Category Archives: Running

Not Being Able To Run Is Tough…Getting Back Into It Is Even Tougher

You know how after taking a break from running, whether it be for injury, burnout, loss of motivation, or whatever, and you miss it while you’re not doing it but then once it comes time to start running again and you just don’t want to do it? Yeah that’s where I am right now. Now that I’ve fallen out of my routine I’m finding it very difficult to begin getting back into it.

And honestly I don’t even think starting to get back into a routine is even the hard part. I mean, it sucks that I’ve fallen out of it, but I think after a few days I can be right back into it. The problem is I know how freaking badly running again is going to suck. It’s going to be so freaking hard. Because running is already really hard, but the more you do it the more fun it becomes. At least that’s how it usually goes for me. The first few weeks of coming back after a break, or even just starting for the very first time, is super hard and it hurts in a way that doesn’t feel good (if you’ve been running for a while then you probably know that good hurting feeling. I know I sure do. 😉 and it’s no fun and I’m totally not looking forward to all of that. Ugh but the only way to get back to having fun with running is to actually do it and experience all the suck. I’m just not looking forward to the experience…

Did that paragraph even make any sense? Haha it made sense to me, at least.

Anyway, two days in a row I’ve told myself I was going to hop back onto the running bandwagon and I have not. Honestly I think that’s alright though. If I’m not ready to embrace the suck yet then I’m not going to do it. Doing something I don’t want to do is a really good way to get me to burnout, which is something I definitely don’t want to do right after getting back into it haha. At the end of the day if running isn’t fun then I’m not going to do it.

Eventually I’ll be ready to embrace all of the suck that comes with getting back into running. And probably very soon, because I am very much over this whole not running thing hahaha. But today is not that day, and I’ve officially decided that I’m ok with that. 🙂

~Ashley

Weekly Recap: September 11th-17th, 2017

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Monday:

2 miles
10 minute kettle bell workout

Hurray! I ran on Monday!! Just two miles, but hey, that’s better than nothing! My knee was aching a bit near the end of the first mile, but I was a mile away from home and I had to get back somehow so I ran that mile back. 😉 And it just felt really good to run again so I didn’t really want to stop, even though I probably should have stopped once my knee started hurting. Oh well.

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Tuesday:

Rest day

Trying to take things easy and do the whole run every other day thing, so that I don’t over do it and hopefully give my knee more time to heal. So, took a rest day on Tuesday. 🙂

Wednesday:

2 miles
10 minutes of stretching

Check out my fancy new compression leggings!! Not sure if they actually helped out during my run, but my leg was feeling a bit better on Wednesday, during my run. 🙂

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Thursday:

Rest day

Yeah, I just didn’t feel like doing anything on Thursday, so I didn’t haha. But in all fairness, not doing anything was probably good for my knee situation. 🙂

Friday:

I guess you could call Friday an active rest day? Haha Luke and I went grocery shopping, ran some errands, and then took the dogs to the park and walked them around for a while. We actually managed to wear all three of them out, which is not an easy task to accomplish. 😉

Saturday:

Another day spend doing nothing haha. Luke and I stayed up pretty late the night before so I didn’t get much sleep and was basically too tired to do anything on Saturday. I feel like I’ve just gotten lazy though. I mean, at the very least I could have stretched or something. Oh well.

Sunday:

30 minutes on the stationary bike
20 minutes of yoga

Attempting to ward off the cycle of laziness that I’m currently about to fall into. I’ve caught myself thinking things along the lines of “running is not currently happening, so why do anything?” Yeah that’s like the opposite of what I should be doing. 😂 But I made the time to get active and not sit around and feel sorry for myself today, and that’s totally a win!!

So tomorrow I’m going to go for another short run and try to assess my current leg situation and then go from there!

Happy Sunday!

~Ashley

Fall Is Almost Here, Two Short Runs, An Injury Update, Compression Gear, and Another Furry Friend

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First and foremost, #ThrowbackThursday anyone? 😉 Ah man, throwback Thursday never ceases to amuse me. I just think it’s fun to take a look back at past life experiences, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant they might be.

So, since fall is almost here and I’m so super duper excited about that, I went perusing through the camera roll on my phone this morning looking for the photos of my jack-o-lanterns from last year, because they were pretty darn spiffy if you ask me!!

