running Archives - The Momma Knows

Tag Archives | running

Not Just Another Excuse

By Dawn on April 10, 2013 Comments { 0 }

It all started during Bloomsday last year. The pain was a convenient cop-out for not running up Doomsday Hill. I had been running better than I thought possible. I wasn’t tired. I was in a great stride, comfortable, and enjoying the race. And then I wasn’t any more.

What began as a twinge in the ball of my foot quickly turned into “WHAT THE H#LL IS WRONG WITH MY FOOT!?!?!” It was so bad that I ended up jog-walking almost the entire final half of the 12k. More walking than jogging. That’s 6k, give or take a k. As in almost 4 miles.

But I was mad at myself. And my foot.

That pretty much ended my running last spring, until late summer when I decided to give it a try again. The thing is, my foot wasn’t the same as before Bloomsday. It felt like there was something “in there”– inside the ball of my foot. When I ran, my toes would go numb.

Ignore the ugly toenails

Anyone who knows me, knows that while I enjoy running, I am quick to make excuses why I can’t run or exercise. This was easy. It was a convenient reason not to run.

So did I do anything about it? Of course not, until recently.

The podiatrist and me, we hit it off. He’s a pretty cool guy. He told me that I’ve already been doing what he would initially recommend (~~make excuses for not running~~ cut way back on the running, and get good shoes), but since it hadn’t helped, it was time for the next step in treatment. I had x-rays, which showed I don’t have any breaks. What they also didn’t show is what he is sure that I have: A neuroma.

From what I recall from my Medical Terminology classes when I was going to school to be a Medical Assistant, a neuroma is a small tumor or growth on a nerve. And according to Dr. Foot, neuromas are not unusual in runners and other active people. Mine is on the nerve between my 3rd and 4th tarsal joints.

Let me just say that anyone who says that cortisone injection “should make it feel a lot better” is leaving out vital information. It burns like son of a gun first. And the getting better is a process.

OUCH

I endured 5 days of weird foot pain, including the entire ball of my foot feeling like it was bruised. I also had nerve twinges that felt like electricity shooting from my heel to my toes when I walked barefoot. It was truly bizarre, but it’s over.

Now that it’s starting to feel better, I think I’ll try a short run.

categories: All About Me

Tags: injuries, momsrunning, running

Comments { 0 } :

I Was Going to Run Today But…

By Dawn on May 15, 2012 Comments { 3 }

My Bloomsday 2011 Finish

Top Ten Excuses for Not Running

1. I woke up too late.

2. I ate a big breakfast/lunch/dinner.

3. It’s too hot/cold out.

4. I’m just tired and won’t be able to give it my best.

5. I have too much to do.

6. I feel a cold coming on.

7. I haven’t shaved my legs!

8. It’s too dark out.

9. I’ll do it later today.

10. I don’t have anyone to run with me. (whine whine whine)

The bottom line is that none of these excuses are valid, unless it truly is 90*+ or below 20*. Everything else is just a sad excuse. (I should listen to myself sometime!)

GET OUT AND RUN!!

categories: Home & Family

Tags: running, Top 10 Tuesday

Comments { 3 } :

Bloomsday 12k: My Results

By Dawn on May 10, 2012 Comments { 2 }

Looking at my blog this morning, I realized that my last post was on the 4th, which was 6 days ago. Whoops! So how about an update on Bloomsday?

I did the Spokane Lilac Bloomsday 12K race on Sunday. This was my second year doing it, even though I’ve lived here for 20. If you live in or near Spokane, Bloomsday is a yearly EVENT. Everyone goes. 53,000 people from all over the US and the World signed up and walked, jogged, or ran it this year, with the coveted finisher’s t-shirts waiting for everyone at the end of the race. This year’s shirt is GREAT.

