Serenity..

This mornings run wasn't the best pace wise... or necessarily the best feeling on my body, but the temperature and the stillness of the morning made this run worth it. 

Waking up this morning was a little tough, but I knew I had to get the run in early... I wanted to get into work early, as I was taking a half day to head to Connecticut for a Jason Aldean concert (which was amazing by the way). I also was under the assumption it was going to rain later in the day, so I wanted to try and get in a rain free kind of run.

I noticed myself trying to watch some of the other people running, and how their form was compared to mine... I definitely have a little bit of a shuffle to my run, whereas other runners have much more of a "stride." Maybe I can get to that point before the marathon.

As the title of this post indicates, this run was definitely a little more calming, and I took the few extra minutes here and there to stop [stretch] and enjoy the calming feeling across the water and in the air around me.

so still... reminded me of home :)

The City waiting for the day to start...

If anything, I was happy to have at least gotten my run in... my knees are starting to act up and become very sore, so I am going to keep an eye on them to make sure I don't over work them too soon, or even worse start any injury. 

Although it's not hard to stretch when you have a beach to do it near...

Oh 26.2... you seem so far away BUT you're actually so much closer than I even could begin to think.

Motivation.

                                                           

Tomorrow's Distance : Rest Day

Saturday Distance: 16 miles

Oh and don't worry... the concert was awesome with my sister!

Jenn and I at Jason Aldean :)

Rain Rain Go Away..

For the first time, I actually got on the road for my run around the time I originally set out to be there. Not without a little hesitation though. When my alarm went off at 5:30am, I immediately checked out the window to see how miserable the weather was going to be, and it was just as miserable as I thought. I checked weather.com and it was only going to get worse as the day went on, so I decided I'd rather get it over with while it was at least going to be a little light out over going after work when it would be by street light.

As long as Saturday stays rain free, I'll continue to suck it up

Surprisingly, it wasn't assssss bad as I thought. I layered myself up, and wore actual water repellent clothing, which was a huge plus, and not to mention I remembered to fill up my water bottle belt (HUGE plus this morning, I was so parched the whole run!)

I wasn't sure how my knees were going to feel as they were still pretty sore yesterday, but I used the Tiger Balm, and that seemed to help out (the real test will be Saturday morning). My pace was pretty decent and was actually a little faster than some of my recent runs, so that made me happy. 

There's something about getting out in the morning and having the run done before I even step foot into the office. In a way it helps me clear my mind, before I even have a chance for it to fill up with deadlines and pleadings. Then again, when I get it over in the morning, I'm kind of like a lost puppy at night and don't really know what to do with myself (besides update my blog). Although, having woken up at 5:30am this morning, I'm exhausted and will probably go to sleep much earlier than I normally do. You can never get too much sleep right?

The worst part about running in the rain this morning was around mile 7 when I was crossing the Summer Street bridge back into Southie, and the rain was coming down like little pellets attacking my face. Between that rain and the wind, I had to stop and put my hands over my face for the duration of the bridge in fear it was going to get in my eye/contacts.

Through all the rain, I had one bright moment when talking to a college friend about my training and my old nickname came out...

I couldn't help but sit at my desk and giggle... Almost all of my college friends would refer to me as Canada, as they didn't think Maine should be a part of the United States, but I guess that's what you get when you go to school in New Jersey!

Tomorrow's Distance: 5 miles [and the Jason Aldean concert!!!!]

Friday: Rest Day! :)

Nothing Beats a Sunrise...

Today was definitely not one of my better runs. I got to bed later than I wanted because once again I got sucked into something, that in retrospect  I don't really care all that much about, but the Oscars provided some entertainment for me. And, I was able to continue icing my knee the whole time.

When I did finally decide to relocate to my bed, my best friend decided that was the time to start texting me...

Thanks Shana... 

But I set my alarm, and even added in text that I would have to read to hopefully stop me from hitting the snooze button until 7am. 

Don't worry though, I forgot to add in the 4:25am alarm of poor Gus Gus getting sick next to my bed, causing me to wake up, rub his little belly, clean up, and then proceed to lock him out of my room to hopefully get another hour of sleep in.

I thought I was just being funny when I renamed my alarms, because we all know I'm hysterical, but when those alarms starting going off this morning, I definitely read my little messages.... and although I still didn't roll out of bed until 6am, I think without them, I would've slept until 7am. 

When I looked out my window, more snow had accumulated than I originally had thought we were going to get, and it looked really pretty, and not to mention the sidewalks looked clear, so I was ready to go. 

I got myself bundled up and headed out the door. 

