Will Run For Ice Cream

Lil Man and I left the house before 8am today to get to the gym. I kept saying "I'd rather be running. I'd rather be running. "

But once we got there and I settled in on the rowing machine, surprisingly time passed off rather quickly.

I went a little farther today. I'm discovering that rowing is fairly difficult. In fact, once I start back running my plan is to keep rowing on my schedule as cross training.

I'm struggling today not to run. I think I'm just stressed. Ok, I KNOW I'm stressed and need to sweat. I probably should have gone to the gym, but honestly I didn't feel like getting Lil Man out in the cold. And I'm still a little sore from rowing Monday.

I had almost convinced myself to run, but talked myself out of it. I need to wait at least until Saturday. It would be best if I waited until Sunday.

But I'm antsy to run for several reasons. DUH, I just want to run. But I'm running a 5K next weekend and I'm anxious to run to see if I can attempt the race.

My plan is to run a half mile this weekend. Run a 1 mile on Tuesday. Run 2 Miles on Thursday. Run the 5K on Sunday. Fingers crossed that the foot will cooperate.

So, I'm being a good girl and not running today. I plan to go to the gym tomorrow and do the rowing machine again.

I'm ready to take the boot off and run without pain!

I finally made it to the gym yesterday. It was the first time in months. Between surgery, and the messed up foot, I've been paying a gym membership that hasn't been used.

So I loaded up Lil Man and to the gym we went. I wasn't sure how he'd do since it's been so long. But he did great.

Me? Well rowing in front of of the treadmills wasn't fun, especially since I wanted to be on the treadmill. But I realized very quick that rowing wasn't easy. Granted, I can't really compare it to a great run, but it was a tough work out.

I'm feeling it today. I'm sore, but in a good way.

I also went to boot camp last night which is contributing to my soreness.

Today was a rest day partially because we got a little snow, but also because I'm sore. I don't want to over do it.

I plan to take the boot off this weekend and run a half mile. HOPING for no pain after the run. I am registered for a 5K on the 9th of Dec. to run with a friend who is running her firs…

I've had some recent inquiries about my 'running addiction'. I'm a running addict. I'm well aware of this. In fact, most of my friends that are runners are in some way addicted to running. Some can miss a day easier than others. But many (like myself) get irritable if too many days pass without running (or at least some type of cardiovascular exercise).

Can I stop running? Well of course I can stop. You don't see me running on the treadmill in my walking cast do you? Do I want to stop running? Really? Does that seem like a realistic question to ask me? No, I don't want to stop running.

So why the addiction?

My 'addiction' if you want to call it that has evolved through the years. I imagine it will continue to evolve as my life changes. Running 10 years ago isn't the same for me as running today. I'm not the same person I was 10 years ago. So now I run for different reasons.

I'm a Mom. And part of the reason that I run now is because I am…

Woot, I can walk without pain (without the boot). I'm not sure how long I can walk until the pain would come back. (I'm technically not supposed to be walking without the boot). But I've been taking the boot off after we put Lil Man to bed so that I can get some range of motion for my foot. I've been up and down on it some (but still resting it more than normal). But as of last night and this morning, there wasn't any pain. My ankle felt stiff and my arch aches some, but this is from wearing the boot.

So I do see some progress. Let's just hope it heals and I don't re-injure it. I need to work off some calories from all of the food this week! :)

As the pain increased (instead of decreased) over the weekend, I decided that I need to call the foot Dr's office today and see when I could get in with my Dr. Thankfully, they were able to see me today. I loaded up Lil Man, his snacks and some books and hoped we wouldn't sit forever. My appointment was a work in appointment.

We sat about 45 minutes which isn't bad considering I've been there two hours. In fact, last year that this very time I had my very first stress fracture and was wearing the ugly walking cast.

Today after my examination, I'm back in that same ugly cast. Sigh... but looking on the bright side, HOPEFULLY I will only be in the cast about two weeks. I'm not sure if it will be longer. I think he was afraid if he told me longer that I would cry. So he said let's start with two weeks.

