Injuries Suck!

So it's been a week since I got injured and I'm still not better.  <Sigh>.  I've been resting as much as possible, icing whenever I get the chance and taking ibuprofen - obviously I can't NOT walk at all, so when I do start walking around more the pain gets worse as the day goes on.  What's weird though is I went on a short, slow walk with a friend over the weekend while she was walking her dog, and I swear I actually even felt a little better after.  But by resting for this long I feel like I'm turning to mush and I hate it!

The good news is, I do not think I've actually injured my hip joint, which I was kind of freaking out about before.  I had been nervous about another labral tear, and then I thought maybe I had a touch of bursitis, but after my PT friend offered to do some range of motion exercises (Thank you! Sharon), it seems like my range of motion in my hip is fine and it doesn't appear that my bursa is giving me problems.  She performed a little bit of PT magic to release some of my spasming muscles.  It appears that I definitely have some kind of injury to my hamstring, possibly glute, piriformis, IT band, and who knows what else.  Admittedly, I only know what my hamstring and glute are in that list...  Sharon was shouting out the rest of them when trying to pinpoint where I felt pain.  The most pain I feel is in my right butt-cheek.  I don't know if it's constantly in spasm or I injured something there or what, but what probably worries me more is my hamstring.  I have tenderness (when I poke and prod) all the way from my butt-cheek to the back of my knee pretty much.

Looking at an image of the different parts of the hamstring, I have self-diagnosed that the part I've injured is the biceps femoris part of the hamstring because the pain seems to follow more towards the outer side of my leg, not inner.  Of course, an open connection to the internet and me are not a good combination.  I usually end up diagnosing myself with the worst possible of diseases.

Photo from orthoinfo.aaos.org

After having Sharon perform her magic on me last night, I was feeling WORLDS better when I woke up this morning, even practically skipped to her car during pre-school drop-off today to retrieve my purse that I'd left at her house.  Sadly, my euphoria of being healed was a bit short-lived as the pain came back more and more throughout the day.  I left a voicemail for one of the massage therapists at the Y because I think that's my next course of action.  There doesn't seem to be a plethora of "sports massage" therapists in the area that I could find easily online, and I'm not sure what types of massage the therapist I called at the Y specializes in, so hopefully she'll call me back soon.  In addition, I ordered a thigh compression sleeve from Amazon, which I remember wearing during HS track due to ongoing hamstring issues back then - and if I remember correctly, it was even my right hamstring then too...  Anyway, worth a try.

I also ordered a foam roller from Amazon as an "excellent aid for self massage of the upper and lower back, calf, hamstring, glutes and quads" and to perform "myofascial release" of the muscles.  It'll look something like this (although I doubt I'll look quite so happy doing it...)

Photo from Amazon.com

So yeah, that's what I've got for how to next proceed.  I should probably consider getting another pair of actual custom-made orthotics too.  Ugh!  I hate being injured!!!  I feel like I'm turning into a sloth!

Just a little old lady...

So Tuesday night, bootcamp was pretty awesome.  Tom kicked our butts as usual, and I was feeling really good.  Then pretty much at the end of class, I felt a little tweak in my right hamstring/butt/hip doing squats and my hip started burning a little.  Injury is always a bummer, but this also happens to be my "bad" hip, so when I feel something in my bad hip, I get more than bummed - I get very nervous.

