Adapting and accepting...

"Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand."

Baruch Spinoza

WARNING: This is not a sunshine post. 

Sigh...today is not a good day. My lungs are not happy. Running group was this evening, but the idea of running a 5K around 7pm was not something I felt would go well. Luckily, uber hubby was more than willing to join me for a 5K around the neighborhood around 4:30pm. For those of you who have asthma...let me mention that on top of my monthly Xolair injection and my usual morning meds (1 puff of Advair 250 and 3 puffs of Alvesco), I took two puffs of Ventolin around noon and two more puffs of Ventolin before heading out for my run. Note that I very rarely need Ventolin. My run went okay, but I was pretty slow today (understandably). It took me 37 minutes, which is a whole 5 minutes more than last week. I see the pulmonary specialist tomorrow, so we'll see what the next step is. I also think the candida (fungus infection due to Advair) is back in my oesophagus, which is annoying and means more meds. So that's the lung crap...I'll add right now, that I used to feel this way much much more often and that it's been a while since my lung capacity has gone down this much. So I do know it's temporary and that by next week, things should be better (although it may mean a week of prednisone). No matter, I've been doing so well and this was bound to happen at some point.

Next, I have some pain in the back...I think it might be because I'm trying really hard to run with a better posture. It's been mentioned to me that I tend to turn my shoulders in, especially when I get tired. I noticed it too on some of my running photos from Cuba.

See how my shoulders are turned in?

This one, from the back, I'm almost embarassed to show you.

We're nearing the end of the run here.

They're not as bad at the beginning of a run, but I know that it's something I need to work on. Since I started working on this, I realized that whenever I feel a twinge of the old pain in my left thigh, all I have to do is pull my shoulders back and my pelvis forward a bit and the pain goes away. It doesn't feel natural yet, but I hope it will by the time I do my first race in May. For now, I have sore lats in the back.

Finally, I guess this is turning into Three Things Thursday :)...anyways, I realized today that I'm probably not a great candidate for a running group in the long term. I'm enjoying the atmosphere and the people and I'm learning and it'll be fun to see how everyone does. But, I have so many people in my life that are more than willing to join me on runs, especially uber hubby, who's right at home with me, that I don't feel the need to run with a group. Plus, I'm already so busy with everything else in my life, that one more evening booked just seems like too much. Next time, I may do the online clinic. It was really nice today to go run my 5K in the afternoon with my husband, then make dinner together and relax. I'm learning what works for me...and it's all good.

Cheers!  

First hills and unreachable key!

"The body is shaped, disciplined, honored, and in time, trusted."
Martha Graham

Today, I ran my first hills...and I was not feeling up to it. Wrong time of the month and the lungs are not too great...but, as you've all experienced at one time or other, it did not reflect itself in my run...Yay!

First I put my car key in a cool little pocket on the side of my top (a pocket I'd never used before). I then went for a 1.5K warmup and as I went by my car I wanted to blow my nose and put my gloves and scarf away. I went to unzip my pocket to get my car key and I could not, for the life of me, get that zipper down! I managed to find the unlock door button, through my pocket, and figured I'd deal with it after I finished my hills. Went to the overpass, up - down - up - down...and it went really well :) I was pretty pleased with myself. My cardio only got up to 150, which is perfect. I'm feeling much better than I imagined I would with my first hills. Next I'm off to do a cool down run of about 1.5K and then back to the car. At this point, I really have to go to the bathroom, but that zipper will still not budge. I open the doors through my pocket again, sit in the car, take off my two watches (Garmin on the left and cardio monitor on the right), take off the top and try with all my might to unzip that zipper, as I am feeling the pain of needing to get to a bathroom now! No Deal! This is not good...I really must get that car key out of my pocket...but how?

Idea :)

I had my house keys in the car, so I turn my top inside out and start poking a hole in the back of the pocket lining with a key until I make a hole big enough to pull out my car key...Done! Phew...I really must get home. Now! So...the hills went much better than I expected...and I was never so happy to get home :)

Cheers!

That's the Spirit!

"Once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."

Margery Williams

Yesterday was another pretty cool day. First my super sister-in-law (J), my brother, uber hubby and I went for a short 3K run together. What fun!

Oh and guess who got a running skirt :)

My partner in crime. J and I will be running our first half-marathon together in May, along with uber hubby.

We then got together for a nice dinner before watching a very special movie (can you guess?)

Hint...it's about running

Of course, you guessed it...we all watched Spirit of the Marathon together. What an inspiring movie...makes you want to get out there and run right now! What a fun day once again...

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday

Sunset - Varadero, Cuba 2010

Isn't it always the way :)

"Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.

