A Rough One

Today was a rough one.

To start, I woke up feeling as if I had been run over by a train in my sleep. If we are being honest, I was already somewhat sore for the abundance of handstands and roundoffs, paired with some sprinting around in the park on Saturday. But the kind of hurt this morning was the sick kind of hurt.

My savior 

It feels like my body is fighting off the flu or something – I haven’t had much of an appetite, my body hurts and I was super cold last night.

On to more awesome things. Boston was today. Two years ago I was there, but this year I was sitting at my desk pouting because I can hardly run right now. In the midst of the craziness and the media coverage, this picture gave me chills –

A big congrats to Meb Keflezighi for becoming the first American man since 1983 to break that tape first. In the midst of last year’s tragedy, it seems pretty appropriate to me, don’t ya think?

As I sat at my desk and whined like a little girl, one coworker suggested that I start taping my big toe (the bothersome one) to my other toe in order to perhaps promote healing, and give it a little more stability.

Monday, 12:30 PM EST:

don't mind my shitty toenail polish

I’m desperate. So desperate, I may have broken my vow not to run in April. So desperate, I may have signed up for a 5k in early May….

In other news, this past Easter weekend consisted of a lot of glorious deck time:

My roommate recently purchased some new deck furniture, so Andrew and I decided to have our little Easter feast up there while soaking up some sun.

That’s all I’ve got for now. It’s blowing my mind that this is the last full week of April – it FLEW by. Anyone out there ever had a troublesome toe? I should probably be icing before bed too…. suggestions welcome, please and thank you!

Cheers to taping toes - 

K8

Train the Brain

I wrote this lame half-assed post on the flight back from Dallas on Sunday, and then realized it was boring as crap and deleted it. You’re welcome.

Bye Dallas!

Instead, let’s talk about how it’s April.

You know how my crazy little mind works at this point, so you’re probably waiting for me to rattle off a series of things I’m going to strive for in this new month. Well let’s get to it – there are 3 (three).

I’m estatic to be back in Baltimore. The weekend in Dallas was awesome, but most certainly not restful. I’m ready for my routine again this week.

the Friday night performance

One awesome takeaway from this weekend was a speaker we had – John Foley. He touched upon a lot of motivational/teamwork/leadership type of topics, but also mentioned the power of positivity, basically on training your brain to be positive. This may not be exactly how he phrased it, but he described that if you wake up every morning and think of something you are grateful about, that after 24 – 27 days you will automatically start waking up with a positive mindset.

Yes, I love that.

First April goal = work on that positive brain.

Second and third goal kind of go hand-in-hand...

Goal #2 = no running in April.

I actually haven’t run in over a week now. It is just time. Little nagging injuries (including a big toe that’s been bothering me since September) just ain't getting better. And while I CAN run with them, I just don’t think they are gonna go away until I drop down to zero for a while.

                                            

me as I write this.

Between a road trip to Indiana, a visit from my sister and her boy, Easter, and a weekend trip to Colorado to see Andrew's new nephew (YAYY), I predict the month will fly by, and I will survive. Plus I already have a tentative pool date booked for Friday. Never said pool running was out of the picture.

After a month or so I will reevaluate with caution. It's the reason I've yet to schedule a race this year - I'm tired of losing money due to getting hurt. I would love to say by mid-summer/fall I'll have something on the agenda, but that's all speculation. And I'm ok with that. In the meantime, it's strength training, swimming, spinning, the usual. My Crossfit living social deal ends this week which I'm bummed about, but a monthly membership just isn't in the budget right now.

Sigh.

Anyways, goal #3 is to stick to other sweaty options since running is ixnayed. Last night I started the Jillian Michael’s 6-week six pack – it’s a 35 min video on Youtube (part I) – thanks to a recommendation from Kat. I actually really enjoyed it (I don’t normally love the fitness video thing) and am going to commit to doing that, or any other fitness video I stumble upon over the next month or so, 2-3 times per week. Probably in the mornings, because nothing puts me in a thankful mood quicker than starting my day with a little sweat (See what I did there?).

Well this has been fun. Tell me your April goals? Share your fav fitness videos? And have an amazing freaking day.

