Marathon freak out...

Last week, I had this major "Oh my GOD I'm going to run a MARATHON?!" freak out moment! I had found a description of the Disney World course written by someone who had run it very many times. It was a great description! I almost felt like I was there with him, enduring every painful mile towards the end. After I finished reading the report, I thought, "Can I do this?!" Luckily, I have a friend named Crystal. She ran the WDW Full Marathon in 2009, the first time I had ever even SEEN a marathon in progress. Until that time, I thought only ultra fit super atheletes ran stuff like that! Boy was I wrong! People of all shapes and sizes were walking through the parks with medals around their necks that weekend! Watching that race is what gave me the "get up and go" to start running. I wanted to cry watching everyone run by us. They had worked so hard for so long and this was the end of their journey! We were standing right outside of Hollywood Studios which is where the 24 mile mark is. Everyone was cheering the runners on and encouraging them. It was really an awesome moment! So I became determined to run the Half in 2010. I did that, and now here I am in 2010, ready to start training for the 2011 WDW Full Marathon...with what? A broken foot! Ugh.

I asked Crystal if she could be my "Hey I'm freaking out can you tell me I can do it?" person and she agreed! LOL I will have plenty of time to train and I should get to start with my group, I'm just getting so antsy with this foot. I'm not doing anything I'm not supposed to but I'm going stir crazy! It's starting to feel better and I feel so BLAH from not running for TWO WEEKS (OMG!)! I'm so ready to go but I don't want to reinjure it. (Which is why I'm going to be a good girl and follow Doctor's orders!) I see the Doctor again on Thursday for another xray. I'm thinking by the following week, I should be good to go. It really is feeling so much better already! Hopefully this appointment goes well!

In the meantime, to occupy myself, I found a book last weekend at Books A Million!



It's an awesome book! I've only made it through the first 3 chapters. I'll let y'all know how I like it once I'm done!

Ok I'm off to get ready for a wedding! :0) Yay! Have a great weekend!!!

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Albert Pujols

Albert Pujols...that's what my softball teammates call me! Hahaha! He makes $14,000,000+ playing for the Cards. At 5398 times at bat, he's knocked in 1162 runs, hit 381 home runs, and he's been on either the All Star Team, an MVP, or won the Silver Slugger every season of his professional career. (He missed out on the AS game his 2nd Season). On top of that, he was also named Rookie of the Year his Rookie Season.

Albert Pujols, huh? Well, I'm not that good. Not even CLOSE to that good. I always wished I had started playing earlier in my life. I also regret the decision of not switching to Fast Pitch when I should have. I played for my high school but only my Junior/Senior year and that's because for recreactional softball, they forced me to move to fast pitch. I was soooo upset. I was scared to death of that ball. My Junior year, my tactic was to crowd the plate and don't swing at anything cause eventually, you'll get hit by a ball and you'll get on base! I had SO many bruises it's not even funny! Then something clicked in me. The summer before my senior year, I went out everyday and hit ball after ball after ball off the tee. It must have done something with my eye coordination. I surprised myself my first time in the batting cages after that! I could hit almost anything that came my way. I LOVED FASTPITCH! I love the feeling of a good solid hit...the way it sounds and the way your hands feel. My carrer HR's? TWO! LOL Not anything near Albert up there! I did make All District my Senior year for our Division, though and I finished the season with a .365 batting average!

I really wish I were better at it. If I had started in fastpitch earlier, there's no doubt I would have tried out for college ball. Oh well...that's when you say that you can't change the past or the what if's cause God's plans are always better than ours!

So yeah, now here's me, "Albert Pujols"...confined to the dugout with a scorebook in hand. Stinks. Last night, the 2nd baseman threw a WILD hard ball to the first baseman. It ended up flying into dugout and almost took out my other foot. I do NOT need that, thank you!!!! lol

Almost 2 weeks down, just 3-4 more to go!

Week 1 down, 5 weeks to go!

This boot really isn't THAT bad. It does aggrivate me when I want to wear a cute outfit and I can't wear my cute shoes with it! lol It's a little hot when I'm outside but besides that, it really does feel better when I'm walking in the boot. I take it off sometimes when I'm at home (shh...don't tell on me!) just for a break but when it gets to hurting, I put it back in the boot and it feels so much better! I've learned how to get around in this thing, too!

I get another xray on July 1st so I'm anxious to see what that says! I hope I don't have to wear this when my mom and I go to North Carolina mid July! I can only imagine airport security in it! Yikes! We are making a stop in Atlanta and that worries me cause it's an airport I'm not used to. I guess I just worry myself more because Kim and I missed our plane in Orlando cause security took an HOUR.

So, 1 week down, 4 or 5 more to go!

I've been keeping up with my upper body/core workouts very regularly, too! :0)

My new friend

I went to the Orthopedic Doctor yesterday and for sure, it's broken. UGH that dang ball hit me just perfect! Grrr! I have to wear this:



A BOOT for 4 weeks! Good thing is, he said it should get to feeling better in 2 weeks, then in 4 weeks, I should be able to run again but don't push myself. If not 4 weeks, then definitely 6 weeks!

