I'm sure thousands of people are on the edge of their seats just waiting to find out what I'm doing in 2012. You are excited, right? I'm making your dreams come true by posting about this, huh?
Ok, so here goes. My number 1 goal is to fix my hip issues and not get hurt again. Everything else depends on that. Assuming that happens, here is what I want to do:
1. Run 1000 miles. A little over 80 miles per month. Definitely doable if I don't totally wimp out on summertime again.
2. Do the Run the Ville 10K again. This has been my favorite race of all time. I'm a little scared to run it again because I loved it so much and what if I'm disappointed? Why do I overthink things so much?
3. Snake Run!! Unless something miraculous happens I will be doing 3 hours, not 6. Now, who is shocked that I want to do this race? You all know about my little aversion to snakes. In fact, I have a code name for them I hate them so much. What do you think are the chances of getting the name changed to the Waffle Run? Someone from TATUR, are you reading this? I know why it's called the Snake Run. I just don't know if I can actually run in a race with the name Snake. We shall see. I do think a race called Waffle run would probably draw more participants. Call me if you would like more fabulous suggestions!
4. Lake McMurtry Trail Run Again, unless we see a miracle, I will be doing the 25K. If I do it, perhaps I can improve my previous 25K time. Is there anyone who can tell me more about the course? Compare it to Turkey and Taturs or Flatrock? Or both?
Numbers 3 and 4 are sort of dependent on timing. There is a chance that 2, 3 and 4 are 3 weekends in a row. If that is the case I will have to drop one of them.
5. Flatrock Ok. I will admit it. I'd like to do the 50K here. There is probably no way I could do it under the time limit, or even at all, but I'm thinking about it. Why go through only half the pain and misery of this great race? Also, one of my goals is to run 33 miles, sometime around my birthday. In theory, I could run 2 miles early in the morning of this race, then do it and accomplish two goals at once. Crazy? Absolutely. We will see. Any volunteers who want to run this with me??
6. Run 33 miles. All at once. I've talked about that before and probably will again, so I won't say any more now.
7. Run on trails more. I love running on trails, but I'm scared to do it alone. I'm scared of falling and getting hurt, or just getting hurt in general. I'm scared some psycho is waiting on the trail to kill me. I'm just scared. I wish I could talk someone into running with me. I also want to go down and run with the TATURs a couple of times.
So, that's all I have for now. Well, that's a lot. I'm thinking I MIGHT run a marathon this year. Why is it a marathon scares me more than a 50K? It's not as far. The road is easier than the trail. But trail races are just better. And I don't have any expectations on the trail except to finish.
I'm excited to see what the year brings. So far, so good. In fact, I broke my 5K record on New Years Day! I finally ran a sub-30 5K! I then sat down in the middle of the road and didn't move. Rick had to pretty much drag me to the truck.
Happy Running!
~Mel
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Looking Back
It is the end of the year, so I'm reflecting on my year of running. It was quite a year! I had a lot of firsts. I had some good things happen and some bad things happen.
I'd say the best thing that happened is that I learned that I can do more than I ever thought possible. I learned that I can push my body and it will do what I ask. Unfortunately, I also learned that if you ask too much of your body it will eventually start pushing back and you end up injured. So, I learned that I must listen to my body.
Some highlights from my year:
I am excited to see what next year brings in terms of running. I hope it brings lots of wonderful things. Right now I am hesitant to set goals. I do have some races planned but I will write a post next week telling you all what my plans are.
It was a pretty good year for me in areas other than running also. This year Ryan turned 11, Adam turned 8, and Rick and I had our 12th anniversary. We spent some time in Wyoming with family and also went to Branson and Kansas City for short getaways. I went to Connecticut and NYC. Ryan's baseball team made it to State and some pretty neat things happened. It was an exceptional group of boys. Adam got his first "real" grade card with actual grades. Straight A's! Rick is continuing to work on his masters and only has one semester to go! Can we say Principal Bruce? I know he will be a wonderful administrator.
I welcomed some new members into my family this year. My niece August is adorable as is Katherine, my honorary niece. On the other side of that, my family lost a tremendous person today. My uncle Mike passed away. I can't say enough wonderful things about him. In fact, I will probably blog about him sometime soon. Right now my heart is broken and I can't really talk about it.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some major things that happened, but that's ok. The fact is, I am truly blessed in so many ways and I hope those blessings continue into the new year. Tomorrow is my last run of the year and I'm excited.
