Be mine?

Ahhh.... Valentine's day. A day to eat loads of boxed chocolates and a day for people to post pictures of flower bouquets, jewelry and delicious dinners on Facebook. Oh, and a day to show how much you care about those you love. :)

I actually don't care much for Valentine's day (apart from the yummy chocolates and red velvet cupcakes) because I feel it's too commercialized and superficial. If you love someone, you shouldn't need a holiday to show them with overpriced chocolates and flowers that make single people cringe.  It should be a day to celebrate love for everyone, not just for those who are in relationships.  Sure, I may have liked it more if I wasn't 3500 miles away from Jake, but even when we are together, it's not something I go out of my way to celebrate.  Random days of love are much more special!

Even though I was the Valentines Day Grinch, I had a great day yesterday. The day started with another PAIN FREE run with Dennis the speed demon. I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch, but I think I might be on the mend. PT is working wonders and I've been religious about my stretching, ab work, and leg exercises. I've run 4 days in the last week, and had no issues whatsoever. :) :) This makes for a happy, happy Brittany.

Best feeling ever.

My favorite run in Cali along the 101.

Stunning.

That's right, just for runners!

Wahoo!  I've missed my little Garmin companion

Yesterday also was the first day I felt more confident in the OR and got positive feedback from the surgeon. Finally!

The day ended with a wonderful girls night with my favorites Cali girls. Carrie is amazing and made homemade (garlic free!) pasta sauce so that girl who is allergic to everything (aka me) could participate in eating homemade pizzas. That, coupled with girl talk, tons of laughs, and desserts to die for, made it a great day.

Best idea ever!

Flat Bread deliciousness.  

Love this girl.

Such a fun night! (P.S. the girl in the black shirt is due on SUNDAY!  Crazy!)

The only thing missing was, of course, my Valentine. Luckily in just 11 weeks we will be able to start a life of love-filled days. Jake, you are my forever Valentine and I love you more than you'd love eating Tacos every day for the rest of your life. And then some.

True Story!

A Sad Runner's Tale.

I don't know if you've caught on, but I'm an injured runner.  Yes, I know.  It happens.  And yes, I know, I'll get better and be back in action in no time.  I've avoided talking too much about it because this blog isn't supposed to be a "woe is me, I'm obsessed with running and can't run" blog.  But, running brings me so much happiness and is such a huge part of my life that I think I'm finally ready to open up and talk about it.  In a nutshell, it has been a frustrating few months.  Just when I think I'm back on track and free of left knee pain, I develop a new pain (right hip flexor, and newest pain... left hamstring).  I immediately stop running when I feel pain and cross train for as long as it takes to feel pain free- which is usually around 5-7 days.  Then I do the 2 day rule: no running until 2 days of being completely pain-free until I start my usual walk/run combo. I usually feel good for 2-3 days and then... without increasing mileage, terrain, or gear... I develop a new pain.  I am literally at my wit's end.

Running in the Boston Marathon has been my dream since I realized I actually had a little bit of running talent.  Demolishing the boston qualifying time by 28 minutes at St. George was a dream come true.  Registering and getting my confirmation letter that I would be running the 2013 Boston Marathon was one of the happiest moments of my running career so far.  The hours of training, sacrifice, pain, exhaustion and true passion all led to achieving my goal: I would be running the Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013.  

Take all that joy and multiple it by 2,359 and you will have the amount of devastation that I feel at this moment.  I can't run, let alone train for the Boston Marathon.  I know what you're thinking: "It's just a race, Brittany.  There will be more Boston Marathons."  And yes, I know.  There are.  Every April.  But this Boston Marathon signified a lot more than just a race.  It was a reward for accomplishing such a beautiful thing during two of the most difficult and miserable years of my life (a little thing called PA school).  Call me dramatic, that's fine.  But really, it meant more to me than you can imagine.  

I need my pacifier back.

Why is running so important to me?  Why does it make my world go round? The runner's high - sure, I'm addicted to it. I love it. But it's so much more than that.

I like to think I am a confident person in general, but I'm not afraid to admit to you that I can be very hard on myself and at times Mr. Negative sneaks onto my shoulder.  That is where running comes in.  It gives me a sense of accomplishment that I cannot find in other aspects of my life.  I pour my heart and soul onto the pavement - each mile I go makes me feel like I am conquering every frustration that exists in my world.  My body proves it is capable of anything and I come home with a feeling of pride and success.  I don't just love it, I feel it is part of who I am.  I know you other runners will understand. 

