I’m not running.
It just would be silly- I want to be running when I’m 80- so I have to get a handle on this injury now.
So no marathon, no 1/2 not even an 8K- I am lying low.
I tried Moksha yoga this week and loved it. I would say it was my most positive yoga experience so far. My plan is to go 2 times a week- I am trying to be realistic- making it to classes with everything I have on my plate is a challenge- 2 times a week- now that I’m not working and can go when 5 are at school and 1 is at daycare seems do-able. I will continue to “try out” my IT band going for very short (5K’s) runs if there is no pain. I will use my foam roller and I will do my physio prescribed exercises.
I will not get jealous when I see a woman walking down Cambie Street with her 2010 Vancouver Marathon blue race package bag… I have decided not to pick up my package. I don’t want to see my number and it just means trying to fit in a trip downtown to get it.
Rehab- it’ s all about the Rehab baby…
And as my good friend njb said, it’s supposed to rain Sunday.
Jealous? Who me?!
Tag: running moms
must get it together
It has been awhile but I am still here… up until this week I have been doing the bare minimum running wise- usually bettween 3-4 runs a week- this past week I have not run once…
boohoo.
My IT band has been SO tight- not actually hurting but feeling like it is going to snap- so I decided to lay off running-AND I slightly twisted my ankle (walking down the street!!!) and that is feeling stiff AND on top of that I probably only could have squeezed one run in anyway as I am in my final week at work and things have been kookoo. And then there are the 6 kids to tend to.
I am to run a 1/2 at The BMO in a couple of weeks- fingers crossed. And I have received a challenge from my neighbour and veteran marathoner to run the Royal Victoria October 10 and that gets me feeling a little pumped.
I got it all going on in my head- now if I could just get my body and the rest of my life to cooperate!
Blah
I guess you can say I crashed… I was fighting a cold the day before and the day of the race and then it pretty much hit Monday and has hung on in a very annoying way- that kind of sick that makes it completely possible to carry on with your normal activities but you still feel like crap. I have not run at all mostly because I wanted to get better first and I was pretty post -race -sore until Wednesday, and partly because the kids are all around since we are on Olympic break (is it over yet?!) and partly because I had this exam hanging over my head that I finally got done today.
This exam was for a University Art History class- and it was hard. Not hard in and “I can’t understand this” sort of way but hard to motivate myself to study for and hard to know what to study when 500+ pages of the textbook were covered. But it’s over- I got through it- I don’t think we’re talking A+ here… The papers were far more “enjoyable” to do. It was a good experiment. It’s all in my plan to figure out a way to go to Grad school, while keeping my 20 hours a week of work that I love and being an available Mum to the kids of course. The best possible plan would be a programme that would allow me to work rather independently, this course was a correspondence course- and that’s sort of the idea I’m looking for… the best and most interesting programme I have come across is Goddard College’s MFA in interdisciplinary studies. So that is my new focus, trying to figure out how to get in, how I would manage it etc.
Oh, and let’s not forget I need to make sure there is still time to run… Did I mention I’m already registered for the Vancouver BMO Marathon?
8 weeks?!
Everything’s comng up roses…
…and daffodils and cherry blossoms and crocuses and tulips… gotta love the winter Olympics in Vancouver!
Anyhoo- On running… I’ve ran. 3 times this week to be exact. 3K on Monday, 5K on Tuesday and 8K today. And me knee has held out. There were twinges on Monday- but today I felt strong. I am stretching and icing and putting on the heat… ad on a complete whim I got acupuncture on Monday. I actually called Balance to see if I could get in for a massage as it is literally 2 blocks away and since all the kids are off for Olympic break I has an older one to watch the wee ones- the fellow on the phone talked me into accupunture and actually did a combo of the two, and I am really feeling much better. Interesting.
I picked up my race package today- after wandering around with the kids checking out Olympic festivities. So not my thing. I really get no enjoyment from wandering the streets with thousands of people and I refuse to stand in any line for more than 5 minutes which means I’m not getting in to any pavilions… But the girls got to se the mascots skate and shake hands and even hug Crotchy… or whatever his name is, so they were very pleased.
A couple of quiet days before race day perhaps?
Not panicking…yet!
My knee is bothering me. I ran 15.5 k on the weekend successfully- and for the most part felt strong- except for the last 10 minutes or so when my knee felt “twingy” Today on my 8K just past 1/2 way it was pain I felt so I stopped to walk a 2 minutes not wanting to push it. I’m stretching but could be doing more. I’m icing it after runs and putting heat on it at night. I’m rolling on my Relaxus foam body roller.
But the question as always is to run or not to run…
Come hell or high water…
I’m doing it. I’m gonna run come hell or high water- my post last week where I ran (pardon the pun) down every (quite valid really) reason I can’t be running right now just didn’t sit right. Instead of making me feel “better” or “relieved” or “off the hook” I was just depressed about it. Running became so important to me- and not just running willy-nilly -half -assed- mamby-pamby but TRAINING just felt so great, as hard as it was, and I want to be doing it, no, I NEED to be doing it, so I must find a way, and I will.
I ran this morning, despite having piles and piles of work to do, I just went out for a 5K and it was glorious and when I walked in the door I walked straight over to the computer and registered for the Historic Half Marathon in Fort Langley on February 21 2010. (Thanks to njb for the nudge!) Done. I needed that. It’s a tiny step and I need to recognize that this is totally the honeymoon phase, that initial excitement upon registering for the race. Next month when it snows and I’m in the thick of holiday mayhem I just might be whining a tiny bit. But for now I’ll enjoy the “I’m going to run a race” high.
