Running Again!

After months of healing I am finally running again! I am so excited to be able to move again and start training for the marathon once again. It will be a long road, but my doctor and physical therapist both believe that I will still be able to run, so here I go!

What’s that you say? No long explanation about why I have not blogged for two weeks? Yup, that’s right, life is just busy! I miss blogging but reality says that I just don’t have the time during the summer that I need, so my priorities are going to shift for the summer, but I’ll be back in the fall. (Hey just think of me like a good TV show… stay tuned for next season and a few posts through the summer!)

Finally Friday

This morning I have been working on things for running for World Vision… and man this stuff gets me excited!! Honestly, I am sitting here itching so badly to get out and run. There are about twenty-five people who are running with Northwestern for World Vision! It is so cool to see others catch the vision for what we are doing and join us. Also just having the accountability and support of others is going to be great… now I just need to be able to run!

It feels strange to be looking forward to something like this knowing it will probably be the hardest I have ever made my body work and not be able to train! Honestly God is teaching me how to rely on him so much right now. Even these last few days I feel like I have grown so much, and I am feeling thankful for the things God is bringing me through.

Over the last few weeks I have been going through some pretty rough stuff with my family that I can’t share right now, but have been really weighed down and feeling pretty lost. At the start of this week I realized that I really needed to get some things out, but really did not know who to turn to. So I just started to pray that God would bring people into my life, and he has! Over the last two days there have been a few people that I have been able to talk to and I am SO grateful! Those of you know who you are, thank you. Honestly the conversations and the love and compassion you have shown me has been overwhelming.

This weekend both Phil and I are volunteering at church. In between things we are also hoping to get the shower tiled in the bathroom! We will see how far we get… Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Six weeks....

Yesterday I had another appointment with the Orthopedic Specialist to go over the results of the MRI and to figure out the next steps with what to do with my leg. I knew going into the appointment that I could learn that I was done running for possible a really long time, and had been told to expect that by my doctor. However I learned the best possible news yesterday! There is a break in my tibia, about 5cm long (if you don’t know this is about an inch and a half long) BUT it is in a place that heals quickly!! She told me that if I keep weight off it and do nothing to stress it more it should heal in about SIX WEEKS!!!! I am honestly so relieved and excited. She said that since the marathon is a ways out still she sees no reason why I could not do a modified version of the marathon. (This might mean needing to walk a little so I don’t re-fracture the leg)

For the next six weeks I am supposed to stay on crutches as long as it hurts, but the longer I stay on crutches the better chance I have at being healed more for the marathon, so I am going to try and stick it them as long as I can stand it! I still have quite a bit of pain in the leg, so for now I am still “gimpy” as Phil likes to call me. I am also starting physical therapy next week and will be going weekly for a while, I have been told at least twelve weeks.

Even though I do not like being hurt, because of the injury I am getting training from athletic professionals who are going to work with me so that I am running well and without further injury. Most athletes need to be on a professional level to have trainers working with them, but because of this I will be able to really learn how to not just be a runner for a season of my life, but a runner for my whole life!

After we returned from the doctor I was so excited and thankful…. So what do you do when you are excited and thankful? ….. Make chocolate chip cookies of course! (Man, how did you not know that?!)

Enjoy my documentary of making cookies!!

MMMM, now come over to our house and help us eat the excessive amount of cookies we made!

Crutches

Sorry I did not post yesterday, I have to admit all day I was struggling with what to say. Sometimes I guess there are just no words for the things going on in your life.

As most of you know this last year my parents divorced and to be brutally honest, this has been one of the hardest things I have had to face. Though I cannot share details at this point, some major developments have happened over the weekend and yesterday that have forced me to make some extremely hard choices. If you think if it, I would greatly appreciate prayers for me and my siblings. At some point I may be able to share, but right now there are open wounds that must heal.

For an update on my leg… I went and saw the Orthopedic Specialist yesterday and was able to get a few more answers, unfortunately not the ones I was hoping for. She took more x-rays and is certain that I have fractured my leg. There are two places on the bone where you can fracture it from running. One is on the side, this is a fairly common injury in runners and takes about 6-8 weeks to heal. You can also fracture the tibia on the front on the bone (if you feel your shin this is the place I am talking about). This injury is a much longer recovery time. So of course she believes it is the front of my tibia the is fractured…

I have an MRI tomorrow to figure out how bad it really is and from there my doctor will be able to give me a time line for recovery. In the meantime, I am on crutches and not allowed any weight on my leg. I will also be doing physical therapy to help recovery. She said I would run again, but that I would not be running the marathon. More to come soon….

