Wednesday, June 29, 2011
In a funk...
Over the past couple of weeks I have found myself in a real funk. I think it has to do with the weather, and beer, and finally being able to sleep in since school is out (I love my kids for sleeping in). For some reason I just cannot get myself to the gym. I also don't feel I run well enough to not look like a total jackass trying to run outside, plus it has been either hot or cold and raining. Seriously annoying! Now with the 4th of July around the corner and about 6 weeks until the first race I would like to run now that I have re-vamped my plans, I need to get my ass in gear. So while I may let myself slack for the rest of the week (hopefully not)I will be back in gear next week if for no other reason than I have to get my ass in gear.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Run for the Hills
As I have said before finding a race has been a key to me feeling like I can accomplish my goal of running a 5K. I had hoped to run a 5K this month (June) as a fundraiser for Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago. My oldest son has been having some health issues over the past 5 months, and Children's has been a godsend for our family. This was my way of giving back. Well it has become appallingly clear that I am not going to be ready to run a 5K in three weeks, and despite my desire to complete this race, there is no way I will be able to run the whole thing. Now it is a run/walk, but I really want to run the whole thing. That is the whole point of this challenge. Plus I was hoping to do this before the disgusting Midwest humidity set in. But as I said things change, and sometimes life throws you a curveball you never saw coming.
Many of my friends and family know that cancer runs in my family, in fact when my son was going through all of his health issues waiting for his blood test results were the most painful two days of my life as all of the thoughts of "could it be cancer" thoughts went through my head. Luckily he is fine. However, cancer has continued to affect my life. Seven years ago my father died of oral cancer. Last year my uncle, his brother died of lung cancer. My Aunt’s (their sister) husband also died of lung cancer last year. Six years ago my husband’s best friend’s mother died of lung cancer. Last year my best friend’s mother died of brain cancer. Prior to my grandfather’s death about 20 years ago he fought kidney cancer. A few years ago my comadre’s mother had breast cancer and survived; one of my friends from growing up had breast cancer and survived. My pseudo-sister-in-law has survived cervical and stomach cancer. Clearly cancer has been intertwined with my life for years.
And then there is Hillary… Hillary was the valedictorian of my high school class. She was a swimmer and played water polo. She worked with Amigos de las Americas where she did community service in Ecuador and Mexico. She went to University of Pennsylvania for two years before transferring to University of California Berkley and graduating with honors. She is married and has a daughter, Alma, who is 3. In 2008 Hillary, inspired by areas in which she has work, Hillary was admitted to and began her Registered Nursing Program. Two weeks before her graduation in 2010, Hillary was diagnosed with oral cancer. After a yearlong battle, Hillary succumbed to the disease on May 18, 2011. She was 33. She was my friend, and she was a kind and generous person, with a beautiful spirit. Hillary's spirit will live on in the memories of those who knew and loved her and her beauty and vivaciousness will live on in her daughter.
Because of Hillary and the other family and friends I have lost and have watched fight and survive cancer, I have decided to run the Race Against Cancer 5K in August and Run for the Bear (benefiting the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation) in October. I will be posting fundraising information as I have it set up. I am however also going to raise funds for Run for the Hills which is raising money for Hillary’s daughter. I am including the link for Run for the Hills, if you would like to donate directly, feel free, otherwise I will be setting up a fundraising page soon.
Hillary and Alma
Run for the Hills
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=130044020355184
Many of my friends and family know that cancer runs in my family, in fact when my son was going through all of his health issues waiting for his blood test results were the most painful two days of my life as all of the thoughts of "could it be cancer" thoughts went through my head. Luckily he is fine. However, cancer has continued to affect my life. Seven years ago my father died of oral cancer. Last year my uncle, his brother died of lung cancer. My Aunt’s (their sister) husband also died of lung cancer last year. Six years ago my husband’s best friend’s mother died of lung cancer. Last year my best friend’s mother died of brain cancer. Prior to my grandfather’s death about 20 years ago he fought kidney cancer. A few years ago my comadre’s mother had breast cancer and survived; one of my friends from growing up had breast cancer and survived. My pseudo-sister-in-law has survived cervical and stomach cancer. Clearly cancer has been intertwined with my life for years.
