oh the pain of an injury

Running injuries suck. Okay all injuries suck, but running injuries especially. I never thought I would be so sad to NOT run my longest and hardest run come this Saturday. I was going to do 22 miles with my training friend Lizzie (http://motherrunner.com) where she talks about our fun training sessions HERE and HERE! Running is the type of sport that you love and hate. At first when I was starting to run again after having Charley, I dreaded every single run and I had to drag myself out the door. Then about a month into training something clicks and you feel happy, you feel healthy and like you could run forever. You can't wait to jump out of bed in the morning to go running! I didn't really think twice about running and if I missed a day I just felt off and down and sad and 10 lbs heavier. I was at a good place in my training and was at the peak weeks (this means you are running your hardest and longest runs for training). I was feeling so good!

A few weeks ago when Lizzie and I were running one of our long Saturday runs, I noticed a small pain in my pelvis area. It felt like when I was pregnant and how your bones sort of start opening up down there. I didn't think much of it (I thought for a second if maybe I was pregnant but quickly dismissed that thought!) and we kept running. Then last week, I noticed it again on our long run but this time it was a more distinct hurt especially when we would stop to get drinks and then start back up again. Something about starting back up made it hurt REALLY bad. Still I was able to finish my run and go on with our Saturday adventures. The next day my pelvis area high hamstring was hurting really bad with just walking. I knew my sister Danielle went through something similar and I called her and sure enough our symptoms were the same. It took her a whole YEAR off running to heal. I was devastated and may have cried a little. From everything I have read it's not a speedy recovery and you pretty much just have to wait it out and not run. To say the least, I was crushed, disappointed and sad. I had really been looking forward to training and running the Boston Marathon (which I still might do in 4 weeks). I have a Dr.'s apt on Monday it see exactly what it is, but in researching and talking with my sister it is either my muscles that connect to my high hamstring up by my pelvis are disconnecting OR I have a stress fracture on my pelvis. both very bad and painful!

I found a really good article in Runner's World about depression and grief after an injury. I know I have felt this after my stress fracture the last marathon I ran. 
You really do go through a bit of depression and grief knowing you can't get up in the morning and run. It's so hard right now not to start my day with running. There is something about exercising in the morning that just helps the rest of your day go smooth. I am really going to miss it! Anyway the article is HERE.

I love the beginning how it talks about how running focusses our minds and makes up happier, healthier and saner. It's so true! I am luckily passed most the stages and on to the Acceptance where I have taken the "bull by the horns" and "cowgirled up" as my dad would say and made a plan for the next month.

MY PLAN
I signed up for a monthly gym membership and am going to cross train like crazy. There is a nightly spin class that I am going to do and a few other classes like yoga, water aerobics, and circuit training. I am going to do some stretches and weights that will hopefully strengthen my leg muscles around my hamstring and help it to heal. Spencer also gave me a very special and heartfelt blessing and we have been praying each night for a speedy recovery. I don't know what April 21st will look like on race day.. but I am going to do everything I can till then to continue on my endurance and training.. and who knows! Maybe you will still see me running.. or walking... or limping the marathon.

Favorite Snack: Roasted Chick Peas

I found this recipe the other day on a blog that I follow and had to try them! It is such a great snack full of low-calorie-high-protein and fiber goodness! AND it's super easy!

*Preheat oven to 400*
*Pour a couple TBLS of olive oil over a cookie sheet
*Open a can of garbanzo beans and pour onto cookie sheet as well
*Roll the beans around so they are coated with olive oil
*Sprinkle garlic salt on top
*Bake for 40 minutes or until they are crispy

YUM!

Charley is 8 months!

Charley is 8 months old and growing so fast! This month she had 2 bottom teeth come in and she started army crawling like crazy! She hasn't quite gotten up to her hands and knees to move, but will sometimes rock back and forth for a while like she wants to start crawling. She is quite the eater and I haven't found something she doesn't like yet! Her favorites are sweet potatoes, strawberries, onions (yes raw onions!), eggs with cheese, chickpeas and frozen peas. She also loves anything shiny or that is a cord and will crawl as fast as she can to get to them.

This girl is sleeping 12 hours at night and napping twice for 2 hours! She is such a good sleeper! She is also such a social girl and loves when friends come over to play. She will hug and kiss them and just want to touch them the whole time! Even though she has no idea what it means, her first "word" was da da da and will say it over and over again. It's pretty cute!

Charley loves going on walks and seeing dogs and birds. She will flap her arms and squeal when she sees any animal! She also loves going to work with Daddy and sitting on his lap while he types on his computer or talks on the phone. 

She is definitely becoming a city baby and can fall asleep pretty much anywhere. If I cover her with a blanket while she is in the Bjornn she will fall asleep or she will fall asleep in her stroller when I go running. Firetrucks, people yelling and car-horns at night when she is asleep don't even phase her! 

We love you Charley girl!! 

Our Saturday Vacation

Every Saturday is vacation day. We always try to get out and do something fun to check off out endless bucket list. 2 Saturdays ago we tried the famous Di Faras Pizza. This cute old man has been making pizzas since he was 14 years old! He migrated here from Italy and is now 70 years old. The cool thing is that he is a one-man show. He takes the orders, prepares the pizza, bakes the pizzas and even hand grates the cheese on every single pizza! He is so used to the heat of his brick oven (800 degrees) that you will even see him take the pizzas out with his bare  hands! 

