Injury Won't Keep Me Down

So, it's been a rough go the past few weeks. This isn't exactly how I thought 2015 was going to end. But here I am, facing my worst running injury square in the eyes, knowing that any time goal and redemption I had for the Phoenix half marathon are toast. My fingers are crossed that I will at least get to walk the half marathon. I'm crazy enough to do that, if the doctor says I can. I'm sure there's a lesson to be learned there. If he says absolutely not, I'll be deferring the race and I'll try again in 2017.

I've shed a lot of tears over this. It's a silly thing to cry over, I know, but nonetheless it's devastating for me. I won't hide that. I think what's frustrating is that I really tried to listen to my body this year. Which brings me to this. This year did not start how I wanted it to, with an injury just as infuriating, and it isn't ending how I imagined, but the middle... what a ride.

This is the first year I've raced. Really raced. And while I'm questioning whether or not that's something I should be doing, I really enjoyed myself. I worked really hard to get where I am. I'm not anywhere close to where I want to be. My all time "desired" goal is a sub 2 hr half marathon. I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever realize it, but the dream is still there and I believe that one day, it'll be possible.

In the meantime I've now raced two half marathons, a 15k, two 10k's, an 8k and a 5k this year. Not one of them were easy, but every one of them, absolutely worth all the work and frustration and sweat and pain and tears.

While this injury is knocking me down right now, it will never be able to keep me down. When the bad day passes and I reflect back on the past few months leading up to the stress fracture, I accomplished so much! I have made some wonderful new friendships, lasting friendships, with people whom I genuinely love to pieces. I no longer desire to run alone every time. I LOVE running with friends and look forward to the opportunity to at least ride a bike next to them soon (maybe I can get a new bike outta this mess?) until I can run by their side again. I ran my furthest distance ever! Who just goes out to run 16 miles for the heck of it? Not many people I know, but I wanted to do it. I wanted to show myself, I could. And I did. And it was awful and glorious all at the same time! I've had lots of other great wins this year!

Then in Nov as I began training for the Phoenix half marathon, I told myself that I would really listen to my body this time. If it said stop, I would stop. I would rest. I would make sure I line up uninjured and healthy. While I won't necessarily be lining up in this state, I wouldn't change one single thing I did leading up to diagnosis. After running and PRing my Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving (on what I now know was a stress fracture) I rested the whole week leading up to the Hot Chocolate 15k.

A few days into this voluntary rest period, I started questioning the pain I still had. I went to urgent care to discuss it with them and see what they said. After a quick exam, I was told medial tibial stress syndrome and was told I'd be okay to race, just ice and ibuprofen. So I taped up my shin for medial tibial stress, and lined up for Hot Chocolate. At the end of that race my shin was hurting. Very badly. Despite the tape, and despite compression socks. Despite the week of ice and ibuprofen. I think right then, I knew. Something wasn't right. I finished the race, crushed a 9:29/avg min pace, and smiled for every dang picture taken. I had an absolute blast.

A few hours later, while at church, it was starting to sink in. I was in a lot of pain. Not shin splint pain. Real, excruciating pain. I took ibuprofen, I iced, I rested. I did not run one single step. The next week, after the intensity of the pain coming and going, and lots of conversation with my best running friend Brecka, I made a phone call to a sports doctor and took the first available appt. The rest is history (or I guess, my present?)

So while it's not an ideal ending, I did listen to my body. It told me not to run. And I didn't when I realized that something was truly not right. And even though my last two races were run on a stress fracture, I ran the HECK out of them! If I can do that on a fracture, imagine what my body will be capable of when it's recovered and healthy!

I've had a few really hard days in 2015 when it comes to running. I imagine I will have a few more as the months of recovery stretch on, but I know when I'm recovered and healthy again, I will come back stronger, braver, kinder, unstoppable and fierce! I don't know what exactly my goals will look like for 2016 yet with this set back, but I'm trying to listen quietly to what I'm impressed will help me grow.

Thank you to everyone who has followed and shared in my journey this year. Thank you for all the love, encouragement, motivation and support I've received. 2016 is going to be a great year. I'm sure of it!

My First MRI and "Results"

So what is it like to get an MRI? I've never had one of those before! Can you believe it? I've been xrayed a bunch, I've had one CT scan of my throat looking for an abscess in my tonsils, I've even had some fancy ultrasound done on my neck looking at my thyroid. But never an MRI! So check that right off the bucket list of things to do!

Okay, not really. That was not my idea of fun. I'm not overly anxious of medical procedures. I mean. I think the normal amount, but I feel like I handle myself well. An MRI had me a little worried. I'm not really claustrophobic, so that wasn't necessarily it, but I've seen video clips on YouTube of how powerful they are! I saw the one where they've tethered a chair and the machine sucks it right in basically. YIKES!!! My husband has mentioned that he wasn't allowed to wear metal in the room! I was not excited about this. I almost canceled, but I had a gut feeling that I needed to see this through, so I went to my appt.

Imagine my surprise  (after checking every single box assuring I had no metal objects on or in me) when they told me to hop up...with my jeans on. And my jacket. And my bra!! They told me to take off my glasses and leave them on the ledge.

BUT WOULDN'T THEY GET SUCKED INTO THE MACHINE JUST BEING IN THE SAME ROOM!!? Wouldn't I get sucked to the top of it and stick by my jacket and pants!!! I won't lie, I was briefly terrified! But the techs were cool as cucumbers, so I practiced my yoga breathing (thank you Liz for taking me to yoga this year!!!) and was able to calm myself down.

