Running, I miss you.  Please do not banish me from your inner circle.  I would also really appreciate it if when I actually do make my come-back run if you could go easy on me and not make me feel like I’m about to keel over.  That would be fantastastic.  I am sorry we haven’t been meeting regularly lately.

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It’s a beautiful day out, a little overcast and nice and breezy – PERFECT running weather but there is much wedding stuff to do today so I’m 99% sure a run won’t fit in.

Some AMAZING news is that my friend’s dad was released from the hospital.  He still has a long road to recovery but he’s listening to the doctors and I’m sure he’ll be glad to be home!  We’re thinking he WILL be able to make it to her wedding which is a lot more than we thought a few weeks ago.  The stress from that is obviously still there (more so for the immediate family) but it’s reduced a tonne.  I’m positive her wedding will be brilliant and more wonderful than she can imagine.

I hope you’re all doing well and getting more running in than me.

I feel so disconnected from the world right now!  Things are going better health wise for my friend’s dad and we’re moving along with plans for the wedding, hopefully they’ll allow him to come for at least the ceremony portion but for right now he’s still on TPN, has a central line, etc. but he’s talking and doing a million times better than a week ago when we almost lost him twice.

In other news I have not run for WAY too long.  I actually have not done any of my workouts since uh, middle of June?  Whenever I last posted about doing one (I’m too scared to look back, haha.)  I feel like my fitness has plummeted but somehow my shorts seem to be falling off, the stress diet or more likely deteriorating quad muscles?   We’ll hope for the former even though that’s probably not the case…I am crossing my fingers I’ll be able to go for a run tomorrow.  I’ll let you know if that happens, for sure.

The good news is that I’ve been doing a lot of walking and have been able to do a couple relaxing things between hospital visits.  Went to the beach one day (where I got sunburned on my back despite ample application of suntan lotion) and relaxed by the pool for a couple of hours another day.  At the hospital I’ve taken walks with my friend when we’ve needed to get a time out.  Fortunately, Vancouver has had gorgeous weather recently so that helps.

Here are some pics so you aren’t completely bored:

Flowers that we had to put in the family ICU room, so pretty!

The days have all been like this lately.

I cropped out other people so they wouldn’t kill me for posting pics of them.   This was Canada Day (hence the white and red outfit.)

Maybe I’ll be able to update you on RUNNING tomorrow (keep your fingers and toes crossed!)

P.S. I added the before and after hair cut photos in the previous post.

Note: My friend’s dad is still in the ICU but he is improving, thank you for your kind words.

I have not been running since whenever I last posted. Things have been so busy though I haven’t really noticed too much. Today we were able to go to the pool and have a little swim, soak in some rays, and destress a bit before going back to the hospital.

I completely thought I had published this post below a few days ago, sorry!

I’ll post pictures when I can.

Happy Canada Day!

Better late than never: Here’s my response to this week’s Take it and Run Thursday. I never realized how important recovery was until I over-did it. I also never knew how much I’d learn about myself when I began this sport.

Running has been put on the backburner but I’m hoping I’ll be able to squeeze in at least a little tiny run later on.

Completely random -I got my hair cut today and here are some before and after pics:

It’s been a crazy couple of days hence the short posts.  My best friend’s father (who is like a second dad to me) is in the ICU.  Her wedding is in a week and a half.

Good: 45 min. tempo run.
Bad: goosebumps, chills, and feeling very cold a few km from the end.

…when you can just go out for a run and leave all your stresses on the pavement.

Yesterday I decided to run stairs for fifteen minutes because I felt I could get more out of that instead of just warming up and having to quit a run.  It went well and I tried to keep a consistent pace which was hard to maintain near the end.  I also started to do the watch thing, looking every nanosecond it seemed to see when it would be done.

