Catching up

I am the worst blogger.

I am the worst follower.

I read blogs but I have not had time to comment.

I apologize.

I am looking for time.

And for balance.

I am on single parent mode.

My husband has been working nights again for almost a month now.

It does throw the family schedule off.

But I am not complaining ...I remember all too well where we were exactly one year ago.

I have been working more at my part time job and we are still having a lot to do with my 4th grader and soccer and everything else.

And there is the running part of my life.

I am sooooo grateful that I have a treadmill at home.

I would have missed so many runs this last month.

I have reached a PR distance last Sunday.

I am happy but this is still so much slower than where I was before the knee problem started.

October is here and that means race time is coming.

At the end of this month I have RnR Los Angeles on the schedule.

I am so nervous about this one.

I am focussing on getting the mileage up and trying to ignore the pace thing...but it is hard.

I put the towel over the time on the board... :)

Other stuff

We went to see our celebrity BFF, Keith Urban, play at the legendary Hollywood Bowl last Friday.

He was awesome! If you have never seen him live, go see him....he is a true performer.

We love him.

Yesterday we had family pictures taken.  One of my good friend is a professional photographer and she had mini session for the holidays...shorter session and much cheaper :)

I don't have the pictures she took yet but I snapped a few with my phone...

Fall TV...

I love The Voice...just to listen to Adam Levine and Blake Shelton go at it is enough...:) , Parenthood and waiting impatiently for Scandal to come back....

Ok gotta go read....what is new with you!

Hard work pays off

If you do the work...you will get the results.

It is true for anything in life....running...school...

Thanks for the comments and emails.

I am of course happy that we are on the right track and doing ok but still...these grades came at a cost. The one positive is that now I have that to show my son that hard work pays off.  It helps.

I am very proud of him. 

This week we made it to the first soccer practice so that is great....here's to hoping we make it to the second one tonight!

I rested Monday and Tuesday and I still fell pain...I am not sure what I will do today.  As I type this I am in my running clothes.....looking at the treadmill... I know I should rest.  I know.

It is just so frustrating to have a set back like that after I made progress.

One more rest day I guess.

Going to go do yard work...that is a workout right ......

Reading the YA novel "the future of us" right now and found my new favorite character in a book: CODY! (See second line...)

If you know me well and have been a long time reader you will get this....:)

A new milestone in the recovery road and a confession

Recovery is hard.

Coming back from injury requires patience.

A lot of it.

And humility.

And perseverance.

I have had many days of total frustration where I wonder if I should just quit this running thing.

But I don't.

I want to be where I was in April.

I am struggling with how much I suck right now.

But I will not quit.

If you are on the injury list or are coming back from one know this:

I remember how miserable I was all summer with no running.

So sucky running is better than no running.

I am a little worried about my next race.  

I am not sure I have enough time to be race ready.

Obviously I am not going after any magical time.

I would like to have the running portion of it to be bigger than then the walking one.

This was my week:

I reached a new milestone in my recovery: a 20 miles week.

I had 2 back to back runs.

The first one was not good.  I had pain so I stopped at 3.

Second one I went really easy and it was better.  

I still have to add walking in my runs.  This means I am a lot slower.

I have to accept this.

It has been extremely hot here and HUMDID.  In Southern California that is rare.

I still do all my runs on my treadmill.

Yesterday I did 6 miles and it was warm in the house...I ended up completely dehydrated and feeling like crap all day.  Go figure.

So although I am a little discouraged by how much I suck I am not giving up.

Confession part of this post:

I have been hmmmm not great at PT this week.  I know I know.

I am good at stretching and foam rolling but I have neglected the other stuff....the exercises.

Not too happy with myself for that.

I want to congratulate COY (first in Philly is her blog): she is a brand spanking new IRONMAN! 

You have all my admiration Coy!

Cannot find my happy pace and 2.5 days in Quebec.

My blogging has been very inconsistent.

I have hit a spot where I get easily discouraged and frustrated.

