Lulu's Challenge... rise from the ashes

Warm up 2 miles. 12 x 400m up and down a hill. We run 200 m up the hill and then down the otherside and turn around and do it again. Cool down 2 miles. With Bubbles! My coach saved me and did the last 6 quarters with Bubbles. So really it is only 5.62. miles with Bubbles. After the first 6 quarters I was wondering how I was going to do 6 more. I was thinking that I would just take them two at a time and try to get it done when she took Bubbles. It was interesting to watch her push the Chariot up the hills; she really looked like she was working! I guess that's what I look like all the time. Of course, I felt like I was flying after she took the stroller.

My coach was an elite runner in the 80s (OT participant) and she's still pretty speedy. She seemed pretty delighted with the workout she got in the hills today. I was so grateful she took her! Bubbles was sleeping but woke up in the middle of her ride with the coach. I'm sure she felt like she was going faster and wanted to see what was going on. We joked that the G-forces woke her up.

With the time change I am not sure how much I'll be able to run with my group. We run on some busy roads, and even though I light myself and the Chariot up like a Christmas tree, I still get uncomfortable with the traffic in the dark. I may have to only go with the group when they are in low traffic areas.

I've felt weird since I came home. There is really no other word for it. I got cold during dinner and couldn't get warm for more than an hour even though I was wrapped in a blanket and had Bubbles pouncing on me. My stomach doesn't feel exactly right and I am, of course, thirsty. I drank so much before and at dinner that I didn't get to eat much. Weird.

Certainly not what I had planned for today. I don't feel well and don't know why. Last night I was cold after my run and couldn't get warm. That would make sense if it was cold outside. It was probably 75 degrees when I ran last night. Something is not right.

Not what I had planned for today either. I planned to run early then help with a local race. I ran easy but didn't feel great. I ran for a while then cleaned up and changed my clothes (I can't hang around in sweating clothes) and ran over to the fun run. I worked registration and helped direct traffic during the race. Then I ran about 0.3 miles home. I thought I might run more later in the day.

I felt pretty cruddy the rest of the day. We took family pictures in the evening and went to dinner. I never really felt all right to run more.

Yes, I am officially sick. I spent most of the afternoon in bed. I finally feel better but not 100%.

Seven UGLY miles at PMP+1:15. I still don't feel right. I am now thinking it is because I ate something I am sensitive to. I weigh 8.6 pounds more than I did a few days ago. Very difficult to run with all this fluid I am carrying around.

Planned to run 7 but I only made it 5.9 at PMP+1:30. Still 8.6 pounds higher than normal and it has accumulated in my lower legs making them ugly and the skin tight. I am going to put my feet up more tomorrow and drink enough water to fill a lake. Last night I slept with my legs elevated; nothing changed. My head is hurting and I feel horrible. Yuck!

I woke up this morning at 4am with a splitting headache. I sat in my massage chair (anniversary gift years ago from Honey), and it gradually got better. I targeted the massage between my shoulder blades and just below my neck. My headache is from referred pain from my neck and upper back. The stress of my situation at work is getting to me, as it does periodically. As many of you know, I have someone at work that pays an inordinate and inappropriate amount of attention to me. The stress level went up, because quite randomly, I had two different people at work express concern for my safety yesterday. In fact they let me know that there are several people concerned about their own safety, because they feel like the "situation is going to blow." One of my wonderful, caring colleagues offered to walk me to my car. My coping mechanisms were working well until yesterday. There is so much tension amongst my colleagues right now. Before any of my wonderful readers get upset, I would like you to know, I am doing something about the situation. For 3.5 years I have followed the "chain of command" within the organization I work for and now have sought outside help. I have the right people in place whom I am confident are doing what they can to help me.

Even though I slept for most of the night with my feet elevated and drank plenty of water, I was 9(!) pounds up (total) this morning. I lost 6(!) of  it during the day today before my run. My ankles still look like cankles!! At least it was easier on my feet to run a bit lighter. I took Bubbles, and we had a nice run. It wasn't fast, but it was nice. I ran PMP+1:15. Originally I had 8 miles on my schedule, but I decided to play it safe after feeling the way I have the last few days. The scale registered no loss when I got home. This weird puffiness has me baffled. My ankles were literally bulging out and over my socks when I got home from the run! Got to love gravity and H₂O.