Obviously that doesn’t help…but somehow, I didn’t trust the alarm would go off.  Of course it did and I almost tripped because I was happy to have that hard workout over with (and I was also wiped!)  This morning, my hips are telling me that we either need to incorporate this more or to never do that again.  I think some stretching and/or yoga is in order at the end of the day.

I don’t know what I have planned workout wise and frankly I’m not awake enough to glance at my schedule right this second!  Hopefully it won’t cause rebellion from some other body part.  The stairs WERE a good thing to do though and the hips will just have to get over themselves.

Also, the post workout smoothie was definitely awesome: banana, lots of mango, protein powder, some ice and water.  Mmmm!

I’ve definitely been a slacker in regards to the blogging duties but seriously, if I can’t think of something worth writing about you probably wouldn’t read it, eh?

Running lately has mirrored that and been “meh.”  It takes me forever to convince myself to go and then I plod along, feeling like I really should be working on my massive “to-do” list even though I know that the run will benefit me.  Afterward, I feel better but then the cycle repeats.  I don’t know if I’m just in a running lull or if it has more to do with other things on my mind.  Either way, I’m ready for a change in pace.

Man alive!  I just spilled a good bit of water on myself (a slight bit hitting the laptop)…karma, I am sorry, I really do love running.

In a spin of randomness: how do you feel about running and showering?  I would hedge a bet that us runners take approximately ten billion more showers than the “average Joe” per week.  It’s kind of like we spend all our free time running and then in the shower.  Someone needs to invent a faster way to get the stink out.

Plus, I find if I’m showering two (or sometimes a rare three times) a day that I forget essential things like shaving my legs because I just want to get cleaned off and on with the day.  Then when I put on something that shows those hairy legs – BACK into the shower it is to do a botch job.  Or I just wear woolen pants on a 23C day.  Or maybe it’s just me.

Also, the usage of moisturizer and hair products is exponentially increased when you start running.  My skin was already like an alligators, and thanks to running it’s like a dead alligators!  (OK, so it is not THAT bad…but in case you haven’t noticed I am loving my exaggerations today.)

Here’s to hoping it’s a meh-less Monday.

I’m around, no worries.  I have had a pretty good week and promise to update you on more soon.  Have a great weekend!

The post I did about FREE blister prevention patches did not get much response.  Once again, use Run4Life in the subject line and send info@goengo.com your address and they’ll ship you a free sample, easy as that!  I don’t know if you have all emailed ENGO without commenting on the post (which is fine) but I just wanted to say that Count of Monte Christo (from the NL) emailed them and they bent over backwards to get their UK branch to send him their patches!  So seriously, everyone should take advantage of this opportunity if you want comfy feet and let other bloggers know.  Plus, the Count says they’re great!  (FYI: I am not affiliated with ENGO or getting any compensation for this.)

Also, the hilarious Steve in a Speedo?! Gross! is giving away a $75.00 gift certificate to OnlineShoes.com where they have an extensive collection of runners.  If you aren’t already a subscriber to Steve’s blog you should really check it out and then enter for free shoes.  I guarantee you’ll laugh and maybe cringe or raise an eyebrow.

I’m feeling much better today, thanks for the comments but I don’t think I pushed it as hard as you all think I may have.  I’m not exactly 100% but close enough and I think by Wednesday everything will be back to full capacity.

I went for a short run and it was very nice – the weather was perfect!  I had a bit of chest tightness and so it was more like a half hour walk with twenty minutes of running thrown in between which was great since I felt like I was being productive but didn’t have any specific goal.  I did get a little overheated and couldn’t tell if it was from the last bits of the cold sweating itself out or because of the warm weather, perhaps both.

There were surprisingly only a few other people I passed (I expected more to be out.)  I am getting better at the morning running but it’s still hard sometimes to drag myself out there,  it’ll come due time.

Enough about that – this cold stuff is boring!  I was reading the latest Runner’s World issue yesterday and the Marathon Challenge kind of has me thinking about Richmond.  I think it’s far enough from the one my friend and I want to run (a month is enough time, right?!)