Against the Wind

Forrest Gump:. My Momma always said you got to put the past behind you before you can move on. And I think that's what my running was all about. I had run for three years, two months, fourteen days, and sixteen hours.


Another accomplishment is in the bag with a successful 9 mile run this Sunday! I am starting to see that running these distances is more mental than anything else for me.
Physically, I have figured things out. I know my own pacing….I average about a 10 minute miles while I am doing long runs, and I have tried to add some interval and tempo running during the week to better prepare myself. I know the right stretches for my foot and calf to keep my plantar fasciitis at a minimum and I have relented to taking an ice bath after every long run over 6 miles. Again, I hate to admit it…but my husband was right! The ice bath is brutal, but it is a lifesaver for my legs. During my long runs, I now carry water and these amazing little Gu Energizing gummies to get me thru my run. I have tried the gels and jelly beans (both of which are gross in my opinion) so finding these gummies has been a huge help. They also taste just like yummy fruit flavor gummies! Besides being an added boost of energy, these gummies are now a tasty little treat that can be the closet thing for me to “look forward to” midway through my long run each week!

What I have discovered is the mental game I have to play with myself as I take out on these long runs. It’s like my mind has not caught up to where my body is at physically. I used to think it was my body that was trying everything it could to keep me in a non-running state, but now I am more and more convinced that this is all mental on my part. Initial thoughts while running I have include “I don’t have time to run this much;” “This is going to take forever to run this long;” “Can I really run 13.1?!;” or I think about where I am on my run and how far I have to go before it is all over. This goes on from about miles 2-4….and once I am past that, I usually feel like I can go on and run forever. Maybe not as long as Forrest Gump ran, but the quote I have from the moving inspired me.
This week I battled with running against the wind for a good share of my 9 mile run. And with that kind of time on my hands to think while jamming to my favorite music like Black Eyed Peas and my all-time favorite running song “Rhythm Nation,” I also thought about the movie scenes from Forrest Gump that dealt with his running. Maybe it is mental/physical fatigue for not eating enough before my long run this last week….but I started to wonder how I could apply this famous movie quote to my life. I tend to be pretty hard on myself; I have been known to be critical of how I have handled situations in the past or how I could have done things so a situation/event could have turned out differently. Sometimes I find myself fighting “against the wind” because I have a hard time letting go and moving on. Maybe that is what is wrong with those first 2-4 miles that I run….where I am fighting with myself instead of just letting go. Do I have control issues? No doubt indeed! Do I find that I still continue to beat myself up about situations in the past that I didn’t handled well or didn’t succeed at? Absolutely. Do I have a hard time letting go? Amen! Can a person find spiritual/emotional growth on a 9 mile run? I’m starting to think so!!
With a hectic life including wonderful blessings like a loving marriage to maintain and nurture, two amazing boys, a great (but challenging) career, and keeping all other life afloat with the house, bills, etc. This time to run is all about me, my music and my route. As painful as it may be….the time to think seems to give me some center and peace. Hopefully it won’t take me 3 years of constant running to put the past behind me like it did for Forrest Gump. Could it be that running is good for the body and soul?! For this non-runner on a journey to a half marathon….I believe the answer may be yes!

8,9,10

Mitchell showing Collin what potty training is all about....he's such a good big brother and of course, a silly little boy!

My little cheese Collin. At 22 months he can sing his ABC's and count to 10! Not always in the right order, but still pretty amazing for his age!!

As the time for the 1/2 marathon gets closer, the miles on my long run continue increase. I am now running distances that I never thought I would achieve in my running. Before the March snow storm hit last weekend, I was able to log an 8.08 mile run! More importantly, it felt good and I felt like I could have kept going at the end so I was able to finish strong. I'm not breaking any records, but for a girl that hasn't ran a day in her life past junior high track....averaging a 10 minute mile over his amount of distance was a satisfying feeling!!

Next up? You guessed it, 9 miles this weekend and 10 miles (gasp) the following weekend. Physically, I feel like this can be done. I continue to stretch and ice my foot....just ask my family and the ladies in the counseling center about how often I can be seen doing both of these!! The bigger conflict now is time. Balancing work, family, the house and finding time to run this distance is a struggle. We have wonderful family and great neighbors who are great with the boys and have allowed Chad and I to be able to do some long runs together which has been a huge blessing. At this point, I find myself planning for our long runs 2 weeks in advance!

