Still busy...

Things have still been busy at home and work this week. Work has been particularly stressful this week, and I have been on the verge of a meltdown at multiple points. A couple of my staff have been particularly caring and supportive, and I found myself venting today more than I normally do with them. My staff organized a pizza and dessert lunch for me today to celebrate Boss' Day. The sentiment was appreciated.

I ran the 4-mile loop on the trail yesterday evening. It was a better run than Monday night, but still with some mild pain. I got through the run though with only having to stop and stretch twice. Cardio continues to improve. After my run, I stopped for water at the Annex and then ran into the Enforcer. We got to catch up for awhile, and I also got to see some running buddies coming in from their respective workouts. It was just what I needed after the day that I had yesterday.

I had Session 10 of ART today. I told the doc about the mild pain that I've had while running this week. He was surprised and I think just as disappointed as I was. He focused pretty intensely on the inside of my lower legs, in "the spot." We joke about the back leg of my frog tattoo being the marker for where the painful area is on my right leg. I think he was applying more pressure to go deeper than he has in awhile tonight because it HURT. Like yelping in pain kind of hurt. I finished off the session with anodyne on the inside of my lower legs. Next session is Tuesday.

K got a $100 gift card from work this week, so I happily took it to get new running shoes tonight. I've heard really great feedback from friends about BettySport, so I decided to give them a try and everything met my expectations! I got fitted in a new shoe, Asics 2120's, to correct my mild pronation. I've only run in Mizuno Wave Creations, so I hope these work! I also got a pair of Hind PE shorts, size Medium. As I checked out with them, the salesgirl commented that they are her favorite shorts. Um, yeah, mine too (except the 10+ pairs sitting in my drawer right now are a size Small). Sigh.

I'm so glad this week is almost over. Tomorrow is jeans day!

Wiped out...

I am absolutely wiped out from my day at work. I have barely had a moment to myself since I left this morning. I had to hit the ground running at 8:05 with a "crisis" that needed to be resolved before I had to be in all-day applicant interviews at 8:30. Just breathe, mel. The day is over now. Except that tomorrow will be more of the same...

I called K at work late this afternoon, knowing that I was emotionally spent and looking for some support. He was distracted and busy with his own job demands, so I got frustrated. Then, he got frustrated with me for getting frustrated with him. I still just need someone to empathize with me and understand. And, a smile or a hug is nice too.

I've got so much to do outside of work this week too before our trip this weekend. Errands, going back to the doc to get my BP checked, getting new running shoes, etc. And, trying to fit in time to run on top of that. I don't think I'm going to be very successful.

Speaking of running, I had my first painful run again last night. I ran about 4-miles on the East side of the trail. I'd say the pain was about 4 or 5 on both legs. Perhaps not coincidentally, I ran immediately after ART (session 9). I happily shared the news of my long run on Saturday with the doc. He decided that I could skip the anodyne treatment and just get ART. Very minimal pain on both legs while he worked on the lower inside of them. Since we skipped the anodyne, I asked him to also take a look at my calves, since he hasn't done that in awhile and I'm worried about them getting super tight again. He found a few spots that need to be worked out, but still nowhere near what it was like when I first came in. I'm going in for another session on Thursday to tune up before the half on Sunday. Oh, after my good run on Saturday morning, I decided to go ahead and run it. More on that later...

What was I thinking?

Silly, silly Mel. K and I are clearly not morning people and probably never will be. I know that. So, what was I thinking last night when I threw out the idea of going for a run before work this morning? Obviously, I was not thinking clearly (and, no, there wasn't any alcohol involved). I have ART after work today, so I probably won't be home until around 6. I figured it would be great to go ahead and get my run in this morning so that I wouldn't be pressed for time this evening when I will probably just be ready to relax and eat dinner. So, I got K to agree to the plan and I set the alarm for 6:00. I snoozed it twice until 6:18. Needless to say, we didn't get out of bed. I re-set the alarm for 7:30 and we promptly went back to sleep. Drool and everything...

Kona...

The Hawaiian Ironman World Championships are today in Kona. I love this quote from Desiree's website: "If it's hurting me, it's killing them." That's awesome.

I hope she does well!

Holy Cow!

Holy cow! Where did that come from? I just had a fantastic 9(ish)-mile run this morning. Seriously.