After plenty of adjustments and being handed some ear plugs and some little ball thing (think stethoscope pump thingy) to squeeze if I needed them for any reason and told it would take about half an hour, they walked out and I was alone (kinda).

Man is that thing loud!! Thank goodness for the ear plugs! Seriously! I was really lucky. Because my injury is in my leg, my body didn't have to go all the way into the tube. I went in feet first and only up to about my chest at one point. The table got moved about 4 times I think. Each one made my heart race a little, but I would just close my eyes and Savasana ;D myself back down.

It really did last about 30 min. The last 10 or so, I was done. I wanted to wiggle and point my toes and bend my knees. I started looking around more, but because I didn't have my glasses on, it was harder to see, and I knew I couldn't really move much. You can't wiggle when they're scanning you. 

Right about the moment I really had had enough, it was done and they came in to release me from the tube and table. They handed me my films (seriously, let's talk about archaic technology, I thought everyone loaded imaging onto CDs these days) and sent me on my way telling me that the doctor would be calling me in a few days (um, nope. It's Christmas weekend. I'll be lucky if I hear from him by the 23rd). I had already arranged to take my films over to our friend's house and he'd be able to read them for me. Thank goodness for a radiologist living around the corner!

Anyway. I've always wondered what it would be like to have an MRI, and now I know, though I consider myself lucky that I didn't have to go all the way into the tube. I'm grateful to know I will not get sucked in and I won't stick to the top of the machine, never to be released from it ever again!

 Although, I'm hoping to never need one again!!

On the note of results. My friend was shocked to see film, just like I was, but he is pretty dang good at what he does. After looking each one over, and asking a couple of questions, he pinpointed what looks to be a small stress fracture right in the exact spot that hurts the most in my leg. The spot that when I apply frozen rice bags to my leg, aches. The spot that will occasionally throb. He said it's pretty small, but it's there. I can see it too, he showed me. That means no running for at least 6 more weeks (maybe I'll get lucky when the doctor calls, but I'm not counting on being released any sooner). Even he agreed with that. That is not the news I wanted, but I think I knew in my gut that's what I was getting. It's why I just went through with it all. So that I knew for sure.

I'm devastated with the news. I do know that the doctor still needs to call and confirm it with me, and then comes the course of action to heal it. I will be as positive as I can through it, but right now, in this moment, I'm frustrated and angry. And really really sad. I've already cried. A lot. I'm sure there's more of that to come. I kinda wanna throw some things. If you're wondering if I'm a passionate person... I guess this answers your question (or I'm a raging hot head, you decide, lol). I know in the big picture this is just a tiny blip. I know this isn't going to be a big deal on down the road. But right now it's huge and I will allow myself to feel all of the emotions that come with this kind of news and I won't excuse any of it. Please please, I'm not in any place to hear any constructive criticisms, or advice. I'm going to need to ride this wave. I will follow what the doctor tells me I'm allowed, or not allowed, to do. And in the end, I will come out a stronger runner and hopefully a stronger athlete with better control over the mental battle that healing and recovery affords.

Thank you everyone for your kind words already and any advice already offered. I know it comes from a place of love and genuine concern, and I really do appreciate it. Please don't ever think I don't appreciate the help and support I get from everyone. It means so much to me.

So, on a lighter note... who has had an MRI done before? What was it like for you? I really wanna know!!

Recommit to a Healthy Lifestyle

Today I'm recommiting. I may be able to run for long distances, and I can workout for any length of time, but I am not fueling my body in a respectful way. I'm not fueling it to perform the way I want it to. Garbage in, garbage out.

When I work I pick up my old bad habits. I was doing pretty well until work started again. It's not okay. Real life means being busy, but finding time to still take care of nutrition. So today I will do my best to stay on course for the next three weeks. I will put good foods into my body. I will be more strict than normal, but not exclusive, it is Christmas time after all. But I don't need to indulge all the time. A treat here and there is okay, but responsibility is necessary.

I know I'm completely out of control and for that reason I'm turning to a program that I've used a couple of times already, once successfully. The 21 day fix. I don't have the extra shakes and I never follow it spot on, but I eat much better when I follow the basic guidelines it provides and I get results when I do. If I want to have any hopes of lining up uninjured and healthy for the Phoenix half marathon at the end of February, this is where I really need to start. Following a training plan is the easy part. It's the stuff in between that's really going to make a difference for me.

You don't need a new year. You just need a new day. A renewed sense of responsibility. A reminder of what you're fighting for. As for me, I'm fighting for the best version of me!

Half Marathon Training Week 4

So this week's training looked quite a bit different. My shin is hurting pretty badly, and I'm doing my best to train as smartly as I can this time around. There are so many people who seem to be injured right now!! Why is that? What is happening? In my case, in the past, it was because I wasn't resting. I wasn't stretching. I wasn't taking good care of my muscles outside of just running them. I was pain free until I started this training program. I don't believe it's from the program itself. I still believe it's from beginning to swim again. However, after Monday's workout, I made a very difficult decision to rest this week. It was amazing foresight on my part!

On Monday I woke up not really feeling very well. My throat was sore and I had a headache. I decided to go ahead and swim anyway. It was a good workout. I did a quick warm up and then training called for 20 min of non stop swimming. Then I did a quick cool down as well. I did about half of the swim without stopping, but did need to pause for a brief minute to catch my breath a little. I'm not as strong a swimmer as I once was, and it was tough! I'll get there one day. I still wasn't feeling well when I got home, but figured I'd play it by ear for the following days. I spent the first part of the evening sewing my running skirt for the Hot Chocolate 15k!

