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.]

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blasted bootcamp

i'm laid up with a back strain and i'm blaming bootcamp!

how it happened
my form in monday's workout probably could have been better, especially once i started getting tired, as i felt the occasional twinge in my back while doing one-handed squats. i think the awkwardness of them (/me) caused my torso to twist some.

at wednesday's workout we did forward jumps as part of the warm up. on one of the first landings, a jarring pain shot through my lower back area. i finished the workout (not smart) with continued pain. box jumps were part of the workout and a few of us were doing them onto a big tractor tire (higher off the ground than the boxes). i fell backwards off the tire twice due to intense pain when landing on top, almost busting my butt in the middle of the gym for all to see!

these two workouts are the only things i can think of that could have possibly caused such an injury. i've been wearing my vibrams to bootcamp and i don't think they paired well with the hard landings of the forward jumps or box jumps.

the road to recovery
i went to the chiropractor after the workout and definitely needed an adjustment. it brought some relief, but the sitting/couch laying i did for the rest of the day did not help. i also iced (for hours since i fell asleep with it on). a middle-of-the-night sneeze caused severe pain and now i brace my back against something before a sneeze.

things felt slightly better thursday morning but after sitting in the car for my whopping 15-minute commute my back locked up on me. i struggled to get out of the car; it hurt to even reach forward to turn off the ignition.

sitting at my desk for two hours made things a lot worse. i tried to stand up but the pain was too intense, radiating down into my legs. i seriously thought i would need to call someone over to pick me up out of my chair. eventually i got half-way up, bent over grasping the desk for dear life, and grimacing. a co-worker (much older than me) walked by and said "been sitting too long?". my mom later laughed hard when i told her this and said i need to get a life alert.

i went to the chiropractor again during lunch and he said he could feel the muscles spasming throughout my lower back on both sides of my spine. i was adjusted (it helped again) and made sure to get up about every 30 minutes for the rest of the afternoon to walk around a little. now i'm on forced rest (but not on the couch as it's not supportive), an icing regime, and limited sitting. i can lay in bed though, whew.


mourning my inability to workout for a few days, i came home and made cookies. because if you can't burn fat you must eat it? as the last tray was finishing up in the oven the power went out and i ended up having to eat cookies for dinner, a shame. obviously i'm hoping and praying this will clear up quickly so i can get back to running, bootcamping and re-losing this weight!

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june 2012

miles run: 73.45 (up 10 from may)

other workouts: bootcamp (x10), bike rides (x3, 34+ miles)

days off: 5 (!!! this is a big improvement for me as i have struggled with missing half a month's worth of workouts for like two years)

netflix obsession(s)/fail: say yes to the dress - atlanta. that show is so much better with southern divas and large african american families!

artistic/creative outlet/new thing i tried: horseback riding (another groupon) in the rain (therefore no action photos)

this was my horse for the day, max

to whom i think i am allergic because i sneezed for the next week

new food i tried: zucchini bread (josh's garden is thriving with monster zucchini)

one of the monster zucchinis - as long as my thigh from hip to knee

book(s) read:
all the pretty horses (cormac mccarthy) - well, i tried to read this one. i read maybe 10 pages and gave up. didn't grab me.

the pillars of the earth (ken follett) - long book (973 pages) but i read it in 2 days (mostly on the beach). takes place in the 1100s and i certainly never thought i'd be into a medieval-times book. the foundation of the book was based on the author's interest in the european cathedrals, and it is pretty cool to think about how the gorgeous buildings were built way back when, with no technology or machinery, and still stand strong today. don't worry, the book is fiction. i doubt i could have read almost 1,000 pages of architecture drivel (even though i once aspired to be an architect).

run like a girl: how strong women make happy lives (mina samuels) - another good read that leaves you feeling full of girl power! well, maybe not if you're a male. run like a girl contains mini-stories of real-life women, their involvement in sports and the impact of those experiences on the rest of their lives. definitely a worthy read for every woman!

second wind (cami ostman) - such a good read! cami is one of few women who have ran marathons on all seven continents. i was inspired by her - overcoming the ups and downs in her life and always striving to succeed. the chapter about her panama marathon was just nuts. i don't know if i would have had the gumption and grace that she had!

disclaimer: i received a free copy of both run like a girl and second wind in exchange for doing a blog review of the books. they were both easy and interesting reads and while i enjoyed them both, second wind was more my "style". run like a girl motivated me to put on my big girl pants and embrace girl power. second wind reminded me to stick to my dreams and to look for lessons and experiences in everything.

number of blog visitors: 686 (a significant drop, but i assume that's because i went mia for two weeks)

number of doctor visits: 2

number of pounds lost: 4

number of pounds re-gained while on vacation: 4

number of postcards received: 0 (though i already got a few in for july's tally!)

sunset at south beach

june running was very kind to me. last week was vacation and i diligently logged 22.10 miles! being on vacation also enabled me to "miss out" on the streak of 100° temps, darn. previously i've been logging a big 15-ish miles (if i wasn't busy slacking off). i tracked my hr, aiming to keep it in the 150's, my easy zone. i've since forgotten the fancy terms for heart rate monitor training so i'll just say my "easy zone". i was pleased to see i held a sub-10:00 pace while still keeping my hr down; i know it's progress!

dead horseshoe crab washed ashore

a ghost crab

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