame it on Bambi.

Hope you have a super day!!