Running Hurts Every Time...That's Why it Works

God must have a brain chemical devoted to pain amnesia. You know the one. The one that makes women partially forget what labor felt like? Well, he has an even more powerful one for runners.

The next day, we forget that running is uncomfortable. THE NEXT DAY! Something always hurts, taking breaths is a struggle, making the limbs obey is a struggle. We pant and gasp and walk like zombies back to our cars where we guzzle water. We get home and ice our knees or calves and moan. We sleep. Then, like the Etch-A-Sketch-for-brains we are we think "wow, the weather is great for running today". What sane person does this? (I say with an air of incredulity as if I AM sane)

The constant tearing down is what builds us up. Such an imitation of life, no? I need to write this so I can read it later for when my logical brain tries to tell me that running is too hard and I should stop.

The half marathon is in January. (insert panic attack here). I just need to finish... before the cripple cart comes and scrapes the rest of us off the pavement.

Back on Track

What's worse than being down for 2 weeks with a back injury? Try coming down with the flu! THREE weeks I have been away from running. THREE!! At first, I missed running and felt an empty hole in my life, but the scary thing was...after awhile I got used to it. I got used to being sedentary to the point that when I medically improved enough to get back into running, I resisted at first. Part of my hesitation was fear of FAIL. I knew that after 3 weeks I wouldn't be able to run for crap, but the other part was...well...just...lazy. I don't want to be THAT person again. THAT shiftless blob whose arse could easily become one with the couch cushions. Add the half marathon looming over my head and there is my motivation. Don't get me wrong, my first two runs were pretty crappy compared to what I had been running, but actually weren't as bad as I had expected.

The two GOOD things that came out of my sabbatical were the two knitting projects I finished!

First is the lace Elm Row lace scarf from Knitspot knit with Dream in Color Baby in the Happy Forest colorway.

The next project has been languishing on the needles for awhile while I was working on other things. Spiral Eyelet socks knit in Sunshine Yarns sock in the Chocolate Covered Cherries colorway. The pattern is free! I love free. I finally have a pair of socks for myself! The pattern went rather quickly and the lace part was easy to memorize. The socks fit perfectly!!!

Aunt Flo Conquered

I haven't posted about this before now, because I wanted to give it a couple months trial run before I give my final verdict. I can heartily announce that I have beaten Aunt Flo without surgery and without hormones. A little over 2 months ago I had a Novasure procedure done at my OB/GYN's office. (No affiliation, just a happy customer) If you are one of the happy peppy people who welcome your monthly girly time as a feminine renewal or a womanly catharsis ...there is no need to read any further.

I won't overwhelm you with the gritty details, but let's just say that Aunt Flo paid me a lot more attention than she used to. Exercise during that time was close to impossible and working a 12 hour shift during that time necessitated hourly trips to the bathroom.

The procedure was a breeze. They give you "milk of amnesia" (propofol) a very good sedative which knocked me out for the 5-10 minute procedure (see the website for more info). After "waking up" I actually felt fine...well, like I had about 2-3 beers, but fine. Afterwards, my daughter and I went to eat and went to the mall. (Don't worry, she drove) I would sit in the stores while she tried on clothes, but I still felt okay. After I got home, I took one pain pill and "slept it off" and didn't need anything else for pain after that.

Results? My first "period" afterward was one day of spotting. I missed my next period entirely. This was THE BEST thing I have ever done. I couldn't be happier. I still get PMS just as bad, but the bloating is a little better, and NO CRAMPS!

Aunt Flo? K-O!

On The Injured List

My lower back has been bothering me the last couple of days so I've had to take a (hopefully) small hiatus from running. Rather than trying to think I know better than what my body is telling me, I decided to heal this little twinge rather than injure it further. THAT means that I've been knitting a bit more lately.

I finally finished my Empire Tunic. Yes, I'll wait while you flood my comment box with how closely I resemble the original model. I'll wait. Ahem. Well, it does seem to make the girls look a bit bigger. Anyway, the pattern was great and it fits perfectly, but I can't say I was too thrilled about working with Tahki Jeans yarn. I'm sure it's going to wear like iron and be the best thing to wear in Texas during the summer, but it makes my hands hurt to knit with it.

My next project? Girasole by Jared Flood. Possibly more ambitious than I know what to do with...but...meh...it's just yarn.