Before I started doing bootcamp last April, the last time I worked out on a regular basis was in 2006 (the year I got married).  I was going to the gym 2-3 times per week before work to try to get in shape for my October wedding, and I was also walking everyday at lunch.  I continued going the gym and walking at lunch even after the wedding, and some time in Nov/Dec (I forget exactly when now) I was doing cardio and felt a little twinge in my right hip, but didn't think anything of it.  I finished my workout, and felt totally normal.  During lunch that day, my hip started hurting so much I had to stop walking, and within 3 days the pain was so bad that I couldn't walk at all.  Long story condensed a little, after visits to more than several doctors, more wrong diagnoses than I can remember, pain meds that I hated (and stopped taking), hours and hours of PT, bouts of being unable to walk, walking with a cane for a long time, pregnancy, and subsequently caring for a newborn - FINALLY I got the correct diagnosis of labral tear with femoroacetabular impingement (FAI).  It only took 2 years...  Funny enough, the longest pain-free time I had during all that time was when I was pregnant.  The doctor who ended up correctly diagnosing me, explained that everything loosens up and stretches out during pregnancy, so that's probably why - I even got to stop walking with the cane (grateful for that!)  Although, if anyone was able to rock a cane and rock it well at Foxwoods for Jill's bachelorette party, it was THIS girl!

So in December 2008, I had arthroscopic surgery to repair the tear in my labrum and shave off the bump causing the FAI in my right hip joint.  Immediately following the surgery, my husband took a week off work to take care of our 7-month old (and me), but the week after that he had to take us to my in-laws house to stay for a week because he had to go to Sweden for a week for work.  The night before he flew home we had The Great Ice Storm of '08 and lost power for 10 days.  I was on crutches, we had a 7mo baby, I was supposed to be going to PT (but couldn't - I don't think even my PT's office had power), and we had nowhere to live because we had no power...so we were nomads for the next week and a half (after already not being home for the previous week).  Needless to say, that was one of the most difficult and unpleasant times of my whole life.  As a result of the storm, I was very delayed on starting my PT, and I really don't think that did me ANY favors with my recovery.  I had to be on crutches for 6 weeks, and I don't think I ended up getting any PT scheduled until after I was already off the crutches.

Even after PT ended, I kept living an essentially sedentary lifestyle because

• after 2 years of being injured, being sedentary was in my "comfort zone," 
• it was "easy" to be sedentary because I was exhausted ALL the time having a baby who would NOT sleep through the night, and 
• despite the fact that I wasn't "injured" anymore, physical activity was still quite uncomfortable and even painful still - probably from not getting my PT done when I was supposed to.  (Built up scar tissue?)  Oh and ps- the hub's grandmother fell from a bus and BROKE her hip during this same time, and she recovered better than I did!  (and probably complained a lot less too...She's kind of a rock star).

I was lazy, unhappy, and pretty disgusted with myself.  But - I ended up getting pregnant again (with Little) that August (2009), so that put a damper on any significant plans of getting back in shape.  I did join the Y though, and attempted putting Big in the babysitting room more than a few times, so I could walk on the treadmill, but he would freak out and scream and cry and have his pathetic little face pressed up against the glass door smearing snot everywhere, and they have a 10min limit on that, so I had to keep coming to get him and I finally just gave up on that.  I thought Big had been a big baby (9lb 10oz), but then Little was born at 11lb 2oz.  (It's kind of funny to call him "Little").  I really was quite ridiculous looking as a pregnant lady.  Anyway, you just don't "recover" from that...the belly will NEVER be the same.  But after a bout of post partum depression and just generally feeling awful about myself, I started going back to the Y and getting serious about working out again.

 One of my first days back at the Y, I met Tom, the Health and Wellness Director, and we started talking about my fitness goals and stuff.  He told me he was attempting to put together a bootcamp class as long as he could find enough people for it (there's a 4 person minimum or they cancel classes).  Well, he found enough participants, and I have now consistently been going to bootcamp 2x/week since last April, and it has had such a positive effect on my life.  I'm a much happier person, I have more energy, I feel stronger and healthier, and it's just been great!  In Sept/Oct my friend Sharon (who was my PT after my surgery and then became a friend) started teaching Pilates on Monday mornings at the Y (and then in January she also started teaching it Wed. evenings, which I've been going to also).  So since the fall,  I've added in Pilates and love it.

