We're Going Streaking -- The Rundown on Days 17 & 18

It's THURSDAY!?  Where has the week gone?  Time is certainly flying and we have both completed Day 18 of The Streak!  It's Sister M reporting to give all you loyal readers the rundown for days 17 and 18 of our running adventures!

Day 17 was a VERY long day for me.  I had a lot going on and pushed my run to the very last minute.  I am talking like 11:15 p.m. last minute.  In all honesty, it ALMOST did not get done... I knew how disappointed I would be if I let that happen, so I knew I had to get out the door for one mile.  I had no excuses and I certainly did not want to let myself or Sister V down. 

This was one of the most ill-prepared runs I have EVER participated in.  Let me go ahead and break this down for you:

• First and foremost, I was EXHAUSTED.  Long story short:  I totaled my vehicle the night before so I spent the day dealing with impound, the DMV, insurance, etc.
• It was 11:15 p.m. and there was a tornado warning (or talk of one) and thunderstorm warning in place for our area
• It was raining.
• I was too lazy to dig clean socks out of the laundry basket, so I ran sockless.
• I was too lazy to dig a headband out of the laundry, so I didn't pull my bangs back (yes, I know I need to put laundry away).
• The only sports bra I could find was a Victoria's Secret PINK yoga sports bra.  It is very cute, but offers ZERO support (I NEED support). The rest were in the washer... Or in the laundry baskets and we all know I wasn't digging through them.

Everything added up to what should have been a bad run.  Overall, it really wasn't.  It was less than 8 minutes of my life and it was OVER!  And I was STILL in the game! Yeah, baby!! I was in bed before midnight, I slept like a rock and the streak was alive!

(The pic of me is pre-run. I didn't look as happy or pretty once I was done.  I looked like a drowned rat)

Day 18 (today) has been great compared to yesterday.  I still pushed my run to the end of the day and didn't get out the door for my run until 10:15 p.m.  The weather was cool and calm and it felt wonderful to get outside.  I got a solid three miles in.  It was fast and sweaty!  I just ran from my house around the hospital grounds across the street.  Smooth sailing this evening, folks!  And my first mile was under 7 minutes!! 

 (I tried to get a picture of the cool fountain they have on the hospital grounds, but it didn't work too well!! Use your imagination, people!!)

I am so, so proud of Sister V and myself for keeping up with this streak!  It is going to feel awesome when we are done and I have a feeling a couple martinis will be consumed in celebration!! I am looking forward to tomorrow (Day 19) because V and I will be hitting the pavement together and getting an early morning run in!  Can't wait to see my sis!!  Stay tuned to see how we did!

 Hey all! V here. Well, my Day 17 & 18 were opposite sides of the coin for me for sure. I looooooved Day 17. I haaaaaaated Day 18. 

I got out early on Day 17 and decided to run past some of my favorite scenic spots in and around Perrysburg. My city is fairly historic (Fort Meigs from the Battle of 1812 is here, and it's named for Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry who won the Battle of Lake Erie -- "Don't Give Up The Ship," remember that from history class?) and its location on the Maumee River affords many great views. 

River view from the Perrysburg/Maumee bridge, right at the spot that Lucas and Wood counties meet.

View from the aptly named Riverview Park

 I ran down to the bridge, circled back and said hi to the Commodore, and then cruised back toward home. I wanted to slow it down a bit for this run, as the past couple of days have been speedy for me. I accomplished this goal and said good-bye to the run portion of Day 17 and hello to the eight-hour, sitting at a desk work portion of Day 17. 

The dashing Mr. Perry. 

 I developed some foot pain while at work, and was forced to go shoeless to try to alleviate it. I got home, whined to Coach B, iced, applied Tylenol cream, whined to Coach B, and went to bed hoping it would be better in the morning for Day 18. After some stretching and whining, I decided that Day 18 would just be a one mile test run to see if I was injured and how injured I might be. 

The treadmill seemed the best idea for a one-mile test run, so I could keep it soft. 

I kept it slow and decided that running actually felt better than walking did. I also decided that I was going to wear only supportive shoes from here on out. I don't want to irritate my metatarsals any further and risk having to ditch the streak. M and I are planning to hit the streets or trails tomorrow, and I want to be able to do some distance greater than a mile! 

