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my racing thoughts

               
The sweat is dripping from my hair, my head is pounding, my legs and hips are aching, there’s a stitch in my side. But the funny thing about running is, it’s really hard to stop.

Sometimes I wonder why I still do this. It’s hard. It hurts. If I get injured or just stop doing it for awhile, I lose ground and have to build back up, and I feel like I never really get anywhere with it. I don’t think think I’ll ever run a half marathon. I know I’ll never run a full marathon.

So why do I keep at it? I never really lose much weight from running. I feel more in shape, but I could get in shape in so many other ways. Endorphins are crazy and fabulous and I love them, but I could sit around eating chocolate if that was my only goal.

It’s because it’s a part of me now. And I can’t just stop, because then I’d be leaving a part of me behind.

Return of the Dead Fish Tree

               
Two years ago in March we talked about how my front yard smells like dead fish, thanks to the Bradford pear tree in the middle of it. It had never smelled bad before, and upon researching we found out that they smell like dead fish during wetter years. It hasn’t been a wet year since then, in fact we’ve been having the worst drought since the Dust Bowl of the 1930′s. Yet this is year #3 of stinky fish scented tree petals.

What kills me is, it’s the most beautiful tree I own. I LOVE it. And there are TONS of them in my neighborhood. So now, if I go run at the park, I nearly die from the smell of all the pear trees in the surrounding area. I’m really glad there aren’t any IN the actual park.

Speaking of running, that’s going extremely well this week. I have been running every day, usually a mile twice a day. Yesterday I did a mile, and then 2 more later. Today I only did one mile at my second workout, but I pulled off a 10:53 pace, and I’m completely excited about that. A couple of months ago I wasn’t even sure if I would run again, let alone be able to increase my speed this quickly.

Next week is spring break. My daughter will be home and my mom will be visiting. Hopefully I can still get in some good workouts. If not, I’m sure we’ll stay active by walking around the zoo, the mall, etc. One thing that I learned from this leg injury is that just being able to walk around is precious. I’ll take a stroll around the zoo over never walking again any day.

How are you doing with your running goals? And what are your plans for spring break? Do you have a smelly tree in your yard?

I’m Ready

               
This morning, I ran a mile with my husband as usual. And then later this morning, I ran another mile. It’s the first double run day I’ve had since my return to running. And you know what? It was fabulous! Much faster than I thought I was going, and I haven’t run that fast in so long. It was a good minute slower than before injury me, and I don’t care one bit. No pain at all is what I care about.

Hopefully this means I’ll be running the Piece Walk 5k on my birthday. I really really want to.

In the meantime, I’m just going to keep slowly working my way back to normal.

In other news, I spent some time last week talking to my future colleges about what I need to do to get in and have everything that I want. It isn’t going to be easy. But I’m going to pull it off. I feel really good having a plan. I’m ridiculously excited about registering for summer and fall classes soon… and a little bit freaked out at how few semesters I have left before I need to change schools. Summer, fall, and I’ll have a couple of classes to finish up next spring. After that it’s on to the hard stuff. I can’t wait to get there, except I’m not too sure how I’m going to pay for it yet. If you would like to pay for it for me, just let me know…

I’m ready to conquer all of it this week.

This Week in Running

This Week in Running                

This week, I’m actually running! A little. Two mornings so far of intervals of running and walking. I still feel what I’m not exactly sure if I should describe as pain or just discomfort in my leg. Shorter strides feel better than longer ones, so I sort of feel like I’m hopping along with the bunnies at the park. When I can run a mile without any walking, I plan to switch to an every other day schedule until I can do more, with walking on the other days. It took me 7 weeks to get back to a little bit of running, so I don’t want to screw this up.

My eating plan has been fantastic so far this week. I feel very in control of my nutrition and that feels better. So far I’m seeing good results, so I’m going to keep pushing.

Things are looking much brighter.

Recovery and Goals

Recovery and Goals                

My leg feels like it’s improving this week… Hooray! I have been going for walks that are nearly pain free and loving every minute of it. I’m too scared to try running at all yet. I will wait for next week and then try mixing a little in. This has been the worst injury I have had from running yet, and I don’t want to set myself back now that I am finally feeling better.

I’m not running, so I am dieting. I need extra fuel when I run and have a hard time finding the balance between what I need and what I ravenously want, so I already had pounds creeping back up on me, and the break from running has been disastrous for my weight. I know it’s on me for not eating right, but that’s where I’m at now so it is time to tackle the problem. I’m down 5 lbs so far and already feeling better.

It has been two weeks since my doctor’s appointment from hell, and about a month since I stopped running. That means I’ve been battling this injury for about 6 weeks now. I still waffle every day between thinking I’ll be back at it in no time, and thinking I will never be able to run again. This week I finally feel more optimistic. But I know I will have to take it slow when I start running. My big plans to run the Piecewalk 5K on my birthday in May are still up in the air. If I feel ready to run that much by then, I will be there. I WANT to be there. But the use of my leg in the future is ultimately more important than one race. If I have to miss it, I will miss it. And I’ll set my sights on another race when my body is ready.

What are your current goals? Are you able to take a step back and be rational about whether or not it would be best for you to reach them when fighting an injury?

Ten Things I Love About Running

Ten Things I Love About Running                

I’ve been meaning to write this post for awhile now. But then I hurt my leg, and all of the running related blogs I had partly written in my head went on hold. I just couldn’t talk about running when I couldn’t run.

I have just come back from the doctor, and I still can’t run. And I’m not sure the diagnosis is correct. But my x-rays were great and my bones are strong. I thought this post might be interesting from the perspective of someone who hasn’t run in a week and probably won’t for at least a couple more.

So here it is, ten things I love about running.

1. Time alone with my thoughts.
2. Endorphins!
3. The strong muscles I build when I run.
4. Stress relief: I started running after I quit smoking and haven’t looked back. It soothes me even more than yoga.
5. The shoes! And clothes and other cool gear I never would have had a reason to own.
6. Racing events. I’ve only run small ones and I’ll never go to “win” but they make me feel amazing.
7. When I have to take time off, it’s always there waiting for me. And it will wait patiently for me to heal.
8. How healthy I feel after a good run.
9. The cute animals we run with at the park at 5:30am: foxes, baby armadillos, bunnies…
10. When my husband and I run together, it’s about being in it together and caring for each other, not just PR’s and crazy goals.

What ten things do you love about running?