The pain is still under control.  That is good.

I have reached a new milestone in distance: 6 miles. Also good.

So what is not so good?

The pace.

Most of my runs over 4 miles are hard.

I struggle like a new runner or I should say like the new runner I once was.

I cannot find my "happy pace" the one where I can run for a long time and not have to catch my breath or walk.

This is hard for me.  I get depressed and sometimes I want to cut my run short. But I don't.  I have not done that once so far.

I cannot keep a decent pace for very long.  My fitness is still not where it was.

My next race is October 28.

RnR LA half marathon.

I need to get busy and follow a plan.

The goals: finish.  Faster than the OC half.  Not get hurt.

That is reasonable.

After that I got Ragnar Las Vegas.

I want to be doing a lot better than now for that.

Patience....patience.....

I went back home.  If you are a new reader home is Quebec City Canada.  

I took the red eye last Friday night (3 flights during the night actually) to get to Quebec on Saturday August 17: my day's 80th birthday.

I got there on Saturday at 11 am and we had a party for my dad that day.

I was so happy to be there.

This was the first time I went back alone since I moved here to SoCal 13 yrs ago.

I have missed many Christmas and birthdays and other family events but this one was huge and I wanted to be there.

My brother came with his 2 girls, the oldest is my Godchild.  

Me with my dad and my brother.  (Do you think he is older or younger ?)

With Eve, my God daughter.  She is 15 and now taller than me at 6 ft!

I stayed only 2.5 days total.  That was crazy.  I travelled back home Tuesday all day, left my parents home at 9 am and got to my house 15 hours later at 9 pm ( midnight Quebec time).

Crazy but worth it.

I had time to see my family and a few close friends and that was great.

I even had time to squeeze a short run in my neighborhood, first one on the pavement.

I passed in front my old elementary school.

Went to one of my favorite spot called "cafe temps perdus" means "the lost times cafe"

And this place

"The runner's corner"

This trip went by way too fast.

I was feeling homesick all week.

Even after 13 yrs it is still hard to be living so far away from my hometown.

6 - hip problems - back to school (and One Tree Hill)

Yesterday I ran 6 miles.

It was not fast and it was not all running but it was 6 miles.

I felt no pain in my knee.

I still feel very sore in the right hip.

Not while I ran but after. 

That is annoying me a lot.

I should not have to deal with other kind of pain!

I am having a hard time finding good ways to stretch my hip. Stretching the hip not the quads.

I use a strap and lay on my side. Bring the strap over my head and hold.  (Other end is at my ankle).

That is what works the best so far and rolling it with a trigger point roller.

I remember being really sore in the hip after the  OC half marathon.  I thought this was all because of the power walking.   Running that does not hurt but walking does.

I hope this is just the body getting used to running again.

After that 6 miler I am feeling optimistic.

I struggle with pace.  My fitness is at maybe 60% of what it used to be. 

We survived week 1 of back to school!

4th grade is no joke, first spelling test was Friday and tomorrow is first social study test! 

First day of school pictures

Do you have Instagram?

If yes do you find that you blog less because of it?

I do.

I sometimes feel like I repeat myself here.  I still want to keep my blog of course.  I want it to be for my boys so they can get to know me better...know Caroline not just mom.

I am going back home on Friday, alone for the first time ever since I left 13 yrs ago.

I am going for a super short visit to celebrate my day's 80th birthday on Saturday.

I am taking the red eye on Friday and I am coming back home Tuesday night. Crazy I know.

I will spend 2.5 days there it will be worth it.  80 yrs old that is important.  I am sad that the boys and Bill are not coming but it was not possible this time.

This is going to be a crazy week: 2 nights of meeting the teachers at the school, 3 days of working including the day I will travel and leaving for Quebec. Oh and homework and 4 soccer practices!