Talent will not; nothing is more commonplace than unsuccessful men with talent.

Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.

Education alone will not; the world is full of educated derelicts.

Persistence and Determination alone are omnipotent."

Calvin Coolidge

Today I went for my 5K tempo run and for the first time since I started running, I feel like I actually ran a true tempo pace (for me)! The possibility of running a sub-30 minute 5K seemed so far away, but today I could see it in my future as I ran my 5K in 32m45s. My first kilometer was at 6:46min/K and my last was at 6:16min/K...I had my first solid negative splits, with every successive K being faster than the previous one. I was so freaking pleased with myself that I could not wait to plug in the ANT stick and have a look at my numbers. Well, you guessed it, something happened and the program shut down and the numbers never made it into the Garmin training center. Of course, I had ticked off the box that says to delete my workouts from the Garmin once they are transfered, which means that I have no record of this great run. Thank goodness I was so excited that I kept checking my time at every lap and that I was focused on my time during the last few meters. I couldn't believe I would manage to finish under 33 minutes :)

The cool thing, is that my lung capacity is not great these days, although my throat is less sore and I seem to have managed to fight off these cold symptoms. Still, after my run, I had a bit of chest tightness and a cough, enough that some ventolin was in order. Yet I managed my best 5K to date! Imagine when my lungs are in good shape...I am so going to kick that 5Ks butt in under 30 minutes! 

Cheers!

Running and walking, why not...

"And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom." Anaïs Nin

As often happens when I travel by air, I woke up with swollen glands and a sore throat yesterday morning. Nonetheless, it was so beautiful outside, that we decided to go for our longer run. I knew it might be difficult for me as my lungs are my figurative Achilles' heel (any minor cold symptom has an immediate impact on my lung capacity). We had 9K planned, but we ended up doing 6K (fatigue and time ended up being an issue as we had dinner guests arriving soon). Still, the weather was definitely beautiful (6°C/43°F) and I was able to run without a jacket. Yay!

I did wear a headband, but this is post-run so it was in my hand.

Today, I decided it was probably best that I not run, because I can't afford to wear down my immune system. I still wanted to get some Ks in so I decided to walk. Before I began running, I was a walker. I actually did the Weekend Walk for Breast Cancer in 2005 - 60Ks in two days. Basically, a little more than a half-marathon two days in a row.

This is my celebratory fist pump in front of the Olympic stadium after completing the 60Ks :)

It had been quite a while since I went for a walk, but today I headed to Fort Chambly (8K). No ipod, just me, myself, and my thoughts. It was actually really nice and I was reminded that walking is also a really enjoyable activity. I even took a few pictures along the way.

An old Hydro-Québec dam.

My turn-around point - Fort Chambly (me and my shadow). This is where I took out my apple, which I could eat slowly while walking.

Time-wise, I realize that it would take me a little over 3h30m to walk a half-marathon distance...so I remain hopeful that I can improve on that when I run ;) 

Today reminded me that I enjoy going for long walks sometimes and that when I'm not feeling so well, a nice walk can be an excellent substitute to running. Running is still my drug of choice...but, it's nice to have other options.

 Cheers!

Running barefoot on the beach and other highlights!

"Within your heart, keep one still, secret spot where dreams may go."

Louise Driscoll

During this vacation, I discovered barefoot running on hard sand along the beach...it was amazing!

I LOVED running barefoot!

Although I did end up with a little souvenir on my big toe :)

Note the beautiful blister after a 9K run on the beach :)

It never did end up hurting though and I was able to run on the beach again a few days later.

You will notice that I changed my header photo. No more winter...time to dream about summer for a while.

Here's another cool thing that happened on this vacation. I'm lounging on the beach, reading the first of many books I devoured. My husband is gone to get something to drink. After a while, there is some ruckus behind me and when I turn, there is not only my husband, but also my sister and her husband who decided to surprise us and join us on our vacation. I was thrilled to see them!

My sister Cee and I. 

Initially, they were to join us, but for various reasons, they had changed their minds. My sister has been very busy since her book came out and she was away the day we left. However, at the last minute, they decided a vacation was in order and so they thought they'd surprise us and they arrived two days after we did. How cool is that...we had a great time together.

The four of us at dinner.

Here are a few pictures from our vacation!

The cocotaxi, it's like a three-wheeled motorcycle...fun!

Our resort in Varadero.

Stretching...note the cute garmin, which was great for measuring our distance on the beach.

Book number two...I did lots of reading. Can I look more serious :)

After our first beach run together :)

We clean up pretty well ;)

Tomorrow is a busy day, because we'll be celebrating my 51st birthday!

So, I look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs over the next week...

Cheers!