self-destructo

Yesterday I attempted to write a post but things were not going well.

It was an emotional day.  There were a few reasons that I won’t bore you with and great scott, I was a bit of a disaster.  Anyway, the whole post started to sound like one giant whiny mess.  So I hit delete.

Last week was okay in the work out department.  Certainly not great and it was yet another reminder I need to kick my own ass into gear.  I can’t wait for someone to do it for me.  And even if they attempted I can picture myself rebelling against them.  Example:  If Jillian Michael’s was my trainer I would want to high tail it out of there.  Then purposefully eat donuts.  In my sweatpants while binging on Netflix.  Self-destructo right here.

Anyway, do you also remember when I told Spring to get it together?  What was I thinking?!  We had some toasty, humid days and I came to my senses that 50’s in May ARE FREAKING AWESOME when you are a runner.  Saturday morning I ventured out for a quick run before traveling to visit friends.  It very quickly turned into a run/walk scenario.  It was gross.  Last night?  Same deal.  I will also admit, I’m a complete dodo bird.  I didn’t bring water with me on either run.  I know, just plain silly.  I’ve been carrying my phone with me (it’s in an otterbox case and won’t fit in anything I currently have) so carrying water is a bit tough.  Today I finally ordered an arm band on amazon.  I thought long and hard about the flip belt and even ordered one.  I don’t think it’s for me though.

There was some other exercising last week but nothing of note.  I’m trying a little something this week but before I go into detail I want to see if I accomplish it.  This past weekend I ventured down to visit some dear friends.  We haven’t been together as a group in ages so it was wonderful to catch up on all the happenings of life.  All three of them have little ones so I got in some toddler and baby snuggles.

friends!!!!!

Scary moment on the way down there – a semi decided to move into my lane right in front of me.  I was boxed in on either side by other cars so I had to hit the breaks.  I despise driving on the freeway.  I have no idea where this defensive driving business came from and I was extremely proud of myself.  When I arrived at my friend’s house, I had a delayed panic attack.  Haha, at least it wasn’t while I was driving!

The next morning we went to this cutie-patootie cafe for breakfast.  It had all kinds of accommodating foods and I even got gluten-free toast with my omelet!  I’m still thinking about that bread, man.

Alright, this is the end of my post.  I’m debating running tonight.  We shall see how motivated I am after I go to the grocery store.

Does anyone else have their motivation crushed by the grocery store like I do?

tuesday tidbits (a day late)

Here are a bunch of random tidbits:

1.  My co-worker bought these for me as he knows my love/obsession for Sharpies.  My heart not only skipped TWO beats but then it began to sing.

my love for sharpies knows no boundaries

2.  I adore the fact that my name has a letter from the first part of the alphabet, the middle and then the end.  I am also crazy about the letter “A” and have many of them in my apt.  One is even part of my tattoo.  Yesterday I took this photo:

random “A” found in nature!

3.  Monday I walked to work, walked back for lunch, walked back to work, then to a meeting and then back and then home.  All of this?  Almost 4 miles!  Walking back and forth to work is definitely going to be my new thing as it’s an easy way to get some steps in during the day.  Seriously, I didn’t realize how sedentary I was until I got this activity tracker – it’s kind of scary.  Another bonus, it takes about 8 mins to get to my office from my apt and this is fairly close to what it takes to get in the car, drive to work, park and walk into the office.  And a reduced carbon footprint, yo.

Yesterday I clocked in another 4 miles during the work day with this walking business.  The only downside is I’ve given myself a small case of shin splints because of improper footwear.  I’m trying to remedy this.  Still, another 4 miles!

4.  I had a doc appt yesterday morning at 7:45 am.  I don’t know how you early morning people do it – whether it’s working out or for work.  I struggled since I had to wake up at 6:10 am.  Eww.

5.  I finished LOST on Monday.  I was/still am very attached to these characters.  I’m struggling to let go.

6.  I went to Costco yesterday and was enticed into purchasing 2 lbs of beautiful strawberries.  The problem?  I’m a party of ONE!  What was I thinking?!  I gave away a decent handful today so here’s hoping I can eat the rest of them fast enough.

