June’s Ultimate Coffee Date

June 6, 2015 by 19 Comments

The Ultimate Coffee Date

Busy morning ahead, but before I get going I’m making a little time to join with one of my favorite link-ups, The Ultimate Coffee Date. Thanks to Coco, Lynda and Deborah, as always, for hosting! Be sure to check out the link-up and see what the other ladies are dishing about.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I’m in the homestretch on all of the school projects/concerts/field trips, etc. After May Madness, things are starting to wind down a bit. I did spend yesterday in my youngest son’s class room helping out with a project – it was a sea of glue sticks, construction paper and stickers, but I survived and made my kiddo happy so it was all worth it.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I cannot believe my oldest son is leaving for overnight camp in just a few weeks! He’s really excited and I’m excited for him…but I’m going to miss him terribly!

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that returning to running after a short hiatus is hard…harder than I thought it would be. Some days I feel like I’m starting from scratch and I’m working on not being too hard on myself.

If we were having coffee together, I’d tell you that I survived my 3-day refresh, and did lose a few pounds. I’ve got a lot of thoughts to share on the whole thing, but my boys are waiting and lacrosse calls, so I’m gonna save that for a separate post. 🙂

If we were having coffee together, what would you tell me? 

 

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Filed Under: injuries, kids, Ultimate coffee date, Uncategorized

MRI update

May 27, 2015 by 13 Comments

 

It’s been 3 weeks since I first went to see the orthopedic doc and she said I needed an MRI to get to the bottom of my left knee issues. The real question – is there a meniscal tear?

Let me just say it’s been a long three weeks people! One’s imagination can be a dangerous thing…I’ve imagined being told of tears and the need for knee surgery…of being told no running for unbearable lengths of time. I’ve been trying to keep the negative thinking at bay, but I’ve definitely had my super cranky moments – just ask my family!

Well, I’m very happy to say that the final verdict is a good one – all of the cartilage is just fine! I do have a little osteoarthritis to deal with, but at least it’s something that can be managed. I have a green light to return to running and build my mileage (slowly!) and will continue with my strength work, plus add in some PT.

Breathing a huge sigh of relief here and am ready to get going!!

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Filed Under: injuries, left knee

Stepping Back to Move Forward

May 6, 2015 by 16 Comments

Back in January, I thought I had strained my left medial meniscus. Rest, icing, foam rolling and PT exercises seem to get me back on track. That is until about a month or so ago, then the knee started to not feel so good again, but I could manage it, with some days being better than others. After a miserable 4-mile run a week ago I had to face reality that something else might be going on.

So I went to see an orthopedist and she confirmed that it’s that pesky meniscus again. She’s pretty certain there’s a tear, but only an MRI will confirm it for sure. Then we can figure out the next steps – “We’ll get you running right again” she assured me. I liked that she’s a runner too – we chatted about running and racing – she gets it.

But for now I have to take a step back – she confirmed my suspicion that running the Newport 10-miler is not a good choice. We’re going to play wait and see on the RTR 5-miler.

Am I frustrated? Absolutely – I love that Newport course. And I’d be lying if I didn’t say part of me just wants to have a big ole pity party. But, I’m taking a long-term view…my goal race for this year is Rock ‘n’ Roll Philly…and my overall goal is to have a long-term relationship with running.

Moving forward1

The good news is  while I wait for my MRI, I can continue to do my strength workouts, cardio (hello Arc Trainer!), and short easy runs, (as long as there’s no pain).

So I do what I need to do now, so I can do what I want to do later.

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Filed Under: injuries, left knee, Newport 10 Miler, RnRPhilly

Balancing the Urge to Run

February 4, 2015 by 13 Comments

The road back from an injury can be a long winding one, full of ups and downs and twists and turns.  I find as you travel along this road your greatest companions are determination, belief and patience.

You must have the determination to do the work needed to heal and get stronger.

You must believe you that the work you put into your recovery will pay off.

