36 hours away.....

Thursday, April 14, 2011

So here I am.......36 hours to my first half marathon!!

NERVOUS
EXCITED
IN AWE
INSPIRED
CURIOUS
SCARED
These are just a few words to describe how I feel right now.

16 months ago, I could not have done this, correction, 16 months ago, I would not have even considered this!! I have ran 5K's, 10K's extreme obstacle course races, I have trained many hours, I have tried to do the right thing day in and day out! I am not 100% however, my piriformis muscle and sciatic nerve are very angry at me for all the training, OH WELL, I'm DOING THIS....I'm GOING to finish my first HALF MARATHON!!
I WILL FINISH
I WILL run as well as possible
I WILL have FUN
I WILL make my family proud
I WILL make my friends proud
I WILL make my teams proud
I WILL make myself proud
I WILL BE A HALF MARATHONER!!!

I've had a massage today, I've been to the chiropractor for adjustment and Rock Tape, my bags are packed, I'm ready

I think I can....I think I can....I think I can......

(YEP.....that was a pep talk to MYSELF)

and a pic of the Rocktape......YEP...it goes ALL THE WAY up my leg!


rocktape.com/

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80 Extra pounds?!?!?!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

SO.....yesterday I was working in the yard repairing a broken fence post that the wind broke! This is the second time to replace the same post, but that's a different story!

I had to dig a hole at was atleast 24inches around and 28 inches deep to get all of the OLD concrete out, GREAT functional fitness to say the least!

The REAL eye opener for me came when I carried an 80 lb. bag of concrete from my car to where the hole was in the back of the house. This may be been 50yards. Friends, I'm here to tell you that I seriously struggled with that bag!! 80lbs, JEROME....HOW did you carry that on your body for so long?!?!? THAT is what I kept asking myself. Its been right around a year now that I have an extra 80 lbs on my frame and I'm saying right now, I'll NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!!

If you need a reminder of what it was like before you lost the weight, go carry around something that weighs what you lost!! Sure the proportion is all wrong, but the weight is all the same!!

I am super sore this morning, my hands and arms obviously need to be worked out MORE! LOL

I just wanted to share this short story that made an impression on ME....that was a great reminder on ME!!

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Piriformis Syndrome and Sciatica - HELP

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

HELP

I KNOW there are a TON of very smart people out here in SPARKLAND(or FB) so I'm turning to you for HELP!!!

I've been fighting Sciatica for nearly a year now. I do massages and Chiropractic treatments and both help and I can keep that manageable with nightly stretching.

RECENTLY the Piriformis has decided to pinch even HARDER on the sciatic nerve, which is VERY painful as I'm sure some of you know. I stretch, I ice, I use icy hot, I moan and groan, but nothing REALLY seems to help. I can't seem to find a good position to sit in that makes it relax, I sit on racket balls in the car and at work, that doesn't seem to help much.

I'm 3.5 weeks away from my first Half Marathon, the timing of this SUCKS!

HELP.......WHO has dealt with this in the past and HOW did you 'fix' it?!?!!?

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WIND = 1 - JEROME = 0 and my first ICE bath

Sunday, March 20, 2011

HOLY COWABUNGA!!!

I had a 10 mile run scheduled today. Apparently the wind has plans to blow at a steady rate of 20mph today!! I ran a somewhat new route that had a few new hills as well. Between the wind holding me at a standstill and the hills, had a rough time today. Below are the stats from the run

connect.garmin.com/activity/74186196
?sms_ss=email&at_xt=4d866c5d17cd8901%2C0

SO......since my legs hurt, my hip flexors hurt, I had the bright idea to try my first ice bath. I put about 6 inches of cold water in the tub then dumped in ONE 10lb bag of ice. OK, I can do this, I climb in, stand in the middle of the tub for about 10 seconds, feet going numb at a rapid pace, so I step out of the tub. I thought, "come on Jerome, don't be a wimp, get in the tub, plunge down quickly, sit for a moment or two, then quickly get out!!" Ok, HERE I GO, I climb in again, stand there, feet lost feeling in about 1.7 seconds I COULDN'T DO IT! I could NOT force myself to take the ice plunge! Those of you who do are much more of a man then I am, that's forsure and my hat is off to ya!

SO there ya have it, that's my Sunday long run and NOT my first ice bath story, LOL!

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10 things I've learned while training for my first Half Marathon

Friday, March 11, 2011

I am currently on week 15 of a 19 week half marathon training program. I've learned a few things along the way so I thought I'd ramble on about them for a minute. Please keep in mind that I've not quite been running a year yet, so some of these are pretty basic!!

1. I've learned that building miles is more about training the body to take a beating than conditioning. I'd say about 80/20. 80% train for the beating, getting my legs and joints used to the miles and about 20% is conditioning itself. As the miles get longer and longer, it takes me longer to recover. I've decided it is definitely to my benefit to take a supplement to aide with muscle repair!

2. I've learned that I have to eat MORE in order to fuel my body to keep up with me these days! I'm not even cross training on my non-run days due to the recovery process either. Just takes more fuel to keep me going.

3. I've learned that I MUST take time to sit on the floor and stretch every evening!

4. I've learned that I LOVE my new foam roller! If you don't have one, go get one!

5. I've learned that my chiropractor has become a necessity as well. I'm not big on Chiropractors to be honest, however, Dr. Speaks is incredible and takes great care of me! He is going to take my right knee, lower and upper back with rocktape before the HM.

6. I've learned that I can't wait 4 months between massages. My massage therapist spent two hours working knots out of my legs a few weeks ago, sure I felt better, but WOW did it hurt during the process.

7. I've learned that I still have work to do on my core! I need more core strength!

8. I've learned to trust my training schedule! I was pushing past the scheduled miles daily, thus I was wearing myself out. NOT ANY MORE! (well, maybe on Sunday's) I run what's on the schedule and leave it at that, trusting the schedule is tougher than you think!

9. I've learned that it is necessary sometimes to take supplements to help fuel muscles, help fuel recovery, help sharpen focus! Yes, I do take supps that are all tested to have NO banned substances in them.

10. MOST importantly, I've learned to 1. RESPECT THE DISTANCE and 2. RESPECT RUNNERS in general!!

Having said all that, I am resting the next two days as I've just had one of my toughest weeks yet! , as you can see below.


Having said all that, I am STILL learning daily......I'm still a rookie with TONS to learn!

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