A Running Post: My Final 10 Miles

1:23 in traffic delays and 10 sec because I was going in the wrong direction!

Including these delays: 1:43:04 was my time, which is a 10:17 pace. Without the lights and the misdirection (trying to recall the above map while running was constantly on my mind!), my pace was an ok 10:08.

Not as good a pace as I was expecting, but maybe during race time I'll be able to gain some speed.

I started slow today, waking up not as early as I hoped, at 6:30am. I scoured the kitchen for something to eat, and there was no yogurt, and the bananas had seen better days. I popped in an Eggo waffle, hoping it wouldn't cause cramps. I was out the door by 7:10am.

My 1st mile split was a slow 10:00 flat. I tried to keep it slow, so that I would last through the whole run.

It wasn't raining, so that was a great bonus. I still wore my tights and L/S shirt but I didn't need gloves. It was a tad windy but that came and went periodically.

During the quiet part of my run (it was pretty early in the morning), I could hear my left shoe cracking/squeaking! It was bugging the hell out of me! Something must have tightened up when the shoes got wet weeks ago. Argh!

Overall, the run went well. I hope I'm ready for the race next week! Now it's time to taper: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday is 4 miles, 3 miles, 2 miles, respectively. I'm thinking of driving over the route to familiarize myself with the race, so I don't get so freaked out.

It's still freaking me out anyways.

Just a Litte Tear Drop

I've been sick, as you know, and not liking it one bit.

I've worked five whole days since March 25 and I'm sure my coworkers are coming to some conclusion by now that this is getting rather ridiculous.

I couldn't agree more.

At the risk of providing TMI, I'll spare you the details of how gross my sputum has become and where it's decided to lodge itself permanently and set up house. Whether what I've got is indeed pneumonia or not (I'm on Avelox, at $7 a pill!), it sucks even worse when compounded with excruciating lower back pain which boldly surfaces whenever I have to suddenly cough (and expel said sputum!).

So, in addition to Avelox, I'm also on Robax, an OTC medicine for backpain. Containing some magnesium, I have to delay taking it in the morning because of reduced absorption of the Avelox medication. So in the morning, I've got no meds to numb the back pain, usually until about noon. Afterwards, I'm good to go, popping two of those suckers every 6 hours, the max dose allowed. 500mg of Methocarbamol, a muscle-relaxant, and 200 mg Ibuprofen in each pill and I can at least get up from the toilet without crying out Momma.

But the physical pain doesn't compare to the mental anguish I got today from watching my kids leave the house with my parents. My 16-month old slept over at my parents' place last night, the second time ever, and twice this month, and I had a feeling he might stay over again tonight. It was really nice to not have to wake up in the middle of the night and rock him back to sleep as he requires, usually both of us cranky at this point, and waking up in the morning because you felt like it was actually a good time to get up. (Frankly, the only reason I got up was to pop an Avelox so I can take my Robax by noon, and not, as most would think, to pop in some waffles in the toaster oven for the The Big Kid's breakfast -- priorities, people!).

Although I'll see The Big Kid later tonight, I quietly cried at the window as my parents piled the two kids into their van. I can't carry my growing 25-pounder, nor kiss him lots, for fear of getting him more sick (he's still got a bit of bronchialitis); my back is too painful to cart him around like he likes me to. And suddenly a waft of sympathy fell over me, a little sliver of the pain my cousin's wife must have felt as her daughter was carted away from her as she battled her fight with cancer. Then I lost it completely, crumpled to the ground, reliving the agony.

I'm not equating my silly little ailment to something monstrous like cancer, but I felt a tiny twang of pain than must have been a billion-fold more horrendous for my dear cousin-in-law who passed away last October, leaving behind her husband and the sweetest little 2 year old you'll ever meet. I understood it then, but I feel it now.

But now is not the time to reminisce about something still so painful to our family. No, the focus is to take things into perspective and just get better!

Health is pivotal to everything in life ... doing daily tasks, caring for my family, and yes, doing the Daily Grind and working your ass off. I'm sure my husband would appreciate me getting better, as he (un)intentionally makes me guilty of him doing all the laundry and tidying up for me (I swear, being home all day does not benefit the beauty of our home, and in fact it's on a downward slide) and making dinner (oh, who am I kidding --- my cooking hiatus started way before I got sick).

So, my tears fell because I miss my life. I want everything to return to normal, whatever normal is. Just not THIS. I want to return to work, I want to return to running, I want to return to caring for my family.

But all that will have to wait until I return to health.

Sick of Being Sick

I tell you, this is the last time I don't fill a prescription right away!