It's hard not to feel like I am being selfish at this point. For Chad and I both to run separately, recover, stretch and ice....takes a huge chunk out of our day! We both want to spend as much time as possible with our amazing boys and I don't want them to feel cheated. But I also know that by staying fit and healthy, we both have more energy to play with them. And mentally, I have found running to be a great stress reliever from my sometimes very crazy job as a school counselor.

As I run out of fingers to count the amount of miles I am running each week in preparation for the 1/2 marathon, I also find myself feeling more and more like I am on a balance beam as well. Here is to surviving the long distance runs and keeping my mommy guilt in check during the coming weeks!!

The luck of the Irish?

This weekend marked a second big test for me. Not only was I running just a bit over 6 miles (6.2 to be exact) but I was also running my second 10K. My foot had felt great all last week and I've continued to stretch, ice and rehab to the best of my abilities. However, Saturday my foot was sore and about 30 minutes before race time....it hurt. After walking all over creation in the cold for the St. Patty's day parade proceeding the run and and a busy morning with family and of course the kids....I was anything but ready to run as 1:15 approached.

I can't say it was a good run, but I finished. I also believe I did a bit better than my first 10K which was in the sleet and ice of December. However, it didn't feel great and mentally I was not in a good frame of mind. Now it is time to rest, enjoy spring break and of course get back to training. After my run on Saturday, I am hoping things will only be up from here. My foot didn't bother me at all during the race, but mentally it was a rough run to say the least. I can tell that my short runs during the week aren't cutting it. I am praying for warmer weather so I can start running in the evenings after supper now that daylight savings time as kicked in. Finding the time and balancing everything at home always plays into the scenario....good thing I have such great support from my wonderful husband! :)

Good or bad...another race is in the books! It's time to look forward and stay positive!! I've already come further and accomplished more than I ever would have imagined. No sense is stopping now.


Chad is amazing...he is my wonderful husband of almost 9 years, my best friend and now my biggest supporter to finish this goal!




The St. Patty's Day 10K crew! We're all also signed up for the 1/2 marathon in Lincoln!

Collin enjoying the cold but very fun St. Patty's Parade in Aggieville

Daddy walking with Mitchell's preschool in the parade

Bumps in the road

My sister in law Christa and I after running the 5 mile turkey trot in Kearney over this past thanksgiving. She is also signed up to run the 1/2 marathon in Lincoln!!

Since my last post I have had good news and bad news. Since I can be pessimistic....I will start with the bad.

Bad news: After e-mailing with my PT friend Brenda, I took a week off from running. I continued to nurse a sore left foot and after running an easy 2.5 miles on it last Tuesday only to have the pain return that night....I knew her recommendations were correct and I needed to follow them. I also decided to call and make an appointment at the Orthopedic and Sports Medicine Clinic to have things checked out. I was pretty bitter about having to take the week off and have been upset about missing my 7 mile long run this past Saturday. Needless to say, I was anxious for this appointment today to hear if I could return to training or not!

I have been trying my best this past week to take care of my foot. I did lots of icing, and massaging with a tennis ball under my foot at work. The soreness has slowly gotten better so I did some x-training on the exercise bike at work both Monday and Tuesday night being sure to ice afterwards. I've had no pain exercising (or running for that matter) at all so I was encouraged by this....but again still wondering what the doctor would say today.

Good news: I have been cleared to start easing back into running! After going thru my first set of x-rays on my feet and left hip, I was diagnosed with some mild plantar facitis due to the fact that I have not been stretching my Achilles tendon (calf muscles) enough. Or really at all for that matter sometimes! I will continue to ice and again not push to hard too fast and hopefully be able to return slowly to my training schedule. It was good to hear there were no signs of a stress fracture or of any starting and I was given some good stretches to use to hopefully improve my condition.

The moral of this story for me was making time to stretch! This is hard for me to do after school with such limited time to get a run in before picking up Collin...but now I will make time and hope that as I look to run another 10K next weekend that I can get through that 6 mile run without another break down!!!