Girls on the Go 10K

That's right people, a real race report! Girls on the Go Race Event

I didn't take a ton of pictures as today was a real touch-and-go scenario. I have been out of the game for a while and I just wasn't sure how I was going to approach the day. Here are my notes:

"The difference of this run and others I have registered for is that this one isn't a test of any kind. It is simply a celebration of how far I have come. It is a 4-month milestone of no particular significance except to celebrate and prove to myself that I am back!

Goals: To break 14-minute/mi, To not get caught up in race excitement...to listen to my body and go nice and easy instead."

I managed to get up early, have a bit of an outfit thrown together and hit the road around 5:45 to head down to Mission Bay (It takes about 45 minutes).

After a quick pit-stop I arrived around 6:45 and it was already really busy. The parking area was filling fast and it was a bit of a walk to get to the start line/expo area. I had not picked up my bib ahead of time, which I immediately regretted. The line was super long!

It stretched even beyond the trees there.

I knew there was no way I would have time to go back to my car, and I would probably barely have time to make the actual start (like many others). I decided to just start whenever I was ready, and be fine knowing that the timer would start and stop when I hit the pad.

I had registered for the 5K so that is what line I was in. I met two other nice young women and we chatted about our stories. One was running with her young daughter, and the other one was running solo because her friends pooped out on her. I love the report among runners, and I always meet such nice folks!

Once I had my bib on, I ran over for a quick potty stop before the start was announced, which I had miraculously not missed. While in line, the guy next to me mentioned..."So you're running the 10K today? Cool." "Oh, no, no, no...I'm running the 5K..." I said as I looked down at my bib. At that moment I had a slight freak-out as I realized my bib said 10K! Wait a minute? Did I register for the 10K? Surely not! It must have been a mistake! I had about 2 minutes to figure out what the heck happened in my registration process before the 5K started so I gave up trying to figure it out. Well...I guess I was going to be running 6.2 miles this day!

I found my new friend who I had been chatting with and told her about the mix up right as the race began. I ended up running with her through the first 1 1/2 miles as we chatted a bit here and there.

I didn't have a lot of time to really consider my decision...run the 5K and kind of "cheat" on my 10K registration or run the 10K (risking an owie leg) and end up running twice the distance I registered for. I went back and forth until I reached the literal fork in the road and I took the 10K path. I figured my bib said 10K, I had better just go for the 10K. After all, with my run/walk strategy I could do it and be fine. I walk all over SeaWorld and the San Diego Zoo and am never sore. And perhaps I let the excitement of race day motivate my decision a bit...

The course itself was very nice! I enjoyed running around Fiesta Island. Each turn was a new perspective of Mission Bay and San Diego. I may not have mentioned it much on this blog but I LOVE our new city. San Diego is an amazing place to live (and run). The downfall I saw on the course affected half marathoners. In order to reach the full 13.1 miles, there was a lot of double-backing and re-looping and keeping up with that could get frustrating, especially when you are desperately tired. But the day was great. It was cool with a light cloud cover and light breeze. Perfect running weather.

I haven't seen 4 miles in a long time!

I kept a pretty steady pace of jogging and walking but I did a lot more jogging than I have at home, that's for sure...and it felt good through the entire race. While I tried not to let the energy of the run push me, it really did. Even though it wasn't about beating anyone, and not even about beating myself, I was just so happy to be out on a fun run course! I ran hardest at the end. I was going at about a 10-to-11-minute/mile pace when I was jogging which was better than I had thought I could do! I just kept feeling it out and paid a lot of attention to how my leg felt. While I didn't have the choice to stop if it started to hurt, I could walk more if needed. It turns out it wasn't needed! It felt like it was working hard, but didn't hurt really. My doc gave me a tendon of steel!

When I arrived at the finish chute I was the only one coming so the announcer rallied support "Give her a hand folks! Finishing a 10K today...great job!" I was so thrilled that I had really ran a 10K. Even after surgery and being out of the running game for 6 months, it didn't feel bad, and I didn't feel crazy out of shape. It goes to show you that your body doesn't lose everything if you are down, and that the run/walk strategy lets you go farther without killing your body.

