Racing Heart

I have another for everyone! So yesterday was my last doctors appointment! (Well at least for my legs). If I haven't said it before, my doctor is someone who makes his appointments short, sweet, and to the point. Sometimes that is not a bad thing, but sometimes it sucks to drive a little over an hour to have a short, less than 5 minute meeting with him to discuss things. Well anyway, I get there and he takes a look at my scars, (which are a tad red from a sunburn), says they are healing well, checks my strength in my feet and ankles, says that the strength is good, then asks what I have been doing as far as activities. (Just to catch you up on things, I wasnt really supposed to do much until I went to this appointment...oops.) I was honest with him. I told him that I have been trying to walk a lot, taking it easy on days that I am more sore than others, and jogging a little, increasing the distance as things feel good. He told me that what I am doing is good, however I dont wan...

Hello everyone! This is my 100th post! Woohoo! I have been working on this blog for a little over a year and a half now, and I just want to say thank you. Thank you to those who read these stories or calendars that I share with you. Thank you to those who keep up with the updates and share their feedback. Thank you to you all. This blog falls right in line with the passion that I have for running and I love to share all that I can with as many people as I can. So an update to go along with everything. It has been a little over a month since I had my surgery on my legs. Things are progressing well and I have started to run (at an 8:30 pace too, keep in mind!!) about 100-300m every few walks. I try to get out every day and walk about 1.5 to 3 miles and am hoping to walk/run a 5k in July or August, (I have yet to pick a specific one yet). I recently set a goal to train and run (possibly walk some) the Rails to Trails half marathon in Norwalk, WI in November. I think that gives me plen...

The progression of my legs. There is an order to this from 1, meaning most recent to 5 meaning oldest, (top right 1, bottom right 2, bottom left (3 images) 3, right center 4, and top left (2 images) 5) Hey everyone! Back for another update! So my wounds are healing up very nicely. They itch like none other though. There are some mornings that I wake up and it feels like I have a giant bug bite (or two) on each leg. They sting every so often as well, but that is manageable. My day now looks along the lines of this: Wake up, put neosporin (or the generic crap) on my incisions, elevate and ice, take ice packs off and walk a little, elevate, walk around some more, ice and elevation again, reapply neosporin, go for a mile long walk, ice and elevate, more elevating, pain pills, bed and elevation. June 3rd mile walk/run I have started to walk more and more. I mean, I am now hitting my garmin goals for the day, which makes me feel pretty good (I still haven't turned the lazi...

So since my last update a lot of things have happened. My legs are no longer super purple, more green/brownish, I have had my first post-op appointment, and I have somewhat of a plan of my next steps. My legs are feeling quite a bit better, I have taken off the steri-strips from my incisions, which makes my legs feel less constricted and less like something is pulling off my legs. I can walk easier, and a lot of the swelling has gone down. As you can see from the pictures, there is not much purple and pink remaining anymore, more brown and greens and yellows left around the wounds. I do love how the area around the cuts is white. So what happened at my post-op appointment? Well, I will first let you know that I have one of the most "straight-to-the-point" kind of doctors. My visit lasted a whopping 10 minutes, if even that. He walked in the room, asked to look at my legs, I told him to mind how hairy they are (as I am afraid to get too close to them/I dont have the best ...

I told you all that I would keep you updated on how my recovery is going. Let me tell you the truth. So the worst part of this whole thing is that I feel like I am growing into the couch. Being sedentary is not something that I enjoy to do. Yes, I can move around some, but the more I move around, the stiffer and more uncomfortable I tend to feel the next day. So, to combat this, I sit on the couch, watch some netflix, prop my legs and knees up, and make sure to ice for a half hour every hour. My days are typically the same. I do try to vary what chair or portion of the couch that I sit in, so I literally do not grow into the couch like this guy . So the first day back, or 7 hours, were pretty easy. This might have been because I was still coming off a pain-med & anesthesia high. I woke up after the hospital and was so nauseous...(keep in mind that next time I have to go under to ask for more meds...) so they pumped me full of other drugs to help, and I slept the whole way h...

