Dear body: Thank you for showing up

Dear spirit: Thank you for showing up

Dear Spring: Thank you for showing up

Yesterday afternoon I had the perfect run. 4.1 miles of happy!

Happy run!

Happy!

Let’s rewind. So I mentioned that Duncan seems to have strained a muscle in his front leg and the doc has prescribed lots of R&R for him to heal.

I posted this video to Instagram yesterday.

Well we took it very seriously most of the day…

resting the paw again

resting the paw

resting the paw even more

resting the paw even more

resting the paw some more

resting the paw some more

resting the paw

resting the paw again!

I had to run out to do a quick freelance photography job and made a pitstop at Dunkin Donuts on my way home to grab a cup of coffee and my free donut thanks to National Donut Day.

NationalDonutDay

At 3pm, the sun came out and I decided to head to the beach to run the 4 mile route I wanted to run this past Sunday (but couldn’t due to the thunder/lightening storm). From the first step I just knew it would be a great run. I felt bounce in my step for the first time in months. And the weather was perfect. 65 and sunny with a lovely cool ocean breeze.

Finally feeling the run more than the injuries

Finally feeling the run more than the injuries

FullSizeRender 4

More fragrant honeysuckles!

More fragrant honeysuckles!

Picture perfect view

Picture perfect view

Yep, this is my home.

Yep, this is my home.

My body felt strong. My overuse injuries didn’t bother me. I was just plain happy and that has given me some much needed hope that by mid-July I’ll be ready to tackle a full marathon training cycle starting at healthy too =)

In the evening I had dinner at my parents house and then while watching TV last night I had the craving for something a little sweet. That’s when I remembered I was given some goodies from Luna/Cliff Bar recently so I poked around and found this yummy dark chocolate almond and sea salt trail mix bar.

Cliff Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt Trail Mix Bar

Cliff Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt Trail Mix Bar

It was perfection. They’ve offering more and more gluten free products as more and more people have sensitivities to gluten.

Happy weekend! Hope it’s going to be a good one.
What are your weekend plans?
Do you eat a gluten free diet?
Do you ever thank your body when it feels strong? You should!

Let’s see…

Last I posted it was Monday and I ran a couple of miles in the rain just to smell the sweet honeysuckles…well life got a little less sweet and a bit more honey sucky over the next few days.

I found out a few things at work that made me go “hmm” and not in a good way.

Then yesterday morning after going to the dentist I felt super sick. Aches and chills and a fever. So I stayed home and laid in bed all day taking tylenol and wrapped up in a bunch of blankets.

my home sick buddy

my home sick buddy

By 5pm I started to feel better. I wanted so bad to join my local Staten Island runners at the park for National Running Day so I rallied and drove there and made it just in time for the start of their fun run.

The runners

The runners

Let's Celebrate National Running Day

Let’s Celebrate National Running Day

HA!

HA!

I ran about a mile to the start. The fun run ended up being 2.2 miles which, for me turned into a speed run! Their conversational pace is about 8:50-9:30 pace per mile. LOL!

NRD-splitsMaybe I was still delirious from the fever but I managed to keep up (well I was dead last I think). They were all staying after for pizza but I just jogged the mile back to my car and took a few timer camera selfies although my phone can’t seem to focus for sh-t these days and got back under the covers and was asleep by 10pm.

and we're off

and we’re off

selfie

selfie

some feathery little ones

some feathery little ones

My favorite spot in the park

My favorite spot in the park

sports bra muffing top! Now you know I keep it real =)

sports bra muffing top! Now you know I keep it real =)

the phone fell twice trying to capture this gem. thank god it didn't crack

the phone fell twice trying to capture this gem. thank god it didn’t crack

I knew i'd find some honeysuckles!

I knew i’d find some honeysuckles!

truth!

truth!

I’m so glad that I got to participate even if I was a little under the weather. Last year I only ran 100 yards because of my tendonitis.

This morning right after Duncan and I went out for his morning walk I noticed he was limping. It got progressively worse and by noon he wouldn’t go down the stairs and he kept picking up his front paw. The pit in my stomach started to get bigger as I watched him struggling to get comfortable. He kept picking his leg up even when he was laying down and it would tremble. He was licking his lips a lot too which is a sign he’s uncomfortable. So I finally called the vet and they said bring him right in. Thank god I work from home on Thursdays!

keeping the weight off of his leg waiting to see Dr. Caban

keeping the weight off of his leg waiting to see Dr. Caban

The good news is that it’s nothing serious. Vet prescribed some doggie Advil and some R&R for a few days. We still don’t know what he did to cause this but it’s probably a muscular strain. No dislocations or broken bones. I could totally commiserate with him because I know he must be thinking he won’t be able to go for long walks today. It’s like me not being able to run.

And so I’ll cuddle with him just a little more these next few days (if that’s even possible!). He’s relaxing comfortably now since the first dose of meds. I’m hoping tomorrow morning he’ll be feeling even better.

finally able to sleep soundly

finally able to sleep soundly

I’m going to take today as a rest day as well and shoot for another short run tomorrow.

So what’s new with you? Did you do anything special for National Running Day? Did you know tomorrow is National Donut Day?!!!