The actual temp. didn't feel 28* due to the sun :)

As I said today was definitely not one of my better runs. I used some Tiger Balm on the back of my left Achilles as it felt a little tight, and used bio-freeze on my knees to try and warm things up and make this run comfortable... but not much was helping. Looking back I should have just done Tiger Balm with everything, as I didn't have any bother from my Achilles, but my knees were letting me know that they had previously run 16 miles and were not exactly up for any mileage. Once I got through the first mile or so, I slowly became numb to the pain, and was able to do a walk/run medley in order to get the mileage in, in a not too too terrible time.

The pathways were icy in spots, and a couple inches deep of snow in others, so my steps were not my normal stride this morning either.... not that it's an excuse, it's just an observation of what I was dealing with... BUT the views along the Harbor Walk this morning were to die for. I don't even need to explain... the pictures will suffice, even though they can't even come close to doing them justice... Just imagine a warm ray of sun and a soft breeze across your face....

      

Please notice the snow/ice trail I was running on...

Amazing view to start the week

So even if I wasn't exactly happy with my run... I was happy that I got myself up and outside in order to enjoy the amazing sunrise along the water. Hopefully with some more icing, rest, Tylenol, and stretching my knees will be ready to go on Wednesday. 

Today marked the beginning of my 5 miles, rest, 8 miles, 5 miles, rest schedule for my weekdays, which it will remain through the end of March... I think the consistency now of my week schedule distances will be good for my body and my mind. 

Tomorrow: Rest Day

Wednesday: 8 miles

Ice Day

I think I've come to appreciate Sunday's even more now, due to having done a long run the day before. Typically I would sit on the couch and watch Sex and the City all day, marathon style... but today I thought it was helpful that I had a commitment to my part time coaching job in New Hampshire. Today was their first tournament of the season.

Coaching is definitely one of the best and most frustrating jobs to have. My girls started the day off amazing. Playing strong and like they really wanted to win. Then it was just downhill and I'm still trying to figure out what happened. Our second game was so-so, the team we played was a stronger team than the first, and my girls did power back to almost tie it up... but then the next two games, I walked away wondering what happened to my team that had played so hard in the first game a few hours before... Which in turn had me making practice plans for next week my entire drive back to Boston, and thinking of ways I would be able to pull the potential out of them that I know is in there. 

I did get a sweet treat from my Dad today, Reilley's Bakery butter cookies... which I wouldn't turn down after the run from yesterday. But he also is letting me borrow his Garmin GPS watch and iPod nano so that I don't have to worry about my iPhone dying during my longer runs. 

Can't wait to use this!

Although, I won't know how great it is until they send me the charger for the iPod Nano, so it looks like I'll still be using my phone this week. But at least it'll give me some time to learn how to actually use this.

Tonight has been a night of recovery for me though, as my knees truly did feel the run yesterday and with another 5 miles due for tomorrow morning, I'm trying to be as preventative as possible.

Cryo/Cuff 

I got the Cryo/Cuff back when I had my knee surgeries and it's the next best thing besides an actual ice bath, which when I add even more mileage might be something I will seek out. So I'll ice as much as possible tonight and then it's back on the road tomorrow.

Tonight: Icing for an hour so far alternating knees every 20 minutes... and continuing until bed. 

Tomorrow: 5 miles

Milestone Day- Longest Run

I've decided that I need to slow down my social schedule a little bit. Last week I was busy every. single. night with some event or commitment or another and it all became too much. It's fine going out and doing something, but I need to do so in moderation and on a low key kind of scale.


Thursday I did a simple workout DVD, mostly because I was a little nervous about my run that I had Saturday (today). And then Friday was a rest day.

Friday was also my monthly Wine Club gathering with a good group of friends and this month I was hosting. Since I knew I had a big run the next day, I made my menu around something that would not only taste good, but also be very energizing for me. Insert homemade basil pasta and baked pesto chicken.

After a great evening catching up with my friends, it was clean up, setting of the alarm, and off to bed for me. After struggling with my alarm, I was finally off to sleep.

Gus Gus was finding 4:30am a great time to start meow'ing for food and it started my morning off on a slower start. Around 8:30am I finally got myself out of bed. I was happy to find my ironman water bottle belt so I was able to fill up two small water bottles to wear around my waist; had a quick breakfast; took a couple Tylenol and a deeeeeeep breath. This would be my LONGEST run ever. 

For the most part my run felt really good, and the first half I was at a great pace, and was hitting all the crosswalk signs in my favor. I set a PR in my half marathon time (well not my BEST, but my best in the last couple years). But.. I think I may have been pushing it too hard.