Ah but patience….there’s the tough one. As the injury starts to heals….as you start to feel “better” the urge to run or to push your runs grows stronger. It’s easy to want to leave patience behind and get back into the game. But go too fast or too hard and you’ll find that road to recovery extending a lot further out in front of you than you want.

patience-is-form-of-wisdom-jon-kabat-zinn

I remind myself of this every time I step on to the treadmill. My knee is definitely healing and I’m definitely feeling anxious as I eye the calendar….but I need to balance the urge to run and train with patience.

The ultimate goal this year is to Thrive not just survive….A slow and steady return will payoff in the end!

 

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Filed Under: injuries, patience, to push or not to push

At the moment….

June 30, 2014 by 18 Comments

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At the moment….

…. I haven’t been running much….in fact just 6 very slow miles last week. The good news – they were pain-free!

…. I’m going for session #2 with the chiro this morning. He believes he’ll have me fully-operational shortly as long as I do my exercises and roll daily. He’s also urging me to get off the pavement for a bit – on trails, grass or at the very least the track – a more forgiving surface would help my cause.

…. while I wish I were running more, I’m embracing what I can do now –  enjoying other workouts like TRX, basketball in the driveway with my kids, walks with my injured BRF and weekly barre classes. I had stopped T25 last week, but I’m going to add it back into the mix with my chiro’s OK.

 

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Filed Under: chiropractor, injuries, Updates

#13in2013 Flashback

December 31, 2013 by 9 Comments

When I first signed on for the #13in2013 challenge there was a big part of me that thought – “What are you thinking?!?” 13 races in one year? But I love a challenge – so why not?!

After my first race of the year was canceled due to a Nor’easter, I started my quest for 13 in February with the Frosty Virtual 5K. The run benefited the American Cancer Society and I ran in honor of both of my grandmothers.

Frosty 5K

BAA 5K CollageNext up was the B.A.A. 5K – the first race of the B.A.A. Distance Medley! The race was held the Sunday before the Boston Marathon and the course was set up so we would finish the final “right on Hereford, left on Boylston” stretch and across the Marathon’s famous finish line. Definitely a fun race!

Later that month, I ran the inaugural Newport 10 Miler.  Unfortunately this would be the first of a couple of races this year where my stomach totally turned on me 🙁  Stomach issues aside, there were lots of good things about this day including meet-ups, a beautiful course and hanging with my running buddy E. Newport group 4     With Kim at Newport 10  919029_647770745240367_1885810049_o

Race #4 was Boston’s Run to Remember Half Marathon. I love this race and running it shortly after the Marathon bombings, it took on special significance. The race honors fallen police officers and police officers lined many sections of the route. The level of emotion, the chants of “let’s go Boston!” and all of those officers cheering and high-fiving runners – it was an experience I will not soon forget.  picmonkey_image (3)

Race #5 was the B.A.A. 10K  — Have I mentioned how much I love a Boston Athletic Association race?! Despite the heat-fest, I managed a negative split on the back 5K but missed my PR goal.BAA 10K

Next up was Finish at the 50 10K — This race is part of a 4th of July celebration at Gillette Stadium with great activities for the whole family. My oldest son ran in the kids’ races and then I took on the 10K. Even with a start time of 6 PM, it was soul-sucking hot! All of the runners took a “we’re all in this together” approach and there was lots of cheering and encouragement. Post-race the family enjoyed a great picnic and awesome fireworks display! IMG_2160

Race #7 was definitely the best race of the year as I ran with my son for his first 5K at the Narragansett Running Festival!

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I finished off the summer with Race #8 – Jill & Jen’s Virtual Birthday Bash! We were on vacation in the Finger Lakes region so this was a beautiful run with the lake and mountains as my backdrop. Lake

Race #9 was my first trail race! I hadn’t planned on it being my first tail race – let’s just say the course description wasn’t very descriptive! It was challenging and quite the experience to say the least!

runchat Race #10 was the Wicked Half Marathon. The original plan was to treat this race as a test to make sure I’d finally put an end to my stomach troubles before taking on the B.A.A. Half, my fall goal race. Well let’s just say nothing went according to plan – I woke up not feeling so hot that morning and by mile 5, the wheels had come off the wagon. Some how I finished that  race, though there was a great deal of walking involved, and I was down and out for another week after!

