Monday

I went into Monday feeling pretty good. I took a much needed complete rest day the day before. But after WAY too much squatting between the scheduled workout and my insistence that I needed to do my squat program, I felt my workout all week. #SomeoneCarryMePlease. If you think walking is overrated you should definitely try this workout.

Tuesday

This was one of those “runs” where barely moving feels like an all-out effort. My tired legs carried me (very slowly) 2.5 miles.

Wednesday

Despite declarations that Fridays are for squatting, I had to switch up my schedule and squat today instead. On paper it seemed totally fine. Trying to convince my legs to squat when they were quite sore after Monday was a challenge. I hit unexpected traffic on the way to the gym and ended up having to go to a later CrossFit class, which meant I got my squats in before. I squeezed my full program into the 30 minutes before class and tried not to cry on every wall ball after.

Thursday

I hobbled through another 2.5 miles. Nothing major to report.

Friday

Despite the fact that I’m not actually doing the CrossFit Open, every class is doing the open workouts on Fridays. Last year I was determined to do all of the workouts, but after my first introduction to tendonitis (hello double-unders, oh how you ruined my feet for a year) after 14.1, I was less than interested this year.

As much as I hate toes-to-bar, I wasn’t dreading this workout too badly.

15.1

9 minute AMRAP
15 toes-to-bar
10 deadlifts at 75 lbs
5 snatches at 75 lbs

15.1 A

Max single rep clean and jerk in 6 minutes

I know I made a lot of progress doing a few cycles of the barbell class, but I didn’t realize quite how much until this workout. The weight on the snatches felt totally doable for me and I got pretty darn close to my actual PR on the clean and jerk. I was pretty happy with my score of 113 reps/128 lbs.

Saturday

I broke up my longest run in months with a nice walk on the beach to check out the tide pools. I ran about 3 miles and walked another half mile.

Sunday

I ditched the yoga class I was planning on going to and did an hour of PT instead. Both probably would have been better, but my ankles have been feeling better without the stress of balancing/standing barefoot during yoga.

Overall stats:

• 2ish hours of PT (Mostly stretching and releasing my calves and hips with a lacrosse ball. I did some of my exercises… but not enough)
• Ran 8.82 miles
• 3 hours of CrossFit
• 2 squat sessions

I haven’t done a weekly update in a while, mostly because announcing to the world that I only ran six miles the entire week makes me never want to get out of bed. But I realized that those six miles matter, and everything else that I’m doing is worth talking about. So here it goes, what life really looks like when you’re chipping away at a comeback.

Monday

I started the week with the day off (hallelujah!). To celebrate I slept in and skipped my usual CrossFit workout. Instead I went to the gym late and did my third week of the Hatch Squat program. My legs were so happy to do this workout fresh. I usually squat after my regular workout, and man do my legs hate it.

Big girl weights only

Tuesday

Despite tired legs (hello squats) I got in a slow and careful 2.5 mile run (which if we are being real is a 2 mile run, .5 mile walk).

Wednesday

Sometimes overhead squats feel like you are dying. Sometimes you feel like you can lift the world. Thankfully I felt pretty good for this workout. The best part? I didn’t even have to do more squats after.

Thursday

Given that more is always better (uhhh or not), I decided to go for a short 2.5 mile run (which ironically is currently the same length as my long run) and followed it up with an hour and 15 minutes of heated power yoga before work. Yoga has been huge in helping me release tight hip flexors and keeping my lower legs loose. The only problem is that standing on one leg really tugs on my tendons and it’s super easy for me to inflame my PTT without realizing it. In this case, tired legs + a fair amount of balance work = unhappy tendons & disappointed Mandy.

Friday

Fridays are for squatting! (I’m trying really hard to make that into a thing. So far no one will join me.) After an hour long CrossFit class I was at it again for my second day of my squat program. I would love to say I was feeling great for this workout, but the truth is that after finding a two rep max power snatch and doing more than 60 pull-ups and dumbbell snatches, I was not feelin’ the squats. It took me almost an hour to get through my front and back squat sets. But I did have a great time sitting and chatting. (Maybe Fridays really are for socializing?)

