Surgery Week!

SURGERY WEEK LET'S GOOOOOO!

Monday:  Lower body lift day or should I say squats and deadlifts galore.

Tuesday: Run.  Ah, glorious time change and fall.  It was feels like 49 and I actually got some of my winter gear out due to the wind chill.  Went and voted as soon as polls opened that morning and felt good about writing SpongeBob in for one of the candidates because honestly, he could a better job at this point.  

Wednesday:  Rest day.  Bass lessons.  Andrew for whatever reason had a much better lesson and I am super happy. I think they were both much more relaxed and played some really fun music together.  I also found out our local coffee shop did a special menu this month with all of their local favorites on the list, so I have a dirty chai named after me, the Michelle C.  Love living in a tiny town where everyone knows your name.  

Thursday: Surgery day.  It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be to not eat all morning because nerves took over and made my stomach not really want food.  I had a call time of 10 am with a tentative surgery time of 11:15. I'm pretty sure that turned into much later but it's hard to say exactly when I went back.  It was very very overstimulating as you were all in bays waiting for your OR to open up and that place was FULL.  Lots of the ortho patients were getting nerve blocks before their surgeries and that was freaking me out because it was lots of pain and lots of talk of needles.  My sweet nurse blew out my vein and had to go into my wrist for my iv, which did NOT help my nerves at all.  She felt so bad because I hate needles and I had let her know that, but I wasn't blaming her or mad.  She promised me that would be the only one and I believed her and she was right.  The OR was fun what little bit I remember.  Both my nurse and my OR nurse were from Wamego and we all slightly knew each other.  I remember 90s music, telling them to keep it going, and then them saying I would be very sleepy.  The next thing I remember is being woken up to puking m guts up.  I was oddly very awake most of the night and short of breath which kind of scared me.  My good friend loaned me a pulse ox meter, and I stayed in the low 90s all night.  I finally called the surgical center since they are 24 hours, and they said that I should be fine to stay home even with it hovering around 91-90.  Stay off of Chatgpt unless you want to be scared is the moral to that story.  

Friday:  Rest day. Laid low most of the day in the recliner.  Ran a low-grade fever and just felt out of it.  Had some brickhouse tea and some scrambled eggs, but honestly that was all my body wanted.  Mom and I watched a few documentaries on Netflix.  The above is now my best friend, and we are in a love hate relationship.  I have to blow into this throughout the day and it hurts like hell.  It has a name, I can't spell it, but it's to make sure my lungs expand and clear of mucus.  I hate it, but also, I love a good competition, and I've been summoned to compete.  Also, the raiders won regionals and beat our rival Rock Creek.  Mom was supposed to get a picture as she went in my stead, but none was taken.  I did get the below picture of my kiddo in a red snuggie rushing the field with his classmates to celebrate.  I had hope that this would be Andrew one day, but it's okay, he's having a ton of fun playing in the band right now.

Saturday:  Rest day.  Had a better night's sleep and I think that helped.  Still very out of breath moving around the house.  That's probably my only concern.  I have good lungs as I do run and only having trouble breathing when it's super humid out.  I really wish my body would work with me and not against me.  Did get a shower finally and boy was that a challenge.  I don't have stitches, I have skin glue, so I was instructed not to let it directly hit my incision. Let's just say that this makes washing your hair a little challenging, especially getting soap out of the front of my head.  Finally felt good enough to have a big dinner with mom's famous chicken rotel spaghetti and garlic bread.  Finished up with a big bowl of ice cream that my kiddo fixed for me.  My throat loved the heat and then the cold.  Went to bed super early and got lots and lots of good sleep in.  

Sunday: Rest day.  Looking forward to getting out of the house and going back to work this coming week. Not sure what that is going to look like, but I am hoping to be back at least Thursday and Friday for our experiments.  I know my team has it under control without me, but I don't like them having to do a lot without my help and it being a burden on them. I had the dreaded first poop post-surgery and that was NOT fun.  Not sure why they didn't tell me to go ahead and take stool softeners.  My advice to you, take something before it gets all backed up and becomes a big problem.  Mom and I were able to get a nice long slow walk in and then later I had lots of energy, and we worked in Andrew's room.  Let's hope I don't regret working more than i probably should have.