Then came the goal of running the marathon in October, and subsequently the half marathon in May, and despite the fact that I've made no secret of despising running - I've gotten SO excited about running both of those races and they've become such a huge part of my life (with training schedules set to last practically the entire year).  And I've even noticed some significant changes in my strength and overall appearance, especially since I added regular running into my routine.  I feel toned, I can see some muscle definition, and I just feel like I'm getting in shape.  Now I'm doing bootcamp 2x/week, Pilates at least 1x/week, and running 3-4x/week and I couldn't be happier.  It's amazing what regular exercise can do for your body AND your mood/attitude.  So now I feel like I NEED it, and the thought that an injury - and possibly getting the SAME injury as before - royally freaks me out because not only does it pose the risk of not achieving my goals of running the half and full marathons, but it also represents the possibility of no longer being able to live the active lifestyle I've come to love and having to return to the land of despair, self-pity, and self-loathing...NOT someplace I ever want to be again!!

Therefore, I'm taking a few days off to rest and recover, and seriously crossing my fingers that all I did was strain/pull a muscle and I'll be back to normal in a little bit.  I've been icing on a regular basis and taking a regimen of Advil for inflammation and pain.  When it comes to injuring my "bad" hip, I have to take it very seriously.  I just CAN'T go back THERE...  Ugh, I do have "old lady" loves - a wee obsession with Murder She Wrote, Matlock, Perry Mason, Masterpiece Mystery on PBS, chamomile tea at night before bed, cross-stitching, comfortable, unattractive braziers (much to the hub's dismay), one-piece skirted swimsuits, all things Angela Lansbury...but I do NOT love my old lady hip...

Lazy Town

So I had Pilates today, and it was a good class.  And I've pretty much finalized my training schedule for the half marathon and actually feel pretty good about it, so I'm jazzed about that.  But that's not what is important today.  There is a show on the Sprout channel that my kids are in LOVE with called Lazy Town, and it must be discussed.  The premise of the show I actually think is pretty good because it's about  getting kids off the couch, unplugged from the TV, and instead to get them outside to play, be active, and eat healthy.  Sort of ironic, but they wouldn't be getting this "message" without being plugged into the TV in the first place, but we'll let that one slide.  Also, it's called Lazy Town, not Active Town, or Healthy Town or something else a little more obvious, and I get that the "new girl in town" Stephanie along with her friend(?), superhero(?), "secret" (i.e. "don't tell anyone, it's our little secret") friend(?) Sportacus come in to turn Lazy Town around from being filled with video game playing, lollipop eating, unhealthy, lazy "kids" (and by "kids" I mean creepy puppet things) into, for lack of a more clever title, Un-Lazy Town.  But for a long time, watching the Sprout channel, they were building up the premier of this awesome new show Lazy Town without any explanation as to what it was about.  And as a parent, every time the promo came on I'd think to myself, my kids don't need any more help being lazy and watching too much TV, thankyouverymuch!

So, the show, which I think is several years old now - (it's just airing on the Sprout channel for the first time now) - consists of a few human characters (Stephanie - "the new girl", Sportacus - "the super hero"(?), and Robbie Rotten - "the bad guy") and the rest are these super creepy puppet people.  (Although, some of these puppet people are growing on me.  Like Stingy, he sings this song "Mine" that's actually quite catchy, and now my little guy, whose vocab is growing exponentially, walks around the house claiming everything is "mine, mine, mine!" - Thanks, Lazy Town!)  And for your listening pleasure:

Stephanie is a super cute girl with bright pink hair and a pink dress, really high energy and perky, and she likes to break into dance and song at any given moment.  I quite like Stephanie actually.  She's not annoying or obnoxious, in my opinion, which a LOT of characters on kids shows are.

Photo from Lazytown.com

Robbie Rotten is quite a humorous character who as the "bad guy" doesn't do anything terribly wrong except try to keep the residents of Lazy Town being lazy.  He wears really funny Loooooooong pinstripe pants and matching super short vest, which definitely adds to the humor factor, but he has plenty of costumes he often wears to try to "trick" the residents of Lazy Town, with his ultimate goal of each plan to get everyone to eat candy or watch too much TV, etc.  As a parent, I totally approve of this type of "bad guy," and my kids think he is beyond hilarious so he gets big thumbs up.

