I had a great past few days with my running! I've run 1.8 miles the past 2 days. I'm pretty much amazed that I have been able to do it, and that I wasn't completely exhausted at the end. My endurance has improved ten fold - I can actually run without getting so winded that I have to stop. The main problem that I'm dealing with lately is that my feet (mainly my right foot) tends to fall asleep about 20 minutes in to a run. It's super frustrating and gets really painful if it falls all the way asleep. I've done some googling (very scientific) and have concluded that it's either a) my shoes or b) very tight calf muscles. I don't think it's my shoes because I was fitted for these and have laced them ten thousand different ways. I do know that I'm very inflexible, so I'm thinking that it's the result of my super tight calf muscles. Anyway, I've added a lot of additional stretches to my pre-run warm up. So far, I've had 2 runs without my feet going numb. Hopefully it keeps improving!
Tuesday my run is 20 minutes non-stop. I'm nervous!!
In Simeon news, his parents got good news at their last ultrasound. His hydrocephaly seems to have stabilized at moderate. Also he continues to move his legs which is hopeful. His parents are doing so amazing dealing with everything and getting their home ready. We were even able to see one of those cool 3D ultrasounds of his face! I am so excited to meet Simeon in a few months!
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012
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Friday, March 9, 2012
Mental Blocks
The other day I did my longest run to date, and today I repeated that same run. I'm still following the C25k program to work on building up a good 3 mile running base. Keep in mind that I am a beginning runner...so my long run was warm up, 4 minute run, 2 minute walk, 6 minute run, 2 minute walk, 4 minute run, 2 minute walk, cool down. Sixteen total minutes of running. Before this run, the longest I'd run consecutively was 3 minutes, and that was only one time during a whole workout. I was definitely a little skeptical before I did this workout for the first time, and I'm proud to say that I did it twice! Turns out that this little program knows what it's doing.
Right now I do most of my running in the gym on the treadmill...or as I like to call it, the hamster wheel. This is largely due to my crazy schedule, the weather, and the fact that our neighborhood is full of crazy hills. Sometimes on the weekends I like to go to the park to run, but this doesn't always happen. While I'm grateful to have a gym with nice treadmills, running in the gym can be so intimidating. One, gyms are usually full of mirrors. I don't know why this is. Can you think of a single (normal) person who enjoys watching themselves workout? I know I don't. And they usually line the treadmills up along a mirrored wall, so you get the lovely angle of watching yourself from the side. Brutal.
The other reason gyms are intimidating are the people. The super fit, athletic people that I know are judging me for not being fully in shape. I seriously hate having to run next to a super fit person who is awesome at running. Today I'm in Philadelphia for work, and so I did my workout at the gym at the Philly Marriott. It's a pretty big gym for a hotel, and there are three rows of three treadmills. Lucky me, when I got there the only open treadmill was the middle treadmill in the middle row. Right in the center. Every other treadmill was occupied by a young, fit guy who had been running for approximately ten hours without getting winded. My first instinct upon seeing this? Leave. What if these guys thought I was a pathetic runner? What if they noticed that I was winded after five minutes of running? What if they were laughing at me in their heads?
Well, I didn't leave. I stayed, and I did my whole run. And I feel great! The reality of it is that those 8 guys surrounding me on their treadmills probably barely noticed me. When you're not fit, it's hard to feel like you belong in the gym. Well, I need to remember that that's ridiculous. No one ever got in shape by walking in the gym and walking right out. What matters right now is that I stick with my program, and I'm happy to say that I did just that!
Right now I do most of my running in the gym on the treadmill...or as I like to call it, the hamster wheel. This is largely due to my crazy schedule, the weather, and the fact that our neighborhood is full of crazy hills. Sometimes on the weekends I like to go to the park to run, but this doesn't always happen. While I'm grateful to have a gym with nice treadmills, running in the gym can be so intimidating. One, gyms are usually full of mirrors. I don't know why this is. Can you think of a single (normal) person who enjoys watching themselves workout? I know I don't. And they usually line the treadmills up along a mirrored wall, so you get the lovely angle of watching yourself from the side. Brutal.
The other reason gyms are intimidating are the people. The super fit, athletic people that I know are judging me for not being fully in shape. I seriously hate having to run next to a super fit person who is awesome at running. Today I'm in Philadelphia for work, and so I did my workout at the gym at the Philly Marriott. It's a pretty big gym for a hotel, and there are three rows of three treadmills. Lucky me, when I got there the only open treadmill was the middle treadmill in the middle row. Right in the center. Every other treadmill was occupied by a young, fit guy who had been running for approximately ten hours without getting winded. My first instinct upon seeing this? Leave. What if these guys thought I was a pathetic runner? What if they noticed that I was winded after five minutes of running? What if they were laughing at me in their heads?
