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...