I was so super excited about how the 13.1 pumpkin turned out! I was kinda worried about it because I thought it was going to be hard to tell what it was, but once it was lit up it looked pretty good! And look at all the hair I used to have!! Haha not gonna lie, looking back I kinda regret cutting it all off. But it was sooo much nicer not having to deal with all of that hot hair over the summer. But anyways, now I’ve got to figure out what I want to do with this years pumpkins! Haha obviously I’ve still got some time, but I take this stuff very seriously! 😉 We’re starting to get close to my favorite time of year and I’m so super stoked!!

TRUE!!!!!

So now that we’re into the middle of September we’re starting to experience a bit of fall like weather in the morning/evening. The highs in the afternoon have been in the 80’s though so that still kinda sucks, but we’ll get to the colder weather eventually. 🙂 But anyways, the nice weather in the morning is really really really making me miss running. Fall running is the best running (except once winter rolls around, then I’ll spend all season telling you that winter running is the best 😉 ) and right now I definitely feel like I’m missing out!!

I have managed to do two very short runs this week. 2 miles on Monday and 2 more miles on Wednesday. That’s definitely not the kind of running I should be doing considering that I’m supposed to be training for my 3rd half marathon, but at the moment it’s the only kind of running I can do. And it’s still totally better than not running at all!!

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Unfortunately the 4 miles that I’ve run this week were not pain free miles. During both runs my knee started to ache a bit during the second mile and on Wednesday I felt it a little bit in my shin as well. That was no bueno…but it’s still not as bad as it was last month and I like to think it’s finally starting to get better. Healing this whole situation has definitely been a slow process, but I’m glad that it seems to be getting better without the help of a doctor. Because I really didn’t want to have to go see one haha.

So I think I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been taking R.I.C.E. (rest, ice, compression, elevation) very seriously in order to get this thing taken care of. Obviously the rest has come in the form of not running, but I’ve also been trying to take it easy and walk a little less if it starts bothering me. I was icing it for a while but that doesn’t seem to be doing anything for it anymore. And honestly I’m pretty sure icing is really only effective for the first like, 48 hours or something like that after you’ve been injured (I’m not entirely sure about that though, so don’t quote me on it. 😉 ). So that brings me to compression and elevation. As far as elevation goes, I’ve just been propping my leg up with a pillow in the evening whenever i’m sitting down watching TV, but my compression game has definitely been VERY strong!

I’m sporting a very old compression sock and a very new compression knee sleeve in this photo.

So Luke’s just as determined to get me healthy again as quickly as possible so he’s been making me experiment with some new gear haha. First he got me the knee sleeve pictured above. Oh boy does that thing work! I didn’t realize that my knee was actually hurting while I was walking until I started wearing this thing around haha (this right here is why I have to be super careful when it comes to injures. I have a ridiculous pain tolerance and sometimes I don’t notice that anythings going on until after it goes away and I start feeling normal again…). And after wearing it for about a week I was able to do my two short runs this week, which was obviously a huge improvement over not being able to run at all. 🙂 So because I had quite a bit of success with the knee brace, Luke thought hey, if a little bit of compression worked, why not go with EVEN MORE compression. So he came home with a pair of full on compression tights for me the other day haha. I kinda wish he hadn’t spent so much money on me for this stuff, compression gear (especially these tights, holy shit) isn’t cheap…but I mean, they are some super spiffy looking tights. 🙂

I’ve only worn them once, so at this point there’s really no telling if they made a difference, but they’re still super spiffy. 🙂

So all of that actually came about because I had ordered myself a new pair of Zensah compression calf sleeves (like I said, my compression socks are really old, and I’ve had to cut the toes off of both pairs that I have because they make my toes uncomfortable, so I figured sleeves were the way to go. 😉 ) and a sports bra at some point last week, I think? The only problem with that is that Zensah’s warehouse is located in southern Florida so they had to close up shop and evacuate because of hurricane Irma, so I guess they’re not entirely sure when they’ll be able to ship out anything. And like, obviously that’s totally understandable and I don’t mind waiting, but Luke is not a patient person and apparently that applies to me as well, and that’s how I ended up with even more compression gear hahahahaha.

So like, I know compression gear is one of those things that some people absolutely swear by and other people just think is a placebo kinda thing, but it’s always seemed to work for me so I’m just gonna roll with it! 🙂

Whew, alrighty then! Last on my agenda of this to talk about today is our newest furry friend! Everyone, meet Alfred!