Saturday

Since I was feeling super energetic the night before (see Friday), I decided it would be a great idea to go for a run and a swim before lunch. I wouldn’t recommend this tactic. It results in homicidal hunger and the inability to get anything else done all day. If you are hoping to take an intense nap, this workout might be for you.

Sunday

I had originally planned on doing another hot power yoga class, but given the state of my body (and my sudden inability to make it through a day without a nap) I decided to skip it and rest my legs. My tendons thanked me… ha. I wish.

Overall stats:

• 2 hours of PT (Mostly stretching and releasing my calves and hips with a lacrosse ball. I did some of my exercises… but not enough)
• 1 sweaty yoga class
• Ran 7.5 miles (and proud of it!)
• 3 hours of CrossFit
• 2 squat sessions for a total of 5.7 tons (over a ton more than the average car) squatted. Ouch.

I’m ready for my comeback.

This past year I’ve had so many ups and downs. So many “I’m almost healed” signs only to have a major setback. So many “we’re going to make it out of this” moments. I’m ready for a full comeback. I’m ready to run without abandon, to stop telling myself to slow down, to hold back. I’m ready to jump and climb and do whatever I damn well please. I’m ready to be fully me.

I’m shifting my focus from being upset about all of the things I can’t do yet to all of the things I should be doing to ensure that I make it back and stay back this time. Heel raises, clam shells, banded exercises, I’m doing it all.

I’m coming back stronger than ever.

I cannot get rid of clutter fast enough these days. I’m so desperate to clear space that I’ve taken to living vicariously through other people’s decluttering (anyone who has ever watched Hoarders knows exactly what I’m talking about. To everyone who has been blogging about cleaning their closets, I thank you).

I’ve been hunting for quick fixes for my current obsession, and getting rid of old running shoes sure hit the spot. I had a pair lazing around under my desk at work that I had reserved for wet, muddy recesses with my coworkers. But after the intense ankle pain I got the last time I wore them, it was time to let them go.

What to do with old running shoes:

1. Reuse them! Hello new gardening, painting, really-messy-activity shoe.

2. If you didn’t wear your shoes for too many miles (every runner has a shoe or two they just didn’t mesh with), donate them to a local charity or drop them off at a MORE Foundation pick-up location. Runner’s World also has a great list of other organizations that match your shoes with a new home.

3. Recycle your beat up kicks into something new. You can drop off your pair (or that random shoe you can’t find the mate for) to a local Nike store where the soles will be shredded and turned into a new track or field.

PS. Don’t forget these tips to make your next pair last longer.

There’s something about running in the rain that makes me incredibly happy. It’s a weird combination of letting your inner child jump in puddles and being a total badass for having a complete disregard for the weather.

I’ve always loved the rain. As much as I love to sit inside with a cup of tea and watch it fall outside, there’s nothing like putting on my running shoes, ditching the music and the watch, and going out to play.

While people panicked like the armageddon was approaching with this recent storm, I had a blast.

Here’s my official PSA: Californians, it’s just a little water. You’ll be okay.

I have a glaring track record with injuries. They all start the same way. I feel amazing. Unstoppable! And then I push too hard and I am completely stopped by an intense, slow-healing form of tendonitis. I’ve done it again and again, and yet I clearly haven’t learned.

The week after the Nike Women’s Half I felt great. My legs felt strong and I was flying high on a great race. I wanted to run further, faster, more often. I started planning how I would up my mileage this winter and all of the great speed workouts I would do. I was so ready to go.

Except that I wasn’t. I forgot the most important part of training – rest. I pushed too hard, too soon after my race and I aggravated the injury I spent four months battling this year already.

Now every step is a reminder of how big of an idiot I am. Instead of doing all of the amazing running I had imagined in my mind, I’m back to doing what feels like endless PT exercises and wanting to cry every time I see someone else running (how dare they run when I have to rest. I want to run!).