7.  Someone put a can of Easy Cheese (or a version of it) in the hazardous waste bin in one of my buildings.  I couldn’t stop laughing at the brilliance and accuracy of this!

truth

8.  Donuts.  I love a good donut.  There have been donuts in our office twice this week.  TWICE.  The smell is intoxicating!  It’s not the actual donut that I’m against, it’s the damn gluten.  I know I could have one and it wouldn’t be the end of the world but I see it as a waste of my gluten eating.  For instance in a week, I’m going to have my very favorite pizza ever.  I’m saving my gluten consumption for this.  Not to mention, I don’t want it to become a habit of “oh, it’s just this one thing” and then it turns into more and more.  So, a no to the donut.

9.  This poor model had her leg photo shopped out – seriously fashion peoples, stop with the photo shop/air brushing already!  And for the record – she did have a second leg in her other photos.

I kept the title “Tuesday tidbits” despite it now being Wednesday because I liked it.  Tonight there are some running miles on the agenda.  I’m revving my motivation now!  10k this weekend!

Do you love your name?

Do office supplies leave you as giddy as they do me?

I want to run fast again

***I’m typing this while on my migraine meds… you’ve been warned…

Once upon a time, I ran my fastest 10k in 52 mins.  At the time, I didn’t realize these were some quick miles for my short little legs.  I also hit 2:04 in my first 1/2 marathon.  Again, I didn’t recognize this was a decent time.

Right now, I’m lucky to hit somewhere in the 11 min mile range.  This doesn’t account for my walk breaks, which then throws me into the 12 min pace.  I would NEVER discourage anyone else for these times – I would say WAY TO GO!  And I am working on the self-talk to be encouraging, so instead of “why can’t I run faster??” I keep reminding myself, “hey!  you’re out there!”.  But still… I want to be faster.

This requires some effort on my part.  You know, like some speedwork?  Maybe something to increase my endurance?  Frankly, just putting in the miles.  It’s how I did it the first time and it’s how I will do it again.  But I’m impatient and I want those paces back NOW!

truth sister

Speaking of hitting goals, I fell short of my 37.5 miles by 8.  Improvement from the week before, so I will take it.  Yesterday I could have hit a few more – in fact, I was dressed and OUTSIDE.  I walked 1/2 a mile and knew I was done.  All day yesterday I was feeling nauseated and I thought fresh air and movement could help.  It didn’t.  I had a work event later and the moment I sat down for it, the pain hit right above my right eye.  Migraine-ville.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get my special meds into me until 2 hours later so I missed heading it off before it got worse.  I don’t know about other migraine-suffers, but for me, it’s hurts when I shut my eyes.  This morning I woke up and thought I was in the clear but not so much.  I took some regular headache meds, but by noon, it was time for another dose of my special meds with a naproxen booster (recommended by the doc).  Currently, I’m a bit woozy (meds) but at least my eye balls aren’t falling out, I’m not throwing up and the top of my head isn’t caving in.

Okay, done whining.  Yes, I get sick a lot.  I really believe stress is a major factor in all of this.  Thankfully, this is the first migraine I’ve had in months.  I attribute this to giving up the gluten.  My sister has had similar benefits.  I also know the more running I do, the more my health will continue to improve.

Back to running – my runs included a 4.5 miler, a 4 miler and a 6 mile walk.  The other miles were walking as well.  Looking at this, I can see why I’m not getting faster and am lacking endurance!  It’s always weird to type it out and realize where there is room for improvement.  No running today… I’ve still got my eye on that 37.5 mile weekly goal though.  I refuse to give up since I know it will feel oh so fabulous when I hit it!

Are you good at positive self-talk?

Do you get migraines?  Any magical remedies?

news flash: pancreas holds stomach hostage

Thanks for the advice on my last post!  The oats are still sitting in the fridge… Can’t bear to throw them out but also not sure I can eat them.  I pick super important things to be indecisive about.

Since I’m all about coming up with my own theories (some based on fact, some based on conjecture and most based on nonsense) I decided the reason my stomach has been a giant ass this week is all because of my pancreas.

See, some years back (4?) my gallbladder got angry and had to be taken out of commission.  The surgeon found that when I was hanging out in the womb, some of the cells got confused and grew part of a pancreas on my gallbladder.  Apparently, he had only read about it in books and called in a bunch of docs to check me out.  I never got to see this, bummer, and I have a feeling he probably wrote a paper about me.  I think some royalties are in order!

