bruised and broken...still

Does anybody know what to do when your marathon is shy of just 2 months away and your body is not in the condition it should be? I don't know what its going to take exactly, but I just want my body to be healthy. I took a 2 week break (almost) and tried to go for a run yesterday despise my still broken ankle (the bruising is almost gone) and what I thought was a healed hip. Apparently I was wrong because it was no more than 9 minutes into the run that I had to stop.  Not because of my ankle but because of the lovely bursa sack which was causing my hip to pop and do whatever it does when you have an inflamed sac resting on your joint. I know my body needs to rest itself and heal up but I'm so afraid all that endurance I've worked for is going to go right down the drain by taking the necessary steps to heal myself. I just don't have the attention span that I used to when it comes to cross training. The runs are getting longer and so the thought of "running" on those machines just doesn't phase me anymore. Hmmm... maybe I'll start running in water? Whatever I do hopefully I don't have to do it for too long...and hopefully I don't have to get that cortisone shot!!

and the result is...

....my body is not ok. I went to the doctor and although they say my ankle should be fine with a bit of rest, elevation, and ice, my hip isn't. I got the news today that if it doesn't heal up in the next couple of weeks I'm going to have to get a lovely shot of cortisone. Apparently I have bursitis somethin or other and while it isnt too serious, it means I have to take some time off running.

Time off running? Again? I don't mean to be negative and I'm trying to see the silver lining in all of this, but how many more times do I have to go through all this? It doesn't matter what I do next, I'm always getting hurt. It's the 13 years of gymnastics I tell you! All that pounding, twisting, breaking...its all coming back to haunt me hahaha. Oh well...I guess all I can do now is wait. At least I know taking some time off won't put me too far behind. I'd rather rest now than have to sacrifice the whole marathon.

halfway there and never looking back

registration: $65
box of running gu gel packs : $30
full tank of gas to make it home: $34
twisting your ankle on mile 4: PRICELESS

the greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall...literally

ok so I'm thinking my life story could be the next mastercard advertisement, but thats besides the point. First thing's first. I FINISHED my first half marathon! And under 2 hours (1:54:03). Aside from the mishap of twisting my ankle on mile 4 and knowing I wasn't going to give up and stop there, I just kept going and ended up running faster than I have up to this point. It must have been all the adrenaline (even though I felt like I had none) because there wasn't an ounce of pain until the very end when I was trying to get through the hoards of people to find my family.

All in all today was a great day. So what I have a black and blue ankle the size of a tennis ball and won't be able to walk around for a few days. The only thing that matters to me is I actually made it through one of these races. Of course there were points where I would ask myself how in the world I could push my body to run these distances, but then snapped back to reality of remembering what it felt like watching not only thousands of people cross a finish line but also thousands of people cheering you on along the way. It was such a new experience, and something I want to keep up with for a while. To be honest, I can't even really remember alot of what I was thinking during the race except "JUST KEEP GOING." There was such a huge support system I don't think it ever crossed my mind with how ridiculous I probably looked hahaha. Just after today, I have so much respect for all you runners who have been doing this your whole lives.

I'm on the road to tackling one of my biggest challenges yet. Lets just hope my body can keep up!

the person determined to achieve maximum success learns the principle that progress is made one step at a time.
Every big accomplishment is a series of little ones

time is going by much faster than expected

It pleases me to announce that my body actually held up during my 14 mile run last saturday. Not to mention that is the farthest I've ever gone in one shot, and surprisingly it really wasn't that difficult (thank you big hearty bowl of pasta the night before). I think it might have been one of my easiest long runs. I mean there were some tough times along the way aka the last 20 minutes where my knees and ankles began to feel the effects of a 14 mile trek through Bloomington, but the good thing is I ended with hardly any blisters (at least not any big ones on the bottom of my feet). It took me about 2 hours and 14 minutes, and I even ran all the way up by work and back, but I did it...and all without stopping. 

I don't think I'd say I'm getting discouraged for this marathon coming up in January, but time is flying by and the longer my runs get the more I start to see why all those people look at me and say, "a marathon? why would you ever want to run 26 miles? are you nuts?" And yes. Everyone, I am nuts for putting my body through hell and back, but I absolutely love it! I love it because its a challenge. And I love it even more because of the mental aspect. I think I have learned more about myself and what I want out of life during those long runs then I have ever known/realized while growing up. It amazes me what you start to think about when you have nothing to do but run for hours on end.

Aside from all that, my half marathon is this Sunday. It's back home so I'm really happy about that. I don't know what to expect really (in terms of running with such a big crowd), but I'm excited to be a part of it. Just hopefully my knees can hold me up. I've been doing more cross training (and not wearing heals to work) this week to take the extra stress off my joints, but I think I'll get my 7 miler done today around campus. Hopefully it doesn't storm/rain. Although, I wouldn't mind running in the rain.

did i really just do that?

I never thought my body could run continuously (without stopping) for 2 hours, but I did it and got my first 12 mile run in. The last 15 minutes had to have been the hardest part, but when I finished I felt great. But oh boy am I feeling the effects of that run today. It's not so much in my quads as it is in my calves but I will need to do some serious stretching these next couple days so I don't get another horrible case of shin splints. However, I'm not quite sure what I'd take if I had to choose blisters or shin splints. I didn't think it was possible to get blisters on the bottoms of your feet but thanks to those 12 miles I have a nasty quarter sized bubble to prove it. (Note to self...put vaseline on the bottoms of your feet and not just on your toes). I started to feel it about an hour in and by the time I was done it felt as though the only thing my feet were hitting were needles. Plenty of neosporin should do the trick. Hopefully I don't encounter this problem again cause it huts. There go my beautiful feet hahaha

Other than that, the weather has been absolutely perfect for running! Not too hot and not too cold. I can't even imagine what its going to be like once I have to pull out the full leg spandex, ear warmers and sweat shirts. I should be tapering by that point so I won't have to be running for very long in the frigid cold....97 days until Disney!! Wow. Where has the time gone?