It's a Glute Thing

 Thank you for all the great advice you shared with me after my last post. 

After much conversation and reading, it was pretty clear to me that I was dealing with an IT band issue. Mr. RWM thought I should seek professional help as soon as it started. I was determined to fix this on my own. I rolled, stretched, rested, etc. After a few weeks, I felt better. Better enough to run. 

BRF#1 met me on Friday morning for what I was hoping would be a nice and easy three miles. We took it slow and I felt really good. There really wasn't any pain, but my hip was letting me know it was still there. It didn't hurt enough to stop. Honestly, it didn't really hurt at all. If you asked me what it felt like on a scale of 1 to 10, I would have said 1 or whatever is close to 1. 

I thought maybe I was ok, but as the morning went on, it felt worse and worse. I finally gave in. I called my PT, and they got me in late that afternoon. 

I explained what was going on and what I thought it was. We talked a bit and he examined me. It is a glute issue that is causing my IT band to act up. 

So a plan is in place. I will see him twice a week, do "homework" and I will still run a few days a week. I am going to continue to train for my half in May. My PT and I truly believe that is possible. I will see him up to six weeks, hopefully less. I really want it to be less...

He did mention dry needling. I have never done this before, but after some reading and watching videos, it seems like it may help. If you have used this technique, please tell me about your experience. 

Good article here. 

I will keep you updated on my progress and how training is going. The actual start date for half marathon training is February 13. Hoping to be a lot better by then. Keep your fingers crossed for me. 

Till next time,

RWM

To the Hip, Hip Hop, and You Don’t Stop

 I hurt my hip.

 Or maybe, my hip just hurts? Is there a difference?

The girls and I ran our annual Christmas Eve run.  It was cut short due to our faces freezing off and no one wanted frost bite for Christmas. We ran 2.5 miles and took a bunch of pictures. My hip did not hurt.

My next run was December 29th.  I met BRF#1 for what was going to be five plus miles. 

When I woke up that morning, my hip was sore. Not painful, just sore, like I banged into something, which I did not. I am fairly certain, I do not sleep walk. 

Once we got started, it was clear that running was not helping it. We walked some, but I was determined to push through. I have a high tolerance for pain. This, to me, was not pain, just uncomfortable. We walked some and when we hit 4.77 miles, I finally gave up on the running and we walked to the car. That night, it stiffened up quickly when I was still, and it hurt to get up and walk. I looked like I needed a walker as I moved around.

Of course I decided to rest it. Took some ibuprofen, stretched. Well, I didn't stretch that much.  Does any runner?

This brings me to January 5th. Happy New Year, by the way! 

BRF#1 met me at my house for a run. It did not go well.... I tried.  We ran a mile before I needed to walk, and then I needed to walk more. I cried when I got home. Not from pain, but from frustration. I am a better person when I run in the morning. I am a happier person when I run in the morning. I have clarity when I run in the morning. I am sane when I run in the morning. You get the picture. Me + running makes my world a better place. 

Mr. RWM told me not to wait and just go see someone. I am thinking rest would just make it go away. I hate running off the doctor so quickly if it is something I can fix on my own. One of us is right... 

So... While I am resting, I have decided to turn to you and ask about your hip issues. Are they running related, or did you have a fall or accident? Did they come out of nowhere and for no reason? How did you deal?

My sane brain cells have told me that you should never get your medical advice from the internet. If you have followed my blog and know me, then you know there are a few more crazy brain cells than sane ones. 

Here is the breakdown. My hip is sore, not really painful, but some discomfort/pain when I ran. After I ran, the soreness stayed. It's not bad at all now that I have rested but I can feel it if I sit or lie on it too long. It can be a little stiff when getting up.  What does this sound like to you? What would you do if you were me? What kind of walkers do you recommend? Is Mr. RWM right? Is my half marathon in danger? Inquiring minds want to know. Are you old enough to laugh at the last sentence? 

I do hope you all had a wonderful holiday and that your new year is off to a better start than mine. 

Till next time, my friends, 

RWM

I was funny at times. I was emotional at times. I was victorious at times!

