Tag: health

#TinkRuns2024

I’m Doing It! June 2024

2chicksandapen

Month 6.

Half way.

Happy the way to somewhere or nowhere? That what’s been on my mind this month.

An MRI for the knees. A milestone I didn’t anticipate before I started this running project. Happy I can get up each day and go but frustrated I can’t go at full speed on anything. Unfortunately, injuries can sideline you when you least expect it. This pretty much describes my current stats: ongoing recovery.

This month marks another 5k that I was expecting to be special. Instead I did a park 5k solo and I’m opting for no races in June to work on my overall recovery plan and enjoy my travel without extra aches and pains. A personal choice. This was an easier decision after the 5k I wanted to do had a date change that conflicted with my travel and the course was going to change. All of a sudden I wasn’t destined to do this race!

It was a year ago I ran the 5k. My mental game probably wasn’t as strong as it is today and my body wasn’t as prepared for the run a year ago. To see the comparison in time and how I feel after this race was really something I’ve been looking forward to. A full circle vision of hard work. Did it pay off? I wanted to know. I won’t know exactly because I’m not repeating the race. I do know however my 5k time is almost 9 minutes faster thus I’ll claim winner on progress for year over year.

I guess it doesn’t matter that I couldn’t make the race. The hills were awful. The walk to the start line in the woods is a workout in itself. One could say you’re tired before you even start. This was more of a disappointment than my injuries to date. Go figure. For June I will add in hill training as a little nod to the race that wasn’t in the cards this year!

Not a ton of miles for June but I didn’t quit.

No stopping me now.

How will my second half differ from the first? 

Will my mileage pick up volume?

The half way point of the year is here. Holy cow. Committing six months to running takes dedication, time, and a can do attitude at the very least. Now it’s time to see what it takes to get to twelve months and really dial in on marathon training. We shall call this the building capacity phase. 

Will my mileage double by year’s end?

Will I get close to 750 miles?

Will I battle more injuries?

 Will I continue?

fitness and nutrition, travel

Hakuna Matata 10 Miler

2chicksandapen

And now for the April installment of my year of races. (For previous posts in this series, check out this, this, and this!)

I hadn’t really even considered including a runDisney race in my year until a friend at work told me she was signed up for a 10 miler in April of this year. Shockingly, registration was still open when I went to check. (Little did I know that most Disney races sell out in the first few hours.) I thought about it, loved the significance of a race celebrating the 30th year of the Lion King, and dove in.

One of the runners in our CrossFit friend group has done several runDisney races, including races from the Princess weekend and the Dopey challenge, which is four days of back-to-back runs, culminating in a full marathon on the last day. Her pics always looked so fun, filled wish costumes and glitter and runs through the iconic parks.

Little did I know what a wild, thriving subculture the runDisney community is. There are tons of online groups to discuss training and strategies for registration, entire companies devoted to specialized costuming for runners, podcasts all about the runDisney season, speculation about themes, medals, and on and on.

By the time I arrived at Walt Disney World in April 2024, my friend from work had decided not to run for family reasons. I was at Disney, alone, as an adult. Thanks to our generous extended family that lives nearby, I had brought our kids to the parks many, many times. Still, it had been many years since I stayed on the Disney property. I was so excited to be there I was about to burst. Armed with all my research on runDisney, I checked in to the Pop Century resort, ready to go.

This post is mainly to discuss the race. I will share a separate post about my time at Disney in the near future. After I left my luggage at the resort, I made my way over to the expo on the Disney bus.

The expo and swag pickup was as dazzling as you might imagine. A whole crew was waiting for runners with signs and cheers. All the signs were up for photo ops, not to mention characters. There were tons of great vendors at the expo. I bought my new racedots (bib magnets) and some scented cooling towels. I grabbed the bus back to the resort and checked into my room. I spent the rest of the afternoon resort hopping on the skyliner. I had some great food at Riviera and the Caribbean Beach resort, then went back to my room to get my race gear ready.

The first thing to know about a Disney race day is that it starts VERY early. The first bus left my resort at 2:45 am. Thankfully, I am an early early riser by nature. I was also super nervous and excited. I had read sad stories about people sleeping through their alarm and missing races. I set a Disney official wakeup call as well as multiple alarms. I get up around 2 and was on the bus by 3.

The ride to the start line dropoff is about 20 minutes. Then, you join thousands of other runners for the half a mile or so walk to the corrals. In the holding area, there are more characters to get photos with. There is also prerace entertainment. It’s an energetic atmosphere. Finally, you make your way to the corrals.