So kind of on a whim I guess, Luke decided that our other ferret, Bruce, needed a friend. So he went and got him one last night. Hahaha if you haven’t noticed, once Luke sets his mind on something he just goes and does it. And that’s how we ended up with another ferret. It’s really funny because everyone thinks all of the animals were my idea (because I’m the huge animal lover who was raised on a farm), but aside from the cats and Lily, Luke’s the one who went out and got the rest of them haha. I mean, I’m not complaining though. 😉

At first we were both a little wary about introducing them to each other. Luckily we have two ferret cages so if it didn’t go well we could have kept them separate, but it looks like that’s not going to be a problem. They pretty much liked each other right off the bat and are already becoming fast friends. So I guess Luke was right, getting Bruce a friend was a good idea. And I mean, what good is Bruce Wayne without Alfred Pennyworth? 😉

Okey dokey then! That’s all I’ve got to talk about for today! I’ve been doing a terrible job at keeping up with everyone lately, so what’s going on with you? Are you excited about fall? Any up coming races, spiffy new gear, new furry friends,new PR’s, or are you sidelined with an injury as well?

Anyways, I hope everyone has a happy Friday eve, a great Friday tomorrow, and an even better weekend!

~Ashley

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Running Keeps Me Sane

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And it’s only when my klutzy, accident/injury prone ass gets hurt and can’t run that I really, truly understand that.

That’s currently where I’m at. I’m hurt, can’t run, and driving myself insane with things that are probably just a result of my having anxiety, but you know, also just regular life stuff. Haha I probably need to see a doctor about both of those things, but I’m a very stubborn person who does not like, and has had several bad experiences with doctors. One day I’ll tell the story of how my high pain tolerance and a team of equally as stubborn as me doctors almost killed me when I was 13 and suffering from a ruptured appendix (although initially the doctors couldn’t figure that out). That’s a super long story though, and I don’t think I still have any photos from that time in my life. Eventually I want to talk to my mom, dad, sisters, brother, and grandma about it though, and type it all out. But for now, wanna see my scar? Too bad if you don’t, because I’m gonna show you anyway. 😉

So yeah, every doctor I’ve ever seen since I was 13 likes to touch it and say “you had an old fashioned appendectomy!” Yes, I did! Because it was ruptured and they couldn’t get all the nastiness out the newfangled way they do it now with like, lasers and shit. And I absolutely hate when people touch it, but doctors always freaking do it without asking… I’ve also got a bunch of scar tissue in my abdomen that can uncomfortable if I sit/lay in certain ways for too long, and apparently that could potentially cause issues if I were to ever get pregnant. I don’t plan on doing that anytime soon though. 😉

Anyways, I’ve rambled on enough about that.

So ever since the Green Day concert last month (which I don’t regret going to at all before anyone asks 😉 ) I haven’t been able to do much running. I think I must have hurt something in my left knee/calf (I’m honestly still unsure as to where the pain is originating from, all I know is that it hurts every time I try to run on it) with all of the standing/dancing that I did. Oh man, that was so much fun and I really wish we could go see them again…

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But anyway, the week of the 14th-20th of August I ran a total of one whole mile. But I thought, hey, maybe a week pretty much complete off from running would help. And it really seemed to! The next week I managed to pretty much get all of my training runs done with minimal to no pain. And my 9 mile long run for the week went totally great and my leg felt almost back to 100%! It was all down hill from there unfortunately. The week of August 28th-September 3rd I attempted to do 2 runs and neither of them went well. I ended up running about 1.5 miles for both of them but I just ended up with pain in my knee, shooting down into my calf both times. And then after those two failed attempts at running I ended up limping around for the rest of the day. That’s when I decided that running was making it worse and that I needed to stop. Sad face.

And that brings us to this week, in which I’ve done absolutely no running at all. I’ve actually just been sitting around feeling sorry for myself, which definitely hasn’t helped with the whole anxiety thing…But yesterday it finally clicked in my head that just because I can’t run, it doesn’t mean that I can’t do other things, so I did a Jillian Michaels’ DVD workout that I haven’t done in forever! It was pretty tough considering that I haven’t done it in a while, and it’s not like I strength train enough anyway haha, but it definitely wasn’t as tough as I thought it was gonna be! I had to modify a few things to keep my leg happy, but I made it through without dying! I actually felt pretty strong while I was doing it. I was glad to find that I’m actually not in as bad of shape as I thought I might be. 🙂

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So yeah, I felt pretty great after that! I woke up feeling crazy sore this morning, and while that’s slightly annoying it also makes me feel like I actually accomplished something with this workout, ya know?

