Depression Marathon

The Dreaded Taper

2013-06-18T19:43:00.000-05:00

I used to really look forward to tapering for my marathons. I think that must have been when I was less experienced. I mean, what's not to love about slowly decreasing my running mileage over a period of three weeks? You'd think I'd feel rested and fresh by week three. Well, this is week three of my taper, and I feel like crud! Fortunately, I've learned from my experience. Crud is normal. Yep,

Lazy Blogger

2013-06-15T16:09:00.000-05:00

I'm at least a day late in this update. As I stated in my last post, I've been busy living life on life's terms this week. I'm getting a lot of stuff done, but when it came time to sit down and write last evening, I just couldn't do it. I tried to figure out my new smart phone instead. I would have been much more successful if I had stuck to blogging. I might be the last person on the planet to

Taking a breath

2013-06-11T22:05:00.000-05:00

Things have been busy, busy, busy around here. It's beyond 9:30 PM, and this is the first chance I've had to sit and write today. Work has been keeping me very busy. Errands seem to be multiplying. I get one thing accomplished and another pops up. I'm keeping up with my AA meetings, at least two per week. Friends and co-workers have had several recent birthday outings and going away parties,

Not so gray

2013-06-08T17:00:00.000-05:00

The weather remains cool, gray and wet around here. My mood, however, not so much. The dip I feared never really materialized, and for that I am extremely grateful. I saw my doc on Thursday, and she gave me a nice pep talk. She is so supportive. She reminded me I've worked very hard and devoted myself to maintaining my physical and mental health. She was confident I was having a little lull of

Gray

2013-06-05T19:33:00.000-05:00

The last few days have been tough. I think I'm experiencing a little dip in my mood. I don't think our cold, gray, wet weather has helped one bit. I think we've seen the sun once in the past 7-10 days. It's been 60 degrees, gray and wet for at least 3 consecutive days with no end in sight! I've never experienced such a wet, gray Spring, and I hope I never have to again. Even my 90 year old

Annual Review

2013-06-02T19:51:00.001-05:00

Within the past couple weeks, I've had annual employment reviews with my supervisors at each of my two regular jobs. I don't know anyone who quivers with excitement at annual review time, and I am no different. But I do like one thing which both current employers do as part of the review process. They both require feedback from coworkers. The yearly feedback from my colleagues then becomes a

Still glowing

2013-05-30T18:38:00.000-05:00

The experience of Sunday's marathon is still with me. I suppose I could be accused of hanging onto the glow a bit too long, but I don't care. I am still so pleased with how I ran. I'm pleased I stuck to my plan and ran conservatively early, which allowed me to run fast at the end. I'm pleased I felt good throughout the run. I'm pleased the entire race felt fairly easy. And I'm really pleased with

That was FUN!

2013-05-26T21:26:00.000-05:00

I had a great run today at The Med-City Marathon! I bumped into my friend and co-worker, Maureen, at the starting line, and we quickly decided to help each other. She was attempting to re-qualify for Boston, for which I am already qualified, and was looking to run around 8:50 per mile. Perfect. As I stated in my post yesterday, my plan was to run just under 9 minutes per mile for at least the

Pre-Marathon Prep

2013-05-25T16:11:00.001-05:00

I know I said it was only going to be a training run, and I may not run beyond the 20-mile mark, but I am preparing today as if I will be competing in and finishing my 21st marathon tomorrow. I know myself pretty well, and unless my run is going very badly, I know I will have a difficult time walking off the course tomorrow. Nevertheless, that is still the plan. I will run the first 20 miles

New Photos of Jet

2013-05-22T21:16:00.002-05:00

I've taken lots of pictures of Jet over the past 4 months. He's 8 months old now, and he seems to be going through a bit of a growth spurt. He's also a nut! He's incredibly curious and playful. And he rarely tires. He can entertain himself for hours by tossing a toy, a stick, or even a leaf around the room or yard. After tossing it, he chases it, pounces on it, grabs it in his mouth, shakes it

Wonderful Weekend Away

2013-05-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

I just returned home from a weekend in Milwaukee where Jet and I visited my boyfriend, D. As usual, it was really nice to see D, spend time with him, walk along the lake with him, run with him, talk with him, eat fabulous meals with him, and enjoy Jet with him. The four hour drive there and back, especially back, tires me out, but it is so worth it. We were particularly close this weekend. There

Ooops...almost

2013-05-15T22:00:00.000-05:00

After my 10-miler yesterday morning, I was relaxing in the shower when it occurred to me I may have made a terrible mistake. D's birthday is in early May, but for the life of me, I couldn't remember the date! I just knew his birthday was in early May, and I was fairly certain I had forgotten it! Oh my. By the time I exited the shower, my heart was heavy. I couldn't believe I could do something

Weekly re-cap

2013-05-12T19:54:00.000-05:00

I've just got a short update tonight. I had a good, busy, and productive week. I worked 5 days this week. In fact, I just put my feet up after working all day today. After work I ran 10 miles and cooked a couple of meals for the upcoming week. I ran long this week, almost 50 miles total, including my 20-miler yesterday. On Monday and Wednesday evening I attended my kettlebell and suspension

Healed?

