It's time for a post!

I didn't really have much to say workout-wise. My foot had been hurting for a few weeks before I started P90X. Running was going well, but my foot was sore. Then one Friday it was really really sore. I couldn't put weight on it much, it felt like I needed to crack it. So I took a few days off. A few days wasn't enough, because it lingered. Then finally it felt ok for two days so I ran again. And it hurt.

The next day I was hit with severe acid reflux. I have had acid reflux for a few years, and last year finally started taking meds for it. It was sooooo much better! I could sleep, I could eat. It was great. Then that Friday I was in agony. I was up all night, couldn't lie down, couldn't sit up. The only position that hurt less was standing. So that's what I did mostly. I started a detox the next day, and lost 10 lbs in 7 days. It was nasty. But after two weeks I'm almost back to normal, and Sunday Steve and I returned to running! He got the ok from the orthopedic surgeon, that even though his break isn't fully healed, it's almost there, so he can run, slowly, safely. Hurray! Problem was, my foot. Again. It really hurt when I ran, hurt more when I walked. When I was finished it settled down after a few hours and feels mostly ok today. I fear that it's going to flare up again, whatever it is, the minute I run again, which will be tomorrow.

So I booked an appt with my ART/Massage miracle worker, Tracy, for Wednesday. I don't think it's PF, I haven't had a flare up since my orthotics, but maybe this is something she can identify, or at least rule out scar tissue or something muscular. Besides, it takes at least 2 weeks to see my doctor, and his walk in has you sitting there for 3-4 hours, which I don't have time for.

In other news, my department is undergoing a massive re-org. We are going from 500 job descriptions to 30. We find out on between Oct 31 and Nov 2 whether we have a 1-1 match with a new job description, or whether our current roles are redundant, and we have to apply for jobs within the new org. Rah. I am soooo tired of this. The big announcement came Oct 11, the next day I had the acid reflux attack. Ya, no relation there.

I should be working on my resume, but I'm just not into it. I'll do that tomorrow. Maybe.

It's about time!

So I figured I'd better get back to this!

After coming back from vacation to a week of project meetings, covering for a colleague and 4 huge consulting requests, finally, yesterday, it's settled down. Of course at 3:45 another large request came in, but I'll start that one next week, once I get the requirements. I LOVE my job so much. Geeze I hope I don't lose it!

Anyway, throughout all this work stuff my workouts have suffered a little bit, however my heart rate has settled down (touch wood).

Today I ran a fantastic 7k at the canal. It was white-cap windy, and much much cooler than the temps we've been having, so I wore a jacket and it was perfect. My heart rate was a well behaved average 153 (I'm looking forward to this dropping but at least this is the acceptable range!).

As I was finishing my last km, I saw some guy in the distance and I thought "oh he's fishing". Then realized that no, "I think he's looking through binoculars". Of course as I get closer I think to myself "what the heck do you think you're looking at you pervert". And finally "OH! It's Steve and he's filming me running!" Boo-urns. His reasoning? "I thought you might want to analyze your running gait". Um. Not really ;)

So this small speck of blue in the distance would be me questioning the pervert ;)


This would be the up close and scary photo:


And the last one:


I'm the speck in blue coming back towards Steve. On the right is the locks at Hogsback Bridge. Honestly, the winds were awful and the water was horribly choppy on the other side of the bridge!

In other news, this week Steve and I began P90X. OH.MY.GOD. On Sunday we passed the fit test, but much of it barely for me - at least anything involving upper body strength. Darn little raptor arms. Anyway, on Monday we did the 'Core Synergistics' DVD. 60 minutes of pure pain. Our heart rates were almost as high as running, and we were both sweating madly. And it's NOT a cardio DVD! This was all strength training. I hurt for 3 days after! Thank goodness the next day was a cardio day, I opted to run in lieu of the cardio DVD. The day after was Yoga. NINETY MINUTES. I have zero flexibility in addition to my lack of upper body strength so I was a-hurtin'. There were some poses I couldn't do at all, so in all I completed 70 minutes of it. Very proud of this! My shoulders are still sore though! But it's a good feeling! I think I'll like this program - finally a strength training program I don't hate!

So in other news, Steve got the results of his MRI. Two lower back discs are bulging but not pressing on his spine nor any nerves. This is great news! However he's still in constant pain, as he says 'always there in the background', and can't run. Well he can, but it hurts. A lot. Stepping back to April, when Steve was getting his new store set up and working 16 hour days, not eating well, and training for his half marathon with Gotta Run, the doctor supporting the team thought the pain in his leg was radiant pain from his back. So they performed every treatment they could. Which is where the MRI came from. Back to Monday, Steve reviews the MRI with his own doctor and tells him his leg is still sore. So they schedule an x-ray of his leg for Tuesday. Once the x-ray was done, Steve was told his doctor wanted to see him right away, but first he had to get the intern. Steve of course now thinks the worst! The doctor (also a runner) came in, shook his hand and said "you have my respect. you ran a half marathon on a broken leg". Steve was stunned and said "you mean stress fracture?". "NO - a full break of your tibia".

