Octobers and Running

In case you missed it... it's fall and it was October. (I started writing this post in October, and now it's November. That's the pace things get done around her currently.) Anyways, you can tell it's fall because the internets are exploding with OMG PUMPKIN SPICE LATTES AND BOOTS AND SWEATERS. Which are all nice things (I've never had a PSL and the baby weight isn't doing me any favors with the sweaters) but for, me Octobers (and Novembers!) mean marathons and running. If you've been on Pinterest like ever in the last month, I'm sure you came across this Anne of Green Gables quote, which I think sums up the way the internet feels about fall very well.

The fall after Finley and Braden were born I ran marathons--Marine Corps after Finley and Richmond after Braden. They were slow, lovely marathons. Races where I wasn't trying to qualify for anything, just trying to get myself back in shape and get running.  I began a struggle with my Achilles during my training for Chicago last year and hoped that taking time off during my pregnancy would be the push it needed to completely heal so I could get back to running.

That did not work.

I started physical therapy in September and it's been a long (expensive) process that I'm hoping is over soon. I really do feel like things are getting better--I've run about four times so far and my longest run was running for two minutes three times! Extremely humbling for a girl who has ran 8 marathons.



What is probably helping the most is Graston--which is a very painful technique where they rub a metal bar into the part of your body that is injured to try and reinjure it so that he reheals correctly (or something like that). It hurts. But I think it helps. (Pictured above: the Graston bar and my shoes, complete with year-old Chicago Marathon tag I can't bear to part with.)




I'm registered for the Philadelphia Half Marathon in two weeks... and am NOT running it. Sadly. I'm too broken. And I'm actually considering maybe not signing up for a marathon for the next few years (it almost pains me to actually write that down) and work on running some shorter distances and doing more varied activities. It's a lot of time to train for marathons, and trying to do it with three little ones is tough. Luckily, Finley is getting the hang of riding his bike, so we are on the precipice of being able to take out the double jogger and Finley on his bike for runs.

So that's the running update. There is very little running, but there is a very large running shaped hole in my heart. I do need to start doing something, because I have a whole closet full of clothes it would be nice to be able to fit into one of these days...