Mama, this one's for you

It took a snow day from work after a long weekend to get me blogging again but hey, whatever. Started from the bottom now I'm here. 

So much has changed from my last post. I don't even know what that post was. Not that it was insignificant, it was probably a really excellent post.  

I am back to living in DC, where it all began ("it all" being my blog).  I'm living on Capitol Hill again, living by myself for the first time, and I have a new job.  But still no english bulldog.  It's all fairly exciting - except for that latter part.  But trust me, if I had gotten an english bulldog there would have been a blog post about it (read that parents? english bulldog = more blogging). 

In October I ran the Chicago Marathon with my dad and it felt relatively great.  I would venture to say that if it felt great, I was doing something wrong, but relative to my other marathons - great.  No passing out.  No mid-point nausea.  And I cannot tell you, dear reader, how many blog posts I started in an effort to write about my experience. Who knows if that will ever happen (it won't).

 

I have a lot of exciting things planned for 2014.  My dad and I are running the Grandma's Marathon in June and the Steamtown Marathon in October.  My new job includes a lot more travel to places other than one county in West Virginia, so there's that. 

So now I'm sitting with my blogging friend Annie, in the middle of the snow globe that is DC, about to press "publish" to get this awkward first post out of the way.  It's like ripping a bandaid off..just gotta do it, and the sooner I do it, the sooner I can move on with substantial, meaningful posts (because that's what you get when you rip off a bandaid).

Looking forward to many blogging and running ADVENTURES ahead. 

Play it again

This has nothing to do with running. Well it might. It could. Wait, it doesn't matter.  What does matter is that I dedicate this post to Yohn who had to put up with me for so long. 

I'm a chronic song-repeater.  When I hear a song I like - no, LOVE, like really really love - I tend to play it over and over and over (and over and over, much to the dismay of people I have lived with).  If you were to go into my iTunes and look at my songs in order of play count, you would probably find a handful of songs with astronomical play counts, while the rest sit anywhere from 0-5. Those are the songs that I have fallen head over heels for, the ones that spark something inside my soul that says THIS SONG IS AWESOME AND FAR SUPERIOR TO OTHER SONGS WHY WASTE YOUR TIME ON OTHER SECOND-STRING, JUNIOR VARSITY MUSIC.

I think I can trace this back to the 6th grade when I became obsessed with "Build Me Up Buttercup".  I heard it at the end of There's Something About Mary and couldn't stop thinking about it.  At that time in my life there were no iPods and my CD collection consisted of Hanson, Spice Girls, and All That: The Album (which is awesome, check it out). The only way my 11-year old brain could figure out how to satisfy my need to listen to it was to watch it on some primitive music video viewing ..thing on VH1's website because I had not mastered the art of downloading music.  I can remember the very moment when I discovered that I could watch the video online, the happiness that filled every crevice of my brain, the smile that spread across my face.  It was like I was breaking a fast and eating everything in sight, except in this case I was filling my insatiable desire to listen to this song that I had been deprived of for so long. So I played the video. Over and over and over. When I went off to summer camp where no electronics were allowed, I sang it. Over and over and over. And when I finally got my hands on the soundtrack to There's Something About Mary (which is awesome, check it out), I played it over and over and over. 

WATCH IT AND SMILE AND BE THANKFUL FOR HOW 

EASY IT IS TO LISTEN TO THE MUSIC YOU LOVE

Fortunately, or un-, this habit has stayed with me since.  I can remember trying to catch the song of the moment on the radio so I could record it with my tape player.  I would then spend the next several hours playing, rewinding, playing, rewinding - all the while cursing that half of my time was taken up by overshooting and trying to find that perfect spot where the song started. Thank goodness for the 21st century for allowing me to continue my fixation on single songs wherever I went. 

College saw Perfect Gentleman and Poker Face climb my iTunes play count chart (until one of my roommates titled a facebook album "I'll cry if Jessie plays Poker Face again").  And lately it has been Blurred Lines -  by Robin Thicke, feat. T.I. and Pharrell.  I just.cannot.stop.listening. These songs are laced with crack.  I have found that the only way to stop this monster is to let it run its course, something I'm totally okay with.  I listen to the song on repeat and eventually I'm not listening to it as much anymore and it winds up in the land of overplayed songs, AKA my running playlists. Which brings me to another point..

