From Bad to Good, and Bunions Suck

October 4, 2008 By 4 Comments

Once upon a time there was a runner (that’s me!) She ate a lot of pasta and ice cream on Friday night, went to be at 9:30 and thought that by doing all of this she would have a great Saturday morning run.

After eating, she felt like this:

This runner has a love of distances and always looks forward to going each Saturday.

Yet this Saturday morning, something had changed. As she stood on her tiptoes and peered out of the bathroom window to see what the weather was like outside, and she saw the darkened sky and the fog that had been creeping over the Pacific throughout the night, she thought this:

“Maybe I should stop doing all of these distances.”

Where did this doubt come from?

As she stepped out into the cold morning, she thought, “I’ll just do six miles.”

She’d eaten a half peanut butter sandwich, loaded up with her Gatorades and Fig Newtons, but realized she’d forgotten her Ipod.

“That’s okay, ” she told the stars, “I’m not going that far.”

So she ran. And she ran and she ran and she ran. She ran like she had wings.

She ran like a Super Hero (only with smaller breasts).

Eleven miles later, when she returned home, she wondered why she had doubted her long distances at all.

The End.

How does this happen? How is it that you can start a run feeling like crap and then, somehow, somewhere, it changes?

I don’t wake up feeling like I don’t want to run. I never feel this way. I love running. It’s my life. I read a story about this guy in Runner’s World last month who had his leg amputated because he could no longer run. Now he can run. At first I thought, holy crap! I don’t know if I could have that nerve!

Then I thought, On the other hand, imagine a life with no running.

I don’t know what happened with all the self doubts this morning, but I’m glad it all got turned around during the run. I had a GREAT run. I could have done 13, which is what I was going to initially do, but decided to get back a bit early and see how the family was doing.

And they were fine.

Husband was up, kids were up, and all was good in the home.

No more doubts. The weight, I have to deal with that. It is my nemesis. I know that it is frustrating to be overweight, but it is also frustrating to be underweight. Yet I was thinking today, I bet everyone is frustrated about their body, somehow, something that bothers them. The key is to live with what I have and make the most of it. To learn to accept it and move on.

Bunion Surgery:
I had bunion surgery on both feet about 15 years ago. I wasn’t running then. Active, but not jogging or running.

The pain from surgery was excruciating. I’d almost rather have another C section than go through that again, except then I’d have to take care of another baby and I’m not sure I have the energy for that lol! At least with a C section I was given pain meds.

With bunion surgery I was sent home with Tylenol and codeine. Now, I am not a medicine popper. I don’t take ibuprofen for headaches, Motrin for cramps or cold medication when I have a sneezy nose. I don’t take any medicine, ever. Unless I’m in excruciating pain.

Cutting open foot, removing part of bone, stitching back up = excruciating pain. Wanted meds.

Anyway, the last few long runs I’ve had I’ve noticed a pain in my right foot where the bunion was. When I visited the foot doctor the last time I trained because my toe was going numb, he said, “Wow, you really have some large bunions.”

“I had them removed when I was about 24.”

He shook his head. “Well, I wouldn’t say they did the best job. If they don’t hurt your okay. If they start to hurt you may have to have another surgery.”

Needless to say, I’m ignoring the pain. I don’t want to go through surgery again. I’d rather eat glass. So, let’s just hope this is a distance thing, getting used to going farther (even though I am staying around the same mileage), and that my feet will adapt and overcome.

Mileage:
I’ve been at the same long distances, between 9 and 11 miles, for about a month now. I like it here. I think I’m going to try to keep my long distance runs at 10 miles at least, in the double digits, so that when we get to Georgia I can start training from there for the Disney marathon. Then, I’d ultimately like to remain at these numbers for good, so that when other races come up I can start training from there. Plus, I really enjoy runs lasting about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Over that and it’s hard to get up early enough to get home early enough.

Anyway, those are my Saturday stories and I’m sticking to them. I got in a nice hour long nap while everyone rested and now I’m taking the girls to the park for some swinging and sand play. It is cold here, so I can’t wait to wrap up under the covers tonight and watch some good TV with the husband man. Hope you are all having a great weekend. Stay fit!

Filed Under: Long Distance Running, October 2008, Reflections on Running, Training for a Marathon Tagged With: , , ,

Friday’s Fun Fitness!

October 4, 2008 By Leave a Comment

On Fridays I don’t do cardio, since I do such a long run on Saturday. I don’t work on my legs either, just abs and arms and a mini warm up using my kettle bell and jump rope.

Today my kids joined me for stretching and ab work lol. It was funny. I love it when the youngest, who is almost two, almost bends in half as though it is no problem! I wish we stayed that flexible through life!

Thought it would be fun to share fun fitness ideas on Fridays. Today’s is about being a mom and trying to fit in a workout-and doing so at the park!