A week before Race #11, I took a fall during my long run that left me with a seriously bruised and swollen knee and a very tender foot. I was determined not to miss the BAA Half – it was the last race of the Distance Medley! Also, it was my running buddy E’s first half – how could I not be there?! This is the race I’m probably the most proud of completing! BAA Bling

The rest of the fall became about healing both the knee and especially my foot. I had to take a pass on my favorite local race and my last half marathon planned for early December. As my foot healed I found I could tolerate some short runs so I finished my 13 races with two virtual races supporting two great causes:
hope4philippines bib   miles_for_melanoma_logo_website_v2 (1)-1

After such a great year in 2012, I had had much higher hopes for 2013.  I’m disappointed with the way this year played out, but I’m far from discouraged. I learned a lot about myself this year – I think I’m much more mentally tough and know that will serve me well in the future. I’m even more determined to reach my goals in 2014 and cannot wait for the #14in2014 Challenge!

 

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Filed Under: #13in2013, B.A.A. Distance Medley, Boston's Run to Remember, Finish at the 50, injuries, Newport 10 Miler, virtual race

Slow and steady progress

November 25, 2013 by 13 Comments

Sitting here a little bleary-eyed thanks to staying up to the wee hours of this morning to watch my beloved Patriots pull off an amazing comeback against the Broncos…so with my second mug of coffee in hand, a little randomness to start this Monday…

  • While making the decision to not run my half in December wasn’t easy, I must admit that the lack of pressure to hit certain paces or log enough miles has been kind of refreshing. This has been a tough fall running-wise and only now am I starting to see that I needed a break mentally as much as physically.
  • This past week I logged more time strength training than running – that’s a first!
  • hope4philippines bibSaturday was my longest run in weeks – 5 miles, including 3.1 dedicated to the Hope for the Philippines 5K. It was great to participate in this virtual run to help provide some aid to those so hard hit in the Philippines.
  • Saturday was also my first run with my running buddy E, who’s also been nursing an injury. I’ve missed those Saturday morning runs! We keep reminding each other that slowly but surely, we’ll build those miles up again. I’m really grateful that I have her to rely on as I try to get back into the swing of things.
  • Of course I’ve been looking at 2014 races and I’m getting excited for the first half of the year – could be the year of the 10-miler! (More to come on the race calendar soon)
  • And because I cannot resist  1466305_10152037491977372_907871165_n
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Filed Under: #13in2013, football, injuries, mileage shrinkage, no training plan, Patriots

Reassessing

November 13, 2013 by 15 Comments

hanging shoesI’m hanging up my half marathon training shoes for the rest of this year. There will be no half for me on December 8.

As you can imagine that is not an easy thing for me to see in print – not an easy decision, but it’s the right choice. While my foot is making progress, my attempt at returning to half marathon training has proven to be one step forward, two steps back. I may be able to kill my track workouts, but maintaining race pace on the unforgiving surface of pavement and roads is proving to be a different story – I can get 4 miles at best…clearly a problem when the goal is 13.1! And as I said to Coach Bennett during our last call, the one thing I am clear about is that I do not want to have to will myself through another race that my body isn’t prepared to handle. I’ve done that and know I don’t have the mental energy, nor desire to do it again.

So I may eye a couple of 5Ks before the year is over – after all I’ve only got 2 races left to complete the #13in2013 Challenge – but there will be no long distance races for me until next year.

Time to start building my 2014 race calendar!

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Filed Under: #13in2013, choices, foot pain, half marathon training, injuries, listening to your body

October Rewind and November Goals

November 5, 2013 by 4 Comments

Well October is quickly in the rearview mirror!

While a very busy month in the RWA household, there wasn’t much running thanks to the fall that left me with this knee photo (16) — who knew the foot would turn out to be the bigger issue?!

There was just enough running/shuffling to get me through the BAA Half to complete the BAA Distance Medley  BAA medals2

October was largely about rest and recovery – an exercise in patience that I didn’t prove to be very good at! But my foot is improving and I’m running again, so it was well worth the mileage shrinkage.