Running is my outlet for listening to songs over and over and over without embarrassing myself or annoying others.  I once did a run only listening to Africa (will forever be on repeat).  So there - my secret's out. And let me finish by saying sorry I'm not sorry that I listen to songs on repeat.  

On running and injuries and coming back and being smart and including too many "and"s in my title

Until spring of last year, my short little running career had been injury free. As an avid new runner, I read every word of Runners World and running blogs, and I knew of the range of injuries that lay ahead of me. And I was waiting. But all that reading did little to prepare me for when I actually faced my first injury.  I found myself frustrated and convinced that I would never recover and I would always be running with this twinge of pain. But LO AND BEHOLD, with rest and smart recovery/return to running, the pain disappeared and I ran a marathon that fall.  

Which brings me to winter of this year.  Coming off of a successful marathon, I did not want to see my current level of fitness decrease. I think this mindset made me push myself more, when I should have been taking it easy post-marathon.  I mean, maybe not, but I'm on a self-critiquing binge right now. So. Long story short, I had a pain in my calf muscle that came and went, would disappear when I was running, but sometimes not! Would sometimes stick around after a run, sometimes not! Well when it finally got too painful  to continue on a run (okay, I should have made this decision sooner) I decided to take a break and get rid of the pain.  

And taking a break did not come easily.  I would get antsy after a day or two of not running and hop on the elliptical. Or take a spin class. And I would do this for a few days, attempt to run again, and be in shock when my calf still hurt.  I wanted to have pain-free runs. So, hopefully you can see where this is going, I went cold turkey. No exercise, nothin. For five days. (Forgive me for being dramatic, but) Five whole days. Five days where I spent every second wondering if I should maybe try running just a little bit because maybe, just maybe, my calf would be better and healed.  After the fifth day I ran! And it was slow and awkward, but it was virtually painless and I was happy.  

I hope this second time around I can finally learn my lesson.  When I do get an injury I need that rest.  And I will not lose my fitness, but if I do, it's really not the end of the world because I will be able to come back strong.  Right now, I have an extremely positive outlook on my running future (and nothing hinges on how much I blog and what I blog about).  I'm easing back into running. I intend on cross training/lifting a little more in order to mix things up and make myself strong. And my dad and I have signed up for the Flying Pig half in May and the Chicago full in October.  I have a lot to look forward to, including good health and happy running.  

Richmond Marathon and back to it

I did it! I ran another marathon! With my dad!

Remember the Pittsburgh Marathon? I don't. That was probably one of the worst days of my life. It's tough when something you enjoy so much (running) let's you down (...literally).

So I had to get back to it.

And I did.  And on Saturday I crossed the finish line to the Richmond Marathon. There was no PR. Far from it, in fact.  But for this marathon, that is not what mattered.

I came into this race feeling very confident.  I had a phenomenal last 20 mile training run where I felt strong.  The issues from the PGH marathon were far in the past.  The night before the run we had great conversations with other runners during the pasta dinner.  The weather was going to be perfect.  Everything seemed OK. And for the most part, it was.

The first half of the race was great. I kept a comfortable pace, the course was beautiful, and the crowd support was electric.  (Also, there was an english bulldog on the course. Great, right?)  But at around the halfway point I started feeling extremely nauseous.  See that "Jessie" shirt I'm wearing? It's a heavy cotton shirt.  I'm fairly certain the tag even said "heavyweight".  And I'm fairly certain it was heavyweighting me down when the weather and I started warming up.  So midway through the race I unpinned my bib, threw off my shirt (I had a tech-shirt underneath), and started to feel better.  

I still struggled with the nausea.  Miles 16-18 were tough as we crossed over a slightly uphill bridge and I seriously contemplated calling it quits over and over because I do not deal with nausea well. My legs felt fine but I felt drained and, oh, did I mention nauseous? But I could not NOT finish another race.  I kept imagining the silent and disappointed car ride back.  Another race with a shirt I can't shouldn't wear and a medal I wouldn't have.  SO, with the encouragement of my dad I pushed through.  

