Day 133: Friday, July 9, 2013- Am in complete running withdrawl : (

Day 133: Logged 24 miles on days 124-128, Miles to go: 171. On day 5 of resting my right hip. Was the same one that took me out of running for almost two years, so am trying to be cautious and not push too hard, too fast. Am going to try a small run tomorrow morning to see how it feels. If no pain, am ready to ramp back up to finish these last “few” miles. Am in running withdrawl and am anxious to get back out there!

In the meantime, though, here are some fun pics from my crazy, beautiful life…

  THUR night SMILE calendar shoot followed by our AUG wedding group meeting in Henderson at Worsham Hall (love this place!)

  FRI night SMILE calendar photoshoot along the river

  Junior League of Evansville Provisional fun with one of my besties Debbie followed by haircuts for sis and I at Impulse in Newburgh

 So excited to find my paper making screens while cleaning out the garage after my walk with Debbie Sunday a.m.

 Followed that up with pool fun with the kiddos

  Monday got to play group ticket distribution queen at Holiday World for our annual SMILE Trip

 Helped Nat design her business Facebook cover image and launch the page

 Finally finished the Buddy Walk brochure. Have sent off to the printer, and am now finally through the proofing and editing stage

 Announced Sapphire blue as this year’s Buddy Walk shirt official color

 Successful dance recital, and what Mommy wouldn’t be proud of this kiddo feedback?!?!

(click on image to expand)

Day 33: April 30, 2013- 250 miles in the books!

Day 33: 6.09 miles today, Miles to go: 748.62… This evening’s 6+ miles put me past 250 miles, which means I am now at 25% of goal!!! Woo hoo! With that being said, the eye is on the mend… who knew eye injuries should be added to the list of running/walking cautions?!? I did end up going to my optometrist today because the irritation had made my eye bloodshot, watery, and light sensitive. Thankfully there was no corneal tear or left over bug parts from my runner/insect collision. I can also share that if you are in the same situation, here is what Dr. Christine Verbeck of Harmony Eyecare advises: 1) irrigate with saline 2) if the eye remains red or irritated or you have a foreign body sensation, consult your eye doctor 3) also consult your eye doctor if there is a light sensitivity discharge, or persistent blurred vision. I personally had a fine mix of all of the above so I am grateful to have such an amazing doctor, colleague, and friend!

Day 29: April 26, 2013- Oh, my toe!!!

Day 29: 2.03 miles today, Miles to go: 795.04… OK, so I know that 2 miles is a pretty low number for me, but in lieu of taking the day completely off, I wanted to at least get in something, so I just did a quick 2 mile walk on the north side by Bobby’s office. After 27 days, and a killer two weeks, I wanted to give myself a day to rest and recuperate. Particularly my toe… I will be up front, this is the same toe that had the nail fall off last year from all of the running that I did. While I know that that sounds super gross, it’s really not that big of a deal! Anyway, it’s been bothering me the last two days, and after last night’s 8 mile run, I thought maybe I had snagged it on my sock. That’s not exactly the case, though… I have a blister under the nail bed. Ouch! Ouch! And Triple Ouch!!!! I drained the blister last night before bed, but it was so painful at 2am that I had to get up and take some Tylenol AND ice it. I am grateful to Angie Peters for talking me through what I can do to push through it and heal it up. Hopefully, I should see some improvement by tomorrow, but in the meantime, I am going to enjoy my night off with the girls. We are heading to Hacienda and to catch a movie!  I think I am going to go with the Fry-yi-yi (waffle fries and cheese). I thought the burrito bowl would be way fewer calories…. It’s not, and it doesn’t taste half as good as the fries. So I will own those extra 100 calories and enjoy my reward for hitting 100 miles in two weeks. In case you were interested, though, you can find their entire nutritional listings at: http://haciendafiesta.com/images/downloads/nutrition-2012.pdf. So yeah to FRI! Yeah to hitting goals! And yeah to the upcoming weekend! Have a great one, and more to come tomorrow…

Day 27: April 24, 2013- I’m lovin’ it!!!

Day 27: 6.03 miles today, Miles to go: 805.22… Not a ton of miles, but inching closer to my 200 milestone as well as my 100 mile in two week mini-goal (that one has 8 miles to go and is running ahead of schedule). Chilly afternoon, and even colder evening. With that being said, I thought I would share some cold weather walking tips that I looked up. I bring up this topic because of an injury I sustained a few years ago. After a few years away from running, I decided to try and train for the spring half marathon. I started JAN 1 that year with walking a few miles and worked up eventually to six mile morning runs by APR of that year. What I didn’t realize that because I was not stretching well enough for the cold weather, I was actually damaging my right hip. Eight months, one surgery, and a lot of physical therapy later, we finally had an answer to what was causing all of my pelvic/abdominal area pain. So this topic is near and dear to my heart, and with the flux of cold weather still peppered into the warmer temps we are experiencing, I just want to make sure anyone attempting to reach their spring fitness goals is “walking into” their exercise routines with both eyes open!!! So here is what I found that I hope might help all of us…

“•  Allow at least 10 minutes to warm up. When it’s cold, your heart and muscles need more time to get ready.

