What Was I Thinking?

Chocolate, Firemen and massages. That was what I was thinking about, not the fact that to get those I needed to run 13.1 miles. Sure, not such a big task....IF I didn't just run a half marathon the previous weekend. Here is the recap.....

-Seeing CB, E and my great parents chilling in the Farmer's Market just after the start of the race. I love them!
-Good-bye First Run t-shirt, you gave me some good warmth but it was time to part. Hopefully you will keep someone who needs it, warm.
-Saying "hi" to a co-worker and a high school friend
-Looking down at Garmi and seeing that I was about 5 minutes ahead of my "virtual partner" at mile 3
-Getting to run a block with my munchkin soon after that

-A beautiful out and back through Marine Park, then fearing someone was going to get run over by a very slow moving black SUV...maybe it was the Secret Service
-Again running with CB and her "taking" the goblins beginning to irritate my hamstring by sprinkling me with "fairy dust"
-kissing my husband and getting hugs from my parents

-Mile 9.....Welcome to Hell, I am still headed for a PR and about 2 minutes ahead of my "VP"
-Watching my "VP" begin to get ahead of me, and knowing my PR was not going to happen.
-Enjoying the beauty of Fort Vancouver Barracks
-Chocolate Outrage GU is actually really good, the only thing missing was a bowl of ice cream and sprinkles
-The Fred Meyer hill.....not sure I am going to make it
-Mile 11, I want to quit. My husband sending me some texts of encouragement. My calf feels like it is a rock, and hurts with every strike of the pavement
-12 miles in, I don't even want to finish. I needed something to keep me going. Names of those I run for start spilling out of my mouth....repetitively. I am sure that Clark County Sheriff Officer thought I was going crazy, but they pulled me through!
-12.5 miles, my little munchkin joins me and I start crying. She sprinkles me with more "fairy dust" to chase those leg goblins away.
-The looks of pity from volunteers as I part run/part hobble the last block of the race
-Seeing my mom, forcing a smile as I cross the finish line.

 

(No this isn't me....smart lady to collapse at finish line and have the firemen rush to her!) 

 

-Hearing my name called, getting my necklace from the fireman and seeing E as I burst into tears of pain. Another fireman asked if I was ok.....apparently when I am in pain, not even a fireman can make me feel better, only my husband and my baby girl
-Letting E help me stretch my calf and hamstring (through the pain)
-Deciding I didn't want massage or chocolate because I was hurting so bad.

Don't get me wrong, I hurt, I was in pain, I doubted myself the last 3 miles but I am glad I stuck with it. My finisher's necklace is beautiful, and the pride of finishing despite the challenges made the run worth it. I showed my daughter that pain is only temporary, but knowing you can do something some doubt you can do is forever. And darn those pesky goblins :)

Portland Half Marathon Recap

It was a rough season. Training was a pain in the butt (literally AND figuratively!) I went from training for the Portland Marathon and in July I had to gut check and change to the half marathon. It was a good decision for me, even if it was extremely difficult. With all the aches and pains I endured, I had lost the joy of running. In an odd twist, last weeks Grey's Anatomy (my favorite show!) and Alex had lost his "joy" of surgery. Running had been "work" and I wasn't having any joy with it. Sunday it all changed. The joy returned. Of course, it didn't return without some pain, but it is back.