Bloomsday is always FULL of interesting people– or, characters. I didn’t get to take a lot of pictures this year, but I saw 2 men in kilts, a gorilla, Mario, a chicken, a banana, a clown-faced Elvis (he had a definite horror-movie creepiness), Raggedy Ann & Andy, the Doomsday Buzzard (of course), and I found Waldo! There were also many decorated shirts. I was only able to capture these two images:

It was around 40 degrees that morning, so I was looking forward to just getting to the shuttle pickup and ON the bus with as little waiting as possible. True to my mom-without-a-brain form though, as I approached the pickup location I realized I had forgotten my hat. I called E and sweetly asked him (at 7:15 on Sunday morning, mind you, while he was getting everyone ready to leave for church) to please bring it to me? He said yes but wasn’t happy about it.

Let me explain. A hat is really NOT necessary, but for me, even with sunglasses on I have trouble with bright sunshine. Also, last year I got very sunburned on my face and when that went away I discovered I had two coffee stain sun spots on my face– one on the upper cheek bone/outside edge of each eye. NOT something I wanted to repeat! So I asked, and he came.

My hat says PAYBACK on it. Yes, Payback. Bloomsday– or running in general– is my payback for allowing myself to become unhealthy and my weight to steadily climb. I did the crime, now I’m doing my time. (But I like running now so it’s not so bad!)

The run itself was great, up till almost half way. I got to start in a run/jog group and didn’t have to dodge 20,000 people to get started. THAT was wonderful! I found my pace, walked when I needed to (about a minute at a time) and it was nice. Around mile 3, just as I was approaching Doomsday Hill, my left foot started to hurt. I ended up walking the hill, which I ran 2/3 of last year.

From that point on it was walk, jog, walk, jog, with the intervals being about 5 minutes each. I met a lady around mile 6 who asked if I wanted to finish with her, since we were pacing one another, so we had a nice time chatting and jogging, but my foot was KILLING me and I told her to go on without me. She finished about 45 seconds ahead of me. I did run the finish, but I was in a lot of pain.

My results? Better than I thought!

I beat my last year’s time by 42 seconds!! And that was with a lot of pain and a lot of walking. This tells me that I ran WAYYY better than I did last year! And now I’m off to make a doctor’s appointment to have my foot looked at.

Have you ever run in a timed race? How did you do? And do you still run?

categories: Home & Family

Tags: Bloomsday 2012, running

Comments { 2 } :

I’m Running Bloomsday!

By Dawn on May 4, 2012 Comments { 0 }

Yankz laces on my running shoes

After not nearly as much training as I should have been doing, Bloomsday 2012 is upon me. This Sunday, at 9 o’clock in the morning, I will be joining over 50,000 runners and walkers for a 12k race!

This is my second Bloomsday.

I still don’t really consider myself a “runner”. I don’t run consistently enough. I just don’t feel like I fit that term very well… yet. But run I will. Last year, I completed the race in 1 hour, 35 minutes. I was placed in the Lilac start group, which is waayyy in the back, just in front of the moms pushing strollers. I did a LOT of dodging walkers. I mean, a lot. You’ve never seen a crowd until you have been among 55,000 people all walking, jogging and running on the same single city street.

Credit: BloomsdayRun.org

“Walkers to the left, runners to the right” was the request that blared over loudspeakers throughout the first mile of the course. I think I was the only person who heard it, because the walkers sure didn’t! There was a single file line of joggers/runners that hightailed it up the sidewalk– and through people’s front yards– on the left side of the street. Treacherous pathways! But I did it. In fact, when I hit the 1-mile marker I realized that I had run the entire first mile, something which I had never done before.

This year, I was placed in the Orange group because of my time from last year. I’m excited about it, and just a bit nervous. This means I will be with people who plan on moving their feet– jogging or running rather than the snail’s pace walkers I was stuck behind last year. In fact, I caught up to a lot of Orange group people last year about midway through the course, and they started 15 minutes before I had. This year I just hope they don’t leave me way behind.

Have you ever run a race before?