•  Wear a scarf or mask loosely over your nose and mouth to prevent the sting of icy cold air when you inhale. This is especially important if you have asthma or heart problems.

•  Choose shoes with lugged soles for traction, and buy an inexpensive pair of ski or walking poles to help keep your balance. (The poles will also help you burn extra calories because your upper body is getting a workout too.)

•  Take your workout indoors if you’d be risking frostbite (temperatures around -20 degrees F, including any windchill), if it’s icy, or if you’d encounter dangerous traffic.

Dress for success When you step outside, you should feel slightly chilled but not cold. During your workout, you want to feel warm, not hot and sweaty. That means you need to dress in layers so that you can take them off or put more on as needed. Here are the basics of layering: An inner layer made of synthetic fabric such as CoolMax to wick sweat away so you stay dry A middle, or insulating, layer (or two) of light-weight fleece fabric such as Polartec to keep you warm An outer layer of waterproof, breathable fabric such as Gore-Tex to buffer you from the elements and let sweat escape; and Don’t forget a hat, gloves, and sunscreen!”

From: http://www.prevention.com/term/cold-weather-and-winter-walking

You can also find cold weather stretching tips at: http://www.runningincoldweather.com/stretching-for-cold-weather-running

On a different note, last night’s run left me famished this morning, but I knew that I had a BNI 1-to-1 at 11:30 at Panera, so I was determined to hold off until then. In the meantime, it was apples and and almonds and a great big Diet Coke from McDonalds. With that being said, walking into McDonalds with its yummy smells this morning was challenging. So in lieu of ordering the biscuits and gravy that I was coveting, I thought I would share what you can get at McDonalds for under 400 calories… my favorite of which is the two apple packets for $1. At 15 calories a packet, you can’t go wrong!!!

http://www.mcdonalds.com/us/en/food/meal_bundles/favoritesunder400.html

p.s. Kudos to McDonalds for adding their calorie count to their menu board!!! As they say, “I’m lovin’ it!”

Day 25: April 22, 2013- Wear proper footwear!

Day 25: 8.16 miles today, Miles to go: 829.74… Where did today go? I didn’t venture out this morning because the phones were ringing off the hook today at the office. However, I did manage to squeeze in just shy of two miles on the USI campus when I had to meet my professor. I do not recommend attempting any substantial distance if you are not in the proper shoes, though. A rubbed raw blister on my right ankle and an icepack on my left ankle are both the result of not packing my tennies to trek across campus. Doodle bug joined me after work for a 2 mile speed walk,

and then I did the last 4+ miles this evening after Art Smart and a stop up at St. Mary’s to visit a friend and her son. It was a quiet, beautiful night, one that was all the more enjoyable because the bright moonlight made for a very well lit path. Am glad the day is finally done, though. Just have some pics to upload for SMILE onto Facebook, and then I am turning in for the night! Until later…

Day 24: April 21, 2013- An interesting first…

Day 24: 12.8 miles today, Miles to go: 837.9…  I can officially say that I iced my butt for the first time ever… because the only thing sore from yesterday’s bike ride was whatever you call that area where your rear meets your leg! Other than that, I spent most of the day feeling great… did my SUN (8:30am instead of 6am) challenge with Debbie and got 7 miles in this morning. Also managed to get 5+  more miles in throughout the course of the day before a migraine took me out. The rough part is that I took Excedrin vs. a Maxalt because it was what I had on hand in my purse. The overkill of OTC caffeine made it so that I couldn’t lay down and fall asleep to try and get rid of the headache, which stunk. So kids snoozed (keeping in mind that they biked 18 miles yesterday, too) while I caught up on my to-do list in a quasi haze of half in/half out of a headache. Amazing weekend, though. Great weather, wonderful friends, and fun activities. Ready to tackle my week and wrap up my 100 miles in 2 weeks mini goal. Currently ahead of pace and looking forward to treating myself to a small reward if I can hit that mini goal!

Day 22: April 19, 2013- packed day, super tired

Day 22: 5.98 miles today, Miles to go: 859.77… Super tired. Wore out from the Cooper birthday party thing with wrangling 7 kiddos on top of an overly busy day! It’s already past 11, and I have another packed day tomorrow. Will have lots more to report after the super exciting Rockin River City Ride, so will write more then… we’ll see if the kids and I can last the whole 25K bike ride or if we’ll have to cut off early. Either way, I need to get my walking (there will be no running for a bit with my quad injury and now my knee bothering me again from MON’s fall) in as well, so it will be quite a calorie burning day! Can’t wait for tomorrow!!!

