A Small Set Back
Hill night # 3 was 30 seconds of running, then 30 seconds of walking, repeated for 16 minutes. Unfortunately, I had to postpone doing the hill that night, due to pain I was having in my left foot. I reached out to Paul Mäkinen at Lifemark to see what I should do about it. He was quickly able to identify the problem which was with the sesamoid bones in my foot (my over pronation was causing pressure on them which was causing inflammation). Paul added some strategically placed foam inserts to my insoles to help relieve some of the pressure causing the inflammation and said to keep icing it after runs. The difference was immediate! For someone new to running, having support from amazing sponsors such as Lifemark is incredible.
1st Yoga Session
On Thursday, I attended a yoga session with two of my Team Myles teammates, Carlee Portolesi and Cheryl Bauer at Tays Yoga on Quinpool. (Another one of our awesome sponsors). This was our first time at TAYS Yoga and definitely won’t be the last. It felt wonderful to stretch out many of those newly found running muscles. The session ended with a few minutes of relaxation which wiped out tension and stress from muscles and mind. As if that wasn’t enough, we each received a beautiful TAYS Yoga water bottle. How awesome is that? We had good intentions, but forgot to take any photos of our visit. Carlee and I took a couple photos outside the studio on our way out, but we will make sure to get some group ones next time.
Hill Night # 3
After the yoga session, Carlee and I headed over the Citadel Hill so I could make up the hill training session from Tuesday. I have to say, I am so thankful to Carlee for joining me – doing so made it her 2nd hill training session in 3 days, which is just incredible, especially considering how daunting the hill can be!! The hill training was challenging, but as a team we rocked it. After we completed the 16 minutes, we did one extra full trip to the top for photos. It always awesome looking down from the top and realizing what you just completed. If you haven’t tried this, please do. You’ll thank yourself afterwards.
Park Run # 4
On Saturday, we were back at Point Pleasant Park. This time we were running 5 minutes, followed by walking 1 minute, repeated for 40 minutes, and this time we were hitting the trails (we’d so far run the roads around the park). The weather was beautiful and after last Saturday’s run, I was feeling confident.
As we headed out, for the first minute or so I was running at my own pace feeling good and hoping I wouldn’t get lost (I am directionally challenged). I quickly met up with one of our awesome Mentors, Leanne Strathdee, on the trail ahead of me. I know my running speed is a lot slower than Leanne’s, but she was so supportive and stuck with me through the entire run.
We were going along fine and I was actually finding the ability to enjoy the scenery, when we suddenly came across Tower Hill Road. I had heard briefly about this hill when someone mentioned it at the Citadel Hill training, but I had no idea just how big and steep it was. Even with the hill training, my mind started to spin with doubt. “Are we really going up that?!”
But up we went, running the whole way. It felt like forever, and I was gasping for air, but we made it to the top without stopping. At the top, I did stop running for a minute, but we quickly got back on track. We did get a little lost but soon caught up with some Team Myles teammates and headed back to the start where we ran it in strong.
I have so much to be thankful for this week and just feel so blessed to have this opportunity to experience what it means to be a part of Team Myles. It is amazing to feel the support of our awesome Sponsors, Ambassadors, Mentors, and Coach. No matter how tough the journey is, we are all in it together and that experience is truly priceless.
