January Runfessions

This month has flow by!  I am trying to get better about my runfessions so here goes!  I started the month out with some Shiner Cheer but this year, all of the stores have sold out in Wamego, so I have been hitting up some Buffalo Sweat with Vanilla Beans.  Grab your favorite poison and cuddle up for some Michelle therapy time, but warning, lots of poop talk and emojis are headed your way :)

Not hitting my goal mileage:
I had set a goal to get 1500 miles for the year. I thought it was doable but once again, any time I set a hard and fast goal, my body goes F U lady! 

While my hip is much better, it still isn't 100 percent, even with the rest I have put in. FULL disclosure, I haven't been doing my PT like I should.  Bad me.  I have been in a recovery, lazy, eat all the things, and rest rest rest mode. Plus, several of the exercises require me to be down on my hands and knees and with my knee one big mess of scabs, thanks to my fall, doing anything in that position is a hell to the no.  I am happy with how far I got.  As of writing this, I should end up the year with about ~1290 miles.  Should I go for that extra 10 to make it an even 1300???  We shall see!  Honestly, there are probably some treadmill miles in there my watch didn't get so I am probably at 1300, it just isn't official :)

This doesn't have my 15 miles I need to run this weekend. Should I go for it???

Harley the eldest:
Harley will be 15 this year, and while he is mobile and seems to be happy eating and playing in the backyard, he has a weird and nasty pattern that he has started. 

I think he gets up around 4 am, which is about the time I got up in the summer to get ready to run, and poops and then paces in it till I get up which right now is around 4:30 till 6:30 depending on the run schedule.  I need to just get up at the same time every morning to feed and let the dogs out but once again, I am going through a lazy stage.  By the time he paces in it for a while, the poop basically turns to concrete and is impossible to get off of the hard wood.  Let's just say I go through lots of mop heads and Clorox wipes. 

I know he can't help it, but I would like to start one day off without gagging due to cleaning up poop first thing in the morning.  We have tried corralling him in a smaller area, but all that does is create a poop covered Harley because he has less area to pace. 

Andrew's tummy issues:
What a roller coaster we have been on with this issue.  Long story short, we couldn't tell if he was making himself sick to avoid something at school or truly had a problem.  It is still hard to have a serious conversation with a 5 year old about what is really hurting and what is going wrong.  We food journaled, we cut certain foods out (which is always fun when your kid is a picky eater anyway), and we tried some OTC stuff.  God bless Andrew's teachers for helping me work through this issue, and not just sending him home from school every time he complained of tummy issues. We visited the Dr and they were just as puzzled as we were, so we are going to try some probiotics, some liquid Zantac, and cutting out some foods.  Of course he just got yet another 12 hour stomach virus, but he has rebounded much quicker this time, probably thanks to the wonderful probiotics we are both taking (thanks SmartyPants probiotics).  While we are talking about Probiotics, I should say that "knock on wood", my tummy issues during the run and post running have been much better. 

Still having some problems and hoping that when my runs get longer that the runs don't come back, but with the help of the probiotics, I think we are ALL getting better!  Huge shout out to SmartyPants!!!!

Can't seem to think of some goals for 2018:
I am really stuck on this one. I can't think of any great wonderful amazing goals for 2018.  I like doing marathons and 50Ks and would like to do a 50 miler, but just can't seem to find a race that I really, really want to do.  I need a late fall or early winter race, since i can not do heat at all.  I do need to get back to my food journaling, as I have gained back all of the weight I previously lost, but I had planned on doing that post holidays anyway, so not really a goal.  I guess I will just keep thinking on it.  A half marathon PR is always in the back of my mind but when it gets hot and I am dying doing speedwork I swear off speed goals.  I looked back at my goals for last year and will probably do a more detailed post with some number crunching, but I guess the last two years have been really loose with regards to goals!

Okay I think that is enough talk about poop, both dog and human!  Hoping for you a great start to 2018 and stay warm this January!