 As some of you may remember, you have to subscribe to my blog to get it in your email. I am guessing some of you were surprised to see it pop up and some of you may have no idea I am blogging again. 

On today's run, I mentioned to BRF#1 that I was blogging. Or, at least, that I wrote two new ones and will probably write more.  She didn't know I had published two, and that got us talking about me writing again. 

She said she was going to read some of the past blogs, kiddingly saying, "to remember that I used to run."

I told her that I read a bunch just to remember also. It was great going down memory lane. The good, the bad and the GREAT! I said I laughed and cried a little reading some of the past blogs. Then I said, I was funny at times, emotional at times, and victorious at times. Wow, I loved that. That prompted me to tell her that will be the name of my next blog. We laughed, and then BRF#1, who knew I may forget what I just said, took out her phone and voiced texted those words to me. 

Why do we blog? For me, it was a few things. I wanted to keep a sort of diary of all the things I was doing as a mother, runner, person. I was never good at writing, or keeping track of my daily activities. However, blogging and publishing some of my thoughts got other people involved and it was more of a conversation for me. I am a social person, I love to be around people, so this seemed more natural to me. 

I never really thought that anyone would actually read it. I figured my mom would and a few friends, but I eventually had people reading from all over the world. I was shocked! I especially loved reading your comments. I even made real life friends because of them. Beth was one of them. I miss her. 

I guess blogging opened up my world a bit. I like that. I'm not sure that I will reach the same amount of people as a few years ago, and that isn't really why I want to blog. None the less, if you come back, I would be honored. 

BRF#1 and I ran just finished up 4.17 miles. They were great miles. Happy to be with her. Very happy that she knows me well enough to text me the thoughts I have on my runs. You know, just in case I forget, which I did. She has my back. I have hers. That's all I have to say about that. 

BRF#1 and I on yesterday's 5.37 mile run

My happy miles socks from Another Mother Runner worn on today's run. Cute, right?

Till next time,

RWM

Black Friday

 Hello again!

I am happy you liked my last post. I appreciate all the "Welcome backs!" and love you shared with me. I missed this. More than I thought. 

I hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving. We celebrated at our home with 11 of my most favorite people. It's not my favorite meal, certainly not a meal I enjoy cooking, but my family loved it and that is all that matters.  

I woke up Thanksgiving morning, had coffee, got the turkey in the oven and then headed out for a 5 1/2 mile run. I actually headed out for a five mile run, but sometimes you miss calculate...

None the less, I earned my pie!

This brings me to Black Friday. Actually, it brings me to the Tuesday before Black Friday. It seems, now a days, Black Friday sales start before the real Black Friday and go through Christmas. I have only shopped on Black Friday once. I didn't love it but every year I say I am going to do it. Every year, I don't.  Maybe next year...

As I said in the last post, BRF#1 wanted to run the Providence marathon. I told her I would do the half, and she was good with that. However, neither of us actually pulled the trigger to sign up. Tuesday, I got an email offering Black Friday pricing for the half and the full marathon. I forwarded the email to BRF#1. Ten minutes later, I got a text saying she registered. Stupid Black Friday. I texted back, "I'll register after I finish the Thanksgiving prep." 

So there you have it folks, I will be running the Providence Half Marathon in May. I am really excited for the new hoodie to run the race.

I feel like having this goal will also keep me writing and talking with you. That I am truly excited for. 

So tell me, do you shop on Black Friday? 

Till next time, my friends. 

RWM

I'm Back! Maybe...

 Well hello there!!

Maybe you are not there, not sure. Hello?

It has seriously been a long time. So long that the last time I wrote was May19, 2016. 

2016, WTF!

Actually, that is not entirely true. I wrote a post on April 26, 2021. I never published it. The post was about losing Beth Runs In RI, and why I was running the Mt. Washington Road Race. It was a good post, you all would have enjoyed it. I should have published it, and now feel bad I didn't. Maybe that would have been the beginning of me writing and talking with you again. Maybe it would have been one and done. We can't say for sure now, so let's just see where this takes us.