Je suis ici!
I am here.
Life is CR-azy.
2 runs in the past 2 weeks.
New job, new kids schedules…
I am determined I will run again, VERY soon.
I cannot wait for things to settle down, but rather, must figure out how to work within this chaos. Because really, when is my life ever NOT chaotic?
Still thinking about a marathon in the Spring.
You’ll hear all about it.
Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot!
My “haven’t run in 3 days” excuse de jour? It’s just too darn hot!! It seems we’re breaking records in the temperature department here in balmy Vancouver… 33.8 Celsius! and while I don’t have too big a problem with it myself I find the kids to be particularly cranky, and of course the last 2 nights have been a disaster in terms of children and sleeping. And so, I’m cutting myself some slack AGAIN! And when I say cutting myself some slack I mean that I am cutting myself slack in pretty much every aspect of my life! I haven’t run, read, cleaned and today I’m adding cooked to that list as I am ordering pizza. The Ol’Man is out on a boat with some work buddies and #1 has gone out for the evening with friends so I’ve decided that take out is in order… you know you have a big family when you’ll realise there will only be 6 people home for dinner so what’s the point in cooking and you might as well order out!!
The only thing that I have found myself able to garner much enthusiasm about is our decision to book a family get away… we’ve hummed and hawed about the whole thing for several weeks now thinking that camping was out of the question as there is a ban on campfires in BC because of the weather (because what is camping without the fire?!) and then we were seriously considering me taking the 2 older boys away to get some 1 0n 2 time… (Vegas perhaps?) and then after much discussion we decided that we could all use several days away from the city and this house, so we are going to Tofino which I am very very excited about. The last time we went was when #1 and #2 were 2 yrs and just a few months old respectively and I have been talking about going back ever since- so we’re biting the bullet, whipping out the ol’ plastique and going for it. Can we afford it? Not really. But we need to get away in a big way and I believe there will be something for everyone there. The older boys are already talking about surfing and the little ones are hoping to see a whale. And the best part? I was able to book a big honkin’ SUV that we can all (the WHOLE family) ride in comfortably… on airmiles. How sweet is that?
And did I mention the Back To School package arrived from the big boy’s school today?
So now I figure I have a little something to motivate myself- something to look forward to, so I should be able to hunker down for the next 2 weeks and train, clean, read, clean, cook and generally organize my life knowing there will be this 4 day block of fun coming up…
As long as the weather cooperates… and we all know the weather is a little unpredictable non?
Grind It
Today I finally get to do a “little” something I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, The Grouse Grind. It’s one of those outdoorsy things that I would daydream about while out on my long runs along with kayaking, yoga, cycling, rock climbing, skiing… all things I don’t have time for, things that I get slightly jealous about when I hear people casually mentioning what they did for the weekend (OK for the most part people sans children)- things that I feel guilty for not doing when I live in one of the most beautiful and perfect places in the world for most of those activities, and things that I just wasn’t into when I was young and had no children. I always enjoyed the outdoors but sort of limited myself to a bit of camping and many trips to the beach while most of my youth was spent in dark musty theatres or dingy rehearsal spaces- good times for sure, but I wish I would have taken advantage of my freedom to get out there and ski or hike or something.
One of the many positive side effects of marathon training for me was discovering the joy of getting outside and pushing my body in ways I never thought possible- and while I like to be careful not to place my expectations about new experiences too high I’m pretty darn stoked about the hike tonight. Even if the actual hike turns out to be not as much fun as I had hoped the drinks at the top with the ladies and the opportunity to get out of the house without the kids will surely do this body (and mind) some good.
…Ain’t No Cure For The Summertime Blues
As much as I love summer and the opportunity to break with the monotony of schedules, the racing from one activity to another, the juggling, the “lets GO! everyone in the van!!” I am certainly finding, in terms of ” getting things done,” I thrive in that atmosphere, when there are a billion things to get done and get to – including training for a marathon, I do much better in the chaos than in the slower summer pace. Let’s face it I’m not one to sit still, OK for 5 minutes maybe but then I need to go- go- go! I’m not saying I’m not enjoying the break, because I am, it’s just I expect I should be able to get stuff done and it doesn’t get done- and that includes “extra” stuff like finally cleaning out the kitchen cupboards or sorting through the mound of papers collecting in the “home office” but somehow there isn’t the time. I’m still up at 5:15 am and I haven’t filled up the time with the pile of “summer reading” that I wanted to get to, I haven’t done my daily strengthening exercises I had planned on doing EVERYDAY and I haven’t taken the kids to the beach nearly as often as I would like- so where has all the time gone?!!
As far as I can figure it’s the lack of “quiet time- that magic 2 hours when I could count on #’s 1,2,3 and 4 to be in school, #5 to play happily on her own and #6 to have his nap- that was my time- somehow I could pack more into those 2 hours than any other time of day- often running on the treadmill, paying the bills, doing the laundry, prepping dinner and STILL having 10 minutes or so to flip through a magazine whilst enjoying a cup of tea.
Now that everyone is under foot that does not happen- there is always something or someone who needs dealing with and as much as I hate making bag lunches during the school year- I now have lunch dishes to deal with! (did I mention I don’t have a dishwasher?!).
Ah well, the theme running through my life these days seems to be ” go with the flow” and not getting worked up about things not going exactly according to plan- after all, that’s what summers all about non?
