We each walk our own path

Recovery is a bitch.  I went from regularly running 25-30 miles a week to zip/zero/nothing.  My knee, as far as pain, is feeling a lot better a month later.
I sadly watch the runners and riders outside my living room front window every day.  I want to be out there with them.  It brings me to this conclusion:  I am now addicted to exercise.  Those who have known me since school days and before...this statement will come as a serious surprise ;)

The final diagnosis for my knee is a torn meniscus in my left knee and a ruptured baker's cyst in my left knee cap.  Right now I am going through physical therapy.  The PT guy gave me the go ahead to ride the stationary bike at the YMCA so it has been nice just to move my body again.
I meet with my surgeon tomorrow to talk about options.  But from what I have gathered so far, even with surgery, my knee will never be 100% like before and the baker's cyst is a marker for arthritis.  So later on in life I have a pretty darn good chance of having arthritis, especially in my left knee.  thumbs down

I received my finisher's medal from the Chicago Marathon!!!  I have to go ahead and admit I teared up...ok, cried heartily, upon reading my inscribed name and finish time on the back side of the medal.  It is ridiculous, I know, but it somehow made the accomplishment real to me and I felt proud.  I am a dork.

I have been baking a lot of breads (sourdough and pita) and pastries this past month.  Since it has been (with the exception of this weekend) much colder and I was not so mobile I caught the baking bug and went with it.

Halloween was celebrated by all.  Finn was way more into Halloween and all that went with it this year.  We first attended the trick-or-treating down on State Street here in Madison.

That crazy boy dances everywhere!

We carved some pumpkins.

 And a very successful Halloween 'hood trick-or-treating was had by Packer player, Finn :)

I have been watching a show called American Horror Story.  If you don't watch it, and your tummy can handle the horrific gorriness, you reaaaaally should check it out!  Great acting (Jessica Lange, Joseph Fiennes, Franke Potente, Sarah Paulson, Zachery Quinto, Chloe Sevigny, James Cromwell, Clea Duvall...this is just a few) and the writing is incredible!  It is tough to wait for a new episode every week.  It is not for the faint of heart.

run a marathon to the very last mile

I finally ran the 2012 Chicago Marathon yesterday!  It was an adventure to say the least.  We (Caleb, Finn and my friend Melissa) arrived in Chicago Saturday afternoon.  I had to pick-up my participant package at McCormick Place in Chicago.  The pics at the very top are from that event.  Finn was picked up by Grandma and Grandpa Brauneller during this time to go stay at their house for his first long stay away from home this week.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Mart Plaza.  It is in the Sun Times building.  The lobby for the hotel is located on the 15th floor.  And our room was on the 19th floor.  So we had an incredible view of the city from up there!  We made dinner in the room so I could control all the food I took into my body.  I didn't want to have stomach issues the next day.  I only got about 4 1/2 hours of sleep before the alarm went off at 5am.  I made pancakes from scratch.  I had eaten those same pancakes and real maple syrup before every long run I did while training and had no problems.

My 'start wave' for the marathon was the second wave.  The first wave is for professional runners and people that think they will finish in 3.5 hours or less.  That first wave started at 7:35am.  This is when the official time clock starts for the whole marathon.  Including my wave.  My wave was schedule to start at 8am, but because of the number of people running I didn't actually cross the start line until 8:25am.  So the official time clock had nearly an hour on it when I began the race.

