Daffodil Days

I just love group training. It's fun to see and talk with the other runners. We have a common goal and we're experiencing much of the same frustrations and triumphs.

Tonight, we did some more drills - different ones than the ones we did the other night, although we did those, too. After we did the new ones, we tried running using everything we'd worked on. The running felt different - better different. Easier, kind of.

While doing some new core strengthening exercises, I found something I'm good at! I'd not heard of "The Plank" before and it's something I've never done before either. (Remember, prior to this, I didn't do exercise.) You lie down on the floor, on your stomach. Then you prop yourself up on your elbows and forearms. Your feet are in contact with the floor by the toes only. You raise up your entire body until it's in a straight line and hold it that way as long as possible.

I wasn't trying to stay up any longer than anyone else, but that's what I did. Crystal was beside me and she stayed up pretty long, too. Jamey accused me of having a two-by-four holding me up. LOL. I don't know why I found this particular thing to be fairly easy, but I did. Finally! Something I can do well naturally!

My ankle was doing pretty well tonight, but the upper calf muscle on that leg was pretty sore and got more so as we continued. We didn't do our 30-minute run as a group tonight, so I planned to do that once I got home - outside - since it was such a nice day. (51° and sunny when I left to drive home.) Once I got home though, my calf was too sore to run much.

Romie and I walked down to the next mile road and back, which was probably 1.7 miles (based on earlier walks). Romie couldn't keep up with my walking pace, even though he has longer legs. He just couldn't move his legs that fast, so he jogged to catch up every now and then. I did do some running, until my leg started tightening up and hurting. I'll try doing some more running tomorrow to make up for it.



It's Daffodil Days and before we left group training tonight, we were given bouquets of yellow daffodils from the American Cancer Society. To buy these fresh-cut bouquets would cost $10, so I think I'll make a donation. There isn't a single person alive that hasn't either known someone who had/has cancer or that hasn't had it themselves. Romie had his own bout with squamous cell carcinoma last year and my dad had melanoma nearly five years ago (and is still cancer free!).

117.5

One Minute More

Today - a running day - starts the second week of running for me, and now we're to run three minutes, then walk three minutes, rinse and repeat four more times.

At work, Ashley couldn't stay to run tonight, but Kerrie was expecting me to run outside with her at the end of the day. I told her no way. It was 38°. When Jenna and Kara were in their college golf playing days, they knew I was a fair weather golf mom and as long as I have an indoor facility to do my running, you won't find me outside unless it's nice. Kerrie called me a weenie. LOL.

I got home, was sleepy, so I took a nap, knowing full well that it might affect my resolve to do my running on the treadmill. The call of the couch was just too compelling. I awoke at 7:00, went down to the basement, turned on Wheel of Fortune and got my legs moving.

My ankle felt a little tender, but as long as I concentrated on relaxing my calves and ankles, I was amazed at how far I could go. Three minutes. YEAH! And another three minutes. YEAH! And one more time. YEAH!

The fourth time, I got winded and my ankle was starting to hurt more, so I stopped at 1:45 and walked for :15, then ran for the remaining 1:00. On the final three minute run, I was struggling about halfway through and then the tread on the treadmill slipped and I nearly fell off. That was enough for me to call it a day. But I really felt good that I was even able to run at all. More icing on the ankle tonight and we'll see how it goes tomorrow!

Thanks, Brett

Last night was a study in contrasts. Sure, my ankle got hurt, but there's something else I'll remember about the night. We had a very special person come and speak to us.

Brett Freiburger is a young man who's a runner. A very good runner. Seeing him run across the gym was like seeing poetry in motion. I'd love to run like he does.

He's worked very hard at it, harder than most. When Brett was a senior in high school, he was injured in a hunting accident. After all efforts to save his injured leg failed, they amputated his left leg below the knee.

A soccer player in high school, Brett was a competitive athlete before his accident. As the mother of a child that was an outstanding athlete in high school who went on to compete in college sports, I understood all too well what he was talking about when he described his personality to us. Determination and dedication are ingrained in people like that. Throw an obstacle in front of them, and they don't whine about it - they just work harder and work around it.




