can I interest you in a shot?

not THAT kind of shot, though maybe that would help ;)

Nah...I'm talking about the wretched horrid kinda shot (like the one pictured to the right here) that will make a grown woman cry for her mama. Here's the deal...I'm still having mega hip pain courtesy of the tendonitis I somehow contracted (cuz it's a communicable disease, don't ya know?! haha) in my right hip 3 months ago. I've been on turbo anti-inflammatory meds for 2 months now. I don't mean to sound ungrateful to them...I know they have tamed the beastly pain on many occasions and some days they have even temporarily made the strain disappear. They are just not doing the trick full time AND they are not something you can be on full time because they have unpleasant side effects plus potential dangers. Lately, though, the ol' hip has been particularly bad. It's tender to the touch. When I sleep, I have to be careful how I'm laying down so as to not aggravate it. When I walk, I can feel a pulling sensation. When I run, it's magnified 20x. I push through it, don't get me wrong, but once I finish the run, I feel handicapped for the rest of the day.

Is there a solution? Tendonitis is kinda tricky because the best way to heal it is through rest, but when you are training for a half marathon (and then a full once the half is over), there really isn't time for rest, so then what?! I stretch, I use Epsom salt baths, I ice, I use menthol patches, and I use a hand held massager on it. All of these things help...temporarily...sorta like a band aid. My ortho offered up another solution...he said I could do a steroid injection. This kinda scares me and so it's been in the back of my mind, but only as a last resort. My mom has been encouraging me to go this route because she doesn't want to see me get further injured and because she knows I've had some residual effects of the hip pain (like overcompensating and thus ending up with left knee issues - it's a domino thing).

So, where does that leave us? I called the doctor today to ask a few questions. I wanted to know how immediate I would feel the effects of the shot, how long I had to wait before resuming physical activity, and how long I could hope this injection would cure my ailment. I'll be honest, I wasn't too terribly happy with the answers. I was told I will feel fabulous when I leave the doctor's office because of the numbing meds they will give me to not feel the pain of the shot itself. Later, apparently, it will hurt before it will feel better. Oh great. I was then told to lay off my running for a week or two. EEEEEEEEEEEK! A week or two?! This hurts me worse than the hip pain, y'all! It's like this giant fear of falling 5 steps behind where I am. I was also told that it can possibly cure the problem OR I might have to come back for another injection after a few months or a year. I'm trying to put things into perspective, though. Like...now is the time to do this...the nurse said they can squeeze me in next Wednesday (yay Cinco de Mayo) and that gives me a week to recover because I return from my vacation on Wednesday, May 12th. This means if I am feeling better, I can do a long run on that Thursday morning AFTER my trip (since I'll still be on vacation FROM WORK). If I'm not feeling well enough to do this, I can still hope for a Saturday or Sunday run.

So much for my last post and worrying about trying to get in the 9 miler before I leave for Mexico. Looks like I ought to go for the 9 this weekend instead...heck, I ought to go for two runs this weekend to make up for my extreme laziness (apparently called recovery) post injection. =/

I'm a sham (wow).

Don't I look all ready for my run? It's all a lie, I tell you. I'm a sham in the evenings, no matter how much I try to convince myself otherwise. Why oh why am I incapable of a solid run after work, y'all?!

Remember a couple of blogs ago when I basically confessed to being a morning person and a night person and then getting lost in the afternoon? Okay, maybe I didn't word it quite so...normally. I'm pretty sure I said something about catching early bird worms in the a.m. and partying like a teenager at night and then being a grumpy butt 33 year old all afternoon long to compensate for the two extremes. Maybe my performance anxiety is as a direct result of this issue?

OR...maybe I just suck. Did we ever think about that one?

I would liken myself to a gazelle during my Saturday morning runs and an elephant during any weeknight run I've attempted. Okay...maybe not a gazelle because I'm so not that graceful, but you catch my drift. It couldn't have been the burden of the day upon my shoulders because it wasn't a stressful day. It couldn't have been that I didn't have enough energy (food) in my system as I typically run my Saturdays on either my South Beach pancake or H.E.B.'s Heart Healthy Whole Grain Oatmeal either in blueberry or cranberry. Today, I had my almond butter and sugar free orange marmalade sandwich on double fiber whole wheat bread for breakfast. For lunch, I had a South Beach tortilla with refried black beans, grilled chicken, 2% Monterey jack cheese, and light sour cream. Then I ate my Kroger brand Carbmaster yogurt. I didn't eat anything before I ran because my plan was to do 3.8 miles and I had a late lunch, so I wasn't hungry and felt that eating something would have made me want to throw up.

As far as hydration goes...well we all know I struggle with this, but I made an effort to drink throughout the day...probably not enough, but well it never really is, now is it?! Stupid greedy body! =P

Basically, I did 2 miles of running and then walked the remaining 1.8 miles. I just gave up. I quit. I'm a loser. I don't give up and quit on my Saturday runs. Why do I give up and quit on a weeknights? Why is it an option? It shouldn't be unless I'm hurt, for the record. I think I need an attitude adjustment. Where is Jillian Michaels when you need her??? She scares me.