Have a great week y'all!  I'm looking forward to a few more days of rest with my mom and some appointments that she can go with me.  

Halloween on a Saturday? Yes please!

Monday:  Day off from work thanks to the stomach virus.  Sunday night all night I ran a low-grade fever that gave me horrible chills and a bad headache all night.  I'm not sure I got much good sleep as I feel like I tossed and turned all night.  I woke up feeling slightly better stomach wise, but also very tired and very weak.  I do have some extra PTO and hopefully, I will be able to build back up for my surgery and my trip over the holidays.  

Tuesday:  Back to work and 3 miles.  It was SUCH a nice day that I thought even though I felt like poo that I would attempt to run and see what I could get.  My body allowed me three, but it was a bit of a slog.  Ollie was super happy to be out but even she acted like the run wore her out. I think being my nurse has changed her.  She's been super-duper attentive and sweet to me and that is NOT her MO.    We missed getting to be at Andrew's concert but got to watch online.  Still very bittersweet, we only get four end of the marching band year concerts total and now we only get three popcorn concerts in person.  

Wednesday:  Upper body lift.  I felt this one for sure.  20 lbs. felt like 100 lb. dumbbells but again, got it done and feel so good afterwards.  I haven't had an appetite for any food, but for some reason, McDonalds French fries sounded appealing.  As with how this stupid virus is going, I ate but then my stomach tossed and turned and sounded like the ocean the rest of the night.  Tums are my new best friends.

Thursday:  Rest day.  Unintended.   We are in playoffs and the football game got moved to Thursday night to avoid storms that were supposed to come in on Friday night.  While marching season is officially over, we still support our team in the form of a pep band, which for the first game is the entire band and the 8th graders who will be joining us the next year.  None of us are feeling 100 percent still but we all headed out to cheer on our team.  Kansas does a playoff style where the lowest seed meets the highest seed and then goes on and on until the top teams are left.  We have made it as far as state some years but mostly end our march in sub state because that is usually when we hit the private schools.  We of course trounced the team even with the JV kids playing due to the fact that they are the lowest seed and we will face our biggest rivals next week and need our starters to be rested and fresh.  The band dressed up and played Thriller and Ghost Busters and welcomed the 8th grade band to play with them.  I love that they get the younger band kids involved.  For the little amount of practice they had with the music, they all sounded really good.  We caught Andrew dancing to Thriller at couple of times with his drum major Will.

Friday:  Rest day.  Again, this was kind of last-minute change of plans, but I knew I was planning on running this weekend to round out three runs a week and I could also get my leg work out on this weekend if needed.  My husband's business sponsored the musical The Addam's Family at our local historic theater located in downtown and we wanted to catch a performance.  Since football was moved, it was a perfect time to use our tickets.  My stomach still hasn't been very happy with me, so we carefully ventured out for dinner downtown and a beer before going to watch.  We also got a front row seat to all the kids trick or treating in downtown while we ate.  Some families go all out and I LOVE that.  The show was absolutely amazing with one of my veterinarians being the lead in Morticia.  I think I smiled the whole time and of course Uncle Fester stole the show.  This was probably the best show we have seen them put on at the Columbian.  

Saturday:  Overtime day.  Run day.  Halloween.  My kid actually had big plans with some friends, so I was praying for no rain.  I also needed to get some major work done at work with an experiment and wanted everything to go smoothly.  I actually found a workout on Spotify that was an interval guided run so decided to try that to pump up my run.  I had some fun with it and look forward to trying more in the future as it was music that I don't normally pick to listen to.  Halloween ended up damp but also the majority of the big rain waited till they were done.  I think my kiddo had some fun with his buddies, even with the mis match in communication on when and where.  They spent a lot of their time at sonic spending their gift cards they won in band for costumes and being the best section.  I spent the night handing out candy and got rid of most of my candy pretty quickly.  