Anyway, I think my current pancreas is kind of crabby about missing its little twinnie and finally decided to do something about it – take my stomach hostage and abuse it until I give it back its little buddy.  I know, “Amy, it’s been years”.  Yes, but I’m guessing my organs take after me and are procrastinators as well.  Solid theory wouldn’t you say?

Tuesday was pretty bad, I’m not going to lie.  Yesterday, my stomach was still hurting and felt really sore from all of the pain the day before.  In a dept meeting on Wed, I was eating some regular oats and my boss asked me if this was a good idea as he knew of my discomfort.  I told him I just chewed a Pepto pill so we would find out soon enough if I vomited pink oatmeal.  Today I am sort of hanging in there but my stomach still refuses to jump on the “I’m HAPPY!” train.  Pancreas, your mini-you isn’t coming back.  Give it up.

look at it trying to be all innocent – I’m on to you pancreas

Last night I got on the tready for 3 walking miles.  I did a feel a bit better after doing this so I will keep up the activity piece.  Ultimately, I am not sure if it is food related or anxiety.  Last week I built some of my emotions up into a frenzy over some pending life decisions and it really hit this past Monday night.  I *think* my stomach took on some volcanic qualities and shot lava-like acid throughout my gut and on Tuesday my stomach lining cried uncle.

I made the joke yesterday that, “my stomach hates my guts”.  It wasn’t really a joke but I invoke humor to deal with pain.  Coping mechanism of champs.

Yep, another whiny post about my tummy.  Due to the great discomfort, I’m also pretty exhausted.  A bright spot?  Kick ass storm last night!  Man, I love a good thunder and lightning storm!  I didn’t even care it woke me up because it was that good.  Another shiny moment is I’ve rediscovered my love for a scrambled egg on top of a baked potato with a bit of cheese.  Cushy and mild for rioting insides.

somehow there is a connection between this and the mildness of my meals recently… just can’t quite articulate it.

I swear, my next post at most, will only have a paragraph about my stomach!  Also, Gigi over at Gigi Eats Celebrities, had a same-same joke of “my guts hate my guts” that I read about .5 seconds after I made my own joke here at work.  Maybe our complicated GI systems are sharing secrets.

Do you seek out sympathy when you are sick?  Or are you one of the brave souls who suffers in silence?

pancakes are jerks

First and foremost, today is my grandma’s birthday!

gr kate and my sister – I adore this picture!

Happiest of Birthdays to a wonderful woman!  Seriously, everyone she meets loves her oodles and oodles.  I just got lucky to be her granddaughter.  People are jealous.

I have some odds and ends to share…

1) My stomach decided to stage a violent protest today.  Last night I made some brownie overnight oats.  It’s been on my must try list for some time and I was motivated last night so I made it.  These were some highly anticipated oats, my friends.  It made two servings and when I tried some today, I found them pretty rich.  I wasn’t sure if I totally dug them or not and then was only able to manage 1/2 of the serving before I put it back in the fridge.

before I delved into what I was hoping was chocolatey breakfast goodness

It wasn’t long before my stomach starting picketing.  Now, I can’t be sure the oats were the culprit.  They did have a fair amount of milk in them (I used evaporated milk since I was out of almond milk – I use it for cooking).  I hurt for the rest of the day and I still can’t be sure if I feel better because my stomach is sore from the manic cramping.  The question… do I try the oats again to make sure it was them?  Or do I throw out the batch?  I’m conflicted.  (I got the recipe here)

2) I ran/walked 5 miles on the tready on Saturday.  I had a wicked dizzy spell in the middle of it so when I jumped back on for another 5 on Sunday I stuck to walking.  Still a bit woozy so I’m thinking I was dehydrated?  Yesterday I planned on a few more miles but gave into the siren call of my couch.  I still managed 3 walking miles for the day.