And then there is Hillary… Hillary was the valedictorian of my high school class. She was a swimmer and played water polo. She worked with Amigos de las Americas where she did community service in Ecuador and Mexico. She went to University of Pennsylvania for two years before transferring to University of California Berkley and graduating with honors. She is married and has a daughter, Alma, who is 3. In 2008 Hillary, inspired by areas in which she has work, Hillary was admitted to and began her Registered Nursing Program. Two weeks before her graduation in 2010, Hillary was diagnosed with oral cancer. After a yearlong battle, Hillary succumbed to the disease on May 18, 2011. She was 33. She was my friend, and she was a kind and generous person, with a beautiful spirit. Hillary's spirit will live on in the memories of those who knew and loved her and her beauty and vivaciousness will live on in her daughter.
Because of Hillary and the other family and friends I have lost and have watched fight and survive cancer, I have decided to run the Race Against Cancer 5K in August and Run for the Bear (benefiting the Bear Necessities Pediatric Cancer Foundation) in October. I will be posting fundraising information as I have it set up. I am however also going to raise funds for Run for the Hills which is raising money for Hillary’s daughter. I am including the link for Run for the Hills, if you would like to donate directly, feel free, otherwise I will be setting up a fundraising page soon.
Hillary and AlmaRun for the Hills
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=130044020355184
Set back
So last week I had my first real training set back. Despite my horrid asthma flare a few weeks ago, it did not sideline my training because I was put on steroids so quickly to manage it. Two weeks ago I was able to run 20 minutes. I felt like I was going to die for the last five, but I powered through and made it the full twenty. I have pretty much been adding five minutes onto my running time each week. This is my way of pushing myself harder and harder. I am also increasing my speed slowly. Now don't get me wrong, I am still hovering in the 15 minute mile range, but now it is a true 15 minute mile versus a 15 1/2 minute mile.
So imagine my surprise last week when I jumped on the treadmill and I struggled to run for ten minutes. Ok, maybe struggle is a bit much, 10 weeks ago struggle would have been the understatement of the century, but realistically it was difficult. My legs felt funny, my air flow felt off, all in all I just didn't feel right and pushing myself to do more was not an option because I was done at 10 minutes. As I worked out more throughout the week I found that I was able to get back into a rhythm of running 10 minutes and then walking and then running again. To get my butt back into gear, I shortened my walking time to 3 minutes instead of my usual five, and worked on running 10, waling 3, running 10. I was able to make my goal and felt much better about myself and my running.
But still I am wondering why I had the set back in the first place? Is it just a part of the training process or is something else going on? When I look back at the past few weeks I realized a few things have changed: Over the past three weeks I have had a new round of euflexxa shots to my right knee to help to lubricate the joint and eliminate or at least hold off the need for knee replacement surgery. For those of you who don’t know what euflexxa is, it is a series of three shots of a thick jelly like material injected into the joint space in the knee. Let me tell you, it hurts! Usually the last one hurts the worst, but this time, all of the shots did not seem as bad as last time. Maybe because I knew what to expect, who knows. Anyway back to my training issues… I was also recovering from my asthma flare. Over the past few months I have started a shot immunotherapy for my asthma and have had to add a second inhaled steroid medication to my daily meds, so that I did not have to spend more than the 14 days I had already had on oral steroids. Those things make me seriously bitchy. And then I realized that while I had worked out in some way several times over the past week, I didn’t run. Well if that is the key I better keep running for the rest of my life or else I will be sidelines back to 10 minute runs again. And while I have not started my run workout for this week, I am feeling better about things. Hopefully I will be back to 20 minutes soon and then blowing right past it. Only time will tell.
