Running again

Spent 40 minutes outside in the beautiful cloudy, foggy Northwest this morning with my first walk/jog in a lonngggg time!

Things I was reminded about today that I love while running:

-Waking up early and lacing up my old, faithful running shoes

-Getting to wear cute running clothes

-The beauty of spending time outdoors

-How walking/running past something forces you to examine it closer and appreciate it more than when you drive past it everyday

-Inhaling, GULPING down fresh breaths of air from being outdoors!

-Feeling happy endorphins be released... ahhhhh

-Clearing my mind and sorting out problems

-Inspiration in all shapes and forms

-Getting home from a run and wanting to conquer the world because you're so happy and feel that sense of success and accomplishment and you want to carry it in to all the other aspects of your life!

Things I was reminded about today that I do NOT love while running:

-Being reminded you're out of shape.. oy, that hill nearly killed me!

--The BURN in your lungs when you are doing what USED to be easy!

-Experiencing my old side-aches again that I have when I haven't ran in awhile :(

-Feeling sore spots

--my right ankle has bugged me since high school but never TOO bad. And also my left knee from all the problems in the past

-Smelling sweaty and gross after (mmm mm mmmmm!)

Jonathon, me, and my Father and Mother in law (Bob and Susie) signed up to run a team relay race in August 2012 called Hood-to-Coast. It is like Ragnar for those of you who are familiar with that. It sounds pretty awesome and I'm excited!

I think I want to sign up for a little race (maybe a half marathon?) in February. I want something to train for NOW and through the holidays to keep me half way healthy. It feels good eatin cookies and tons of yummy food but your body always feels a little gross after. I need something to even it all out.

On that note, I am VERY excited to eat some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies very soon! Doesn't that sounds sooooo good?????? Mm! Okay... bye!

Running to Jesus

Sorry for the lame title. It is late. And I am tired!

I decided that now since I'm not training for any big physical race, I'd start writing about this big race we all run in each day called LIFE. (Deep, I know!)

I had a mini mid-life-crisis last week and it got me thinking about things. I decided to make some CHANGES. There are four main areas in life to focus on:

1) Spiritual

2) Physical

3) Emotional/social

4) Mental

I made mini goals to go with this mini crisis and I plan to write periodically about how this is going.

1) Spiritual:

Yesterday was Sunday. I am notorious for being late to church, whether it is at 9:00AM or 1:00PM, I will be late. And I HATE IT!!! So, me and Jonno tried REALLY HARD on Sunday and we made it there a minute before it started! YAY! This made me really happy! :o)

I'd told Jonathon about how I need to carry a notebook with me so I can write down all these little thoughts I've had bombarding into my head lately. He told me about a talk he heard while serving his mission that those "little thoughts" are often the Holy Ghost and if I don't write them down or do something to act on it, Heavenly Father will stop trusting me with them.

Needless to say, I wrote in my notepad all day!!

It is amazing how much more you learn when you pay attention. I began reading To Draw Closer to God by Henry B. Eyring and it's great so far. The main point he made is to LISTEN for the Spirit to teach you-- search for it and invite it into your life.

I also began the 99 day Book of Mormon challenge!

Day one: Read Preface, Intro, Testimony of 3 witnesses, 8 witnesses, and Testimony of Joseph Smith

"I would like to urge [everyone] to again read the Book of Mormon... there is nothing we could do of greater importance than to have fortified in our individual lives an unshakable conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Living Son of the Living God. And, my brothers and sisters, that is the purpose of the coming forth of this remarkable and wonderful book."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley

These men had real testimonies of the truthfulness of this and it is PROOF the Book of Mormon is real and true. I desire this same level of testimony.

I also prayed both morning and night a sincere prayer. And here is the result:

I got called into work today to cover for Flower. I prayed yesterday for more opportunities for work so I can pay back student loans and BAM! I get to work today! And I had a great day at work and met lots of great patients.

I was happy today. Nothing too special happened throughout the day today, but I had the Spirit with me because I INVITED it. It's amazing what a difference you feel just by doing the basics:

Read your dang scriptures and pray.

It's like flossing; we all know we're supposed to do it, but for some reason it can be soo hard! But it's worth it!!

2) Physical

I ate really healthy today (no sugars aka my weakness!) and after work, I did a Plyometrics class at Lacamas Swim n Sport (thanks to my little sister Jenny!). OH MY GOSH. It kicked my butt. Literally- we did butt kicks for a minute straight. It showed me just how out of shape I am. BUT I DID IT! And my body will thank me later after it stops hurting. :)

I feel SO GREAT getting in bed now from these two important things:

Eat right and exercise.

