I will not freak out
I will not freak out
I will not freak out
So this is Tuesday and my Half Marathon is Sunday. Tic Tac Tic Tac....
Yesterday went for 3 miles on the TM, it was 95 out by 9 I was a wuss, I went to the gym. It was ok, calf were a little stiff..I had weird pain in my groin...like an electric shock or something...it went away while running...I would get it only when walking yesterday during the day. This morning I did not have that anymore (stretch a lot last night) but I had some pain in my left Achilles. Never had that before. I stretch religiously. I ice religiously also because well I am 42. So I had 3 miles at HM pace to do. We had a very cool 84 degrees this morning so I went outside. I felt fine DURING my run. AFTER the run not so much. It is not sharp pain but it is enough to worry me a little. I iced it 2x 20 min. It is not swollen.
I will not freak out.
I will be smart and rest tomorrow and do 2 miles on Thursday.
Rest Friday and Saturday and hope for the best on Sunday.
I will not freak out
I will not freak out
I will not freak out
Yesterday I got my bib number. I realized that I never sent my better time from the OC race to be placed in a different coral. I sent the time from my first Half when I registered and I forgot to send the other one to have it changed. Oh well no big deal I guess, its not like I would have been placed in coral A with the speedy runners!
I will not freak out
I said that already....I know...
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Work is done. TAPER time (yikes)
Week 11 is done. In one week at this hour I will have ran my 3rd Half Marathon. I feel good about how I trained but now I am nervous. Was it good enough? Will I be able to last in the heat without hitting the freaking wall? It has been very hot here. Compare to other states right now I know it is nothing to complain about. I do CRAPPY in the heat. My body shuts down even if I drink a lot and take salt tablets, I still loose a lot of salt and get dehydrated. That is what happened yesterday for my long hot run.
I ended up doing 10 miles. It was hard, really hard. Sun was out at 6:05. It was 88 and humid when I left at 6 am. It was really hot 10 miles later...Heck it was hot 2 miles later!!! My running partners did not come with me so this was also a big mental test for me. I guess it was good because, well they are not running the half marathon with me! I wanted to do double digit no matter what, I needed that to be confident for my race. I went slow and I drank a lot. I took salt tablets before I left and at mile 5. I should have taken some earlier and then again during the run. People have said you cannot do well at Disney because of runners who stop to take pics along the way, but I have talked to others who ran it last year and 3 of them got a PR there so I am going for it!!
Friday I will drive to the race Expo to pick up the race packets for me and the boys. Saturday it is their race and Sunday the big day! We will stay there Saturday and Sunday! WITH BILL.
This was week 11
mon: 5 miles
tue: 3 miles tempo
Wed: 3 miles at race pace
Thu: REST
Fri: 5 miles speedwork 8x400
Sat: 10 miles
Sun 3 miles recovery
total: 29 miles
Mon-Tue-Wed-Sat-Sun: All in the heat :(
Tomorrow I start TAPER. I do not like Taper. I feel like I loose my mind and my fitness. I know it is not true but I still feel that way. I also question everything regarding the race and how I train. I drive myself completely MAD.
TAPER WEEK
Mon: 3 miles
Tue: 3 miles at Pace
Wed: 3 miles easy
Thu: 2 miles easy
Fri: Rest
Sat: Rest
Sun: RACE
Because I have to drive to the Expo Friday, I won't be able to help both teachers in the morning...I will have time for just one class. I feel bad about that.
Congrats to everyone who ran HOOD TO COAST! I cannot wait to read all of your posts!
I ended up doing 10 miles. It was hard, really hard. Sun was out at 6:05. It was 88 and humid when I left at 6 am. It was really hot 10 miles later...Heck it was hot 2 miles later!!! My running partners did not come with me so this was also a big mental test for me. I guess it was good because, well they are not running the half marathon with me! I wanted to do double digit no matter what, I needed that to be confident for my race. I went slow and I drank a lot. I took salt tablets before I left and at mile 5. I should have taken some earlier and then again during the run. People have said you cannot do well at Disney because of runners who stop to take pics along the way, but I have talked to others who ran it last year and 3 of them got a PR there so I am going for it!!
Friday I will drive to the race Expo to pick up the race packets for me and the boys. Saturday it is their race and Sunday the big day! We will stay there Saturday and Sunday! WITH BILL.
This was week 11
mon: 5 miles
tue: 3 miles tempo
Wed: 3 miles at race pace
Thu: REST
Fri: 5 miles speedwork 8x400
Sat: 10 miles
Sun 3 miles recovery
total: 29 miles
Mon-Tue-Wed-Sat-Sun: All in the heat :(
Tomorrow I start TAPER. I do not like Taper. I feel like I loose my mind and my fitness. I know it is not true but I still feel that way. I also question everything regarding the race and how I train. I drive myself completely MAD.
TAPER WEEK
Mon: 3 miles
Tue: 3 miles at Pace
Wed: 3 miles easy
Thu: 2 miles easy
Fri: Rest
Sat: Rest
Sun: RACE
Because I have to drive to the Expo Friday, I won't be able to help both teachers in the morning...I will have time for just one class. I feel bad about that.
Congrats to everyone who ran HOOD TO COAST! I cannot wait to read all of your posts!
Friday, August 26, 2011
110
That is the number I saw in my car yesterday and no it was not my speed....it was the temperature: 110 at 5 pm for soccer practice! It did not affect Jonathan who kept coming in first and jumping over his ball!!!
