... and Happy NaNoWriMo eve!
Say what?! I have no idea if I've ever mentioned NaNoWriMo on this blog before. I may have because there have been many projects that have come and gone that have never been fully completed. NaNoWriMo is one of them. The idea is to write a rough draft of a novel in 30 days - November. National Novel Writers Month. A few months ago I blogged about writing and how the greatest downfall is not finishing.
NaNoWriMo is an attempt at conquering procrastination, perfection, and any other hurdle that prevents finishing a novel. The nuts and bolts are that you aim for writing 50,000 words, which is the equivalent of the length of The Great Gatsby. The quality is far from that of The Great Gatsby, but you're left with a rough draft that can be honed and polished. The hardest part is done - getting all out of your head onto paper.
I tried NaNoWriMo last year. I got about 10,000 words into a crime novel based in Chicago before getting run over by life and abandoning my story all together. This year I'm more prepared. Many, many months ago, I started jotting down notes. I have pages upon pages of plot notes and character profiles.
So, even though the beginning of November is gearing up to be very busy, I'm going to attempt NaNoWriMo again. 50,000 words in one month. A rough draft in one month. It's a tall order. I'll never know I can do it unless I try.
Synopsis:
Provenance begins when my young heroine uncovers a pocket watch while processing a collection at the local history archive. Upon rubbing the watch, she travels back to 1915 - Laramie, Wyoming, literally falling into the arms of a young ranch hand with a penchant for reading. While searching for her way back she discovers her fellow bibliophile holds the pocket watch that is her key back home and possibly his ticket out of World War I.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Tuesday Tidbits
- The past week has been an absolute blur. November is gearing up to be just as chaotic as October. Maybe I should start Christmas shopping now!
- I'm working my way back to running. I've had a fairly restful two weeks with less than 10 miles run total. I ran an easy two on Sunday and knocked out a very slow 7 miles today. It was refreshing to make it that far with little to no pain. I hit up the ice bath right away in hopes of preventing soreness. I have defensive tactics shenanigans in the morning and will need to be mobile.
- One of the reasons I think my knee is feeling better is my purchase and use of a massive foam roller for my IT band. It's painful in a very good way!!
- I started reading Frozen Heat last night on my Nook. I'm also working my way through A Chosen Faith.
- Brent and I signed our contract for the wedding venue! We're set for Sept. 14th next year! Now the real fun begins.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Woosh
On the road to Heidi's for our annual Halloween get together. I'm not prepared for squat this year. How did October disappear so quickly?
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Sick
Brink has been keeping me company all day. We haven't moved much from the bed. I'm still not feeling good. Nauseous. Feel like I've been hit by a truck. Super hot. Super cold. My body may hate me right now, but I hate it back ten fold.
Zero fun. Zero.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Running and pumpkins
While at Target I picked up lots of pumpkin flavored items... pumpkin Eggo waffles, pumpkin Country Crock, pumpkin coffee creamer, and pumpkin pie yogurt!! Never go shopping while craving pumpkin.
I'm off to bed early tonight. I've got training all week so I better get my stuff ready for an early morning wake-up call.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Morning coffee
- Cinnamon gingerbread truffle coffee by Godiva is one of my new favorite coffees. It's delicious. Especially when used with a dash of peppermint creamer. It tastes Fall like but also Winter like at the same time. Mmmm. I'll definitely be trying some of the other Godiva seasonal flavors.
- I went for an easy two mile run yesterday morning. Other than both legs and knees feel tight and stiff, it was almost a pain free run. And it was probably super slow as I was concentrating on form and not over-striding or speed. Today I chose sleep over anything else. I'm planning a 3-4 mile run tomorrow... after more overtime work shenanigans in the morning. Hopefully I will get back on track with my training plan on Monday. I need consistency.
- My work cell phone has been beeping every 60 seconds due to low battery since 9pm last night. I have to charge it while driving around so rather than turn it off, I've just let beep for 12 hours. It just makes me think that if it didn't have the beeping feature, the battery would probably last even longer.
Thursday, October 18, 2012
<insert clever blog title here>
It's been a long day. It started before the sun with work shenanigans at the stadium. After some overtime hours, I hit the street for my regularly scheduled programming.
I've had two full rest days. My knees are achy. I think my legs are just confused, tired, and weak right now. I'm hoping to do a 2 mile run with Brink in the morning. We'll see what the sun brings with it.
