Marathon Mom

Week 15 and the peak of marathon training! I loved this week for that but it was also the week of pure craziness and new beginnings. As I have mentioned before Morgan was diagnosed with osteosarcoma earlier this month, we met with the oncology vet on Monday and as Morgan underwent a bone biopsy on Tuesday we found out the damage was extensive leading to a fast forward on amputation by 10 days. SO Wednesday he became a 3 legged pup, but is doing great (follow his journey at Morgan Runs ). He came one Thursday night, meaning lack of sleep and a long Friday that ended in a sick kiddo who I finally brought in on Sunday and O has strep! Monday:  Morning run with a new running friend 7.5 miles and afternoon run/walk with Matt 5 miles strength with trainer Tuesday: Evening run coaching 6 miles hills Wednesday:  Strength and 30 min elliptical Thursday:  Morning intervals 6.5 miles 45:00 Afternoon run (break between work and meeting) 4.25 miles speedwork Friday: ...

Well that was interesting! Over the past few months (okay years actually) I've had issues with tachycardia and becoming lightheaded, sweating and nearly passing out. This seems to be getting worse so I finally gave in last Friday and saw a doctor, yes despite working in medicine I avoid obtaining healthcare for myself!  After some routine labs (all normal) which showed I am no longer anemic and my thyroid is finally at a good level, yay that doesn't happen often, got to love hypothyroid I was referred to a cardiologist. The appointment started as normal...EKG, orthostatic blood pressures which are low as always and a pulse of 50....and now wait for the doctor. Enter the doctor and we run through symptoms, history, etc including my eating patterns and I mention I run and workout most days. We talk more he gives me his possible diagnosis ideas and starts to set up further tests as I ask "will there be any issue running?" And now it gets interesting... "W...

Week 14  yikes, so this is my new reality?! Okay not so much but like I mentioned last week was nuts, Matt was gone and I worked like 50 hours after being home for months. Despite this I worked on fitting in my workouts and focused on healthy eating. Monday:  Morning run 6 miles /core Tuesday:  Morning 45 min elliptical and strength, Evening 5 mile run (hills) Wednesday:  13 hours at work, lots of walking Thursday:  Run 10K Race (report coming) Friday:  Rest (lots of walking at work) core Saturday:  7.5 Mile run and strength Sunday:  13 Miles (Yes, I did a 10 Mile race but “quit” and headed back to run with a friend) Saturday Morning Run: Beautiful! Week 15 and I am back at the peak of marathon training! I love this week, yes I am crazy! Bring it on… Monday:  Morning run, 7.5 miles 1:00:02 with a new running friend and afternoon strength with trainer Tuesday:  Spin in morning and Evening run coaching Wedn...

A quick post and run, I apologize for my intense lack of posting and responding lately but this first week at work has been an adjustment and to make it even crazier I got to play the role of single parent all week while Matt was at a conference. Combine full time work (complete with late days) with my run job, a race and myself and our babysitter being sick and you have insanity! And to make things even crazier O left her lovey at school on Friday so bedtime was NOT fun! Deep breath, I survived and the rest of my work life will be super easy, right?! Now on to the fun part... Winners! Sorry for the delay but here are the winners from the Birthday Bash Giveaway... Jennifer Boudreau- Sweat Pink  Kalee Sorey- Active Accessories  Kristy Wilson- Procompression  Carrie Austin- Nuun Lisa Jones- Chike  You should be getting an email from Jill or I soon.

Guess what I decided this week... Can't wait, who else is joining me in April? Week 13  the heat has come and gone and finally in Fall weather, I was much smarter and felt great this week. Monday:  21 mile Bike and core Tuesday:  Strength with trainer 4.5 mile of ¼ mile speed intervals and Evening 5 mile run coaching Wednesday:  4 mile walk and Dance: 90 minute class one and only! Thursday:  Run 8 miles and strength/core Friday:  21.7 miles 3:08:44 (8:44 pace) Saturday:  Change of plans, instead of pacing I was the medical team! 2 mile walk in afternoon Sunday:  14.3 miles 1:58 (8:16 pace) I tried UCan for the first time since my bad experience with the plain last winter and I love it! 1 serving pre-run and only water during and I felt great, could have kept running. Last mile was 7:26! Week 14  marks the start of work for me, so things will get interesting as I learn to fit in workouts and family time. Monday...

"Oh my" is all I can say after Wednesday night! I had been wavering on my idea to start dance again for a while and finally got up the nerve to make the drive to the studio on Wednesday night despite every bit of me wanting to stay home and relax. I had talked with the teacher during the day at O’s class and was reassured I would not be the oldest one there and given permission to try it out, which made me feel a little better. This class was aimed at “young adults” and the other class at “adults 35+ well I guess I have now crossed to the second but aren’t we only as old as we feel? As I walked down the hall to the studio I was texting a friend who I used to dance with and I sent her this message “I’m old enough to be their mother!” and sure enough I walked in to class with girls just out of high school! One girl came up to tell me she felt out of place being out of dance for 3 years, ha! 3 years…try 15 years! We warmed up which was great; a lot of stretching, core...

