Whew - July ALREADY?

I've been running a little ragged here lately - literally and figuratively.  So much so that I overslept on my birthday and missed the Freedom 4 miler!  Not that such a misstep stopped me from joining in the post-race festivities.

This Saturday was the inaugural Free-da's 5k at the University of the Incarnate Word (my friend and frequent fotog, Ceci, was the race director) - I managed to wake up (EARLY!) for this hot race!  Here I am photobombing Ceci's race pics

wait for it....

ahhhhhhhh!  Sallybombed.

half crazy running chicken, half zombie.  Afterward, I did a little crazy running chicken cool down while I promoted the Women's 5k (yep, it's July 21 - eek)

and after the sweat dried

Then, I ran 12 hot, humid miles this morning - and iced my knee while enjoying fruit from Las Nieves (two blocks away ~32 ounces of fresh fruit, including mango, coconut, and pineapple for $4).

Yum.  Next up, Alamo Beer Series race #1 on Friday night - then, I scramble like a Sallybadger to get ready for the Women's 5k.

Thanks to Ceci, Tom, IAAP, and SARR for the pics

My brain is on fire

One reason I left private practice was to reduce my anxiety level - not having clients call at all hours or constantly having clients' situations weighing in my head was exhausting.  Yet now, taking over the SARR Women's 5k, I'm back to that.  I have some ugly race pics to post, but, honestly, I have so many balls in the air that I'm juggling, I have to put that off.

Here's an ugly pic of me - with the pretty SARR shirts

register here http://www.saroadrunners.com/content.aspx?page_id=87&club_id=736866&item_id=207487

This is the large shirt - bust size up to 38. The shirts are women's sized, so order on your dress size. (XL is bust to 42, XXL to 44).

SHIRTS!

I'm directing the 33rd Annual SARR Women's 5k this year and, believe me, it's a lot of work.  Make sure you thank your next Race Director.  But a  weight was lifted today when the shirts arrived - I  think they are pretty!

Mostly following medical advice

So, I've been faithfully attending physical therapy and doing my exercises (with cat-weight added resistance); however, when I told the physical therapists that I registered for the Hartford marathon, they piled it on.  And it hurt.  I swear, on Friday afternoon, the PT tried to stretch my IT band to Albuquerque.

So, this morning, I was hurting before the race even started.  I ran the WellMed 5k (they sponsor the Women's 5k that I am directing, so I wanted to give back).  The PTs told me to control my gait, keeping my feet under me, and concentrating on even balance/not limping - rather than speed, so that was my race plan.  Since it was also dang hot and humid, it seemed like an even better plan.

Here are some pre-race pics:

and during the race - George (with me - above, behind me-below) is 70 and was gaining on me, so I decided screw the PTs, George was not beating me.

And, in the end I got second in the age group, almost following medical advice.

And I beat this guy - who finished the 1 mile run/walk, celebrating his 96th birthday - amazing!  His gait was MUCH more balanced than mine.

Thanks to Scotty Dog for the pics!

Catching up

I sure love 3-day weekends - I get a chance to (try to) catch up on everything.  So, here's what's been happening. 

Last weekend was the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay from North Padre Island to Corpus Christi.  It was a hot one - I ran/limped the 2nd leg of 6 and the Brak Pak Chiks finished in under 5 hours.

Here I am at the start of the leg on the beach - on my bad knee, thinking "man, this is going to hurt."  It did. 

But I made it and rested my knee on the beach. 

Then, this weekend, I ran the Witte Museum Boot Scoot 5k fun run - it also hurt, but was fun.

 Awards - I did not win any of those - because I do not own a pair of cowboy boots in which to boot scoot.

Then I tried to tackle the jungle that is my back yard and tried to nurse my cardiac cat, Vaca, back to health.  In my jungle-tackling, I was really looking for a heart transplant donor wildcat (not really).

Thanks to Ceci, IAAP, Scottydog, and Brightroom for the pics

Physical torture-apy

I really, really don't like doctors or any type of medical personnel.  And I really, really don't like knee pain.  But, the latter requires the former - and I was off to physical therapy today.  But I'm still counting on the coyote cream my buddy, Victor, gave me - I believe in curandero therapy.

But back to physical torture-apy.  So, my right quads are atrophied (2 cm smaller than my non-dominant left - because I'm limping and accommodating). I don't think she believed me when I told her I ran a half marathon on the hurting knee (damn Trinity hills).  Anyway, due to my cruddy/cheap health insurance, I have 4 more visits there and this to do at home - at least twice a day.  Seems simple, but it hurts.  As she said "simple, but EFFECTIVE."

and now on order - foam roller (I've meant to get one for a long time), smallish rubber ball, and a kickball.  After this heals, I'm going to invent an awesome game that combines cricket with a foam roller, kickball, and dodgeball - with a rugby-esque drink up.  It's going to be epic, and nobody should sustain any subluxed patellae.  As long as they don't fall down on concrete.

Catching up

Wow, volunteering to direct the Women's 5k has taken up more time than I anticipated, so I've been remiss in updating everyone.  That said, go register -- I need about 680 more participants!

So, last Saturday, I ran the Fiesta Fandango run - in front of the Fiesta night parade (largest night parade in the US, so I hear).  It was a hot 2.6ish miles - especially dressed as Santa Claus. (to encourage the masses to also register for the Santa Antonio 5k - DO THAT TOO!)

Here's the scene during the run.  Fortunately, EVERYONE loves Santa Claus (did I mention that it was around 90 degrees, with no air among all of those people and buildings?).

And here's the finish .... here I am, lurking behind cereal (killers?) - on the far left

and bam - finished.  With a very sore knee

Speaking of the knee, I put my big girl pants on again and went to the orthobutcher. Dislocated patella, then sublaxed patella, and a really slow-healing injury. Not a great prognosis - eventual partial knee replacement surgery down the road (distinct lack of cartilage under the patella below) - until then, PT and he said "I'm not going to tell you not to run."  I heard: go ahead and run until your knees blow out.  Works for me.

Thanks to Ceci, Scottydog, Tom Lake, and South Texas Radiology for the pics!