I think I'll try to hit the pool in the next few days - it's time to start taking cross-training seriously!
I've had two full rest days. My knees are achy. I think my legs are just confused, tired, and weak right now. I'm hoping to do a 2 mile run with Brink in the morning. We'll see what the sun brings with it.
I think I'll try to hit the pool in the next few days - it's time to start taking cross-training seriously!
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Half Way Home
I've never been the smartest person. I tested my knee out yesterday and all went pretty well. I was somewhat relieved when I made it back home unscathed. Today was a slightly different story. I was hydrated and properly fueled. I had plenty of sleep and knew I waited long enough the weather was perfect outside. When I finally started putting my running gear on, my right knee started bugging me.
By far the most frustrating part of this knee issue so far is that nothing about it is predictable. A few hours will go by and I feel completely normal again. And then bam, knee pain. So I figured I would stretch my way through the pain and try to walk it out while getting ready. It sort of helped and I started on my run.
By the time I hit a quarter of mile I was telling myself I would do 3 miles to take it easy. I should have listened to myself. By mile two, I was moving at a slow and steady pace. I had my breathing down and was hitting a good, somewhat pain free, stride. I kept on the path and head for my two mile turn around spot.
Once I hit the turn around spot my knee was okay. Not wonderful but okay. I kept going. I hit mile 3 and almost instantly wanted to cut my own leg off. I stopeed and walked. Stretched. Drank some water. Ate some sport beans. Walked. Pain went away. And I started running again.
As I ran through mile 3 the pain came back with every step, just enough to remind me that it was not at all happy with our arrangement. I stopped to take a picture and stretch some more. That's when one of my earphones clogged with sweat and stopped working. I spent a few minutes trying to clean it off and blow on it to get it working again.
Once I got going again, I found a doable stride and tried my best to focus on my stride and listen to what my body was telling me. My right leg was burning from compensating. I knew if I relaxed my leg enough, my foot rolled inward a bit and that pulled on my weaker muscle connected to my knee... the same one that was really screwing with me last week.
I had some good mojo going about mile five. I think my legs had reached some level of numbness. I didn't feel shooting pain, just tired and really sore. I made it to 6.5 miles as was assigned for this week of training.
Once I stopped and walked the little bit back to my house my knee was on fire. Not pain - just hot, inflamed. So I hopped in the ice bath. I've really come to enjoy the ice bath because I know it helps immensely with decreasing inflammation and overall soreness after my longer runs. After twenty minutes, I hopped out with frozen legs and wrapped myself in a blanket.
And here I sit, wrapped in a blanket reflecting on what was a good run but also possibly a very stupid run. It's a beautiful Fall day out there and I loved taking in all of the colors. I loved not sweating my ass off. And I loved knowing that mentally, I could push through things. I loved knowing that, after this run, I'm half way home. I ran half the distance of my half marathon. And even though I battled an achy knee, it was still very much a piece of cake.
I hated that my body hates me at the moment. It doesn't feel like I can do anything right. My eating is crappy. I've gained a few pounds. And no matter how many times I tell myself to get back on track, I'm slipping back into old habits. And as much as I'd like to blame Starbucks for creating such addicting seasonal lattes, I know it's not that simple. I still have a very rough 2.5 months ahead of me if I'm going to make the most of my second half marathon.
The next two weeks are lighter on the miles. I don't have another big bump in miles until the 28th. I'm going to continue to stretch, ice, and elevate multiple times a day. If I can engage my brain a little bit, maybe I can get my eating back on track too... again.
By far the most frustrating part of this knee issue so far is that nothing about it is predictable. A few hours will go by and I feel completely normal again. And then bam, knee pain. So I figured I would stretch my way through the pain and try to walk it out while getting ready. It sort of helped and I started on my run.
By the time I hit a quarter of mile I was telling myself I would do 3 miles to take it easy. I should have listened to myself. By mile two, I was moving at a slow and steady pace. I had my breathing down and was hitting a good, somewhat pain free, stride. I kept on the path and head for my two mile turn around spot.
Once I hit the turn around spot my knee was okay. Not wonderful but okay. I kept going. I hit mile 3 and almost instantly wanted to cut my own leg off. I stopeed and walked. Stretched. Drank some water. Ate some sport beans. Walked. Pain went away. And I started running again.
