Broken

Yesterday we had to make the most painful decision ever. Our beloved Tally dog bit me very badly on the arm. Her aggressive behavior has become a scary pattern in the past year and after stitches, dealing with animal control and many phone calls to pet specialists, breed association people and a very kind breed rescue person, we decided that it is in the best interest for both Tally and us to allow the breed rescue find her a new home with a family that is well-trained with aggressive dogs in her breed. My arm is extremely painful but my heart hurts even more. Not sure when I'll run next. All work-outs and running has been scrapped this week and replaced with many tears and Advil for the arm pain. Nothing I can really do about the heart pain. Only time will heal that. Right now she is at our vet for her 10 days of Rabies quarantine, but we will not go pick her up because that will only delay the healing and make it worse if we see her. We will have the kind rescue people take her then.

For now, it just hurts and I feel a little broken.

Sure you're a little overweight...

Yes, these are words I actually heard come from a family member's mouth. This same family member also told me that what works for him/her is walking 1.5 miles a day and they suggested I might benefit from it. I was devastated. I love this person dearly and I can't believe they see me this way. This was also said to me on the phone after I ran 14 miles and so I felt even worse. How could I work so hard and still be seen as "a little overweight?" Isn't it obvious by looking at me that I am hard-working runner? I know I'm not as thin as I once was, but is it really that bad? Maybe I do need to shed some pounds. Geez, I now feel awful. There are certain people who I expect to be critical of my weight, but this was not one of those people, which made the comments even worse. And no, the comment was not said because I asked. It was actually something that was said in reference to something else.

The reason I'm sharing is not to get pity comments from you because most of you haven't seen me in real life anyway. It's just to vent and in hopes that maybe someone else has had the awful feeling that their hard, hard work is not paying off in terms of their exterior appearance. And not that it is the sole meaning in life, but it is had when you run and run and run and then you hear something like that. Ok, enough. Happy posts in the future.

Reunions

Friday night I had the honor of attending a 10 year high school reunion for a class I attended grades 7-9 with. I'm pleased to report that I was immediately carded for my beer. (Hoorah, anything to counteract the Am-I-Really-this-Old? feeling.) I'm also pleased to report that it was fun and I'm glad I went. Those Jr. High years have such an influence on who you end up being as an adult and at the same time, the person you were then, is only a snapshot of the entire person you will become. One of the highlights was sharing with a good friend about my marathon last year. I think I've mentioned it before, but I did not exactly hold up a repuation as a stellar athlete during my teen years. In fact, I ran track in 7th and 8th grade and came in dead last every single time in my event (the 400.) But you know what? It never stopped me. Nope. Never. Meet after meet, I always came back for more. And so, I think that part of me still holds up today.

On Saturday, my cousin and I drove my grandma to Ozark, Missouri to see my uncle who has been sick. 3 hours each way made for a long day. But the benefits of seeing family and spending time with my grandma exceeded the burden of the long drive. Unfortunately, I also had to return home to a very warm house because our A.C. went out. The part won't be ready until Monday, so we are roughing it, so to speak. It's not that bad. Ok, it's bad. But it could be worse. It could have been last week.

And this morning, I had a reunion of another sort. As part of my 14 mile run, I included one of the hills from my marathon. In fact, I believe it's actually the biggest hill. For those in K.C. it's the hill that takes you from Ward Parkway and the Plaza, up Summit Road to Loose Park. I remember this hill particularly from last year. There was a lady from Alaska who I met on this hill and at the top of the hill, my friend Laura was waiting for me. Well today, there were no other runners or friends to cheer me on. So pretty much it was just me and monster climb. And I'm pleased to report that the hill and I became pretty good friends, all considering. It was the last 5 miles that really pained me for some reason today. I was struggling and walking a lot. Don't know what the deal was, but I hope this pattern doesn't continue because me and my marathon hills aren't done training yet. I plan to keep incorporating much of the course into my training.

Total Time: 2:59:30
Average 12:49/ miles which tells me there was way too much walking going on.

It had to be done

Five miles. On the treadmill. Again. Oh boy, here we go.

I've been having a rough go of it lately. Nothing major, just some stress and things, but I knew the treadmill was waiting for me after work. So I ponied up and paid my $5 to visit the gym (I'm on the MWFSun. plan which when it is not 100 degrees outside works out great, but on days when I need to visit to run, I just pay.) I guess a few other people had my idea that it was too hot to run outside. There wasn't a treadmill. I almost flipped. And then I waited. Luckily, one of the "good" treadmills opened up. (You know how it is, everyone has that one type of treadmill that works better for them.) Except there was another girl waiting and she was closer. Damn, I thought. But then she looked at me and motioned for me to take it. Me? I batted my eyelashes. Well, shucks. There are good people out there. You were here first, she said and I smiled and graciously thanked her.

Unfortuantely, even though I got the "good" treadmill, I did not luck out on the T.V. viewing selection. It was either Fox News or BET music videos. I went with the music videos because I like me some Sierra every now and then...

Mile 1: time usually flies by. Pace: 5.2 or 11:20. Incline: .5 (remained for entire run b/c I read in Runner's World, that .5 is actually a more natural, safe running incline.)

Mile 2: time slows down, the dreaded realization that you are going to be on the machine for a while. Pace: 11:20

Mile 3: missing my Garmin. Hate the electronic read-out on treadmill. Covered with towel, but then I needed the towel. Pace: 11:06. (Hey, switch it up a bit, keep it fresh, you know?)