I need to solve this issue STAT. You see, I leave for my vacation on a Saturday morning. This is bad for my training because I won't be able to get my 9 miles in. I figured out two possible solutions. Either A - I need to go to bed on that Friday @ 8pm to rise and shine @ 4am to go to the gym and attempt to do 9 miles on the dreadmill OR B - I need to somehow someway run the 9 miles after work on Friday night. Neither option is seeming very do-able right now given the fact that I've never done more than 1 mile on the dreadmill and that I suck at evening runs and that will be my first attempt at 9.

Yes, yes...I know I sound like a royal whiny mcwhiner. What are your struggles?

here we go a yoga-ing

Well, I yoga-ed last night. Wanna talk about 6 degrees of separation, but like a warped version that only I would come up with that doesn't have 6 steps and probably doesn't even make sense? How about this one for ya? When I first started my weight loss journey back in July of last year, I knew I needed to hit up both diet and exercise. At first I tried Zumba classes, but we didn't get along very well. Sure, it is a most excellent work out. Yes, I felt muscles ache I didn't even know I had. Most definitely I sweat my booty off, BUT it was stressful because I just couldn't get the moves down. I'm not so good at following the leader when it comes to anything dance-like. After that, I went to water aerobics. There, I "ran into" my biology teacher from high school. Isn't that odd?! She recognized me from like 18 or 19 years ago. She said it was my smile. Apparently I really know how to light up a room. She said she remembered me being a good student. I remember barely passing her class, but whatever. Anyway, our instructor was Marcia. Marcia kept trying to get us to leave water aerobics a few minutes early so that we could attend the yoga class with her. Yoga intimidated me, so I passed (as did everyone else). Then came the winter and I dropped out of water aerobics to pursue my running. The only gym time I do is either ellipticalling or bike riding in the wee hours of the morning. Imagine my surprise when the Monday night instructor couldn't make it, so Marcia was subbing for her. Imagine my disgust when my new yoga mat smelled like formaldehyde. There you go - I had a link to water aerobics in having the same instructor for both AND I had a link to both high school biology AND water aerobics with the formaldehyde...sorta. That's like a sign or something, right??? I need to go back for more abuse most definitely, right?! Not so fast.

I learned that I apparently have no core strength at all. I always knew I have terrible posture, but this was just like kickin' a girl when she's already down (cuz there are mirrors, so you have to witness just how bad it is). My balance is on the same level as a 1 year old who is learning to walk. Did I forget anything? Was there anything I was good at? Oh...I could handle the cow and the cat pose.

I did like all the stretching. I did find the music to be relaxing (when I wasn't stressing about not being able to do some of the poses). I also know that practice makes perfect and that improvement doesn't happen overnight, so yes...I will be yoga-ing again. I don't give up so easily, after all.

and I said to myself, what a wonderful weekend

What a wonderful weekend it was!!!!!!!!! Let's recap it, shall we?!

So you know that I hung out with friends on Friday in celebration of Greggy-D's 30th birthday because I wrote a whole blog about my pizza gluttony. =D

Here's the rest of what this weekend had to offer:

I woke up Saturday ridiculously early because I'm apparently an 80 year old early bird special in the mornings and a teenager who can stay up to all hours in the evenings. No worries, kids...it all evens out to a 33 year old grumpy ass in the afternoons. I was already dreading an 8 mile run on the dreadmill since by all accounts (ABC weather reports) it was gonna be raining all morning. Imagine my shock (and delight) to see that it was a most glorious, beautiful sunshiny day! No dreadmill for me! Do you think that my early to rise and shiny-ness meant an early run? No, no...that would just make too much sense and I'm not quite that logical so early with little sleep. Instead I pushed it and got a WAY late start. I geared up in my Nike attire (love that stuff), added a visor because I don't do well with sunglasses on my runs and I didn't want to be all squinty, and headed out for 8 miler #2. I decided to explore unchartered territory. You see, with my Garmin, I was able to leave the familiar 1.27 mile path and extend it to 1.85 miles by way of running around a lake that is an extension off the path. Just off the path around the fishing lake, there is a Greenway leading you to Collins park with softball fields. This one is a bit hilly, so that makes it a bit more of a challenge, but it was quite peaceful and this changed the distance to 3.8 miles. Honestly, it was just fun having a new path to run!

After my run, I had all of 20 minutes to drive to my house, take a shower, throw on clothes, and meet my family for family lunch which was at Red Robin this week. I opted to order their Lettuce Wrap Your Burger. It is a cheeseburger wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun and it comes with a side salad instead of fries. It was quite tasty. My mom and I were going to go see Disney's Oceans, but that was BEFORE it turned out to be an amazingly gorgeous day outside. I asked her if she would mind if we rain checked (ha!) the movie and if I came over instead for some fun in the sun (in the pool). She had no problem with that (yay)! I went home and got my dogs and went to my parent's house. Now you all know that Penelope is completely blind and she is still recovering from surgery. She gets scared outside of our home since home is her comfort zone (despite being at my parent's house millions of times). My mom told me to bring her because she wanted to work with her. So, I took Delilah outside with me to burn off some of her energy (consequently, when I get back from Mexico, Operation: Boot Camp Delilah begins) and my mom did her thing with Penelli. Later, my mom put Penelli down for a nap and came out and joined me and we had nice mommy/Kimby time! Yay!