3) Emotional/Social:

I made a goal yesterday to meet at least one person at church each week. I met two: Joy Periman and Amanda Houston. They are both so sweet and I'm excited to see familiar faces at church next week!

I also am signing me and Jonathon up for a DANCE CLASS!! SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!! And I'm signing up for a basic sewing class. I've wanted to do this for a long time and happy to finally learn how. :) :) This is great for my emotional health.

Oh and I called and talked to my cute Grandma Richards last night on the phone. Not about anything in particular but just chatting. Emailed Grandma Roush. And talked to my Mom today on Face time. It is important to stay close with family and makes me happy to chat with them.

Meet at least one person each week,

Learn new skills,

Keep in touch with your loved ones.

4) Mental:

-This kinda includes the book I've been reading and the scriptures. Oh and I used the CO2 laser at work today. Does that count? Yes, I'm gonna count it. Good job Nancy!

Make the time to Read Good Books.

Okay, now I am going to read Day 2's assignments in the ol' BOM and zonk out.

Good night world!

Prepared to be Unprepared

In preparation for the race, I got my "Marathon Checklist" and made sure I was ready to go.

About 6 weeks before the race:

-bought new running shoes

-bought inserts for the shoes

-bought a deep tissue foam roller

-began painful deep tissue massage therapy for IT bands

-Bought a strap for my knee

-Bought my funny $19.46 red robin broach (you can see it on my upper left in pictures)

-Supposed to be $4.46 but I got charged an over draft fee from a closed account LOL

About 1 week before the race:

-Bought KT tape wrap (love this!!)

-Got my other knee strap (also love this!)

Day before race:

-Bought all last minute goods:

-Nike + adapter for my Ipod Nano

-Got a little strap thing for around my waist to hold a phone in (in case I couldn't finish the race and needed to call Jonathon for help)

-Bought candy (mints, gum, skittles for when I got bored)

-Water, gatorade, Gu with caffeine

-Got my carbs load with the CUTE Ms. Shannon Nelson at Olive Garden! We had so much fun! We decided our theme this year was "Prepared to be Unprepared" since we both knew we could have and should have prepared more to run, yet, we were confident we were going to finish, even if we had to limp through the finish line! So we were prepared to be unprepared by expecting we might have to walk, might need ice at the end, might be struggling, but it was okay! Love that girl!

.-This was a really fun lunch. We went to pick up our runners packets and bib numbers at the expo in Provo and then ate. I loved having a friend who I could talk with and help each other be confident and get excited for the big day!

-Jonathon recorded cute little memos and put them on my IPOD so that when it was on random during the race, I'd get little words of encouragement and songs he sang for me. That was SO CUTE and SWEET! I love that man.

-He also put a couple conference talks. I listened to one while running by Elder ___ about having Faith in Christ. He talked about how Christ suffered for us and if we ask in Faith, we will succor us and relieve us of our suffering. I kept thinking "I know He will help me get through this race and He's taking on my suffering right now! And He'll help me finish!" And He did!

The most amazing thing of all...

-Jonathon also gave me a priesthood blessing that I'd be able to have the strength to finish. He blessed me that my body would be strong enough to carry me to do the things it needs to. And the aches I've had will not prevent me from completing the race. This helped me more than anything else. It provided so much comfort and amazingly, I had VERY FEW aches during the run and after.

.-Some runs prior to the race, I even had to stop during the run because different body parts would be hurting so bad. Specifically my left knee, right knee, right Achilles, and right hip flexor. During the race, I used the KT tape and my entire right leg was COMPLETELY fine. It never hurt once-- highly unusual. My left knee was mostly good and I didn't even have to put on my knee strap until Mile 16. AMAZING!! My left hip hurt for awhile, but luckily I had a strap I could put there to help me through it (100% due to the blessing). I couldn't believe it. My toe BARELY bothered me at all and I didn't even notice my blood blister.

.-After the marathon, I stretched good and followed all directions to have a quick recovery. I did just that! I only took about 2 1/2 days before I was able to walk and do things as normal. Because I was feeling so good, I stopped stretching so much. This made it so about 5 days after, my foot started hurting and still does. Nothing terrible and much better than I ever expected I'd feel after running a marathon!!

I set out my clothes, shoes, and bag the night before so I would be ready to go. Since I had to arrive to the bus in Provo at 3:30, I left my house around 2:40 AM. I was soo nervous so I went to bed around 12:00. And even then I couldn't sleep. I wasn't tired at all though! I felt great!

Whether you think you can or cannot, either way, you're right

I was really nervous before this race. More nervous than I let anybody know. I wasn't sure I could really do it.

