Three Things Thursday X 2 + 1

I got my new Brooks yesterday!! Can I just say that I LOVE them!!  They are so amazingly comfortable.  I took them out for their first trial run this morning.  I was conservative and only ran 1 mile in them.  I can definitely say that they work different muscles – almost immediately I could feel my calves, and about half mile in I could feel my hamstrings really working.  I will definitely have to transition into the slowly.  But overall, I am really happy with the purchase. It felt so weird when I took them off and started running in my normal running shoes.

• Winter is here!  I am not ready for this weather yet.  It was 25 degrees this morning.  When I came home from my run I had ice crystals on my gloves…..not used to that one!  Brrrr……..

• 
  My Breaking Dawn midnight movie buddy had to cancel on me, but have no fear I ended up changing my plans and I’m going to an 8pm pre-screening tonight.  I am however going all by myself.  But I’ll be surrounded by literally thousands of other fans so it will still be fun!

• My pace times are actually decreasing instead of increasing.  This is very frustrating.  I suppose it’s a combination of running with pain and the colder weather.  Jim informs me his times get slower in the winter too.  I am struggling to maintain around a 13 minute mile pace – even on my shorter runs.  Just a few months ago I was hovering around 11:30…..it sucks!  I did a “speed” run yesterday and my average pace was around 11:50 – I was doing those around 10:30 not that long ago.  Arghh……

• I do think my new Dr. is seriously on to something.  He discovered a very tender spot in my abdomen – tender as in, when he applies pressure I can hardly stand up from the pain.  It’s weird because I never even knew the pain was there.  He thinks I might have an adhesion.  I am having a few other medical tests done just to rule out other causes, but he’s still kind of working on it.  For sure I have very tight rectus abdominus and psosas muscles.  I did a little internet research on issues that can be caused by these muscles being tight – first thing mentioned for the rectus abdominus muscle is shoulder instability – what!!  Crazy right?  It’s amazing how interconnected our bodies are.  The Psoas causes pain in the hip flexors.  So anyway, still working on strengthening my core and going to ART a few times a week.  I am not seeing over night improvement, but I didn’t expect to – I am however seeing some improvement so that’s encouraging.

• I have 19 miles on tap for Saturday!!  This will take me approximately 4 hours+.  I will be experimenting with eating actual solid food while on the run.  Since I am a slow runner and my marathon will take me between 5 and ½ and 6 hours I knew I wouldn’t be able to make it on gels alone, so I figure I better start getting it figured out now.  It’s only 8 more weeks til marathon time! Do any of you eat during a long run?  I know it’s not common, but I’m going to be out there a long time.  I totally bonked on my 17 miler and almost couldn’t make it in the door.  After I got some food in me I felt much better.  I’m hopeful this will help me finish a little stronger this week.

• Weight loss update.  I've been doing Weight Watchers 3 weeks now and I'm down 6 pounds!  Woot!  It's not a ton of weight, but I'm going in the right direction!

Barefoot by Nature??

So, as most of you who follow my blog know – I’ve been pretty unlucky in the injury arena.  I’ve had my fair share of injuries, as I know many of you have as well.  Injuries tend to make us branch out and try new things.  I am pretty willing to try just about anything at this point to see if I can improve my current situation and make sure I get to Disney for my marathon in January

Last week I had ART (active release therapy) done twice.  I also had a wonderful/painful massage on Friday.  I go to a VERY good massage therapist.  I asked her to work on my hip and she did.  I was literally bruised within an hour of the massage with about 15 bright red bruises around the top of my left hip, and a few more on the right.  I should note that I bruise pretty easily.  She spent 30 full minutes on just the hip, hip flexors, and psoas muscle.  During my run on Saturday I had very little pain in my hips and it was so wonderful.  By Sunday, the pain was back, but not quite as intense.  I am seeing some improvement.  I was encouraged by the fact that some of the things I am doing are beginning to help.

I have also started reading the book Born to Run – which is awesome by the way.  It’s not at all what I expected.  It’s a lot of really exciting running stories kind of pieced together.  I’m a little further than half way through the book, and I know at some point that talk more in depth about minimalist/barefoot running, but they have barely touched on it at this point.  However, that said I have been doing a little reading and thinking of my own about the whole minimalist thing. 

