If it was easy, everyone would do it!

Back in the saddle again

2008-04-06T15:10:00.002-04:00

Well, I don't know quite what I was so worried about. I got through 3.5 miles no problem. And the amazing thing is that I ran them at about an 11:30 pace. That's good for a fat girl who['s first 5K was at a 12:59 pace and that was just at the end of November. I'd say that's quite an improvement. I was very proud of myself. I've been working a lot on controlling my breathing and it seems to make a big difference. So does having stuff to look at. The TM is ok and all, but outside is the way to go.

I think I am going to go do that 5K this coming Saturday. So what if I don't make it to run the entire thing. I'll bet I can, though. I think I've officially been bitten by the running bug again, and that's not a bad thing.

Thanks, girls, for all of you who have been nudging me back here.

Okay, so I suck.

2008-04-05T21:24:00.002-04:00

Alright...after much prompting and borderline harrassment (THANKS, Elysia!), I am here to update my long lost blog.

I have healed from the tendonitis in the ankle and have started running again. I haven't made it outside yet, because it has been cold and truth be told, I am scared. I am afraid to run outside because that is where I got hurt the first time. I know I just need to get over it, but it is really tough to get past mentally. I have been telling myself all week that this weekend I will get out and do three miles. Well...that day is tomorrow. Hopefully I have an update to post tomorrow afternoon.

In my hiatus, I have joined the YMCA near where I work. I have kept up with that, going every morning before work. I roll my fat ass out of bed at 4:45 and go to the gym. I run, swim, bike, and lift weights in a rotating fashion. I LOVE it. It is one of the best things I have ever done for myself. Plus, it came with an uunexpected fringe benefit...a boyfriend.

I've been dating a guy I met at the Y for about 6 weeks now. He works there, and I am totally the happiest I have been in quite sometime. It's amazing. He is the best man EVER. And I mean EVER.

At any rate, I am still alive and kicking - er, running. I may attempt another 5K this coming Saturday. If not, then it will be the Susan G. Komen Race For the Cure with a bunch of friends in May.

Until next time....I'm out.

The verdict is in...

2008-01-08T19:00:00.000-05:00

It is tendonitis. Not shin splints. Not a stress fracture. Tendonitis. I suppose that is the good news.

I have to take this big giant horse pill that is an anti-inflammatory twice a day, and I will need to start PT, going 3x/week for 3 weeks.

I must not run for 4 weeks, until I can be seen by the doctor again. That will make a total of about 8 weeks off. Sounds like I will need to start the C25K all over again. It is okay. I know what I'm in for this time, and I will be certain that I won't die before I get to the end.

The good thing is that the doctor is happy that I am concerned about doing some exercises to keep myself healthy. It would be great to drop another 10lbs before I go back to see him.

On a side note, I started swimming at the Y today and I absolutely LOVE it! I had a blast. And I got a good work out on top of it. Next week...cycling. :)

Whoda thunk it?

2008-01-03T21:02:00.000-05:00

Never in a million years would I believe I'd be sitting here, with it being 12 degrees outside, wanting so badly to bundle myself up and run. I mean...come ON, that's frostbite weather for Pete's sake! Yet...I have this overwhelming urge to just go out and do it. I wouldn't have thought that I'd miss running so much, particularly when I have to force myself to do it some times.

My cousin summed it up properly by saying it was the "Runner's High" that kept him going. That wonderful, exhausted feeling of accomplishment and pride that is felt when the run is complete. That is the feeling I remember when I'm dong running. And that is the feeling that I'm missing right now.

I can't wait to get to the doctor to find out what's wrong with this leg. Hopefully I was just doing too much too soon and I'll need to throttle back a bit. Hell, at this point, I wouldn't even be upset if he told me I had to start from the beginning again. That actually might make me a stronger runner, who knows.

For now, I will sit and think about that feeling and wait patiently for the time when I can get out there again. Until then, Im going to become very well acquainted with the local Y.

Paging Dr. Bombay, Paging Dr. Bombay

2008-01-01T19:33:00.000-05:00

I'm afraid I have to make another trip to the doctor. After taking the doctor prescribed week of rest and starting back slowly, my distances have become increasingly shorter over the past 2 weeks due to returned shin pain. After only 1/2 mile of running yesterday I had to stop because the pain was too much to push through. So, I will call the doctor and I will do whatever it takes to get over this injury.

In the mean time I have decided to join the Y. The Y has a pool, and swimming is something that I really enjoy doing, and will be a completey non-load bearing form of exercise for me. I will also be able to do some strength training and perhaps some yoga or pilates. So, until I can see the doctor, that is my plan of action. I will certainly keep you all informed.

Also, if any of you have had a similar injury, please share your thoughts, and any helpful tips you may have!

I am a slug.

2007-12-26T23:08:00.000-05:00

That is all. There is nothing else to it. I am a slug.

