At least my eye twitch is gone

I'm back from Capital City.

Where I ran a half marathon... again.

And it almost killed me.

But then I had waffles and wine for dinner - so it was all better again.

And now I'm back at work and very busy. And my house is still in a total state of wreckage. So I have no calm or serenity at work or home.

Which is why I'm feeling frantic.

And why I must go now.

Goodbye.

PS: I love you.

Exploration into the Runner's mind

On Sunday, I'll be running my second-ever half marathon race. It'll be the first "official" 21k race that my Mom and I run together.

For those of you that remember, I've had all sorts of issues and problems and junk with my leg. Running and I sometimes have a love-hate relationship. I love it. My body hates it. Running likes me sometimes. Other times it looks at me all disapproving-like while shaking its head.

Anyway. So this year - by some kind of miracle - I'm doing quite well in the pain department. (Knocking on wood, for the love of god, must knock on wood). Unfortunately, Mumsie - the gazelle-like lady who has not had a single running issue the entire time we've run together - is now injured a teensy bit.

So, this has sort of messed with her head. We ran last night and it was hurting her a bit. Now she's discouraged and worried about how she's going to make it through the race on Sunday. (All runners go through this. We think that the last bad run we had means that EVERY SINGLE RUN FROM NOW UNTIL FOREVER will be bad. It's some weird thing that plagues our minds. Can't help it.)

I understand this feeling. Which is why I want my Mumsie to know this:

You are amazing.

You're 61 (sorry! had to say it to prove my point) and you're running 21 kms. There are a heck of a lot of people out there that can't run 21kms - and a lot of them are much, much younger than you.

You are strong and fit and healthy. And so far, running has almost, but not completely, been easy for you. Now you have a challenge to face. Now you have to deal with this annoyance mentally and physically.

But you know what?

You're going to do it. You're going to finish. And you're going to be thrilled. You're going to have SUCH a sense of accomplishment. Hopefully, you're going to enjoy it along the way, too.

And I? Will be prouder than any daughter could ever be on Mother's Day.

Hello

(How clever is the title of my blog today? You like it, oui?? Unfortunately, the cleverness of the title may have a direct correlation to the level of cleverness in this actual blog post. And for that reason, I must say: Je m'excuse.)

It's been a little while since the last update. Hence, my issuing of a formal apology: Dearest, dearest Internet... Please accept my humblest of apologies for my complete lack of ability to blog on a regular basis. I must repent. And I fully accept your choice to shout "For shame!! For shame!!" at me, should you feel it necessary.

But yesterday - oh yesterday. I was busy, yo.

Work was insane. I'm not quite over the time change yet. All I can think about are the million and one things I need to do before vacation next week. So I pretty much stumbled around in a haze yesterday. Not conducive to good blogging. At. All.

Anyway - onto bigger and better things. Like... tonight. I shall overcome yet another running challenge, injury free (hopefully), when I tackle hill running. Our running group jogs over to a hill, runs up it and walks down it all in the name of building strength and stamina.

Will it work? Will Hez actually build up strength and stamina? Will she remain injury-free? And - most importantly of all - will Hez wear stupid running clothes??

Tune in tomorrow to find out!!!! (Dun Dun Dunnnnnnnnnnnnnn.......)

Orthotics: They ain't just for Gramma anymore!

Just a quick, short blog this morning, as I'm on my way to an early morning appointment with a podiatrist. Yes. I have a podiatrist. Who is fitting me for orthotics.

Orthotics? Why - what on earth would a young gal like you need those for? (You may be asking yourself). Well, I need orthotics because (as Wikipedia so aptly explains) they're designed to support or correct musculoskeletal deformities and/or abnormalities of the human body. Yes ma'am. You heard it here first. Hez has some deformities and/or abnormalities of the human body that need a'fixin'.

I'll let you know how my gramma shoes feel after I get them.

**Edited to add: It's 1pm now... Got my orthotics and they feel great! Long Distance Running, look out! I'm comin' to KICK YER ARSE! Oh... and I fixed my spelling issue. POdiatrist... not PEdiatrist. Hey - it's a good thing I'm cute, right??

In which I try not to disappoint my dear readers

So I've received many requests from all my dear reader fans for a new, fresh, juicy blog. 

(Okay, really - it's just my family. Thank you for reading, family!)

And now... here it is. In all its glory. A new blog post. The one in which I talk about my first run after a TWO WEEK HIATUS.

Two weeks of not running was starting to have quite a negative result. I was blah. I was grumpers. I was unpleasant. (Gasp! It just ain't true. Hez... grumpy?? The hell you say!) Alas, 'tis true. But that's neither here nor there... 

Because tonight, I went back to my running clinic, despite my chest/head cold. We ran 5k. I felt good. No foot pain. And I was Forest-Gump-ing it all over the place: "From that day on, if I was going somewhere, I was... RUNNING!!" (Just a little movie quote for you trivia lovers out there.)

And now, here's a reenactment (through words) of me coming home from the run, all high on endorphins and junk:

"Hi hon, I'm home! I'mbackfrommyrunanditwasgreat!Yep...hadagoodrun.NowI'mgoingfora quickshower! In shower: NewYorkNewYork!!!If I can MAKE IT there, I'll make it ANYWHERE! After shower: Heybabe!Outofmyshower!Sojustgoingtogetmydinnerand-OHMYGOD-thisdinnerisDELICIOUS!Howdidyoucookthepotato??Boiled,yousay??Wow.BESTboiledpotatoI'veEVERhad!!!"

