running off the tryptophan...

Thanksgiving in my family is our big holiday, it is full of activities the entire weekend. It's late Sunday afternoon and I feel a little sad because I hardly got to see anyone since I was sick. Plus, I was stupid and made myself more sick by being the stubborn person I am, and went running while sick. Funny enough I didn't run yesterday or today and I am finally feeling better this afternoon.

Ed and I decided to step outside the box for Thanksgiving day this year. Ed and I were kindly invited to some friends house for Thanksgiving dinner, and since we always do the same thing, year in and year out, we decided to take them up on their offer and it was a lot of fun! The food was fantastic and the company fun, it was good to do something different this year, very low-key and stress-free, can't beat that! We decided to have dinner with friends since I wasn't expecting to end up sick and we thought we would still have plenty of opportunity to see the family. Thankfully I did get to see my family at lunch yesterday, that promptly wiped me out so I was done for the day.

As for running, even though it made me more sick, it was fun! I ran three miles on Thursday and Friday morning both. I haven't run that far at one time since my injury, needless to say my foot is still sore today, but again, that is just how it will be for awhile. It's probably for the best I didn't run yesterday or today. I didn't run purely out of a desire to get well since I have to go back to work tomorrow I figure I should try and be as well as possible.

I'm quite proud of myself for going three miles two days in a row, we didn't run the entire three miles, we walked/ran, but hey, it was still three miles. My cousin Rachel ran with us and she just ran a marathon, so she was sweet and patient and went our pace (thanks Rach!) because she could have blown us all away! And both runs were followed with a visit to Starbucks with my sister on Thursday and with Rachel and Jessica on Friday. So even though I missed out on fun family events I was still able to see everyone a little bit, not as much as I would have liked though.

It felt good to go three miles and I knew if it weren't for protecting my foot I could have run further and faster, so that made me feel better about the shape I'm in. I was worried I would be back to mile 1 in regard to my health and ability, but really running those three miles was a breeze and for that I'm thankful. I think my running will come back to where it was fairly quickly. However, had I known I would just get more sick from running, I probably would have held off. Oh the things we learn.

Other things I am thankful for (my friend Meaghan's blog inspired me!):
Ed, Milo, Fred and Frank
Family and friends
My job and the new job I just got teaching at Wichita State University
My Health
My New Haircut
Starbucks and Il Primo
Milano cookies
New running shoes
The Office & The Soup
Seven Jeans
Knolla's Pizza
Running buddies
Music
Snow and Water Skiing
Wine
Photoshop
My Piano
Good memories
Gelato
Nike running gear and fleece sweatpants
Movies
Snuggly sweatshirts and cozy blankets
Candles
Thanksgiving and Christmas
All the beautiful little things that can be found in our world

wichita's 33rd annual turkey trot...

Well I'm pleased to say I was able to do one of the six fall races I had lined up before my stress fracture, and while I didn't break any records and had to walk for the first time ever in a race, I finished it.

I ran the two-mile Turkey Trot with Jessica, Katie, Liz and Ed this past Saturday! This is a really historic race in Wichita, this was the 33rd year! It's older than me! Plus, this was Ed's first running race, he has done a few road bike races, but decided to give running a shot and he really enjoyed it!


Emily and Kristen did the 10-mile and after the races were over we all headed over to a local breakfast spot to inhale breakfast at noon, it was spectacularly delightful.

I think it's safe to say I'm back to running, and it feels great. Ed and I even went for another 2-mile run on Sunday morning. My foot has been tender since then, but I think it's to be expected, it will eventually stop being sore after I run.

The Fair Weather Runners are back on track and with new additions, it's going to be a great spring full of races and friends.

best part of my day...

Realizing that even dreams and hopes that have been forgotten, lost in the drudgery or cynicism of life, and packed away for an undetermined amount of time, can fall out of the sky and knock you flat on your back. In a good way. At any given moment, when you are least expecting it, when you had given up on them.

Maybe dreams are granted at unexpected moments so we are that much more grateful and in awe of God when they come, than we would be if our dreams were handed to us on a silver platter at the moment WE want them to come true. Well played God... well played.

a rendevous, by chance....

Let's get something straight. I am a very outdoorsy girl, I love to run outdoors, water ski, snow ski, work in the yard, go to the park, ride my bike, sit outside in the evenings. But for some reason I've never really had the desire to camp. I don't mind getting dirty, and at the risk of sounding like a total jerk--I'm just going to say it--I think it's my perception of people who camp that turn me off. And it only bothers me because in a campsite, you can't get away from people who might not be that enjoyable.

Like Natty-Lite drinking frat boys peeing on fires, or rednecks, or weirdos who don't bathe, ever. I don't know, it seems in my mind it's either full on white trash, or LL Bean loving yuppies (have to admit I'm more like the latter). I'm not gonna lie, I'd prefer the yuppies. I have no idea where I got the white trash stereo type, maybe I really am a snob!