I asked him if I kept the boot on could I do the elliptical. He chuckled. He said he didn't think he'd ever had anyone ask him that before. But said to …

Because I need a goal... because I'm terribly disappointed that I'm not running this weekend... because I'm afraid that if I don't find something else to focus on I might allow the disappointment to engulf me... because I need somewhere else to put my focus.. even if in a couple of weeks from now reality proves another disappointment, at this moment I need the hope ...

So I found a race.. it's a Spring one... with both a full and a half. Reality may prove that I do a half instead of the full, or reality may prove that I'm not ready for either, or maybe, just maybe the reality may be that I go for the Full and complete it. Regardless I have a goal.

My foot is elevated and I just swallowed another prescription 600mg pill of ibuprofen.

But I have a goal.

Rest. Heal. Rebuild. Start back slow. Hopefully use caution and be smart.

I have 3 weeks to rest my foot and test the water so to speak before I would start a 16 week training plan.

Here's to hoping a Spring M…

So, I went to the foot dr yesterday. The verdict is that I have tendonitis. What does this mean? Well it means it can at times take longer to heal than bone. But it also means that I have to be smart, and listen to my body.  Pushing through pain is not an option.

My immediate course of action is a very bad four-letter word called, REST. I will pause a moment so all of you runners out there can gasp and catch your breath. Yes, peeps, I was told to rest. Now for someone who likes to stay in motion, it certainly wasn't what I wanted to hear. But I knew it was coming. I wasn't surprised.

So what do I do now? Well I rest of course. But, after a period of rest, I can attempt the elliptical or possibly cycling. However, cycling still may cause too much strain. I'm not a fan of the elliptical, but I'm even less of a fan of sitting. So I get the opportunity to cross train to keep up my cardio fitness, strength train to build more muscle mass, and strengthen my core which has a…

Well, of all of the things that have happened, I didn't expect this...

I have injured my foot - the same foot that I broke last year. I ran 3 miles yesterday, and went up the stairs numerous times. On one of those trips up, I realized that I had a little pain on the outside of my foot. As the day went on, the pain increased. I iced it and took some Advil, thinking, hoping that by today it would be better.

Instead it is worse.

I can't pick up my son and walk across the floor without feeling pain.

I can't put into words what I'm truly feeling right now.

I have an appointment with the foot clinic tomorrow.

Maybe I just wasn't supposed to run this marathon.. disappointment is setting in... along with thoughts of maybe I'm just not supposed to run marathons period.

Why am I still going to try to run this marathon when I'm dealing with major setbacks? I finally stopped today after numerous tears and asked myself this question. 
There will always be haters. There will always be those in life who will tell you that you 'can't' or that you just aren't good enough. There will be times when you feel as though you need support, but you aren't getting it in the way that you feel you need it. 
This is one of those times.
And the seemingly lack of support from the ones who are supposed to love me beyond everything hurts the most. Maybe they are concerned for my health? Maybe they do have my best interests at heart? Or maybe they could really care less about this major milestone in my life? Maybe they just don't understand? 
So why am I insisting that I go ahead and try to complete the Philadelphia Marathon? It goes deeper than the  fact that I've been training since June. Training which included numerous super early morning…

I was actually a little (ok a lot) unsure about this run. But I packed up my gear and started running. It felt okish and then I started feeling some pressure 'down there' at the surgical spot. I looked at my watch. I was at .3 miles. Yes, you read that right --- .3 miles. At this point I still planned to run my 12. But as I got closer to 2 miles, I decided that I'd run 10 today. Double digits is good enough right? As I got closer to 3, I negotiated that 8 mile under these circumstances were good enough. At 4 miles, I turned around and began walking.

I didn't have the heart to powerwalk. I didn't have the heart to run/walk. In addition to the troubles 'down there', I was getting a not so great blister on my heel from new shoes that I wanted to get a test run in before the race.

It took me OVER AN HOUR to walk the 3 miles back to the car.

Defeated, depressed, and feeling overall crappy, I drove home.

