So much has happened since my last post and most of it hasn't been great. A few days after the 5K I woke up with a horrible headache that did not go away for several days. I finally made it to the Dr. and was diagnosed with a sinus infection. They gave me antibiotics and sent me on my way. The next day I was back at the clinic though because I broke out in a rash of red spots all over my body. Fortunately, they did not itch but it did make me feel a little nervous. They decided it was a reaction to the antibiotics and gave me something different. After two more days, I still had the spots so back to the Dr I went. That is when they gave me prednisone and that has been a ride. I haven't been sleeping well and it has affected my mood but thankfully the spots have been going away.
I haven't been able to really keep my routine going because of the health issues but I am finally feeling better so my plan is to jump back in full force on Monday. I am restarting the workout program that I have been doing the last month and a half. This was a decision that I have been toying with for a while. The program is very intense and starting where I did, I knew I had a long way to go. Once I hit the half way point, I knew I could push on if I wanted to but I felt like I would get more out of it and have better results if I repeated the first half again. I am looking forward to it because of how strong I have gotten over the past six weeks and I know hitting it again full force can only lead to better things. It will also work out perfectly for it to wrap up right before Mac gets home. I will also be starting a new active multivitamin with the program. I have been meaning to take a multivitamin but I have been slacking. I am hoping to get into that routine as well in the future.
There will be LOTS going on over the next two months. I will be traveling back to GA for a spontaneous trip next week to take part in an amazing opportunity at Turner Field before a Braves game. It will be a quick trip but I am so extremely excited about it. I am sure there will be a more in depth post about it next week because even though this experience may not be a step in my journey, baseball and my love of the game and "my team" have been a huge part of my life. I will also be flying back later in the month for another Disney trip and then a wedding and another Braves game(on my anniversary.) Then I will be heading back to TX to get ready for the love of my life to come home.
I'm excited about what is to come and I am excited about what I see ahead of me. I know that there are a lot of things that haven't gone exactly as I had planned but I have learned a lot and I feel like good things are in store. Hopefully, most of the craziness is behind me and now I can focus on the great things to come.
Friday, August 31, 2012
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
I am strong
I decided last week that I was going to run the Hotter than Hades 5K on post again this year. I haven't been running much in the last few weeks and there have been several reasons for that. But after I had such a good run last weekend, I decided to give it a try. Plus I need to start working in a run every now and then to get ready for the Wounded Warrior 8K. Since I did two miles last weekend, I figured a 5K would be good for my next run. I finally really decided to do it the night before. My sleep schedule has been off so I knew getting up for it was going to be hard but I decided to try.
When my alarm went off I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep. Getting up was HARD. I was debating with myself about whether I was going to go back to sleep or give it a try. Finally, I forced myself to get up and get ready. I grabbed a bottle of water and headed to the start. This was the first time I had gone to one of these 5Ks completely alone. That made it hard. Usually I either have a friend with me that is also running it or Mac is there. Not having him there was harder than I expected. He has never run one of them with me because when I was doing them last year, he had a stress fracture and couldn't run. But that meant he was always at the finish line.
We got lined up for the start and waited for the gun. I started RunKeeper as I crossed the start line to prompt my intervals and track my actual time since there are no chips, just a race clock that starts with the gun. I did my usual with this course and walked the first 5 minutes as my warm up. I've made the mistake of trying to run from the start before and it typically ends badly since the entire first half mile is up hill. After my first five minutes I ran the last little bit of the incline before making the turn to go back. The one mile mark is also the finish line so as I got close to it I realized I was making pretty good time. In the past, when I was passing the clock at the end of my first mile, the winners were crossing the finish line. This time, they were still about a quarter of a mile away. It made me happy and gave me a boost in confidence that I could finally finish near my goal 5K time.
I really wanted to finish in like 45-46 minutes. I have never sustained a 15 min mile pace for more than 2 miles but I was hopeful. I was doing my new favorite intervals of one minute running and one minute walking. I felt good and I knew I was keeping a pretty good pace. After the first two miles I was thinking I could actually do it in 44 something which was a little mind boggling for me. I could feel that I was getting a little tired(which I think had a lot to do with the humidity) but I kept pushing forward. Finally I was close enough to see the finish even though I was about a quarter of a mile away.
