Saturday

I SHOULD be running this morning. I should be breathing all this cold air into my lungs and beating the pavement with my feet. Instead, here I sit with my lame leg. I think I feel a bit better. (but it's also hard to tell since I'm taking all this Motrin!) It's one week as of...well, right about now! Earlier in the week I could not even do the elliptical. I am hoping to get back to the gym this week and at least hopefully handle some biking-if the leg can handle the pressure.

Husband says to take it easy. Husband is a lawyer. A lot of the cases he has requires him to go over medical records. Sometimes this makes him think he is a Doctor. He doesn't really think I should race anymore this year. His fear is that if I don't heal properly the issue could become chronic. His fear is also surgery as it is his opinion that ankle surgeries do not fare well.

He knows how important running has become and really wants to see me out again in the New Year. That way I could start training again and do the OKC Memorial Half in April. I listen to his advice. THis coupled with what the Dr. has said makes me think-As much as I hate to think that way, it's almost November. It will be a very busy month then I am teaching at the Museum every Sat in December...then it will be January. Fresh start for the New Year? Maybe so.

My boys are tired of my not keeping up with them. Oldest child says, "when will your leg get better?" Youngest child informed me the other day that "his legs were all broke" and that he needed to be carried. Geesh.

OH! I went to the Landrunner meeting this past Monday night. Speaker was ultramarathoner Chisholm Deupree. He is the 3rd Oklahoman to complete the Badwater 135 mile ultramarathon. All I can say is holy f'ing BADASS. What a story. What an inspiration. It really is amazing what the human body can do. It is a machine!

Well, I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend. Pound the pavement for me!

Run on!

I am posting my previous race schedule here as I don't want to delete it, but want to get rid of it from my sidebar.

Susan G.Komen Race for the Cure 10/20/07
finished 35.45

OP Thanksgiving 5K November 07
finished 33.29

Redbud Classic 5K 4/6/08
finished 38.05

OKC Memorial 10k relay 4/27/08
finished 1:09:05

Sooner State Games 10K 5/17/08
finished1:10:51

Red Earth Run 5K 6/7/08
finished 33:56

Midnight Streak 7/26/08
Finished 31:18

Run with the Bulls 8/23/08
Finished 33:26

Geico Race for Freedom 10K
9/13/08 Finished 1:17:40 :(

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5K 10/4/08
Finished 31:52

Kelsey Briggs race against Child Abuse 5K 10/18/08-INJURED

:(

Well...no Route 66 Half for me. I saw an Orthopedic Dr. and I have partially torn my tibialis posterior tendon. I have some swelling and the brusing on my foot leads the Dr. to believe I have not just strained it, but partly torn it. It's not completely torn or I wouldn't be walking at all. I cannot put any pressure on my left leg alone. After 3 weeks if I am not better I will get an MRI and probably have surgery. I can't tell you how disappointed I am.

What I thought was shin splints on that leg has really been straining this tendon the whole time. I was doomed. So, now I just have to heal and hopefully I will be back on my feet soon. Now I am to slowly start back on with a bike-water exercise no running. Not really even walking. (ha! snort! Try that with a running two year old!) Need to keep leg elevated as much as possible. :( I am so sad. Running has been a big deal to me. The races have really been a huge accomplishment for me, especially since I am a stay at home mom. Anyway, thanks for checking in on me. Hopefully next post won't be such a pity me.

Sore, but better

Last night I tossed and turned. Whenever the Motrin wore off, I'd get sharp shooting pains. I was able to sleep in this morning as the boys slept in to a whopping 7:30-very unusual as we are all early risers here. 6am usually. I was thankful though for the extra sleep. The boys took care of me and I felt much better today. My lower leg is sore when I stand on it, but otherwise ok. I am going to keep on the Motrin for today and try a short walk tomorrow. I might make a trip to the Dr. Tuesday if I am still sore. What a pain! (literally!) Thanks everyone for your thoughts and advice. I am very nervous about the race. I do have 2 races before the half- a 5k and a 12k. I think those will be very telling to see if I will be able to run. I guess even before that though, training will tell me if I can run at ALL right now. Beautiful but windy day here. I plan to get out and enjoy it as much as possible! I hope everyone enjoys the last day of the weekend!

OWWWWW!