Haha you’d think with how obnoxiously injury prone I am, that I’d be consistently cross training and working on strengthening my muscles in order to keep my body as injury free as possible, so that I can keep running, not take a piss ton of time off, and then drive myself completely insane because I just can’t turn my brain off when it latches onto something to worry about. *Insert world’s most dramatic eye roll here* But you know, I just don’t do that stuff as often as I should. It’s just not as fun as running dammit! And who wants to do something that’s not fun?!?! Not me, that’s for damn sure. But at this point I am promising myself and anyone who reads this that I’m going to dedicate the time to straight train at least twice a week. I think that’s a good goal to work on for now. 🙂

Surprisingly enough though, I’ve actually been pretty good about stretching/doing gentle yoga and yoga for flexibility. That’s definitely a step in the right direction as far as rehabbing injuries and preventing new ones from happening. I was also icing my knee and calf for a while, but at this point I don’t think that’s really doing much. I’ve also been wearing a lot of compression gear and that has actually felt like it’s been helping! Luke bough me this crazy compression knee brace thingy, but my knee has felt a lot better since I’ve been wearing it! Not good enough to run on yet, but at least it’s a step in the right direction! And as far as compression socks go, well I think I might need new ones. Both pairs that I have just don’t seem as compression-y as they once were. They are still providing some compression though, so I figure that’s better than nothing for now. Haha I’m actually going to get calf sleeves instead of the whole sock, because as you can see, I cut the toes off of my compression socks because they make my toes super uncomfortable.

So yeah, that’s where I am right now. At this point I’ve pretty much given up on the 10k that I’m registered for. That’s exactly one month from today and since I’m still not running at all I just don’t think I’m going to be able to make it happen. And I was soooo looking forward to it! This was going to be my first 10k race and it’s supposed to be a super scenic, evening race with a free glass of hard cider at the end…Oh well, there’s always next year I suppose. Haha I’m just upset that I spent $35 on a race I’m not going to do.

As for the Longview half, well, I haven’t completely given up on that. I have however, given up on any time goals I had for it. That’s not for a little over 2 months so I feel like there’s still some hope for that one. At this point I know I can cover the distance, even on minimal training, so as long as my leg heals I’ll still be able to do it. You know how some runners have a race that they do every. single. year? That they’ve done for 5, 10, 20 years in a row? Yeah, I want the Longview half to be that race for me and I really don’t want to have to end that streak this early into it. I mean, I’ve only done it two years in a row and this is gonna be the third. Well hopefully. But like I said, if I can get my leg healed I should be able to do it.

Whew, alrighty then. That is all I’ve got for today. It’s been super nice outside in the mornings. In the low/high 50’s so we’re starting to get our first tastes of fall here in Kansas, and that’s just making not running even more suck-y but I can still walk my dogs! So I’m gonna go do that and then do some yoga.

Happy almost fall! 🍁🍂

~Ashley

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I Suck At Sleeping, Apparently

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Alright, I probably don’t actually suck at sleeping, but the past couple of nights I just haven’t slept well and it kinda sucks. I’m thinking maybe I shouldn’t have just jumped right back into my training scheduled after skipping a long run and then taking a week off for an injury (ok, I know I shouldn’t have done it, but I’m stubborn), but what’s done is done and I’m pretty sure my body is pissed at me haha. Meh, I also think I’ll be fine in a few days. Garmin told me that it was going to take me 4 days to recover from my long run last Sunday and I’m beginning to think that wasn’t an over exaggeration.