Well, I didn't leave. I stayed, and I did my whole run. And I feel great! The reality of it is that those 8 guys surrounding me on their treadmills probably barely noticed me. When you're not fit, it's hard to feel like you belong in the gym. Well, I need to remember that that's ridiculous. No one ever got in shape by walking in the gym and walking right out. What matters right now is that I stick with my program, and I'm happy to say that I did just that!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
why I'm doing this
In my last post, I wrote about how I'm training for a half-marathon because I want to keep the weight I've lost off and to stay in shape. This is true, but there is also a bigger, more important reason behind why I've decided to train for this race, and his name is Simeon.
In November, our family was thrilled to learn that Wes' brother Greg and his wife were expecting. This would be the their first child, and Wes' mom's third grandchild. Greg & Mary Evelyn are two of the kindest, funniest, smartest, and most selfless people I know, and the thought of them being parents is just wonderful. In January, Mary Evelyn went in for her routine visit and to find out the sex of the little one. Unfortunately, they learned at this visit that their little boy has spina bifida. More specifically, Simeon has myelomeningocele, which is the most severe (and also most common) type of SB. A lot of Simeon's disabilities won't be fully known until he is born. We don't know if he will be able to walk. We don't know if he will have any brain damage, and if he does what the extent will be. All we know is that he is going to be incredibly special and very, very loved.
Our whole family has learned a lot about SB in the past few months. I've read several blogs about children born with very similar forms of SB as Simeon has, and there are a lot of things to be excited for. I already feel like this little boy has taught me so much, and he hasn't even been born yet! In my last post, I talked about my fluctuating weight. A lot of my "problems" can be boiled down to one thing - laziness. I go through phases where I'm really excited about working out, and I'll go all out. Then, as it starts to get hard, I quit. A lot of it comes down to the fact that I don't want to do the hard work required to get the results.
Now I think of Simeon. I think of someone who may never get the chance to walk, let alone run. And I think of myself, who is perfectly capable of running, but chooses to make excuses. I can't do that anymore. I can't take for granted the fact that I was blessed with a body that allows me to run. Having a child with special needs in our family is really sobering. Don't we all think that it will never happen to us? I have been angry a lot the past few months when I think about girls on "16 and Pregnant," drug addicts (and even freaking Snooki) who have perfectly healthy babies. Do they know how lucky they are? I've been thinking about how unfair it is that two amazing people who have done everything right have to go through this difficulty. I know that they will be amazing parents to Simeon. There is no doubt about that. I just know that I will never take a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child for granted.
So, long story short, I have joined Team Spina Bifida. TSB allows you to participate in any event (half marathon, marathon, triathalon) on behalf of the Spina Bifida Association. Naturally, my team is called Team Simeon. (click on the link to donate!) I'm trying to raise $1000 - and cross that finish line - in honor of Simeon. I won't be able to look at him and tell him that his aunt very well could have run, but chose not to. What greater motivation is there?
In November, our family was thrilled to learn that Wes' brother Greg and his wife were expecting. This would be the their first child, and Wes' mom's third grandchild. Greg & Mary Evelyn are two of the kindest, funniest, smartest, and most selfless people I know, and the thought of them being parents is just wonderful. In January, Mary Evelyn went in for her routine visit and to find out the sex of the little one. Unfortunately, they learned at this visit that their little boy has spina bifida. More specifically, Simeon has myelomeningocele, which is the most severe (and also most common) type of SB. A lot of Simeon's disabilities won't be fully known until he is born. We don't know if he will be able to walk. We don't know if he will have any brain damage, and if he does what the extent will be. All we know is that he is going to be incredibly special and very, very loved.
Our whole family has learned a lot about SB in the past few months. I've read several blogs about children born with very similar forms of SB as Simeon has, and there are a lot of things to be excited for. I already feel like this little boy has taught me so much, and he hasn't even been born yet! In my last post, I talked about my fluctuating weight. A lot of my "problems" can be boiled down to one thing - laziness. I go through phases where I'm really excited about working out, and I'll go all out. Then, as it starts to get hard, I quit. A lot of it comes down to the fact that I don't want to do the hard work required to get the results.
Now I think of Simeon. I think of someone who may never get the chance to walk, let alone run. And I think of myself, who is perfectly capable of running, but chooses to make excuses. I can't do that anymore. I can't take for granted the fact that I was blessed with a body that allows me to run. Having a child with special needs in our family is really sobering. Don't we all think that it will never happen to us? I have been angry a lot the past few months when I think about girls on "16 and Pregnant," drug addicts (and even freaking Snooki) who have perfectly healthy babies. Do they know how lucky they are? I've been thinking about how unfair it is that two amazing people who have done everything right have to go through this difficulty. I know that they will be amazing parents to Simeon. There is no doubt about that. I just know that I will never take a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child for granted.
So, long story short, I have joined Team Spina Bifida. TSB allows you to participate in any event (half marathon, marathon, triathalon) on behalf of the Spina Bifida Association. Naturally, my team is called Team Simeon. (click on the link to donate!) I'm trying to raise $1000 - and cross that finish line - in honor of Simeon. I won't be able to look at him and tell him that his aunt very well could have run, but chose not to. What greater motivation is there?
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