Ankle. You Bitch.

Whats up with me? Man so much. I'm sorry for the lull, but when I get bad news, sometimes I just want to keep it to myself so I don't have to face the facts.
I'm injured. Yup, once again I have hurt myself. Am I a little frustrated? Uh, yeah. BIG time frustrated.
My right ankle had been bothering me off and on for a while. I didn't think TOO much about it because I've had ankle issues before. I went on an 8 miler two weekends ago and it went ok and I was happy that I was able to accomplish 8 miles. BUT that night I was in pain. I'm talking almost to tears pain. The next day wasn't any better. I had to face the fact that I was in fact injured and needed to see someone.
I made an appointment to see the Podiatrist that night. Bad news left an right. I found out that I have beginning stages of arthritis in my ankle and that if I keep running/walking the way that I am I will eventually be walking like a penguin. Oh what every girl dreams of hearing...
He recommended new running shoes and he gave me a steroid shot to help with the pain. The best news is he told me I could still run. Yeahhh!
The next day I went for a run in my new shoes. I decided that I would only do a mile at a slow pace. The good news is that the tendon that was hurting, didn't hurt. The bad news is that everything else did. My left ankle was bothering me and my shin splints are back. I was devastated.
That Thursday was better. I went for a 3 miler after taking 4 Advil and things seemed to be fine. This past weekend I went to go on a short run but my calves were so tight that I was unable to go farther than a mile before admitting defeat.
On top of all of this, I have really wanted to run a 1/2 marathon this fall. I was looking into the Cincinnati 1/2, Oct 22. But plans got changed and I will be out of town that weekend. Then I was looking a 1/2 Sept 24th. But then I found out that my boyfriends family will be in town that weekend. End of September was cutting is close anyways. THEN I found the Columbus 1/2 on Oct 15 and thought that could work, but the NEXT DAY we got a wedding invitation for my boyfriend friend that we have to go to.
Ok, Universe, YOU WIN! I won't run a 1/2 this fall. :(
UGH

Stress

I've been a little stressed out lately. I figured out that I have to run. Its the only thing that will me sane!
This weekend I finally got out for a long run. 6 miles baby! It wasn't the prettiest run I've even been on, but I got it done and finished strong. My neighborhood is too hilly. Thats just a stone cold fact. If I wanted to run through mountains, I would go to Colorado. I barreled through the 'hood from hell and crossed over a Route 4 (i'm a bad ass like that) and ran through parking lots before heading back home.
My average time equaled out to be a 10 minute mile pace. I am actually really proud of that. My miles ranged from a 8:30 minute mile to an 11:00 minute mile. As soon as my computer starts working again I will be able to plug in my Garmin and see how I am doing.
Last night I did intervals.I guess I needed something hard and painful to do.
10 minute pace warm up, then 9 minute pace to a 7:30 minute pace intervals. PAIN PAIN PAIN. But felt soooo good afterwards. 8:25 average pace.
This weekend is my sisters bachelorette party in Chicago so I know I won't be able to run then. I am hoping to get a longish run tomorrow.

Gone

I saw this commercial today and I just had to share it. :)
ENJOY

Feet

Why do blister suck so much?
Actually, why do my feet suck so much? I feel like no matter what I do I get blisters. My feet or ankles always bother me and don't even get me started on my achillies tendon. My conclusion is that I need new feet. Do they do a full foot transplant? If so, sign me up.
My goal for Tuesday was to do a 4 mile run. I have been able to hold my own on 3 mile runs so I felt like it was time to push for one more line. Yeah, after about .25 miles I realized that it was going to be a battle to finish. My legs felt like lead or another heavy metal. On top of that, the balls of my feet were on fire. I felt like (1) a giant blister was about to form or (2) my feet were getting punched in the balls (haha get it!?). But that OBVIOUSLY wasn't enough to convince me to stop running. What about the fact that it was increasingly humid and that mosquitoes found me delicious? Nope that didn't stop this stubborn girl either.
I ran 3.4 miles at a 9:30 pace and I walked the other .6 miles intermittently. The balls of my feet are still hurting and I feel a bit discouraged. I was planning on running today but I think it would be wise to hold off a little longer...or until I get a foot transplant.

Its Getting Hot in Herre

Nelly was right. It IS getting hot in herre. But that didn't stop me from running.
2.01 miles in 18:38 - 9:16 pace.
YEAHHH!
This was a big learning run for me. I feel like it actually changed the way I view myself as a running. This was my first official run with my garmin!! Its such a nice little tool, I can't believe it took so long for me to own one. I started my run at a comfortable pace and happened to glance down at my watch. 8:15 pace! HOLY MOLY! It completely surprised me that I was able to comfortably hold this pace.
Unfortunately, its hotter than Satan's bedroom outside today so naturally started run slower. The last .75 mile was at a 9:45 minute pace and it was all I could do to hold on.
I guess I should have forced myself to run slower in this heat OR taken my run indoors, but truthfully, I needed this run. Its been one of those days that you just have to get outside and run!
Kind of nice to have that feeling again :)

Our New Addition

Meet our new girl, Ellie. She is a 2 year old Spaniel mix and we just adore her! Wednesday night we went to the Humane Society to look at the dogs they had. There are a bunch of restrictions on the type of dog we are allowed to get in our apartment complex. So instead of getting lost in pages and pages of cute furballs on Pet Finder, we opted to just go look.
But alas, we feel in love. She looked at us with those big puppy eyes and then walked right over and tried to cuddle with us. We were allowed to take her for a walk outside to get a feel for her. Chris and I knew right away that we had to apply to adopt her.
All the volunteers were thrilled that we wanted her. She had been there since March - always over looked. How could you over look this face!?So far she has been one easy going pup. We are so happy to call her ours.

Doppelganger

I have a doppelganger!

It's actually kind of freaky. I have never met or seen someone who looks like me. I have never been compared to a celebrity or anyone in the lime-light. I guess all I needed to do was go to the gym.
Ever since I have joined the gym I have noticed a girl with long brown hair (like mine) which is placed in a simple ponytail (like mine). She runs on the treadmill for long periods at a time (like me) and she has the Flying Pig 1/2 marathon shirt (like me). She's thinner than me and most likely taller, but over over all, she looks like me. She gets on the treadmill shortly after I finish running on the treadmill myself. I feel like she is the faster, thinner, taller version of me who works out 30+ minutes after me. Always fun to see her.
Makes me wonder if she feels the same way towards me....

This weekend, I went for a run with my boyfriend. MAN was it hot. We waited a little too long to get out and run...but sleeping in was oh so nice! We took it easy and walked a lot since it was around 90°F and humid. He had a tough time with the heat (he's a northerner, through and through) but I felt pretty good (I'm a southerner, through and through). The whole point of the outside run was to play with my new Garmin. Unfortunately, when it was finding the satellite, it asked me if I was using it indoors and I pressed yes instead of no. I couldn't figure out how to change it to relocate the satellite so I could run with it outside...FAIL. I just used it as a stop watch. Pretty disappointing but it was probably for the best. Hopefully this weekend we can get out again and it will be cooler!