Hanging With Jackie ‘n Dan

**Please check the bottom of yesterday's post to see if you won my giveaway (5 winners), then email me. If I don’t hear from you by Monday, I’m going to pick someone else!

I am in a piss poor mood about tomorrow’s half marathon. I am trying to focus on the cone, not the crap, but it is difficult.

My left ass cheek (LAC) has been giving me fits lately when I run. It started after the Half Ironman followed by a half marathon the next weekend (mid-August). I should have known better.

The LAC has been holding its own, but was made very angry yesterday when I tripped on an uneven sidewalk and stretched my glute like taffy. And not Laffy Taffy. Mean, angry, hostile taffy. Probably chipotle pepper flavor.

I will go and try to run tomorrow and see what happens. DNF? DNFF? (I like to add an “f” bomb in there for good measure). Before you tell me to go see someone, I have an appointment with Dr. Jeremy Rodgers for Tuesday. He’s a sport’s med and chiropractor doc and currently the medical staff director for Rocky Mountain based Ironman.  He has also served on the Boston Marathon medical staff. I hope I’m in good hands.

Another reason I’m in a piss poor mood is the weather.

It is 35 degrees and pouring rain. A good day to cuddle up in here:

With this:

Yes, Emma made a fort this morning. I used to love to do that when I was her age and pretend it was in the inside of Jeannie’s bottle from I Dream of Jeannie.

Hmmm…might need to do some academics this weekend:

It’s not all crappy. A bright spot was that we headed to the expo in Denver this morning and I got to hang out with these two cool cats. Remember the mother/son duo from the Biggest Loser, Jackie and Dan? They both look amazing in person.

(Try not to stare at my exposed midriff)

Jackie and Dan have taken up a great cause, Kids Fit Foundation, which raises funds and awareness for quality youth programs that incorporate health, fitness and wellness. How cool is that? I love it when people who have a fan base and/or celebrity status us their exposure to bring awareness to important and crucial issues.

Have you ever tripped while running and pulled the crap out of some muscle?

Ever run a race with pain? Did you finish?

Have you read Mile Markers yet? What did you think?

What’s your favorite way to spend a rainy day?

SUAR

Team Marathon With A Sweet Giveaway x 5!

On Sunday I will run the Denver Rock ‘n Roll Half Marathon as an honorary member of Team Marathon. This means I get to run while eating bars non-stop while wearing one of these shirts:

Option #1

Option #2

Of course I’m kidding about eating bars not-stop while running. That would lead to crappy, smelly results that no one around me would want to witness.

Denver will either be 90 degrees and I’ll do option #1, or snowing and 30 degrees in which case I’ll choose option #2. There is a saying around here that annoys the hell out of me, but it is true, “If you don’t like the weather, just wait five minutes.” Around here we can drop 40 degrees in no time, so it gets a bit nipply. 

One saying I DO like is the motto of Team Marathon:

“Life isn’t a sprint, it’s a marathon.”

You may be wondering what Team Marathon is all about and how you can get involved. Team Marathon has 200 ambassadors nationwide. These individuals all “have passion and enthusiasm for living a healthy, well-rounded life and are involved in activities ranging from running, to cycling, to triathlon and other endurance sports.” Just like you and me, right?

Later this week, look for an interview I did with Richard Kalasky, a Team Marathon member, who went from overweight couch potato (325 lbs!) to a 185 lb stud who does triathlons and marathons. Hugely inspirational!

Aside from all of that healthy, balanced living, the team members have something else in common: they love Marathon Bars. I mean, who wouldn’t? If you haven’t had a MB, you might want to try one. They are a tasty treat, packed full of protein and vitamins. I know this because Team Marathon sent me a couple to try. And, yes, I ate them all in one sitting:

My favorite is the Protein Bar. This sucker is BIG and carries a whopping 21 grams of protein. I am so delicate I usually just eat half at a time, but it is a satisfying snack after a long workout.

There are also a couple of other varieties, equally as yummy:

The Energy Bar:

And the new Smart Stuff bar for you healthier types who want whole grains, fewer calories and some fiber (fart).

The giveaway!

Want to try some? Marathon Bar is giving away prize packs of three boxes (assorted) to each of five winners!

To enter:

• “Like” Marathon Bars on Facebook + 1 entry
• Blog, twat, FB about this giveaway + 1 entry
• Tell me your favorite pre or post training snack and why + 1 entry
• Follow my blog if you don’t already + 1 entry

Five winners will be chosen by random.org on October 7.

Simple as PIE!! Mmmmm…pie.

SUAR

Fine print: Per FTC guidelines, Marathon Bar provided me with my bar samples and shirts. They also provided the prizes for this giveaway.

So, Thank You

70 days ago I went out for an 8 mile run.

