Dogs?

Look! Two posts from me in the same week. Try not to have a heart attack.

I was reading through some old posts and realized I haven't updated on the dog situation lately. I still have plenty of encounters, I guess I just stopped thinking about it as much. However, I had a run a couple of weeks ago that had plenty of dogs so I thought I'd tell the story.

Ryan and I went for a run and decided to do a new route. Well, I decided and he's only 11 so he has to do what I want. Plus, I'm bigger than him so I win. Anyway, I really like to run loops so I'm trying out some new routes. We embarked on what we now call the Ghetto Route. If you know much about Elk City you know that it's not exactly the nicest town in the world. It's pretty crappy. Most of the houses are old and run down and it's just....not very aesthetically pleasing. See how I use a big word? Go me. Anyway, it's no suprise that we would run past some pretty special houses. We sort of ran around town. We took the roads on the outer edge. When we were getting ready to go by one house Ryan informs me they have a really big, really mean dog. Thanks for telling me now! Anyway, he tells me to stop talking and run really fast and light. Ummm, sure. I'll get right on that. I'm channeling my inner gazelle. Yeah right. I don't have an inner gazelle. Inner rhino maybe. Luckily, we made it past this house with no harm.

A few blocks later we are going past a place that looks like a junk yard. Seriously, it's bad. I swear you can barely find the house for all the old cars and misc. junk. A little dog comes out and starts chasing us. It isn't big so I just kept going. Then we get to the next house and two dogs come out barking! These dogs are not as nice. Fortunately, their owner is really on top of things. He's always right out there to get them. That day was no different. He came right out. Unfortunately, since the other dog was out too there were some issues. Mainly that the dogs didn't want to listen to their owner. The guy kept yelling at his dogs, whose names appear to be Ginger and Cheyenne. Since I think they are both boys I'm a little confused by this. Anyway, it's freaking hilarious. There is no way for me to describe how this guy was trying to get his dogs under control. I should take a video of Ryan impersonating him because it's awesome. Picture Grizzly Adams, except skinny. Wearing a really old sweatshirt and a hat and a cigarette hanging out of his mouth. The dogs both outweighed him.

The rest of the run Ryan was imitating the guy and I couldn't quit laughing.  I think a few more funny things happened on that run but there were so many I can't remember. I can tell you it was one of the most fun runs I've ever done. And also, we scratched that route off of our list. No more Ghetto Route for us.

Oh, and in case you are wondering? 3 miles. No pain! I'm pretty darn happy these days.

~Mel

Patience

I'm impressed with myself. I have never been a patient person, but having an injury and needing to return to running very slowly has really helped with that issue. It's not easy, but I'm doing it.

Right now I'm doing an abbreviated version of the Ease into 10K plan. You are supposed to do each week 3 times, but I'm only doing it 2. As long as I stay pain free that is. So far so good! I've not had pain once while running.

The hardest part of this is not being able to do races. There are so many this time of year and I want to be out there with everyone else. Last weekend were two races I really wanted to do. I obviously couldn't have done both, but I would have done one. A long time ago I put one of them on my calendar and forgot. Saturday morning I got up and went for a run. It was crappy. Just a miserable run. I got home and turned on my phone and saw a reminder for the race. I almost cried. It was just so depressing. I didn't cry and just texted my cousin who offered gentle encouragement. I send her whiny texts about running at least once a week. I feel blessed that she hasn't blocked my number yet ;).

I feel so fortunate to have so many people in my life that offer encouragement and continue to listen when they have to be sick of me talking about running or my lack of running. I expect someone to eventually yell at me to just shut up. I hope that doesn't happen, but I keep expecting it.

Right now, I'm running 2.5 miles at a time. As of Thursday I will be increasing that. I'm not sure how far I will run as I'm doing it by time instead of distance. I should get to 3 miles. It's been a while since I was super excited to hit 3 miles!!

I will do my best to update a little more often. Since my running is so boring at the moment it's hard to think of anything to say.

Happy Running!

~Mel

Easing Back In

As you know from my last post, I was taking an extended break from running. I ended up taking a month off. This made my hip pain go away completely. Before I took the time off, I couldn't do anything without pain. Running, walking, elliptical, bike, etc. Honestly, even sitting for long periods of time and sleeping were painful. I was losing sleep because my hips  and lower back hurt so bad. I originally planned to take a week off, then was in the accident and had surgery. I decided to take another week. Then I decided to run again March 1. Well, March 8 would be a month, so I figured I should go ahead and wait.

A few days before I was supposed to run again I got all panicky. I was afraid I shouldn't run, afraid the pain would be back, etc. Basically, I was just scared. My awesome support people on the C25K forum encouraged me to go ahead and try it. My plan is to ease back really slowly, so I ran a mile. Wow! I didn't know I would lose so much of my fitness in a month. For most of the mile I felt like I was going to pass out or throw up. But I did it and had no pain! That was Thursday. Saturday I ran again, another mile and it was also pain free. Yay!! Today I will run another mile. If I'm still good, I will go up to 1.5 miles on Wednesday. My plan is to run 3 days per week and increase each week by half a mile.