As I ran through mile 3 the pain came back with every step, just enough to remind me that it was not at all happy with our arrangement. I stopped to take a picture and stretch some more. That's when one of my earphones clogged with sweat and stopped working. I spent a few minutes trying to clean it off and blow on it to get it working again.
Once I got going again, I found a doable stride and tried my best to focus on my stride and listen to what my body was telling me. My right leg was burning from compensating. I knew if I relaxed my leg enough, my foot rolled inward a bit and that pulled on my weaker muscle connected to my knee... the same one that was really screwing with me last week.
I had some good mojo going about mile five. I think my legs had reached some level of numbness. I didn't feel shooting pain, just tired and really sore. I made it to 6.5 miles as was assigned for this week of training.
Once I stopped and walked the little bit back to my house my knee was on fire. Not pain - just hot, inflamed. So I hopped in the ice bath. I've really come to enjoy the ice bath because I know it helps immensely with decreasing inflammation and overall soreness after my longer runs. After twenty minutes, I hopped out with frozen legs and wrapped myself in a blanket.
And here I sit, wrapped in a blanket reflecting on what was a good run but also possibly a very stupid run. It's a beautiful Fall day out there and I loved taking in all of the colors. I loved not sweating my ass off. And I loved knowing that mentally, I could push through things. I loved knowing that, after this run, I'm half way home. I ran half the distance of my half marathon. And even though I battled an achy knee, it was still very much a piece of cake.
I hated that my body hates me at the moment. It doesn't feel like I can do anything right. My eating is crappy. I've gained a few pounds. And no matter how many times I tell myself to get back on track, I'm slipping back into old habits. And as much as I'd like to blame Starbucks for creating such addicting seasonal lattes, I know it's not that simple. I still have a very rough 2.5 months ahead of me if I'm going to make the most of my second half marathon.
The next two weeks are lighter on the miles. I don't have another big bump in miles until the 28th. I'm going to continue to stretch, ice, and elevate multiple times a day. If I can engage my brain a little bit, maybe I can get my eating back on track too... again.
Monday, October 15, 2012
Monday Family Fun
I got to hang out with my family last night. We had dinner and dessert. I made a Mickey brownie cake for my Mom's birthday.
I need to practice my brownie making skills because it turned out well done.
I started the '67 and moved its location for the Winter. And I helped my brother work on his boat.
Mom and Dad got grass in their backyard!! It looks good - and makes the yard look bigger!!
Mom and I also planted some tulips out front. No pictures of our handy work until Spring!!
It was a fun night! Volleyball went pretty good. It took us a few games to get warmed up! I missed Castle though so I'll be watching it first thing while sipping my coffee!!
I need to practice my brownie making skills because it turned out well done.
I started the '67 and moved its location for the Winter. And I helped my brother work on his boat.
Mom and Dad got grass in their backyard!! It looks good - and makes the yard look bigger!!
Mom and I also planted some tulips out front. No pictures of our handy work until Spring!!
It was a fun night! Volleyball went pretty good. It took us a few games to get warmed up! I missed Castle though so I'll be watching it first thing while sipping my coffee!!
Testing, testing...
After about ten hours of sleep, a few cups of coffee, and some stretching, Brinkley and I hit the neighborhood for an easy two mile run. I was testing my knee after four more days of resting, stretching, icing, etc. Everything went well!
I had a bit of hard time getting a normal stride. I noticed I was landing on my feet a little differently and tried to focus on my form. I felt a tiny bit of heat in my knee cap but nothing doesn't normally come and go while pounding away on the concrete.
It was really nice outside!! Brinkley and I enjoyed ourselves! I'm sure it's one of the few nice days of fall that we left for the year.
How's this for an action shot!? Ha! I have no idea what he was doing.
Friday, October 12, 2012
Highs and Lows
This whole knee pain thing has me incredibly frustrated. This morning I thought I would try a very short run to see how the knee held up. I'd been religiously icing and elevating since Monday. I felt somewhat normal again and wanted to know if forward movement was still an option.
My run went off without a hitch. It was reassuring to get out there and run a very slow two miles with no pain. No ouch moments or any feelings of adjusting my gait to prevent pain or compensate. Once I got home and stretched everything out some more, I felt a tiny twinge on the inner thigh side of the knee while walking. It kind of felt like a rubberband stretching and retracting making my knee feel loose.
