#graphictshirtfriday

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic Tank Top Friday!

Hey tumblrs! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so I think it’s time for some quick updates!

Basically, I’ve been really struggling with my hip issues. The MRI I got back in June showed a labral tear but my ortho said he didn’t think that was my underlying issue and PT would fix me. Unfortunately, I cannot afford the $70-$100 per PT visit  so I ended up doing the exercises on my own and going to the chiropractor to help loosen the tight muscles in my leg.

At the beginning of July I wasn’t feeling 100% but I had to start running to prepare for the NYC Marathon in November. However, the hip has not cooperated. I am running twice a week, about 5 miles at a time. Then spending two to three days between runs trying to recover. My chiropractor told me last week that he thinks he’s just treating symptoms and that there’s nothing he can do to truly fix me. 

I made an appointment with a new orthopedic who works with the Washington Redskins and Nationals as a team physician. I saw him yesterday and I really enjoyed that visit more than my original doctor. He took the time to explain my MRI to me and gave me an answer that aligns more with my experience. Here’s the deal: my hip bone is shaped in a way that it does not smoothly glide in the socket. Over time. that has caused the cartilage to tear and now the bone on bone and loose flap of cartilage are inflaming my hip joint. This is then causing allllll the muscles in my right leg to tighten. 

He’s giving me a diagnostic injection in three weeks to see if the root cause is in fact the joint. Then I have to take two weeks off running because these injections weaken the cartridge.

What’s permanent fix? Surgery to shave the bone into the right shape and snip off the labral tear. 

The fun point is that if I weren’t a runner, it is likely I would never even notice this. 

I’m not sure what to do. I really really don’t want surgery--it’s a 6 month recovery and I am anti surgery in general. I don’t know what to do about the NYC marathon. Deferring is an option, if I want to pay the entry again next year. But if I can’t train properly, the experience will suck. I’m frustrated and annoyed.

So. I haven’t been posting because my running has been crap. Although, my bike riding is great! 

[purplerainbow8488-blog]

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[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday!

This shirt is from a town along Lake Michigan that my aunt and uncle go to every summer. It reminds of beaches and sun and summer and my family and therefore I love it.

Current injury sitch: I have an MRI scheduled for next week which involves injecting dye into my hip joint so that promises to be a fun time.  Then the follow up appointment for that is on the 11th.

I’ve been told to do everything but run. Which is great since all I want to do IS run. I am considering blowing off the doctor and seeing what happens but you know, that’s probably a bad idea? 

Other than that, I’m also training for a sprint triathlon  swimming and spinning and biking. Then I guess I’ll have to fake the run part. It’s 5k, that’s not so bad, right? Famous last words, I am sure.

Okay, I’m starting to ramble which is always a sign that I need to stop. Happy Fridays to all and to all a good weekend! 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday

Self-explanatory. Stayed up late watching the game last night, screamed and scared the dog and cats when they won. WORTH IT.

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday

Nevertheless, She Persisted.

Political AND motivational. My running has not improved since Wednesday so I did some pool running this morning. Just keeping on, keeping on. This is not the position I want to be in but I can’t do much other than hope my hip heals up by race day. Let’s just say I’m doing an extreme taper right now.

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday/Week 11

FUN FACT: I have owned this shirt for at least 10 years. And before that it belonged to my sister. It’s still one of my favorites because it fits well, has a fun graphic, and is very soft (immediately after taking this picture, I put on a graphic hoodie because I knew SOME people here would criticize me for taking a picture of something other than a graphic shirt. I won’t name names but it rhymes with grivial gob).

I am nearing the end of week 11 of marathon training and my first 16 miler is tomorrow. It’s funny how 14 and 15 milers are normal feeling but the 16 miler is SO hyped up when it’s only an extra 10 minutes of running (I run based on time instead of actual miles). I’m still not having a fun time with these long runs mentally. However, I run my 16s as a loop instead of an out and back so that usually helps pass the time. 

Tomorrow’s run will be extra interesting since we are getting some crazy wind right now. Today is the main event but tomorrow is still supposed to be pretty windy. My run takes me along the Potomac which I’m sure will be extremely gusty! Because of the wind, I decided to run at the gym this morning. Of course, on the drive home I saw a couple of people running outside and immediately felt like a baby. 

