Icy snowy sleeping run

Above us...sleet,mist, hail, and pouring rain...below us...ice crusted snow, black ice, slush,and puddles,needless to say it was an interesting 4 mile run. It was fun,sometimes painful with the hail but glad I get in 4 miles. Any run is better than no run...and slipping and sliding count as running strides. Thanks Holly for being completely as crazy as I am...
we earned our miles!!

Infection

Ugh, this has not been a good week, Last Thursday I developed swelling in my foot of unknown origin, I preceded to walk on it all day and all night with the pups, while the pain was intense I figured something was just not sitting right as min my sock...at the time I did not know my foot was swelling as I was on my feet all day and after a typical Thursday my feet always hurt and my kicks feel tight so I literally thought nothing of it. Friday morning my foot was so swollen and sore I couldn't bend my toes or put pressure on my foot at all as in NO WEIGHT BEARING!!! This sucked as I can't walk let alone run and I have my two 1 year old rambunctious pups for the weekend. FInally by Saturday night I couldn't handle the pain any longer and went to urgent care to have it looked at...they decided it was an infection and put me on antibiotics and told me no running for 10 days.Tuesday it wasn't any better so I made an appointment with my primary care physician who diagnosed it as wat she believed was gout. She prescribed meds and within 24 hours I was feeling much relief, the swelling was going down and the pain was subsiding. I will try and get a few miles in on Monday morning...I have a race on Super Bowl Sunday after all!!!

Holding myself accountable

Got in a 3 mile run after work

Chilly Willy Half Marathon

I started 2017 off with a half marathon...ran the Chilly Willy half marathon in Seekonk Ma. The race itself was very well run from beginning to end. There were numerous water stops on the course and what I really loved and made this race stand out was the safety van that circled the course checking in on runners to see if they needed anything. The course was great even if I felt I was running uphill the entire route...seriously felt a gradual incline the entire race with only 3 very low grade declines. I finished in a time I'm ok with but it leaves lots of room for improvement. Overall this was a great race experience even if at mile 2 I was wondering what the Hell I was thinking, at mile 4 I was discouraged but moving forward, I remember thinking at mile 7 I was over half way...then at mile 7.5 at the water stop the woman running it was amazingly supportive and gave me the boost I needed to keep going never once did I contemplated giving up, I knew I would see my friend Amanda at mile 11 and that kept me moving forward to the finish line...I finally made it to mile 11 and there was Amanda and her son Wyatt waiting to hand me and offer words of encouragement...I had the finish line in my sights and just ran...I love the feeling of crossing the finish line knowing I accomplished something greater than myself.

Finally back into a groove

I have finally gotten back into a running groove...Holly and I are hitting the streets and getting our miles in. We manage 5 miles every time we get out there. I have a half marathon on Jan 1, 2017.
I will be running the Chilly Willy Half Marathon on Seekonk, Ma. at 10am. I am super excited and nervous all at the same time.

Running

I run for a lot of reasons, some being physical and some well most being emotional. I love to run and I love the feeling of having accomplished something great than myself when done. I am not the typical thin runner type body structure....I'm fat, there I said it, BUT that being said I can move this large mass for over 13.1 miles, and I do pretty well if I must say so. I will never ever be a size 2, I will never ever weigh 100 lbs and I'm ok with that.I love the looks when people realize that I run half marathons for fun, they can't believe someone my size can actually move this large body for that many miles....so this blog post took a turn, sorry. Anywho....
Back to why I run...I run to free myself of the many stresses in my life at this particular time. My dad is dying he is now on end stage dialysis and not doing well, he has a closed head injury and most days doesn't know who I am, and that frankly sucks. Another stress in my life is the ex husband who refuses to move on, he hates that running has given me unknown freedom, it literally saved me after the divorce. He was never a supporter of my running and honestly it is he who said I would never be a real runner, because I was fat, you see in his eyes I was never thin enough, never fast enough, and never good enough to be a runner. Well holy cracker smacks I made him eat crow.... I signed up and finished my first half marathon in 2014 and since have completed 6 more,  also 6 Ragnars, and 1 Ultra Ragnar, a 10 miler, multiple 10k's and 5k's. I have 7 half marathons, one 20 miler, and one full marathon scheduled for 2017...all free by the way..as there is a great local race directer who gives you 2, yes 2 free race entries for volunteering at 1 race...I have signed up to volunteer for 3 races thus getting me 6 free entries into the race series,,,can't beat that.
I have an amazing boyfriend who supports my running as far as knowing that training runs are required and time consuming on the weekends, but never complains when I get up on a Saturday morning to get a 10 mile run in so that I am home and ready to go watch his boys play basketball, football or soccer depending on the time of year...my only wish is that once just once he saw me cross a finish line, that is my wish for Christmas this year and while I know it is one I won't get I still secretly wish or it anyway. So that is why I run, I run because honestly it gets me through another day, especially on days when I think I possibly can't endure one more. I also run because I have an amazing friend who gets up 4 days a week, meets me at the god awful hour of 4am and we put in at minimum of 5 miles every time we run...she is my "beat feet therapy" girl, she holds me accountable on days when I really REALLY don't want to get out of a nice warm bed...did I mention I live in New England and winter has arrived.