What they don't tell you!

I've been a mom for 18 weeks now. I'm sure I'll get around to writing an update (when I get bored... hahaha) but I figured I'd just start by writing down some thoughts on what people didn't tell me about having kids. I heard PLENTY of advice (and still do - and I sincerely appreciate most of it) but somehow there are several very important factors that no one warned me about. With my newfound wisdom (hahaha - motherhood also brought me a renewed sense of humor) I give you my first list. 

Disclaimer: some of the following could change as my little one grows (doesn't everything?) so this is just my view as of today, April 25, 2014 - 18 weeks postpartum. 

What no one tells you about being a parent:

1. You will always ALWAYS be 10 minutes late. This is so hard for me, as I've been a punctual - if not early - person my entire life. Somehow, no matter how much time you have, it is never enough time to wake, change, feed, dress, eat, change, pack, load in car, drive away, return home to grab forgotten bottle/stroller/spare clothes/etc, change again, reload, and transport baby to location. Though we're getting better each week, I now have a newfound respect for punctual mom friends - and way more patience for tardiness. 

2.  There is no such thing as too much coffee. While pregnant, I limited myself to one regular coffee in the morning and one half-caf cup in the afternoon. I used to have a hard time falling asleep if I drank a full-caf coffee past lunchtime, even if I had a hard workout. Now I can successfully drink a Venti black-eye from Starbucks and promptly fall asleep as soon as the little one goes down for her afternoon. In fact, I've done just that. There is no upper limit. I think the half-life of caffeine is quartered with the introduction of a new baby in the house.  Yes, we've already had to replace my keurig already (true story) but I'm sure this was a coincidence ;)

I'll get to #3 after I brew my next cup. 

3.  Emotions (hormones?) are a tricky thing. It becomes a whole new ball game after childbirth. My poor husband. There are seriously days he can do no right. He could wash dishes, fold laundry, and put the baby down, all while pouring me a glass of wine, and I would still be crying about the garbage can that wasn't taken out to the street. On the other hand, there are moments that my eyes well up just thinking of how much he loves his girls and works so hard to make sure we have a great life, and I swear he could do no wrong. Poor guy, he's still hanging in there with me though. Buy him a beer if you see him out, he deserves it. At least I gave him a cute baby :)

4. Recovery after delivery is NO JOKE. I was totally prepared for labor (sort of), semi-prepared for what I had to do to keep this baby happy, and NOT AT ALL prepared for how long it took to feel like myself again. Though I'd say I'm about 90% of the way back to former-Katie, it was a looooooooong time in the making. Why does no one tell you about this part? OH YEAH, CAUSE NO ONE WOULD HAVE CHILDREN - EVER if the secret got out. Oops. Better stop here. 

5. I only thought I loved something before. Okay, to be honest, lots of people did tell me this before, but I never understood it until now. Even middle of the night inconsolable temper tantrums seem bearable. I swear I would move heaven and earth for this little girl and not think twice. She may wake me up at 2am every night, but she is the cutest red-faced-teary-eyed-screaming-flailing-barely-conscious thing you have EVER seen. I think it's something about creating a person, growing her, birthing her, feeding her, and seeing it work day after day that instilled a new sense of purpose in me.  I'm no longer just a wife/daughter/sister/friend/coach. I am a MOM. And this little one only gets one of those. I'm so lucky she chose me. 

Of course, it could be hormones. See #4. 

Well, duh. 

Next up: my fitness update. 

Happy running :-)

29 week update!

10 weeks, 6 days till my due date. And yes, I'm counting. It's not that I'm having any issues with this whole baby-making process, because I'm not.  I literally have nothing to complain about! No sickness, no back pain, no swelling, I'm sleeping fine, I'm still exercising, things are progressing at a very normal, healthy way (says my doc), and we are getting more excited about the new arrival. But I gotta tell you, I MISS fitting in my clothes, running long runs, drinking a glass of wine WITH tuna sushi, keeping up with my workout partners, and getting out of bed (or rolling over) without groaning. So... 10 weeks, 6 days and I get it all back. Okay, okay, a few more than that, but at least that's the predicted start of my return :)