He also asked if I finished out the softball game, then laughed at me when I told him yes! lol Then I told him that I iced the foot all weekend and rested it and I was on it at work today but I was in a boot...I also iced it at lunch. He was like, "Whoa! You're the first nurse I've ever seen that has actually taken care of themselves!" I had to laugh and tell him that I have "ulterior motives"...I have a Half to train for in October and a Full in January!! We got to talking about running and he wasn't like "oh great...a runner" He was really excited and encouraging so that was good! He said if it is still sore in 4 weeks, take a little more time off of running to see how it is. Should be 100% in 6 weeks. That's what I'm banking on. I'm gonna keep resting it and wearing this god-awful boot and hopefully, it will heal fast! If not, then I will continue to rest it...I want it to heal properly!

On the workout level, I did a total arm assult and core workout yesterday on my Boot Camp video (I did this on Saturday, too). Jason and I also played on the Wii! Sunday, I was sleeping on the couch and this is what I woke up to:



A Wii, a Wii Fit, and a pink controler on the coffee table! I think Jason felt sorry for me so he got me something to keep myself occupied with! We played a little of Wii Sports last night! That was fun and I kicked Jason's butt at most of the events we tried!

Off to work with my boot! Oh yeah, it's a cool Therapeutic boot, too! It has an air pump in it! You can pump it up like those Nike Pump high tops from the early 90's!!! Hahahah

R.I.C.E.

R.I.C.E.

Rest
Ice
Compression
Elevation

I get to use some of my Nursing school knowledge this weekend. Only this time, it's on myself! Ugh! Thursday night in the softball game, I broke my right 5th metatarsal! (That's on my foot) I was standing on 2nd base in the middle of the game, and the outfielder threw a very hard very bad throw and popped me in the foot. Obviously it was a hard enough thrown ball cause it broke my foot! My teammates heard it all the way in the dugout. I've been hit by a TON of softballs so I figured I could walk it off no big deal. I tried to walk it off but I knew something was wrong when the pain didn't go away. I had it semi-xrayed at work and it's definitely broken. It's a clean break, though which is good. I have to elevate and ice it all weekend then Monday, I'll have a "real" Xray and try to get in with an orthopedic doctor. I really hope I don't have to have a cast. I thought for sure there's nothing they could do but Kayla's brother is an Orthopedic Surgeon and he says I'll need a boot. Freakin great. UGH! I have no idea what I'm going to do for 4-6 weeks with no running. I'll have to really watch what I eat that's for sure! lol I've decided to work on my upper body strength/core. It really needs it! I guess I'm glad if this had to happen, it was during the summer when it's soooo hot outside! I would have hated this had it happened to me in the winter when it's perfect running weather! I'm using a crutch right now and I hate it. I'm way too clumbsy to walk with 2 crutches so I opted for 1! LOL

When I told my dad about it, he said "OUCH!", then he asked if I finished the game. I laughed and said, "I'm my father's daughter OF COURSE I finished the game"! Hahahhaa!!

On top of not running anymore, I also won't be able to finish out the softball season. I'm glad it was almost over...we only have like 5 more games.

If you don't like feet, then don't look at these pictures! LOL

This is my broken foot day one:



And my broken foot today (day two):



It looks so much worse in person. These are just pictures from my Iphone. UGH why me?!?!?!!

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Free Free Free!!

Ok so apparently, this week has been FREE week for me!!! lol

So far, I've gotten:

-Two free 8x8 Shutterfly photobooks (one with free shipping)


-One free set of 5x7 notecards from Shutterfly (also with free shipping)


-One free 5x9 Shutterfly photobook


-I won a Bondiband from MJ over at Girl Running



-A Relay For Life black fleece hat to wear while running in the cold! (This was for the amount our team raised for our recent Relay For Life event) In the picture, I get the fleece hat, not the rest of the items.

-A drink dispenser from thanks.com...a rewards program we do at work. It looks similar to the one in the picture!

-6 months ago, we were supposed to get a "free" portable DVD player for spending a certain amount on furniture from the local furniture store. We never got the DVD player so I called yesterday and they told me to go pick it up! Yay!



So needless to say, it's been a decent week so far! Yay! I guess the good is always there to balance out the bad. Besides happy times, there have been a few sad times lately. When you work in Oncology, you have those times every once in a while. So that's why there's always good to balance you out!

Another good thing worth noting....My sister in law found a blueberry bush on our Saturday run!

I LOVE blueberries! This bush doesn't appear to be on anyone's property...it's kinda just on the side of the road along a ditch! Yay!!!

Another Half!

I can't remember if I said this already or not...so I'm saying it again!