It was the final ten days before the Denver Rock ‘n Roll Marathon. Four months of hard training and I was almost done. I felt pain in my piriformis and left hamstring, but was in the mindset of, “It's supposed to hurt, your training for a marathon. Don’t be a baby. Shut up and do this.” As I approached the turn around point, I decided to kick it into high gear and to see if I could sustain some 7:30 minute miles. I was flying, feeling on top of the world. Nothing could stop me. Until it did stop me.

One mile from home my hip gave out. A sudden, sharp pain with impact. I NEVER walk on runs. Never. Yet, I found myself hobbling home, humbled, defeated. “You pussy,” I told myself. Yet, I knew something was very wrong.

An MRI later that week confirmed the hip stress fracture. I was done. There would be no Denver Marathon. There would be no running for at least three months. Boston in April 2011 might be out of the picture. Hello f*cking crutches.

And just like that, I was done.

The loss of running was huge. But, I worried about something else. I thought if I couldn’t run, the blog was doomed. Who reads a running blog when the author of the blog can’t run, train or relay any sort of personal experience about her running?

But, you came back and stayed. Some new followers joined the party.  For that I am incredibly grateful. This injury has sucked, but without it there would have been no pussy posse. No tales of running in the pool. No idiotic posts about camel toes and devices that allow women to pee standing up. Because if I could have been running, those things would have been replaced by training and race recaps. Stories of crapping in trees and alongside roads.

What I know in my heart is that I am a runner and I love to run. Yet, running is not all of who I am. It does not define me completely. If I cannot run, I am still worth something. Maybe? There is life after and aside from running. Really, there is!!!!

From Zen and the Art of Running:

“When people are deprived of something they enjoy immensely, it is no surprise that they feel sorrow. Most injured runners have to learn to deal with this sorrow of loss. After my injury, I regretted features of running that I hadn’t even known I had enjoyed. Who would have thought I would miss waking up at 5 a.m., or that I liked feeling icicles forming on my eyelashes, or that icing my knees while watching the news was a great way to relax? But lurking behind the pain of loss was an attachment that only made things worse. At some point in my history of running I became attached to the idea that I was a RUNNER.”

Some of you asked how I stayed so positive during recovery. Wine!! And not taking myself so seriously. It’s not like I’m some elite athlete or something.

While I had some down moments mentally, there were not many of them. Here’s what really got me through (Again, from Zen and the Art of Running):

“Don’t ask yourself to to do something beyond your present ability; ask yourself what you need to do now to live a happy and fulfilled life. Now you are not a runner. That person is gone. Instead, you are a person with talents, skills, hobbies, interests and goals – and that’s what you should be pursuing.”

It sure will feel good to get out there again.

So, thank you for hanging in there with me. For your words of support, for your emails just to check in, for your advice. It has meant the world to me. Really, it has.

2nd MRI coming up on Thursday. If it’s clear, I start running again.

See you in Boston.

You guys rock (all 1035 of you),

SUAR

I Spy

I’m back. And I’m not going to go on anymore about how excruciatingly hot it is in Florida and how hard it is to run in the humidity and how I sweated in places I didn’t know I could sweat and how the trip constipated me. No more of that kind of talk. I’m moving on. But, if there was one picture to describe running in a 105 degree heat index it would be this:

 

Yes, running in that stuff made me especially ugly, deformed and stoned. Not to mention damp. One morning I came in from a run and my father in law looked at me and said, “My, you look kind of flushed. What’s wrong?”

What’s wrong?? Your daughter-in-law is so greasy she could get a job at the cinema - buttering popcorn with her leg hair.

That was dumb. 

My in laws are the people who play 18 holes golf at 1pm each day. All summer long. They are tougher, stronger and better than me. All of those seniors are.

When I got off the plane in Denver last night at about 7pm the angels were singing. The cool and dry Rocky Mountain breeze soothed my soul. I slept with the windows open and got kind of chilled.

Life returns to normal.

Do you ever play I Spy on trips?

I spied something with my eye beginning with the letter “H”. Hideous pair of shorts:

I’m not sure who this guy is or where he bought his loafers and shorts, but he’s one brave octogenarian. Take a closer look:

I haven’t seen those colors together since I had orange/raspberry sherbet in first grade.

I ran 24 miles while in Florida. Not bad for a vacation. In ten days I start training for the Rock ‘n Roll Denver Marathon on October 17.  Since I am now certified as a running coach, I will be coaching myself. Which is what I always do anyway because I don’t like listening to anyone but myself.

So far my race plans for the summer include only a couple of 5Ks and the Georgetown to Idaho Springs Half in August.  Think I need to add a couple more races in there.

How much do you race as part of your training for a half, full or ultra marathon?