I seem to get asked about exercise a LOT. Luckily, working out has been a part of my daily life for as long as I can remember so there was no question about me continuing it throughout my pregnancy. Also, as I mentioned before, I have great coaches who watch out for me and modify things as needed. What I have noticed lately are: burpees are harder when you have precious cargo in your belly, pull-ups with extra lbs are way harder, lunges create pelvic instability (TMI? Sorry!), bear crawls make me wanna lose my lunch, I'm using *what feels like* 35% of my lung capacity, and everything - and I mean everything - is harder when you're carrying around extra weight. But I'm so happy to be exercising at all, so I consider myself lucky. I can't help but think I'd be having more negative pregnancy symptoms without my rigorous exercise regiment. Oh! And in my non-running days (as of two weeks ago) I've rediscovered stadium workouts! Now if only the Florida Gators would give me my own key to use as I see fit, I'd be the happiest pregnant lady in the swamp! But if you should happen to see this bowling ball climbing the bleachers on a Sunday morning or weeknight evening, please PLEASE keep me company for a round. I'm not fast, but I'm steady, and (just ask my running friends) I can keep you entertained with conversation!

No real progress on the nursery so far, but we've kicked some ideas around. Our families were kind enough to throw us a shower last month up in NC, so we've gotten a good start on Baby Wade's collections. By the way, have you SEEN baby clothes these days? I'm pretty sure everyone should keep some onesies on hand for when you're having a bad day. One glance at a newborn pajama set or bathrobe or tinybabypantswithfootiesattached and you can't help but smile and forget what made you mad in the first place! And we don't even HAVE the actual baby in them yet! 

I have to give a huge shoutout to my husband and future baby's father, Chad. He never rolls his eyes when I need his help off the couch, or when I complain about terrible smelling garbage, or when I ask him randomly to pick up two pounds of seedless green (NOT RED, CHAD) grapes which I will seamlessly eat in one sitting. He's so sweet I can almost overlook the fact that my discomfort is completely and utterly his fault, but I cannot say I'll be able to overlook this fact come D-Day (Delivery Day, not like the end of the world...). Fingers crossed for his continued cuteness. For his sake. 

We have another ultrasound scheduled for the 36th week and we're looking forward to getting another look at our creation. Still don't know what we're having - but I think we're both leaning towards girl these days (with absolutely no scientific reasoning), though I do say "he" often in reference. We'll find out soon enough! 

I'll update again in a few weeks. Come keep me company on the stadiums if you miss me between now and then :)

Only a half marathon to go!

So we are officially at the halfway point of this pregnancy.  Its so interesting, time seems to be going so slowly these days, literally dragging on between appointments and waiting for the next milestone, yet when I look back on it, I can't believe its been 5 months already.  Yesterday marked the end of 20 weeks, so I only have a half marathon to go!  When Chad pointed this out to me though, I had to remind him what a marathon really is - a 20 mile long run and a 10k gut-it-out-while-being-completely-miserable finish.  I think weeks 36-40 will be this final 10k.  Yikes.

I've (so far) had a very easy pregnancy.  I had about 3 days of feeling a bit nauseous around the 8 week mark and about 4 weeks of being completely wiped out exhausted, but this was the worst of it.  I've been told I'm lucky, but I'll take it!  With the exception of my waistline disappearing (what little waist line I had before this) and workouts being a bit harder, most days I'm not even aware that I'm growing a baby in here.  I haven't felt any movement yet, so I'm sure when I do, I'll be more aware.  My running has slowed down in a major way.  Right now I'm maintaining 2-3 times of running per week, at least one of those is on a treadmill.  The summer temperatures in central Florida are not conducive to this pregnant womn running any time the sun is out and my normal running partners are way too fast for me (though they're very nice and considerate, I hardly want to interrupt their training to keep 'slow katie' company on a 4 mile run).  This leaves my Wednesday Tioga running group which is a 3 mile outside run at 6pm, and maybe once more during the week when I have an empty hour early in the day, and treadmill running for the rest.  Luckily, I don't hate treadmill running, I like to zone out and have my pace controlled and the freedom of being able to run any time of day.  Even more luckily, one of my best friends moved and gave (!!!) me her treadmill so I have one at home.  Figured this will be a good way for me to ease back into running post-baby-birth (yes, I already have a running stroller also).

