Misc Updates...

I haven't been out running for almost 2 weeks. Blah. The first three days of neglect were fine because my grandson, Collin was born and he's worth missing some exercise. The other 7 days were not spent in a fun way.


Had a spinal tap gone wrong. That put me in bed for 5 days before I decided the doctor was correct in his assumption that I had a spinal leak and needed to go back to the hospital. After 15 hours in the emergency room, they patched the leak. Let's just say that wasn't a good time. Let's also just say I will never have another spinal tap fer nuthin'.


Today I left my house at 6am for 2 appointments up in Tampa (1.5 hours away) Got there, got lost IN THE HOSPITAL, cried to some unknown woman who was sweet enough to walk me to where I was supposed to be. (1.5 hours LATE). My tears must have scared the women at the desk because they got me in to see the doc anyway. It pays to be overwhelmed.


After that test I had to drive to a different area for the MRI series. Should have been 20 minutes. Took me over an hour. BUT...I made it there 20 minutes early! I hate driving in strange cities! Spent a relaxing 2 hours in the MRI machine. Ooohhh...good times. Even had headphones with music. Too bad the bangs from the machine drowned the ability to hear those songs. I think I fell asleep in there. In the end, I found my way home just fine, even if it did take 2 hours to get home. With no traffic. I found peace, solace if you will, in that car ride home. Just me 'n the tunes.

Doc says no strenuous activities until Wednesday. I might hit yoga tomorrow night. I also might try one other strenuous activity this evening...teehee! =)

Anyway...this could be MS or some other kind of central nervous system disorder. Maybe even an auto-immune disease. I vote for a vitamin deficiency! Sounds way easier to fix if you ask me. No matter what, I plan on continuing with my life just the way it is, only with drugs and alcohol if need be. Just kiddin....mebbeeee. I have a stash of stuff in my drawer for "just-in-case". Kiddin.

I was laying in bed last night thinking about "what on my body does not hurt"...I know, I know...seems like an odd thing to think about. But that's ME...looking for a positive. Guess what doesn't hurt. AT ALL. EVER. My glutes. It's true. I don't have a pain in the ass. Isn't that nice? Speaking of asses....I decided I want a heart shaped ass. Upside down heart shaped. Wouldn't that be cute? Not that you'd ever know. I'd never show anyone. Well...maybe I would if it was that cute, I dunno.

I have a 6 mile run planned for Wednesday morning with Elizabeth. I'm really excited about hooking up with her because we're the same age, same pace and we're both WOMEN! Yes...it's true! Only she has more endurance than me right now. That's a good thing as it will keep me on my competitive toes! Elizabeth has a full marathon planned for December. Her first one! I really want to run that one with her. I'd kill to finish in 4:20...LOL...what??? I can dream, can't I?????

Halfer Sunday

This is gonna be short but sweet peeps!

Been training for this half. Hasn't really gone along as I had hoped but with the GREAT help of my runner friends, I am running that half. Reg, Ed, Debi, Frank and Josephine are all running the half and Bobby (not my husband) and Chris are running the full. Bobby'll probably finish his full about when the rest of us are finishing our half...LOL!!! I'm holding out hope that Mike will be joining us...(C'monnnn MIKE!!!!)

My husband is meeting me at the finishline. Jim and Bethany will be in strategic spots along the way to kick our butts if we look like HELL...LOL

Reg (from Canada) has been extremely helpful. He's been pacing me and encouraging me every step of the way. Even when I was 15 minutes late for our run last week! Wait'll you hear this:

I was 15 minutes late for my run with Reg. He started without me so I went the opposite way figuring I'd meet him somewhere along the way. As I ran along, feeling bad that I was late etc, up ahead was a policeman stopping traffic. I ran up to a guy standing there and he told me someone got hit by a van and the coroner was taking him away. HIM??? HIM WHO??? He didn't know anything other than it was a "he". Of course my guilty mind thought it was Reg because every time we run across that bridge I tell him not to get hit by a car and we sprint across it. I ran to an officer and asked if it was an athletic middle aged man and he said no. I didn't believe him. I ran as fast as I could over the bridge and as I got to the corner here comes Reg. OMG!!! I was so happy to see him! I hugged him and cried a little bit. He told me I must be a sensitive person. Well yeah, call me sensitive...LOL. We had to walk awhile so I could calm down. When we passed the bystander who told me what was going on before, he asked Reg if he knew how happy I was to see him....haha! REG IS ALIVE!!!!

Reg has never run a half marathon. That surprised me because he runs all the time. Distances too. I can't imagine not competing. Reg decided he is running this half marathon. With me. Not running to compete, running to stay with me the whole way. I keep telling him if he feels the pull to take off to just go. I don't want to hold him back. But Reg says no. He's running this halfer with me. I can't believe someone would do this. It means the world to me that Reg is running this with me. I have my worries about finishing because of my muscles acting like 2 year olds who don't listen. So far we got to 10.12 miles before I couldn't go on. Hopefully we can get to 13.1 Sunday. If I have to roll the last 3 miles I will. Haha! Just kidding. I'm gonna do cartwheels across the finish line.

Running Again...

I've been busy with running, having a grandbaby (tons of fun that's becoming), working and reconnecting with old friends on Facebook. I feel like I don't have time for anything!! My husband is working 12-15 hours a day and I am feeling the loss of having my other half here. I feel a little lost. =( Even the kids are pretty quiet. When Bob does get home we are on him like Asics on a marathoner.

BUT...I am running again and I'm very thrilled to say I'm overcoming a few of those health obstacles that popped up over the summer/fall.

I can now get 10.6 miles (in 1:45) before the pain in my feet make me stop. I'm getting used to the muscle weirdness too. A numbness starts at my hips and spreads down to my knees, then my muscles just stop working. My cardio seems fine so it's very frustrating to have to stop when that feels strong. I don't bother trying to run through that anymore, so I haven't fallen. Although Jim says not to do another long run (hopefully he's not reading this) I'm meeting Reg Saturday for one more long run before the half on Feb 15th. I want to go into that half KNOWING my legs will behave. It seems like I get further and further each time, so one more long run for me.

Last night in yoga was THE BEST balance I've had in about 6 weeks. Jim decided to add some leg (quad) holds in yoga that are extremely painful. At first I couldn't even do them. Now I can hold them for half the time. The pain is unbelievable but I think it'll help when I'm running and it starts up. I used to have to stop after 2 miles, getting to 10.6 was so wonderful. I'm skipping yoga this morning because Reg noticed I have my hardest times when I run right after a yoga class. Maybe it's too much? We'll see since I'm meeting him at 9am today.

I used to use yoga as a stretch/condition before I ran. I'm not sure I like that I can't do both anymore so we'll see. I'm glad Reg pointed this out to me, I've been trying to just get it all back so determinedly, that I didn't put the two together.

Jim has his full marathon this weekend on the east coast of Florida. Boston registration is full, so if (WHEN) he pulls that BQ time, he'll be running Boston 2010! Good luck jim!!