Moving into the Off Season

Now that my one "goal" 5K is over, I've moved into off-season training mode. It's got me cross training at least one day a week and doing one extra day of weight training. 

I'm still getting into the groove of the plan, but now that I've committed myself to working out right away in the morning or right after work, it's made things a little easier. 

I still have two more 5Ks coming up, the first the Girls on the Run 5K, where I'm likely going to be running with one of my girls, so won't be going for any personal goals, just being a cheerleader and enjoying race day with my team. The second is a Turkey Trot 5K that is sort of near my parent's house (is a 45 minute drive in rural Iowa "near"?), that I may or may not try to race. It depends on what the field looks like that day. Small town races often bring a rare chance at an AG award for us slower folks, so I always try to take advantage. 

After that, I will simply be focusing on improving my strength, my mechanics and increasing my endurance. I found a great year-round training program for sprinters on this website called stack.com (it has amazing performance-based training programs, as opposed to many of the aesthetic-based programs on other sites like bodybuilding.com), and even though I'm not a sprinter, I liked that the programs incorporated power lifting, which is one of my favorite things to do in the gym. The high school off-season program is 3 days a week of lifting, which fits nicely with 3 days a week of running and one day for whatever I want to do. 

I also have started rock climbing again. A gym finally opened north of the river in KC, and I took a belay class last week and will buy a punch card and try to go a few times a month. They have a monthly membership, which includes access to a weight area, but I'll wait until the new year for that. I'm trying to keep up with yoga, which mostly includes a few impromptu sun salutations here and there. Even that little bit feels wonderful, though. 

Finally, during my shorter weekday run, I have started incorporating just a little bit of speedwork. It's nothing structured, just about 100 meters of strides to focus on generating power from my hips, followed by 300-400 meters of easy running. My weekend runs had been a struggle to keep running constantly until I discovered I was trying to run too fast. Now, I try to keep my heart rate under 165 and that has made my easy longer runs, well, easy. 

And I finally decided on paint colors for the living, dining and kitchen in the house. 

So yeah. This off season is going to be pretty darn good. 

Funning with Family - Pork Power 5K RR

The time was near for the annual sibling run and this year's race was the Pork Power 5K, part of the Mankato Marathon weekend. I must say, I'm really impressed with the entire race weekend. There are so many events to encourage as much participation as possible from the entire family. The following races are offered:

• Marathon
• Half-marathon
• 10K
• 5K
• My Bold Walk (0.6 mile loop, for those who have disabilities that prevent them from doing the 5K)
• Kids Mile
• Toddler Trot/Diaper Dash

I took Friday off to enjoy the trot up to Mankato with Sir Jeff and was able to have dinner with my sister and my former co-worker and husband, who have become good friends of mine. We had a fantastic time at a pub in downtown Mankato (Pub 500) and I enjoyed a delicious salmon & veggie quinoa bowl. 

Saturday morning, after my brother's late Friday and my parent's morning arrival, we headed to packet pickup. I love a good race expo, and this one was pretty good, for the smaller size of the race. I collected a decent amount of free stuff, and had the biggest surprise when I watched my dad walk up to collect a race bib after my siblings and I got ours. My sister captured my expressive reaction perfectly:

The 5K was scheduled for 4PM on Saturday, so we went back to my sister's house, relaxed and then got ready for the race. I had packed a drawstring sack of water and a bowl for Jeff and a fun size snickers I had grabbed for after the race, only for mom to grab a different one that had dad's race t-shirts in it, haha. In any case, we got to the start/finish with plenty of time to warm-up, find friends, chat and finally line up. 

Then, we heard "GOOOOOOOO!" As far as race strategy, my plan was to run 5 minutes, walk 1 because the hip had been feeling pretty gnarly for the past week or so. I kept the pace easy, and soon realized it had been warm enough for shorts and a tank, rather than the capris and t-shirt I was wearing. Ugh. 

However, after mile 1 I felt so good and had a pretty good pace going that I wondered, "How far off would I be from my PR today? Hmmmmmmmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm." So ... I went a little faster, and a little faster, and by mile 1.5, I was like, "I WANT THAT PR!!!" and skipped the bacon station (boy, did that NOT sound good). By mile 2, I was thinking that 5Ks SUCK and that I was insane for thinking it was reasonable to only run those and 10Ks for the next year. What was I wanting to do, torture myself?? 