At some point I had to give up any hope I had of doing races this spring. I'm really disappointed because there were a few I really wanted to do. I just can't. Maybe by May I can find a 5K or something. We'll see.

In non-running news, I got a new car!! It is the current love of my life. Well, besides my husband who let me get exactly the car I wanted. He's the best.

This time of year is extremely crazy for us. The boys are starting soccer soon and Ryan is still playing basketball on a traveling team. Rick is coaching softball, finishing his Masters and also helping his physics class build a Moon Buggy. They will be going to Alabama to race it in April. He leaves for Chicago this week for the senior trip. Life is just a little crazy right now! I'm ready for May to get here and school to be out.

Car Accidents and Kidney Stones

I know it's been awhile since I updated. My running is the same. Still injured, still don't know why. Now it looks like I will be sidelined just a little longer.

A week ago Saturday I woke up, got my cup of coffee and sat in my recliner to watch cartoons with my niece. After about 10 minutes my lower back started hurting. A few minutes later I was in a lot of pain and felt naseous. I decided to take a bath and see if that would relieve the pain. I laid in the bathtub crying and wondering what the heck was causing so much pain, but it went away completely. Weird. At lunch that day it started hurting again and I took some ibuprofen. Again, it went away. I decided I must have a bladder infection and decided to see a doctor on Monday. Well, the pain never came back. It was like nothing had happened. Until Wednesday.

Wednesday I woke up, got the boys off to school and was messing around online. I had planned to run a mile but just didn't really feel up to it. That should have been my first sign that something was wrong! Again, the pain came back. And then some. I'm still telling myself I must have a bladder infection and think that if it's still there the next day I would go to the doctor. After about an hour I decided I need to go to the doctor that day. I called and made an appointment for that afternoon and went to work. I cleared leaving early with my coworkers, but my boss was gone so I hadn't asked him. After about 30 minutes the pain was so intense I was shaking and sweating. I called the doctor back and asked if I could get in that morning. They said yes. I then called my father in law and asked if he or my mother in law could drive me. I felt so awful I didn't think I should drive. He said Kay was at exercise class but should be home in time. She had a later class though, so they couldn't take me. He had a dental appointment. I said that's ok, I'm fine, I'll drive myself. I had gone maybe 5 miles and was just sick. I called my mom and told her I was seriously thinking about pulling over and calling an ambulance. While I talked to her I decided I was going to make it by myself, but asked her to meet me at the doctors office.

As I was driving down Laurel, about a block from the doctors office, I looked left. A big white van was coming at me. I slammed on my breaks and swerved but he hit me in the side. An 80 year old man was driving. I'm not sure what happened, if he didn't see me or what. It's pretty clear that he had to have run the stop sign for as fast as he was going. When he hit me I spun around, then hit a curb. When my car hit the curb it flipped onto its side, then kinda bounced and slid. I immediately pushed my OnStar emergency button, then rolled down my drivers window because people were running up to my car. I was hanging by my seatbelt. I told them I was fine, but get me out. Of course they couldn't just drag me out in case I was injured. I asked the first person there to please call my mom. I knew she would be driving down that road any minute to meet me. I didn't want her to see my car on its side without knowing first. The first guy was shaking so bad and so upset he couldn't even dial. Finally, someone got her on the phone. I told her I was in a wreck and it was bad and hung up. My poor mother!

Pretty soon I heard sirens. The first police officer on scene was someone I knew, so that was great! Then an EMT walked up to my car and it was someone I've known my whole life. Again, it was helpful to know the people that were there to help me. I was in so much pain and hanging there that the EMT I knew climbed in my window and got under me to help hold me up. Another EMT help up my head. My doors were smashed and my car was in its side so they had to cut me out with the jaws of life. Quite an experience!

After they got me out they put me on a  stretcher and then took me to the ER by ambulance. The ER was less than a block away. I wonder if I get a discount for that? :) I kept telling them I was in pain, but not from the wreck. I also kept saying I thought I had a bladder infection. Ha! If only. They finally gave me some pain medicine, but I had to stay strapped to the board and have a neck brace on until I had a bunch of tests to make sure I was ok. I was! The pain medicine completely took away the pain in my back, but after a while it came back. With a vengeance. Seriously, it was unlike any pain I've ever experienced. More pain meds and another CT scan. It turns out I had a kidney stone. A big one. The doctor said I probably couldn't pass it on my own and made me an appointment with a urologist for the next day. He said if the pain gets worse go to Bartlesville to the ER. After I got home it got worse and I started throwing up so I headed to Bartlesville. Mom and Alan took me because Rick had left school in the middle of the day with no plans and was going to be gone the next day. When I got there they took me back, started an IV and gave me more pain meds. As the morphine is going into my arm it felt like a torch had been taken to it. I tell the nurse how bad it hurts and she said "Oh, it's ok, it'll burn a little." Umm, no. It isn't burning a little. All of the sudden she pulls my shirt away and moves my hair and said "Are you allergic to morphine?" I said I hadn't been before. She ran out of the room. I look down and I'm covered in huge hives. My chest got tight and I was having trouble breathing. I'm also allergic to benadryl! They gave me some other stuff and thankfully I was ok.