Thank you to the wonderful people on this blog who have wished me well. It made me feel better. Thank you ever so much!

Eight with Bubbles at PMP+0:45. Today I felt really great. I am finally back to my regular weight, and felt very strong during the run. I am still fighting the tension headaches because of my situation at work. I had "lunch therapy" with Jeff today. It was good to just chat with him, especially because he is very wise and can put things into perspective and at the same time commiserate with me.

Jeff and I also talked about our plans for Thanksgiving this year. We usually spend it with him so I was talking about our potential menu. This year we are thinking about doing cheese fondue about an hour or two before "the meal." The "meal" is usually very simple and very healthful. He has mentioned he likes coming to our house because we don't have a boatload of food, and we don't overeat. Maybe that will change this year if we do fondue. Of course, he and Honey get to talking about movies, and such and I can't get a word in edgeways.

I should mention that I get very nervous cooking for Jeff because he is an amazing cook. He is always extremely gracious about our cooking -- even when it doesn't go so well. In the past, he has worked as a chef at places where expectations are high. Sometimes he and Honey get going in the kitchen, and I just watch. It is like watching a cooking show on television, only better. If they do that this year, I am ready. I have this yellow caution tape that reads, "caution, men cooking." Perhaps it should read "caution, Lulu cooking."

I hesitate to put these miles in the "easy" box. I ran with Bubbles, and we had the stroller loaded down with her stuff. After the first few hills, I quickly altered the course to avoid more. I ran 9:15s with her last night for eight miles and this morning it was tough to run. I figured out why when I realized at 4 miles I was running 8:30 pace!! I am usually a good judge of pace, but today I was not! I knew this would make me hurt later and boy, did it! My hamstrings are pretty fried. I never really was able (?) to get it slower than 9:30 pace this morning.

I will try to run a few more as I was planning to run somewhere between 16 and 18 today. I hope my trashed hamstrings recover enough I can run more today. Tomorrow's run will have to be short. We are taking Bubbles to a wildlife park. She's going to love it. Guests get driven around in open air vehicles and of course the animals are fed alfalfa. I can't wait to see her expression when a giraffe sticks his head in her face!

I hang my head in shame.

I haven't run in a week. I am not going to run the Houston Marathon as originally planned. I will run tomorrow. This is the longest I have ever gone without running except during portions of my pregnancy and a couple weeks after delivery.

My body is extremely unhappy and rebelling right now. I have had a migraine for nearly 7 days. Lots of other parts hurt and my body is doing its crazy water retention/loss thing again. There is only one explanation. The toll of my training and more likely, the stress from my situation at work has me flattened. I am light headed when I stand up or sit up too quickly. I continue to have poor thermoregulation; my sleep patterns are a mess, and I can't seem to get rested. This is not allowing me to recover from my workouts.

However, the running helps me handle the stress. I am sure some doc could prescribe some sort of drug that would make all this go away, but I don't live my life like that. I need to push through difficult times on my own and know that they will eventually end. I need to feel my emotions even if it comes from the depth of my muscles. That said, I am looking into pharmaceutical grade herbs for some relief of the symptoms of stress, that would still allow me to have my head. I am considering having my cortisol levels tested before I take anything.

I talked with my attorney today about things getting worse before they get better. Things are moving along with my situation, but they are still far from tolerable (attorney agrees). Right now, the "higher ups" have the guy leaving in FEBRUARY (I don't even know when in February). Exactly what am I supposed to do between now and then? Everytime the "squeeze" has been put on him, the situation has escalated. It is pretty bad right now. I don't even want to think about it getting worse. I haven't been in my office since the 21st of September when I received a threat. The thought of going in there nearly sends me into the stratisphere.