By the end, I was just ready to be done, and giving everyone the 'hang ten' sign when they were cheering, and hating the hairpin loop in the last 0.1 mile, as well as 5Ks in general at that point. I wasn't looking at my watch very much, but as I saw the timing clock, I cursed because I knew I had missed my PR. By 42 seconds. By the way, that's a little less than a walk break. UGH. 

Final time: 31:04

Avg pace: 10:04/mile. Polly said it was a new pace record. 

Splits: 10:26, 10:17, 9:43

Still, after I got my breathing under control and my stomach was no longer threatening to get rid of the banana, peanut butter and granola I had eaten around 2:30 that afternoon, threw my medal around my neck (everyone gets a finisher medal these days, sometimes I'm not sure how I feel about it), and got in the food line. Water, chips, Gatorade, Kashi bar, half a banana and sour vitamins jumped into my arms, so I ate like I finished a half marathon. There literally was pork loin on a stick, but that sounded like the worst thing ever at the time, so I declined.

Found my dad, who had finished in 29:12, which ended up being second in his age group! He lost by 2 seconds to a guy 8 years younger than him. Pretty darn good. Then we found my brother, who ended up getting interviewed by the local news (probably because he was dressed as The Flash) and cheered in my sister as she made her way in. 

Remember that part where I ate all that food? Yeah. Then we decided to go get pizza sooner rather than later, so I insisted we wear our finisher medals to Pizza Ranch. Ugh, I was sort of not ready to eat, but luckily, the gluten free pizza is special order, so I slowly had some veggies as I waited for that. Then I had 3 slices and finished the rest of the pizza for breakfast (because, even though Pizza Ranch is a buffet, you have to get the entire pizza if you ask for gluten free). So. Much. Cheese. 

But, it was still a fun time, and, in the end, I'm thrilled with this race because I was so close to that PR without really having trained for a 5K and with no speedwork whatsoever. The last time I was really able to race a 5K was March of 2014. So, I am so all over real, hardcore 5K training come spring. In the meantime, I've got two 5Ks in November, with maybe a little less food and (hopefully) a little more speed. 

Cheers!

Two Goals

Now that I can just be a normal runner again (who continues to lift and do single leg strength work. and core work), my calendar is filling up with all kinds of goodies, and two big goals have come out of that. 

My first goal is to do a race in all 50 states and 6 continents. I have no desire to go to Antarctica, sorry penguins. At least to run. Maybe I'll meet a guy who wants to run there and then I'll go to cheer him on. 

Yes. Yes, I like that plan. What a fun trip ... 

Whoops. Sorry. Back to the other goal. I don't feel the need to do a marathon in every state, particularly because there are some pretty iconic races that do not involve 26.2 miles that I'd really like to do, such as Beach to Beacon in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, or the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston, South Carolina.

I've got many of the races picked out already, but would love suggestions for Indiana, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia (probably DC area so I can see family), and Wyoming. Some of the races I've picked are trails, some are roads and range from a 5K all the way up to 13.1. I have one marathon picked out (Twin Cities), but no idea when that would happen. Honestly, I'm more likely to do another overseas marathon than one stateside. 

That brings me to goal two: a triathlon. I knew the moment I bought my road bike that I would eventually be doing one. I picked out a sprint, which may or may not turn into an annual event for me: the WIN for KC Women's Triathlon. All the swim, bike, run distances seem easy peasy already and it doesn't give off the competitive vibe that I get with a lot of these events. So, that will be something fun to work towards. Already bought tri shorts so I can be really used to them by July, ha! 

In the meantime, I'm working towards running 60 minutes and enjoying the addition of different workouts and yoga. It's looking to be a glorious fall in Kansas City.

One year post-surgery

The above photo is me, two days after surgery, tired but so happy to be heading out of my apartment to go get pizza with family (and I still remember how darn good that pizza tasted!). 

I was so scared and nervous before surgery. Even though it was elective and I had spent an enormous amount of time researching it, learning about others' experiences, there was still a huge unknown. I simply didn't know how I was going to fare - and that's what mattered most. 