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So, I literally did nothing but sit on my couch yesterday. I got a lot of reading done though (I’ve got about 8 thousand books that I need to read but just haven’t gotten around to yet), so go me!! Aaand after waking up tired again this morning and looking at my sleep chart, I’ve decided that another day off from running is probably a good idea. So, after I’m done with this post I’m probably going to go do some yoga and stretching and foam rolling. Thanks to the ice bath I took on Sunday after my 9 miler, my legs actually feel really good! But it’s probably still a good idea to give them some more TLC. 🙂

Also, just a quick shout out to the person on Instagram who commented about how much worse their night of sleep was. Gosh I hate “one uppers”. That is literally one of my biggest pet peeves. Like, just because you had it worse doesn’t mean someone else isn’t entitled to complain about something going on with them. That shit drives me crazy. And so does unsolicited advise, which is also something I got on Instagram today, when someone else told me that my sleep chart actually looks normal. Like, no dude, that’s totally not normal for me and since you don’t know me there’s a good chance that you wouldn’t know that, and therefore you’re “helpful” comment just irritated me. I know I probably shouldn’t get so worked up over stuff like that, but it’s just sooo annoying. I very much believe that unless someone is explicitly asking for your advice, you shouldn’t just go around handing it out, because in most situations there is probably a good chance that you don’t know 100% what’s going on with the other person. And one uppers are just super obnoxious…

(Haha I was so annoyed that I posted a very unsuccessful rant on vidme. Finn makes a guest apperance. It’s great. 😉 ).

Oh and I’m pretty sure the meter man opened the gate to my backyard because the dogs were barking at him while he was in the easement. I made them come in once they started doing it, but once he made his way across the street to one of the neighbor’s yards, I let them back out (what can I say, they like being outside). Well seconds later I see Finn, Dean, and Ace running across my front yard, so I called them back inside (luckily they’re all trained well and come the second they’re called). So I checked the gate and it was wide open and pushed inwards. 1. The dogs have never opened that gate before. 2. Even if they did I feel like it should have been pushed outward and probably not opened all the way. And 3. I know for a fact it was shut before hand, because the dogs had been in the yard all morning. So I’m pretty sure he opened it…Jokes on him though, because they went running after him when I let them back out haha. Luckily though I noticed them before anything bad could happen.

Anyways, aside from my not-so-great night of sleep and annoying people, I’m actually in a pretty good mood today! It’s beautiful out, the temperature is starting to go down a little bit, and you can just barely feel little hints of fall in the air. It’s great!! I’ve been telling Luke that I think it’s going to be a short summer and so far it’s definitely looking that way! Later this week the and over the weekend the highs are supposed to go back up into the mid/high 80’s but then after that it drops to the mid/low 70’s. Haha I sure hope that happens, and then that trend continues and that fall gets here fast! I’m so over summer and am very ready for fall running!!

Plus my knee (the reason I had to take a week off) is feeling much better! I was worried about how it was going to hold up during my long run on Sunday, but it did very well! There was a little bit of pain in the beginning but around mile 4 it started feeling much better and by the time I had finished it actually didn’t hurt at all! Yay! Now hopefully it will just stay fine because I’m not entirely sure what I did to hurt it in the first place haha.

But anyways, that is all I’ve got for today so I’m off to do some yoga! Happy Tuesday!

~Ashley 🙂

Weekly Recap: August 21st-27th, 2017

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Monday:

1.8 miles

The weather was insane on Monday!! Haha I woke up to a rainbow but no rain (at that point), then a whole bunch of rain while it was still kinda sunny out, then the sun came and it stopped raining, which is when I went out for my run. But a crazy thunderstorm with some pretty intense lighting developed right on top of me so I high tailed it home before I even hit two miles haha. Oh well, my knee/leg still hurt so a super short run was probably a good thing. Oh and lets not forget that the Great American Eclipse happened Monday afternoon. That was pretty awesome. 🙂

Tuesday:

Intervals
25 minutes of blogilates
20 minutes on my stationary bike
10 minutes of foam rolling

Haha I didn’t really realize how much I did on Tuesday until I typed it all out. Started my day with a mile warm up followed by two miles of interval work. My leg hurt for the first few minutes but it eventually worked itself out for the most part. Haha I probably should have taken it easy, but I really wanted to go a little bit harder. Oh well, for the most part my leg felt alright. After my run I did some blogilates, then in the evening I spent some time on my stationary bike then foam rolled a bit. I really need to make that more of a habit. I don’t do it nearly enough…

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Wednesday:

rest day

My leg was actually feeling pretty good on Wednesday, but after all the work I put in the day before I didn’t want to push it too far, so I skipped my easy run and walked the dogs did some yoga and iced my knee instead. Haha that was probably a good idea anyway, I was pretty darn tired on Wednesday, so I probably needed the day off from running. 🙂

Thursday:

1 easy mile

Probably maybe should have taken another rest day and given my leg as much rest as possible, but I needed to do something so I did haha.