Hi there

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend. I feel like the weeks are flying by. The year is almost half over.
I’ve been keeping all my runs nice and short and it’s been wonderful. I even ran 3 consecutive days (Thursday thru Saturday) and was all excited about running last night for a 4th consecutive day but then the rain, thunder and lightening came and didn’t stop 🙁 So I foam rolled and did some glute and hip strengthening instead.
But this morning I still had the bug to run only it was kinda late and I needed to get ready for work. It was cool and raining so I decided to give up the 20 min I would spend to do my hair which would only become frizz anyway and replaced it with a quick 2 miles. I knew the honeysuckles had just bloomed (I could smell them when I walked Duncan earlier) and I just had to grab one!
2 miles is better than none

2 miles is better than none

I was reminded this morning why I named my pup Duncan. Because he's the same color as my (Dunkin Donuts) coffee. I just changed the spelling. But I call him Dunkin Donuts all the time.

totally random: I was reminded this morning why I named my pup Duncan. Because he’s the same color as my (Dunkin Donuts) coffee. I just changed the spelling. But I call him Dunkin Donuts all the time.

Even Duncan loves a good sweet honeysuckle

Even Duncan loves a good sweet honeysuckle

I got rained on but the visor kept it out of my eyed

I got rained on but the visor kept it out of my eyes and it was so refreshing.

happiest honeysuckle admirer

happiest honeysuckle admirer

Yup, I ran just for the honeysuckles!
This Wednesday is National Running Day and I’m going to head to our local park in the evening for the festivities. They’ll be giving out some freebies and having an evening run hosted by our local running club. And I’m SURE I’ll be surrounded by honeysuckles! I can’t wait! I can smell them already.
What’s your favorite smelling flower?
Do you ever just run a mile or 2 when you’re pinched for time?

 

Hi!
I’ve been so busy lately and haven’t had a chance to post in a while. My list of to-dos keeps getting longer rather than shorter. My day job is insanity and then on most evenings and weekends I have freelance work on top of that! And then there’s life—the other half of the work/life balance. Yep, I’ve been living it up lately 🙂 I had lots of fun stuff going on this weekend.
My niece turned 15 last week and I took her into the city on Saturday to celebrate.city-sushi-shopping
I told her how I felt like it was just last year that I was taking her to the American girl doll store. She’s not a little girl anymore but I am ok with it. I love the teenager that she has become and we have so much in common that I feel like I’m out with a friend or a sister. The day was filled with two of our favorites: shopping and sushi. Oh and we also went to this bakery where you can order a cookie shot. No vodka. This is milk in a warm chocolate cookie shot glass with melted dark chocolate at the bottom.
Cheers!

Cheers!

Sarah isn’t a runner but she is definitely an active person. She takes yoga/Pilates in high school for her required gym class which I think is so cool. And she loves going to classes like Soul Cycle and there’s one she insists I join her to called SLT (Strength Length and Tone). She also pitches on her high school softball team. And she loves to wear athletic gear. So we hit up Lululemon and the flagship Nike store. And then to top off our night we ate at KOI, an amazing sushi restaurant in mid-town.
I spent some time with Mr. SOTSS this weekend too. Sunday morning we had our coffee out on his deck enjoying the unseasonably warm weather (it’s been in the 80s which is a good 10 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year )
The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too

The dogs enjoyed chilling on the deck too. It’s like they have butt magnets. LOL!

We also each went for a run…

2-mile-run
I am limiting myself to 2 mile runs this week. I know I said I’d try and just cross train this week and not start running until the weekend but I just couldn’t find it in me to cross train at the gym. I almost took my bicycle out yesterday instead of running buy my rotator cuff is still a mess and I don’t know how steering and using the hand brakes would be. The whole arm is quite weak and stiff and can’t take on too much weight.
The ankle tendonits seems manageable at the moment, so my compromise is 1-2 short runs this week and some walking. Plus my stretching and foam rolling.
After our runs we went to my brother’s house for a Mother’s Day brunch and then, in the late afternoon we spent some time with the pups at the beach.
One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

One of us knows how to look at the camera for a picture and the other blogs.

Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades...say that 10X fast. And then say "Sally sells snail shells" too.

Smiley Mr. Sweat Out The Small Stuff in Shades…say that 10X fast. And then say “Sally sells snail shells” too.

Pretty little snail shell

Pretty little snail shell

While temps inland had reach the mid 80s it was between 65-70 at the beach. Perfect for waking along the water. The only fly in the ointment wasn’t a fly but a tick…actually a few ticks. Yuck yuck yuck! I loathe those things. We gave the dogs a good look over and hopefully we got all those buggers. They get monthly preventatives too just in case. Later on in the evening we were back out on the deck for a little barbecue dinner and some frozen strawberry daiquiris. 🙂

drinks-patio

drinks to match the patio furniture

MMMMMM!

MMMMMM!

Duncan had one too many….

I should have stopped at one drink...

I should have stopped at one drink…

I’m signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon this coming Saturday and I’m really wrestling with whether I should be running it. I’m not going to make any decisions until the end of the week. And I do plan on going to the expo to get my bib so I will be prepared either way.
There are a lot of things to consider:
1. Status of my current healing progress of injuries: My ankle and hip are not 100 percent although the knee is.
2. Logistics: It’s a point to point course with a huge field of runners (30,000 runners I think) and two waves that are about 30 minutes apart. So since most of my friends will be in the first wave I might miss them or I might need to arrive that much earlier to see them and then sit around. And that means needing to find doodle sitting since I’ll be gone for 8 or more hours.
3. Potential consequences of running a half after barely running since my full 2 weeks ago: I am running a 5k the next day that I don’t want to be crippled for.
So you see why I have turmoil. Oh and let’s not forget that I had to bail on this race last year due to injury and that’s the one driving force that is making me stew about still running. I don’t want to miss it 2 years in a row 🙁
I’ll keep you posted.
So how was your weekend? Were you a busy bee or a relaxed chickadee?
Do you do the pro/con list to help make decisions.