I will get back to running. I probably won't run as much as I have, and that makes me somewhat sad. But that being said, my putting the marathon on hold right now has another driving reason behind it. Often my training is done late at night or very early in the morning when Bubbles is asleep or with Bubbles in the stroller. Long runs that require me to be away from the house for more than 2 hours inevitably overlap into her waking hours. Then, I spend a bunch of time during my run wishing I were with her and missing her and my husband. I simply don't want to be away from her right now if I don't have to. And, I don't HAVE to. We waited more than 8 years for her, and we cherish her. Right now while she is young, I want to be around her. She's eventually going to get very independent and I'll be able to run long again and not miss her.

Thanks Lybi for wondering where I was. Here I am!

Workout was planned for 8.25 miles with "stuff" as the coach calls it. Warmed up and then ran a tempo at marathon pace (I took it a bit slower because of my last week) for three miles. I paced a new guy to the group and he was happy for the company who could keep a steady pace. Then we ran a half mile and then did 8x200 with 200 rest between. I didn't record my splits as I never wear a watch. Then we ran back and in that run we ran a mile at tempo pace, but I didn't count it as fast because I didn't put in the effort. I am happy I ran. I still have my migraine.

Thanks for your commments on my post yesterday.

Six miles with Bubbles in the hills. 1.5 mile warm up. 3 miles at tempo with every other 1/4 hard. 1.5 mile cool down. I felt very strong today. I ran with my group and passed a lot of people in the last mile of the tempo. People sure hate it when someone with a stroller passes them! I still have my intense headache - I think it has been 9 days. I went to the doctor today, and they had to give me a shot of pain medicine to make me functional. If I hadn't had the doctor appointment, I would have had to go to the ER. The pain was so intense, I am not even sure how I got to the doctor. It was a struggle. I go back Tuesday for follow-up. We talked about stress vitamins so I am going to get some today.

The run helped today. Bubbles was exceptionally happy today and was cracking herself up! Thank God for her and Honey (my husband)! Also, thank you for your well-wishes. I feel somewhat pathetic that I need them, but they are felt.

Very, very easy miles. I ran late tonight and alone. My head was telling me to stop at mile 2; it was aching so bad. I have this deal with my body when I am running: If something hurts, I acknowledge it. Then I don't allow myself to think about it for a mile. By mile three it was still hurting but I knew I could finish the run. I spent a lot of time telling myself it wasn't permanent damage and that it would feel better if I did the entire run. I do feel a bit better. My head still feels like it is in a vice (ear to ear) and like some one is pressing my eyebrows in front of my eyes and the back of my head into my neck.

Ok, so I haven't posted in a while so here is the start of the catch up (written Dec 3).

Bringing Home the Bacon. This is what my husband calls these races. He loves it. He stays home in bed and I go run and bring home a bunch of meat! First place in every age division is a Turkey and second place is sausages! These are wonderful Louisiana sausages. So my goal is these races are to find someone in my age division and follow them to the finish line. The sausage is the goal. Yes, second place is the ultimate goal. So I came home with two turkeys and one box of sausages.

In the one mile race which I ran at a conversational pace, I won my age division (shucks!) and got turkey #1. In the 5K, I came in second in my age division as planned and got the box of sausages (yea!). Then I won a second turkey as a door prize.

BTW, I threw up 5 times during the 5K! Yes 5 times! A girl ran by me during my 5th upchuck in the gutter and said some pretty ugly things to me. As my friend and I passed her in the last 1/4 mile like she was standing still, my friend said some ugly things to her only some of which is repeatable ie, "Pucker is passing you!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Chillin' miles at marathon pace.

So here is the beginning of another week off. The stress of my work situation has made it so that I can hardly eat or keep anything down. I am taking a week off to chill.

Easing back into it again. Bubbles has had a nasty ear infection from seasonal allergies. She's better. My new doc seems to be on top of things and is getting to the bottom of my health issues. My lawyer seems to be getting some results. Life is good. Life always has been good; it's just getting better for me right now.

Easy run. Just trying to ease back into the running.