Ouch

I got in four miles today, but i am experiencing serious pain. The other night after the battle of the dogs, my husband and i went to walmart and I could barely walk due to severe pain in my right foot. It was gone by the morning, so I figured, no big deal. Today not too far into my run, there the pain came again, but much more severe. I still managed four miles, but it is killing me tonight. I iced it so we will see how it goes. It is from the outside of my right foot all the way to my ankle. Tomorrow is our big run, so we will see.

I did enjoy the run a little bit more tonight because my youngest two and my husband, who only wears boots, started with me. They made it through the walking warmup and one and a half minutes of running. Still made me happy. I requested my ear warmer, so later down the road my daughter and husband met me with that and some water. By the way, my five year old was steering the pickup. Too funny. She got out and ran three more cycles with me and then they drove beside me for a little while longer. On the last stretch, a man on his horse met up with me and let his dog run with me for a few minutes. The dog is awesome, so it was a nice treat. All the joys of country life I guess.

We had a pretty good day. The five year old went to do chores with the hubby and loves every minute of it. Especially the driving part. She said tonight, I love him, he's the greatest. It makes it all worth it.

However, the ex tonight is a different story and is being a complete A__. He can go through periods where everything is great and then low and behold, there he is the same irrational man that I divorced three years ago. It makes me so mad, that he has the ability to ruin my day and will for at least the next thirteen years.

Let me quickly catch you up on my running. Jill was able to drag me along for 6 miles. We went on one of the major highways so we could make a pit stop for water and bathrooms if need be. My husband was terrified that we would get run over or kidnapped or both maybe, but we made it back safely. I begged Jill to walk more than we used to and somehow I made it through. One good thing about the highway is that several of our family members passed and offered lots of encouragement. Later that night and the next day I was definately feeling the run. I can't remember ever being so sore. I seriously had to pick my legs up just to get my undies on. It was seriously sad.

Tonight Jill came back to town and offered to run with me again. We only needed to do three miles and since her ipod was dead, we went out on the road from my mothers on a course that she had measured. Let me just say, we will never run that course again!!! It was a mile and a half, so the plan was to run up and back. The way up was going along okay (except me wanting to die!) when low and behold we came up on our first aggressive dog for the night. Seriously, scary, foaming at the mouth, barking, running beast! We both started yelling and while Jill distracted him, I picked up rocks and threw them as best as I could. (a trick I learned long ago from Sandy). We were able to escape but we knew we would be passing by him on the trip back. When we got close again, I stopped to pick up the largest rocks I could find. I gave one to Jill which she said felt more like a shotput. So here we are running with these boulders, when we decide to arm ourselves with some empty beer bottles laying around. By the time we got close to the beast, we had a whole arsenal of weapons. We lucked out and the owner was outside, so Jill yelled from afar a request for him to hold him. With much effort the man did, so we threw down our weapons. Thought we would have smooth sailing on the way back, but all the dogs must have conspired together. On the trip back, we met up with TWELVE dogs. About half were rabid and half were friendly. Needless to say, it got the adrenaline pumping.

Ah, how relaxing running can be. LOL!

Today

Jilligan is trying to talk me into running still. We are supposed to go for a run today, can't remember if it is 5 or 6 miles. I told her we have to go slower than normal since I haven't ran in 2.5 weeks. If I end up in the hospital I will let you know.

Dropping Out

I think I am going to be a quitter. Too much stress right now. Stuff with the kids, and stuff at church, plus something must be seriously wrong with my iron levels. Seriously want to go to bed at 4 every afternoon and even get to be at 9 and still don't want to wake up in the morning. Wish I had medical insurance to figure out what the heck is wrong, but I don't. So for now, I am thinking about not doing the half. Haven't ran in two weeks anyway!

I'm Alive!!!

Ok, seriously I am really here. I finally got internet at my house which happens to be way out in timbuktu. They were afraid the wireless wouldn't work way out here, so they gave it to me for one night to try and I have to actually go pay for it tomorrow. Which is nice, because I can already tell I need the faster service than they put me on tonight. I hate waiting for things to load. Anyway, I digress.

My training has not been so great lately. Why? You might ask. I have no idea. The last two weeks I have been having some stomach issues. Finally went to the doctor last Tuesday. (When you don't have insurance, you hold on for as long as possible) When I was pouring sweat and in great pain from stomach cramps, my cousin finally convinced me to go. We will see what the bill turn out to be and all that has changed is that I am now taking Zantac. Am I feeling better? YES. Have I run? NO. Seriously just can't get motivated. So basically I haven't run anything in about a week and a half. Yes, I know that the race is coming up shortly, but still just can't get motivated.

So here I sit, in my running clothes, catching up on all the "internet stuff" I have been needing to do for the last 3 months. Will I run tonight? Who knows. Seriously need some help with the motivation. Maybe it will help now that I can read everyone else's blogs and see that other people are in it with me. We will see.

Projects

Last night I went shopping... It honestly looks like Christmas exploded in my living room and kitchen. I have a very small apartment and everything needs to be in its place, or it can be a disaster. So with my tree, it already puts everything out of whack. So I got great gifts for the kids yesterday. The box for Abby's is 4 feet tall. It took more than one roll of wrapping paper to wrap it. So now there is really no extra room. Lots of fun.

I am sure that most people when the start a project, they finish it. Somehow I have like ten Christmas projects going, all at different stages. I would really like to get some of them done, so I can actually feel like I have accomplished something.

I did decide that in my Jana Dream House, I want a craft room with lots of shelfs and work spaces. Right now I have a craft corner and my kitchen table. Lets just say my rubbermaid runneth over. However, all of the projects are good so far, so I will just keep plugging away.

Note for next year: must start early!

Blah!

I know, I know, I haven't written in forever. Been going through one of those times lately, where it is tough to even function with normal activities. Don't know why I have been so blue lately, may have to get new meds. We will see. It just makes me more sad to think about going back to the doctor for that since I don't have any insurance. Yuck. Anywho...

Started seriously training for the half-marathon in April. Jill devised a specific running plan for me that I am thoroughly enjoying. Never thought I could be one of those people who actually looks forward to tying up the shoes and running. It is a really good release for me and then I always let myself enjoy a steamy soak in the tub. So I love the rewards. On one of the episodes of Biggest Loser, Jillian was telling one of the contestants, to picture her body. So I try to think about that. I picture my body how I want it to look in April and it is great motivation.

I am still running on my treadmill. I would like to take it outside, but I really don't have any gear for that. What do you guys think is absolutely essential for cold weather running?

I am not cracking. I just decided that it wasn't something I could stick with. My plan is to just eat healthy! Thought about counting calories, but I don't want to have to always be thinking about that. So after I indulged all weekend, I am just planning on eating sensibly. Enjoy more fruits and veggies and go from there. We will see where it gets me.

I just watched Bridget Jones' Diary for the first time last night. It was on tv and I stayed up til midnight watching. It really cracked me up. Need more movies like that. Hope everyone has a great week!