One of the challenges of these races for me is that they are not as “back of the pack” friendly as I would like. Unlike most of the other races this year, the runDisney races have a hard cutoff for pace and will sweep you off the course if you are too slow. There is all sorts of anxiety about falling behind, getting put onto the sweep bus, and so on. There are an infamous group of people known as the “Balloon Ladies” who are runners carrying literal balloons at the very back of the race. They maintain a 16 minute mile pace. Once they start, you cannot fall behind them or you will be swept.

There are a couple of other things to keep in mind: the 16 minute pace clock starts once the Balloon Ladies cross the start line, so if you are quite a bit ahead of them, you have a buffer. Normally, I wouldn’t worry too much about keeping that pace, but the other cool thing about Disney races is, of course, Disney being Disney, there are character stops on the course. These are mainly photo ops with little interaction. Each stop has official photographers as well as a couple of cast members whose whole job is to keep the photos moving as fast as they can.

I found an online source that leaked all the characters and their spots on the course, so I knew where I was going to stop. My goal was to stop for at least a couple of characters. I also had a chat that let me know where the Balloon Ladies were as well as my watch pacing. And, with the fireworks and a bit of fanfare, I was off.

This race wasn’t much about the pace (aside from not getting pulled onto a bus.) There was so much energy. I was running through Epcot World Showcase. Hollywood Studios. I stopped for photos. There was Disney music piped in. Video screens gave you hints of characters on the course. Cast members from the countries in World Showcase came out to wave hello as the sun rose. It was pretty surreal, actually. We ran through cast member areas, resorts, and parking lots. The course was sometimes packed, sometimes not.

The first character I stopped for was actually someone super new that I didn’t even know. But, the line was short so I just ran through the queue, stop, smile, snap and go. There were characters from old old films like the Rescuers (which had a long line early in the race so I didn’t stop, sadly.), and new characters I didn’t even know. I stopped for a few: Tigger, beloved by one of my running friends, Meeko the raccoon that we took as the name for one of our family cats, Abu from my daughter’s favorite princess movie, and my favorite Disney princess Mulan. I took side photos of other characters since I didn’t think I could wait in line. But I was proud to have stopped for those handful and stayed in front of my pace goal. Maybe the happiest moment was seeing Mickey himself, waving at the runners from a platform over the finish line. I totally felt like a little kid when I stopped for a pic with Mickey waving. I did it!

I will say, this race was hot and humid. I took my cooling towel and medal and snack then skipped all the other photo opps to go to the bus back to my resort for a desperately needed cold shower.

All I can say is I am such a fan of these races. To sum it up, it was totally overstimulating but I loved it. The vibe is positive. It’s a totally different group of people than other races. Many of these people are just casual runners or doing it as Disney fans. There are lots of walkers and run / walk / runners. People get excited about medals, themes, and registration. It’s a lot of fun! I plan to do this one again in future years, and hopefully even do a multi-race challenge for the Springtime Surprise weekend someday.

challenges

The Icky Stage

2chicksandapen

I’m at a stage in life that seems challenging at best. It’s almost hard to breakdown each component but I decided I’d write about some of it.

First challenge is movement. In the past six weeks I’ve gone from feeling amazing to battling injury after injury or aches. It’s not been fun. It’s been painful many days. It’s also been humbling to be sidelined a bit from what I enjoy most. I guess that makes me agitated in other areas of life. 

I’ve been to the doctor. I’ve been to the doctor again. What’s changed? Did you have an accident? What caused this? Why doesn’t the firm or doctor ask if I’m having menopausal symptoms? I mean I get asked if this is a worker’s compensation injury every time!

I want to say thank you to menopause for the instant list of ailments but I can’t really conclusively prove it. I will however say my long list of ailments go hand-in-hand with what many women note as issues, or at least google tells me that and so do the one million ads that pop up on my phone. I just didn’t expect it to hit me full force without notice. Am I paranoid? Some days I feel that way. Am I a chronic complainer? Some days I feel like it. Do I have pain? Most days. Is this all a change from a short time ago? 100%

In the midst of change is also worry. The routine breast exam. Then the mammogram. Then there is the breast exam recheck. The extra squishing of the boobs to see if you have cancer. That sounds awesome, right? I’d say no it’s not fun. I’d also say it’s not fun to have more than once. Then it’s the ultrasound. A deeper dive into your boobs. What’s next a biopsy? Joyfully, nope. A probe into your breast to place a marker and obtain a tissue sample. I will definitely reframe this but amidst all else it just creates a shit show theme. For some it’s good news. For others it’s not and that process requires so much more than I can explain in this post.