Anyway, Ed got a fishing boat this summer, and I agreed, on a few stipulations, that I would give camping my best shot since I had never done it as an adult. Since Wichita is home to Coleman, my stipulation was that I camp as long as we become Coleman poster children, i.e. we don't buy ghetto used stinky gross camping gear. Ed bent to my will and off we went. I love ALL my new camping gear. It is fabulous, useful and fun! Why camp ghetto if you don't have too?

So at the end of September we decided to test our campiness, packed up my highly organized camping supplies, our dog and the boat and headed to Fall River.... which I might add doesn't seem like it's in Kansas. I don't say this because Kansas is ugly, it just isn't known for it's bodies of water.

Well... we were in for QUITE the surprise as unbeknownst to us, there was a "Rendevous" at the campground... it sounded quite cheeky to us, but we weren't turning back. So not knowing what we might wake up to the next morning, we set up our tent, made a fire, ate some s'mores and like good yuppie campers went to bed watching a movie on the laptop.

The next morning we wake up to gaze upon a frontier camp, straight out of 1809! It was actually pretty cool. One guy even made a Tee-Pee out of brush. All the people were dressed up in frontier days gear and stayed true to the period with their tents, cooking and activities. Except the potato gun... we never figured out how they justified that one.

The highlight of the day was definitely the skillet throwing competition. All in all it was pretty entertaining. We think it was mostly Vietnam vet-type guys and the kind of people who get into "Renn Fairs." But they were nice and it was pretty cool to watch them in action. Of course we happily went back to our modern comfy campsite and grilled burgers on our gas grill.

I have to admit, camping isn't so bad and I'm looking forward to my next trip this coming spring, and really looking forward to being able to actually go on a run around the lake! And I'm happy to say, all my preconceived negative notions about camping turned out to be mostly untrue. I had a really great time, and met a lot of very nice people!

best part of my day...

We have implemented one T.V.-less night per week in our house. This is the result of our first tube-free evening. Making dinner, drinking wine and listening to Norah Jones while playing a game of pick-up sticks. Then we just stared at each other bored out of our minds the rest of the night.

best part of my day...

He obviously saw something tasty on T.V.

oh, the plans i have...

Three miles, the total number of miles I have gone this week (I count Sunday as day one). I'm quite proud of myself. One-point-six of those miles were actually "run," the rest I walked. I am waiting on my orthotics, trying to be patient since I'm supposed to wait until I have them to start running again. So far though, I haven't had any problems.

Now I'm set with the dilemma of making a current running plan, with thoughts of running a half in January I better get to it! I want to build my base until January and then start marathon training then, for an April marathon. I plan on doing either the Oklahoma City or Nashville, they are both at the end of April, I'm thinking these are my best options.

I'm praying my guts out that my legs, hips and stress fracture hold up, and I can run the full in April, we'll see. One day at a time. The fun thing is that no matter what race I do, even though I won't do it before I'm 30, I know I'll have friends along. A few are planning to do the half and maybe, just MAYBE (I'm not naming names) a couple might run the full with me. Either way we will all be in it together! Needless to say I'm thrilled. I, in fact, squealed like a little girl. Multiple times. In public. And clapped. Loudly. I may have even looked slightly "dim," it's hard to say. I have no shame.

beef with calcium, it's what's for dinner...

My friend Kristen was perusing my blog the other day, obviously just perusing, because if she were reading every single word and cherishing it she would not have made the mistake of blowing past the fact that "beef with calcium" is NOT in fact a new Chinese dish similar to beef with broccoli. I only say this and point it out because Kristen is hands down the smartest woman I know, she's a very busy and important lawyer. I heart her.

However, I'm sort of glad she was under the impression it was some sort of new meal because:
1) It made me almost pee my pants when she explained that she actually thought it was a new food
B) I felt smarter than a lawyer, even if just for a moment (keep in mind I live with a lawyer, so I have a complex in this area)

Of course she quickly realized there was more to that sentence. But I still managed to eek some joy out of it, and am humiliating her as much as possible over this fact. It's what friends are for.

james taylor and my buttons...

We all have those "buttons" that when pushed enough we get really riled up. At home I have a few buttons, but there are two very hot buttons that get me especially riled up, and Ed knows exactly what they are:
1) James Taylor (because I loathe him)
2) Accusing me of not being interested in doing things with Ed, (no particular thing just daily errands, or riding in his boat while he fishes, or watching him play on his iPhone, you get the point) or spending time with him

He possesses the gift of being able to push those buttons like nobody's business, a gift he makes a point of using every single day if possible. He capitalizes on this gift when he sees I'm slightly grumpy (i.e. before I've had my coffee on any given morning).

I have no idea why I hate James Taylor so much, I can't explain it, but the fact remains that the mere mention of his name makes me cringe. The funny thing is that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, mellow and folksy, singer/songwriter type music like The Submarines, Greg Laswell, the Once soundtrack, Coldplay, John Mayer, etc, heck I even love me some Neil Diamond (I just wanted to throw that in there, I know he isn't folksy)! Seriously. But I hear James Taylor's squeaky annoying little voice on the radio and my head starts to spin.