I treaded lightly while getting ready for work and was on my way, mostly relieved by how the morning played out. The first eight hours of my shift went by without any issues. At about 6 o'clock, I got out my car to collect some cones and BAM, there was the pain again. I hobbled around on my knee, tried to bend it and get it back to tracking right. Once the weird inner thigh side pain went away, I was left with a consistent pain behind my knee cap towards the top of the shin when I put pressure on it (while walking).
I do know this, I've had that pain before! I know it goes away! How long it will take - I don't know. I'm icing and popping ibuprofen. That seems like all I can do. I think I'm going to schedule a massage for Tuesday. I have a gift card to use up - maybe some serious work on my leg muscles will loosen everything up around me knees.
My run went off without a hitch. It was reassuring to get out there and run a very slow two miles with no pain. No ouch moments or any feelings of adjusting my gait to prevent pain or compensate. Once I got home and stretched everything out some more, I felt a tiny twinge on the inner thigh side of the knee while walking. It kind of felt like a rubberband stretching and retracting making my knee feel loose.
I treaded lightly while getting ready for work and was on my way, mostly relieved by how the morning played out. The first eight hours of my shift went by without any issues. At about 6 o'clock, I got out my car to collect some cones and BAM, there was the pain again. I hobbled around on my knee, tried to bend it and get it back to tracking right. Once the weird inner thigh side pain went away, I was left with a consistent pain behind my knee cap towards the top of the shin when I put pressure on it (while walking).
I do know this, I've had that pain before! I know it goes away! How long it will take - I don't know. I'm icing and popping ibuprofen. That seems like all I can do. I think I'm going to schedule a massage for Tuesday. I have a gift card to use up - maybe some serious work on my leg muscles will loosen everything up around me knees.
So...
This keeps happening.
He's so stealthy about it too. I'll turn from my desk and there he is, content as ever.
Little booger.
He's so stealthy about it too. I'll turn from my desk and there he is, content as ever.
Little booger.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
RICE
I've had a rough day in panic about a freaky knee pain that keeps making an appearance at times while trying to stand and fully extend my knee.
I found something online suggesting its a tight hamstring pulling my lower leg up into my knee when I try to straighten it... Self-diagnosing is a dangerous thing. At one point I thought it might have to be amputated. Ha!
Seriously though, mileage is finally set to start increasing on long run days. I can't have this happen now! WTH?
So I've rolled my legs out with my roller thingy. And I've stretched some and massaged some. I'm now on my second round of elevating/icing.
It's amazing how badly I want to run when I can't/shouldn't.
I found something online suggesting its a tight hamstring pulling my lower leg up into my knee when I try to straighten it... Self-diagnosing is a dangerous thing. At one point I thought it might have to be amputated. Ha!
Seriously though, mileage is finally set to start increasing on long run days. I can't have this happen now! WTH?
So I've rolled my legs out with my roller thingy. And I've stretched some and massaged some. I'm now on my second round of elevating/icing.
It's amazing how badly I want to run when I can't/shouldn't.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Beautiful run!
Did I mention this is my most favorite time of year?? Yesterday I was bundled up like an eskimo for the Race for the Cure. Today I was in shorts and a long sleeve tech shirt! I knocked out a 4.75 mile run this afternoon while listening to podcasts.
It was a great run. And I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's run.
Random note of panic. After my run I picked up Brinkley and we went for a short walk. I stopped to let him having a staring contest with a squirrel and my knee had this most bizarre shooting pain all around the right knee cap. When my leg was locked straight it hurt and I couldn't put any pressure on it. I slowly walked inside and sat down. Then moved around and stretched. Sharp pain is gone but boy oh boy am I going to be keeping a close watch on it! I'll be icing and elevating like crazy this week!
It was a great run. And I'm already looking forward to tomorrow's run.
Random note of panic. After my run I picked up Brinkley and we went for a short walk. I stopped to let him having a staring contest with a squirrel and my knee had this most bizarre shooting pain all around the right knee cap. When my leg was locked straight it hurt and I couldn't put any pressure on it. I slowly walked inside and sat down. Then moved around and stretched. Sharp pain is gone but boy oh boy am I going to be keeping a close watch on it! I'll be icing and elevating like crazy this week!