Later, I went back to the house and caught up on some shows on my DVR, then took an Epsom Salt bath to kill some of my aches and pains. I then ice ice babied my hip (it needed it bad) and read some of my book. It was an awesome day!

Then came Sunday! I kinda tossed around the idea of running some this morning, but when I woke up (ridiculously early again) with sore thighs, I decided to bench that idea. Instead, I bummed around until it was time to get my massage. Oh how I needed those knots to be removed from my body and thankfully, courtesy of Sarah and her magic hands, they are. She has also been trying to convince me to try yoga - insisting that it will help my body to relax and not allow it to get so many knots. She succeeded this time because after I left her, I went to Target and bought a yoga mat. I looked up the schedule at 24 Hour Fitness and will be attending my first class tomorrow night. Eeeeek - I'm very nervous - this is VERY far outside my comfort zone.

After Target, I headed to Los Cucos to meet Amy for lunch. It's been a while since I've seen my Amy, so we caught up on our respective dating woes. It's tough out there, y'all. I really need to write a book - it would be a comedy (of errors). Then, of course, I got a work call and it required me to have to go up to work (thankfully work was just up the street from where we were eating). Then I went home, grabbed Delilah, took her to her vet appointment for her shots, then to my parent's house for more swimming. I also got to read more of my book - I'm loving it - it's called Secrets of a Lady by Tracy Grant. Then I hung out with the parentals for a while.

*Sigh* Too bad I didn't get any housework done. =/

How was your weekend???

I *HEART* Pizza

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore (for a big pizza pie, at any rate)! Pizza used to be one of my favorite foods, did you know?! I mean honestly, what's not to love? Depending on how you order it or make it, it's an all-inclusive kinda meal - all four food groups in one delightfully tasty treat. Mmmmmm.....

Being originally from Chicago, I do enjoy my Chicago style pie. Whenever we visit the ol' relatives, we almost always manage to sneak in some Lou Malnati's. The last 2 times I've been to Chicago, we somehow didn't have the time to partake in the gluttony. I can't say I was heartbroken as it probably would have been difficult to watch everyone eat it and that is definitely something not on The South Beach diet.

When I was in Chicago for my annual management meetings back in November, however, some of us were hungry one evening and so my brother ordered some regular pizza and had it delivered to the hotel we were staying at. I always admit that the only cheating I do on my diet is full fat cheese in restaurants versus reduced fat (since that is rarely, if ever an option). I ate the cheese/sauce off the pizza leaving the crust behind. That's the only "pizza" I've had since I started my life style change in July with the exception of my own little low carb / low fat / low calorie version I created.

I take a low carb small tortilla (either Mission or South Beach brand) and I add some diced fire roasted tomatoes (out of the can). I then add 2% Italian cheese blend, turkey pepperoni, and if I'm feeling a little zesty, I throw on some green olives. I then sprinkle a bit of Italian seasoning on top and throw it in the oven on 350 degrees until the cheese is all melted and the tortilla is all crispy. It may not be the real deal, but it's pretty darn tasty for a healthy-ish substitute.

My friends have all been AMAZINGLY supportive of my quest for a healthier me. They are soooo cute about always making sure I will have options wherever we are going to eat. It's Greggy-D's bday on Sunday (the big 30, to boot) and he decided he wanted an ol' fashioned pizza party at a place called Star Pizza down in Rice Village which we celebrated tonight. Mellie Bellie called me up on Thursday night to "break it to me". See...this is how thoughtful my friends are...they are worried about my diet when it's their birthday celebration. I pride myself on being quite adaptable, though, so I said no worries...I can always find something to eat anywhere I go. A few minutes later, however, I called my Meliska back up and told her how excited I was because while scoping out the menu to decide on a salad, I noticed that Star Pizza offers up a whole wheat crust option. Eureka!!! I can eat whole wheat crust, my little buttercups!!! Kim had herself some real pizza! What a delectable treat - a perfect way to celebrate Greggy-D's entrance into the wonderful world of 30 and a fantastic way to carbo-load before tomorrow's 8 miler part deux. I decided on the small veggie pizza and I only ate 1/2 (which was plenty). Broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions, and zucchini were generously covering every inch of my pizza (I opted out of the green pepper since I don't do cooked peppers EVER). It was fabulous! After dinner, we walked over to an ice cream place called Amy's Ice Creams. They had such interesting flavors like avocado and lavender. Had I not been fully committed to my plan, I would have totally tried one of those just to be wild and crazy, but alas...I brought a South Beach Fiber Fit chocolate bar with me and ate that instead. Let's hear it for preplanning!

You know what??? The only thing that was better than getting to eat my yummy pizza tonight was the fact that I got to enjoy that experience with such fantasmic company! =D

cHoCoLaTe STAT!

It's been almost 10 months since I began my journey of living a healthier life - mind, body, and spirit. Believe it or not, the diet part has been the easy part. I have been in complete control since I embarked on my South Beach journey on July 6th, 2009....that was until yesterday. Something happened...I lost it! I had a food meltdown...well...sorta. Here's how it went down...