Sunday:  Overtime day.  Run or legs day. Time change.  I'm in the minority. I love fall back.  I love it getting dark earlier.  It means I can run after work and not cook.   It means I can sleep in on the weekends and still get out and not die by death of the sun.  While I know if I am training for Chicago next year that it won't matter because I will be training in the heat no matter what, now is the time for me to start building a good solid base for marathon training next year.  I brought both dogs and we had a great run.  I tried the Spotify app again for music and running and it made an interesting play list for me.  Again, I usually love to listen to podcasts when I run but when I am on the struggle bus or just need extra motivation, music does help me and listening to some fun songs I don't normally listen to helps.  The voice prompts were helpful to remind me that this was an easy run, to relax, and to not push the pace.  I brought both dogs, so the pace was pushed no matter what :)

Last minute points as I type this Sunday night.  While I am over my stomach illness, I still have a very angry and unstable stomach that likes to get very angry at the weirdest times.  I am starting to be hungry again here and there but not like normal.  I never know what is going to be okay and what isn't.  I can be starving for one meal and then not hungry at all for the next.  My friend that is on a GLP 1 says its exactly the way she feels right now.  Every meal is an experiment!  I guess I get the fancy effects of GLP 1 without the cost or the needle so yeah me?  Have a great week y'all!  It's surgery week!

Last band competition, last field show for the year

We shall try again with the day by day.  While it did help me to stay motivated to write, I was still very late in publishing (whoops).

Monday: Band competition day Fort Hayes State.  We headed west to our last band competition.  Our band isn't hugely competitive, so we only do two "competitions" where we just compete against a rubric of standards.  I was a ball of nerves because at the first competition they did, they only marched two and a half songs.  Due to weather, ACT testing, and not being able to practice other than during class time, they just haven't had a ton of time to get the third song memorized.   I am happy to say even though they had some rocky parts to the third song, overall, they recovered nicely and got it done!  They received another superior rating with all ones from every judge.  I am SO freaking proud of these kids and how hard they work in the little bit of time they get to practice.  There is this part of me that wishes that could practice more because the talent is there.  

A little side note and a question for parents.  Of course, Andrew is our one and only and he acts like an only child for sure.  I have always tried to be at all of his big competitions no matter what the sport, because my mom didn't always have the chance to be there for me, due to her job and work hours.  I am very lucky that I have PTO and a job where I have a team that can take over for me when I am gone.  Now here is the problem.  He wants to be with us all the time and I would like for him to spend time with friends some.  I worry about the lack of friends and while it doesn't bother him per se, I am a mom, so I worry.  No one came and sat with him and while people tried to get him to do things with them, he was just not interested.  I don't want to NOT go to these things, but I also want him to spend time with his friends as he is with me all the time.  So, what advice do you have?  I had big hopes for band that he would find his tribe and while he has sort of, I'm just not seeing the level of friendship with others that I see with a lot of kids his age.  He is not me I know this, but again, as the mom, I worry.  I don't want him left out and I don't want him to sit alone and not participate.  I also know I can't micromanage him and his friends or friendships either.  

Also, side note part two, Ollie and I got a sunrise run in before we left for Hays.  I forgot how much fun it is to run when the world is quiet, but also DANG, that is a lot of semi traffic that I have to deal with on my old running route at 6 am with no sidewalks.  Running in wet grass over who knows what is oh so much fun.  

Tuesday:  Upper body work out.  Nothing special just some good old lifting.  

Wednesday: Bass lessons and rest day.  I'm a little upset and here is why.  The music school keeps losing teachers, not because of anything they are doing I don't think, just because people are figuring out that teaching at night is a lot and teaching every night can be super tough.  I've been there with dog sports and teaching, so I get it.  Especially if you have a full-time job and this just supports said job.  Andrew is not having fun right now with all of the changes and wants to discontinue lessons until things are a bit more stable.  I am on the hunt to find him a private teacher, one that we can stick with for a while.  I have reached out to one of his previous teachers but haven't heard anything back.  I'm not sure if we just take a break for now and wait till summer and find more stability or what.  I have already found a trumpet lessons teacher for the summer and have a couple of summer music camps on his radar for marching band and trumpet.  To be continued.