Photo from Lazytown.com

So then comes Sportacus.  As a stand alone guy, I actually have nothing bad to say about him.  He does some pretty cool gymnastics flips and kicks and jumps, and he calls fruit "sports candy" which is a little pretentious, but if it gets my kids eating more fruit I'm all for it.  (Hell, I even made the mistake of calling soda "tickle drink" the first time my big one asked me what it was - it was meant as an explanation "it will tickle your tongue" but now he calls it "tickle drink" all the time and in public and it kind of makes me cringe, like Michael Jackson giving the kids at Neverland Ranch "Jesus Juice."  But I digress...)  He has this pretty funny pointy-style mustache, and I'm kind of a mustache fan, so I'm all for that.  And he lives in this pretty rad blimp thing that I guess just hovers over Lazy Town indefinitely?  Because he's always there to jump out and help save the day whenever his signal is called.

Photo from Lazytown.com

However, my biggest complaint regarding Sportacus is that his relationship with Stephanie is just a wee bit inappropriate in my opinion.  I kind of feel bad thinking this way because I do think it's important for children to have positive male role models, and I also think it's important for children to foster healthy relationships with adults who are not their parents, not family members, etc.  I'm just wondering whose brilliant idea it was to pair up a very young, cute girl with a full-grown man who just pops in out of nowhere in super tight pants with his package quite on display always doing jump split things with his crotch right at her eye level and her breaking into dance every other minute in front of him in a super short dress...  And evidently I'm not the only one who feels this way:

Photo from Cheezburger.com

And PLEASE notice that super creepy face in the back on the left.  WTF???  This is a kids show!!

So hardcore!

Totally planned on running on the treadmill at the Y today, but had no idea the Y closes at 4pm on Sundays.  Whoops!  That really does seem ridiculously early for a weekend day though...  I was quite in the thick of doing chores and lost track of time (although I really thought I had even more time to lose track of!)  So when the reality of an outdoor run in 20deg. temps and wind hit me, I decided to just jump right in or risk wimping out.  I got myself all decked out in appropriate cold weather running attire - running tights AND sweats, a L/S running shirt, my awesome new running pullover (it even has the thumbhole things on the sleeves!  I don't think I even mentioned that awesome feature when I was originally raving about it!), a soft-shell jacket, 2 pairs of gloves (my touch-screen running gloves - Agloves.com - LOVE THEM! just weren't quite enough, so I had to double up on gloves), fleece headband, and fleece neck-warmer thing that I usually wear for skiing/snowboarding.  Oh and just to make the hubs happy, I wore my day-glo neon yellow YOU CAN'T MISS ME vest.  He usually wants me to wear it even if it's bright and sunny out (really?) so I figured I should make him happy since it was getting dark soon-ish.  This is AWESOME me:

Yup, seriously awesome.  I feel like I kind of look like a running ninja.  Except I think the point of ninjas is to sneak up on you and attack when you least expect it, right?  So I guess I'd only be able to be a running ninja in a sea of hyper color t-shirts at an 80s themed party...hmmmmm.

So today was my 3mi day on my new run/walk interval training program, so I had to run 3mins/walk 2mins continuously until I reached 3 miles.  SHOCKINGLY, even in the cold and wind, I felt pretty darn good!  I was quite psyched about that, especially after my horrible run last weekend.  It puts you in such a different mental space than after a bad run.  So now I'm all jazzed!  Whooooo-hooooo!!  If I am going to run tomorrow though, which I am technically supposed to on my current 4 runs/week training plan (which might have to drop to 3 runs/week depending on my schedule), it will sadly have to be a treadmill run.  Clearly I run so much better outside seeing as yesterday it was a time goal of 35 mins (I went for 40 though including warmup and cool down) and didn't even make 3 miles.  Today I completed the 3mi distance goal in under 35mins!  (Did I mention it was 20deg out?!?! - yeah, I'm bragging.)  Am I starting to enjoy this??  No, can't be, this MUST be a fluke.  (please don't be a fluke, please don't be a fluke!)

