Tag Archive | Hat Trick

Getting Back on the Horse

Sep8

Today’s run was definitely a mental one. Yes, it was physical because I was going for between 8-9 miles; but I was in my head a lot before lacing up.

Every run is a mental run from the procrastinating to the lacing up and getting out the door. There are so many reasons not to run. There are so many reasons to push yourself to get out and run too.

I needed to get out of my head today. I needed to remind myself that I can do this. I would be lying if I didn’t say that last week scared the crap out of me. I would be lying if it didn’t cross my mind to stop pushing so hard, to stay home and just say I’m throwing in the towel. While on my Hypopara journey, I have had tetany before. I have had muscle spasms. I have had the tingles, the brain fog, and been symptomatic. The difference is that I always felt like I still was in control as these symptoms were more annoying than anything else.

I won’t go into again, but last week’s calcium crash was bad. It scared me. It stopped me in my tracks. It reminded me that this is more than just annoying. This is real and needs to be taken seriously. I liked to pretend that it wasn’t and wouldn’t stop me. Honestly, I’ve been more worried about my kidney health than the actual Hypopara symptoms. I realized that I needed to take BOTH as seriously as I should.

This week was a stressful week at work. It was also the first week without summer hours. No longer leaving at 3, but 1. Doesn’t sound like a lot, but for those who don’t know I am also a childcare teacher. This means I am on my feet and really in constant motion both mentally and physically all day.

I wanted to run this week, but I didn’t. I could tell that I wasn’t ready. Yesterday I just didn’t have the energy. I had stayed up too late baking a cake. Oh yeah, I’m also a home baker. So yesterday I didn’t run.

This morning no excuses…. Except I was nervous. I prepared for my run giving myself an half an hour for morning meds to kick in. I filled my water bottles. I have the Fitletic running belt. So I filled 2 with water and one with electrolytes. I then put into the belt some kind nut bars, extra meds, and off I went. I also put back on my running Id that has contact info and also a “Hypoparthyroidism check calcium.” I had gotten a new band and never put it back on. I got complacent.

I started off running streets close to home making grids for the first three miles. I stayed close to home for the remainder of the run too. Not going too far out which sometimes I do for a longer run. Today was about keeping a comfortable pace. Walking when needing to, but not just because I want to. It was about listening to my body. At around 5 miles, I added some full in the form of some of the kind bar. At around 6.5 miles, I took 250 of calcium. Half of my normal afternoon dose. Then just kept moving.

I finished. I got to 8.5. At the end of the run I was thinking of doing a few streets to get to 9, but I figured this was enough……. And it was!

Mentally my head is back in the game. Mentally I know that I can do this but have to be smarter.

Hello is it Me Your Looking For?

Aug3

Hello…… It’s been a hot minute. I thought I gave up blogging. I really didn’t think I had much to say anymore. I didn’t think anyone would miss it. Then I remembered that I started this blog for me and I missed it.

I think one of the reasons that I stopped blogging is because I didn’t really know where I fit in. When I started this blog, I was your average woman in her 40’s working on getting into shape by signing up for an event. I had goals. I had will. That’s what I blogged about. I was a middle of the pack runner who was driving to bbetter. I was making progress too. I had worked with a coach. I completed lots of events. I finished a 50K, multiple marathons and was training to run a 4 hour marathon. It was in reach.

Now I won’t get into how I blew it in 2016 running NYC Marathon like it was a half marathon and paying the price. I’ve already blogged about that. I had chances to correct that mistake….. or so I thought.

Two weeks after that race is when I had my thyroid removed. Those who have been here a while know that took me into the journey of Hypoparathyroidism. It has slowed me down. It has definitely put a speed bump in my path. It has done a lot, but what it has not done is cause me to give up.

It took a while, but I continued to push through. Learning along the way. While I continued to blog and train….. I wasn’t sure where I fit into it all. I wasn’t sure that those that were following my blog previously wanted to hear these new trials and tribulations because really they signed up for a running blog.

I tried…. I tried… I tried….. and tried some more. I just didn’t feel like I was being authentic with every post. This may have been why the posts became far and few between until they just stopped.

Again….. I never stopped.

I’m rebranding. If you’re looking for a traditional running blog, this may not be longer be where you want to be. Although truth be told, I’m not even sure who is her anymore….. The reason I like blogging is that often it feels like talking to myself. So if you’re here, please say Hello!

Hypopara is strange. It is the only time when the body is missing a hormone (PTH) where there is currently no FDA approved hormone replacement treatment available. It’s coming. So they say. Those of us in the Hypopara community have heard this before. We’ve had the rug pulled out from us when they took away Natpara. So we shall see and we shall continue to wait while going about our business.

Anyway, this blog will still focus on my running, but it is going to focus on my running as a Hypopara athlete. There is no one size fits all with Hypoparaa. Our bodies all handle things differently. Like everything in life, we each just do what we can. So if you are new to the blog as a Hypopara athlete, please say Hi too:)

Now that that is out-of-the-way…… Let me tell you what I’m up to.