Today it is much cooler with 105. I went running at the GYM. 5 miles Speedwork 8x400. Last Speedwork before the race. Tomorrow I have 12 miles on the plan as my last long run but it is supposed to be just has hot. This morning it was over 90 at 7 am. That is hot for 12 miles! I don't know what to do. If it is super hot I might do 9 instead. I will still go outside for sure but over 90 maybe I will run less. I would hate to get super dehydrated and get muscle cramps and have a hard time recovering from a LR so close to my race. I have ran double digit LR for the last 4 weeks I feel good about that. I looked at the forecast for the Half Marathon...so far projecting a freezing 78 degrees.
Bill's health update....see here if you missed the breaking news (He was FORCED to stay home...a whole day)
He went back to work the next day....I know shocker...and he came home at 9 pm....clearly he learned NOTHING from his little set back. The good news is that his boss realized that maybe Bill has been working too much this summer...You think????
I think I finally answered all of Will's questions about 9-11 the best I could. For now anyway. Thank you to the ones who gave me advices for this after reading my last post. I tried to focus on how brave people were and how people helped each other through this tragedy and shift HIS focus away from "the bad guys" and the why and him wanting to see the planes go in the towers (2 classmates saw clips of that on youtube and of course they told the whole class). We have to take planes to go see my family and I would hate for my kids to be scared of flying because they now know that one dark day some really bad guys were on planes with some other people who were very nice and something terrible happened. Jonathan who is 5 asked if there were kids on these planes and I told him the truth, I honestly don't remember if they were kids on board. He said :"Well I am sure there were no kids because otherwise they would have not done what they did." "Right" I said. The longer he believes in that, the better.
Today it is much cooler with 105. I went running at the GYM. 5 miles Speedwork 8x400. Last Speedwork before the race. Tomorrow I have 12 miles on the plan as my last long run but it is supposed to be just has hot. This morning it was over 90 at 7 am. That is hot for 12 miles! I don't know what to do. If it is super hot I might do 9 instead. I will still go outside for sure but over 90 maybe I will run less. I would hate to get super dehydrated and get muscle cramps and have a hard time recovering from a LR so close to my race. I have ran double digit LR for the last 4 weeks I feel good about that. I looked at the forecast for the Half Marathon...so far projecting a freezing 78 degrees.
Bill's health update....see here if you missed the breaking news (He was FORCED to stay home...a whole day)
He went back to work the next day....I know shocker...and he came home at 9 pm....clearly he learned NOTHING from his little set back. The good news is that his boss realized that maybe Bill has been working too much this summer...You think????
I think I finally answered all of Will's questions about 9-11 the best I could. For now anyway. Thank you to the ones who gave me advices for this after reading my last post. I tried to focus on how brave people were and how people helped each other through this tragedy and shift HIS focus away from "the bad guys" and the why and him wanting to see the planes go in the towers (2 classmates saw clips of that on youtube and of course they told the whole class). We have to take planes to go see my family and I would hate for my kids to be scared of flying because they now know that one dark day some really bad guys were on planes with some other people who were very nice and something terrible happened. Jonathan who is 5 asked if there were kids on these planes and I told him the truth, I honestly don't remember if they were kids on board. He said :"Well I am sure there were no kids because otherwise they would have not done what they did." "Right" I said. The longer he believes in that, the better.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
I told you so and 9-11 in school
Let's start with the running...
So it is HOOOOOOOT here. All my week days run have been over 93 degrees lately. On the weekend I leave earlier so it is in the 80s. It is hard to run in the heat. I am over it. Bring on the California winter or for other normal states the fall!
Today I was a wimp...I decided that I have had enough of the oven and I went to the gym for 3 miles tempo. Tomorrow is rest day, I have to go help the teachers because Friday is a day off for the kids. Already. After just 3 weeks. Because it is soooooo tough being 5 and 7 and going to school so we need a little rest. Friday off means running at the gym again, it is OK. Saturday last long run with 12 miles. Do you guys do your last LR the week before or 2 weeks before the race? I see on blogs that some do their last one 2 weeks before...that makes for a really long taper...no?
Long taper that would drive me nuts I think.
OK so what happens to a 44 yrs old out of shape guy who has zero super power, who has had 2 days off since June 8 and has worked 16-21 hrs a day since then and has not been listening to his wife all this time? The answer is : He gets SICK. Just like his wife said he would. Yep Bill has fallen. He came home with a fever and achy body feeling LIKE CRAP. I got to say "I told you so" He had to take it like a big boy.
He went to bed. A few hours later I went to check on him and he announced he would get up at 4:30 to go to work. OVER MY DEAD BODY. That is the answer he got. I went downstairs and did what a good wife should do: Hide keys, phone and PC.
He did stay home today. I made sure to be the one answering the phone when his boss called. I am not happy he is not well...of course not...and do I think he will learn anything from this? Absolutely not!
On to the next topic. Yesterday when I picked Will up from school I did like I always do when we drive home, I asked about his day. He said "It was good! We learned about Neil Armstrong and 9-11!" "WHAT?????????" I almost went through a STOP sign there. I was so not prepared for this. I had just asked Bill last weekend if he thought we should prepare Will in case they discuss it in class for the 10th anniversary. He said he did not think they would talk about 9-11 in the lower grades classes. Will is 7 yrs old. I wish he did not have to know about the horrible parts of our world just now. It makes me sad that he now knows how bad human beings can be. I still have all the newspapers (NY and LA times) from 9-12-01 and the days following plus the TIMES and other magazines. They are put away so the kids cannot go and look at all those images. He had lots of questions....the main one being WHY. I wish the teacher would have informed us that this was in their school books. I get it, it is part of the history, I just would have liked to prepare him a little bit for this one. So we talked about that a lot yesterday. I still have a hard time with this myself. Will asked to see pictures of 9-11 and for now I did say no to that. He is just 7 he does not have to see all the ugliness.