Can't forget the bling! This race was really cool and everyone earned medals whether you ran the 5K, 10K, or Half Marathon.

There were a few booths set up but I didn't bring any money and wasn't super interested in hanging out too long. I did score a couple of Luna Bars and bottles of Tea of a Kind drinks. The reps were giving out whole cases to anyone who asked for them!

Once I had walked to my car, I stopped for a second to take a picture of my socks. The same ones that have sat in the back of my dresser since the fateful day of November 10, 2013 when I tore my Achilles.

My Facebook post read: "The last time I wore these socks was 6 months ago, when I tore my AchillesTendon. Today, I finished a 10K in them! #4monthspostop"

t-shirt and bib...very girly

Proof!

After I got home, I got an e-mail confirmation with my race time which was really cool. I never had to register for it or anything, it just came automatically with my race registration and participation. Pretty cool!

I was shocked when I saw my stats:

I did register for the 5K! So according to the results I ran probably the slowest 5K in recorded history-LOL!! 

Here is my Nike + app result:

Running is a very cool way to explore Fiesta Island in Mission Bay

I guess that's it folks! This lady is back in the game, if only somewhat by accident. I don't plan on repeated 10Ks and even on my own I am still going to stick with 2-3 miles run/walk for now until my calf/tendon are stronger. But now I know that if I register for a race, I will survive it! :)

And She's Running Again!

Little recap of this week or so...

I have completed 3 weeks of strong walking, around 2- 2 1/2 miles each. Then Monday, something magical happened...

I was on my walk and had a good pace going, with a great beat in my head and for no reason in particular I thought about how badly I missed the feeling of jogging, and I just started jogging! I have held off for about a month or so because my leg did not tolerate jogging and I just wasn't ready. Well this time I was ready! I did some shorter intervals just feeling it out and it was awesome! I finished with a straight stretch that ended at my house, where my husband was mowing the lawn.  He saw me there, hopped off the mower and gave me a standing ovation. Then once I got there he gave me a huge hug and told me how proud he was of me as we both cried happy tears. It was a great moment.

Wednesday I did some walk/jogging too and I talked to my PT about it on Friday during our session. She said it was awesome as long as it felt good and wasn't too much. I just can't believe it, I'm able to do some light jogging again. It feels so great!

Oh...and I have totally fell off the Paleo bandwagon. It was so boring and I can't stand not enjoying my food! I haven't written it off, but I need a new approach. To be continued...

Paleo Day 3

Today is day 3 on Paleo and how do I feel? Well at the risk of sounding super cheesy, I feel great!

The intestinal gas level has decreased dramatically, as well as the bloat. I have kept pretty strict to Paleo with the exception of a small amount of milk in my coffee and a Tbsp of light Mayo in my tuna salad. Yesterday as an experiment I had a cup of pineapple greek yogurt-one of my favorites- and I immediately started to feel the bloating and gas. Next time I'll go for pureed pineapple with a little almond milk blended in. I don't get that 4pm ravenous hunger followed by sluggishness anymore. I'm going to keep trying! I know I'm doing a good thing for my body and as I get better at recipes and substitutions I'm sure I won't hardly notice the change.

Making Real Changes

April 6 I posted about clean eating and some details about food and its effect on my body. Well as the month drew on I feel like I was doing ok, but not great.

While my mom visited, it was kind of anything goes because we were in "vacation" or "celebration" mode. Does your family celebrate with food like mine? Yep, even though we had splurged at SeaWorld and at the San Diego Zoo, my mom was still stressing about what dessert to make for me on my "birthday celebration dinner". I could care less and was pretty sugared-out. But mom just felt that I would be missing out if she didn't celebrate "properly" with a dessert. I love that woman, she fusses over me. While she visited I had the worst digestive symptoms ever: constipation, farting, bloated, etc. I'm not sure it is ever worth the splurge! It is downright uncomfortable and embarrassing.

The week after Mom left my eating habits got better, more back to normal. So why was I still having issues? I probably would not have thought twice about all of the gas. Gas is a part of a healthy body and is a normal process. But one night my husband told me, "You literally have the worst gas of anyone I have ever known." I seriously couldn't disagree with him. It had gotten bad! Then Monday night I had a horrible case of bloating around 4pm that lasted until at least 7pm. It was time to make a change, because I can't live like that!