Everything was going hunky dory until mile 6.  I was coming around a corner and felt a pop or snap in my left knee and then a very strong, very uncomfortable searing pain.  I was foolishly hoping this was just my body adjusting (during training runs different areas of my body would feel pain and then it would pass as I ran the rest of the distance) and the pain would take care of itself.  So I walked a little and then began running again.  But after about 5 mins the pain became too intense to keep running so I walked.  I kept this walk/run thing going until just before the 13 mile mark.  At that point my knee and hip locked up with pain so badly I knew I was going to have to walk the rest.  That was the hardest moment in the race.  I kind of wanted to quit at this point. The pain in my knee, and now hip also, was so bad and I knew the patience and mental toll it was going to take to walk the other 13 miles and that I probably wouldn't finish, according to the official time clock, (the one that started at 7:35am...50 mins before I even began running) with an official time.  It was a devastating moment.  But I wasn't there to win the race.  I was there to finish it.  I made the decision in that moment to forge ahead.  I saw my mom and step-dad, Dewey, around that time and gave them a hug and thanked them for taking the train down to see me.

Along the route I got to see some pretty cool and crazy and hilarious things.  There was a trio band set up on the route giving out free hugs to runners.  I saw Dale from Top Chef out in front of his new restaurant.  Just down the street from Dale was a group of guys on a stage performing color guard to disco.  I danced with a giant, papier mache head, Spanish character at the latino block party.  I was later serenaded by an Elvis impersonator singing, "Bridge Over Troubled Water".  There were many, many hilarious signs and inspiring signs made and held by the crowd.  The "Almost There!" signs were cute until about mile 14 ;)

There was a pack of us injured marathoners that stuck together from mile 19 on.  I don't know any of those people's names or where they are from, but we kept each other going, even in complete silence.  We made sure we would finish together.  And we did.  The last 4 miles or so was pretty rough. The pain was intense and constant.  I couldn't really walk up and down any unlevel ground without stopping.  Around the 26 mile mark I saw Caleb and Melissa.  They helped me walk up the big hill and across the finish line because my knee was gnarled at that point.  When we came around the corner and I saw that Finish Line sign I sobbed, I won't lie.  I have dreamed of that moment for so many years.  And although it didn't happen the way I expected it didn't diminish the meaning of my accomplishment.  Consider this bucket list item crossed off :)  Thank you to EVERYONE that read and supported my incessant posts on facebook and throughout this process.  Your support means and meant the world to me and I love you all.  :)

I was so consumed by my prep for the race last week I didn't really post very much.  I have been baking a lot with the cooler weather.  I made a couple bread loaves, cookies and some white chocolate chip/dried cherry and tuxedo scones and started a sour dough bread starter at the end of last week.  Soon you will see pics of a variety of sour dough artisan breads.  I am excited!!

Finn and I went to see President Obama speak here in Madison on Bascom Hill last week.  It was a pretty great experience and civics lesson for Finn and I.  The line just to get into the speaking area was more than a mile long.

Finn had a great time both in line and once we got there.  It was democracy at play ;)

It was pretty cool to hear and see the President speak along with Mayor Paul Soglin, Mark Pocan, and Tammy Baldwin.

The countdown

5...the number of days between now and the day I FINALLY run the Chicago Marathon.  I was able to run Thursday and Friday last week without any physical issues.  Yesterday I did my last long run (8 miles).  Today is a rest day.  My left knee has a little nudge.  I think it is connected to the tightness in my left IT band.  I am going to roll it out a couple times today and see if that helps.  My mileage is going way down this week according to my training program.  I will run 3 miles tomorrow, 2 miles Wed., two rest days, 2 miles on Saturday and then the race. 

A couple people have inquired about whether or not I used a training program and which one if I have.  Since 18 weeks out, I have been following the Novice 2 Marathon Training program by Hal Higdon.  I also followed the advice from "How to Train for and Run Your Best Marathon" by Gordon Bakoulis Bloch.  I have had a subscription to Runner's World this year.  I have used a lot of information from their magazine and website while running/training.  I have run 95% of the time by myself, aside from my fellow solo/group runners crossing my path or passing me.  Mostly because my schedule allowed very small windows of opportunity for me to get my runs in.  Especially towards the end with the longer runs. 