Though I've slowed down my running, I've been able to keep up my working out pretty regularly, 5-6 days a week which is a saving grace.  I told my coaches right away so they knew to expect a different Katie for a while and they've been wonderful.  I can still do pretty much everything that I did before, most stuff is just a bit harder and I'm a bit slower.  I did the "Hated Hundred"(100 burpees for time) about a month ago and my time is a whole minute slower than I was a year ago.  Pull-ups are harder, as are push-ups and anything related to jumping, but this is mostly just because I'm a good 12-15lbs heavier than I have ever been.  In.  My.  Life.  Its very eye-opening though and I'm thankful for this experience, confident that it will make me a more empathetic trainer and running coach for moms and those clients carrying around extra weight.  At the very least, I should feel very, very light when I'm back to my normal weight after this!  I'm also not maxing out any lifts these days.  The heaviest I'll go is a 3RM, which is still very heavy, but I'm able to breathe regularly through the entire movement.  I imagine there will be a time when I have to back it down further, and at that time I will.  I'm very happy to still be working out, and I keep telling myself that the more I do now, the easier it will be later.  Fingers crossed :)

     

                                     Pull-ups at 19 weeks, photo by Zoe Benjamin

One last thing before I wrap this post up.  We are not finding out the sex of the baby until the birthday.  We've always said we wanted to be surprised and we're sticking with that plan.  Though it seems to drive OTHER people crazy, we seem to be doing just fine with the planning and preparation without knowing whether to drown our house in pink or blue (not that we will!).  Green is my favorite color, and luckily its neutral.  Its so funny, people ask "How will you PLAN??" as if we can possibly plan with certainty for anything in this situation!  We don't know what the heck we'll be doing if its a boy OR a girl, so why does knowing that help us any?  :)

Oh, and I haven't had any cravings out of the ordinary.  I want frozen yogurt and smoothies like every single day, but that probably has more to do with it being a thousand degrees outside than the whole growing-a-baby thing.  And I'm only actually having frozen yogurt once a week maybe, though I am having a fruit protein smoothie for breakfast these days.  I'm also eating a lot of eggs, but I tend to go through these phases periodically in my life generally anyway, pregnancy notwithstanding.

I think this covers the answers to most of the questions I get on weekly basis.  All in all, I'm a lucky mom-to-be and couldn't be happier!

Another update coming next week, until then keep Running Happy :-)

                        

                     Trying hard to maintain BW dips as long as I can! Photo by Zoe Benjamin

Update

To say there's been a lot happen since my last blog post would be the biggest understatement of 2013.  I hardly know where to start, so I'll just hit the big ones and further update some of them in future blog posts.

January was... well... nothing special. Continued training for my upcoming races, took a weekend course in Kinesio Taping, and finalized my running calendar for the rest of the year.

February was busy. The Delerium Ultra 24 Hour Run was held on 2/9 in Bluffton, SC.  A few of us drove up that morning, ran straight for 12 hours covering just over 50 miles, crashed in a hotel and drove back the next day. Cause that's how we have fun (??). Two weeks later we drove out to New Orleans for our second annual running of the RNR NOLA full. I said it last year and ill say it again - this is a GREAT race! Still comes in Top 5 for marathons in my book, even two years in a row. I'd say there will be a third annual, except for another of my updates coming later. But you should do it sometime. Next year in fact, since I (probably) wont be there :)

March was definitely a memorable month. I had my last marathon of the season, a bucket list race in NC. The Umstead Marathon was on March 2nd in Raleigh. I ran alongside my Dad for the entire race, step for step, and it was one of my most favorite marathon experiences. We talked, we grumbled, we greeted other runners, we finished with smiles on our faces, and just thinking about this day makes me miss running long distance during my hiatus. My superspeedyfast friend came up with me to race and placed in the Top 10 Females overall which was the icing on the cake.

The month of March was also taken over by my participation in the Crossfit Open Games. This was my first time, in my adult life, competing in something other than endurance sports. I was on a team from Go Primal and we competed at Crossfit Gainesville every Friday evening. Every Wednesday we would anxiously await the release of the week's workout, Thursday was practice, and Friday was the competition. Chad was very (VERY) patient, supportive, and accommodating and managed to cheer me on at every event, along with several clients and friends (thanks!). While I did NOT finish in the top 60 (shocking, I know), I had a really great time and will definitely be competing next year in some capacity. This experience sparked something in me that I haven't felt before. While I loooooooooove long distance running, there's something exciting about going as hard as you can for a short (4-15 minutes, depending on the workout) period of time and competing with others. The environment that CFG provided and the camaraderie that my teammates and coaches created made the 5 weeks fly by. Lord willing ill be back and ready to compete again next year.