Brett had to learn how to walk with his prosthesis, then how to run. That cannot have been easy by any stretch of the imagination. I know many of us feel like this half-marathon is a tall and steep mountain to climb, but if I remember only one thing Brett told us, it will be this:

"If you think in your mind that you can't do something, you'll never do it. You have to think positively and know that you can." (paraphrased)

He knows what we're going through, big time. I'm sure he had setbacks, but he didn't let them keep him from accomplishing his goals. Brett runs for St. Francis University, where he attends college. He's on the U.S. Paralympic Team and will be competing in Beijing in September.

Wow. Not much room for whining now, is there?

Uh-Oh

Last night, at group training, things didn't go so well for me. Well, okay, they were fine for awhile. I enjoyed talking with Jane and Monique, and we found that we had some of the very same experiences as we trained on our own at home. Must mean we're normal! (Whatever that is.)

We started out walking for five minutes, then Jamey led us in some drills. Prancing and kicking our butts was fun. Then came the scissory thingies. You know...the kind the basketball players do sometimes. Cross your right leg in front of your left as you move to the left, then the left leg goes left. Then place your right leg behind your left as you continue moving to the left. Repeat. We walked halfway across the gym like that. No problem.

Then Jamey wanted to speed it up. I don't know exactly when it happened, but when I got to the middle of the gym, my right ankle was in pain. Crystal turned to me and said, "I don't think you should keep doing these." I went one more time, and I think Crystal was right.

Next was a two-laps-around-the-gym run and I was in pain just walking. I tried to run and just couldn't. So I sat down and was bummed. I just didn't want this to happen. Not this early. Not ever, really.

Jamey checked it out after the session ended and told me to ice it and stay off of it last night. I did that, took some ibuprofen, and stayed off of it most of today, too. Iced it again this evening. I can pretty well walk straight ahead without pain, but let me turn a corner and ouch.

I did my strength training exercises and stretches this evening and didn't have too much of a problem doing them. Thankfully, it wasn't a running day, but I don't think I would have tried that anyway, even if it had been. I'm thinking as long as I don't do any sideways motion like what caused the strain in the first place, I might be okay in pretty short order.

I don't know why this surprises me. I sprained that ankle a couple of times when I was younger and I never could ice skate because my ankles couldn't hold me up in the skates. Jenna said to ask Jamey about exercises to strengthen my ankles.

Anyway, it's better tonight and while it will probably be a little stiff tomorrow morning, like it was this morning, I'm thinking it will be good enough for me to try running. Tomorrow is a running day and I'm going to wait until evening, just to give my ankle a little more time to calm down.

It's all part of the "experience"!

Running on the Treadmill

It was pretty chilly outside this morning, so I did my running/walking on the treadmill. I'd not run on it before and I have to say I agree with others in our group, that it's much easier to run the two minutes on the treadmill as opposed to outside on the road. I don't get nearly as winded.

I did find myself leaning forward while running on that though, which put more stress on my calves than I ever notice when running outside. I tried to relax the lower part of my legs, including my feet and ankles and concentrating on letting my thighs do the work. That was helpful as far as the discomfort was concerned, but required a lot of concentration.

Once this weather shapes up for good, I will always do my running outside, because even though it's tougher to do, I prefer it to the treadmill. Mine only has a 12" wide track and it was hard for me to stay on it. I kept losing my balance, which has never been the best anyway.

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( Run 2 minutes / Walk 4 minutes ) x 5 = 30 minutes √

117

In My Dreams

Does it mean anything that I dreamed about pain pills last night?

Working Up to 2:00

The weather was decent enough to allow me to run outside today. At 45° and no wind, it was really just about perfect. Romie ran/walked right along with me, which is a huge help. Once again, I wasn't able to run the full two minutes each time. It went like this:

Run 1:15 ... walk :15 ... run :30 ... walk 4:00
Run 1:20 ... walk :15 ... run :25 ... walk 4:00
Run 1:40 ... walk 4:20
Run 2:00 ... walk 4:00
Run 2:00 ... walk 4:00

So, by the last two runs, I was able to go the full two minutes, but I was definitely pushing myself. My thigh muscles began burning at one minute and by the time I felt like I needed to stop each time, I felt like they were going to give way. I was breathing pretty hard, too.

My right ankle, to the right front, just above the ankle is bothering me. That started about halfway through the thirty-minute run/walk. It feels to me like it's from my trying to step heel first, which I hadn't been doing. I don't feel that at all on the left side, though. I'll have to ask Jamey about it on Monday.

My hip pain has been much less though. Yay!

