Riverton Half Marathon

 I ran a half marathon yesterday! I hit my goal target time. And on a course that was almost two tenths of a mile long. Still got in under my goal time. It felt so good to accomplish that. I ran with two of my run club friends. It was awesome to run together. This is actually more of a training run. I signed up for the Salt Lake Half next month, and only found out recently that Riverton’s half marathon fell on a day I was already expecting to run 13 miles. The price was right and I went ahead and signed up. My South Jordan Run Club actually volunteered for the event in exchange for putting our flyers in all the bags. Hopefully we get some new runners out of it. 

I feel like getting back in this level of shape is a triumph. In a bit of a walk down memory lane, I remember back in early 2019. We’d just moved to Seattle. Chloe was two. My body felt like it was betraying me. I was so exhausted. I had headaches 100% of the time. I was dizzy. And I had no idea what was going on. I’d get up in the morning and somehow get the kids to school and then sit on the couch and not be able to get up because I was so bone deep exhausted. I didn’t have babies anymore. The kids had slept through the night for years. All I knew was right before I left Clemson I’d found out my thyroid numbers were low. I didn’t know what that meant at the time. I naively told my doctor there I’d just started a new vitamin and let’s check it again in a month. Little did I know! That’s hilarious to think back on. 

 

So started an intense health journey. I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis. It’s an auto immune disease that has far reaching symptoms. I started medicine. I didn’t feel that much better. I found a really good doctor that I thought was on my health insurance. Turns out she wasn’t. I fought the insurance company for a year through the incorrect information on that and won! They paid for a number of my visits. The company changed health insurance and she was on the new one. I worked with her for a year and a half. My health felt like an onion. I kept peeling back layers of issues and solving them one by one, or at least tried to address them.

Fast forward to leaving Seattle and moving to Salt Lake. Since we were so isolated during Covid, a jumped into a couple outdoor workout groups I discovered. We could workout together spread out, outside, so we were safe but could still interact. It made all the difference during Covid. I went from working out a little, to like six workouts a week. In what maybe shouldn’t have been such a surprise, I ended up injuring something in my hamstring. Than my hip. Than my lower back. Then my hip again. I got rear-ended and sprained my back. I did so much physical therapy, chiropractic. Got x-rays, MRI. I did Grasston’s scraping. I did dry needling. I tried acupuncture. I had two doctors tell me the solution was just to stop running. I found new doctors. 💔🤣 

It’s now two years after that first injury and four years since I found out I have Hashimoto’s. Have I solved all the symptoms? Have the injuries healed? Actually, no. No, they have not. I’ve addressed them. I’ve solved some issues only to have others crop up. I have tweaked my meds, my diet, a multitude of different supplements. I work to get more sleep.

 

And most of all, I run. I run even though it still hurts. Right now I suspect I have some imbalances in my glute muscles that I need to address, but I haven’t wanted to start physical therapy again. My legs hurt like crazy for a goodly number of miles yesterday. They’re super sore today. But I also ran a sub two-hour half marathon. I ran most of the miles under nine minutes. I did an actual training plan for this race and made specific goals to increase my speed. I couldn’t run this pace two months ago. I think I can probably run faster. I’m tweaking my goals for my Salt Lake Half race because I hit them already yesterday. In my 20s I did run faster. And I thought those days were done. That while I still ran, I was just slower now. I’ve had four kids since then. But guess what? Maybe I could run those paces again. I see that I can run faster than I do now if I put the work in. Keep improving. Keep hitting goals. And that is a beautiful thing. 

 

I wish it was pain free. I hope that I can solve the current batch of issues. But mostly, I’m grateful to be where I’m at, hitting goals. And I’m feeling so blessed to be able to push through and achieve things, even when it hurts to do it. Even when I’m walking mighty slow today. I guess I’m learning that I can do cool things whether the situation is ideal or not. It’s a good place to

This and that

Spencer decided to cut all his hair off! My friend cuts all our hair, and she just does such a great job. He looks so good! 

