Pre Race Jitters

So on Saturday I will do my second 5k in almost 2 years. This time, though, my spawn will not be with me. This means it's all me. I don't really have a clue as to how quickly I will be able to get it done but I'm anxious to see where my base is at this moment. I'm remembering my first 5k ever right now. I had flown to Ohio to see my family and attend an alumni dinner held at my alma mater. My uncles were going to run this race too, the Susan G. Komen race for the cure. I trained for 5 months for that race. FIVE! I had been recovering from one of the many surgeries that I've had and really just set my mind on it that I wanted to run. You see, prior to having my second baby I had lost 80lbs by dieting and running. Right before I got pregnant I had been training for a marathon but I hadn't ran any races yet. Somehow I had it in my head that I could do it. I probably could have too LOL.


Anyway, I trained with my son in a stroller and I was so beyond excited. I laid my clothes out the night before made sure my number was on just so. Then: I  couldn't sleep! Like at all! The race was to start early and I had to meet up with my uncles who were staying in a hotel downtown. My good friend, Ryan, picked me up and we drove together over there. Ryan has a thing for photography and he wanted to take pictures of the race. My uncles probably thought I was nuts or naïve or something. IDK I was almost bouncing off the walls I was so excited to run with people for the first time. My uncles were very chill. Both are long time runners and my Uncle Brian ran the Boston Marathon.


Now my Uncle Brian (who is also my Godfather)... well let's just say he was the most positive male influence in my life. Although we're not like close I've always looked up to him. He always has been encouraging and really was supportive of my choice to go to college. I knew he was a runner prior to deciding to run myself and I think that's where I probably got my idea to try it. He always has seemed to have so much fun. My Uncle Chris too, I've always felt comfortable asking running advice from both of them and it was my Uncle Chris who turned me onto Hal Higdon's running plans. I guess sometimes running helps me feel connected to family being so far from them.


So Uncle Brian gave me a big hug before we started and just knowing that I had that support there meant the world to me. After I was so happy I finished in less than 40 minutes I could have jumped out of my skin. My uncles then took us to Gordon Beirch for a celebratory lunch. Then proceeded to tease me because I drank just a leeeetle bit too much beer. I think liking alcohol runs in the family too HA!


On Saturday I'll be thinking of my uncles and of Ohio. I'm excited to know that I will finish this. I will lay out my running attire the night before, make sure my hair is fixed just so and run my heart out. This is what I love to do. Running makes me me.

Ryan and me:

Uncle Brian, Uncle Chris and one of the other Team Perez members:

WIll's first 5k race re-cap

So yesterday Will, my 7 year old, completed his first 5k! I completed it with him making it my first race in almost 2 years. Oh my little boy has got such an ego! He thought that since a few years ago he won a 2k that it would be the same here. I tried and tried to explain to him that this was different, this was longer, and that there were more people in this one. He wouldn't listen. I guess this was just something he had to figure out on his own. He was smack talking some of the other little boys saying how fast he was. And he is! But he's more of a sprinter than a long distance runner. I explained to him before the race that he wanted to start slow and then speed up later, to conserve his energy. No cigar. Sometimes I have issues because Will likes to talk so much and get stuck on a very specific idea and won't get off of it. I think people around us probably think he's annoying but we got some nice comments from the more experienced runners saying they liked his enthusiasm. So the race started and we got about 1/4 mile down the road when Will realized that he had gone too fast. Poor guy got very upset that he could not keep up with the other runners in his group. Then he threw a fit. I could see him but he was ahead of me quite a bit.He had started out at a 10 min mile pace when we had been practicing at a 16 min mile pace. So I caught up to him and he kept saying he had "leg out". Which just meant he was tired and his legs hurt. I guess this is one time I really just had to let him learn from experience. He doesn't want to do the next race with me, though, which is unfortunate. I think he would do fine if he just stayed back with me. His little legs aren't very long LOL. So we walked the rest of the way and he was quite proud that he finished. 59:26 was official time. We celebrated by going to Denny's.

