September Setbacks

Sometimes life hands you lemons and you make some lemonade. Then there are times when life hands you a triple fudge sundae with nuts, caramel AND a cherry on top and you just eat the damn thing and ignore the consequences. September, it seems, has given me both of these.

September started off with my triple fudge sundae - I got married! The event we'd been waiting for these last 16 months finally came to pass and it was wonderful. Hurricane Isaac's threat to ruin the entire (outdoor based) day, but ended up causing nothing more than a very stressful week and a little bit of mud. We had a blast, the Cards beat Kentucky, and I'm now officially a Mrs.

Best of all, the morning of the wedding my mom and I got to put aside all of the craziness and do what we love to do: go walking. The rain kept us out of our favorite park, but we headed to the mall and churned out three mindless miles. We talked about so many random things and window shopped and laughed. After what was a pretty stressful lead-up to the wedding, this was a great start to the day. For those of you who don't know, my mom got me into running initially. When my weight started to get out of control back in college she and my grandfather started making me walk with them on Saturdays. What started as a (somewhat) painful chore became two marathons and five half-marathons. Walking with mom on my wedding day was an amazing way to reconnect to that memory, and to honor both our relationship and my grandfather at the same time.

However, one thing got sacrificed for the good of the wedding (and the honeymoon that followed): my training plan. There are 2-3 weeks that are just blank on my calendar. Does this bother me? Yeah, it does. I'm a type-a runner girl and it annoys me to have stretches without training before a race. Will I get over it? Absolutely. I'm glad I was able to put aside my often neurotic need to run in order to enjoy the occasion. When life hands you the perfect sundae, you don't stop and worry about how it will effect your waist line, you eat!

Top Left-right: in front of the Shedd Aquarium, On the Willis Tower Skydeck
Bottom Left-Right: with the Lions of Tsavo @ the Field Museum & dinner @ the Capital Grille

September has also brought some damn lemons my way. Last week during volleyball my back started getting super tight. Sometimes I get lazy and don't really bend my knees when I play (whoops!) and end up stretching my back out. Usually the soreness goes away after a day. Not this time. Within 3 hours of playing my back was totally locked up and any bending was searing, needle-like pain. Slowly over the week with the help of a good heating-pad and lots of Motrin things started to ease up. Thursday morning I felt good enough to take Ellie for a walk before work and a nice 2.4 miler afterwards. Unfortunately Friday was back to square one.

I've never had a back injury so this is all new to me. I have no idea whether to stretch or heat or ice or immobilize or what. I have no way of knowing whether it's a strain, sprain, or what. Unfortunately, a visit to the doctor is almost completely out of the question since I just took a week of unauthorized time for my honeymoon (worth it!). I'm hoping that more Motrin, some light stretching and heat heat heat will help.

All in all - I'm still up on the month. My first priority right now is to rest my back and make sure I'm completely healed before I do something stupid. My second priority is to dive into YOUR world and find out how things are going for you! Whenever I need inspiration, you guys are always there to lend some (in a big way!). For instance, knowing that my dear friend Julia @Pain Pride & Perseverance finished her first UltraMarathon yesterday has kept a smile on my face all weekend.

Keep up the good work everyone! You're all so wonderful :)

Happy Running!!

The "Get To"

Well this morning I checked one of my goals for this week off the list by getting up early and going for a morning run.

I'd been thinking a lot about how I was going to make it work. Our (mostly) sweet Ellie wakes up around 6 a.m. every morning and our alarm is set somewhere around 7:30. One of us wakes up with her at 6:30,  takes her out and then crashes on the couch for another hour or so (all while a crazy "morning puppy" is biting, swiping, and jumping all over you). While Josh can pass out on the couch almost instantly, I don't go back to sleep so easily. So this morning I got up and tossed her outside and then Josh slept with her on the couch while I ran.

It worked like a gem! I got to go for a 2 mile run (not used to that only taking 20 minutes) and I came home to a sleeping man and biting puppy. Perfection.

