The Kindness of a Stranger

I have been making a real headway in my comeback to running. In the last four weeks, the weather has allowed me to run outside, and I have put in four 6+ mile runs outside. This has been a real step forward for me, as just months ago, I was struggling with 1.5 miles. It is very nice to be able to run pain-free again!

I give a lot of credit for my success to two very different things. First off, Ryan, has been such a positive supporter, and has really cheered me on during my training. He has been a real trooper, occasionally running with me and signing up for races, even when he is not much a of a runner. His motivation and encouragement has meant the world to me!

The second thing that has help me, is Yoga. Now, I have to say that I have never really been a fan of Yoga, it had always felt like too much for my wrists, and I just couldn't get into it, but recently I have found my inner Yogi and have really enjoyed and even look forward to going to classes. I have been trying to get to Yoga class 3 times a week. I have been doing Yoga for Strength twice a week and then a Basic Happy Hour class on Fridays. It has done wonders for my hips, lower back and hamstrings!! I am so happy with the results and have had some really amazing runs after getting all stretched out. I also feel like I am getting stronger, and my arms are toning up a bit. Overall, I am very happy with the results and really enjoy the classes, and the quiet time! 

I am trying to balance my running and my yoga. So I have been going to Yoga on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and running on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It has been working pretty good. 

Ryan became interested in my Yoga practice, as he has seen be become stronger, and he has heard less complaining from me in the way of aches and pains I usually have from running. He thought he would try it out, so last week we started a Beginners Yoga Series, which is a special course for couples and it was buy-one-get-one-free!! Ryan has enjoyed it so far, however, this week was hard because he is putting in so many hours at work and is just really worn down. I don't know how he manages during this time of the year!! 

So, for the past two weeks, I have "gotten my Yoga on" two times on Fridays, with a 30 minutes run in-between! Wow!! 

Today, I went to a Saturday morning drop-in Yoga class to get stretched out before my long-run. It was great, because I did not sleep very well last night and I was very sore and tight.

After Yoga, I went and had a quiet relaxing breakfast and well deserved vanilla-bean latte at one of my favorite coffee houses River Rock! If you are in the area, seriously check them out! Everything they make is outstanding!!

During breakfast, I was on Facebook and read about Erin Williams aka For the Love of Disney Running, and her plans for a @rundisney Run Fest! It sounds like a lot of fun!! I just need to see if my finances can handle another trip to Disney! I am really hoping to run the Tinkerbell 1/2 in California and then the Princess 1/2 in Disney World next year!  And as everyone knows, when I travel, I like to do so in style.....so it tends to be on the expensive side of things!! Lol!

Anyway, after breakfast, I headed out for a run. It was a beautiful sunny day here in MN, looking out the window it could be 40 degrees or better. When I started my run, however, it was 12 degrees and warmed only slightly to 15 degrees by the end of my 6.5 miles. 

Three miles into my run today, I completely broke down in tears, and I mean I had to stop running because I was sobbing!! Here's the story:

I was 3 miles in and just turning a corner to head up a long hill. In the car coming towards me there was a older man with his wife driving. He rolled down the window and gave me 2 thumbs-up and yelled "way to go!" I smiled and waved back, about ten steps later I broke down. It's been so hard to get back into running and this small gesture from a total stranger was so touching!!! It took me quite awhile to recover from this, and even as I started running again, the kindness hit me and I cried again! Luckily for me, I was red-faced already and sweating, so it was hard to tell I was crying!! This sweet man's gesture gave me the strength to finish my 6.5 miles, with a smile on my face (once I stopped crying like a freaking baby!!)

Have you ever cried during a run?

Running Scared?!

It has been awhile since I have posted, and I have a lot of newness to tell! First off, I ran my very first and what I believe to be my very last nighttime race! On January 21st, Ryan and I ran the "Kick you Resolution" 5k. We thought is was going to be an amazing race! The race description read "run on a candlelit path and through an amazingly lighted christmas tree forest" -- sounded like so much fun, and it kept us on track for completing 2- 5K's in the month of January. In reality, the course was dark!! No candles, and a very small area of christmas lights. It had also rained the night before, so the path was icy!! I was so scared, as I could not see the path, and we had been warned at the runner's meeting that it was VERY ICY! I had one good slip -- not a fall, but a good slip, and that was it! I was done running and pretty much walked the entire thing. I was upset that the race was said to be so romantic and beautiful and it ended up being a cold, dark mess. This was the only race in which I was actually scared, I never run at night, and I don't think I would ever run without some light source. Over 90% of the course was pitch black...add the ice and you have one scary run! It was very unfortunate, because Ryan and I were really looking forward to feeling the success we had at the Polar Dash. We were proud that we finished in the upright position, and we were happy to spend the rest of the night at the Westin Hotel warming up and eating yummy food! I have a couple of pictures to post, but really this race was a bummer and I would not spend the money to run it again next year. :(

Getting ready to run! Still light out!

