Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Renewed Hope & Brand New Confidence
I apologize for my lack of posting lately. With summer coming to an end, moving into a new apartment and starting up my last year of law school, I just have not made the time to post! But, I do have good news about my training!
Last weekend one of my best friends, Sarah "Pikul" Dyerson came up to Minnesota to visit. It was her first time here and I was soooo happy to have her! We had a great weekend which included some margaritas, the MN state fair (lots of deep fried food on a stick), and a run around the lake followed by brunch on the rooftop in Uptown.
Pikul is training for her second marathon right now as well and is in about the same place in her training that I should be in. Pikul runs with LLS's Team in Training. She has had much more technical training and instruction than I have had so talking with her about training is always very informative. Throughout the weekend we talked about my running post-injury and both of our training. Pikul shared with me some things that she has found help her and what not. Heading out for our run, we planned on running around Lake Calhoun; 3 miles. She is a much more conservative runner (yes, Pikul...conservative...not slow!) than I have been in the past. She does a great job at starting off slow and conserving her energy to make sure she will have the energy to finish and hopefully to push herself harder at the end of her run. So, I wanted to stick to her pace, start out slow. Not only to just conserve my energy but to allow my body to warm up; something I had kind of forgotten about. I also forgot how much easier it is to run with someone else. We made it around the lake once and I was surprised we were already done with one lap, so we continued for a second! I made it 6 miles without walking! That is by far the furthest I have been able to run since my fall. It felt AWESOME!!! My legs were obviously a little fatigued, but my knee held up really well. I did have pain after and made sure to ice and take anti-inflammatories. But that run made my confidence improve so much...I actually feel like this marathon is doable and I won't be walking 10 miles of it!
After our run Pikul and I went to brunch on the rooftop @ the Cafeteria in Uptown and then I had to bring her to the airport :(
The next day I headed out for another run. I was planning on going just 3 miles at my new pace, but it was going so well that I kept going. I have to constantly remind myself to keep at the slower pace and I check my pace probably every minute or so which is annoying, but eventually I won't have to look as often, I'll just be able to feel it. I made it 6 miles again! I was so happy! I definitely feel so much better and hopeful that this marathon might not be a horrible experience but a good one. One in which I can be very proud of. Running a marathon is in itself a great achievement; doing it after having 2 fractures in my knee, a slightly torn meniscus and cartilidge damage and missing 7 weeks of training is something I never thought I would be able to do. I went out for a long run last Friday with the goal of running 12 miles. Some people were concerned I was uping my mileage too quickly but I felt I could do it. I wanted to challenge myself but promised I would listen to my body, and I did. I made sure to hydrate and gu and I finished my 12 miles with an average pace of 11:30. It's not what I would have thought my pace would be if you had asked me in May or June, but if you had asked me in July, I wouldn't have thought I would even have been able to run 12 miles yet! My legs were fatigued afterwards, but the next day I wasn't nearly as sore as expected. I did ice bath and ice a lot during the night. So I am very happy and confidence in where I'm at. And I am so excited to run the marathon with my old roommate Sarah Pruitt. She and I haven't seen each other since last October so we're just looking forward to doing this together and aren't concerned with our time.
I will be going to KC this weekend for the beautiful Lauren Hutchison's wedding!! I used to cheer with her at KU. I am so excited to share her and Colin's day with them and to see lots of my great college friends!!! It will be a crazy weekend. But, Saturday morning Pikul has a 20 mile run with her team in training group and I am going to attempt to run it with them! I know it seems like a HUGE jump in mileage, and that's because it is. But I think that it is best to attempt this run with other people and with controlled training conditions. I will have support of other people which always helps. I am staying positive about my ability to do this run, but know that I will most definitely have to listen to my body and not push too far. The last thing I would want to do is hurt myself further so I know that I might not make the whole 20 miles running, and that is fine with me. I'm hoping I can make 18 @ least! So, we'll see! Wish me luck! :)
Fundraising...I need to thank my Grandpa, Terry McDonough and Patti and Jeff Sahr for recent donations. Every dollar helps! I'm a month out from race time and still have quite a bit to raise! So any donations you can make would be greatly appreciated! Visit my fundraising page and donate: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough or send a check made out to Paws Chicago with "Team Paws-Kelly McDonough" in the memo line to 10601 Zinran Circle, Bloomington, MN 55438 and I will send it on to the charity.