Thought I was going to get puppy kisses - got puppy bites instead

The rest of my morning was spent in a Bar Review lecture. The topic was ok - criminal law, thankfully - and the lecturer did his best not to be dense but lets face it: 3.5hrs of anything is going to be boring. He surprised me at the end though by offering us one last piece of advice. I was expecting "get a good night's sleep before the exam" or "take this studying seriously" or even just something totally silly. Instead, he said:

"Everything in life can be broken down into two categories: things you have to do, and things you get to do. Remember that this is something you "get" to do. You'll do far better if you think of it like that"

I know we runners talk about the power of positive thinking all the time, so I won't belabor the point but I will say this: there are so many things in live that we have to do. We have to pay bills, we have to change diapers/take out the trash/clean the floors/go to work at a job - or two, or three - we hate. At the end of the day there are so few things we "get" to do. Even then, they can sometimes become a chore.

So if nothing else, don't let running fall into the "have to" category. Even if you feel like you "have to" get in x number of miles, or hit a certain pace, remember that there are so many people who wake up every morning and don't even have the option to run a step. It's easier to remember when we're injured, or when we're coming off of a great race - it's a lot harder to remember when we're in a rut. Running may be a natural part of the human condition, but being a runner certainly isn't. At the end of the day, being a runner is a privilege we've earned by having the courage to try it, and because we love it. We run because we love it, and we get to.

Keeping my fingers crossed that tomorrow brings another opportunity for a morning run. Whatever the case, tomorrow's miles will be for all of you out there who can't run today or tomorrow. And because I get to.

Happy Running!

Five Quick Updates

Lets just start by saying that these last two weeks have been absolutely crazy. If you follow me on DailyMile you may have noticed...

Or if you realized I haven't posted in a week

I'm going to do this in some sort of orderly way lest it devolve into complete long winded chaos (too late? too late).

1. Last Friday Josh's whole family rolled into town and we celebrated our graduation from Law School. On Saturday, we actually marched across the stage and received a piece of paper that tells us how to receive our actual diploma at a later date.

(Juris) Doctors!

2. When we were not celebrating we were moving into our new house. I don't care how far you're moving, it's always stressful. Granted it was only really Josh moving (I'll move in at some later undetermined date) but it still managed to stress me out. I have had the opportunity to do some running around the new neighborhood though (not really reflected above). We're only 2 miles from my favorite park so I'm pretty excited about the possibilities.

Upside? Awesome new bloggy space in the new house!
(Including giant new computer thanks to Josh's folks)

3. I'm LOVING my new job! It is mindless, friendly work that doesn't require any added responsibility or outside work. It's perfect. The only downside is the standing. For those of you who work in the service industry and spend so many hours on your feet and still manage to run so far and so often...I salute you! After a 5 hour shift last night my feet were so sore and tired and my legs were beat up this morning. It's a nice challenge, but definitely hasn't helped my running motivation.

4. Miss Eleanor has been a joyful - and exhausting - addition to our lives! The vet thinks she's mixed with basset hound by the way and thus the really huge looking feet (which are actually just really low knees). We took her on a long walk Thursday and she's a perfect lady on a leash. So excited for her to get big and strong so she can go exploring with me.

But we like being lazy too

5. I'm setting some goals for the upcoming week. Not knowing my new surroundings - or how my legs are going to feel at any given moment - I'm going to go based on time this week. Goals include,

• 150 Minutes of Cardio
• At least 3 Runs
• At least one run in the morning
• Getting my new running shoes!!

I think it's equal parts challenging and doable

That's it for me! We're off to Lowes to pick up an air conditioner and yard tools. All of the sudden we're so domestic. It's not too shabby.

Happy Running!


Anybody raced lately? How'd it go?
How do you manage your fitness/running in the midst of chaos?

Finish Lines & Starting Corrals

First off, the Finish Line

I finished law school!

Well, assuming that I passed all my classes (and Tax is really the only one I'm worried about) I am officially done with three years of higher education. In most states that means I get to add "esquire" to the end of my name, but in Kentucky we do it a bit differently: instead of Jennifer Siewertsen, esquire:

Boo-Yah

But just in case lets keep those fingers/toes/whatever crossed about the Tax final. I won't find out for sure whether or not I'm doomed to summer school until the 8th so for the next two weeks I'll bask in the blissful solitude of optimism and believe I'M DONE!

Perhaps sensing my blissful mood at the end of all formal education, the Bar Prep company delivered a most amazing package to me today

The enormity of the event hasn't really hit me yet. Unlike a race, law school is something you spend three years training for and then....you wait. When I left the exam there wasn't a finish line or a medal to wear, just some greasy a@$ wings and beer at Hooters (yes...Hooters). Maybe once I actually get to wear the floppy hat and hood (which I must return promptly after commencement is over) I'll realize that I'm in fact a Juris Doctor now. Wish there was a medal though.

