I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier

"You know ya gotta help me out, yeah yeah...oh don't ya put me on the back burner, ya know ya gotta help me out, yeah yeah."

I just can't get that song out of my head! It's called "All these things that I've done" by The Killers

That one and "Change your mind" same artist. On the brain.

Last night I ate some dairy...I think it was cream cheese. Opps- I didn't mean to do that, so of course I drank some wine...(sometimes that helps) besides, I figure if I'm going to be throwing up, I might as well enjoy the taste.
Wine is fine, both ways!
Gross!

Problem is I had to much wine and not enough food.
I really hurt last night.
Today I feel much better.
I got up at six and made 14 burritos for the guys at work.
Then I ran.
I didn't eat breakfast- it didn't look good, but I knew I'd be draggin if I didn't have something in the belly, so I ate 3 bites of a banana. I still dragged.

I ran to second gate and back. Little bit windy, but it didn't take long until that breeze felt good.
Sun is out, it's a perfect day to run.
I'm so proud of myself! :)

new song to ipod- well dah..."All these things that I've done." The Killers....and "can I change your mind?"

Cutting it close

I had a long post written and blogger dumped it. This is so frustrating, but I will attempt to write it again...damn!

I think it went like this...

It rained all night. This morning that lingering scent of fresh open air layered the hilltops and cast darkened shadows of grey.

The perfect opportunity had come. It looks like a perfect day to run.

But first I had to get something to eat (oatmeal), then I had to balance the checkbook (I was $37.33 off). By the time I was ready to go, I noticed my ipod was nearing death by battery failure. So, I plugged it into the charger and waited. After 10 minutes I couldn't take it anymore and decided to chance it. I hoped the sliver of power would be enough to keep me singing for the next 30 minutes.

I wasn't.
I also hoped the rain would hold off until I got home.
It didn't.

But almost!!- My music ended at the same time the sky opened up and let go...it was on the very last leg of my route, when I sprint to the finish line. Kind of neat actually. Hearing myself breath hard, kicking my butt, running as fast as I could in the peaceful stillness of the mountains, getting wet.

I ran backward Westville Trail, Pointed Rocks & American River Trail.
*reminder* "backward" is not meant that I literally ran backwards...it's how I describe which end of Westville I started on.

I can't describe to you, in any completeness, what it is like to be out there.
Up the hills, down the hills, the wind blowing in my face...threatning to steal my brown baseball cap.
For that little 30 minutes I am not anybody. I was never a child or an adult. I am just a being...breathing in and out, filling up a void, in this one second of life.

Music floods my soul and the sky never ceases to change. Wrapped in life and death, I watch the world bloom. I smile at the beauty of the innocent, newly born creatures emerging from their slumber.
It doesn't matter out here...what things I have to do or what bills I need to pay.

I think to myself...I feel good...I want to do this again.

Not exactly the same post...but close.

Man, that felt good!

I ran!! No, I mean I ran!!! FAST!

Otter Trail.
I kicked butt. My butt. My strides were so long, I felt my heal hit my butt a couple times!

However, I must confess that twice my stomach turned and gave me the "WHAT IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?!?!" slander.

I ignored the urge to throw up.
You'll get over it in a second, let's just keep going, shall we?

After days of heavy rain, the sun is back and brightly shining. I wore a tank top even.

Gotta go, I haven't bought one single piece of candy, not one Easter toy or plastic egg.
Plus my mother-in-law's birthday is tomorrow. I have no gift for her...not even a card! I hate to shop, but here I go. I'd get a license plate frame that says "I'd rather be running" if I didn't hate them so much.

RUN LIKE THE WIND, BULLSEYE!

new song to ipod- yeah right, I need to update this thing.

I'm back

Almost 2 weeks! Ahhhhhh! @!$%#@^*((^%$#**(()$@%&(*^&%$%#^@#!!!

I think I did more damage than just my adductor muscle because it still hurt a little, but not nearly as much. Some people say I should have waited a few more days, just to be safe....but...
What can I say, I just couldn't take it anymore! I had to get out and run. Yardwork is hardwork, but can't replace the blood pumping thrill of running.

I ran Westville. nonstop. That's not to hard anymore...running without stopping on these little routes.

I did have some difficulty regulating my breathing. Halfway through, I started getting pain just below my ribcage in the middle.
I knew what that meant. I'm not breathing correctly. I'm taking in too much oxygen through my mouth.

So I told myself..."Breath in through the nose and out the mouth". Soon the pain lessened, until I forgot and it started all over again. I think I did that process 3 times.

No problem with the legs. All and all, it was a great run. Nice day for it too. Cooler, slightly breezy...bits of leaves and blossoms scattering across the road. An early day in Spring here feels much like an average day in Fall.

Yesterday was a different story. We had it all (except snow)...sun, wind, rain, hail, lightning, thunder, tornados? Yep, and even the kind of heavy downpour that sent every customer in Border's upstairs cafe dashing to the window to laugh at the people getting soaked.
*Sigh*

well, on to the rest of my day...that 95 ft long by 3 feet high rock wall. Time to work out the arms and back. Boy, am I going to stink later, cause I already do now! Let's hope I get to the shower before anyone decides to pay me a visit!

new song to ipod- Since U Been Gone, Kelly Clarkson...(so I like this song, get off my back! Jeez)

Expert Advice confirms it.

"Never mind the physical pain of the injury, the psychic pain of not being able to run can sometimes be even worse." http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_5/index.shtml

Groin Pull

Description:Pain in the upper inner thigh muscle.