Day 17: April 14, 2013- The good news and the bad news

Day 17: 9.83 miles today, Miles to go: 897.14… The good news? I logged my first 100 miles today, which equals 1/10th of my goal already done- woo hoo! I didn’t think doing it in 16 days was too shabby- Yeah!!!… The bad news? I pulled my quad at Team Blonde football practice tonight! Icing my leg now, but can’t stress how important stretching is!!! Had a great 8 mile walk this morning with Debbie (no Cate today : ( She is still up at St. Mary’s with Jacob post-surgery), but I could tell as soon as we started doing sprints at the start of practice that something wasn’t quite right in my left thigh. Apparently that muscle is called your quad, and apparently according to my husband, while I am athletic and go long distances, I am not athletic in the football sense (short bursts of speed)… So what I am taking away from all this is that it sounds like I will have to work more sprint rotations into the mix once I get a good range of motion back in this leg.

Sitting in bed icing it now (speaking of which, I used to HATE the thought of icing an injury, now I welcome it… vey ironic!!!) and posting pics from practice. Since I wasn’t much use on the field, I tried to snap some great pics from the sidelines to help share what we go through to prepare for the event.

Most of you know that I have lost now over 60lbs since last year, and I was half tempted to show you a before and after pic, but for tonight I think I will just stick to sharing a fun photograph from this evening’s practice, which for me is a place where we not only get to learn the ropes of football, but we also get to support a great cause AND make some wonderful new friends (photographed with Crystal Elliott and Rose Lansink)!!!

With that being said, I still have wedding pics to put into an album, so I need to sign off to shower and work on those. Thank you to everyone who has started following my blog, and I hope everyone has had a wonderful weekend!!!

Day 16: April 13, 2013- back on the saddle

Day 16: 11.4 miles today, Miles to go: 906.97… Long day, but  overall a good one. Started the day with a ten mile walk this morning to get me back on the saddle after last night’s fall. My knee was still a bit sore, but I think it’s more from the abrasion than an injury. Weeded the front yard, then prepared for an afternoon out and about town running kids and getting in another over a mile walk in. Ended the evening photographing the Alzheimer’s Association Making Memories Gala.

So you may wonder how I track my walks and runs… I use the Nike+ GPS Watch that Bobby gave me Mothers’ Day last year, and it has made all the difference!!!

Why do I like it about it?

• I can track my mileage down to the 1/100th of a mile
• It can track my calories burned as well as my elapsed time and pace.
• It also works as a watch, so I can check what time it is to make sure I get home in time.
• For my evening runs and walks, all I have to do is tap it once, and it is backlit- perfect to check out what I am doing (when I am not tripping all over myself like last night!).
• It makes sure that I am not cheating myself by cutting corners. My mile walks are not .90 or .95. They are full miles!!!
• Once I am done with a walk, I plug the watch into my computer and download it to my Nike+ account, which tracks my distances for that walk or run as well as my cumulative distance.
• Lastly, the Nike+ website and the watch give encouraging messages. When I finish a long run or milestone, the watch generally gives me a message right away. Other cumulative milestones or goals hit are recognized when you log into the website.

This GPS tracking watch has made all the difference in my goals since last year, and I highly recommend it!!!

So, with that being said, keep on keepin’ on, and have a great night! I myself am getting out of my high heel boots as soon as humanly possible (that I sported for the Alzheimer’s Association Making Memories Gala) so that I can ice both ankles and my knee, all three still sore from last night’s tumble!

Day 15: April 12, 2013- skunks, stars, and a really sore knee

Day 15: 6.94 miles today, Miles to go: 918.37… Well, I wish I could day today was a great day. It started out that way… 5 mile walk this afternoon from the office, since the kids were in rare form and got grounded, I got to spend more time than I anticipated on my art room in progress, but I should have known the moment that I walked out the door for my evening walk that maybe tonight was not a great night to be out walking… It started out easily enough. The evening goal was 3 miles with hand weights, and aside from the skunk smell and coming across some neighbor kids walking in the dark, it was actually a pretty night. Chilly, but clear skies with LOTS of stars… There was more traffic than usual in our little subdivision, though, and around mile 1.6, I cut over sooner than I usually do when I saw a car coming down the road. Big mistake that led to me stepping off the road onto an apparently uneven patch of ground. Down I went on my right knee= OUCH!!!

Thankfully it didn’t rip one of my favorite pairs of pants (fashion first people!!!), but somehow it ripped up my knee fairly good. I’m icing it now, but there is slight bruising coming through. Honestly, I thought I was going to pass out. I managed to get myself up and give the driver a thumbs up, but hind sight is 20/20, and I probably should have asked the teenager to give me a ride the quarter mile back up the road. Between my three layers and the hand weights, I was afraid I was going to pass out trying to get back… I know- Bob will tell you that I have a low pain tolerance, but no joke… it HURT! My only concern is making sure that I can get out tomorrow, though. I have a relatively long distance goal, so I am going to be pretty torqued if this gets in the way. I already cut my walk short tonight because of it. Hope it doesn’t effect tomorrow!!! Grrr!!!

So anyway, I was going to talk about my GPS watch tonight, but in light of my knee, I’m just ready to call it a night : ) I’ll fill y’all in later about my Nike+. Later!