Well geez... where have YOU been?

Every time I sit down to write a post, my brain freezes up.  I don't know what to write.  I haven't written a blog entry in almost a year.  Perhaps I should start close to where I left off...

After our trip to Savannah, where Mark and I both earned PRs at the Rock 'N' Roll Savannah Half-Marathon, I got extremely addicted to Angry Birds.  Good thing we had finished writing all our thank you cards (for our wedding gifts) by that point!  Reading blogs and writing entries definitely fell by the wayside... sorry about that!

Two days before Thanksgiving, I was diagnosed with a stress fracture in my right foot.  Post-Savannah, I tried out a couple new pairs of running shoes, hoping to find something lighter than my Saucony Omni 9s.  Unfortunately, both pairs I wore contributed to the dull, but growing ache in the middle of my right foot.  The podiatrist I had seen diagnosed a stress fracture in my second metatarsal, and just like that, I couldn't run.  I missed out on the Turkey Day 5K for the first time since I started running it in 2005 and missed having the opportunity to run with my husband.

I was frustrated that I couldn't run when I wanted to so much.  Reading running blogs was even more difficult because it reminded me of how much I was missing.  So, I decided to give up blogging entirely while I was healing.  I needed to focus my mind on other things.

While my foot healed, I took a swimming class from late November into early February.  The class was offered through a local school district's continuing education program, and focused on stroke development and efficiency.  Although it would have been nice to take a class that focused on triathlon swimming training, I liked the variety and the structure of the workouts, which focused on the four main swimming strokes (butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke and freestyle).  I would often swim around 4000 yards per class, and this, coupled with gentle yoga and the strength training that I was able to do, helped keep me in shape during the holidays.

I also started making jewelry again, learning new techniques and bulking up my inventory for future sales.  My hard work paid off in May, where I sold a lot of my jewelry at an art/music night at The Beat Coffeehouse and at Art-A-Whirl.  I currently sell my jewelry at The Buzz Coffee Shop in Burnsville and The Old Creamery Quilt Shop in Randall.

Tree of Life necklace

Swirl ring

After eleven weeks off from running (with three unexpected weeks in "the boot"), I finally started up again in February.  The only running shoes I could wear at this point were an old pair of Saucony Guide 3s that were in my closet, but they helped me get back into running shape.  In March, I ran the 100% Irish for a Day 5K and the Get Lucky 7K.  Being able to run and complete races felt incredible!  I had an opportunity to run the Madison 10K while I was volunteering at the Madison Marathon Expo for Team Ortho, and that nighttime race was a fun experience.

Slowly I built up my mileage and completed my goal spring/early summer race, the Garry Bjorklund Half-Marathon.  My training didn't go like I wanted it to (I had to take time off after the Madison 10K due to plantar fasciitis), but I enjoyed the race experience and still finished under two hours.

Mark and I both ran the race :)

I experienced some knee pain whenever I ran eight miles or more in my Guide 3s, so I went to a local running store to pick out a new pair of shoes.  I totally thought I would be getting the Guide 5s, but after the employee checked the wear patterns of my shoes and watched me walk and squat, she told me "Why are you wearing stability shoes?  You should be wearing neutral shoes."  I didn't believe her, so I got a second opinion (an employee at a different running store), and he said the same thing.  I bought a pair of Saucony Ride 5s and haven't gone back to stability shoes.  Those shoes have carried me through several races (a 12-miler, four half-marathons within a month's time, and a 20-miler) this summer and will carry me through October 7, where I plan to run my very first marathon.

I can't guarantee that I'll be a regular blogger again, but I do hope to write some pre-marathon thoughts, a marathon race recap, and final thoughts over the next few weeks.  Maybe I'll finally get around to posting that recap of the RNR Savannah Half-Marathon (it really was a great race), too!

I hope you all are doing well and have been running healthy and strong.  What have you been up to the last several months?