Tough Decision

I really haven't been around much here for multiple reasons. After my big half marathon race at the beginning of the month of May, I stayed away from blogging for a little while. Maybe I just needed a break. The night after that race, I had some severe pain right above my pubic bone. I had experienced this same pain after each of my training runs that were longer than eight miles. I figured it was just an overuse injury and that I could get passed just like all my other random aches from when I started running. This was different. It just kept getting worse the longer the mileage got. When I was asked to rate this pain by the doctor, I put it up at about an 8. It was very very painful. She diagnosed it as a problem with my Sacroiliac Joint (SI) in my lower back.


She gave me a referral to PT and asked that I make an appointment and told me not to run until my appointment. I listened to her for the most part except I wasn't have any pain anymore. So the day before my PT appointment, I did run, only four miles but I did run and I did have pain. Well, there wasn't really pain while I was running but more of an overall weakness. When I met with the physical therapist, she measured and looked at my hips and my back. She literally pulled on my left leg. She moved and stretched me and pulled my leg again. I felt like bliss when I walked out of there. She agreed with my primary. My left hip sits a little higher than my right hip which causes the misalignment in my back which causes the pain over my pubic bone.  She wants to see me for 8 weekly appointments. She doesn't want me to do any exercising that hurts and recommends I don't do any long running for the first four to six weeks of our appointments. This made me really have to think about my marathon training.

From today, I am 16 weeks out from the race. This is plenty of time to train for a marathon. If I take out the six weeks maximum she said it would take to fix me with various exercises and strengthening, that puts me at 10 weeks but with minimal running over the next six weeks.

Over the past two weeks, my hubby and I have been road tripping all over the Rockies and west. I've had a lot of time to think about things and really more about this marathon in October. I figured out that I am not doing this marathon for myself. I find it very hard to write this because I feel like I am letting other people down. I really can't be afraid of my readers judging me. This is something I need to do for myself at this time. I've talked to everyone close to me about my dilemma and they are all supportive of my decision to not run the Twin Cities marathon this fall. I feel like I have strayed too far away from my original goals.

There was a reason I started running and that was to lose weight. I've been running and I haven't been losing weight. Sure, I've gotten more toned and I actually look thinner, but all that weight is still pounding on my bones each time my feet hit the pavement. I am changing my goals for the near future. I am still going to be running, just not focusing on the training for a marathon. I hope to push that off just a year and do the race next fall instead.

So what do I do now? I get my hips fixed, track my food, eat healthy and whole, run shorter distances faster. I plan on training for the Minneapolis Duathlon. I am looking at doing the Iron Girl Duathlon again. There are so many more women I know doing it this year. And I will definitely be at the Twin Cities marathon to cheer on my friends that will be completing it this year without me. I appreciate everyone's support over the past many months of training. I plan on doing another half marathon possibly in the late fall if it is OK with my doctor.

I'll be posting in the future about my weight loss, eating whole, various recipes, and still running.

Weekend Long Run: 9 Miles

I was in the Twin Cities over last weekend for the Easter holiday.  I haven't been up there since Christmas so I figured it was about time to see my family and friends. As far as marathon training, I had a 9 mile run scheduled for the weekend. My sister approached me about doing a run on Saturday. I told her about the nine miles. She was a little worried because she hadn't been running much since November. (She's completed 2 Ironman races, so I knew she had nothing to worry about.)

We laid low on Friday night. My friend Christina came all the way to Saint Paul from Plymouth for just a couple of hours of hanging out, chatting, enjoying a glass of wine, and watching The League reruns on tv (I love this show now). Knowing that I had a long run the next morning, I was not going to go party too hard. Us old people went to bed by 11pm.

I slept amazing on my sisters new bed in her spare room! Thanks for the great guest bed! Saturday morning was a little grey and dreary. Perfect running weather right? After checking the weather, I wasn't really sure what to wear. I couldn't really tell if it was going to rain or not so I ended up in running capris, a long sleeve shirt and a jacket. My sister gave me a goody bag of all sorts of fun stuff from REI. There were running socks and all sorts of Gu products. She was amazing and bought me a pair of compression socks! I was surely going to use these after my run!

We chose a route along the Mississippi just south of the University of Minnesota campus. For those of you from the metro area, we did a loop from Ford Parkway to North on W. River Parkway. Then across the river over the Franklin St bridge and south on E River Parkway. It started sprinkling pretty early into the run. I should have expected that. I've run in the rain before and I actually find it somewhat enjoyable, as long as its not pouring.

My sister was encouraging through the time we were hitting the pavement. She was sure we were running a 10min/mile pace, which I was sure we weren't doing. I have issues maintaining that, especially outside. I really just kept going though. I know I ran the first 3 miles without stopping to walk...I lie. We did stop to stretch after mile one.  I felt pretty good until about 45 minutes into it. My sister was carrying water for both of us. She had some fancy powder mixed into the water. It was refreshing. She also was carrying some Gu Chomps to try out when we needed to refuel. They were delicious by the way and so much easier than the Gu Gel.

The last four miles were HARD! I was in a bad place mentally because I was frustrated at how tired I was feeling and how much I was slowing down. The rain wasn't helping me and I felt like I was holding my sister back. I was annoyed with how much I wanted to walk. It really took more urging by my sister and a few long moments of staring at the sky while I ran to get me past that moment of mental and physical block. It took maybe a mile worth of distance to get through it. And even then, when I got past that moment, I was still exhausted. I just wanted to stop and have someone come pick me up.

