FML-Notes on Instagram

This was a recent post of mine on Instagram!

To say that I've been feeling overwhelmed lately is an understatement. I constantly feel like my head is inches under the water and I can see the surface but never reach it. Just when I feel like I can finally breathe again the oxygen gets sucked back out and I'm in the water face first.

I knew taking Graduate classes and working full-time with a toddler wasn't going to be easy but holy cow! It's a lot harder than I could have ever imagined. I constantly feel like I'm ignoring Wyatt. It's hard to feel like a good mom when you are constantly telling your child "one more minute" or "just one more chapter to read and then we can play" only to realize that it's already been two hours and it's his bedtime. :(

Luckily for me this morning Wyatt said to me, "Mommy, you're my best friend!" I could have died right then and there. It made my heart melt and I think about those words when I feel like I'm doing this for nothing.

Here's to knowing my semester is almost half over and I'm getting ready to slide down the hill rather than climb up it!

I love this face!

I'm back!

Notice the joy on my face?!

Today I ran again and it felt awesome! It was only two days since my last pathetic attempt at running and this time it went much better.

I didn't have to stop at all during the two 10-minute intervals and ran the WHOLE time! Go me!! My stamina is starting to come back and I'm feeling good. I'm loving my new shoes and I think they have made a big difference in the issues of my foot and just the recovery time after running.

Looking forward to my next run, already!

While I was running it was snowing and I was covered in snowflakes! What fun! :)

I'll take that!

Just running=Fail

Today I decided to get back to running. It had been awhile and with all of the cruddy weather lately it just felt like a good day to get out there and run.

I went to our local running track since I knew it would be clear to break in my new shoes some more.

This time I decided to forgo my Couch 2 5K program on my phone and I was just going to run and see where it got me. Well it didn't get me far! I felt like I did a terrible job running and was walking way more than I was running. I remember I would run for a little bit and then look at my app to see the distance because I knew it had to of been a half-mile at least that I ran and it was 0.12! Are you serious?!

Apparently I'm getting pretty used to running after school at the park because all of the sides are a 1/4 mile and it's easier for me to focus on my distance that way than just running to run.

Lesson learned!

Super bright from the snow!

It may have been 28 but with the sun it felt at least 10-15 degrees warmer. After the first mile I took my hat off and shoved it in my coat because I was so hot.

Snowman Pictures

We've had quite the snow the last couple of weeks! I will be so happy to see it melt and never come back! ;)

Mike and I were heading to Manhattan and we passed this scene down the street we live on and had to go back and take a picture! Too funny!

Foot update!

Today I had my appointment with a doctor to see about my foot. Aside from waiting forever and being punctual which made for a much longer wait, the appointment was good.

The doctor told me that it's either tendinitis or a stress fracture. He did give me some options of what I could do. Conservatively stay off it for 4-6 weeks and then start training again slowly. NO! Aggressively give a steroid shot in my foot where the pain is and then see a podiatrist. Not a permanent solution by any means but it could mean that I will get to run my races in March and April. Hmmmm! What to do!

They took x-rays and I'm set up to see the podiatrist in March. Yep a month away from now, March! Apparently Manhattan needs more than two podiatrist.

I'm going to start putting two days between my runs and see if that helps. I'm also avoiding the stairs at work and using our elevator when applicable. Oh the joys of being on the third floor! I still climb them plenty but trying to reduce any unnecessary stress and quicken the healing process. I know that's an oxymoron in itself.

First run will be Wednesday before the blizzard comes to us and we'll see how it goes. Going for another three miler. Wish me luck!

Back to Running

Well this week has been crazy busy! Mike was out of town for part of it and I had Parent/Teacher conferences which meant putting in two 12-hour days! Fun, not! This was not the best semester for conferences in terms of no shows. I had 3 no shows! Ugh!! That sucks! Now I'm in the process of rescheduling and all that fun-ness that comes with it.

My big purchase of the week was actually getting running shoes! I went to Manhattan Running Company and got fitted for running shoes that work for me. I love them and of course they were the most expensive pair I tried on. Go figure!

On Sunday I decided to try running again. I had taken a break because of conferences and my foot hurting so bad. I took the break and rested my foot and with a beautiful day decided to get back at it. I even got to try out my new shoes!

Since I knew I had enough time I went for three miles and was surprised by my time. It felt like starting all over again from scratch on running. I had to stop so many times to walk during my running intervals and had no stamina. This is going to suck getting back!

My foot didn't hurt terribly when running and when I headed home and tried to get out of the car it was throbbing and hurting like crazy. I iced it and all that good stuff so hopefully I can find out something tomorrow at the doctor.

My pace was really good for how crappy I felt like I was doing.

Complete understatement for how I felt.

I dressed way too warm for the weather and realized about five seconds after I got started!

Laid Up

That is what I am for the next week, laid up.

Using reliable resources i.e., my mom, Google, and WebMD I have self-diagnosed my hurt foot as a stress fracture. So I have been resting, icing, compressing, and elevating that bad boy since yesterday.