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Friday:

Intervals

Did a mile warm up followed by 3 miles of intervals. And some of those intervals were pretty hard too! At least until it really warmed up outside haha. I’m a huge wimp in the heat… Anyways, this run was simultaneously one of the most fun/most awful runs I’ve ever experienced. Running is the only thing I’ve ever done where I can experience that kind of feeling. 😉

So according to my fancy Fenix 5, I improved both my VO2 max and my anaerobic fitness. I sure hope that’s actually accurate! I suppose we’ll find out at the end of this training cycle though. Oh man after I got done with this run I was crazy tired and got absolutely nothing done for the rest of the day haha.

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Saturday:

Rest day
10 minutes of stretching/foam rolling

Was supposed to do my log run on Saturday, but I had trouble falling asleep the night before and I knew it just wasn’t gonna happen. So I took a rest day, worked on hydrating, eating well, and I even did a little bit of stretching. 🙂

Sunday:

9 miles

Oh man, I really didn’t think this run was gonna happen today. Yet again I didn’t sleep very well so I woke up late, and I seriously considered skipping my long run. Again…But obviously I came to my senses and got a run done! The plan was to do 10 miles, but I honestly didn’t even think I was going to make it to 5, so I’m still pretty darn proud of what I accomplished even though I was a mile short. 😉 My run was fueled by Honey Stinger, punk rock (I listened to a lot of Rancid and Green Day haha), and pure stubbornness. Once I got out there I knew I had more than 5 miles in me and there was no way I could go 3 weeks in a row without a long run. Anyways, I even took an “ice bath” (I didn’t have any ice so it was just a super cold bath, it was still just has miserable though haha) afterwards. My legs always seem to recover faster after an ice bath, so I guess they are really worth the torture. 😉 Anyways, at some point I’m gonna stretch and foam roll and hopefully me legs wont feel too bad tomorrow.

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Total Weekly Mileage: 18.93

Not bad!! After two not so great weeks I feel like I’m finally back into the swing of things! My knee seems to be getting batter! It held up very well on my long run and it seemed to get better the farther I went. 🙂 So hopefully I’ll finally be done with that and that I’ll be able to stay healthy until November haha.

Happy Sunday everyone!

~Ashley

Half Marathon Training Day 35 (Because I’m Still An Athlete On Off Days), Life Is Messy, New Hair, and Other Catching Up In General

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Oh man life is messy. I’ve currently got a lot going on with multiple sides of my family, I’m training for a half marathon, keeping up with my husband, my dogs, a new rabbit, my other rabbit and other pets, my sister’s dog, my garden, the house, and just life in general. I’m also still kind of experiencing the post concert blues (haha yup, I’m still hung up on all the Green Day feels. You can read about that night here and here if you missed it. 😉 I’m feeling a little bit overwhelmed right now and I feel like I’ve been neglecting several of the things mentioned above, along with this blog and my Vidme account. Haha I’m also going to shamelessly plug my Instagram account while I’m at it, because I am actually keeping up with that. 😉

So yeah, as you can probably already tell, I’m going to be linking to several older posts in this little update. Mostly because I’m trying to organize all of my thoughts and re-reading the stuff I’ve already written helps. And ya know, it helps anyone who missed anything and wanted to catch up with the weirdness that is my life or wanted to go back and figure out what the heck I’m talking about haha. I like to think it helps.

Anyway, I’m not entirety sure where to start or where this post is going to end up going so if you’re reading this you’re about to embark on what is probably going to be a long adventure in self reflection and discovery with me. 🙂 Okey Dokey, lets get into it then shall we?

Starting with running! Yay running! The whole reason I started this blog and one thing that I think sometimes I neglect to talk in depth enough here haha. So, half marathon training day ___ actually ended up being a rest day. That wasn’t supposed to be the case (according to my training scheduled, anyway.), today was supposed to be a long run day. 10 miles to be exact. I wasn’t entirely sure if that was going to happen though. In my last post here on the blog, I talked a little bit about how I ended up hurting my knee (at the Green Day concert, I think) and ended up taking all of last week off from running. It’s been feeling better this week, but it’s still not back at 100% yet. I’ve been able to do all of my workouts this week with minimal pain, but I wasn’t sure how it would hold up for 10 miles. But of course last night was one of those nights when I just couldn’t fall asleep (that happens to me every once in a while). I finally fell asleep around 1:40 am, but at that point I knew my long run wasn’t going to happen today. So I decided to rest today and hopefully do a long run tomorrow. Haha at the very least now my knee is getting an extra day off after the interval workout I did yesterday.