Anyway, the hubs has been snoring like a chainsaw since 8:30pm and I still need to put a small dent in The Help on my Kindle since I only get to "borrow" it for 2 weeks, and I was just told it's really long.  Guess I should get a'readin!

Momma got some brand new shoes!

Drove down to Beverly to the New England Running Co. store today and had a really good experience.  Buying running shoes (any shoes!) is always dreadful for me, but I was very pleased today.  I decided it was time to retire my custom orthotics for good.  They're ridiculously old, uncomfortable, and they've been causing a major blister during runs.  I need something for my flat feet, so I got some Spenco PolySorb Total Support replacement insoles.  So far I can say that they are WAY more comfortable than my custom orthotics, but I can tell they definitely aren't perfect (not that I expected they would be).  I'm hoping that making this bold decision to replace my orthotics doesn't come back to bite me in the ass, so we'll see.

The shoes that worked out the best for me were Brooks Adrenaline GTS 12.  It's funny because I ended up with a totally different size than I usually get (I guess I should have had a proper fitting a long time ago!)  The guy fit me into a size 9 with a 2A (narrow) width and I usually get an 8 or 8 1/2 and medium width (only because medium is the easiest to come by), but then I have to tie the laces super tight.  I definitely should have done this a long time ago!

My first run today was on the treadmill and it felt fine.  The shoes and inserts felt good.  I'm happy.  I went crazy with the moleskin, so as not to aggravate my healing blister.  The run was boring as hell because I had to stare at the clock on the treadmill to make sure I got the timing of my intervals right, so I felt like I was just counting down the clock the entire time.  I somehow messed up my interval timer app on my iPhone (accidentally shut the sounds off - so it couldn't inform me when the intervals were over...kind of the whole point of using the interval timer, so it seems a little silly that you can even turn the sounds OFF, but whatever!)  Have to run again tomorrow and now that I have my snazzy new running shoes, I'm not dreading it as much as I could be.

Got a babysitter and met some friends at Little Mexico tonight.  It was really fun (we so need to do this more often!)  I had a few drinks, and I'm worried I'm going to feel it in the morning!!

Thursday night bootcamp

Had bootcamp tonight and although I was still sore from Tuesday (and not in the right places!) it was a good class.  He worked us super hard.  I have to say that there's something really satisfying about every muscle in your body twitching from exhaustion and that it's only a matter of time before the twitching turns to soreness.  It's a good feeling, like you've earned the sleep you're going to get tonight (fingers crossed for a full night!)

Still anxious about getting back out running, but more excited about it than dreading it.  Still need to sort out my orthotics situation, and my blister still has a little ways to go to heal all the way, but hopefully I will be able to run this weekend without making it worse.  I went to CVS the other day and bought moleskin, Dr. Scholl's Blister Treatment, espom salt, and neosporin - so I should be covered!

Really glad tomorrow is rest day though!  And the hubs is working from home because we have an appt. with our tax guy at noon, so it's kind of like a 3-day weekend!  Woo-hoo!

How d'ya like them Apples?

Yay for Apple being super cool about my phone and just replacing it no questions asked.  Of course super cool me started having verbal diarrhea with explanation of how nothing "funky" happened, "it just stopped working I swear!"  (even though I had a sneaking suspicion it happened during bootcamp when my jacket got tossed around quite a bit and it was in my pocket - long story - but it gave me a guilty conscience I think) even after the guy gave me the printout receipt to turn in when I came back to pick up the new phone, so he really wasn't interested.  Why am I so socially retarded??

So angels singing in unison, I have a brand new iPhone 4s and got all my apps, contacts, texts, etc. back too.  Hallelujah!  