Twelve months later, I stop to think about it and my brain sort of blanks. I'm not quite sure why - I think part of me is not sure what to think. It felt like a long road to recovery (and it's still not finished), and yet, time has seemed to pass more quickly than usual. 

I am just now at the point where I can drop the run/walking and just run. I'm not fast, but so far I seem to be averaging a pace about what I was running before. This tells me two things: 

1) I'm at the level I was at before surgery
2) If I'm at my "baseline" without feeling 100% recovered, I have nowhere to go but up. Assuming I'm not an idiot and suddenly abandon the deliberate, methodical approach I've taken for the past year.

Don't be an idiot, don't be an idiot, don't be an idiot .... 

With that in hand, I've had some other nuggets of realization based on life the past two years. A lot has happened - a geographic life change that didn't work out, another geographic life change that has worked out, a physical life change that so far has worked out and a mental/emotional change that has really worked out. 

From all of these, I've learned that it's okay to take chances and it's okay that they don't work out. Failures define our lives as much as successes do, and just because they are failures, it doesn't make them any less meaningful. Also as important, it's okay to admit when things aren't great. Pushing through unhappy situations isn't always the best thing to do, although genuinely giving things a chance is. 

I've learned that when you know what will make you happy to pursue it with all of your heart, soul and energy. Life is better when your pursue what makes you happy and healthy (physically and mentally). 

I've learned that being flexible and forgiving with yourself is just as important as being that with others. Routines are great and so are workout plans and/or programs, but you don't always need one. I've tried to follow so many workout plans or programs, and quite frankly, it's been exhausting. Lately, I've taken to setting a workout routine for myself, but not a program. There are days I plan to do strength training, days I plan to run, days I plan to do yoga and days I plan to cross train. They are written in pencil on a calendar on my refrigerator. Pencil means I can erase, rearrange and make some changes without feeling bad about it. Like yesterday, for example. I had strength training on the calendar. I did yoga in the morning and intended to do strength training after work. However, I was mentally exhausted and just plain tired. So, I didn't do strength training and I didn't feel bad about it at all. Does that mean I change my plans every day? Nope. Still went for the planned run this morning, will do some yoga tonight. Or strength training. Just depends on how I feel. 

I've learned that eating healthy makes me feel better, but being strict with my food does not. Sticking to one "diet culture" does not work for me, but embracing all of them sorta makes life fun. I definitely eat a higher fat diet (and have amazing cholesterol and blood sugar levels!), but still eat things like oatmeal, rice and other grains. I don't feel bad about having a drink or a few gummy bears after a workout. I occasionally put butter in my coffee (seriously, it's so yummy!).  I'm happier than ever and my jeans fit well. That is what matters. <<-- that's the mindframe I try to keep. It's not always there and, if want to get really fast, dropping some extra fat will help, but I'm trying really hard to not let physical appearance drive me.

Thanks for sticking with me through it all. Looking forward to sharing more running things.

Today, I finally ran

I have been thinking about the following post from track star Lolo Jones over the past month, as this day was drawing closer and closer:

I realize she's a runner, and it literally is her job, but she had the same surgery as I did, about a month after I did. And there she was, posting something like a mere SIX weeks after surgery that she was "finally" running again.

Ugh, if that's not a mental kick in the face, I don't know what is. She's already fast, talented, that amazing mix of, like, 5 ethnicities, and now she's also totally kicking my ass in recovering from surgery?!?!?

Yeah, yeah. I know. It's her job, recovery was all she did. That fact did not take any sting out of it at all.

I won't lie, I was hopeful when I woke up this morning that today might be the day. I wasn't sure, so I didn't want to jinx it by bringing the Mizunos I had bought last year that have not been worn at all, just waiting for their time to shine. So, I wore my trusty Newtons instead, which will likely have to be retired soon.

I warmed up on the elliptical, chatted with PT, he did his mobility checks, seemed pleased and then we went to plyometrics. I jumped on the trampoline (two feet, jog in place, twice on each foot). Then some ladder drills and then he says, "well, I guess we will get you on the treadmill." I grin like an idiot, and say "Really?!!?"