In our family room we have a picture that I took of Bill from the Statue of Liberty and behind him are the twin towers. I took it on 09-11-00.
So it is HOOOOOOOT here. All my week days run have been over 93 degrees lately. On the weekend I leave earlier so it is in the 80s. It is hard to run in the heat. I am over it. Bring on the California winter or for other normal states the fall!
Today I was a wimp...I decided that I have had enough of the oven and I went to the gym for 3 miles tempo. Tomorrow is rest day, I have to go help the teachers because Friday is a day off for the kids. Already. After just 3 weeks. Because it is soooooo tough being 5 and 7 and going to school so we need a little rest. Friday off means running at the gym again, it is OK. Saturday last long run with 12 miles. Do you guys do your last LR the week before or 2 weeks before the race? I see on blogs that some do their last one 2 weeks before...that makes for a really long taper...no?
Long taper that would drive me nuts I think.
OK so what happens to a 44 yrs old out of shape guy who has zero super power, who has had 2 days off since June 8 and has worked 16-21 hrs a day since then and has not been listening to his wife all this time? The answer is : He gets SICK. Just like his wife said he would. Yep Bill has fallen. He came home with a fever and achy body feeling LIKE CRAP. I got to say "I told you so" He had to take it like a big boy.
He went to bed. A few hours later I went to check on him and he announced he would get up at 4:30 to go to work. OVER MY DEAD BODY. That is the answer he got. I went downstairs and did what a good wife should do: Hide keys, phone and PC.
He did stay home today. I made sure to be the one answering the phone when his boss called. I am not happy he is not well...of course not...and do I think he will learn anything from this? Absolutely not!
On to the next topic. Yesterday when I picked Will up from school I did like I always do when we drive home, I asked about his day. He said "It was good! We learned about Neil Armstrong and 9-11!" "WHAT?????????" I almost went through a STOP sign there. I was so not prepared for this. I had just asked Bill last weekend if he thought we should prepare Will in case they discuss it in class for the 10th anniversary. He said he did not think they would talk about 9-11 in the lower grades classes. Will is 7 yrs old. I wish he did not have to know about the horrible parts of our world just now. It makes me sad that he now knows how bad human beings can be. I still have all the newspapers (NY and LA times) from 9-12-01 and the days following plus the TIMES and other magazines. They are put away so the kids cannot go and look at all those images. He had lots of questions....the main one being WHY. I wish the teacher would have informed us that this was in their school books. I get it, it is part of the history, I just would have liked to prepare him a little bit for this one. So we talked about that a lot yesterday. I still have a hard time with this myself. Will asked to see pictures of 9-11 and for now I did say no to that. He is just 7 he does not have to see all the ugliness.
In our family room we have a picture that I took of Bill from the Statue of Liberty and behind him are the twin towers. I took it on 09-11-00.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Countdown...to Disney
Less than 2 weeks to go.
I finished week 10 of my training plan with 30 miles.
Week 10
Mon: 3 miles
Tue: 5 miles
Wed: 5 miles Speedwork: 6x800 @ 4:30 it was HELL.
Thu: 3 miles in 96 degrees heat..:(...Ready for winter over here!
Fri: Rest
Sat: 11 miles
Sun: 3 miles recovery
Total: 30 miles!
All my runs were in temps over 90 except speedwork (always on TM) and my long run.
I had to wear my compression socks a lot to help with my varicose vein..those are ugly and painful.
My long run went pretty well. I had 3 running buddies with my again this week. I have to say they are the best part of my training. It is so much easier MENTALLY. I don't focus on how many miles I have left. I just talk to them. I do worry about 2 things though.
#1: for the race they will not be there and I will be on my own with my thoughts...it's Disney so I am counting on the distractions a lot. :) I am very good at being my worst enemy.
#2: They are all faster then me. The 2 gals are in their 20s, one is not interested in racing for now and is coming along for exercise, the other one is Rebekah and she will run Long Beach with her dad who is my 3rd running buddy. He can run the half under 2 hours and I am not there. I hope we can do the LR together for a long time but I worry that I slow them down and I will understand if they decide to go faster. When that happens I will try to keep up and see how that goes.
Sunday I went for 3 miles recovery, a dog decided to follow me. It was fine except he wanted to run between my feet so I kept hitting him and I almost fell twice!
Went for 5 miles this morning. Was feeling BLAH. Pace was OK but I have a nasty sore throat and I was not 100%.
It does take me a couple days to recuperate from 10+ miles run. I burn over 1200 calories and I cannot replace them in one day because I don't eat enough. I try but it's just not possible for me to do that. If I replace 1/3 of it, it's pretty good. Anyway, this week is my last full training week. I got less reps on the speedwork and 12 miles this weekend for my last long run. After that: TAPER....I hate taper.
I feel pretty good about this 3rd Half. I have not missed one run so far. I had good long runs. Now all I need is to stay healthy and NO HEAT. I am paranoid about getting sick. I am sure I am driving my kids and Bill nuts.
