Nature Study

Occasionally, we actually get out and do a few nature sketches.  Nature drawing gives us the opportunity to really gaze at the plant and appreciate each tiny detail.  The shape of the petals, the exact shade of green, how the center exists and the petals appear to float from it.  

April in Texas is a beautiful time for this as the temps are perfect and everything is fully in bloom.

One of my favorite plants is the Star Jasmine that we planted several years ago.  It is such a fragrant flower.  It's scent fills the air all around the house!  

I love how simple this little flower is.  Do not let it's size fool you.  It may be small but it is a hardy plant surviving the worst winters and the harsh summers including droughts, hurricanes, and insects providing weeks of beautiful fragrance and beauty to let us know that the Earth has once again returned to life!

Hearken to this, O Job! Stand and consider the wondrous works of God! 

                                                      Job 37:14

Focus

After dealing with my last "injury", costochondritis, I have had a hard time finding my focus, specifically, my focus to running.

I miss running the longer miles, but the motivation to run long solo isn't really there right now.  I suppose this is ok as I don't have anything coming up until October.  I'm sure my legs are enjoying the time to repair and prepare for what will be coming up in the next month or so.

I have been spending more time in the pool and on the bike to add some variety to my training and get some use out of some muscles that usually stay fairly dormant.

Swimming has been a welcome addition.  I find myself really aching to hit the pool for some laps when I miss my normal times.  Cycling isn't something I can say I have enjoyed as much, but since a friend has loaned a very nice bike to me, I can see myself enjoying it more than before.  I find this very interesting because I came to running from spinning!  I did spin classes consistently for almost 2 years before I tried running.  I decided to try running and if I was able to complete a 3 month block of running, I would treat myself to a real bike.  Once I ran my first 5k, I was completely hooked on running and though I did buy myself a mountain bike, I have not really ridden it as much as I thought I would.

I have a new-found appreciation for cyclists now.  It's not as easy as I thought it looked, nor as easy as I recall it to be.  Even now, when I spin at the Y, my pace is much faster than when on the road.  The resistance of the street and the wind truly make my ride a serious workout!

Attempting to run off the bike proves challenging.  My legs feel as they have never before.  Almost as if they belong to someone else.  It seems as though I am running through cement, but when I review my pace after the run, I am quite shocked to see that my pace is faster than I typically run.  Maybe I should ride a bike before every run?!

As I muster up the focus required to get back into the ultra training, I am enjoying doing other workouts that only seem to break down more and more barriers I had previously set on myself.

One thing I know for sure, I will not back down from a challenge out of fear anymore.  Desire, definitely, but fear, that doesn't live here anymore.

Easter Triduum Begins as does the Divine Mercy Novena

Today we remember the Crucifixion of Our Lord. There never has been a greater sacrifice made as the one made by Christ for each one of us. How appropriate that we are asked to also participate in the Novena to the Divine Mercy. 

"For by His stripes, we are healed."

May you each have a Blessed and Holy Triduum.

Divine Mercy Novena - First Day

HOW TO RECITE THE CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY

Jesus asked that this Feast of the Divine Mercy be preceded by a Novena of Chaplets to the Divine Mercy which would begin on Good Friday. Say one chaplet each day following the novena intention. In her diary, St. Faustina wrote that Jesus told her:

"On each day of the novena you will bring to My Heart a different group of souls and you will immerse them in this ocean of My mercy... On each day you will beg My Father, on the strength of My passion, for the graces for these souls. By this novena I will grant every possible grace to souls." (Diary 1209, 796)

"Today bring to Me All Mankind, especially all sinners and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges me."

"Today bring to Me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of My mercy. In this way you will console Me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges Me."

Most Merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us and to forgive us, do not look upon our sins but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from It. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His sorrowful Passion show us Your mercy, that we may praise the omnipotence of Your mercy for ever and ever. Amen.

Mom

It's hard to believe that you went home 7 years ago today.  If only I knew how strong you really were, how deeply you really loved, and how driven you were to stay with us.  If only I had known to ask you all of those questions that have come up since then.  If only.