So imagine my surprise last week when I jumped on the treadmill and I struggled to run for ten minutes. Ok, maybe struggle is a bit much, 10 weeks ago struggle would have been the understatement of the century, but realistically it was difficult. My legs felt funny, my air flow felt off, all in all I just didn't feel right and pushing myself to do more was not an option because I was done at 10 minutes. As I worked out more throughout the week I found that I was able to get back into a rhythm of running 10 minutes and then walking and then running again. To get my butt back into gear, I shortened my walking time to 3 minutes instead of my usual five, and worked on running 10, waling 3, running 10. I was able to make my goal and felt much better about myself and my running.
But still I am wondering why I had the set back in the first place? Is it just a part of the training process or is something else going on? When I look back at the past few weeks I realized a few things have changed: Over the past three weeks I have had a new round of euflexxa shots to my right knee to help to lubricate the joint and eliminate or at least hold off the need for knee replacement surgery. For those of you who don’t know what euflexxa is, it is a series of three shots of a thick jelly like material injected into the joint space in the knee. Let me tell you, it hurts! Usually the last one hurts the worst, but this time, all of the shots did not seem as bad as last time. Maybe because I knew what to expect, who knows. Anyway back to my training issues… I was also recovering from my asthma flare. Over the past few months I have started a shot immunotherapy for my asthma and have had to add a second inhaled steroid medication to my daily meds, so that I did not have to spend more than the 14 days I had already had on oral steroids. Those things make me seriously bitchy. And then I realized that while I had worked out in some way several times over the past week, I didn’t run. Well if that is the key I better keep running for the rest of my life or else I will be sidelines back to 10 minute runs again. And while I have not started my run workout for this week, I am feeling better about things. Hopefully I will be back to 20 minutes soon and then blowing right past it. Only time will tell.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Better and better by the week, but do I like it yet?
It has been a couple of weeks since my last post. I have continued to train and have continued to increase my time and my speed. I am proud to say that this week I ran for a whooping 20 minutes straight. I thought I was going to die during the last five minutes, but I did it. And I kept telling myself I will get to 20 minutes if it kills me. Like I said at the beginning of the year I am going to run a 5K if it kills me. So in that 20 minutes I ran just over 1 and a quarter mile. Now for someone who never even ran the mile in high school this is a BIG deal! My one issue at this point is that in order to run the 5K I will need to be able to run for at least an hour. At this point that just sounds miserable. The biggest reason for this is my pace. At this point I am running a 15 minute mile. There are a couple reasons for this. First my knees are 55, second my lungs seems like they are 55 too. Over the past three weeks I have been getting a series of shots in my knees (cortisone and euflexa) to ease the pain and lubricate my knees so that I don't have to get two knee replacements at the age of 33. As for my 55 year old lungs, my asthma has been killing me. After two weeks on oral steroids, I was still having complications so I was put on a second inhaled steroid. Yippee! Well at least my lung functioning is improving. But for these reasons I have kept my pace relatively slow, although I have increased my speed from a 20 minute mile, which is where I started. Hopefully I will be able to increase my pace before long so I won't have to run for an hour, because that just might kill me.
After my last post my friend asked me the all important question, "do I like it yet?" Well, I don't know if I can say that I like it but I definitely don't mind it and when I get on the treadmill after five minutes of walking I automatically start running. I also prefer running on the treadmill to walking on it. OH MY GOD! I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT! I also notice that once I walk for about five minutes after my 15 or 20 min runs I am ready to start running again which is not something I am used to. So do I like it? Maybe, but I definitely don't love it yet. Maybe once I can run for an hour and not feel like I am going to die I will love it. I will keep you posted.