It was also during the month of March that my husband and I decided to buy a house in Gainesville. For the past 5 years we've been on the fence, stuck between the two worlds of renting and owning, unsure of whether or not we wanted to make Gainesville our permanent residence. Both of our families live in NC and while we love "Gator Country" we've always wanted to raise our children around our tightly knit families. Chad looked for jobs for a few months and when nothing panned out we realized that we had family here in town - a huge network of friends who we could call at a moment's notice if we needed anything, friends who would drop everything to help in a crisis, and friends who we could just go out to dinner with for date nights.  Though its not family in the traditional sense, we have lots of sisters and brothers right here. With this realization, coupled with Chad's lack of success finding a job better than the one he has now, we bit the bullet, found a house, and bought it. We're currently in the midst of a huge renovation, surviving with no kitchen, and finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel (yayayayayayay!!!).

April started off with a road trip to visit my best friend in Alabama and run a "for fun" half marathon. During the crossfit games, running pretty much took a backseat so I could focus on the weekly competitions. It would definitely not be a competitive half, we decided to run together and enjoy the  time at Pensacola beach. It was the MOST fun!  The Gulf Coast Half Marathon ran down the coast of the panhandle, with lots of views of the ocean, miles of pancake flat terrain, and ended with a bottle-opener-medal - the first medal that hasn't gone straight into my shoebox! For a super cheap early registration and an easy destination for a weekend, this race is definitely worth it.

April got a bit more exciting when - the week after the half - we found out I was pregnant!  Though we were hoping for this news sometime soon it was a great surprise (I imagine it always is).  I'll explain more about this in a future post so as not to involve those who wish to stick to running-related posts, but its definitely affecting my running - in a MAJOR way.  I'm currently 20 weeks along (holy moly), halfway there.  Running a couple times a week, slower, and shorter than ever in my life, but my workouts are still strong and I'm simply trying to maintain all that I can in this time of my life.  I know lots of people (my husband included) were worried that I'd push myself too much and not back off when needed, but I'm doing a VERY good job, if I do say so myself, of listening to my body and changing things as change is needed.  My plan is to update this blog more frequently throughout my pregnancy because the biggest help to me so far has been following other fitness bloggers who write as they progress through their own pregnancy and sharing tips and ideas.  Look for more coming soon!

May was the month of the JOB CHANGE!  I had been a personal trainer at GHFC for almost 8 years now.  I've been running coaching as a side business for 2 years.  It was time to make the switch to full time running coach and develop my skills there exclusively.  Though I have loved my time at GHFC, I never had time to devote to my running business as long as I was trying to work enough hours to make enough money, blah blah blah.  With the news of a baby coming by the end of the year, I knew it was either now or never.  I wanted to get my clients and business off the ground before then.  I'm currently renting space out of Axis Training Studio off Tower Road, training runners for all sorts of distances, and loving every minute of it.  Its very liberating to know I'm solely responsible for my income, advancement, and who I surround myself with.  I'm in a great place and I'm so thankful I made this change.  Luckily I still get to teach classes at Tioga, so I can stay in contact with my members and trainer friends there.  Life really IS good :)

June and July have flown by, as I imagine the rest of the year will as well.  Kitchen renovations have taken over our life and we've been without a kitchen for 4 weeks and have about 3-4 more weeks to go.  Its a process, one that we're thankful to be able to do, and one that we will NEVER do again.  We have wonderful people working for us and luckily I've still been able to take *most* of my daily afternoon naps. Whew.

I'll update more often from here on out, that I promise you.  Not only to keep you informed, but because writing an update edition takes TOO LONG!  I've been working on just this post for about 5 days now, and that is just ridiculous!  If you're not interested in pregnancy stuff, just skip the next few posts and I'll get back to running related stuff soon enough (I'm hoping...?).  In the meanwhile, while slower, wider, and slightly less gracefully - I'm still Running Happy and you should too!

Until next time!

