Bikini Ready? Graston? Laser? Verbal Filter? Oh My!

"It's only awkward if you make it that way." I've heard this a lot in my life.  The only problem is that I do make things awkward.  So much of my life is lived awkwardly. In a good way.  The thing is, I'm just being normal old Amanda.  I say what I think, laugh at things that might not really be that funny to anyone else, and say things that many might consider to be inappropriate.  I can be quite impulsive and most people would agree that "verbal filter" and "Amanda" are NOT words that go together.  I like to think of myself as endearing and candid. Refreshing even.  Ha!  


I guess today was one of those situations that I made awkward.  For pretty much the entire chiropractic clinic.  You see, I went in to get my buns checked out since I've been having a lot of pain lately in my lower left buns/upper hammy.  I've also felt a fair amount of pain in my pelvic bone area when I wake up in the mornings.  I've been through this drill before...going to the sports chiropractor.  


What I expected:

• Stim therapy and ultrasound
• Probably some painful Graston therapy
• Maybe some marching in place and mild adjustments

To prepare, I did the usual:

• Wore short shorts under my pants
• Shaved my legs
• Made sure I was wearing clean socks and/or had my toenails trimmed...you know, the usual "I care what people think" side to Amanda.  I like to think of it as courtesy.  

What I didn't think of doing:  

• Trim the Bikini area.  (UM , Because it is January.  It isn't bikini season.  I don't feel like I have to be trim and fabulously sexy down there for my husband.  I've been married for 8 years...I'm not single and on the market...landscaping is not on the top of my priorities!)    

Note:  Now before you let your imaginations run away with you, I'm not a sasquatch by any means.  I actually would be just fine in a bikini right now.  I just like to make things awkward remember? Like right now.  In telling you this. And I really don't even care that much.  


So, when my doc told me that I had an abdominal strain in addition to a hamstring strain and he would need to do some laser therapy in addition to some graston therapy (a.ka torture) on my pelvic region, the first thing I thought about was:


"Holy Heck!  What is the state of my BEAV right now?!  I mean, really?!!  I didn't think I'd have to be bikini ready. How embarrassing!"  Okay, so a little vain maybe.  


Most normal people would leave it at that.  The internal dialogue.  But not me.  I lack that filter remember?  So, in typical Amanda fashion, I say something like:


"Wow, I didn't think I'd need to be ready for bikini season.  I've been married for 8 years after all.  I'm not single and on the market. Gee....blah blah blah."  Yup. Pretty awkward on my part.  


Doc:  "I didn't think I'd need to hire an arborist!  I'll get one of the girls to do your laser therapy."  As he leaves I hear laughter among the clinic workers.  Yes, that would be that weirdo filter-lacking, emotionally unstable (when I tore my hammy completely a year or so ago, I was just a tad distraught) lady.  Again, I'd like to think that they love me for this. I certainly provide them with someone to make fun of later...this beats working in a boring clinic all day with boring normal people that control their inner thoughts and emotions, right?!  


So then Amanda was done talking about her Beav.  That was that.  Right?  Wrong.  I then proceeded to chat it up with every other person that came into tape me and do my ultrasound/stim therapy.  All this talk and it really wasn't even bad at all.


Note to self:  "Nobody cares about your untidy trim job Amanda!  And nobody wants to hear you talk about how long you've been married and the fact that it isn't bikini season.  Nobody cares.  AWKWARD!"  


Good News:  

• I'm done with my awkward appointment.
• My beav is really only small steps away from walking out on the white sands of Hawaii.  
• I caught this before it got too bad.  I just have to take it easy for a week or so and continue therapy.
• My 2 year old son sat through 1 1/2 hours of clinic time.  I am so proud of him.  Definitely required some "mommy tricks" on my part so I'm proud of myself too!
• Even though I can't run 70 miles this week (or shouldn't), I can still run easy miles and 50 miles this week is better than NOTHING!  :)  

Bad News:

• No racing this weekend as I had secretly planned.  Was determined to have a good race and run that 41 something 10k like I know I can do.  But now I know one reason why things have been so hard for me...my body isn't working right for a reason! 
• Graston therapy hurts like a _____ (you fill in the blank).  I will have bruises all over!  Good thing it isn't bikini season!

