Where's the Beach?

Well, I don't really have any news on my blood clot, no great runs to report, no new weight lifting workouts, and not even any new recipes to share. I feel like blogging right now is getting harder as I don't really have a whole lot to share at the moment. I never want my blog posts to feel forced or contrived. Right now most everyone is posting about new goals for 2013 or recaps for 2012. I am enjoying reading them, but don't really feel like doing either of those posts right now. It doesn't mean 2012 wasn't a great year. It was. I got to spend time with my good friend Jessica and meet her hubby. I hit the beach, visited California (where I met Averie and Tiffany ), spent time with family and friends, ran 2 half marathons and PR's on one, and found a wonderful running partner and friend. I do feel like it's ending on a slight down note. But it could be worse, so no major complaining. I will be spending the evening curled up on the couch with Jason, my...

This past week has been anything but normal. It was not only a holiday week, but we also had a major winter storm (you can read about it here too ). Snow is rare, we usually get ice if anything. So to have ice then 10+ inches of snow piled on top...let's just say the state was not prepared at all. In fact, my city has been basically crippled with hundreds of thousands without power. My mom, dad, sister are all without power. My boss is without power. And too many friends to name are all still without power and may not have it until next week. People are cold, grouchy, and frustrated right now. Thankfully we never lost power. But, I missed my hematology appointment. Then the doctors' offices are closed and without power or even phone lines so I ran out of my medication for the blood clot. I am lucky to have a good relationship with my pharmacist though. So again, I'm lucky. I can't imagine how many people aren't able to get their medications or even get into see ...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. I decided to take a bit of a blogging break. I sometimes think that bloggers need to remember to do so more often, especially during the holidays. Log off. Live. Enjoy. That's pretty much what I did. Sunday we spent the day in our hometown for the family "Christmas" day festivities. We started off at my sister's house around noon. The menu was a Mexican theme - tacos, taco salad, that sort of thing. The kids were pretty much too excited to eat, but they were forced to endure lunch then pictures before presents ;-) Evil evil right? I think they ended up being a-ok with the delay getting everything they wanted, including their Uncle Jason helping them assemble some crazy complicated Lego deal. When did Lego's get complicated by the way? A and C decided they wanted to ride with Uncle Jason in our car to our dad's house. Though, Jason was planning a fast stop at his parents' house. The kiddos were excited to m...

I don't really have any news to report. I do go see a hematologist next week. Hopefully we can figure out the cause of the clot. Basically more waiting. Let's just jump right into Fun Facts Friday . I had thought about doing a running survey that many of you guys have been doing. I may do that one later. But working from home and being pretty much home day and night for 2 weeks now, I've had plenty of time to have lots of absolutely random thoughts. Some of the fun facts are observations, some completely random with no rhyme or reason. Just for fun ;-) I don't have as many pairs of yoga pants as I thought. I've gotten so lazy that I didn't even bother to do hair or makeup for doctor's visit. It's been a week since I've done my hair and it's kind of nice. It's been a week since I've put on "real" clothes. My dogs behave only if I work from the living room. In the kitchen they act like bickering 4-year olds. No,...

Spicy Sometimes I think it's interesting how people (I) end up coming up with the meal for the evening or a new recipe for that matter. Sometimes I do sit around thinking of new flavor combos, textures, and such. Other times, the recipe and/or meal happens because I have something else that needs to be used. Last night I had some homemade ciabatta that I wanted to go ahead and use before it ended up being wasted. That would just be a travesty right? Soup sounded like the appropriate fit for the bread - you know, so you could sop up something yummy with it. I have a pretty decent stash of pumpkin right now, so I decided on a pumpkin soup. But I didn't want a mild soup. I've actually been craving super spicy foods recently. I always like spice, but it's been way out of control all of the sudden. I had some chipotles in adobo sauce, so I decided to go with the smoky flavor profiles. Pumpkin can be really mild, almost sweet, so it can pair well with heat (in my opin...

Recapping This weekend was pretty good. I was able to get out of the house for a bit on Saturday. Jason and I walked close to 4 miles before getting ready. I actually put on real clothes, did my makeup AND hair. I felt human again. The weather was fantastic - about 70 degrees and sunny. The first stop was my piece of hell on earth - Toys R Us. I needed to get a doll for my niece and had a Groupon that could only be used in stores. Of course. I would have gone earlier, but the whole blood clot ordeal has cramped my style. I walked in and the lines were all the way into the aisles. Carts piled high with toys, and screaming, crying, cranky kids abound. Fun. I found the doll quickly and was so lucky to have ended up in line behind a very kind lady. I think she saw the terror in my eyes as I clutched that darn doll tightly. She let me go in front of her as I only had the one item. I guess some people are still kind after all. We had a few more stops to make for other gifts that I had...

Today I'm joining many other bloggers in a day of silence in remembrance of the victims of Friday's horrific events in Newtown, CT. I will post health updates tomorrow.

I almost went another route with Fun Facts Friday, but since I've been working from home and put on exercise sabaticle, I thought I'd share some random things I've learned since discovering I have this blood clot. Though, I did finally get to go for a walk yesterday - 1.5 miles. I am so glad we have mild weather. It was sunny, about 54 degrees. Definitely cooler for walking vs running, but I was happy to be moving at least. So, here are some things I've learned from being idle, from working at home, and being able to do no more than go for a walk. I have more patience than I ever realized I have never been more thankful to be able to work than I am now - I can't imagine not having work to do and being stuck home Walking takes way longer than I expected  I love waking up, brushing teeth, putting in contacts and simply walking downstairs to start work I actually felt more vulnerable walking vs running People tend to look at you a little funnier w...