How quickly we lose it

2007-12-23T12:59:00.000-05:00

I never thought a week and a half off from running would cause me to back track. I did my first long run yesterday after the doctor's ordered rest for the leg strain. Now mind you, a long run for me is only 3.5 miles. Well, I pushed through it despote the fact that my legs started to feel heavy towards the end. This morning my quads are so terribly sore. I didn't notice how sore they actually were until I tried to get up off the floor after sitting there for an hour wrapping Christmas presents. YIKES!

I will stretch out today, maybe do some pilates to loosen up. My next scheduled running day is tomorrow. I will go. And I will do the best I can. And I will love it because I always do - at least after the fact. :)

Amazing Grace

2007-12-15T16:11:00.001-05:00

My mother used to call me Grace when I was little because I didn't have any.

I am still amazed at this whole running thing. I went this afternoon. Still taking it easy because of the recent leg strain, but I'm doing it. Well, I typically trot along at an earth shattering *just under* 13:00 mile. Well, I did 2.5 today, but the first mile I did in 11:49. WOO FREAKIN' HOO!!! So let's see...if I can train myself to maintain that pace for 3.1 miles, I can finish my next 5K in around 37 minutes. I don't think my next 5K will be until February. I think this is doable.

At any rate, as I was driving back from the fitness trail, I found myself in awe of myself. I just still have a hard time believing that I have actually become a runner within these past several months. If you would have asked me in April, "Do you think you'll be able to run a 5K in November?" I'd have laughed. I couldn't run, let alone want to. I ran into some girls on one of the message board threads on the Weight Watchers website. It was all over from there. They made it sound fun. It took me a while to get to the "fun" part, but now, even as I'm out there in 20 degree weather, with snot running out of my nose because it's so cold, the sweat in my hair freezing to my head, I'm smiling knowing that I can do this, and I am doing it. Nothing is going to keep me from being a runner.

Damn, I should be a motivational speaker. Oh, wait. Talk to me about motiviation when the alarm clock goes off at 5:00 and I go out to run when is 20 degrees with a foot of snow on the ground. Maybe then I'll remember why I should NOT be a motivational speaker.

Back in the saddle.

2007-12-13T12:30:00.000-05:00

I feel lazy. Completely. I know I need to get back to running, and I know I want to, but it's so much more fun to sit on the couch on my ass when I get home from work. And it's so much easier to stay in bed at 5:00 in the morning when the alarm goes off. And it's so much easier to sit here and come up with a million excuses as to why I shouldn't or can't run.

Deep down, I love it. And once I get out there and get started I love it. Okay, I love it after the first 15 minutes when I have to talk to myself outloud to get myself to keep going. I'm mentally lazy. Seriously. I KNOW my body can do it. My brain has to convince itself that what I'm doing is fun. Cause it IS. And I love how I feel after I'm done running. It's just GETTING STARTED.

Getting started...

I have an hour drive home after work to ramp myself up. Hopefully the rain stops. It's pouring here right now. (Is that another excuse?) Seriously...POURING. So, the rain will stop, and I will get home and put my gear on before I do anything else, even before I pee. Because then I'm half way to getting started. And if I'm in the clothes, I might as well use them. So...there it is.

I will run. And I will finish. And I will love it because I always do. And THAT is what I have to remember.

Go me.

Here is the proof!

2007-12-11T12:30:00.000-05:00

I decided to share with with everyone that I am, indeed, a runner!

My first injury

2007-12-07T19:17:00.000-05:00

I was all excited about trying my first "cold weather run" Tuesday night. I fought with myself all day and really had to talk myself into it. (I can be kind of a wimp.) Well, after being so proud of myself for just DOING it, something happened.

I was about a mile into my run and my left leg started to get tight. I stopped to stretch it out, thinking it was just the cold making me a little tight and I needed to warm up a bit more. Well, 100 more yards and I decided I needed to stop, and I should stop RIGHT NOW. So, I did. By this point, I could barely lift my foot off the ground. I was concerned. And I was freezing by now. It was 23 degrees. I was sweaty, and I was certainly not dressed to be doing anything other than running outside in that weather.

I hobbled back to my house and iced the leg right away. It hurt all night and into the next day. I became increasingly concerned for the worst, of course, thinking it was a stress fracture. I didn't want to, but my friends MADE me call the doctor. Much to my relief, the injury was only an intense sprain, nothing more. The best part is that I only have to take ONE week off from running, then I can get back into it - slowly. As in, one mile at a time. Ugh. Considering the alternative, I suppose I can live with this. I'm just disappointed that I'll have to miss the 5K I was looking forward to tomorrow.

It's funny. I started running in August after reading about a program called Couch to 5K (C25K). I was NOT a runner, nor did I ever think I would become one. Well, I did my first 5K on Thanksgiving morning, in a torrential downpour with 35 mph winds. An amateur wouldn't do that. An amateur would say, "Screw that!" and stay in bed. Running has become a big and important part of my life in these few short months. I'm now looking forward to training for a 5 MILE race in July.

It's true what I've seen in print...Runners are a different breed, and I'm starting to understand. And I'm starting to feel like one of them. I have my first race bib framed to prove it.