Every step is a very real, painful reminder that I need to rest and take care of myself. I don’t have time for denial or trying to push through. (I wish I would have realized that before I played Ultimate Frisbee with my coworkers for an hour. Ouch.) I am going to do all of my exercises. I will rest and treat my ankles and feet with care. I will do contrast baths and hours of mobility work to break up all of the tight, irritated tissue in my calves, ankles, and feet.

But most importantly, I will stop doing this to myself. I will learn to hold back when I want to push 12 times as hard. I will get my legs strong and ready for all of the running I am desperately dreaming about. I will accept where I’m at when I finally get to run again, and I will ease back into everything when my body is ready.

I spent the entire year thinking about running the Nike Women’s SF Half again after running it for my first half last year. I knew it would be my goal race for 2014. When I couldn’t run while I was injured I flip flopped between stressing over not being able to run at all and imagining myself finishing it. I spent months focusing on this one race and making it across the finish line.

After getting extremely dehydrated at my last half in August (and being fairly convinced I was dying), I was nervous I would make a complete mess of this race too. I was fairly conservative with my pacing on the way out and I approached every hill carefully to make sure I didn’t burn myself out by trying to charge up them.

Mentally it’s easier for me to not know when a hill is coming or how long it will last.I honestly didn’t spend too much time looking at the course map before the race. I didn’t realize that this year’s new course had a lot of hills. On Friday one of my coworkers told me he was going to be cheering with November Project SF at the brutal hill at mile 10. (Wait, what hill!?! How long?!?) Throughout the race (and even in the corral before it started) I heard people whining about how hard the hill at mile 10 was going to be, but I couldn’t wait. I knew there would be a huge crew, and I was 100 percent confident that their cheers and my sheer determination would get me up the hill. I actually motivated myself during the race by thinking about how great seeing them all would be.

When I finally made up most what I’m now calling The Hill From Hell, I gave Josh the sweatiest, most disgusting hug, and instead of telling me I was gross, he ran to the top with me. By the time he left me at the top of the hill (with another very moist hug, sorry Josh!), I was feeling recharged and ready to put the last three miles behind me. I let gravity do the hard work and did my best to fly downhill without fighting it.

At this point I was pretty sure I was going to finish feeling better than last time. I still felt strong, my legs were still working, and I didn’t feel like I was going to vomit or collapse at any moment. The course started to be filled with more people cheering, and I tried to focus on all their energy instead of how tired my legs were. (Big thank you to everyone who came out and cheered, especially the people who called me out by name and gave me some much needed energy on the last mile.)

I don’t think I have ever felt so good crossing the finish line. I had an actual finishing kick that made me feel like I was flying (even though I’m pretty sure I looked like I wasn’t even moving to everyone else). I felt strong and proud of how I had raced. I was exhausted, but not sick (a huge accomplishment if you ask me).

Throughout most the race I had a huge smile on my face. I laughed multiple times per mile, and I never once regretted being out there. The spectators were amazing, the volunteers were irreplaceable, and the other runners were pure motivation for me. I love how positive the entire race is. It’s an amazing feeling to be running with so many other women who are out there to challenge themselves and have fun. I’m happy with how I ran SF.

I can’t remember the last time I ran without any pain. No tugging in my calves, no aching in my feet or knees, nothing. This week has me feeling like my old self again (after six months I thought it would never happen. To say I had given up hope is a severe understatement). I had forgotten what it was like to return from a run and feel unstoppable, not falling apart. I was completely taken by surprise this week when I looked down at my watch on a short run and realized my average pace was what it was before I got injured, not to mention that I was running comfortably.

I am looking forward to this month and running strong.

I’m kicking off October with Bridge to Bridge in San Francisco. I’m using the 14k as an easy test run for my goal race, the Nike Women’s Half Marathon that’s only three weeks out! Yikes!

This week I’m amping up the midweek milage to make up for cutting back on my long run (I will end up running 7 point something miles instead of the 12 that’s on my calendar). I decided not to stress about peaking at 10 miles and focus on total milage for the week instead of sweating what I did or didn’t run this weekend. And since my longest run was only 9 miles before SeaWheeze, I feel pretty good about it.