Be awesome, it's all up to you!

The pain came back.

...

Just a little twinge on Saturday. "But I haven't run since Thursday, what the hell??" Then I ran on Sunday and was fine. Monday came and that's when I knew it. It took me a few days to admit it but it's definitely there. I tortured myself over the weekend. You know how your brain does a number on you. Here goes mine:

I'm just not built to run. I'll never get through this. I can't quit but I don't know what else to do. I'm already registered for three races this season. I didn't try hard enough. I slacked too much. I ran too hard. I'm too heavy. My thighs are too big. I should've said no to those damn donuts. I didn't pay close enough attention to my form. That treadmill was defective, I know it. Maybe I should massage my legs. Is that new scar tissue? Damn that spot hurts. Am I doing more damage? Should I put ice on it? Rest?

Ugh, DAMNIT.

So I called and got myself an unplanned appointment today instead of waiting until Thursday. My physical therapist was not nearly as excited as I was. He said (to paraphrase) OK now we know our limits, so it's time to make adjustments. He was sweet about not pointing out how much I overreacted. Actually he just didn't know everything that my inner monologue was saying so how could he know how much I was freaking out? Anyway, we made some adjustments to the routine. He added some new exercises and got rid of some old ones (Thank God because I just can't keep doing 45+ minutes every day on these things. I mean I could if it were my job but I have a job and two kids...). We changed my cadence AGAIN, which means it's time to build another playlist. I'm not upset about this at all, in fact I'm kinda stoked!

It's funny how inspiration comes from the dumbest places sometime. If you haven't heard of Mel Robbins and the five second rule, you owe it to yourself to go look up her Ted talk. You know what, don't look it up, here it is:




Anyway, the point of that whole thing is - the five second rule that she mentions briefly at the end of this talk is her "THING". It literally changes lives. To listen to the story of its inspiration, though... Even Mel admits that the inspiration for the five second rule was something really really dumb. That's her story to tell, which she does in her book so I'll leave you to research that.

So tonight in the kitchen, Cami asked Alexa to play the soundtrack from the My Little Pony movie. I'm cool with this because it's toe tapping enough and as cheesy as it is, I like it. Then Rainbow Dash's big number comes up and it's like... Freaking Rainbow Dash and her pirate friends are singing my song. Almost down to the letter. Here's the lyrics with some minor adjustments. I suggest you read them while listening to the song:

[Rainbow Dash]
I know the world can get you down
Things don't work out quite the way that you thought
Feeling like all your best days are done
Your fears and doubts are all you've got


But there's a light shining deep inside
Beneath those fears and doubts, so just squash 'em
And let it shine for all the world to see
That it is time, yeah, time to be awesome

[Ponies]
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!

[Captain Celaeno]
You've no idea how hard it's been

[Ponies]
(It's time to be awesome!)

[Captain Celaeno]
This dull routine I've been forced to do

[Rainbow Dash]
Don't let them rob you of who you are
Be awesome, it's all up to you

[Captain Celaeno]
I feel the light stirring deep inside
It's like a tale still yet to be told

[Ponies]
(It's time to be awesome!)

[Rainbow Dash and Captain Celaeno]
And now it's time to break the shackles free
And start living like the brave and the bold!

[All]
It's time to be awesome!
Let loose, be true, so awesome!
It's time to be awesome!
Go big, be you, so awesome!

...

[All]

We see that light filling up our skies

[Rainbow Dash]
So take the *physical therapist's* orders and toss 'em

[All]
'Cause it's the time to let our colors fly

[Captain Celaeno]
Hey, scallywags, it's time to be awesome!

Yep, Rainbow Dash is my new hero. For real.

Raising Your Frequecny

I'm happy to report that I'm *officially* training again!

I've been on the treadmill twice this week and twice last week. Each time, I increase the number of minutes I run and decrease the number of minutes I walk. Still no pain, praise the Lord!!! This weekend is the first time I'm allowed to RUN ON MY OWN outside of the PT gym :) I don't think I've ever in my life been *excited* to get on a treadmill but I SO AM! Beyond that, the frequency of my PT visits will be decreased to once a week now and it'll be on me to find gym and treadmill time on the other two days that I'll be running. I'll continue to do my PT strengthening exercises twice a week aside from the three days that I run. That leaves 2 days for Beachbody or rest.

In terms from Jen Sincero's book about being a Bad Ass - my frequency has been raised infinitely by my work out this morning!! This calls for a new theme:





Speaking of frequency - one of the things I had to change about my running mechanics was my cadence. We increased it by 10 steps per minute (for now), which called for me to create an entirely new running playlist. So with an odd mix of trepidation and anticipation, I retired my current running playlist (145-150) and dug into my favorite search engine for songs to create my new running playlist (155-160).

If you need to create a playlist for yourself, this website has a wonderfully specific set of filters that will allow you to search by bpm, genre, and so many other "seeds": Song Key BPM

It took some tweaking, but using this engine and Amazon Music, I created a killer new playlist for myself. I'm still adding songs as I think of artists to feed the search machine, so this playlist should be growing. Have a peek:





After my first session of searching and placing songs on the list, the running time came to 2:54 and some seconds. I thought, "Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something about what my finish time will be", but truthfully I plan to do it in less. I'll have to skip by a few songs because if I'm still running at 155 in May, I'll be crossing that finish line listening to Everlong by the Foo Fighters. Just sayin'

I walked out of the PT gym today and felt the warm air - in the 50s despite the fact that it's January in Pennsylvania. The sun was even out! I just raised my face to the sky and took a moment to resonate with those high frequency thoughts and thank The Big Guy for all the blessings in my life. It's just a good day today :) Thank you everyone for your support and words of encouragement. In this moment, I feel completely happy and look forward to what is to come.