Tuesday I was feeling a little bit better, but my shin was still hurting pretty badly. So despite my heart wanting to run, I knew I needed to rest. And so I did. What a difficult decision to make! Why is that so hard to do? Purposefully rest our bodies when they so desperately need it. What good comes of training and pushing through pain, not soreness, pain!! Why do we do this to ourselves? Instead of getting faster/stronger, we get tired/injured and run the risk of loosing out on not just a few days of training, but weeks and sometimes months in order to recover, and then we have to rebuild. I'm desperately hoping to avoid this situation this time!

Wednesday is rest day anyway, so I made sure I really rested. The cold I was fighting seemed to be going away and my shin was feeling a little better, so I was hopeful.

Thursday rolled around and I still knew. I knew I needed to not run. I had a race coming up on Sunday, I wanted to be sure I could run that, so I made another difficult decision and skipped out on my tempo run that day also. That night, before I headed to bed, I started sneezing. A lot. And my body started aching. I knew it! I was getting sick! I sewed up Brecka's running skirt this day!

Friday I woke up miserable! Are you kidding me! Two days before my race, I had a head cold and a sore throat! I texted a friend right away and picked up some doTERRA Onguard throat drops which usually helps to nip all that in the bud! I had planned to lay low, but then remembered I needed to get to the school for my son's award assembly and I was gonna be late!! I booked it as fast as I could, that mile to the school and made it just in time. Then I spent some recess time chasing around one of the kiddos I used to teach. My shin was pissed, but nothing else seemed to be too bad, so I was hopeful the cold wasn't a bad one. By the time evening rolled around though, I knew it was bad. I figured if I could keep it from getting into my chest I stood a chance of being able to run on Sunday without any major issue.

Saturday morning I woke up early to volunteer at the Hot Chocolate expo and felt worse than when I went to bed. I was not winning this battle! I spent 5 hours there helping (more on that later) and then went home to rest. My body was still so tired and my shin was still sore. I laid down for a little while as I was tensing my shoulder and fell asleep for just a bit. When I woke up I knew it was over. There was no denying, the cold was in my chest. I wanted to do a quick shakeout run. In hindsight, I should've rallied and done it, but I chose rest instead.

As you can see, it was a long week of doing virtually nothing. I walked 10,000 steps each day, but that's all I was able to do. Resting my body has been a very difficult thing for me this week. I wanted to run so badly. I was jealous when my friends would post up runs, especially Brecka, who I'm training with this cycle. How silly is that!! I'm really missing running with her right now!! But I knew I needed to take it easy. It helped to have her remind me of my long term goals and to tell me to rest. I want to be able to run for years, not just this race cycle. Resting when I'm sick and injured is important. I am a very blessed girl to have people help remind me when I'm so tempted to push myself in a way that wouldn't be good for me! And watching her kill her runs is pretty awesome too! I'll just act as a cheerleader instead of a training buddy for a couple of weeks!

The next couple of weeks may unfortunately look sorta similar to this past week. I'm still not feeling very well, and after Sunday's race, my shin is really hurting badly. I need time to recover. I would rather miss out on some of the earlier training runs further away from my next race, than miss the ones leading right up to it, or missing my race altogether, from injury. That doesn't mean I won't be doing anything this week though. I'm planning to make it to the gym for some cycle time and some light lifting. Nothing really hard and strenuous. Just enough to get moving a little while I wait for my shin to heal and my cold to get better. While I believe that resting is the way to go, I also believe that sometimes some movement helps to speed things up a little. Just sitting around will make me stir crazy anyway!

Stay tuned though for later this week on how our long run (the Hot Chocolate 15k) went on Sunday!!

Half Marathon Training Week 3

Here we are, 3 weeks into the Run Less Run Faster program. Some of the workouts are about to get a little more interesting, but this week was still pretty basic.

Monday I suited up and headed to the pool for an easy kick workout. My shins are awfully sore, but I don't notice it in the pool at all, so I manage through the workout easily. The plan called for 20 lengths of kick and rest 20 sec. I include what I think is a reasonable warm up and cool down. I didn't notice a set one in the book. Maybe I should look closer. I was starting to feel a little bummed about the easiness of the swims, but I glanced ahead at the coming weeks... I'm gonna be pretty busy in the water  starting next week!! Yikes!!

Tuesday was track day of course, but I didn't get to run with Brecka, waaa!! The holiday crazy schedule has started, but hopefully we'll be able to do more runs together than not. I really enjoy them. It took me most of the night, but I finally made my way out for the warm up. My shin was in so much pain, by the time I got to the track and the warm up was finished I needed to go home and put on some Procompression calf sleeves. I needed more support desperately and they always do the trick. I made my way back to the track for Yasso 800's x6!! They needed to be held at 4:05. Due to the pain in my shin and my garmin under measuring a little, the splits were a little more all over the place and not as steady as I normally go for, but they were definitely reasonable. Finished up my cool down on the track, which I don't normally do, but it was dark, so the annoyance of the same sights isn't a problem, haha! Plus it was nice to have the rubber under my feet.

Wednesday has become one of my favorite days. Rest day is something I protect quite seriously. I still walk 10,000 steps as a challenge in one of my local MRTT groups, but it's something I'll probably continue. I like the movement and it helps work out some of the tightness I would otherwise just sit through.

