No Running–Week 3 Recap

Halfway there! Hopefully….

It was a busy week despite no running as it was finals week at work and my last official week of teaching.

Monday started our Secret Santa exchange and I knew I was off to a good start with who I got:

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#idonutcare

I did an medium/easy upper body workout before bed. Just a series of different arm weight reps, nothing big.

I had a few friends and their kids over Tuesday to do some pre-birthday celebrating and it was fun to chat with friends who would tolerate me complaining about not being able to run.

One minute plank before bed.

Wednesday was my birthday!! 😀 I turned the big 3-1 and would’ve liked to run a nice, neat 5k (3.1) but alas…

I did however, go to track to hang out with my running buddies. If I can’t run, at least I can hang out with people who love to run.

My kids got me these hip new running pants <3

My kids got me these hip new running pants ❤ and went to track with me

Missing quite a few candles on that hat...LOL

Missing quite a few candles on that hat…LOL

Let it be known, that up to this day, I had gone 2+ weeks with NO SODA. Since the discovery of my injury, I had proposed to myself a challenge of no soda during my no running time frame.

But, so many of my students knew of my love of all things Coke and I was treated to several different sizes of the beverage on my birthday. I couldn’t turn it down.

I could totally feel it though, as I spent the entire day bloated, lol!!

Thursday, I did this video and I felt so good afterward. She can be a little….much…but she’s a good distraction as I find myself listening to her instead of focusing on how I’m struggling with the reps, lol!

It was my official last day at work on Friday and I certainly felt the love from my students. There were moments of the day that were tough, but overall I felt more relieved than sad, and that made me feel like I had made the right decision.

Our local running store had a Donut Run/Walk 5k Saturday morning and my daughter and I were all about it.

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My and my daughter, and Runner Jenny and her daughter. And a person wearing a donut costume.

I skipped the donuts though, letting my daughter take care of it 🙂

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Later that night, it was our run club’s holiday party and oh boy….

Each year there are gag gifts sprinkled in the White Elephant exchange (that’s where you pick a present but don’t know who it’s from). Of course I ended up picking a gag gift … It was a pair of lingerie underwear!! I was SO embarrassed and was forced to hold up the gift for all to see. I don’t want a picture of me holding up a pair of pink lacy underwear on the inter webs so I’m skipping posting the pic LOL But here’s one of me while opening it and dying.

Trying unsuccessfully to hide the gift...

Trying unsuccessfully to hide the gift…while the MC announces what I’m opening.

It was a fun, busy week that kept me distracted from not being able to run. I’ll be attempting my first swimming adventure on Tuesday and that will definitely be interesting…jaja!!!

I hope everyone has a great week and happy holiday! ❤ , helly

–Any fun holiday party stories??

–What did you ask Santa for for Christmas??

–Anyone else with a birthday in December? Do you get the, “This is your birthday AND Christmas gift.” Grrr…LOL

 

 

 

No Running–Week 2 Recap

This is awkward. A recap about not running….

It was quite the eventful week despite no miles and I’m now 4 weeks away from hopefully getting back into the game 🙂 In fact, I have an appointment in two weeks to see how things are progressing.

Monday found myself at the dentist as I had been having some serious teeth pain from two molars. This pain had been happening for several weeks and I actually had an appointment upon returning from San Diego; but, I got sick and they would not perform oral surgery if I had any issues with my sinuses…so, more time with pain.

But finally, Monday came and I had never looked so forward to getting teeth yanked out. It was a complete disaster as what was supposed to be a simple procedure turned into a Saw movie. My teeth broke as the dentist was trying to pull them out and because he had to get a good grip, mechanical utensils were brought out. I heard every single thing as I had chosen to not be put under. Good times.

I took the day off from work Tuesday as I was pretty much an immobile, starving mess.

The doctor had said no exercise for 2-3 days so Wednesday was day 2. I made it to work and spoke as little as possible telling my students to make sure they brush and floss daily and to lay off the soda.

Thursday was actually the day I felt the worst but I pulled up my big girl panties and went to work. It was also beautiful in Phoenix that day and I really wanted to take advantage of the weather since we were getting a cold front the upcoming weekend. So after work, my little family went to our zoo’s annual Christmas light show ❤

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A lot of hilly walking but I felt fine. No pain at all.

It was a tough day on Friday though, not because of anything injury related, but because I finally announced something I had been thinking about for a few weeks. I wouldn’t be returning to work the following semester. My students took it pretty hard–most actually like me!–but they understood once I explained.

My husband has been taking on new responsibilities at his job the last few months that have required him to travel extensively, sometimes out of the country and sometimes for multiple weeks at a time. It’s been tough on me as I become the sole caretaker for our kids–I’ve mentioned my 45 minute morning and afternoon commute before and when my husband is not home, I have to get myself ready, my kids ready, drop them off at school, then drive my 45 minute drive to make it to work by 7:45–if there’s traffic or an accident, that time increases and inevitably I don’t make it to work when the bell rings.

