This is the first post I’ve had about running in a while.  I have been running- not just as much as I would like to.

There are a lot of reasons why- from having time with my kids, work schedule, having my house on the market, recovering from injuries, and surgery, managing my health, eliminating stress, the weather, to not enough hours in the day. It is hard when there is that thing you really like to do, but it seems like everything else has to come before it.

This is where I have been for several months.  I have felt fortunate if I could fit a short run in, over my lunch time, a few times a week. The past few weeks, I have really started to notice I have been missing the longer runs, and pushing myself.  I feel like I haven’t been doing any runs that are challenging- like I’ve hit a plateau.

A few weekends ago, I decided I was going to get back on track, and while camping with my family, I decided to go on a run.  This was at 8,900 feet. It was the middle of the afternoon and it was hot.  I didn’t know how far I would even be able to run, since I’ve not been able to keep up my distance runs.  I decided to just go- and see where I ended up.

I ran along the forest road, and there was a creek I followed for a while.  There were hills.  There was an occasional car that would drive by, but other than that, I only heard my breathing, the sound of my shoes hitting the rocks, and the water from the creek.

Every time I finished one hill, there would be another.  It wasn’t quite the trail I had been hoping for, but I pushed on.  The first mile seemed to take forever.  When I had finished it, 11 minutes had passed.  Considering how many hills there were, I didn’t think that was too bad.  I decided to see if I could run another mile.  The trail flattened out, or at least the hills weren’t as steep for most of the second mile.  As I finished the second mile, I was getting tired, but wanted to go another half mile, so at the end I would have ran 5 miles.

As I turned the bend, with a third of a mile to go, there was the steepest hill yet!  It struck me how much running and life go hand in hand out there, on the hot, isolated trail.  Just when you think you are done with the steep hills, another one can pop up- seemingly out of nowhere, to throw you the most difficult obstacle yet.  I knew if I had seen that hill before I decided to continue, I would have turned back. I considered turning back, but that spark and determination I find so often when I run, kicked in.

I started up the hill, and half way up, it didn’t seem that hard.  Another life lesson- sometimes things seem harder than they really are, until you just start to work on them.  Before I knew it, I was running down the hill, and had hit my 2.5 mile mark.  I turned around, and ran right back up the hill, which my Garmin told me was a 13% incline.  The hill didn’t seem as hard, and I was rewarded with a lot downhill time on the run back.

I was in mile four, when I caught up with the creek again. It sounded louder- almost like it was cheering.  Or it was me hearing that, because I was really cheering myself on.

I hadn’t run this far or at this level in almost a year, but yet I was out on one of the hardest runs I’ve ever done, and I was minutes away from finishing.   As I finished the run, I was reminded why I had missed longer runs so much.

Running mirrors life.  There are ups, downs, successes, failures, pain, elation, unexpected twists, turns, hills, and obstacles.  As you run and mange these, you gain a new perspective. With every hill you run up, and then run down, you are reminded of what lies within- strength, determination, hope, and accomplishment.

I wasn’t focusing on the time, but I was hoping with all things considered, I would finish in an hour.  I finished the run in 55 minutes.  My last mile was the fastest one- at 10:24.

I went and sat in the cold creek with my kids, who had been playing in the water with their grandpa and cousin.   As I watched them play, and felt the cold water rush over my legs, I felt another feeling I often gain with running- peace.

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I’ve signed up for my first race in almost a year on Labor Day. It is 5 miles.  While I have run a 9K race before, (5.5 miles), the 5 mile distance will be a bit more challenging for me this time since I haven’t had a lot of training time to build up my mileage.  Before the mountain trail run, my goal was to finish in 50 minutes or so.  I am pretty confident I can finish around this time, and I do like to race, to see how fast I can run.

I am happy to be back racing, and am going to focus more on the run itself- the sights, the sounds, my breathing, and the fact that after all of it- I’m strong, healthy, and still running.

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It’s been a month since I’ve written a blog post!  I wish I had a great excuse for not doing so, but I’ve been busy.  Mainly with work.  I work in the accounting field, and this is always a busy time of year.

