I love how I always manage to rise back up from my negative ramblings and find my happy again. I was so down on myself after my last run (and post) and feeling the dread of not being able to keep up with my training. Today I was scheduled for a long run of 12 miles. But I had this “Sallyllama” (think Dalilama but since I love llamas….well you get it.) moment. Why am I forcing myself to stick to a schedule that was created based on a healthy runner when I’m currently dealing with some compromising injuries? So I took 30 minutes to foam roll and stretch and then set out for whatever my body could handle today knowing I’m off all next week and could re-attempt a long run at some point then.

How many miles will you take me today?

How many miles will you take me today?

Well whaddya know? The stretching and foam rolling helped get me out the door with more mobility and less achy-ness and the run seemed so much more enjoyable.

I also wore some compression shorts under my skirt and it’s built in shorts to help support my hamstring.

IMG_7452I decided I’d stop running while I was still feeling good and that reminded me of the way I was taught to train Duncan. Always end a training session on a positive note. If we worked hard to get “roll over” right and it wasn’t working, I’d have him do a perfect sit/stay and then reward him with a treat and some lovin’ and that would be the end of the training for the day.

IMG_7454So here’s my advice to myself and to anyone reading whoever feels like their struggling with keeping to their training. Just train like a puppy. Make sure you’re prepared/healthy/and eager for your training sessions. Know what goals are truly attainable. Don’t try for the roll-over if your only able to complete the sit/stay. 🙂

I’m going to try again Monday for that 12-miler but at least for today my body was capable of 3ish miles and my knee, hamstring, and even my back are feeling better than they did before I went for my run. Getting the blood pumping is a very important part of recovery. (Of course I should say that I’m just a blogger and not a doctor).

Speaking of puppy, I took Duncan to the vet today.

IMG_7456He’s had this weird skin thing on the base of his tail that worried me. I was relieved to hear it’s just a benign skin condition that’s sort of like having blackheads. HA! My boy needs Stridex pads. The vet said it’s called Stud Tail. Duncan was happy at least it had a good name because he’s embarrassed to have tail acne.

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We enjoyed a little walk before the temps reached the 90s and now we’re just chillin for a bit before I go out for a bit.

this never gets old. love him!

this never gets old. love him!

no makeup necessary in the woods

no makeup necessary in the woods

Oh and yesterday I celebrated one year since bringing home my Subaru Forester and saying goodby to my beloved Jeep Liberty.

Cheesy I just bought a car look!

Cheesy I just bought a car look!

The first thing I did after the purchase was put my marathon magnet on the back!

The first thing I did after the purchase was put my marathon magnet on the back!

Yup. She died on the way to the dealership. Had to be towed for the trade-in.

Yup. She died on the way to the dealership. Had to be towed for the trade-in.

Here’s to a wonderful weekend y’all.

What are you up to? Doing anything fun? What’s on your running schedule? 

 

First let’s just look at some adorable Duncan photos…

He literally got woo'd away from chewing on the bone when I started giving him a belly rub....with my foot!

He literally got woo’d away from chewing on the bone when I started giving him a belly rub….with my foot!

Nap on the bone

Nap on the bone

Tug it Thursday

Tug it Thursday

Tongue out Thursday

Tongue out Thursday

OK now to my ramblings….so I’ve been skipping out on at least one mid-week run each week. I’m always finding excuses. Injury, weather, being tired, not wanting to leave the dog. Well some of them are valid to a point but I really am just not trying hard enough here and i know it. I’ve been so frustrated with my injuries and I’m having yet a hard time AGAIN trying to remind myself that it’s never one and done. Let me explain…

When the hubby died, I sort of decided in my head that I was exempt from any further tragedy.  Obviously I know that’s ridiculous. Well, for some reason my ridiculous notion of being exempt tends to stick in my head with running injuries too. Last July I had to drop back to the half at the San Francisco Marathon because of injury so I thought I had my “one and done” and I’d be exempt from having any other injuries or compromised marathons/marathon training. Nope. Then came the NJ Marathon this past April. I barely got enough training in because of more injuries. I assumed I’d take a couple of months off and start my NYC Marathon training strong and healthy and that this would be my chance to finally have a full marathon training cycle injury free. And here I am injured and frustrated (especially because it’s due to a cartwheel and not from running!) with little energy or enjoyment from my runs. I’m just shuffling through them (although I was super happy to see my friends this past Saturday and that helped make up for the fact I was shuffling and hurting).