I was tired from having a VERY restless sleep the night before courtesy of a post-op Penelope. This made me VERY edgy at work all day long. Pretty much every little thing annoyed me and so there was this intensity about me that caused extra anxiety and stress. On top of all that (and this is totally T.M.I. and for that I apologize, but it's that time of the month. So, I wanted chocolate. I wanted lots and lots of chocolate. I'm talking extreme amounts of Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory kind of chocolate. I decided that after work, since I needed groceries anyway, I would go to H.E.B. and peruse the sugar free cookie section for some chocolate decadence. What to my wandering eyes should appear, but countless choices of boxes of cookies with the serving size being ONE FREAKING COOKIE. Who just wants one little stinkin' cookie? What is that gonna do for me? I wanted to eat the whole bag. Forget the fact that the sugar alcohols would cause a whole new set of problems...I didn't even care...I wanted cHoCoLaT STAT! I couldn't go through with it, though. I then decided to head to the baking aisle.

There are these Guittard extra dark chocolate chips I adore (pictured to the right). The serving size is 30 chocolate chips and I treat myself to them every once in a while since dark chocolate is allowed on the South Beach diet on occasion. I grabbed them and hugged them to my body. I'm pretty sure I was coveting them, in fact. As I started walking up the aisle, it dawned on me that I was so out of control for chocolate that there was no way I could open up the bag and only have my usual 30. Heck, I wouldn't be able to have only 60. I just wanted to shove handfuls of the dreamy creamy happiness in my mouth and wash it down with ice cold milk. Nope...couldn't allow this, so I put the chocolate chips back (very reluctantly). I can have them another day...once I've regained control over this beast raging inside me.

Next stop was the pharmacy section where the diet bars and drinks are located. I was looking for something with whole grains (healthy carbs), lower sugar, and the ability to satiate this fierce craving. Then I saw it...a Kashi Go Lean Chocolate Turtle Roll. Was it the best choice? Well...no, I mean the best choice would have been a piece of fruit or a sugar free pudding or a low carb yogurt. Was it a good choice given the circumstances? Absolutely. I felt completely other worldly (and not in a good way) and instead of falling off the deep end, I reeled myself back in the boat with one serving of something that would not / did not / could not blow my diet.

Phew! That was a close call, y'all! =D

Post Surgery Penelope (my little Frankenpup)

sleeping in a very awkward position

total Frankenpup pose

Last night I did my preparations for Penelope's surgery. I removed the two dog bed covers for washing. I took Delilah's dog blanket out of her cage for washing, as well. Lately, Penelli has had some kind of curiosity about the cage that she never seemed to express before...I'm wondering if it has something to do with the security it offers. I vacuumed the rugs and swept the floors...nothing I don't do every week, mind you, but this time it was done with a sorrow in my heart and a tear in my eye. It's not like anything was going to be different with our situation...I mean her eye was not functional anyway...the damage was already done...the surgery will remove the pain. I know all of this intuitively, but well...we all know that rational thought and emotions don't always go hand in hand.

For the most part, she has adapted to her blindness very well. It's quite impressive, actually. I am the one who winces in pain whenever she hits a wall or a piece of furniture. I am the one who desperately wants to take her collar in hand and guide her through from room to room, but SHE is the one who wants to do it all by herself. The beagle is notorious for being a stubborn breed, but this is much more than that...this is survival instinct kicking in and her knowing instinctively that she MUST figure it out for herself. She doesn't give up easily, either, for that matter. On Saturday morning, she jumped off the bed and got very confused about where she was in the bedroom. You see, she always used to jump off my bed on the one side, but once she went blind, I have been training her to jump off the other side because there is a dresser on the initial side that makes me VERY uncomfortable. She kept running into the wall trying to get out of the bedroom and wouldn't listen to my encouragement and she wouldn't allow me to guide her, so eventually she just went under the bed to escape the bedroom. In some ways, her grand exodus made me laugh...in other ways it made me cry.

I took her to Eye Care for Animals yesterday to determine when we would need to do surgery. Initially her appointment was scheduled for Wednesday, but on Friday I called to request pain medication for her and for the appointment to be moved up because I knew that surgery was going to be needed this week. I could tell she was in pain. They provided me with pain meds which was a really good thing because when we went in for the appointment, we found out the pressure in her eye was reading at 58 mmHg. Normal range for dogs is 10 to 20 mmHg. This means she has been experiencing horrible migraine headaches. We set up surgery for today.

I dropped her off at 8am. Of course, I broke down and cried once I left her. It was that whole pathetic cry she did that put me over the edge...you know the one...the "I can't believe you are gonna leave me here...come back, come back" cry. I called my mom and she calmed me down. Moms are cool that way.

