Let it snow...

Today I watched the weather network in anticipation of a great snowfall. Despite the various warnings of winter wonderland, nothing fell from the skies. Call me crazy, but I really looked forward to heading outdoors for a run, even in the below freezing temperatures in the beauty of fresh snow.

I was feeling quite tired all day but as soon as my feet started moving and the cold air inhibited my lungs, I got my second wind. It was another slow, easy pace and just a short distance of 5 km. There were no aches or pains and I stuck to my gut and didn't push myself on speed or distance. Yes, it's irritating and painful to start at the beginning of the training program again, but not nearly as what I went through physically and emotionally. Everything happens for a reason and this will help keep me grounded.

The countdown is on. 30 days from now it will be Christmas. 30 days from now I'll be covering more ground again and hopefully be well adjusted to the joys of running outside. Trust me, I will need to run to burn off all the calories from my baking. 30 days from now I'll be an aunt and will get to celebrate Christmas with my nephew. So many incredible moments coming up, so many reasons to keep smiling and be thankful.

Christmas waves a wand over the world and behold, everything is softer, magical and much more beautiful. If only I could borrow the wand for the balance of the year...



Making spirits bright...

On the way

This past week has been a really quiet one in terms of my training. After my chiropractor appointments and adjustments I decided it was best to ease off running for a few days and focus more on having a thorough recovery.

I've never suffered from aches or pains or back pains so this whole episode of 24/7 back pain has been quite trying. Forget wearing any heels, putting on normal pants was a challenge. It was surprising also how my spirits plummeted. Even though this is a temporary setback, I am the ridiculously stubborn type who always wants to do exceed and am not a fan of veering off my plans and goals. However, there is an abundance of advice and reference materials regarding running injuries so I focused more on absorbing this and working on a plan to get better.

This weekend was one of celebrations. On Friday Monique and I had some much needed girl time. We braved the mall and scored some gorgeous dresses and caught up on all the latest and greatest. My beautiful cousin celebrated her 40th birthday and a number of close friends and family went out to an incredible venue for a girls night out yesterday. Today was a baby shower for my beautiful sister in law and it was so wonderful to help welcome the newest addition to the family. Also, I managed of get in a run with no pains, aches or problems. And can I mention that It was an outdoor run? Yes, I veered away from the glistening treadmill track and opted to run outside. It may have been minus 0 but the snow falling through the sun light in the perfectly manicured gardens was worth every bone chilling breeze. The cold air biting my lungs made me feel alive, made me feel grateful for being able to take in all the feelings I was experiencing. Although it was a small run, only 30 minutes or so, and only just over 4.3 kms, it felt like a small victory.

Looking back is helping me look forward. It is easy now to see where I have made errors and I have learned what I need to do to succeed. Starting at the beginning again may be just what I need to get back to where I want to be

Down for the count

Well, I am sad to report that I really did a number on myself. I managed to not only hurt my knee from Sunday's run, but also throw out my back. Enough so that I spent the day at home yesterday frantically trying to get an earlier appointment with my chiropractor.

It turns out my hips were still misaligned and the stress on my knee and not a full recovery did me in. I may have pushed myself too hard also and may have escaped this setback had I slowed down and focused more on an easy and light run. What's done is done and all I can do now is learn from it and focus on preventing it. Also, I found out my flat feet are also contributing to my injury so I was fitted for orthotics to help correct my gait issues.

The next couple of days I'm going to work on just getting better and to a point where I am not in constant pain. When that happens, I'm going to try again. But this time with some new and improved knowledge and respect for my body and running.

Hold on

Well, I managed to let another week get by without blogging. This past week has been non-stop and only now on Sunday evening am I finally getting a chance to wind down.

This past Monday, I met with a sports therapist/chiropractor/acupuncturist. I was really thankful for my appointment as I woke up several times throughout the night in a lot of pain. My knee was swollen and bothering me and I couldn’t wait to finally see someone who could help me out. Sure I got a lot of mileage in the previous day but I have built up to this…right? Turns out it is iliotibial band friction syndrome, and is thankfully treatable and that a large percentage of women runner’s struggle with it too. I spent a solid hour reviewing everything and had an adjustment done as my alignment was off and therefore causing even more strain to my knee. While I did feel immediate relief, I couldn’t help but think that this may be a longer process to complete recovery than initially anticipated.

I had the pleasure of visiting Chicago for work this week and I must say, even from the little bits I saw, I love that city. The architecture, activities and liveliness, cleanliness and proximity to the water really appealed to me. In terms of business, it was a great visit and hopefully next time I can extend my stay and get to see and do a lot more. The highlight would have definitely been the trip to the aquarium…yes, maybe a bit juvenile but anyone who knows me knows my affection to all things water. I had also packed my gear to get a run in…and while I really had the intention of running, deep dish pizza and beer won.