November Goals:

Just run! — My biggest goal for this month is to complete all of my training runs. I have five weeks until my December half – and how many training runs I complete and how well my foot tolerates those runs will determine whether or not I’ll take a DNS.

More Small Changes — I joined with Marcia for her One Small Change challenge in October. The goal is to add one small change each week – or you can repeat a week if you need to which is what I’m going to do this week as I didn’t get very far with my plan of daily rolling of my very tight quads and hamstrings.

How was your October? Any big goals for November?

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Filed Under: B.A.A. Distance Medley, building good habits, goals, injuries, month in review, Small changes

BAA Distance Medley – Half Marathon Recap

October 21, 2013 by 11 Comments

The last race of the BAA Distance Medley is done! And it proved to be the hardest of the three races. I had originally hoped that this race would be a goal race – a chance to chase a PR. Then I took a tumble a week before the race and all bets were off. In the week leading into the race, the most my right foot and knee would tolerate was a 4-mile fartlek run.

When I checked in with Coach Bennett that Friday morning he actually asked me if there was another race I could do and take a pass on this one. But not completing the BAA Distance Medley that I started back in April was just not an option I wanted to entertain. I also really wanted to be out on the course with my running buddy E as she took on her first half. So in the end we agreed that I would run a very conservative race, taking walk breaks as needed and if necessary stopping if my foot or knee wouldn’t cooperate. So my race goals were simple  – to finish and to not do any further damage.

Es husband dropped us off so we just had a short walk to the start.  As soon as we picked up our race shirts, I got a text from Nicole and we caught up with her at the bag check. After missing each other at the first two Medley races this year it was great to finally see Nicole! With Nic

The three of us faced the crazy long lines for the port potties and then worked our way towards the front of our wave. Soon we were off. Within the first half mile, Nicole started to pull ahead and knowing that she was targeting 2:30 I had hoped to just keep her in my sights. E & I were moving well until about 3.5 miles in when my right foot made it clear it wanted to slow down. Around this point Amy & her husband had caught up with us – Amy was also injured and had planned to do a run/walk in hopes of finishing. I would end up leap-frogging back and forth with them throughout the course which really helped keep me going. I told E that I was going to need to slow down and she should keep going. I slowed and just as I started walking a guy passed me encouraging me to join him and keep going. I started again and just tried to focus on staying just off his right shoulder. It was funny for a while we didn’t talk at all – he would just check over his shoulder to see if I was still there. We ran that way for a bit and then I just needed to walk again so I let him go.

I kept plodding along, soaking in all of the encouragement from the volunteers (BAA Volunteers really are awesome!) I shuffled passed the water stop just after the 7 mile marker and heard someone call out to me – it was Jose who volunteering! Thank goodness for friendly faces! I soon came across the guy I’d been running with – this time we introduce ourselves (he was Charles) and started chatting as we ran. We picked up a woman named Rachel along the way and the three of us ran together for a bit. Having them to chat with and seeing Amy & her husband off and on were all great distractions from the growing soreness in my foot and now my right knee had joined the angry party!

Run, shuffle, walk is how I continued to make my way. E & I passed each other on the last out and back and high-fived. We were back in Franklin Park now and soon I spied my cheer squad! At this point I knew if I could just get through the last killer hill that was mile 11 it would be a fairly flat loop through the zoo and then into the stadium to the finish.

Walk, shuffle, run and finally the finish! E had finished about a minute before me and was waiting. I’m so proud of her!!

Eileen and I_BAA

Once I had completely stopped moving it really hit me just how much my right knee and foot were hurting. I couldn’t wait to get home, get a shower and become one with the couch 🙂 Race #11 for this year done!

BAA Bling (Awesome double bling – one for the half and the other for the Distance Medley!)

The BAA Distance Medley was a great series of races – as I’ve said before the BAA does not disappoint! If you’re looking for some great courses through Boston and crazy-well organized races I encourage you to check out the Distance Medley.

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Filed Under: #13in2013, B.A.A. Distance Medley, blogger meet-ups, injuries, race report