My plan for my 8 th half of 2013 quickly changed on Friday when my priorities in life changed in seconds. Like I mentioned on Friday we had another appointment with Morgan to discuss his on going leg pain and thinking we were ending with an ortho consult and likely ACL surgery. Well as we walked out the vet made a last minute decision to redo an xray from last month to get a better view of something and that’s when the bad news came. Morgan’s knee is fine, instead there is a tumor on his femur. The likely cause of this is osteosarcoma and the only treatment is to remove the tumor which is his case means amputation. This would then be followed by chemo since most dogs already have some metastasis. The worst part, besides knowing that this is cancer, is the pain that the leg is causing him. We are working hard on pain medication and keeping him resting but with an active 70lb dog that is rough. When I woke on Saturday morning for the race I was not focused and just wanted to run fo...

Week 12  started nice and cool but yikes the heat returned, it was also filled with way too much running! Yes, I am admitting it, I needed to take days off and I didn’t. What was planned as a walk would easily turn in to a run and I’m sure hurt my half, oh well, I learned the hard way again even though I knew it was stupid as it happened. Monday:  Race: 10K/5K combo  Tuesday:  Strength with trainer and Evening 4.5 mile hill run coaching Wednesday:  1 hour elliptical and Appointment with sports chiro Thursday:  7.75 mile speed intervals at 5:30am and core 1 mile walk in afternoon Friday:  6 mile run/walk to/from store and core Saturday:  Half Marathon (report tomorrow) Sunday:  5 mile recovery run and 1 mile walk at Nature Center with Matt and O and Strength View on my Sunday run Week 13 the heat is back, 100F in the forecast today, ugh! I will be smarter this week! Enough said! And what’s ahead… Monday:  Bik...

What a week, I’ve written many posts in my head but just not what I feel like writing now, so today is just a collection of my thoughts, decisions and struggles from this week. Honestly how did such a short week turn into such a tough, long week? Vegetables Yesterday we met friends for vegetable picking at a local farm, unfortunately with our crazy cold spring and now hot spell there isn’t much to pick. The kids had a blast and we have plenty of peppers, tomatoes and eggplants. Plus they gave all the kids a small cantaloupe. I think the best part was all the dirt they were given free run in! Heck O was doing flips in the fields, she had dirt from head to toe! Thursday is also CSA day but we after pick up we were still lacking one thing for dinner so off to the farmer’s market we when for corn. Once again I went a little nuts: corn, apples and 3 gluten free baking mixes later we finally left. Pretty sure we won’t need produce for at least a few days! Dance On Wednes...

I know I run a lot but 3 races in 3 days not normally, but things just seemed to fit this past weekend. Almost a year ago I registered for the half marathon and then met this great group of runners through Moms Run this Town and had fun group to share the race. They also were the reason behind the Monday race (the cheap second race addition convinced me to run both!). So here I was running a half marathon on Saturday and 10K / 5K double on Monday, great training for Dopey if no other reason. Women Rock Half After a week of intense heat the weather improved slightly, only 70 at race start. After the craziness of the shuttles and massive porta-potty lines we finally got the start line to hear they were delaying “a few minutes” ugh! I knew I wasn’t in full racing form yet but wanted to do what I could, then the week before happened, I spent most of Wednesday-Friday with intense back pain and right quad pain, no idea other than my stupid decision to go to a new weight class on Tuesd...

Sorry for those looking for my race recaps I got lazy last night and you'll have to wait. There is a teaser on my Facebook page today, be sure to check it out and come back for the full recaps tomorrow... August  over, seriously? Where did the summer go? Although it ended with a massive heat wave with hot, humid weather in the 90s making for tough runs and lots of indoor activities. This was also time for me to look at my goals for 2013 and realize I am on track for many but some out of my control are just beyond my reach. True in many aspects of life! Fitness         Run 225 miles- Yes! 240.2 Actually got out on my bike most weeks, no swimming but lots of strength/core focus 5 th half (7 th half/full of 2013) done! Not my goal but improving from previous 2013 races Duathlon done and I remembered why I love them, but need to bike more! 3 rd  Ragnar was great, already planning for next year! Life Office has be...

I am feeling so much better by adding the extra couple week to my training. Rather than coming up on my final long run I have 3 more much needed weeks. I guess we can still call this Week 11 but I guess it is turning into an 18 week plan. The extreme heat made the week tough and meant slower runs and cutting miles. So how did the week go… Monday:  15 mile bike Tuesday: 30 min ARC trainer then weight class. Evening 5 mile run coaching Wednesday:  Core and Run to/from gym/farmer's market (5 miles). A little running while filming a TV spot with a runner I am coaching. Tough to stay cute when it is nearly 100 degrees out! Thursday:  Run to/from playground (7 miles) Friday:  3 mile walk and core/upper body strength Saturday:  Half Marathon #7 of 13in2013: could have been better but could have been worse, overall I am happy (full recap tomorrow) Sunday:  Easy 4.5 mile run with Matt and strength/core Check out this great MRTT group before the...