Something happened to me on that 5K this morning. I was only about 1.5 miles in...going up a hill and my left calf went out. It felt like a noodle. Then sharp shooting pains shot down my lower butt through my leg? I used to get those pains when I was very pregnant-sciatic pain. wtf?! The calf thing is new. I am still in pain and it's 2 in the afternoon. So anyway, I stopped in the race and tried to stretch it out. My calf felt really tight. I tried to run on it and no can do. The pain shot through me it was terrible. I had to walk the rest of the way. I felt like and idiot. It hurt so bad though I wanted to cry. My husband almost came onto the course when I didn't show up after 40 minutes. 43 minutes later I hobbled to the finish and didn't want to cry, but made husband get the car. I immediately drank water came home put my foot up and put ice on it. I don't know. I've been doing ice and heat. My inner calf seems to be ok. It's not spazzing like it was. I still have a pain on the outer calf-not constant, but it shoots out if I move my foot in a certain direction. DAMNIT! Big race is 26 days away.

So, I am going to take it easy over the next few days-see if I need to see a doc if it's not better? I don't know. So, I'm loaded up with Motrin and I just might have to bust open a few of the pumpkin ales that are chilling in the fridge.

Terri tagged me with her awesomeness. Here are my answers.

Rules: Each player answers the question themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.

10 Years Ago (1998):
1. I was 22 years old.

2. I was living in secret with my boyfriend-who is now my husband.

3. I went back to school after partying my way out the first time. I learned when you pay for things yourself, you actually go to class! Imagine!

4. I started a bartending/waitress gig. Pretty good money!

5. Watched my Dad beat cancer.

5 Things on Today’s “To Do” List:
1. Run 5K in less than 30 minutes. Um-didn't happen.

2. Get together lesson plan ideas for meeting at the Museum on Tuesday.

3. Watch OU/KS. Drink beer to ease pain.

4. Make lasagna.

5. Drink more beer to ease pain.

5 Things that I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Pay all debts/secure boys future funds.

2. Pay all Brandon's Medical bills, etc. Set nephews up with future funds. Buy Missy new house (with WOOD floors! lol!) Pay off parent's debts. I'm pretty sure they are still paying for my wedding. Set bro and rest of family up.

3. Give a ton of money to Heroes for Children and set up a branch here in OK.

4. Provide money for local after school art programs in the city.

5. A few things for ourselves. I'd buy a ranch for hubby and build a massive walk in closet for me and all my NEW running shoes! :)

5 Places I have lived:
1. Buffalo, NY

2. Edmond, OK

3. Norman, OK

4. Oklahoma City, OK

5. Would like to live in Colorado! (Maybe on that ranch!?)

5 Jobs I have had:

1. Babysitter extraordinare.

2. Beer cart girl at a golf course.

3. Waitress at Applebee's Restaurant.

4. Bartender

5. Worked at a law office-besides my husbands.

Oh, but did I mention my new job? Very excited to be taking on a few classes as an instructor this spring at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art! I've helped fill in for a few classes and events and have had a great time. I am so thrilled. It's one of my very favorite places to be!

Oh look! It's almost kickoff! Go Sooners! Time to open that pumpin ale. Catch ya'll later!

p.s.

p.s. I am so happy to see they indicted that beyotch Casey Anthony!

I know I know...innocent til proven guilty. Whatever! That's why I'm not the lawyer in the family and why I'd never be put on the jury for this one!

randomness

Geez. I seriously need a computer! My blogness is lacking. On an upside though, I bought new shoes today! Made the trek to Edmond to go to OKRunner. They are great there. There were other runners in the store that were happy to strike up running conversation and more eager to share advice with a newbie runner like me.

The shoes I bought are just an upgrade of my current shoes, but it's pretty exciting for me. Whoever would have thought that I would spend my extra pennies on running shoes instead of like...a pair of red high heels or something? Totally bizarre. They are the Saucony Omni 7. I also got a pair of socks. Balega...these have a bit more cushion than the Adidas ones I have been training in. I needed to try somehting new though because the Adidas ones are a bit low in the heel-leading to some blister action. Actually it's not really blisters-more like bloody mess. So, I'll give these a whirl. I've been wearing them around today and they seem nice.

I think I am going to do a 5K this Saturday. It's the Kelsey Briggs Run Against Child Abuse. All proceeds go to fight child abuse in Oklahoma and in 2005, this beautiful little girl lost her life to child abuse. A sad heart breaking stoppable and grewsome story. I remember feeling so much anger at the time story broke my heart. I wish there never had to be cases of child abuse. This is one race for sure I want my money to go to. It's at 8am-downtown at Regatta Park. Might be a bit chilly...especially since it's on the water. I better think about that. 9 miles this Sunday! Rock on!

Day blog!

