Stupid Ankle Part 2

Recap of the week:

• Monday: Rest
• Tuesday: 1.5 mile run + strength
• Wednesday: Rest
• Thursday: 2 mile run + strength
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: Personal Training
• Sunday: None

Well the hits just keep on coming! For those of you who have been reading my blog for a few months, you'll remember that I sprained my ankle last October. Well we are back to square one. 

(My stupid ankle and some Wrigley butt)

At personal training on Saturday, I was walking and my ankle decided to roll a way it's not supposed to. So while I'm not going to go to a doctor, I'm about 90% sure it's sprained again. After a couple very emotional outbursts, I think I've come to the logical conclusion that I need to strengthen my ankles. I think that running constantly is making any side-to-side movement really weak in my ankles because I don't use those muscles when I run. And both times I have sprained it have been after some "moving" around that my ankles aren't used to. 

Here's the question of the day for y'all. I need a better story though. I mean, the first time I sprained it, I was doing step ups. This time, I was literally walking. Who wants to write a more epic story to how I sprained my ankle twice? It would be much appreciated :)

Training in the Summer

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 15min eliptical, 30 min strength (LiveFit Day 1), 20 min lunch walk
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 1.5 mile run on treadmill, 30 min strength LiveFit Day 2, 20 min lunch walk
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 4 mile run, personal training
Sunday: Rest

I'm extremely proud of this week! I'm trying to incorporate running back into my life as well as strength and low-intensity fitness. I'm also trying to eat healthier (I feel like I say that everyday) because marathon training did a doozy to my nutrition.

There has been one new, major development this week though. Heat, humidity, and sun. I love these three things in general! I've been eating my lunch outside and taking lunchtime walks because I absolutely love the heat. Here's the issue though: my runs suffer big time in the summer weather. Here are some tips I have picked up through reading blogs and my own personal experience with dealing with summer running.

1. Early morning is my friend. I am a modified morning person. I enjoy being up and going in the morning, but that somehow doesn't include wanting to run in the mornings. So I need to get better at that so I can at least mostly beat the heat.

2. Drink lots of fluids. I'm much more conscious of my hydration in the summers. I know I need to drink water constantly and some kind of electrolyte after a hard run.

3. Wear the right stuff. I make sure that I am wearing sweat-wicking clothing and not much of it. (don't worry, I'm not usually indecent). I also try to wear compression shorts/capris because shorts make me worried about chafing (although it doesn't actually happen very often). I also wear a hat and sunglasses. Some advice that I should head is to wear sunscreen. I'm really bad about that and pretty much burn every time I'm in the sun. Whoops.

4. Be ok with not running. This is rarely an issue for me because I give myself all kinds of excuses to not run. But if it's too hot out, don't go running. If I do go, I make sure to tell someone where I will be and when I'll be back. Heat stroke is real and it's no joke. Treadmills=just as many miles. As does horizontal running.

5. Slurpees. Unfortunately there are no official 7-11's here in Nashville, but an Icee is pretty close. It's the perfect after summer run snack.

Hope y'all have a great week!

Recovery and a Birthday!

First my recap of my week:

Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 30 minutes walking on treadmill
Wednesday: 30 minutes cycling
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Walked around dog park (more on that later)
Sunday: 2 mile run

It was great to have a week that was no pressure and no schedule. I did what felt good and when it felt good. I'm going to try to add one more cross training day this next week, just to keep myself motivated!

My one run this week was with gorgeous weather and it felt great!

I made sure to stretch extra well, because my legs are still a little dead from last week.

Introducing: My new shoes! I'm trying out the Brooks Launch 2 because I've heard so many good things about them. Don't worry, they aren't replacing my Ghosts. The Launch are much lighter and I'm going to do short distances/speed work with them. I'll still use my Ghosts for long runs and long races.

Now to the real news: this past week was Wrigley's 1st Birthday!

He got two new toys including a Pound Puppy! (I love the Pound Puppies because we always read their book when we went to Grandma and Grandpa's)

We also went to a super cool dog park in Nashville to celebrate. It was probably the size of a couple football fields and all fenced in. Needless to say, our little dude had a ton of fun and was a little sleepy when we got home :)

Have a great week everyone!

The Next Step

The natural next question is, so what now?

I want to preface this post by mentioning that these are my feelings as of right now. I purposefully waited a few days post-race to write this because I wanted to have a clear head.

My first instinct was to never ever run again because it hurt and I failed. I know that isn't pleasant, I'm just being real.
I did quickly get over that sentiment because I do love running. I just didn't particularly like it on Saturday. So then my next thought was, 26.2.
I know that finishing a full marathon would be an awesome experience. I know that it would take a lot of work and a lot of dedication. I know I would have to take more time than I did this training cycle. However, the question keeps coming into my head: "do I even really want to?". And since I've always been fairly honest with you, right now I don't want to. This whole experience of training and running the marathon has not been a great experience. That's why for right now, I want to focus on the half marathon. I want to get my time to where I want it to be. I want the half marathon to feel "conquered" before I try to push out a full marathon again.

As for the next few months, I want to run a couple 5ks and shorter distances just to keep some running base. I will probably start training for the Rock N Roll Chicago Half Marathon in about three weeks. I hope that training and race goes really well! I'm also signed up for the Zooma Nashville Half Marathon in November. I'm going to try to run both of those, but I need to shift my focus away from training like a crazy person. I need running to be fun again because until I really enjoy it again, I'm not going to even think about 26.2.

Thanks for all the support! I'm blown away by how family, friends, and complete strangers follow my story and actually care. It means the world to me :)