Cheers –

Kait

Eating Snow

Things that will not help my lack of motivation to workout: launching off a small cliff while skiing and slamming my full body weight onto my left shoulder.

Hello there whiplash.

I like to pretend that I’m a good skier. Every time I lock into my skis and hit the first few slopes of the day, I immediately start looking for obstacles to challenge myself with; small ramps of snow to go off of, moguls, those hidden trails through the trees.

I’m not that good. I’m reminded of this almost every winter, with a new kind of injury every time.

Andrew is a better skier than me – he demonstrates a little more caution and typically follows a few hundred meters behind me waiting for my ego to get too big and for me to then eat shit snow He comes up from behind, grab my skis that I managed to dismantle, and follows the same series of questions:

- "Are you OK?

- "How did that even happen?"

-"Maybe now you'll calm down a little bit?"

-Laughs, shakes his head, skis away.

(Sigh.)

The shoulder will heel; it already feels a bit better today. Until then, burpees and push-ups will have to wait.

Outside of taking a face full of snow, the weekend was awesome. It dumped snow up in Snowshoe West Virginia the entire weekend we were there; so much so that we had to get Andrew’s car pushed out of the parking spot yesterday on our way out. The weekend was full of fabulous food, (for the most part) great skiing, and really awesome conversation.

Now, it’s Monday. And I have all of these things to look forward to:

love my countdown app 

It’s home to Chicago this weekend for Christmas, and then off to Colorado the following week for New Years. Being gone for 16 days is definitely something I’m pumped for, but not so pumped to pack for. I’m also going to try hard this week to eat the last of what I have in my fridge/freezer, so that nothing goes bad while I’m away.

This should make for some pretty interesting meals. Stay tuned. Hope your 

week is looking fabulous. If it’s not, here’s one last happy countdown for you that hangs in my bedroom:

Cheers –

K

For the Love of the Run

Buckle your seatbelts folks, this is going to be a long one.

I originally wrote parts of this post awhile back, right after Andrew left. At the time I needed some motivation; a pick me up, if you will.

I need that again. So if you’re looking for a pep talk today, like I am, scroll down to the last couple paragraphs.

I’m not running the Marine Corps Marathon this Sunday. I cancelled my hotel reservation yesterday, and went on my final test run today. The verdict: my stress fracture needs to heal, my hamstring needs to heal.

really i just wanted a picture of my cool running capris

Turns out that two weeks of ‘low mileage running’ doesn’t magically heal stress fractures – not even when you’re running on a treadmill in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean.  Not only that, but the weird compensations my body has been making while I’ve been running long on this tiny crack in my foot has led to an increasingly aggravated right hamstring strain.

I got off the boat this past Sunday excited to run eight miles. I completed them right around that 7:30 pace I’ve been loving lately, yet the last mile I was just waiting for my right hamstring to completely fail me.

It. Hurt.

Limping walking the last quarter mile home, I felt pretty defeated, and was mulling over the pros and cons in my head. I want to run MCM. I had made it to the LAST WEEK of training, gotten up at 5 AM on weekends to run, spent too much money on physical therapy.

I had put in the time, the money, hundreds of miles, and so much freaking energy. The sweat and tears. And I'm just not going to see it pay out this year.

so very true, thank you pinterest

I know pain well, he’s actually a friend of mine. I’ve pushed through an array of injuries throughout soccer, volleyball, and now running. And while I promise I'm spitting these words out of my mouth as I say them; ‘this just isn’t the kind of injury that I can push through, and run 26 miles on.’

Call me one of the two P words, that's fine. I'm going to call it being proactive.

At very few points throughout training for this marathon have I felt confident, have I felt excited for what was to come. When I first began training, my body wasn’t at 100% - it was at 85% at best. And I would say since then I’ve dropped to 65% on a good day. And here’s the big it factor for me: I haven’t enjoyed running injured. Almost every run was a careful run, an evaluation. I would strap on my shoes unsure of how my body would respond. Does my foot hurt, how does my knee feel, what is that weird feeling in my hamstring? Is my IT band going to go next? I mean, you can only imagine the absurdity of it,coming from the Queen of Hypochondriacs.