Do you make things awkward for yourself?  What is a most embarrassing moment for you?  This wasn't embarrassing for me.  Just a typical day in the life of Amanda.  :)  I have many many embarrassing moments though.  

Amanda

Fresh Start and Breaking Up The Big Picture With Some Weekly Goals.

I suppose every day can be a fresh start if we want it to be.  We don't have to wait until the New Year to make lofty resolutions or attempt to make our dreams come true.  We don't have to wait until our birthday to celebrate our life and truly pamper ourselves.  Just as we don't have to wait until Valentine's Day and anniversaries to celebrate love.  But these dates certainly are nice to have in place as a reminder that these things do matter...love, life, fresh starts...they matter GREATLY!  They are huge parts of what make life great and I'm thankful for the special occasions to celebrate these things and more.  


As I said, I didn't make 2012 resolutions yet but I still plan on setting goals for my days, weeks, and longer spans of time as I am ready.  Here are just a few short goals and a list of gratitude to start my day before I wake my kids for their first day of school in 2012.  


Thankful for:

• Being up early before everyone else.  Although I couldn't bring myself to run yet, I have enjoyed some personal time.  It is nice to be back on routine. 
• Starting the year with a PR in the 10k even though I expected and wanted a faster time.  It was still a PR and an AG win...reason to celebrate and focus on getting faster.
• The past week of vacation.  I slept until 10 once or twice and I felt like a lazy college kid again (minus the three kids I was responsible for).  
• Fresh starts and goals
• Coffee
• I'm feeling my writing itch return to me.  I've missed it.
• Training is going well.
• Ice to sit on while I type so that I can ice my sore bum.
• A family that is all safe, healthy, and here with me today.  Every day is a gift and it is so easy to take for granted sometimes.  Just takes a few nights of crazy dreams to make me wake up more thankful than ever for just the simple things....the basics.

Motherhood/Personal Goals for THIS WEEK:

• Work on the way I respond to my children.  I've gotten so lazy with this.  The more stressful it gets and the more my kids fight and react in awful ways to each other, the more I find myself reacting in ways that are not so stellar.  They sound just like me!  We model for our children how to respond to stress and frustrating situations.  I'm really needing to get my act together with this one!!  Instead of reacting in a way that involves yelling, talking to them in a nagging and whiney voice, and talking over them, I'm trying hard to respond with a sense of calm and control.  This is so much harder said than done for me.  
• To spend more time with God.
• Read more. This will involve shutting off distractions and finding the time to sit down and really read something.  Right now, I'm into reading mostly nonfiction...things I will learn from and be able to take away from immediately.  A perfect time to do this would be after school where we all sit down together and have a 20 minute reading time. Good modeling for my kids.  However, my 2 year old son might not think this is such a stellar idea.  I might be managing him instead of reading.  Better yet, I suppose reading to him would be a good idea.  Can't get enough of Bear Hunt and Diego.  

Running Goals:

• Haven't officially followed a week of plans in my Run Faster book by Brad Hudson.  I've used the bones of the plan. I like this...adapting a plan to my needs is easier than I thought and I trust myself here.  I like the freedom of being able to switch things around based on my needs and my goal is to keep doing this and being conscious of what I need as an athlete.  This involves listening to my body, thinking ahead, and bouncing ideas off of running friends.
• Race more often.  Although the marathon is my main goal, I do think that there is a certain physical and mental benefit to finding opportunities to race.  However, this involves moving other things around in my plan so that I replace key workouts with the race. Not sure how much I will race but I'm not closing the door to racing just because my plan doesn't call for it.  
• Keep making more time for core work and strength training even if it is a little here and there.  
• Diet awareness!  Being conscious of what I'm stuffing my face with is crucial at this point when I'm trying to run higher mileage.  The past two weeks have been AWFUL and I'm ready to get back on track.  

Amanda

Glorified Tempo, PR, and Time For Some New Brooks!

I don't have one of those "Reflections and Recaps of 2011" posts for you.  Nor do I have any New Year Resolutions to share yet.  No goals and reflections for Runninghood?!  What is this blog world coming to?  I suppose I reflected and set goals so often in 2011 that I'm all reflected and goaled out for the time being.  No, never.  I'm just a little mentally tired.  I'm sure the 2012 goal post will come soon.


