Like a Boy Band Reunion

In a blaze of glory that eerily foreshadows the success of the upcoming New Kids on the Block reunion tour, my return to being a healthy runner lasted all of one run. Yep. One run. In my utter brilliance, cause it was a nice day, and cause I have had my license for a whopping 45 days and hadn't made it more than 1/2 mile from my house, I decided to take the Purple Pickle out of the neighborhood and do a several mile loop around this end of the county.

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Needless to say, I wouldn't be writing this post if it went well. I only hope for three things:
1. That I didn't make too much of a divot in Mr. & Mrs. Talley's front yard. Super nice people to have me drop in unexpectedly like that, though. Note for the map - I was traveling right to left on Old Church Rd, and that nice triangular property with the loong driveway there at the intersection of Piping Tree Ferry Rd. is the Talleys.
2. That the people in their cars enjoyed the show and had a heck of a story to tell their friends about the pink biker chick that sailed off a gentle curve.
3. That no one had the ability to capture my trip off-road at 30 mph on their cell phone to post to You Tube.

So, the Purple Pickle has a lot of cosmetic damage, but being a Harley, that equates to a hefty repair bill I'm sure. (Child to husband as they came to scrape me up: "Is Mommy crying?". Dad replies "No, but she will when she gets the repair bill.") I do know that I was going a blistering 30 mph when I went down, as that's what the speedometer still says. I trust it, as I recall a top speed of 40 mph over the whole trip. A PR! Me, got a lot of bruises where the bike landed on my leg, and my shoulder seems pretty torn up since I still can't raise my arm.

6 hours in the ER (where child #2 says "Mommy, please don't die" as I walk in) for them to tell me "Xrays show nothing broken but we can't tell you anything about any soft tissue injury. Ice it really aggressively although we haven't given you any for 6 hours and since you can't move your arm, you probably want to follow up with a real doctor." OK, maybe I paraphrased a little, but the text in black is seriously what they said. If I didn't break a bone, go away.

Someone at work just emigrated to Canada (the first time I've ever heard of someone actually emigrating to Canada, btw). Free health care there has GOT to be better than this!

So, the overall opinion is that my future in NASCAR is in serious jeopardy due to my inability to turn left.

I'm Back!

Doctor gave me the "all clear" yesterday, so hit the gym for Pilates and of course, a run this morning. Sweet Kay that works the desk at the Y has been waiting for me to come back, and when I saw her last night (and I was wearing workout clothes), she asked when I was going to run again. She's really one of the brightest spots there -- even at 5:30 am!

So, without further ado, here it is!

Mile 1: 10:49

Mile 2: 11:01

Mile 3: 11:01

Don't call the Olympic team today, but it felt GOOD!!!

The Study Results

Oh my - on pins & needles. Tonight was the orientation "fill out the paperwork, get measured" meeting for this parent/child nutrition study run by the local prestigious university. Of course, I'm feeling doubly guilty that I am failing my children by not feeding them organic, vegan, raw foods, perfectly balanced with exactly the right amount of calculated protein, whole grain carbs, fruits, veggies, and fiber, all packed in adorable kid-pleasing tableaus.

Of course, I am feeling slightly virtuous that even if my children are not choosing carrots over cookies ("please mom, may we have some pomegranate with our tofu cubes?"), at least I was the skinniest mom there. The rest of the moms/caregivers were way out there past my "before" self, so that's good.

I will say that I didn't like the body fat measuring thingy. I much prefer my digital scale's body fat calculator thing, as theirs and mine had an 8 point spread. I will say that their scale and my home scale are both showing the same depressing fact -- a month of walking is not good for your weight. So I'm looking forward to running again. I was tricking myself that a brisk 14:30 pace walk was just as good on the fitness scale as running, but the scale says otherwise. I didn't gain 5 pounds, so that's good news, and I would like to attribute a couple of pounds to that lovely cyclical water weight, but it's still a smidge consistently higher than it was pre-surgery.

So, Friday we get the news as to where we were randomly assigned. One group has weekly meetings. The other group gets materials in the mail. Either way, I have my fabulous gift of my $20 Wal-Mart card, and 2 pedometers.

Words to Live By

Self, you will not regret getting up early to run. But you will regret NOT getting up to run.

Thanks, WorkoutMommy. You are SO right. Enough said.

Snakes On My Run

No, it's not the next sequel to Snakes on a Plane. It's one of the many hazards of running, albeit in a completely different category than the typical cars/dogs/injury list. So, in no particular order, here are the unmentioned hazards of running.