As we move on to just being busy. Events galore. Year end wrap up on steroids for school events. Graduation parties. Travel. Endless to do items. The joy and fun of everyday is mainly bundled with have to appearances and must do now items. Exhausting is the word that comes to mind. Mentally. Physically. Emotionally. Add these items on to the icky menopausal stage of life and boom. One day you might cry. The next day you might scream. You might even enjoy your solitude. You might even forget stuff amidst a brain fog episode. Go figure.

Space. No personal space. With life being front and center, it’s full of people. Everywhere I turn. Work. Home. Gym. Store. Events. It’s peopley and when you are really overstimulated and over scheduled the last thing you want to deal with is people. Let’s face it people are messy and when you’re in my shoes people avoidance seems almost a necessity! Decompression time is a mental health checklist item these days. So is yoga and deep breathing exercises.

Today I’m celebrating a sleepless night.

Today I’m appreciative of having my body working at maybe 80%.

Today I’m avoiding people as in holiday gatherings because I can. 

Today I’m at peace.

Tomorrow I’m not looking forward to. It’s a work day. Less time to recover. More have tos.

As I close out this post I should note I started it a while ago. I revisited it and sometimes just stared at the content. Today I wrote a little more and decided to close it out. One of things I control in life is what I elect to write about and choose to publish. Some days I may think I over share. Some days I wish I shared more. The constant irony.

No matter the day, I’m always glad I have an outlet. An online journal that is open to others. I don’t care what the comments are. I just care that I was true to myself in the process.

Much love from the sleepless night crew. Much strength going to those working through menopausal symptoms. Much thanks to all those displaying patience and support to loved ones in the icky stage.

fitness and nutrition

Chilly and Chocolate

2chicksandapen

One of my goals for 2024 is a chip-timed race of 10k or longer each month. Six need to be half marathons. I’ve written about my first half marathon in Little Rock, which was amazing. But that was in March. I thought I’d share a quick recap of my January and February races as well.

You may be wondering why I skipped them to begin with. To be honest, my year of running started with pain. And walking. I’m not exactly sure why, but in December 2024 I had some lower back pain that was difficult to work through. Running seemed to be one of the things that made it flare. So, even as I set a goal to complete races, I started 2024 by learning to walk as fast as I could for longer distances.

You may think walking is easy. You may also think it is just running in slow motion. Neither of these things are true. Maintaining a decent pace (under 15 minutes) is tough for multiple miles. And walking, in my experience, actually fatigues very different muscles than running. So they may seem similar, but the physical and mental efforts required are different.

I showed up to the Chilly Willy 10k EXTREMELY nervous. It was a small local race. Would my back flare up? Would I be pulled off the course for being too slow? What would people think of a walker? Can I actually do this? I was an honest-to-goodness wreck. I was quiet, evasive, withdrawn, generally flustered…those who know me well can see this happening. My heart rate was super high even before we started. Maybe 100 of us were there to participate. Thankfully I had a couple of my running buddies joining me. There were 5k, 10k, and half marathon racers all starting together. After a quick wait at the start line, away we went.

And, as I watched most of the other racers take off running, I walked at a quick clip. There were maybe a dozen of us walking. The first mile was almost all downhill, which meant (as an out and back course), the end would be a trudge. It was extremely cold at the start…there were patches of ice on the concrete path. But in the sun it was not so bad. Once I found my groove, playlist in my ears, I was just moving right along with a smile on my face.

It didn’t take long for the first 5k participants to come racing back. Focused, quick, intense, they floated by. I cheered for them. I finally made it to the 5k turnaround / water station. And as everyone else I was pacing with turned back for the 5k finish, I continued onward on the 10k course.

From that point on, I was alone. I had no idea if anyone was behind me. Once in a while, another 10k participant would breeze by in the opposite direction and we shared smiles. At this point, I was just grooving along. Nothing hurt. I was making decent time. I really couldn’t ask for anything more. I saw my friends flying by after their turnaround. Both were looking strong. I continued to move right along, dodging icy patches before I turned around.