I do some high knee and butt kicker drills, then wait for PT and grin at one of the interns and say "This is the best day, ever!" She laughs. Then .... it's treadmill time. Who knew I'd be so excited about that?!?!?

Walked for about 4 minutes, then another minute at a brisker pace and then TWO WHOLE MINUTES OF RUNNING! Walked for another minute and did another minute and a half. PT said I had good form, there is a slight dip in my right hip, which is not surprising, but nothing that makes him think I can't run.

So, I get to wait a few days and see how I feel, then run/walk (okay really jog/walk) for 8-10 minutes and go from there.

Lolo, this is finally running.

"I Wanna Run, Dude!"

I woke up the morning of last week's PT appointment, feeling like I hadn't gotten the good 7 hours of sleep that I actually had, like it wasn't the first time in weeks I didn't wake up in the middle of the night. I already knew Jeffery wasn't getting a morning walk today. I just felt so sluggish, I immediately became selfish and opted for some ball throwing instead. 

Maybe coffee would help. The very thought of coffee seemed to unappetizing, but I figured, "Well, I did eat at 9:30 pm last night. Why would anything sound good right now?" But, I made it anyway, blended in my butter, coconut oil and collagen protein (oh, BTW, I've gone Bulletproof for breakfast and mostly paleo for the rest of my meals - oddly, no I don't miss carbs that much). 

I got dressed, packed my work clothes, gave Jeff some love and headed for physical therapy. For the first time, I was 5 minutes late. 

PT asks how I am.

"I don't feel great, actually, but my hip feels good."

Didn't want him to think the not feeling great had anything to do with the hip, even though it was a little stiff. But hey, I did more over the past two weeks. Went back to the elliptical, more squats, the single leg buffet - those changes mean a more stiff hip for awhile, right?

He asks what is going on, and I say I don't really know. I just had a delicious decaff lavender latte with honey and almond milk last night, but it feels like I had two bottles of champagne instead. 

"Hmmm."

No, really. I just had the latte. It wasn't spiked. I promise. 

"Your hip is a little more stiff than usual."

"Oh?" I say, "Did you also know there is a wireless modem above your head?"

PT doesn't get distracted, and spends a lot more time on mobility than he usually does. Some amount of time later, he says,

"I think we should just make today a mobility day, since  your hip is just a little tight and you aren't feeling well."

"Noooooooo," I say.

"No?"

"I wanna run, dude! We were supposed to start plyometrics today!" My voice sounds a little more whiny than I intend. But, I am not feeling well and I can't help it. I can feel my eyes start to well up, and small tears spill out despite my efforts not to. This can't be happening. Eight months. It's been eight freaking months. I've been patient. I've been a [mostly] good patient. 

It's quiet for a bit, unusual, because I'm usually super chatty. I finally say, "If you insist, I'm coming back next week."

"That's fine."

"But I really want to work today."

So he agrees that if I can do squats without pinching, then I can do plyometrics. I squat, repeatedly, and it doesn't hurt. He looks at me, and I swear I'm not lying. By the look on PTs face, he doesn't want to let me start this, but he is standing by his word. 

He gets out the agility ladder and we run a few drills. I already can't remember if I did two or three ... so I'll have to Google that later. Then, I go on the trampoline, jump for 3 rounds of 20 seconds on both feet, then jog in place for 3 rounds of 20 seconds. Then, I repeat the same thing on the floor. 

PT watches me closely on the floor and when I'm done, he asks if I have any pain. I say I don't. 

He says he's surprised at how well I tolerated it, that there wasn't any buckling at all. I wasn't surprised, but he doesn't know I was doing burpees the other day. 

I sincerely thank him for letting me do that. He says, 

"I was reluctant to let you, but you looked good."

"I know," I say, "that's why I mean it when I say 'Thank you'."

He says he will see me in two weeks and to get 3-4 rounds of those drills in, on top of the other exercises. You all know I will. 

I narrowly avoided one of the biggest mental setbacks in this whole recovery. My emotions didn't know what to do with all the tears that had been prepped to spill. So, I ellipticalled. 

Constant. Forward. Progress.

