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| My crew after our 14K. L-R: Brett, Tina, Monica, me, Dawn. |
First I want to start off by giving my girl Jenn over at Day #1 Again a much deserved shout out. She wrote a very sweet blog post about me and how I inspire. Well that feeling is completely reciprocated. She is also a HUGE inspiration to me! She's a mother of fraternal twins, works a couple of part-time jobs, ran a freaking donation drop-off from her home after Hurricane Sandy (which took up ALL of her time for weeks on end), she's a successful loser of a substantial amount of weight and a CrossFit goddess! She makes me want to learn what a burpee is and do a bunch! Bottom line is she's walking the walk, not just talking the talk. She's a HUGE supporter to me and many others out in the blogosphere. Her blog is honest and definitely one of my favorite reads. And her kids are super adorable to boot! Thanks for the love Jenn. You are definitely one of my heroes:)
Today was my longest run to date. We clocked 14K this morning, me and my Running Room crew. I was a little freaked out the past couple of days. Friday I woke up unable to move comfortably. In my last post I mentioned that my hamstring or glute was bugging me. By the time I commuted to work, I could barely walk from the underground parking to my desk. I had to go to Shopper's Drug Mart at lunch and get muscle relaxants which completely stoned me and made me super sleepy. My afternoon at work was a comedy of errors to say the least. I went out with my girlfriend Elin (who also helped me come up with this snappy title) Friday night and as soon as her hubby Scott opened the door, I asked him to get me his foam roller. I rolled out my glutes and hamstrings and didn't really feel any different, then moved onto my IT Band. Bingo! That is what was bothering me. It made a HUGE difference after I rolled out my IT Band and I only cried for a moment. Scott lent me his roller and I rolled again on Saturday in preparation for my long run this morning.
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| Me looking glamorous as all get out while I roll out my IT Band. |
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| Afterwards, I could only lie there... |
I'm gonna roll again tonight. I know I need it. I'm achy after my long run and although I could feel the ache along my IT Band during the entire run, it wasn't uncomfortable to the point where I couldn't run. I ran at a slower pace and gotter done! Rolling hurts like nothing I've ever felt before. When we did rolling a couple of weeks ago at clinic, we took a poll as to whether rolling hurt worse than child birth. Rolling was worse for me. Even though I labored for 12 hours when Jules was born, I actually had a c-section. I didn't find the labor as excruciating as rolling out muscle knots. Especially my IT Band and quads. Makes a grown woman want to cry like a baby. No running tomorrow. I'm off until Tuesday morning when I will run at 6:30am.
My hubby asked me why I felt I had to run so much. He's been slacking a bit with the weather. Says it makes him not want to run. I told him that I have no option but to run. I can't slack off. That's just the way it has to be for me. And I'm alright with that. Once you reach "athlete" status with your doctor, there is no going back. I've only ever been the morbidly obese woman with a resting heart rate of 80 bpm or worse. I never want to lose my athletic status. I mean, I'm not as fast as other runners I take the clinic with, but I can complete the runs. The hill repeats don't even phase me anymore. This week we're moving onto six hill repeats and I know I can do them. I knew I had another one in me last week. My confidence as a runner is improving and that excites me.
Food is no longer my enemy. We have found a peaceful balance together based on respect. I only use food to fuel my body. I no longer obsess over it and I know I have replaced one addiction with another. I have replaced carbs and sugar with running. Not a bad trade off. It took me 35 years to figure out and if you want it bad enough, you'll figure it out too. As Nike says, "Just do it!" Because if I can do it, anyone can. And those that "can't", don't want to.