When I didn't hear from them by 1:45pm, I got kinda nervous, so I called them and they told me she was still in surgery and would be out soon and they would call me once she woke up. Around 2:30, they called me to say she was a bit dazed and confused, but all was well and I could pick her up between 4 and 5pm. In September, when we went through this same surgery with her left eye, she was insistent that a red Corvette in the parking lot was our mode of transportation home. She kept dragging me to that car despite all my efforts to regain control and lead her back to our navy Tahoe. This time around, she didn't have the ability to mandate our escape vehicle....I thought about scoping out our options, but alas...a security guard was circling the lot. ;)

I picked her up around 4:45pm. Dr. Millichamp came out and told me that on the flip side of this small mole that was on her eyelid, they found a tumor. He said while he was "in there", he went ahead and removed the tumor. He saved the tissues and they could send them away to the lab to find out if they are cancerous if I so choose. I don't choose to do that. There really isn't a point. It won't give me peace of mind to know one way or another as if it did turn out to be cancerous, I would not pursue doggie oncology for her. What gives me peace of mind is knowing that my one true love is no longer in pain and that the two of us can enjoy the rest of her years together, come what may.

***side note: they had to shave the fur around her right eye for the surgery which is why it looks so bad...it will grow back and she will look normal***

8 Miles...eh...that was Nothin'

So, I was trying to decide what my theme song should be for this run - either Eminem's Lose Yourself (from the 8 Mile Soundtrack) or Celine Dion's All By Myself. The former is an obvious choice...today was my 8 miler and I just so happen to have the song on my iPod shuffle (though it never did actually shuffle itself into my ear drums to further motivate my movement). The latter may not seem such an obvious choice until you find out that my running buddy, sometimes referred to as younger sister, Linda, abandoned me. I thought the image of my running at the park with mascara smeared down my cheeks from the tears would be a little too much for the other runners, the walkers, the soccer players, and the dogs to bear, so I opted for my theme song to be Lose Yourself (hence the pic).

After an obnoxiously interrupted night's sleep with 2 naughty naughty dogs (do you think The Nanny does dog duty?), I woke up an hour and a half later than initially scheduled to venture out into the unknown...otherwise referred to as 8-mile land...all by myself.

A few things I tried to implement differently. First and foremost, because I religiously read That Pink Girl's blog and want to be just like her (but not in a crazy stalker kind of way) I decided to go against my diet (sorta) by using a supplement during my run. I was dragging during last week's run towards that latter part and thought that for the 8 miler it might be time to supplement for performance sake. That Pink Girl uses Cliff's Shot Bloks, so I decided to give them a whirl (in orange). I'm not gonna lie...it was a bit difficult because I was purposely putting "manufactured" carbs and sugar in my system, BUT I knew I would be burning a lot of calories (1215, to be exact) and getting a great workout and that it was truly providing my body with the fuel it needed to carry onward. So I'm guessing you are wondering if I noticed a difference??? Well...actually, I did...at least I think I did unless it was mental and with me you never know! haha! This 8 didn't seem as hard as last week's 7, that is for real! The other thing I did differently was I made sure I actually properly hydrated myself during my run. Linda kinda yells at me because I'm bad about this. I have a tendency, as I believe I've mentioned before, to fake hydration by chewing gum. Last week there were "angels" at the park handing out ice cold bottles of water to the runners. I had only brought one 32 oz. bottle of Powerade Zero out there with me, so their gift felt as though it was sent down from above. I decided I needed to be more responsible - especially in this increasing heat and humidity, so I refrigerated my Powerade Zero (in grape cuz that's the best) and then I froze two bottles of water to keep them cool. I have a cooler, but I'm afraid to take it out to the park with me....I don't trust park people enough yet. So far they haven't let me down with the whole drink thing, but a cooler might be pushing it.

Even though I have my trusty sidekick Garmin with me, I still wanted to plan out my strategy for the run so as to get to 8 miles without having a whole lot of trail left to finish. I figured it meant 3 long laps and 2 short ones and I thought it best to do them in that order. After each lap, I swung past my picnic table for hydration.

Overall, I'm pleased with my performance today. I will spend 2 more weeks on 8 miles before moving up to 9, so that gives me some more time to get more comfortable with the distance and to improve my time.

After a much needed shower, I dressed and met the fam for our famous Saturday Family Lunch (at Willie's Ice House this week) and then convinced the girl who made me a latch-key runner this morning to accompany me to my parent's pool (since I had convinced our mother to heat it despite the less than favorable forecast). We relaxed mostly in the spa (ahhhh...those jets upon my knots felt horrific and marvelous at the same time, if you can imagine that) and then I braved the less warm, but still decently heated pool floating in my lounger.

So here is what I learned...I'm a runner and I CAN do this! Whenever I have my doubts, I will remember where I started and look at how far I've come....there is the proof in the pudding!

The very last line of Lose Yourself is as follows: "You can do anything you set your mind to, man." Wise words, my friends...wise words indeed.

Knot Stopping!

We know I have poor form when I drive (refer to Bad Kim to read more on that). I also have poor form when I run, too, for that matter. I'm so afraid of tripping (over my own feet, no less) that I find myself staring at the ground in lieu of looking straight ahead. It's lame really because if I were to just change my gaze, I would be able to see the ground and avoid forming some of the knots in my upper back. They are painful to the touch, y'all. It's that bad. I do treat myself quite well with my monthly membership to Massage Envy. Sometimes I even allow myself to get two massages a month, but let's face it...I need to find a way to hold myself over in between massages.