At times I run with the jogging stroller, and we go to a park down the street. When I do my workouts like this I use the park as my gym! I thought I’d list a few of the exercises I do when I’m at the park and dressed in workout gear.

Tree Stretch: You guessed it, I use the tree to do the leg stretch I wrote about yesterday!
Sprinting: The kids run and I chase. They love it and so do I!
Squats: As they climb the stairs and go down the slide, I do squats! Then I tickle them as they are on their way down!
Pull Ups: Pull ups on the monkey bars, of course!
Abs: I do abs in the grass while we play ring around the rosies and other games in the grass. For some reason my girls love doing ab work with me lol!
Push Ups: Against the concrete, while we use sidewalk chalk.

Hope these give you some fun ideas for the next time you have a park day and can’t figure out how to squeeze in a workout!

Filed Under: Friday's Fun Post, October 2008 Tagged With: ,

Mini-Tri, Stretching and Why Can’t I Master that Flip?!

October 2, 2008 By Leave a Comment

This morning’s workout went well. I did a two mile run, but spent the second mile doing sprint training. I have to start sprinting and then continuing to run at a slower pace in order to keep my body used to going faster.

I did a bike ride next, going for six miles. I tackled the hill I ran yesterday and it was a heckuva lot easier to run up than bike up!

Came home, had coffee and breakfast, then headed to the gym with the girls. I did a thirty minute swim and then sprinted for about five minutes or so, resting in between 25 and 50 meters. I worked on form, and I think I am doing better with the continuous motion even when breathing that I realized I was having trouble with the other day (Thanks again Shirley!)

Today’s Stretch: Legs

As a runner I often get tight muscles, particularly in my hamstrings, as well as some knee pain when I do too many squats (which I probably shouldn’t be doing at all but simply can’t give up!) So, I do this stretch after my runs and also when I do my yoga routine at night to help stretch out my legs.

Place hands flat against a wall. Extend arms so that they are straight (don’t lock elbows). Place legs behind your body, so that you are pushing against the wall. Your legs will be about four feet from wall or so. Stretch! Do both legs together and then work one leg at a time. Remember, though, don’t stretch until your muscles are WARM. So, if you are going to stretch BEFORE a run, then do a three to five minute warm up job before you begin stretching. I generally stretch after a run and then in the evening with my yoga routine.

Swim Flip:
What the heck? I practiced today. I’m too afraid to get so close to the wall. I got it partially down. No longer do I get water up my nose and sputter and come up flailing like a dying fish, but I just can’t get close enough to the wall to push off, and then when I did at last, I couldn’t remember if I was supposed to immediately turn over or swim upside down for a bit!

I guess I’ve got a ways to go on this!

Filed Under: Biking/Cycling, exercises, October 2008, Swimming, Thursday's Stretch, Training for a Marathon, Triathlon Training Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

When I Workout . . .

October 1, 2008 By 4 Comments

I thought it would be fun to start a Wednesday Reflection Question. I’d love to hear everyone’s views and ideas. Some days this will be focused on fitness but sometimes it will be just for fun!

Today’s Reflection Question is more of a thought: When I Workout . . .

I’ll go first!

When I Workout . . .
I set the mood for the day. I wake up wondering if I have it in me, and then I do it, and I understand I can do anything. That mood carries forward. I have more energy when I workout, and so I can do more with my kids. When I workout in the morning, I am happy mommy and happy wife. I feel I have had time to myself to do what I need to do to make me healthy. But best of all, when I workout I am showing my daughters that they can be strong women.

Update on Nodule: Mom seems to be fine. They could not find the nodule. yay! She may have to have another mammogram but thankfully all appears well.

Update on Keeping Track of Calories: Sorry, just couldn’t do it. While it was definitely a great thing to do that week to see how much I am taking in, I just don’t have the time to input the food into SparkPeople and list it on here and do the calculations, etc . . . Instead I have been watching the scales and right now still seem to be hovering where I should be. If that changes I will go back to the journal.

This morning I did a 3.5 mile run, then sprinted for a few minutes, stopped and did some push ups against the curb, did the crab crawl in the middle of our street a few times. I’m sure the neighbors think I’m weird. But hey, I kind of am lol!

I had a scary moment. I ran up to a different area of town this morning. It was pure dark of course, and I did a hill workout, which was good. On the way back down I spotted a dog up ahead, to the left, but cars were coming toward me on my right so I couldn’t cross. I got to the section where I had seen them, a driveway, and there stood the biggest darn German Sheppard ever.

Thankfully it didn’t pursue me, but if you run outdoors and you come up on a dog or two you know how scary it can be. I had my keys in hand ready to poke at eyes. I’ve never found out, but does pepper spray work on dogs?

Filed Under: October 2008, Wednesdays Reflection Question Tagged With: , ,