Until next year.....
~Mel
I'd say the best thing that happened is that I learned that I can do more than I ever thought possible. I learned that I can push my body and it will do what I ask. Unfortunately, I also learned that if you ask too much of your body it will eventually start pushing back and you end up injured. So, I learned that I must listen to my body.
Some highlights from my year:
- I ran my first Half Marathon!!!
- I discovered trail running
- I ran my first 25K trail race!!
- From September 10 to November 6 I ran two 25k trail races, a 10k , a 5K and a Quarter Marathon.
- I ran to my dad's house! It's only 9.5 miles, so not my furthest run, but it made me happy. I loved the feeling of running into his driveway and the sense of accomplishment it gave me.
I am excited to see what next year brings in terms of running. I hope it brings lots of wonderful things. Right now I am hesitant to set goals. I do have some races planned but I will write a post next week telling you all what my plans are.
It was a pretty good year for me in areas other than running also. This year Ryan turned 11, Adam turned 8, and Rick and I had our 12th anniversary. We spent some time in Wyoming with family and also went to Branson and Kansas City for short getaways. I went to Connecticut and NYC. Ryan's baseball team made it to State and some pretty neat things happened. It was an exceptional group of boys. Adam got his first "real" grade card with actual grades. Straight A's! Rick is continuing to work on his masters and only has one semester to go! Can we say Principal Bruce? I know he will be a wonderful administrator.
I welcomed some new members into my family this year. My niece August is adorable as is Katherine, my honorary niece. On the other side of that, my family lost a tremendous person today. My uncle Mike passed away. I can't say enough wonderful things about him. In fact, I will probably blog about him sometime soon. Right now my heart is broken and I can't really talk about it.
I'm sure I'm forgetting some major things that happened, but that's ok. The fact is, I am truly blessed in so many ways and I hope those blessings continue into the new year. Tomorrow is my last run of the year and I'm excited.
Until next year.....
~Mel
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Just Keep Moving
This is kind of my theme right now. It is how my life is going and how running is going. Nothing too exciting, nothing to bad. Just moving forward.
I saw the orthopedist last week. He really isn't entirely certain what is going on. Apparently, and if you know me this won't surprise you, my body is weird. It shouldn't be experiencing the symptoms that it is all at one time. Which either means I have more than one thing going on, or I'm a freak. I'm sure it's the latter. He wants me to go to physical therapy for a few weeks and see how that goes. I have my first appointment tomorrow. In the meantime, he said keep running. He doesn't think I have anything so serious that I shouldn't run while we figure it out. The more miles I run, the more painful it gets. He told me to run until I get to a level of pain I can't deal with and then don't run more. Make sense? I can run between 20 and 25 miles without too much pain. After 25 it's pretty bad. So for now, I'm staying at 25 or under.
My running is just kind of uneventful. One run from last week will probably stand out in my memory for a long time though. Last Saturday I got up early to run. I was just not feeling it, but I got up anyway. I got dressed, ate, and headed out. I ran about a block before turning around to go home. I took off my running clothes and sat in the recliner. Then Adam woke up and talked to me for a little bit. I decided he looked very comfy on the couch so I joined him under the blanket. A few minutes later Ryan joined us, then both cats. So it was Me, Ryan, Adam, Daisy and Lucy all on the couch. We goofed around a little and I fell asleep. When I woke up I was alone on the couch. You know what? I wouldn't trade that time snuggling with my kids for the best run in the world. While running is important to me my kids are more important.
I had planned to do my run after the Christmas parade and before Adam's basketball game. Unfortunately I would barely have time to run, then take a shower, so I decided against that. Instead, I decided to run home from Independence. I can run the lake way and not run into too much traffic. It is more than 10 miles, so my plan was to call someone to come get me when I got done. Rick was busy, so I asked my mother in law, Kay. Being the awesome person that she is, she said yes.
After the game I went to the bathroom to change and had forgotten a sports bra. Ugh. So I went to walmart to just grab a cheap one and they were crazy busy. I ended up leaving about 30 minutes after I intended.
