So I’ve really been bad about keeping up with this blog, and I apologize. My routine has just been so bizarre with vacation and then traveling for work. This has unfortunately taken a bit of a back seat. BUT here are some fun updates. This past weekend a bunch of us went to King Richard’s Faire (a medieval fair) and it was pret-ty fun. Continuing on a 2 year tradition, us girls got our faces painted. S agreed to pay for it ONLY if I got a dragon painted on my face. I obliged.

I think we all looked pretty great.

S also then HAD to get a turkey leg, which he was convinced despite incessant googling, that it was ham. To be fair, it did taste and look A LOT like ham.

We also saw a big cat show, which was pretty incredible. My favorite was the snow leopard but I couldn’t get a good picture of him. So here’s the white tiger, named BANSHEE. Pretty great name in my opinion.

After the faire I went straight to the airport to catch a flight to New York. I was there Monday and Tuesday for a conference. It was fun and all, but I’m happy I don’t live there. It’s just a little too much for me.

Also this is the disgusting view I had from my hotel room.

Last, but certainly not least, I came home to some mail from the B.A.A last night.

And what feels even better? I ran 4 miles last night on the treadmill (at an 8:46 average pace) and felt awesome! Going to take it easy from here, and stick to four miles for at least one more run, and then move it up to 5, consult with my doctor once more, and come up with a game plan for increasing from there. Wish me luck!

After a couple of incredible trips this year, S and I have been talking a lot about all the things and places we want to see in our lifetimes. Pretty much everything is centered around nature, and we’ve both been daydreaming of quitting our jobs and just exploring the world (this will not happen for roughly 30 years). S is particularly set on the idea of someday owning an Earth Roamer, which unless they go on super sale and start being sold at Costcos nationwide, will also not happen for roughly 60 years. Anyway, I digress. I stumbled across this article today from Runner’s World and I’m dying to sit him down and talk about it/plan our next vacation.

What’s on your bucket list? Running related or otherwise?

So after taking 12 weeks off of running, some loss of fitness is definitely to be expected. But what I didn’t expect was how much else I’ve lost. Here are some things I’m currently struggling with.

1) My form. Not just because my foot is all wonky, but I feel so tense and awkward running. I feel my shoulders creeping toward my ears every run and I have to remind myself to relax my body. I feel like a baby fawn trying to learn how to run.

2) That whole concept of “starting slow” and negative splitting my run. I used to be the #1 advocate for going out slow. I had become the master. EVERY run I aimed for my first mile to be my slowest. Well, I’ve completely forgotten how to do that, and my overeagerness is currently my #1 foe. I’m flying and dying on every run and it needs to stop NOW.

3) Just general common sense. It was 60 degrees out this morning. A long sleeve shirt was absolutely overkill and I knew it the minute I stepped out my front door. But you know, at that point I had COME TOO FAR. 3 hours later and I’m pretty sure I’m still sweating.

Anyway, there is good news. My foot felt the best this morning that it has on any of my runs. Which is huge, because I was pretty nervous about running first thing before my foot had time to warm up for the day. So we’re making some progress!

Now for some random things:

I’m currently reading this book and I cannot wait to finish it so I can see the movie this weekend.

We had these flatbreads from Costco last night and guys, they were incredible. Like, I really cannot stress this enough. I wish I had eaten the entire sausage one. It might’ve not felt super great on my stomach this morning for my run, but it was worth it.

Another Costco favorite. Chocolate and peppermint bark. Winter is coming and I have no intention of being a fragile, cold, bird. All the foods.

Poor Mr. Riley is currently having eye problems. The condition is called entropion, and it’s apparently very common in shar-pei and mastiff breeds. It basically means his eyelids are rolling in a little and his eyelashes are constantly irritating his eyes. We have an appointment with the vet this Friday and we can hopefully get him into surgery ASAP to resolve the problem. For now he’s just a little cuddle bug though and as much as I love the extra snuggles it’s breaking my heart to see him so subdued and lethargic.

That’s all for today. Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway through the week. Thank goodness.

You guys. It’s actually happening! I think. I definitely don’t want to jinx anything, but yesterday I ran again and it went really well. And even though it was only my second time out on the road, I already felt much more confident, and picked up the pace considerably from Saturday. My first mile was a sub 8! Then I of course realized how crazy I was and slowed it down considerably after that…plus my lungs were on fire. Nothing like a classic case of “fly and die” to jolt you back to reality.

I also am equally sad and relieved that I missed the hottest time of the year. I sort of love fall/winter running.

So after running, I talked to my doctor and tried to draw up a recovery schedule. So for the next several weeks I’ll only be running every other day, and I will try to build my mileage up to about 5 miles every time. If that’s feeling good, I can entertain the idea of running every day, but he instructed me to drop my miles back again when I do that.

All of this of course makes sense, but now that I’m so close to a recovery my patience is wavering. You know when you really have to pee and somehow, as you get closer to the bathroom, you have to pee even more? That’s how I feel about running right now. I have always wanted to run, but for a while there I had come to to terms with not being able to for a while. But now that it’s closer and the end is somewhat, maybe near, I have to pee/run even more!