We walked one last time before running the last two miles. I figured at this point I should have fueled again or taken some more water.  I'll give that a try this coming weekend on my 10 mile run. Ugh! These last two miles were  felt insanely slow even though they really were only about 30 seconds slower per mile than the beginning of my run. I still finished though. My sister let me walk the last quarter mile back to her house. It was all uphill.  I am still thankful for her patience with me during this run.

I thought I would feel better on this run than I did. It worries me about whether or not I am going to be able to do 13.1 miles in less than 4 weeks. Everyone tells me I can do it so I'm going to keep chugging away at the mileage. I'll be doing the half marathon by myself. Boo!

I gave the compression socks a try after taking a shower. My legs were tight and sore but felt amazing the next day.

Like I said earlier, 10 mile run this weekend. Its supposed to be a rainy weekend again. I'll probably be taking the trail near my house in and out and back and I'll be running it alone. It will be interesting to see how my numbers look with such a distance and alone.

One Foot Infront of the Other

I ran 7 miles today! It wasn't all running but only walked 2 minutes at a time and I finished 3.1 miles in my fastest time ever! So yea, it was a good run. I went into this run not doing a long run day in two weeks. Two weeks ago is when I did 6 miles and had horrible blisters from my old shoes. I was disappointed in my time that day so I was actually nervous about this weeks 7 mile run. Next weeks 8 miles is now scaring me but I will just have to get over it.

My training this week was lacking by one day of running but I did get some bike time in. My running time last week was sooo hard. I just wasn't feeling it at all. I was just putting one foot in front of the other. Do you have days where it's just hard to stay moving forward?

Todays run just wasnt like that. Today's run went really well. I ate a bagel about an hour before my run and just kept plodding away on the treadmill. I was super excited about getting 3.1 miles done fast and I was shocked when 6 miles this week was faster than it was two weeks ago. So yea, today was one of those good days that makes me think 13.1 miles isn't that far fetched.

Btw, I'm running a Marathon

***Caution, there are some naughty words in this post.***

Did I tell you I'm running a marathon? I don't believe I did. This has been a post that has been coming I just haven't found the motivation to sit down and write it. But today is a good day so you're getting the news today. MY GOD I'M RUNNING A MARATHON! I am completely freaking out.

The date is October 7th, 2012. After my post about my 2012 events there was some questions as to why I just don't participate in a full marathon this year. Well, I had a whole list of excuses. There was the one about only running a 5k so far. There was the one about being too fat. There was the one about having other races planned for the year. I hadn't even ran a half marathon. How was I going to be able to run a full 26.2 miles in 9 months!? Thank you to Christian at The Maple Grove Barefoot Guy for being the first one to suggest I do something that scares the shit out of me. I didn't like a post he put on his Facebook page a couple of weeks ago. And quote "I'm enjoying seeing my friends attempt crazy awesome things they didn't think they could do. For the rest of you, your excuses and "I can't do it" attitude is annoying. Harden the fuck up. That is all..." I'm sure I'm not the only one this was directed to. Atleast I hope I'm not. (Christian and I went to high school together. He was two years older than me and a much better clarinet player. Please go check out his blog. It's witty and extremely informative, even if you are not a barefoot runner).

His comment really got me thinking, a lot, about what I'm doing here. Last fall's duathlon was a challenge but I knew, when I signed up for it, that I was a strong biker and the running was a doable distance. I knew I could do it.  A marathon on the other hand, I have no idea if I can do it. I'd like to think I can. I actually know I can do it. It's just getting over the self doubt that sit quietly in the back of my brain, ready to jump out at me when I have a bad day or when the running is just too hard. If I put my mind to it, I can do anything right?

The craving to be successful and cross the finish line is so strong it brings me to tears if I think about it too much. I know there are people that support me to that final moment. I need to rally these people around me. My family and my husband are behind me. My closest friends, my blogging friends especially Anne at Twelve-in-Twelve who will also be running this event, her first marathon as well. Read about her commitment here.  It's the people that doubt me that I need to let go of. I know people will judge me. I often think that they think I am too fat to run 26.2 miles and that I will never make it. I'm really not going to let this get to me because I don't see THEM getting up at 5am to run in the morning before work!

What are you doing this year that scares the shit out of you?

So here I am. Marathoner in training!

2012 Events...So Far

So 2012 is going to full of some new events to participate in as well as some new goals. When I ran my first 5k on Thanksgiving without stopping to walk, I knew it was about time to look into some new distances, specifically a 10k race.

Shamrock Shuffle 2011

So the 10k race that I signed up for is the Shamrock Shuffle 10k in downtown Madison. I have a great friend that is urging me to do this with her. She urged me last year but I knew I wasn't going to be ready for 10k. It was just too far for me, in my head. Hubby is doing this race with me but he is doing the 5k distance instead.

Crazylegs Classic

The second race I am hoping to do is the Crazylegs Classic. This is an 8k race on April 28th and is yet again in downtown Madison. This is one huge race and it will be my first year doing it.

Minneapolis Duathlon Medal 2011

The third event I have planned is the Minneapolis Duathlon. After doing the Iron Girl Duathlon with my super cool sister last year, I decided to give this race a chance because a couple of other people I know are doing it. Actually, a lot of people I know are doing it. It's run/bike/run just like the Iron Girl but this one has a longer run course (@5k each leg) and a shorter biking leg. I'm looking forward to it.

I would like to get in a half marathon distance sometime over this upcoming running season. I am aiming for late June or later so I am thinking about doing the Red, White & Boom Twin Cities Half Marathon on July 4th. Problem is, my boss usually takes this Holiday off for his once yearly vacation. Hm. We will see and I will keep you updated.

After typing this post, I think I've come to realize that I would like to complete a Marathon distance sometime in 2013! Eeek! Did I just say that?