I’ve been well since my last post- finding out I was cured from cancer.  It is pretty hard to top that!  My doctor changed my Synthroid dosage slightly for reasons I mentioned in the previous post.  I now take a smaller dosage on Sunday, and I’m finding I’m very tired on Monday and Tuesday.  It’s amazing how such a small adjustment down in dosage can affect how I feel.  I’ve been trying to get more rest on these nights, and just hoping eventually my body will adjust.  But it’s always a process. 

The weather has been so windy here, and we’ve had lots of rain and cooler temperatures.  Combined with my being swamped at work, and extra tired two days out of the week, I’ve not been running as often or as long as I would like to.  I also had a hard time last year, around this time of year.  Everything with my mom being sick, dying, having her funeral, her birthday, and then Mother’s Day, started in February and goes until May.  It’s only been a year, and it’s still an emotionally hard time during these “anniversary” dates. 

I’m trying to let myself feel what I need to feel and not push myself physically too much.  I have been able to get out on shorter runs on tougher routes during my lunch, and that feels like the extent of what I want to do with running for now.  I hope as the weather gets nicer, I can start running longer distances again and get out on my bike.  I was going to try to run a half marathon in April, but I hadn’t been able to build up the mileage, and I didn’t want to risk running that distance and get hurt.  I’m not going to pressure myself to run in any races for the time being, but am just going to enjoy running when I can for now. 

Ryan and Cole are doing great.  School is almost over for them, and they are excited about attending a school / day camp program where they will be learning and going on field trips this summer. They have both learned how to ice skate, and enjoy playing hockey- on ice, and in our driveway.  Ryan is finishing up Cub Scouts for the year and they both started karate lessons a few weeks ago.  They love it, and are already talking about earning their next level belt. They don’t want to be white belts anymore!  Here’s a picture of them from their first lesson:

I’m looking forward to summer- the warmer weather and spending time with my boys.  They are growing so fast, and after this summer my “baby” will be in school full-time.  Cole is going to be five next month, and in full time kindergarten in the fall.  It seems like those years from when he was a baby to now, have just flown by.  I hope we can slow down a bit during the summer, relax more, and I can savor what is left of my youngest child’s pre-school days. 

My 20th (gulp) high school reunion is planned for July. I helped plan our 10 year reunion, and am helping out as much as I can on planning the 20th.  If I thought my kids were growing too fast, it seems crazy I’ve been out of high school for (almost) two decades!  It will be fun to see everyone in person, and see all of our kids- new ones, and see how the babies have grown into pre-teens and teenagers from the last reunion.  Seems like we were just kids ourselves, and now we have kids- when did that happen?

I am planning a special post in June, to coincide with the two year anniversary of my thyroid cancer surgery.  I’m excited about it, and I think it will help so many cancer patients looking for resources and answers.

This is some of what has been going on- of course there is more, but I’m trying to get to bed earlier, so the more will just have to wait.  I post shorter updates on my FaceBook Fan Page.  I hope you will stop by there, and even though it’s been a few weeks, thanks for continuing to read A Mama’s Blog.

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Running has been almost non-existent this fall and early winter.  After I got a new pair of running shoes in September, I developed a bad shin splint on my left shin.  This happened to me last year as well, when I replaced my shoes.

I thought I needed to break them in more, so I tried running low mileage- a mile or two, a few times a week, in hopes my shin would start to feel better.  It didn’t, and it started to feel worse.  I was really disappointed because the wonderful people at Boa Technology put a custom pair of Boa laces in my new shoes, since I had these on my previous shoes, a pair from The North Face, the Boa Arvuna, which I adored.  I loved those shoes, but they were discontinued.  The Boa lacing system is superior- they don’t come untied and they stay tight. I swore after having the Boa system, I would never go back to regular shoe laces.   I wore the new custom shoes at my last race, the Denver Race for the Cure, before the shin splint developed.

By the time I could finally admit the shoes were not working for me, it was December.  I switched back to my old shoes, which were too small, while I decided what shoe to get next.  My old shoes hurt my feet, which is why I needed new shoes in the first place.  I felt like I was in a shoe black hole during the holidays and I cut down running even more because of foot pain.