Anyway, I will definitely keep you guys posted on my status and hopefully I won’t pee my pants/have any more setbacks.

Guys (4-5 readers who checked in on me while I was gone), I’m sorry I’ve been MIA for the last week. I was under the extremely false impression that I’d want to blog still while I was on vacation and that just ended up being not the case.  BUT, I have some really pretty pictures for you to make up for it. Enjoy.

This is the view off of my parents’ back porch. Needless to say I spent many mornings and evenings sitting out there this past week.

Another one of my favorite views ever. This is taken from Trail Ridge Road, the Estes Park side.

I was really brave and agreed to go on a motorcycle ride with S. I only tried to tear open his sides with my fingernails once. Then I finally relaxed a little.

We saw some pretty good views on the ride, too.

Now for the really exciting thing…WE WENT ON A HIKE. 7.7 miles, and guess what guys? My foot felt GREAT. These moon shoes (aka serious hiking boots) probably had a lot to do with it.

It was a pretty spectacular day. We had a short route planned, but since my foot was feeling so good we extended it. We ended up at Mill’s Lake—rumored to be one of the most beautiful lakes in Rocky Mountain National Park. I think I’d agree.

We also took a little day trip to Grand Lake with my mom and had a fabulous time admiring the scenery.

Our view for lunch.

Finally, the sunrise the morning of our last day. I cried again, like I always do when I leave the mountains.

So if you read my post right before I left for vacation you’re probably wondering, DID SHE RUN? And in Colorado I did not. More because I was scared to push it than anything else. After the hike my foot felt pretty good, but I was still being a worry wart about it. My doctor said that was more than normal and to wait until I returned to Boston to give it a go. So…on Saturday, I finally mustered up the courage and I DID.

It felt really awkward, but overall pretty good. My foot felt like it was swinging out a lot, and my doctor said that had a lot to do with my ankle being weak. He gave me some more exercises to do to build up that strength, but he also said if I just keep at it, the ankle with strengthen a lot on its own.

TWO MILES  YOU GUYS, TWO MILES! And I was dying. Wow, I should’ve found a way to keep up with cardio more than I did. My lungs were on FIRE after those two miles, but I guess that is to be expected. I took 12 whole weeks off from running. Needless to say I have a lot of work to do before Boston training starts.

Anyway that’s all for me. Hopefully this ridiculously long post makes up for me ghosting you all of last week!

This Friday may just be the best yet. But before I get into that, here are some fun things from earlier this week.

Pretty drinks with a friend. The bar that we went to, Highball, is doing a “Rubber Duckie” Promotion—get a drink  with a rubber duckie in it and 50 cents of the proceeds will go toward One Brick. What a cool and cute idea. Plus it’s a nice way to count how many drinks you’ve had…

I started with the “Wallflower” cocktail, but then I had to move to the Rubber Duckie Rosé. I was just too jealous. This place also had the most amazing tater tot nachos. I really regret not taking a picture/ordering them for myself. Instead I just mooched off my friend’s plate.

Also, I might have creeped a little bit, but there was the most romantic shadow on the wall by our table.

Waking up early isn’t so bad when you pass a view like this on the way to work.

And lastly, the best news EVER going into the weekend. I saw my doctor (the pressure point therapist) again last night and he said I COULD RUN THIS WEEKEND. When he said “you can run on Saturday or Sunday,” I said “Wait, THIS Saturday or Sunday?!?!?” It made me downright giddy for the rest of the evening and into today. I’m definitely going to take it VERY easy (I’ll be forced to anyway with being so out of shape and also being at such a high altitude in Estes Park), but I’m so freaking excited. Definitely keep your fingers and toes crossed for me, because there’s certainly an element of fear here for me. Stay tuned to hear how it goes and have a great weekend!

So, as I mentioned yesterday, we’re leaving for Colorado tomorrow to visit my parents. We went out there around this time last year and I just want to prep you for all the amazing views you’ll be seeing here next week. Here are some of my faves from running/hiking/driving around last year.

The first day we were in Estes, we went for a run and took an #elfie. It’s a thing. These guys are roaming around EVERYWHERE in Estes Park, and they are not scared of humans. I’m pret-ty terrified of them though, because more than one idiot tourist has been charged by one. This pic was taken VERY VERY quickly, before we darted off in the opposite direction.

Pretty good view, all around I’d say.

This was from our hike last year to Sky Pond. It was SO gorgeous. I had gone on the hike a few years before, but couldn’t complete it because I was alone and there was some dangerous rock climbing toward the end. Crazy to think I missed out on a such an amazing view. It was definitely worth it.

Highlight of last year’s trip? I saw my first moose! We deliberately woke up ridiculously early and drove through Rocky Mountain National Park searching for one. We were about to call it quits when we saw a bunch of cars pulled over on the side of the road. And lo and behold there was a whole moose family! Dad, Mom, and baby. I could only get a decent picture of Dad though, because he kept pushing Mom & Baby back further into the woods. It’s going to be hard to top this experience this year.

And lastly, the views are just ridiculous there. I really cannot wait to be back. I mean, this one was taken in a gas station parking lot for crying out loud!