In happy news: my One Run For Boston T-shirt arrived today! I am so excited to take part in this relay race. I believe that as of right now (June 14), a runner has the baton in Texas and is working his or her way east. Check out One Run For Boston for the latest updates. Also, USA Today did a great article on the relay. Check it out! 

Representing Ohio in Stage 237!!! 

I hope to have a happier run report for Day 19. I finally get to run with my sis again, so no matter what it'll be a good time. 

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to each other. -- V.  

Be Someone Other Than Me? Heel No! -- How an Injury can Change Your Perspective

Vanity, thy name is Victoria. It has taken a minor injury for me to realize this, but I have come to grips with the fact that from this point forward, I must embrace the fact that I am not tall, and I never will be. If you ask anyone in my family what I wanted to be when I was little, they would tell you, "older, and taller." I always wanted to be 5'7", just like my Aunt Vicki, for whom I was named. Because I don't quite top 5'4" on my best posture days, I've achieved my dream of height for years with a series of ever-skyward-reaching heels -- boots, wedges, stilettos, pumps, peeptoes: You name it, I've worn it. My collection of heels is quite literally staggering, and most of them see me boosted to about 5'9," rivaling Coach B in height. 

These are some of my favorites. None of them is under 4 inches in height. In the foreground is the collection of medication and muscle rubs that now keep my foot from feeling like it's on fire.

On Wednesday, however, I was brought back down to Earth. While walking down the three flights of stairs we have at work, I felt a super sharp pain on the ball of my right foot. It was so noticeable and nagging that I ended up taking off my 4-inch boots for the night and scuffing around in my socks. I propped my foot up on an overturned U.S. Mail tub for the remainder of the shift, and then hobbled down the stairs and headed home, where I promptly put on my older pair of Virratas. I iced my foot down in bed and researched just what in the world I might have done to myself. 

My beautiful Virratas.

Well, the upshot is that the pain I was feeling was likely something I had actually caused myself. After a weekend of dancing in high wedge sandals and pounding the pavement, too, during my daily runs, I've developed a spot of metatarsalgia. This is a fancy name for  pain and inflammation in the ball of your foot.   According to the Mayo Clinic,  pretty much anyone can develop metatarsalgia, though there are some higher risk factors. Lucky me: I fit into several of them. 

You are at higher risk if you:

• Participate in high-impact sports. Metatarsalgia is more likely to occur if you're a runner or you participate in sports that involve running or jumping, such as soccer, tennis, baseball, football or basketball. 
• Wear high heels or shoes that don't fit properly. High heels transfer extra weight onto the front of the foot, and shoes that are too tight can compress the toes.
• Are overweight. Extra pounds put more pressure on the metatarsals.
• Have other foot problems. Certain foot shapes — such as high arches, a long second toe or unusually long metatarsals — can contribute to metatarsalgia. These conditions can cause pain and inflammation that change the way a person walks and the distribution of weight in the feet.

Sorry Meatloaf: Two out of three are actually pretty bad, and three out of four are even worse, in this case. I obviously participate in a sport that involves running, I wear high heels, and I have freakishly long (but aesthetically beautiful) second toes. 

I had to make a decision: What can I control out of these three things? Well, I'm not going to stop running (hello, I'm nearly in the middle of a 39-day streak here!), and I'm not going to have surgery to reduce the length of my second toe (though people actually do that, as well as have surgery to remove their toenails. No joke.). 

(Black toenails lurk beneath. But, I'm not having them surgically removed.)

I hate to do this, but it's been a long time in coming. I can't keep doing this to myself. It's not you, really; it's me. And, this will hurt me way more than it will hurt you. But my decision is final. Good-bye high heels. So long, reaching things on top shelves. Farewell illusion of long, shapely legs and slightly more proportional hips and rear. 

We just can't keep causing each other pain...farewell, my lovelies.

But you know what? It's OK. Really. I'm petite. I'm short. I have a long torso and not-so-long legs. I'm vertically challenged. I'm a shrimp. I'm fun-sized. I'm not going to be asked, "How's the weather up there?" (Someone might ask me to tie their shoes, however.) 

Just me. In a pig hat. With viking braids. 