Yesterday was a day of catch up around the house and finally time to get a run in! It was so incredibly beautiful outside, and while I really should have ventured outside, I must admit that I wasn’t too confident to do so. With my knee being that way it has been, I was worried that I would get out there and it would crash on me. It was also time to get a new pair of kicks as the mileage on my shoes was really up there. I stopped by the Running Room and talked shoes for a good length of time before finally picking out a pair (also recommended by the sports therapist). I was so jacked to get going and man did it feel great. I felt so energized and was thinking that a good 5 days off may have been exactly what I needed. Stubborn me picked up the pace after 3k, and at 4.96k my knee gave out. Complete and total crash and burn. It hurt in a way that it hasn’t before. And not only my knee, but also my back. I hit the stop button and tried to get a stretch to help alleviate any of the pain but it wasn’t happening. I was partially relieved I wasn’t stuck somewhere on the side of the road, but at the same time I wish I was so I could sulk without anyone noticing.

It was not very comfortable sleeping last night and this morning it was evident I wasn’t going to be lacing up for another run. It is very hard to not feel discouraged and want to give up. I’m actually surprised that I even thought to myself “I am not meant to do this –my body isn’t a runner’s body”. Sure it would be easy to give up, to just stop and not put myself through this but unfortunately, it’s not in my blood. Tomorrow I go back to the specialist and we will work on a plan for treatment and prevention. With this in place, I hope to feel better and gain more confidence in myself that this is attainable and start feeling all the crazy zest and highs I did earlier.

Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.

Chicago :)

 



Wonderful discovery...

Day in, day out

Okay...I admit this post is a little overdue. While I wish I could report a vacation to somewhere super special, I just managed to get caught up in life. Tonight has been the first opportunity to sit down with not much to do and I quite like it. Plus, I bought myself a wonderful and beautiful iPad and I'm finding it difficult to pry out of my little hands. Yes, congrats to me to who has finally made the step into modern day technology!

This past week I've had some work travel, but took along my gear to make sure I could get in a run. My knee bothered me after my Sunday run but was fine by Wednesday. However, I wasn't going to push my luck and I opted on an easy 30 min go, covering 6.27 Kms without any problems and no pain for the balance of the week.

Did I mention how much I looked forward to Friday? Chrissy and Wade finally got the keys to their new house and it was time to celebrate. Now, it has been some time since I've enjoyed a few bevys and this week I was introduced to a very tasty red vino. I couldn't wait to share this discovery with my Chrissy and sure enough, we thoroughly enjoyed it in super classy red solo cups in her gorgeous new house. Needless to say, moving on Saturday was a little slower than usual. Shortly after arriving home yesterday, I tried out my home treadmill for the first time and did a quick 5km to stretch my legs after the drive...and to keep myself busy while the iPad was charging.

Today was such a beautiful day. It felt like early spring rather than a few weeks before Christmas. It was productive as a number of home projects were tackled and I had a personal best record on my run. It felt really great to get a lot of distance covered after such short runs this week. My times were slower to make sure I could sustain enough energy for the whole run but it didn't bother me in the slightest. My target today was a 90 minute run and I pushed through and went another 4 minutes so I could hit the 18 km mark. Surprisingly, I was ready to keep going and thought about that half marathon mark. As great as it would have been to achieve that accomplishment, I remembered some wise advise and didn't risk pushing myself to the point of an injury.

It is going to be another busy week. Tomorrow is my day of rest and after work I have an appointment to see a sports therapist about my knee issues. I initially signed up for an acupuncture, shockwave therapy and chiropractic treatment combo but thinking about being poked with needles, shocked and cracked is making me second guess having everything done at once. It will be good to learn about prevention and treatment of any running related injuries. One thing for sure is I'll have to pick up a new pair of shoes due to the mileage on my kicks and hopefully I can test them out in beautiful Chicago when I head there for work in a few days.

Being so close to a pivotal point is reassuring that I can do this. I'm not crazy. And when I want to push myself, I'll have to remember that Rome wasn't built in a day.

Give back

Today I feel really inspired to write. I was really lucky to be a part of a team today and give back to the community by volunteering. While it was just a couple of hours, I’m not going to lie – I was so touched by learning so much about small gestures that benefit so many people in need.