I had a job. I loved it. I quit it. Not going into the reasons here, at least not yet, but I miss it. However I love running more. While I was working, I was not really running. Weight came on quick, fitness was lost even quicker. I would sometimes sit at my desk, literally dreaming about running. I hated driving to work and seeing all the runners, especially on a beautiful, sun-shiny morning. My heart ached for the miles. I also discovered a thyroid issue and half of my thyroid has been removed. That can also be a blog on its own, but not right now. 

I wasn't totally just sitting on my you know what. I did run, walk and I even ran a few races. I kept up with the Newport Bridge Race and just this past October, I ran it for the 11th time. 

Bam Bam and I Watching the Sun Rise

Beautiful Morning

At the finish

BRF#1 and I are getting out daily. I'm starting to feel like myself again, and my focus is on losing the weight. I don't see that as being a problem, just looking for it come off faster than it is. I am not patient that way. 

On our run about a week ago, BRF#1 said she got an email about the Providence Marathon. She was really interested in the hoodie that you would get if you signed up. So many things I want to say here because the first reaction was to smile. Smile because this is how we used to be, how it should be, why we work so well together. When you have a friend who wants to run 26.2 miles for a sweatshirt, you are probably going to join her, at least for the half. It's just how we do things. 

Are we signed up? No. Is it a possibility? Yes. Are we crazy? Perhaps. However, crazy with a friend is better than crazy alone. So here we go. We are going to run and see where it takes us. I may or may blog about it. Maybe you can let me know your thoughts...

Till next time, my friends. 

Nicole 

A Recent Pic of BRF#1 and I

Broad Street Run, Race Day

The first alarm went off at 4:45. My first thought was, "Why does it have to be so early!"

We all started to slowly move. I looked out the window and it didn't seem to be raining.

Yet.

We ate, got dressed and headed down to the lobby to meet our team for 5:45.

It was raining.

In the lobby.

We walked to the subway which was already crowded.  We were on it for, I think, twenty minutes. It felt like a life time. The stop we got off was just a couple blocks to our D-Nation tent. The beauty of being part of this team was the tent, the food, the water, the gels, private porta potties and personal bag check.

Subway station silliness.

Because the rain was so bad, most people huddled under the tent which made it very difficult to move around.  I really just wanted to start running and was getting annoyed at all the standing around.

Pre-race picture.

Our corrals were color coded and again, one of the really nice things about our tent, it was placed at the starting line.  I learned from last year that I didn't have to actually line up in our corral, we could just walk to the start when our color toed the line.

Will and Stephanie

Me and Stephanie

Brandi, Stephanie, Jeremy

Packed like sardines!

Andy, Larry, Stephanie

Linda being interviewed.

Larry being interviewed.

Brandi and I

Because of the rain, one of the D-Nation volunteers gathered each color together by waving a corresponding flag and walked us to the start. It was very nice!

We cheered on the first runners and I waited patiently until the yellow flag was flying. When we got to the opening of the fence to get in, the very tail end of the gray corral was running past us. And then I saw three pink bibs, which were supposed to be in the last corral, pass us. That was my green light. With enough room for us to get in, I said to Therese and Brandi, "Let's go." Honestly, I couldn't wait another minute.

Because we were in the very back of the gray corral, there was a lot of room. We didn't go out too fast and we weren't being held up because it was too crowded like last year.

Brandi is a coach and she really wanted to help me reach my PR. I was happy to have her there. Therese was my saving grace at Philly and I was just so happy to have her running with me again.  I wanted a PR, but this is a really fun race and I still wanted to have fun.  You all know me, I talk. So I started up a conversation mostly to get to know Brandi better. I literally only met her the night before.

I am guessing it is hard to "coach" someone you don't know.  What was great was she kept me focused on running. I rarely looked at my watch and didn't need to. She knew exactly where we were, where we were going, and how we needed to get there. She was perfect at keeping me on pace.