Next up, the Starting Corrals


We're officially 2 days away from the start of the Kentucky Derby Festival Marathon. There is just about one word that defines how I feel about this fact: panic.

Saturday's 8 miler was wonderful. It was a little rainy and cool, but a great last-minute confidence booster. Monday morning I went out for a really nice run around the block - as per the training plan - to just keep the legs loose. I'd been feeling a twinge in my right hip/glute which I chalked up to my hilly 8 miles Saturday & then sand vball Sunday. Monday's run seemed to help, so I wasn't too worried.

Monday night, though, the illusive and deadly grapefruit knee was back. Yesterday it was at it's prime. I couldn't really bend my knee past 90 degrees and squatting or kneeling was damn near impossible. Needless to say I skipped my last scheduled "workout" for ice and tennis ball treatment. Today it's better - not quite as swollen, more mobility - but I've developed a really tender bruised spot where the pain is from all the tennis ball rubbing and foam rolling. I'm pushing the Motrin and water and spending some quality time with the ice pack in hopes of getting back to 100% by race morning.

The worst part is that this feels like an excuse to be petrified. I've run hard during training, I won't deny that. I've put in my miles and done it mostly alone. Before the Flying Pig I was nervous that I couldn't finish just because it was new and hey,  I had no idea. Now that I know I can do it, it feels like anything less than a stellar finish is a failure. Obviously I know that's not true; every race is different, every road to the start line is a new one. The knee problem is just an excuse to embrace the fear, and to give myself an excuse to fail.

So courage it is then.

There are a couple things I'm wishing for this week:

• An awesome marathon experience! (duh)
• Catching up on all of YOUR awesome blogs! I love sharing in your journey and I'm so behind. Prepare for mass commenting by yours truly
• I'm really hoping for a blogger meet-up with the lovely Julia from over at Pain Pride & Perseverance. Did you know we went to College together? True story! 

In the meantime, I'm testing out some "healthy rice-krispes treats" (don't be skeptical!) while Josh is out running on his own in "our" park. I'm so proud I could burst! And then i'm super annoyed that I'm stuck inside with a swollen knee. Now I know how Ali Mc felt with her newly running hubby. Gotta take the good with the bad :)

Happy Running!!

Anybody ever had an "injury" or a flare up before a race? How did you handle it?
Anybody racing this weekend?? 

The End is in Sight!

This week has been a whirlwind. I guess maybe if I posted more than once a week, I wouldn't have mammoth posts about the million things that have been going on. But that's not the way life is (right now) so lets see.....

First and foremost, it is an amazing time to be in the bluegrass. While it may not be a huge deal to many (most) of you, Louisville is in the Final Four of the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Not only that, but Louisville is playing arch rival, mortal enemy and number one seeded Kentucky. I can't explain Bluegrass basketball to you in this paragraph, but it's something special. 2012 is such a special year to me for so many other reasons (graduating law school, taking/passing the bar, getting married, apocalyptic birthday, etc.) but  being able to add "University of Louisville goes to Final Four" is something truly special.

Secondly, I went out for my longest long run since my 2009 Flying Pig marathon on Sunday! I'm happy to report it was one million times better than last week's 10 miler. The weather was much cooler and nicely overcast. I set out with a vague idea of where I needed to go to get in all my miles, and ended up spending almost all 17 miles within 2 miles of the river

Yep - I went through three different cities and 2 different states. Something about that always just tickles me. Heading out on long-runs like these Josh tends to get a little nervous. He (rightly) insists I take a cell phone in case of emergency and lately I've been sending him photos along the way. Though I do it to ease his fears, I love that I have something to share from my beautiful morning!

I guess I got too tired after 10 to keep taking pictures!
oh and the last one is taken in front of the KFC Yum! Center, i'm bad at cropping

Because I know you're super attentive readers you may have noticed my long run was on a Sunday rather than my usual Saturday. Excellent explanation - fun happened. Friday night was our "Barristers Ball" which is essentially Prom for law students. Saturday morning I was so tired and sore from all the fun I'd had - there was dancing, there was good food, there was an open bar - I just knew I couldn't run. There are seldom excuses as great as this one to move a very important run. 

