REALITY IS SETTING IN.. So I havent written since my 3.5 week trip to the Jersey shore and I must say it was an amazing family vacation. I wrote about how enjoyable it is to run those Jersey shore boards specifically my route from south end Spring Lake to Asbury which is about 6.1 miles each way. Its flat, fun and filled with ALL types of runners, speed walkers, slow walkers and ALL sorts of interesting people to say the least. Tons of families riding bikes, moms jogging with single, double and triple strollers, running groups, high school teams in training, and there is always a woman or man to challenge your speed. Its a RUNNERs DREAM if you will. So, of course, I am in heaven every day except this one day in particular. I just had to share.. I am approaching the last 2.5 miles of my 13 mile run. Its like the light at the end of the tunnel when suddenly my music dies. It sucks when that happens but no biggie there is so much to look at that I didnt even care. Im feeling great and pushing about a 7:45 min mile at this point. I notice up ahead a short man who was kinda roundish and a bit balding. I would say he was probably early 40s. I noticed he was sweating and seemed to be power walking. I even thought to myself, good for him getting out an exercising on this gorgeous day. When all of this sudden as I pass him, I hear him say, why dont you go get something to eat? I was kinda in shock. I didnt miss a step but I thought that was the RUDEST thing I had ever heard. I mean would you go up to an overweight person and call them fat????? The Jersey in me just had to look and see this guys face so I turn around and he waves to me. Are you kidding me??? I couldnt help it and I gave him the finger.YES, I DID!! I was sooooooooooo mad. I mean more in shock. Everyone on that boardwalk has always been super friendly and complimentary. Just the day before I had a man tell me how great my form was. Another guy on a bike told me great run, Then there was a woman who told me she sees me every day and I am always smiling and I make it look so easy. I got a lot of thumbs up from male runners. Anyhow, I cant blame it on Jersey as there were so many nice people. The only thing I can only say this guy was a di__!! But of course he succeeded in ruining my day and my image. I kept thinking about how I look. Do I look too thin? Ughh..Should I just quit right now?? Gees, I have been an avid distance runner for over 20 years. Never missing many days and I have been small my whole life. My mom, my sister, my grandparents and my dad who was only 57. Its just part of my makeup, my genes then add a lot of running and yoga and you have a small girl! The interesting thing is that before this man made the rude remark, I had decided that I needed a few pounds. I was on a mission to gain about 5 lbs. I dont regularly weigh myself but I do know that my shorts were much tighter than when I left for the shore. Therefore, I am positive the nightly excursions to the candy shop and ice cream parlors paid off. So, I guess I thought I could escape for a while at the Jersey Shore...24 days to be exact but reality is literally starting to sink in. Exactly two more weeks before school begins again and I dont know about YOU but for me its the SAME ANXIETY that creeps up every single year. First of all, I LOVE having my kids at home. Did I just say that? If you talked to me about 5 years ago, those very words would NOT ever have crossed my lips. Its still hard to believe I am saying them. However, let me preface this by saying my dear husband works from home now which allows me A LOT of freedom during the summer. My routine doesnt change too much except I dont have to deal with ANY schedules except my own workout ones!! With all that said, now can you see why I am starting to stress????????????????? In addition, I am going to be a mom of a teenager in exactly 14 short days. WHO ME???? I can already envision it now, August 20th and the dreaded 6am wake up occurs. Its back to making lunches and breakfast with my sleepy eyes half open. My kids physically exhausted from staying up til 11PM every night during the summer and then there is my youngest. She is in a completely different league. When I say almost 8 going on 16, I am NOT KIDDING! She sleeps like a teenager. So much so, that I find myself dressing her while she is sleeping as I physically cant get her little behind out of bed. Its absolutely insane!! Well in the midst of all this back to school stuff. I am trying to keep in shape. It hasnt been easy this summer. I have been trying to HEAL my 3 different injuries. I have literally come FULL circle from my first injury back in Dec 2012 back to where I was :(:(:(. You know when you continue to workout out on an injury, you may get rid of it eventually, but it usually resurfaces somewhere else. This is what I have been learning. Back in Dec 2012, I started with an achilles issue in my left foot, which got better after running on it for about 9 months. But it went straight to the piriformis which was hopping from side to side for a year now and finally settled on the right side. Unfortunately, cortisone only helps my right side for about 2 weeks..BOO :(. And in the last 3 months...GUESS WHO IS BACK??? Yep, its my achilles but on the other side (right) and a form of tendonitis that almost feels like an achillies issue on the left inner ankle. Needless to say, if you could only see me in the morning. Getting out of bed and down the stairs can be a challenge especially if I run a couple of days in a row. Fortunately, if these injuries are like before, I am able to run and kinda get in a groove with the pain and ALOT of Ibuprofen. I think I probably should worry more about my stomach bleeding out than anything else at this point!! Ughh... the life of a middle aged psycho running mom is not an easy one... So all in all, I feel like I have made a little progress but not as much as I would have liked if I would have just stopped all together. I definitely CUT my miles big time. Since I have been back home I am trying to run 2 days on 2 days off. Took almost a month off from yoga and havent done a day over 13 miles. Most of my days have been 9-11 miles. So guys keep up your workouts. Take it from me..dont over train. Enjoy your exercise. Looking forward to meeting my friend Liz tomorrow for a run and to catch up. Til tomorrow..
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 01:28:25 +0000