You are the reason I am who I am today.  You are my example of strength and passion.  You loved life so much and you have passed that joy and commitment to live each day I am given as if it were my last.

I miss you so much and I look forward to the day we can be together again.  Until that time, I will be honoring your memory by making you proud of who I have become in spite of my earlier efforts to mess things up in a big way.  I will raise your grandchildren and great-grandchildren to remember you as a woman of dignity and honor.  And I will run.  For you.

Lynne

September 29, 1942 - March 28, 2005

Comeback?

Seems I am feeling a bit better this week, and I am so thankful!  A DM friend mentioned a condition that she had Costochondritis and I believe that ultimately, this is what I am dealing with here.  Dislocation just doesn't seem quite right and the x ray showed no discernable fractures.

Yesterday I was pain-free almost the entire day.  Today, I had a slight increase, but not nearly as painful as I was last week.  Feeling good and having to take things easy is difficult for me, but I am trying as hard as I can to listen to my body and let it guide me towards a complete healing.

39 days til my first tri. 

Sidelines

Not sure what is more frustrating, having an injury directly related to running that prevents me from running or having an injury that has nothing to do with running that won't allow me to do much of anything.   Pretty sure it is the latter.  And to add insult to injury, the best weather of the entire year is currently upon us and I am sitting on the sidelines.  Kind of.

My times of injury or illness allow for me to catch up on other things around the house, such as cleaning, re-organizing, decluttering, gardening, etc.  All those things that go by the wayside when I'm heavy into training.  I'll admit it, I even forgo grocery shopping some weeks because I have too much to fit in on any given day.

This week has been a real challenge to me with not being able to do much in the way of training.  I find it very strange that although I am really missing running, even more, I miss swimming!  I can't even wrap my head around that.  Swimming is not something I do to "train", rather, it is something I do to "relax" or "stretch out" from the miles and miles of running I put on my body.  A year ago, I was fearful of swimming and did everything I could to avoid the activity.  Now, I long for it.

So, no running, no swimming, no push ups, no pull ups, no dips, no upper body strengthening, no yoga.  I am determined to find something I can do.  I try spinning in the gym and it goes OK.  30 mins twice this week and I didn't die.  I didn't find much excitement in it, but it was something and in a week with no running, I have 24 miles on the books.  I like that.

I have been doing lunges and squats without weights.  I meant to try the stair climber, but I just can't bring myself to do it.  Maybe later today.

I have also been attacking several of the closets and cupboards in the home.  One such cupboard is my "Tupperware" cupboard.  I honestly have about 3 pieces of Tupperware, so why I call it this, I have no idea.  I suppose it sounds better than "my Gladware cupboard."   Tupperware.  What a strange word.  Say it a few times.  Go ahead.  Weird.  Isn't it.  Did someone named Tupper create the stuff?

Before.  The bane of my existence, second only to my garage.

This cupboard is my horrible little secret.  I don't show just anyone this stuff.  People might judge me.  But I trust all of you.  That much.  Boo and I got to work on this mess one night after dinner.  He helped  to get rid of anything that didn't have a matching lid or was unnecessary.  We even recycled the items we culled from the pile.

After.  Taking bets on how long this lasts.

I have decided that there are a few things in my life that reflect my current mental state.  This cupboard is one of those things. My purse is the other, as is the piles of laundry awaiting folding and hanging.  If any of these areas are a mess, I can guarantee I am too busy.  I am going to attempt to use my newly organized cabinet as a barometer of my state in life.  Is that enough to commit me?

Several other areas in the house have been attacked with force, I just did not, (fortunately for you, my dear readers), think to take pictures before and after. 

I've been feeling pretty happy with my household accomplishments and then had a nice reality check this morning....

Lentils.

The dogs even gave up after about 15 minutes of straight feast time.  The drawer on the left was pulled open by Fish mid-way through clean up and broken, but not enough to clean out the Lentils that are under said drawer.  24 hours later, I am still avoiding the complete dismantling of my refrigerator to clean it all up and instead I am vying for a new refrigerator.  I mean seriously, who can live with a broken vegetable drawer?!