My husband Jim very adamantly thinks the minimalist running thing is a fad, and maybe it is.  I guess only time will tell if it is a fad that goes away in a few years, or if it is a fad that keeps going and becomes more of a movement.  Do I think that all running shoe companies have gotten on board to make sure they don’t get lost in the dust – yes I do, but is there something to the whole concept?  I don’t know.  I know I ordered my first pair of minimalist shoes this weekend – the new Brooks Pure Cadence.  I tried them on at Dick’s and they felt AWESOME.  Instantly AWESOME.  I figure even if I don’t like them for running, I think they are super cute and will be a great addition to my shoe collection if nothing else.



Brooks Pure Cadence - a minimalist stability shoe



Anyway, this morning – just for an experiment I decided to try barefoot running.  I only had a 3 mile recovery run on the schedule so it would be the perfect time to try.  I decided to run the first mile in my shoes to warm-up – which I did and my hip was hurting pretty good this morning.  After the first mile, I took my shoes off and ran in just my socks (while carrying one shoe in each hand – I’m sure I looked a little ridiculous).  I decided to see if I could run a half mile….I didn’t want to do anything too crazy to start out.  I ran a half mile just fine and you know what I felt GREAT.  Within 2 strides I had zero pain in my hip – ZERO!!  I’m serious.  It was not what I expected at all.  I figured without the cushion of the shoe my hip pain would be worse.  I thought well it might help my form in the long run, but it’s going to hurt bad, but it didn’t.  Maybe it was all in my head.  After a half mile I put my shoes back on and ran another half mile – my hip was hurting again.  Then I decided to try another half mile barefoot again.  Same response – no pain in my hip.  I ran the last half mile with shoes on – pain in the hip again.

So am I a barefoot runner convert?  No.  It was however a great experiment.  I seriously can’t wait to get my new shoes though and see how they impact the pain level.  Like I said, I’m willing to try new things at this point.  Isn’t that what the endurance world is really all about?  There are so many different things out there – different ways to eat – Paleo, Vegetarian, Raw foods, etc.  Many of us are Garmin addicts, but some never even wear a watch.  I think you keep experimenting until you find what works for you.  And what works for you may not work for someone else and that’s ok. 

Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut…..

Anyone remember that old Almond Joy/Mounds jingle??  I have it stuck in my head now, and maybe now so do you!

So, I am feeling like the nut these days – as in being cracked with the nutcracker.  My body does not love me AT ALL.  It is falling apart…just like the nut cracks and breaks apart, I am too.  It’s so frustrating.  I have been trying to be an endurance athlete since May of 2009, so not that long really, but in that time I have had:  a tibial stress fracture, damaged cartilage in my shoulder that may still require surgery, two damaged nerves in my foot, constant back pain, and now pretty severe hip pain.  I wouldn’t have any idea what it was actually like to train without pain or fear of the next injury.  I had a pretty good run this summer.  I was training hard and mostly injury free until the shoulder injury, and things have just kind of gone downhill from there.

So what am I doing about it?  Re-evaluating, changing things.  I am hopeful to make some positive changes that will impact me in the long run.  I’m just afraid I’m doing too little, too late to be able to get me to the finish line of this marathon.  I’m still plugging away at my marathon goal, but I’m in pain EVERY single run, EVERY single step.  I’m scared to death I might have a stress fracture in my left hip, but I’m still running….and staying away from a Dr or an MRI I just don’t want to know.

What I am doing is seeing a new Dr.  Yes, he is a chiropractor and I know a lot of people don’t believe in them, but I do.  He is a specialized chiropractor who practices ART (Active Release Technique).  Basically he works on the soft tissue that has been damaged by overuse.  He also has a “movement coordinator” who gives you specific exercises and stretches to work on at home to improve the situation.  I have been for 3 visits and have seen some improvement.  He told me it’s going to take some time.  He told me the damage I have done to my back has left my entire core unstable.  It’s like I’m running on a house of cards.  He thinks the shoulder injury was do to my unstable core, and certainly the current hip and back pain.  So that’s what I’m working on.  Stabilizing my core, which means DAILY core work – mainly planks and stretching literally every hour if I’m able.  This Dr. also focuses on overall wellness which I think is pretty cool.  What are other things that are impacting you?  He suggested I read the books Born to Run and The Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes.  Yes, he is a proponent of minimalist running and the basic concepts of the Paleo Diet.  I’m not crazy about the thoughts of doing Paleo, but at the end of the day I’m just about ready to try anything.  I have read these theories before, they are not new to me, but maybe there is something to the fact that grains cause inflammation in the body – which I certainly don’t need to add more to what’ already there.  So, over the next month or so, I will likely try the diet out for a few weeks. 