I’m still living on that NYC Marathon acceptance high this week. I have my airbnb booked already and started scoping out the course and transportation options. I probably should focus on the marathon coming up in April before making plans for another marathon but I feel like New York is just going to be FUN! But I am going to be training all the time. Especially if I BQ and get into Boston for 2019. 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic Pants Friday!

I cannot even tell you all how much I love these pants. I am sad to report, however, that they are getting a liiiiittle tight in the thighs these days. Which makes sense because I am just continuing to roll through marathon training and my leg muscles are being built up! At least that’s what I’m telling myself. 

I am tired today. I think it’s a combination of training, staying up late to watch the Olympics and just plain old STRESS. It’s been a WEEK on so so many fronts.I think one of my biggest issues is that I can’t unplug anywhere. If work is stressful, then I get in my car and hear the news, then I get home and talk about the news or work, hear from my friends about their stresses and it just gets. To. Be. A. Lot. Does that make sense?

Tomorrow I have a 15 mile/150 minute run to do. I have to admit, my last long run wasn’t great mentally--I got bored and cranky so I am hoping tomorrow goes a bit better. I think we have the tendency to forget that part of marathon training is mental: the long runs condition you physically AND mentally. I’ll try to keep that in mind when I get irritated that I’m still running after two hours while other people are sleeping in and going to brunch.

Other than that, the running is going pretty smoothly and I’m halfway through training! The marathon is just over 60 days away! I’m still hitting my goal paces on the track and in tempo runs. My body hurts but not in a bad way. I just need some SLEEP. So you could say your girl’s got goals! Will she hit eight hours tonight? OR will a cat sit on her face at 3am and wake her up? We’ll find out, coming up!

Yep, I’m tired. 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-shirt Travel Friday!

It's finally happening! I am at National Airport waiting for my flight to board. If everything goes well, I'll be in San Francisco tonight and tomorrow I head to Dubai!

And not a minute to soon. My gym is part of the county community center so it was cowed this morning so naturally, I sucked it up and ran outside. It was about 10 degrees without the windchill bringing it down to the negatives. Luckily I have a layering system now so i survived. But let's check out the weather forecast for Dubai and Harare:

YES. Between the snow and ice and 10 degree run this morning, I cannot wait. I predict my poor body is probably going to go into shock because of the dramatic change but I don't care. What does it feel like to be warm outside?

[malloryrunsthis]

LAST GRAPHIC T-SHIRT FRIDAY OF 2017!

I KNOW. I am in fact, wearing a graphic t-shirt under my graphic hoody but it’s COLD you guys. In case you had all missed that despite all the “it’s !@#$-ing cold” posts floating around.

Naturally, we are in some sort of historic cold snap and therefore, I am training through it. I haven’t run in above freezing temperatures since this past weekend. Yesterday and today were in the mid-teens. I have complained a lot about it so that everyone knows how hardcore I am for running in this weather.

At least it’s not snowing or worse, freezing rain. So I am sucking it up, wearing layers and heading out.

So training is going about as well as one would expect in week two. I went out too fast on the track, went out too fast during the tempo (only to be reined in by a closed trail and then SURPRISE hills). I think this is pretty normal for me now. In a few weeks I’ll be so tired that I running at pace will feel daunting and hard. So I’ll enjoy fresher legs while I can.

I start my epic journey to Zimbabwe a week from today and am anxiously watching a potential major storm brewing for next week (could be huge, could be a miss). But we got our itinerary and list of hotels today and I am super happy to see a lot of them have some sort of fitness facility available! I really want to run outside but I can see how that may not always be a safe option for me. 

Finally: goodbye 2017, bring on 2018! I’ll work on resolutions later. 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday

I don’t really own any festive graphic t-shirts so this is what you get--a bike ride shirt. 

Merry Christmas weekend to those who celebrate and happy three day weekend to those who do not! 

[malloryrunsthis]

Plain White T-Shirt Friday

I knooooow, It’s all ruined. This is not the graphic t-shirt post you have come to expect. I am the worst. But I didn’t even really think it through when I packed my bag last night (I ran and then changed at work not at home today). So here we are. The opposite of a graphic t-shirt: the plain white tee. 

