Eye of the Tiger...

So yesterday I finally got around to investing in some Tiger Balm.

Holy numbing power Batman!

I was an Icy/Hot girl but I kept hearing how great Tiger Balm is and after Frayed Laces wrote about making "crack bags" of them for her Boston Marathon run I figured it was about time I invested in some. Last night when I got out of the night job I stopped by the local Walgreens and picked some up along with a treat and went home to my bed and Disc 2 of Rome Season 1. (I'm addicted) After settling in with my show, my legs propped up on a pillow and 500 mg of Naproxen I cracked open the Tiger Balm and slather/massaged some into both knees and left hip...

For the next hour I was in a mind blowing euphoria of painlessness. It was glorious. It may have even lasted longer than an hour... I'm not sure because I fell asleep.

I am Redhead Running and I endorse this product. :)

Back in the saddle again...

"I'm back! Back in the saddle again!"

You know what I love more than some Aerosmith? Some running! Got in a 5 miler yesterday!

After a friday night of drunken shenanigans and a Saturday of too much fun in the sun I was to bed early Saturday night and up bright and early Sunday morning to hit the Cady Way Trail. It was my first longer run in ages and I was a happy, happy redhead running! I started off slow for a good half mile and ended much of the same, but I did even 10 minute splits for four straight miles. I don't really monitor my pace much, just check it out after the run and see how I did and I amaze myself sometimes with how consistant I am. I know monitoring your pace is important and once I am back on track I intend to finally invest in a Garmin (yes that's right... I do not own a Garmin). I just go by my Nike+ and before I got that, I just used the stop watch on my iPod. I'm still new to this running business so slowly but surely I'll get there and have all the latest and greatest gadgets and gizmo's, but for now I stick to what works... heck I'm still trying to figure out my frigging Nike+... for the life of me the thing won't stay calibrated!I wonder if anyone else has this problem? I should go check out the forums and see if I just have a defect model or something.

Anyway... morale of the story... I can run again! I'm still going to take it slow. For instance, despite having the night off I'm not going to run today so I can make sure I am good a recovered from yesterday's run. Tomorrow I'm going to shoot for a 2 miler in the morning before work and see how it goes. Look at me... I'm being responsible! :)

Guess who's registered for Chicago...

I AM, I AM!!!

That's right I am OFFICIALLY registered for the Chicago Marathon on October 11, 2009.

My heart goes pitter-pat just thinking about it!

Guess what else?

I ran an easy 3 miler this morning and feel A-ok! Guess who's back... back again?!

Life is good again!

And don't worry, I've learned my lesson and will be taking it easy this time... patience is a virtue I've been made to work on these last few weeks and it's definitely helped put a dent in my stubbornness as well.

Special Shout out to the owner's of Track Shack (the local, and greatest running shop here in Orlando) Jon & Betsy Hughes for setting me straight about registering for Chicago and offering to help me out in the event registration was closed. I already loved Track Shack but after meeting Jon & Betsy the other night, there will always be an extra special place in my heart for that place and their whole team. They do an amazing job with all the running events, have a great store with an excellent staff and are absolutely amazing people themselves! Thanks Jon & Betsy!

http://www.trackshack.com/

The Road to Recovery: One mile at a time.

Running update:

Friday - First Test Run - 1 mile - 10 minutes

Memo: Significantly better "test run" since my last attempt... minimal dull ache in leg. Popped a anti-inflammatory after the run and took it easy the rest of the night.

Sunday - Second Test Run - 2 miles - 19 minutes

Memo: Great run. Wanted to go further but made stubborn self stop at 2. Popped a anti-inflammatory after the run and took it easy the rest of the night. Feeling a little tight today.

One mile at a time I will be back in the game!

Learning to be on the sidelines...

Yesterday 13,000 people ran the IOA Corporate 5k at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando. I was not one of those runners. I was on the sidelines cheering on my friends and co-workers and trying to keep my spirits up. It was only a 5k I told myself, but it was still hard... some of those friends and co-workers were running that race because of me and there I was on the sidelines... still on the mend.

My boss and I ran the OUC 5k back in December together and at the 3 mile mark when I started to sprint, as per the norm, I gunned past him only for him to refuse to be beat by a girl and kicked it up a notch himself... beating me by seconds. He has held that race against me ever since... last night's race was supposed to be our "rematch". Instead I whooted and hollered "GO BOSSMAN" as he went sprinting past...

My friend Lazy Runner was there... he finished in the top 20... he thought I was running in it and decided to run it. Instead I promised to be his personal cheerleader....

My night job manager came to me for training advice and challenged me to a duel... the whole night job crew dressed up like a bunch of goofs and did the race together, I was so jealous that I finally could've had someone else to dress up with me for a race for once... instead I cheered for them as they passed...

And with that I learned to be a race supporter, even if I was dripping with jealousy and cursing my bum leg. There's always next year.

I have one more week of doctor ordered rest... but staying true to my stubborn self I'm going to see how a mile loop around the lake goes today... keep your fingers crossed for me.

Hiatus...

It's been quite a few weeks since I've been on here and I apologize... to who? No clue as I don't think I have one single follower to my blog but either way I should've been blogging my heart out... maybe it would've helped me through this funk I've been in.

Remember the CNL 10k? The best race ever? Yeah, well while it was the best race ever it was also my undoing. The doc confirmed I have pulled my quad muscle and I've been limping around since. I haven't been able to run at all which means I haven't been able to sleep at all so the result is me limping around being a rather cranky b*tch. I still have two more weeks of suggested rest and I still have days where I limp. It's already been a month since all this madness began after Gasparilla and I just don't feel like I'm ever going to get back up on my feet again.

I was supposed to start my training for Chicago last week but that obviously isn't happening... well it sorta is...

Since I've been given the go ahead to cross train while I'm laid up and I quote "you have to crawl before you walk so you my dear, need to walk before you run... " (Doc's own words) I have been improvising my training. Monday I was supposed to do 3 miles... so I cross trained on the bike 7 miles. Tuesday; another 3 miles... so I walked 2 miles. I walk half as much as I should run (ok a little more than half...) and bike twice as much. (Ok a little more than 2x but by now ya'll should've realized I'm not very patient) So ultimately I'm still cranking up mileage but not running. :(