10 Lessons Learned in 2012

10. Unfortunate and aggressive chaffing happens after 30 miles without the right stuff. Get the right stuff.
9. Ice baths cut recovery time in HALF. Try it.
8. Florida is not as skinny as it appears, especially when traveling across on foot (right, Matt?).
7. Burpees suck. For everyone. But they are a necessary evil.  Embrace them.
6. Germany in December is unbearably cold.
5. Distance running is a battle between your mind and body. At a certain point, one will want to stop. Then the other one will. It's key to avoid the point where both want to. Cause then its over. So train them both. Make them both tough. Then they can alternate time on duty. And you can keep going.
4. Look for friends who share your passions. They will fuel your fire.
3. Find someone who balances you out also. Balance is key.  My husband is great at this, but don't tell him I said that.
2. Find coaches who believe in you more than you do. Shout out to all my coaches: Dan, Chris, James, Jason, Vincent, and Michelle. You need people who know you can do more than you think you can.  This helps with #5.
1. Hold your loved ones close and tell them you love them every chance you get. Life is short. Cliche, I know, but each day offers new opportunities. Opportunities to be better, to be happier, to improve someone's life, to improve your own life. Don't let the days be wasted.

Here's to a new year.  See you on the road!

Run Happy :)

2012 year in review

Well, it's officially the very last day of 2012. Since I've been meaning to update this blog for the past... oh... 3 months, now it's time. So here we go.

2012 started off with a BANG! Back-to-back marathons on January 7th and 8th. Danielle, Tracy and I (with Chad as the support/driver, of course) raced "casually" in Jackson, Mississippi on Saturday then drove to and raced even more "casually" in Mobile, Alabama on Sunday.  We knocked out two states, met some great people, had lots of laughs - and groans- and earned our way into the Marathon Maniac club (yes, there's an actual club for crazies like us, so there).  A wonderful experience that I'd do again in a heartbeat (in 2014 maybe).

February was another whirlwind as Danielle and I completed three marathons in just four weekends - Donna's, FPOL, and RNR New Orleans. Each one was better than the last.  We ran with other friends at each race and made more memories than I can even begin to recall on paper.

March was the Tobacco Road Marathon in NC which was a true test for me, both physically and mentally. Thankfully my best friend - and running partner - is a patient one :)

April had a big group of us, both family and friends, head out to run the Big Sur International Marathon. Best. Marathon. Ever. Seriously, if you have "run a marathon" on your bus met list, you should really do that one. Perfect organization, perfect (challenging) race course, and unforgettable sights. It still gives me chills to think about the winding road up the California mountain coastline.

In May I went to run the Run for the Red marathon in Stroudsburg, PA - my birthplace. While I traveled with my mom and college friends, my father came up and surprised me on the street, ready to run the race as well. By far, this was my favorite memory from the entire year. Despite the fact that I crashed and burned during the actual race, running alongside my dad and best friend Meghan, the tame-home memories are ones I'll never forget. Thanks again, to both of you. If not for you, I'd probably still be up there ;)

Following my Red debacle, I wanted a few months off from long running. This summer you could find me most often in the weight room. I managed to increase several PRs including my bench press, strict press, deadlift, and TGU. It felt great to be working out a different system and to be able to just "run for fun" for a couple months.

Despite my time off from long running, I managed to PR my distance at the Hinson Lake 24 hour run in Rockingham, NC. A race that my family has participated in for the past several years was everything I hoped it would be and I cranked out 55 miles in about 10 hours. Mom and dad both PRed as well, Matt had a great effort, and Brad made an appearance :)

October was my toughest race out of the entire year. The Trilogy, a stage race in WV, includes a 50k Friday, 50 miler Saturday, and a 1/2 marathon Sunday, all through the highest peaks in the mountains. It was freezing cold.  Thankfully I was around amazing family and friends (including my brother Matt, who raced all three and Michelle, who ran her first 50 miler) and spent "quality time" with my father on the 50k and with best friend Jenny during the 1/2. I was very happy to have had Saturday off in between! WV: check.

November I turned 30 (yikes) so I ran the Crooked Road 24 hour run in Franklin County, Va.  Danielle and Michelle came up with me as did both parents, and we all had a great time. I wanted to run my age and squeaked out almost 35 miles before calling it a day. Another great race with wonderful people that I hope to do again next year.

December has seen me dial back my mileage. I've been in the weight room 5 days a week and have been running for fun (which is really nice!) about 3 days a week. Now I'm creeping back up for my spring season.