So yeah, no running for me today. But I am still working on things that will make tomorrow’s (hopefully) long run better. I’ve been eating pretty well, I’m drinking plenty of water, and I’ve done a little bit of stretching/ foam rolling. Go me! 🙂 Haha I have this really bad habit of getting super lazy and not taking care of myself on days when I don’t run. I’m trying to work on that though. I’ve been telling myself that I’m still an athlete on my days off and that means I should act as such. So far that’s gone well for me today, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see if I actually stick with it.

So yeah, running stuff. 😉 Haha I’ll actually be posting a Weekly Recap this week, so if you’re at all interested in how my 3rd (I think it’s the 3rd anyway) week of half marathon training is going that’ll be up at some point tomorrow.

Ok moving on to some animal stuff (because I can’t not talk about them 😉 ). So two-ish weeks ago I had mentioned that our rabbit, Rey had died. Luke and I were worried about our other rabbit, Daisy, because rabbits are very social and she’s always had Rey, so Luke ended up bringing home a new baby bunny that very day. She is an adorable little fluffball who I’ve named Rune. 🙂

Unfortunately Daisy has been acting very strange about the new bunny situation. When we first introduced them she was fine, she would clean her, cuddle her, and they seemed like they were going to be fast friends. That wasn’t the case though…She ended up shoving Rune into the corner of the cage and wouldn’t let her near the food, but when I tried to take Rune out of the cage that little bitch bit me (something she’s never done!) and literally grabbed Rune by the foot and dragged her back into the cage. So yeah, they live in separate cages now and we’re slowly trying to introduce them back to each other.

On the bright side, Rune is a very sweet little rabbit! She’s very social and loves to be pet. Haha last night I was trying to read in my bed while I let her run around, which she did. But she’d also let me know that I wasn’t paying enough attention to her by headbutting me whenever she wanted to be pet. Silly little thing.

And sticking with animals for just one moment longer, my Sister’s dog Ace is still here. He was originally going to be here for 4 days, but at this point we’re going on 3 weeks. I mean, it’s not like he’s a bad dog or anything and he gets along fine with my dogs, but it’s loooong past time for him to go home…Supposedly my sister’s boyfriend is supposed to come get him tomorrow, but I guess we’ll see if that actually happens. He was supposed to come a week ago to get him, but he didn’t because we we’re too far out of his way…And yeah, our house is about 30 minutes out of the way when you’re driving from Illinois (where he’s from) to Colorado where my sister now lives, but on a 10+ hour car ride that’s really not that bad. Especailly since he can stop here and nap if he wants to, eat for free, walk around, use the bathroom, etc. But whatever.

He enjoys laying on my yoga mat while I’m trying to stretch.

Alright! I think I’m actually getting close to the end of stuff I wanted to talk about! Haha I thought this was going to take a lot longer for me to get all out. Apparently I didn’t want to go as in depth into this stuff as I thought haha. 😉

Anyways, onto my last order of business, I changed my hair!! I got super bored with my natural hair color/blond streak that I’ve been rocking off and on since I was 17, so I dyed it black. And I succsessfully did it without dyeing my forehead/ears black as well!! Haha last time I dyed my hair black I did and it looked awful…But I didn’t do it this time and I’m definitely enjoying the change! I’m thinking I’m going to end up sticking with the black for a while, but eventually I’m going to start missing my blond streak and I’ll end up with it again. Over the years I’ve gone with a purple streak, my usual blond streak, red, short red, black, medium black (what I’ve currently go going on), but I always end up back at the blond streak. Haha it’s just easier to keep up with and I think it looks neat. But like I said, I’m very happy with the change right now, and I’m gonna stick with it for a while.

Before.

After.

Alrighty, I believe that basically sums up what I’ve had going on in my life. For the most part at least. But now that I’m back at running and mostly back on my regular scheduled, I’ll be more active here on the blog and talking more about half marathon training, and eventually I’ll start making vlogs again.

Ok, I need to go mop my floors now. I hope you have a great weekend!

~Ashley