So here is my recap from an AMAZING race.
-Waking up at 3:30 am, enough time to eat what I thought was a fulfilling meal. Only to discover at mile 3 I was ravishing! And then discovering my iPod wasn't charged.
-Bathroom lines, bathroom lines, bathroom lines. What is it about every runner's bladder deciding it is full, even if there is only 3 drops of urine in it?!?!
-Seeing "the fat lady sing" BEFORE we hit the start line.
-Running up Barbur Blvd to see our beautiful (and fabulous) captains Wendy and Tyler.  Then to turn onto Naito, be looking down then getting freaked out by Tyler in my face screaming "GO MICKI!" (I almost peed she scared me so bad!)
-Experiencing some ravishing hunger at about the same time, sending my mom a text message telling her I needed a PB and J.
-Finally.....mile 5, seeing mom, dad, CB and Tanya....with a PB and J.
-Hoping off the course to shovel the best PB and J sandwich in my mouth, and wash it down with some Starbucks
-Mile 8...passing the Team in Training Aid Station. What a GREAT group of supporters! Seeing so many past, present and (hopefully) future TNT team mates.
-Coach Karl jumping to run a few minutes and to catch up.  (I miss him!)
-Coming to the turn around, and hearing "It's Raining Men" on the sounds system. I almost broke out into a full on Just Dance dance routine.
-mile 10.5 brought the pain. My hamstring started yelling, and was getting really ticked at me. But I was way to close to let it bring me down.
-Mile 11...seeing Coach Kevin, and trying to keep a smile on my face while I just wanted to crawl under the rocks on the side of the road.
-Mile 12....seeing Captain Wendy again, and passing Captain Tyler and Marianne. 3 beautiful running women. Each one of them can take some personal pride in knowing that they have brought me to where I am.
-Passing the Portland Fire Station with a man that can only be described as doing a pole dance, on a water fountain ( a new reason NOT to use the drinking fountains in Downtown Portland!)
-Mile 13....seeing my dad and CB holding signs, and pulling CB onto the course to finish the race with me. I couldn't have done it without her.
- Crossing the finish line, with my daughter....and looking down to see her eating an Oreo. Where the heck did she get that! They almost gave her a finisher's medal, and despite thinking it would have been awesome to have it, turning it down.
-Watching each and everyone of my AMAZING Team in Training team mates give their best and kicking asphalt to beat cancer!

The Diagnosis

Good news....no cyst trying to bake anything behind my knee. Bad news....tendonitis in my  hamstring. After an MRI on the spine, it is determined that I have a perfectly normal spine. So the verdict is I have a very MAD hamstring. In a few weeks I will begin a treatment that had me perplexed on the name, so I won't even begin to try to say it. The run down is that I will get corticosteroids put in my thigh through some method later to be determined.

It is disappointing, but just another small bump in the road. October 9th I will be running the Portland Half Marathon. The next week I will be running the Girlfriend's Half Marathon. Pretty sure after that I will be taking some time off to rest my hamstring :)

Really?

Just sent the re-committment paper work in for the Portland Marathon with Team in Training. Yeah! I am halfway to my fundraising minimum, which is a great bonus. (See my fundraising page if you want to donate to a great cause....finding a cure for cancer!) http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/portland11/mmoss4

Today I kind of got a small slap in the face. In another trip to the physical therapist, she muttered the words I sort of figured she would say. "I think it might be time to bring in another specialist." UGH! I knew exactly what she meant. Looking as though "Old Rusty" will be taking a visit into my back. Nothing says "running is TOTALLY worth it" than a HUGE needle filled with local anesthetic and a steroid going right into my back while I lie there awake than an epidural steroid injection (aka....ESI). Damn! I see about 4-5 a day at work, so I know what is in store for me. Good news, I know the right people ;) (Aka....who will make the process go a heck of a lot smoother, and yes this includes medication!) I am by no means one of those "tough mothers" who do it completely conscious. Heck no! Bring on the meds!

Another statement while she was massaging out my hamstring that bit me in the @$$ though was "I think you have a Baker's Cyst behind your left knee. Hmmmm....I am pretty sure that my knee has not been baking anything. She also told me that the hamstring pain could be caused by that. But not to worry! It can sometimes be taken care of by you guessed it....another HUGE needle stuck in the back of my knee to "suck" out some rogue fluid. Once home though I googled "Baker's Cyst" as was saddened to not discover a picture of a fresh baked cake. Instead I read a list of doom and gloom that could cause this unwanted fluid build up. Sometimes being a nurse kind of sucks, like when you know exactly what is wrong with you and then knowing the treatments. Thankfully the D.O. I work with happened to have a cancellation on Tuesday (and I promise I didn't take anyone out so they were lying in a coma to get these MUCH coveted appointments) to get both my back/piriformis/psoas/hamstring/knee problems.

Still at this moment I am contemplating my running plan for tomorrow. Do I say "I don't know anything, so why not" and go for my 13 miler, or "maybe I should take it easy until I know more" and do less. I hate these decisions, pretty sure I will be doing 13.

At least I spent the rest of the evening by scoring a great deal on a pair of Danskos (aka the shoes I broke my leg in yet I love so much I am willing to wear them again because they are so comfortable), a pair of red (only 2 sizes too big) cowgirl boots for the munchkin, coming home to our FIRST (and second, although broken) fresh chicken egg! To top if off, we played a great family game that combined tennis (well just the ball), basketball and monkey in the middle.