I never could get into a rythm and the run wasn't a lot of fun. I started out way too hot. It was 57 degrees and I had packed a thermal nike shirt. By the end I was super thankful I had it though. I've never run this way, and knew there were hills, but I had no idea just how bad they were. At one point you are going uphill for almost a mile. Part of it is just a small incline, but some of it is NOT! At mile 7 there is a really large, really steep hill. I already knew I was walking up it, but what I didn't know is that I would barely be able to walk up it. It was rough. The sun was also starting to go down at this point so I planned to call Kay at mile 8 to have her come get me. I knew how long it would take her to get there and was hoping to get to 9. It would have been fully dark if I had gone to 10 and I didn't want to do that.
At about 7.75 miles my cell rang. It was Kay. She didn't know I had started late. She had fallen asleep watching tv and when she woke up it was almost dark and she hadn't heard from me. I told her to go ahead and come get me. She got there right on time! There was a very hateful dog that wasn't too excited about me running past his house. He never left the driveway, but I was happy that someone was coming if he did attack me.
I came home and had a shower and made popcorn. The boys and I had planned a Christmas movie night. Problem? Our dvd player wasn't working. I shamelessly had Adam call Kay and ask if we could have a movie night at their house. He called and said, "Hey Nanny, this is Adam. Can we come watch movies at your house? We will bring our own popcorn!" It was cute. We had a lot of fun eating popcorn and watching Miracle on 34th St. I love love love Rick's parents!
So, nothing exciting running wise. I think maybe I have found my next race! I'm not positive though, so I'm not going to say what it is yet. I probably will right after the first of the year.
Happy Running!
~Mel
I saw the orthopedist last week. He really isn't entirely certain what is going on. Apparently, and if you know me this won't surprise you, my body is weird. It shouldn't be experiencing the symptoms that it is all at one time. Which either means I have more than one thing going on, or I'm a freak. I'm sure it's the latter. He wants me to go to physical therapy for a few weeks and see how that goes. I have my first appointment tomorrow. In the meantime, he said keep running. He doesn't think I have anything so serious that I shouldn't run while we figure it out. The more miles I run, the more painful it gets. He told me to run until I get to a level of pain I can't deal with and then don't run more. Make sense? I can run between 20 and 25 miles without too much pain. After 25 it's pretty bad. So for now, I'm staying at 25 or under.
My running is just kind of uneventful. One run from last week will probably stand out in my memory for a long time though. Last Saturday I got up early to run. I was just not feeling it, but I got up anyway. I got dressed, ate, and headed out. I ran about a block before turning around to go home. I took off my running clothes and sat in the recliner. Then Adam woke up and talked to me for a little bit. I decided he looked very comfy on the couch so I joined him under the blanket. A few minutes later Ryan joined us, then both cats. So it was Me, Ryan, Adam, Daisy and Lucy all on the couch. We goofed around a little and I fell asleep. When I woke up I was alone on the couch. You know what? I wouldn't trade that time snuggling with my kids for the best run in the world. While running is important to me my kids are more important.
I had planned to do my run after the Christmas parade and before Adam's basketball game. Unfortunately I would barely have time to run, then take a shower, so I decided against that. Instead, I decided to run home from Independence. I can run the lake way and not run into too much traffic. It is more than 10 miles, so my plan was to call someone to come get me when I got done. Rick was busy, so I asked my mother in law, Kay. Being the awesome person that she is, she said yes.
After the game I went to the bathroom to change and had forgotten a sports bra. Ugh. So I went to walmart to just grab a cheap one and they were crazy busy. I ended up leaving about 30 minutes after I intended.
I never could get into a rythm and the run wasn't a lot of fun. I started out way too hot. It was 57 degrees and I had packed a thermal nike shirt. By the end I was super thankful I had it though. I've never run this way, and knew there were hills, but I had no idea just how bad they were. At one point you are going uphill for almost a mile. Part of it is just a small incline, but some of it is NOT! At mile 7 there is a really large, really steep hill. I already knew I was walking up it, but what I didn't know is that I would barely be able to walk up it. It was rough. The sun was also starting to go down at this point so I planned to call Kay at mile 8 to have her come get me. I knew how long it would take her to get there and was hoping to get to 9. It would have been fully dark if I had gone to 10 and I didn't want to do that.