After if finishing Scandal I needed a new Netflix addiction for my treadmill runs and I started watching One Tree Hill.  I don't know why I never watched that show before.  9 seasons and I had never seen one single episode!  I watched all the other shows in that very intellectual genre: Dawson's Creek, The OC, Gossip Girls and of course my all time favorite Felicity.  So now it is the Scott Brothers saga.  Did you watched that one when it was on?  Team Lucas or Team Nathan?

Five

Today I ran 5 miles.

5 miles.

Last time I went there was in April.

I did a few 4 milers and I decided it was time to test the machine...and go to 5.

Don't know why that number is like a milestone for me as far as coming back goes.

This last week was pretty good.  No pain in the knee.  I do have stiffness and soreness in my right hip after almost every single run.  I stretch and roll and that helps.  I am going back to PT Tuesday and will ask for advices.  I am now going to go every other week.  Best for my wallet. 😉

I am still running exclusively on my treadmill.  No road yet.

I plug the IPad and go.  I watched season 1 and 2 of Scandal and I loved it.  So good.

I discovered VEVO.  That is pretty cool, watching the music videos instead of just the audio.

The only problem is no Goo Goo Dolls and no Matchbox twenty.  But lots of John Mayer and more importantly Keith !

The fitness is still not back but it is getting better...I am far from where I was before injury.

I did not put any weight so that is good I guess.

I am still taking walking breaks but I continue to increase the running minutes by 1 min every week.

If I have to keep the walking in I am fine with that.

Better that than no running.

I hope that I will continue to make progress.  I am always waiting for the sharp pain to come back...

Last Saturday I went to my second summer concert.

This time it was John Mayer and Phillip Phillips.

It was awesome!

Both really good.  I would go see just Phillip Phillips he is that good.

John Mayer is a guitar God.

He played 22 songs and he sounded great.

He was really humble and gracious to the crowd and the musicians playing with him.

Go see him if you have the chance.

I went with my friend Nicole

Tomorrow is Back to School!!!!! 

We are ready! Got new haircuts and new backpacks, lunch pails and shoes!

Progress & Brooks Ghost 4-5-6 and Goo Goo Dolls & Matchbox 20 concert

I think I am making progress.

Finally a little light at the end of the tunnel.

Today I did my first back to back run in months.  I am nervous about how I will feel tomorrow.

I only did 3 miles each day nothing crazy.

I have not gone over 3 miles yet.

Last 2 runs I increased the running portion to 4 minutes. So I now do 4:2.

PT wanted me to go from 3:1 to full 30 min running.  That scares me. I decided to increase the running   at a slower pace to be safe.  I want to make progress and avoid setbacks.

I will not do more than 2 days in a row for now, for a while actually...maybe for good. 

Next I will go for a long run of 4 whole miles :)

The fitness....ayayaye...that's tough...it is a little better.....but oh so frustrating still....

The shoes...

I had to accept that my Brooks Ghost 5 were not going to work with my orthotics.  I had aches and pain and it was not getting better.  I wanted them to work.  They were brand new.  I feel bad not using them.   I still have 2 pairs of Ghost 4 so I went back to those and they feel a lot better.  The reason is they have a wider toe box.  I went to the local running  store and tried the 6 again and they felt better than the 5 and the 4.  They are a better version of the 4.   So I ordered a pair and they arrived Saturday.  I ran with the 6 both yesterday and today and so far so good.

Here you can see the 4-5-6

See the stitches on toe box on the 5 (middle one) are closer and the shoe is narrower.  The 6 have  flat shoe laces and I prefer those.

I still go to PT but I am planning on reducing the frequency of my visits to maybe once every other week.  If I continue to feel better and not having setbacks I think I am good to continue on my own.

Well I do have my personal trainer to help me at home

I went to a great concert on Saturday night!  Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20! If you follow me on Instagram you may have seen clips I posted, it was a great night.  Both bands sang ALL their hits.  It is hard to beat IRIS live.  This weekend I am going back to the same venue to see Phillip Phillips and John Mayer!

