Wow, has it really been since 17 Feb that I've updated? I have been neglectful of my blogging duties! Well, let's get on with it then.

The Injury Front

Yeah, my legs are effed up again and I'm pretty ticked off about it. There were starting to bother me about two (three?) weeks ago so I went back to Podiatrist to see if I needed an adjustment. He observed that my left leg was shorter than my right leg and added a 1/4" lift in my shoes. I had three (maybe four) really good, pain-free runs (It's been so long, I'd completely forgotten what that felt like), and then things slowly started to fall apart until everything hit the bottom last Saturday when I set off for a 7 miler and had to bail at 2.5 miles in disgust because my shins & knees were killing me. In hindsight, I should have bailed after the first mile, but I didn't. I'm stupid. Anyway, I've got shin pain and now knee pain and I've never had knee pain from running before. In fact, it's about the only thing on my legs that haven't given me problems. Hamstrings: check. Hips: check. Calves: check. Shins: check. Ankles: check. Knees: awesome!

So, I'm taking this week off to do some moping cross-training and I'm going back to yell at discuss things with Mr. Podiatrist on Thursday. Last summer, he advised me that my problems were caused by over-pronation and that custom orthotics would resolve this issue and I'd be running big pain-free miles in no time. $500 custom orthotics will cure my lower leg issues, my ass! If anything, they seem like they've caused a good portion of the issues and I'm about THISCLOSE to going back to my original setup of over-the-counter cushioning insoles in my stability shoes.

The Simon Front

Poor little Simon has had a rough month: weight loss, appetite loss, vomiting, lethargy, drugs, drugs, drugs. He finally seems like he's leveling out and is (mostly) keeping food down and his appetite is much improved. I had to bring him back in last Friday so he could get his T4 (thyroid hormone) levels checked after being on Trapazole for the last month. He's been on & off the medicine so much in the last month, that I didn't hold out much hope for good news, but I was pleasantly surprised that his levels are back in the normal range. Woohoo, good news!

He's still having bouts of vomiting in the middle of the night which I usually step in as I stumble to the bathroom in the morning (gross), but it's sporadic. And his appetite is okay. He's never had a big appetite to begin with, so as long as he's eating and not losing any weight, I'm happy. So, we continue with the two pills/day and that's that.

Well, that's about it. Until next time!

It's Britney, Bitch.




-- Post From My iPhone

Last week, I had the a/c blasting because it was 85 and humid in my house. Today, I had to turn the heat on because it's 64 and damp. It's July 1 for cryn' out loud!

The good news: my calf is all better.

The bad news: my shin splints (MTSS) are back

I did three runs this week, but it's become pretty obvious that if I don't take a bit of time off to rest them, there will be no Eagle River HM for me.

**sigh, grr**

I was really hoping that this time I'd be able to make it through training without anything major, but it's just not to be.

**depression**

At least it looks like it's going to be good bike riding all next week so between that, the elliptical machine at the gym and turbo yoga, I'll be able to keep my fitness level up. That's good.

But man, this is FRUSTRATING!

I did 10 kick-ass miles this morning and for once it was not my ass that got kicked. My average pace was 9:55! Nine-freaking-fifty-freaking-five! I kept on looking at my watch and thinking it was wrong. My mile splits were (almost) all negative. Geez, what the hell! And then, because the Running Gods never seem to let me get too full of myself, they decided to gift me with a nasty little calf pull just to remind me that I pretty much suck at running. So now, after running 10 MILES AT 9:55, I’m looking at this bullshit.  Screw you Running Gods, now I remember why I’m agnostic.

Thank goodness I know an RN who can give me good medical advice.  RN Liz over at This Finngarian Mama has prescribed RICEDB: rest, ice, compression, elevation, drugs and booze. 

Best medical advice ever, I shall not let her down!

Today was cold and blustery so that meant I had to log my 3 miler on the treadmill.