The doctor came in and looked at my discharge papers from the first hospital and said, "yeah, I'm just going to be honest. No way are you passing a stone that size. We are admitting you and you are having surgery in the morning." Yay. I didn't end up having surgery until about 4:00 the next afternoon though. Surgery went well and I am completely recovered.

At this point, we are just dealing with insurance and stuff and waiting for it to be done so I can get a new car.

Some pics of the car after the accident:

I seriously hope I never have another week like that. It was less than fun. Right now I'm just going to give running a break until March 1. Or maybe even a few days after that. I need to worry about other stuff and stress from my injury is not something I want to deal with. Hopefully this rest does me some good and I can come back really strong in March.

~Mel

The little things

These days, it's the little things that make me happy. Yesterday I ran a little over 2 miles before I felt any pain. Last week I couldn't even do a mile. Obviously this is better. Is it where I want to be? Definitely not. But it's something. Who would have thought that I would be dying to run even 10 miles per week? I was running 25! Oh wait, that's what got me here.

I don't really have anything exciting to report. I saw the orthopedist last week. We'll just say I was underwhelmed with what he had to say and leave it at that. My PT continues to be awesome.

I believe I ran a whole 20 something miles this month. Dare I hope for 50 next month?? With any luck I will be back very soon with a really exciting report about my running.

~Mel

11 Days

That's how long it has been since I ran last. I finally gave in completely to the fact that I am injured and asked the PT if I should take a break. I'm pretty sure I heard a sigh of relief. She tried so hard to let me keep running and I think she was aware that until it was my idea I wasn't going to rest. Yeah, I'm a little stubborn. So, she said yes. Take a break. It has now been 11 days. I have permission to run again Friday, but only 1 mile. I can do that 2 days a week for a couple of weeks, then increase to 1.5 miles. Rinse, repeat. The goal is to build up slowly and hopefully without pain.

Unfortunately, we still aren't 100% sure of what is wrong. I had right hip pain for several months. Then I started PT and the left hip started hurting. The right one quit. That makes it pretty hard to diagnose. Since rest improves it dramatically, it is pretty obvious that it is an overuse injury. Hence, the rest and slow build up.

So what am I doing when I'm not running? Well, I rejoined the gym. I didn't want to. I don't like the gym. I particularly don't like the gym I joined. It's kind of my only option though. There is another gym in town, but it is more expensive, the location is inconvenient and so are the hours. So, back to the gym I go. I went yesterday to enroll and I'm pretty sure the guy didn't care if I joined or not. These people frustrate the heck out of me. Oh well, I don't care if they want my business. I need a gym and they fit the need. So there you go. Wanna hear something creepy? There is a closet by the managers desk. The door was open and I looked that direction and see a computer screen. Yep, he's watching the cameras. I can't help but wonder if he just sits there most of the day watching people work out. Making fun? Admiring people? Who knows. I can't imagine he's watching for security reasons all the time since it's a small gym and his office is right off the workout area.

Ok, back on topic. I went to the gym to work out today. I can only do 10 minutes on each cardio machine so I don't overwork my muscles. I did 10 minutes each of elliptical, rowing machine, bike and treadmill. And then I did some weights and the stretches the PT gave me. I think I worked out a little over an hour. Then I ate entirely too much, so I did the boot camp workout on my iPad app during lunch. I got a pretty good workout today! It's not running, but it's something.

Remember my last post about what I'm doing this year? It looks like some of the races I wanted to do are on the same day. The 10K in Bartlesville is the same day as the Snake Run. I still haven't decided what to do. The Oklahoma Aquarium Run, which was my first half marathon last year is on the same day as the Lake McMurtry trail race. I wanted to do both, but will likely do Lake McMurtry. I'm sad though that I can't do both.

I had a goal of running 1000 miles this year. As of now I think I've run 12. I'm trying to remind myself that it isn't my fault, I'm not lazy. I'm not doing so well at that.

A friend of mine started running this week. She wants to run a 5K, then a half marathon and eventually a marathon! I'm excited for her and can't wait to follow her progress. She asked if I would run a half marathon with her and of course I said yes! I think it will be fun. If you want to follow her too, her blog is: http://itsmymarathon.blogspot.com/

I can't wait to run on Friday!!!!

~Mel

What's up for 2012?

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