Mile 4: Oh how I hate people who can leave their treadmills now. Pace: 11:06

Mile 5: Let's just get this over with. Pace: 10:40 for about .25 then back to 11:06. Who was I kidding?

And there you have it. I was done. (and hungry, ravishing, actually. Go figure.) What this means is that on Thursday, I only have to run 4. Yay.

Hot

Several bloggers have been posting lately about the HEAT WAVE in the midwest. Well sign me up for the post train because I'm hopping on board. It's frickin' hot. Too hot. Really hot. It's (are you ready for this?) treadmill hot.

So what have I been up to? Here's the skinny:
-Ran 8 miles Saturday morning. Not a bad run considering the previously mentioned HEAT. Also, I was totally inspired by our exciting mini-RBF meet breakfast for later that morning. As a lone runner, there is nothing as exciting as the thought of being able to dish about your run after your run with other runners.
-Breakfast was fun. I finally got to meet my puke bud, Barb, who was fabulous. KT and I rode together and evidently we both needed some therapy because the drive turned into a much needed rant session for both of us.
-Yesterday for a cross training day, I decided to take a spin on the old excersise bike. Wow, that was harder than I thought. 30 minutes later, I bailed to the elliptical machine to finish up my work out with 25 more minutes.
-This morning, I intended to get up early and run, but it was dark. For some reason, I thought it would be lighter at 5:15? Anyhow, that's my excuse, but don't worry. The treadmill will be waiting for me after work.

You can do it --Put your back into it

For some reason, lately I can only seem to reference lame song lyrics when referring to running-related aches and pains. Anyhow, lots to report, so let's back up to our Nation's birthday.

Went out for a four mile run. Was recognized while running by a group of bikers from my Jr. High days. (yah, I know.) Anyhow, it turns out the girl who recognized me has actually been looking for me. (I'm hard to find? ) The class I went to Jr. High (7-9th grade) with wants me to join them for the class 10 year high school reunion. That is so nice of them. I really hate to tell them I'm a totally different person, but perhaps I'm not the only one who has changed. So, I may go. There are some people I'd love to connect with, just to see what they are up to.

Anyhow, after that, my back, hips legs, everything started hurting. Actually, ever since I hurt my hip, everything has been a little off. But in the spirit of trying not to obsess about every little pain, I've been rather quiet about it. (Unless you are Matt, then you have to hear me whine about it all the time...poor Matt.)

SO, I took the rest of the week off. I thought a little R & R would be helpful. I don't think back pain is really something to ignore, even strange jump all over the place back pain like mine. The rest wasn't really helping the pain, so you can imagine the nerves I had when I thought about trying to run 12 miles.

BUT, on Friday, Matt and I went out and purchased my first Garmin!!! I can't tell you how happy I am. I feel like I'm finally in the group now b/c I can track splits, time and distance. It really will have a great impact on my training.

With the new purchase, I had to run, of course, but I was still nervous. So this morning I took off. My thought was, I'll take it one mile at a time. I'm not gonna lie, there was pain, but it wasn't that bad. So, I kept running and running and running and before I knew it, I was at 10 miles on the home stretch. I'm stoked that I finished a scheduled run. I am hurting pretty bad now and to make matters worse, I have a bad, bad skin abrasion on my back b/c it was raining and my running pack rubbed it raw. (ouch!) I don't know what hurts worse. :) But you know what? I don't care right now. I can eliptical or whatever until I figure this out and I'm hoping it will just go away? Anyhow, without further ado, I present to you stats from a training run for the first time EVER on this site.
Total time: 2:26:22
Avg: 12:06 mile
1: 11:21
2: 12:08
3: 11:17
4:11:18
5: 12:47
6: 12:29
7: 12:56 --lots of walking and eating of sports beans
8: 11:43: --rain started falling harder
9: 12:09
10: 12:12 --oh my gosh, I will make it!
11: 12:11
12: 12:02--Horrah!

Treadmill Randomness

*Every eye exam should be taken on a treadmill during a 6 mile run. Amazingly, I can't read the little lines of letters on the chart at the eye doctor's office. But, when I'm trying to "keep my mind off time and miles,"I can read the minutes AND the tiny second count-down on the hanging digital clock at 24-hour Fitness.
*If you hit the stop button, even on accident, your work-out will stop and you will have to start over.
*Cold water that stays chilled in your water bottle and sitting in the holder on the treadmill is so much more refreshing than hot water from your water pack.
*Celebrity news is good for about 3 miles, then it just gets on your nerves.
*An hour and 15 minutes is a LONG time to run on a treadmill.

Two runs one post

It's all about efficiency, you know? I logged 8 miles this work week and interestingly while both of my 4 mile runs were done on a treadmill (sorry, but it's been a heatwave this week and I'm a weenie), they were totally different beasts.
Wednesday: First half mile, ok. Mile .5-4. I wanted to die. Seriously. I thought I would never survive. I wanted to stop every minute. To compromise I slowed the treadmill down from 5.4 (11.06 minute miles) to 5.2 (11:30) And even then, I had to take a walking break at mile 2. I don't know what happened there, but it was not pretty.

Friday: Miles 0-4, awesome. Started out at 5.4, up to 5.6 ended at 5.8!

It just goes to show you that there are factors beyond temperature, setting, surface and speed that factor into our runs. I don't know what those variables were on Wednesday for me, I can only guess. But, I do know that I'm hoping for more Fridays than Wednesdays in my future. A six miler is on the books for Sunday.