My kids will run the kids run at Disneyland. That is on Saturday. My race is on Sunday. I can pick up my packet at the Expo on Saturday but I don't know what to do for the boys. Expo opens at 9 am on Saturday and their race is at 10 am. We are staying in Anaheim Saturday night. I don't want to drive there on Friday after school, I would be stuck in traffic on my way back home...no thank you. Expo opens at noon on Friday so I cannot go while they kids are in school because Jonathan gets out at 12:35 and it takes about 45 min to get there. So do I take a chance and go Saturday morning early to be the first one in to get their bibs and run to the starting line? This is when I wish my parents were closer!!!
One last thing non running related....yesterday my younger son read 4 books on his own for the first time. I was jumping like a cheerleader "you can read! you can read!" he was like "Mom, RELAX, those are not Diary of a Wimpy kid books!!!"
I finished week 10 of my training plan with 30 miles.
Week 10
Mon: 3 miles
Tue: 5 miles
Wed: 5 miles Speedwork: 6x800 @ 4:30 it was HELL.
Thu: 3 miles in 96 degrees heat..:(...Ready for winter over here!
Fri: Rest
Sat: 11 miles
Sun: 3 miles recovery
Total: 30 miles!
All my runs were in temps over 90 except speedwork (always on TM) and my long run.
I had to wear my compression socks a lot to help with my varicose vein..those are ugly and painful.
My long run went pretty well. I had 3 running buddies with my again this week. I have to say they are the best part of my training. It is so much easier MENTALLY. I don't focus on how many miles I have left. I just talk to them. I do worry about 2 things though.
#1: for the race they will not be there and I will be on my own with my thoughts...it's Disney so I am counting on the distractions a lot. :) I am very good at being my worst enemy.
#2: They are all faster then me. The 2 gals are in their 20s, one is not interested in racing for now and is coming along for exercise, the other one is Rebekah and she will run Long Beach with her dad who is my 3rd running buddy. He can run the half under 2 hours and I am not there. I hope we can do the LR together for a long time but I worry that I slow them down and I will understand if they decide to go faster. When that happens I will try to keep up and see how that goes.
Sunday I went for 3 miles recovery, a dog decided to follow me. It was fine except he wanted to run between my feet so I kept hitting him and I almost fell twice!
Went for 5 miles this morning. Was feeling BLAH. Pace was OK but I have a nasty sore throat and I was not 100%.
It does take me a couple days to recuperate from 10+ miles run. I burn over 1200 calories and I cannot replace them in one day because I don't eat enough. I try but it's just not possible for me to do that. If I replace 1/3 of it, it's pretty good. Anyway, this week is my last full training week. I got less reps on the speedwork and 12 miles this weekend for my last long run. After that: TAPER....I hate taper.
I feel pretty good about this 3rd Half. I have not missed one run so far. I had good long runs. Now all I need is to stay healthy and NO HEAT. I am paranoid about getting sick. I am sure I am driving my kids and Bill nuts.
My kids will run the kids run at Disneyland. That is on Saturday. My race is on Sunday. I can pick up my packet at the Expo on Saturday but I don't know what to do for the boys. Expo opens at 9 am on Saturday and their race is at 10 am. We are staying in Anaheim Saturday night. I don't want to drive there on Friday after school, I would be stuck in traffic on my way back home...no thank you. Expo opens at noon on Friday so I cannot go while they kids are in school because Jonathan gets out at 12:35 and it takes about 45 min to get there. So do I take a chance and go Saturday morning early to be the first one in to get their bibs and run to the starting line? This is when I wish my parents were closer!!!
One last thing non running related....yesterday my younger son read 4 books on his own for the first time. I was jumping like a cheerleader "you can read! you can read!" he was like "Mom, RELAX, those are not Diary of a Wimpy kid books!!!"
Friday, August 19, 2011
I am a boob expert
I can only imagine the kind of search keywords this title will get me!
Oh well...we will see how that goes!!!
So I won the boob game over at XLMIC's blog. 100%. That's right ladies...I know YOUR boobs and I am not even ashamed of it. Only Marjorie could come up with a match the boob game!!!!
Rest day today....yikes....I rest because I have to and I am old and it is what the plan says and I follow the rules BUT I don't like it. I feel tired and just blah plus well here's too much information for you my readers...I have varicose veins. Were you able to read that? Aren't those 2 ugly words...fitting to describe something pretty ugly if you ask me. I have both my parents to thank for this. BOOOO HOOO Genetics..... It is not too bad (yet) and I only have one (for now) that is a real one and can cause pain sometimes. Running helps A LOT with that. Heat is the enemy. So on a hot resting day...it is not good for me. Adding to this is my volunteer work at the school, most of it done standing up...not good either.
Every Friday I spend 3 hours in each of my boys classroom to help the teachers with anything they need. In the K class it is more hands on with the kids, helping them with writing their names or do projects. It is only week 2 and the trouble makers are known and our teacher will need A LOT of patience to deal with those 2 clowns. In all the years I have coached and helped in the classrooms I have never seen kids misbehave the way those 2 are. The teacher has a chart with the goals for the year, what they need to learn, and when they reach a goal the kids get a sticker on the chart. I was happy and proud to see that Jonathan is following on his brother's footsteps and is leading the board with one of the girls. In the 2nd grade class I prepare all the paperwork for the following week and the homework for the week also.