Concert pics not the greatest except that one

During SLIDE it was not dark yet 

Matchbox 20 : how far we've come

Matchbox playing 3 AM, my favorite of theirs, for 14000 folks!

If you have the chance to see these guys on tour...GO see them!

Both Johnny Rzeznik and Rob Thomas have really great voices live they do not disappoint.

GGD favorited not one for 2 of my tweets today...that is a serious sign that we are now BFF...that or they do that to  all the tweets from fans....I am going with BFF option...

Looking for the one...you know running shoes..for my orthotics

I am at the place again.

Looking for running shoes.  I have been happy with my Ghost for a while and I was not planning on changing model anytime soon.

Sadly my Ghost 5 (or 4) are not perfect with my orthotics.  Feels to snug and I get pain on the top of the foot and also still have callus.  So I went to Dicks to try a bunch of shoes with my orthotics.  I was planning on taking my sweet time but the guys working in the shoe section were really annoying...every 3 min "can I help you with anything ?" "Still doing ok?".... At the 5th time I snapped a little "Like I said the 4 previous times..I am good and I will tell you if I need anything..and I am really close to leaving now because you refuse to leave me alone". He was overweight and wearing VANS so I assumed he was not a runner.  I could be wrong of course.

Anyway.... I tried these shoes

Brooks Ghost 6

Mizunos Wave Rider 16

Saucony Kirvana 4 and Guide 6

New Balance 1080 v3

I did not like the Saucony.  

Mizunos were OK not great.

Ghost 6 feels better than the 5 so that is good..more room at the toe box.

New Balance surprised me...feel like slippers....very comfortable. Those are pretty pricy for me at $134.99!

I did not buy any just yet.

I was hopping to try the new Mizuno Sayanora...have you heard of them?!! Just kidding. You would have to not be on Instagram or Facebook or any running blog to not know about these shoes... I went to 3 stores and nobody had them so no luck there.

Makes me nervous to change shoes especially since I have been happy with my Ghost but I also need to run with less pain and right now I am not pain free.  I don't have knee pain but my feet are not happy and neither is my hip.

On the recovery progress now.

I have not been to the PT in 12 days now.  I did not have enough free time to go and have my visit there be worth the $40 I have to pay each time.   I will go back on Wednesday.  I am wondering if I should still go.  I am better but not 100%. Far from it.  I don't want to keep going and paying if I can do all the PT here at home.  

I have been running with walking intervals every other day.  Right now I am on a 3:1 ratio.  I have very minimal pain in the knee...I do have plantar fasciitis that came back. Boooo

I am listening to the PT and I am not doing more than what she said is OK.

My fitness is still horrible...this is a hard pill to swallow.

I get tired very quickly and welcome the walking breaks...:(

But I am doing some running so that is a huge plus.

I noticed that the distance I cover in the time I am allowed to do gets longer so that is good also...less grandma running :)

I am now in the danger zone.  The place where I am making real progress and could get carried away and do too much too soon.  I don't want to be stupid and I won't be. I cannot wait to see at least a 5 for the distance....:)

One week from today I am going to a concert! We are going to see Matchbox 20 and the Goo Goo Dolls and I cannot wait!  It is an outdoor concert so it should be great!  I love both these groups ..I have seen the GGD once and they were fantastic. 

The week after that I will go see John Mayer and Phillip Phillips with a friend because Bill does not care for John Mayer... 

How about you? Any summer concerts on the agenda?

Watched the first episode of Scandal on the TM today...and I am HOOKED.  I get why it is so popular.

4th of July 5000 Freedom race

A race recap...

There a nice change from the injury saga.

I signed up for this 5K with the plan of doing it with my kids.  I thought this would be a great way to stick to the run-walk diet and not try to do anything stupid and also to share this one with the boys.

I have done this 5K 3 times before and this course is no PR course..the last mile is all uphill and if the sun is out well it is brutal.

I was a little nervous about running on the road.  I have not done that since the OC Half Marathon.  I did not try any running with my orthotics on the pavement.  I was not concerned with my time, I knew it would be terrible.