So I just had my pre-op appointment this morning, and good news, I am cleared for surgery! Wooh! Wooh for being cleared to get my problems fixed, wooh for being able to run without pain (in like 3 months), wooh for being (somewhat) healthy. I am excited and nervous that I have a chance to solve my problems and be able to relieve the pain and numbness that I get when I run, walk, bike, and basically anything. I know, it will be a while before I am able to do another half, but honestly, I will wait. I just want to be tingling, pain, and discomfort free. I want to be able to put my new watch to the test. I just purchased the Garmin Forerunner 235, which I will be sharing my thoughts of it soon (or at least my opinions on the functions that I can use of it). I just want to use it for about a week before I give my opinions. I will say right now, it is pretty cool. So for now, I am counting down the days until May 10th, the day of my surgery. I will be updating everyone on my recovery, p...

So I have my surgery scheduled, woohoo! On May 10th, 2016, I will be going under the knife (endoscopically) to have my anterior fascias released in both legs. So whats the difference? Rather than a 6 inch incision on the outer portion of both legs, I will be left with a 2ish inch incision on the outside of both legs. Heres some images to best describe it (Heads up, the open fasciotomy picture is not very detailed, but I did that for a specific reason. Do not look up compartment syndrome fasciotomy on an empty stomach.) The open fasciotomy, again, I know its not very visual, but it gives you the right idea without being as gruesome as can be.  The endoscopic surgery. Much smaller incision.  So yeah, thats where I am at with my legs. I have to have one more appointment with a doctor to make sure I can deal with anesthetic but thats about it! Everyone heals at different paces with this, but my doctor said, typically, at worst, it might take 3 months, but some people h...

One of the biggest things that I cannot stress enough is supporting local communities. In running, this means running the local races and understanding that no matter the cost, the money stays local and benefits those around you. One of the best examples of this is a race I ran in 2013, the Party In Pink in Vinton, IA. I ran this race because it sounded like fun and I had a friend who lived there. Showing up to the race, during the announcements, they pointed out that all the proceeds were going to the breast cancer hospital in the town, pointing to the hospital right behind us. We literally ran next to this hospital. We knew where the money went. Thats what makes me so mad about these gimmicky races that are going around. The Color Run, The Glow Run, The Inflatable 5k, you name it (sometimes local races will copy these races and have the race as a fundraiser for their organization or another organization). The director or creator of these races will take the race to different cites,...

Hey Everybody!! Happy Easter! I hope all of you had great race weekends with all the wonderful Easter races that just passed. I will be posting the results for all of these races on the upcoming races page. All you will have to do is click on the link that says results, and it will take you right to them! Also, if you did run any of these races, let me know what you thought of them. This upcoming weekend, we have some great races! Starting with the Opening Doors Dash 5k, Red Shamrock Foundation Survivorship Trail Run, Bandits Race to Home 5k, Quad Cities 5k Run and Walk for Epilepsy, Springtime Sprint 5k, Midwest Medical Sprint into Spring 5k, AIDS Walk/Run, Beer & Bagel Off Road Run, Hawkeye 50k & 25k, Brett Smith Memorial 5k, Live Healthy Iowa 5k and the Hollywood in the Heights 10k on the 11th. On the 12th, we have the River Queen Track and Field Color Run 5k, Hoops Hustle 5k, Springtime Hill Climb 10k/5k, Autism 5k run/walk, Iowa State VK 5k, and the Rehab Run. There ar...

So this past weekend was a fairly busy couple of days! We had 4 different races: Penguin in the Park 5k, Doc Dash 5k, Prairies of Miracles 5k, and Run D.C. to DC. I will be updating my race page to include the results for these races so you will have easy access to your own results. Like I said in that post, if you have any races that you have coming up that you would like to share, please let me know! I will gladly add them to the race list to share them with others. As for shoes, this week, (or more specifically, April 1st), we have 2 shoe updates. The Nike Vomero 10 and the Saucony Kinvara 6 both are released. I will go into detail about the shoes when I do the reviews, but let me give you a couple of hints. So with the Kinvara, there are not too many updates. The biggest update is a new, sleeker look to the shoe. It will still use the same platform as the Kinvara 5, and the same cushion, but the new look of the upper looks slick. The Vomero, you wont recognize. The upper is g...