No resolutions but I did start my year off right! My first day of the new year was actually a pretty awesome way to start 2012.  I made the decision last week to sign up for a 10k just for fun and to see if I could start the year with a PR.  Well, it wasn't really fun but I did set a small PR so I have to take that as a reason to celebrate.  

Out with the old and in with the new!  These shoes have seen their last race.  Now time for some real racing shoes!  Can't wait for a new pair of Brooks!

Race:  Twenty Twelve Resolution Run--Portland Oregon
Weather:  Clear skies, mild temps, windy.  Besides the wind, it was actually some pretty great racing conditions.  I was overdressed by a lot!  
Weekly Mileage before race: 59
Goal:  My biggest goal was to break 42 minutes but hoped for a 6:35-6:40 pace or better.  I feel confident that this was a very realistic goal right now.  
What really happened:


42:09 Chip Time (PR by 10 seconds)
20:54 split
1st in AG out of only 11.
4th woman out of only 65...I could have sworn I only saw 2 women ahead of me.  Weird.  


Some not stellar parts:

• Nerves nerves nerves and self doubt.  Lots of it.  Even during the race I found myself talking all kinds of non-go-getum talk.  I will have to work on this.
• I honestly did run hard even though my splits don't show this to me.  But my body was telling me differently.  
• A 6:40 pace felt like a 6:15 pace today.  
• I really shouldn't eat pizza and sweets all week and then expect to perform efficiently.  Fueling correctly really can't be underestimated. At the same time, we shouldn't be overly concerned with what we eat either.  Definitely didn't have balance this week.  
• My prerace meal was half of a Pizza Schmizza pizza with a beer.  Ha!  I don't think this really had that big of an impact on me to tell you the truth.  Just funny.  
• I think that even though I cut back on the miles towards the end of the week, 59 was still a bigger week considering that I ran a lot of miles at the start of the week and my body is still adjusting to this.  I know this wasn't a peak race so I won't dwell on this too much. My plan was to NOT run this race on totally fresh legs so that was expected.
• Hope this isn't too much information but this weekend does mark ovulating day for me...not sharing this with you for any other reason than to bring up the topic of ovulation and the affect it has on our bodies.  For me, I get very tired, irritable, break out, and just want to stuff my face with food. There are just a couple of positive things about it too but for the most part, I feel pretty drained. Does ovulation affect you in a negative way or do you even notice??    

Positives:

• I ran hard
• I was running alone for most of the race (especially the second half) and I didn't sneak off into the trees and quit like I wanted to when I saw my splits being so much slower than my goal.  ha!  
• Even though my husband claims that I didn't change my stride or pace at the finish line and look like I was working hard, I felt like I was working it.  I didn't have a kick in me but I pushed it.  
• This served as a strong 6.2 mile tempoish run (a bit faster than I'd do my tempo but with a few 7 min miles in there, it felt rather tempoish and less 10k race-like)
• I won a gold medal for first in AG.  Who cares if there wasn't much competition.  AG win is AG win.  I'll take it!  
• I had my kids and husband to greet me at the end.  
• I got an awesome pep talk and pep e-mails from some great running gals!  I feel really blessed with friendships recently. Lots of love and support after the race too.  
• I was inspired by some very beautiful and chiseled bodies at the starting line.  One of them being someone I kind of know...Helen Rarick, who ran an impressive 17:12 in the 5k!  Seriously, sometimes I bend down to stretch at the starting line just so I can check out all the pretty legs around me.  Lots of shorts today too.  I love runner legs!  Helen's got some amazing ones.  
• Waking up to a crayon scribbled note from my husband.  He left it right by the coffee pot.   

Love the way that my four year old is dressed.  If only we were all like four year olds in the way that they just are who they are.

Finish line...overheated and very tired.  Ready to be done!!

1.  How did you start your new year off??
2.  Ladies, curious on your thoughts about ovulation and the affect it has on you?  Do you get overly tired, emotional, or irritable?  Does it make you want to crawl into bed and sleep like it does me?  I usually have one or two days like this.  I'm pretty sure today is one of them.  


Amanda