Thursday is tempo day, but since it was Thanksgiving, it was Turkey Trot day!! 6 miles were on the schedule and our little neighborhood trot is a 5k or loop a second time for the 10k. Naturally I ran the 10k. I tried to tape up my shin, but it still hurt pretty badly, so I added some topical creams to help with the pain, took some ibuprofen, iced it and went to bed with hopes that it would be manageable. The plan says 2 easy, 3 @ 8:58, 1 easy, but I decided to go for broke and race that sucker. I wanted a PR if I could get one. And I DID!!! One day I'll have a sub 55:00, but this was not the year for it.

Flat Lovie

Flat Run Like the Winded

My sweet little Lovie has been telling me for the entire year she wanted to do the 5k. I took her out the evening before to walk the course so she knew which turns to make. She said she didn't want me to have to run with her, even though I offered over and over again. She complained of sore aching feet, after glancing down at her shoes, I knew why. We got done and headed to get her new shoes. We even managed to score an early black Friday deal on them. I also hooked her up with her own pair of crops and then Brecka provided us with a replacement top for my handheld water bottle for her. She was set to go! We flat runnered her the night before and off she went to bed.

Cheering in runners!

Just so proud of her. Goof!

Everyone I ran into after the race said she did a great job! They said she looked happy and strong! She finished in 41:10 and I could not be more proud of her. She finished her race and then stood to watch the other racers come in. Her cute little face was the first I noticed as I finished and it made me smile BIG! Boy I love that girl! As we were walking home after, she mentioned that her miles were for Jaylee!! Be still my heart! Later she told me she feels like she accomplished something big in her life...while smiling huge and gesturing big! I believe that was probably the runners high talking, but I'm so happy for her!

Friday is second cross training day, and I was ABSOLUTELY headed to the gym, but woke up with the worst migraine. Seriously! I had hopes, but it just didn't happen.

The resistance was at a 7!

Saturday long run day was to be 10 miles,  easy. If I had run with Brecka I would've done them on the road. Our plans didn't work out to go together, so I opted for the elliptical. My shin really is in an enormous amount of pain and I figured I should maybe reduce the amount of load bearing I put on it. So 10 miles on the elliptical! An hour and forty-two minutes on that thing! You know what isn't very fun? Using the elliptical for that long! Holy heck! I wanted to mimic running as much as I could and figured that was the best way to do it.

I finally got done and decided to pick up the cross training I missed. I really wanted to do it and the plan does say we can double up workouts once in a while, so I did. I decided on the rowing machine and tried to follow that workout. I wasn't clear on what tempo meant entirely, so I just kind of went with it since it was the first time using the rower. That is a tough workout!! My shins were screaming by the time I was done, haha. I wonder if that defeated the purpose of not running. Regardless, I love the rower now and will probably use that as my second cross training workout each week.

Overall a pretty great week three!! I do believe the shin pain will come to an end. I believe it is shin splints and nothing more, but I am trying to be smart about how to handle it. I am rolling them and my calves with my Worm and my m80roller. I even used my tens machine as well. I have a product called Arnicare that I apply and follow it up with doTERRA's Deep Blue rub. I wear Procompression socks and sleeves to add more support. I need to learn the right application for KT Tape as well. I'm sure that would help a lot if I knew how to do that the right way. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I need to start lifting. I really am anxious about it. I almost did a little on Saturday, but I had already been at the gym forever and needed to get home. Will this be the week that I can talk myself into gingerly adding it in?

A preview of my Hot Chocolate 15K costume!  Hopefully I can turn all that cute fabric into two of these cute skirts! 

Half Marathon Week 2

It's that time! Monday check in with the past week of training. To start off, I've noticed some tugging and pain in my IT band on the left leg. I'm praying like crazy I'm able to avoid being sidelined by it. If anyone has some sure fire ways of healing it (besides foam rolling it) I'm all ears! I also have shin splints in my right leg, but I believe as I swim more and stretch those muscles, it'll work itself out. I will ice and roll as needed and wear Procompression socks also. Back muscle recovery is coming along. The massage therapist said she was able to feel individual muscles this time instead of one big brick, so that's good progress. I will continue to work on loosening those muscles at home with the theracane I'm borrowing, my Original Worm and utilizing my tens unit between those appointments. I'm anxious to start lifting weights because of the pain I had experienced which finally drove me to the chiropractor in the first place, but I know it's time. I'll admit, I'm also dealing with the "I don't wanna look like a wimp lifting such light weights at the gym" social stigma. I'm vain, just like the next person, but I need to start somewhere and light is where to start.

Monday was swim day!! I actually really look forward to this workout, but it was really cold that day (wind and rain) and getting myself out the door to the gym took some serious effort. I finally made it down there, and of course loved it! The workout this time was 20 sets of swim down, rest 15 sec, kick back, rest 20 sec. I felt pretty strong but noticed that, as with running, when I start to get tired my form slips. Something I really need to clean up for a more streamlined workout. My treat when I'm done? The steam room and the jacuzzi!! My Garmin doesn't track swimming inside of a gym (no satellite pick up) and also doesn't track lap pace very well anyway, but I am able to use it to track time and splits. It took me a little bit to get into that groove and how I wanted to record each split. Once I figured it out (it took three individual workouts, haha) it was perfect! I'm able to go into Garmin Connect and adjust it to a swim workout and leave a note for myself.

