Last week, I attempted to run three miles. 

During my first attempt, I stopped and walked. I couldn’t handle (or thought I couldn’t handle) the hills in my neighborhood. I was angry with myself because I’ve done it before. I almost walked home. I turned the corner and started running again, anyway, just to see what would happen. Another runner was running toward me, a young guy. I always nod or lift a hand to wave to whomever I pass when I’m running. Before I had the opportunity to do so, he extended both of his pointer fingers toward me as if to say, “You go, girl!”

That’s all it took. It immediately lifted my spirits. A young, fit kid was giving me props. It was enough for me to finish the route. I was slow. But I did it all, despite the walks and made it home.

The second run was difficult, too. But I made it three miles without stopping. Despite the fact that it took me 39 minutes. I still didn’t feel ready for the 5k, especially because I’ve have intermittent back pain. Not while running, but in the evening later on or during the day at work.

I told my friend Stacy that I almost considered not doing this 5k… that I though about skipping it entirely. But while I was running, I thought about all of the people who donated to the cause. I thought about all of the dogs who needed adopting. I knew in my heart that I needed to go and support this cause.

Now here’s the part where I hope you aren’t disappointed in me…

I walked the 5k.

I could tell you about all of my excuses. How I woke up with a charlie horse in my left calf. How I didn’t walk the dogs this week, so I wasn’t sure they would be ready and didn’t want to leave Rob behind handling both of them. How after sitting in the grass for an hour my back hurt and I was stiff. I could tell you all those things (okay, so I did) and more.

But I walked it anyway. And you know what?

I had a hard time walking it.

I didn’t do so well. Neither did the pooches. After about a half mile, I could tell they wanted to be done. Pathetic. I felt like a bad doggie momma not walking them enough. Then I tried to think of the positive things instead.

• Now I had the chance to walk again with Rob. It’s been one of our favorite things to do together when I was doing the LOST Virtual Race Series.
• At least I was walking this thing. I know we would have been catching up on episodes of Downton Abbey on the couch if we hadn’t!
• And I also knew that walking is the best thing for my back.

I do have to say that I was really surprised by how small this event was. I knew it was going to be small, but not this small. I think Rob counted six runners. {It wasn’t timed.} But you know what? It was more about the dogs. My favorite was the kissing booth! You could get puppy kisses for just $1.

I did expect more staff, too. I thought they would recognize alumni or do an adoption announcement with the pets needing to be adopted. None of that happened. But what do I know? I’ve never organized one of these things. I truly wasn’t looking for recognition for adopting Shamrock. It was more that I think when you show those things, people’s hearts fill with joy and they may be inspired to do the same. I will say that when we parked ourselves in the grass about an hour before the walk, we loved passing the time watching all of the other dogs and their owners, occasionally letting our dogs interact with some of them.

I also felt that they gave away too much. There were a lot of items in our goodie bags, although I’m sure they were most likely donated. They offered free t-shirts and hats with suggested donations of $10 and $5 respectively. That’s it! And they served lunch – barbecued sandwiches, potato chips, cookies and pop. Yes, I’m sure – donated. But there were donation boxes set up everywhere. Honestly, I just wanted to give, give, give to make this not only a better event, but so they could raise so much more money! It’s such a good cause and we would never have that wonderful new addition to our family without it.

So, in terms of running, in terms of fitness, what now? I’m not really sure. I’m thinking I should back off on running. I don’t think I should be experiencing back pain again. After the walk, I iced and napped. And I’ve gained 12 lbs since the surgery. But I have to start somewhere.

Since I haven’t tried hard enough to incorporate all of the things I need to, I’m going to start simple. And since walking is the best thing for my back, my goal is to walk a minimum of one mile every day no matter what. I can surely do that. My plan is to do that through the end of this year.

What I want to do is finish the LOST Virtual Races. Joe has added four more races to reflect the last Stations of the LOST Dharma Initiative. I wanted to run them. I need some sort of goal.