So where do I go from here? I'm not throwing in the towel yet- after all, Jake and I have tickets (as do my parents to come watch) - but I'm just being realistic.  I literally cannot get rid of whatever leg(s) issues I have.  Rest doesn't seem to cure it, cross-training, stretching, Yoga, NSAIDS, PT, Massage, Icing, Heat, you name it- I've tried it.  I'm beyond devastated now that the reality is closing in that I will probably have to skip the Boston Marathon this year.  There are true tragedies in this world that deserve far more attention and prayer than anything you've just read.  But if you have any advice, I will gladly take it!  

In my tearful stupor after thinking about my stupid running injury ... I found this awesome list written by a guy named Dalai Lama.  You may have heard of him.

#4 & #18 rock my world.

Let's hope #20 is: Miracles do happen.  

#27- Baby Steps

November 27- Today I am grateful for small victories in what feels like the longest injury in history.

It has been almost 2 months since St. George Marathon.  Ugh... I don't even want to talk about that because that means it has been almost 2 months since I had a good run.  Saddest statement of the century.  (Did I ever tell you I'm good at being overly dramatic?) The good news is that I have been very compliant with taking time off from running and allowing my body to recover from my silly knee injury.  Speaking of silly knee injury, I don't think I ever told the exact reason I got injured.  It's so embarrassing I don't even want to say it.

Ready? I got it from a blister on my big toe. There! I said it.  After St. George, I had a massive, painless blister on the bottom of my big toe (from a tiny rock in my shoe rubbing for 26.2 miles).  It was gigantic but didn't bother me at all except that it looked ridiculous.  I decided, being the wise PA student I am, to do the one thing I always tell my patients to avoid doing: I popped that son-of-a-gun.  It felt great until I ran the Nike Women's Half the following weekend. Then... it went from healing to infected. The blister re-accumulated; except this time it was with pus.  YUCK & OUCH.

Note to self: Take care of blisters.  You won't regret it.

At that time, I was also in the middle of the hardest and most stressful rotation of my life where I was in closed-toe shoes and on my feet for 15 hours per day.  Needless to say, I had to walk strangely to avoid limping which in turn  ended up pinching the peroneal nerve on the outside of your knee.  Yep.  That's it.  A silly blister.  I wish I had a better story, but if you can learn anything from my story... DO NOT POP YOUR BLISTER.  It is a natural bandaid and will heal if you let it.  If anything, use Epsom Salt and learn from my mistake.

Okay.  Enough venting over my lame injury story.  The fact of the matter is that all of the hard work and ridiculous training flew out the window approximately 5 weeks ago.  At that point, I realized the most important thing is to be 100% healed to avoid a difficult training season for Boston Marathon in April.

The baby steps started on Sunday when I tried my first run/walk.  Started with 1 min run/2 min walk for about 5 minutes... then since I had no pain I increased it to  4 min run/1 min walk until I finished.  I did that for 3 miles and guess what? NO PAIN. Yippee!  And no pain the next day either!  So today continued with the walk/run combo with my awesome running buddy, Carrie.  We did a total of 5 miles; with probably 3 miles of that running.  Felt great- and surprisingly I wasn't as slow as I thought I would be.  I guess that annoying elliptical and my deep-water running have paid off.

I don't know if you can quite grasp the significance this has in my life.  But... if my lack of sanity in the last 2 months is any indicator, you can imagine it's pretty life-altering.

It's a Wonderful Life

_________________________________________________________________________________

Grandma Update:  She had a HUGE day today!  She walked down the hall and was discharged from the hospital!  She'll be staying in San Diego at a Assisted Living Facility for about 2-3 weeks to get stronger before making the trip back to Salt Lake.  My Mom and Dad are also staying, so I feel very lucky to get this extra time with them, even if it is under these circumstances.  Grandma said she's feeling better tonight, but she is still struggling with nausea.  I'm praying she can get off such heavy pain meds soon so that she has more of an appetite.  Each day it's baby steps for her too...!!

#11- Silver Strand Half Marathon

November 11: I am grateful for a PAIN FREE run in the Silver Strand Half

Yesterday marked the first day of running (longer than my 3 mile jaunt on Monday) in 2 weeks.  How did I chose to test my knee?  By doing a half marathon, of course!  Okay, I admit.  It was not the wisest distance choice.  But... I was literally pain free and feeling mentally and physically ready, so... my alarm woke me at 4:45 and I jumped out of bed to put on my much-loved running skirt, WCRR shirt and beautiful pink Nikes.  I even remembered my timing chip this time too (unlike HERE) but probably because it was attached to my race bib.  (I did, however, leave my Garmin watch in the car).