As I got closer to the finish, I thought that the clock said 44 something when I was still too far to make it so I gave up on a sub 45 minute time. But then when I was about 50 yards away, I saw that it said 44:24 and I realized I could make it, especially if I pushed harder. I took a deep breath and sped up for the last little bit to push to the finish line. There was a guy at the finish line cheering me on and waiting to give out high fives to everyone. As I crossed the line with a clock time of under 45 minutes I hit his hand and sort of yelled "yes!" A teenage guy on the side of the road laughed at me and at first it ticked me off but then I decided I didn't care. I had just done something that a year ago, I never thought was possible. I grabbed my phone and checked my actual time and was shocked to see 44:28. I was not only under 45 minutes I was more than 30 seconds under 45 minutes. I know this is not a great time for most people but for a woman that ran her first 5K with an average pace of over and 18 minute mile a year and a half ago, come in under 45 minutes is a huge deal.
I was a little embarrassed about my reaction at the finish and the guy laughing at me. I started to just run straight to my car but I decided I needed water first. Finally, we found some cups and I was able to get some cold water before heading to the parking lot. As I was walking away, a guy standing near by called out" Good job." I was caught a little off guard but I thanked him and kept walking. As I crossed the start line again I saw that it said "I am strong." Of course it said this because it's the Army and they are playing off of the Army Strong motto, but it sort of hit me that it was true for me for many reasons. I decided to take a picture of it as a reminder. There was a family walking by as I snapped the photo and the dad asked me if I could take a picture of his family and text it to him. I said of course, even though his wife was embarrassed that he even asked. As we were talking he congratulated me as well. I said something about being laughed at but that I didn't care because I was 10 minutes faster than ever before. His wife said "Screw 'em" and he told me that when I crossed the finish line, he wanted to run out there and give me a hug but he was afraid it would freak me out. He said he could tell I had done my best and it touched him to see someone giving their all. We all continued walking to the parking lot together and talked a little more. they were telling me that this was the first time they had run as a family and that was why they wanted the picture. I told them about my half marathons and that I was dragging Mac into doing my next one with me. Then we said our goodbyes and went on our way.
As I climbed in the car I realized how far I have truly come. No I still am not seeing the results on the scale or with the tape measure that I want but I can tell my body is changing. Clothes are fitting differently. I feel better and I am getting so much stronger. I am faster and I am more fit. I know I am making changes for the better and I know that if I stick with it, I will eventually see some results.
I'm really glad I got out of bed.
When my alarm went off I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep. Getting up was HARD. I was debating with myself about whether I was going to go back to sleep or give it a try. Finally, I forced myself to get up and get ready. I grabbed a bottle of water and headed to the start. This was the first time I had gone to one of these 5Ks completely alone. That made it hard. Usually I either have a friend with me that is also running it or Mac is there. Not having him there was harder than I expected. He has never run one of them with me because when I was doing them last year, he had a stress fracture and couldn't run. But that meant he was always at the finish line.
We got lined up for the start and waited for the gun. I started RunKeeper as I crossed the start line to prompt my intervals and track my actual time since there are no chips, just a race clock that starts with the gun. I did my usual with this course and walked the first 5 minutes as my warm up. I've made the mistake of trying to run from the start before and it typically ends badly since the entire first half mile is up hill. After my first five minutes I ran the last little bit of the incline before making the turn to go back. The one mile mark is also the finish line so as I got close to it I realized I was making pretty good time. In the past, when I was passing the clock at the end of my first mile, the winners were crossing the finish line. This time, they were still about a quarter of a mile away. It made me happy and gave me a boost in confidence that I could finally finish near my goal 5K time.
I really wanted to finish in like 45-46 minutes. I have never sustained a 15 min mile pace for more than 2 miles but I was hopeful. I was doing my new favorite intervals of one minute running and one minute walking. I felt good and I knew I was keeping a pretty good pace. After the first two miles I was thinking I could actually do it in 44 something which was a little mind boggling for me. I could feel that I was getting a little tired(which I think had a lot to do with the humidity) but I kept pushing forward. Finally I was close enough to see the finish even though I was about a quarter of a mile away.
As I got closer to the finish, I thought that the clock said 44 something when I was still too far to make it so I gave up on a sub 45 minute time. But then when I was about 50 yards away, I saw that it said 44:24 and I realized I could make it, especially if I pushed harder. I took a deep breath and sped up for the last little bit to push to the finish line. There was a guy at the finish line cheering me on and waiting to give out high fives to everyone. As I crossed the line with a clock time of under 45 minutes I hit his hand and sort of yelled "yes!" A teenage guy on the side of the road laughed at me and at first it ticked me off but then I decided I didn't care. I had just done something that a year ago, I never thought was possible. I grabbed my phone and checked my actual time and was shocked to see 44:28. I was not only under 45 minutes I was more than 30 seconds under 45 minutes. I know this is not a great time for most people but for a woman that ran her first 5K with an average pace of over and 18 minute mile a year and a half ago, come in under 45 minutes is a huge deal.
