And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program Already in Progress...

Oh.My.Gosh.

Can I just say how good it feels to feel good again? I knew I had been feeling bad, but looking back over the past month, that was probably the toughest I've had to endure since my initial diagnosis with RA 2 1/2 years ago. I did my best to stay positive, especially here on the blog. I just want to thank everyone for sticking by me while I worked through the flare. The pain is so much better and the fatigue is resolving.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Well, I brought some strength to my workouts this week! It's back to work.

A Change in Perspective

In the midst of the never ending winter and my ongoing health issues came an invite from my southern sister from another mister. Holly, who used to co-host the Weekly Wrap link up with me, convinced me to book a flight for a weekend visit to her new lake house. She found a trail race for us. I looked for flights and found a great deal.

After I booked my flight, I had second thoughts. What if I don't start to feel better? Will I be able to run? Even more important, will I be able to water ski? Will she still want to hang with me?

What the heck was I worried about?

I've Got a Good Feeling About This...

It was another frustrating week, health and fitness-wise. I won't harp on it, but my patience and my emotions were starting to fray. I had an appointment with my rheumatologist this week and I spent time prior to the appointment studying up on my condition and my new symptoms so I could be prepared to ask the right questions. Sometimes being a medical provider is a blessing and a curse! I have the knowledge and ability to interpret medical literature but I think that sometimes ignorance is bliss.

On the other hand, it felt really good to take control. At my appointment, my doctor and I discussed my concerns and options. She made some changes in my medications, including stopping the steroids which were making me really emotional. I left the appointment feeling more optimistic than I have in a while. Time will tell if the new medication will work but based on everything I learned, I have a good feeling about this new plan.

Beautiful Picnic Point overlooking Lake Mendota in Madison

Ramble On

Disclaimer: I received Aspire and Maxus Zero socks from Swiftwick in exchange for my honest review. This post contains affiliate links.

"I guess I'll keep on rambling
I'm gonna
Sing my song
I gotta ramble on, sing my song
Gotta work my way around the world
Ramble on, yeah..."
~Led Zeppelin

Doo doo doo, I can't stop singing this song! This was such a better week. Is the medication finally kicking in? Is the inflammation just calming down? Whatever it is, I am thrilled. I found some endurance, rambling down the bike path and around my neighborhood.

Forward is a Pace

I want to keep on running.

After a little tough love talk from my very wise friend Marcia, I promised myself that I would start to train at an easier, slower pace. After running all these years, when I lace up and hit the road, my legs just go. Sadly, right now my heart doesn't want to keep up. Training these old legs to find a new normal, a slower speed, is much easier said than done. Dialing it down requires a focus on pace and diligence that I haven't used since training for my last marathon 4 years ago.

I'd have to call my week on the road a success as I finished all 3 runs with the distance I set out to do and feeling good.

Runfessions: April

Can you believe it's almost May? We've had this prolonged cold season here in Chicago and I for one am super excited to welcome spring and warmer temperatures! With the end of April comes time for runfessions.

Do you runfess? I love this monthly opportunity hosted by Marcia where we get to cleanse our souls. If you don't have anything to runfess, then you're not a runner...

Fighting the Good Fight

This week seemed to be a turning point for me with both running and my disease. If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know that I am battling the worst flare of rheumatoid arthritis since my diagnosis 2 1/2 years ago. You may be tired of hearing about it. Trust me, I'm tired of dealing with it. As a runner, I'd love nothing more than to share victories than the string of struggles I've been experiencing for the past couple of months. I am frustrated and there are days when I think I should just walk away. I know that would be wrong and because I'm stubborn, I keep trying.

You never know what's around the next corner. So you just keep on fighting. Adjusting the game plan. That's what warriors do.

Learning to Listen to My Body

Apparently, I've been overdoing it.

That's basically what my rheumatologist told me this week, in a very nicely worded diplomatic sort of way. When I protested that this is my usual level of activity, she told me what I already knew but needed to hear it again: I'm fighting an aggressive inflammatory illness and I need to scale back to allow my body to calm down.

I already knew this, but still. It kind of sucks.

Things that Make Me Go OOooh!

Disclaimer: I received a pair of OOfos Sandals in exchange for my honest review. 

Feeling good and back at it again this week! There was so much to OOh about. Spring is finally here and along with that warmer temperatures. Best of all, RA, while still making its presence known, has simmered down to low. That in itself was a reason to go oooh!

Coffee Talk

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. 

Happy Friday! Let's sit down over a cup of coffee and catch up! What do you take in your coffee? I've got half and half and some GLG Collagen--I swear by this stuff! Have you tried it? Just 2 tablespoons are all you need. Tell me what's new in your world. 

Facing My Fears

I received a pair of SoleHealers in exchange for my unbiased review. All opinions are my own.

Running has done a lot of good things for me. Health benefits aside, probably one of the best things I've gotten from running is confidence and the ability to do hard things. After failing so horribly at my first attempt at the marathon, I didn't think I could ever face that distance again. But...

Three years later, I lined up and ran a 1 hour and 10 minute PR at the marathon. What changed for me?

During that time frame, I started working with a CrossFit coach to correct some imbalances that were causing recurring injuries. As she worked with me to strengthen my posterior chain, she pushed me into the red zone on the comfort scale. She made me challenge myself and had me lift heavier than I ever thought I could. As part of my marathon training, along with strength training, she had me do MetCon style workouts which pushed me almost to the point of vomiting. I didn't vomit, and as a result of the hard training, I saw my mile splits improve to times I never dreamed I could run.

