Everything and nothing

We've been to the YMCA 3 times now and not once have I used the equipment rooms. We've been swimming each time. I'm hoping that about Thursday, when Clayton will be able to go again, that I can get on a treadmill for a little while. I'm still having some cramping type pain that's causing me to limp a little, but I want to test it out and run for a bit. Or, I may go in the morning and leave the kids in Child Watch for a bit. Just depends how much work I end up having. I enjoyed taking the kids by myself tonight...at least I enjoyed it more than I thought I would. Andrew seems to be teaching himself how to swim. He decided to ditch the belt tonight and just use the kickboard. He ditched that also and wanted to see if he could just make it to the ladder and was able to doggy paddle there. After that, he kept trying to go farther and farther. He really surprised me with how far he was able to doggy paddle from one place to another. Of course, Kristin wanted to try without the belt and wasn't able to do anything. Planning on swim lessons for both of them at some point this summer.

I'm excited that my weight loss has picked up again. I am currently down 22.7 pounds. Swimming helps. I'm sure the 10K helped, too. Also, I just seem to be making better choices without having to think too hard about it. Speaking of choices, I could use a glass of chocolate milk right about now. I'm hungry and that will help keep me from eating. So would going to sleep. I'm tired, but not really sleepy, so I will probably be up for a little longer.

Today was the first *official* day of summer break. Yesterday didn't count because it was a holiday. The kids were good and didn't argue today. Of course, I threatened them with having to clean their rooms if they did argue. They spent time outside and when it got too hot, they came in and watched Netflix. After supper we headed to the Y. All in all, it was a good day. Praying the rest of the summer is as good.

10K is done

So, I finished the White Squirrel 10K yesterday and I wasn't last! My original goal was to run the whole thing. That was before I injured my hip several weeks ago. My 2nd goal was to finish in less than an hour and a half. I am happy to say that I accomplished that goal. My official time was 1 hour 17 minutes and some seconds. I even had to go it alone. Katie was sick and decided not to go. I'm planning on training for another one for the fall. I want to work my way back up to at least 30 minutes 3 times a week. We joined the YMCA Friday night, so I will be able to use the treadmill and not be out in the heat.

My hip isn't hurting anywhere near what I was expecting. I do have some pain when I step wrong, but for the most part I'm good. I'm hoping that a couple weeks off from running will be what I need.

Dare I?

I do. Woke up this morning with NO pain or limp from my hip this morning. Hoping it stays that way through about a 30 minute run this evening. 10K is this Saturday and I haven't been able to finish my training, but I'm still planning on making the most of it!

Back to work tomorrow

Day 3 of being off work started well. I got Kristin to preschool and headed back to the middle school to hit the track to see what I could do. I decided beforehand that I would start off with running/jogging and see how far I could go. I'm happy to say that I hit a mile pretty easily. Well, easy is relative. I was huffing and puffing because I pulled a 10:21 mile. That's pretty fast for me, so I walked the next lap and the rest of the time was spent alternating between walking and running...running the straights and walking the curves. The last minute and a half to 2 minutes I pushed a little harder and ran until I hit the 30 minute mark. I felt good about it, but wished I could have run a bit farther. I don't want to push it, though, and hurt myself further. Today's run was done mostly without pain. I'm note quite sure how the rest of training will play out since tomorrow is Kristin's last day of preschool and since Clayton is in school most days of the week. I guess I'll have to try to get a couple evening runs in when he's off work. I'd like to get at least 3 more in before the 10K on the 28th and hopefully be able to increase my mileage at least by a little so I feel a little more confident about the race.

Day 2

I'm on day 2 of being off work because the doctor I type for is on vacation. There's a chance I'll be off tomorrow, too, but will find out in the morning. Today wasn't as productive as yesterday, what with all the laundry I got washed and dried. Haven't put it away yet, but today isn't over yet. I did, however, run the dishwasher and get a head start on supper for tonight. We're having marinated pork chops, scalloped potatoes, and butterbeans. And leftover biscuits if anyone wants them. I got ahead by slicing the potatoes before I picked Andrew up from school. So, supper is in the oven now and we'll be eating about 45 minutes from now.