What is the appeal America? I have never hated a musician so much. The other thing is that I love Christmas music, I love that our radio stations are now playing Christmas music here in Wichita (yes I'm one of "those" people) but for some reason James Taylor seems to be the musician of choice as about every third Christmas song on the radio is by him. I can't stand it, so I immediately flip the station, I'm pretty sure I visibly cringe any time I hear a song of his.

Ed of course, finds this hilarious. And while not a James Taylor fan, will make it a point, if we happen across a James Taylor song on the radio, to try as hard as he can to keep the song on for as long as possible. To push said button. Obviously.

This morning we went on our typical Saturday morning jaunt to a neighborhood bakery for breakfast treats and our favorite neighborhood coffee shop for mochas. We always take our dog Milo and sometimes Ed's best friend will meet us at the coffee shop and we'll sit outside with Milo and Paul and enjoy our coffee.

This morning, before the beautiful caffeination hit my blood, Ed started with the button pushing concerning James Taylor and Christmas music, and Paul joined in. I got so riled up my face got all red and hot! I can't even remember the context, something about Ed and Paul buying as many James Taylor Christmas CD's as possible, I don't know. I do know that although I love the Christmas music, I'm dreading the thought of being in the car happily listening away and that James Taylor comes on, shrieking my beloved Christmas favorites, for the next two months. It's a price I'll have to pay I suppose.

off hiatus...

Well I'm officially done with my no work-out, comfort food consuming, laying on the couch, being a useless lump, stint. I went swimming over lunch, just 15 laps, it's amazing how quickly you can lose what's been built up, but I'm not too concerned, in the end, the hiatus was much needed and well worth it. Seriously, wouldn't you choose Cracker Barrel's double order of cheesy potatoes after a two-hour cry, instead of a work-out? Don't answer that...

Last week my blood work results came back, my calcium, vitamin d, and iron are fine and healthy. Leading me again to question the root of my stress fracture. More and more I'm convinced it was the impact of a 16-mile hike down and back up the Grand Canyon in cheapish hiking shoes, combined with seven-plus miles of speed work every week for two months, not necessarily weak bones. But I'm not taking any chances and I still drink soy milk every morning and have started taking calcium, fascinating I know.

Here's my current beef with calcium. I bought my current calcium pills, trying to be careful with my money, and opted to get the more economical liquid capsules instead of the yummy chocolate calcium chews. Although the better economic option, the capsules aren't really the best choice. Just staring at the bottle makes me feel queasy. You see the first day I took one, I just popped the massive, bigger than horse sized pill into my mouth before eating any breakfast and felt nauseous the rest of the day. It was miserable.

Those pills would scare an elephant, seriously, disturbingly large capsules. I decided I should do as the bottle says, and eat with food. So sitting at my desk today eating lunch, and staring at that evil HUGE pill, I thought it would be brilliant to put the pill in my slice of peach, like a parent would do with their kid. Then I focused on my computer screen and thought of something happy and pretended I wasn't taking that capsule. It kind of did the trick, but just thinking of it now makes me gag. But seeing how I have a whooping 240 calcium pills (thank you Walgreen's vitamin sale) it seems I'm going to have to find a way to choke those suckers down. I just threw up a little in my mouth.

my virgin run...

Well I didn't wimp out Sunday and went on my two-mile route with Ed, we ran .4 of the two miles, a little more than I should have, but eh, it did no harm. I had no pain and barely any swelling afterward.

It was the epitome of awesomeness! Running on a beautiful fall day. RUNNING! I wanted to inform every person we passed, be all.... "look, I'm running, it's just how me and my recovered foot ROOLLLLL!"

.4 down, 25.8 to go....

best part of my day...

Turning off my phone, shutting out the world, sitting on my deck to work, write and enjoy a beautiful day.

sceerdie cat....

I'm released to run. Free and clear, good to go, I can start anytime now. But did I run today? No, I didn't. On one hand I wanted to, watching other runner's this morning made me eager to get back out there. On the other hand I'm terrified to run again. I'm worried if I take those first few running steps I'm either not going to be able to stop at 1/4 of a mile, or I will take off and not want to stop, or go too fast and re-injure myself.

Tomorrow I do plan to actually run though. I have to give it a shot. The plan is to go the little 2-mile route down my street, staying close to home and not giving me much room to just jet off. Plus, I plan to force Ed to tag along, because he will keep a close watch on how far I actually run, he knows me well. Of course it could be that I'm thinking highly of myself, and I try that 1/4 mile, feel like dying because I'm horribly out of running shape, and fall to the ground in misery....

I'll keep you posted. Tomorrow marks day one of starting to re-train for my first marathon. Appropriately, I got my new Runner's World Training log in the mail today with my magazine. Coincidence? I think not.