Sunday, October 25, 2015

Week in Review

27 Miles
3 Days off
2 Lift Days
8.5M MLR
6 miles of hiking

hey-oh! Look who's back!  After a shut-down of ten days with no running, I was itching to get going again.  Back in California uninterrupted until Christmas, I'm ready to start running again so I can meet new people with similar interests to me. I'm telling you that if I'm not running, it's 100x harder for me to meet friends because I actually get quite shy.  I am happy to report that I was able to run 4 days without the calf getting any tighter.  I'm hopeful for next week, but know that I need to do my part and continue lifting.  What's interesting is that it's not a calf strength issue - my calves are really strong - but it's definitely a glute strength issue. Fortunately Garrett is a PT in training, and also happens to be super connected with some of the best sports med professionals in the field, so he's been a huge help for me, even if he is across the country!



Sunday, October 18, 2015

Week in Review

10 miles
2 runs
Lots of Cupping Therapy
4 Days in NC
Too much wedding cake

I'm still injured! Nothing has changed from last week.  I did run on Monday, but my calf got much worse (went from a 2 to a 5), so I decided to take four more days off.  This was a big bummer because I was excited to run with my Charlotte friends, since I was in town for John's wedding.  I did enough cupping therapy on myself that I was able to muster a 6-mile run on Saturday with the groom and some other close friends.  While my calf went from a 1 to a 2 on the pain scale, the tightness worsened after the run so I made the decision to continue taking time off.  Terry and I decided that I need to take off until at least Thursday of next week to let my calf calm down to ensure that I can start fully training for the Trials on November 15th.  This decision wasn't nearly as difficult as you may think it should have been for me.  Mentally, I welcomed the break, so I knew this was the right thing to do. I'm probably overworked from the move to the West coast, from school and from losing all my friends on the East Coast.

Instead of running this week, I ate lots of cake...lots and lots of cake.  I also focused on schoolwork, stretching and friends.  I headed to Charlotte Thursday night and got to spend the weekend with the old Wilmore crew at John and Taylor's wedding.  It was a total blast!


Sunday, October 11, 2015

(I moved across the country and got injured) Week in Review

48 Miles
0 workouts
18 miles, with 6 mile limping home
2,800 miles moved from Durham, NC to Mountain View, CA

This week started off so good.  A nice run in Durham with my friends, with the sun shining for the first time in thirteen days.  I said goodbye to my cat Cicero and my husband, and boarded a one-way flight to San Jose, California with only two bags to my name.  Yes somehow all of my personal possessions fit into two large suitcases and the trunk of my Honda Accord that was shipped across the country for me.  Ain't nobody got time for that (driving across the country, that is).

Things were going great - I unpacked, got settled in and even got to run with a couple of people.  I created my standard Facebook group to connect runners throughout the Bay Area together and was pumped to find out that two other folks were doing a long run on Friday. I got it cleared with Terry to do the long run with them, and departed my house with high hopes.  We got through 12 miles and then, out of absolutely nowhere, my calf got tight.  Really, really tight.  Like, I-may-have-just-strained-my-calf tight.  As in, "did I just get shot?" tight.

And I was 6 miles from my house.

So I stopped.  I tried walking.  Then ran again. I tried asking a LinkedIn employee to take me home.  They said no.  And then asked if I had any friends to call.  I almost burst into tears.  I literally have no friends.  They're all everywhere but here...and I don't have their phone numbers memorized.  Just Garrett and my mom and dad.  My favorite part was when the LinkedIn employee suggested I go to the Google security guard to ask for help.  Not the LinkedIn security guard.

I made a (dumb) decision to run the rest of the way home.  Three hours and 18 miles later, I made it home...and could barely walk. I was limping.  I went into emergency mode.  Started contacting as many massage places as possible.  I literally could. not. walk.  I got in to a Thai Massage place less than half a mile from my house, but I couldn't even walk there because it was too bad. I felt lame to have to drive there.

The Thai massage helped tremendously in that I could walk with much less of a limp, but I could tell I needed some time for my calf to settle down.

The best news was that my sister came into town the next day so I didn't have any time to mope about how I almost pulled my calf muscle.  Instead, I focused on hanging out with her and Athena so that we could have the best possible weekend together!



Sunday, October 4, 2015

(Duke Residency) Week 2 Week in Review

Week of September 28th:
64 miles
1 day off
19.5 Mile Long Run
12 miles with 4 x mile repeats
36 hours of classes
7 days at Duke

My last week of residency classes for my Duke Cross Continent MBA! I went out for the first time this residency and did it with a bang.  We went to karaoke and had an absolute blast.  There's no wonder why I took the next day off, especially since we had class the following morning at 8AM.

It's been stressful because of the workload in our negotiations class and because of the stuff I need to get ready for my big move to California.  I've basically had zero time to prepare for the move and to start packing.  I'm proud of my mileage during this week and especially enjoyed the long run and the brunch with my Durham runner peeps, who sent me off in style, even if I had a cold.