Holiday Wish List
It got cold! Well… “Florida cold,” that is. It got down to the 50s last night and today was my favorite kind of Florida day, sunny and in the 60s. Tonight we’re supposed to get down to 48 degrees, brr! That’s super cold for us, just about the coldest it gets here. Sadly it never snows… the last time it snowed in South Florida was in the 1970s, and with the way things are going it’s unlikely to happen again. My kids are still hoping though. Since it’s nice and chilly on December 1st, it’s the perfect time for me to put together my holiday wishlist! There are some items I’ve been eyeing… This Female Running Legends sweatshirt. I love all these women so much, but the one who influenced me the most is Joan Benoit Samuelson. I started running my junior year of high school. I wasn’t on the track team or anything, I just ran for my own enjoyment. I loved it but didn’t have any coaches or mentors to show me what was possible. In 1984 I graduated from high school, and that summer was the Olympics in Los Angeles. It was the first time the marathon was an event for women, and Joan Benoit won the gold medal. This podcast does a great job telling the whole story of the main contenders (Joan was not favored to win) and Joan’s story of coming back from an injury to compete that year. It was fun to listen to, especially because I vividly remember watching that marathon. I didn’t know who Joan Benoit was beforehand, but to have an American win gold in the first women’s Olympic marathon, in LA, was thrilling. The next morning on my run I looked at the other runners out there and wondered if they had also watched Joan win. And one of my other favorite parts about that story was that in an interview afterwards, Joan said that when she ran into the tunnel at the Olympic stadium (leading to the track where the marathon ended) she knew when she ran out the other side, her life would be changed forever. HOW COOL IS THAT. Back to the sweatshirt! Tragically, they’re currently sold out of smalls. I could probably wear an extra small but I want it to be roomy. I’m hoping smalls come back into stock. If not I have a second choice, this sweatshirt from Marie Claire Design Studio. I have a hoodie from them that I love, and as a matter of fact I wore it all day today, since it was cold out! I’ll probably wear it tomorrow also. Second item is this foot massager! Hungry Runner Girl has this on her gift guide and it looks amazing. It says it’s for plantar fasciitis, but that’s not why I want it (I don’t think something like that would have much of an effect on PF). I just want it because it looks like it would feel really, really good. Third… I need a book! I’m thinking this one. Maybe. Wendy gave it a great review here. It sounds fascinating, and the only reason I’m hesitating is because it kind of sounds like a downer. Another one I’m thinking of is this book by Matt Fitzgerald. I haven’t heard much hype about it, but I heard an interview with Matt before it came out and it sounds interesting. Matt spent a summer training with NAZ Elite, and this book is about his “fake pro experience” with them. Well, if I get it I’ll give it a full review. I’m already picturing myself on Christmas Day, wearing my new sweatshirt while getting a foot massage and reading my book (or, books! Maybe I’ll get both!). In reality, I know from experience that as soon as I get comfortable some kind of “Mom Alarm” goes off somewhere and everyone will start calling for me. The cat threw up! Someone embedded a melted candy cane into the carpet! My new device needs batteries! Not those- I need the other kind- can someone go to the store? I’m hungry, again! SIGH. The last and most important thing on my wish list is to be running again! Obviously. Fingers crossed that I get everything on my list. (These are not affiliate links! I’m just sharing cool stuff that I want!)
Should I ice it?
I’ve been dealing with an injured foot for over six weeks now. I’ve tried resting it, stretching it, strengthening it, massaging it, ignoring it, running a little, walking, not running or walking, and I had shockwave therapy. Every time I think it’s getting better, it starts to hurt again for no apparent reason. Finally today I decided to take a page from Risky Business and say “What the F*ck.” Remember Joel says that, then his life goes completely bonkers but everything works out in the end. I figured the same thing would happen to me, right? I decided to do my own version of a Turkey Trot. I was trying to think of a different name for it, but then realized there’s not much slower than a “trot,” so that name works. I walked the first mile to warm everything up and then ran two miles, then walked the last .1. Victory! My foot didn’t hurt at all, but I’ve been dealing with this long enough to know that means nothing. Still, it was amazing to be out there, running on such a beautiful day. Then, home for pumpkin oatmeal and tea from my Thanksgiving mug! We made a LOT of food. And then there was dessert… I know. There are four of us and we had three pies. Well… I don’t eat sugar so one of the pumpkin pies is made with a monkfruit sweetener. The rest of the family won’t eat that one. And they like two different pies on Thanksgiving., so they got their own pumpkin and an apple-cranberry pie. If you do the math correctly, that means I have an entire pie to myself, muahahahaha…. It will be a challenge, but I think I can make it through the whole thing before the weekend ends. By the evening my foot was really hurting. So I did something I haven’t done in a long time… I iced it. Yes, you may have noticed in the opening paragraph, with all the things I’ve done for my foot there was one thing missing. I haven’t iced an injury in a long time, because I follow the new advice that RICE actually isn’t beneficial. This article explains it really well. Dr. Mirkin, who coined the term RICE in 1978, now says he regrets adding the “ice” part of the treatment. The idea is that inflammation is the first step in healing, and ice interferes with that step. The most important thing an injury needs is circulation, to bring crucial nutrients to the injured area and remove waste products. The new acronyms are PEACE and LOVE (sorry, I didn’t make that up). PEACE stands for Protect, Elevate, Avoid anti-inflammatories, Compress, Educate, and LOVE stands for Load, Optimism, Vascularization, and Exercise. I don’t know… I think they were stretching it a little to make some fun words there. Optimism? Anyway… The idea is to increase circulation as much as possible through movement. But, since I was saying What the F*ck I decided to ice it. The one thing about ice is that it decreases pain so it felt good while I was doing it. Other than that it didn’t seem to help or hurt. I would probably have to ice it on a more consistent basis to see any effect though. There are definitely still a lot of people who recommend icing, but after re-reading the pros and cons of icing, I think the evidence is against it. I can discuss it with my doctor, because I’ve decided to try that route again (although not the same doctor who told me running is bad for my joints). No, I’ll go to a different doctor this time! I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving with lots of running and lots of pies! Er… pie.