At about 7.75 miles my cell rang. It was Kay. She didn't know I had started late. She had fallen asleep watching tv and when she woke up it was almost dark and she hadn't heard from me. I told her to go ahead and come get me. She got there right on time! There was a very hateful dog that wasn't too excited about me running past his house. He never left the driveway, but I was happy that someone was coming if he did attack me.
I came home and had a shower and made popcorn. The boys and I had planned a Christmas movie night. Problem? Our dvd player wasn't working. I shamelessly had Adam call Kay and ask if we could have a movie night at their house. He called and said, "Hey Nanny, this is Adam. Can we come watch movies at your house? We will bring our own popcorn!" It was cute. We had a lot of fun eating popcorn and watching Miracle on 34th St. I love love love Rick's parents!
So, nothing exciting running wise. I think maybe I have found my next race! I'm not positive though, so I'm not going to say what it is yet. I probably will right after the first of the year.
Happy Running!
~Mel
Monday, December 12, 2011
Let us run with endurance...
Since I ran the Oklahoma Aquarium half marathon, a phrase (actually a bible verse) keeps floating around in my brain. It pops up during all sorts of situations, not just running. During the race, we went over a little bridge. I think it was possibly just a pedestrian bridge, I can't really remember. Some people had written inspirational phrases, bible verses, etc that you read as you ran. It was pretty neat, and distracting, which was a good thing! One of the things I read was "Let us run with endurance the race set before us, Hebrews 12:1" I"m not sure why, but it was kind of an "ah-ha!" moment for me. I repeated this to myself multiple times during the race. And I thought about it and what it meant. Obviously it applies to running. But it can be about so much more than that.
Right after my race we went to Branson with my Mom and Alan. In the car on the way there I told Rick about reading this verse as I was running and how much it helped me get through the 13.1 miles. The next day we went to Silver Dollar City. In one of the first shops we went in, I saw a pretty picture of some horses with something written on it. I walked over to it and what did it say? See for yourself.
Obviously it is from a different version of the Bible, but you get what I'm saying ;). I got all excited and showed Rick and drug my mom over to see it. Neither were as impressed as I was. I would have bought it, but I think I would have had to sell one of the kids to afford it. While that sounds like a great idea sometimes it's probably not ok. Probably.
How is it that I had never read this in the Bible or anywhere else? And why did it have such an affect on me? The truth is, I had probably heard it or read it somewhere and it just wasn't the right time for me to really notice it. While on vacation in September, I told my cousin Jennifer about it. She's so amazing by the way. She is also crafty and talented in ways that I cannot even fathom. I'm seriously in awe of her. I asked her if she would make me something to hang on my wall with that verse on it. She said to just e-mail her which version I wanted and she would do it. It took me forever to do it because I never do things as quickly as I think I will or should. On Saturday, I had lunch with her. Before we left her house she handed me a gift bag. In it was Cheez-its (my favorite food), a pair of my running socks, which is a funny story for later, and a frame with something in it. It was the verse! And it's beautiful.
This picture doesn't do it justice. I took it with my phone in my car in the sun. If I were a less lazy person I would take a nice picture of it with my camera so I could show off Jennifer's talents, but alas, I'm lazy. Anyway, I was so excited! I've been wanting to blog about this for a long time and now seemed like the perfect time.
It's truly impossible for me to explain what this verse means to me. It is a constant reminder that God is there for me and won't give me anything I can't handle. I ask God all the time while I'm running to just give me the endurance to finish. Did God set running before me? Who knows? I think God gave us free will, but I also think that he tries to steer us away from endeavors he doesn't want us to pursue.
Now when something in my life challenges me I can pray, "Ok God. You have given me this challenge. Now please help me rise up and meet it. Give me the endurance/strength/perserverance I need to make it through." I think that God set that verse before me as a lesson. A lesson that it's ok to ask for help. As it turns out, you can ask God for help with even the small things, like running. He might be a little busy with the big stuff, but me praying for strength somehow allows me to gain some. Often just admitting that you need help gives you the courage to finish on your own.
I have a friend who is struggling with something that I have struggled with all too often. It breaks my heart. I pray that God will give her the endurance to to get through this challenge like she has before.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with an orthopedist about my hip. My greatest fear is that he's going to tell me to take time off from running. But I know that no matter what happens, I will be ok. If anyone has any spare prayers or positive thoughts I could use them!