I woke up a little after 6 and finally decided to get up at 6:30. K was awake in bed too, and I tried to convince him to get up to get his run in, but no such luck. So, I headed off (phone in hand "just in case") and drove to the end of the street to pick up the trail at I-35. I started my run a little before 7 (Sadie, aren't you proud?!) and enjoyed the darkness and brisk weather. I made it to the Rock as the Rogues were coming from the north side of the trail on their long run as well, so I got to see some familiar faces there. Feeling great, I called K to let him know how I was doing (and to annoy him by calling while he was still trying to sleep). I ended up taking a detour from the trail up Congress to the Capitol to see the start of the LiveStrong 5k. I made it up there just in time to see Lance talking about Prop 15 before the race. I love Lance. I watched the start then headed back down Congress with the masses and rejoined the trail to head back. I clearly still need to focus more on planning my hydration needs. I got water at the Rock and then got lucky that Accelerade had put out a table with some of their product on Riverside in front of Joe's Crab Shack. I'm glad I got my run done while it was cooler (K is out running right now). Overall, it was a great run (no run-walking!) and I was just amazed that I felt so good running farther than I have in awhile. I really do feel like a runner again. Thank you ART!!!

So, last night we went to the Rogue happy hour at Union Park. It was great to see some of the old familiar Rogue's who we haven't seen in awhile. But, the face of Rogue has changed...there were sooo many people there who I did not know (mostly folks who are just starting training for Austin, I think). Nevertheless, we had a good time with friends then went to Wahoo's for a quick bite before heading home.

Now, it's Saturday. That means college football ALL day for K, although we have dinner plans tonight so that will limit it somewhat. I have no idea what I'm going to do with myself all day.

But, I do know that I earned my Whataburger post-long run lunch today! Woohoo!

Good Jeans Day...

When I leave for work each morning, K is generally still in bed (at 8:15 or 8:30!). He gives me a kiss goodbye and tells me to have a good day. Today, he told me to have a good jeans day! It's the first casual Friday in months that I have been in jeans, thanks to my new size 8's from our shopping trip last weekend. I even got to wear my heels that I typically only wear with jeans today, too. Wearing jeans to work just makes it seem even more like Friday!

I had another good 4-mile run last night on the I-35 to Lamar loop on the trail. I had some mild (1-3) pain in my lower left leg, but nothing too bad. It's interesting that the right leg seems to hurt more during ART, but the left leg seems to hurt more when I run. I'm not sure what to make of that. I need new shoes badly, but it's going to have to wait until I get paid on Monday. In an effort to get by until then, I put some insoles that I bought earlier this year in my shoes to get some extra cushioning. It seemed to help. My cardio was sooo much better last night than it has been - no walking at all. I stopped to stretch my legs at intersections and 1 water stop. Overall, I gave the run 2 thumbs up when I got home last night!

Is it 5:00 yet?

Really, only Wednesday?

For some reason I've felt like it should be a day ahead all week. Maybe it's because I've been ready for the weekend since Tuesday? We've got a few things going on this weekend that I'm looking forward to...the Rogue social on Friday night and dinner with friends at their new house on Saturday night.

My doctor's appointment got rescheduled from yesterday to today, so I went for a run yesterday after work. I ran the 4-mile loop on the trail from I-35 to Lamar. For the 2nd day in a row, NO PAIN whatsoever while I ran. I did stop to stretch a couple of times this time when I got water and at intersections. My cardio still isn't great...I know it's not going to get better overnight, but a girl can wish!

I had my 8th session of ART today. As promised, I wrote down "0!!" on my pain rating scale for during excercise. I shared the news of the 2 runs without pain with the doc, who was pleased with the progress. He started out by doing ART on my right leg and I still have a small affected area on the inside of my lower right leg. But, then he moved on to my left leg and we proudly declared that leg healed! No pain at all...until he really tried hard to evoke a pain response from me at the end. I finished the session with anodyne therapy on the inside of both lower legs. I'm not going back in until next Monday, so this marks my first week of not going twice a week since I started. Once I am completely pain-free, he plans to taper me down to coming in once every 2 weeks for a few sessions then try once a month. As I rebuild my weekly mileage, I told him I definitely didn't want to stop coming completely because I don't want the injury to redevelop and wind up back where I was when I first came in ("freakishly tight calves," limited range of motion in my ankles, intense generalized shin pain). Wow, how far I've come!

