Love this quote...

I run because it's so symbolic of life. You have to drive yourself to overcome the obstacles. You might feel that you can't. But then you find your inner strength, and realize you're capable of so much more than you thought.

-Arthur Blank

Arthur Blank, American businessman and a co-founder of Home Depot

Trotting Along... Hippie Chick in sight

I've been doing a wee little bit of running lately, which is mentally a relief.  I have the impressive ability to pack on the pounds quickly, so a few weeks off road is a bad thing for me!  I haven't done any runs farther than 3 miles, but I've been walking evenings with the hubster as well. 

I've been facing a dilemma, which is I'm registered for the Hippie Chick Half and totally not trained to run it.  I really, sincerely thought having it looming over my head after Surf City would be my motivation to keep on running, but clearly not.  I debated just losing the registration fee and skipping it, but the Hippie Chick is a tough race to get into... I stayed up till midnight to register and by 3:00 a.m. or something crazy like that it was completely sold out.  Plus, the name is cool.  I mean, come on... Hippie Chick?  Way cool.  I'm a little bummed they're doing medals instead of necklaces this year, but still...

So I've decided to stay in.  Probably I shouldn't mention this out loud as I know it's relatively stupid, but the first half marathon I ever ran I did with zero training (I call it my Accidental Half), so how bad can this be?!?  I'm running a little and intend to continue that.  I'm planning to sneak in a few 5's between now and then, too.  Race day plan is to wing it.  Yep, wing it.  Clearly I can't hope to set a new PR, but I can get out there, enjoy the day and finish the race one way or the other.  I'll do a walk/run combo with the emphasis on the walk (yeah, right) and see what happens. 

Giving Yourself the Willies

Know how to do it?  Peel your toenails off... that will do it. 

This morning my first two post-marathon nails came off.  OH MY GOSH.  Gross.  :P  Big toenails are still in place, but the #2 toes on both feet are now nail-less.  So disgusting.  At first I got the serious willies, then I thought it was kind of cool, then I picked the cuticles off the toenails sitting in my palm.  Once that was through I promptly started grossing out as many of my children as possible.  haha ~ that was fun!  :)  George, Mr. Former Army Medic, refused to be grossed out, but the kids were quite satisfying. 

On a more encouraging note, I went for a little 3 mile run in the sunshine with my cousin Windy this morning.  She was here from Denver for a few days with her family and so out we went.  The weather was gorgeous and it was good to have someone drag me out the door. 

Loved running with you, Win.  Never thought I'd be doing that!

Pushing the Restart Button

When I was training for my marathon I knew I would experience some burn out after it was over.  I tried to put a couple of safeguards in place beforehand to help me over the hump afterward, thinking that might make a difference.  Here I am, 5 weeks post-marathon and I am definitely still in burn out. 

I tried to run alone~ torture.  Feels like I'm dragging the weight of the world behind me.  I tried to run with Blanca and with Julie, and that was definitely better.  Still, my motivation is so, so low.  Honestly, I just don't want to do it!  Julie is plowing through her Hippie Chick training, stronger than ever and full of motivation.  Blanca and Debbie are likewise training with a group and getting stronger by the minute.  Meanwhile, I am wallowing a bit, trying to stay out of the brownies and feeling guilty and stressed about it.  There are 8 weeks till the half marathon.  I don't have TIME to be wallowing.

So what's a girl to do?  I decided this weekend to quit beating myself up about it, for one thing.  I knew I would struggle, and I am.  In an effort to not go completely belly up I am meeting Kirsten at the gym, doing weights and a bit of cardio.  I've tried to do some food journaling to get my eating under control, but I keep crashing and burning on that, too.  I keep climbing back on the wagon and then tumbling off again.

There's not much point to this post, I guess, other than to say that life is real and sometimes real means I must confess that I don't want to do it.  So there. 

Don't worry, I'll figure this out.

Hippie Chick Countdown

Today I officially began my training for the Hippie Chick Half Marathon on May 8th. I've added last year's logo because I can't find one for this year and I think it's kind of cute, anyway. 

Wow, it feels good to have a long run be 6 miles and not 16 miles!

Julie and I ran from the Pill Box out into the countryside and back again. There was a medium rain falling, but it was pretty warm. The first two miles I felt like I was struggling to keep up ~ I've learned to ignore it when I feel sluggish for the most part ~ but it sure is nice when you break through into feeling good again.