Happy Running!
~Mel
Right after my race we went to Branson with my Mom and Alan. In the car on the way there I told Rick about reading this verse as I was running and how much it helped me get through the 13.1 miles. The next day we went to Silver Dollar City. In one of the first shops we went in, I saw a pretty picture of some horses with something written on it. I walked over to it and what did it say? See for yourself.
How is it that I had never read this in the Bible or anywhere else? And why did it have such an affect on me? The truth is, I had probably heard it or read it somewhere and it just wasn't the right time for me to really notice it. While on vacation in September, I told my cousin Jennifer about it. She's so amazing by the way. She is also crafty and talented in ways that I cannot even fathom. I'm seriously in awe of her. I asked her if she would make me something to hang on my wall with that verse on it. She said to just e-mail her which version I wanted and she would do it. It took me forever to do it because I never do things as quickly as I think I will or should. On Saturday, I had lunch with her. Before we left her house she handed me a gift bag. In it was Cheez-its (my favorite food), a pair of my running socks, which is a funny story for later, and a frame with something in it. It was the verse! And it's beautiful.
It's truly impossible for me to explain what this verse means to me. It is a constant reminder that God is there for me and won't give me anything I can't handle. I ask God all the time while I'm running to just give me the endurance to finish. Did God set running before me? Who knows? I think God gave us free will, but I also think that he tries to steer us away from endeavors he doesn't want us to pursue.
Now when something in my life challenges me I can pray, "Ok God. You have given me this challenge. Now please help me rise up and meet it. Give me the endurance/strength/perserverance I need to make it through." I think that God set that verse before me as a lesson. A lesson that it's ok to ask for help. As it turns out, you can ask God for help with even the small things, like running. He might be a little busy with the big stuff, but me praying for strength somehow allows me to gain some. Often just admitting that you need help gives you the courage to finish on your own.
I have a friend who is struggling with something that I have struggled with all too often. It breaks my heart. I pray that God will give her the endurance to to get through this challenge like she has before.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with an orthopedist about my hip. My greatest fear is that he's going to tell me to take time off from running. But I know that no matter what happens, I will be ok. If anyone has any spare prayers or positive thoughts I could use them!
Happy Running!
~Mel
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Sometimes you just need to run
This post is only sort of about running. Mostly, it is about something that happened and the courage of a little boy who stood up for himself. I'm so proud that he is my son.
Last friday my son came home crying so hard I couldn't understand what he was saying. I finally calmed him enough to understand him say that an adult who works at his school had kicked him. Over the next hour the story continues to come out of him in fits and starts. My immediate reaction was denial. That doesn't really happen. Adults don't really do that to kids. Surely she was kidding around. If she was, it was misguided and certainly inappropriate, but not true abuse. Then I keep hearing more. And I see how upset he was. Within the next couple of hours I started getting phone calls and text messaged from other parents whose children came to them and told them what happened. Shockingly, the stories were very similar. It didn't seem like Ryan was exaggerating. They were playing dodgeball in PE and the adult in question was playing with them. Ryan hit her in the head with the ball on accident. She asked who did it and he said he did and that he was sorry. Was he wrong to hit her in the head? Absolutely, without a doubt. Her reaction though? She kicked him. Hard enough for him to fall to the ground. At this point the PE teacher said to the other adult something about getting in trouble. Ryan doesn't remember exactly what. But did the PE teacher report this to anyone? No, he did not.
After the period was over the class walked back the the classroom. On the way there he saw the person again. She taunted him. When her supervisor asked about it, she made the comment, "Oh, I kicked him in the butt." The supervisor laughed. Ryan then went to his classroom, crying, and told his teacher. She questioned him and questioned the class. Did she report this to anyone? No, she did not. Keep in mind, these people are all mandated reporters. My son was kicked, then bullied by the person that kicked him. And then several adults failed to make him feel safe by not doing anything about it.
