A new PR in April!

April has been a sporadic month of running. I seemed to have hurt my left hip somehow. I think what I've been experiencing is called gluteus medius hip pain. It's been quite painful at times, and then it goes away as I rest it. After reading more about it, it seems my laziness with rolling, stretching, and taking care of myself after runs has gotten to me - at least to this muscle! I rested it several days early in the month which helped. I then ran a "fast" for me half marathon and felt the pain pretty bad for a couple days afterward.  I rested it some more and that helped. Then after a recent long run, and not much rolling, it has been bothering me again. I just read up on it a few days ago. Seems it's all connected to the ITB and ankle - which have been off and on been a tiny bother lately. So I'll take it easy the rest of this week, try to run next week and go from there. I do have my sights on a marathon in 5 weeks. I've been building up for that the past several weeks. I'll just take it day by day now...

second pair of Asics Nimbus for 2014!

April 1 - 5:  6

April 6 - 12:  3, 5, 6, 4, 11

April 13 - 20:  5, 3, 5, 13.1 (new PR!)

April 21 - 27:  5, 6, 15, 3

April 28 - 30:  4,  rest


April total miles: 94






I was on a wait list for a half marathon that was held on the Greenway near my house two weeks ago. It was cold and rainy to start. There were many puddles on the greenway. It did warm up to 55 by the end of the race. It was actually perfect weather! I ran an average 9:42 pace, had 2 gels, and just a few ounces of water. I finished in 2:06. My goal was 2:08 to beat  my 2:09 PR so I was pretty excited to have set a new PR. Still aiming to break 2:00 this year. They had the cutest little peachy medals!

I discovered this new gel. It's amazing! It's made with chia seeds (kind of like what the Tarahumara Indians in the book Born To Run fuel on!). The consistency is fine and easy to swallow. And the taste is delicious. It's as natural as it gets and I noticed right away that I didn't get that sugar surge or shock as I can feel with other gels. It's a little more costly than most gels, but so worth it. I've stocked up on these and plan to use these for awhile. I've tried the mango and blueberry flavor which are both so tasty. Mango and Strawberry are my faves, though!