I took some ibuprofen while in the carline waiting for Andrew and my leg is feeling much better than it did earlier today. The pain I had earlier today was more of an ache than a sharp pain. I truly hope I'm on the mend. I plan on getting out again tomorrow for a run. I would love to get at least a 30 minute run in, but I'm pretty sure it may be more of a 15 minute run, some walking, and maybe another 15 minute run. I don't want to overdo it and really hurt myself. I plan on walking part of the 10K if I have to. I'd rather not, but again, I don't want to hurt myself further.

Completely forgot!

I wore pants to church yesterday that at this time last year I COULD NOT FASTEN. Yeah, I wore them AND they were comfortable! Comfortable! And a little, eensy, tiny bit loose! Yeah, loving it!

AND, the other news I completely forgot to record is that my brother-in-law is back in Germany with his family! Woohoo!

Woohoo!

I got out and ran this morning. Okay, it was a combination of walking and running, but the big thing is that I am mostly without pain. I had a couple issues starting out, but it got easier. I got about half a mile of straight running, so I'm happy with that for now. I'm really hoping to be out again Wednesday and get a good training run in for the 10K. Funny thing is that the shoe on my left foot feels thicker when I'm running than the one on my right. It was just an odd feeling. I felt like I was limping, when maybe I really wasn't. It felt good to get back out there. today.

So, I'm still craving a run, but my hip still hurts. After emailing with a nurse from home, she suggested that I may have a pinched nerve. I was actually able to walk up the stairs to the front door without pain after doing a stretch that I found online this afternoon. Hopefully I'll be able to run come Monday or so. I need new shoes and hope to be able to get to Fleet Feet tomorrow sometime to at least find out which ones I need. We have nothing planned for tomorrow, so maybe we can make our way there.

Craving a run

My body is craving a run. It's been 5 days since I last ran. That's the longest I've gone without running since I started in January. My hip still hurts some. I got up this morning with more pain than I had yesterday, but as I've been walking today, it's eased up. I discovered that if I actually lift my leg as if I'm marching that it doesn't hurt as much and I can move a bit faster. Will most definitely take a break from work later today and do some stretching.

Other things going on (that are probably more important than my hip hurting):

• My brother-in-law will be leaving Afghanistan soon to reunite with his family in Germany!
• Praying for a friend who is having health issues.
  
• Praying for a friend who is having work-related drama.
  
• Praying about our church-wide fasting.
  
• Praying for holiness within my family.
  
• Praying for unity (like-mindedness) in my church.
  
• Praying for family members with health issues.
  
• Praying for cousins to find jobs.
  

And, now, it's past time for me to get started working. 70 minutes of dictation + being sleepy = a long time working today.

Cautiously optimistic

It's only 9:00 in the morning, but I am cautiously optimistic about my hip. It still hurts some when I put full weight on just that leg, but it's not as bad as it has been. Hopefully just a couple more days of rest and easy hip flexor stretching (non-weight bearing stretching) will do the trick. I'm looking forward to starting my running program again soon.

Not running

Looks like running will be put off another few days. I'm still hurting when I put weight on my left leg. It's causing my thigh to hurt somewhat also. I'm not happy with the sudden halt in training, but I'd much rather heal than to make it worse. I'm just hoping I will be able to run a couple times in the next 2 weeks and can run the 10K on the 28th. Anti-inflammatories don't seem to be helping the pain at all. Wish I could figure out what's going on without having to make a doctor's appointment. I may be making an appointment for next week if it doesn't feel better by then.

Mish-Mash of things

Just a post about random things that I have seen today or that are going through my mind.

First up, my hip still hurts. Praying that rest will help and I'll be able to run again by the end of the week. (Wednesday would be great, but aiming for the end of the week at the outside).

Next, I saw a big turtle in the road on my way home from taking Kristin to pre-K this morning. It made me smile when the truck in front of me pulled off the road and a man jumped out and ran back to where the turtle was and moved it out of the road.

Another thing that made me smile this morning was seeing one of the bunnies that was living under our tree. It was sitting just outside the bushes that are in front of the house. It just sat there when I came out of the house.

I also have had tears this morning. Focus on the Family comes on every day when I leave to pick Kristin up from pre-K. Today's topic of discussion was infertility. At this point, I would consider myself infertile. Yes, we have 2 children, but we want one more. It's been 3 years since I went off BC pills and we haven't been successful, so this broadcast hit home.