Before the race: with our "glow" necklaces

Little did we know what we were getting into!

The Bonfire was too smelly to warm up with

After the race: we pretended our necklaces were medals!
I think we earned them!! We stayed standing!

Have you ever run a disappointing race?

Getting back into Training!

After running the Polar Dash on New Year's Day, I have been very motivated to get back into training. In fact, I want to make it official that I have decided to run the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon again in 2014! More importantly, Ryan and I have decided to run two 5k (or longer?) Races a month for 6 months, starting in March with the Team Ortho Get Lucky 7k! I am almost more excited about this goal than I am about my Princess 2014 goal, because it means I will get to share the experience with Ryan. :) So, with all of these running goals, I know I have to get training, and train smarter and more consistently than I have in the past. I do not want to risk getting injured again, and/or losing my passion for this sport. I am starting out slow, and I am hoping that it will serve me well. I am also going to try to do more cross training and more core workouts on off-running days. I am hoping that by building a stronger core, I will be able to have better running form and be less prone to the hip/back injuries that plagued me in the past! Wish me luck! Yesterday I ran for the first time since the Polar Dash, and was very happy about it! I complete the C25k Week 5 Day 3 workout. I felt great running and the workout was pretty easy for me! I was also sporting my new shoes!! As you have read in earlier posts, I have a lot of problems with shoes, and with my feet. Ever since I was injured, I have struggled with finding the right shoe, one that provides some cushion, but is still a minimal shoe. I had been running in a Newton shoe, and then switched to a couple of different pairs of Brooks. I was unhappy with all of my shoes, and was thinking about running barefoot, when I remembered a pair of extremely minimal Newtons that I had barely worn. I pulled those out of the closet and found them to be very light, and comfortable. I enjoyed running in them, but knew that they just didn't have enough cushion to support the miles I wanted to be putting in. I went online and found a Newton shoe that was what I was looking for. The Newton Distance U. I was even able to order it in a women's size 12 (I have been wearing men's running shoes for over a year, which are not really suited to my narrow foot!).

My new shoes did not arrive in time for the Polar Dash, so I wore my older Newtons, and was very happy with the results. The very minimal Newton MV2 is great for a 5k, but would never work for me in a 10k or 1/2. My new shoes arrived the next day, and when I finally was able to take them out for a spin (on the treadmill), I was blown away by the comfort! My legs never got sore, and my foot finally felt like it was being supported in the right way (I think the men's shoes I have been wearing had something to do with my injury!). I loved these shoes from the first to the last step!! Of course I will need to run in the a few more times to make sure they are really as great as I think they are, but I am looking forward to it! Today, I rode the bike for 35 minutes, and did a short core workout.