The week before, I seriously considered not running it and could think of a hundred reasons why I'd be justified in doing it. Here are a few:

-My IT band has hurt the entire time I've been training. It was HORRIBLE after my 14 mile run

-The longest I'd ever run was 14 miles

-My sideaches had come back

-My RIGHT IT band started hurting and right achilles

-Due to my new shoes, I had a bad pressure point on top of my left foot that would hurt real bad after 5 miles or so

-I'd been sick THREE times in the last couple months, including a bad cough and fever/tooth ache

-I hurt my hip while packing and moving boxes less than a week before

All of these things and more prevented me from training as much as I'd liked to. Whenever I'd tell runners/physical therapists I had any of these problems and ESPECIALLY when I told them my longest run was only 14 miles, they'd give me this horrible look of "and you really think YOU are going to finish a MARATHON? You must be crazy."

And I don't blame them. I would probably think the same thing if someone told me all that! However, as I was debating whether or not to run, I thought of the reason I decided to run this race in the first place: for Grandpa Huckvale. He isn't able to change his goal and decide "learning to walk and talk is just too hard- I'll just give up on it" and I can't either. And I've worked SO HARD and for SO LONG training for this day. How can I not even TRY??

And why wouldn't I try? I kept thinking "What if I can't make it? What if something happens and I get hurt and I can't finish?" Then I realized.... So what? I realized I was worrying about how OTHERS would view me and how I'd feel embarrassed to tell people I didn't make it. And WHY? Why does anyone else's opinion matter?? I'm doing this for ME. And heck, maybe I'll be there two hours after they close the race but I don't care, I'm going to give myself the CHANCE.

I learned a very empowering lesson:

People limit themselves much too often.

When I was running, I kept thinking "I can't believe I almost didn't give myself this opportunity." This is true for many aspects of life. Sometimes people won't apply for a job they'd really love because they are scared they won't get it. Or like how Jonathon waited until his very last semester to take statistics because he was scared he would do poorly. And guess what? He did better in this class than he's EVER done in school before! ALL BECAUSE HE GAVE HIMSELF THE CHANCE!

If you can know this, you know you can do WHATEVER YOU WANT in life, if you want it and are committed enough. What an amazing thought! If you want to be a doctor, you can be a doctor. If you want to learn a new language, you learn it.

And if you want to run a marathon, you can run a marathon.

"Whether you think you can or you cannot, either way, you're right."

My Marathon!

I DID OT!!!

All my supporters:

Me and my Momma

Me and my cute husband with the balloons and flowers him and my mom got me

Me with my Grandpa and Grandma Roush. So cute!

Just about to run through the finish line

Me and my "partner" Alicia through the race-

I followed her during the race because she had a great pace that I worked well with. She looked so calm while she ran. She stopped one time to stretch and I told her she had to keep going or else I wouldn't be able to! We ran/walked the last three miles together to help each other survive!

Limping off, hand in hand

Sad duck

-Right after I took off my socks and shoes for the first time and saw my big blood blister and deformed toe nail

My huge blood blister and hunchback toe nail

-Side of the right foot and 2nd toe

I'm too tired to write all about my experience today so I'll summarize it by saying that this was one of the best days of my life. It was a perfect day. Beautiful surroundings. My body had hardly any aches and pains (during the run itself). Great people. Great day.

Here are a buncha pictures. I will label them tomorrow!

Two weeks away

Well, the ol' marathon is two weeks away from today.

I've had a mix of emotions the last 6 weeks since I posted last. After that 14 miler, I had ice on my knees for four days and when I tried to run even just one mile, my left knee was in horrible pain.

I was so discouraged. I even considered dropping out of the race for a bit so I wouldn't waste my money. Not sure what to do, I decided to stop running for a month and give it a chance to heal up. I worked on strengthening and stretching my hips and glutes and did some cross-training with the stair stepper.

Well, here I am! So obviously I stuck with it! And I'm glad I have. It was rough getting back into the running groove. My side aches came back full-fledged and I got tired pretty quick- it felt as if I'd never run before! Agh!

I also developed pain in my RIGHT knee likely from overcompensating for my sad and weak left one. Here are some recent purchases that have helped to help me prepare for the big day:

-Knee braces (one for each knee)

-I know this is not a permanent solution to the problem; it is a band-aid to help me through the race and has helped quite a bit!

-New running shoes

-Jonathon says they make me look like a "real runner" now- You know what they say, fake it till you make it!

-Inserts for my new running shoes

-Deep tissue massage

-I had BRUISES on my IT band from the pressure. It felt SO GOOD to release all that crap that was in there.

-I'll be going for a 11 mile run on Monday and getting an ice massage right after... we'll see how that goes. Makes me cold just thinking about it!