3) I made pancakes this weekend.  I was craving them and after the run I wanted a GIANT pancake.  Naturally, I chose a small frying pan and filled that sucker with batter – I wanted a super thick pancake.  I’m sure you might want to face-palm me right now because you guessed it – this bad boy took FOREVER to cook!  Oh my gosh!  20 minutes later it still had a gooey center, so I started scraping the done part off in order to try to cook it in mashed up pieces.  It was a pancake massacre… that still had a soft-batter center.  Thankfully butter, syrup and ham helped to hide the not-quite-done-parts.

this is a great illustration of my pancake sadness… and confusion

The thing is, this is the second time my pancakes have been mini-disasters.  The first time, fine, I tried to put together my own batter with flour and some odds and ends.  Not happening.  But this time I used a box mix!  The rest of the batter still didn’t cook very well even though I made them smaller/thinner.  I used Krusteaz gluten-free mix.  At this point I’m sticking to the Bisquick gluten-free pancake mix – those were more successful.  It was a bit tough on the ego to mess up pancakes, hence my firmly placing the blame on the pancakes themselves.  Jerks.

I thought I had more.  I guess I don’t.  But please weigh in on my question:

Try the oats again in order to not waste food in case they weren’t responsible for the loads of pain I suffered today?

positive happenings

Thankfully, my post on Monday doesn’t reflect my entire week – only certain parts of it.  But this is normal, especially this time of the year with work.  We are gearing up for our “end of the year” and there are days where it doesn’t let up.

However, there have been some really high points!  So I will detail those here:

1.  I ran/walked 102 miles in March.  Considering my back has been a jerk face, I’m really proud of this.  Being in New Orleans helped a ton because, get this, we walked 54 miles during that time!  Holy red beans and rice!

2.  I helped/went with my buddy who bought a new car.  Very exciting indeed.  It’s nice to go with someone who is spending money because I can get the same retail therapy benefits without spending my own money.  Kind of handy.  And I was the first passenger – I felt all special.

3.  Still plowing through LOST.  I’m seriously invested and last night came close to ugly crying through an episode.  Digging this show – nice work J.J. Abrams.  Although, I will admit to wanting to write him letters asking him WHY on many issues.  That might  be stocking though…

good advice with regards to this show

4.  My shoe inserts came!  Tonight I will get to use them for the first time.  I have high hopes/expectations for these.  Probably too high but this is my personality.  Also, a good back-cracking appointment with Dr. Chiro.

5.  I didn’t go into detail just yet about my great tarot card reading experience in New Orleans – post coming soon.  I also got a candle from her a few days prior to the reading.  She asked me a couple of questions and then picked it out for me.  As the candle burns there are charms in the wax and they represent a certain something – whatever comes to your mind first.  My first charm came up – it was very fitting.  Seriously, I was over-analyzing and I said to myself, “I just need a sign” and boom!  I got one.

6.  I need a new battery for my Misfit Shine.  This means I’ve used the heck out of it!  Yay me.

7.  Back on the gluten-free train after my vaca.  Monday I was in the throes of a lack of gluten detox and it was ROUGH.  I seriously had the dumb.  And the grumps.  I’m feeling better though, emotionally and physically.  Friday and Saturday I could feel some of the depression increasing and while I’m still trying to rid myself of a “heavy” emotional state (it’s the only way I can think of to explain it), I’m doing better.  I’m looking forward to feeling lighter in a few days.

8.  I got the sweetest giftie from my grandma in the mail – a super endearing note and a small puzzle piece charm with the words “I am loved” on it.  It was perfect timing – another sign I needed.

9.  I had a nice mini interval run on the tready on Tuesday and I’m planning a longer one tonight.  I’m going to sweat out this gluten and the negativity I’ve been wallowing in today.

10.  I also have some amazing friends.

My brain tends to notice/remember the adverse happenings and I’m working on changing this.  I know much of it is habitual.  I started this post groaning about the parts of the week that DIDN’T go well.  Then I hit delete.  Smart move.

Do you have a habit of noticing the negative first?

re-entry

Back to real life… let me just say, it’s hard work, yo!

Tough re-entry areas:

1.  Sleep – I didn’t get enough while I was down in New Orleans.  I’m not sure what it is about that city but seriously, you just don’t catch any zzz’s.  (Okay… I have an idea)  I would wake up early and go to bed late.  I’m completely beat.

sweet potato fries, I’m tired

2.  Despite it being a “workation”, it’s always different from being in the office.  There is a sense of immediacy when you are in the office that is lightened when off doing some conferencing.  Now, I’m back.  All the emails.