Also on my mind today is my childhood friend who is going through more medical tests today as well as a college friend whose mother has broken her leg in 2 places and is having surgery today.

Mother's Day

I was woken up this morning to donuts, cards and gifts. My favorite donuts are Krispy Kreme chocolate covered, custard filled. The kids each picked out a card for me...singing cards nonetheless. My gifts were a wooden jewelry box that Andrew got from my MIL. He wanted to build one, but it was decided that finding one at a yard sale would be a good idea. He ended up not giving me the one they found at a yard sale, but one that my MIL had in her home. He says it's to put ponytail holders in for Kristin and me. The other gift was something I asked for...resistance bands for exercising.

We had a good morning at church and a good afternoon with the in-laws. I got a good nap this afternoon after lunch.

Clayton and I celebrated Mother's Day Friday night. He had to work, so we celebrated early. After we dropped the kids off with his parents, we picked up his new work phone, walked around Lowe's and looked at carpet and talked about possibly building a house a few years down the road. Then, we went to Outback for supper. It was a nice non-date night date night. We were back at the house with plenty of time for him to get ready for work.

I've decided to take a couple days off from my 10K training to allow time for my hip to heal. Yesterday was incredibly painful after my run. I iced it and also soaked in a hot bath last night to help it. I limped along at church this morning and finally took some more ibuprofen this afternoon to help. So far, it's feeling a ton better. I want it to stay that way, so Wednesday will be my next running day. Not sure what is scheduled for that day, but I'm at the point where I'm doing either 30, 45, or hour runs for the rest of the training schedule along with some cross training. I'll be okay to skip one scheduled run if it means my hip heals. It was very hard to come to the decision to take a short break. Hopefully this rest will do the trick and I can be back to running Wednesday.

One full hour

I was dreading today's run and anticipating it at the same time. 5 minute warm up, 60 minute run, 5 minute cool down and 4 x 100-m/30 second intervals. The dread came from jumping from a 40 minute run on Thursday to 60 minutes today. Not being sure if I could run that long. Wondering if my hip would allow me to even run at all. It's been painful when I walk, so I wasn't counting on finishing the run today. I got out there and started my 5 minute walk and was pretty slow compared to my pace for the 10 minute walk. It got a little easier with each step. Started running, shuffling, gimping along and told myself that I would at least go 10 minutes to see if my hip felt any better. It did. Every once in awhile a step would hurt, but for the most part it was good. I hit the 30 minute mark and couldn't tell it had been hurting before. I got bored on the track about 40 minutes in, so I headed up the hill and out the gate. Went out to the major road on the sidewalk up to the next light. Ran through parts of the town of Inman. Missed the turn that I planned on taking when I drove the area go see if the sidewalk went all the way around. So, since I missed that turn, I made a random turn before I got to Main Street and hoped it would put me out somewhere close to where I was parked. It did! I have no idea how far that part of my run was, but it kept me from looking at my watch every lap and seriously wondering if I was going to finish the run. My pace was slower than normal today because of my hip. I'm glad it was slower, though, because I'm not sure I would have run the whole thing. My total distance this morning was 5.44 miles with 4.53 of it being the hour-long run and only 0.44 of a mile was walking. Interval distance total was 0.47 of a mile. Unfortunately, my hip really started hurting when I was done running and got in the truck to come home. I popped a couple ibuprofen and that helped a little, but after any length of time sitting, it hurts to walk. At the moment, I've got ice on it and am about to go soak in a hot bath with a book.

My day started off iffy. I didn't want to get up and I didn't want to do anything once I got up. Did not run this morning, opting to go to the grocery store instead. Got my work done (with lots of distractions). Changed clothes to head out to the track for a 40 minute training run. Got through it for a distance of 3.30 miles. I did feel much better after getting the run in. I wanted to quit about half way through, but then I figured I may as well make it through at least another 10 minutes. By that time, I only had 10 minutes left, so I pushed through. I'm learning the mental aspect of pushing through a few minutes at a time. I'm amazed how often it works.

Taco Tuesday!

We're having semi-homemade quesadillas for supper tonight. Yes, I buy the boxed Taco Bell brand of taco stuff. Ground turkey is our meat of choice. Throw meat and cheese on the soft tortilla shell, fold, and slide in the oven for about 7 minutes so the shell gets just a little crisp. Sounds like a great meal to me!