Worst of all, I haven’t been posting regular Friday updates! I guess I just feel like I have less to talk about when I’m not doing any organized training. Trust me, I think I’m working my butt off but not talking about it as much? I’ve added spin classes into the weekly training and it’s so freaking hard. I mean, in a good way but still way harder than I thought it could be.

I’ve noticed that my legs move slowly over all disciplines: swimming, biking, and running. I get away with it in running and swimming because I’m tall (and maybe part of the problem is that I am so tall?) but it’s hard to hide behind when you have to pedal. My main goal right now is to just pick up my cadence in all three sports but mostly running because it’s my favorite.

The big news of the week is that I picked my spring marathon! “Mallory, why are you going to Ohio of all places?” Well, one, it’s a short/cheap flight to a nearby airport (less than two hours to Detroit), I figure it’ll be cooler there in April than here and it’s pretty darn flat! ETA. and MOSTLY because @elkay723 is running it as well! Runner friends are the best kind of friends.

 All these things should, fingers crossed, get me at least a BQ and hopefully a new PR! Yes, I will be doing Hansons again. It’ll be a little off since I’m not sure how I’m going to be able to run for two weeks in Zimbabwe but...we will see!

I’ll do a goals post sometime in the next few weeks but I am feeling MAJOR inspiration from everyone who has smashed their PRs this year. 

Okay happy Fridays to all!

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday!

It’s that time of year when i start getting really really homesick so this seems appropriate for today! Home DOES mean Nevada--even though, truthfully, I only lived there “full-time” for three and a half years and I’ve lived in Virginia longer than that! But if home is where the heart is, then Nevada wins.

Unfortunately for me, I am not getting my Nevada fix this year: because I have my big trip to Zimbabwe (maybe? There’s a not-a-coup coup happening so who knows!), I cannot afford the vacation time or money to fly home this year. It will be my first year ever not celebrating Christmas with my family and I’m sad, not going to lie. However, I am sure it will still be a nice cozy time here! 

In other news, I am getting back into shape and it’s sort of pathetic how happy this makes me. I had a really good couple of weeks of running and then for some reason my motivation got OVER-excited and I went to a 6:30am spin class yesterday morning. I’m not sure that I need to make that one a regular habit but it did feel good!

Being the overachiever that I am, I asked @mrcarlosbc if he wanted to run with me again last night! I think I said this last week but...he’s so fast. I just could tell that I was barely hanging with his easy pace. BUT, I selfishly used him to push me into some faster miles. Admittedly, we were going downhill at the time but hey, my legs still work! 

I realized that I have run ZERO running races this year. I did a sprint tri and an aquabike over the summer and that was it. Who am I? So next week’s turkey trot will be my first race of 2017. The last time I ran it, in 2015, I did it in 22:01. No pressure.

 But it’ll still be nice to have at least one old-fashioned road race to my name this year. Next year, I’ll be back for more!

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt FriYAY!

It’s small but there IS a graphic on this shirt. There’s a bigger version of it on the back actually. I’m also sort of excited that it’s long-sleeve shirt weather! 

That does mean, however, that I’ve been rocking headbands and gloves on my runs this week which is always a careful balancing act. How warm is TOO warm? Should I hide my gloves in a bush if I need to ditch them? What about windchill? It’s in the 40s when I run which I know by February will feel just fine. But my body isn’t used to it yet so I’m bundling up.

This week has been harder than I would like. After my week off, I just feel like I’m losing ground in my fitness constantly. Last night, I got to run with @mrcarlosbc (yay!) and I felt like we (okay just me, he’s crazy fast) were just sprinting the whole way. 

Ha. 

Ha. 

Ha... I was barely hitting my marathon pace. It is THAT BAD right now. However, catching up with Carlos was really fun!

So here’s the plan. I am going to be base building between now and Thanksgiving. Just putting in steady miles five or six days a week and build my mileage up, safely. Then, after Thanksgiving, I’m going to add a track day. I never do track in my off-season. But I have had nothing but off-season for months so it’s time to crank it up. I haven’t found a plan yet but I think I’ll just work my way through a half marathon plan.

My short-term goal is to run marathon pace at the Jingle all the Way 15k in December. My long-term goal is to break 1:40 in my half marathon in April. Looking past that, I want to do at least one or two Olympic triathlons next summer and then a fall marathon. Then Boston in 2019. I think this is a solid plan as long as, you know, I avoid injury/accident/illness. 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday!