My first event is the Delerium 24 hour run in Blufton, SC on February 9th where I just hope to run a solid 22 then walk/jog till my other friends finish. It'll be my last long run before running RNR New Orleans (2/24) again with Danielle then the Umstead Marathon the next weekend with Dad. The rest of the year is undecided but will hopefully include knocking out some other states and setting some PRs along the way.

2012 has been a great year. 11 races of marathon+ distance, 9 different states, and lots of lessons learned. Coming up next: the top 10 (or thereabouts) things I learned this year. See you on the road!

Run Happy :)

An update (finally!)

So I've been MIA on the blog-o-sphere for a few months now, and I've had a lot of time to reflect on my running life.  The Run for the Red Marathon in May really took its toll on me, and it took me a long time to recover.  I didn't run for about two weeks.  Not one step.  I took several days off with no exercise whatsoever and it felt really good.  I had some nagging heel pain (to be honest, it's been "nagging" for a few years, but you know how that goes) that I was hoping to get rid of once and for all.  After a week off with no running and no improvement, I decided to see a specialist about my heel.  I figured she'd tell me to lay off running for a few weeks, maybe see a PT who will give me some stretches and I'll be fixed.  If there was ever a time to take some time off from running, now at the peak of my burnout, would be the perfect time.

I made an appointment and went in to see the foot/ankle specialist in my town.  She examined my heel, which had an ever-growing bump on the back of it, and sent me for an x-ray.  The x-ray showed a rather large bone spur on the backside of my heel with achilles tendon thickening and what looked to be partial tears.  Since I had tight calf muscles, high arches, and feet and ankles that don't pronate at all, my achilles was constantly pulling on my calcaneus.  My body, in an attempt to heal itself, laid down new bone at the site, creating what looked like a shark fin growing off the back of my foot.  Pretty cool - IF I was looking at someone else's x-ray and not my own.  See here.  My doctor said I should take at least 4 weeks off from anything that could aggravate my heel (running, jumping, explosive movements, etc), stretch a bunch, ice often, and see where we were after that.  If no improvement, I'd see a physical therapist for further treatment.

And, for once, I listened!  I took an entire month off - no running, no jumping rope, no box jumps, NO IMPACT whatsoever!  I stretched multiple times a day, iced twice a day, and said lots of prayers to the running injury gods.  Still the pain persisted and the bump remained.  After 4 weeks, I contacted my PT and got in to see her the next week.  Since then I've been on a strict regimen of stretching, ice cupping, night splinting, and iontophoresis (see here).  She told me I could run as long as the running didn't make the pain worse.  And it didn't, so I did.  And I was a happy girl!  The bone spur has gone down in size considerably.  I ice after every run, I wear a night splint at night, I'm working on a pair of orthotics, and I'm spending more time on soft ground.  The pain isn't gone, but I've found a way to manage it.  And for this, I'm amazingly grateful.

I spent the summer strength training.  All my lifts (bench, squat, deadlift, OH press, TGU) went through the roof.  Without running to zap my energy and waste my muscle, I was able to build and retain some significant strength.  I'm counting on this strength to keep me injury free during my upcoming season.  History shows I have a summer pattern of getting strong when I'm not running then losing it when my mileage picks back up.  One of my goals for the next 8 months is to do enough strength training to sustain almost everything of what I have built.  I'm hoping for a split of 4 days strength training and 4 days running (yes, the math doesn't work out, but I'm experimenting).

I've been planning my fall race calendar to reflect more trail running and long, slow, "fun" races.  My first one is the Hinson Lake 24 Hour Run with my family.  It's a fun race, very low key, a 1.2 mile trail around a lake where you can run as far as you want.  My dad's aiming for his age, 63 miles.  I haven't finalized a goal yet, but it'll be fun running whatever mileage I end up with.

My second race is a part of the Trilogy.  My brother, Matt, is going to do all three races, I'm planning on the 50k and half with my dad, while Michelle Adams runs her first 50 miler and two of my other girls will race the 50k.  Mom's doing the half on Sunday also.

After this, I'm planning on my third trip to the Jacks 50k Trail Race in Flagler Beach.  Maybe one or two between now and then end of the year, but this wraps up my financially committed calendar.  All trails, all soft surface, all no-pressure, all fun.  And I promise to keep up my icing, stretching, and therapy.  Fingers crossed for a few more marathons checked off my list and good healthy bones with which to run them.

Run happy folks!