This week we also started AYSO soccer. Both boys are playing this year, Jonathan is in the SHARKS and Will is in the ELECTRIC FEET. That means 4 practices and 2 games per week. Yeah for me who does all of it ALONE. Still on single parent mode over here. We had the meetings with their coaches, they both needed referee, team parent and assistant coach. Of course nobody wants to do any of it and of course I said yes to both coach to be the team parent.
Tomorrow 11 miles on the menu. Going early again because as I type this it is 101 here. I am so ready for the winter. I am meeting my babysitter who will do 9 miles. I am so happy she comes with me for the long runs. I have decided to have my Garmin beep if I go faster than my target pace for my half marathon. I want to be better at how I start the race, in the last 2 I started way too fast only to either hit the wall or run out of gas before the end.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LEFT KIND MESSAGES ON MY LAST POST REGARDING MY SCAN RESULTS. I appreciate all of them. I just want to clarify one thing about cancer. My situation is that I don't know if it is cancer or not. That is my main problem right now. Because the tumor is inside the kidney the Dr cannot do a biopsy because the potentially cancer cells could spread and that would be a tragedy. The only way to know is to remove the tumor and that means another surgery. I have had 4 in 6 years and that is more than enough for me. We have decided that if a scan shows that the tumor has grown..even if it is just 1 mm...I will have the surgery. I would not be able to live with this fear and stress. So far so good.
Oh well...we will see how that goes!!!
So I won the boob game over at XLMIC's blog. 100%. That's right ladies...I know YOUR boobs and I am not even ashamed of it. Only Marjorie could come up with a match the boob game!!!!
Rest day today....yikes....I rest because I have to and I am old and it is what the plan says and I follow the rules BUT I don't like it. I feel tired and just blah plus well here's too much information for you my readers...I have varicose veins. Were you able to read that? Aren't those 2 ugly words...fitting to describe something pretty ugly if you ask me. I have both my parents to thank for this. BOOOO HOOO Genetics..... It is not too bad (yet) and I only have one (for now) that is a real one and can cause pain sometimes. Running helps A LOT with that. Heat is the enemy. So on a hot resting day...it is not good for me. Adding to this is my volunteer work at the school, most of it done standing up...not good either.
Every Friday I spend 3 hours in each of my boys classroom to help the teachers with anything they need. In the K class it is more hands on with the kids, helping them with writing their names or do projects. It is only week 2 and the trouble makers are known and our teacher will need A LOT of patience to deal with those 2 clowns. In all the years I have coached and helped in the classrooms I have never seen kids misbehave the way those 2 are. The teacher has a chart with the goals for the year, what they need to learn, and when they reach a goal the kids get a sticker on the chart. I was happy and proud to see that Jonathan is following on his brother's footsteps and is leading the board with one of the girls. In the 2nd grade class I prepare all the paperwork for the following week and the homework for the week also.
This week we also started AYSO soccer. Both boys are playing this year, Jonathan is in the SHARKS and Will is in the ELECTRIC FEET. That means 4 practices and 2 games per week. Yeah for me who does all of it ALONE. Still on single parent mode over here. We had the meetings with their coaches, they both needed referee, team parent and assistant coach. Of course nobody wants to do any of it and of course I said yes to both coach to be the team parent.
Tomorrow 11 miles on the menu. Going early again because as I type this it is 101 here. I am so ready for the winter. I am meeting my babysitter who will do 9 miles. I am so happy she comes with me for the long runs. I have decided to have my Garmin beep if I go faster than my target pace for my half marathon. I want to be better at how I start the race, in the last 2 I started way too fast only to either hit the wall or run out of gas before the end.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO LEFT KIND MESSAGES ON MY LAST POST REGARDING MY SCAN RESULTS. I appreciate all of them. I just want to clarify one thing about cancer. My situation is that I don't know if it is cancer or not. That is my main problem right now. Because the tumor is inside the kidney the Dr cannot do a biopsy because the potentially cancer cells could spread and that would be a tragedy. The only way to know is to remove the tumor and that means another surgery. I have had 4 in 6 years and that is more than enough for me. We have decided that if a scan shows that the tumor has grown..even if it is just 1 mm...I will have the surgery. I would not be able to live with this fear and stress. So far so good.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Scan results-books-birthday
Today I went to see my Dr to get the results of my most recent scan of my kidney tumor. I always get anxiety before these visits and I always think about the day he said the words "You have a tumor" and that was followed by a talk where the C word was used. It is scary stuff. Nobody wants to have a conversation that includes tumor, cancer and your own name. I found out about this mass 2 weeks after having had surgery to remove my gallbladder. Five months prior to that I had a full hysterectomy and the thought of having another surgery was a lot to take. I did not have the surgery to remove the tumor. My Dr recommended waiting and see if the tumor grows. I went to see a specialist at Loma Linda for a 2nd opinion and he said the same thing. So that is the plan. Today I got the results of scan #7 and it showed that the mass is not bigger. It is the same size as it was on the very first scan. This is good news. Maybe tonight I will finally be able to sleep. :)
Books
I love books. That is my favorite thing to receive as a gift, it is the only thing I spend money on for my kids or myself outside bdays or Chirstmas. Bill bought this one at Costco last week and I stole it right away..I mean he works 18-21 hrs a day, he does not have time to read!
I know many of you read this one. I just started it and it is really good.
Before this one I read this book
Anyone read this? It is from the teen section. Yep. I read an article about it and I had to read it. I think every parents should read this. Teenagers should read it as well WITH their parents. The subject: suicide. It is a hard subject of course but this book is more about why the person got to this point. She left tapes to explain why and we follow one boy as he listens to her voice on these tapes. This is the kind of book that opens discussions.