Next up, track Tuesday with Brecka! It was our first ladder workout ever. I was both excited to do something different, but also anxious at the speeds we needed to hold. Then there's time conversion. I'm not strong in math at all, so figuring out the time we needed to run a 600 meter and 1200 meter in was a struggle. My rough estimate got us pretty close, so just some minor adjustments need to be made for the future. The workout went as follows 400 @ 2:00, 600 @ 3:02, 800 @ 4:05, 1200 @ 6:13 and then back down again. There was a 400 meter recovery between each split (one lap around the track). I ran most of them, but walked the ones sandwiching the 1200. I was spent. The first part of the workout I was fighting to stay down in the required split time, the back end of the workout I was struggling to stay up. I managed to nail each speed, but what a struggle!! We included the warm up and cool down, something we're  going to be pretty strict about. We don't have another workout like this one in the plan, but it was good to get that experience. It's something I could do just to shake things up when I'm not really training!

Flowers after a rough day!

Emergency hair cut! At 9:00 pm!

Wednesday. Oh Wednesday. I had a chiropractic and massage therapy appt scheduled for Friday, and then we were headed out of town, so I knew I wasn't going to be available for the second cross training day. I decided earlier in the week that I'd do it Wednesday. And then. Life. Work was awful. I'm an aide in the special education program and work mostly in autism. This year I have some "unofficial" kids I help, so I'm really busy! Anyway, I spent the whole morning almost begging the kids to do their work! When I got home, my three sweet children decided to show me just how hard parenting these ages can be! It was NOT a win for the Owens family. By the time I was done dealing with each situation it was nearly 10:00 pm!! Some will say "No Excuses!" But I say, some days, it's okay to throw in the towel and say enough is enough! I ate a chocolate candy bar and sat in a bath of Epsom salts and my sweet husband rubbed out my back and legs! It was more appreciated than he may ever know!

Thursday is tempo day!! I actually kind of like tempo Thursday, and this time I got to run with Brecka, which I won't get to do very often for this run! We were both signed up to run the Girls Run Fast virtual 10k, so we used this run to help knock that out! Our warm up mile was probably a little too slow, but regardless the tempo miles (supposed to be 9:15) were spot on (slightly faster, but that's okay)! Thank goodness for a cool down mile, I was sucking air by the end of that and was grateful for the slower pace!! Phew! I can't wait to get my medal for this race! It's cute!

Friday, of course, unplanned rest day. The chiropractor is always tough (though my adjustment was kinda sub par this time) and massage therapy is NOT the same as a massage at Massage Envy! Holy hurt! I know long term it's going to really help a lot, but it definitely takes my breath away!

What happened to me on Saturday is why you check and double check what week you just looked at on your plan. I thought I was supposed to do 10 miles. I was a week ahead and really should've only done 9!!! It's only one extra mile, but that extra mile was TOUGH!!! I was in Tucson visiting my parents and did not sleep hardly at all that night. I had a great reason to skip it, and almost did, but knew I needed to get out there. I geared up and left an hour later than planned.

This went uphill forever!!! One of the only sidewalks.

I forgot there are virtually NO SIDEWALKS where I live in Tucson and had to run in the dirt and rocks on the shoulder of the road, BARELY OFF the road! So scary! I kept a keen eye on the traffic ahead of me and took advantage of any breaks where I could run on the street instead. One of the streets was ALL UP HILL! I knew it would be, but I underestimated how it would feel. I was struggling so hard! I knew my pace would slow right away and I was okay with it, but I wasn't prepared for how this would feel. By mile 3 I was walking! I don't see it as a weakness at all. My poor body needed the break. It wasn't much elevation gain truthfully, but it was more than I was used to.

Dirt path to help the mental game!

Honey packets and Cocogo for the win!

I made a quick pit stop at the grocery store and then another at a convenience store down the road. Now I was running on familiar territory from old cross country and track years at this point. I found a dirt path that we used to run down all the time, so I decided to off road it a little bit. I remember it being longer, but it was nice for the mental game that was happening. I came out, fueled up with honey packets and Cocogo, and dug deep to finish up. Those last 4 miles were something else. I started to bring my pace back down, but couldn't keep it. It's okay though. This is where ending at the scheduled 9 miles would've been nice, haha! That 10th was sooo hard, I was running back up a hill to finish, and well, it wasn't pretty.

I'm still very happy with this training program and am looking forward to week three. My goal this week, to attempt to PR my turkey trot on Thursday, and to quite drinking soda and reevaluate how I'm eating to get back on track. Also, I HAVE to get in that second cross training workout! It will happen this week!

How do you recover after a hard week of training?

Half Marathon Training Starts!!

So, I'm going to try something a little different this training cycle while preparing for the Phoenix Half Marathon. I'm going to try and blog about it! This is only my third year running again, and still my first year racing. I've done two half marathons and a few 5k's, a 12k and a 10k. So I'm still learning about what works for me and what doesn't. For my first half marathon I used the Runkeeper app and a training plan it had. It was A LOT of miles and I wound up grounded for three weeks with horrible IT band pain the month before the race. I still made it to the starting line, but I was still injured.

I had been looking into using a different training plan, but didn't know which one. There are so many out there, each promising to get you right where you wanna be. Then one night my best running friend, Brecka, messaged me and said she was pretty sure she's going to use the Run Less Run Faster program to train, and asked what I was going to use.

Now this is a plan I had looked at, but haven't heard much about. I figured, if I use it, we could train together and maybe it would help keep me on track to have a friend to run with and an accountability partner for completing cross training workouts. So I bought the app for my phone, ordered the book from Amazon, set a finish time, and got excited at the prospect of not having to run as much using this program.

Current read. We affectionately call it the "Running Bible" or the "RB".