In the meantime, I decided to play soccer once a week in an indoor co-ed league.  It looked like fun, and I thought it would be good cross training.  Some of my friends played on the league as well.  Shifting my  attention on soccer delayed my decision on running shoes. 

For some reason, I was having a really hard time saying good-bye to my North Face shoes.  I had accomplished a lot of running goals during the past year- some of which I never dreamed I would be able to do.  I was not sure if I’d be as successful as I wanted to be with another pair of shoes.  It sounds silly, but I suspect I’m not the only person who is attached to an important piece of gear for their sport. 

Meanwhile, John suggested I look into Pearl Izumi running shoes.  I read up on some of the pairs, and I had heard good things about them, but until you can wear them and run in them, it is hard to make a decision.  Over New Year’s we visited a Pearl Izumi outlet store.  The salesclerk who helped me said she ran a lot on trails and road, and recommended a pair, the Syncrofloat II.  I tried them on, ran around the store with them, and they felt good. But they had laces.  I wanted Boa laces.  And they were white and light pink.  I wasn’t crazy about the color.   But I noticed as I ran around the store in them, for the first time since my North Face shoes, I didn’t have any shin pain. The laces seemed to stay tight too.  So I compromised and made the best decision I could.  I bought them. 

I started breaking them in slowly- on a treadmill, so I could return them if I noticed any pain.  But I didn’t.  In fact, I started to like them the more I wore them.  They were comfortable. After running in shoes for over a year that were half a size too small, my feet felt like I had little pillows on them.  However, I was reserving my final judgment for trail and road running.

In January, I put the Pearl Izumi’s to the test.  I ran short distances- under two miles on trail, road, and bike paths.  No shin pain, or any pain anywhere else. The laces stay tight and I haven’t had them come untied yet.  I was almost ready to return to my serious running when I got hurt-again.

I was playing soccer in the first game, and was not used to the Astroturf.  I fell and the whole next week, my quad muscle hurt.  Not bad, but it didn’t feel quite normal.  Then the next game I was running and it just gave out.  I couldn’t run and it was killing me. I thought I had a cramp and stretched it out.  It felt better to try to play later in the game.  I kicked the ball with my opposite foot and while I did that, I felt my quad muscle pop.  I had definitely pulled it. 

So I’ve been resting again.  No soccer or heavy running for the past three weeks.  It has paid off, and my quad muscle is finally better. I ran pretty fast outside the other day and had no pain whatsoever.  

I decided during this break, that I am finally over the shoe issue and it’s time to accomplish some of the running goals I have.  However, I decided the best shot I will have at reaching these goals, means I stop playing soccer.  I’m not 21 anymore, and any injury can mean weeks of forced time off to heal.  Not losing any training days or weeks will be very important during the next nine weeks.

I have registered for my first half marathon in April!  I’m so excited. I have wanted to run a half marathon after the first 5K race I ran.  I was training to run one last Spring, but then my mom passed away suddenly, and I was not able to continue the training schedule.

I have the most supportive family, friends, kids, and my new running partners- my shoes.    I have to build my mileage back up, and get faster.  The few times I have run the 13.1 mile distance (not in a race); I ran it in 2:10.  My goal is to finish in sub 2 hours.  I have all the important elements in place to accomplish this.  All the pieces fit now.  They are waiting for me to take them and run.  That is what I am going to do.

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It’s been a while since I’ve written a personal blog post.  Everything has been going really well, but busy.  I haven’t had a lot of spare time to write, and the last time I wrote about running was in September- yikes!  I’ve been running, but not writing about it, obviously.

The last race I ran was on October 3rd.  I ran in my second Komen Race for the Cure in Denver.  This was the very first race I ran in last year, and it got me hooked on running.  My sister, Mara, decided to run in it as well, so I had company at the start line. 

Mara and I at the start line

My goal for this race was to get my fastest 5K time, even though this race was not officially timed.  Last year I was just so happy I could run-period, and this year I wanted to take everything I had learned about running, all the training and hard work, and run the fastest I ever have for this distance.  I wanted to do this for me, and for all the cancer patients who can’t run or do what they want to do physically. 