Earlier in the day, I took Big and Little to the dentist.  It still makes me laugh taking a not quite 21-month-old to the dentist, but he's on our dental insurance already and last time we were there with Big, the dentist kind of put the hard sell on to make Little an appt. too.  I'm so sad though because Big has a loose front tooth due to an injury (getting kicked square in the mouth by his little brother) and the dentist said the tooth is beginning to decay and will probably fall out.  But before it does it will get all discolored (and if it doesn't fall out on its own, the dentist will have to "wiggle it out" is how she phrased it).  We also have to hope it doesn't get infected.  I'm sad for my son for potentially getting a self-image complex so early in life, as if there aren't enough things to come later on that will do that for him - 3-1/2 is far too young!!!  Even if the hubs and I give him no reason to feel self-conscious, I'm sure that there will be somebody who no doubt won't be able to keep from pointing it out and making a thing of it.  I'm also devastated that he may be in pain with it at any point.  My poor munchkin!!  He's also been asking a LOT of questions lately about losing teeth since a couple of his older friends have lost some, and I just recently told him that it was going to be a long, long time until he loses any teeth...so now he'll probably NEVER believe me on anything substantial anymore...

Not going to Pilates again tonight (like last Wed.) only this week it's because my hip doesn't feel quite right from that crazy bootcamp last night, and I am NOT messing with my bad hip!  Plus my abs are still on fire, so I probably wouldn't even be able to get through the class!

Bootcamp Bitchcamp

Got my ass handed to me in bootcamp tonight.  We had a sub and I think she was trying to prove herself because she beat us to a pulp.  Ugh.  I wasn't that pleased about it, so now I'm revolting by having pepperoni pizza and drinking a beer.

And I don't know what's up with Pilates, but even after doing everything in modified position yesterday I still woke up this morning with sore triceps.  Please tell me that after 10 months of 2x/week bootcamp I don't get sore triceps from lifting an exercise ball over my head a few times.  Holy shitballs, what is going on with me lately?!  I have one bad run and everything goes all to hell!

The one good thing is that I now have a dedicated partner to run the half marathon with in May and we've agreed to run/walk it in intervals together.  So I've now switched gears completely and have researched all into doing the run/walk interval combo.  This is a real thing!  There are whole training plans on it!  Who knew?  I always figured you HAD to run non-stop or you were cheating.  But apparently, a lot of dedicated runners use this technique.  Had I ever known this, I would have been a runner a long time ago! This is like literally blowing my mind.  I'd love to go back to freshman/sophomore cross-country team (I quit after 2 years in HS - F-ing hated running!) and tell Mr. Gilman, "Yeah I think I'm going to do run 4 min/walk 1 min intervals at States this year and there's nothing you can do about it!"  And I'd probably have a PR!

Anyway, I'm in a super foul mood tonight after that bootcamp session, but also because my GD iPhone crapped the bed on me, and I'm going to have to try to sort that out tomorrow.  Really not looking forward to taking the boys into the Apple Store without reinforcements (i.e. Daddy).  Oh well, at least I'll get to try out my new Sit 'n Stand stroller.

Back on the horse

Ugh.  After my horrible run yesterday, the last thing I wanted to do was get back out there and torture myself again, but I knew if I didn't at least do something I would be mad at myself and feel like crap about it all week.  My friends offered up some pretty good advice after yesterday, and reminded me that I don't have to aim for a victory with every run.  Getting out even for a short jog or walk is better than sitting on your butt at home!  Point taken.  However, I still tried to come up with every chore that needed to be done before I could go run.  I also had never figured out what I was going to do with my blister, so that was almost going to be a deal breaker, but I found these giant square gauze pads with adhesive in the bathroom cabinet and they worked ok.  (Dang!  My last excuse foiled!)  I finally went out a little after 5pm (after making chili to eat for the Super Bowl - my last chore before I couldn't put it off any longer), and it was already quite dark and super cold ~25deg.

