So this post won't contain my usual photos and links as I'm using my work iPad and want to get this out of my head before I forget. :)
As the few of you that read this know. I'm currently training for the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November. When I first signed up for the race I had big plans for my training. I was so sure of myself because seriously, I've run two before so I figured I could do it with no problem.
Then I ran the RASA 5k and wanted to give up after the first hill. As I ran I stated to curse myself for signing up for that race and also a half marathon. Who was I kidding? I could barely run a mile. I hated running at that moment and hated my body more.
What I wasn't thinking about was the fact that I had to give myself time. Like ,let of my friends who have recently transitioned to new jobs in new cities, I put running on the back burner when I moved here. I gained weight and didn't hit the gym as hard as I had in Tulsa. The. November hit and I pushed myself harder than ever in the gym one night... So hard that I screwed up a vertebrae in my back and ended up in severe pain. What I thought was "just a pulled muscle" ended up being more serious - to the point that I could not walk more than a half mile without wanting to die from pain. I didn't sleep for more than 3 hours most nights because the pain was so bad. I realized I had hit rock bottom when it took me almost 15 minutes to walk the 10 isles to the Target pharmacy to get my first prescriptions to treat the pain.
Thankfully I quickly discovered a wonderful chiropractor who fixed my pain after 3 sessions when the doctor I was seeing kept insisting I would never run again and wanted me to pay out of pocket for $2,000 worth of shots. With the help of my chiropractor I was able to run the 5k in April and haven't stopped.
Although I haven't been training as well as I had hoped to at this point, I'm getting there faster than I'd hoped. This past sat I ran 4 miles on the track - a nonstop 5k at 30:30 followed by a 2 lap walk and finishing the last 6 laps without issue. The week before I ran a 5k on the track with some struggle after 2 miles.
What made me think of this post is due to a speaker we had during our training for our job. She spoke about diversity and being abled bodied vs having a disability. I realized that I have now been on both sides of the spectrum and it has given me a new perspective. When Eryn and I ran together in Tulsa she would always tell me she ran for those who could not. For the first time ever, her words rang true for me. There may be a day - maybe sooner than I'd like to believe, when I can't run anymore. It's already happened once already and I want to enjoy my body and what it can do until then. Although I promised my mother that this would be my last half marathon, I do plan to continue to run and make the most of the time I have in good health as I can.
No, I am not dying or sick - but as I speak to my best friend who is in worse condition than I was just a short while ago, it makes me realize how lucky I am that I found a good doctor who was able to listen and fix the problem while others just gave me drugs and didn't listen to my concerns, fears and issues. I am very blessed and I now know it.
Through this experience I'm also working on making my body stronger. I'm now taking spin classes twice a week and going back to Zumba on top of training. I've also joined weight watchers and am using that to help get my diet back on track so I'm not eating junk all the time.
I'm going to hopefully make the time to continue to post about my training and my race - especially since I've never been to Disney and have never run a half marathon without Eryn so I'm terrified - and I hope you'll confuse to follow along and support as you have in the past.
As the few of you that read this know. I'm currently training for the Disney Wine and Dine half marathon in November. When I first signed up for the race I had big plans for my training. I was so sure of myself because seriously, I've run two before so I figured I could do it with no problem.
Then I ran the RASA 5k and wanted to give up after the first hill. As I ran I stated to curse myself for signing up for that race and also a half marathon. Who was I kidding? I could barely run a mile. I hated running at that moment and hated my body more.
What I wasn't thinking about was the fact that I had to give myself time. Like ,let of my friends who have recently transitioned to new jobs in new cities, I put running on the back burner when I moved here. I gained weight and didn't hit the gym as hard as I had in Tulsa. The. November hit and I pushed myself harder than ever in the gym one night... So hard that I screwed up a vertebrae in my back and ended up in severe pain. What I thought was "just a pulled muscle" ended up being more serious - to the point that I could not walk more than a half mile without wanting to die from pain. I didn't sleep for more than 3 hours most nights because the pain was so bad. I realized I had hit rock bottom when it took me almost 15 minutes to walk the 10 isles to the Target pharmacy to get my first prescriptions to treat the pain.
Thankfully I quickly discovered a wonderful chiropractor who fixed my pain after 3 sessions when the doctor I was seeing kept insisting I would never run again and wanted me to pay out of pocket for $2,000 worth of shots. With the help of my chiropractor I was able to run the 5k in April and haven't stopped.
Although I haven't been training as well as I had hoped to at this point, I'm getting there faster than I'd hoped. This past sat I ran 4 miles on the track - a nonstop 5k at 30:30 followed by a 2 lap walk and finishing the last 6 laps without issue. The week before I ran a 5k on the track with some struggle after 2 miles.
What made me think of this post is due to a speaker we had during our training for our job. She spoke about diversity and being abled bodied vs having a disability. I realized that I have now been on both sides of the spectrum and it has given me a new perspective. When Eryn and I ran together in Tulsa she would always tell me she ran for those who could not. For the first time ever, her words rang true for me. There may be a day - maybe sooner than I'd like to believe, when I can't run anymore. It's already happened once already and I want to enjoy my body and what it can do until then. Although I promised my mother that this would be my last half marathon, I do plan to continue to run and make the most of the time I have in good health as I can.
No, I am not dying or sick - but as I speak to my best friend who is in worse condition than I was just a short while ago, it makes me realize how lucky I am that I found a good doctor who was able to listen and fix the problem while others just gave me drugs and didn't listen to my concerns, fears and issues. I am very blessed and I now know it.
Through this experience I'm also working on making my body stronger. I'm now taking spin classes twice a week and going back to Zumba on top of training. I've also joined weight watchers and am using that to help get my diet back on track so I'm not eating junk all the time.
I'm going to hopefully make the time to continue to post about my training and my race - especially since I've never been to Disney and have never run a half marathon without Eryn so I'm terrified - and I hope you'll confuse to follow along and support as you have in the past.
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