Injuries STINK!!!

Well I was lucky enough to get the bunny slippers, I mean slipper on Thursday evening. It has been a rough week. My last post describes the pain I had in my hip. I went to my chiropractor twice last week. Turns out that my hip pain was stemming from the fact that my pelvic boned had rocked out of place (shifted forward). So he did 2 adjustments. On Friday, I felt wonderful and worked out with my trainer. As I was doing my 2nd round of squats, I felt my hip get a little tight, but not sore. So I did as the doctor ordered and did NO running on the weekend. It was very hard not to run. My mind and body are so used to the running routing that without it I feel kinda blah. It's amazing how much running helps the mind. I was so pumped for today to head out with Bobby's Bunch for a short loop around Zink lake. Well I think the 11th street bridge has something against me, as I stepped across it tonight at around the 1.15 mile, one step on my right foot, and I felt my hip just pop out of place. UGHH!!! Here we go again. I am back to the chiropractor tomorrow for another adjustment. I guess the good news is that the hip pain is nearly as painful as it was the first time, so that's improvement right? We'll see if I am back to walking restriction. The bunny slipper has had quite an adventurous time even if there was very little running involved. Pictures to come...

What a mess of a run!

Let me start this entry by saying that I think the whole idea of the poker run is great and was loads of fun (or at least would have been, had I had any type of good cards at all!). The day started alright. I meet up with some other beginner 1/2 marathoners at 7:30 to get our 2 miles in before the beginning of the poker run. I started the day with an attitude of trying to keep a pace between 12:15 and 12:30 so I could get all 7 miles in without much hardship. The first two miles went smooth as we did an out and back to the pedestrian bridge. Then it was time for the poker run, masses of people headed out to Riverside, I laid back a bit as I have a lot of anxiety of being in large crowds. The 3 mile of my run today seemed to be going alright. Then I hit around the 3 1/2 mile marker and wound up with excruciating pain in my right hip. At first I thought maybe it was just a hip cramp, but when I hit mile 4 I knew it was something more serious. The pain got so bad that I just wanted to quit and cry. I decided that I had to be okay with walking and getting my miles in. At the turn around, Deon handed me yet another unhelpful card to my poker hand, but had nothing but words of encouragement. So instead of heading up and over the 21st bridge and cutting the run short I decided that 7 miles would be what my Garmin indicated at the end of the day. I had several very nice and thoughtful runners check on me on the way back, by mile 5.5 even walking was becoming a struggle, but I forged ahead. I did make it back to Veteran's park, with all 7 cards, which had to be one of the worst hands out there (K, 9, 7, 5,4,3,2). I am now letting good ol' Advil help alleviate the inflammation and laying low for the rest of the day, hoping that whatever it is that is hurt, heals. I thank everyone who checked up on and with me, I love the thoughtfulness and caring of the Runners World group.

My dog gets his first award

Boca is quite proud of his trophy for heeling and coming to an automatic sit the quickest. I have to share the ironic part of the whole class and getting the trophy, is I seem to have the dog that would be labeled the "class clown" granted he gets a lot of cute points, but following structure is not his strong suite. So, why include this on a blog about running and fitness. Well I figure if my class clown dog can pull out a trophy, then I can surely complete my scheduled 13.1 miles in April.

My past week of running has been pretty good. Saturday included a run of 6 miles through the streets of south tulsa. I enjoyed the run and the route. I felt that I kept up a decent pace and if I had to I felt like I could have done another mile if needed. The Monday was a very nice evening, a little windy here and there, but people were busting out the shorts because the weather has turned so warm and spring like. I was chugging along at a 12 min/mile for the first mile then Michael and Ken caught up with me. Dana was a little ahead of me so Ken forged ahead to catch up with Dana and run with her and Michael and I continued on with good conversation on how the KU Jayhawks killed OSU in basketball, and of course that also included picking up the pace a little. The 4 of us decided to do the full 4.4 mile Zink lake loop, it was such a nice evening. I finished the 4.27 miles in 51:10 which was about a 12 min/mile pace overall. On Tuesday the weather was a little sketchy, but since I didn't have to teach that night, I headed out to meet up with the Runners World crew. I opted for 3.15 miles because of the wind and weather conditions, again was a decent run for myself, with an average of 12 min/mile average. This morning, I had a great arm workout with trainer Andrew. It was brutal, but better than squats on a Bosu ball. Then Boca and I headed to Dog school which as you can see yielded great results as well.

I hope everyone has had a great week!

Lawrence KS 1/2 Marathon is ON!!!

YIPPEEE!! This run has been the monkey on my back. It used to be called the Lawrence Half Marathon, but the run got canceled due to lack of sponsorship, but it appears the whole run has changed hands in terms of organization. They will be having a 1/2 marathon on April 19th (one week before OKC). Next year they will be adding a full marathon as well..OH BOY!!! Sign me up. Anyone else want to trek to Lawrence?

www.kansasmarathon.com

This just goes to show that listening to streaming radio while at work is a good thing :). OH Boy!!!

A Noteworthy Run (yes again)

Oh my goodness!! Tonight was surreal run for me. First, the weather was great, 50 degrees with very little wind. As Bobby's Bunch was saying tonight, what a difference a week makes. There were about 10 of us out tonight at 21st and Riverside. Everyone pretty much decided to do the 3 mile loop rather than the full Zink lake loop, except Deon, Tom (I think that's his name) and Jennifer (I think that's her name). Well we headed out and I was kinda hanging with Chrissy and Michael..and if you haven't seen Chrissy's new shoes just wait...they are AWESOME!! Well Chrissy decided to give her new shoes a true spin and bolted off...Michael was kind enough to hang with me...we figured when we crossed the 11th street bridge, Chrissy had to be about a half mile ahead of us. Can you say Go Go Gadget shoes!!?? As we crossed the bridge, the good ol' Garmin chimed that it had been a mile. I looked down and exclaimed to Michael that it had to be one of my fastest miles ever...we clocked in at 11:40...Well then mile 2 went flying by and when the watch chimed...it read 23:22, I exclaimed again (just as Michael), I have never ever run 2 miles in under 24 minutes prior to this evening. So we kept on trucking...Chrissy was nice enough to loop back and meet us around the wooden bridge on the west side. We trekked up and over the 21st street bridge. About 1/2 way across the bridge, I knew I was pushing my limit...breathing was getting a little harder, but I knew I was so close to the end I just kept on going. Well I wound up finishing the 3 miles in 34:55. I exclaimed numerous times (yes you can ask Michael again)...then I was almost speechless...I know very hard to imagine that, but it's true. I never imagined I would finish 3 miles in under 36 minutes no less 35 minutes...I just felt the need to blog this run, because today really exemplified for me that we are all capable of more than we think we can do or be.....

I will miss the Runners World group run on Tuesday because of the night class I teach, but hope to get my miles in at some point during the day. I feel very out of touch with the Runners World group since I missed all of the group runs last week. I am feeling anxious and looking forward to the 6 miles on Saturday...will be another great adventure I am sure.