I hope these ribs heal soon.

On the Mend...Again

The last few weeks since the marathon have been filled with lots of fun things, most notably, having my daughter and her wonderful boyfriend home for spring break and serving on a retreat team for the women in my parish.
I awoke last Thursday to some pretty significant pain in my chest, more exacting, my ribs.  Just below the clavicle.  At first, I thought it was a pulled muscle of some kind.  Then after taking a brief run and realizing I couldn't breathe, I started thinking perhaps the rib was broken or cracked.
This seemed quite unusual as I have no idea how this "injury" occurred, so a trip to the doctor to rule out things bigger than I care to imagine, (since my cancer scare 18 months ago, I suppose I have been a bit paranoid about these things) appeared to be in order.
I was able to get in to see the doctor on Monday and had several xrays taken.  In the end, a fracture could not be seen, but also, could not be ruled out because of it's possible location.  The 2nd and 3rd ribs are very point tender.
Doc seems to think that I have somehow managed to dislocate or possibly even tear the costal cartilage joint on the 2nd and 3rd rib.  The good news is that there was no other disease processes noted.

The injury is on the 2nd and 3rd rib, where the blue (cartilage) meets the white (bone). 

This Doc isn't my usual doctor and so I thought of every question I would have to run through with him to see what I could get away with training-wise.
He had my number.  I think my usual Doc must have my chart marked up with all kinds of commentary...
He told me... NO PUSHUPS!  Then proceeded to tell me that I can do anything else I wanted as long as it didn't cause pain or affect my breathing
Smarty-pants.  He knew that anything I do causes pain and affects my breathing.  He actually even made me jump up and down in the office so he could show me what he meant.  Creep.  :)
Good guy, really.  He wants me to rest for a week and see how it feels.  If it isn't remarkably better then he will follow up accordingly.
I went home, determined to rest.  I'm in an off-season of sorts, no problem.  Lies.  I can't rest.  I'm a freak.  I'm an idiot.  I even belong to the Idiot's Running Club.  There is no way possible for me to truly follow doctor's orders.  So I began organizing every cabinet in the kitchen.  Then I had might sights on the garage.  I started moving things around in there and realized, there is no way I could do it with the use of the left side of my upper body.  And I couldn't convince the kids to help me. Dang it.
I did weed out all of our vegetable beds and re-plant the remaining plants from last season.  You can do pretty well with a one-armed raking and shoveling technique!
Monday night, I could not settle down to sleep.  I was up till 3 am culling through our homeschooling curriculum and re-writing everything or the last 7 weeks of the school year.
Tuesday morning came, quite early I might add, and I decided to see if there was ANYTHING I could do.  We headed to PE and I hopped into the pool for an "easy" swim.
After 200 yards, I knew I had to quit as the turning of my head to the right side caused a lot of popping in the chest.  I finished up 400 yards and headed into the gym to try the spin bike.
10 miles in 21 minutes, but I am not able to assume the correct position on the bike because the breathing and angle of the chest causes quite a bit of pain.
After the bike, I jumped on the treadmill for a .25 run to shake out the legs and see if that felt any better.  Nope.  Done.
I came home and felt ok that I had done something, but was quite disappointed that I really can't do any of my workouts without jeopardizing the healing.
I tried some lunges and realized that I can do those as long as I don't incorporate weights.  I also plan to try to walk on the tm on an incline and maybe even try the stair climber.  We will see if any of these things can be accomplished without pain.
One thing I have realized, I don't think I will ever really embrace a true off-season.  Maybe my mileage will drop off a bit, but to stop all training after my racing season ends just isn't in the cards for me.  I like this because I understand that I don't do any of what I do for the race experience.  I do it for the level of enjoyment I derive from it.  I do it to clear my mind.
There are many more worse things that I could be dealing with, and many others ARE dealing with, so I refuse to feel sorry for myself.  I am trying to direct my energies to positive things that I CAN do while waiting for this thing to work itself out.  (talk to me in a week...I may change my mind by then and be ready for a good whining session...)
Get out and do what you can today!  Whatever it is.  And do it with Joy in your heart!