-Anti-chafing gel for my underarms

-AMAZING! I've been SO HAPPY with this purchase!

-The CUTEST yellow running shirt to make me an OFFICIAL happy running duck!!

-Cute pink socks

-A cute yellow head band to keep back my hair!

And they say running is cheap??

I have LOVED getting to run again. I wouldn't go as far to say I'm addicted, but I do quite enjoy it.

This is for you GRANDpa Huckvale!

Some of my favorite things - 14 miles

4/9/11 - 14 miles in 155 mins (2 hours 35 minutes)

I had a really fun run today. Which lead to my decision that.. I LOVE RUNNING!

I've created my own little route that is nothing special to anyone else but I've found my own little things I've loved about it. I'll try to name as many things I thought of today as I can remember.

1. I love my playlist of happy songs, er, songs that make me happy. Ask Jonno- I can relate any song to my life in one way or another. Today after having this thought, I listened to the song "You're So Vain, You Probably Think This Song is About You" and laughed that in a funny way I do!

-Other examples: "I am an electric light- if the sun can radiate, I can too!" "Families can be together forever" "The race isn't to be swift, but to endure" "The Best Day" by Taylor Swift is my FAVE!

2. I passed something written in a sidewalk cement that said "I am da master" and I read it, then said it out loud to confirm that, yes, I AM da running master!

3. I LOVE RED ROBINS!!! They are just SO CUTE! Whenever I'm starting to get tired, I look up and see one of these cute birds hopping or tweeting or flying and it instantly brings a smile to my face. With this realization today, I decided I'm going to get a pin or something of a little red robin to wear so I can always look at it to bring me happiness.

4. Deer are cute. Not as cute as red robins, but still cute. I've seen them on my last two long runs- they also make me very happy.

5. This app called "IMapMyRun." It was a free download and it recorded my run with a GPS today and was dead on. I didn't have to waste any energy messing around with it once I started. This allowed me to focus all my energy on just RUNNING. It was nice! Here's my run info:

6. I love my cute running shoes (see below... cute, huh??). I need to get some new ones soon. I got these back in January in the clearance section of DSW for only $40. They have been AWESOME! They are finally coming to their end though. :( I tried Kayano's for $140 and they weighed me down and hurt my legs like crazy. So I'll probably search again this week.

6. This 15 foot tall metal dinosaur. It is in someone's backyard along the trail I run and they decorate it for each holiday (Note all the giant easter eggs surrounding it). Random and lovely.

7. It was snowing today. I did not like this, I did not hate this. It was just fine. It started out light and beautiful and around mile 5 it was SNOWING and I was soaking wet. I kept getting hit in the eye with these giant flakes. Yet, when I tried sticking my tongue out to quench my thirst, I got one or two per 30 seconds. Ha.

8. I should eat pizza, cookies, and candy every night before a big run! I felt so bloated from all the crap last night but felt GREAT with my run! I guess it provided all the energy I needed today. :) Ahhh freedom to eat all the good stuff!!

9. My left knee started hurting around mile six. I've been having IT band pain. :( I took it easy this week and my physical therapist adjusted my hips and reminded me to continue my stretches and strengthening exercises. I also took an NSAID to reduce the inflammation before the run and wished I had one to take halfway through. Next time! I was so happy that I was committed enough to continue even though it wasn't easy. Which leads to my next event...

10. I had my FIRST ICE BATH TODAY:

Jonno bringing in the resources for the tub..

He's been SO NICE and sweet in helping me prepare for this marathon. Every week, he is right there rooting me on and helping me with whatever I need (usually when I first get home, he instantly greets me with food, water, and some sort of icing device!). I love him. More than words, or photos can say.

First getting in...

After soaking for 15 minutes!!

All I can say is WOW. It really did help my knee, hip, and elbow to not hurt as much. Mostly since I was SO NUMB! I think this will be a weekly ritual. I am really trying to take extra care of my body from here on out to keep me healthy for the Big Day!!

11. Here is a cute snowman my mom made in our front yard that I came home to after my run today:

All in all, today has been a good day. I will say though.. I will be happy when this marathon is over simply to have more TIME in my life. A typical day for me:

8- 5:30 - Work dental hygiene

5:30 to 6:00 - drive home in traffic

eat a quick snack and change

7:00 - go to the gym to RUN, sauna, stretch, shower

9:15 - arrive home, drink protein drink

10:00 - watch a tv show/movie

10:30 - get ready for bed, read, MAYBE catch up with Jonno

Before 12:00 - try to be asleep by 12

Next day - do it all over again!

Don't get me wrong, it's been fun, but I'm ready to spend more time with Jonathon. Not feel so tired. And be able to feel like I have time and energy to keep our house clean! :)