At it Again

It is no secret how much I LOVE Team in Training. I have also made it clear to many people I had no desire to do the Portland Marathon. (Could be the route is similar to many training runs I have done.) Fall season for TNT begins May 21, and sure enough....I volunteered to become a mentor, for the Portland Marathon.

The NYC Marathon drawing is April 27th, and I am hoping to get in. Of course I will not be too disappointed if I don't get in. But if I do get picked my plan is to train for the Full Marathon and race the Half Marathon. If I don't get in I will most likely do the Full. I am also registered for the Girlfriend's Half Marathon the following weekend, so that may play a part in the decision.

I have a little itch to attempt the Goofy Challenge at the Disney Marathon Weekend. It would mean a half marathon on January 7th and then a full marathon on January 8th. The 8th will also be my birthday. I am not sure what I am thinking.....or if I am thinking at all :)

So the I am throwing it out....check out my fundraising website at  http://pages.teamintraining.org/oswim/portland11/mmoss4 if you have a little extra money burning a hole in your pocket. No amount is too small, and each donation is tax deductible. Also, if you are interested in finding out more about Team in Training, check out www.teamintraining.org. There are many rewards that come with being a TNT participant, from helping find a cure for cancer to building life long relationships! (And getting in shape is a great perk too!) No experience is needed, and it is a great program for beginning runners (and walkers!)

Running Naked

Get your head out of the gutter! I ran today without Garmi and without my iPod. Both of which decided to run out of juice before I started on my run. It felt invigorating listening to only my thoughts and nature around me. Of course I am pretty sure that I would not be able to do that with every run, but every once in a while I think this would be great.

I ran about 3 miles (since Garmi didn't join me I don't know for sure). Since the last run I did was a few weeks ago, I figured this was a good distance to start with. With the stress I have experienced in the last two weeks, I was able to let go. My mind was clear, and I felt free. I have been trying to meditate these past few days, but my mind just will not empty. I can't meditate like a "normal" person, running is my meditation. It has become where my mind, body and spirit are all able to free itself. I feel good while running, no matter what else is going on.


This week the little one is with the grandparents, so I am going to use this week to refocus on my running and finding my inner runner again.

Changes

First off, I am aware things could be MUCH worse. But seriously, I would love one week that is just boring! We lost our wonderful yellow lab, H-dog last month. He was with our family for 7 years, and he was only 8 and a half when he passed away. It was awful, the worst thing I have ever seen. But we are healing, recovering and appreciating the life he had. Then last week our 'Lil Man....our 2 and a half year old boxer had a "spinal stroke." His hind legs were paralyzed and he couldn't walk. We thought he had arthritis from what we thought was a car accident last summer (but now know differently) but it continued to get worse. So we took him in and they told us what was probably wrong. After a weekend with the vet's office and some laser treatments, he is beginning to gain strength in his hind legs and walk again! Unfortunately, he is unable to keep any food down. He drinks a few sips of water and then begins to vomit :(

I am still not running too much. I need to get back out there. I am losing some weight again (YEAH!!!) so I am hoping it will help even more. I don't really have any races planned, and am toying with the idea of mentoring with Team in Training again. It was such a wonderful experience the last time!

Our family is looking into raising chickens! Apparently deep down I am a country girl. The idea of having fresh eggs is the big clincher for me. CB really wants them too. So it is becoming a learning experience for her! (We even got her to begin cleaning her room by telling her we couldn't get chickens unless she was willing to help us, and she needed to be able to prove it to us.) I have also begun to plant my seeds in the house for my vegetable garden. So far I am going to attempt peas, corn, carrots, pumpkin and beans. I am also pretty sure that I will be calling on one of my awesome mother in laws with some advice. The compost bins will be restarted soon, and hopefully I will have some great compost using her advise!!!

So this city girl is turning a little country. I'm not sure where this summer will take us, but I really look forward to it!

Baby Steps

Finally, I did it! I laced up the good old shoes, threw on my iPod and took a run! CB and E were busy with soccer practice, so I decided to do a little run around the fields. There was a nice path that was about .4 miles around, and there is also a smaller path off of that. So I only had to do 4 laps, and ran 2.06 miles! The even better part of it was that my pace was about a 10 min, 20 second mile which is a lot faster than I usually am.

The first lap felt so great, my body felt natural while I was running. It didn't hurt that I had loaded some new songs on my iPod. It felt SO good. Now I need to keep the momentum up so that I can get back in gear!

