Life is a Roller Coaster! Hop on and enjoy the ride

Yes, there are ups and down - and sometimes a lot of them, in a short amount of time, but that is what makes the adventure all the more interesting! 

Welcome to this week's Fireside Chat!  It's Sunday night and time to sit back and reflect on the last week.  I am sure that I am like most people - you go into a week with grand plans of what needs to get done, what you wish to accomplish and how you see the week going. 

This past week was no different.  I had plans on actually getting caught up on some of blog post, starting some spring cleaning (my craft/costume/project room is a disaster and I can't find anything!) and try out a few new recipes.  I was signed up for classes at the gym (I was determined to get there 4 times this week) and had several training runs planned.

Having to face the reality that I needed to slow down on my training runs and work on getting my body healthy and injury free has been tough.  Telling a runner that they can't run is hard to deal with.  Granted, I have been told that I can still run, just have to keep the miles low (like less than 5 miles).  The fact that I have my marathon in less than 6 weeks is kinda freaking me out.  At this point, my longest run has been 14 miles.  This past weekend was supposed to be 18 miles but after my PT appointment on Thursday, I was told that was not going to happen.  She gave me the ok to do the 10 mile run, but only if I promised that I would cut it short if my knee started bothering me.  

Figures, the weather is finally starting cooperate and I am limited on who much I can get out and run.  Getting out on Saturday for a run (even though it was shorter than I would have wanted to do) was awesome!  The Fox River trail was finally mostly clear and the sun was shining.  I ended up turning around at the 4 mile marker for the run instead of the 5, just because I didn't want to push the knee too far.  When I finished, I was feeling good, a little sore, but much better than I did after the 6 miles I did 2 weeks ago!  The most frustrating part of the run was the fact that I still felt like I could have run another 10 miles.  There is still fuel in the tank, the body and mind are still wanting to go further... with the exception of my beloved IT band and knee.  It give me that much more motivation to work on correcting the IT band issues and continue with the strength training and PT.  I want to get out there and really so how far I can run!

On a more exciting note - I think I need to go out and buy a lottery ticket! On Thursday I found out that I won a Twitter contest and now had 4 tickets plus a bunch of other goodies for the Monster Jam event at the Resch Center on Sunday!  Perfect timing for my son's 16th birthday!  It was a fun (but LOUD) afternoon!

The Prize Pack

The Birthday Bay and the trucks

 Then, I also found out that I won not one, but two of the gift baskets at the Comedy City Comedy Against Cancer Event last weekend!  The first basket was a wine and cheese assortment from 2 local venues.  THe second was a basket compliments of Badger State Brewing and the Green Bay Distillery.  With all this beer, wine and cheese, I think I've got the start of a good party!

Overall, it's been a great week and I am determined not to let me injury get me down.  I have to keep reminding myself that even tho my knee is not hurting when I run, that is not the ok to keep going.  Keeping the miles down is my best course of action to letting myself heal, no matter how many miles I really want to run.  I have an awesome supportive family and group of friends that are looking out for me and continue to remind me to SLOW DOWN.  I may grumble and try to be tough and push on, but I know what I need to do and I really grateful to have them looking out for me!

The Roller Coaster is ever changing and keeps us from getting bored.  Sometimes the climb to the top is slow and long but the view from the top is always worth the effort.  We just need to learn to enjoy the view from the top, look forward to the next adventure and the triumph at the end of the next hill!

Until next time, get out there and enjoy spring weather - now that it finally is here!

Sunday night, fireside chats

Sunday nights...

Time to relax after a busy weekend, unwind before the crazy work week starts up again.  Cone on in and enjoy the fire, grab a glass of your favorite beverage and relax!  It's time to chat and reflect on the last week, learn and grow from it and prepare mentally for the next round!  If you were here, what would we chat about?

I would tell you:
...That I found a new chiropractor!  Now please understand that I can not say anything bad about my old one, just found a new one that fits better with my lifestyle.  With all of the strength training at the gym, miles I am running and crazy days, having a chiropractor that practices Active Release is a great ace to have up my sleeve!  After just one visit, I could tell a huge difference!   I also found out that my shoulder pain was probably from my fall at the ice caves at the beginning  of February.  I have a huge knot in my shoulder that we will be working on next week.  The best part of my appointment this week, NO shoulder pain when I did my long run yesterday!

...Thursday night was an amazing night!  It was double date night!  John and I had the opportunity to join some of our friends for night out on the town in Appleton.  Dinner out at Victoria's for a fabulous Italian feast (ok Italian pasta feast for them, amazing salad for me, but I didn't feel like I was missing anything!) and then it was off to the PAC for Wicked!  This was the 3rd time the show was in Appleton and the first chance that we had to go.  What an awesome show!  Now, I keep asking myself why we didn't go sooner!

...This cold winter has been enough!  We officially broke a few records this week and can say that we just survived the coldest winter that Green Bay as seen in 110 years.  Ok, now that we have broken that record, this extreme cold can end!  I don't know about you, but I am getting tired of having to get dressed in 15 layers just to go out for a run!  My toes can't take much more of this!

...My biggest accomplishment... ran just shy of 21 miles in less than 30 hours.  Great way to start off the month of March!  Yesterday was the toughest training run yet for the Cellcom Marathon.  Between the cold and wind, it was a long 12 miles.  The fact that it snowed on Friday night, leaving a blanket snow (5 inches) across the entire city, didn't make it any easier. A few miles of the route were actually unplowed streets!  But we survived.  Then today was the CP Telethon Walk/Run and I pulled out just shy of 9 miles.  It was an amazing morning with a group of amazing people.  No matter how cold it was or how tired we got, we kept going!  I will have more on that in another post - too many amazing things going on to put into words here!

So what do you have to add to our fireside chat tonight?!?!  Fill me in!  What did you accomplish this week?  What are you proud of?  What did you get to experience?  Be proud of what you did and feel free to share!