I could walk on it okay today and even used the elevator at school to make sure that I don't add any unnecessary stress to my foot, since it hurts the most walking down the stairs. I even iced it today while going over Science Fair materials. See multi-tasking!

Here's hoping that after a week of rest that my foot will be completely healed and ready to run on for weeks 6-8 of Couch25K!

What a weekend!

This weekend was a great one, and it's not even over yet!

Mike and I finally went to KC for my birthday and we had a blast. We went to Fork and Screen in Olathe and watched Django Unchained. Now for those that don't know what Fork and Screen is it is a theater where you get to sit in big comfy chairs and get to order and eat real food that you would get at a restaurant. So delicious and good! The movie was fantastic and can't wait to see it again. In true Quentin Teretino style there was plenty of blood everywhere.

After that we headed to Legends for some shopping. Now at this time my foot is still pretty sore from my run on Thursday and I'm kinda limping while walking. We did mainly window shopping and then headed to Lone Star for supper. The best part of supper was getting to meet up with my friend Becky and her husband Matt. We had a great time talking and eating.

In fact, I didn't even keep track of my calories for the day and just assumed it was the max amount. I was very proud of myself for not drinking any pop while I was out. I stuck to water the whole weekend and I haven't had a pop since last Tuesday! Go me!!

Today has been a lazy day with some sleeping in and lounging. I tried to go run today and my foot wasn't having it. I could only run a minute before having to stop because of the pain. I'm icing it and thinking of taking my husband's advice and going to the doctor to have it looked at.

This week should be interesting because I have Parent/Teacher conferences and Mike is traveling for work. Not sure when I'm going to get to run this week. It might just be a recovery week for me because of this foot.

See ya week 5!

Today I finished Week 5 and I'm pumped! Week 5 has been totally crazy because it has not been the same thing each day, in fact, it's been different things every day. This has been kind of nice because it's not the same old thing.

Today I had to run for a full 20 minutes. Going into this I knew I couldn't do it but was going to try to do a full mile before stopping to walk. And I did it! I ran a full mile without stopping! This is the first time I have done that since high school when we had to run the mile twice a year. I actually ran for 12 minutes straight and then walked for 1 minute and then ran the rest of the time. I was happy with what I did and can't wait to do it again.

The only thing that has hindered me is my damn foot. I fell down the stairs carrying a science kit at school in October and apparently haven't fully recovered. The five-minute cool down went very slow and hurt a lot. In fact, when I got back to school I couldn't walk without limping. So hopefully some ice will get me ready for my next run on Sunday.

Blondie

Guess who went back blonde?

 

This girl!

A self-portrait I actually don't loath.

Feeling good today and looking cute!

I just did that!

Today was gorgeous so I was pumped to get Week 5 Day 2 of C25K done! Last time I had run through 2 of the 3 five-minute intervals and this time I was determined to make it through all of them without stopping.

I started jogging and the first quarter mile went by and then the next quarter mile went by and then almost another quarter mile went by and I was starting to wonder what was going on. Did I skip the walk part? Did I not hit the "Start" button? Are my headphones working? Did my phone jack up?

I finally looked down and saw that it was still telling me to jog. So I did. Then it was time to walk and I decided to inspect what was going on with C25K. Apparently this is the week when all the days start doing something different. Up until this time all the days for the week were exactly the same and that's what I was expecting but it wasn't so. I ran the whole time, with two thirty second breaks, in each 8-minute interval. I was pumped!!! I could do it. I could almost run a mile in 8 minutes! What!!

To say I was elated is an understatement. You couldn't get the smile removed from my face. Then I check out my pace for my run and it was even better! My pace was 10:48 per mile. A new PR for me! Fist pump in the air, baby!

See ridiculously big smile!

Oh yeah!

Beautiful day!

W5D1

Today I started Week 5 of C25K and it went GREAT! I was worried because of the larger 3-5 minute intervals of running but I knocked them out and felt good.

I was able to run the whole 5 minutes for the first two intervals but had to stop after 3 minutes on the third. When I went pause the timer I saw that I only had 2 minutes left so I quickly walked 30-seconds and then started running again.

I'm hoping next time I can run through all three of the intervals without stopping.

Wahoo!

On other news I'm stretching regularly and drinking at least 80 ounces of water everyday and have almost kicked my pop habit. I usually have one Diet Dr. Pepper during lunch and then I would have one regular Dr. Pepper during supper. Lately, I haven't even been having the supper one because I just don't feel like it. It doesn't sound appealing!

Stoked with this pace because my second mile was better than my first!

Beautiful day and wearing my new Urban Halo headband!

T.G.In.Fluenza A

That's right, the flu has hit our house!

Wyatt came home on Wednesday evening with a fever and that was the end of it. He kept the fever until Friday and then we headed to the doctor. I wanted to make sure it was the flu and not RSV, which was going around his daycare.

The doctor took one look and saw his symptoms and prescribed Tamiflu to help with it. So we are going with our prescribed dosage and washing/sanitizing anything in sight.

Here's hoping the symptoms I have don't become full-fledged flu because I don't have time to be sick!