Slacker

Yep...that's me, slacker. But in my defense, I have good reason. Two of the three computers in our home had decided in one way or another to not work. This makes for blogging quite difficult. On the other hand, it was really nice to be sort of technology dis-connected. Unless you count my phone.

So since I last updated life has flown by, and well a lot of things fell to the wayside. I am watching that weight of my creep back up slowly....Weight Watchers was fail for me. I was just too lazy. (I do blame part of it on the lack of ability to get on the internet....but mostly I was lazy.) Running, well that has been kind of an after thought. So much that the thought is, "wow...I should have gone for a run today" AFTER I am in bed. I did go to a gym for a few weeks using a free pass, but even that got dull. I am in a rut, and I need to get out.

I am pretty sure I need a new goal. An attainable goal, heck....and EASY goal. So now to determine that goal. Oh, and not only does it have to be easy, attainable and new, but it needs to be something impressive ;) Not too much to ask, is it? Drum roll please.....I registered for the New York Marathon lottery. Meaning in April, if I am lucky (or unlucky maybe!) my name will be drawn to run the 2011 NYC Marathon in November. Until then I guess I will just be treading water to keep life interesting.

Who knows, maybe this afternoon I will hit up some Dance Party 2 or possibly lace up those shoes of mine and go for a run. Or maybe I will just peruse Facebook :)

Back on the Wagon

Have you seen the pictures of Jennifer Hudson recently? What a HOTTIE! Not only that, but what an inspiration. As the "new" spokesperson for Weight Watchers she was one of the first to trial the new PointsPlus program. I have done WW before (and done well) but this program is by far the best! Now fruits are zero points (meaning you can eat them without using any of your daily allowance!) Finally, a program to help you lose weight that fruits are a large part of. The new calculation of points takes into account more than just calories....which is great, since not every calorie is equal.

So last week, on a random Tuesday I decided I was going to jump back on the wagon. The best part is that despite indulging in birthday cake this weekend and a few cookies, I am not hungry and I have lost 4.2 pounds!It has been an easy change into a new lifestyle, and I have been making new meals mostly everyday. They are all full of flavor and taste great. I am looking forward to trying new and yummy meals now, and it is fun to try new things with my family.

Dancing My @$$ Off

I am just not up to running right now. After a year of focusing on running I have needed a break. I think my back yelling at me was my body's way of saying it needed something new. So on an impulse today I bought "Dance Party 2" for the Wii. WOW! After 35 minutes of rocking it I was drenched in sweat. It was so much fun. I only did 3 different songs (a few times each) since the Munchkin was doing it with me, but it felt SO good!

Could Be Quite A Year!

Last year I didn't think I would be running a marathon in 2010....In fact, I ran two! In addition to that I ran 3 half marathons and only a few scattered 5 and 10k's. While training I ran (and sometimes walked) over 1,000 miles! So what do aspire to in 2011? I am leaning towards doing a triathalon. My skills in swimming though are, well how do I say, suck. In fact, they are nearly non-existent. I will be the one out there with a life jacket screaming on the shore that the water is scaring me. Ok, maybe not THAT bad.

Due to walking like a weeble for a week after the marathon, I threw my back out. So badly in fact that my right side is about 1-2 inches longer than my left. I have bought myself a few weeks in physical therapy (again) to help strengthen me back up. And whether it is a blessing or a curse, I was told not to run until it is feeling better. My hope is to last long enough that it feels amazing to be back on my feet and not rough and crappy. Corrine (my PT) is now helping me get the back strong and help out that piriformis. She has also brought me from about 80% to about 97% sure that I am going to get my bunion taken care of on my right foot. Apparently this can be throwing everything out of whack and causing the additional pain. What is the problem? There are a few....

1st- I can actually remember the horrific pain I was in after having my left foot done. Imagine if an elephant stepped on your big toe, while you were in labor with no anesthetic and multiple that by 1000. I WISH I was exaggerating. It was literally the WORST pain I have ever been in.
2nd- the surgeon I want to use in being deployed with the Army. Hello, doesn't he realize I have a life altering decision to make here!!!
3rd- It requires at least 3 months off my feet. Which means no running :( Plus unless I find a good no foot involved exercise method, no exercise. Unfortunately, my jeans can not handle my butt getting that big!

Tough choices. The upside....no work for 3 months. (Oh yeah....no paycheck either) And this time I won't be chasing after a 1 year old through recovery. But my toes might look a lot cuter in those open toed shoes this summer!