There weren’t many people behind me. Once in a while I’d see a half marathoner (a double out-and-back course) coming by. I held my pace fairly well until the end. My friends had been texting for updates. I knew they were waiting for me. I walked myself all the way in to the finish, feeling pretty good. I know I was smiling as I finished and got hugs from my friends.

I was so happy to have finished and grateful that I felt fairly good physically. It wasn’t until later that I learned I actually got 3rd place in my age group in the 10k. I laughed. Ok, it wasn’t a huge pool of people but you can bet I requested my medal and displayed it happily.

I continued to walk until the February race, the Hot Chocolate Atlanta 15k. This is a much bigger race with lots of fanfare and fun. My plan for this race was to walk the first 7 miles and then try running until the end. I was feeling physically good. I was happy to be running with my daughter (ok, she’s much faster than me, but we did participate together) and a group of friends. So I went along with my plan and hoped for the best.

The race itself felt sort of unremarkable. I had done the course before. It’s not my favorite. After seven miles of walking, I held my breath and ran. I figured at that point, if pain came up, I could just go back to walking and still manage to finish.

Gratefully, there wasn’t any pain, and I got to celebrate with my friends and daughter at the finish line. Time for a new training plan and hitting the road for racecations.

I learned patience in this time of pain and frustration. I worked around my injury and still continued to move every day. Sometimes progress isn’t linear. Sometimes it doesn’t look like we hope it will. I can take pride in not giving up and just keeping my head up. Forward is a pace is my new mantra.

#TinkRuns2024

She’s Running May 2024

2chicksandapen

Five months checked off, barely.

10k completed. 

Close to 150 miles accumulated after 5 months. Definitely short of my plan after the past several weeks of low or no-go days.

My 10k was a little crazy to reflect on. It was my first big run of 2024. It was my first 10k since 2019. It was after having two cortisone shots. One shot in each knee, the latest shot being just four days prior. It was hard. It was rewarding. It was darn close to a personal best and it definitely wasn’t my slowest. It didn’t feel like a strong run rather it felt like I checked a box for completion. I’ll consider all of that a success story. It was a down-and-back course. In one way I liked it as I could see friends along the way. In one way I didn’t like it because I knew what was ahead meaning I focused on the hills vs. following my plan. All was done before I knew it. Just over an hour.

Cold weather is in the rearview for now. On to more sticky and hot weather. Not sure which is preferred yet, but I’m sure at the end of 2024 I will have more commentary on the weather, wardrobe, and so on. Trying to make getting up early in summer to hit the parks. Priority to run. So far attempts are meh at best.

I survived my tennis state finals. It was a humbling experience. I played singles against an opponent a good many years younger than me. Over 20 years to be exact. I got my running in on the court that day and I didn’t come up a winner. I did however learn a lot in the process. How to accept defeat. How to value those who play singles often. How I need to play someone more my age.

Race day essentials has been an ongoing project. Most likely the final list will come out just in time for the big marathon day. Testing out items throughout the year. I’ve mentioned shoes before but now I guess I can include some of my quirky items. I’ve got the bib holders to not ruin my shirt. Three of my favorite grab ‘n’ go snacks. My vest with easy-to-drink water bottles. Salt stick: Iced berry. Love these. A little tube of glitter which is my signature race day flair item. Just a glimpse of what I use.

A lot of major events on the calendar starting this month. Non-stop activities for the rest of the year. Going to be interesting to see how training fits into it all. Especially the long runs that take away a lot of time. Adapting to change will be key. Modifying for injuries is also vital. Long plane rides ahead. Starting with international travel next month. Traveling to Greece in a once-in-a-lifetime fashion. Spending days at sea means no running but finding a safe spot when on land. Just to even get a mile in will be key and cool to do.

Seven more months to go.

Body changes seem to be at a standstill or less notable as I work through injuries these days. I may even feel more jello like than lean. Could just be the mindset as of late.

Miles to date in 2024 is now hanging sound 150 working towards 200 for now. A good distance behind my goal again thanks to a busy schedule and injuries.

Mental milestone:

Moving forward little by little toward my goal despite the pain along the way. Learning over and over not to take one day for granted.

Marathon training plan: completed 4 weeks with about  75% success rate meaning I wasn’t perfect. I wasn’t hitting each day exactly as prescribed but I got the miles in as I could. 

Looks like an MRI is on the June agenda just to double check the knee situation. A new performance doctor to take a second look. I need to know if my joints are weak from menopause or if I have a tear I’m limping along with. Not sure which I’d prefer at this time, but an answer or clarity would be good in my eyes.