This was NOT how I wanted to leave this run.

After an impro…

I'm a little uncertain about running 12 miles tomorrow. I had reached a point in my training where 12 miles seemed like 'nothing'. Now my mind has shifted back to 12 miles being a little daunting. But I'm reminding myself that it's just a run. Just go out and run, nice and slow and enjoy it. Although I do hope it warms up a wee bit. 

Thankfully though, I will be doing this run in the daylight. So that's at least helpful. Tomorrow's run needs to be a good confidence boosting run. It needs to say, yes, you've missed weeks of training, but you've got this. 

I got my bib info for the Marathon. "Yippee! Yikes! Gulp! Wow, I'm going to actually try to do this!" All went through my head when I read the email. Excited and nervous at the same time... and it gets closer 

I'm still planning on running, or walking, or whatever means necessary to try to finish the Philadelphia Marathon on November 18.  I've put too much into training over the last 5 months to just give up now. My post surgery instructions were 'if you can run through the pain, you can run'. Well to me that means suck it up and just do it. 
I considered running today (which means I'm feeling better). Yesterday and especially the day before, running was not on my 'to do' list - or even my 'want to do list'. But today I would have attempted a run. However, I'm going to run 12 on Sunday. So I'm playing it smart, and giving my body a few more days to heal before I try to run any distance. 
I've been looking at the forecast for the race. So far so good with the weather. It's going to be cold (to me). But it doesn't look as though it will be bitterly cold. Here's to hoping the weathermen have it correct.

Yep, nail polish remover.. when the Dr's office called me back yesterday and told me to use nail polish remover ahem 'down there', even the receptionist passing along the Dr's advice thought it was insane. But can you believe it worked? Oh, I'm not well. And yes, I kept myself along with Hubby awake most of the night scratching, but I'm not any worse. And compared to yesterday I'm feeling a little better. The pain was intensifying until I used the nail polish remover. The damage is done and I'm having to deal with that, but the intense pain has subsided. Believe you me, on my list of allergies, surgical tape and beta-dine will now be on the list!

So where do I stand on the upcoming marathon in less than 10 days? At this time, I'm planning on running/walking/crawling it. I'm contemplating a 12 miler this weekend. Between being sick for 2 weeks, followed by this surgery, my training schedule has been non-existent. So I need this run. If I continue …

So, I'd really like to catch a break here. Not only am I trying to heal from surgery, I have a horrible rash. Oh, it's not your run of the mill rash. It's an angry, hivey, whelpy, I will make you miserable in any way possible rash. And yes this rash is down there on my hiney. It appears I am having an allergic reaction to surgical tape.Really? Come on here? Can't I just catch a break?

So I called the Dr's office. They called me back and said the Dr. said to swipe nail polish remover "down there' to try to remove any tape residue. I bet you didn't see that coming did you? At this point, I'm about ready to try anything. So off I go with my bottle of nail polish remover. At first swipe, I thought maybe it was going to help. Two hours later, I'm back on the phone with the Dr's office, asking, begging, pleading to see if there is anything I can do to stop this intense itching.

So where am I with this upcoming marathon that is in 11 days? Currently…

Well, without being too graphic or TMI, let's just say that a hard labor back on 3/2011 finally caught up with me. I began having a problem about a week ago. I wasn't sure whether to call the gyno or my colon dr as it appeared the problem wasn't exactly in either area specifically. Anyway, I decided to start with the colon guy. I expected to be told it would be weeks to get an appointment. At the time my marathon was in 18 days.  I wasn't expecting to have to worry about anything like this. But when I called the dr's office, they wanted to see me THAT day. I was like, uh, ok. So I went in. Six shots in a place that NO one ever wants to get shots, I was told that I needed surgery. My mind is racing, procedure options are being talked about and I'm sort of just stunned. At 3:00pm on Thursday, I'm being scheduled for surgery on Friday. What?!? I just kept saying "I'm running a marathon in 18 days" over and over.

Friday came. Surgery happened and y…