I haven't quite finished reading the book, I'm almost done, but I LOVE the way training is set up! 3 running days and 2 cross training days. The running days include a track workout, a tempo workout, and a long run, all paces are worked out for you based on your time from a finished race and desired finish time. The cross training for each week has already been planned as well, all you have to decide is which of the two workouts you want to do. There's a lot of information in the book. If you plan to use the program I suggest buying it. Here at Amazon it's cheaper than in the bookstore.

I'm choosing to not disclose my finish time, simply because everyone has some kind of opinion of how fast someone should be able to run. If you follow the same plan, you may be able to figure that out of course.

I have chosen to use the swim as one of my cross training workouts and will alternate between the bike and rowing for the other one. I will also be adding in some strength training to help build muscle and for overall strength and health, even though the plan doesn't necessarily recommend that.

I've just finished week one. I'm starting off injured, which of course isn't ideal, but I know if I listen closely to my body, I should be okay. Monday and Friday will be cross training days, Tuesday track, Thursday tempo and Saturday long run with Wednesday and Sunday as rest days.

Monday's swim workout was actually quite easy. It involved 20 lengths of the pool only kicking with 30sec rest in between. I was a swimmer in a past life, so it really wasn't difficult and made me want to do more, but I'm going to trust the process and follow the plan as closely as I can. In the book it talks about how swimming can loosen the ankles of a runner and help with lower leg power. I also wear short flippers (Finnis Zoomers) which I've read help force your feet to kick the right way. I always wind up with minor shin splints when I start swimming again, I'm hoping that it's just all of the muscles loosening up and the issue will be a short lived one. I also lifted a small circuit of lighter weights for legs that day. I have a hamstring injury (likely tight muscles) and am trying to help strengthen my legs overall. I really miss lifting and am happy to be back in the gym again.

Tuesday was my first track workout and the first workout I was able to do with Brecka! She'd never done speed work like this before so I was pretty excited for her and for our chance to run together!! The workout called for 12 times 400 lengths at 2:00 each and a 90 sec recovery interval. My legs were pretty sore from the previous day's weight lifting, but I managed to nail each one of them at 1:59. We are also doing the required warm up and cool down, which I've never done before, but we're both pretty serious about not getting more, or re, injured!

Wednesday was a rest day, and thank goodness for that! I'm already tired!!

Thursday had me a little worried. The first two miles were to be spent warming up and working your way to your tempo pace. I had not run at any of those paces in a really long time and was anxious at the prospect of having to do so now. What if I bombed it?!! After a quick pep text from Brecka I finally made my way out there to tackle it. Not even a mile in, my Garmin died. That can't be a good sign right? I walked myself home and charged it up just enough to finish the workout. To my surprise, I completely nailed every pace and held the tempos 100% steady! That is a good feeling!
 

Friday was meant to be a cross training day, and I was looking forward to it, but I was having some serious pain in my lower back. I had inadvertently bruised some muscles while trying to roll out my upper back where there's another injury (super tight lats and traps). I decided to rest so I would be ready for the long run on Saturday. It was a good choice. I'll get the second cross training workout this week.

Saturday's run was pretty much perfect! It was amazing weather, a little cold, but not so bad it was uncomfortable, sunny (eventually, we started in the dark) and gorgeous! Brecka and I nailed paces, though a little scattered, and came in under the recommended pace time by 5 sec. Not something we should necessarily do, but GPS is a little wonky on the canal, so we'll make do.

Overall this week's training was pretty much perfect! I loved every minute of it. The sore muscles (not the painful ones), the nerves, the success, the friend! It was great. Some things I still need to work on... adding in upper body lifting. I'm recovering from too tight muscles in my left traps and lats and have been given permission from the chiropractor to start lifting light weights, but to be careful. I will hopefully have another appt this weekend to help work out the knots. I also need to start eating way better. I am not currently eating to perform, and that is not okay. The demands of training means I've got to fuel right. I'm learning, and I'll get there.

If you're still here reading, congrats! That was a lot to go through, haha! Thanks for sticking around and following my journey thus far! I am excited for this training cycle and where I could be in the next 16 weeks! Maybe a PR!

  

Also, are you wondering about the wraps I'm wearing with the positive mantras on them?  Let me tell you about them quickly.  I'll do a separate post about them in further detail, later.  The company is called Momentum Jewelry and the wraps I'm wearing are Motivate Wraps.  I've recently become an ambassador for them, and I couldn't be more excited!!  Right now if you sign up at their website to receive their newsletter (don't worry, they won't spam you), you will receive a 20% coupon code to order from them!!  Sounds like a good deal to me!!  I LOVE my wraps and recently made a huge order.  I've already got in mind the next ones I want for my next order!!  Head over now and get signed up!!

Who or What Inspires You?

Where do you get your inspiration from? I read this article and it really resonated with me, so let me introduce you to someone who inspired me. I have this super awesome friend. Her name is Michelle. One day I noticed she was posting a workout here or there with her husband on Facebook. She'd post a picture of her husband and herself at the gym, she was posting what she was eating and doing on My Fitness Pal. I'm not sure what prompted her to start sharing things, but I'm glad she did. She was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis and she wasn't letting that get her down. She was working. Hard. And I thought, if this amazing girl can do it, then I can too. I haven't looked back since. She was such an inspiration to me. She would start up a live run with runtastic and I'd be able to click in and cheer for her! I loved it! Every time she'd run I'd think, I totally gotta get out there and do it too. 