For the love of the run, and for the respect I have for my body, I cannot run 26.2 miles on Sunday. Because even if I were to finish, I would have ran a race far from 100%, and crossed that finish line feeling far from awesome, with an even more battered body than current state. Wondering what my pace/time would have been if I wasn’t injured, and most likely in tears.

Before making the official decision to not run, which was only 100% finalized in my head today, I spoke with three other female runners who are near and dear to my heart, and whom I have massive amounts of respect for as athletes and as women. One was a stellar college track athlete who endured more injuries than anyone ever deserves, another an about to be eight-time marathoner, and the last a recent Kona Ironman finisher, to top the list of her impressive feats.

In short, the unanimous vote was no, don’t. Not worth it.

The most encouraging words from one of the above ladies that have helped me keep my chin up:

"You have improved SO much and made SO many gains throughout these few years. I think it'd be smartest to not race MCM and just CRUSH a spring marathon. Plus, with all the new cycling (and maybe swimming?) you'll be doing while your stress fracture heals, you'll be a rockstar triathlete in no time :) "

A spring marathon may or may not be in the books …. But it was the rockstar triathlete part that made my smile.

Had a BLAST at my first sprint tri

Running has changed my life. It has changed the way I see my body, the way that I treat it. It has strengthened my faith, it has brought awesome people into my life, and ultimately it’s the reason that I started this blog.

Did you know I'm 25? 25 years old. With a whole lot of miles to still run. And I’m just not looking to put myself in a boot these last two months of the year, and be utterly miserable.

Oh I will.

A stress fracture I can work with. I can swim, bike, lift, etc. Maybe even run a jingle bell 5k if I’m feeling good at that point, and progress from there. Breaking my foot at mile 22 and being on the DL through the holidays – that, I don’t have the emotional stability to currently handle. I can't work with that.

Do you know who Ryan Hall is? He’s a U.S Marathoner, a really amazing runner who has accomplished a ton as an athlete as well as a person. Last week he announced that he was pulling out of the New York Marathon.

“A long string of very aggressive training has aggravated my hip and it has not been able to fully calm down, such that I don’t think racing on it is wise. I am very disappointed that I won’t be lining up on November 3rd as I had so looked forward to, but I am refocusing now on getting back to 100% and going after some big goals in 2014. Redemption will have to wait, but it will be all the more sweet.”

It will be all the more sweet. 2014 will be all the more sweet.

If I recall, I made this bold statement back in January that 2013 was going to be epic. I sat down and launched into this flamboyant broadway performance, possibly even fooling myself into thinking that this year was going to flat out wonderful, no issues at all.

There have been a lot of tears this year.

The truth is, I wasn’t bullshitting you. Because as I’ve slowly learned over the past few months, wonderful is not the definition of epic. And while I may have moments between the injuries, the arguments, the hard life events, where I questioned my declaration for this year and the valiant speech that I conjured up back in January, I have never wanted to take it back.

Whatever the definition in the dictionary is for epic, I don't really care. An epic day for a child over in Africa is going to may look a lot different than that of a rich billionaire in L.A. but it's still equally epic, as epic is a word that should never be discounted. You make your own definition for your own epic, I’ll make mine.

Situations change, plans change, people sure as hell change. Life happens. And recently, I have just been having those moments in life where I desperately want to see life - for all it's worth - as beautiful. Even the parts that come with the tears, and the pain. 2013 has been epic, because it has been life-changing, in both good and bad ways. But do you know what? I think it's these hard times, the lonely times, the bad times that I just don't want to be in, that are making it so impactful. Because in the end, it’s changing me, prepping me, and shaping me to be a much stronger person.

There's your pep talk. There's my dramatic announcement, my babbling, and my pep talk to myself. No time to sit around feeling sorry for myself, I've got to figure out my next move.

Cheers - 

something that never happens

Sometimes I forgot how hungry running makes me. And then I run 20 miles on a Tuesday night, and find myself eating everything in sight come Wednesday.