Thank you again everyone for your donations, prayers, and support!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
First run in 6 weeks
Well...I did it! I got to actually hit the pavement for the first time in 6 weeks, since my fall. I was so nervous, anxious and excited. I woke up to a beautiful Minnesota morning: 65 degrees, zero humidity and sunny. I was thrilled with the weather. So, I set off.
My goal was to try to run (w/o walking) the first mile. Then I wanted to run/walk to 4 miles. I thought the first mile was do-able, but was a little hesitant about going 4. I didn't know how my knee would hold up and knew if I was having pain I had to stop. Well...I made it that first mile pain free...well at least my knee was pain free. The rest of my body felt like a ton of bricks. My legs felt like they were 100lbs each. My breathing was out of control. I felt like an obese woman who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. But I pushed and made the 1 mile...woohoo! Pathetic that 9 weeks out from when I'm supposed to run 26.2 miles, I'm excited about running 1. But, I continued to run till 1.5 and was having a little pain. It wasn't sharp pains or anything really concerning. It kind of felt like it was just getting used to the movement again. I walked and ran off and on from then on till 4 miles. I reached my goal!
I'm happy I was able to push myself to 4 miles regardless of having to switch between running and walking. I think that will possibly be the case for a while while I'm trying to get back into it. My breathing got better as I got into it but my legs were pretty heavy the whole run. It was also pretty windy and the wind kept picking up throughout the run. My Nike+ wristband was being really strange yesterday (because I haven't used it in so long: sad) so I am not sure what my pace was. Before my fall I was usually between a 9:10-9:50 minute mile. I think the first mile I did mostly in that pace but then I definitely slowed down a little. I need to calibrate the wristband today so it can be accurate again. Afterwards I felt pretty good. My knee hurt a little bit, but not horribly. I took an extremely cold ice bath after which I think helped with my soreness today! I also iced 3 more times throughout the day to curb any swelling.
My goal was to try to run (w/o walking) the first mile. Then I wanted to run/walk to 4 miles. I thought the first mile was do-able, but was a little hesitant about going 4. I didn't know how my knee would hold up and knew if I was having pain I had to stop. Well...I made it that first mile pain free...well at least my knee was pain free. The rest of my body felt like a ton of bricks. My legs felt like they were 100lbs each. My breathing was out of control. I felt like an obese woman who smoked a pack of cigarettes a day. But I pushed and made the 1 mile...woohoo! Pathetic that 9 weeks out from when I'm supposed to run 26.2 miles, I'm excited about running 1. But, I continued to run till 1.5 and was having a little pain. It wasn't sharp pains or anything really concerning. It kind of felt like it was just getting used to the movement again. I walked and ran off and on from then on till 4 miles. I reached my goal!
I'm happy I was able to push myself to 4 miles regardless of having to switch between running and walking. I think that will possibly be the case for a while while I'm trying to get back into it. My breathing got better as I got into it but my legs were pretty heavy the whole run. It was also pretty windy and the wind kept picking up throughout the run. My Nike+ wristband was being really strange yesterday (because I haven't used it in so long: sad) so I am not sure what my pace was. Before my fall I was usually between a 9:10-9:50 minute mile. I think the first mile I did mostly in that pace but then I definitely slowed down a little. I need to calibrate the wristband today so it can be accurate again. Afterwards I felt pretty good. My knee hurt a little bit, but not horribly. I took an extremely cold ice bath after which I think helped with my soreness today! I also iced 3 more times throughout the day to curb any swelling.
As I said, today I am going to calibrate my wristband so I'll just run an easy 1 mile and then possibly just walk for a little bit. I want to let my legs rest a little bit. I am sore today...I mean, my calves, quads, even my back and abs! It's so sad how hard it is to get in shape and how easy it is to fall out of shape. But the good news is my knee feels pretty good! So all in all the first attempt was a success! I am planning on doing 4 miles again tomorrow if my body feels ok and my knee seems like it can handle it.
I received my first donation from the family letters I sent out yesterday! Thank you to Terry McDonough! I really appreciate your thoughtfulness! Hopefully this is just the beginning of donations from the family! Thank you to everyone for your donations, thoughts, prayers, calls & texts! Your support is so much more helpful than you think!
Monday, August 8, 2011
Dogs in the Courtroom??
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/nyregion/dog-helps-rape-victim-15-testify.html?partner=rss&emc=rss
I love this idea. Here is just another example of how animals can help humans in such an awesome way. The comfort that a dog can bring a person is amazing to me. I know that personally, my little Emma can always cheer me up and is definitely comforting to me. After a long, stressful day, the only thing I want to do is come home and snuggle up with her.