2013-05-09T17:58:00.000-05:00

I've got a few questions for you. I half-jokingly suggested in a previous post that perhaps my 12+ year ordeal with depression had ended. I don't really believe that, but it got me thinking. What would the end of depression look like? What would it mean to be healed? And how would I know it was over? I've been feeling well for a few months now. I saw my psychiatrist today, and we had little to

Beautiful day for a run

2013-05-05T21:10:00.001-05:00

Although we ended up with 15.4 inches of snow a couple of days ago, as I look out into my backyard tonight, the grass is green and there is nary a white patch to be found. The snow turned to rain Friday, and it rained all day and into the night. The rain dispersed some of the snow, and the warm, bright sunshine we had today took care of the rest. I even got to run in shorts today! I ran long

Best laid plans

2013-05-02T10:20:00.001-05:00

Okay, Mother Nature! I totally give up! Uncle! Uncle! What can we do to make it stop? This morning's workout called for seven half mile repeats on a beautiful, spongy, oval track. Afterward, I planned to linger on the luxuriously green infield grass stretching my tired muscles slowly while soaking in the sun. That was the plan. And it was a wonderfully appealing plan! And then I woke up.

Seasonal family reunion

2013-04-29T18:48:00.000-05:00

My parents, who go south for the winter, are back in Minnesota for the summer. My mom is in my kitchen right now making one of her specialties, spaghetti, which is fabulous despite the fact we don't have a stitch of Italian in us! I love when she cooks for me. She always makes a ton so I can freeze the leftovers! In fact, I think I still have one container of spaghetti sauce in my freezer from

Sun and Run!

2013-04-26T19:57:00.001-05:00

The sun came out from behind the Winter today. Finally. It's been Winter around here for far too many months now! It's late April, yet it's been cold and gray and snowing. And it's been gray and snowing and cold. And on and on and on... It's been just a bit demoralizing. Running outside, not once since November without maximum coverage of all four limbs, has been challenging. But here I sit,

Stronger

2013-04-23T19:45:00.000-05:00

My legs were protesting just a bit during my 10-mile run this morning. I'm currently in the middle of my heaviest weeks of marathon training. I'm also in the 8th week of my kettlebell and suspension training class. We are working especially hard in that class. We've learned all the moves, so our instructor has us lifting and moving non-stop for the entire 45 minutes now. I came home last night

A good day for a run

2013-04-20T23:05:00.000-05:00

After the capture of the second Boston Marathon bomber late last night, which was such a relief, the morning here dawned bright and crisp. The sun was high and bright for the first time in at least a week. D and I laced up our shoes for an early morning race. Actually, I laced up my shoes really early and got five miles in before our 20 kilometer (12.4 mile) race. I had a 19-miler scheduled, so I

Two good legs

2013-04-16T23:06:00.000-05:00

I ran 9 miles this morning. I symbolically donned my bright racing flats in honor of all those who participated in Boston yesterday. Running this morning was my way of waving an angry, stoic middle finger in the bomber's face. It felt good. It felt right. I was proud to be one of thousands of good people putting foot to pavement today in honor of the victims in Boston. Thoughts of Boston, and

WHY??

2013-04-15T18:05:00.001-05:00

I could fill this first paragraph with a stream of obscenities so profane it would curl your toenails. I am so angry! Why? Why does someone feel the need to blow people up? Why mar a beautiful, peaceful, celebratory event like The Boston Marathon? Does it fill an ego with pride to permanently alter the lives of others? To blow off the limbs of innocent spectators? What sense does that make? To

A Halfway Half

2013-04-13T16:41:00.000-05:00

I'm about halfway through my 18-week Grandmas Marathon training plan. My schedule called for a half marathon race this weekend, so I found the only one I could and ran it. The race was 2.5 hours from my home in a small Wisconsin town. I drove over with Jet last night after work in preparation for the early morning start today. It was a nice, small town event benefiting the local veterans'

Parallels

2013-04-09T20:18:00.000-05:00

A new, old book is about to be re-released. It is called Running and Being by Dr. George Sheehan. Originally released in 1978, it spent many months on The New York Times Best Seller List. While I never read it, I was only in third grade at the time, I have recently read about it. Runner's World magazine editor, David Willey, opened the May, 2013, issue with a story about the book's re-release.

Improved

2013-04-06T21:44:00.000-05:00

I have good news. My energy level is improving! As I noted here in previous posts, I have a recent history of significant fatigue, and I have been suffering mightily during my runs, even struggling to complete most of my long runs. A couple of weeks ago, my doctor ordered blood tests, and we discovered my ferritin level was low. Ferritin is a protein found inside cells that stores iron. The