Back into a new routine

It's so nice to be settled. And by settled, I mean in a house with boxes and stuff all over the basement, and a dryer in the middle of my master bedroom and nothing hanging on the walls, except for a few things I just threw up there and will probably take down and hang somewhere else in a few weeks. By settled, I mean, I have a mile long list of things to do in the house, not to mention furniture to eventually buy and so much more. 

But, it's mine. The house is mine. The neighborhood is mine. The commute to work is mine. The new community center membership is mine. The physical therapy appointments are mine. It's a new routine and, damn, it feels good to be back into one. 

Over the weekend, friends and family got me moved into the new house. We got it all done in two hours. Literally, we started at 10 and were sitting down shortly after noon. And that included about a 20 minute drive from the old place to the new. It. Was. Fantastic. 

With all the moving and lifting of boxes, all I did for PT was foam roll, take the stick to my legs and work the lacrosse ball all over my butt while I watched multiple episodes of Leverage and unpacked the occasional box here and there.

I took a kettlebell conditioning class at my old crossfit gym on Monday. It was odd, walking back into that gym, with it's familiar smells (a combination of sweat, chalk and garage), music, and chatter. But, as soon as the workout started, it no longer felt odd, it just felt right. My old coach was all, "You didn't forget how to do this correctly," and I was all, "Heck no, I didn't!". I was exhausted and tired by the end of the 20 minute workout, and completely happy. Because it was so good, I have to share it:

20 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)
-20 swings
-5 abmat situps
-20 cleans (10 left, 10 right)
-5 pushups
-20 snatches (10 left, 10 right)
-5 abmat situps
-10 squats (5 w/bell cleaned left, 5 w/bell cleaned right)
-5 pushups

I got in 4 rounds exactly. Then, coach invited me to stay for the crossfit workout, but I decided to stop while I was ahead. 

To be honest, I don't even remember Tuesday. 

Yesterday, I had my second PT appointment. I like this new routine as well - it's different from the routine in Denver, but equally as good. I warmed up on the upright ex bike, was honest that I didn't do my exercises because I moved and then took a kettlebell class and that is pretty much a hip and butt workout so I didn't see the need to do anything Tuesday. 

Then I did more of the semi-squat position-touch out with one leg thing. This time, he switched it up by having me touch forward and behind, like a curtsy, but a very athletic-looking one. Always keeping me on my toes, that new PT.

We also did reverse lunges, which I haven't done since before surgery and I was a little wobbly when standing on my surgical leg. PT said "aha!" and I just knew he was looking for every muscle weakness possible, and in my head I thought, "damnnit." Those small muscle weaknesses are more annoying than the big ones, in my opinion. 

I have one more appointment scheduled next week and that may be the end of weekly appointments. Hopefully that also means starting running soon, although I've resigned myself to waiting until May until that happens. It's a little disappointing, but I have to remember those two months where I didn't make any progress because I wasn't seeing anyone. And at least I am making progress. And moving forward. And have gym homework again. 

Newness really does renew

http://community.runnersworld.com/blog/newness-really-does-renew

I don't know about you, but I am one who can either get really excited about change or really grumpy about change. Before it happens, I get really nervous. After it happens, the excitement or grumpiness is completely dependent on whether or not I like it. 

I know. You are shocked at this revelation. 

The new PT, thankfully, has me really excited. I have already made the commitment to be completely honest with him, so when he asked me how my hip had been since I last saw him, I was honest: it was at a 5 for most of the week and I not-so-smartingly tried new things anyway, like TRX Pilates. Then, I got smart, took some anti-inflammatories, foam rolled, really focused on my PT exercises and this morning, it was a 2. Imagine that. 

The excitement of this morning's session was a new piece of equipment (for me): a machine that helped take some of the lumbar pressure off for squats. So, I was able to do a full squat easily as well as single leg squats. It was amazing! I want to do squats all the time on that thing. 

We also did directional touches, where I get into a partial squat position and extend one leg out to the side, then 45* behind me and then directly behind me. PT said I had great form and was able to hold that position, which can be difficult for hip arthroscopy patients, perfectly. He kept asking if I was having any pain in the actual hip while doing all of this and I said no, but I could feel it in my quads and glutes. He said, " Good. That's where you should feel it." 

