Keep moving forward

So I got an injury this morning and I was going to write this sad post where I'm throwing a pity party for myself....But I decided that I'm not going to let it bring me down.

Besides the injury I had a GREAT run this morning! I heard my alarm at 6:00 am....yea EARLY! I as usual turned it off and stayed in bed lol... Yay me ;)! Well my AMAZING hubby said "don't you need to run?", me: (sigh) "yea" woohoo I'm so motivated right lol! Hubby: "sorry just trying to help keep you motivated.".... Isn't he AWESOME!? So yea I got my butt out of bed and was out for my run by 6:15 :). It was still a little dark which made me a little nervous, I'm really wanting to get a can of pepper spray to carry with me just in case. We live amongst offices so at 6 am there are not many people around, so I was running a little faster than normal. As I was turning one of my usual corners on my route I saw what I thought was a squirrel crossing the street. I thought geez that's a funny looking squirrel but as I got closer it was a SKUNK and I was headed right for it! I quickly crossed the street praying it didn't spray me....that would really be my luck lol. Thankfully we both went our separate ways quietly :) That run definitely messed with my rhythm so it was a bit of a struggle to get back into it. On my way back I was passing the spot where the skunk was and all I could do was continuously scan the area hoping I wouldn't have another run it with it. Again I got away not smelling stinky(well from the skunk anyway...pretty sweaty at this point lol).

I passed our complex and I was pretty tired...I pushed myself though until I felt like I was going to fall over and have to crawl home. Keep going until you got nothing left right?! Well I started to slow down and as I took my first step of walking I noticed I was at 1.81 miles!? I immediately broke into a run because I refused to quit when I was SO close to the 2 mile mark. Now I was pretty exhausted at this point, I'm talking huffing and puffing, dripping sweat like a waterfall and literally telling myself out loud that I CAN DO THIS! I must have been quite the sight but fortunately no one went by...the perks of running early in the morning :). I ran until I could not run another step, my legs burned and my lungs felt as if they could not get one satisfying breath. So I stopped. When I looked down I was disappointed but at the same time I was excited and proud of myself. My GPS read 1.96 miles. I was .4 miles short of my goal! Besides that fact though that IS the farthest I have ever ran without stopping. SO I am happy :). I read a quote the other day that said "ANY RUN IS A GREAT RUN" and I LOVE that!

Knowing I was so close to my goal motivated me to run the rest of the way home. I walked for about a minute and then took off. I was feeling exhausted but GREAT at the same time. I was just outside of our place at the 2.35 mile mark when POP went my left knee. It caught me by surprise and nearly sent me to the ground. I was in such shock over what had just happened...I put pressure on my leg and it sent this intense pain through it. It almost felt like I had a HUGE air bubble in my knee that needed to pop, so whenever I bent my knee in any way the pressure grew. I immediately thought oh I'll call Kevin and he'll help me get inside...I'm such a damsel in distress huh? I then snapped out of the helpless little me mentality and limped my way to our place. First thing was Advil and ice when I walked in the door and now my knee feels A LOT better. Looking back I'm sure pushing myself to my absolute limit probably helped cause this to happen, and also me wanting to run every single day. I just love how I feel when I run so I want it all the time! Sometimes I get the itch to go run again in the afternoon, but I don't. Maybe someday :)!

I'm now going to take a few days off to rest my knee so that I don't cause any more injuries. I'll most likely do some walking and weight training. I know I will have to ease back into running just to be safe and I CAN'T WAIT to get back out there. One of my fears is getting hurt and not being able to ever run again. I know it is such a blessing to be able to run when so many people out there can't. I've been so focused on increasing my distance that I have not been fully enjoying my runs. I mean I still LOVE my runs but I'm constantly thinking about how I need to go farther and faster. It's time to slow it back down and just run because I enjoy it and because I can. I will never take this blessing for granted again.






                                                                 photo I <3 to run




                                                               photo I<3 to run




                                                                   photo I <3 to run
         See you here tomorrow :)!                                                   

C25K

Ok so I have been running as far as I can before I am wiped out, no strategy just run. Well today I decided to try something a little different...I bought the C25K(couch to 5 K) app a month ago and I never used it. Today was day one of my training. I started in Week 4 day 3 since I felt the earlier weeks were WAY too easy lol.

Week 4 Day 3
Brisk 5-minute warmup walk, then:
-run 3 minutes
-walk 90 seconds
-run 5 minutes
-walk 2-1/2 minutes
-run 3 minutes
-walk 90 seconds
-run 5 minutes
5 minute cooldown walk

So I have to be honest and admit that the last 5 minute run was a walk for me and then I skipped the cooldown, since I had just walked 5 minutes and I ran out of time. Yet again I did not get out of bed until 6:45 when I NEED to get up much earlier. I was running late because of my run, but the twins were on time for school still :) and I felt AWESOME!
Total distance: 2 miles

I have a mini goal for myself, I challenge myself to get to bed before 10 tonight(meaning only 2 episodes of the Office with my hubby instead of the usual 4-5 :)) and get up at 6:15 am with my alarm(which would be AMAZING)! Who thinks I can do it?? Lol I AM going to....I really am :)

As for my ankle....Icing it has really helped it to feel much better, but running definitely brings the pain back with a vengeance. I took some Advil since it was all I had and that seemed to help after I got home. I'll go grab some ibuprofen after work since I've been told that will help the best with the swelling. All in all though its a manageable pain and I'm hoping my body will just adjust. If not it may be my shoes that are the problem...perhaps I should start saving my pennies for some new ones:)

Here's another mini goal :) If I can run everyday(except Sundays) for the next two weeks then I will get some new running shoes :)! (of course I will run this by my hubby first :), running shoes are not cheap lol)

I had another goal for myself and that was to reach 120 and then go buy some new jeans as my reward. Before babies I had a love(and I still do) for nice jeans. I have many pairs of citizens and sevens just waiting for me to wear them again :). Today I am in my "big" citizens that I wore at the end of my pregnancy with the twins! Still I love how these jeans make me feel and look :) Amazing what some good clothes can do for your self image! I decided on buying a pair of True Religions since I have never owned any...we'll see though, Citizens seem to work really well with women who have, well some curves ;). My hubby is constantly reminded by me of this deal lol! He has been so great throughout this process and told me the other night what a great job I was doing and how proud he was of me :)! I love having his support and I LOVE that he is noticing lol!





                                                                photo via I<3 to run 

Also I have not yet decided but I may put blonde back in my hair as a reward...Although not dying my hair has been SO nice. Can't beat super low maintenance hair(this coming from me, a girl who has been dying her hair since she was 12!) Plus my little twins LOVE that we have the same hair color :).

Long post today....I'm in a GREAT mood and I can thank running for that :)!

See you tomorrow :)






                                                                  photo via I <3 to run