No joke, if I would have participated in What I Ate Wednesday (should I? thoughts?) you would all most likely be appalled yet hopefully impressed.

I have something to show you guys:

I reset my watch after the first 10 mile loop for sanity reasons.

Comes out to a 7:59 pace.

This was surprising to me. Not necessarily the pace, I knew I had that pace in me, but the consistency. I’m still not the best at holding a pace, and holding a pace for 20 miles in row… that’s just mind-blowing to me.

I definitely can't say that I felt great. I felt good the first half, decent the next 5 miles, and defeated the last 5. When my watch hit 20 miles I’m not sure I had one more mile left in me.

I definitely have a stress fracture in my right foot. It’s not as bad as the one in my left foot that I had back in January, but it’s there, and I certainly felt it at times. Yet my concern at this point isn’t necessarily the stress fracture – I’ll ice the crap out of that bad boy and continue to stay away from high heels, etc. My concern is the way that I'm subconsciously compensating because of the stress fracture.

Let’s just say that my right hamstring is far from happy with me. Time to invest in a compression wrap. Any suggestions? In the meantime, I shall wear these guys to work:

I have 2.5 weeks to hold a low mileage and pamper the sh*t out of my body, excuse my French. I’m talking stretching/foam rolling/icing/compressing/lay by the pool on the cruise ship to the max. 

this pool may just be the key to my healing.

The plan is to do that, toe the start line in DC on 10/27, and hope we can make it all 26.2.

Anyways, there’s your run-date. Outside of running, my plank/squat/push-up challenges have been going well, and I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw this on pinterest last night….

Let's be honest, no one looks sexy doing a plank...

One last thing. Starbucks is doing something pretty cool through tomorrow, and I wanted to share:

It's amazing what a free cup of coffee can do to lift someone's spirits. You never know what the person behind you in line may have going on in their life - it could be something as large as being part of the Government furlough, or as small as their fantasy team having a bad week. Regardless, spread the good, come together, love each other.

Cheers, and Go Bears!

Kait

Confessions of a Hypochondriac

Good Morning, and Happy Friday!

I'm back at my favorite Friday spot - Panera. It's been awhile, but I think they remember me. During my 10 seconds standing in line I considered getting a pumpkin muffin, but decided to save the indulgences for the cruise starting next weekend.

Speaking of pumpkin, I have something a bit odd to share. I saw the idea on Carrots 'n' Cake first, so I can't take the credit. Yet I added a twist on her recipe, and came up with this...

Pumpkin, 1 mashed up banana, some chopped up figs, almond butter, and a dash of both honey and cinnamon. Once warmed up in the microwave, I almost felt like I was eating dessert or maybe a form of baby food?

Either way, it was a quick, easy and delicious breakfast.

Recently I've kind of been putting off the topic of running because I'm not really positive what's going on with my body (surprise, surprise). I do know that I've been having several runs like this:

This was Monday, followed by another 8 miles last night at a 7:30 pace. Cardio-wise, I feel great. And then there's my feet.

About two weeks ago on a 12-miler I got that feeling in my right foot that made me instantly want to throw myself over the side of the bridge I was running over. That stress fracture kind of feeling.

Now, I'm very torn. I've obviously still been running the past two weeks since feeling that all too familiar feeling. It's odd because some runs I feel it, some runs I don't. Most runs I feel great cardio-wise, and tell myself that I simply must be insane.

Even my mom, one of the more cautious people that I know, asked me when I was home,

"Are you sure you aren't just making it up in your head? You are a hypochondriac after all..."

That's a statement that I can't argue. The past year, outside of the real injuries that I've actually had, I've been convinced that I had a torn hamstring, a torn achilles, a torn meniscus, a torn hip flexor, low iron, ulcers, pink eye, a broken toe, depression, gluten intolerance, and dairy intolerance. 

I didn't have any of those things. Can we all take a moment and give my boyfriend an appreciative head nod? Because who do you think I ran to (oftentimes in tears) every single time I self-diagnosed myself? Him.