So today I finally got a run in.

5 with the isn-factor

5 with the isn-factor

Since I skipped my Tuesday 4-miler and today I was supposed to do 5, I decided to go with the ish-factor and stopped at 4.75 and just walked it in for the last 1/4 mile.

Next up is supposed to be a 12 mile long run this weekend. Hmmm…I guess I’ll play that one by ear.

Switching gears. I received a great piece of equipment in the mail a few weeks ago from TKO—a soft grip jump rope. (While this was given to me at no-cost my opinions are my own.)

TKO soft grip jump rope

TKO soft grip jump rope

First let me just say I LOVE the color combo (Glacier+Lemon). There are so many great reasons to have a jump rope…

1. It’s portable! You can shove it in your suitcase and travel with it. (Perfect timing….i’ll be traveling next week!)

2. You can burn 170 calories in just 15 minutes! That’s insane.

3. It’s great for at-home cardio. Whether working from home, being snowed-in, or maybe you’re waiting for the cable guy and can’t leave the house you can get in a quick sweat-sesh.

4. You can take it outside in the yard while the dogs or children are running around.

5. A jump rope is great to incorporate into a high-interval training program. And this is something I really want to do. I now want to buy some yellow and blue free weights and resistance bands to match. 🙂

6. Most of all, it’s a super inexpensive piece of exercise equipment. (Amazon seems to have the best price. You can get it here for less than $15.)

This particular model has metal ball-bearings so the rope doesn’t tangle or twist. It’s 9 feet in length. The soft grip handles make it easier to keep a firm grasp on them.

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What is your favorite inexpensive piece of gym equipment?

Do you skip workouts? 

 

Happy Monday!

This week and weekend flew! Let me tell you the highlights (and low lights)…

I returned to the office Wednesday after my Block Island weekend and boy was it busy! Thursday was another crazy busy day but in the evening my friend Lisa met me and Duncan at the boardwalk so we could get in a nice long walk. We covered approximately 4 miles and enjoyed the amazing cotton candy sky sunset with lovely views of the Verrazano Bridge. 12 weeks until the NYC Marathon!!!

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walkin’

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pretty in pink

Friday I had plans to go to my parents house for dinner. I received a text from my friend Tara the day before telling me her dad had passed away and the wake was going to be Friday evening evening so I let my folks know i’d be late for dinner. Tara is not only a loyal reader of Sweat Out The Small Stuff but she is a longtime friend who I met in the 3rd grade. We spent a lot of time together when we were younger and through high school and college. As a matter of fact I made it my business to be at her house on Friday evenings because her family ordered pizza for dinner! Some things really never change because I still make it my business to be where the pizza is. =) Not only was the funeral home the same as where my husband’s funeral was but Tara’s dad was in the same exact room that my husband had been laid out in 16 years ago. This time though, I was not fragile. This time I was not scared. I walked right in there and gave her mom a big hug and then reminisced for a bit with Tara and her mom and some neighbors from their block. I’m so very sad for Tara and the loss of her dad way too soon (he was only 66). When moments in life like this happens it brings to the surface so much emotion, so much, history, so many memories. I ended up getting to my folks’ about 9 for dinner and I stayed for close to 2 hours so that we could catch up. Seeing them right on the heels of leaving the funeral home was a reminder of how important it is to share time with our family even when life is busy. You never know how much time you’ve got with them. I’ll be keeping Tara and especially her mom in my thoughts. I know how hard it is to have that quiet after the storm when someone who has been sick passes. It’s like being fired from your job of full-time caregiver and not yet lining up a new “gig”. I have always loved this saying “When one door closes another opens but it’s a bitch in the hallway”. The thing about that quote is that it relates to so much.

6 hours later I was driving into Brooklyn to meet my running friends. My training schedule called for 9 miles. I ended up at about 8.75 but I have this thing called the “ish-factor” which basically means I can round things up or down by a 1/4 mile or 15 minutes. So that 8.75 is really 9 with the ish-factor. And if I say I’ll be at your house at 7:30 then that means 7:45 with the ish-factor.