My brother in law sent me a link to his friends advice for running longer distances, and it said that when you first start out on them that you should go a couple minutes slower than what you hope your marathon pace to be. My entire 16 miles was under 11 minutes/miles. And I completed the whole thing in just under 3 hours. 

What's worse about the whole thing, is around mile 12, all I could think about was, am I even going to remember the experience of running the Boston Marathon? I find on my long runs, I couldn't tell you anything about them, just that I did it, and I finished it. 

I do remember being extremely annoyed with more pedestrians today... because honestly... they're stupid. Get. Out. Of. My.Way... and stop walking in cursive.

I definitely am starting to feel the familiar pain in my knees, and as I'm sitting here typing this I can feel it. I'm hoping by tomorrow it will start to subside, but I'm also thankful my training allows for recovery after these runs. 

I'm sorry this post is a little short, but I'm exhausted and like I said, I kind of blacked out during the run.

Post running stretching... felt amazing...

It was pretty cool to get both my furthest distance and longest time for running under my belt. 

Tomorrow: Rest Day

Monday: 5 miles

Snooze Button = The New Devil

I'd be lying if I said I woke up exactly at 5:25am as I had originally planned, and was out starting my run at 6:00am as I had planned. CRAP. I blame the television shows that lure you in just enough to make you not leave the couch and relocate to your bed because you "just don't want to miss anything," even though you could easily check it out later on onDemand, or even DVR it.

Insert 6:15am... I look out the window to check the sidewalks to see if I was really going to have to deal with ice or not considering my phone was telling me it was 32 degrees out, but the sidewalks looked pretty clear, and I knew if I was going to get in 7 miles before work, I needed to get moving.

6:46am I was off...The run itself felt pretty good, except for the few spots that translated my motions to what felt like slow-motion, or that I wasn't even moving because the gusts of wind were so bad. But the world was up and buzzing around the streets of Boston, and I was surrounded by other runners.

I was also surrounded by a bagillion people who don't understand sidewalk space, and even when they clear as day see you running towards them, don't know how to "share" the sidewalk. I'm contemplating setting up a seminar about sidewalk etiquette  which by the way, will also include not puffing your cigarette smoke in my direction as I'm running by either [seriously, I'm busting my butt running, and don't care for your  carcinogen infused air... I prefer the fresh stuff]

My run was plotted off of what I had done last Saturday and my half way point was just about to the Garden, which I just feel is extremely fitting for my runs to be configured around :)

Half way point... 3.5 miles

Jusssst about to the Garden

I will admit that the first few miles I was a little rusty, and I'm blaming the running my previous run, just about 12 hours before.. but I needed to get this run in before work due to other obligations. Plus, I'm finding it's a GREAT way to start your day... out in the fresh air, getting mileage in, and running around the city. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to wake up the first time my alarm goes off... and not the tenth. Here's to hoping!

I'll take the yellow for today... nice and steady..

Tomorrow's Distance: 4 miles

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday.... 16 miles!!!

Oh Karma...

Walking to the bus stop yesterday, I'm shocked I even made it there... it was FREEZING! I could barely take my phone out to track the bus without losing all feeling in my hands (yes I was the dumb one who didn't look at the weather and didn't even bring my gloves or anything). So anyways, I kept watch of the weather, and it was just frigid, and the temperature looked a little better for today. Needless to say I switched my rest day to yesterday and decided to meet up for dinner with an old friend.

Enter today... on my stroll into work I couldn't believe how nice it was outside (time of the year considered) and I was actually looking forward to my run later in the day. Then as I exited my office I felt something wet hitting my face. GREAT... it was raining. Of course it was. I didn't suck it up in the cold yesterday, so I was being tortured with rain today. By the time I got home, my motivation to go for a run had dwindled down, even though I knew I had to get the run in, my issues last week were my one week that I'll allow to have those kind of gaps between runs.

But then... I checked my email... and there it was CONFIRMATION from the B.A.A. on my Marathon application.

It finally came... It's Official!

And now you can search me on the baa.org

My motivation was back in full force and I got myself together in some water proof gear and headed out. And of course as I was running it only started raining harder. But, it felt good. I was keeping a decent pace, and my body was feeling strong. Even now my knees aren't bothering me all that much. I did see a couple other runners out there, but also saw a lot of people with confused looks on their faces as I passed them with their umbrellas.. meanwhile I was looking like a drenched rat.

I did a simple out and back route down to Broadway T station and turned around.

I'm loving not seeing much red on here :)

And as I said.... I was a complete drenched rat when I got home, but it's only fitting with my description of myself as a hot mess... 

Soakedddd...