If being awkward was a job, we would be fully employed

After such a great weekend Monday was a horrible dose of the reality that is the next three weeks. My 20 miler is scheduled for Saturday, but alas, so is the major event I'm in charge of throwing. Sunday is the opener for my summer sand Vball league, so I think i'll just have to risk playing really horribly in order to get in my 20. Which brings me to...

Depending on which calender I look at, I'm about [ ] close to tapering! I planned it so that I could get my 20 miles in this weekend or next weekend, depending on how the schedule fell. Depending on how this weekend goes, I may or may not do another one. So my wish for the week is to plan my taper! I want to make it fun and yet keep it challenging so I'm fresh but strong on race day.

Happy Running!

Home Alone & An Unexpected Awesome

I can't remember the last time I had a Saturday that was so quiet. Typically Saturdays are the only days Josh and I have to spend together, what with the ridiculousness of our schedules. Lately we've been spending a lot of that time relaxing, but it's still exhausting going back and forth between our two apartments (a million times), running errands, doing homework, etc. In an effort to preserve some sort of relaxation on Saturdays - and some "together" time for me and Josh - I've been moving my long runs to Sunday lately. Still, it's hectic.

How am I supposed to say no to this handsome guy?

So when I dropped Josh off at the airport on Friday morning I was left with a wide-open weekend (of crying and counting the time until he returned, Josh would want me to say). I started off by heading to the local market and picking up some new food. In an effort to be adventurous, I picked up some things I'd never tried before. For instance, Naan. And boy oh boy oh boy is it good!

This morning I slept until I didn't feel like sleeping anymore. I fixed a big breakfast, adding blueberries to my oatmeal as a special treat (yum!) and hunkered down on the couch to be as lazy as I damn well pleased. Suffice it to say, it was glorious. The plan was to head to the gym for the UofL game at Noon and get in 2 hours of cardio. I was pretty specific on the time because 2 hours is what it takes me to run 10 miles. Since I hadn't run much this week I wasn't really anticipating stepping foot on a treadmill at all.

And then I accidentally ran all 10 miles straight on the treadmill. Whoops? It sounds odd, but it just sort of happened. On the way over I thought "I need 120 minutes. Why don't I try to get 40 minutes - a third - of that on the treadmill and then I can switch to the elliptical." So I started on the elliptical and, well, I just never switched. It felt really good to be running and having the game on was a great distraction. There were some iffy moments, and I've been babying my knee ever since, but all in all a pretty great run!

So now I'm rewarding myself with more naan, beer, and season 2 of The Wire.

After a 2 week hiatus I'm returning to my Sunday Yoga class tomorrow and I can't wait! I've also carved out some time to hit up my local running store before I go...good thing I have money left over from Christmas!

Do you get to relax on Saturdays or do you find you're usually really busy?
What do you do when you want to relax or get away from all the stress?

Consider me BodyPUMPED

So my predictions as to my soreness were 100% correct.

I'm not super can't-move-don't-touch-me-Can't-bend-over-sore, but I'm definitely experiencing some restriction in movement. Luckily, I'm at work (secret blogging) & anything that I need is within reach of the rollie-chair. I can also take my shoes off and sit however the hell I like since my desk is gigantic.

+1 for being at work.  Also, operation Hydrate is currently underway. Dangerous mission.

That's a lot of water...I'm a little hesitant

My planner for tonight says "RUN!". I'm interested to see how dark/cold/gloomy it is when I get home. Depending on those factors, I might have an excuse to try out my new Hip Hop Abs DVD. I love hip hop, and I want to love abs, so it can't be that bad, right?

On an unrelated note - a colleague of mine wore a skirt that had maybe a 4 inch inseam on it today to school. With loafers and a nice sweater. Call me a prude, but you can't "church up" a skirt that practically shows off your ladybits by adding loafers. This is a professional school (and no, I'm not talking about the "oldest profession"). I'm all for flaunting it if you got it but there is a time-place & manner for everything! (that was a law joke in disguise)

That means you too Lindsey Lohan. This is Court, not the club.

Good luck to everyone running this weekend - especially all of the first-timers! Remember that everyone is proud of you just for signing up in the first place. The hardest part is over; just enjoy your race :)