Felt like I should insert some comedic relief 

Anyways, back to the running a marathon with a possible stress fracture topic. Part of me wants to do it. And I definitely don't want to defer until I know 100% that I can't do it. It may even be too late to defer, I'm too afraid to check the website.

My plan? To set out for 15-18 (close to home) miles tomorrow morning, and listen to my body. See at what point things start hurting, what kind of pain it is, etc. This weekend was suppose to be 22, and then taper. Best case, I hit 20 tomorrow and declare 'It's on' and let the taper begin.

And if it hurts? And that all too familiar stress fracture feeling is screaming at me and I come to the realization that 26 miles on a semi-broken foot is a poor idea? Well, it's not the end of the world. But we can talk more on Sunday once I've figured this stupid foot out.

I'm glad this is out in the open now, I feel like I've been hiding a heavy dark secret for the past two weeks. 

Good luck to my runners this weekend. My roommate is running her first (DC) Ragnar Relay, and I hope she has an absolute blast. I'm off to start my Friday, I even wore a skirt today so I'm feeling extra productive.

I would love feedback from runners on the stress fracture thing. I wouldn't love long-winded lectures on 'being smart'... believe me, I'm not stupid. I've played through torn ligaments and given myself vertebral fractures, the whole nine yards. I'm no stranger to pain and what I should and shouldn't push through, I promise.

Cheers!

K

The Rehab Report

One of my weird(er) phrases that I enjoy using to describe people is 'illusive pigeon.'

Example: Recently I have been a bit of an illusive pigeon when it comes to this whole marathon training thing.

Actually, when it comes to running in general it seems that I’ve been a big vague on here, don't you agree?

Remember the other day when I told you I was going to see my bff the orthopedic to have my knee checked out, and then never followed up? Yeah me too. Well, it turns out that after dealing with my left leg (IT band & stress fracture) issues, there’s been some compensation issues going on. And now, all of a sudden my right knee/leg is like:

“Alright lady, I’ve taken just about enough pounding for the year, so just a heads up I’m going to start shutting down soon.”

Oh the wonderful adventures of running.

So that conversation ended me up here:

Look familiar to some of you? Physical therapy b*tches.

The good news: This isn’t like last time. I’m still currently running almost pain free, and even plan on doing my 10-miler tomorrow morning. (SO PUMPED FOR THAT)

This is very proactive. Remember when I told you my word of the year was proactive? LOOK AT ME GO.

With some excessive icing, foam rolling, perhaps a little more yoga, and (hopefully) just a few weeks of PT…  I have my fingers crossed that marathon training will continue on as scheduled.

The shoe report: Recently I had been thinking about switching shoes again. I’ve been loving running in Brooks… but was beginning to question if maybe my 5’11’’ 140 lb frame needs a little more support?

(omgeeee did she just post her weight on the internet?!)

The verdict: No. According to Sean who I trust with my life legs, he said my running form is much more natural in the Brooks versus the ASICS. I believe him, because he has now filmed me running on the treadmill several times, barefoot, Brooks, and ASICS, and studied the shit out of my film.

This is good news, not only because I’m a Brooks brat, but because the bank account really wasn’t going to allow me to buy a new pair any time soon anyways. Once I saw Sean on Wednesday and got the OK to keep running, that’s exactly what I did:

Today I did a short WOD this morning, and then went swimming after work. Because apparently I still have that triathlon in two weeks?

I will leave you with these two things…

Have I ever shared my favorite starbucks drink with you guys? Green tea soy latte, unsweetened, 1 shot of espresso. Hot or iced, I find it quite magical.

Did you know people in Maryland literally put this on everything? I caught my roommate putting this on her ice cream the other night. Weird.

As fun as this has been, it’s restaurant week in Baltimore, and this guy I know is taking me on a hot date. Tell me, what’s your favorite Starbucks drink?

Cheers!

Perfection

I've got to start off this post by giving a huge shout out to the perfect Maryland weather this weekend - without 3 consecutive days of 65 and sunny, my weekend would have been far less fun.

First Sun Sesh of the year!

Secondly, in order of importance, I just got back from running five miles. It felt so great. Not like, hey that was super easy kind of great. But hey, I am continuing to have more and more confidence in my foot, and it feels so good to be running again kind of great.

