Two weeks off from running- Revenge of my evil ankle

Back story: During the Baltimore Half Marathon, the charming city of Baltimore welcomed me with a pot hole at mile 5. I rolled out my ankle and continued the last 8 miles hating the pothole and my ankle for being so weak. For a week following the Half Marathon I iced my ankle and didn't run. I also went to my orthopedic to make sure I didn't have a serious injury. During that two week period that I was banned from running, I focused on strengthening and healing my ankle. I didn't run and limited my exercise to walking, cycling and lots of yoga. Rather than being hard headed, I followed the advice of my doctor and my doctor wannabe, my boyfriend. 

I've read multiple articles about nursing running-related injuries and one common theme permeated: Your body is sending you a message. During the time off, I visited my orthopedic not only for my ankle, but for my back. I've been having a lot of back pain related to lots of school related-stress and sitting for long hours at school, the library, and my desk at home. 

I also went to my Gastroenterologist. I've had a long history of stomach-related issues and I've been ignoring them for a while. In addition to my ankle injury during the half marathon, I also endured my typical stomach pains from mile 8 until the end. For months, I've endured stomach pain during runs. According to my doctor, figuring out my stomach issues is a long process of elimination. In the past I've suffered from acid reflux and heart burn. So, I've decided to eliminate processed foods from my diet, alcohol (I am not a big drinker so this isn't painful), and limiting my caffeine intake.  I think limiting my caffeine will be the hardest. I am addicted to diet coke and eliminating that delicious habit will be hard but worth it. My doctor also advised that I don't eat during any of my runs, as my stomach is already weak and can't handle the extra stress of having to process solid foods during a taxing run. This means that I have to find an alternative to solid calorie intake during longer runs.

Time off was a scary thought for me. Running is my source of therapy. It gives me time to think and gives me time away from my law books. For the two weeks I was healing, I was a bit depressed. This really worried me because I don't want to be the girl who finds all her happiness in running, nor do I want to become consumed or obsessed about running. I am never going to be a competitive runner. I might place in my age group in much smaller races but I doubt I'll be an uber competitive runner. Time off gave me the time to prioritize my goals. My goal is to become a successful attorney, not to be a competitive runner, triathlete, or a supermodel (in my dreams I'm the only 5' 1" supermodel). Since I was a little girl my sole goal was to become an attorney. Yes, at five years old I sat my parents down and told them I wanted to become an attorney. The next two months need to be about finishing the fall semester strong and with great grades. Running is there to complement my school and work schedule, not to complicate it. Running also helps keep my weight down and keeps me thin and toned.

I am a true believer that life is about balance. A balance between personal, family, work and health. In order to achieve a better balance, I sat down and wrote down my one year, five year and ten year goals. I wrote down 2 personal, 2 career, and 2 health goals for each year mark. I may post my goal worksheets in the future in a blog post because everyone should take the time and set their goals. Setting goals helps keep things in perspective.

I'm looking forward to going back to logging my miles, but I did appreciate the time off, and so did my body and mind. 

A small request for any readers:

Please help my amazing boyfriend. He is participating in the Dolphins Cycling Challenge this Saturday. Any little bit helps!

Dolphins Cycling Challenge 2011 - Patrick Bimonte's Page

68 Days till Disney's Marathon Weekend

On Friday, I went for my follow-up visit at my Orthopedics's office and got great news- I can start training on Monday! I also got the interesting news that I have a pesky extra bone in my ankle. I'm a bit dorky and got super excited because I'm a little mutant! I start my physical therapy for my ankle and back on Tuesday and I have to continue my physical therapy for four weeks.

With that news, reality set in. I have a 15 K in 34 days and Goofy's Challenge is in less than 70 days. Most importantly, finals are a month away and I move to Florida in two months!!! I have so much to look forward to, but there is so much hard work associated with all that fun. 

I have to constantly remind myself that as much as I love to log in the miles and hours at the gym, school and my career are my first priority (behind my family, boyfriend and friends). Logging multiple hours running, practicing yoga and spinning is not going to help me become a successful attorney, but it will help me look good in my brand new suits! 

Considering my limitations, I sat down and dedicated about an hour to setting a realistic training schedule. Realistically, I can dedicate 3 work/school weekdays to running (1 hr to 2 hrs a day), 1 day to intense running (3+ hours), 1 day to fun cross training, i.e. yoga or spinning (no more than an hour), and unfortunately, I'm human and I need one full day of complete rest. I also factored in Thanksgiving weekend and our (PJ, little man, and I) trip to Ohio to visit PJ's brother and sister.


To see my new training schedule click here!


After two weeks of down time from running, I feel motivated, refreshed, and optimistic. I'm also feeling good about not being the fastest or best out there, but I'm not the slowest either. Everyday I'm happier and more comfortable in my skin. I've also learned that I excel in different areas, and it's not humanly possible to excel and be the best at every endeavor I pursue. Running is a challenge and one that I love. I run to beat myself and no one else.

My day long Saturday Adventure with Frick and Frack (my parents)

Disclaimer- My parents are crazy, in the best way possible. They are the type of people that rather be out than sitting at home on a weekend. So what does this mean to a busy law student and "wanna-be running enthusiast?" This means that I plan my weeks ahead of time knowing that the likelihood of doing school work or training on Saturday is unlikely.

A Typical Saturday with my parents (Frick and Frack)

Motor home driving

First thing on Saturday morning, Dad wanted to go and test drive a motor home. (Yes, a motor home) Back story- My parents went to this giant RV show during the summer in Hershey, Pennsylvania, and since then he's been really interested in doing a little more research into motor homes. So, he found a really nice motor home dealer and him, mom and I went to test drive these bad boys. It was a lot of fun and much easier than any of us thought. I see my parents buying a motor home is the distant future.

Cupcakes

After test driving the motor home, I begged my parents to stop at the brand-spanking new cupcake place in Downtown Frederick. One of my favorite things in the universe are cupcakes! We actually stopped at the cupcake place on Friday afternoon, but they let us know that their grand opening was on Saturday.

Pretending I'm a super model in front of the cupcake shop on Friday afternoon

I was extremely impressed with their cupcakes. Mom and I picked out four different cupcakes: I had the creamy pumpkin cupcake, mom picked their classic vanilla with vanilla frosting and the classic vanilla with chocolate frosting, and we got one for my little brother, the Chocolate Fudge and Peanut Butter cupcake.

The creamy pumpkin cupcake was a perfect balance. There was not too much pumpkin and it wasn't too sweet. It was extremely fresh and the frosting was to die for. Mom and my brother loved their cupcakes as well.

Dinosaur Land

On our way to the Shenandoah Valley to see the changing of the leaves, we stumbled across this gem:

Dinosaur Land!

Like an obnoxious 5-year old, I forced my parents to stop so I can take pictures in front of the giant dinosaurs! Plus it gave us all the chance to stretch our legs after being in the car for an hour and a half

Shenandoah Vally

After being in the car for a billion hours, we made it to the Shenandoah Valley! It was absolutely gorgeous. The national park stretches for miles and we drove along the road looking at the trees and just admiring the natural beauty of the park.

We decided to have dinner at the restaurant at the Park's Lodge. It was really nice and we all enjoyed our food. While at the lodge, Dad and I met Yogi Bear's long lost cousin, Mr. Black Bear. My poor dad spent the entire day trying to spot a black bear in the forest, and this was the closest he was going to get to see a bear.

Dad, Mr. Black Bear and I

Mom and me waiting to eat and sitting by the fireplace