3.  Umm… it snowed here last night.  It was 27* here today.  In New Orleans, I got a sunburn and sweated my brains out.  I preferred the latter.  What’s up MI?!

4.  Poor Simon seriously missed me.  He barely leaves my side and wakes me up many times a night – I think he just wants to make sure I’m still there.  I always miss the little guy as well so we had a nice reunion.

5.   Foods.  I miss some of the food I had in New Orleans.  I will get more into this in my next post but I definitely enjoyed all that the city/culture has to offer.  At the same time, I suffered for this!  I’m transitioning back into my normal lifestyle.  In some ways it’s harder than I anticipated.  I really did forget how easy it is to go out and pick up ready made food as opposed to cooking.  Now, I don’t want to cook.  However, I’m back to that point where I think I’m hungry but feel crummy so I can’t tell.  As sadistic as it sounds, it was worth it!

does there really need to be a caption here?!

6.  Exercising.  Again, another topic I will touch on in my next post but we barely sat down while there.  I even went for a run with one of my travel mates!  It was great!  Since he is fairly new to the running scene I think it was the first time for him to run in a foreign city (or at least recently).  We both agreed it was best way to get your bearings and see interesting things.  Not to mention, people said we were bad asses.  I want to keep up this momentum despite me wanting so much rest.

7.  Lack of blogging – I’ve missed writing and you all!  I need to kick start my posting/reading back in action!

8.  Actually having a schedule to follow.  This is probably the biggest difficulty for me.  I love not having a schedule but I also appreciate a routine – yep, there is no way to make me happy.  Getting back into the routine takes energy and intentionality, which I’m currently working through.  In New Orleans, it was simply more fluid; Saturday and Sunday I didn’t even know what day it was or have a clear understanding of time.  It was pretty nifty.  My alarm went off in the morning and I couldn’t figure out what the noise was or why it as assaulting my brain.

I have a feeling many of you can relate to these types of “concerns” whether it be a vacation or any kind of upheaval of regular life.  Next post I’m going to detail some specifics of my trip that definitely deserve high lighting.  Can’t wait to catch up with all of you as well!

vitamin D

At my last back adjustment, I was given the, “you will most likely be able to run after this week”.  That means this week.  I was told that I could walk all I wanted.

Poor transition:  Last week was silly.  I’m not quite sure why it was so trying and I feel kind of guilty about moaning and groaning about it since I can’t pinpoint what my deal was.  Nevertheless, when the weekend hit, I was all, “No people or real pants allowed”.  I stuck to this.

HOWEVER, I did walk this weekend!!  Wahoo!  Sunday I even went outside!  I gave up my mole-person status for about an hour and high tailed it around my neighborhood.  Since I will be able to run soon, I figured getting outside was a good idea.  Not to mention it was about 40* and there was some sun.  It was great.

The walk went pretty well.  My legs don’t remember things like hills and slanted sidewalks so it was a good reminder.  I haven’t walked or ran outside (for exercise) since Nov. and I’ve missed it.  Funny thing, I’ve said before that I’m not a person who LOVES to exercise.  But when I started up again in Jan after being sick for forever, I really appreciated it.  Sure, I put it off but it felt good to be active.  Now, I am eagerly anticipating getting back to running.  Of course it helps that spring is springing but I also feel the urge to train again.  It’s been some time since I felt this way and it’s a great feeling.

Other than soaking up the vitamin D on Sunday, things around these parts have been busy.  I kind of feel as though I’m behind and what should be a catch up week (it’s spring break here) is now suddenly packed to the gills.  The silver lining?  Next Friday I’m leaving for a work trip to New Orleans!  I’ve never been there.  I will be eating so much!  Oh and of course doing work things.  That’s probably important.

this is how excited I am about eating all of the culinary loveliness

Last on this list of this very discombobulated (spell check doesn’t like this word so it is probably spelled incorrectly) post, is I made the cottage pie this past weekend.  I’m not kidding when I say that on Sunday I did NOT want to spend the time to cut the veggies, steam the squash, brown the meat and then cook all of this.  To be honest, it was a bit labor intensive (by my standards of lazy cooking) but it turned out to be so worth it.  I need to adjust my seasonings for the next time around as I frankensteined a couple of different recipes to accommodate my little brat of a stomach and it seems to be missing… something… I still don’t know what.  The bacon really shines though and I might just add more on top of the leftovers – you know, as a garnish!  I also added some other veggies and some potatoes so I should have considered this when spicing this puppy up.  Again, it is good and makes great leftovers.