I'm now officially signed up to run a 3rd half marathon this year! YAY! It's Walt Disney World's Wine and Dine Half Marathon and it's in October! At the beginning of the week, we are taking a 4 night Disney Cruise, then staying 3 nights at Disney's Polynesian resort! I'll run the Half at the end of the week! I'm so excited! It's only 110 days away!!!



Speaking of Marathons, our new season of GoRun begins in July! This is when I will officially start MARATHON training for the 2011 Walt Disney World FULL Marathon! I know those 20 mile training runs will seem intimidating but I want that Mickey Medal! lol

Does anyone know of a good Marathon book that I can read? I've been looking but there are so many of them! I want to buy a good one if I end up getting one. I really don't need a training plan..I'll get that from my running coach...what I need is a book with race advice/nutritional advice, etc. Anyone?

Ah the Humidity...and I WON!!

It's officially summertime in Louisiana! The heat has been awful as well as the humidity!

My sister in law went out for a 6 mile run today and it was miserable! The heat wasn't so bad this morning it was more the humidity. We were both drenched by the time we finished! We had fun, though...it was nice to chat and catch up! I missed my group run Saturday morning cause for one, it was raining and for two, we were having our 10 year high school reunion Saturday night and after we ate dinner, we were returning to my house for dessert and to watch our senior video!

I graduated in 2000 with a small class of 19. We were a very close class from a small private school in the area. A friend of mine and I were in charge of doing everything for the reunion. We had a very good turn out...11 out of 19 showed up! I was excited to see everyone!



Here's everyone after dinner!

I feel like I can finally breathe again! For so long, I've been working on my house and neglecting my running cause of last night's event. However, I'm good to go now! Yay!

We did finish our back yard deck project and I'm sitting out there right now. I.LOVE.IT! It's so nice! We also got our table/umbrella in so it's all set and good to go!

So I just found out that I won a Bondiband from a giveaway over at Girl Running (MJ)! How exciting!!!

Hope everyone has a fabulous week! Oh yeah, I wondered this morning what was up with all the run-over frogs on the road this morning. It was bad, really...we saw SO many of them! I think it's because we've gotten so much rain here lately but still, it made me so sad! :0(

Runners Heart Rate and a few races!

So I've been monitoring my RHR (resting heart rate) over time since I've been running. I've wondered when I'd "achieve" that runners heart rate (known to be a slower resting rate). I know, I'm a dork. I had a Doctor comment on my heart rate one time back in college and how it wasn't as slow as he figured it would have been since I was a runner. Well, I wasn't really technically a runner then cause I was in Nursing school and didn't have time to run but anyway, he said that. So ever since then, I've remembered what he said and I was curious as to when I'd notice a drop in my heart rate. Well, it's been a slow decline, but finally two weeks ago, I took my pulse and it was in the low 60's, high 50's! Usually, it's in the 70's-80's which is a normal RHR. I thought it was really cool so I had to share! LOL Ok onto my races that I've been so behind on posting about.... Two Saturday's ago, we had a 3 miler in my hometown. It was HOT and miserable! The sun was out and the heat rose very quickly to the 90's.

 

Seriously miserable!

   

 Here's us before the race...

   

 My running group! This was our last race of the season! (Our running group's last race.)

   

 During the race. This was seriously miserable. I started getting lightheaded and I felt like my body was going numb at one point. That's when I made myself slow down and walk a little. Ugh...

   

 We were waiting for the awards ceremony after. This race is at a local sports store. Last year after the race, all their shoes were 50% off. That's how I got my very first pair of Saucony's. So I figured this year, they'd do the same thing again but I was wrong! They were only 25% off and they didn't have the color of the Saucony's that I wanted so I didn't get any shoes this time! Kayla got a pair though!

   

 This is Kayla and I after the race! LOL We were poooped!!!

 ********************************************** 

 Last weekend, Kayla and I ran the Astros Race for the Pennant 5K! Once again, it was hot but not nearly as hot as the previous race! Only problem with this race is that we ran up and down and up and down and up and down overpasses! 80% of the race was on a bridge! I'm not used to that at all! OH well!

   

 Kayla and I with Junction Jack the Astros Mascot! The Astros field, Minute Maid Park is located where an old railroad station for Houston was. It was called "Union Station" so that's where "junction jack"

 came from!

   

 Milo Hamilton was our race commentator! He's a legend in Houston. He's the Astros Radio announcer and his thing is "Holy Toledo!" LOL I was too scared to go talk to him...lol

   

 This is us during the race. You see all the people?! Thousands of people signed up for this race! This is one loooooong overpass! 

   

 We finished inside of Minute Maid Park! Sooo neat! I've been on the field before though cause we've taken a tour but it was still cool!

   

 We hung out with a few players after the race! LOL JK We took pictures with a prop! Hehe! So with that, my 5K season is officially over! I'll be back later with the stats of the season! You can tell at the beginning since it was cooler outside, I did soooooooooo much better! LOL I could actually breathe!