I decided to warm up by walking around the circle (about a half mile) and then trying to run it as fast as I could, and then walk again.  When it was time to start running, my knees hurt so bad every time my feet hit the pavement, but after a little while they finally stopped.  My lungs ached from the cold air, and my "fast run" was beyond pathetic, especially considering my circle isn't even a full half mile.  I am glad I got back out there, but I'm still pretty disappointed with myself.  Just felt really crappy this weekend, and the half marathon is really freaking me out!

First Road Run

Ugh.  I decided to move off the trail and go for a real road run.  About 4 miles.  It SUCKED.  No ifs, ands, or buts about it.  I hated every step and I never want to do it again.  <sigh>.  I have to do it again, I signed up for a freaking MARATHON!  Really, what was I thinking?  No seriously, what the F-#-*-K was I thinking?

I actually think I'm even more freaked out about the half marathon because a) it's a lot sooner (and now I legitimately don't think I'll be fully ready for it come May 6th), and b) I'm pretty sure I'll be running by myself.  I do have a good friend running it too, but her pace is probably close to twice as fast as mine, so I don't think I'll even be running in her dust because her dust will have already settled!  Also, at least at the marathon, my peeps will be there, and it will be a truly emotional experience.  I'm pretty sure we'll all stay together (or at least I hope we will!) no matter how long it takes us and cross the finish line together.

I haven't yet actually addressed the reason for running the marathon in this blog, so I guess I probably should.    It's actually been something that's always been on my "bucket list" (man I hate that phrase!), but the catalyst for doing it now was the death of one of my best friends, Jill, one of my peeps, from breast cancer this past November.  The Susan G. Komen Foundation (an organization that had a huge impact on Jill's life, the lives of members of her family, and one that we'd participated in fundraising events in the past) had chosen the 2012 Chicago Marathon to be one of its Marathons for the Cure this year.  Jill ran the Chicago Marathon with our friend, Becky, in 2003, and before she got really sick again, we had actually discussed running it together (possibly this year).  So, essentially, it was a no brainer.  A really great way to honor the memory of an amazing friend, a fundraising event for a great charity, and hopefully a way to grieve productively by giving us something to focus on...or at least give us a reason to pound out anger and frustration over miles of pavement!

Anyway, it was suggested to me today that I had perhaps pushed myself too far, too fast in my training because I essentially went from no running to 4 miles in a very short amount of time.  I had over-credited myself as being ready for that from having done bootcamp 2x/week for the last 9 months, but I think that was definitely wrong.  Running shouldn't suck this much.  I just have a hard time feeling like I'm going "backward" and once I make a certain distance (like the 4 miles I achieved last week), I feel like I'm not working hard enough if I don't run AT LEAST that far from now on.  I know, I know, I need to seriously change that attitude or I risk failure.  I think that tomorrow, provided I can find a way to buffer the awful blister I got today, I will try some interval training.  I'm afraid if I take tomorrow off from running, I may never go back!!

Feeling a little guilty...

I had bootcamp tonight and it was a good one, so I am feeling a little less guilty now, but I skipped Pilates last night (and any additional run I might have been planning on doing).  All day today I felt a little bit like a lazy bum.  It's weird how that is, since the hubs has been on a business trip since yesterday morning, so I've been non-stop with the kids for the last almost 48 hours - probably the farthest thing from a lazy bum I could be, but I still beat myself up all day for having skipped my workout yesterday.  At least I skipped because the kids and I were having fun visiting friends!

Hotel is all booked for the marathon!  Very psyched!  Now if Komen could just stop causing controversy, so I could get back to soliciting donations without feeling icky about it (at least more icky than soliciting donations makes me feel just by default anyway!) I would be even more enthusiastic right now.

Still hoping the weather is nice enough this weekend to try my new running route though!

Taco Tuesday!

So last night was bootcamp, but more importantly it was Taco Tuesday!!  (75cent tacos at our local Mexican place).  Bootcamp wasn't that bad, but maybe that's because I knew there was a big reward afterward - can't beat a Dos Equis and 75cent tacos!