I'm not a natural athlete, so none of what I do comes easily to me. Confidence goes a long way to help a person overcome their fears. So does having a person who believes in you and pushes you.

50 Ways to Be a Runner

"The problem is all inside your head, she said to me
The answer is easy if you take it logically
I'd like to help you in your struggle to be free
There must be fifty ways to be a runner

She said it's really not my habit to intrude
For the more I hope my meaning won't be lost or misconstrued
So I repeat myself, at the risk of being cruel
There must be fifty ways to be a runner, fifty ways to be a runner

Just slip out the back, Jack, make a new plan, Stan
Don't mean to annoy, Roy, just listen to me
Skip the bus, Gus, don't need to discuss much
Just a quick three, Lee, and get yourself free"

 ~~adapted from Paul Simon, Fifty Ways to Leave Your Lover

Can't get off the couch, grouch? Need a push outside, Clyde? Lost your way, Kay? Just listen to me. Slip on your shoes, Cruz and show us your moves. There are 50 ways to be a runner. Probably more. Get yourself free...

This is How I Know It's Real

Disclaimer: I received NovoRenew in exchange for my honest review. 

Last week, I shared that I was in the midst of another flare of rheumatoid arthritis. I know I share my issues with RA pretty often on the blog. I'd rather not, but RA is my reality and it often affects my training. When I'm having a bad week of training, I have to ask myself if it is due to illness, menopause, aging, or RA.

Thankfully, this week, for the most part, I feel like myself again. The steroids did their job, shutting off the inflammation. I'm running faster, my legs feel light, and my strength training went really well, even hitting a 5 rep PR doing push presses. For 3 sets.

This is how I know it's real.

RA Flare Don't Care

Disclaimer: I received a pair of Mizuno Wave Horizon 3s in exchange for my honest review.

As you might have guessed from the title of my post, I spent most of the week dealing with an uptick in RA symptoms. As much as I wanted to curl up under a blanket and stay on the couch, I tried to keep it positive and stuck to my usual routine. I was both grateful for being able to move and frustrated for not being able to move the way I like. It was a tough week for me. I can't help but believe that some of my symptoms are due to this pervasive dampness we're having.

A Runner's Gotta Run...

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.

I have become a weather stalker in the worst way possible. Without a treadmill as a backup, planning my runs during the last couple of weeks has required flexibility. The forecast might call for snow and we get freezing rain. The thermometer might say 42 but the streets are coated with black ice because the temperatures dipped below freezing overnight. The polar vortex slips off its rocker and rolls into Chicago once again on gusty winds. You get the picture.

Winter is always a crapshoot but for this outdoor runner, Winter 2019 has really killed my mojo. A runner's gotta run and crappy weather or not, that's what I did. There's a happy ending to this sad, sad story, though...

Monday's icy, snowy run

It Was One of Those Weeks...

This was not my week. Taking a cue from Holly, I've come up with a few alternative titles for this post:

"Now I know why penguins walk the way they do"

"Ice, ice baby"

"I need a backup plan for the backup plan"

"Come on, Man!"
"The Mondayest Wednesday Ever"

I've Got Cabin Fever and the Only Prescription is Getting Outside!

Even if you are sick to death hearing about the polar vortex, those of us experiencing it this week could talk of nothing else. It was dangerously cold, ridiculously cold--colder than I can ever remember! While the recent cold spell forced almost all of us inside, I feel fortunate that it didn't affect me in a bad way. My power was on, my home was warm, the treadmill fired up, and I got an extra day off work. I spent the day working on the blog and studying for the class I am taking.

I also did some reading on the polar vortex and found this great article on Mashable. It explains all about why we were so cold this week and yep, it's all due to global warming. I couldn't help but marvel at the palpable excitement of all the TV weather people discussing this phenomenon. I learned about frost quakes, which woke me up at night. And even though we were warned about the dangers of the boiling water trick, you know I had to try it. I love science.

Anyhoo, it was a really interesting week. We went from -25F on Wednesday to 35F degrees on Saturday. What a difference 60 degrees makes! Inside or out, I got my workouts in. Because as we like to say: the temperatures might drop, but the workouts don't stop. Ok, maybe no one likes to say that...I'm just going a little stir crazy over here.

Jumping for joy on Saturday!

Hell is Actually Freezing Over

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold even the snowmen want to come inside...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that my college son is considering wearing boots...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold even Elsa is bothered by it...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that I look forward to hot flashes...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that I ran on the treadmill...

It is so cold...how cold is it? It is so cold that:

Proceeding with Caution

After a rough start to 2019, this week things settled down nicely. I was ready for a do-over! After my back injury, I was a little nervous about my plans to travel south to Mobile to run a half marathon with Holly, Teresa, and Karen. I'm preparing this post in advance, so I'm optimistically telling you to check my Instagram to see how things turned out for us. For the most part, I behaved myself all week, so there's no reason to believe anything would go wrong....

I'll recap the weekend and the race on next week's wrap up. For today, I'm sharing some highlights from my very low-key week. 

How to Be A Runner

In the very back of the last couple of issues of Runner's World, there has been a recurring feature called How to Be a Runner. "Regular runners", people like you and me, select their preferences of all things running from a list. I kind of love stuff like this. I'm heading out of town to run a race as we speak and I thought this would be the perfect lazy blogger post for a Friday.

Feel free to copy and paste your own answers!