So Monday night in my desperation, I did some searching on the internet. I wrote down possible causes as: Celiac Disease, Gluten Intolerance, Lactose Intolerance or Irritable Bowel Syndrome. And of course I surveyed some friends on Facebook. A familiar answer that run true to me was the Paleo Diet (way of living). I had to admit to myself that it was time to give it a try for real.

Let me tell you, I am not a diet person. AT ALL. I can't stand the word! I don't like listening to people tell me that they tried this diet and that diet, or that they "can't" eat things for fear of ruining their diet. The worst is when someone grabs a sweet or something of that sort and says it means they are "being bad". I honestly do not know what it is about the word diet. I guess in a way I am stubborn about food. I love food! And ain't nobody gonna tell me what I can and cannot eat! I think the reason "diets" drive me nuts is that they are very superficial and almost always don't get to the bottom of why a person needs it in the first place! They are just a band-aid solution.

But the Paleo way of living isn't a diet, it is a different way of looking at food. Scratch that...it is a different way of looking at your body. Instead of looking at the food pyramid and trying to find balance, it is about really understanding what is in each food and what that food does once it is inside your body. It's not about what you can and cannot have, it is about what your body needs and does not need. It is really interesting and incredibly valid! Want more information? Check out these links: The Paleo Diet, PaleOMG.com, and one more article on understanding the premise of Paleo.

The simplest way to put it!

I don't embark on this new journey lightly, nor with a whole heap of enthusiasm to be honest. I love bread, I love carbs, I love sweets! Oh sugar, how I love thee! Dairy, you are a very close second to my heart. But...I don't love how these things are making my body feel. And in a sort of tough-love manner, my body is telling me it wants other things. My plan is to go as Paleo as possible at first, and then reintroduce an item here or there to test my tolerance (not just to bring it back but more as an experiment). Then if I can't get around a carb item, I will try my best to choose a gluten-free option. If I can't get around a dairy item, I will try taking a Lactaid or other digestion aid.

Lastly, you may be wondering...if this is a running blog, why all the talk about eating? Well let me tell you. I haven't been running a lot but when I am running a lot, I don't notice the effect of the food I eat on my body. I don't notice a pound here or there. I don't feel sluggish with sugar because it burns away so quickly. I don't feel the effects of dairy so much because it seems that gas works itself out during runs. Even though I have been walking a lot, these issues have still been hanging out and are a good enough reason to make a real change.

Quick Week Recap

Well, it has been a lame 10 days or so! I took the weekend of the 19-20 off to recover from some soreness, then I honestly can't remember what all happened last week. I did have a great session of physical therapy on Thursday and promptly that night I came down sick which lasted all weekend long. This morning I'm feeling much better and can finally breathe through my nose again! But it is weird that early last week I did not log any walks. I think I Mom-brained that one or something.

Anyway, this morning I was back up and at 'em! I have also started using MyFitnessPal again because I want to put specific, measurable effort toward losing the extra pounds I have tacked on since the surgery. Right now I'm sitting around 146 lbs and I'd like to be more like 138 again. Besides the number on the scale, my body shows the extra fat a bit now and my insides haven't felt super awesome lately. For the first time ever I am researching colon-cleansing/balancing because I've been on this rollercoaster of bouts of constipation or ultra-gassiness ever since my surgery. So I'm working on adding some thing and subtracting others. I hate getting older. I long for the days I could eat whatever and my body would just burn it or metabolize it no big deal. But alas, I am in my 30s.

Oh speaking of my age, my birthday was on the 22nd! Happy Birthday to Me! I still like my birthdays. I don't know if I will ever begin to dread birthdays. Every season of life brings new experiences, challenges and adventures. Why would I dread that?

This morning I already got my 2-miler out of the way, plus did some gardening, plus did some housework and I'm on a roll with intake logging so I'm feeling good! Let's hope I can keep the momentum as the week goes on :)

More Walking and Progress!

Last week was busy! My kids were on spring break and my Mom visited. I hardly had time to sit at all let alone sit and log workouts so I am finally doing it!