Polar Dash 2013

As I said in my last post, I took quite a long break from running and on New Year's Day I ran my first race since May! This was my second time running the Team Ortho Polar Dash, so I knew what to expect, but I was more nervou than ever to run. This is the first race in a series of five races that Ryan gave me for Christmas. And as an even better gift, Ryan decided to run this race with me! Not until the race was over did I let Ryan know just how scared I was to run this race. I guess I was scared of not having a good time, of my hip starting to hurt again, and mainly I was scared that this race would prove that I didn't have it in me! All of my fears, however, went away the minute we got near the course. Ryan and I had stayed the night in Minneapolis, which made getting to the race very easy, and we did not have to worry about waking up super early either. It happened to be freezing cold the day of the race, in fact when we woke up it was below zero! The high for the day was only 7 degrees!! The race directors had posted on Facebook the night before, allowing the 1/2 marathoners to just finish a 10k and receive their medals because of the cold! That scared me! I was nervous about being warm enough during the race, and so Ryan and I had packed a lot of warm clothing, and spent quite a bit of time that morning deciding on how many layers to wear. I decided on a pair of running tights under my Lululemon insulated pants, a tech T, and 1/2 zip pullover and the ever famous Polar Dash Fleece! I also had to wear the penguin hat that was given as race swag! I did a little test run outside of our hotel, and along with a neck gator and mittens, I was feeling pretty good! After a good breakfast, we headed over to the race site. The race didn't start until 11am, but we made it to the parking lot at around 10am. With over 9,000 people running, we didn't want to have to wait too long in the cold. The Polar Dash takes place alongside the Mississippi river in Minneapolis, in a very residential area. Runners are not allowed to park in the neighborhood surrounding the course, we were instead asked to park in a parking lot/ramp about 1.5 miles away from the start of the course, and take a school bus to the start. Once on the bus, my sister called. She had braved the cold and had come to watch us! That made me very happy! I always feel better knowing someone is waiting for me at the finish line! She also took over as the official gear holder, which was great!! Team Ortho, who puts this race on, does a great job of keeping their runners warm. We were able to wait in the warming tent until just before the gun went off. About 10 minutes before the start of the race, we left the warming tent, and made our way to the starting line. I was super excited, and not even one bit nervous about running this race! The wait for the starting gun was very cold, and I worried that I had not put enough clothes on! The starting corral was so crowded, and I could tell that this would be another race that involved a lot of bobbing and weaving around other runners and walkers. Once the starting gun went off, I was right, the course was so tight, and it was very hard to break away from the pack and get any space!Ryan and I stuck together for most of the first mile, I was feeling great (but was sweating so badly, as I had again, overdressed!). I stopped for about 2 minutes to rearrange my clothing, i told Ryan to go ahead and that I would catch up. Once my clothing was situated, I was able to catch up to Ryan, and it felt so good to really stretch my legs out at a good pace. I didn't even notice, that I had left Ryan far behind me. I knew he wouldn't mind, and so I just kept going. Right before the turnaround, there is a pretty long hill, and I spent some time walking, thinking maybe Ryan might catch up. At the top of the hill, I sped up again, made the turnaround, where I finally saw Ryan again, and took off down the hill. I was still sweating, and icicles were forming in my hair, as I made my way though the crowd to the finish line. I was excited as I cross, and happy that soon I could be in our warm car!! After crossing the finish line (with a slow time of 38:22) I found my sister and waited for Ryan to come across the finish line. We were both excited to be done, because all the sweat was now starting to freeze and we were chilled to the bone! We collected our medals, and our hot chocolate (so good!) and made our way to the bus. We could not believe the line that was waiting for the busses back to the parking lot, it was HUGE!! Luckily, my sister had gotten there early and found a close parking spot. She gladly gave us a ride back to the lot and we were grateful to be out of the cold much quicker than waiting in line for the busses!!While the race was freezing cold, and my time was much slower than last year, I had a wonderful time, and am so very glad that Ryan not only pushed me back into running, but was there with me as I made my comeback. While this is only the second race we have run "together", meaning I have left him behind during both races, it is truly a great thing to be able to start together. I really love him being there with me!!I love it so much, that I proposed to Ryan that we should commit to running a 5k every week for the next 6 months (starting in March, as this cold weather running is brutal!). He agreed, but said we should maybe cut it back to two 5k races a month. I am super excited to look for some races to fill our calendar, and even more excited to have this adventure with Ryan!! I am really looking forward to it!!

Living Life 2013

Happy New Year!! I have not written anything since May! And since that time I have ran very little as well... I did not run any races from May until this month. I think my body needed a break, needed to heal and I needed to find my motivation for running again. I loved running, and then once I injured myself, I hated running, I hated everything about it, or so I thought. Really, I just hated myself for stopping, I hated that I gave up and I hated that I allowed myself to get back into old unhealthy habits. Before being injured, I was obsessed with running, and as I allowed myself to look back at the races I had completed, and at how far I had come (from being a non-runner to running 2 1/2 marathons and loving every minute), I remembered just how much I loved it, and how badly I wanted to get back out there!! Running for me is freedom, running is therapy, I need to run! If only is was that easy!! I was nervous about getting back out there, I was scared that I would hurt myself again, that I wouldn't be able to do it, that I wouldn't like running anymore. It took me a couple of months to warm up to the idea of getting out there and just go for a run. Most of the summer, I walked, I walked with my dogs, and with my boyfriend. I walked. It reminded me that I like to be outdoors, and that even though I have put on some weight, I am in control of my body and I can lose the weight. Walking was good, walking was safe, walking was easy. I could go out and walk for hours, without ever feeling like I was really "working out". On one of my walks, I mentioned to my boyfriend, that I would like to try running again (but I didn't mention how scared I was!). He was, as always, very supportive, and really pushed me to go for it. He was even going to help!!! He agreed to start the Couch25k Program with me! I was super excited! Not only was I going to start running again, but now I had someone to run with me!!! We ran very early in the morning, and we did a good job of it, until I had to go back to school. My schedule got in the way, and again, running took a back seat to everything else. I felt awful, I had failed....again! This time I did not let it get the best of me, I started the program over, and decided that I would give myself time, and be gentle with myself, not pushing too hard, not worrying about time, or distance, but worrying about finding the love of running again. I went out to find what had made me so very happy, what had made me obsessed, what made me feel alive. I knew it would be a struggle to get back into running, but I had no clue just how hard it would be. After a 6 month break (no running), my body did not respond well to my workouts, it was not like riding a bike, it was very, very hard to get back at it. Physically, I could handle it, the workouts were hard, but I was doing them, and completing them. What was the most difficult for me, was the mental part of running (the part I believe is the most important), I was beating myself up, as i struggled through some of the very first Couch25k workouts, my self-talk was beating the crap out of me. I couldn't believe that I was struggling with such "easy" runs when just months before I was running for hours. Now I was happy to have a 30 minute workout over! Ryan supported me, and pushed me and cheered me on. He even gave me the Team Ortho Race Series as a Christmas present! But better yet, he was going to run the first race with me!! On January 1, 2013 I ran my first race: the Polar Dash. I was awesome!! I found the love and the passion!! All it took was one very cold 5k to remind me why I love to run!! (the race recap will be posted soon!) I am still working my way through the Couch25k Program. I just completed week 5 day 3 today. I am not even near where I once was, when it coming to running, but I am okay with that. I am going to continue to take it slow and to look for the love in every workout. So this year, I am not planning for any PRs nor am I going to be concerned about the times in which I finish my races, but I am going to focus on loving each minute of every race I run and of every workout I run. I am running for fun!! On top of using this year to run for fun, I am also going to commit to blogging more, as it was such a great help to keep me inspired before. In 2013, I am going to live my life!