New shirt alert! For those of you who may not know, this is a play on the state’s tagline: Virginia is for Lovers. And based on how many people run around my area, saying it’s for runners is definitely accurate.

Including me! I am RUNNING again! Tentatively. Short distances. I should be doing them on the treadmill but it’s way too nice outside and now that I can run again, going to the gym just makes me sad. But I am trying really really hard to hold back because I know my bone is still in the healing stages. Rebreaking it would be...disaster.

For right now, I am doing five miles or less every other day (ish). Still swimming, biking, and all that too. 

It’s been a busy week for me. I actually spent 24 hours in Chicago for work and got to hang out with tumblr dogs Zito and Ollie! Not pictured is @a-yogi-who-wods who belongs to Zito and is cool too.

It was fabulous but such a whirlwind. I wish i could have spent more time in Chicago but honestly, work is just too crazy to be traveling a lot. 

Speaking of Chicago, GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE MARATHON RUNNERS! @breatherunlive, @runsforredvelvet, @excelwithpassion @runningforbiscuits @seechrisrun ETA: @runningfurtherfaster and I’m sure I missed someone but HAVE THE BEST TIME! I will be thinking of all of you taking on those gorgeous roads. If anyone wants to post their bib number I would love to track you!

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic Hoodie Friday

I actually had to take a pretty stealthy selfie today. We have hired a few new people so my empty side of the office has filled up! Luckily, I like these people and even if they saw me taking a pic, the probably would only silently judge me.

I overslept my swim this morning which was irritating. I’ve been doing this more and more and I think I have figured out why. My boyfriend moved in with me in January and so, instead of just hitting snooze over and over until I get up, I tend to turn off my alarm instead so as not to wake him. However, not all was lost, I did get in a 45 minute run before work! Remember back in the day when I was running 12 miles before work? Ahahahaha. 

So here’s confession time: running is kind of freaking me out right now. I am so wary of every little twinge in my plantar fascia or my toe. And I can tell I am not in the same shape I was before I got hurt (obviously). I want to train and run fast again but what if I CAN’t? My regular week day run feel like i’m just plodding along. I do the occasional fast strides and...they do not feel good.

Part of me knows that this is just a phase and I’m still getting my body back into running shape. The other part of me is just terrified that I peaked and that was it and there is no coming back and I will never PR in any distance again. And that’s silly too! Because I can still run even if I’m not as fast as I was before. Would it really be the end of the world? Eventually, I will slow down anyways.

Argh, my brain is thinking too much again. 

[malloryrunsthis]

Graphic T-Shirt Friday!

I am doing my best to not just hide my gross unwashed hair but also hide from this week. It’s been craaaaazy.

I just deleted a paragraph about me grousing about my foot. Y’all already know about it--let’s not dwell on the subject. So here’s some random notes:

First of all, I BOUGHT A BIKE. It had to be special ordered (guys, I’m so tall) but it’s supposed to arrive this weekend and then I’ll get it fitted to me and I already bought some accessories and I am super excited! It’s a road endurance bike--after talking to the manager at one of the local shops, he and I agreed that it was the best style for my use. I wanted a comfortable bike that I could ride around on but also use in triathlons. Obviously, i will share pictures when it arrives!

Since I’m now basically a professional cyclist, I have been doing a lot of research into local bike clubs and rides. I’m too intimidated to join a lot of them but there are some no-drop, women’s specific rides that I am going to try out! Also, lucky timing for me, the DC Tri Club has just launched a women’s only multi-sport program over the fall. You don’t have to be a member of the club to join the program so I signed up! It would be cool to learn more about triathlons (no, I can’t believe I am saying this either).

If nothing else, this injury is really getting me to explore other forms of exercise. At the gym yesterday. I tried Oiselle’s Dirty Dozen core workout instead of doing my usual strength routine. It’ll still be a few weeks until I am comfortable doing weight bearing exercise (kickboxing, bootcamp, even the elliptical is no-go right now) but I want to try them once I’m cleared for it!

I know plenty of people* who said that you can tape this up and just continue as normal (*on forums that came up when I googled “running on a broken toe”). That it’s possible just to fight through the pain. I don’t want to do that. I’m pretty sure it would slow down the healing process, possibly cause some other injury and I am determined to take this time and make myself stronger in other ways.