You're Lookin' Good, Girl

I don't know what age you decide that catcalls are no longer offensive but actually compliments but since I turned 39 on Sunday, I've decided that "You're lookin' good, girl" uttered by a stranger passing by me on my way to the parking garage is a compliment. It made me smile.

My shin splint problem is aggravating and frustrating to me because I'm trying to stay in shape and have found an athletic activity that I love and want to continue. However, considering that things could be much worse, I feel very fortunate to have what I have.

I have not been blogging much because I have been quite busy, and then this weekend, not busy at all, by design.

Last Tuesday I decided to take a break from running. I was going to take a 3 week break and just let my legs heal before I tear them up again. I considered Joe's opinion that my legs were otherwise healthy and running should not cause serious problems but thought the safest course was to stop for a while. I even started riding the stationary bike at the gym for cardio fitness. Needless to say, riding the bike was quite boring and I barely felt like I exerted myself, even if the display showed 45 minutes, 8 miles and 250 calories burned.

This past weekend, my birthday weekend, my husband and I took a much needed mini vacation away from the kids. It was the first time we have gone anywhere without the kids. We missed them terribly but really needed the time to recharge. We went to a cottage in the Hocking Hills in southeast Ohio. It was quite secluded - no tv, no telephone and no computer. We had a picnic basket dinner waiting for us Friday night. We were able to talk freely in complete sentences. We could eat uninterrupted - no "stop feeding the dog" and "eat your broccoli I don't care if that one doesn't have cheese on it" and "don't bang your fork on your bowl" and "this is not a restaurant eat what we made for you" and "your knees were not invited to dinner put them down" and...I don't need to go on. It was surreal. There was NO NOISE. We savored the food and the silence and enjoyed the view of the woods from the back porch. On Saturday we took a hike, read books, rocked on rocking chairs on the back porch, and got a couples massage. I highly recommend a full body massage - it was incredible. The feeling of contentment was something I had never experienced before and I think my husband had the same feeling.

When the weekend ended, we arrived back at home to rescue my parents (who were heros to have stayed with the kids all weekend - although I think they had more fun than they were supposed to!). The chaos came at us instantaneously - kids rushing up to tell us what they did, the dog goosing us in the behind with her nose and swooshing her tail all over the place, and my parents asking how the weekend went and what did we eat and did we do anything fun? Wow - it was like a wave hit us as we walked in the door. We struggled to stay afloat as the chaos surrounded us from all sides and we finally were able to tread water.....(did that metaphor get out of hand a little?)

We managed to get back on track on Monday. As I was getting in the car to go to work, the kids were inside yelling something, and my husband peeked his head out of the door. His eyes were saying "help me..." but he had a grin on his face. For me the effect of the weekend lasted all day on Monday. I think it's gone now, although when I think about the weekend a small sense of calm runs through me.

On Monday, maybe due to the rest I had, I felt good enough to run again. Only 1.5 miles, but I decided to ease back into training again. I will be seeing the doctor on Thursday to confirm my legs will be ok, and to ask about how to resume my training. I'm religiously doing my PT and I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate the stationary bike into my training as well to allow my legs sufficient recovery time.

Yeah, I'm lookin' good. I'm feelin' good too.