First 5K With The New Ankle Brace and Rehabbed Ankle

Colin likes race selfies!

Today was the first day I took my rehabbing ankle and new brace for a 5K race run.  It was the furthest I've been since May's left ankle impingement.  The race started at 8:30 in the morning and in Southwest Georgia that means the starting temp was around 75 degrees.  That's a little hot for me to run in on account on the Hashimoto's and the increased swelling the heat brings on, but this time I managed to remember to take off my wedding ring prior to it cutting off my circulation after the first mile.  As the little boys were running this race with (read ahead) of mom, I made the two teens living at home get up to cheer us on!  The teens are also handy when it comes to holding things you don't like to run with like your car keys and the wedding ring you worry about losing while its in your running belt!

Unhappy ring/key holder teen!

The host for our morning festivities was Wild Side Running!  If your in Albany, Georgia this is THE RUNNING STORE!  Okay, its the only running store, but the owner Chris does a great job and has great gear at reasonable prices.  (I know because I'm a frequent visitor!)  Besides, anyone who knows to pick the softest poly blend tee shirts for a race and have cup cakes at the end knows how to host a race!  There was even a great dane dog who ran the race with us!  I do a lot of big races so it was nice to have a race director who not only said my name when he said good morning, but knew most of the 100 participants at the starting lane by first name.  The start was also an air horn instead of a gun shot which was probably a little nicer for the surrounding neighbors. Nothing like wondering if someone is starting a race, or if something is going on because you heard gunfire early on a Saturday morning!

Family Shot before running

Colin and Elijah went to the front of the start and I hung out in front of the walkers and the Couch to 5K people.  The course was fairly flat which was good for testing out the new ankle.  No worries if it didn't go well because my physical therapist and office staff were also there to run the race.  Did I mention how nice it is to run a race where people know your name and didn't have to look at your bib to find it out!  The one hill was in the first mile which gave me a chance to see what the brace and ankle would do on my nemesis terrain.  My first mile split was 13:37 which was a whole minute faster than I had been training this month and with the heat climbing I have to admit I was a little nauseous and soaked but, there's only one way to the finish so I kept going.  The little boys were out of sight for the first two miles.  I slowed it down for the second mile, hoping to recover my stomach. Did I mention that the kids ate all my cinnamon pop tarts and didn't tell me so I had to settle for a piece of toast?  No? Well at least I didn't throw up all over someone's lawn.  The route was for the most part shaded, but by 2.5 miles I was really starting to feel that 80 degree heat, but thank God there was a nice little breeze coming off the lake.  I was sad to leave that little cool area, but that was when I noticed two cute little boys walking about 50 meters ahead of me.

Before they wanted to kill each other

It was their first time running together as a pair and it went as well as expected.  I could hear Colin, the runner, telling Elijah, the kid who was running for a cupcake and a shirt, to stop whining they were almost done.  I waved at them, they waved back at me, and Colin took off, and Elijah shook his head. He did that race walk thing you do when you don't want your 40 year old mom to pass you, but you're really too tired to put much effort in it.  Pride won out because when I came 10 meters behind Elijah, he took off to catch up with Colin.  That was around 2.8 and when I rounded the turn at 3.0 miles, Josie decided she'd be cute and motivate me by running the last .1 to the finish line with me.  Zeke couldn't pass up hollering "kick!"  I finished upright and in 45:15ish.  Pretty good for my first race on the impinged ankle and the new heavy duty brace!  More importantly, there were no blisters, my left ankle didn't swell up to twice its normal size, I didn't throw up and I finished up right! Oh and I was only about 45 seconds behind those two cute little boys who had a water and a cupcake waiting!

Hot and a little worse for wear after our race!

Sewing and a Migraine to End Vacation

There's classical music playing, the hum of a sewing machine as old as I am in the back ground and the clicking of the keyboard.  That's what the last day of vacation looks like around here when your trying to get rid of a migraine before you go back to work and get things done.  When our AC went out last weekend, my husband found a pretty high end sewing machine in the attic, cicra 1970 something.  Thank God it had its instructional manual and with my daughter's new found enthusiasm for attempting to use it, we decided it would be a good mother daughter bonding project to make a quilt for the living room.  (It looks easy enough on Pinetrest, right?)

Someone's proud of herself!

I cut most of the pieces because after one yard of fabric, Josie realized that sewing could be a little tedious.  She likes to use the machine, which is fine with me because I think bending over it yesterday is what escalated my headache to an 8 (as well as the bologna sandwich and two days of homemade bread).  Its at a 5 this morning, which is somewhat manageable as long as I don't plan on doing anything too strenuous (like running, or cleaning, or moving fast).  Lucky for me I did my long run (2miles) for my half marathon training yesterday, because it surely would not get done today.

So the plan for the rest of today is to attempt to get rid of this headache, assist as needed with the quilt making and put away some laundry.  I'm sure there will be a couple naps and supper making in there, but really the day will be a success if I can stay upright with my head attached to my shoulders.  Anything else that gets done will be due to my wonderful family or a miracle!

Technology Takeaway

This is the face of an unhappy teenager when you take his electronics away and I mean all his electronics!  No cell phone, no television, no portable gaming system, nothing that plugs in or uses batteries.  You see, my children, like many children have lots of electronic things to occupy their time.  It keeps them quiet on long car rides and to be perfectly honest, it keeps them from fighting with each other.  Many times it is preferable to hear the beeping or clicking of keys then it is to hear "he's breathing on me!"

I remember summers outside, putting on plays and generally playing until our parents called us in at when the sun went down.  My children and their friends think summer is time to get on Facebook, or play video games with their friends (which nowadays does not require them to leave the comfort of their own couch). How can they have a great summer break if all they do is play on their electronics?  There is so much to see, and do and create, but not if the majority of your time is spent sleeping in and plugged in.

 I'm all for technology and all the wonderful things that it allows us to do (like this blog), but I think my kids have spent way to much time in their devices and not enough time outside or interacting with real live people.  So, being the awful parent that my children currently think I am, I have instituted electronic free days.  It has not been well received by the children.  On electronic free days my children are now forced to read paper books, go outside and make up creative ways to fill up their hours.  Just for fun, sometimes I call electronic free hours to force the kids to come up for air and participate in the world around them.  The younger kids seem to be dealing with this better than the older kids.  The older kids are much more attached to their electronic worlds and do not find mom's current experiment "fun."  I'm sure when the whining stops the kids will fondly look back on technology takeaway days, or they will have an effective punishment for their own kids!