Thursday:  Rest day and a little adventure.   I had seen an ad pop up on my Facebook about a big band coming to downtown Manhattan that was playing a free concert.  I figured what did we have to lose in free except gas to drive to Manhattan.  We walked by on our way to the pizza place at the end of downtown and saw no one.  Hmmm.  This is an event space and it was super empty.  I tried scanning all of FB to find any clues and nothing.  When we were done eating, we thought we would at least try the door and see if they were somewhere in the building.  We could hear something from upstairs and sure enough, they were all in an upstairs room jamming out.  Andrew smiled the entire time, and my coworker joined us as well.

  

Friday:  Game night and a good lower body work out.  This was the last time we would get to see the field show this year.  We will have one more time to hear the music at the concert next week.  Unfortunately, Tony got sick in the parking lot and had to go back home, and Andrew and I had to get a ride back to the school post-game.  It was a super thrilling close game, but we won and the field show was good.  I think they marched better and sounded better at the competition, but it was good for only like 3 times doing the whole show on the field.  I am super proud of this little band and all its accomplished on just a few practices a week.  Tony had a rough night that included vomit and diarrhea and then a low-grade fever.  Sigh.  Praying we don't all get this.  

Saturday: Overtime work and 3-mile run.  I am tired but I do love getting that extra money on my paycheck.  I only had to work two shifts as our new employee took the third.  I had other plans for the day but ended up hanging out at the house.  

Sunday:  Sick day.  The stomach bug finally found its way to me and between puking and diarrhea, I was just trying to survive.  Add on a fever all night Sunday night and you got it, miserableness.  Ollie didn't leave my side all day, cuddling with me and checking on me by licking me.  She truly was sweet all day, which is truly not like her as she is a daddy's girl.   

Y'all have a great week.  If you smell bleach, it's because I have bleached bombed our entire house.  I don't like it when we all get sick.  

A week day by day

If you are new around here HI!   I did a little introduction and about me in the last week's blog post. I am full on team winter for training, but if I have to pick a season that is my absolute favorite, it would have to be fall.   I wanted to do a day by day break down this week as that is how I wrote for years.   I am hoping it will motivate me to write more and better as well as help me to be motivated to get my base back up and get long runs back on my agenda.  I would like to get to half marathon shape this winter to make easing into full marathon shape a little easier when my training block starts for Chicago (IF i get in).  

Monday:  Rest day.  I had parent teacher conferences all afternoon and into early evening and I wanted to focus on those.  All glowing reviews for Andrew.  Half of his teachers didn't even know he had ADHD, which is how we want it.  It means his meds are on point and he hasn't outgrown them, plus he's using his coping skills correctly and we don't need to advocate for him.  I stressed to all teachers that we want an open line of communication good and or bad if needed, and we are a team willing to do whatever we need to.  They all seemed on board and great fits for my little ginger racer.  Now that he has settled into high school, I can't wait to see what a great year he is going to have.

Tuesday:  Upper body lift.  Currently on a 78-week streak of at least one work out involving weights using my Peleton + app.   No, I don't own a single piece of Peleton equipment however, I saw a blog post about the app and have really really enjoyed using it over the last couple of years.  Am I already dreading breaking this streak with my upcoming surgery?  YES!

Wednesday: 3-mile run.  Just Ollie.  4:1 run walk intervals.  She is such a spaz, but I love her.  She got lots of love and cuddles from her number one fan, her daddy.  I've never had a dog so attached to Tony, it's honestly kind of fun.  She still wants to run with me though so let's keep it that way.  

Thursday: 3-mile run.  Both dogs.  They are actually doing really well together so maybe this will become a thing.  4:1 running: walk intervals.

Friday: Rest day.  I had big plans for this day post work.  This week is KSU's homecoming, and they do a huge parade and pep rally.  It's always fun to go to and watch, especially with the fun themes they do for the floats and clubs.  Unfortunately Tony had to work late, one of the many joys of owning your own company that sometimes bites you in the butt.  After being a little salty and also missing the band pub crawls, I settled in and watched our local boys get a road win over a very tough undefeated football team.  While it wasn't my ideal night, it was nice being toasty warm in our house, drinking good beer, screaming at the computer, and having hot pizza.  