After my doctor's appointment, K and I had dinner at Austin Java on Barton Springs. He expressed his desire to live in that area, which I was somewhat surprised to learn. Then, I posed the question of where he'd like to live if he could live anywhere and also where does he see us going next. Again, I know we're so not looking to leave Austin at this point, but it's interesting to think about.

We stopped at "hey cupcake!" for dessert after dinner. It's such a cute concept that I've been wanting to go by and check it out since I first noticed it a few weeks ago. Where else but South Congress will you find an Airstream on the street corner solely to sell yummy (overpriced) $2.00 cupcakes to a bunch of yuppies and hippies?
My brother called as we were finishing up our cupcake seeking some career counseling from big sis. He doesn't usually interact with me in "doc" mode, so I relished the opportunity to be helpful in that way.

We finished off the night with a trip to the good 'ol HEB to go grocery shopping.

So, if today is Wednesday, then I guess that makes tomorrow Thursday. 2 more days to get through until the weekend!

Relief at last!

I have to fill out a pain rating each time that I go see the doc for ART. A pain rating during daily activities, which is zero. And, a pain rating during excercise. I can't wait to write ZERO for both ratings at my session tomorrow! I just ran the 3.5 mile Congress loop from the house (yes, I ran on the road because it was too dark to run on the trail by the time I started). I passed K coming back uphill while I was comfortably going downhill at the start of my run. I started 20 minutes after he did because I wanted him to be back home "just in case" I needed to call him to come get me if things weren't going well. As I was running (still comfortably) down Congress, all I could think about was that THIS is what it used to feel like when I ran! My legs felt great throughout the run. I didn't even have to stop and stretch once! Now, the one problem that I did have is that I had half a Red Baron pizza about a hour and a half before I ran. Note to self, not the best pre-run meal (or best way to fit back into my running shorts for that matter). I felt the lack of fitness coming back up the hills, but overall it was one of the best runs that I have had in awhile. It was enough to give me back hope...

BP still high...

I had my blood pressure checked while I was at the dentist office for a cleaning this afternoon. It was high again. She referred back to my previous results when I've had it taken and it was indeed abnormally high for me. I don't know that I'm convinced that it is the pill causing this recent increase in BP because I've had my blood pressure taken several times since starting the pill last October and last month was the 1st time that it has been high. I'm wondering if it has more to do with the weight gain and decrease in running over the past couple of months? Not sure. I don't think the doctor is going to want to take a chance though, so if I get high results when I go back in then I think we'll be talking about other birth control options...

Good weekend!

As we were coming home from dinner tonight, K and I reflected on our weekend and decided that it was overall a pretty good one! We went to see "The Kingdom" at Alamo on Friday night. Since the movie opened this weekend, I insisted that we get there super early and I even went to get the tickets right after work to ensure that we would get good seats...and we did. K got up and ran on Saturday morning, while I caught up on some tv shows from the week. Then, we settled in for a full 12 hours of college football, with the highlight of the day being the Ohio State vs. Purdue game last night. Typically, I probably would have gone out to run errands or see another movie during the afternoon, but I ended up staying in all day since my back was hurting. I had hoped to be able to go for a run this morning, but my back was still hurting so that didn't happen. Instead, we went down to the outlets in San Marcos. My main agenda item was to get a pair of jeans, which was moderately stressful. I ended up going with the same style of my other jeans in one size bigger. I also got a great deal on a couple of tank-tops. I got a few things for the house at Crate and Barrel Outlet too...I love that store. I love housewares. When I was a teenager, I wanted to be an interior decorator. Our house is so full as it is that we don't really "need" anything more for the house, but I do love to shop for things for it! We finished off the day with dinner at Trudy's...yum! I tried the strawberry-banana margarita, which I highly recommend. And, I think K will too! :)

Fall Marathon Season...

Fall Marathon season is officially upon us. Several friends ran their respective marathons this weekend. Chad qualified for Boston at St. George yesterday. He worked hard for it and really deserves this. I'm super happy for him. St. George was originally the fall marathon that I was going to train for this year, but I did not get in through the lottery. The course is supposed to be very PR friendly due to the significant elevation drop, so I'll probably try to get in again next year. Other Rogue's qualified there yesterday, too. Congrats to all!

