I've got a few things to write about since I last blogged...
But first of all I can't believe its the end of the year. I honestly feel like it was just spring. Where did the year go? Talk about a Time Warp.
Half-Marathon:
Well, don't want to talk about it. But I died around mile 8 when my lower back started cramping. It really affected my form, crippled it really. My mom said when I crossed the finish I was so hunched over she knew something was wrong. My right lower back felt so tight and knotted for the last five miles and it forced me to run like a fool, bent over and hobbling. Not cute and definitely not fast.
Needless to say, I was super disappointed. I knew I had the cardiovascular endurance and I had trained way more for this half than I had for my other. I had logged 7-9 miles for several weeks leading up and ran 10 miles the week of the half with a great pace to finish 13.1 around 2 hours. But the back pain was something I'd never felt before while running. And I couldn't change my gait to abate it. So anyway, my time sucked, but I finished. And as soon as I got home I signed up for next year's race--for HALF the price I paid for this year. HUZZAH.
Moving on...Christmas:
I have several days off from work since Blackbaud is wonderfully generous and gives you a crazy amount of paid time off the day you start. Seriously, Thanksgiving came around and I had something like 17 days left to use. So I took off work from December 24-January 2. It's been great to get some errands done, run on my own time, decorate for Christmas, clean out my closet, figure out my NYE outfit, and try to rest and recover a bit.
OK. So, Christmas came and went. I can't believe it. I gave my brother a painting I did of Brinkley for one of his Christmas presents. He was so surprised and he loved it. I painted it with a bunch of friends at Paint Your Pet Night at Wine and Design. It was a lot of fun and everyone's painting turned out great. Preston already put it up in the living room. Haha.
I got a ton of great things for Christmas. A lot of surprises and practical things. Preston got me a book called "712 Things to Write About". It's a workbook of 712 writing prompts. Some of the prompts include "Tell the story of one of your scars;" and "This is the last chance to tell someone what you really think..."; and "What is lint, really?". I love it and I can't wait to get into the zone and start writing.
For Christmas dinner, I made this cheesecake (minus the lemon blueberry topping because that's NOT Christimas) and roasted butternut squash. The cheesecake tasted great but I absolutely refuse to ever make a cheesecake again. Water baths are THE WORST. I had to redo it five times and it still failed. It's impossible to keep the water from seeping into the crust. Impossible, I tell you. I killed it with the butternut squash though. I'll make that for you anytime.
Other News (Massages):
My daily runs since the half have been mediocre at best. I've been struggling. It's so odd. Before the half I was crushing 7, 8 miles regularly at a pretty good clip and here I was dying around mile 2. I thought a massage might help. I needed my muscles manually rung out. They weren't tight or sore, just weak and heavy. They were fatiguing so much quicker than normal. So one of my days off I went to Urban Nirvana (Heaven). About ten minutes into the massage, the therapist said my quads were solid and full of lactic acid. She said "Do your legs feel heavy, like you're having a hard time gaining your strength back?" Ummm... "YES."Apparently, the lactic acid build-up in my legs was pretty extreme and my magical mind-reading massage therapist could feel it "crunch" in her hands. She said the massage would help pull out the lactic acid and re-oxidize the muscle fibers that were clumping together. She also suggested a salt bath afterwards to reduce inflammation and continue to extract the built-up toxins. She was right. After those things, I felt like a champ. Almost instantly, my legs felt lighter. For two weeks straight I felt like I had 20 pound ankle weights strapped to my feet. Just walking up the stairs (not to mention my daily runs) was tough. So I was exicited to finally feel more like my old self. Now I know what to do in the future.
Current Happenings:
Today is New Year's Eve and I can't wait for my two best friends to get into town so we can all celebrate. A big group of us are going to The Alley for it's huge NYE party. Look out for a post in 2015 to re-cap the party. Could be a couple days or so...depending on the number of vodka waters consumed.
Here are some random fun photos...
But first of all I can't believe its the end of the year. I honestly feel like it was just spring. Where did the year go? Talk about a Time Warp.