Race for the Cure
Bryn and I ran the Race for Cure 5k race yesterday morning in Denver! It was really, really cold as we made our way to the start. Luckily, we had pretty good timing and only had to stand around for about 10 minutes before it started.
Considering the size and popularity of the Race for Cure in Denver, the race organizers can use some serious assistance in setting up the start area and creating corrals for those who want to run and walk. There is nothing more annoying to a runner than to get stuck behind a group of walkers. We recognized our peril and skirted up the side and to the very front of the walking pack at the start of the 2nd wave.
We got a great a start and had some elbow room. I knew by mile one we were moving faster than our normal pace. Maybe it was the cold that has moving so quickly. My legs felt very cold and heavy!! But we kept trucking and were at Invesco Field and Mile 2 in no time. We conquered the final hill (highway on-ramp... damn things are steeper than they look) and finished very strong.
We finished in 32:44!! That was a personal best for both of us and we were so pumped by completing such a strong run!! Because we started cool down quickly and get chills from the wind, we zipped around to the vendor booths and collected all of our freebies. We got some great stuff this year and headed to the light rail station before most people were even hitting the finishing area!!
We got a $5 gift card to Village Inn from its vendor table. Standing in the shade with a cold wind making us colder and colder, coffee and pancakes for breakfast sounded GREAT. So that's where we went once we got back to Lakewood. Breakfast was delicious!!! And that warm coffee hit the spot!
Even though it was super cold, it was a great run! I'm very glad we sucked it up and made the best of it!
Considering the size and popularity of the Race for Cure in Denver, the race organizers can use some serious assistance in setting up the start area and creating corrals for those who want to run and walk. There is nothing more annoying to a runner than to get stuck behind a group of walkers. We recognized our peril and skirted up the side and to the very front of the walking pack at the start of the 2nd wave.
We got a great a start and had some elbow room. I knew by mile one we were moving faster than our normal pace. Maybe it was the cold that has moving so quickly. My legs felt very cold and heavy!! But we kept trucking and were at Invesco Field and Mile 2 in no time. We conquered the final hill (highway on-ramp... damn things are steeper than they look) and finished very strong.
We finished in 32:44!! That was a personal best for both of us and we were so pumped by completing such a strong run!! Because we started cool down quickly and get chills from the wind, we zipped around to the vendor booths and collected all of our freebies. We got some great stuff this year and headed to the light rail station before most people were even hitting the finishing area!!
We got a $5 gift card to Village Inn from its vendor table. Standing in the shade with a cold wind making us colder and colder, coffee and pancakes for breakfast sounded GREAT. So that's where we went once we got back to Lakewood. Breakfast was delicious!!! And that warm coffee hit the spot!
Even though it was super cold, it was a great run! I'm very glad we sucked it up and made the best of it!
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Fall is my favorite!
I won the mental battle this morning and went for a two mile run with Brinkley. Two is better than none!
It's most definitely Fall now!! I'm loving all these Fall colors!!
It's most definitely Fall now!! I'm loving all these Fall colors!!
Morning Coffee
- It was 81 degrees yesterday. This morning it's 37 degrees. So it looks like the mental battle to get out the door for a run is going to get more challenging starting sooner rather than later. I better track down my mittens and stocking cap at the rate the season is changing around here.
- My sweet little life that I've enjoyed for the past two years is getting screwed with at the beginning of the year. I had to chose a different shift because someone took mine. I'm sad and bummed about the whole thing. The shift I have now fit perfectly with how I operate through the day and now I have to somehow become a morning person. I definitely will not be able to maintain my morning running schedule, especially as Winter is in full swing in January. Unless I can somehow manage to get up and out of bed by 5:30 there is no way I'll be running before. It's kind of like a punch to the gut because I know how much my health and weight loss has hinged on morning runs. I'm terrified I'm going to become sloth from sheer exhaustion. I'm a night owl so I'll suffer from lack of sleep most days to start with. What are the chances after working 10+ hours, I'll feel like running??!! Seriously bummed, y'all.
- I had lots of work shenanigans ruling my mental state over the past few weeks so I'm glad to say that I've passed one particular hurdle and can do a brain dump and move on. I'm glad it's over with because I have lots of other things I want to focus on!!
- Since Brent is home we've been working on finding a wedding venue. We think we've finally narrowed it down and should be making it final either today or tomorrow! So many ideas are flowing right now, it's kind of scary.
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