Even though these last few days have been a struggle I still feel a peace about everything that has happened. I have been on the verge of crying many times and am grieving the loss of a dream, but through it all I do know that God has a plan. Phil has been amazing helping me get around, doing things for me, even putting my socks on this morning for me! Megan our trainer is willing to work with me still and gave me a lot of hope that I will be able to continue even with this injury.

Another bend in the road…..

I have been writing out things in my head all weekend, I guess writing has become therapeutic for me. Life has taken yet another twist and turn, though this weekend was spend with a lot of joy and laughter I have had a few gut wrenching things happen also that have left me grappling once again for direction.

As you know I am a runner and am planning on running a marathon October 3rd for World Vision. I mentioned on Friday that last week I started running again after taking some time off to work with a personal trainer. I was really encouraged that even though I had not run for a while I was still able to run 3-4 miles a time without dying. Mid-week my right shin and knee started to hurt, but I honestly did not think much about it. I have no problem running through pain and in a strange way enjoy the sense of accomplishment after I have done something that was not fun at the time. So I kept running. I talked to my trainers and a few others who know about sports related injuries we all came to the conclusion that I just had really bad shin splints. I was bummed, but they are not a big deal to heal so was not to worried,

Friday night Phil took me out an a GREAT date, and after dinner we went to a movie. Almost the whole movie I was in excruciating pain and kept on moving trying to find a position where my leg did not hurt as bad. That night, sleeping even hurt. Saturday morning we went to the gym for our class again and during class I was doing everything but was almost feeling sick it hurt so much. After class I talked to Megan, our trainer, and she thought that I needed to get to a doctor as soon as possible.

When we got home I called and was able to get an appointment within the hour (seriously, this never happens!) After meeting with the doctor, we did a bunch of x-rays to see what was going on. From this, she was able to see signs leading her to believe that my right tibia is fractured. Though this cannot be confirmed 100% since x-rays do not show as much detail as she would need to know for sure, she said she was 95% sure this is it.

My next step is meeting with an Orthopedic Specialist tomorrow where she will be able to confirm the fracture. For right now, the first doctor believes that I will not be able to run for 6-12 months and for the next week I can have no impact on the leg. I am praying that I will learn something different tomorrow, but for now it looks like I will not be able to run the marathon.

Even though this is just an injury, my head and heart are having a really hard time accepting this. I feel such a passion and calling to do this for kids who do not have their own voice. It is not just about running, but running for a purpose. Honestly my heart is broken. I feel such a calling to do this, and do believe that God has told me to do this. I am confused why He would tell me to do this and then allow an injury to stop me. I do trust that God has a plan, I am just waiting to see what the next step is.

Two a Day.... And Phil Through a wall….

Well this past week and a half I have been working out two times a day and man, am I tired! I am trying really hard to get in better shape and also lose weight before I start training for the marathon. I have been eating right and working super hard but am still was not seeing the results I would like to. Thankfully since Phil and I have both been taking this class at our gym we have really gotten the help we needed. Megan, one of the trainers (Yes Megan, you are now officially in the blog!) has really helped me look at things I can change to hopefully kick start my body! She has really gone over and above what she needs to do and I am so thankful for that!

As a result of this week I was super encouraged by some weight loss and just knowing I can handle working this hard and getting really good eating habits in place! I now have the motivation to do it all over again next week!

Even though I have been more tired, it feels great to be using my body like this. Though I maybe do not want to admit it, when I wake up early to go and run, the rest of my day is great. I have more energy, I am more awake and I love knowing when I get to work I have already run four miles or so, it really is a great sense of accomplishment.

I am very excited for this weekend to relax and enjoy some down time. This morning when I got to work there was an email waiting for me from Phil asking if I wanted to go on date with him tonight. (See, who said romance once you’re married is dead? It’s sure not dead here… Good job Phil!) So he is taking me to Olive Garden and to see the Movie Valentines Day! I am really excited to have a good evening and spend some quality time with Phil!

Now, for the story you have all been waiting for….