I'm grateful for the days when my awesome friend started posting what she was doing on social media. It helped inspire me to start moving and doing the same things. I'm even more grateful that she is the one I ran into at the finish line of our first half marathon at the Phoenix marathon. We didn't run it together....but we ran it together. It was not lost on me that she was the one friend I was able to hug on that line. She was my first inspiration. The one who was strong enough to start sharing her journey. The one who decided if her husband could do it, so could she. The one who showed me, that if she could do it, so could I.

So I will continue to post my runs, my workouts, the goofy games that cycle through on instagram. It's a way for me to stay motivated, to connect to others doing the same things as me, to be accountable to myself. I'll do it, because I like to remind myself, that I'm capable of doing great things, hard things, fun things. I love the "likes" and comments that sometimes helps propel me to my next workout. I do my best to interact with others in the same ways. Because in the end, even though we're all on our own journey, we're really all in this together.

Thank you Michelle for sharing that part of yourself with us! I think you're amazing! And I'm so glad I get to call you friend.

Pictures borrowed with permission from Michelle. Wishing like crazy we had gotten one together, but we'll always remember 😊.

So What's Next For Me?

When I first started running again I wanted to do the Warrior Dash. That was my key race. Then I decided I didn't really want to do a lot of mud runs, and kind of lost interest in the whole idea. Maybe one day. I switched my focus to the Phoenix half marathon hoping I'd be able to successfully complete the race. I did better than that, I hit one of three time goals, despite being ill most of the race and the last minute kinks that happened during the end of training.

I loved racing! It was like the culmination of all the time I put into training. I still want running to be fun, so I'll pick and choose what kind of races I'll do based on how I feel, but I want to continue to race a little. Ultimately running is still a way to escape, clear my mind, dedicate miles to sweet Jaylee, and take better care of my body, but having some fun goals in between, I think, helps to shake things up a little.

On April 4th I'll be running a half marathon with Startline Racing. I was originally going to run the full, in honor/to dedicate, of my friend. After all the kinks thrown into training in January, and the discomfort I still have, a full is off the table....for now. I'll chase that down another time. But it's still a goal of mine.

The week after that race I'll be running the Run3rd 5k with some other members of my run group Run Eat Tweet AZ. I'm so excited about it! It benefits the children in the school district I work in and my children attend school in, which makes it mean so much more to me. Sean Astin will be at the race! He's the guy from Goonies, Rudy, Lord of the Rings.... I'm hoping to snag a picture with him, how neat would that be! If you want to be entered in to win a DVD of Lord of the Rings AUTOGRAPHED by Sean Astin use code "RUNEATTWEET" which also saves you 10%! The first drawing already happened on March 1st and Goonies was won! The next drawing happens on April 1st, so don't miss out and get entered now! Virtual option available.

After that, things are kind of up in the air til Oct. I'm trying to decide on a course of action for training, cross training, and eating. All things have gotten off track, and I've started doing things that aren't working for me and picked back up some bad habits. That needs to change.

Another thing I'm working on is running fuel nutrition. What I used in the half marathon did NOT work for me. It wasn't the trigger for being sick, but it didn't help. Right now I'm leaning towards Cocogo for hydration, and Pocketfuel Naturals and Sunrype for nutrition. Natural fuels, natural foods. All three products are some of my favorites and I hope to one day be an ambassador and represent their companies! If anyone else has an idea please clue me in to what works for you, because I need a lot of help in this category. Either comment here or hit up my instagram and comment there. Any advice will be completely appreciated!

Thanks everyone for stopping by!

I Ran My First Ever Half Marathon

So, I ran a HALF MARATHON!!  My first one ever. My first big major race (I always forget I did a mud run a handful of years ago, and I did do the 12K's of Christmas under someone else's bib, but it was a smaller scale race.)  I trained for 16 months in preparation for it.  I wanted to be able to do it, but I just wasn't sure I'd actually be able to get my body to run 13 miles!  I started small and just kinda ran a little and lifted a little and occasionally went to the track for my "speed work". 

Then I got the bright idea to download a training schedule from Runkeeper and follow that.  I started with the sub 10K to get used to the slowly climbing mileage and quicker paces.  I "nailed" about half of the workouts and completely bombed the others, but it was working.  I was getting stronger. Faster.  I was pretty good about lifting weights and walking with friends and swimming as "cross training" in the beginning.  The day came, and I ran on my own, the turkey trot loop that our neighborhood uses, and didn't come close to my goal time, but hey, I was able to run it, faster than before.  Success!  Then I moved onto half marathon training in Nov.  It started out great.  I ran the ACTUAL neighborhood turkey trot in Nov, relatively sick with bronchitis, and basically rocked it, and then just continued on with training.  I did the 12k's as a training run, and really did a bang up job there too.  Then life happened.

I stopped making time to stretch, I stopped going to the gym, I didn't cross train anymore.  December is nutzo month and I was squeezing runs in between other activities and meetings that were happening all month!  And then injury struck.  Intense pain in my legs.  So bad that walking became a problem.  I ran the Phoenix Half Marathon course just as the month of December was wrapping up and felt pretty confident, finished out the month with a mileage goal and by following the training plan as laid out by Runkeeper, and then couldn't walk anymore.  I threw in the towel and took 3 weeks off, went to the ER and no one could tell me what was wrong.  After talking with a friend we thought together...probably IT band pain.  Well by that point, I knew my goal of a sub 2 hour half marathon was gone.  I just couldn't get back those missed three weeks, and there was still just enough pain, that I couldn't speed up without adding to the pain.  And then I got sick with upper respiratory illness...again!