Self photos... one snap at a time

Tomorrow's Distance: 7 miles

Thursday's Distance: 4 miles

I'm back...

 I have this magazine ad in a frame right next to my bed, and it was the first thing I looked at this morning. After not having run since Monday due to the previous posts reasons (which I still have no definitive answers for), I knew I needed to get a good run in.... but the lingering question on how would I feel was sticking in my head. After eating a Luna bar, I set out for my run. I had no distance or time in mind, but I knew the schedule said 14 miles... did I have it in me? Maybe, but I wasn't 100% sold yet.

As I set off, my iPod was playing the perfect music to put me at a steady, somewhat slow, but steady pace. (Thanks DMB, and Mumford and Sons). I felt good, so I decided I would head over to the world trade center and see how I felt.

Crossing over the bridge on  Summer Street

As I got into the area by the World Trade Center, I was having flashbacks of the Boston Run to Remember half marathons I have done that start and finish at this point. But I was still holding a steady pace, and actually increasing my pace per mile. So I decided I would head over towards the Garden and see what mileage that would bring me to.

When I found myself a block or so from the Garden, I decided, you know what, I feel pretty decent right now, I'll head over to the Navy yard. And next thing I knew I found myself at Bunker Hill. [what up Chucktown, as some of my good friends Mindy and Aimee would say] It felt pretty awesome. As a girl with a lot of knee issues, to still be going at a steady pace and not having walked yet, I was proud of myself. [cherish the little moments along the way is what I keep telling myself]

Hello Bunker Hill Monument

It was at this point I was around 5.5 miles, and decided I was going to do a half marathon. 13.1 miles. Charlestown offered something that most of my route so far hadn't been able to give me... hills. I pushed myself to run up most of them on the route out, and allowed myself to walk (briskly) up some of them on the route back to Southie. With my knee pain, hiking up mountains, or running up hills has always proved to be a problem area for me, so I wanted to take my precautions.

After leaving Charlestown and heading back to Southie, I couldn't help but pause as I was coming back over the bridge and looking over at the Garden.  It's nice to see such a great BIG sign for the Boston Bruins, starring at me as I run. I'm doing this for the Bruins Foundation. My Bruins and Charity. Two of my biggest loves. 

Still snowing as well...

It was nice to see so many other runners out there braving the snow as well, not that it was nearly as bad as last weekend, but still. I can't help but think over half the people I cross paths with running, are also training. My frustrations continue though, that I could probably run forever without my knee issues. My breathing is always fine, my lungs feel good, but it's always my knees that hold me back from having that extra kick in my stride. Maybe I'll find someway to get around that.

Running along Atlantic Avenue

As I entered the final miles of my run, it was comforting to know that I was able to do 10 miles without any area of significant walking. [thank god, I don't wanna be the marathon runner walking after mile 3!] But to date, that's the most mileage I've ever done without walking for a few minutes within the run. It was also encouraging that I was keeping the same steady pace. Mile after mile, my iPod told me my mile pace and I was within a few seconds of the time before. Little landmarks, which are in fact BIG landmarks.

Rounding back into Southie, I couldn't believe I had just done a HALF MARATHON, without the motivation of a bib number, being timed, and having thousands of other people around me doing the same thing. And also after everything that had gone on earlier in the week. I was proud that I was able to do it. And I was able to do it in around the same time I've previously done it in races (but without the race adrenaline, so I'm hoping come race day it'll actually be a little faster).

Nothing like a tour of parts of the Freedom Trail

I will definitely be taking advantage of some stretching bands I own, and my ice pack specifically for my knee to help my body recover from the run... I did make a mental note that if I'm going to go for a long run like this, unlike the timed races with other people, I don't have water stations every few miles, so I'll need to start running with some water or energy packs, because I was definitely parched at different points.  But I was able to finish the run still with a smile on my face... and enjoyed my ZICO Chocolate Coconut Water tremendously when I got back to my apartment.

Still Smiling...

Tasted SOOO good.

And now... back on schedule for the training.

Tomorrow: Rest Day/ Coaching Seacoast Field Hockey

Monday: 4 miles

The Longest 24 hours.Ever.

So tonight I have to combine the last two days, only because they never were what I expected them to be. Before I get into the latest updates on my life. I will say I did get out for a run yesterday, even if it was slushy, rainy, and not ideal running conditions. 

Needless to say by the end my feet were soaked, along with my legs up to my knees after having to try and leap either puddles, and still landing in 3-5 inch puddles, or attempting to jump through snow banks to get around the piles and still sinking into the snow.

Nice and Rainy

Again not ideal sidewalk conditions

Not at all.