A Break, an Injury, and a Return

At the time of my second 1/2 marathon (in February) I had been running for 15 months. I thought I knew what I was doing, I thought I was training right, and was able to keep myself free of injuries. Before the Princess 1/2, I started feeling some really bad pains in my lower back and hip. My doctor prescribed steroids as a quick fix for the pain, so I could make it through my days at Disney World,  Royal Family 5k and the Princess 1/2. 

The steroids helped a lot, and I was pain-free for quite awhile after my trip. Once the steroids wore off, I was in lots of pain. It hurt when I sat, when I stood and when I laid down. Pretty much I was in pain every minute of the day. Running was completely out. I did not feel any extra pain when I was running, but afterwards I would be in total agony! 

After many trips to the doctors office, I came away with no real diagnosis, but with the recommendation to rest. Grrrr. At first, I really missed running and the daily sweat. But after a few weeks, I found other ways to take up the time running used to take. Watching tv, reading books, and snacking! Ha! 

The pain did go away, but came back whenever I decided to run. My last run was on St. Patrick's day. After that I hung up my shoes, and thought I may never run again. 

I was depressed, and gained more weight than I thought possible! I had no clue how to get back into running, and the worst thing was that I have a 1/2 marathon coming up on June 3rd. And I was planning on running a 10k on Memorial Day. 

Well, two weeks ago, I had to bite the bullet and head out again for a run. I am being very careful, and I am worried about hurting myself again, so I am taking it slow. I have had a few good 5 milers in the last week, and am feeling more confident. I do not think that I am going to make it to my next 1/2, and I feel awful about it. But I know that I have to take care of myself, I have plans to run many more races, and if I am not healthy that will never happen. 

I am excited to be back training, and it feels great to get out there and stretch my legs. I am only running every other day now, and trying to balance that with 20-30 miles of biking every other day. Hopefully this way I can lose this extra weight and get back into the groove of things before I run my 2nd DU in August. I have a very busy fall race schedule, and want to be in great shape for it. 

Wish me luck and health, I really need it!

Get Lucky Race Recap

On St. Patrick's Day, I was lucky to run my first 7k with my boyfriend Ryan. It was our first time running a race together, and the first time Ryan had run a race in a very long time. He ran without any prior training! Ryan even wore a cute green shirt and striped green and white knee socks!! I ran in a Team Sparkle green skirt and some St. Patty's accessories!

I also thought I was luck lucky, because it was in the mid 80's and it was MARCH in MINNESOTA!!?? More on that later...

This race was smaller than the Princess 1/2, but was just as crowded. Instead of a sea of pink, it was a see of green! The start of the race was so much fun, looking around at all of the fun St. Patrick's day costumes and clothing. It was however, so so crowded and we had a really hard time moving around and getting to our race corral.

After the Princess 1/2, I did not do much training for this race. I was kind of burnt out, and suffering from a lot of lower back pain. I was going to the doctor every week for the pain, however they only told me to rest. Rest I did! I took the entire time off, running maybe once in between the two races.
Needless to say, it was not a fast race for me! But I had a great time.

It was so, so, so hot!! The sun was shining and it was a beautiful day, but it was hard to run in such hot weather in March! The race company was also not prepared for this weather and they ran out of water! This was not a good thing, as I was dying by mile 3 and really could have used a cup of water!

I ran the first mile with Ryan, and then he told me to go on ahead. I did, but I really worried about how I was going to find him at the end of the race.

The race route was beautiful and kept me going. There were 2 large hills on the course, but I did not stress out about walking up them -- remember, I did not train at all for this race, I was just out there to finish.

And finish I did! Not too far behind me was Ryan. I was able to meet him at the finish line (which was total chaos!) We received our medals, struggled to pick up our goodie bags and headed home.