Anyway, flash forward to February and I re-picked up training and set a new goal.  9:30 overall pace, which would get me about a 2:05 finish time.  It was still a bit lofty, but something that I thought would be a good base, but I wanted to at least land sub 2:15.

Race day February 28th came.  I got up, ate a little breakfast (not much, it makes me kinda sick, but just enough to have some fuel in my body, got dressed in the clothes I had laid out three hours before, grabbed a banana, and headed out the door with my husband who was dropping me off at the buses.  I got to hang out with a pretty awesome couple of peeps laughing and joking, and shivering in the wind while waiting in lines for biffies (does that make us biffie buddies now) and for the start of the race to happen.

6:15, it was time to line up for the race, we ran to the start (for selfies of course) before heading to our spots based on time pacers and waited for the countdown.  I was alone.  That was okay, I trained alone, so I knew I could run the race alone.  I had "practiced" the course a handful of times.  I knew, sorta, what I was getting into.  I stood staring at the start line, misty eyed, thinking about what I was about to do!  I was out there at 6:30 in the morning about to run the streets of Mesa with thousands of others who had put in at least as much work as me, if not more!  We started and I felt great!  I was going to stick with the 2:10 pacer, but I felt so great, I forged ahead.  I was going 9:30!!  Success, my Goal B was going to happen!!

And then mile 2 happened.  I didn't feel real great, but still, I was cruising, so no major thoughts about it.  Then mile 4.  I needed to go to the bathroom, I knew I did, I almost stopped, and then I saw the lines and figured, nah, I'll just run through the growing discomfort happening in my gut.  Then I saw two of my sisters in law and a couple nieces and a nephew!  What the heck were they doing out there!  They didn't see me at first, I saw them, and then pointed at them, because I thought for sure my eyes were playing tricks on me.  I ran over and high fived them, because that's all I could give them for something so cool they did for me.  And although I still didn't feel very good, I forged on in my quest to become a 2:05 half marathoner.  Then a little after that I heard my name shouted to the left of me.  I glanced over and there was my MOTHER IN LAW AND FATHER IN LAW!!!  What was happening?!  She hadn't been feeling very well for a couple weeks, why was she out there!  Oh man it made my day.  She held up her phone, so of course I smiled huge and waved.  I couldn't believe it.  Just a few feet after that I met up with my friend who ran with me a couple minutes cheering me and handed me a pancake!!  I was laughing and crying!  How do you run laughing and crying?

By mile 6 I was suffering and absolutely couldn't put off a biffie stop any longer.  There was a small line, but I got in pretty quick.  Not much relief.  I charged ahead attempting to regain my speed.  I glanced down at my watch, feeling my body not moving nearly as quickly and realized, I may not ever see 9:30 again, but I'd be damned if I didn't try.  I was working. Hard.  Then my name again somewhere close to mile7 or 8...at this point I can't remember.  My mother in law...AGAIN!!  It was a sight for sore eyes.  I didn't feel good.  I was quickly derailing, and I needed a face I knew.  She was there. And I needed her to be.  Mile 9.  I was sick.  There was no denying it.  I was so sick.  I had grabbed a goo before then hoping it would help boost me up to the end.  But to no avail, I was failing fast.  Mile 10 and 11 became a run/walk/run/walk/run/walk....  it was terrible.  I felt like I was in the way of the other runners.  I tried to stay on the sidewalk out of the way.  My paces were so slow.  I was so upset, but I really couldn't do it.  Some of it was mental, but most of it was very legitimately illness and misery.  Then somewhere in mile 10 or so, another sister in law with her two tinys!  My niece and nephew didn't see me even though she was pointing.  My time was shot, but even if it wasn't, I wasn't going to let them go without a sweaty hug from Auntie Sarah!  Little nephew told me as I was walking away "We came to find you!"  I love him!

Mile 11ish is where my apartment is.  I won't lie.  I turned the corner and expected to see my children and husband, but they weren't there.  I looked longingly at my parking lot thinking, I should just go home.  I do not feel good.  I can't do this anymore.  A friend who had ran into me along the course shouted my name and snapped me out of that trance.  I glanced in her direction and then there were my babies.  There was my husband.  They had just walked down the street a little.  I started crying.  They were there. And I was sick. And I couldn't go on.  But then, I could.  I could finish.  It would be ugly, but I knew I could finish.  The look on my husband's face.  I'm sure the running stuff annoys him, but there was pride on his face in that moment.  He was proud of me and what I was doing.  And then I knew, he probably orchestrated my inlaws being on the course to some degree and I flooded with gratitude at that moment for the people in my life.  I ran.  And I walked, and I made up a tiny bit of time.  And as I was coming down the straightaway into the chute, there were my sisters in law who were around mile 4, at the end. Yelling my name, recording and waving, and I knew, I had it.  I hit my Goal C. 2:14!!

It was painful, and awful, and horrendous and glorious, and wonderful and exciting and the most fun I've ever had in my whole life.  I had conquered something I wasn't ever sure I would be able to.  It wasn't how I wanted it to go, but what in life works out perfectly?  Almost nothing.  I'll hit goal A one day.  In the meantime...I'm a first time HALF MARATHONER!  I finished what I set out to do.  I gained a better respect for the runners like me who put in the hours, blood, sweat and tears to hit goals and test their limits.  I am a runner.  I have a family who loves me and supports me, who cheered for me and who lifted me up when I was in the darkest depths of misery in those painful 2 hours worth of moments.  It's my first race story, and it's a great one! I can't wait to do it again.