I was a little embarrassed about my reaction at the finish and the guy laughing at me. I started to just run straight to my car but I decided I needed water first. Finally, we found some cups and I was able to get some cold water before heading to the parking lot. As I was walking away, a guy standing near by called out" Good job." I was caught a little off guard but I thanked him and kept walking. As I crossed the start line again I saw that it said "I am strong." Of course it said this because it's the Army and they are playing off of the Army Strong motto, but it sort of hit me that it was true for me for many reasons. I decided to take a picture of it as a reminder. There was a family walking by as I snapped the photo and the dad asked me if I could take a picture of his family and text it to him. I said of course, even though his wife was embarrassed that he even asked. As we were talking he congratulated me as well. I said something about being laughed at but that I didn't care because I was 10 minutes faster than ever before. His wife said "Screw 'em" and he told me that when I crossed the finish line, he wanted to run out there and give me a hug but he was afraid it would freak me out. He said he could tell I had done my best and it touched him to see someone giving their all. We all continued walking to the parking lot together and talked a little more. they were telling me that this was the first time they had run as a family and that was why they wanted the picture. I told them about my half marathons and that I was dragging Mac into doing my next one with me. Then we said our goodbyes and went on our way.
As I climbed in the car I realized how far I have truly come. No I still am not seeing the results on the scale or with the tape measure that I want but I can tell my body is changing. Clothes are fitting differently. I feel better and I am getting so much stronger. I am faster and I am more fit. I know I am making changes for the better and I know that if I stick with it, I will eventually see some results.
I'm really glad I got out of bed.
A good reminder
Once I got home, I checked out what had been uploaded to RunKeeper and I was shocked to see how steady my paces really were. You can also see where I kicked it up at the end for the finish.
Monday, August 13, 2012
My Rock
I wrote this post a while back and today when this new Subaru commercial made me cry, I decided it was time to post it.
I love this commercial because it reminds me so much of Mac and the strength he has been for me. When I did the Princess the first time, knowing that I would see Mac at certain places was truly the only thing that kept me going at times. Not having him there for either race this year was very, very hard but I knew he would be calling as soon as I finished and with the circumstances, that was enough.
______________________________
I am reminded constantly how amazing my husband is. Other
ladies in various running groups that I am a part of sometimes talk about how
their husband isn’t being supportive in one way or another. Whether it is that
they are telling their wives that they can’t do it, deciding not to show up and
cheer them on, or just brushing it off like it is no big deal I am always
baffled when I read these things. My husband has been my biggest cheerleader since
we have been together. He has always loved me however I looked but has also
appreciated when things start looking a little better. When I decided to sign
up for the first Princess, he was right there beside me. He knew it was going
to be a long hard road but he supported me in what I was trying to do. He went
out on training runs with me and even slowed down to my snail pace so that we
were always together. When I got frustrated and stopped training, he didn’t
scold or push me too hard. He knew it was something that I had to do for
myself. When I tried to back out of even showing up, he reminded me that at
least we would get to go to Disney. When I felt like I couldn’t take another
step around the 4 mile mark, he was at the TTC
spectator area to give me a kiss and tell me he loved me. He gave me the
strength to keep pushing on. When I saw him again at mile 8 and said I was
done, he said he loved me and would meet me in Epcot. When we reunited after I
got off the bus, he told me he was proud of me. And when I told him I wanted to
try again, he said go for it. After the first Princess, when he found out he
had another stress fracture, he hopped on his bike and road with me every time
I went out for a run. When he deployed, he asked about my running when we talked.
When I ran the Tink, he tracked me online and when I crossed the finish line,
he called me to congratulate me and did the same for the Princess a month
later.
He has been absolutely amazing through this entire journey.
He has never once discouraged me from signing up for a race. We made the
decision together that I would not sign up for the 2013 Tink but if I had said
I really wanted to do it, he would not have stopped me. When I pasted a link on
FB about a race in Vancouver,
he was excited about the possibility of a vacation up there next year.
Now that he has seen me reach a few goals, he is looking at
joining me for the next half. Next year this princess will be running with her Prince Charming at the 5th Anniversary Princess Half. When I asked him if he was going to run ahead and
try to get a good time he laughed and said no because then we wouldn’t be
running together. Even though he and I both know he could finish with a much
better time than me, he wants to be with me instead. I love him more than I can
ever say and I thank God everyday for placing him in my life. He is my rock, my
biggest fan, and my biggest motivation. I want a life full of adventures with
him and to do all we want to do, I have
to make these changes for me.
