Life is a Roller Coaster! Hop on and enjoy the ride

Welcome to this week’s Fireside Chat!  It’s Sunday night and time to sit back and reflect on the last week.  I am sure that I am like most people – you go into a week with grand plans of what needs to get done, what you wish to accomplish and how you see the week going. 

This past week was no different.  I had plans on actually getting caught up on some of blog post, starting some spring cleaning (my craft/costume/project room is a disaster and I can’t find anything!) and try out a few new recipes.  I was signed up for classes at the gym (I was determined to get there 4 times this week) and had several training runs planned.

Having to face the reality that I needed to slow down on my training runs and work on getting my body healthy and injury free has been tough.  Telling a runner that they can’t run is hard to deal with.  Granted, I have been told that I can still run, just have to keep the miles low (like less than 5 miles).  The fact that I have my marathon in less than 6 weeks is kinda freaking me out.  At this point, my longest run has been 14 miles.  This past weekend was supposed to be 18 miles but after my PT appointment on Thursday, I was told that was not going to happen.  She gave me the ok to do the 10 mile run, but only if I promised that I would cut it short if my knee started bothering me.  

Figures, the weather is finally starting cooperate and I am limited on who much I can get out and run.  Getting out on Saturday for a run (even though it was shorter than I would have wanted to do) was awesome!  The Fox River trail was finally mostly clear and the sun was shining.  I ended up turning around at the 4 mile marker for the run instead of the 5, just because I didn’t want to push the knee too far.  When I finished, I was feeling good, a little sore, but much better than I did after the 6 miles I did 2 weeks ago!  The most frustrating part of the run was the fact that I still felt like I could have run another 10 miles.  There is still fuel in the tank, the body and mind are still wanting to go further… with the exception of my beloved IT band and knee.  It give me that much more motivation to work on correcting the IT band issues and continue with the strength training and PT.  I want to get out there and really so how far I can run!

On a more exciting note – I think I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket! On Thursday I found out that I won a Twitter contest and now had 4 tickets plus a bunch of other goodies for the Monster Jam event at the Resch Center on Sunday!  Perfect timing for my son’s 16th birthday!  It was a fun (but LOUD) afternoon!

The Prize Pack

The Birthday Bay and the trucks

 Then, I also found out that I won not one, but two of the gift baskets at the Comedy City Comedy Against Cancer Event last weekend!  The first basket was a wine and cheese assortment from 2 local venues.  THe second was a basket compliments of Badger State Brewing and the Green Bay Distillery.  With all this beer, wine and cheese, I think I’ve got the start of a good party!

Overall, it’s been a great week and I am determined not to let me injury get me down.  I have to keep reminding myself that even tho my knee is not hurting when I run, that is not the ok to keep going.  Keeping the miles down is my best course of action to letting myself heal, no matter how many miles I really want to run.  I have an awesome supportive family and group of friends that are looking out for me and continue to remind me to SLOW DOWN.  I may grumble and try to be tough and push on, but I know what I need to do and I really grateful to have them looking out for me!

The Roller Coaster is ever changing and keeps us from getting bored.  Sometimes the climb to the top is slow and long but the view from the top is always worth the effort.  We just need to learn to enjoy the view from the top, look forward to the next adventure and the triumph at the end of the next hill!

Until next time, get out there and enjoy spring weather – now that it finally is here!