Afterwards, I got to relax in the game ready sleeve - ice and compression all in one. I haven't had that since week 3 post op. It was amazing. 

So, new PT has me both excited and motivated. New job has me excited. And the other new thing that has me excited? 

I closed on the house yesterday. And my lender got me a rose to celebrate. No more holding pattern. 

#constantforwardprogress

#constantforwardprogress

http://community.runnersworld.com/blog/constantforwardprogress

My first PT appointment since the end of last year was last week - as I had expressed earlier, I was nervous, scared and just plain freaked out. 

What if I hadn't been doing as well as I thought I was?
What if I have to take steps backwards?
What if I really don't like my PT?

All kinds of "what ifs" were going through my brain. And, I was just plain over the holding pattern that has been a big chunk of my life (between this and finally moving into my house, I always just wanted to be at work, because I was at least making progress on something!). 

So, when I met new PT, I was sort of relieved that we seemed to hit it off and that he completely and fully praised that I had very specific information for him, like the protocol my previous PT had been following, the exact exercises I was doing, how many reps, with what weights and how often I was doing them, and that I seemed to be honest and thoughtful with how my hip felt day-to-day: 

"Well, I feel like a zero would mean I don't think about it, and I'm not quite there yet, but I do have really good days where I barely think about it, so I'm going to say a 1."

He said, yes, he would agree, a zero means it's not on your mind at all. Then I told him about how so many of you can't remember which limb you had a major surgery or break on and how it made my neurons misfire. He thought that was pretty funny, and apparently, par for the course. 

Anyway, he did a complete reassessment and found that my range of motion is only 3-5* smaller on the surgical side as compared to the healthy side, which is pretty darn good. We also found that the surgical side is generally weaker but I also have some weakness on the left, which is not surprising to me and good reason for me to be all "I MUST BE BALANCED!" when doing exercises on both sides. 

As for running .... not yet. There are a few more progressions he'd like me to take first: jumping on a trampoline (take some of the weight off), then regular jumping/plyometrics and then running. I didn't ask for a specific time frame, but it sound like we could ramp up fairly quickly, assuming I tolerate it. 

I also got some progressions on modifications:

Adding an abduction to my side planks (SO HARD at the end of a workout, when I usually do core) and single weight lunges. I like visual aids, so here they are: 

Except in the lunge, I just hold the weight at my side. I guess I could hold it above and work dem shoulders.... 

After that appointment, I was relieved. Relieved to be making some progress again, relieved I felt like I was going to get along really well with my PT and relieved that what I had been doing was the right thing. 

In other news, I won a free month of class pass and have enjoyed trying things out of my comfort zone. This has included Jazzercise (much better than zumba for us uncoordinated folks), MMA-style kickboxing (great workout, but too soon for the hip) and TRX pilates (TRX portion=great, pilates=too soon for the hip). I also have gotten back into yoga, which has been great for the hip and this week, I'm taking a strictly stretching and foam rolling class. Fun, eh? 

It's Scary

I postponed my physical therapy appointment, the one where I was supposed to find out if I could start running again. 

The real (and valid) reason I had to postpone was a very important work meeting, one I simply couldn't miss. So, the new appointment is on the 9th. It's close. 

But there is another reason. I'm scared. It's been 6 months of working back towards this, all this time and money invested in what is supposed to mean that I can run pain free and not even have to run/walk in order to be pain free. I realized last night that I'm scared it will have all been for nothing. I'm scared that I will still be in pain, that I will still be run/walking because I have to, not because I believe that Jeff Galloway's method will actually lead to more PRs. All I want is to run and to run as fast as I am able, to do speed work and tempo runs and be completely sweaty and ungodly stinky and utterly exhausted at the end of a work out. 

But what if I'm not? What if .... Ugh, that is the worst question in the world to ask and I know it, but that's all I can think right now. Because not everything works out the way we plan. Not everything comes together so perfectly. And so I'm scared. I'm scared the answer will be "not yet", I'm scared the answer will be "yes, BUT ...." and I'm scared that 6 months from now, I'll be no better off than I was a year ago. 

I know I have to try and I know the only way I'll know is when I start a return to running program. It just doesn't quelch any fears I have right now. 