Really this all started last night when I got the best hit of encouragement. I was being wishy washy on whether or not I'd go to spin class tonight. As I was still waffling, I get a text from my friend who came to spin class on Saturday: "Are you going to spin class tomorrow night?"

So yes, spin tonight it is :)

It's so important to have friends who can both hold you accountable and keep you moving forward - in so many places in life. Beachbody really taught me that, and I've been so blessed to experience that kind of friendship here in the last year I've been with the company. Even though most of the activities that I do now aren't Beachbody, I am still in touch with my challenge group friends and look forward to completing another program once I'm through with physical therapy and can back off a bit on my daily 45 minute PT exercises.

I hope that you all are having a lovely lovely day :) Catch you later!

Progress, goals, and an unexpected visit

I'm very happy to report that I've been on the treadmill twice this week with new and improved form and mechanics - the best part? NO PAIN!

Yaaaaaayyyyy!!!

There's an exit strategy! He's increasing the run vs walk time over the next few weeks and I feel like I see an end in sight.

Finally :)

Besides that - I've been going to spin class and even took a friend today. I'm pretty impressed with my body's ability to keep up and even still feel good after an hour of doing the bike. Half way through the class today, my friend looks at me and says, "I hate you, Forman". Sorry, friend - but I'm glad you came! Glad to report that she lived through the rest of the class. After class I felt like I was warmed up and ready to work out, haha. I took the kids for a swim in the pool for a bit then we came home for lunch and a nap.

As 2018 begins, our season is shaping up nicely:

May - Pittsburgh Steel Challenge: 5k on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday
September - Barber Beast on the Bay, Morgantown half marathon
October - Stop Drop & Run

If the Pittsburgh Steel Challenge is my Super Bowl, I'm not entirely sure what to call the rest of them! The Beast is my big fundraising race and Morgantown was a spur of the moment addition that was just added this week. There's an awful lot of training and potential race time between May and September. My goal for the Beast is to have fun and finish under 3 hours. Hopefully with a friend since Joe will be chasing his own clock. In October I plan to finish under an hour. Depending on how my training is going, I may also run the 5k that morning right before the OCR. Time will tell. I hope to add a good muddy OCR at some point in the summer as well!

On to the unexpected visit...

I had a very vivid dream today that my step-dad (who passed away in April) walked into the room and sat down. I told myself, "I'm sure I'm dreaming". He assured me that I wasn't dreaming, but he could only stay a short time. I turned away for just a moment. I turned my head back toward him just as I asked him an important question - only to find that he was gone. That's the first time I've seen him since he passed and it was surreal. I'm contemplating some big things in life and I feel like my brain is trying to make it all make sense.

Maybe it's just too much personal development reading. Not enough wine. Too much coffee. Whatever - it happened.

Tomorrow is another day to get better :)

It's simple but it's not easy.

The pork, kielbasa and kraut are in the slow cooker. That means another year is in the books. I slept in past 8am and the kids, well they're not up yet either. It's now 9:20 and I'm making a very slow (but deliberate) start to 2018.

I still haven't been "allowed" back on the treadmill at the PT gym. Since I was off from work most of last week, I did go to spin class on Tuesday and Thursday. The Tuesday spin class was followed by a 20 minute core work out and the one on Thursday was followed by a 30 minute blend of yoga and HIIT movements. I was delighted to find that 30 seconds of burpees is still do-able for me even though I've been kind lax on my cardio for the past couple of months. I followed up both days with my PT exercises. I took a day off yesterday but I'm planning to hit a Beachbody work out and my PT exercises later. After the coffee sinks in and I've gotten some meal prep done.

We are both back to recipe planning and prepping after a hectic holiday season in which we both went a bit off track. I won't say I tried to stop myself - really I was just enjoying the holidays. Having said that, I can feel the changes in my body - I'm frequently nauseous for no apparent reason. I've started logging what I'm eating in relation to my symptoms and finding some patterns that aren't surprising. Apparently my body no longer tolerates salami and fake coffee creamer. Repeatably, I get strong stomach cramps and nausea after having those. Both things I shouldn't be eating anyway, so no biggie.

My Beachbody folks are all in a lather over the new work out program releasing - 80 Day Obsession. It involves longer work outs (closer to an hour I believe) and a timed version of the portion fix system - basically meaning it tells you exactly what containers to eat at what times. Unfortunately for me, since my PT routine takes 40+ minutes, I simply cannot fit even another 20-30 minute work out into my day and I certainly can't eat a 5 container "pre-work out" meal an hour before I work out because... I work out at 5:30am!!! So I'll be watching from the sidelines, which is what I feel like I'm doing this winter.

I'm seriously starting to feel like the karate kid. Wax on. Wax off. Complain. Whine. When do I get to start kicking some ass again?

I don't know what I'm so antsy about - it's not like I can run in the kind of weather conditions we've been having here. Single digits with snow on the ground. I'm so proud of my husband for motoring through another 5k yesterday in the frigid teens. He's crazy. I love him :)

Joe and I have been devouring quite a bit of personal development books in the past few months. I have to say - Mel Robbins might be my favorite person ever. The "Five Second Rule" has been a powerful force in my life making me get up and do things I *know* I should do but just don't. Here's the truth that I now believe - if you sit around waiting until you *feel* like doing something, you're wasting your life. You won't feel like working out. You won't feel like eating a salad. Take a deep breath and do it anyway because behind that wall of resistance is your life. It's outside your comfort zone. It's simple but it's not easy.

It's simple but it's not easy. It's not easy but it's simple. That's my 2018 mantra.

Happy New Year!

Go get Sh*t Done