And driving through Rocky Mountain National Park, scouting for moose…

I’m so bummed I won’t be able to hike or run this time around, but I’m sure we’ll find other ways to occupy our time. We’re talking about going rock climbing while we’re there (depending if I get clearance from my doctor). S has never been and I haven’t gone since I was a kid.  Stay tuned!

I realize I’ve been bombarding you guys with a lot of words lately, and very few of them have been very positive. So here are a bunch of things that are making me happy this week, in picture form.

I got these flowers delivered to work from my parents for making it into the marathon. It was pretty cute.

And some funky flowers from S that came on the same day.It was pretty embarrassing they both showed up within about an hour of each other.

I’ve been living in this Nike hoodie for about a week now. It’s a new fave.

We’re leaving for Colorado to visit my parents (they live in Estes Park) on Friday and I’m already super duper excited. I’ve created a “to-pack” list. And while I’m bummed I won’t be able to run and hike there like I normally do, I’m still packing clothes for all of it, because comfy living is embraced in Colorado and it’s the best.

Lastly, I loved this post from Oiselle earlier this week. It’s so important to surround ourselves with good people.

Hope you’re surviving this week. Only 2 more full days to go!

This morning while I was walking to work I saw 5 runners out and about. That’s no more than I normally see, but for some reason today I was extremely aware of them. And I felt so damn jealous. One girl in particular was absolutely cruising, with perfect form, and she looked so happy it made my heart hurt. Between getting accepted into the Boston Marathon, the perfect autumn weather, and some emotional stress the past week, I’ve been absolutely aching to go for a run. I actually day dream about the day when I can wake up before the sun, lazily drag my butt out of bed, lace up and head out the door. I’m craving that feeling of being so physically exhausted (the type of exhaustion you can only get after a long, hard run) that thought of getting off the couch just to go to bed is unbearable. I can’t wait until my legs feel constantly tight and touching my toes is no longer a possibility. I want to run so badly I’m convinced that dying of a broken heart has to be a real thing and I’m at risk.

When I got into work this morning, with an especially heavy heart, I started looking at all of my photos from the Providence Marathon, my Boston qualifier. This one is my favorite.

It was taken by my old roomie (who surprised me that morning at the hotel I was staying in in Providence) probably about a half mile away from the finish line. S hopped in to run with me (for the 3rd time during that race) and the first thing I said to him was “I think I’m going to vomit” followed by “I’m going to make it. I’m going to qualify.”

I remember feeling so terrible for the last 6 miles of that race—I hit the wall so, so hard. I was convinced at mile 23 I wasn’t going to make it. By mile 24 I looked at the time and realized that I could. That realization comes through quite clear in my Garmin stats too. I went from an 8:31 pace, to a 7:51 pace, and my 26th mile was done in 7:36. The last .2 was at a 6:53 pace. And even though I distinctly remember wanting to lie down and die somewhere around mile 25, I would do just about anything to feel that way again. Because I knew at that time I had given it absolutely everything that I could. And I hope, that come April 18th, I can again.

So, mostly due to my emotional instability last week I didn’t really tell you guys much else about my visit to the pressure point dude. While I told you some interesting things, I wanted to give you guys some more insight on what my next few weeks are going to look like. First, as I told you I’m wearing this brace for the next 4-6 weeks (I died a little inside when I found out it’d be that long)

I also think it looks like a home arrest mechanism, which makes me feel pret-ty badass. But instead of alerting the police of my whereabouts, this gorgeous piece of eye candy is designed to help re-train my muscles to work the way they’re supposed to in my left leg. After the injury, my body basically responded to the pain and designed a new “normal” way to walk which minimized the pain and strain on my muscles. Of course now that the pain is gone I’m walking inefficiently and poorly, and my muscles need to learn how to function properly again. As a little bonus, before I put this on every morning I have to sit down and squeeze my fibula and tibula into place. To do this I start at my knee, and grip my kneecap where those bones connect and pulse 3x. Then I move down my leg and do it on my calf, and lastly on my ankle. After I do this, I check for pain in my calf, and if it’s still there I repeat this until it’s gone. Then I put the brace on. While the exercise itself is so simple it actually feels like it does nothing, it does minimize the tenderness in my left calf so I feel like it has to work to a certain extent.

Additionally, I discovered that my hip and ankle are both grossly weak and my hip is actually out of alignment. The therapist did what he could to help my hip and pelvis during the session, but I also have to do a series of exercises to help with that every day as well. Same with my ankle. Both of them are just tiny pulses with very controlled movement and a lot of repetitions, but they’re surprisingly time consuming and a little difficult (which I suppose is the point).

I’m seeing him again on Thursday to see how I’ve progressed in a week. I’m feeling a lot better so hopefully that shows during the appointment. Either way I’ll keep you guys posted.

The lesson I’ve learned through this whole thing? If you’re not getting the answers you want from the first or second doctor you see. Find a third, or a fourth, or however many it takes to get answers. It’s worth it.

Anyway, this whole post is been a little boring so look at this adorable puppy that I ran into on Friday.