My mom has started coming over to hang out at my house on Fridays for a bit in the afternoon when my kids are home from school and this week Aaron and Chloe convinced her to play MarioKart with her. They had a great time! 

I gave up on the succulents in this pot and got this pretty plant instead. I've always thought about getting one of these, but never liked the colors of the flowers. But this pink/peach colored one spoke to me and so home it came. 

I successfully got my orchid to rebloom! That feels like a huge plant grower's victory! Orchids are picky. I have three, so I hope the other two bloom again too. 

 

Haircuts and running fast

Bill and I got haircuts this week. He killed his post haircut photo way better than I did, but whatevs. Lololol. And I took this picture of Spencer, and Chloe photobombing, because he told me he does not actually want to grow his hair out long enough to put in a ponytail anymore. He wants to cut it all super short like Bill's! Woohoo! He's got an appointment scheduled for this Friday. He can wear his hair however he wants, but I'm quite partial to his short hair. 

He got new glasses this week too. This is the selfie he sent me from the car after Bill Tok him to pick them up. They're red on the inside and sides, so they look pretty snazzy. He got ones that can go dark in the sun too, so that's also great. We'll see how well they work for soccer. I think it'll be helpful. 

My training is still progressing pretty great for my spring half marathons. I ran 11 miles yesterday and on the last mile my friend, who happens to be a running coach, challenged me to speed up. So I did. And he, being a coach, took me all the way in, pacing me the whole way, so much faster than I ever run otherwise right now. It felt awesome! Too bad he's moving to Nashville in two weeks. It would be super fun to get coached and get fast again. I used to run like that back in my 20s, but I've never trained back to speed after having my kids. I'm planning to run two half marathons this spring, one in two weeks, one later in April. I've trained to run them sub two-hour pace. It's felt really good to get to that speed. I'd been running slower for a long time, nursing several injuries. I'm still fighting some glute and leg pain a bit, but I've been able to run through it, which is good. I'm contemplating whether I want to do some physical therapy again for it or not. It just takes so much time. But I would really love to solve the issues and move forward. We'll see. 

 

Family and friends

Ya'll, I have the best family and friends. I just love them all so much. I did a few fun things with them this week. My grandma turned 80 last year and we weren't able to do anything much for it because of some lingering Covid restrictions. I decided to organize something for her this year. It turned out so fun. Me, my mom, grandma, sister, and niece all went out to Thai food and then went and made our own candles at a place called the Wick Lab in Provo. It was so fun. We really had a good time. I'm so glad we got to get together. My SIL wasn't able to make it and we missed her. I love having so many ladies from my family nearby. It's so special to be able to spend time together. 

One of Bill's cousins and his family plus his uncle was in town this week. We got together for a little dinner and again, so, so fun. I love all my in-laws too. I married into a great family and it's really fun to hang out. Bill actually had a church men's activity he was in charge of, so he came for a few minutes and had to leave, but me and the kids stayed for a few more hours. Good times. 

Happy half birthday, sweet Genevieve. You're so loved. 10 1/2 looks good on you. 

And finally, a big shoutout to my run club friends. They really enrich my life! We had to take a picture in front of the delivery truck at Harmon's on Saturday. It looked so good. We are always excited to have new people come run with us. South Jordan Run Club. Come join! I ran ten miles Saturday. Felt great! Actually, my glutes and hammies are still getting pretty sore after my longer runs, but I'm still feeling strong and faster than I've run in years, as I'm doing some speed work with my friend in preparation for this year's races. I'd really love to figure out what causes my leg issues, and hopefully I'll get there, but even with that, the running is feeling so good and my energy levels so much improved. I've been tracking my eating for a few months now and it's made such a difference to tweak my nutrition. I eat a lot more protein now and I can tell! I'm really happy for all the success, despite some lingering leg issues. First half marathon in seven years is at the end of March, and then another end of April. I am planning to run the Big Cottonwood Race too in the fall. I haven't done any long races in so many years. It feels GOOD!