Or maybe I’ll start with the 7 miles of walking the first week and increase 10% every week.

And I need to strengthen my core.

There’s a lot I need to do, but I’m going to start with the walking, until I can wrap my head around everything. Until I can get past the fact that I’m not where I was pre-surgery and I can formulate a real plan.

Now it’s time for:

Last week…

Food:

• Monday – Pork Chops with Veg – It was a 100 degrees. Rob didn’t want me heating up the house. He called an audible and we went to Roasted Pear for half-price wine night and pizza.
• Tuesday – Hot dogs (Nathans) & Veggie – I reheated some leftover green beans and added some pesto.
• Wednesday – Chicken Taco Skillet (with beef) – I went with the Bertolli’s bag meal this night. These are only in our freezer for last-minute, I-feel-too-busy-and-emotionally-drained-but-it’s-better-than-eating-out nights.
• Thursday– Chili or Bag Meal – Our plans changed. Rob had a Happy Hour planned with the boys. It just so happened that I had last minute plans with the girls, too. My friend Jen picked up a Papa Murphy’s Herb Chicken Mediterranean deLITE pizza. So good.  We had grapes for dessert. This night also doubled as a puppy play-date for Sophie, Shamrock and Sohpie’s old pal Finnegan.
• Friday – Healthy Take-out – Another audible. I stopped at the grocery store and was about to call Rob to find out what he wanted when he called me to find out where I was. He had already made plans to meet a couple of friends at Sul Lago. I wasn’t about to complain. I will say that it’s the first time I ordered the scallops there and they were crazy good. The crisp salad on the side was so refreshing, too. I will definitely get those again!
• Saturday – Walk FUR Love 5k. Dinner out – most likely here. You’ll see a post this week on where we went instead!
• Sunday – Packer Game Day at the Buffalo Tap. Another post on that this week.
• Breakfasts – Magic Smoothies, Overnight Oats, Granola with Milk, Peanut Butter Toast
• Lunches – Leftovers (Lasagna Soup!) and Snack Lunches

Fitness:

• Monday – Walk on treadmill and/or pilates/yoga. Nothing. It was 100 degrees. No excuse.
• Tuesday – Run 30 minutes – I didn’t do very well with this one. See above. I think I stopped running at about 28 minutes before I started walking. But I kept going.
• Wednesday – Pilates/Yoga, walk one dog around the block
• Thursday – Run 30 minutes – Run 3 miles. Completed! YAY!
• Friday – Walk one dog around the block (Rest Day)
• Saturday – 5k Race (walked)
• Sunday – Nothing

So let’s look at what’s in store for this week:

Food:

• Monday – Three Cheese Lasagna Skillet
• Tuesday – Black Bean Burger (cooking for one after getting my hair done) with Caprese Salad
• Wednesday – Pork Chops with Pesto Green Beans
• Thursday – A variation of these Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
• Friday – Poker night! It’s the first of the season and we are expecting 22 people. Rob plans on going to Happy Hour. Sometimes I go, sometimes I don’t. It’s always a last minute decision (based on what I have left to clean!) There’s always something healthy at the Mediterranean Cruise Cafe, but if I don’t go, there’s plenty that I can eat at home, too.
• Saturday – Dinner out with the girls. It’s my turn to pick and I’ve chosen Barrio. I’ve never been there. What would you choose?
• Sunday – Another Packer Game we can’t watch at home. There are only four this year, but the first two happen to be back to back. Will we go back to the Buffalo Tap? We have a few other options. Not because we don’t love the Tap, but because it can get spendy!
• Breakfasts – 90-Second Breakfast Sandwiches, granola with greek yogurt, Magic Smoothies, and/or Peanut Butter Toast
• Lunches – Leftovers and Snack Lunches

Fitness:

See my notes above. This week’s goal is to walk one mile every day. That’s it.

How do you adapt when you can seem to do what you used to do?

Cheers~
Carrie