I decided on Monday to be a grown up and go to Academy to get a foam roller. I had a very specific one in mind since my Runner's World magazine showed images of how to properly use one to roll out all the trouble spots and my friend Greggy-D has demonstrated some techniques, as well. They let me down. All they had was a teeny tiny 18" red one with minimal density. This was not going to cut it and probably would have only lasted a month or two on these doozies. I then thought to go to Target because I know they have a decent Yoga section, so I thought perhaps they would want me to have peace of mind, body, and spirit by getting these darn knots removed from my body. NO SUCH LUCK...can you believe they had the same exact pansy one Academy had? Ugh!

So, I then went to trusty ol' Amazon.com. I get free 2-day shipping, but man I really hate to buy a foam roller without seeing it and holding it. How do I know what density I'm getting? I opted instead to get a Triggerpoint Massage Baller. I've thought about getting one before, but failed to do so. Perhaps my back is suffering as a result...I'm just sayin'. I got this puppy (observe image on your right) today. I knew that I could use it against a wall. I had joked to my brother-in-law, Jay, who also happens to work with me, that as soon as it arrived I was going to lock myself in the office and roll around on the floor with it. I added that I would try to not moan too load as I attacked my knots with an enthusiastic vengeance. The truth of the matter was that I just had my fingers and toes crossed that it would work. I was a bit dismayed that it was only the size of a baseball, but it did pack a powerful punch when pressed between my knot infested body and the wall.

It's kinda funny how on one hand I feel years younger taking 90+ lbs off my frame, but on the other hand, this running thing causes some aches and pains along the way. I know I'm in the best shape I've ever been in my life with daily progression to boot. I owe that to running, too. Yesterday was the first mid-week run I've done. I opted to do it AFTER work. It was sooo hard and I only ended up doing 2.6 miles. Isn't it bizarre how 2.6 miles on a hump day after work seemed almost as challenging as 7 miles on a Sunday morning? Sometimes I question me being able to do this half marathon...like am I really cut out for this? Then I remember what so many of my friends have been telling me...about how it's just as much a mental game as it is a physical game. I can do this! I will do this! 8 mile achievement this weekend will be mine!!!!

Kim versus the 5K: Bunny Run

My friend Lauren told me about this race a long time ago and together we stalked The City of Tomball's website awaiting them to post the race info. This race, last year, was Lauren's first race and she raced it with her husband, Rodney. They had fond memories and couldn't wait to do it again.

Do you know that I have raced all my races this year with Lauren? I will surely miss her when I do the Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half on 8/1! I think she will miss me in two weeks when she runs her Nashville Rock 'n' Roll Half. I'm so proud of her though...I am nowhere near ready to do a half yet, so mad props to Lauren and Rodney!!!

Okay, I set off to do this race with one very specific goal in mind. Of course everyone always wants a PR whenever they run a race...that's a given. I wanted to get that PR, but to do so with a time under 40 minutes. Now as you may recall, I clocked a 44:15 at the Rocket's Run on January 31st. We don't talk about the Rodeo Run on February 27th because I sucked and didn't have an official time anyway (but...yes it was worse than the Rocket's Run time). The first half of the H.E.B. Bayou City Classic (March 13th) which would be a 5K since the whole race was a 10K, I clocked a 41:33. I know you don't want me to hold you in suspense, but patience, my little grasshoppers, is a virtue.

Let's talk about the race. The Bunny Run was a small town race in every way you can imagine, but it had a charm that was...cute. The mayor gave all of us runners a little greeting. There were some local vendors out there providing free products/services. Apparently some port-a-potties were ordered, but didn't show up (ooops). There were even some moonwalks for the kiddies. As promised, the course was flat (yay) which I am a huge fan of, by the way! There were 3 water stations in total - two along the course stationed at Mile 1 and Mile 2 and then the third one was once you crossed the finish line. There was a dude holding a cooler filled with water bottles. The local policemen they had along the course were friendly and gave "thumb-ups" or shouted encouragement. All in all, it was a fun experience and I would happily partake in next year's Bunny Run!

Let's talk about my performance. Courtesy of my Garmin Forerunner (yay), I had all kinds of info available to me as I ran. I had my pace at any given moment, I had the time, I had the distance, and I had my average pace (just to name a few of the fields I was working with). I, once again ran using my 4/1 intervals - 4 minutes of running followed by 1 minute of walking and repeat. I'm still struggling with the whole negative split thing, but hey...I'm a continual work in progress.

So now for the answer to the question you have all been PATIENTLY waiting for......did she do it? YES I DID! I clocked 39:40!!! This was a 12:35 average pace. The improvement makes me emotional because it is so much more than the physical achievement...it's an accumulation of how far I've come in mind, body, and spirit in the past 9 months.

Oh...and I almost forgot. My finishing song (and this, my friends, is priceless) was Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive".

Next stop: The Chicago Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon on 8/1 (eeeek)!

Happy Trails!!!

Lauren and I before the race.

Lauren, Rodney, and I.

Me before the sweat all Nike'd up.

Victorious!!!