And, then there was Chicago today. The weather conditions were brutal for marathon running there today, and I am soooooo glad that I wasn't there to run. I would have died a slow, horrible death in that heat and humidity, I'm sure. I applaud those who ran and finished, even though it was not within the goal time that most were shooting for. I also have tremendous respect for those who bowed out at the halfway point knowing that it was not their day in order to save their legs for another upcoming marathon instead. This is just one of the things that is so hard about the marathon...6 months of training and hard work all comes down to one day where anything can happen. I ran Chicago last year (in completely opposite weather conditions, thankfully), and I had been training at a BQ pace all summer. I knew it would be difficult and everything would have to go absolutely perfect that day for me to qualify, but I had a chance...until I got sick a few days before the marathon. I had an emotional meltdown at packet-pickup at the Expo the day before the marathon because this was not happening the way that I had planned it. I probably shouldn't have ran at all, but I just couldn't imagine letting it all go to waste. In retrospect, the smart thing to do would have been to refocus on Dallas in December, which is what K actually suggested as I was sitting in the hot tub after the marathon. It all comes down to persistence and hard work...and, a little bit of good luck.

Continental #240 and #5620...

Those are our flights to Columbus, Ohio on October 20th.

Yes, you read right. We're going to Columbus after all.

This after I canceled the hotel reservation that I made several months ago on Tuesday.

Once I decided that I wanted to do the Distance Challenge last month, I thought the Columbus trip was off the table because it conflicted with the 1st race of the series, IBM 10K. Hence the reason that I finally canceled the hotel reservation earlier this week. Then, I got a call from K at work yesterday afternoon...his brother had called with news that he had been able to get 4 tickets to the Ohio State vs. Michigan State game that weekend after all. This had been part of my initial incentive to get K to run the marathon with me when I was trying to convince him to train at the beginning of the summer. K seemed excited about the possibility of going when he called yesterday. So, I asked how important it was to him on a scale of 1 to 10. A 6 or 7, he replied. Okay then. He talked to his parents last night about it to see if his dad was available (and interested) in going to Columbus that weekend for the game. I know how much it would mean to K to see a game at "The Horseshoe" with his dad, so I was supportive, even if it meant that I would miss IBM that weekend. In addition, he could run the half-marathon on Sunday and have his family there to support him. So, it was an easy decision for me.

So, the flights are booked. Now, we've got to find a hotel. Fortunately, there are still hotels available, even though it is the weekend of the marathon and Homecoming for Ohio State.

K had a good 9-mile run this morning. It's so unfair that he can still run a 1:25 (or better) at the half in 2 weeks without even training. If I can miraculously somehow run 10 miles before then, then I will consider running the half too - just for the experience of running the half there and for fun, even if it is at a run-walker pace. I had hoped to go for a run this morning, but I've been having some minor back problems over the past few days that seemed to get a lot worse overnight. I'll re-evaluate tomorrow.

I had my 7th session of ART on Thursday. The doc was pleased that I had taken his original advice and taken a few days off from running (I haven't ran since Silicon Labs last Sunday). It was AMAZING how much less pain I experienced when he did the ART. I couldn't believe it. I really am hopeful now that we've got this under control. I can't wait to see how it feels when I run now....

Good Will Hunting...

Good Will Hunting is my absolute favorite movie for so many reasons.

So, on Monday, one of my staff said that I remind her of Matt Damon's character and how everyday she comes in and hopes that today will be the day that I decide that I'm too smart and move on and am suddenly not here anymore.

It made me laugh.

Today, she said, "So, Matt, you're still here." She genuinely seemed disappointed for me.

ART, Session 6...

I had my 6th session of ART yesterday. ART on the front of my lower legs, followed by anodyne therapy on the inside of my lower legs. Again, the doc commented on how much more localized the sensitive area (pain) is now compared to when I first came in. It really does seem to be narrowed down to just one spot in essentially the same place on both legs. He started at the top of my calves and worked his way down. It really didn't hurt until he hit "the spot" toward the bottom, so I even asked him if he was using as much pressure as he normally does because I couldn't believe the difference - the writhing and grimacing in pain was really limited to that spot. I didn't ask whether or not it is okay for me to run though, and I actually didn't last night. Session 7 is on Thursday...