I wanted to push it and do six, but I think I'll save that for next weekend. I did push to hold an 8(ish) minute pace, and I stuck to it pretty well. 8 minute miles certainly don't come as easily as the did last September but hey, I'll get there again. My body knows how to do it, it's just a matter of re-training. Right?

As alluded to above, Andrew and I spent a large amount of time outdoors this past weekend. We did some frisbee golfing Friday evening, during which for some reason during it I felt super tired and kept whining and sitting down on the course. He loved that.

I think it's because I hadn't eaten enough protein that day? Maybe?

Late Saturday morning we headed down to Great Fall, Virginia, for some pretty beautiful hiking. The weather was once again awesome, and the trails that we hiked offer some grand scenes.

We also saw a large amount of caterpillars while out on the trail, which I hated, because I was convinced I was going to step on one. Andrew kept assuring me that half of the things I was pointing out weren't caterpillars, that they were centipedes, but I stuck to my guns and continued calling every bug we saw from there on out caterpillars.

Sounds about right, doesn't it?

Mr. Grillmaster threw some veggie burgers on the grill upon returning home, and I did the essential by whipping up some margaritas. We had an awesome dinner on the patio, enjoying the last of the warmth that the day had to offer.

Here we are, another Sunday. Another busy week ahead of me. I have this sneaking suspicion that May is going to fly by - the rest of our month is packed with activities and travels and shenanigans. Just how I like it. 

Any racers this weekend? I know there were a lot offered this weekend. I have a small 5k next Saturday with my Girls on the Run team that should be fun for all.

I'm off to throw some weights around, strong is the new sexy after all :)

Cheers!

3 years.

Ok, we have some quick catching up to do.

First and foremost, someone let Tiger Woods that I'm coming in hot:

Did a little golfing this afternoon. I actually am far below average. That's OK.

Secondly, I'm running again. Slowly, and short distances. But I'm running. It makes me so happy. I ran two miles on Wednesday, and another two this past Friday... and will be participating in the Charm City Run for Boston tomorrow in Baltimore.

Yesterday, 4/20, was my three year running anniversary. It was the mark of my first ever half marathon - the Horsetooth Half - in Fort Collins, CO, that sparked my passion for long distance running.

I ran it in 1 hours and 51 grueling minutes.

It's a beautiful race - I actually have a friend who ran it as his first half ever today too, and killed it - and if you are ever in the area, I recommend doing it simply for the awesome scenery.

Andrew and I have recently talked about how my journey back to running will be very similar to the journey I was on to start. It's been several months since I've ran any miles at all, and it will be a lot like starting back at square zero.

Guys, I got a cramp during my two miles on Friday.

I'm not discouraged. With the recent events at Boston, I'm actually extremely motivated. I really, really want to try to qualify for Boston in '14. That would be extremely hard to do given the short amount of time on my hands... but if I can do it safely, you better bet I'm gonna be in Boston next April.

Last but not least, I would be remiss if I didn't touch on my travels last weekend.

I could write a novel about my time in Colorado, how much fun it was, and all the PG-13 trouble that we got into. But I would wager not too many people care. Plus after my aggressive post on Friday... I'll keep this short.

Friday to Monday was a blur. There was good food, good beverages, and good music to be had by all. And believe me, we hit those three categories hard.

sometimes at the same time.

We met hugged one of my favorite country artists, Florida Georgia Line, and I haven't been able to stop listening to them since. The concert was amazing, and if you're a country lover and they are in your area this summer, go. Just go.

And of course there were plenty of wolf shenanigans.

The last day brought some snow, yet somehow my flight still got out back to Baltimore because DIA is a machine and rarely cancels flights. I landed that night, woke up the next day and realized that over the 10 days that I was gone on my trip, spring had sprung here in the Baltimore area.

That makes me so happy. I wish I could go rip out 10 miles today. But for the sake of smartness, I will sulk off to the pool and get some laps in.

Hope everyone has/had a great, safe weekend. I know personally, I am feeling extra blessed to be living in a country that doesn't put up with B.S.

Cheers to that!