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( Run 2 minutes / Walk 4 minutes ) x 5 = 30 minutes √

I Can Barely Walk

I don't know if it was a good thing or a bad thing that I spent the largest share of today sitting in a chair listening to a dentist talk about lawsuits and lichen planus. I have a feeling a day with a little more physical activity might have been better. But I did need the CEUs (Continuing Education Units).

When I woke up this morning I could barely walk. When I got out of my car in the parking garage, I could barely walk. When we had our mid-morning break and I stood up from my chair, I could barely walk. And it didn't get any better as the day wore on. In fact, by the time we left to go home at 4:30, I could barely walk and I was making odd noises as I tried to put one foot in front of another. They sounded like moans to me.

This is the most uncomfortable I've been yet. It seems that every muscle in my body hurts. At this point, I don't know if it's from the running or the fibromyalgia. Probably some of both, based on my fatigue level.

I got home, got out of my clothes, donned a robe and curled up on the couch. For a split second, I contemplated whether I should forgo the nap and do my exercises, but the next thing I knew, I woke up and it was 7:00. I got off the couch and I could barely walk. (Are you sensing a pattern here?)

What is it they say? Something about the hair of the dog that bit ya... Or was it that you should get right back on the horse...

So, I did my exercises, ate some supper, and as soon as I finish typing this, I'm heading to bed, waaaaaay earlier than normal. But at least I can go to sleep with a clear conscience that despite the soreness, despite the fatigue, despite the disdain I have for those exercises, I still did them.

Good for me. Good night.

Building Ourselves Up

It was interesting (and comforting) to hear everyone comparing notes as we dribbled into the gym for group training tonight. This was our first time seeing each other after starting to do some running and at least half were having problems running a full two minutes at a time. I'm in that half.

We ran together tonight and while it seemed easier doing it in the gym than outside like I did yesterday, there were a few times where I again had to stop running before the two minutes were up. While I was definitely out of breath, the reason I had to stop was because my legs just couldn't do it anymore. I need thunder thighs.

I went to Jenna's apartment after training, because I have an all-day dental meeting at the Grand Wayne Center tomorrow and didn't want to drive home tonight and turn right around and drive back to Ft. Wayne early tomorrow morning. Besides, I like getting to spend some time with my baby girl. I just wish she hadn't told me that she runs 20 minutes straight on the treadmill.

Oh, to be 25 years old again...

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( Run 2 minutes / Walk 4 minutes ) x 5 = 30 minutes √

116

Two Minutes Is a Very Long Time

I worked this afternoon, as usual. Last week, I talked with Ashley, another hygienist where I work, and she said she wanted to start walking after work on Wednesdays. Kerrie (another co-worker) does too, but she couldn't join us today.

Ashley and I did a couple stretches before heading outside, where it was a chilly 45° but the sun was out and it smelled like spring. We didn't even have to wear jackets since we were going to be exerting ourselves.

Before we got started, Ashley said to me, "You're gonna kill me," meaning she thought what I'd planned to do today was going to be tough on her. I assured her it wouldn't be and it didn't take her long to see that I was right.

Today's schedule begins a week of two minutes running, four minutes walking and repeating that four more times for a total workout time of thirty minutes. All along, I thought two minutes sounded like a short amount of time that wouldn't be too hard to do. Boy, was I wrong!

We walked/ran through the apartment complex that's behind our workplace, which is a good area because of the lack of traffic. The first two-minute run had me sucking air and with jelly legs after one minute, so I stopped and walked for about fifteen seconds, then finished out the two minutes. Ashley kept right on running.

By the time we got to the last two-minute run, I was able to go longer, but still wanted to stop before the two minutes were up. Ashley didn't let me. She kept encouraging me - "You can do it!" - and counting off the remaining time in fifteen-second increments. Except that when there was 45 seconds to go, she told me there was only 30 seconds left. She fooled me into pushing myself a little further than I thought I could go.

I checked my heart rate after the third two-minute run and it was 168, which I don't think is too bad. When we got back to the office to do stretching, I couldn't believe how red my face was, and I don't think it was from the cool air.

Ashley is a really good person to train with. She's so upbeat and encouraging! She's also exactly half my age, at 25. That's probably why it was easier for her to begin with, but I refuse to use my age as an excuse for my lagging behind. She's contemplating running the half-marathon in September, which I'm encouraging her to do.

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( Run 2 minutes / Walk 4 minutes ) x 5 = 30 minutes √