There were a few days where the pain was so bad he was popping Advil like candy (well the Advil he took for probably 2 months), and I forced him on crutches, which he grudgingly accepted as a compromise - as the alternative was my driving him to ER. So a full break in his leg, caused by over training, over working and not eating/sleeping enough, probably came out of a stress fracture, and only 4 days on crutches. FOUR.

His leg is almost healed now, though he does have a calcium deposit and it's not a clean heal, so he's not allowed any impact sports for 4 weeks (swimming and biking are ok, and definitely no P90X), then they will re-assess. If it's not better, or not better looking on the x-ray, he will have to have it surgically broken and properly set.

I don't know whether to hug him or break the other leg ;) Stubborn boy!

Other than that, we checked out the Renoir exhibit at the National Gallery last Sunday. Love Love Love it!

Forward, always forward

In an effort to post a little more, and finally some good stuff to post about, I thought instead of blog reading (which I'm horribly behind on) I would quickly post an update.

Since Sunday's bike ride, my workouts have been awesome. The highlights would be Wednesday's 20km bike ride and yesterday's 6km run.

First the bike. I love my bike. But I think it's too big for me, or I'm too fat for it, or I'm just really unskilled. Or cowardly in my old age. When I was 10 I had my brother's beaten up ten speed. Too big? You bet. Feeling out of control? Never. I inherited the bike and used to ride it in the Gatineau's when we lived at the foot of the park. From age 15 - 17 I would come down the hills in as much of a tuck as I could muster and fly. On Beethoven, my current road bike, I've clocked myself going 60km/hr with breaks as hard as I could squeeze going down those hills. I must have been clocking 70+ as a kid. Never once did I feel any concern. Even the day my brakes failed and I had to miss the stop sign at the bottom, and do a fast turn to stop from crossing the very busy road/highway. Ok, that caused my heart to speed up a little. But I never felt out of control.

On Beethoven I can't seem to 'lift' the front wheel to hop the inch on a curb, or to hop over a ripple in the road. I barrel over full force, bike making horrible noises, as am I. I can't turn within a lane because I'm too unsteady, again, feeling that I'm not in control of the bike. Yes, when I complete duathlons on the bike I have to stop, get off, and turn. SO EMBARRASSING. The bike was fitted for me, and being a road bike, not as small as a tri bike (by small I mean the top tube) it's a little longer. I *think* I'm reaching forward too much, as I'm always 'falling forward', no matter how I adjust my seat. I'm going to get fitted again - maybe my bigger belly is making the forward lean too uncomfortable so I sit wrong. I'm getting sore forearms and tingling fingers every time. I'm hoping that I can get either a taller collar on my handlebars, or a shorter other bar (that's the technical term right? ;o)) to bring it closer to me an inch or two. Or maybe I just need to lose the belly ;o).

Back to the ride. Being only the second ride of the season, after Sunday's little ride, we motored. On flat road I rock. On older asphalt I suck. Again, the lack of control. I pushed hard and tried to not let the bumps and quick turns get to me, and keep my cadence above 80. I did ok, my butt wasn't too sore from Sunday (just a little reminder that it was on the saddle on Sunday) and I clocked some good speeds for me (peaking at 36km/hr).; My focus was to not drop below 26km/hr. And I mostly did.

I do need new bike shoes though, mine are too soft, I lose too much power, and one foot aches (might be orthotic related, but I'll figure it out after I get new shoes) to the point I need to stop peddling and stretch. If anyone reads this with bike expertise, I'd gladly accept any advice!

So now the run. Yesterday my schedule called for 6km, and injured Steve came along. Since the weather was beautiful and for once, not hot, I decided to try my best to run as long as I could without a walk break. My plan was really to begin this after next Sunday's 10k race, when half training starts and I have wee runs scattered in there, but the weather was too nice to ignore. I ran the whole thing. Slowly. I could have run further. Ya baby. I think we're back :). Unfortunately Steve didn't fare as well, with his protruding lower lumbar discs affecting some nerve in his leg which prevents him from bending it when he runs (picture Terry Fox). At some point when I left him (he made me go on when he walked) his leg gave out, and he fell. I'm so bummed for him. I hope they can fix him up soon, he's really depressed, because even duathlons are in doubt now as he can't run 4k anymore :(. I kept trying to keep his spirits up by telling him to focus on biking more as it hurts less.

Feeling buoyed by my progress, at least it's finally starting to show, I'm on track for a fall half marathon. I'm also planning a sprint duathlon for September. I'm going to drop one run per week, and add a brick instead.

I'm psyched and it feels good. Now to get to work!

So proud

This post is dedicated to Steve. Wow. He has not run a step in probably a month (but he is walking around all day at his store, and I mean ALL DAY).