I started the race with my rain poncho on. Why not stay as dry as possible for as long as you can, right? When it came time to toss it, she took it from me so I could keep running straight and not have to dodge people to get it to the side of the road.  I really appreciated that and know she will be successful as a coach.

Pretty much the start of the race.

I have to say, the people cheering were awesome despite the rain. My favorite sign of the day read, "There is a 30% chance that it is raining right now."

I ran really well for the first four miles with a fuel plan of taking a gel at miles four and seven.

Mile one,  10:28
Mile two,  10:26
Mile three, 10:31
Mile four,  10:32

Mile five you have to go around city hall. It seems the road got more crowded here.  We had to dodge a few people. It was my slowest mile, 10:43.

Clearly, having a good time.

Beautiful day!

Pretty sure, we have the best bottoms and socks on the course.

Love this pic of Andy and Will with our Sub 30 Flag.

I think that fueled me for mile six. I picked it up and ran a 10:09.  I guess we were still chatting. I think I talked about growing up in Philadelphia and I know I told them I may get emotional when we pass my old neighborhood.  Mile seven, I slowed back down to a 10:28 pace. Not really sure why but I do know in my head I was going over the last three miles and how I wanted to run them.

I wanted to finish strong and also negative split the last part of the race.  I do know I looked at my watch and the girls said to just focus on running. I know I sneaked a peek a couple times and even ran ahead a bit before getting hit with "traffic."

Mile eight was back to a 10:30.  But Brandi knew and let me know that a PR was in the bag baring any major hiccup. I felt I still needed to run faster though.

At this part of the race, it started to get crowded.  The last three corrals, gray, yellow and pink, are the biggest ones. Even though we technically started in gray, people were slowing down. Some were even walking. It was so challenging getting around everyone but we managed and mile nine we ran a 10:02.

Brandi or Therese or maybe it was both of them said, "One more mile!"  I knew from last year that running on the left appeared to be less crowded, plus we run past our team tent and people may be there cheer us on.  That is where we ran the last mile.

I felt good mentally and physically. I knew I could continue to run well. With the finish line in sight, I was all smiles.  Mile ten, 9:55.

I have to tell you, we hit the mat and traffic stopped. I had to push, very nicely, two girls out of the way to make sure I got across it.  This is the problem with 43,000 runners.

Therese, Brandi and I hugged and took some pictures.  My official finish time was 1:44:32.  That is a 1:26 PR. Remember though, I thought my PR was 1:48. At this point, I thought I had a four minute PR and I told everyone!

Finish line!

Immediately after stopping, we got cold. This is the worst part of the race and where they really lose me. You are in a traffic jam for at least ten minutes before you get water, food and medal.  Once we got into the field and headed to our tent, we finally saw a volunteer handing out heat sheets.  In my very humble opinion, on a day like that, that should have been one of the first things we got, especially with the slow moving crowd.

Warm in the tent.

Once back to the tent, it was so nice to see other team members and hear about their races and PR's. We had a lot! Finally in dry clothes, (thank you D-nation for the changing tents) we got food.  While we were eating, one of our teammates and my roommate was calling to say she was lost.  Well, forty minutes later, we got Emily to the tent and in dry clothes. Honestly though, that should have never happened. There needs to be a better way. More signs and higher signs would be a good start.

From there we did the trek to the train station. I remembered that the walk was long, so I packed an umbrella with me. One of my better decisions.

We packed in like sardines on the last express train. I didn't really feel warm again until after my shower.

The plan was to meet in the pub at two and celebrate and talk about our races.  More on that in the next blog...

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole

Nice Try, See You Next Year!

As most of you know, for the last five years, I have run the Narrow River 5K.  It was one of my first 5K's when I was a new runner.  It is just a few miles from my home and I run part of the course daily. It has a small field, with prizes just for the overall first place finishers and first place age group finishers. I love small, local races in this beautiful town that I live in. I guess that is why I keep going back year after year.

The course is not easy. It has a few challenging hills and it starts at 10am.  It is also the height of allergy season for me, which has it's own set of issues. Leading up to the race, there was talk of cool weather and rain. Something I knew would be good for me. We had been doing hills and I felt ready to reach my goal of sub 30.  I wasn't going for a 5K PR, which BTW is 29:42, just sub 30.

