Teeter Totter

If you know me well (or even not so well), you know that I tend to fall down a lot. Thanks to a pair of bad ankles, I have the balance of a teeter totter, and if I ever need to stand on one foot during a sobriety test (God forbid that ever happen), I will undoubtedly fail even if I'm as sober as a judge.

So when my ankle tightened up a few weeks ago during a run, I decided to make an appointment with a physical therapist (PT). I sprained my ankle pretty bad last summer when I was running, and I thought that consulting a PT in the early stages of my training would be a good precautionary step to avoid any problems down the line.

As my PT started to go through the standard set of questions about the reasons for my visit, I got the distinct impression that she thought that I might be wasting both of our time: I don't have pain most of the time. I can walk up and down stairs with ease. I can't remember which ankle I got tendonitis in a few years ago.

And then she started to check me out, and her tune changed. Here is a random assortment of statements that she made during my visit:

• "Did you realize that your ankle is swollen right now?!" (To which I answered no.)
• "So, most people's ankles can turn in to a 30 degree angle... yours goes to 45." (she explained that that was a bad thing.)
• "Yea you have a lot of scar tissue."
• "Hmmm... you know... you may have one leg longer than the other."

So after about an hour of poking, measuring, stretching, ultrasounding (apparently it's not just for pregnant people), and icing, my PT went over a few stretches and told me that I would need to come back twice a week for the next two weeks at least.

The good news is that I can continue to run, and who knows, maybe this will help me be a little less awkward in day-to-day life, as well. I need all the help I can get.

"Welcome to Your First Group Run! Now, Kick Your Teammate in the Face..."

Today was our first group run as a team, and it was a lot of fun.

Well, actually, let me clarify that statement - it was fun once I got there. Waking up at 6:45 am on a Saturday morning was not so fun, and neither was waiting for a bus in the cold.

The clinic before our run about proper shoes and gear was really informative, but the whole time, I kept looking around and thinking, "Oh dear Lord! Look all these people: they're all 'runners.' I'm definitely going to finish last." Everyone I met seemed very nice, but I knew that I would eventually be eating their dust.

Eventually, led by Coach Adam, we headed outside and ran about a half mile together as a group before doing some stretching. One of the stretches involved putting one hand out in front of us towards the ground while kicking our leg up behind us. In our tight-knit group, you could hear a few giggles and apologies as some were too quick to throw their legs back into the faces of our other teammates.

After our stretches, we went on to run our designated routes (3 miles for me and the other half marathoners). Running along the Charles River was very pretty, and even though I was worried about not listening to my ipod (it's against TNT regulations on group runs), it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be. Best of all...

I didn't finish last!!! I was actually one of the first halfers to finish! I pre-training training really paid off!

FYI: It's Winter!

I’m not sure if you’ve heard the rumor, but I can confirm it for you: Boston is pretty darn cold in the winter. So imagine my surprise when one of our local weather men (I won’t name names, but he may work for a peacock) went on and on yesterday about how warm it was. Apparently the sun really got us heated in the afternoon, and we hit a nice and comfy 38 degrees.

Call me crazy, but 38 isn’t what I call “warm.” It isn’t even what I call “comfortable,” but I bought his jive and fully believed that my 2-mile run after work would include a tiny touch of spring (cue songbirds and flower buds bursting open through snow patches).

This, however, was NOT the case.

It seemed JUST as cold as my last two runs: My throat ached; my muscles tightened. The wind blew in my ears. It was February weather. When I got back into my apartment and got ready to shower, I noticed that my skin was bright red and as dry as a tumbleweed. It was not pretty.

I guess part of my disappointment can be blamed on the fact that I’m still getting used to running outside in general. I have clocked most of miles on gym treadmills, but I knew that if I wanted to run a half marathon, I needed to hit the pavement. So far, it has gone better than I expected, but I’m not sure if I’ll ever get used to the frigid temperatures, blustery winds, and other lovely tidbits associated with Boston winters.

And so it begins...

Hello everyone, and welcome to my blog!

As I train for my first half marathon, I will use this blog to track my progress and recount any funny and/or embarrassing stories that occur. I’ll try to post at least once a week, so please check up on me often.

Our kickoff event for Team In Training (TNT) was last Saturday at BU’s fitness center. I was surprised to see so many people there, many of whom were alumni who were there to participate again or to cheer us on. After a few motivational speeches, we broke off into our teams according to our type of event (TNT also has biking, triathlon, hiking, and walking events) and group training location. I am part of the Cambridge run team, and my coach, Adam, seems great. He gave us our training schedules, which he said were for beginners, and I’m honestly not as freaked out as I thought I’d be. The schedule progresses fairly slowly, so I think that I should be able to handle it. I’m very excited for our first group run this weekend (3 miles), even if it does mean that I’ll be up pretty darn early for a Saturday.