I do understand the possibility of the presence of a dog in the courtroom being unfair. I recognize that this could be a problem, but overall, I think I believe that dogs who are trained therapy animals who can bring comfort to a victim who is testifying should be allowed in the court room. If it allows a victim, especially a child victim to speak out, by all means, it should be allowed. If jurors are instructed correctly on the presence of the dog I do not believe that the dogs presence would not cause that much of a problem.
What are your thoughts??
I love this idea. Here is just another example of how animals can help humans in such an awesome way. The comfort that a dog can bring a person is amazing to me. I know that personally, my little Emma can always cheer me up and is definitely comforting to me. After a long, stressful day, the only thing I want to do is come home and snuggle up with her.
I do understand the possibility of the presence of a dog in the courtroom being unfair. I recognize that this could be a problem, but overall, I think I believe that dogs who are trained therapy animals who can bring comfort to a victim who is testifying should be allowed in the court room. If it allows a victim, especially a child victim to speak out, by all means, it should be allowed. If jurors are instructed correctly on the presence of the dog I do not believe that the dogs presence would not cause that much of a problem.
What are your thoughts??
GOOD NEWS!!!--Woohoo!
I had my 3rd visit with my physical therapist last Wednesday. My knee was feeling much better. My range of motion had improved, my pain was extremely low, and I was able to water jog for 40 minutes pain free! And so my physical therapist gave me the go ahead to try to run this week! YES!!! I was thrilled when he told me that. He said if I have any pain I have to stop immediately and I can't push myself too far and overdo it. I also need to keep up with the exercises he gave me and icing.
I was hoping to go for a run today but I am pretty sore from some strength exercises and am having some pain in my knee so I decided to wait until tomorrow. Today I am preparing by icing, taking anti-inflammatories and drinking tons of water so I'm hydrated tomorrow. I am extremely excited, nervous, and anxious. I'm really scared for 2 main reasons: 1) How is my knee going to hold up? I'm terrified that I'm going to be in a lot of pain right away. But, trying to think positive and praying that won't be the case. 2) I'm going to feel extremely out of shape. Endurance wise and strength wise, I've lost a lot of both. I seriously think that I'll be happy to make it 2 miles without dying. If my knee is holding up, I'm hoping that I'll at least be able to run/walk for 4 miles. But again, I don't want to push too hard too fast, so we'll see!
We're 9 weeks out from the marathon and I haven't run in 5 1/2 weeks. That's a LONG LONG time in training. So, I have to be really committed to this now to be able to be ready by October. I am going to keep water jogging in my training for sure as it will allow me to log more miles without the stress on my knee.
Fundraising update: Last week I wrote a letter to clients at my mom's clinic for her to post and hand out. I'm hoping to get donations from that. I've gotten one donation from an employee of hers so far. I also mailed out 40 letters to our family and am hoping to get a substantial number of donations through the family. Next step is sending letters/emails to our family friends and some of my parent's friends. I am also going to post a flyer at school once classes start up again and have written letters to a few professors that I feel comfortable reaching out to. I am also looking into hosting a happy hour at a bar that us law students frequent quite often! I received an extremely generous donation from a classmate, Brittany Lawon who has 2 cats, both of whom she rescued. So thank you Brittany. As always, I would appreciate any donations you are able to give: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough. Thanks for your continued support! I will update ya'll tomorrow after my run and let you know how it turns out! Please think positive thoughts for me! :)
I was hoping to go for a run today but I am pretty sore from some strength exercises and am having some pain in my knee so I decided to wait until tomorrow. Today I am preparing by icing, taking anti-inflammatories and drinking tons of water so I'm hydrated tomorrow. I am extremely excited, nervous, and anxious. I'm really scared for 2 main reasons: 1) How is my knee going to hold up? I'm terrified that I'm going to be in a lot of pain right away. But, trying to think positive and praying that won't be the case. 2) I'm going to feel extremely out of shape. Endurance wise and strength wise, I've lost a lot of both. I seriously think that I'll be happy to make it 2 miles without dying. If my knee is holding up, I'm hoping that I'll at least be able to run/walk for 4 miles. But again, I don't want to push too hard too fast, so we'll see!