After my last post my friend asked me the all important question, "do I like it yet?" Well, I don't know if I can say that I like it but I definitely don't mind it and when I get on the treadmill after five minutes of walking I automatically start running. I also prefer running on the treadmill to walking on it. OH MY GOD! I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST SAID THAT! I also notice that once I walk for about five minutes after my 15 or 20 min runs I am ready to start running again which is not something I am used to. So do I like it? Maybe, but I definitely don't love it yet. Maybe once I can run for an hour and not feel like I am going to die I will love it. I will keep you posted.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Winded with a new best
Feeling winded is not a good feeling and since my training began it isn't one I had really been feeling so I knew right away something else was going on. ASTHMA! Yup, that's right I have asthma and I have for years. I am actually on quite high doses on asthma controller medication and have just begun taking a monthly shot regimen to assist with my asthma as well. Despite this my asthma, though fair well controlled tends to flair a few times a year and currently there are sparklers being set off in my lungs. Actually it feels more like a small child sitting on my chest as it is difficult to get enough air in or out, but I figured I would go with the flare analogy. Perhaps I will have to listen to Katy Perry's Firework during my next run. At any rate, I am being dosed up with steroids and having to be very cautious of how much I exert myself. The next couple of weeks will be a true test of my training as my asthma rears its ugly head.
That said when I got to the gym today I headed up to the treadmill hooked up my ipod, got out my nook and got to running. I ran a bit slower than I have been just to make sure I wasn't pushing myself too hard and continued to monitor my asthma to make sure I was breathing OK. When I hit the 5 minute mark (something I did in all of my runs last week) I felt good so I decided to keep going. I think a part of me knew I wasn't going to be able to run/walk 5/5 today so I kept pushing myself and I made it to 10 minutes. I couldn't believe I had ran for 10 minutes (about a half a mile--as I said I was running pretty slow) and my asthma was stable. I walked for another 35 minutes and a total of 2.5 miles, again pacing myself so that my asthma would remain stable. When I was done I stretched and then it dawned on me, I mean it really sank in, I just ran for 10 minutes straight. I honestly don't think I have ever done that. I mean I never ran the mile in PE when I was in school, having bad knees had always gotten me out of it (and now at 32 I need two knee replacements).
Who knew being winded would motivate me to run.
That said when I got to the gym today I headed up to the treadmill hooked up my ipod, got out my nook and got to running. I ran a bit slower than I have been just to make sure I wasn't pushing myself too hard and continued to monitor my asthma to make sure I was breathing OK. When I hit the 5 minute mark (something I did in all of my runs last week) I felt good so I decided to keep going. I think a part of me knew I wasn't going to be able to run/walk 5/5 today so I kept pushing myself and I made it to 10 minutes. I couldn't believe I had ran for 10 minutes (about a half a mile--as I said I was running pretty slow) and my asthma was stable. I walked for another 35 minutes and a total of 2.5 miles, again pacing myself so that my asthma would remain stable. When I was done I stretched and then it dawned on me, I mean it really sank in, I just ran for 10 minutes straight. I honestly don't think I have ever done that. I mean I never ran the mile in PE when I was in school, having bad knees had always gotten me out of it (and now at 32 I need two knee replacements).
Who knew being winded would motivate me to run.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Personal Best
Ok so I am bouncing off the walls because today I did my personal best! Now before I share what exactly it was I want to share a bit about how it happened and how my training has been going.
So I have made no bones about saying I am not a runner, but I am trying and I am feeling good in my attempts, something I never thought I would say. I feel like I am getting healthier, my mood is better (which is good for everyone, because this fat girl can be a real bitch on a bad day), and all around I am feeling better. I am also starting to go a bit faster and longer than I have before.
So far in my training I have been told (by my OB/GYN who is an extremely cool woman and a marathoner, as well as one of my oldest son's old soccer coach, also a marathoner) to build my stamina I should build my time slowly rotating a few minutes of running with a few of walking until my running time builds and my walking time stays the same, or effectively decreases. Thus far I have been able to build my running time steadily as well as increased my speed. Now people, lets not get crazy here it is not like I am suddenly running miles, hell I am not even running A mile completely, but before today I was run/walking 2+ miles in 45 mins, which for me is AMAZING!
So far I had been run/walking a steady pace of running 2 min, walking 1 min, for 30 to 45 minutes about 5 times a week. This has been a great increase for me since I started with 30/30 and built from there. Well today I decided to see what I could do, and I was pleasantly surprised by myself. Drum roll please.... 5 minutes running 2-3 walking for 30 minutes! Go me! So today I really did feel like a runner girl.