We kept our plan adopted after mile 13 of walking through the water stops or at every mile marker or, ya know, whenever I said so, and then running a comfortable pace to the next walking stop.  Whether this sounds crazy or not to you, walking through the water stops, especially if done from the beginning, can lead to a faster marathon time.  I read somewhere that marathoners average 13 minute faster times when walking through water stops. And there's this article from the NY Times. And my dad qualified for Boston after walking through water stops after mile 18. But I digress... Eventually we made it to mile 25 and we knew that one final turn through downtown Richmond would lead us downhill for about a half mile to the finish line so I dug deep, or whatever, and sprinted to the finish.  So what if it was over 4 hours, I did it. And I have the medal to prove it.

There were enjoyable parts of the marathon: the bull dog, the (sometimes rowdy!) crowd support, hearing "Dancing in the Dark" during a part of the course when I was really struggling, the cheers for Bob and Jessie during the first half, and of course- the finish.

But I'd also like to take a moment to remember those we have lost: whatever problem kept me from running the pittsburgh marathon & my Jessie shirt. Good riddance. 

Yo Jessie, I'm really happy for you, I'ma let you finish, but...

Well I might as well introduce myself, you'll probably be hearing a looottttt about me...

That's me, Cinderella Meowington.  I am Kaycee and Jessie's cat and a pretty big deal if I do say so myself.  They love me (you should see their iPhone photos, I seriously take up over half of them).  You can often find me running around the house.  My mommies call me spastic and crazy, but what is the difference between what I do, and when Jessie goes out and runs 5 miles. I mean really.  When I'm not running around trying to keep a slim kitten figure, you can find me lying on Kaycee or Jessie's face.  Or somewhere else that is really inconvenient for the two people who love me the most in the world. 

I love a good belly rub.  I love to balance precariously on the upstairs railing.  I would say I love long walks on the beach, but I'm not allowed to go outside (because there's riffraff) so I wouldn't know.  I also love to tweet.  You should follow me on twitter (@CMeowington).  I'm pretty funny and look simply stunning in all of my instagrammed pictures.  

That's enough about me for now.  I'll be back.  How many times can you read about Jessie going for a run or hanging out with friends?  Let's be honest, it's not as exciting as me...ow!

Writing's on the wall

I'm superstitious.

But not in the black cat, walking under ladders sort of way.

More like the "i just thought about a scenario but because i thought about it, it's not going to happen".  Or the "i did things in 'x' order and slept well so if i do that again, i will sleep well again".

It's magical thinking.  And it sucks.

Take tests, for example.  Forget how hard i study, if i picture myself getting an "A", it can't possibly happen.  If i end up getting a B, i've confirmed this theory.  If i end up with an A, i must have thought about failing at some point along the way. Again, studying OBVIOUSLY has nothing to do with it. (don't get me started about multiple choice tests)

And that's what i blame my lack of blogging on.

When i first started this blog, i was coming off of an awesome first marathon and my sights were set on the next.  This blog was supposed to help me along the way. But when i did not complete that marathon, what was the cause? (beside the realistic medical reasons?) The fact that i was blogging about it all.  So if i want to complete a marathon, better stop that blogging nonsense.  Because it was definitely a part of what made me fail.

But really, that's just ridiculous. My running successes and failures will be about how well i train, not how often i blog. So to prove that, i must keep blogging. wait. ...something about this seems like it's going against what i'm trying to prove. i think.

what i do know is that all this thinking is making my head hurt, and is nonsensical. and you, the reader, hopefully get the idea. running is mental, but not on such a superficial level. so i'm back. and with a cat and a dream of finishing another marathon. here goes...

alright hip, you win

My running career is on a hiatus.

For now.

The hip pain I previously mentioned has been off and on and I've mostly been able to run through it, until Sunday when I just couldn't.  Even after days of not running. It's really disappointing and frustrating and I know things could be way worse...blah blah blah don't mean to make this super dramatic...but it's tough to see runners out on beautiful days like today and, oh, every other day I haven't been able to run. I have a doctor's appointment today to get the ball rolling on fixing this.  I want to be better by July so I can start training for a fall marathon. 

Until then...

In about 6 weeks, I'll be selling tickets to my gun show. Proceeds go towards my english bulldog fund.