So things did not go as plan.

My kids picked that morning to act like little brats.  I will not go in details but I ended up going to the race alone and heartbroken.    Being a parent is the best and hardest job in the world.

I went and I decided to stick to the plan I have from my PT and do 2:2 run/walk.

So that was grand ma running and walking.  That was not a race.  It's ok.  It was nice to be with other people and to be at a race.

It felt strange to run on the pavement.  I felt like I was running on rocks, that's the best way to describe it.  It's the orthotics.  I am used to them for walking and also on the treadmill but not on the road.  I did not have knee pain during the race.  I felt completely out of shape.  It is no joke.  Wow.   That is so depressing.  I think that even if I could have run the whole distance I would have not been able to do it and not walk during the last mile up hill.  It was also sunny and hot.  But it did feel good to be kind of back even if this was a very humbling experience.

My time was terrible, probably 7 minutes slower than my 5k PR (27:xx ) but at this point it is not important and I know that so it is OK.

I am happy that I did it.  I am happy that I did not do anything stupid and I did walk half of it.  I a, happy that the knee was ok...I felt a tiny little pinch and that was it.  So that is the good.

The not so good...besides the fact that my kids were not with me...was that I had pain in my right hip again.  It really is soreness.  It is not during running/walking but after I am done.  I did talk to the PT about it because I am worried this is caused by the orthotics...although I had this at the OC half and I did not have orthotics then so maybe I am wrong.  Maybe it is my gait that is messed up because of my left knee and I favor the right leg?  PT said right hip flexor is very tight.   That worries me.  I don't want to have to deal with hip problems after having knee problems....enough already.

I stretched and rolled as soon as I got home and today it is much better.  

Hope you had a good 4th of July!

We went to see the fireworks at the baseball stadium and it was great!

If you follow me on Instagram you saw pics and videos of it!

Are you on Instagram? If I don't follow you let me know you are there!

Watching young girls (same age as them)  doing a dance number before the fireworks...Notice the level of attention??? I mean this is serious focus my friends.... :)

Humility 101

I have not been a good blogger lately.
I feel disconnected.
I don't like it.

I read blogs and I feel like I am out of the circle...everyone is running and I am falling behind....

Poor me...ok enough of that.

I am on week 3 of the running diet.
So now I do 30 minutes...2 min walk- 2 min run.

As far as knee pain goes...it is much better.  It is not zero pain all the time but most of the time for sure.    I have developed painful calluses.  They are on the ball of the foot where the pinky toe is.  I think it is because of the my orthotics...not sure.  The Top PT said I needed shoes with a bigger toe box.  He tried to convince me to get some New Balance shoes.  I am not sold on changing shoes.  Not even a little.  Takes time to find the one.  I think I have the one.  Maybe I could try 0.5 size bigger...I run in Brooks Ghost.  Right now I have a pair of 4 and 5.  The 6 are already in the store but I have not tried them on yet so I don't know if the toe box is different..sure hope it is not narrower.. that would be a problem.

So the running "comeback"...that is a major wake up call or what I like to call humility 101.  So the fitness is GONE.
All of it.
I am starting over.
It sucks.
It is hard.

When I started the 2 minutes intervals I could feel it.  Not my legs the problems...that is fine..but the cardio....wow...I suck.
Lots of work to do before I can go back to where I was.
It is so frustrating.  If you have had an injury...you know.

Are you running a 4th of July race?
I signed up for a 5K.
No I have not lost my mind.
I signed up with my kids.
It will be their first 5K and they cannot run this distance so we will run/walk.
I will start them on 2:1 intervals for the first half and then we will see if they can do 2:2
This will be fun!
I have ran that race twice before and it is not a very serious race...they time it with a stop watch!  So it is more for fun and to help the local cross country youth club.

Happy 4th to everyone!


A note regarding Google reader's death...I am still following all your blogs on bloglovin.  It works great.  You can find me there as well!!