Likely causes:
Plain and simple, this is an overuse injury. The pain is your adductor muscle calling attention to itself, complaining that it's been held too tense. The adductor is the muscle that runs along the inner thigh and is involved in turning in your toes, a natural motion when running. It's possible that you got this injury when running on a slippery surface; it's a natural instinct to tense your adductors to keep balance, but it can result in a groin pull.
For others, though, it could be a foot imbalance. If there's not enough range of motion in your ankle, the adductor tends to tighten to help you keep your balance.


Remedy:This injury takes patience and more than a little dedication to overcome. It's not what you want to hear, but you'll have to stop running -- or at least cut back drastically -- for about a week. After the pain has gone away, and not before, gently stretch the area with the groin stretch, and try the inside leg raise for a strengthening exercise. Do these stretches, they'll get you back on the road. After seven days of stretching, try a little easy running, starting with just a mile. Keep doing the exercises, and gradually build your mileage. If the pain keeps up, take a few more days off.

Damn. I should have been stretching all this time!! It's been the week, but it still hurts a little. I want to run sooo bad! This sucks!

I guess I better stretch...

On the injured list

Yep, I'm back on the injured list again.
This time it's that groin pull that's keeping me down.

My husband finally convinced me that running with that type of injury only makes it worse.

I have this twisted theory that says "just run it out", as if to believe that any ache or pain will go away if I ignore it.
Well- that works for some things, but not this time.

So, instead I can go for a walk, do yardwork and sit-ups (but I usually forget).

Yardwork makes me use muscles that I didn't even know could hurt. That's good, right?

I'm hoping I won't be down much longer. It's already been a week!

Maybe Thursday??
Yes, I bet Thursday will be a perfect day to run.

Red Rocks

What a gorgeous day!

Perfect day for running.

I feel great, except for the cold bag of frozen peas icing down my pulled groin muscle.
That injury actually happened weeks ago...I just didn't want to tell ya.

Okay- I ran to Second Gate & back. At the top of American River trail, just before you get to Sweetwater, both sides of the street are banked with red dirt. VERY red dirt. Wind and rain erode the earth and cause rocks once embedded in the dirt to fall into the street.
I am a road runner (I know haha) not a trail runner. I'm not used to the rough terrain of loose rocks.
One of these days I'm going to trip and cut myself up. It almost happened today. My right heal caught the top of one of those jagged red rocks. I stumbled and almost fell. Luckily I was able to plant my other foot correctly to straighten up.

However, my vivid imagination found it much more entertaining to continue on with a fictional sequence of events.
These included my actually falling, scraping my knee & elbow...blood flowing down my leg as I got up to keep running.

Now I didn't actually stop, did I?
I fell, I didn't stop!

I could feel the blood inching it's way to my sock. I even imagined a security officer rolling down his window to tell me I'm bleeding and if I wanted a ride.
Of course, that didn't happen.

I didn't fall. I tripped, stumbled, wasn't looking at the ground and thought I was missing the rocks.

Good thing is...I didn't twist my ankle. I'd take blood over a twisted ankle anyday.

One more thing* Spring is coming! I ran with 2 butterflies and was hit with a wall of cherry blossom fragrance. Sweet!

Another difficult run

Why?
That's what I keep asking myself. Why has this week been more difficult than others?

Sure, I have my theories.
1. My body is still recovering from that bad virus that has gotten everyone I know.
2. Not enough REGULAR sleep. It makes a difference WHEN you get your sleep.
3. No breakfast. I've been running on empty this week, because that's what I USED to do. If only my brain could keep up with the changes of my body.

I ran Westville, backwards, down Pointed Rocks, up Paymaster to American River and home.

It's a beautiful day. The sun shines warm on the pavement. (Now that last sentence reminded me of the DUI movie we all watched in high school..."the blood runs red on the pavement!")
I think that's how it went??

I did something on my run today that I don't normally do. I switched playlists on my ipod. I don't like to do that because it breaks concentration and stride.
hmm
Aint nothin gonna breaka my stride...nobody gonna slow me down, oh no...I got to keep on movin...

I have a tendency to play the same songs over and over until I just can't stand them anymore! SWITCH Kathy- You've got hundreds on songs for Pete's sake!!!

Halfway down Pointed Rocks I started thinking about my ipod. I am soooo thankful to have it. I never worry about dropping it or the music skipping. I don't have to hold onto anything, my hands are free. I can literally listen to anything I want. It's all there. And the sound is quality!

I remember last year. I had to carry that huge, bulky round CD player. It skipped and stopped all the time.
Now Apple has out the ipod shuffle. For running, I think it would be great. Very compact and as long as you fill it with up tempo music- it doesn't matter what the mix is.
Affordable too.
But I like my blue mini. It's a good size and still supports all kinds of applications.

Whoa...tough run

I ran to second gate & back.

No, I didn't include Otter this time. Didn't have it in me. Seriously, I considered it, prayed about it, asked God if I could do it....He said "no".

Okay- At least I did manage the route without stopping. Man- I sure felt like stopping about a hundred times. Couldn't get a good pace going.

Just when I though I was gettin the groove (and movin pretty fast) it would feel like I just got punched in the gut. Really. It must have been that picture of LeAnn Rimes I saw this morning. YUCK! Just can't get my aching stomach to settle down!!

I must have looked like a first time driver. Slow......fast.....BREAK....stumble, stumble, stumble.....GOOOOOO.

The stumble part was when I was nearing second gate. I swear I didn't hear that mini van coming up behind me. My music wasn't even up that loud. I usually sense when a vehicle is near me. But not that time. He made me stumble.

I want to be like Dash! Look back at the bad guys, laugh like a little devil and break off like a rocket!!

Yeah- that Dash- He's my hero.