Running
After my Dr Appt I went to the gym to do my speedwork. 6x800 @4:30. Man that was hard. It was late and my small breakfast was hours ago...I only had one bottle of water with me. I was not pretty. First 4 went OK. At #5 I started telling myself that 5 is good, I could do just 5 and nobody would know or CARE. That is true. Except I care. I did the 6th one. I almost threw up on the TM and it was my slowest of the 800s but I did it. In the end today was more a mental workout than anything else. I struggle with the mental aspect of long races like half marathons.
Speaking of that...18 days only before Half Marathon #3. I got 2 long runs left, one 11 miler this weekend and 12 next week.
Today it is my dad's 78th birthday!
Bonne Fete to my wonderful papa!
He is the smartest person I know...Hey he has a PhD and he speaks 5 languages (Hungarian, Russian, German, French and English)!
He is fair and kind and family is the most important thing to him.
He is the kind of grandfather who will roll on the floor with the kids and who also thinks they cannot do anything wrong. "They are perfect" "Don't be so strict" "It cannot be that bad" This is what I hear all the time from my dad wh0 was REALLY strict himself as a parent.
And to me he says this "You are too thin, why don't you eat more" "You look terrible and tired in this [running] picture" "You know you will not go to the Olympics right?" "Too much running is not good for your.....wait for it.....KNEES!" and also my all time favorite "You are doing a good job raising your kids" That is priceless to me.
Books
I love books. That is my favorite thing to receive as a gift, it is the only thing I spend money on for my kids or myself outside bdays or Chirstmas. Bill bought this one at Costco last week and I stole it right away..I mean he works 18-21 hrs a day, he does not have time to read!
Before this one I read this book
Running
After my Dr Appt I went to the gym to do my speedwork. 6x800 @4:30. Man that was hard. It was late and my small breakfast was hours ago...I only had one bottle of water with me. I was not pretty. First 4 went OK. At #5 I started telling myself that 5 is good, I could do just 5 and nobody would know or CARE. That is true. Except I care. I did the 6th one. I almost threw up on the TM and it was my slowest of the 800s but I did it. In the end today was more a mental workout than anything else. I struggle with the mental aspect of long races like half marathons.
Speaking of that...18 days only before Half Marathon #3. I got 2 long runs left, one 11 miler this weekend and 12 next week.
Today it is my dad's 78th birthday!
Bonne Fete to my wonderful papa!
He is the smartest person I know...Hey he has a PhD and he speaks 5 languages (Hungarian, Russian, German, French and English)!
He is fair and kind and family is the most important thing to him.
He is the kind of grandfather who will roll on the floor with the kids and who also thinks they cannot do anything wrong. "They are perfect" "Don't be so strict" "It cannot be that bad" This is what I hear all the time from my dad wh0 was REALLY strict himself as a parent.
And to me he says this "You are too thin, why don't you eat more" "You look terrible and tired in this [running] picture" "You know you will not go to the Olympics right?" "Too much running is not good for your.....wait for it.....KNEES!" and also my all time favorite "You are doing a good job raising your kids" That is priceless to me.
 |
| This was when he was 21, Hungary 1954, 2 years before he left his country. |
 |
| Playing with Will |
 |
| In his garden, he makes is own wine with the grapes |
 |
| New Year's Eve 2010, we were going to an NHL game! |
Monday, August 15, 2011
Week 9 and Sea World
Today I started week 10 of my half marathon training plan. Week 1o! In 3 weeks today I will have ran my 3rd half marathon. My first one was in January 2011 and my 2nd in May. I had a 10 miles run yesterday. I had 3 running partners for 6 out of the 10 miles. It was really nice. It was pretty hot and I did get dehydrated at mile 8. I started having the chills even though it was close to 90 before 8 am. I also had swollen fingers. Lost A LOT of salt again and sweated a lot more than usual. I took an ice bath and I drank 3 bottles of Nuun when I got back home. I tried new shoes yesterday. I decided to try a bigger size to see if that would help my toe problems (bloddy blisters on top of middle toes, blisters on big toes) and also help with swollen feet. It got Mizunos Inspire 7. I LOVE them. I had no pain. No swelling and no blisters.
Week 9
Mon: 3 miles recovery
Tue: 5 miles
Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 5 miles : Speedwork 11x400 @2:10
Fri: Rest
Sat: Sea World.
Sun: 10 miles
total: 26.5
After my 10 miler I went to see THE HELP at the movies. If you read the book and you loved it, go see the movie. I LOVED it. It was great. The actresses are ALL fantastic in it.
Saturday we finally made it to Sea World! This was supposed to be the activity for Will's birthday back in June but because of Bill's INSANE work schedule we had to postpone. Finally he was able to take 1 day off. On a freaking Saturday you would think it is a given...but not these days. First day he was at home since June 8.
This was my first time going to Sea World. WOW. It was amazing.
I LOVE animals. The ones that are part of the shows there are unbelievable! I was so impressed with how intelligent they are and by what they can do!
I took over 400 pics...I know I am crazy...here are a few.
The Dolphins show
The Sea Lions
These guys were my favorites! They are hilarious!
They did a Survivors challenge and Dancing with the Stars also!
SHAMU!!!
Week 9
Mon: 3 miles recovery
Tue: 5 miles
Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 5 miles : Speedwork 11x400 @2:10
Fri: Rest
Sat: Sea World.