But then when I got done, my fabulous workout buddy and I were cleaning off our treadmills and I saw this woman running, well sort of. She was a big girl too, although truth be told I think I am bigger. As she ran, she was going so slow she looked like this weird version of walking and running that looked so strange and non runner-like that I was struck with the thought, Is that what I look like when I run? So I asked my workout buddy who first said, "Well sort of", and then said, "Actually no. You run faster and look more like you are running." Well God bless her, because either she is right or she is brilliant enough to know what I needed to hear to keep going and not ruin the triumph of my 5 minute day.
So even though I am feeling a bit like a runner girl today, I am still a fat girl running. But, hey that's cool with me because I ran for 5 minutes today!
So I have made no bones about saying I am not a runner, but I am trying and I am feeling good in my attempts, something I never thought I would say. I feel like I am getting healthier, my mood is better (which is good for everyone, because this fat girl can be a real bitch on a bad day), and all around I am feeling better. I am also starting to go a bit faster and longer than I have before.
So far in my training I have been told (by my OB/GYN who is an extremely cool woman and a marathoner, as well as one of my oldest son's old soccer coach, also a marathoner) to build my stamina I should build my time slowly rotating a few minutes of running with a few of walking until my running time builds and my walking time stays the same, or effectively decreases. Thus far I have been able to build my running time steadily as well as increased my speed. Now people, lets not get crazy here it is not like I am suddenly running miles, hell I am not even running A mile completely, but before today I was run/walking 2+ miles in 45 mins, which for me is AMAZING!
So far I had been run/walking a steady pace of running 2 min, walking 1 min, for 30 to 45 minutes about 5 times a week. This has been a great increase for me since I started with 30/30 and built from there. Well today I decided to see what I could do, and I was pleasantly surprised by myself. Drum roll please.... 5 minutes running 2-3 walking for 30 minutes! Go me! So today I really did feel like a runner girl.
But then when I got done, my fabulous workout buddy and I were cleaning off our treadmills and I saw this woman running, well sort of. She was a big girl too, although truth be told I think I am bigger. As she ran, she was going so slow she looked like this weird version of walking and running that looked so strange and non runner-like that I was struck with the thought, Is that what I look like when I run? So I asked my workout buddy who first said, "Well sort of", and then said, "Actually no. You run faster and look more like you are running." Well God bless her, because either she is right or she is brilliant enough to know what I needed to hear to keep going and not ruin the triumph of my 5 minute day.
So even though I am feeling a bit like a runner girl today, I am still a fat girl running. But, hey that's cool with me because I ran for 5 minutes today!
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Get Your Kicks on Route 66... Or in My Case 64 aka Main St. in Geneva
So this has been a journey of wills in many ways... Will I be able to do this, Will I be able to get my ass moving fast enough to even call it running, etc. I have had clear stumbles along the way... snow, rain, frigid cold, LAZINESS, but what a shock to find that now that I am actually starting to get into a groove I am overcome by intense pain in my foot. Now I have expected shin pain and the all too common shin splint, but this pain was in my foot and it wasn't the bottom of my foot it was a radiating pain coming up my foot from the tendon that connects/controls the big toe. Holy shit did that hurt and I could not for the life of me figure out what I was doing that could be causing this kind of pain. I mean seriously am I that big of a loser that I can find new ways to hurt yourself while walk/running. I mean hell I am only running for a few minutes at a time.