Needless to say, I'm feeling good right now. Very good and lovely. 

Running and me? Yeah. We're friends.

The one where I blog about everything and anything, much to my friend Jay's chagrin

So. As promised. Here I am... about to let you all in on my life. A day in the life of me. Everything I do and think about and say. Exciting stuff, huh?

Don't stop reading yet. You never know - you might just find me fascinating. (Please?)

Anyway. The week so far has actually been kinda interesting for me - and not only because I was compared to a piece of bacon. (I'll get to that later).

Bit of a back story: last week I didn't work out at all, and as a result, I felt cranky, tired and I didn't sleep well. So, this week, I vowed to head to the gym as much as possible. Now you're up to date.

Okay. So. I headed off to the gym Monday morning to attend a class called "BodyPump". I don't know if you've ever tried this... but basically, it's working out in a group, doing a LOT of reps of weights with a barbell. Not too bad sounding, eh? Yeah... well my muscles? Were shaking like a little kid after seeing a scary movie. (Hoo, boy were they shaking!) And only half way through the class, too.

As I walked out of the gym, kind of zombie-like due to immediate stiffness, I knew that it was going to be a long week for me and my poor, underused muscles.

On to Tuesday. Monday's adventures didn't discourage me, so after the work day, I decided to test out a spinning class. Was feeling good. Speeding in spot, pedalling as if my life depended on it. Thinking "Look at me! Am spin goddess!" And, I'm pretty sure the instructor thought I was pretty spin goddess-esque too, cause I caught him looking my way once or twice... if ya know what I mean??? (Hint, hint... nudge, nudge...)

Of course, then I looked in the mirror and saw a giant band of boob sweat stained onto my t-shirt and I was pretty sure he wasn't looking my way in admiration.

Wednesday. I've got my running clinic on Wednesday nights, so off I went, all bundled up, to run in the cold/rain/wet snow. We were taught the "proper" way to warm up before a run. (Read: walk around, jump, and run in place like morons). So, as I was doing my dynamic warm-up, I felt like a royal asshole.

At least I got to spend some time with Mumsie. Which brings me to the bacon story.

This past weekend, I brilliantly managed to spill boiling water on my leg, leaving behind a huge-ass, painful thigh-burn. (No wonder my friends think I need sippy cups!!) And 4 days later, it was STILL incredibly red and big and oddly-shaped. I was actually strangely proud of my war wound.

And since my Mom stopped by my place after our run, (as did my brother), I thought I would ask them if they wanted to see it. Sort of like a car accident that you just can't turn your eyes away from. (Of course they said yes. Curiosity got the best of them).

Upon first glance, my Mom's face contorted into an image of revulsion as she exclaimed "Oh! Oh! Gross!!" And my brother's reaction?

"It looks like bacon."

That has been my week so far. Aren't you glad you stayed until the end?

Well this is embarrassing...

Remind me never to ask for audience participation again. It shows me how few people are actually interested in my blog.

Okay, enough with the "woe is me" bit. On to bigger and better things.

My Mom and I have decided to start going to a running clinic again. Even though we're seasoned pros now (yeah right), we're doing the 10k clinic again with the Running Room. I took the summer off and since September have only been running approximately twice a week. And now, I'm all ready to start "training" again.

Wish me luck! In the back of my mind, I have this fear that my leg pains are going to start up again and prevent me from really enjoying my runs. Fingers crossed that this isn't the case.

On a side note (back to the whole "lack of interest" thing), I've actually set up "Google analytics" for my blog, which shows me stats on how many visits my blog gets on specific days, the average time spent on the site, visitor loyalty, etc. So I know that 34 of you readers (from yesterday) have a complete lack of interest in polls. I hope you voted at least!

I did it!!

So the race is over!!

Good things about race day:
1. The atmosphere is SO exciting!
2. The people watching from the sidelines are so supportive and encouraging
3. Crossing the finish line and seeing my husband, brother and parents-in-law there to cheer me on was fantastic
4. I have such a sense of accomplishment now - I ran a half baby!!

Bad things about race day:

1. The shooting pain in my leg began at kilometer 4 (which was unfortunate since I still had 17 kilometers to run)
2. My body is obviously mad at me and wants me to rest (so I will)

But in the end, I did it. I ran my first half marathon race. Woo hoo!!

4 months of training. 4 days to go.

What's on my mind today... what's on my mind... hmmm...

Oh, you know... nothing much... just the HORRIBLE PAIN IN MY LEG AFTER RUNNING ONLY 3KM LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!

This does not bode well for my 21KM race on Sunday.

Here's a quick synopsis of my sitch: I've been having leg pain (not horrible, gotta-stop-running pain, but leg pain) for a while. It started in my calf, then moved up to my hamstring and along my IT band. So - my calf is totally fine now. My hamstring is pretty much okay - my IT band hurts though. I've been seeing a specialist and he's helping me out... but I'm not completely better yet.

All I want to do is reach my goal of running the race on Sunday. And so far, I've been all "Oh yeah - I can do it! I totally can do it!" But now... after running 3km last night and having major issues... I'm not so sure.

Okay, so before this blog turns completely whiney, I've just gotta ask everyone reading this to send good running wishes my way on Sunday.

I'm praying to the god of IT bands and good running days.