If I were a...

I "borrowed" this idea from Fat Bridesmaid who "borrowed" it from someone she knows. I've added a couple of my own for good measure.

If I were a month, I'd be...December.

If I were a day, I'd be...Sunday.

If I were a time of day, I'd be...9:00 p.m.

If I were a font, I'd be...wingdings.

If I were a sea animal, I'd be a...penguin (does that count?)

If I were a direction, I'd be...north.

If I were a piece of furniture, I'd be a...chaise lounge.

If I were a drink, I'd be a...mango margarita.

If I were a gemstone, I'd be...tanzanite.

If I were a tree, I'd be a...magnolia tree.

If I were a tool, I'd be a...Garmin Forerunner 305.

If I were a flower, I'd be a...hibiscus.

If I were an element of weather, I'd be...lightening.

If I were a musical instrument, I'd be a...banjo.

If I were a color, I'd be...sage.

If I were an emotion, I'd be...hope.

If I were a fruit, I'd be a...blueberry.

If I were an element, I'd be...Calcium.

If I were a car, I'd be a...Smart Car.

If I were a food, I'd be a...pizza.

If I were a movie, I'd be...a dramedy.

If I were a place, I'd be an...all inclusive resort.

If I were a material, I'd be...dri-fit.

If I were a taste, I'd be...sweet.

If I were a scent, I'd be...vanilla amber.

If I were a room in a house, I'd be a...bedroom.

If I were a dessert, I'd be a...chocolate souffle.

If I were a body part, I'd be...lips.

If I were a song, I'd be sung by...Adele.

If I were a bird, I'd be a...flamingo.

If I were a gift, I'd be...wrapped in pretty paper.

If I were a city, I'd be...Paris.

If I were a door, I'd be...open.

If I were a pair of shoes, I'd be...flip flops.

If I were a season, I'd be...autumn.

If I were art, I'd be a...scenic painting.

What would you be?

Training

I've decided to train with a running group for the Chevron Houston FULL Marathon. I feel it is a very smart decision considering several different factors. Let's take a look at them, shall we???

1 - The heat and humidity are going to be huge hurdles to leap this summer. I already caught a glimpse of what is to come this past weekend and...well...it wasn't pretty. I sweat more than I ever had before and I didn't even make it my full 7, though that wasn't because of the heat or humidity (it was due to a nagging knee issue). I can only imagine what a few more months down the line will offer. I can only start soooo early by myself and not compromise my safety. A running group gives me power in numbers with a designated early start time. It's also accountability when sometimes dedication, determination, and discipline aren't enough!

2 - Though I love running in Meyer Park because is is beautiful and relatively peaceful, the course is already starting to get monotonous. A running group means pre-determined new running courses each week. Ones that I do not need to plan and ones where water will be provided for me.

3 - I am a novice in this sport. I feel I can handle the half marathon distance training by myself, but the full marathon's time limit is a bit daunting and with proper training and guidance, I feel I can conquer it.

4 - What a great way to meet new people who are involved in the same activity!!!

5 - It's only $120 and conveniently located at the YMCA near my house through a well known company called USA Fit. It's starts on July 17th and there are different levels depending on one's skill level. Oh and this is nationwide and they do half marathon training, too.

Penelope

I noticed on Wednesday or Thursday that Penelope's "good eye", her right eye, was red around the edges. This concerned me because that was how the rapid decline of her left eye began in early September of last year. The red wasn't quite as ferocious, so I was praying it was allergies.

On Easter Sunday, I returned to my house after celebrating at my parent's home and Penelope's eye just didn't look right. I called my mom and started crying. She offered for me to bring over my babies and come spend the night, but I declined. We agreed I should call Eye Care for Animals in the morning to make an appointment.

On Monday morning, I thought Penelope had lost her eyesight all together. I went to give her a treat and she appeared to sniff it out instead of seeing it to take it from my hand. All I could think about was how I was going to end up with a blind dog on my hands and whether or not that was fair to Penelope. I cried all morning long, not knowing what I was supposed to do. Is it selfish to put her through another surgery and let her live a sightless life so that I don't lose my one true love? She is only 9. If you recall, I just posted a birthday blog for her back on February 5th. She is so full of energy and spunk. Just on Thursday, we went for a family dog walk and Penelope did this full charge ahead run because she was ready to Go, Dog Go! It would be one thing if she was sickly, but this is not the case.

Throughout the day on Monday, everytime I thought about making a decision regarding Penelope's life, I just broke down and cried. My mom works at a women's abuse crisis center on Mondays. She was telling one of her co-workers about Penelope and her co-worker, Bertha, told my mom to have me call her and she would reassure me that Penelope could live a fulfilled life being blind. Later that afternoon, I called Bertha and she told me about her 14 year old dog who went blind and lived to be 17 running up and down stairs. This gave me hope!