Sun: 10 miles
total: 26.5
After my 10 miler I went to see THE HELP at the movies. If you read the book and you loved it, go see the movie. I LOVED it. It was great. The actresses are ALL fantastic in it.
Saturday we finally made it to Sea World! This was supposed to be the activity for Will's birthday back in June but because of Bill's INSANE work schedule we had to postpone. Finally he was able to take 1 day off. On a freaking Saturday you would think it is a given...but not these days. First day he was at home since June 8.
This was my first time going to Sea World. WOW. It was amazing.
I LOVE animals. The ones that are part of the shows there are unbelievable! I was so impressed with how intelligent they are and by what they can do!
I took over 400 pics...I know I am crazy...here are a few.
The Dolphins show
The Sea Lions
These guys were my favorites! They are hilarious!
They did a Survivors challenge and Dancing with the Stars also!
 |
| This was on the 2nd floor of their stage, he came out alone as "Superman" |
 |
| Jonathan stole my sunglasses |
 |
| Dancing the TANGO he has a rose in his mouth! |
 |
| This guy was funny..look how he wanted to be in the picture!!! |
 |
| See the fish? |
 |
| A Kiss!! |
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Lucky Week
I am having one lucky week.
I almost cannot believe it.
So it started Sunday with this
Ring! Ring!
"Hello?"
"Hi may I speak with Caroline please"
"Yes this is Caroline"
"Hi it's Danny from the ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW!"
"AHHHHHHHHH! HI!!!!!"
"I have 2 guarantee tickets for you for September 15 do you still want them?"
"YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!"
Going to the Ellen Show is like going to a party, it is so fun! I have been lucky getting tickets to go a few times already. It helps to be local to get them I think and also knowing when to request the tickets is key!
Monday I find out that I won a NUUN giveaway on Kerrie's blog!
And now today...the big one.
This morning I went to the hospital for my 6 mos scan. For the new readers, the short story, I have a tumor in my left kidney and I have to have scan every 6 mos to see if it grows. I do not know if it is cancer or not because they cannot do a biopsy on those tumors. It has been there for 2 years now.
When I got back I went for 3 miles run.
It went great.
When I got back I checked my email and I had one from the Keith Urban fan club saying this:
The prize is 2 Backstage pass to go Meet Keith.
I could not believe it!
For the contest we had to email a picture of what we like to do during the summer time.
Most people sent pics of themselves relaxing by a pool and a lot of folks took pics of themselves with their feet up the dashboard of their car. They went with the title of the contest! I decided to send this picture:
I said I like to spend my summer time running a half marathon by the ocean and listen Keith's music in my ipod while I do this!!! Who knew running would get me to meet Keith again!!! I am really happy but I also have a huge problem now.
I get one pass. I have another one for a guest.
I have 2 sons.
Now if you read my posts you know they both LOVE Keith. For new readers who don't know the story it is here
How do I pick? One will be jumping of joy and one will be heartbroken.
I think mini Urban should come with me for this one.
Remember the little video we made for Emz 24h marathon run? It was him in the back singing and playing air guitar with a piece of paper!
For now he has the lead....they dont know about this yet...concert is in 2 mos I still have time to think about this.
_________________________
I almost cannot believe it.
So it started Sunday with this
Ring! Ring!
"Hello?"
"Hi may I speak with Caroline please"
"Yes this is Caroline"
"Hi it's Danny from the ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW!"
"AHHHHHHHHH! HI!!!!!"
"I have 2 guarantee tickets for you for September 15 do you still want them?"
"YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! thank you!!!!!!"
Going to the Ellen Show is like going to a party, it is so fun! I have been lucky getting tickets to go a few times already. It helps to be local to get them I think and also knowing when to request the tickets is key!
Monday I find out that I won a NUUN giveaway on Kerrie's blog!
And now today...the big one.
This morning I went to the hospital for my 6 mos scan. For the new readers, the short story, I have a tumor in my left kidney and I have to have scan every 6 mos to see if it grows. I do not know if it is cancer or not because they cannot do a biopsy on those tumors. It has been there for 2 years now.
When I got back I went for 3 miles run.
It went great.
When I got back I checked my email and I had one from the Keith Urban fan club saying this:
CONGRATS! You've Won Our Keith Urban "Feet Up On The Dashboard" Street Team Contest!
The prize is 2 Backstage pass to go Meet Keith.
I could not believe it!
For the contest we had to email a picture of what we like to do during the summer time.
Most people sent pics of themselves relaxing by a pool and a lot of folks took pics of themselves with their feet up the dashboard of their car. They went with the title of the contest! I decided to send this picture:
I said I like to spend my summer time running a half marathon by the ocean and listen Keith's music in my ipod while I do this!!! Who knew running would get me to meet Keith again!!! I am really happy but I also have a huge problem now.
I get one pass. I have another one for a guest.
I have 2 sons.
Now if you read my posts you know they both LOVE Keith. For new readers who don't know the story it is here
How do I pick? One will be jumping of joy and one will be heartbroken.
I think mini Urban should come with me for this one.
 |
| Yes that is Keith on the cake. |
For now he has the lead....they dont know about this yet...concert is in 2 mos I still have time to think about this.
_________________________
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Back to School
Jonathan was so happy to go to the big school with his brother!
My baby is in Kindergarten! Will in 2nd grade.
When they came home they had lots of stories to tell me.