Thanksgiving Throwback
I have to admit, I’m sad I’m not running a turkey trot this year! Even a virtual one would have been good… but my foot says no. Other than that, our Thanksgiving isn’t much different from other years. We don’t have any family close by and we don’t like to travel over Thanksgiving, so it’s usually just the four of us at home. Since there won’t be a fun race recap or anything this year, I thought it would be nice to look back on previous Thanksgiving memories. Seven years ago, it was our first Thanksgiving without either of my parents. So sad… but to make things more festive, I invited a friend and her two daughters over for Thanksgiving dinner. The morning of Thanksgiving, my friend called to tell me her youngest girl, Pia, wasn’t feeling well. Because we really wanted their company, I told her to come over anyway. (Ha- “You’re sick? Come on over!” Definitely not 2020!). Well… literally as soon as they walked through the door, Pia threw up all over the place. Her mom was carrying her at the time and had to spend the rest of Thanksgiving in an old sweater of my husband’s. Miraculously, Pia went on to eat a large Thanksgiving dinner and then jump on the trampoline for half an hour. Crazy kids! The following year, my daughter was in kindergarten and had to write and illustrate a story about a “favorite Thanksgiving memory.” The words are a little hard to read, but the picture says it all… Yes, I think we’ll all remember that one. Fast forward to Thanksgiving 2018! My running had been going well, and I WON MY AGE GROUP in the turkey trot!!! I was thrilled- previous to that race I had placed in my age group several times and won it in a very small race, but this was the first time winning in such a big one. I got a trophy and everything! The following year I was coming off an injury. I could run but I hadn’t been doing speedwork. I was happy to be running at all, but I ran quite a bit slower. That year a large group of runners from New York invaded, er I mean, joined our race and swept several of the age groups, including mine. Even if I had run as fast as I had the previous year, I wouldn’t even have placed. It just goes to show you… it’s all about who shows up that day. The other takeaway is to celebrate the victories when you can. My family heard quite a bit about “the race I won” that day (kind of like the triathlon that I “won”). My turkey trophy was prominently displayed. We have to appreciate those moments because we don’t know if we’ll win next time, or even be able to run the race. If we really think about it, we all have things to appreciate right now, even in 2020, things we would miss terribly if they were taken away from us. Instead of being sad about what we don’t have, we can celebrate the small victories and circumstances of our lives that are special to us. Why do I feel like this is turning into a cheesy TV special… somewhere, somehow, I can just imagine Linus saying “That’s what Thanksgiving is all about, Charlie Brown.” HAPPY THANKSGIVING, EVERYONE!
Eating the Frog
Not literally! I’m vegan so I’m happy to say I don’t eat frogs. I’m referring to a quote by Mark Twain: “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it’s your job to eat two frogs, it’s best to eat the biggest one first.” I always run first thing in the morning (when I’m not injured, that is). I love how it makes me feel all day, and for me it’s just the easiest way to schedule it. If for some reason I plan to run later in the day instead, I’ll still manage to get that run in. But if I leave my strength training for later in the day, I can come up with a million reasons not to do it. Sometimes I just completely forget. I was supposed to lift weights yesterday, but I wanted to go for a walk before work. I decided to lift in the afternoon. Before I knew it, I was eating dinner and suddenly thought; “WAIT A MINUTE! Wasn’t I supposed to lift weights today?” Sigh. So, this morning I ATE THE FROG, aka lifted weights right away. I did squats and deadlifts: And then pullups. Asterisk! I can’t wait until I can someday actually do pullups (I hope) so I don’t have to go into a long-winded explanation of how I can’t do pullups yet, but I do different exercises with the pullup bar, supposedly to get me strong enough someday to do the real thing. Anyway, I also added in some foot-strengthening exercises from Jay Dicharry’s book, Running Rewired. Then, the Gauntlet Plank Workout! Fun fact! We got a kitten in July, right when everyone was all glum about… well, everything. If you’re ever feeling down I highly recommend getting a kitten! We still jokingly talk about how Muffin saved our family. One of the hilarious things about her is how she wants to participate in everything I do. If I’m getting out the vacuum, scooping the litter box, cleaning the guinea pig cage… her little face suddenly appears next to me. Here she is helping me with planks: Then, my special Sunday morning breakfast- mini pumpkin teff waffles! This is the last pumpkin-themed breakfast for a while, because next weekend is the beginning of gingerbread season! On the subject of kittens and upcoming holidays… we’re worried about what Muffin will do to our Christmas tree. Anyone have any tips?