We're 9 weeks out from the marathon and I haven't run in 5 1/2 weeks. That's a LONG LONG time in training. So, I have to be really committed to this now to be able to be ready by October. I am going to keep water jogging in my training for sure as it will allow me to log more miles without the stress on my knee.
Fundraising update: Last week I wrote a letter to clients at my mom's clinic for her to post and hand out. I'm hoping to get donations from that. I've gotten one donation from an employee of hers so far. I also mailed out 40 letters to our family and am hoping to get a substantial number of donations through the family. Next step is sending letters/emails to our family friends and some of my parent's friends. I am also going to post a flyer at school once classes start up again and have written letters to a few professors that I feel comfortable reaching out to. I am also looking into hosting a happy hour at a bar that us law students frequent quite often! I received an extremely generous donation from a classmate, Brittany Lawon who has 2 cats, both of whom she rescued. So thank you Brittany. As always, I would appreciate any donations you are able to give: http://pawschicago.kintera.org/teampawschicago2011/kellymcdonough. Thanks for your continued support! I will update ya'll tomorrow after my run and let you know how it turns out! Please think positive thoughts for me! :)
Monday, August 1, 2011
Physical Therapy, Chiropractor and "Racing into Shape"
I got my 2nd opinion from a knee/sports specialist @ Tria Orthopedic last Monday. He said pretty much the same thing as the first doctor. Which really, I don't know what I even wanted him to say. Surgery? No surgery, just wait out the pain? I didn't know. He was a little concerned it had been 4 weeks and I still had so much pain, but referred me to physical therapy and a LARGE dose of Advil daily. He said if in 3-4 weeks I was still in the same amount of pain we would do another MRI and reassess our plan. He did throw in there that he didn't think I would be able to run the full marathon in October. I cringed when he said that, teared up, then push back the tears, cursed his words and decided to ignore his comment.
I went to my chiropractor the next day who is a miracle worker. He suggested some homeopathic bone repair which supposedly heals fractures in 1/2 the normal time. I said what the hell? I'll try ANYTHING! He realigned me and did some acupuncture and I was on my way. I swam and water jogged. I am still making it about 15 minutes water jogging and working on my swimming (which is kind of pathetic and quite a struggle still!). My PT says I need to be able to water jog 40-45 minutes without pain before he'll put me back on the road.
Wednesday I had my first PT appointment. I really like my physical therapist. He knows what he's doing and is positive which is helping me stay positive! He asked me in more of a statement than a question: "You haven't given up on running the full in October, have you?" I said absolutely not! That I won't give up on it and he said good! He assessed my injury, we did a few easy exercises which he told me to do daily. The exercises are so easy and I'm surprised at how difficult they are...not really for pain in my knee, but as a struggle with range of motion, flexibility and strength. He thinks the range of motion is mainly from fluid in my knee which isn't allowing my movement. Flexibility and strength is from the fall, and not using it. It's amazing was you lose so quickly! I did exercises that day and the next and woke up with sore quads on Friday which I thought was sad, but a good sign I was rebuilding my strength. Friday I went back into my PT. My range of motion has already improved a lot! We did ultrasound, massage, a little warm up for my range of motion and then I rode the bike. I iced in this big brace type thing, "Turbo ice machine," and headed home.
Over the weekend I kept up with my exercises. I am going to stick with my water jogging, swimming and bike riding this week and have a chiro appointment tomorrow, and PT on Wednesday. I'm slowly getting more positive about the injury but am dying to get back on the road for real runs!
When I was in KC a few weeks back Sarah Dyerson gave me one of her Runner's World magazines. I don't think she even realized that there was an article in it "Racing Into Shape," which followed a woman who gave birth and then trained for the Boston marathon in nine weeks. Right now I'm about 10 weeks out from the marathon. Makes me nervous but if I can build my strength and endurance through the things I'm doing now, I think I can make the marathon. My pace will likely be slower than what I was wanting to run it in, but right now I just want to be able to participate and finish it on race day! If I can do that I'll be thrilled. The article gives 5 main tips: 1) Start short: start with short runs, but at a faster pace to improve your fitness quicker; 2) Be realistic: Don't expect to reach your PR while training or competing in fitness-building races; 3) Forget the taper: in order to regain your fitness, you must still train hard during the week (to do this I will likely keep the biking, swimming and water jog in my training to allow my knee the low-impact workout while still regaining fitness); 4) Race sparingly: only participate in races every 2-3 weeks; 5) Time it right: if your goal race is a marathon, run a 1/2 3-4 weeks out. Since the 1/2 is more about strength than speed, it will continue to improve your endurance while boosting your confident in your ability to run hard over a long distance. It is going to be a challenge, but I need to stay positive and work extremely hard to make this happen!