And I'm a little gassy, but that's probably the Brussels sprouts I ate last night.

By my weird, odd numbers

http://community.runnersworld.com/blog/by-my-weird-odd-numbers

Days since I last ran at all: 160

Days since I last ran any mileage without a walk break: ~426

Days until I get to find out if I can start running again: 13

I like that last number very much. Keep your fingers crossed! Only hip pain is when I wear heels, so naturally, I've just started wearing running shoes at work. No one even blinks an eye (and is just another reason why I love public health). 

Currently ...

http://community.runnersworld.com/blog/currently

Hi. So, I moved and started a new job and have been spending most of my internet time looking at houses so sorry for being absent. 

Anyway, I thought the best way to catch you all up on my life is with a "currently" post. So, here are some topics and what currently is happening:

Time & place: I started this at work at 8 AM on my phone, who knows what time it will be when I finish! It's already 9:15.

Awaiting: The results of a phone call my realtor is making on a house the isn't even on the market yet. 

Experiencing: A mixture of complete happiness, a little anxiety, and boredom. Happiness because I really love my new job, anxiety because I really love the aforementioned house and boredom because I just want to start running already, but I have to wait until March, when my health insurance kicks back in and I can see a PT again.

Working on: Research for the different reimbursement rates for types of providers and care. It's a complicated mess. And I love every second of it 

Reading: Switch, a book about how to create change when it's the hardest thing to do.

Listening to: construction on the other side of the wall in my office it sounds like a hard core root canal.

Craving: a long, exhausting and yet completely satisfying run.

Hating: that I have champagne taste on a slightly-higher-than-beer budget. It's making house buying difficult, lol.

Loving: my new job. It's so completely amazing. 

Watching: nothing exciting. I admit, I am watching The Bachelor again this season, but the new guy isn't nearly as fun to watch as the old one and it's so clear that he's already picked his final woman, so ... Meh. But I'll watch it because I do love watching those two together. It's the hopeless romantic in me.

Avoiding: Nothing! I am sticking with my PT exercises, getting to the gym, eating 80% healthy and enjoying all the good karma that has been surrounding me. You know how sometimes when things get really wonderful, you start to anticipate something bad? Well, I'm not. I'm just welcoming the good with an open heart, letting it wash over me and enjoying it. All that is left is to start running  and that will happen in about 6 weeks. Yay! 

PS  - Photo dump

Arthur Bryant's BBQ:

MY city:

Jeffery Douglas:

GNO with MTF:

Happy New Year!

Date January 11, 2016

Bi-Weekly totals
Miles ran: 0
Miles walked: 4
Miles ellipticalled: 2.25
Miles biked: 0
Meters aqua jogged or swam: 0

Number of weight sessions: 4

So I'm writing this a week late - I suppose this is what happens when one moves, starts a new job and decides it's not worth getting Internet at the place she is staying temporarily while she is looking for a home to buy. 

I've not been great at getting my workouts in, either. I have gotten in as much PT as I could do at home before I finally decided to join a gym (thank you, Planet Fitness for your $10/month, no commitment special). 

So, now that I'm back into the swing of things, I thought it's time to start tracking workouts again, in a new format. So, I'll be looking at my biweekly mileage and weights totals, because I may as well cater to the statistician in me. I'm also hoping this will be encouraging when I eventually can start running again. 

Regarding the move - it's so good to be back in Kansas City. I have immediately felt at home and I've loved seeing friends and family again. I can't wait to find my house and get permanently settled. 

And, since it's a New Year's post, it's only fitting to talk about some of my goals. This year, I'm solely focused on making a good return to running when I am able - and by this, I mean full running, none of this run/walking. When I have that, my second goal is to decrease my 5k time. First, I'll focus on a sub-30 and then taking that PR down minute by minute until I get to sub-24. It will be a long and winding journey to that ultimate goal, I'm sure, but I'm looking forward to it like I never have before. I can't wait for speed work and hill repeats and hot, humid workouts this summer. It will be so fantastic. I'm smiling just thinking about it. 

But first, I'm going to finish my time "in recovery" strong. I haven't strayed from the plan yet, and I won't jump the gun, because the second half of this year will be so glorious, it will be worth that wait.