But...this last week was a breakthrough week! After physical therapy, I was cleared to start some activity, bits at a time while evaluating how my Achilles is handling it. The weather was awesome, and it went really well!

Monday: 1 Mile never felt so good! Even at 15:55 per mile, it felt like I was speeding to the finish line in first place!

Tuesday: I got back out on the road with a different route for 1.40 miles. I love exploring my neighborhood on foot again. My leg was still feeling great, tolerating 1+ miles really well.

Wednesday: Still seeing how far I can push myself I pumped the mileage a bit with a long loop adding up to 2.35 miles! I thought for sure I would be really feeling it this evening but my leg still felt great! I couldn't believe it. Walking is working!

Thursday: Our family walked all over SeaWorld, me for the first time without my walking boot. I was tired by the end of it (total of about 7 hours, start and stop, and standing) but not overly sore or hurting.

Friday: 2.17 in the California sunshine, and I managed to cut almost a full minute off per mile!

Saturday: San Diego Zoo walking! We walked a lot more this day, since the SDZ is huge and even with in-park transportation you just end up on foot a lot. By the end of this day, I was tired and my leg a little sore.

Sunday: Easter, I took the day off. This evening I found myself up on a ladder nailing up bistro lights on my outdoor patio. I also found myself lifting the ladder some which is more lifting than I have tried in a very long time.

Monday: My leg was sore this day so I took the day off.

Tuesday: I took Tuesday off too and have just been stretching and such.

I will admit I did not do the best this week with massaging my incision and only did the strength exercises a few times. It was a busy week!

Today I am headed to physical therapy and will get to do a good amount of time on the recumbent bike which I'm looking forward to. I have been feeling fat and lame with how well I have been doing and the low-cardio I get but I'm really glad to be walking again. I know it is going to help make a difference!

And...*drumroll* I registered for an event! May 10, I will be walking (jogging some maybe?...probably not) the Girls on the Go 5K here in San Diego. It will be a celebration of Mother's Day weekend as well as my rehab progress. I know I will be able to walk a 5K by then and I'm so thrilled to be able to do that!

And She Walks...

Today I get to start logging workouts again! They are walks, not runs, but in my book they count because they are part of my journey back to running

Yesterday's 1-Miler!

Today's route took me a little longer, 1.4 miles!

Here's the thing...I never thought I would value walking so much. It is where I started however, after my babies were born and I wanted to get some exercise in. Before I was a long-distance runner walking was my go-to. It has become my go-to again, but for a different reason.

My walks feel pretty good. Funny thing is that my body feels them just as much as I was feeling my runs so that is good. It is great to be getting some cardio in again. My lower leg ends up worked at the end but not sore, which is exactly where I need to be. I'm even pulling my foam roller back out for after these walks. The combination of a few extra pounds and new exercise and my hips and ligaments are tight! I was looking back to earlier logs and it is hard to believe that Vegas was the first week of this month! The walking I did there nearly killed my leg but somehow this last week all of the walking I did was a piece of cake! Yes!!

Today is also the 1-year anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings. It is emotional for anyone who is a runner. I remember when I heard about it. I think I was late to the party actually because at the time we were sitting and watching our eldest son's track meet. Another mom (an IronMother) was talking in a low voice to her husband and searching for text messages from friends. I knew a mom at Boston too (thankful a speedy one who finished a couple of minutes before the blasts). Anyway, I am kind of nosey sometimes so I asked her what was going on and was everything ok. She told me and it took my breath away. I almost didn't believe it. I mean why would someone have a motive to attack a marathon? It was like a bully out to destroy something beautiful just because they were unhappy with themselves. I'm sure the motives are more complicated than that, but that is how I felt. I mean Boston is such an amazing accomplishment...even just to be there is an honor. I was sad for the racers who never got to finish, whose spectator family members were harmed, and for the runners who were harmed as well. It should not have happened. It was so senseless.

In a small sense I really associate with those who suffered that day. Today there are quite a few stories of resilience and rebuilding circulating. That is where I am. I have been broken down and it has taken me a long time but I'm slowly rebuilding. My injury was definitely not as tragic, nor as melicious. I stand with you Boston still, and though my journey is slow, I will be back, and continue to press forward just like you have.