Getting My Head In The Game

I'm struggling this training season to get my head in the game. I'm used to starting over. I'm used to pushing through pain. I'm used to it not being easy. But this season has been inconsistent and discouraging. I was managing my weekday runs really well until I had to do 5 miles on the "dreadmill".  My consistency began to slip and I have not managed to pull it back in. With my hubby home on the weekends, I have been able to go out to do my long runs. My new freedom came with a price, horrific shin splints. I was so bad that I stopped wearing heels and went to the doctor. His answer was take some time off, which really helped with my inconsistency. So I ... 

tried acupuncture. It helped, but the pain came back as soon as I ran a distance longer than 4 miles. So I... 

tried KT tape. This has helped the most. I kinda wanna wrap my whole body in this tape. The soreness came back as soon as I took the tape off. I even...

Went to the spa and did a leg massage with hot stones. Felt amazing, but short-lived. 

I am staying with the KT tape for now and doing my best to get my head on straight as well. Fortunately, I have friends who force me to.

My friend, S, invited me out for a group run when I really needed some motivation. It was a great run, very hilly and challenging. I managed to shave over a minute off of my average per mile. I felt it the next day and the next day... And the next day. 😀 I'm trying. I really am. I just gotta get my stuff together and do it. So until then...

Peace, love, and KT tape! 

A sixer in the bag

Today was a brutal, slow six miler. I have had a crazy week and didn't get all my weekday miles in. But I really wanted to hit my 6 miles this morning. We had a late softball game last night, and I knew it was going to be rough getting up his morning. It was. (But I got a new shirt last night.)

Then I stepped outside and it was sooooo humid that everything   immediately felt damp. It's one of those days where you have to chew your air before you breathe in.  I hate that feeling! I started and it was rough. Brutal. Sometimes excruciating! But sometimes the universe sends you exactly what you need when you need it. This morning was a very social run. I was inundated with greetings of puppy kisses. I met 3 very enthusiastic new friends who gave me sloppy dog kisses. All very sweet. Then at the 3 mile mark, my right feet started falling asleep. I'd stop adjust my shoe, shake it out a little, stretch nothing helped. I powered to mile 4 and was giving up and going home when I ran into one of my favorite people, B. She told me that she didn't want to be out there either , but she had just finished her 6. She's really an amazing person, you guys!  (And not just because she ran 6 miles.)She encouraged me to keep going. So I did. I found my stride about mile 5.5 and was headed back home and the wind changed direction, and the temp dropped about 3 degrees. I was looking around for Mary Poppins to appear, it was so wild out there.

I hit my 6 on my way home. It felt great. It was slow and awful, but it's done. That's always a great feeling. Thanks B for telling me to stick it out. You're an inspiration! Now I'm going to stretch out and drink my smoothie. So until next time... 

Peace, love, and sixers! 

Slow and steady....

Won't really win the race, but it'll get me across the finish line in one piece. That's the plan anyway. This week has been a little rough. I was taken off the new medication because it was causing some really adverse effects. So I'm back to just ibuprofen. I'm ok with that, but it's going to take a minute to get me back to where I was. Despite that, I had a steady run on Monday. Tuesday's run was a disaster from the beginning. It was short a few miles because I step off the treadmill to go to the bathroom and tweaked my ankle.

So I took a few days off and came back today with a 5 mile run. It started off pretty enough. It was really nice to be outside.

It quickly turned into a nasty, brutal run. I was a little overly ambitious and chose a hilly route. It slowed me down significantly. I knew going into the run that I just didn't have any oomph today, but I needed to get a longer run in that did not involve the treadmill. So I did it. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to feel that tomorrow. Hell, I'm feeling it right now. Afterwards, I did a little post-run yoga. The kids wanted to participate, so we broke out the extra yoga mats. 

I love these two! Overall, it's not been a great week, but it's not been a horrible week either. It's just another building block to a really great run in the future...I hope. 

Peace, Love, and Future Runs! 

Don't blink or you'll miss me!