Got out and did my run this morning, 30 minutes. Covered 2.42 miles on a new route. I'm finding that changing up my route helps me push through the run. Tomorrow's is supposed to be on a flat course, so it looks like I'll be heading to the track. It's the flattest place around.

Wii and TV

I love that Wii Fit Plus allows you to do a couple of the "games" while watching TV. 30 minutes of step aerobics was completed tonight while watching Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. Is it wrong that I was exercising while watching a Food Network show? Who cares. It worked for me to get 30 minutes of cardio in since running didn't happen today. (My only problem now is that I'm hungry...)

As of tonight, though, I have lost 21 pounds since January. Twenty-one pounds. I'm getting close to my pre-pregnancy weight. My Andrew pre-pregnancy weight (hello, I got pregnant with him 9 years ago!) Well, according to the Wii anyway. I think it's off by a few pounds, but at least I know how much I've lost.

Here's where faith comes in

I have a longtime friend who is having health issues. I'm honored that even though we haven't spoken to each other in quite a while she has asked me to pray for her as she has an MRI tomorrow. Praying for peace for her, whatever the outcome may be.

I also have been asked to pray for another friend's home inspection tomorrow. The sale of her house depends on it. Praying that goes well.

There are just so many things that are in need of prayer. This country, its leaders, missionaries in other countries, local churches and their pastors, friends and family who have health issues or other issues going on. The list could go on and on and on.

“This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.” - 1 John 5:14-15

Lazy day

I love having unexpected days off. I had an inkling of productivity this morning; it lasted as far as organizing the tupperware stuff above the sink. My morning was supposed to start off with a 30 minute run. However, waking up and feeling like I needed to go back to bed nixed that. Well, that and the fact that my right hip felt like it was going to give way every once in awhile. I figured that I didn't want to get a mile away from the house and have it give out, so resting was on the menu. The perfect place to rest ended up being my in-laws' house this afternoon. I got Kristin from school and headed over there for some lunch and some quality time with my mother-in-law. I didn't get to see them Saturday, so this was perfect. We stayed there until it was time to get Andrew from school. At this point, I had plans to get out and run around 5:00. That didn't happen. I was still pretty tired, so I dozed on the couch for a little while. I woke up feeling more awake than I have been all day. Will be doing boot camp day 2 plus finding 30 minutes of cardio to do tonight.

I started a new exercise program tonight. I'm a member on SparkPeople and have not really utilized the site. There's a food tracker and fitness tracker and recipes and a bunch of other things. I signed up to do the spring boot camp that is on the site. It's a 28 day exercise program. Five days a week are cardio and the others are strength training. So, in addition to my 3-4 days of running, I'll be doing the boot camp. I'm hoping it will help me break out of the exercise/weight loss rut I'm in. I did drop another 1.1 pounds this past week for a total of 18.8 lost. I still have another good 15 to 20 pounds to go. Tonight's video was a 10 minute kickboxing work out. It was good to use some muscles other than the ones I run with. Looking forward to the next 27 days of boot camp.

From jogger to runner

Last night I was flipping through the 2nd book Katie gave me (the one with the really long title) just to see what was in it. The title of Chaper 6 is From Jogging to Running: Training for the Intermediate Runner. I went on to read the first 4 paragraphs which address when a "jogger" becomes a "runner." It's not a distance or a speed. It's a mind-set. It's different things for different people. It's when getting out there becomes more of a craving than a means to an end, i.e., losing weight. It's running to run. I don't know exactly when I went from "jogger" to "runner," but I believe I've made the switch. Yes, I'm still running for weight loss/maintenance, but it's more than that. It's an energy release, stress reliever, a feeling of accomplishment. Each time I get out to run and I push myself just a little farther, I marvel at the fact that I am running. Running miles. Not feet or yards. Miles at a time. My body is able to do far more than I ever imagined. I am exhilarated by the fact that I can push myself a little harder and go farther and that I want to keep trying and go farther. I thank God that he made me who I am and that I can do this and that He has given me the ability and the desire to be outside and enjoy his creation...even if I am huffing and puffing while doing so. It's just an amazing thing.