1. Snakes on the road. It's spring. The asphalt is warm. Need I say more?
2. Dead things on the road. Having to run around the road kill in all of its gory closeness is somehow very different than zipping past it at 55 mph.
3. Dead things on the road, part II. The fact that the same dead things can stay there for weeks, offering you a very personal lesson in the phases of decomposition.
4. Trash trucks that back up the road in the dark while weaving erratically.
5. Suicidal squirrels that run out in front of me when I'm doing speed work. I have no brakes, you idiots! Not to be outdone by.....
6. Killer squirrels in the woods. WATCH OUT SHANNON! Those fluffy tails are just there to draw your attention away from their razor sharp fangs.
7. The ULTIMATE Dead things on the road -- shall we call this one "road spray"?

What do you consider to be the unmentioned hazards of running?

I gots a Garmin!

Yes! Thanks to Christmas & Birthday presents, I now own a REAL Garmin, not some ancient "maps my position based on sextants and sundials" thing. It's SO cool, I'm just walking around the driveway wearing it. It's the Garmin 205, and I've got the software installed on my PC so I can analyze my workouts. I do have to give a thumbs down so far to the wrist strap. Ick. Anyone make a Velco edition?

Me & my 4 year old training buddy (watch out, Lance Armstrong, he's got a brand new, blazin' fast, 16" wheel HOT WHEELS bike with a real water bottle!) have been logging miles around the neighborhood. I'm walking, he's riding. Did you know that you can now customize your iGoogle page with a Lance Armstrong theme and add a Lance Armstrong "LiveStrong" track something gadget? I'm sure there are readers amongst us that will piddle on themselves and immediately get it. Here's the link: http://www.google.com/help/ig/art/artists/armstrong.html

Back to me! My pace doesn't look amazing, as we have to do important things like stop to rescue caterpillars or tiptoe past the bunnies, but we're having fun and we're all exercising.

So, watch out world. I'm a 4 mph speed walking demon, and I have an entourage / security force on bikes that will mow you down, as long as you aren't a caterpillar.

Linda gets a special shout out for her first 5k. She ran the Susan G Komen Race for the Cure 5k here in Richmond on May 10th, and finished in 34 minutes and change. Woo hoo! You kicked assphalt, Linda, and I can't wait 'til I'm back to running. You & me will be taking on the Xterra Scramble, right?

In Rehab Again

Eeks. Well, here I am in "rehab" again. Willie Nelson is just running an endless loop through my head -- "In rehab again. Can't believe I'm in rehab again." And before anyone has the time to think it, it's NOT Lindsay-Lohan-rehab, aka Promises, though having a personal chef, yoga & reflexology every day while hanging with Ben Affleck isn't a half-bad idea. (No way I'd want Amy Winehouse for a roomie, though) Hmm, maybe someone should open up a rehab place for stressed out mommies called Serenity. No one coming in the bathroom during an intensely personal moment to tell me that someone isn't sharing the remote. Eating any food you want cause it doesn't matter if there's something on the menu acceptable to the "we eat white rice and that's IT" at the Chinese/Vietnamese/Japanese restaurants. What a dream that is!

Back on track. OK, it's not FORMAL rehab -- I don't have an INJURY -- but am recovering from surgery. That's the hardest thing about it. Things from the surgery have healed up and I'm not in any real pain (and I'm happy, no ecstatic to say that it worked. It worked, it worked, it WORKED!), so having to wait another three weeks before I see the doctor and get cleared is frustrating.

What can I do in this post-surgical rehab? I can walk. No bikes (stationary or mobile), no lifting, no jumping, no bouncing up & down stairs, no swimming, no baths (like I ever got many of those before, anyway), no yoga, no pilates. ARGH! I can walk.

So, first attempt at walking was really laughable. At the Y, on the treadmill, forgot the headphones, so was watching Cash Cab and reading the subtitles. The little old man reading his gardening magazine beside me was (a) completely smoking me, and (b) a little irritated that I was shouting answers at the idiots in the cab. Come ON people, you are from VIRGINIA and you can't remember that Lee surrendered at Appamattox? And the warm weather clothing item named after the islands where the first atomic bombs were tested? BIKINIS. Not Bermuda Shorts. Sheesh. Anyway, so if old man didn't want me to yell the answers at the TV, then he could have shared his headphones with me. But, he smoked me anyway. I did decide that runners in rehab need a funny shirt to wear, so that people will know that I am not excited about plodding along with one foot always on the ground. One More Mile - you listening here? "I'm not lazy, I'm in rehab" "Got rehab?"

18 days and counting........ 18 more days.... 18 more days...... I can do ANYTHING for 18 days!