Last year before this race, I received running encouragement and tips from a friend I had been back in touch with from high school.  John used to run in school and gave me a lot of good tips for running in a race, since I had never ran in one.  Over the past year, he has helped me a lot with running, and has given me advice ranging from shoes, to race strategies.  Anytime I had a question or needed advice, he did what he could to help me.  I started to think of him as my unofficial coach.  :-)  This year he came with me to the race.  

Mara and I made our way to the front of the line- amongst the hundreds of runners.  Mara has a bad knee from a rafting accident years ago, and knew she wasn’t going to be able to run the entire race, but started with me anyway.  She made me laugh as we took our place with the “Seven Minute” runners. This means you can run a mile in seven minutes.  Doable for me, but when Mara saw how serious all the runners were with their warm ups, and stretches, (and we do tend to be serious before a race,) she said, “Dang, these people are like die-hards. Oh I guess that’s you.”  It was funny to hear her impression of “us die-hards.” 

As the race started, I told Mara I’d see her at the finish line, and started running.  I felt really good.  Most of the training I have been doing since June was very intense for me, so it seemed pretty easy for the first mile.  But I had forgotten how uphill the beginning of the race was.  I was running my race pace too, so I was getting a bit tired in mile two.  I loved seeing all the people cheering along the street. 

A big difference for me this year was I have started running without music. I started training in July without it. I was training to run in a race that didn’t allow music.  I felt more focused and in-tune with my breathing and pacing.  I was glancing at my Garmin to see what kind of pacing I was on, and it was going well.  Right around the end of mile 2, I got tired and forced myself to slow down some.  I remembered towards the end of the race, with about half mile to go, there was a steep hill from the off ramp waiting.  I knew I was in good shape, but wanted to make sure I saved some energy to tackle that hill.

I found out later that Mara’s knee gave out after her first mile.  She walked the rest of the race, and was able to take some pictures since she wasn’t running.

Looking at this picture afterwards made me appreciate all the more, how fortunate I have been regarding my health.  The entire time I was running, I could see the people ahead of me, and the guys riding the bikes, outlining the course.  At one point I could look down over the runners ahead of me and figured there were a few hundred.  Last year, I was running more like in the crowd in the picture.  It always makes me run a little faster when I realize there are more people behind me than in front of me.

Before I knew it, the hill was there.  It was hard, and I was trying to increase my speed since the race was almost over.  I ran over the summer on some 21% grade dirt hills, in the very hot sun, so I was telling myself this was nothing compared to that. 

I finished the hill, and it was a sprint to the finish line.  There was only about .15 miles left.  I am sure I glanced at my Garmin, but I don’t remember at what time.  But I do remember I was on pace to beat my previous 5K best of 24:59.  I ran as fast as I could to cross the finish line.  I hit stop on the Garmin, but before I looked at the time, I took a few seconds to just appreciate that I was at the race at all, and how much fun I have had running during the past year. 

I looked down at my time, and there it was: 24:53.  I ran my fastest 5K time!  Last year I had finished in 36:25- what a difference a year makes- in more ways than one.

I saw John waiting for me, smiling with the camera at the end of the finish line. I was happy to see him there, and after a year plus of me asking him about all the in-and-outs of running, and him helping me, it was nice to be able to put it all together and achieve what I was hoping for.  Even though this picture is blurry, I still like it.  It captures the spirit of the race for me:

I am sure I had a huge smile on my face after this as I showed John the time, and told him I just ran my fastest 5K.  We went to find some water and wait for Mara.  When she finished, I told her I was very proud of her- it would have been very easy for her to sleep in, and she agreed, but I think it is wonderful she got out and gave it her all!

After the race- we did it!

Since this wasn’t a timed race- there are no stats- no official times, or age group finishing places.  John told me the first man finished around 14 minutes, and the first woman was a few minutes after that.  He said he didn’t see that many women who finished ahead of me who looked like they were in my age group. 

It was my best race yet, and I was thrilled I was able to run my fastest in this race, when last year it was an accomplishment just to run.  I took over 11 minutes off my 5K time in a year.  I am proud of that, and am so thankful to everyone who has helped and encouraged me during the last year.  John especially.    