I knew it was becoming a problem when I was late several times and had to call security to cover my classes. And my decision was sealed when I tried waking my kids up a little extra early so I wouldn’t be late–seeing them sleep so comfortably and wanting to wake them up at 5:30 in the morning so I could get to work on time absolutely killed me. I just couldn’t. And I knew that I would have to make a decision. It was a no brainer; my kids are my first priority.

I don’t know how long this teaching hiatus will last, but I feel good about my choice.

I was glad we had some more family fun time on Saturday because I needed a pick-me-upper. We went to our local rec center and had breakfast with Santa 🙂

My son was not impressed.

My son was not impressed.

And on Sunday, my husband ran the Fiesta Bowl 1/2 Marathon. This was supposed to be our goal 1/2 marathon race for the both of us but of course, I couldn’t run it. He did, and absolutely killed it finishing with a new PR of 1:36:31!!! He also helped our run club finish 1st team overall 😀

My champ.

My champ.

Many of my friends finished the race with PRs and it was fun to be there cheering them on. Fun, but I’m lying if I didn’t say I wished it was me. I know things happen for a reason, yadda yadda yadda, but I miss running dammit. If anything, I’m glad that I’m finally starting to feel a little better from this teeth business and I can finally get myself to the gym. I need some sweat time. Need.

To end on a happy note, last week’s Hot Chocolate 5k/15k pics were released this week (and were FREE). This was my favorite pic as I crossed the finished line with my walking buddies ❤

I think we had fun.

I think we had fun.

Anyway, there’s my no running recap! I hope you all had a great week–tell me all about it!!

–Any dentist horror stories? Do you like going to the dentist? I have friends who actually do. Of course, they have perfect teeth.

–Share with me a high point of your week something positive 🙂

 

MRI Results Update—Officially Injured

Welp, I’m out for the count….

MRI results came back with Grade 4 Bilateral Tibial Stress Fractures. Yes, both legs.

To say I was completely blindsided is an understatement. I had been feeling zero pain and had not gone in to see my doctor for anything other than cramping. But, my buddy Runner Jenny is the sports doctor’s assistant and she had called for x-rays as a precautionary procedure–just to see.

I’m so glad she did.

She was there at the medic tent in San Diego. She saw me screaming in pain; I am not kidding when I said I was all sorts of miserable at the end of that race. Having worked with hundreds of athletes, Runner Jenny knew my situation had to be more than just cramping issues.

I mean, did I like hearing the news that for 6 weeks I could do nothing–no running, no biking, no elliptical? Of course not, but had I never gotten my legs checked, I would’ve kept on running along until I really did feel pain. And I’m pretty sure by then it would’ve been awful and an even longer recovery time.

The doc said while he definitely thinks I need to work on my sodium/electrolytes intake, my muscles could have also been overcompensating for my weak bones. Just a bad combo all around.

I know my personal diet sucks. You guys have heard me talk about it before. I know I need to improve my eating habits. I’ll be talking to my regular doctor about that and potentially adding vitamins as I def feel I’m lacking nutrients (since McDonald’s and In n Out don’t really provide me with any). Maybe even see a nutritionist. All I knows is I have to get myself figured out here if I want to continue running AND if I want to improve as a runner. I think for me, that’s my biggest decision. If I’m okay staying where I’m at, I’m sure I can manage. But if I want to get faster, I need to make some serious lifestyle changes.

That being said, another area of improvement where I think this 6 week hiatus from running will allow me to work on, is my upper body strength. Since that’s pretty much all I can do, I’m gonna work hard this winter so that when the sun’s out my guns are out.

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Yeaaahp, that’ll be me alright…

I’ll focus on my core as well — and this happened before the injury….

I SIGNED UP FOR MY FIRST TRI!!!

So that pretty much means I need to get in the pool. I feel like this injury is forcing me to work on the things I never did when I just ran. Do you believe in signs? Because I kinda think this is a big, fat, huge one right now.

Anyway, there’s the update. Six weeks of no running. I walked the Hot Chocolate 5k this past weekend (having downgraded from the 15k)

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With one of my walking buddies at mile 2 🙂

and I transferred my bib for the Fiesta Bowl 1/2 marathon I was supposed to run this Saturday. My next race is January 17th, Rock n Roll AZ and I’m hoping Runner Jenny my doc will let me do it. I figure I’ll be keeping myself in shape these next six weeks and my expectations for that race will be to simply finish.

I’ll go back for x-rays to assess progress in 4 weeks. In the meantime, gotta put in some work!

Thank you all for your support on Insta and Facebook! Once again, I’m grateful I have this outlet to “talk” about things and have people share their experiences with me. It really helps!

❤ , helly

–How do you stay motivated through injuries?

–Best upper body exercises?

–Tips on learning to swim? (I don’t know how!)