It helps to remember that I am fundraising and doing this for helpless, homeless dogs & cats. I committed to PAWS and will follow through, no matter how long it takes me to cross the finish line! My fundraising is slowly, but surely creeping up. I am about 35% to my goal so please help and donate! Seriously, every $1 helps! http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=451667&supid=322878735
I went to my chiropractor the next day who is a miracle worker. He suggested some homeopathic bone repair which supposedly heals fractures in 1/2 the normal time. I said what the hell? I'll try ANYTHING! He realigned me and did some acupuncture and I was on my way. I swam and water jogged. I am still making it about 15 minutes water jogging and working on my swimming (which is kind of pathetic and quite a struggle still!). My PT says I need to be able to water jog 40-45 minutes without pain before he'll put me back on the road.
Wednesday I had my first PT appointment. I really like my physical therapist. He knows what he's doing and is positive which is helping me stay positive! He asked me in more of a statement than a question: "You haven't given up on running the full in October, have you?" I said absolutely not! That I won't give up on it and he said good! He assessed my injury, we did a few easy exercises which he told me to do daily. The exercises are so easy and I'm surprised at how difficult they are...not really for pain in my knee, but as a struggle with range of motion, flexibility and strength. He thinks the range of motion is mainly from fluid in my knee which isn't allowing my movement. Flexibility and strength is from the fall, and not using it. It's amazing was you lose so quickly! I did exercises that day and the next and woke up with sore quads on Friday which I thought was sad, but a good sign I was rebuilding my strength. Friday I went back into my PT. My range of motion has already improved a lot! We did ultrasound, massage, a little warm up for my range of motion and then I rode the bike. I iced in this big brace type thing, "Turbo ice machine," and headed home.
Over the weekend I kept up with my exercises. I am going to stick with my water jogging, swimming and bike riding this week and have a chiro appointment tomorrow, and PT on Wednesday. I'm slowly getting more positive about the injury but am dying to get back on the road for real runs!
When I was in KC a few weeks back Sarah Dyerson gave me one of her Runner's World magazines. I don't think she even realized that there was an article in it "Racing Into Shape," which followed a woman who gave birth and then trained for the Boston marathon in nine weeks. Right now I'm about 10 weeks out from the marathon. Makes me nervous but if I can build my strength and endurance through the things I'm doing now, I think I can make the marathon. My pace will likely be slower than what I was wanting to run it in, but right now I just want to be able to participate and finish it on race day! If I can do that I'll be thrilled. The article gives 5 main tips: 1) Start short: start with short runs, but at a faster pace to improve your fitness quicker; 2) Be realistic: Don't expect to reach your PR while training or competing in fitness-building races; 3) Forget the taper: in order to regain your fitness, you must still train hard during the week (to do this I will likely keep the biking, swimming and water jog in my training to allow my knee the low-impact workout while still regaining fitness); 4) Race sparingly: only participate in races every 2-3 weeks; 5) Time it right: if your goal race is a marathon, run a 1/2 3-4 weeks out. Since the 1/2 is more about strength than speed, it will continue to improve your endurance while boosting your confident in your ability to run hard over a long distance. It is going to be a challenge, but I need to stay positive and work extremely hard to make this happen!
It helps to remember that I am fundraising and doing this for helpless, homeless dogs & cats. I committed to PAWS and will follow through, no matter how long it takes me to cross the finish line! My fundraising is slowly, but surely creeping up. I am about 35% to my goal so please help and donate! Seriously, every $1 helps! http://pawschicago.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=451667&supid=322878735
Monday, July 25, 2011
Thank you Tom & Nancy Pruitt
I would like to thank Tom and Nancy Pruitt for their generous donation they made over the weekend! It is greatly appreciated. I lived with Tom and Nancy's daughter Sarah for 2 years in college and she is one of my very best friends! Unfortunately she lives in Dallas so we don't get to see each other much, but I am actually (hopefully) running the Chicago marathon with Sarah! We are looking forward to a great time in Chicago...I actually think our parents are probably more excited for the weekend than Sarah and I as my parents, Jack & Sandi and Tom & Nancy tend to have quite a good time together :)
Thanks again guys! Love and miss you!
Thanks again guys! Love and miss you!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)