Okay, over and out.  Today I’m working late and hoping I can hop on the tready when I get home later tonight.  I’ll see how I’m holding up from this long day.

Do you mix up a variety of recipes?  How do you adjust spices?  I need advice!

salmon, peanuts and a cupcake

I’m still on the DL with regards to anything active.  I am trying to walk around as much as possible during the day.  My job isn’t exactly activity central so it varies between 1-2 miles a day.  At least it’s something?  I am noticing a decline in my mood (crabby-cakes to the max) and suddenly it seems my hips are bigger than they were yesterday.  I swear, I’m not delusional.

Due to this, I’ve been working on keeping some of my food in check – at least I was until the other night when I went on a bit of a binge-fest.  First, this kinda yummy cupcake.  It wasn’t fantastic and typically with a treat, if it isn’t really good I don’t finish it because I don’t want to waste the calories.  HOWEVER, I’ve been craving a cupcake since I first gave up gluten (5ish months now) so I was pumped for this.

eh – not really worth it

I ate the whole thing but won’t buy it again.

Then I decided I needed to cut the sweetness with some salty peanuts.  I can’t stop with the peanuts when they are in a giant bag in front of me.  So, I just kept eating them until I was uncomfortably full.  I did have salmon and green beans for dinner so it wasn’t a total loss but a waste of a day of healthy eating.  I know it happens but usually I can counteract it with some extra activity.  Now, I simply feel like a slug.

I did get the results of my foot mapping from Dr. Chiro.  Here are my feets:

Red zones are where I carry all of the pressure when I walk.  Apparently, I’m supposed to have an arch on either side.  Funny enough, I’ve always thought I had LOVELY arches – little did I know they were sabotaging little buggers!  Truthfully, Dr. Chiro was impressed with my inner arch (well, at least this was how I interpreted his comment of “wow – you have really high arches) but then said I had major flat feet on the outside.  Weird is all I have to say about this.  I wouldn’t really give it too much mind, however, I want to fix my blasted right ankle and arch and inserts will really help.  Fingers crossed they will be covered by insurance.

a scan of balanced feet… hmm… mine look sorta different

If not, I’ll fork over the dough because you know, these are my feet (which, funny enough, are connected to the rest of my body – whaa?!).  I kind of want them to stick around and be all youthful like.  I’ve got more miles left in me with regards to running and simply walking around comfortably.  Not to mention, unless I purchase stock in RockTape, it could be time for a different kind of intervention.

I mentioned some salmon above and here is the recipe.

look at this beautiful creation!

It was very tasty!  Cooking fish makes me a bit weary as I imagine tiny parasites are just waiting to be undercooked – I imagine my innards look like some prime real estate.  I had to exclude many of the seasonings and it was still good.  I’ve been eating on this hunk for four days.

Next up, before I found the Udis blueberry muffins, I tried to make one on my own.  I followed the instructions for a single serve but should have cooked it longer than suggested for a more muffin-like texture.  As it was, it was more of a blueberry oatmeal bake.  Still decent but not what I was anticipating/desiring.

that’s some coconut spread on top – not needed as it was good enough on its own.

I’m really excited for my next two culinary adventures.
1.  Jicama fries.  I like the word “jicama” and I like fries.  Could be a match made in heaven.
2.  Cottage Pie.  I read Mommy Isn’t Here Right Now – we ran a Ragnar together and this is how we met.  She follows a paleo diet fairly closely and I’ve seen pictures of her cottage pie a few times.  My mouth waters a bit each time.  Onward to Pinterest!  I found this recipe, which has bacon(!!) in it along with a butternut squash layer on top.  I think it sounds amazing.  I’m going to add a few more veggies to the mix and I’m looking forward to what I hope is some deliciousness.

I’ve also been throwing back the blueberries, purchased some oranges and of course inhaling bananas.  Again, aiming for some balance in my meals.  Last night, I needed to finish up some leftovers so it was a sausage along with the rest of the salmon.  It was a meaty-themed meal.  Although an orange was added later on – I’ve got this balance down to a science.

i’m a fragile like a potato chip

Thanks for the support with my crummy PT appt and the mean guy.  Or as Slacker Runner perfectly nicknamed him, “asshat”.  I love it!