During our class a few nights ago our trainer had us all doing different stations and rotating through them. The first one was either doing push-ups OR *if you could* doing a handstand against the wall. Well, I started at this station and knew I could do the handstand, so did and was fine. (well, except for all the blood from my entire body draining into my head…. But that is a minor detail, right?) So Phil is at this station next and decides that he wants to do a handstand too… So Megan says, don’t worry the wall will catch you, so Phil really goes for it. However he started way to far back from the wall and with a bit to much speed and literally crashes into the wall and breaks through the drywall! Needless to say we stopped doing handstands after that…. Way to go Phil!

Here is the great evidence of the damages!

Do you know how Big HE is?

Some days I am completely astounded by how HUGE our God is. For example:


I was running on the treadmill a few months ago at our gym. I had just gotten over bronchitis and a major cold so I had not been running for at least a week, but was determined that I would get a good run in anyway. For those of you who have ever been a runner, you know how quickly you lose your endurance with running, just missing a few runs can be bad, but missing a week for me is excruciating, on top of still being slightly sick!


So I got on the treadmill and decided that I was going to let the next hour be my time with God. As I started running my shins started to pound with pain. Every stride I took was almost unbearable pain. Still determined to get a good run in, I just started to pray that God would take the pain away. I kept on running and about a tenth of a mile later I was still is pain and thinking that I might not even make it to half a mile. So I started praying again, I almost laugh at saying this, but I just told God, ok this is the deal, I am training so that I can help children in Africa, I need a good run and I know Satan does not want me to do this, so God, please make the pain go away. I was even laughing at myself as I prayed but knew that if God wanted to he could make the pain go away. A little while later it dawned on me that my legs no longer hurt, that in fact the pain was totally gone. How cool is that?!

As I kept on running every time I would get tired and want to quite I just kept on praying that God would give me the strength to continue and make my run a time of worship. Well, because I am totally human and still getting over being sick about halfway through my run I was exhausted! So I started praying again, Lord please let me have the endurance so that I can run… I was literally about to hit the stop button, I think my hand was reaching when I sent out another desperate prayer God please give me the strength to continue! Just as I was reaching someone walked in the door of the gym that caught my attention. As I looked up, I realized that he was wearing this:

I was completely astounded. Here is was in my own little world running and praying and God did not only hear my prayer but answered by having someone else, who I have never meet come into the gym at the exact time I needed it and run RIGHT behind me!

The rest of the run hurt, it was hard, but every time I looked up I saw someone else who was doing this too, someone who God sent at that exact moment to give me the encouragement I needed to keep going!

A start of a new era...

Despite all the times I have thought, I should blog about this, or this is too funny not to share on our blog I have yet to post a single word of the going-on’s of our life in 2010… However in my new endeavor to keep our friends and family more updated in life I am going to try to do better!

January started out calm, which was such a nice break from the fast pace we were going in December! Though our rest did not last long! We both started grad school again, small group started, and the biggest commitment of all… LGN! But before I explain what that is you need a little back story!

Back in October I heard about a running opportunity through World Vision. Basically they started a “running team” that runs for world vision to raise awareness and money for their cause. It is an awesome organization that does so much for children and communities in third world countries. I will talk more about that in future blogs though…. After praying about it and feeling a great call to use my love for running for the greater good, I along with two other employees from Northwestern started a team. How this all evolved is another long story for another time, but God’s hand and leading had been amazing… more to come soon!

SO, after having made the commitment to run a few different races, including a Marathon (yup, that’s 26.2 miles…) I knew I needed to make changes in my life so that I could not only run but have a healthier life as a result! Phil also decided that he would train and run. We joined a gym last may and since we have been there kept on hearing about a class they offer called “Look Good Naked Boot Camp.” After talking to the trainers about the class Phil and I decided that this would be an awesome way to get in amazing shape, lose weight and overall be healthier, especially with starting running we both knew we needed to do something to prepare other than just running.

The class is crazy! The first week Phil and I almost literally could not walk! We go Monday through Thursday and every other Saturday for an hour of the craziest workout possible. We do cardio, strength training, yoga, kick boxing, boxing, biking…. Ok well basically any exercise ever invented we do. The trainers help us not only get a great workout but help us if tracking of our eating and making sure we are breaking old habits and creating new, healthier ones! After only three weeks we both are seeing dramatic results in our bodies and our overall health.

Stay tuned for more…..