End of Week 15 Dumbo Double Dare Training

Holy cow...did I just type week 15? That means I'm currently in week 16 and week 18 ends with the race weekend!!! AH!!! That means I will be in Disneyland in TWO WEEKS!!!! GAH!!!!

Oh man...I need to start packing. Yes, I am one of those people that starts packing way before they leave on the trip. Well...at least I get my list ready and do laundry and get it all organized, so not really packed into the suitcase, but more like have it prepared to throw into the suitcase the night before I leave. Because that's how I roll. I've been fine tuning and tweaking my pack list for the past 4 months (yes, 4 months, I get excited about trips and start to plan!) and I'm still to this day making small adjustments. Take this item off, add a different item on, increase the number of this item, decrease the number of another item. See what I mean, it's hard work being organized. 

Though this post isn't about my packing skillz, this is about training, so why don't we get to it! The scheduled training runs for Week 15 are as follows:

Tuesday: 30-45 minutes 
Thursday: 30-45 minutes
Saturday: 4 miles

How my training actually went:

Wednesday: 30 minutes
Saturday: 7 miles

Yeah, not really the same. I'm not sure why I even refer to the schedule anymore, maybe I should just report what I am able to do and call it good, right? So let's hop to it.

Wednesday's run was tough, because it was hotie - hot - hot - hot outside. We don't do well with hot up here. There is no such thing as air conditioning in homes and it just gets miserable here. But I went out there and stomped some miles. 

Not bad time and mileage. It was tough because I'm still working out my body mechanics with all the PT I'm doing. My heels were still hurting afterwards and luckily I had PT that afternoon and she was able to see the amount of pain I'm in hours later. 

My long runs on the weekend are tricky. I need to get high enough mileage to "jog" my legs muscle memory that I can go longer distances, but also not go for such a long run that I risk injuring myself. It really is a tough balance. My PT cleared me for a 7 mile run, which was perfect because I had run 5 miles the week before so 7 miles would be a safe enough jump up. Even though I was cleared to run that much I was still really nervous about it because the week before when I had run the 5 miles my heels hurt SO BADLY! I was hobbling the whole rest of the weekend and I was just miserable.

So Saturday morning I got ready for my little 7 mile jaunt, only I had an unexpected running companion, the little pumpkin. Hubby was under the weather that morning and I couldn't leave the kiddo with him, so out comes the BOB and out we go for the run. Now this took a lot more prep and thought than just me getting out for some miles. I had to make sure there was sufficient entertainment, food and appropriate layers for the kiddo so he is comfortable while I'm sweating buckets pushing him around.

The morning was cool (thank goodness!) and there was a nice breeze. The run was decent, but I hadn't anticipated the amount of effort it took to push the stroller around while I was pushing myself on the run! By the time I got to mile 5 I was toast. Like full stop. Body was done. I wasn't in pain or having issues, I was just so fatigued by the extra exertion that my body was like "...and you're done." I ended up walking the last two miles back to the car.

Not great, actually it's a dreadful time, but I got the mileage done and that's what is important. I am trying to remember that I am not doing these races for time, I can't, I am recovering from injury and I have to give myself time for the work I'm doing through PT to correct the problems. During that time I need to be good to my body and let myself heal. So instead I am doing these races for the enjoyment of running and running through Disney, there is no other feeling like that anywhere else in the world! 

I have been doing so much work on my body with PT lately that I really can't feel bad about my time when I run, the fact that I'm running at all is a complete blessing! I was worried for so many months that I would never have the chance to run again, I was always in pain and my body just couldn't handle the strain that running would put on it. Now, my pain is still there in some spots, but nowhere NEAR what it used to be and I have been able to find ways to mitigate it, as well as learn ways to help keep it from happening again in the future. These tools have brought me back to the thing I love and I've been missing so dearly. I never thought that not running would be an option in my life, just because I enjoy so many things about it. But when my body turned against me and I couldn't run anymore, I had lost so much joy and really felt hopeless and helpless. It's amazing how these small things you may take for granted in life can affect you, especially when you aren't able to do them.

So thank you for staying with me during this HUGE transition in my life and running, I am so thankful that I decided to make the leap to go to the physical therapist for my issues. It has given me my life back in so many ways, I am so thankful.

Now it's your turn: How is your training going? Have a big race you are working towards? Who is going to Disneyland at the end of the month to run in the races? What are you excited for most?