I have just started training for a half marathon. This half is actually going to be used as a training run because my real goal is to complete the Quadruple Play Marathon Challenge…. NO IT IS NOT A MARATHON. It is a 3.8 trail run on Friday. Then Saturday a 5K followed shortly with a 10K. Then a Half Marathon on Sunday.

I have done this event before. More than once. I’ve done it Hypopara too. The last time I signed up for it, I was not ready. It broke me a little bit because it was my first and only DNS. I was not in a good spot with my calcium levels and training. I only was able to do the trail, 5k, & 10k. I never came back to do the Half. So there’s that. I’ve got something to prove. To no one else but myself.

Game on!

It’s Go Time

Oct13

go

The  Hat Trick

In case your forgot or your new here, I’ve been training for the Runner’s World Hat Trick.   It’s just days away taking place this coming weekend.

So what is it?

Saturday

Run a 5K (using as a warmup)

have an hour break

I hope

Run a 5K (this is my goal race)

Go home Sleep

Sunday

Go back and run a Half Marathon (hoping just to finish decent)

This past weeks training was both brutal and effective.   I ran the following:

Tuesday – 4 easy miles   -Done   

Wednesday – 3 easy miles    – Done

Thursday – Rest

Friday – 3 easy miles    – Done

Saturday – 8 miles with repeats – Done

Sunday – 11 LSD 1:54

It really wasn’t that brutal, but I will admit I was exhausted last night.   What this last week of hard training proved to me though is that my legs can go the distance.   They did what needed to be done.   Each day I finished feeling good.   Feeling that I could go further and at the end of each run, I pushed myself to run hard.   My last two miles of my LSD run was at 9:19 and 9:16.    So my body is ready.   I think my mind is ready too.  I know I can do this.   Isn’t that what all this running all over town has been for?

So as the saying goes

It’s Go Time!

(Can you name the show where I’m stealing that from?)

Anyway, I’m heading out to Bethlehem today and I’m going to see if I can find the course and maybe get a sneak peak and do a drive by.   I’ll keep you posted!

What Training Plan Should I follow?

Aug12

Ask anyone who is training for an event what training plan that they are following and I bet you get a different answer every time.    Anyone who is serious about their training is usually following something, even if it their own plan.   With anything in life the key is being prepared.    You wouldn’t book a vacation and then forget to pack.   So why would you register for an event and not prepare for it either.   Yes, there are many who probably do this and I have been guilty of it too.    I will admit that when training for my first Half Marathon, I didn’t follow a plan.  I just pulled a Forest Gump and built up my running distance.   There was no special training plan.   Yet still I was training.   I just wasn’t training very smart.

Now that I’ve got a few things under my belt and am planning more for the future, I realize that I can’t just expect it all to fall into place.   It would also be nice if I would be able to walk the day afterwards because my body will be ready.  But how to train when your training for both a Sprint Tri one month and then the following month plan to pull a Hat Trick.    Every athlete (and I don’t really consider myself one, but I digress) unless working with a trainer really needs to figure out what will work for them.   What will fit into the schedule?    What can the body do without risking injury?   Most importantly for me,   how to keep it fun?   Most of us also have lives outside our race/training schedule.   Lives that take up a lot of our time.   So how to fit it all in is usually the biggest question.    But you get out of things what you put into it.   So if you want not just to finish and event, but to finish it with a smile you have to prepare.    I think I’ve found what will work for me and help me be ready when the time is right.

I have done the Iron Girl Sprint before, so I’m not expecting any curve balls.   I also just finished up the NJ State Sprint Triathlon, so I feel like I am prepared for this event.   What I do not feel prepared for in any way, shape, or form is this Hat Trick.   So I have decided my primary focus is going to be on this event.   A Sprint Tri is not an easy event to finish, but I am more confident in my ability to do this.   What I can’t imagine is running a 5K resting for an hour and then running a 10K.  Then going home to sleep to come back for more pain of running a Half Marathon.    So my focus right now is on my running and building up my endurance.   I feel that this can and should also help me in the Iron Girl.

I have a plan this time.   A plan that is working for me.   A plan that someone much smarter about running than I ever could be came up with.   I am following the Runner’s World Training plan.   I’m sure that their running experts  know what they are talking about too.   I’m learning as I go that there is so much more to this running thing than cute shoes although those are important too.    I’m learning about Tempo Runs, intentionally running at a 3 minutes SLOWER pace than normal on some training runs, and just knowing that I am setting myself up for a good experience.  I am training smarter not just harder.    The beauty of the plan that I am following is that on my rest days, I can still (if I choose) do a bike or a swim because these are non impact and will still allow myself to train for the Tri.

I will never be the fastest, but I will be the best that I can be.   That is all you can ask of yourself or anyone else.