Well, not much to report for me, so let's just go right on to more important things - Way to Go Wednesday . Honestly, I really love this post the most each week now. I think it's so important to give kudos to everyone for working so hard - running, lifting, baking, following dreams - you all deserve shout outs. Tina for taking on Half #5 despite a week of being sick! Laura (Mommy Run Fast) for a new half marathon PR at the TriGirl Half Marathon. Nicely done!! Mindy (Mindy's Fitness Journey) for surviving her Tough Mudder.  Heather for being selected to be an official blogger for the 2013 Cleveland Marathon. Kristina's dad (Kris from SpaBettie ) for being positive and optimistic during a difficult time. It's not always easy. Heather (Running with Sass) for running her 17th half marathon! Who do you want to give a shout out to? And if you want to share them with me before Wednesday, I'd be glad to add them to the posts!

Doctor's Visit Follow Up I've had so many of you asking how the doctor's visit went yesterday. So, I thought I'd do a quick post to share with you all. Basically, not much to report. The good news is that the swelling, redness, pain that was all around my neck area is definitely going down. That's great because it means I can do simple things like raise up my arm without pain. Of course, as that feels better, it makes it harder to remember that I still have this clot. Of course, if you look at my neck, you can see the vein straining out. The bad news was that it could take 6-8 weeks for the clot to completely dissolve. I was hoping for more like 2-3 weeks. He did say that on Thursday he thought it would be ok for me to at least get out for a walk and said that we would slowly start adding back in activity. He also suggested doing a heat compress, that it might help the dissolving process. You better believe I'm trying it out! My initial panel of blood w...

Blown Away Gosh, you guys sure know how to make a girl teary-eyed. I want to thank everyone for your incredible words of kindness, support, and positivity after Friday's post . And the support went above and beyond with so many of you dedicating your miles or workouts to me. Seriously, you have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you ladies for running and lifting for me! Jen from Running with the Girls Kierston at Candy Fit Christine from Love Life Surf Angela from Happy Fit Mama Jolene at Determined to Be I also appreciate all of your emails, direct messages, Facebook and twitter messages. Seriously blown away by the support of so many people who've never even met me. It's just amazing. Simply amazing. The Weekend This weekend was actually pretty good. My sister was in town on Friday for a follow-up appointment for my nephew. So, she stopped by the house and also took me to Hobby Lobby so I could pick up some picture frames. Unfortunately she didn...

I didn't really feel up to writing a Fun Facts Friday post. Right now I'm not feeling too "fun." I have had so many of you email me asking more about what's going on, what a blood clot means, and how I'm being treated. So, I thought I'd answer a few questions, maybe share some of my feelings about this as well. How Did it Happen? Last Friday I had gone for a run, come back and stretched like normal. I stood up to roll up my yoga mat and felt a strange, almost pinch near my clavicle. I pushed around trying to pinpoint the cause of the pain, but never could find "the spot." Saturday I kept feeling strange pain but didn't really think much of it. Sunday morning, however, I woke up with a swelling right at my clavicle. It hurt like crazy and just continued to get worse throughout the day. The whole area near my clavicle was swollen, red, hot. There is a lymph node right in that area called the supraclavicular lymph node. Since I had bee...

Well, this morning I went back to the doctor thinking I'd end up with another painful antibiotic shot. Instead I was sent to the hospital for an ultrasound. The concern was a blood clot in my neck. I wish I would have eaten breakfast is all I can say. I had expected to be at work by the time they were checking me in to the hospital. Long story short - blood clot. My doctor wanted to try a new treatment using Xarelto rather than put me in the hospital for the traditional treatment. All I know is that I'm kind of scared. I was told not to do anything either so any form of stress relief I have always turned to, running or lifting, I can no longer do. I don't know how long I'm going to be unable to be active either. My course of medication is 21 days with frequent trips back for blood work and monitoring. So today I need to find things to be thankful for rather than worrying about something I can't fix right away. I'm thankful for: My husband for either ma...

Well, this week is pretty boring in terms of workouts or meals or anything really. Basically, I've been parked on the couch since Saturday. I did go to the doctor Monday AND again Tuesday. The good news is that my sinus woes are just allergies and not an infection. And they are starting to clear up finally. So I no longer need this fancy contraption, though it sure would have come in handy. Source: imgfave.com via Ina on Pinterest The bad news is that I have a very angry lymph node right at my left clavicle. Not a normal spot for a node to be inflamed due to allergies. Note to self - do not look up such things on the internet. You'll scare the piss out of yourself. So I've now had 2 very very painful antibiotic shots, have sore bum cheeks, and am on a round of antibiotics as well as pain medication. I am supposed to go back daily to have the infected area checked and if it doesn't start to get better then we'll move on to scans and probably other rea...

Well, I must say this weekend was so not as planned. I mentioned last week that I was feeling kind of cruddy. And it never went away. Friday I was off work. My plan was to go ahead and get in my 10-mile run then get my hair cut then spend the rest of the day with my sister. I woke up still really stuffy, sore throat, sinus headache. But I went ahead and headed out for my run. I got in 5.4 miles before stopping by the house to meet up with Jason and to change from short-sleeved shirt to tank. It was already in the mid-60's and humid. The run wasn't easy. It was tough and tougher because I kept going faster than necessary. I don't know if it was just a "let's just get this shit over with" thing or what, but I was going way too fast. I was way too sick. And it was way too warm. Jason did 3.6 miles with me and I called it done with all caps at 9 miles. I rushed to get cleaned up and to my hair appointment, then met my sister at Target. I had regular shopping...