The older I get, the more comfortable I am with myself, just as myself -- not some idea of who I should be or what someone else's idea of what "pretty" is. If I'm healthy -- I'm  happy. If I'm strong -- I'm pretty. If I have friends and family -- I'm fulfilled. And if I'm comfortable being on the short side (really, I'm probably absolutely average height) AND I can continue to do what I love (run and run and run) injury-free, well, that sounds like the right thing to do.  So if you see me in a  non-running setting and think that I look shorter, I'm not, really. I'm just little ol' me. Just don't ask me to tie your shoes. 

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to each other. (Be kind to your feet!!!) -- V. 

We Interrupt This Running Blog -- Injuries are a Pain in the Neck!

Hey all, Sole Sister V here. Well, I had planned to have a very compelling blog post for you today all about speedwork and how fun and challenging it can be, and how I don't dread doing it at all -- no, not one bit, truly! 

And then, I woke up. With the stiffest neck ever. And thought, there's no way on God's green Earth I'm getting outside to do mile repeats today. So that made today one of those days that runners hate -- it's gorgeous outside, sunny, the perfect temperature, and all you can do is sit there and THINK about running. 

Pain in the neck -- literally. 

 So, what can you do? Well, why not ice your neck, grab a cup of coffee and make a list about the greatest movies about running? Fine suggestion. Now, this is an entirely nonscientific list of movies -- there is no data to back up any assertion that these are the most watched, or highest grossing movies. They're just cool, for a slate of different reasons.  Without further ado, here are my greatest movies about running or with running in them. My criteria are:

• It's a movie.
• It has running in it somewhere.
• I enjoyed it and/or it inspired me.

Agree or disagree, or make suggestions in the comments, please!  

1. "Forrest Gump" -- Yes, it's a long, sometimes treacly movie. But that running scene where everyone joins in, signifying the start of the running craze -- classic. The invention of the smiley face -- legendary. And, let's face it, a marathon course wouldn't be a marathon course if we didn't have about 50 "RUN (INSERT YOUR NAME HERE) RUN" signs dotting the course. So thanks for that, Tom Hanks and Robert Zemeckis. 

2. "Rocky" -- This is just for the soundtrack alone. I defy anyone to NOT want to start running faster or dig deeper when they hear either "Eye of the Tiger" or "Gonna Fly Now (The Rocky Theme Song)" -- even despite its weird dip into disco throughout that song. If I ever decide I want to run stadium steps sometime, that theme song is definitely going to be queued up in my earbuds. 

3. "Spirit of the Marathon" -- Great, great documentary on the journey several people take -- from first-timers to the incredible Ms. Deena Kastor -- to run (or not run) the Chicago marathon in 2005. No matter what your running level, you're sure to identify with at least something in this movie -- jitters, injuries, triumph, disappointment. The sequel, "Spirit of the Marathon 2," will be hitting the Toledo area starting Wednesday, June 12. This one focuses on seven runners' journey to the Rome marathon. Can't wait to see it on the big screen.  

4. "Saint Ralph" -- Witty and irreverent, this 2005 movie makes me laugh and also inspires me to go for the miracle, whether that miracle be that I can actually run one more mile than I think I can or learning to have faith in things outside of what I can see or control. If you are unfamiliar, this deals with Ralph, a 14-year-old Catholic schoolboy who lives by himself because his father died in WWII and his mother is in a coma in a hospital. The upshot is that Ralph believes if he can win the 1954 Boston Marathon, his mother will come out of a coma. Can he? Will she? Like I'm going to tell you ... 

5. "Chariots of Fire" -- You know what, no. I actually didn't like this movie. And as a matter of fact, I don't even like that iconic, completely-out-of-place, anachronistic synthesized song. It does NOT make me want to run. It makes me want to go to sleep. Watch this if you like it, but it's not like I'm recommending it. 

OK, that's all I've got! And, what did I do today, instead of speedwork because of this stupid, stupid stiff neck? Well, I went to see "Star Trek: Into Darkness." And it rocked. And: (not really spoiler alert) there is a fun running sequence in that movie too, with Simon Pegg -- who happened to star in "Run, Fatboy, Run." Which I haven't seen. And therefore, didn't review. Anyway, live long and prosper. And try to stay injury free. I will -- just so I don't have to write movie review posts anymore! 

Be kind to yourself. Be kind to each other. -- V.