Losing a Heifer and Gaining Two Calves

Okay, even though I live in Podunk-ville where the main Saturday evening entertainment is the lavish social galas at walmart (black wolf tshirt optional. Seriously, check the reviews on the tshirt. Too funneh), the above title is not a livestock reference. I AM referring to the newly forming lumps arising from mah pasty white gams as evidenced by the pictoral reference below. Wee-haw! Mah humps, mah lovely lady lumps...check it out! Is it wrong that I take satisfaction from flexing and touching my calves? It's like growing your own produce. It just makes you want to smile.

AND and and and I have gotten below a certain weight (which shall remain nameless), hence the "losing a heifer" reference. AND and and and I ran my fastest 2 miler last night, even if I had to walk a bit. My power song of the run? Jump by Van Halen. This well worn, high school head bangin', master-class air guitar and drum staple on my ipod did the trick. Just as I was about to walk as the music started to slow, I hear David Lee Roth's musical squeal shift my buns into motion. Go Marshmarathon, go!

On the knitting front, I'm still working on the Empire Tunic. It's cotton, it hurts my hands and it's not the best stuff to knit with...but you wanna see the carrot colored wonder yarn dangling on the end of a stick taunting me to finish? With 1717 yards of squooshy woolen wonder with colors like that of the surface of the sun and just as intense...I give you...Wollmeise lace!

This is wanting to become a Girasole SOOOOOOO bad right now, as soon as I can finish this tunic. Then...I'll be knitting on this for the next 10 years!

The W-I-D-E World of Running This Week

Okay, I really need to lose some more weight if my running is to improve. Try running around with 50 extra pounds strapped to your body and run. This past week's run brought to you by Over Achievers Anonymous. I was off four days in a row. Thinking I could get some good runs in, I proceeded to get shoed up and step outside for a 2 mile run every day that I was off. Or should I say intended to run 2 miles?

Day 1 - thighs of steel carry me away! Two miles? No problem! (I lie...I still haven't experienced an "easy" run)

Day 2 - walked twice for a bit in the 2 miles with my running group. That's okay, can't win 'em every day!

Day 3 - walked three times in the 2 miles. Do ya see where this is going? Do you think I did?

Day 4 - daughter wanted to go running with me. Oh joy! We finally get to engage in the activity that she got me started into! At 0.64 miles I hit a friggin' wall. What?!? 0.64 miles? Frustrated with myself, I tried to run using mostly my thighs and butt and taking longer strides. Nope. Didn't work. Angry now I run several yards as fast as I can, legs turn to jello and gasp for dear life and walk the rest of the way. I guess it doesn't help that I was PMSing and had had spent 4.5 hours in a tire place earlier that day.

Okay, I know you're not supposed to feel like a failure for walking during a run but geez! I guess I can't do 2 miles back to back to back to back without a rest day. Sucks. Was trying to get up my miles too.

So today is a rest day (sticks out tongue). Thanks for listening to me rant.

Post Race Signup High

I was up until 1:30am this morning so I could sign up for the Aramco Houston Half Marathon. I WOULD have been able to sign up at 12:01 am like the website said, but do you think that a million and one people were also trying to access the site at 12:01am having a seizure on the refresh button just as I was? Do you think the website crashed quite a bit even in mid registration? Do you think that the powers that be could have anticipated the frenzy? Really? Like, maybe they could have used something besides a Commodore 64? At 2pm today, 13,200 people are signed up for one of the races. This is going to sell out fast.

After springing out of bed at the crack of 9:45 and doing some fiddle-fart things around the house, I decided I wanted to go for a run outside. It was 12 noon. I haz teh dumbz. Knowing it would be a craptastic run, I went anyway in true stubborn fashion fueled by the high of signing up for a major race that I'm a little bit skeerd of. I don't know what I pulled outta my butt, but I ran 2 full miles at 12 noon in Texas in almost full sun. Three days ago I felt like I could barely make 2 miles on an indoor dreadmill! The body is a mysterious thing, but I think mine should be named Sybil.

I thought more about why I'm running and have come to this conclusion: I have to find my identity apart from being someone's mom or someone's nurse. My child rearing days are coming to a close and I'm feeling the vacuum start to pull at me. What is my life about now? Working and making money to pad my death bed in old age? Yay. fun. I guess this is why people have mid life crises, although I don't think I've quite hit my midpoint. I'm just getting a head start.