So, I can think of dozens of times I’ve made a donation to a food bank. I’m sure we all can. Sadly, I can think only of two times that I have taken the time to learn what happens to all those cans and boxes and about the people who receive them. The amount of work and effort required to help feed those in need is so great and the planning is so well orchestrated and has brought a new appreciation to me on many levels. While our team today was hard at work at “de-retailing” crackers (we took the brand name boxes off the sleeves of crackers), we also received the opportunity to see how the food bank operates. We learned some stats that came as a surprise…one in twenty people use assistance from the food bank in our region. Sure, we all know that every community has a food bank, but to think that so many people need assistance never crossed my mind. It felt good to know that even just a few hours of time would help bring food to so many people. Maybe even people I know.

Today I didn’t get to run. After my Sunday run, my knee started acting up again and I spent a good part of yesterday hobbling around. It was painful enough for me to book an appointment to see what the heck is going on and how I can prevent this from happening. So, to keep going with my cardio I set off to another hour long spin class. It felt great again to work on a different group of muscles and overall I am satisfied with today’s workout of over 22 miles.  I’ll try out a small run tomorrow and see how I’m feeling…fingers crossed.

Tomorrow I’m heading away for work and am looking forward to the new opportunities. Things are looking so positive for 2013 and today I was so proud of everyone I work with. I think today I also gave new appreciation and thanks to all the food I ate.

Hopefully the little things we did today will help fuel someone to do great and wonderful things in their life too.

 

Hard at work

Be confident

It is the end of another weekend. However, we were gifted with a whole extra hour today. What a perfect opportunity to jam in as much stuff as possible before it gets put on the backburner to next weekend. I took full advantage of this extra hour and slept in. While I should feel guilty about not finishing a million projects, my body definitely thanked me.

On Friday I was scheduled for some cross training. Being adventurous, I thought I’d check out another class after work at the gym. I opted on a class called “rock bottom”. How inappropriately labelled in my opinion. It really should be called “take this class and you won’t be able to walk/sit/drive/bend over for a week”. It was evident that after the full hour of lunges, squats, burpees and balance ball I was going to have an issue. This weekend was spent in slow motion for me so I wasn’t too sure how running would be. I took Saturday off from any workout but spent a lot of time stretching.

This morning I was still pretty sore when waking up but quickly got over it as a good friend was in town and I went to visit her and Moe and have some much needed girl time. It was so great to catch up and learn about all the new adventures in my friend’s life. The day was still young so I figured it was also a good time to continue my shopping adventures for a few needed items.

I finished off my Sunday with my run. While changing into my gym clothes was painful, I was happy to learn that running was not. My training today called for an 80 minute session. Finding my pace and keeping form was surprisingly easy today and overall it was a good run. I kept my pace consistent with one increase in speed as I knew if I pushed in the beginning I would likely struggle through the end. While the gym was quiet, there were some other runners nearby and having someone on the treadmill for a similar amount of time always feels encouraging. Today was a new personal record day for distance, time and calories burned and I left the gym feeling really satisfied and with my silly grin.

This week is going to be a busy one. My work is volunteering at a local foodbank on Tuesday and Wednesday I head out for a business trip. Friday is girls night and on Saturday it’s time to celebrate Chrissy and Wade’s new house.

It feels to good to know that no matter where I go or what I do, I am stronger and more confident each and every day.

Today’s distance: 16.14

Today’s time: 1:22.41

 

Its beginning to look a lot like...

Okay, I may be a little bit over the edge here but…Christmas is coming! With Halloween out of the way, it is time to start the festivities. While the majority of the people reading this are likely rolling their eyes at my childlike enthusiasm, I revel in all things Christmas.

It was eloquently expressed earlier this week by a dear friend that the recent weather has stripped all the beautiful coloured leaves from the trees and now, autumn is just plain ugly. With no use for ugly seasons, I am looking forward to everything associated with the holiday season. Think about it…what other time of the year can you buy eggnog flavoured everything? Surely by now the pumpkin spiced lattes are getting boring and a new flavour is needed? There are so many simple yet beautiful matters regarding Christmas. I love snow covered everything, smells of Christmas baking, the music, brandy on Christmas morning (that’s my mom’s tradition), the decorations, the glorious food, but most of all, the time spent with family and friends.

Flipping the calendar today and listening to the weather man talk about snow really got me thinking about all the fantastic times ahead. And while I had all intentions to run outside, the drizzle and snow forecast sent me running somewhere warmer...the gym. My run today didn’t start as solid as I had hoped, it took a bit longer to find my rhythm but once I got into it, it was smooth sailing. I am still fighting off some sort of sick feeling, but after my hour go I felt as good as new. Exactly what the doctor ordered.

With such cruggy weather, it felt good to bring in some cheer to the office today by firing up some good old Christmas tunes. Sure it’s still far away, but having something so fantastic to look forward to and getting little glimpses of it every day is what keeps us all going after all.

Today’s distance: 12.17km

Today’s time: 1:01.34

X