The more I heard about this, the more upset I got. All I could think was that I wish it hadn't happened. Selfish maybe, but I knew I had to do something about this. And I hate confrontation. Saturday morning I called the Superintendent at home. I won't share the details as I don't feel comfortable doing that, but suffice it to say I wasn't really thrilled with the results. He acted like this wasn't really a big deal. He wanted Ryan in his office first thing Monday to meet with everyone involved. I was not going to let Ryan go into a meeting with all adults and have to tell that story. I informed the Superintendent of that and he said we could meet with him alone. When we got to the school and he started telling the story, he started crying. I can't tell you how hard it was to sit there while my son cried and talked about what happened. After the story, the Superintendent still didn't act like it was a big deal. I informed him of the steps I planned to take if he didn't follow the law in this situation. I'm pretty sure I'm not high on his list of favorite people. Then he had Ryan write down what happened. Ryan was shaking the whole time. He was so scared.
I won't share the rest of the details about what happened, as I don't think that's fair to anyone involved in the situation. I will say that I am satisfied with how things turned out. Could I have done more? Yes. Could I keep pushing? Yes. But I'm not, for a variety of reasons. Ryan is the main one. He asked me after the meeting yesterday if it could just be over. I don't want him to ever have to talk about it again if he doesn't want to. I don't want any kind of investigation. I wanted my son to feel safe at school and he does. I hope everyone involved learned something from this. I know I did. I learned that no matter how much I don't want to do something, if it comes to the safety of my kids nothing will stand in my way. I learned that I am stronger than I thought I was. And I learned that Ryan and all of the kids in his class who reported this have a lot of courage. It isn't easy to "tattle" on an adult.
Now for the running part. I was sick about this all weekend and all day yesterday. I was just miserable. Then I went for a run. During the run I went over all of it in my head and really processed what happened. And then I just let it go. The run finally calmed me completely and allowed me to put this behind me.
Hopefully next time I blog it will be about happier, more lighthearted things. Until then, Happy Running!!
~Mel
Last friday my son came home crying so hard I couldn't understand what he was saying. I finally calmed him enough to understand him say that an adult who works at his school had kicked him. Over the next hour the story continues to come out of him in fits and starts. My immediate reaction was denial. That doesn't really happen. Adults don't really do that to kids. Surely she was kidding around. If she was, it was misguided and certainly inappropriate, but not true abuse. Then I keep hearing more. And I see how upset he was. Within the next couple of hours I started getting phone calls and text messaged from other parents whose children came to them and told them what happened. Shockingly, the stories were very similar. It didn't seem like Ryan was exaggerating. They were playing dodgeball in PE and the adult in question was playing with them. Ryan hit her in the head with the ball on accident. She asked who did it and he said he did and that he was sorry. Was he wrong to hit her in the head? Absolutely, without a doubt. Her reaction though? She kicked him. Hard enough for him to fall to the ground. At this point the PE teacher said to the other adult something about getting in trouble. Ryan doesn't remember exactly what. But did the PE teacher report this to anyone? No, he did not.
After the period was over the class walked back the the classroom. On the way there he saw the person again. She taunted him. When her supervisor asked about it, she made the comment, "Oh, I kicked him in the butt." The supervisor laughed. Ryan then went to his classroom, crying, and told his teacher. She questioned him and questioned the class. Did she report this to anyone? No, she did not. Keep in mind, these people are all mandated reporters. My son was kicked, then bullied by the person that kicked him. And then several adults failed to make him feel safe by not doing anything about it.
The more I heard about this, the more upset I got. All I could think was that I wish it hadn't happened. Selfish maybe, but I knew I had to do something about this. And I hate confrontation. Saturday morning I called the Superintendent at home. I won't share the details as I don't feel comfortable doing that, but suffice it to say I wasn't really thrilled with the results. He acted like this wasn't really a big deal. He wanted Ryan in his office first thing Monday to meet with everyone involved. I was not going to let Ryan go into a meeting with all adults and have to tell that story. I informed the Superintendent of that and he said we could meet with him alone. When we got to the school and he started telling the story, he started crying. I can't tell you how hard it was to sit there while my son cried and talked about what happened. After the story, the Superintendent still didn't act like it was a big deal. I informed him of the steps I planned to take if he didn't follow the law in this situation. I'm pretty sure I'm not high on his list of favorite people. Then he had Ryan write down what happened. Ryan was shaking the whole time. He was so scared.