So you're training for your first half marathon. Scared? Anxious? Nervous? Dont worry, its completely normal to be. I have ran quite a few and I am here to offer my advice and give you a checklist of things you may need. So first off, some pieces of advice.  Slow and steady wins the race. Dont take off too fast, especially for the first mile. Think, you still have 12.1 miles left, so try not to run out of gas right away. My advice is to break the race up in to portions, halves or quarters, and tell yourself to pace at a certain speed for each of them. For myself, I run the first 6 miles at a slower pace, and once I finish, I decide how I am feeling and whether I increase my pace or not.  Here's a little secret. Half marathons are the best races to run. Why? Everyone, other racers and the spectators are there for you. The spectators think you are this amazing person and will just cheer you to finish rather than to run faster. The other runners know how much 13 mile...

Most people see running shoes as something that assists people getting here and there. Here are some facts that you may not know about your shoes.  Those running shoes on your feet are really meant to go in one direction. Running shoes are truly built to move forward/backward. When you use running-specific shoes for say lifting or Jazzersize or Zumba, you are pushing that shoe to its limits. A flexible, cross training shoe is more suited for these sort of activities because they allow your feet to flex and move more naturally, where a running shoe will only be able to flex lengthwise and not widthwise. Using a running shoe when doing these lateral workouts may lead to blowouts or unusual wear. I say this because I have seen too many cases where people try to return a shoe because it was "defective" or they obliterated it with in the first month of wearing it. Running shoes are meant to run or walk in, only forward or backward. I cannot stress it enough. So for that Zumba o...

So one of my essentials of running is my watch. I currently am using the Garmin Forerunner 220. I love it. Previously, I was using the Forerunner 10, but a few things went wrong, so I upgraded. Here is what I can tell you about the Forerunner 220. My Forerunner 220 Accuracy. So far, I have found this watch to be extremely accurate. Yeah, you may run into an area where the satellites can't reach you as well, say under trees or under bridges, etc., but from what I have found, it is fairly spot on.  Satellite connection. One thing with this watch, I have found that it is quick to catch a signal. I had some issues with this in my Forerunner 10, however the one nice thing that this watch does is when it is unlocked, it has a signal bar at the top of the display. This shows how connected you are, and as soon as you unlock it, it searches. This differs from the 10 and the 15 where you have to enter the run mode to start searching.  Battery life. 6 weeks in watch mode, 1...

This post is for everyone who plans on coming into a running specialty store to get their new shoes, just some helpful advice to get you started. Bring your old shoes in! A shoe can tell a whole lot about how you run. I am not kidding. To a sales associate who has been trained in the art of selling shoes, we can tell if you need more stability, less stability, if you are a forefoot runner, if you are a heel striker, and many other things. Bring them in, let us look at them, and it will help a ton. There was a customer that I worked with once who brought in her last 3 or 4 pairs of shoes. You wouldn't believe how well this helped me. I was able to see what she liked in the past and how her gait had changed, which all this information led me to grabbing her next pair.  Know your shoe's name! I cannot stress this enough. Now when I say name, I do not only mean brand, I also mean model. Coming into a store and responding to the question, "what shoe were you in previ...

With all my posts about running shoes and clothes, I realized that I have never mentioned where you could find these items. Check your local running store! Many people will tell you: "local running shops have higher prices than the big box stores, why waste your time?" or "People at the big box stores know just as much as the other people, why go there?" Well I am here to tell you otherwise. Here are my 10 reasons you need to shop at your local running shops. The prices are no different than at the big-box sports store. Shops have to set their products at a price set by the company. Many times as well, the stores will price match. Here's the thing though. Many times, you may find a shoe that you are interested in, (lets say the Nike Pegasus), and you go to your local shop and their Nike Pegasus 31s are priced at $100, and when you check the big-box retailer, they have a Nike Pegasus for only $70! What? How can this be!? Check the model number. Just becau...

Now that the arctic cold has finally hit us here in the states, some of us runners are left in the confusion. Do you attempt to run outside, run on the treadmill (which I know that no one is a fan of), or does your running slow down, nearly to a halt during the cold weather months? I am one of those people who braves the negative temperatures and takes the plunge headfirst into winter. I must be nuts! Surely everyone thinks that. When I do run outside, I make sure to wear the correct layers. Here are some of what I would consider essentials. Tops: A comfy sports bra. Ladies, its cold outside, and I don't know if this is the same for most women, but my chest tends to ache a little more when it gets colder. A good, supportive, and comfortable sports bra is key, especially when the temperature drops. I am going to sound like a sales man right now, but the thing besides shoes that needs more updating than you are currently doing is your sports bra. Put it this way, you s...