Saturday three of my wonderful friends surprised me with a visit to help celebrate my birthday.  It was fabulous to see them since two of them live out of town and all of them have little ones.  Trying to find a weekend when we are all available is quite the experience in planning.  It was great to see them!

I had a burger at lunch – Ron would be proud!

We went to see 50 Shades of Grey (Ron would NOT be proud) – completely different from what I expected and better than I thought it would be.  Then onto a local establishment called The Kalamazoo Beer Exchange.  It’s a neat concept where they have a bunch of different beers with screens set up as the stock exchange.  The prices fluctuate based on the “market”.  We were there during the afternoon (the market wasn’t open yet) and they have some tasty grub… unless you are gluten-free/low FODMAP/can’t eat many things.  I guess I should have figured this given the whole beer theme but thankfully, we had a very kind server who helped me out.  I left her a big fat tip, since I was a bit annoying!  (I did eat some homemade potato chips there which helped to inspire parts of this post.)

this was me with my burger as I’ll explain in a moment

I also learned a very important lesson this week… Don’t put off miles you can accomplish today just because you could run tomorrow – or whatever (I’m writing this with some serious meds in my system).  Just get miles in when you can – I’m talking to myself here.  Now, I know it seems like there is always something wrong with me but it’s simply because I’m accident prone.  Or fragile.  Or something.  Look at this pic of me from kindergarten – do I look hearty to you?  Nope, and I’m still not.

I wouldn’t have survived in medieval times

Anyway, Friday morning I was getting coffee from McDonald’s and this guy rear-ended me a bit.  There was no damage to my car and really it didn’t feel like much.  I hurried onto work, where I had to carry my super heavy purse around and then scooched a couch a few feet.  At lunch, I carried my super heavy purse back to my apt.  All good.  Then, 45 mins later, I bent over to get aforementioned purse and my back seized.  I am not sure if I’ve ever felt this before but I knew it wasn’t good.  At the same time, I figured I tweaked it and I was over-reacting.

I’m a delicate potato chip that drinks coffee – naturally

It hurt.  A lot.  I went back to the office (after unloading many of the offending heavy articles from the purse) and realized the pain didn’t really go away.  It got worse as the afternoon wore on until I went home around 3:30 since I needed some meds.  Cue laying on the couch all of Friday and Sunday.  If my friends hadn’t bent over backwards to make Saturday work, I would have laid on the couch then too.  As it was, I stuffed my face with a few pills and cursed a lot in my mind.  I figured out a decent med combination (my apologies to my stomach and liver) and used some BioFreeze.  Small baby stretches seem to help momentarily, so that is good?  I also got the name of my friend’s chiropractor, who he swears by, if things don’t get better.  Currently, I’m getting my deep squats in though, since this is the only way I can reach the ground.  That’s a plus!

I have no idea if any of those morning activities impacted my current predicament or if it was simply how I bent over but man, I feel so bad for people who have chronic back problems!  Did you know how many movements require the use of your back?!  Yesterday, I utilized some peak drugged-up time to fix an oatmeal bake and get some energy bites ready for the week (more on why this is important tomorrow).  I was stirring the energy bite mixture and it made my back hurt – I wasn’t expecting this!  I am sincerely hopeful this is a fluke injury and I’ll be able to write an “all better” post soon.  That being said, I have so much sympathy for those who have constant struggles with their backs.

hopefully my recovery won’t include these shenanigans

Anyway – no running miles for the week.  I had a couple of walking miles in there but that’s it.  It’s a good reminder for me to stop trying to fit all of my training/fitness into a few days, which isn’t all that good for my body anyway.  I need to keep it more consistent so I’m not a) saving everything for the end of the week and b) not sitting on my arse for days.

***Edited:  I typically write my posts the night before.  Today, my back is a bit better but still I’m walking around like some kind of weird robot, forget bending over and pain meds are my BFFs.  I made a chiro appt for Wednesday.  I feel like a fraud/big baby though… what if there is nothing wrong?!  I don’t want to look like an idiot.  However, I can’t relax, am in pain or move very well either so I’m going with possibly looking like an idiot.  We’ll see.