Saturday: 3-mile run.  I had to be up early to work, but then it was run time.  I briefly thought about a "longer" run but since this is my first three day run week in a long long time, and I voted against it.  Maybe next week.  My body is still getting used to these new Saucony triumphs and all the dang changes they have made to them.  Post running, we all got dressed and headed to the Pumpkin Patch in Alma.  It makes me so sad to think that this may be the last time we go.  Andrew is simply too big to do most of the activities, so we just walked around, had some good food truck food, and then grabbed some pumpkins and left.  

Sunday: Lower Body lift and let's go CHIEFS!  We decided to go into Manhattan and watch the Chiefs play with other fans.  We headed over to Old Chicago, one of our most favorite restaurants before it moved to the other side of Manhattan.  Yeah, yeah, I know Manhattan isn't that big but it sure was nice where it was on "our side" of Manhattan for many years.  Chiefs won, we had great food and amazing beer. 

Okay that is my weekly run down!  Let me know if you like for me to break my training down day by day or what.  Have a great week! 

Hi, hello, hey there!

WOW!  How am I suddenly getting so many views?  I barely write anymore, so feel free to look at years past for training and running blogs where I broke down mileage, training days, and races.  These days I am doing equal parts lifting as running, and I'm down to one red aussie, but I still call it running with reds.  I tend to do more live videos on my Facebook page Running with Reds.  These days I find it easier to just talk through things than write.  Since I have so many new people joining me, I thought I would re-introduce myself before sharing some pictures of my week.  

My name is Michelle and my family and I live in a cute little oz themed town in Kansas.  I moved here from Tennessee in 1999 to go to grad school and other than a brief stint in Colorado, I've lived in the Flint Hills ever since then.  I don't imagine we will ever move, but if I could pick, I would move back to Colorado or even Canada or England.  I loved my time working in both countries and when I retire, would love to move to England permanently.  I am a scientist by trade, right now working in cattle nutrition/rumen microbiology/animal science.  My master's degree is in food safety/food science, but I have dabbled in molecular genetics, cancer research, entomology, and algae research the last few years.  My hubby owns his own business which can be very stressful at times.  I am glad I got to work for him for a few years when our grant ran out at KSU, as I got to watch my kiddo grow up without the stress of an exact 9-5, and to be able to coach girls on the run and track club since my working hours weren't so strict (yes, working all night post coaching happened sometimes).  I miss coaching SO much and would love to get involved somehow with some sort of sports coaching, as it truly is one of my passions.  I have a son who is very involved in fine arts including band and choir and is extremely artistic, while also racing race cars, go figure.    He has played a variety of sports for years but is taking a break from all things athletic to concentrate on his music/art and the dirt track.  Over the years I have had horses, dogs, shown dogs in dog agility, and have ultimately become an ultra-runner.  I have run from as little as one mile up to 50 miles and have loved mostly every minute.  I run with one or both of my current dogs and have run with a dog going on 15 years now starting with Miller and Harley and then my bestest girl Stella, and now with Boom and Ollie.  Stella and Boom have both run multiple 50k races and Stella a 50 miler with me and Ollie is just starting out her distance career.  While I haven't been in a serious training cycle in a while, I am dipping a toe back in by entering the Chicago marathon for next year where we both turn 50.  One or more of my running partners is going to run with me and I am keeping my fingers crossed we all get in!

Okay enough about me!  This is how our week went down.  

Andrew had his first band competition.  They eeked by with a superior rating against some awesome bands that practice every day and do big band camps.  We only are allowed 2 practice days a week during school as we are all inclusive.  That means we allow all kids in all sports and activities to join in, but the downside is no afterschool practice.  We only do 2 competitions a year which kind of makes me sad in a way because when I was in band, we were at competitions every weekend for months, but with the lack of practice, that is probably the max his band should do.  They still don't have a full field show on the field yet and have just 3 months in gotten two songs memorized and all the sets memorized for those two songs.  Sigh.  I think they have a ton of talent and did super well for just two days a week, but dang it, they could be SO much better if they were allowed afterschool or weekend practice. I get making it fun and taking the stress off of kids to be perfect and I am not just saying this because my kid is out there, but this is a dang good band with a ton of talent.  