I’m at this point.  What do I really have to lose?  I’m going to give this guy 4 to 6 weeks.  If I’m following his regimen and seeing benefits from this “madness”, I will continue.  If not, I’ll try something else.  So that’s where I am……..hopeful….always hopeful!

Have any of you ever tried the Paleo diet?  How about ART?  Thoughts?????

I Have Answers & Giveaway Winner

Thanks for playing along with my little "Versatile Blogger" Game.  I had 25 people participate in this thrilling game.  I really enjoyed reading your responses.  So I know you have all been dying to find out what was True and what was False.  So here we go.

1.  "I am terrible with geography.  Once during a job interview I had to write in all the States on a US map.  I was only able to identify about 20 of them.  Sad part is I still got the job."

 - Well, 72% of you think I'm an idiot who knows virtually nothing about the Country I live in.  And sadly, most of you would be correct.  This one was was TRUE.  I still have no idea why they had me do this because they obviously didn't care because I did get the job.  I am pretty sure I even missed the State of Missouri - where I lived, but in my defense I had just moved here a month before.  OK, really I have no defense   This one is just embarrassing.

2.   I once lived in a real Haunted House.  Weird things happened all the time.  The lights would go on and off on their own, shelves would knock against the wall for no reason, and the worse thing ever was when I was laying in my bed one night and heard someone say my name in a whisper “Miiiicccchhhhaaaaeeelllll”.  Creepy!

- Most of you were torn with this one.  It was almost evenly split with 48% thinking it was true and 52% false.  This one is actually TRUE.  I lived in a house that I swear was haunted when I was about 13.  Maybe (probably) it was all in my head.  But I do vividly remember jumping from the top of a bunk bed to the door of my bedroom after hearing my name called in a whisper one night.  And the other stuff happened too.  It was freaky stuff.

3.   I am an expert pumpkin carver/decorator.  It’s one of my FAVORITE parts of Halloween.  I have even entered and won several pumpkin carving contests.

- This is another one you guys were pretty torn about with 52% thinking it was true and 48% false.  This one is totally, and absolutely FALSE.  I was just telling people at work the other day that I don't remember ever carving a pumpkin in my entire life.  Maybe I did, but I sure don't remember it.  I ran across the pic of the pumpkin I posted on Facebook and thought it was super cute so I decided to use it.  I think I might try to re-create it next year!

4.  My favorite book series of all time is the Twilight Saga.  I read all the books in about 6 or 7 days.  And, I do in fact have tickets for the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn.

- Well, most of you - 72% thought I was a serious Twilight fanatic.  And you would be ABSOLUTELY correct!  This one was totally TRUE.  Sad, yes I know, but true.  If you've been following my blog since the very beginning you knew this one because I've posted it before.  And yes, I do have tickets for the midnight premiere of the latest movie.  I am going with my best friend Cindy.  We are pretty pathetic huh?

5.  I have six tattoos, but all are hidden pretty well.  Most people don’t realize I have any.  My favorite tattoo is of a butterfly in honor of my Grandmother who thought they were the most spectacular creatures on earth.  

- 56% of you thought this one was true, but it is absolutely FALSE.  I actually do not have any tattoos.  I think it's just my age.  I'm kind of from the pre-tattoo era.  If I was about 10 years younger who knows, maybe this one would be true.

6.  I am pretty sure I’ve been abducted by aliens at least once in my life.  I have vague memories about the experience.  It seemed like a dream but when I woke up I had an unexplained “scoop” mark on my left leg.  The scoop mark is a common theme among people who believe they have been abducted.  I know it sounds crazy, but you wouldn’t understand until you experience it for yourself.

- Luckily, only 36% of you thought this one was true.  But I am kind of surprised that anyone thought it was true.  This is definitely FALSE.  What do you think I'm crazy?  Oh crap, now I've put this in print.  Those aliens are going to find me and mess with me now.