I saw my doctor on April 1st, before the Easter Long Weekend, about this cough I've had for a month. It had escalated to some kind of flu during that week and I was afraid I had pneumonia of some sort. I was told my chest is ok, and given a puffer to use for a couple of weeks (it was a trial size, good for a month) and that I should be able to continue running with this.

And she gave me a prescription for antibiotics, should I eventually get (TMI....) gross-tasting, thicker phlegm. Being so straight-laced and having a penchant to listening to instructions really well, I pocketed the prescription, hoping I wouldn't have to fill it.

Well, the Long Weekend came and went, with a few people encouraging me to just fill the prescription, just in case. I know, I said, but never did. Well, last week I did really want to fill it, but now I realized I lost the bloody prescription!

And so the story goes...

I'm hacking away, coughing like there's no tomorrow, the phlegm coughing itself up, not quite making itself out, then back down where it will attempt to inhibit my breathing again at the most in-opportunistic time.

I've hunted high and low for that piece of paper, which I remember I folded in quarters, stuffing it into different pairs of jeans that first weekend, at the hopes I would pass by a pharmacy and be willing to fill it. Laundry's been checked, my bag and wallet taken apart. my jackets' pockets emptied: nothing.

Just sick of being sick!

5 Years Ago Today....

.... my first little boy was born!

I can't believe how much my life has changed since my firstborn! Although he can be a little stubborn and grumpy (aren't they all at this age?), he's just the apple of my eye, and my heart melts each time I see him smile: his eyes crinkle, his cheeks plump up, his little dimple in his chin appears. Then he says I love you, Mom! Awwwww.....

Everywhere I go, I get told he's a handsome boy. He is, in fact! LOL I like to think he's looks like me but maybe I really wished that I look like him! With his right-shade-of-brown hair, and fair skin, I wish I could ingest a bottle of his good looks!

He loves sports and has been able to swing at an overhand ball since two years old. I thought that was normal until I was told otherwise from strangers, whose sons awkwardly demonstrated this to be the case. He has a good swing but an even meaner wrist shot: he loves hockey like his Dad. Learning to skate is his biggest hurdle to date, but I know when he masters that, there's no looking back with this kid!

I love him to bits and can't wait (yes, I can!) to see him grow up. I know one day I'll be wishing for the time he was five again.




Happy Birthday, Gabey! Mommy loves you lots!

An Update...Yes, Another One!

I've been bad again, at not writing in my blog. I've been preoccupied with many things recently, and don't have much of an excuse.

1) Running

I'm in the last four weeks of training for my Half Marathon on May 2nd. I've been concentrating on getting my training runs in: four times a week, around 20+ miles mileage per week. My weekday runs have become long enough that I've started running to work in the mornings, to get it out of the way, and so I don't use up so much of my lunch hour and then some, as those runs were about 45 minutes long.

But I got hit hard with some kind of flu last week and it crippled me. Today I ran my first 3 miles in about nine days, and it was a bit difficult to push myself. I missed running 20 miles while sick, and I'm not about to give up on my training now. I have 18 miles to run by the end of this Sunday, and I'm going to have to do it slowly and without injury...I can't afford to screw up a knee or a shin this close to "Game Day".

2) My Blackberry

I've upgraded my simple candy-stick Sony Ericsson W810i white cell phone to a swanky BlackBerry Bold 9700 smartphone! Ahh, what love! I've been pining for a BlackBerry since the Fall, and a smartphone in general for a year or two. Ever since my beloved Sony Clie is no longer supported by Sony, with my battery dying on it, it's been acting up and I've been missing all the apps and games I've loaded on it. I've been itching for more organization in my life, and despite a gynormous family calendar on the face of our refrigerator, I need something I can edit on the fly. And, well, reading my email without being at my netbook is a big plus too!

So, I've been enthralled with it for the past month: hugging, kissing, petting it, sleeping with it...LOL. My husband would cry out in anguish, admitting that I indeed have found his replacement in my life.

And, with my new-found love, comes along my obscene desire to keep up with my Twitter account. If you haven't already read any of my tweets on the right pane of this blog, I can be followed on Twitter as @mystery_of_me. I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of interest from my family in joining Twitter, but it doesn't derail me that much...I've made new friends and have a great time conversing with people who I only know through their avatar, if that is indeed them in the first place!

And don't get me started on Foursquare! I've been waiting to get on this new social media site for a while....I just needed a smartphone! For those who don't know, Foursquare is a site where you can "check-in" your whereabouts, letting your friends know what you're up to, while discovering new places in your city, and earning you "badges" for visiting and seeing new places. A social media game, if you will. Insanely simple, yet addicting. With Easter Week recently, I "checked in" so many times at my church, I became "Mayor" of that location (for being the most frequent visitor)!

Ah, I love my Berry!