Finally, for all the cancer patients and survivors who are still fighting- many who are my blog readers- I think about you every time I run.  I think about my own battle with cancer, and how it pales in comparison to what so many others have to go through to fight and beat cancer.  It is humbling and inspiring.  It is why I started to run.  Over the course of the year, it helped me make the shift in my thinking from a cancer patient to a cancer survivor, and to focus on what I can do, not what I can’t.   

The Race for the Cure is where running started for me.  I will be marking my running years by this race.  I’m excited to see what this next year in running holds for me.

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A year ago, after recovering from thyroid cancer, I decided I wanted to support others who were fighting cancer.  I signed up for the Komen Denver Race for the Cure, supporting breast cancer.  I had never run in a race before, and didn’t particularly like running.  But I felt very thankful for the fast recovery I had from my own cancer, and figured it was the least I could do.  

My doctors told me it could be a year recovery before I’d even start to feel “back to normal” again.  My doctors warned me it was a very gradual upswing, and not to expect to feel better for a long time.  If you have followed my cancer journey on my blog, or know me in real life, you know that this was not the case for me.  As soon as I was on Synthroid, I felt the difference in hours.  To date, I still have not had to have one medication adjustment, which is almost unheard of.  My surgeon, who warned me of how hard the recovery was, and who has been treating thyroid cancer patients for 17 years, including his own wife, told me he had never seen someone recover as fast, with zero complications, like I have.  He told me I was a bit of a medical miracle. 

When I wrote my blog post last year, deciding I was going to run in the Race for the Cure, I was thankful I was doing so well.  A year later and a year wiser, I am more thankful and grateful than I can express.  I have no idea why I recovered so well. I am still in contact with a few people who had thyroid cancer surgeries the same time I did, and are still trying to get their thyroid replacement medication right, so they can start to feel back normal again. 

Running in this race last year was very healing for me.  I didn’t feel like I was a sick cancer patient, but I felt strong.  I felt like I was on the right path for recovery. I had no idea at the time if my recovery was going to “last” or if I would experience the problems and complications my doctors had warned me about.  It had been less than two months since I completed radioactive iodine therapy and had started on Synthroid.  But I was so optimistic I was able to train for this race and run in it. I had a lot of support and encouragement and I still remember while running it- for the first time, in a long time- I felt alive, well, and healthy.

I was hoping to finish the race in under 40 minutes, and finished in 36:25.  The race is self timed, and there are no official results.  But crossing that finish line was monumental for me.  I wasn’t sick with cancer anymore- I was a cancer survivor.  And that day, I became a runner.

I was hooked. I loved it.  I loved every second I was running the race. I loved the adrenaline, I loved the strategy, I loved I was smiling through the race, I loved pushing myself, I loved trying to pass the person ahead of me, and then trying to keep someone from passing me.  I loved the fact that I could actually do something as physically challenging as running.  I loved the fact that I was proving that cancer wasn’t going to define my life.  When it was over, I loved the fact that I had accomplished something just weeks ago, had seemed impossible. 

I didn’t realize it at the time, but I know now what I loved most about that race.  I moved from surviving cancer, to healing from cancer. Two very different mind sets.  I never looked back at being a cancer survivor- I started focusing on healing from cancer, and being the strongest person I could be- mentally and physically. So the Komen Dennver Race for the Cure means the world to me.  It put me on the path to heal from cancer.  It helps breast cancer patients who have to fight a much harder fight, for much longer than I ever did. 

I am running in the 5K again this year on October 3rd in Denver.  I am well trained for this race, and plan on going for my personal (unofficial) fastest 5K time.  I can’t think of a better 5K race where I would like to achieve a personal best.  But just to be there again- strong, healthy, able to run, and cancer free is a gift.  It’s a precious gift not everyone gets, and one that I am aware of every time I run.  So I am going to give it my all, and run it the strongest I can.  For myself and for all the cancer patients and survivors who can’t.

Last year I entered this race as a cancer survivor and ran.  This year I am entering this race as a runner, who happens to be a cancer survivor.  This is the spirit of the Komen Race for the Cure. I encourage all my readers to make a donation to the Race for the Cure, or better yet- sign up to walk or run in your local race.  You can find a list of races here. 

If you would like to make a donation in my name, to help raise money for breast cancer, you can click here.  Thank you! 

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