I asked Jonathan how was Kindergarten and this is what I got:
 |
| Nice tan right? |
 |
| Yes, I do feed him. He is a tall stick. |
The night before we did this to celebrate the last day of summer vacation and look who was there for 10 minutes on a weekend...yes I recognize him it is Bill...who is still working insane hours...last week his shortest day was 16 hours and his longest 21.
I completed week 8 of Disney Half Marathon training
Week 8:
Mon: 5 miles: speedwork: 5x800
Tue: 4.5 miles
Wed: 3 miles
Thu: 3 miles tempo
Fri: OFF
Sat: 5k race: report here
Sun: 10 miles.
total: 28.5 miles
Yesterday went for 3 miles recovery...it was not great...my legs were super tight from my 10 miles run the day before. Today went for 5 miles and it was better. It is still very hot here. Now I run outside after I drop the kids and it is almost 9 when I start so the sun is out and it is over 90. There's no shade on the trail by my house. I do the distance and I slow down if I have to. Yesterday I got dehydrated and that brought a lovely migraine..not just a headache. Boo hooo.
Tomorrow it is my 6 mos screening for my kidney tumor, then I get to wait one long week for the results. I usually don't think about it too much but during the days between the screening and getting the results I do think about it. And I worry. And it sucks. Hopefully the Doc will say that it did not grow and we screen in another 6 mos.
__________________
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Race Report: 5k Pride of the Valley
This morning we headed to Baldwin Park for a 5k race for me and a 1k race for the kids.
The boys were VERY excited about running a race!
Sorry about the amount of pics for this one!
We got there 30 minutes before the start of their race, got all 3 bibs and time chips. First time the boys had time chips, they thought that was really cool.
Another cool thing: REAL bathrooms!
No goodie bag but cute t-shirt and they are light blue, a nice change from the always boring WHITE! I had signed up without the shirt but once I saw it I decided to get it!
Will followed a few seconds later. He said he started too fast and he was not disapointed that his brother came before him so I was happy about that. Jonathan said "I ran the kids marathon faster then you Will!!" Here is Will's finish:
Time: Jonathan 4:51 and Will 5:06. Winner: 3:14!!!
They were both super happy and they both said "Thank you for signing me up!" :)
My turn next!
This was my 22nd race! I started this racing thing 17 mos ago.
The course was 100% flat. They runners that were there were also VERY fast. I think it was the fastest start I have ever been a part of so far. I felt like I was not moving and I looked at my watch and I was going 8:20! I knew I had to slow down if I wanted a PR and I did. I looked at my watch often, I wanted to make sure I was going fast enough but also not too fast for the first 2 miles, I wanted to finish strong this time.
I felt pretty good first 2 miles. I got a stitch at 2.25 miles and I did my best to ignore it and just keep the pace. For the last mile we could see the Finish Line ahead of us. I tried to ignore it because usually that makes me PANIC.
The verdict?
A new PR! My best time was 29:52 and today I did 29:29. 7th AG. I am happy.
I finished strong. I ran negative splits and I got a PR.
The boys were VERY excited about running a race!
Sorry about the amount of pics for this one!
We got there 30 minutes before the start of their race, got all 3 bibs and time chips. First time the boys had time chips, they thought that was really cool.
Another cool thing: REAL bathrooms!
No goodie bag but cute t-shirt and they are light blue, a nice change from the always boring WHITE! I had signed up without the shirt but once I saw it I decided to get it!Weather was perfect. It was 70 and no wind, could not ask for better than that. Kids went to lined up for the start. That was the first time that they would go without me. Their course was a straight line with a u turn at the half way mark. I knew Will would be fine for sure but Jonathan was a little nervous about going without mom!
 |
| CHIP TIME like Mommy! |
 |
| Here it looks like Jonathan is telling Will "You know I could beat you right?" ! |
 |
| See #505? in the middle with a racer top..he was the winner..by a lot, a real pro, comes from a family of runners, great running style and super fast. |
 |
| See #505?...not there! Already gone ! |
Will took off super fast and I wondered if he could hold that pace.....the u turn was too far and we could not see how they were doing and I wanted to stay at the finish to see them cross the line. So we waited....the winner came in all alone looking like a pro and then I saw a red shirt and I realized it was not Will....it was Jonathan!!!!! He beat his big brother!!! OOOPSY! On the picture it is him in the front and Will is in the middle behind the 2 girls.
 |
| Look at his fists!!! |
Time: Jonathan 4:51 and Will 5:06. Winner: 3:14!!!
They were both super happy and they both said "Thank you for signing me up!" :)
My turn next!
This was my 22nd race! I started this racing thing 17 mos ago.
The course was 100% flat. They runners that were there were also VERY fast. I think it was the fastest start I have ever been a part of so far. I felt like I was not moving and I looked at my watch and I was going 8:20! I knew I had to slow down if I wanted a PR and I did. I looked at my watch often, I wanted to make sure I was going fast enough but also not too fast for the first 2 miles, I wanted to finish strong this time.
I felt pretty good first 2 miles. I got a stitch at 2.25 miles and I did my best to ignore it and just keep the pace. For the last mile we could see the Finish Line ahead of us. I tried to ignore it because usually that makes me PANIC.
 |
| Oh Yeah I chicked a few guys! Don't know why my tongue is sticking out! |
A new PR! My best time was 29:52 and today I did 29:29. 7th AG. I am happy.
I finished strong. I ran negative splits and I got a PR.
This was a GOOD DAY!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)