Today was race day, the race he was so prepared for a month ago, before he got injured. It's apparently a bone deformity which is causing him to overcompensate. He has run half marathons before, but never with any training (shakes head) and as a pack a day smoker. This is the first time he'd trained for one, since he was in high school. And he hasn't had a ciggie since that first episode.

He was on crutches for a week 7 days ago. He's been getting ART, Graston, accupuncture, and lord knows what else three times a week. Hard to tell by the picture, but he has bruises from Friday's treatment :(. Poor pup.

His goal today was to run what he could. I found him at the 11k mark, and was so disappointed that the camera was out of battery (he never told me he took 150 photos of his store opening yesterday!).

He said he was going to finish. He was running, sort of, and I ran along beside him for a half km or so, then let him finish up.

He came in at 3:04. He is not upset in the least by his time (he was looking at a 1:50 before injury) because he gutted through it. The Gotta Run team waited for him to finish :)

Any Canadians interested in watching the race, it's on CBC Sports Saturday this coming week (June 2), and there is supposed to be quite a bit of the Gotta Run team as well.

Oh, and anyone who knows Carlene... she did awesome :)

Since I don't have a race finish pic, how about a starting shot (Steve is on the left)? And some duck babies!!

Woot!!

I had the best run today. It was my first 6k since graduating to 10/1. My heart rate was down 5 bpm, and my speed up 19s/km. This is progress over 1km longer.

I know it's not much, but finally, FINALLY, I'm starting to feel like it's all coming together! I topped off my run with a cool down of a 1km walk.

I went to the canal to run, knowing that Steve would be somewhere there at that time, with the Gotta Run team. He had a great 20k run on Thursday, then it all fell apart on Saturday, when he couldn't finish 10k. He could barely walk. Today walking wasn't a problem, but the minute he started running his 5k time trial, the wheels came off again. I found him on my way back, and he was hobbling. It broke my heart. Luckily he went straight to Dr. Geoff for ART, Graston technique, massage therapy and acupuncture. And a scolding for missing a week's therapy. He will be back in on Wednesday, but as it stands right now, he can't do stairs, and can barely put any weight on his leg. And being the goof men can be (no offense to men, but you know it's true) he doesn't want me to borrow the crutches from my brother. But he can't walk :(

Back to 24. Mmmm Jack....

Good times keep rolling

I'm having the best day! Though it didn't start out that great.

I woke up unexpectedly at 4:30AM. Since we bought the new bed, this rarely happens. I woke feeling kind of lousy, so I took myself to the guest room, climbed in the torture bed and watched Reba, the only non-infomercial on. After this I watched Newsworld and discovered that June Callwood passed away. I heard two weeks ago that she was nearing the end of her battle. She was a great great lady and will be missed.

At 5:30 I'm still awake, and the door opens. Steve wants to know if I'm ok, because he's not sleeping either. We come to the conclusion that his tossing and turning kept me awake. We finally fell back asleep a little after 6AM. Steve was up at 6:45 to get ready for his race, I couldn't move. Blah. Turns out Mr. forgot to take his nic patch off. He's on week 7 and doing GREAT... only one week to go!

Big kitty Salami woke me up at 8:05. Oh crap! I promised I'd cheer Steve on. :( I threw an Eggo in the toaster, put on some running clothes, and got my gear together. Drove like a maniac, found a parking spot far from the race (knowing I would never find parking nearby) and ran to the finish. Because it was already 9AM, with an 8AM start, I expected his 10K was done. Yippee! I didn't miss him! I had a whopping 3 minutes grace before he crossed the finish with a 3 minute PR! The race started late :D . I met some of his Gotta Run peeps, and picked up my run where I left off (1.5k). Steve ran with me, because he was supposed to get 15k in. My heart rate wasn't being cooperative at all, so I'd walk when it would hit 165. It kept coming faster and faster. Booourns. Anyway, I finished my 5k and feel great for it. It will improve!

I've since had a shower, and then a bath as I take forever to warm up. Made some curried tomato couscous soup, and feel like a million bucks American.

Off to homework now! Unless Facebook calls.

Mr. Hollywood

or so he's known in the fam, after his reality tv debut. If you're interested, click the vid.

Next week he'll hopefully lose the gum... he's doing great though, but it's still hard!

Will they every get it right?

I'm so sick of my company sometimes. I love my job. I love my colleagues. I'm just so tired of the annual layoff-fest. Since 2000 we have let go 2/3 of the company. Another 10% on the way out. I'll know sometime in the next year whether I'm part of the 10%. Enough already.

On a happier note, Steve applied to 'Gotta Run' with our local CBC station evening news host. And out of over 550 apps, he is one of the 12. . He's run several half marathons with me before, always as a smoker (he wants this to help motivate him to quit once and for all), and never having trained. He's often wondered what he could do with good coaching. He's about to find out, as his coach is one of the city's best.

Good luck Pup!