Penelope's appointment was for 3:30pm. By the time we got there, the pressure had dropped significantly in her eye to normal range again. Dr. Millichamp said he could see evidence of lost vision and deterioration of the eye since our last visit...in other words...the glaucoma we were hoping to hold off as long as possible is beginning to rear its ugly head and it is just a matter of time before it attacks. I am left with two options. I can have the doctor perform a laser surgical procedure which is exorbitantly expensive in the hopes of maintaining her vision. Though it is a relatively common procedure in humans, it has only been performed on pets for the past 2 or 3 years. This means there is really not a proper case study on it. Post surgery, she would most likely still be on lifetime meds. Option #2 is to keep her on meds trying to maintain the vision as long as possible and to keep the pressure low as long as possible - in other words, we are treating the symptoms more aggressively than we were before when we were only treating the pressure issue. Once the meds no longer work and the glaucoma takes over leaving her completely blind and, unfortunately, in pain, we will have to do the same surgery that was done to her left eye. Though this procedure is not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, it is still $1600 less expensive than Option #1. Post surgery, she would be on antibiotic meds just until the eye heals and then she would be off of meds entirely.

While Dr. Millichamp took Penelope to the back to run his tests, I was leafing through a book that was in the examination room. It was about learning to live with your blind dog and it gave me some awesome suggestions like putting bells on the collar of other pets in your home to help your blind dog identify the location of the other pet(s). Different kinds of bells or different quantities of bells would mean distinguishing sounds to help your pet differentiate the different beasts roaming around. When we all gather at my parent's house, there are as many as 6 dogs, so I thought I could assign specific bell arrangements to specific dogs while we are all together to help my little love muffin adjust when the time comes.

So, for now Penelope is on one oral medication and three different eye drops ultimately waiting for the inevitable. It appears her eyesight is the worst in the mornings, but thankfully she doesn't seem to be in pain right now other than irritation when I put in the eye drops.

This is all just so very emotional for me. I love this little girl as if she were my child...let's face it...for the past 9 years, she has been my cuddly little kiddo.

So, I ask that you please pray that the disease holds off as long as possible, that Penelope's pain is minimal, and that we all adapt to what the future holds gracefully.

***UPDATE***

It's now Wednesday, 4/7, and Penelope is completely blind. I think what gets me the most is how rapidly it happened. She is very gingerly walking around the house with her nose to the ground. I'm, of course, acting like an over-protective mama. It's funny how things you never thought about all of the sudden become a concern. For example...the bed. Penelope sleeps with me. I never worried about her falling off the bed until last night. I know we will just have to go through an adjustment period while she feels, smells, and hears her way through the rest of her years here on this Earth, but it's just weird. I'm going to buy jingle bells today to help Penelli identify Delilah before Delilah has a chance to trample over her. I suppose it wouldn't hurt for me to make a jingle bell bracelet for myself, either. We can handle this, I know we can. At least for now, she is not in pain. Oh...and getting the eye drops in her this morning was a breeze because she literally didn't see them coming. There...that's the glass-half-full spin you've all been waiting for.

Easter Weekend

It has been a fun-filled week of family and I have loved it! My parents flew my brother and sister-in-law in from Washington D.C. to spend Easter with us (and with my sister-in-law's family). Though I talk to Eddie practically every day regarding work, family gossip, and other shenanigans, we had not seen him since Thanksgiving.

Eddie and April are pretty independent when they get to Houston. This translates to April usually goes off to hang out with her mom and sisters and Eddie hangs out with us. There are, of course, times when Eddie joins them and other times when April joins us. Then there is Easter Sunday when we all joined together!

On Tuesday night, my mom cooked dinner for just herself, my dad, brother, and I. It was so fun and reminiscent of old times - minus the bickering and the chaos since our two sisters weren't there. Not to say that they were the ones to cause the problems...haha!

On Wednesday night, same scenario only older sister Cathy, and her husband Jay joined the mix.

On Thursday night, same scenario only Cathy and Jay were replaced with younger sister Linda and her husband Craig.

Apparently, I was a meal moocher taking full advantage of my mother's cooking all 3 nights!

On Friday night, April and her youngest sister CeeCee were throwing a baby shower for middle sister, Carol Ann. My mom, two sisters, and I were attending, so once again my mother made dinner for everyone and it was kind of a grab some and eat it when you arrived kinda deal. It appears I was a meal moocher then, too. haha!

On Saturday, my family usually has family lunch, but my parents offered up to us to forgo family lunch in lieu of seeing an afternoon movie and going out to dinner. We went to see Hot Tub Time Machine. I had zero expectation because I hadn't even seen a preview. It was decent and I laughed a few times. After the movie, we went to a local mom and pop placed called Clementine's. Both Cathy & Jay and Linda & Craig had their rehearsal dinners there. Sadly, it appears the place has gone completely downhill in the past year. None of our food was seasoned. After dinner, we stopped at Brewster's Ice Cream for a couple of ice cream pies (I, of course, did not partake) and then went back to my parent's house and just hung out. It was so fun. I am so blessed to have such a close family and that my siblings married such great spouses and that we all love hanging out together.

Easter Sunday, we all (sans Cathy & Jay who flew out to Vegas for some vacation time) gathered at my parent's house for some great grub (courtesy of my mama)!

I love spending time with my family - especially because it is so rare that we are all together. Next stop for such an event will be Labor Day weekend when we all gather together in Chicago in celebration of my grandmother's 80th birthday!