I borrowed a friend's digital camera and while the above photo is not mine, I took 300 photos and they all look like ants to me.  Sigh.  I guess you need a super zoom lens to get good shots like the one above.  Photo credit goes to Kimmy Shaw.  

The latter part of the week was spent seeing an ENT about my very angry thyroid.  It's been about a year since my thyroid decided to blow up the size of an avocado, and some days it really is uncomfortable and I kind of would like to start the process of removal.  The ENT luckily agreed, doing yet another ultrasound to show me that basically the right side of my thyroid is a giant fluid filled cyst that is making my thyroid angry and inoperable with it's job of providing me with TSH.  My surgery is set for November 5th and my mom is coming from Tennessee to take care of me.  Yes, I am almost 50, and I still prefer my mom to come take care of me.  

Three works out with two runs to boot.  The weather is finally cooling off a tiny bit, and I am ready to run again.  Eventually I will go back to two work outs a week lifting and three runs with one run being a long run.  Come on fall, show me all of your glory.

We may have a new tradition of Ziggy's on game nights (when the raiders are away of course), and then a night cap at Manhattan brewing.  We had so much fun just having a date night with the KSU band playing and some good beer.  For those who aren't from around these parts, Manhattan is a pretty small town, and the KSU band is pretty big, so they do band pub crawls on Friday nights of home games.  We like to catch them at one or two of their stops and listen to them play.  Mark my words, some day, this will be my son!

It's great to meet all of y'all and hope y'all stick around!  Have a great week!!!!

Blank pages

Been staring at a blank page for a week and a half now.  Here are some pictures, since I can't find motivation to write.  

She hates when I lift.

Don't worry, fall is coming.  2 runs, 2 lifts this week.

First cool night and a live band and some good beer.

Andrew's bass guitar teacher at one time.  He played many solos and was amazing.

I love that she lets me drag her to all of my crazy ideas.

Oztoberfest, here we come!

The wicked witch threw a fireball at me!

World's largest Toto!  Yes, we embrace the Oz theme to the fullest here.

My little flying monkey and her new friends.

The cowardly lion with his mini figure of the cowardly lion.

These boys and their luck.  They won not one raffle prize, but two raffle prizes full of gift cards to local businesses.  

Another night, another band.  While the Grateful Dudes aren't exactly my style, you can't pass up sitting outside, enjoying the fall weather, and drinking beer provided by a local restaurant.  

I was brave and they behaved.   Mostly.  

Chiefs win (barley), KSU was off after the loss on the road, the raiders had a bye week before two road games, and Tennessee won.  

Y'all have a great week!

Band Mom era

SO much going on in my head right now.  Very busy at work (good thing), tired with our crazy schedule (good thing), stressed about things I can't control (bad thing), and now looking at a consult with an ENT to decide about taking my thyroid away.  Life always has to be interesting, doesn't it?

Three lifts and one run this week.  If the weather could cool off ever so slightly, Ollie and I could get back to running.  

We've been doing some short off leash sessions post running and she's been doing great.  I think we are slowly getting to a good relationship where we can all have fun and maybe do some off leash running without me worrying about her making a break for a different county.  

We had homecoming week and another home football game in which the band got to play in uniform.  I love how handsome he is in his red and black! Our neighbor was in the court this year, so we had to snag a picture with him before they left.  

Again, for only practicing basically twice a week, they sound and look really good.  There is so much potential there, just wish they could practice more and clean some stuff up.  We only have band basically twice a week for an hour and 20ish minutes and then once a week for an hour.  That's it.  No afterschool, no weekends, no nothing.  

That's all for this week!  Mother nature canceled our racing plans and ended our season thanks to a lot of rain due to the hurricane in the Pacific.  We ended up top 5 in points for the season and can't wait till the banquet.  Bring on next year and more fun and learning!  Have a great week y'all!