Half-Marathon:
Well, don't want to talk about it. But I died around mile 8 when my lower back started cramping. It really affected my form, crippled it really. My mom said when I crossed the finish I was so hunched over she knew something was wrong. My right lower back felt so tight and knotted for the last five miles and it forced me to run like a fool, bent over and hobbling. Not cute and definitely not fast.
Needless to say, I was super disappointed. I knew I had the cardiovascular endurance and I had trained way more for this half than I had for my other. I had logged 7-9 miles for several weeks leading up and ran 10 miles the week of the half with a great pace to finish 13.1 around 2 hours. But the back pain was something I'd never felt before while running. And I couldn't change my gait to abate it. So anyway, my time sucked, but I finished. And as soon as I got home I signed up for next year's race--for HALF the price I paid for this year. HUZZAH.
 |
| Should I do another half? |
Moving on...Christmas:
I have several days off from work since Blackbaud is wonderfully generous and gives you a crazy amount of paid time off the day you start. Seriously, Thanksgiving came around and I had something like 17 days left to use. So I took off work from December 24-January 2. It's been great to get some errands done, run on my own time, decorate for Christmas, clean out my closet, figure out my NYE outfit, and try to rest and recover a bit.
OK. So, Christmas came and went. I can't believe it. I gave my brother a painting I did of Brinkley for one of his Christmas presents. He was so surprised and he loved it. I painted it with a bunch of friends at Paint Your Pet Night at Wine and Design. It was a lot of fun and everyone's painting turned out great. Preston already put it up in the living room. Haha.
 |
| Brinkles just hangin' out. |
I got a ton of great things for Christmas. A lot of surprises and practical things. Preston got me a book called "712 Things to Write About". It's a workbook of 712 writing prompts. Some of the prompts include "Tell the story of one of your scars;" and "This is the last chance to tell someone what you really think..."; and "What is lint, really?". I love it and I can't wait to get into the zone and start writing.
 |
| Just plain cool. |
For Christmas dinner, I made this cheesecake (minus the lemon blueberry topping because that's NOT Christimas) and roasted butternut squash. The cheesecake tasted great but I absolutely refuse to ever make a cheesecake again. Water baths are THE WORST. I had to redo it five times and it still failed. It's impossible to keep the water from seeping into the crust. Impossible, I tell you. I killed it with the butternut squash though. I'll make that for you anytime.
Other News (Massages):
My daily runs since the half have been mediocre at best. I've been struggling. It's so odd. Before the half I was crushing 7, 8 miles regularly at a pretty good clip and here I was dying around mile 2. I thought a massage might help. I needed my muscles manually rung out. They weren't tight or sore, just weak and heavy. They were fatiguing so much quicker than normal. So one of my days off I went to Urban Nirvana (Heaven). About ten minutes into the massage, the therapist said my quads were solid and full of lactic acid. She said "Do your legs feel heavy, like you're having a hard time gaining your strength back?" Ummm... "YES."Apparently, the lactic acid build-up in my legs was pretty extreme and my magical mind-reading massage therapist could feel it "crunch" in her hands. She said the massage would help pull out the lactic acid and re-oxidize the muscle fibers that were clumping together. She also suggested a salt bath afterwards to reduce inflammation and continue to extract the built-up toxins. She was right. After those things, I felt like a champ. Almost instantly, my legs felt lighter. For two weeks straight I felt like I had 20 pound ankle weights strapped to my feet. Just walking up the stairs (not to mention my daily runs) was tough. So I was exicited to finally feel more like my old self. Now I know what to do in the future.
Current Happenings:
Today is New Year's Eve and I can't wait for my two best friends to get into town so we can all celebrate. A big group of us are going to The Alley for it's huge NYE party. Look out for a post in 2015 to re-cap the party. Could be a couple days or so...depending on the number of vodka waters consumed.
Here are some random fun photos...
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| Dad and me before our run on Christmas morning. |
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| My dad's attempt at photographer. |
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| My mom's attempt at photographer. First try. |
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