The experience was all in all a good one. And it showed me that I really could still go the distance. I felt wonderful at the end of the race. Although, I could feel a pain flare up starting after my walk on Friday so I didn't really want to go. I'm still in the midst of a pain flare up so I'm not a happy camper right now. But I'll get through it. There's another 5k next week closer to home and I'm going to do it. Hopefully, I won't do too bad of a time. If I can just get in my groove it'll all be fine.

Holy Crap, I finished Week One!

You read that right, I finished week one of C25k! I'm so happy I could cry. In the past few months it's really been hard to commit to anything or any program so I'm going to celebrate this small success. My second run was on Wednesday and my little Will came with me. He was bitching after half a mile but we ended up doing a mile and a half together in 30 mins. I have a hard time getting up super early in the mornings for the dreadmill so I waited until after work for Wednesday's run. Amazingly, I did not have a flare  up like I did on Saturday's run! You have no clue how happy that made me. I didn't even get a dehydration headache. While the results from today's run won't be apparent  until tomorrow I can happily say I haven't had a flare up so far from today either. I work up around 11 and immediately went for a run. I felt awesome. So awesome. Beyond awesome, really. But when I got home I sort of collapsed. Took me a min to get back up but I didn't really feel it while I was out. I did 1.75 miles in 30 minutes! I've decided that on my Sunday run I'm going to do 2 mile regardless of the time. So far on these runs I've been taking a pretty flat course. The plus about being a long time just starting again runner is that I know almost exactly how long any particular route is. I think on Sunday to add the extra miles I'll do a moderate uphill course. When I was training for my half I used a mix of hills and flat. My one gripe right now is that the "new lap" button on my Garmin is sticking. It's making me mad. I like to rest between walking/ running to get an idea of what my current pace is. I guess I'm anal like that. I hope I can fix it but I'm not sure if it's an internal thing or if some gunk got in there? going to have to check that tomorrow.

I think I'm ready!

So I definitely did have a pain flare up post first run. But, you know, I'm in so much fucking pain all the fucking time that I really don't give a fuck anymore. I AM going to run another 5k. I miss running so much. During my first day on Saturday when I was running I felt so alive. Like me, my blood pumping my hair swishing down my back, my hot pink shoes hitting the pavement. Alive. Free. Wonderful. I'm going to do my second run tomorrow morning on the treadmill. I was able to keep a 12 min/ mile pace on Saturday during the running parts (so says my Garmin), and that's where I need and want to be.

I've pretty much come to the conclusion that these dumbass doctors don't really want to help at all. I did get a referral to a surgeon to have a panneculectomy to remove part of my apron and the adhesions that reside there. However, I probably won't qualify for it. I only meet 2 of the 3 criteria but I'm hopeful. My other choice is to get bariatric surgery to severely limit my food intake. I don't overeat and have been keeping a food diary for several months. It was actually the only way that I could convince my doctor last year that there may be a hormonal issue. However with bariatric surgery I wouldn't even be able to eat what I'm used to. So that's the next step... IDK what else to do. I'm running out of options. I can't keep living off of pain medication forever.

Couch to 5k part deux

When I first started running again after I had Maggie, I used cool running's couch to 5k program to jump off. I started that again today since I haven't been walking enough to really start any other program comfortably. I'm trying to start this slowly as I'm afraid I'll have a pain flare up if I push too hard. So now, an hour after my first day, I already know I'm going to be in pain later. I went ahead and took some ibuprofen in hopes to stave off some of it so that I can go swimming and be active today. I'm really afraid, though, to commit to any  events right now. I really want to actually race again but I'm going to wait until I'm closer to running regularly before I sign up.

Little update on my health: I've been taking my thyroid meds for about a month and a half now. I'm seeing good things such as being less fatigued in the AM, not falling asleep at my desk, etc. My bloating has gone down quite a bit and I have a lot less of a round face now. I've lost some weight but I'm not holding my breath that it stays off. It always seems to go that way, lose 10lbs, gain it back, lose it, gain it back. Fact is, I have a lot of weight to lose to feel normal again. it may or may not happen. Such is my life.