7.  For extra money in college, I used to do stand- up comedy on the weekends at a local comedy club.  I was part of a warm-up act for the real comedian.  I used to get so nervous before I went on that I would throw up at least twice.  The stress didn’t seem worth the money so I only did it for 4 weeks.

- This one probably cracked me up the most.  64% actually thought this one was true.  The whole throwing up because of nerves would probably be accurate if I had ever done something like this, but I haven't.  This one is FALSE.

Now, for the winner.  The average number of correct responses was about 4 of 7.  But two of you (Julie of Adventure is out There and Coy of First in Philly) got 6 out of 7.  I was pretty impressed!!  But that meant we had a tie.   So, as stated I used random.org to generate the winner.  Kind of weird to generate a random number between 1 and 2!  Anyway, I went with the order you entered - so Julie was #1 and Coy was #2.

Congrats to  Julie!!  Send me an e-mail (weatherlymh01@yahoo.com) and I'll get your gift certificate sent to you right away!

Again, thanks for playing along.  I thought this was fun!

I Survived

I ran my longest run to date this morning - 17 miles!!!  And I lived to tell the tale.  I never thought I had this in me.  I guess from here until the marathon all my long runs will be new milestones, but I'm pretty excited to get through this one today.  We had about 20 mile an hour winds today.  It was cloudy and only about 45 degrees but I didn't let it stop me!  It wasn't ideal but I got it done.

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - it ends tonight!  See what you think you know about me.

Versatility and a Fun Giveaway!

So I was graciously awarded the Versatile Blogger by the famous Big Daddy Diesel a few weeks ago.  It’s pretty simple really – tell 7 random facts about yourself and then nominate 12 other people to do the same.  Since I am so insanely versatile it was hard to narrow it down to just 7 things.  Ha!  No, that’s not true, I’m a pretty boring girl really, so to make this a little more exciting I decided to share 7 random things with you – some are true, some are false.  So now it’s up to you to decide which ones are facts! 

To make this even more fun, I might as well make a contest out of it.  So, whoever has the most correct answers will win a $20 gift card to roadrunnersports.com.  If there’s a tie, I’ll use random.org to select a winner.  In your comments below just list the numbers 1 thru 7 and indicate if you think it’s “true” or “false”.  If you don’t want to play along – no worries, you can still just comment like normal.  I’ll accept comments through 8pm CST on Saturday, November 5^th and reveal the winner on Sunday.  Have fun!

1.   I am terrible with geography.  Once during a job interview I had to write in all the States on a US map.  I was only able to identify about 20 of them.  Sad part is I still got the job.  Seriously, could you fill this in?

2.    I once lived in a real Haunted House.  Weird things happened all the time.  The lights would go on and off on their own, shelves would knock against the wall for no reason, and the worse thing ever was when I was laying in my bed one night and heard someone say my name in a whisper “Miiiicccchhhhaaaaeeelllll”.  Creepy!

3.   I am an expert pumpkin carver/decorator.  It’s one of my FAVORITE parts of Halloween.  I have even entered and won several pumpkin carving contests.

One of my winning creations

4.   My favorite book series of all time is the Twilight Saga.  I read all the books in about 6 or 7 days.  And, I do in fact have tickets for the midnight showing of Breaking Dawn.

5.   I have six tattoos, but all are hidden pretty well.  Most people don’t realize I have any.  My favorite tattoo is of a butterfly in honor of my Grandmother who thought they were the most spectacular creatures on earth.  


6.   I am pretty sure I’ve been abducted by aliens at least once in my life.  I have vague memories about the experience.  It seemed like a dream but when I woke up I had an unexplained “scoop” mark on my left leg.  The scoop mark is a common theme among people who believe they have been abducted.  I know it sounds crazy, but you wouldn’t understand until you experience it for yourself.



I did not actually take this photo.



7.   For extra money in college, I used to do stand- up comedy on the weekends at a local comedy club.  I was part of a warm-up act for the real comedian.  I used to get so nervous before I went on that I would throw up at least twice.  The stress didn’t seem worth the money so I only did it for 4 weeks.