I won't share the rest of the details about what happened, as I don't think that's fair to anyone involved in the situation. I will say that I am satisfied with how things turned out. Could I have done more? Yes. Could I keep pushing? Yes. But I'm not, for a variety of reasons. Ryan is the main one. He asked me after the meeting yesterday if it could just be over. I don't want him to ever have to talk about it again if he doesn't want to. I don't want any kind of investigation. I wanted my son to feel safe at school and he does. I hope everyone involved learned something from this. I know I did. I learned that no matter how much I don't want to do something, if it comes to the safety of my kids nothing will stand in my way. I learned that I am stronger than I thought I was. And I learned that Ryan and all of the kids in his class who reported this have a lot of courage. It isn't easy to "tattle" on an adult.
Now for the running part. I was sick about this all weekend and all day yesterday. I was just miserable. Then I went for a run. During the run I went over all of it in my head and really processed what happened. And then I just let it go. The run finally calmed me completely and allowed me to put this behind me.
Hopefully next time I blog it will be about happier, more lighthearted things. Until then, Happy Running!!
~Mel
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
I'm back!!
Maybe. I rested until I couldn't stand it anymore and went for a run Sunday. I did 3.5 miles and my hip hurt pretty bad. Enter sadness, crappy day, etc. I made an appointment with an orthopedist for December 1. Any normal person would have stopped running until the appointment, but I'm not normal. Plus, I want it to hurt for the appointment, right? Right.
Last night I ran 5 miles. I thought maybe running the gravel trail on the dike might be nicer to my hip, so I did it. I don't know if that is what made the difference, but my hip barely hurt! I did about 3/4 of a mile on the road at the end and it hurt a little worse then, but that could have been because it was the end of the run. And when I say hurt, I really just mean I could feel my hip. It wasn't really painful like it had been.
I'm not canceling my appointment. I imagine the pain isn't gone, but I'm happy to have run 5 miles and not been in significant pain.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I'm getting up bright and early to run 6 miles. I hope everyone has a wonderful day filled with lots of food, family, and maybe a little running!
~Mel
Last night I ran 5 miles. I thought maybe running the gravel trail on the dike might be nicer to my hip, so I did it. I don't know if that is what made the difference, but my hip barely hurt! I did about 3/4 of a mile on the road at the end and it hurt a little worse then, but that could have been because it was the end of the run. And when I say hurt, I really just mean I could feel my hip. It wasn't really painful like it had been.
I'm not canceling my appointment. I imagine the pain isn't gone, but I'm happy to have run 5 miles and not been in significant pain.
Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I'm getting up bright and early to run 6 miles. I hope everyone has a wonderful day filled with lots of food, family, and maybe a little running!
~Mel
Thursday, November 17, 2011
Adventures in Bicycling
For weeks I have been overdoing the training. I was so happy for nice weather and doing a bunch of races, so I overdid it. People have also been telling me this for weeks, but I ignored them thinking my body would get used to it and the pain would go away. But it didn't. It got worse.
After a run with the Independence Running Club (if you're local, you should join!) I decided I needed a break before I started my new program. I could barely complete the run. I just didn't have it in me. So I decided to skip my weekend runs and get back out on Tuesday. I think I expected my legs to know that I hadn't run 13 miles when I wanted to and therefore be perfectly rested. On Tuesday I set out to run and made it about half a mile. I was still hurting. Honestly, I couldn't even walk without pain. I decided I need more time.
Enter bicycle. There is no way I'm going a week or more without some kind of exercise. I can't. I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had a bike I could borrow for a few days and my lovely sister in law let me borrow hers. Thanks Marci!
Wednesday morning I rode the bike for the first time. Keep in mind, I am not a complete stranger to bikes. I rode them everywhere when I was a kid and a teenager. Have ridden as an adult. In fact, I had an epic wreck that I should blog about sometime. Anyway, I thought it would be easy. It wasn't. I rode 5 miles and was almost crying at the end. It was sooo hard! I posted on the C25K forum about how hard it was and got some advice. I know, it's a running forum, but people there are always happy to give advice about anything, whether they know anything about it or not (ahem, stephanie and someoldman). They mentioned tire inflation. I thought maybe they needed more air, but also thought it might have something to do with my fat body being on the bike.
