To stretch, or not to stretch, that is the question!

Stretching is not really the question, the question is really to stretch before the run or after the run.  Due to my various medical conditions I have to be exceptionally careful in my training or I will end up stuck in bed for a month!  On Monday I figured I would get a few miles in on the treadmill since I was so short last week.  Within the first mile my calves and my back were KILLING me.  I paused the treadmill to try to stretch but it didn’t really do any good.  I managed to get a whole 1.7 miles in before I had to call it quits.  Tuesday, I put on a pair of compression socks and hit the dreamill again.  This time I spent a few minutes of warm-up stretching, more than 3 ½ miles later I was finishing up my time feeling great!  I did the same thing today for my “easy” run and had an incredible run!!!  I figure as long as the warm-up stretching makes my run great I will keep doing it.  I do always warm-up, but I think I need the warm-up stretching.

I have one more short run this week, which is on the calendar for tomorrow and then Saturday is my long run.  I am working on convincing my sister to do a portion of the run with me, it will be nice to see my sister out there on the trail.

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

–Swami Sivananda

Week 1 – over

Week 1 of training is as complete as it is going to get.  Wasn’t the greatest start, but it was a start all the same!  Since before Christmas a nasty little stomach bug has been passed around my house.  Little man had it on Christmas Eve, kiddo had it the following Saturday/Sunday and then I came down with it on Tuesday.  I got an incredible swim in on Monday, but then I was stuck in bed/moving very gingerly on Tuesday/Wednesday.  Thursday morning after I gave my mom her medicine I came home and went out for a run.  When I run outside I use the RoadID app so my family doesn’t freak out.  After my mom got the ‘I have finished’ notification I received a text saying “ARE YOU NUTS?!!” Yea, my mom loves me! <3 I might want to mention that, it was 19 degrees, had a good inch or so of snow on the ground and it was starting to snow again. But in my defense, I saw two other runners out there! I had planned on doing a full three miles, but the snow and my back do not get along so I cut my run short.  It felt great to be out there, but I was glad to get home and get warm! Friday was a run here, run there kind of day.  Saturday was another day of appointments.  Every Sunday (unless I am sicker than sick) I drive my dad to church.  Yes, I was brought up in the church he attends, but it is not what I believe so I took advantage of being in a very beautiful area and went for a short run.  I went a mile down the hill and a mile back up the hill.  On the way up I was SURE I was going to die! The side of the road was snow covered so I was very careful, when I could I was slide over where it wasn’t so slick, but as soon as I saw a car coming I moved back over to the very edge.  I got back to the car and cranked the heater, it felt great running it in, but when my body temperature started returning to normal the 0 degrees hit kind of hard!

Did I mention the church is on the TOP of a hill?!

Week 1 is over, yes, I only managed to complete about a quarter of the miles I was supposed to do, but there is nothing I can do about it.  Kiddos go back to school on Wednesday which will make my schedule a little more flexible but I still have daughter duty which I can work around for the most part. 
Here is to a good week of training!

	Week 1		Week 2
	Planned	Actually	Planned
Monday	“Rest” – pool time	Swam 2,650 yards	“Rest”
Tuesday	3 miles	Sick L	3 miles
Wednesday	3 miles	Sick L	3 miles
Thursday	3 miles	1.55	3 miles
Friday	“Rest” – Cross	Rest	“Rest” – Cross
Saturday	6 miles	Appointments	7 miles
Sunday	“Cross” – rest	2	“Cross” – rest
	15	3.55 (24%)	16

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

–Swami Sivananda

Cancer is a B…

Way back when… Ok, it wasn’t THAT long ago, I was 10 going on 11, we found out that my 80-year old grandfather had just passed away from cancer.  I didn’t fully understand what had happened other than the fact that my grandfather had passed away.  I might want to add in the fact that my family is spread across the country so we didn’t do a whole lot of visiting.  We had visited him a number and times and he us.  Flash forward some years, my older son was not yet a year and I found out that my dad’s baby brother had just passed away, you got from cancer.  My dad was working overseas at the time and I really didn’t have a way to contact him, yes, I had email but “Dear dad, your baby brother just passed away.  Sorry! Love, your daughter” just didn’t seem very fitting.  After YELLING at the AT&T operator I was finally able to get a hold of my mom, I asked her to let dad know what had happened, what does she do? She passed the phone to him so I could tell him!!!!  Fast forward a few more years (last year to be exact)… On my dad’s birthday he was diagnosed with… cancer.  For the past year I have accompanied my parents to oncology appointments, I have seen my father in and out of the hospital.  I have seen my father become someone I do not recognize at times.  I have seen my mother (yes, I mean my mother) be the strongest person I have met.  Over this past year I have learned the following three important factors:

1.  Cancer really does suck!

2.  Incredible challenges bring incredible strength

3.  No one should EVER have to go to the oncologists office alone

I have also learned about hospice (my father is not to that point yet, but he is getting closer than I am willing to admit).  When the oncologist started talking about hospice my mom and I were about to kill him! (Figuratively not literally)  Once I calmed down and actually called a hospice center to get more information.  For starters, yes, hospice is for end stage with that said hospice is not necessarily in a facility.  Individuals who are “in” hospice stay in their home as long as possible. 

This past year I have slowed down and taken time to enjoy the little things in life with my father.  It should NOT have taken a diagnosis of cancer for me to do this.  Please make sure you let your loved ones know just how much they mean to you because there will be a time when you can no longer share this information with them.

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

–Swami Sivananda

Perseverance

One of the heads of a running group I am part of made a comment that being a runner isn’t determined by your speed.  He came up with a list of 52 words that define a runner. Over the next year I plan on taking one word a week and taking a closer look.  I figured it would be interesting to sort of follow suit but to see how these words apply to my life and running. 

perseverance [pur-suh-veer-uh ns] noun 1. steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement. 2.  Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation. Dictionary.com

Perseverance

When it comes to my running, perseverance would definitely at the top of the list.  When I was younger there was nothing more relaxing for me than running.  But the idea of running anything more than ¼ of a mile was just plain straight out stupid!  Then I joined the Army and for some strange reason they thought running two miles was a good idea, I still wasn’t a fan of running distances.  When I got out of the military I was told I would never walk normally again due to an injury I had sustained while serving in Iraq.  For a few years I believed it, I let the weight pack on and I was miserable.  One morning I woke up and decided enough was enough.  I signed up for my first sprint distance triathlon and 5k.  I got hooked, I started signing up for half marathons and even marathons.  Well, my first marathon, wasn’t.  My body reminded me that I am still injured, I still have problems that will never heal and my body WILL make me listen.  I managed to complete five marathons within a 365 day period.  A few years later my body went completely nuts, I couldn’t figure out what was going on.  After being poked and prodded and x-rayed and MRI’d and so forth only to find out I had been blessed with an autoimmune disorder (lupus), I later found out that autoimmune disorders to not travel alone, I have since been diagnosed with fibro and RA (in addition to the injury that forced me out of the military).  I can have an absolutely incredible run and then not be able to walk for a month.  Within the past couple years I was confined to a wheelchair for over a month and it was the medals on my walls that helped keep looking forward. 

My current “running” pace is a good three to five minutes slower than it was and my mileage is less than a quarter of what it was, but that is ok because I know I will get there again.  Until I get to that point I will enjoy what I can do and know what I am capable of. 

Put your heart, mind, and soul into even your smallest acts. This is the secret of success.

–Swami Sivananda