I enjoyed having a chance to tell Julie my marathon story and she listened very graciously. :)

Back at it, little bunny

One marathon training over + One race successfully run + Six nasty toes + One slight cold + One gray sky that never goes away = A Good Old Fashioned Funk.

Fortunately, funks do not have to last forever and the sun does eventually come out to shine.

I've been working on dragging myself out of the depths for the last week or so, occasionally sure that my bootstraps were stuck deep in quicksand.  I think I'm finally coming around, though.  The sunshine this week is an enormous help.  Saturday we got out into the yard for a little yard work.  Something about chopping down dead things to make way for spring is very therapeutic.  Then Sunday George and I went for a short 2 mile run at the track.  It was slow and easy and although I was pretty cranky about it, it broke the ice for me.  Sunday late afternoon and evening we drove to the beach with friends and I just soaked up the spectacular colors and some big, impressive surf.  Just what the doctor ordered. 

I am scheduled to run Tuesday morning with Julie for the first time in weeks, so after a rather sleepless night decided I deserved a rest day today.  I dropped the kids at school, came home and went straight to nap position on the couch.  I was just getting nice and cozy with a kitty curled up on my feet when Blanca sent me a text... "Want to run today?"  Hm.  Not good.  See, now the dilemma kicks in.  I don't want Blanca to think I'm avoiding her (we are running Hood to Coast together this summer), plus the sun is shining one more time before the rain returns, plus the 4 miles would be good for me.  *sigh*

So off the couch I went ~ with a nasty look from my cat who did not appreciate the upset ~ got dressed and off to Blanca's.  We ran 4 miles in the crisp sunshine and it felt really, really good.  I thanked her for kicking me off the couch when it was over. 

I guess this means I'm not allowed my funk anymore, huh? 

Recovering

It's hard to believe I just ran the marathon last Sunday.  Today is Thursday, so I'm on my fourth day out.  Immediately after the race I was pretty creaky.  Everything tightened up pretty fast and my feet were hurting so I was a slow moving girl that day.

Monday I was pretty sore.  I hobbled around like a little old lady and kept my toes covered with loose socks so as not to look at them.  I stayed indoors most of that day, with the exception of a trip to In-n-Out for lunch with Heidi and Jake.  Climbing in and out of Heidi's Range Rover was a bit of a challenge and I certainly looked a little wounded shuffling around the restaurant.  I still had to sleep with my feet sticking out of the covers at the end of the bed because of my toes. 

Tuesday I was decidedly less sore.  Still somewhat creaky and shuffley, but moving much better.  My toes were still hurting pretty much all the time, but I could take the socks off and not gross myself out, so that was progress.  Heidi and I went to lunch at Bob's Big Boy that day and moving around was definitely improved.  Tuesday afternoon Heidi and Jake dropped me off at John Wayne Airport and I actually had to walk a bit to check in, get through security, and make my way to my gate.  Thank goodness I wasn't flying out of a massive airport like LAX as my poor toes were really feeling it as I walked more.  I had to hurry to my connecting flight in Oakland and by the time I made it home to Portland my toes were pretty throbby.  Again, I had to sleep with the covers pulled up above my feet.

Wednesday I woke up with almost no muscle soreness whatsoever.  I was pretty surprised, as I really expected it to take a lot longer than that.  If it weren't for my toes I could have gone for a short run that day.  None of my usual hot spots were hurting, either.  I finally took my toenail polish off Wednesday... very, very delicately.  That's the last time I run a long distance in toenail polish.  I managed to get it off and yuck, those toes aren't too attractive.  I think my original prediction was correct ~ I'd guess I'm going to lose four nails.  Walking around for too long still makes them ache, but they don't hurt constantly anymore.  Still no real shoes, although last night I slept part of the night under covers as long as my feet were turned sideways and not pointed up. 

Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how the recovery is going.  I've learned over the period of doing my long training runs and now the marathon that I really enjoy the healing process.  In the past I would've used tylenol or ibuprofen while healing from something painful, but somewhere along the way I stopped doing that.  It's a fascinating thing to actually feel your body heal itself day by day.  I'm not against the use of over the counters ~ I'll still use one if I need to, but this is a rewarding way to heal as well. 

Things are going well.  I'm looking forward to my toes feeling better and getting back into real shoes to go for a little run.