This past weekend was my sister-in-law's wedding in WI.  They had their wedding on their land and in their barn out in the country.  It was beautiful!  Finn was cutting up a rug on the dance floor.  He even threw a little break dancing in there.  I don't know where this kid gets it from :)  He had the whole crowd laughing and cheering for him.  I almost fell out of my chair I was chuckling so hard.  I think he had consumed plenty of apple donuts and candy and juice fuel that inspired his dance-a-thon.

Found this today  http://www.ted.com/talks/vicki_arroyo_let_s_prepare_for_our_new_climate.html
One of the most thoughtful commentaries on Climate Change.  Give a gander!

Rest and wait...

I took another rest day from running.  I don't know if it was the right thing to do.  My knee seems much better.  Now it is my calf muscle that is continuing to give me grief.  It hurts to the touch and even when I walk.  I am continuing my roller stretches 3 times a day and icing it.  I am also going to try out these on my next run.  http://www.amazon.com/SpiderTech-Calf-Arch-Spider-Kineseology/dp/B003CMCPMY

  Hopefully by tomorrow I will feel healthy enough to do some kind of run.  I am HATING taking this much time from running.  It is so close now.  I just need my body to hang in there a little while longer.

I am watching this tv show called "World Without End".  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1878805/  
I am up to the 4th episode.  It's a great show.  It inspires gratitude.  Gratitude that I was born in the 20th century and not the 14th century.  At the slightest hint, by anyone in at any level of power, that a woman might be a witch...she was hanged.  In a previous episode a woman is legally sold to another man by her father because she wouldn't allow her father to rape her anymore.  I think (Gov.) Mitt Romney may be a producer/writer on this show ;)

Sanity-cation from Facebook

I was finding that every day I was logging onto facebook it wasn't fun anymore.  It made me feel bad about myself, sad, angry and a little lonely.  Despite the fact that I had "access" to hundreds of facebook friends on a daily basis.  I was shocked at times what people were willing to post, including myself.  So I will be posting here for at least the next few months, and if I find that I don't miss FB, I may discontinue using it altogether.

I am still training weekly for the Chicago Marathon which I will run on October 7th.  Recently, (the past two weeks or so) I have been suffering from some running injuries.  First it was my hip.  So I listened to my body and took three days off in a row.  Which is difficult for me to do anytime, but really difficult for me to do without feeling massively guilty because the race is so close now.  The hip issue cleared up and I ran my 20 mile run without a problem a week back from last Sunday.  Then earlier this week my left calf muscle began to give me grief.  So I gave myself two days off.  Even though it was still a bit sore I ran my scheduled 13 miles this past Sunday.  While I was running my right knee started to get stiff.  Not enough to make me stop the run, but it got my attention.  Today it really hurts.  So I am taking today and tomorrow off and will reassess after that.  The worst possbile thing that could happen now is to get a permanent injury that takes me out of the race.  I would rather lose a digit.  I have been training since February (you may have noticed one or two posts on facebook ;)  ).  That is a scenario I am unwilling to accept.  So if it means I don't do another training run until race day...so be it.  I am running that marathon dammit!  I have a roller and have been rolling out my legs and hips and butt several times today and stretching.  Send me good running/health vibes.  This is a bucket list dream of mine to run this particular race.

Last week we took a trip to Chicago.  Finn and I took the Loop train into downtown Chicago to go to the Shedd Aquarium.  We had quite the adventure getting there.

As wonderful as the Shedd Aquarium is I was a little shocked by the entry price.  I know they have overhead/operation costs but $26 for a three year old and $35 (plus tax) for me seemed a little excessive.  Charging this much makes it cost prohibitive for many households to visit any of the Chicago museums.  That's sad.  Think of all those children that would love to experience such a wonderful place but their parents have to decide between a fun/educational experience for their children or food/shelter.  That's not right. 
We had our snacks in the park outside the aquarium and took the pic above.

Finn is super interested in going to school and being with other kids in his age group.  He mentions it every day.  If anyone has any suggestions for good preschools or playgroups lay it on me!

Peace