The only good part about my session was that I got the treadmill next to the window.  I watched the wind blow the snow around to near-zero visibility and tried to remind myself that I should be happy that didn't have to run outside.

Instead, I kept on thinking that it didn't look too bad and I was being wimpy.

Then, the podcast that I was all set to listen to freaked out and locked up my iPhone, which meant I had nothing to listen to. Bah. Then, thanks to overdoing it with the weights on Monday, my legs felt like lead.  Every step was torture.

Then, I got home and could barely get my car into it's spot because my retarded neighbors parked directly across the street from my driveway. Grrr.
Yeah, I know.  Whine, whine, whine. 

Hmmm..wine.  Do I have any wine?  I could use a glass or three about now.

Let's toast to me having a better day tomorrow, shall we?  Cheers!

So.  Today marked day #1 of training for Journeys half marathon in May.  I'm excited to get back into a routine because one thing I've discovered about myself through running is that I'm really anal retentive/obsessive about my training.  I need a program to tell me when, how long and at what pace to run.  Without a program, I'm useless.  I simply cannot force myself to run regularly without the structure of a training program. 

There are pros and cons to my little problem.  The good - I will follow a program to the letter, without fail.  And, well, that's about it for the good. 

The bad?  Gee, where do I begin?  If I don't meet the required pace the the program says, I feel defeated.  If I don't meet the mileage, for whatever reason, I feel defeated.  I cannot end a run on anything other than the exact mileage.  If I go over the exact mileage, I must go to the next quarter mile.  If I miss the quarter mile mark, I go to the next quarter mile.  The longest I've ever added to a run was a mile. Oh, and it drives me NUTS that my Garmin gives me mile alerts at the point where it's just about to change from the .00 mile to the .01 mile.  And yes, I have gone to the next quarter mile before quitting, but now I mostly make sure the press the stop button as soon as it it hits the exact mileage.  When I was researching training plans for this HM, I considered one that went by minutes rather than miles.  i.e. run 40 minutes rather than 4 miles.  But then I started thinking that there was no way I'd be able to run 40 minutes and end on some crazy non-quarter mile mileage (horrors!), so then I'd have to get to an even mileage, which would probably put me over the minutes I was supposed to run, which would then cause my head to explode.

*sigh*

Okay, more.  I must be chewing gum at all times.  If I leave the house without gum, I will go back and get some.  Even if I've driven to a running trail.  Come to think of it, I can't do anything sports related without gum.  Skiing, snowblowing (that's a sport, sure), shoveling, aerobics.  WTF.  Do I have some strange connection between my legs and my jaw?

I compulsively watch my Garmin when I'm running to make sure I'm running at the EXACT PACE that my schedule calls for.  Must not run slower.  Must not run faster.  Must run at exact pace.  When the run is over, I obsessively analyze the running stats from my Garmin.  Pace, elevation, splits, route...cripes, I'm insane.

Wait, where was I going with this?

......Great!  Now I'm now obsessed with my obsessions!

Oh yeah. 

Training started today.  I was supposed to run 2 miles.  Except that the weather wasn't cooperating.  We had a blizzard overnight which didn't deposit a ton of snow in my yard but made some major drifts in my walkway.  Also, the plows created a huge bump in my driveway (thanks city plows, you suck!).  Those two things, along with it being around five degrees with a windchill of -10 didn't make for a good running day.  So I decided to reschedule the first run until tomorrow.  Man, that sucked.  Especially when I was about 20 minutes into my snow removal, mentally arguing with myself about whether I should go running, and some lady jogged by my house.  I stood there and watched her run all the way to the end of my street and around the corner.  I had all I could do to not drop the scoop and change into my running clothes and get my two miles in.  But, there was way no way I was going to leave my snow half-scooped (yet another one of my anal retentive qualities). In order to not feel like such a loser, I decided to count my hour's worth of snow removal as cross training.  I did work up a serious sweat - that damn snow is heavy - so I guess it should count for something, right?

...right?

If only it were true in my crazy world. 

 *sigh*