never give up!

so i didn't EXACTLY "give up", but i lost my desire to go so i sort of stopped going to crossfit.

let me explain:  i lost my job back in september and it was becoming cold out which equals darker earlier and then it was dark and cold out at 5:20am when i usually get up to go to the 6am crossfit class... and well... i just sort of stopped going.

october 25th was the last time i went before this past monday.  that's 68 days crossfit free for those of you who are counting.  that's 68 days where (apparently) i got as weak as a newborn baby.  the workout wasn't hard.  in fact it felt great and i was totally able to do it.  it burned and got my heart rate up and it was a challenge but i wouldn't say that it was HARD... that is... UNTIL LATER MONDAY AFTERNOON!

OH.MY.GOD!

i should have known that as soon as i got my butt off the couch and i stumbled and fell on the floor that the workout was HELLA HARD!  the entirety of my leg muscle groupings were screaming at me in protest!  calves, hamstrings, quads, and glutes were losing their minds when i tried to use them.  i wasn't sure how i was going to make it anywhere and this was just a few hours later!  by nightfall i was having trouble moving at all.  i mean... have you read the workout?  seriously... a baby could do it!  

by the time i went to bed monday night i was popping two acetaminophen and calling it a night. tuesday morning my son's alarm went off and i leapt out of bed with the vigor of a cheetah... ok FINE... i rolled out of bed like a soft, broken, crazy painful ball of tears.  i woke up SO MANY TIMES monday night that i'm not sure i even slept.  everything hurt so bad every time i moved and it woke me up.  by the morning i was just so happy for it to be daylight that i got out of bed with the speed of a geriatric arthritic turtle.  

i literally rolled out of my bed, and onto the floor where i landed in a crumpled pile.  i started breathing again as i (ever so slowly) pushed off the ground with my arms until i was standing hunched over which is when i haltingly attempted to stand up.  when i finally found my wretched lower body erect i figured out how to breathe again.

now it was time to take a step... as i mentally chided myself for taking so many days between classes i whimpered and shuffled out of the bedroom.

it is now thursday and while i'm still in pain... i can finally walk normally today!  praise the powers that be!  life is wonderful!  tomorrow i'm going to class again... i will never stop going to class unless i'm going to stop FOREVER!  i learned my lesson from the crossfit gods and will never stop paying tribute to the sanctity of my body and health.  

moral of the story:  never never never quit crossfit once you've gotten past the initial week of ferocious pain.  i want to shout out my crossfit gym (badger crossfit) for believing in me and being ever so supportive in my endeavors to look better in my swimsuit... and also run injury free.

just to illustrate the difference adding cross training into your runner's schedule i leave you with this: 

this is just 4.5 months and there is a noticeable difference.
i'm excited to see the changes to come.  

hello stranger

it's been a long time.  i know i know... i know what you're thinking.  where the hell have i been?  did i fall in a sink hole? well... the answer is nope.

no sink hole.  i've just been super bummed since i couldn't run.  so i've been spending a lot of time doing other things such as letting various physical therapists poke and prod me, watch me run, point out my flaws, give me stupid exercises that didn't work, and then peppering that with pathetic attempts at running.  in between all of that i also did a lot of pouting and i started rock climbing again.  that was a lot of fun.  the climbing not the pouting.

so i started climbing 2-3 times a week until i got mind-numbingly bored and burnt out on the whole thing.  i did, however, get certified to lead climb so that was pretty terrifying and cool all at the same time.  i got to climb outside for the first time at devil's lake (which incidentally coincided with a 1/2 marathon i was supposed to be running but had to drop out of) so that was great fun and also bittersweet because i really would have much preferred to be running the race instead.

i pinched a nerve in my back and stopped climbing altogether at that point and picked up crossfit instead.  it was at about the same time that my primary care physician told me that i had to stop running completely in order to let my leg heal.  HA!  as if...

so i've been doing crossfit (well baby crossfit actually) for just over a month now, and last week i ran 20 miles.  TWENTY FREAKING MILES!  woo hoo!!

i think it's safe to say that i'm back!  i'm running well and pain free.  i've been strictly running trails.  i've been shown these lovely trails along the river by my house and on the east side by the climbing gym.  they are so much fun!  trails are my JAM!  it's amazing how much easier 7 miles on a trail is compared to 3 miles on a road.  so much more fun too.

so i'm hitting up badger crossfit 2-3xs a week to keep my body strong because it seems like it's the only thing getting me running.  running is necessary to my wellbeing.  physical and mental.  i need it to be well.  i like climbing, i like crossfit, i like other things... i LOVE running.  i am so fortunate that i can run again.

so that's what's been going on with me... what's going on with you?