I know. First of all, what am I doing blogging during a weekday!? Did I finally get a new home computer? Well, no. Not yet. Husband left his here with me since he was not going into the office this morning. He had to be up early for a hearing a few hours away. So, here I am. One kiddo is at school and the other is watching Toy Story. I should be doing laundry or making beds or anything but sitting here on my butt. However, I never get the computer during the day! So what have I done? Looked at Runners World, looked into booking my hotel room for the Route 66 half, caught up on blogs that I read, searched for Spiderman slippers for child no 1., pretty much just being worthless.

Yesterday I forgot to mention one of the great things I have gotten out of running. The fact that both boys, even at only the age of 2 and 4 have really taken to it. They have their own races in the front yard and tell me to cheer for them. Child no. 1 even stretches and takes water breaks. I love that I am passing along such a healthy and wonderful past-time! Child no.2 loves to run around and says, "I'm fast! Fast and fast and fast!" Makes me smile.

Speaking of fast and fast and fast! Wouldn't I like to be? :) All I can do is work a little harder. I am curious about a training group one of my friends is doing through Fleet Feet. She says they have really helped her-short and long distance-I might get some info on it to train harder for my second half-which will be the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in April. I am not setting unrealistic goals at all for the half in November. It is going to be a big accomplishment for me to finish. I'd like to just keep up with a pace group. I'll stay between the 2 hour and 2.5 hour group and try that. I am more nervous by the day. Can I really do this? I'm also needing to figure out food. So I really need to pop gels etc for a half? I don't want to have another Clif bar incident so I need to try these things out now! That's about it. Computer time is over. I am being called to put together train tracks! Run on!

RFTC '08

What a turn out!

It was a beautiful morning for the Komen Race for the Cure in downtown OKC. Woke up at 6 popped my Motrin and got showered up. I may have made a fatal mistake by changing up my race breakfast. I know it's against runners rules to try new things on a race day. Well some lessons are made through trial and error. I thought I'd try a Clif Bar. I got crunchy peanut butter and it was pretty tasty. A little dense, but good. About 30 minutes later I heard the rumble. I tried to dismiss it. ugh. My stomach did not take kindly to it and I had er...problems all morning. I almost popped an imodium, but I was worried about time so we left. Before we could head downtown though we had to make a stop at Dunkin Donuts. Munchkins and chocolate milk for the boys!

It was a bit of a trick finding parking. Husband and the boys ended up dropping me off so I would be able to meet my group in time while they headed off to park and find their spot at the finish line. I made my way to our group's rendezvous, but decided to go to the baseball stadium where we were supposed to have group pics. Saw fellow teammates and waited. Looked at my watch nervously. 8am. race starts at 8:15. From where I am, I think, it is going to take me a good 5-10 minutes to fight through this freaking crowd to line up. I decide to skip group photo. I make my way through the crowd and no one seems interested that the race is going to start in 10 minutes!

I figured I would line up at a faster pace mark because last year I really got stuck behind a ton of walkers. Well, lining up at the 8 minute mile didn't stop that! The sun was rising, they sang the national anthem and the gun went off. I was stuck. and not the kind of stuck where you can't run because no one can run-just stuck behind walkers that had no intention of running. I had a friend tell me, RFTC is not a runners race. It's a social event. He said it's really just too many people for a 5K to sucessfully give good running times. I was a little frustrated because I knew I had my personal goal in mind. I think I might have grumbled and growled a little, sorry.

Then I tried to relax, taking in the beautiful morning light and remember why I was really doing this race. For breast cancer prevention and to remember those who lost their battle and for those who are fighting it. The first mile was uphill. I am still fighting allergies and should have taken an Alavert. I had a hard time breathing due to mucus.

Hit the water stop and kept going. Music was good. Oh, my playlist?

Number 1 :Goldfrapp
One More Time :Daft Punk
Destroy Everything: Ladytron
Busy Child: Crystal Method
Thanks Fr Th Mmrs: Fall Out Boy
I Love my Sex: Benny Benassi
Satisfaction: Benny Benassi
Stronger: Kanye West

Wove my way through people. I felt good, considering I didn't run that much since being kinda sick in the past two weeks. I glanced at my watch and it said 25 minutes. I was over a km away. I was angry thinking, I'm not going to make it in time! (I didn't but that's okay) Then I got sidetracked. By a group of firemen in all of their gear marching together chanting something. Oh hotness. Focus, Erin! Then I rounded the corner and was literally stuck behind a stroller brigade. Ugh! Then I could see the finish line. I jumped around the strollers and I start looking for my boys. I look and look! There are thousands of freaking people! Then at the last second, there they are. They are yelling and cheering for me and seeing their faces made my morning. no clock at the finish. Look at my watch 31:12. Damn.

Results per DG racing:

31:52 /10:16 pace

510 out of 3491 women total

74 out of 454 for my age group (age 30-34)