Now, to nominate 12 more bloggers for this award…..hmmmm…since I never follow the rules I’m going to skip this part.  If you enjoyed this post and want to do it on your own blog go for it!

Random Thoughts and Stuff

Jim asked me the other day “Do you still blog?”…..yes, I do, but not often any more.  I’m lucky to get out one blog a week…..and reading blogs has almost completely gone by the wayside.  I seriously don’t know how people find the time.  Between a full time job, training, and just life it seems like there is not enough time in the day.  I really enjoy both reading and writing blogs, so it’s a shame I don’t have more time to dedicate to it.

Anyway, since I haven’t blogged in awhile I have lots of updates.  I was going to do a Halloween Hustle 5K Race Recap, but just decided to make it part of this update.

• First – a huge shout out to Coy Martinez of First in Philly who completed the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday and totally rocked it out!!  She has been battling IT band pain for months but fought thru it for a strong finish!!  You ROCK!

• Halloween Hustle 5K……I dressed up like “Running on Empty” – yes it was my own creative idea.  I thought it was pretty self explanatory and cool and running themed.  I was dressed like a runner…to the extreme, with an empty fuel gauge around my neck.  However, apparently most people did not get it.  I think they had no idea what I was supposed to be.  Oh well, maybe next year.  Last year I was Flo from the Progressive commercials…..people seemed to totally get that one.  Anyway, the race was long 3.4 miles vs. 3.1 so while my overall pace was technically a PR for me; my official race time was one of my slowest on record.  That is frustrating.  And I had been waiting all fall for a 5K race since my times had been improving so much…..but due to an injury I wasn't able to give much (read next bullet below) – I still finished in an 11:11 pace, but I know I’ve got at least a 10:45 if not 10:30ish pace in me…..again maybe next time.

Flo

Pre-race Dance

• Injuries – I am still in physical therapy for my shoulder injury from August.  Surgery is still a good possibility.  I am still hopeful it won’t come to that, but I haven’t been able to swim in two months now.  It sucks.  New/Old injuries – as I’ve mentioned before I injured my back pretty badly about 5 years ago – so now I have periodic back pain and issues.  Unfortunately since I started marathon training it’s been more consistent.  I’ve had back pain for about the last 7 weeks on and off.  For most of it I was able to push through it.  The last two weeks I’ve not been so lucky and the “back” pain has really moved into my hips, especially my left hip.  The pain has been pretty bad.  I took off running for 3 days last week, and then did the Halloween 5K on Saturday…it was pretty painful.  I was supposed to do my long run on Sunday and couldn’t.  It was only a 9 mile run since it was a recovery week, but I still hated to miss a long run.  But there was no way I could get through it.  I tried, but only squeaked out .42 miles before calling it quits.  I did however, bike for an hour and a half instead.  That doesn’t cause me any pain.  I rested on Monday, and tried to run again this morning.  I did manage to make it through 2 miles.  I have an ART (Active Release Therapy) appointment on Thursday.  I’m hoping that will provide some relief.  I have a 17 mile training run on Saturday that I just can’t afford to miss at this point in my marathon training.

• I won two Blog Giveaways – literally like two or three weeks ago.  I planned to give each its own blog recap…but alas I must give up the dream.  Thanks to Christina at the Athletarian for the Tommie Copper Calf Sleeves – they are totally AWESOME!  Thanks also to Caroline at Canadian Runner in Exile for an assortment of goodies including a book, some running fuel, and a cute headband.  My gift pack was TERRIFIC!

Love these things!

Jack "modeling" with my gear!

• Today was my first Weight Watchers weigh in.  I lost 3.4 pounds!  I was happy about that, although I still think since it was week 1 it could have been higher, but in the end it was a loss, and I am trying not to go to the extreme on my weight loss to make sure I have enough energy and fuel to train.  Luckily for me last week was a recovery week, and I didn’t end up running much due to injury so I didn’t have any issues with not getting enough fuel.

• I was nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award from Big Daddy Diesel…..that post is still to come.  I promise.

• Let me know if you are following my blog, and I’m not following yours.  I used to be excellent at keeping track of new followers, but since I haven’t done a very good job of even logging on to my blog lately, I haven’t done a great job of that either.  Seriously, I would love to follow you….so let me know!

I think that will do it for one blog.  Sorry for the long list of random stuff!