I think Spencer liked the pizza more than I did.. it was pretty cheesy and Di Fara pours Olive Oil over the pizza after it's cooked and I wasn't really a fan of that.. it was pretty oily and greasy for my taste. The one thing he DOES do right is put fresh basil on top of the pizza after it's cooked so it gives it a super fresh taste!

 After that we walked over to the park and let Charley try out the slide for the first time. She didn't really know what to think and it was pretty cold so we tried it a few times and bounced. 

 Last Saturday we went to the NY Transit Museum and it was SOO COOL! At first you would think boring right? Well not really.. it is pretty amazing if you think about how they dug subways UNDERGROUND without messing up above ground at all. And there are sooo many subway lines that go every which way.. it would seem so confusing and hard to build. It was really cool stuff! 

They first built the subways using horses! How did they get the horses underground?? 

 It is also amazing that they used picks to build the lines. PICKS and Shovels. That would have taken forever!! 

 They also have a cool area downstairs that has old train cars back from 1907! They are very different from todays subways. 

 

 And here is some street art for you. Not sure what it means.. but it looked artistic and fun! There is street art everywhere here! I love it! 

St. Patty's Day Oreo Mint Truffles

I have been wanting to make these truffles for a while now. I thought maybe I would do Christmas ones with green/red truffles, but then Christmas came and went so I was thinking to do them for Valentines day and do pink, but then Valentines passed and so I finally went and bought the stuff and decided to do them for St. Patricks Day! The nice thing about these is that you can do them for ANY holiday and just use that color of chocolate chips. And did I mention that there are only THREE ingredients! It seriously took me about 20 minutes to whip these babies up! So here is what you need.

-1 package of Oreo's (I used reduced fat to make them a little healthier!)
-1/2 package (4 oz) cream cheese (I used light cream cheese)
- whichever color/flavor chocolate chips you want! (I used mint to make them "mint oreo"
*** If you can't find mint chocolate chips, you can also use the Keebler Grasshopper cookies instead of oreos since they are already that "minty" flavor and just use regular chocolate chips.. really you can do anything and they will still be good!

-put Oreos in a gallon baggie and use a rolling pin to mash them up into really fine pieces. 

- mix the cream cheese (I microwaved it for about 20 seconds to get it soft) and stir till it is mixed in well with the oreos. 

- line a baking sheet with tin foil and start making the oreo/cream cheese mixture into little balls by rolling them together

-place rolled balls onto the baking sheet and refrigerate for about 10 minutes

- melt chocolate chips in microwave till chips are all melted. 

-roll each ball in the melted chips until it is fully covered. I used two forks to push it around the melted chocolate and then pick it up and place it back on the baking sheet. 

- put truffles back in the fridge till the chocolate hardens. 

- i decorated mine with melted white chocolate on top and sprinkles, but you can do whatever you want on the top! 

I gave these to our awesome neighbors in our building for a fun St. Patricks Day gift! 

running, running, and Marathon running

It seems like all I do these days is run. It's been fun and so nice to get back into shape after having Charley. I remember my first run after I had her and was at a 10:00 min/mile pace and thinking to myself that I would never be as fast as I was before or be able to go at my usual 7:30 min/mile pace. I remember thinking of running a 12 miler seemed impossible and something that I wouldn't be able to do for a long time. Well now that I am 6 weeks away from running the Boston Marathon I am back to my 7:30 min/mile pace and running my 18-20 milers on Saturday seem like a piece of cake (well for the most part). Granted, it took 6 months to get here and lots of running, but it feels good!
*I love having the running high and not having it be a chore each morning to force myself to workout... it's just part of my day.
*I love that spring is creeping (very slowly, but coming) in and I can run without 20 layers, a face mask and 2 pairs of socks on.
*I love that I like to eat healthy when I'm training because I feel good and I want my body to feel good.
*I love seeing other runners out at the park, some I can tell are training for Boston as well, and some are just enjoying a nice jaunt around the park.
*I love that today I was running up a killer hill and a lady was struggling to run and would run, then walk, run, then walk and as I ran passed her I gave her a smile and huge thumbs up and she smiled back and started running the rest of the way up.
*I love that Charley likes to ride in the stroller and "talk" to me while I run. It's more of a grunt, but she is one vocal girl!
* I love that Spencer supports me in running and will usually watch Charley on days that he is home so I can run and will always take the Saturday morning shift so I can get up and run.

I was going through pictures the other day and found a few of my past marathon pictures. Boston will be my 7th marathon! Here are the last 6 that I have done. (5 of them have been with my amazing sisters!)

St. George, UT- October 2007

Time- 3 hr 12 min

Top Of Utah, Logan, UT- September 2008

Time- 3 hr 39 min

*

Seattle, WA Rock and Roll- June 2010

Time 3 hr 55 min

 Top Of Utah, Logan UT- September 2010

Time 3 hr 26 min

Boston, MA- April 2011

Time- 3 hr 57 min

St.George, UT- October 2012

Time- 3 hr 9 min (PR wahoo!!)