This morning I went outside to ride and aired up the tires better. While my husband watched I might add :). Holy difference, Batman!! Today was soooo much easier! Still not easy, but easier. I really enjoyed today! I'm still not going to become a bicycler (bicyclist?), but it was tolerable. The only issue now is that shifting gears isn't working well. I took it to my father in law this morning and asked him to look at it and see if he could make it work better (Marci, if you're reading, I hope you don't mind!). He said just leave it and he would fix it. I just have to say, I love my father in law. Not just for this. He's just a really great guy. In fact, he's one of my favorite people in the whole world. I feel so lucky to have him in my life, and more importantly, have him in my kids lives.
Some things I've learned so far:
Air up your tires!
It's much colder when you ride a bike than when you run. Dress appropriately
Your butt is going to hurt after riding. And during riding. Hell, maybe even before riding just thinking about it.
I was walking home after dropping off the bike and my toes were frozen. They hurt so bad! One of my uncles asked what I was doing out in this freezing weather and I told him. He laughed at me. Then I shamelessly begged him for a ride home. Less than two blocks! But my toes were frozen and it hurt to walk. I'm pretty sure he's still laughing at me. He did give me a ride though. I love living in my tiny town surrounded by family.
Anyway, I hope to be back to running very very soon! I am upset and frustrated that I had to take a break before starting my training. It makes me feel like a failure and like I really might not be able to complete this run I have planned. I just know I need to be smarter about my training and not overdo it.
Hopefully I will be back to talking about running soon!
Happy Biking??
~Mel
After a run with the Independence Running Club (if you're local, you should join!) I decided I needed a break before I started my new program. I could barely complete the run. I just didn't have it in me. So I decided to skip my weekend runs and get back out on Tuesday. I think I expected my legs to know that I hadn't run 13 miles when I wanted to and therefore be perfectly rested. On Tuesday I set out to run and made it about half a mile. I was still hurting. Honestly, I couldn't even walk without pain. I decided I need more time.
Enter bicycle. There is no way I'm going a week or more without some kind of exercise. I can't. I posted on Facebook asking if anyone had a bike I could borrow for a few days and my lovely sister in law let me borrow hers. Thanks Marci!
Wednesday morning I rode the bike for the first time. Keep in mind, I am not a complete stranger to bikes. I rode them everywhere when I was a kid and a teenager. Have ridden as an adult. In fact, I had an epic wreck that I should blog about sometime. Anyway, I thought it would be easy. It wasn't. I rode 5 miles and was almost crying at the end. It was sooo hard! I posted on the C25K forum about how hard it was and got some advice. I know, it's a running forum, but people there are always happy to give advice about anything, whether they know anything about it or not (ahem, stephanie and someoldman). They mentioned tire inflation. I thought maybe they needed more air, but also thought it might have something to do with my fat body being on the bike.
This morning I went outside to ride and aired up the tires better. While my husband watched I might add :). Holy difference, Batman!! Today was soooo much easier! Still not easy, but easier. I really enjoyed today! I'm still not going to become a bicycler (bicyclist?), but it was tolerable. The only issue now is that shifting gears isn't working well. I took it to my father in law this morning and asked him to look at it and see if he could make it work better (Marci, if you're reading, I hope you don't mind!). He said just leave it and he would fix it. I just have to say, I love my father in law. Not just for this. He's just a really great guy. In fact, he's one of my favorite people in the whole world. I feel so lucky to have him in my life, and more importantly, have him in my kids lives.
Some things I've learned so far:
Air up your tires!
It's much colder when you ride a bike than when you run. Dress appropriately
Your butt is going to hurt after riding. And during riding. Hell, maybe even before riding just thinking about it.
I was walking home after dropping off the bike and my toes were frozen. They hurt so bad! One of my uncles asked what I was doing out in this freezing weather and I told him. He laughed at me. Then I shamelessly begged him for a ride home. Less than two blocks! But my toes were frozen and it hurt to walk. I'm pretty sure he's still laughing at me. He did give me a ride though. I love living in my tiny town surrounded by family.
Anyway, I hope to be back to running very very soon! I am upset and frustrated that I had to take a break before starting my training. It makes me feel like a failure and like I really might not be able to complete this run I have planned. I just know I need to be smarter about my training and not overdo it.
Hopefully I will be back to talking about running soon!
Happy Biking??
~Mel
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