So while talking it over with my husband I come to the conclusion that I need new shoes. So far I have been running in an old pair of Adidas running shoes that have been generally used as an all purpose shoe. But all of a sudden I am at a total loss of where to buy a running shoe. I mean where to buy a cute flat, sassy kitten heal, or hot peep toe and I can hook it up, but a running shoe, totally out of my element. Furthermore I am dealing with this pain in my foot that needs to go, and I have the knees of a 55 year old, and I am in need of double knee replacements. Clearly finding the right shoe is going to be key, but where the hell am I supposed to go to find it. Well luck would be on my side when later in the week I took my oldest son to karate. His old soccer coach, who happens to be a marathoner, is at karate with his son. So I took the opportunity to find out how one goes about buying a running shoe. He recommended a great place close by and gave me some great advice on how to improve my training to build my stamina. What a productive fat girl running day at karate, who would have thunk!
So later that day my boys and I head out to Geneva Running Outfitters (http://www.genevarunningoutfitters.com/) to find some new kicks. Well let me tell you, this is an experience like none other, and believe me I love me some shoes so I have tried on a ton. First, I am greeted by a wonderful sales associate to leads me through the process. She has me walk barefoot for her, do a couple of balancing moves (good thing I like yoga), and we talk about my grandma knees and the fact that I am in no way shape or form a runner, to which she laughs and says I am because I am starting on the journey. So now not only am I feeling more runner'ish because I am buying new shoes the way "real" runners do, but she has included me in the crowd. Go me! So next we start trying on shoes. And in a fairly typical process of elimination of narrow down to two shoes. A Nike and an ASICS. Then she has me get on a treadmill with each shoe on, so she can tape me running in them. After she shows me the tape (it is only about 10 seconds) and shows me my alignment in each shoe. We talk about the ideal alignment and I find that in both shoes I am within a reasonable range, thus they should provide good support and stability. I also find that I am able to tell for sure which shoe I like better and I decide on the Nike. After paying for my shoes I am feeling more confident about running. I am again given more advice on training, but also I am feeling like part of the club, which believe me is something this fat girl never thought she would feel. I am also excited to try out my new kicks... Wait. Me. Excited to RUN... Oh shit what have I done!
So while talking it over with my husband I come to the conclusion that I need new shoes. So far I have been running in an old pair of Adidas running shoes that have been generally used as an all purpose shoe. But all of a sudden I am at a total loss of where to buy a running shoe. I mean where to buy a cute flat, sassy kitten heal, or hot peep toe and I can hook it up, but a running shoe, totally out of my element. Furthermore I am dealing with this pain in my foot that needs to go, and I have the knees of a 55 year old, and I am in need of double knee replacements. Clearly finding the right shoe is going to be key, but where the hell am I supposed to go to find it. Well luck would be on my side when later in the week I took my oldest son to karate. His old soccer coach, who happens to be a marathoner, is at karate with his son. So I took the opportunity to find out how one goes about buying a running shoe. He recommended a great place close by and gave me some great advice on how to improve my training to build my stamina. What a productive fat girl running day at karate, who would have thunk!
So later that day my boys and I head out to Geneva Running Outfitters (http://www.genevarunningoutfitters.com/) to find some new kicks. Well let me tell you, this is an experience like none other, and believe me I love me some shoes so I have tried on a ton. First, I am greeted by a wonderful sales associate to leads me through the process. She has me walk barefoot for her, do a couple of balancing moves (good thing I like yoga), and we talk about my grandma knees and the fact that I am in no way shape or form a runner, to which she laughs and says I am because I am starting on the journey. So now not only am I feeling more runner'ish because I am buying new shoes the way "real" runners do, but she has included me in the crowd. Go me! So next we start trying on shoes. And in a fairly typical process of elimination of narrow down to two shoes. A Nike and an ASICS. Then she has me get on a treadmill with each shoe on, so she can tape me running in them. After she shows me the tape (it is only about 10 seconds) and shows me my alignment in each shoe. We talk about the ideal alignment and I find that in both shoes I am within a reasonable range, thus they should provide good support and stability. I also find that I am able to tell for sure which shoe I like better and I decide on the Nike. After paying for my shoes I am feeling more confident about running. I am again given more advice on training, but also I am feeling like part of the club, which believe me is something this fat girl never thought she would feel. I am also excited to try out my new kicks... Wait. Me. Excited to RUN... Oh shit what have I done!
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