But I did manage to get 4 miles in according to the schedule I am following, so that felt good.

So then... everything kind of came to a halt.

Here's a somewhat timeline

4:30-5pm: I'm sitting at my desk and begin to feel some extreme back pain.. I'm thinking it has to do with the shoveling from Sunday, but something about it is a little bit different. I couldn't quite "stretch" out the kinks or do anything to really make it feel better. I attempted some ibuprofen  but nothing was really working. 

7:00pm: I get home and find myself sitting at the counter hunched over still feeling the back pain, which was slowly creeping around the front of my body up under my ribs. I attempted a hot bath, but just could not get any relief. At this point, no position, standing, crunching over, laying flat, or anything could comfort me. I was in sheer pain. 

8:00pm: I call my parents in complete hysterics and just in an unbearable amount of pain from whatever it was that was happening to my body. They didn't like the sounds of my tears, or the description of my pain and told me I should either try and get a friend to bring me to the ER or get a cab or call 911 if needed. There was seriously nothing worse I have ever felt than this pain. It hurt breathing, so crying on top of it didn't help the situation.

8:15pm: I get in touch with my good friend 1.0 and she immediately comes to get me and bring me to MGH Emergency Room. She's seen me battle through all my field hockey injuries and at this moment, she was seeing me at my worst. I was in so much pain that I could not stop crying. She did a great job asking me questions about my pain and any typical registration questions in the car in case she needed to speak for me at the hospital. 

8:37pm: We arrive at the ER, and lucky for me it wasn't that busy from what I could tell, but they also immediately got me checked in and next thing I knew I was being taken back to the urgent care unit where I would find myself for the next almost 10 hours. 

Once I was placed in my awesome hospital gown, I was started on an IV of fluids and morphine to try and help alleviate some of my pain, and in hopes to get me to stop crying, although I was pretty much out of tears at this point. 

I hate needles. And I didn't take this photo until probably 5am

So after my initial dose of morphine and speaking with 2 nurses, a medical student, and the physicians assistant. The pain was not staying away. I was again ordered for 2 more doses of morphine to try and help ease the pain.

They ordered a couple blood tests and deciphered that I had high levels than they liked in my liver and were a little bit concerned.

After retelling my situation and answering the same questions 9 different times (and swearing to 1.0 that if one more person asked me these questions I was going to punch them in the face), I was sent off for an ultra sound to take some pictures of my abdominal area.

The initial diagnosis thought was that my common bile duct tube was enlarged and possibly had some gallstones, but they weren't sure because they couldn't see them on the ultrasound. 

Still sitting in my room in pain they ordered a stronger dose of pain meds and I was given some Dilaudid which let me tell you, went straight to my head making me dizzy and woozy, but at least helped some of the pain.

Insert the Surgeon Team.

In comes a younger male doctor who was really nice, and immediately warns me that he has to ask me all the same questions... Me being a little loopy from the Dilaudid, 1.0 warned him of my earlier threat and he promised to make it quick.

After his examination he told me that they were a little concerned but that I remained a little mystery as certain symptoms weren't adding up, but that they could clearly see I was in pain. He mentioned a possible CAT scan, but stated they didn't like to have younger females have too many of those, and I had already had one back in 2008.

He then went off and consulted with other doctors and came back concluding that they would try and X-Ray and some sort of drink to see what was going on. Which both sounded better than the alternative of a camera down my throat. 

So off to X-rays I went, and then I came back and they had me drink this god awful stuff that numbed my tongue and throat... which I still don't know the point of... 

Poor 1.0 stayed with me the whole time...

sleeping in the chair

After waiting a few more hours, insert 6:15am, and me still not having slept, still not feeling 100% fine, and the doctors still not knowing what was wrong with me. They felt comfortable discharging me since they had knocked off life threatening or serious conditions, but still wanted me to follow-up.

They are currently treating me for a possible ulcer in my stomach and/or intestine, and I'm currently catching up on sleep, trying to get comfortable, and keeping my fingers crossed this medicine starts kicking in and working soon. The pain under my ribs has subsided, but the back pain continues to be somewhat persistent... 

I'm now on a crackers and clear fluids diet and also told to "rest". Not exactly what someone training for the marathon on an already shortened training schedule wants to hear.  But I guess there's nothing I can do about it. I have to follow-up with the doctors in another 24 hours to check on some additional tests that they are 

And to top off matters even more I wasn't feeling well enough to attend tonight's Bruins game... For me to miss a Bruins v. Rangers game that I had so much been looking forward to... you know I'm not feeling great.

Hopefully this will "heal" itself quicker than expected and the pains start to go away...

I'll keep you posted...