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a new perspective on a view of 42nd street from Grand Central

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I realized today why I love this bridge so much. It's the first bridge I ever crossed. I was 2 days old when my parents brought me home from the hospital from Brooklyn to Staten Island over the Verrazano. =)

I realized today why I love this bridge so much. It’s the first bridge I ever crossed. I was 2 days old when my parents brought me home from the hospital from Brooklyn to Staten Island over the Verrazano. =)

Headed over the Brooklyn Bridge

Headed over the Brooklyn Bridge

Headed over the Brooklyn Bridge

Headed over the Brooklyn Bridge

The miles were tough and my knee and hammy were both hurting but my Brooklyn running peeps kept me going. To backtrack, I met Lisa and Mike yesterday morning in Brooklyn at 7am and we ran over the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan to run up Park Avenue. This weekend is one of the weekends of Summer Streets a program that they run every year where they close the street off to cars until 1pm so people can bike, run, walk and stop along the way to play games and get freebies. I ran during Summer Streets twice in 2013. You can read about it here and here.

Yesterday I spent the afternoon at a family get together with MR. SOTSS.

So happy to get to see him this weekend. Originally I thought I'd have to wait until Tuesday so this was such a wonderful surprise. =)

So happy to get to see him this weekend. Originally I thought I’d have to wait until Tuesday so this was such a wonderful surprise. =)

And here it is time to go back to work. LeSigh!

I’m tired this morning. How about you? 

 

I’m home from the most fabulous weekend and reality has set in…I won’t see Mr. SOTSS for 8 days 🙁 We usually try not to let more than 4 days go by without seeing each other but he’s on the second leg of his vacation with his girls and I will gladly accept this challenge =)

Last I left you I was headed to the wedding.

I've been into this pose lately mainly because it makes me look about 10 lbs thinner =)

I’ve been into this pose lately mainly because it makes me look about 10 lbs thinner =)

The views from the ceremony site were amazing.

just breathtaking

just breathtaking

I know this sand thing is popular at weddings but it really worked for this beachy wedding.

I know this sand thing is popular at weddings but it really worked for this beachy wedding.

The weather was perfect. The food was delicious. I got to meet Mr. SOTSS’s sister and her beau who were so sweet, and I took a ton of photos too. You know me—always behind the lens. I’m actually thinking about doing something a little more substantial with my photography. Not sure yet but it brings me so much joy. It’s like I run marathons to get to the heart of my running passion. So now I need to do something big with the photography. I dunno. Maybe travel the country and document each state. But I digress. Oh, I got to share a lovely slow dance with Mr. SOTSS while the girls were busy playing hide and seek with the other grand kids. It was probably one of my most treasured moments of the weekend.

Flower girl bouquet

Flower girl bouquet

After the wedding we took the kids to the beach and eventually we ended up back on that glorious porch of the Inn and ate pizza and played games.

Yesterday we were on the 10am ferry back to Connecticut. I went to wait for my train back home and Mr. SOTSS and the girls headed north for the second leg of their vacay. I was proud of myself for not crying when I kissed Mr. SOTSS goodbye but within 10 minutes of sitting at the station the waterworks began. What can I say, I’m just a crier. But I had my laptop and plenty of work to catch up on, and these very important snacks cheered me right up:

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Bottle Caps!

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With so much time to kill i decided a little vanilla chip ice cream with Reese’s Pieces would be a perfect lunch.

Trains aren't a bad way to travel except when you have a tight hamstring and a headache. LONGEST TRIP EVER!

Trains aren’t a bad way to travel except when you have a tight hamstring and a headache. LONGEST TRIP EVER!

10 hours later I made it back to my brother’s house where Duncan had been crashing. He was mostly a good boy but my sister-in-law told me he swiped a piece of buttered bread right out of her mom’s hand. Little rascal! It felt good to be reunited with my muppet head.

Muppet head

Muppet head

Today I worked on my freelance work for 6 hours straight not stepping away from the laptop except to walk the dog and eat a little something. But finally about 5 in the evening I reached a stopping point, so I set out for a run. I’m actually lucky I ran later in the day because the humidity seemed to have dissipated and it was a much more comfortable run. So the tweaked hammy from my cartwheel incident the other day seems to be getting better. It doesn’t bother me at all now while running. I’ve got my normal stride back and don’t need to shuffle but afterward it’s super tight and I’m just going to foam roll and stretch like a beast.

4 miles

4 miles

I love when my shirt and shoes match =)

I love when my shirt and shoes match =)

Tomorrow it’s back to work in the city. Back to life….back to reality.

How was your weekend?

Do you like to match your running shoes and outfits?