So... Not really. Unless you blink really, really, REALLY slowly.  However, I am steadily shaving time off my miles. Last night, I ran two sub 16 miles. This week I have consistently running sub 16. I have even run a sub 15. I know that isn't Flash fast, but it shows steady improvement. I began my training running 17:00+\mile. At this rate, it is quite possible to reach my goal of 11:00/mile. I know it seems ambitious since I'm still in my lower miles, but those tend to be my hardest miles. I am having a little trouble regulating my breathing, but I am working on it. I am in a fair amount of pain lately for different reasons. But despite all these little things, I have a feeling that everything will start to click very soon. I just have to keep plugging along until it does. It actually felt good to hit two miles tonight. I had some kick ass power songs to push me through. It was all about the ladies last night.  Brandi Carlile,Joan Jett, Florence + the Machine, and P!nk brought me home. Carly Simon and Carole King helped me cool down during my post-run yoga. Well, until my dog, Omar, decided to jump on my stomach and lie down while I was doing a bend. 

There are worse ways to end a night then puppy snuggles. 

Peace, Love, and snuggle buddies! 

Rocky Start

It's just the beginning of training season for me.  The plan is to run the Route 66 half marathon in November, but if all goes well, I might get the itch to run a big race before then. My goal for the next race is a sub 2:00:00. My personal best was a 3:11:17 at Route 66 in 2013, so even if I just break that I'll be happy. I've been training for a couple of weeks now. My miles are still low, which sucks because the first 2 miles are always the hardest for me. It takes that long for my body to adjust to what I'm doing to it. I loathe the first 2 miles! I am looking forward to my first 5 mile. 5 is my happy number. Lately, I have been working through some pain issues. I'm in pain every day. Most days, it is manageable, but this past week has been a rough one. It is weeks like this that reminds me why running is so important to me. Running can give me pain, but it also gives me a sense of accomplishment. A reason to have pain, instead of just having pain.  It's like my therapy. There are runs when I cry during or after my run. This week I've had a couple of those. Tonight's run was one of those. I cried the minute that I stepped off the treadmill and continued through my cool down and post run yoga. I don't mind a good cry after a good run. I felt clean afterwards. Well, not clean like I didn't need to take a shower clean.  Just clean. So this is my rough week, my jumping off point. My buckle up and hold in week. Yet I'm still here and I'm still going. That's all I can really do for now. 

Peace, love, and better days! 

Slippery When Wet

I had a slow miles week.  And I didn't get my long miles in, but.... I did get a day date with my hubby! With his traveling, we very seldom get to spend time together, just us. So we jumped at the chance to take the kids to my sister's and going slip slidin' together. 

We arrived early and got a good spot in line. The line was slow the first couple of turns. Once the crowd thinned out, we started doing a slide every 5 minutes, even with the trekking required to get back to the top.  I didn't get my miles, but I got plenty of steps. We managed to slide 7 times before our time was up. It was worth it to spend time with him. 

 

After all the fun in the sun, we got a celebratory snow cone on our way out. 

This week it is back to crazy miles and cross training.  So here we go... 

Peace, love, and slip'n slides! 

It's Been A Good Long While

I'm notorious for taking breaks in training, but I've never taken a break this long before. Did you miss me?! You should have, but don't fret, I'm back. A few things have changed. I am no longer diagnosed with Lupus. My kids are older and involved in all kinds of activities. My husband travels even more than he did before, which often times makes it difficulty for me to train. However, I am back with a firm resolution. I have began training for the Route 66 Half Marathon. I bought a treadmill to run after the kids go to sleep. I'm doing this all crazy like, but at least I'm doing it. So here are my goals: 

Short term: figure out a way to train without neglecting family obligations, train for the Route 66, and beat my R66 PR of 3:11. 

Long term: become more consistent with training, train for the R66 Full (gasp!) Marathon next year, get a decent Full underbelt before 2019 When we do the Dublin Marathon. 

My training schedule is much more balanced this time and I am doing better about cross training. I am running on Monday, Tuesday,Thursday, and long on Saturday. I am cross training with yoga on Wednesdays and softball on Fridays. Once softball season is over, I plan to add weights and rowing. 

Ambitious for me, I know, but I'm getting this done. 

As for my medical condition, it has changed too! Right now my diagnosis is "undetermined auto-immune disorder". I have begun seeing a new specialist (she's amazing) and she has already helped my pain management tremendously. We put me on a Vitamin D supplement since I was deficient, switched me from ibuprofen to Meloxicam, and have done a multitude of testing. This is the specialist that switched my sister's Dx from Lupus to Scleroderma (which we have ruled out for me so I am hoping that she can figure out what is going on with me. I feel better than I have in a while. I'm still fatigued and stiff, but my daily pain has went from an 8 to a 5. Progress! 

So here goes my next adventure. Until next time...

Peace, love, and future days!