BRF#1 finds it curious that I have picked this race as my goal race each year. Maybe I like a challenge? Maybe I just don't know any better? Maybe I am blinded by the fact that I know the course?  Whatever the case, I show up every year.  I am never registered because that gives me an out. An out I have never taken. This year was no different.

Michelle, who coached me to a twenty six minute PR at my last marathon, has always been someone I have felt comfortable talking to when I needed running advice.  As I was putting my race plan together, I had questions about warm up miles, which I know are important and I didn't want any mistakes.  After talking with her, the plan was two slow miles and a few strides at the end.  Race pace should be 9:35 or better.

I fell asleep fine, but was up at 4am. I had a very hard time falling back to sleep. I eventually did but was up before the alarm. Despite the lack of sleep, I felt good.  I had a nice breakfast and time with the family before I had to head down to the beach. To my disappointment, it had stopped raining and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful day, if I wasn't racing.

George came with me. I knew he would have friends there and would be ok while I was running.  Once I registered and he was off playing with friends, I headed out for my two mile warm up. I paced myself perfectly but it got hot fast.  Back in the parking lot, I grabbed water and stretched while I waited for my shuttle to take me to the starting line.

Special K was there and running the 10K and it was so great to chat with her until my shuttle left.

Special K, Me and Jennifer

Smiling before the race.m

I was on the last shuttle, so by the time I got to the start, I had just eight minutes to spare. Michelle was there. We talked about how hot it was already and how that may be a problem.  We wished each other a good race and the horn went off.

I decided to listen to music, which I don't normally do. I thought something fast and loud would help me keep the pace I wanted.  I realized, about twenty seconds in, that I was behind Michelle and was running an 8:35 pace.  I needed to slow down and get on track. I found the pace that was good for me and settled in.

The first hill is not very big and I kept on pace.  There was a water stop but I didn't feel thirsty and I didn't want to take the time anyway.

I was starting to really warm up and the sun was beating down on me.  My watch buzzed and mile one was finished, 9:37.

Feeling good at the start of mile two, I am not sure what really happen, but things started to go wrong. I started to slow down and I struggled up the second hill.  Once up the hill, I had to talk myself down from the ledge. I was on flat land with a a big downhill coming up. I knew I could make up time there. I picked up my pace and flew down the hill.  On flat land again, my watch buzzed for mile two, 10:07.  That can't be good.  Doing the math in my head, I knew I had to run faster than planned to make that up.

Much faster than planned.

I didn't want to let anyone down. I told myself that if I reached my goal, I would never have to run this race again.  With the last hill in sight, I ran my heart out. I grabbed a cup of water to dump on my head but didn't even slow down.  Mile three buzzed on my watch, 9:44. I saw the finish and the clock already read 30:xx. I didn't make it.

I didn't make it.

George was put to work taking the tags from our bids. I gave him mine and he hugged me.  I didn't cry this year, but I did get angry.  I got water and a few orange slices then headed back to the finish to cheer on Special K and a few other friends.

I held it together. It was nice to talk to so many friends and cool down.  Then I saw the official results.

30:38, which was a 9:53 pace.  Sixth in my AG,  and twenty second female.

Not even a course record.

I know there is a lot to be proud of. I still ran a decent race and I never gave up, although the thought crossed my mind, twice. Once I knew I wasn't going to make my goal, I had to keep trying.  There is always a chance, right? I can honestly say, I left it all out there. I did what I could and gave it everything I had.

Finishers!

Will I run this race next year? Probably, but I am not saying yes or no right now. A lot can happen in a year.  I am working on a 5K plan now with a new PR in mind for the end of the summer.  I will keep you posted on that as it all comes together.

Thanks for lending me your ear. I am disappointed but that is a part of life. It is what will fuel me to eventually reach my goal.

For those of you waiting for more about Broad Street, it's coming. I just needed a little closure on this years Narrow River.

Run Strong, Think Big! ~ Nicole