I bought 3 new sparkle suits from splish! Since its so fun to wear them, I have actually been going under water while at the pool! (usually I teach while standing instead of actually swimming)

I dove (okay 5 dives, but its something) on Monday. Swam 1100 on Tuesday, swam 1200 yesterday and followed it up with 2.75mi on a treadmill.

I love new years for motivation!

I just did not feel like going to the gym this morning, so I didn’t. Instead I worked on a post for my style blog, went to swim practice to see Scott, put gas in my car, read some nikon lens reviews, and am now dreaming of playing with my camera.

I think my body just needs this week to rest. I have been so busy with work and being sick and holidays, that I’m okay with relaxing.

I am trying to figure out some goals for 2012 though.

I know that I want to keep running and get faster.

I know that I want my photography to improve.

I think I want to turn it into a part time job.

Other than that… I’m not really sure…

So excited to be registered for these races:

• 12/31/11 Fairfax Four Miler - http://pacersevents.com/fairfaxfour/index.html
• 3/17/12 Rock n’ Roll USA 1/2 Marathon (used to be National 1/2) - http://runrocknroll.competitor.com/usa/usa-splash
• 4/1/12 Cherry Blossom 10 Miler - http://cherryblossom.org/
• 6/2/12 Wine Festival 1/2 Marathon (Team Baccus that thing up) - http://www.run4virginiawine.com/

I am also planning on doing these ones:

• OBX Flying Pirate 1/2 Marathon - 4/22/12
• Reston Sprint Triathlon - 6/3/12
• Army Ten Miler - 10/21/12
• Marine Corps Marathon - 10/28/12

And knowing me, there will be many more that I sign up for along the way.

It looks like I will be right around 640 miles for 2011. Not too bad, if I do say so myself! I think I am going to set the crazy goal of 700 miles in 2012. I mean, why not!! Even if I miss it, I know that shooting for such a high goal will inspire me to keep with my training, even when I’m tired, busy, or sick.

I’m heading to Grand Cayman on Saturday for 5 days with my family. There just happens to be a half marathon there on Sunday. I was originally going to run it (when we talked about the trip), then I changed my mind and thought it might be nice to just relax, but now I am thinking that maybe I ought to run it…

What to do, what to do?

Aside from trying to decide whether or not to do the half marathon, I still need to figure out some of the activities I want to do while there.

I know that I want to lay in the sun and read a book, that I’ll spend some time indoors - shopping with my grannie, I’ll probably take a shift babysitting my nephew so that my sister and her boyfriend can do something together, and I really want to go wakeboarding - but I’m not sure anyone wants to go with me…

All I know is that with all the rain we had in September/October, and the rain right now, I can not wait to spend 5 days in the sun!!!

1. kungfucaveman replied to your post: Anyone else run a marathon then feel lost? I…

   Juggling, maybe?

2. thereluctantrunner replied to your post: Anyone else run a marathon then feel lost? I…

   Focus on recovery…then just figure out what you’d like to do next. :)

3. thereluctantrunner liked your post: Anyone else run a marathon then feel lost? I…
4. sundrymiscellanea replied to your post: Anyone else run a marathon then feel lost? I…

   Happened to me too. I started focusing on working on my times for shorter races, like 10k distance. Trying to get my miles down from an average of 8:00/mile to around 6:40/mile for 10k. I’m down to right around 7:00 now!

5. and Cynthia suggested that I try a tri

Anyone else run a marathon then feel lost?

I really don’t know what I should focus on now… Suggestions?

I didn’t think running the Marine Corps Marathon would be anything more than running a 26.2 mile race… boy was I wrong!

So many people were running in memory or in honor of others, and it really is a tribute. A marathon is grueling like nothing else I have ever done. It’s so much more than lacing up, heading to the starting line, and running to the finish.

Your body, even well trained, does not know how to handle running 26.2 miles. I really want to go into more… but I think I still need a couple more days to think about it.

As for recovery - my legs HURT! My calves are really sore/tight, but it’s getting better with stretching and massage. My immune system is revolting - could be that I had a sinus infection leading up to the race that I only started treating the Friday before… but with rest and fluids I hope to feel better soon! And my knees and hips are tender on the joint lines - I hope it’s just from tight IT bands/the pounding and that it will clear completely by tomorrow! First post run is scheduled for Thursday evening! :)

I re-read the PDF that I posted yesterday. Then I realized that so many of my personality traits are actually just symptoms.

… most people with hypermobility appear to make excess adrenaline, which may account for the high-energy, always-on-the-go lifestyle of many hypermobile people.

So am I just symptoms? Or do the symptoms make me who I am?

All I know is that I am frustrated that I have to wait until after my MRI next week to find out who I can see that can help me. There isn’t a lot out there that is “pro-running” for hypermobile people. But shouldn’t I be able to continue with it as long as it feels okay?

I wrote about my pain way back when I started this blog (you can read about it here). I had really be resigned to just have pain all the time and cycles where it gets worse and better for the rest of my life without a real explanation. Then towards the end of July (my trip to Europe might have started it) my pain started to get worse. The increase in pain caused me to get a little more emotionally fragile, but I was dealing.

My marathon training increased and I would get some relief after runs, but by the end of the day it would be back, full force. Tight, sore, burning muscles in my middle and upper back, neck, shoulders and in my ribs.

Two weeks ago I broke down. It was just too much to be in so much pain and deal with everything else that was going on at the same time. So I went to see my general care doctor and she gave me all the drugs I asked for - flexiril and a cox inhibitor (though neither of the good ones) and referred me to a Physical Medicine Specialist, Dr. Spencer Tseng.

I saw Dr. Tseng on Monday and he literally spent an hour and half with me talking about all the symptoms that I have had since the accident in 2006. And rather than just saying that I have chronic pain (he did say that), he also thinks that I have sprained ribs and that they have been that way since the accident. That’s why I feel better when I exercise. Everything loosens up and my ribs go back into place. (he’s also going to have me do a thoracic MRI, just to make sure my spine is okay)

Naturally, I google ‘sprained ribs’ and come across “slipping rib syndrome” which is exactly what he described. Basically the ligaments get stretched out and your ribs sublux out of joint. That lead me to reading about joint hypermobility syndrome. It was like reading about myself!

It was really this pdf that put it all into perspective for me.

Too bad I didn’t know to mention everything to Dr. Tseng! I mean, most Brighton Criteria  describe me. I have since emailed him, so hopefully he can come up with a treatment plan.

I only wish that someone would have thought of this when I was a kid constantly complaining of ankle, wrist, and knee pain. Or when I had knee surgery and the doctor discovers really soft cartilage behind my kneecaps, and that my “torn” ligament was only stretched out to the point of being useless.

But, now that I know this, I know I did the right thing by strengthening my VMOs to keep my patellas in place, and my lower leg muscles to help keep my ankles steady. And it also explains my my feet look so weird when I run, why I supinate so badly, and probably why my cuboid subluxed a few months ago!

So now I just hope that Dr. Tseng can get me to a physical therapist that can help me stretch the right way, strengthen the right muscles, and prevent me from injuring myself; cause there’s no way I’m giving up running.

The bad news is that I still have chronic pain. Now I just know why.

Yesterday I dropped 2:15 for a new ten mile PR of 1:23:35.

I was seriously shocked because I really didn’t do well in my last 10k on September 18th. I also haven’t been doing much running over a 11:30 pace, since I have been mostly focusing on distance with the marathon coming up. 

It just goes to show that endurance/interval training at a low intensity can help your perform at a higher intensity for a shorter amount of time! It also makes me want to do another 10 miler or 1/2 marathon sometime in November…