______________________________
The last few days have been tough because with his new job, we haven't been able to talk very much. Things have been going well with my training and I am finally seeing some real results and it has been hard not being able to share that with him. The good news is we are in the last quarter of this deployment so I will have my best friend home soon. Until then I will be working my hardest to make a big change before he sees me again. I want him to come home to a new me.
Sunday, August 12, 2012
My new slow
I went for a short run tonight. Just 2 miles because I haven't ran in a while and because on my build up to the 8K it is a good starting point. One of the reasons I haven't been running is because I have been doing a workout program at home that works my whole body instead of just my legs. Running this past year has definitely helped my lower body but I want to work everything so I decided to take a little time to focus on the rest while I can and then in a few months I will focus on running more again as we begin training for the Princess.
Anyway, back to tonight's run, I wasn't excited about it since I haven't ran in a while and it is HOT. It was still 90 when I went out at midnight. I knew I wasn't going to be my best but I was going to do the best I could given the temps and my aching ankle. I am pretty sure it is just an arthritis flare up but it is enough to be uncomfortable after a while. I decided to take it easy and just go back to my trusted 1/1 intervals. I decided pretty early on that I really love doing one minute intervals. It just feels right. It is long enough to get a good run stretch in but not push too far and long enough to get a good recovery without slowing down too much. I used RunKeeper to track my run. It was pretty much for the time because I knew how many laps of the neighborhood I needed to hit my two miles but I also like being able to see my instantaneous pace while I am looking at the graph after my run.
During my run I felt slow, but at the same time, I could tell I was faster than I used to be. I started thinking about the fact that my old "fast" may be my new "slow." I walked a few intervals that were supposed to be runs and my five minute warm up was included in my time so there was more walking than running during my two miles. Even with all of that, I was shocked with the average pace I saw when I was finished. My old fast is not my new slow, my new slow is a minute and a half FASTER than my old fast.
It gives me hope and makes me realize I am doing things right even though sometimes it feels like I'm not. I'm still not seeing a big drop on the scale but at least I know that my body is getting better even if I don't see the results. It is hard still to hear that my dad has lost 50 pounds in 5 months by just changing his diet and I have been eating better and working my ass off and I have to fight for every pound. Don't get me wrong, I am super proud of him and glad he is getting healthy, but it is still hard when I look at how hard my journey has been.
I know I am making progress and I have faith that I am going to see bigger changes soon. It fans that fire in me a little more to keep going and not give up, because believe me, in the last few weeks, I have seriously considered giving up. I will get healthy and I will become the woman I want to be.
Anyway, back to tonight's run, I wasn't excited about it since I haven't ran in a while and it is HOT. It was still 90 when I went out at midnight. I knew I wasn't going to be my best but I was going to do the best I could given the temps and my aching ankle. I am pretty sure it is just an arthritis flare up but it is enough to be uncomfortable after a while. I decided to take it easy and just go back to my trusted 1/1 intervals. I decided pretty early on that I really love doing one minute intervals. It just feels right. It is long enough to get a good run stretch in but not push too far and long enough to get a good recovery without slowing down too much. I used RunKeeper to track my run. It was pretty much for the time because I knew how many laps of the neighborhood I needed to hit my two miles but I also like being able to see my instantaneous pace while I am looking at the graph after my run.
During my run I felt slow, but at the same time, I could tell I was faster than I used to be. I started thinking about the fact that my old "fast" may be my new "slow." I walked a few intervals that were supposed to be runs and my five minute warm up was included in my time so there was more walking than running during my two miles. Even with all of that, I was shocked with the average pace I saw when I was finished. My old fast is not my new slow, my new slow is a minute and a half FASTER than my old fast.
It gives me hope and makes me realize I am doing things right even though sometimes it feels like I'm not. I'm still not seeing a big drop on the scale but at least I know that my body is getting better even if I don't see the results. It is hard still to hear that my dad has lost 50 pounds in 5 months by just changing his diet and I have been eating better and working my ass off and I have to fight for every pound. Don't get me wrong, I am super proud of him and glad he is getting healthy, but it is still hard when I look at how hard my journey has been.
I know I am making progress and I have faith that I am going to see bigger changes soon. It fans that fire in me a little more to keep going and not give up, because believe me, in the last few weeks, I have seriously considered giving up. I will get healthy and I will become the woman I want to be.
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