to do or not to do

i've been feeling the marathon-itch the past few weeks, even though i'm not even in shape to fill out a registration form, let alone 'run' one. i found two of interest in mid-november, laid out a very basic training plan, and realized i'd have to start training this week. as in, with my 80-year-old's back. i'm thinking it's probably not that smart to start a training plan while you're already crippled.

i never fully defined any goals for 2012 but one that i did write down (informally) was to chill out and not run any marathons this year. in dealing with my skin issues i wanted to give my body a rest. if i 'succeed' at not running one, i will break my little streak of running at least one marathon a year since 2006. i had essentially talked myself into taking the year off, and then i talked to my dad about it...

my dad knows that i am sometimes too hard on myself. he knows i used to get stressed out if i missed a workout and he thinks that unnecessary stress could have contributed to the decline of my health (skin). i figured if i talked to him about my marathon temptation he'd talk me into taking it easy this year. wrong. he basically gave me the green light, provided i don't get so obsessed with it again.

oh the dilemma!

[for the record, at time of writing i am pro- attempting a marathon this year. maybe i'll see how training goes, how my body/health holds up, and register closer to race day. or maybe i'll change my mind. again.]

look at my excitement

thanks for all the well-wishes for my geriatric back. it's been feeling a little better each day and i've continued to get adjustments at the chiropractor. at one visit i was having some additional lower-back cramps (unrelated to the injury), got adjusted, and very shortly after had an urgent call from mother nature. the cramps immediately subsided; i'm thinking the adjustment opened things up so to speak. the workings of the body are all connected (no part operates alone) and chiropractic care is not just for back pain!

i went to boot camp monday and did a personalized, very remedial workout. i felt pretty dumb doing it, but at least i was moving and not laying in bed eating potato chips. while everyone else did wall balls, burpees, etc, i did step ups (8") and sat down on a bench/stood back up. i don't think my heart rate got above 60. my back handled the workout just fine and i'm cleared to do a 'medium' workout today. i need to take a few more days off from running since there's all that repetitive pounding involved, but i think i'll be ready to go next week.

be the turtle

[obviously the photos are unrelated, but you can't have a blog post without pictures because those are boring. thankfully my mom recently scanned a bunch of childhood gems and gave me her snapfish password. note: i am the younger, cuter (obviously) one in the pictures.]