Beautiful morning for a half marathon!

The "Silver Strand" is a stretch of beach extending from Coronado to Imperial Beach.  It is flat, scenic, and like all other beaches in Cali- just gorgeous.  The course is a point-to-point race, so you get to see new scenery the entire way.  An added bonus is that the sun rises ahead of you.  (Nothing like being blinded by the sun beaming directly into your eyeballs for 13.1 miles). Luckily I had my sweet knock-off Ray Bans from Peru to save the day.

I had a plan to walk half of the race, and run the other half; if I was in pain sooner than at mile 6.5, I would stop and walk the rest of the race. Well... I felt amazing and didn't feel an ounce of pain, so I may have continued running after the 6.5 mile mark.  And the 7.5... and the rest of the race. I wouldn't have done this, but I was literally in no pain. YIPPEE!  I felt myself speeding up multiple times, but I forced myself to slow down and enjoy the beauty around.  

Beautiful!

This race is also unique because it is one of the last races in SoCal that allows (and encourages) walkers, hand-cyclers, inline skaters, and people with other disabilities.

So inspirational

If running pain free was not enough to bring pure happiness to my life, it was the inspirational runners around me.  I am the first to admit that I teared up when I came up on this runner.  

Deaf and Blind. And running.  

Not just running a 5K.  He's running a half marathon, and doing it at a fast pace.  I cannot even begin to explain just how inspired I was by this man.  I have no reason to complain about temporary injuries, lack of motivation, or running slower than I wanted to.  I am so inspired by his passion, perseverance and talent.  Never give up on your dreams, no matter the obstacle.

I don't care what excuse you have.  It's not too hot/cold out, you're not too tired, and your day was not too stressful.  If he can run, you have no excuse but to get outside and run. 

Finish line!  

Imperial Beach Pier

The crooked Ray Bans really make this picture, don't you think? :)

It was probably one of my favorite half marathons to date.  I've run races with more scenic courses, but the inspirational athletes reminded me to be grateful for every single step I took!  

*** FYI - I've been posting new entries to my blog - even if I don't post the link on Facebook.  Someone asked me how to be notified of when I write new entries.  (I was shocked too! haha). If you like what you read, you are welcome to subscribe.  (Enter your email into the "Like it? Follow it!" button in the upper right corner). Thanks for your support! *** 

#8 & #9

I promise I didn't forget to be grateful.  I've just been very busy the last few days. I've had an extra amount of things to be grateful for, so it was tough to narrow it down to just one for each day.  I'll start with the important things. (Sorry to all my Alaskan friends, you may hate me after you read what I'm about to write.)

November 8: I am grateful for the RAIN.

It's like that country song by Luke Bryan, "Rain makes corn, corn makes whiskey. Whiskey makes my baby feel a little..." Okay, maybe it's nothing like that.  I don't even like whiskey, but I do love rain. 

Yesterday morning, the ground was glistening from fresh rain when I got up to workout. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a long time.  Living in the land of eternal blue skies and bright golden sun is amazing, but it is such a welcome change to see dark clouds and raindrops falling from the sky. 

Not my finest photography moment, but those little raindrops truly brought me great joy.
Like my cracked windshield?  Thanks to potholes back home, this is the norm for most Alaskan cars. 

I think I love rain so much because a) if you're from Alaska you either learn to love rain or you don't last a week in the unpredictable Alaskan summers and b) the clouds and rain give me an excuse to bake delicious homemade coffee cake and then curl up with a steamy cup of hot cocoa.

Coffeecake from HEAVEN.

Someday, if you bribe me with running gear, I'll share my secret recipe with you. 

November 9: I am grateful for the road to recovery.

Did you think I would actually go a whole post without discussing running? :) This week I have made great strides in the recovery department.  I had 2 appointments with an Active Release Therapist (I swear by it - if you are injured and/or need a "tune" up, let me know and I'll give you a recommendation of who to see.  You will NOT be disappointed). He cleared me to run again- even saying that I would be fine to run the Silver Strand half marathon on Sunday! I'm not so sure running 13.1 miles after taking a few weeks off is the greatest idea, but I AM going to do the race.  My rule to races is: if I pay, I will finish to earn my medal and t-shirt. (And let's not forget collecting free stuff from the expo, because we all know how much I free samples of goo). My plan is run as much as is comfortable and then walk the rest. There is no reason to re-injure myself or cause more inflammation, but I'm ready to get back out there and at least see how everything feels! Regardless of how it goes, I am so grateful for this exciting news in the running-deprived world of mine!  

Hope you have a great weekend!!